Chapter 36

Chapter

Thirty-Six

The bastard was right of course. I wanted Fane like I wanted air to breathe. My life had been turned upside down since Heldrok, and I missed him. My body ached for his, and my soul was empty and lost without him.

I swallowed back the desire, though. "I won't let you use me just to toss me aside."

"That's exactly what you'll let me do." His face lowered, his lips hovering over mine. "Stop me then."

My hand flattened on his chest where his heart crashed against my palm. "Stop." His hard, heavy length pressed into my stomach, throbbing and taunting me. "We're not doing this."

But even as those words tumbled from my mouth, my blood heated and moisture pooled between my legs. Fane's pupils narrowed as he scented my arousal.

"You sure about that?" His tongue swiped my bottom lip before he sucked it into his mouth, sending a bolt of desire right to my center. "I'm calling your bluff. "

My hand slid down, tracing the dips and curves of his abdomen. "I doubt this will have the desired effect you're hoping for, Maverick. Having sex with me might make your attraction worse."

He shrugged. "Then prove it. Make me realize how much I'd rather have you alive and with me than dead by my hands."

Son of a bitch . He was luring me into a trap, and I was falling for it.

Fane's fingers slid up my inner thigh and disappeared beneath the towel while his tongue pushed into my mouth. He groaned as he found me wet and plunged a finger through my slick heat. Pleasure rippled through my nerve endings as he roughly toyed with me.

"Fane," I murmured against his mouth as his curved in satisfaction. "I really hate you right now."

He added another finger, making me cry out. "The feeling is mutual, Teague. But I can't deny how badly I want to be inside of you. If I don't get to have that, I might crawl out of my fucking skin."

My resolve had already crumbled the moment he kissed me. Hell, it disintegrated when his fingers wrapped around my throat. Fane pulled out and lifted me onto the counter. A flare of pain zipped through the wounds that were now bleeding without the bandages.

Fane cursed, spun, and yanked the door open, leaving me breathless on the counter. Before I could even think that he'd left, he returned with bandages, using his teeth to tear the wrappers off, heating my blood.

That was so fucking hot.

A grin hitched his lips. "I guess we can play doctor if you want." His hands trembled as he applied the bandages, his control teetering. The longing to take me coursed through his veins, and he could barely keep his shit together. The weight of his desire had me trembling with anticipation.

Once he covered my wounds, Fane jerked my towel off, letting it fall to my waist. "I'll try to be gentle."

My laughter echoed in the steamy bathroom. "You've never been gentle, and I prefer it that way." I grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, his eyes widening. "I want my beast just the way he is."

All of Fane's pretenses shattered, and as if I'd opened the cage on his true emotions, a storm of lust slammed into me. He didn't waste another second before he spread my legs wide for him and thrust into me in one swift go.

I screamed as a mixture of pleasure and pain enveloped me. "Fane!"

The demon shifter pulled out and rammed in again with even more zeal, a growl building in his throat. "Fuck." His mouth fell on mine as he roughly took me against the bathroom counter. Everyone in the house could probably hear us.

But I didn't care.

All that mattered was having Fane right where he was supposed to be. It had been too long since we'd been together. The pain from my wounds and aching body couldn't compete with the overwhelming bliss he caused.

"Why does this feel so good?" He grunted in my ear as he pounded into me. "So fucking right?"

My legs twisted around him like a pretzel, and I could barely get any words out between my loud, breathy pants. "That's how it always is with us." My nails raked down his back, and blood scented the air, pulling out my own inner beast. "We don't make any sense, but somehow we do."

"And you like me like this? Brutal and hard?" He pulled back to stare into my face. "You're not afraid I'll hurt you?"

"Never." Not in any way I didn't ask for.

I darted forward and sank my teeth into his chest, briny blood oozing over my tongue.

Fane cursed, and he grew even more intense. I held onto him as our bodies collided, riding out his harsh movements and savoring every moment. Fane didn't stop when tears leaked down my cheeks or when my sobs filled the bathroom because he felt how much I enjoyed his dangerous side.

Under Kaspin's spell, Fane once again found it hard to believe that I wanted his beast. Most feared him, and he never showed this side during sex except with me. I was just as twisted and tormented. My darkness rivaled his, and I longed to have him ruin me.

I wanted him to wreck me so no one else would ever satisfy my desire. Only him.

Fane's teeth dragged down my neck as quivers manifested low in my belly. I'd tumble over the edge soon. He could feel it too.

"Do you want to come, fiera mika?" His voice vibrated against my throat. "Beg me."

"Yes. Please ," I panted. "I can't hold on much longer."

He cursed at how easily I complied. He expected a fight but liked this so much better. "I never took you for a good girl."

"Only when you ask me to be. Well, sometimes."

Fane's teeth pressed into the tattoo on my neck, knowing it would drive me crazy. I gasped and opened my legs wider, allowing him to go deeper. He groaned and gripped my backside, pushing even farther than I thought possible. "Oh fuck. I think you were made for me."

My head fell back, pleading for him to bite his mark.

He obeyed, and as his teeth sank in, I screamed his name while explosions tore through me. Fane was caught off guard by the sudden intense waves of pleasure ricocheting between us, and he reached his peak.

His roar rattled the entire bathroom while he spilled into me, and I was surprised the mirror didn't shatter into a million pieces. Fane cursed as he slammed into me a dozen more times while I fell apart around him.

When we finally floated down from the high, I rested on his chest, our hearts tapping the same frantic beat. Our ragged breaths filled the room, and the weight of what we'd done fell on us.

This did not get me out of Fane's system like he'd hoped. If anything, it reignited his addiction and desire.

As he realized this, he stiffened to stone and pulled back, his nostrils flaring. "You tricked me."

"Tricked you?" I laughed, wincing as pain flared through me, blurring my vision for a moment. "I warned you, but you didn't listen. You thought you could just screw me and be done."

His eyebrows crashed down, and he pulled out, still semi-hard. Instead of arguing or calling me names, he rested his hands on either side of my face, and my pain lessened as he took it into him.

"What are you doing?" I murmured through a breath of relief.

Fane shook his head as he studied me, so many emotions brewing in him, confusion the most intense. "I have no fucking clue." He helped me off the counter and wrapped the towel back around my body with trembling fingers.

I gripped his wrist before he could pull away. "Do you believe me now? That you care about me and would never kill me?"

"I don't know what to believe anymore." He snatched the bloodstone necklace off the counter and grabbed his clothes from the floor. "But I still want to kill you. That didn't change. This only made me want to fuck you before I do it."

Fane bolted out of the bathroom, and I slumped against the counter, my heart clenching. He wanted to hurt me with those harsh, cruel words to hide his true feelings. He cared about me, and it terrified him to death.

When I finally shuffled out of the bathroom, a neat pile of clothes had been left on the bed for me. I grimaced and picked up the black leggings. Had one of the healers come in while Fane was screwing my brains out?

It took forever to dress myself, cursing up a storm from the aches and sharp pains tearing through me. Once I was done, I crawled onto the bed and sat against the pillows, breathing raggedly.

A knock sounded on the door, and Hailey peeked in. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not dead."

The edges of her lips curved into a smile. "Yeah, we know."

Flames licked up my face, and my gaze dropped to my lap. "Oh, uh, Fane helped me shower."

"Is that what they're calling it these days?" She searched through a cabinet on the right and brought out fresh linens. "Let me change those sheets for you. I'm sure you must be worn out from Fane's help . "

For shit's sake, did the whole neighborhood hear us? "Can I go back to the Anders now?"

Hailey flicked her golden hair over her shoulder and waved me off the bed. She looked to be in her early twenties, but something in her eyes told me she was much older. "Actually, Julia wants to speak to you first. She'll be up in a minute."

"Oh." I gingerly stood and rubbed my suddenly sweaty palms on my leggings. What could she want? Had something gone wrong with the blood transfusion? Maybe she found out about the Infernal Sol. "Let me help."

Hailey scooted the chair Fane had used into the corner and tapped the cushion. "You need to rest."

I dropped into the seat as she rolled up the soiled bedding and tossed it into a basket, my thoughts turning to Fane. We had to find a way to break this damn spell. He couldn't go on like this forever. Even if he admitted to caring for me, the urge to feel my life fade beneath his hands still had a hold on him. Our relationship was complicated enough without this dark magic making him believe I'd killed Warin in cold blood.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." Julia strolled into the room, her linen pants brushing her sandals while her long, auburn locks swayed around her narrow waist. "I thought we were going to lose you."

"I'm more stubborn than that."

She chuckled. "You sure are."

Hailey finished and waved as she left the room, closing the door behind her. Julia motioned for me to resume my spot on the bed, so I settled on top of the covers, stretching my legs out. As she pulled the chair back to the bedside, the tension in the room grew .

"What is it?" I licked my numb lips, waiting for the other shoe to drop. What the hell was going on?

The healer tilted her head to the side as she analyzed me. "I thought Fane's bite turned you into a shifter."

"It did." My fingers brushed over the tattoo on my neck just as it tingled, and the man in question strolled into the room.

Had he returned to plot my demise?

He closed the door as his eyes seared into me, making every inch of my skin burn. "I did bite her."

Julia glanced between the two of us. "Are you certain?"

"Yes." Fane shortened the distance between us and leaned against the headboard. "I don't remember it, but I can feel it." He pointed to the swirling tattoo on my throat, a fresh mark surrounding it. "I gave her that. No one else could have."

"And I was there," I said. "I felt it happen."

Fane folded his arms. "What's this about, Julia?"

She tapped her bottom lip, deep in thought. "I've been examining the blood sample you gave me a few weeks ago, Tate, and I discovered something strange last night."

I tried my hardest not to panic, but my ears were already ringing. "She knows about the Infernal Sol," I said into Fane's mind.

"That's not it."

As usual, a thrill zipped down my spine at hearing his gruff voice in my head.

"Cut to the chase." Fane's muscles bulged as his shoulders strained against the black t-shirt. "What did you find?"

"Her blood reacted to devil's weed and wolfsbane."

Fane pushed off from the headboard. "That's not possible."

"Well, it happened." Julia pulled a vial of blue liquid out of her pocket and passed it to Fane. "Smell it. It's hers. "

The demon shifter popped the cork, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the contents.

"Does someone want to tell me what the hell that means?" I asked, my pulse hammering.

Julia rested her hands in her lap as her penetrating stare drilled holes into me. "Only a born wolf's blood would have reacted like that."