Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

Punish me? A shiver wriggled down my spine in anticipation. I loved any kind of punishment from Fane.

While I had him at my mercy, his veins popping and pupils thinning to diamonds, his phantom touch suddenly caressed between my legs and thrust inside me. A gasp slipped out at the sensation of his digits toying with me even though his hands weren't there.

Hell, neither of us was actually here.

Fane's low laugh had my blood simmering. "This link between us does allow for some interesting abilities. How do you like this one?"

I couldn't speak, but my long moan as his invisible fingers pumped in and out was answer enough. Fane's touch would have me aching and ready for him in no time.

Obviously, that was his intent.

His grip on my hair tightened, burning my scalp. "That fucking mouth, Teague." The tendons in his neck strained, and his chest heaved as I continued to pleasure him. "You look so damn good on your knees in front of me. This image will forever be burned in my mind, keeping me company when you're not next to me."

When his thumb stroked my clit, I nearly lost it. This was supposed to be my way of making him surrender, but instead, he had me bending under all the bliss he delivered.

Bastard.

I growled, and his lips pulled into a savage smile.

"Is someone getting angry?" Fane brought another phantom hand out and ran it over my breasts. "You're only provoking me."

My fingers dug into his thighs as I increased my tempo.

Fane groaned, and his grip on my hair tightened, burning my scalp. "You've done it now." He guided me along his length, nearly choking me. "So fucking good."

Tears watered in my eyes at his brutal assault, and I couldn't stop the whimpers from slipping out. I craved his dark side and wanted it to devour me, make me hurt and feel unimaginable ecstasy. This pleasure-pain addiction had me in a stranglehold, and I needed another dose. And another.

Tremors flowed through Fane's body as he neared his release. I didn't get much warning before he let out a vicious bellow and spilled into my mouth.

After I finished swallowing, he freed my hair and yanked me to my feet. "You provoked the beast, Teague." His pupils had shifted completely, and menacing shadows crawled over him.

A smile tugged at my lips as I wiped them. "I want the beast."

"Be careful what you wish for." Fane grabbed my throat, his fingers brushing over my tattoo and giving me a jolt of pleasure. "You may just get it."

My pulse skyrocketed as he shoved me onto the stairs, tore the rest of my jumpsuit to pieces, and ripped my boots off. I lay before him, bare and wanting. His nostrils flared as he smelled my arousal.

"There's no going back now." He stalked forward like a predator closing in on his prey. "I'm going to devour every inch of you."

My breath shuddered. "Stop making threats and do it already."

Fane fell on me, gripping my thighs and forcing them apart. His teeth elongated as an eerie glow eclipsed his beastly gaze. Having no limits and being completely under Fane's mercy were dangerous things.

Dangerous and so addicting.

Fane slammed into me, tearing a cry from my mouth. He pulled out and didn't wait for me to adjust to his large size before thrusting in again with the same enthusiasm.

I whimpered as he took me hard and fast against the metal and stone stairs. The sharp edges dug into my spine and legs, but the pain only intensified the pleasure. Our ragged breathing and grunts filled the space, rebounding against the walls.

The air became sweltering instead of cold, and my blood simmered as flames licked at me.

"Fane," I cried out. "Don't stop."

His upper lip curled into a snarl. "There's no stopping this until I'm done." His speed increased, and his thrusts grew even more vicious. "I can't stop. Not with you."

I knew the feeling .

My nails dug into his back as I felt my own beast clawing to the surface. This wasn't the Infernal Sol, but the shifter mixed with demon magic his bite poured into me. Fane sensed the change, and it spurred his own monster.

He grabbed one of my legs and hitched it around him, angling his hips and burying deeper inside. I screamed as he slammed in and out at a dizzying tempo. "Does this hurt?"

"Yes."

But if he stopped, I'd attack him.

His sinister laugh told me he had no intention of stopping. He probably read my thoughts or simply knew me so well.

"Maybe I should make it hurt a little more." Fane's fingers coiled around my throat, and he squeezed, cutting off most of my airflow.

The feeling was freeing and delicious. My back burned from being crushed into the stairs, and I already ached. Black spots and stars popped on the edges of my vision.

"One of these days, I'm going to chain you up and show you just how evil and dark I am." Fane's lips pressed against mine, and then he sucked on my tongue, shooting bolts of electricity right to my core. "Is that what you want?"

"Yes." My hips crashed into his, meeting each of his brutal strokes. "Please." The thought of being tied up and bared to Fane while he did terrible things to my body pushed me over the edge, and ripples of bliss built in my center.

His eyes flashed with menace and hunger as he realized how much that idea turned me on. He dragged his mouth across my jaw, stopping at my ear. "I will give you exactly what you want then, fiera mika."

I couldn't hang on much longer, and as sobs broke free, Fane's movements became wild and untamed, crushing me into the stairs and nearly breaking me in half.

His mouth moved to my neck as he released his grip on my throat and sank his teeth into the mark. "Come for me."

A wave of intense pleasure crashed over me, and I screamed his name as my orgasm hit. Fane powered into me a dozen more times, extending each ripple of bliss that unfurled until he roared. His own release came, and his movements became jerky and unsteady.

He kissed me, a clash of teeth, tongue, and lips as we floated down from the rollercoaster. His hands caressed my breasts and belly, such a contrast to the brutality he unleashed a moment ago.

"Are you okay, Tate?" he whispered in my ear, kissing it.

My arms wrapped around his back. "Better than okay." Sex with Fane was even explosive in our incorporeal forms. I wouldn't be surprised if bruises formed on my body in my cell. Fane and I didn't have sex like normal people because we weren't normal, and we craved dark, dangerous, and violent things.

"Do you want more?" Fane licked my neck, and I shuddered. "Or do you need a minute?"

I raked my nails down his back, spilling blood. "More."

Fane didn't waste any time, and he grabbed my hips, lifting me from the stairs. "I don't know why I even bother to ask."

"I don't know either because—" My words cut off in a gasp as he brought me down on his hard length, filling me to the hilt. The cold, rough stone wall dug into my back as he shoved me against it. "Fane!"

His mouth covered mine, stealing my moan as he took me against the wall like a feral beast .

After Fane and I practically tore each other apart a few more times, he spread out our scraps of clothes and laid me on them while he took the cold floor, even after my protests.

He tucked me against him and stroked his fingers up and down my back as we soaked each other's presence in now that we'd finally satiated our lust. For a while, anyway.

"I've been gathering intel about the lay of the prison." Fane tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. "The exits are guarded at all times, so our best bet of escape would be to create a distraction."

I lifted my head from his chest, turned, and rested my chin on it. "How did Ruin get your mother out?" The high demon lord had gotten Kesandra out in exchange for me—or the Infernal Sol. He could do it again.

"My mother was easier because no one paid her much attention." He winced. "We, on the other hand, don't have that luxury. Every fucker in this place knows who I am, and thanks to that bullshit in the cafeteria and how I reacted, everyone knows we're connected."

"Most of them already knew who I was within a few hours of joining gen pop." I chewed on my bottom lip. "Sorin didn't take it well when I snubbed him, so he spread the word to make my life hell."

His eyes narrowed. "If the guards allow me near him without the muzzle and those chains, he's a fucking dead demon."

My fingers absentmindedly traced the tattoos and scars on his torso. "Don't do anything to get yourself killed, Maverick."

He scoffed. "I'm not going to die here. Trust me." His brows dipped, and hard lines cut into his face. "Hopefully, Ruin is working on a plan to get us out because I'm not sure how much longer I can sit in this hellhole while they torture you."

"Aren't they torturing you?" I ran my thumb over his forehead to smooth out the lines.

"Yes, but yours is worse." He swallowed hard, and his pupils thinned again as anger unfurled around him. "Venna records your torture and makes me watch it."

My lips pressed into a tight line, and I rolled off him. "I'm going to kill her."

"Not if I do it first." He ran his hand down my ribs, resting it on the black sun tattoo. "You haven't felt much of the amulet?"

I shook my head, not even bothering to ask how he knew. Our bond might have been muted, but he was so in tune with me it was terrifying. "It's been dormant since we arrived at Heldrok." My flesh puckered as his rough fingers traced the swirling lines. "It must have something to do with the power-dampening sigil. That's the only explanation."

"That has to be it." He gently brushed his hand over the raised black mark on my arm, the same one stamping his. "I wasn't sure if it would affect the amulet."

"Maybe it's a good thing. I'd been relying on it too much to get me out of dangerous situations."

"I'd rather you use its power to survive." The tiny muscles in his jaw feathered, probably thinking of all my recent close calls. "I can always bring you back."

"Can you?" I challenged. "I let it take control of me at Ruin's when we were fighting Venna's henchmen, and I'd definitely taken a dive off the deep end into a big pool of crazy." While we journeyed to Heldrok, I told Fane how I'd plucked out Furic's fears and made him relive them. And how much I'd enjoyed it.

He ran his thumb across my cheekbone. "You found your way back, didn't you?"

Only because I'd felt his panic once Venna brought in his mother. "Your reaction to seeing your mom at that bitch's mercy had cut through the darkness and forced me back into the driver's seat."

A ghost of a smile twitched Fane's lips. "Like I said, Teague, I'll bring you back." He kissed me and then leaned his forehead against mine. "We just need to get out of this prison first, and then we'll deal with the Infernal Sol."

The showers weren't enclosed in stalls but in the open where everyone could see everything. Currently, a considerable group of males and females of all nightworlder species soaped and lathered while plenty of others were doing more than cleaning up.

In fact, they were getting pretty damn dirty. Their moans traveled over the loud spray of water and conversations. Fine tremors infiltrated my system as my heart hammered. This was the first time I'd been taken to the showers with gen pop, and of course Fane wasn't here.

A hard hand shoved me forward, and I stumbled into a huge laundry container on wheels. If the brakes hadn't been locked, I would have gone flying.

"Strip and throw your clothes in the basket. Your boots go on the shelf." Tajeed sneered, his sharp teeth flashing behind full lips while the yellow light glinted on his giant onyx horns. His skin was only a few shades lighter than that. "If you don't hurry up, I'll remove them for you."

My pulse elevated, and I swallowed even though there wasn't a drop of moisture left in my mouth. "Don't get your panties in a twist."

He narrowed his citrine eyes. "Your smart mouth will earn you more than a beating." His clawed hand ran over one of the weapons on his belt. "This is made of silver. It will be most painful when I hit you with it."

Tajeed had no idea that silver didn't affect me like other shifters, and I'd rather keep it that way. I kicked my boots off and placed them in one of the cubbies. My fingers trembled as I unfastened the buttons on my jumpsuit and pulled it down.

I'd never taken a shower with anyone except Fane, and my stomach knotted while nightworlders watched me strip. Bile oozed up my throat as Sorin leaned against a shower wall with a leer. He reached down and stroked himself.

I turned away and finished removing my clothes, tossing them in the container with a mixture of multicolored uniforms. Most nightworlders, especially shifters, didn't give two shits about nudity.

Too bad I did. I felt vulnerable without a stitch of clothing and my scars on display. Could they tell what any of them were?

"Do I get a towel?" I asked Tajeed, crossing my arms over my chest to hide my breasts.

He jerked his head to the left where stacks of dingy towels lined the wall. "After you're done." The dux demon pointed to another shelf with bars of soap. "Take one of those."

There were no such things as shampoo and conditioner in Heldrok, at least not for the prisoners. My long hair would be a rat's nest when I got out of this hell.

If I ever did.

Nope. Not thinking like that. We were getting out of here. I had to believe that.

A growl curled out of Tajeed. "You have ten seconds to get in the damn shower, or I'll throw you in there."

I grabbed a small bar of soap and shuffled toward the large open area full of nightworlders showering and screwing. The guards didn't seem to mind. They enjoyed watching the show.

The cold water hit my flushed skin, and I hissed, catching the attention of a vampire as he fed from a fae while another played with her from behind. His crimson stare ran over me, lingering on the scars beneath my ribs.

He licked his lips and slicked his blond hair back. "Want to join, shifter? You look like you can handle some rough play."

"No thanks." This was ten times worse than the VIP room at Wrath & Ruin. At least the lights at the club were dimmed, so you couldn't see much unless you were close. Here, the sallow bulbs hanging from the steel bars in the ceiling were strong enough to highlight everything.

I found an empty showerhead in the corner and wet my hair while lathering my body. Maybe if I worked fast enough, I could escape this shitshow unscathed.

That hope was dashed when a daunting presence formed at my back, and a hand brushed my side.

"Where'd you get those beauties?"

I spun as Sorin hovered over me, his gaze trained on the scars from Fane's brother. "None of your fucking business."

"Everything in this place is my business, wolf." He ran his finger over his bottom lip as he studied my naked form. "The warden's not here to save you."

Sorin stepped closer, and I inched back. Retreating was never a good move, but it was a natural reaction when I was naked in front of a monster.

As if he smelled my fear, he took a deep breath, his lids fluttering. "Fane Maverick can't help you now either."

I tried to sidestep him, but his arm shot out to block me. "Back off, asshole."

He snatched my wrist, his thumb brushing over the scars. "Either someone likes to be tied up, or you were a very bad girl and had to be tied up." Sorin yanked me into him, our naked bodies slapping together. "I'd say it was the latter, considering how rude and disobedient you are."

Nausea poured through my insides at the forced contact. So many childhood memories rushed forward that I almost puked right on Sorin's feet. His words, the look in his eyes, and the feel of his unwanted touch were all too familiar.

I jerked from his hold and stumbled against the wall, my feet slipping on the tiles. Sorin caught me before I fell, his sinister laughter making me shiver.

"Get the fuck off me." If there was a time I needed the dark amulet to wake up, it was now. I'd really love to make him choke on his fears.

Sorin tutted. "You say that like you have any way to make me. Face it, Tatum. You're mine if I want you to be, and no one will stop me from taking what I want."