Chapter 22

22

V anth felt like his bones were going to crawl out of his skin. He had to keep walking, keep breathing, keep his eyes off Elektra. Vanth had never been quick to violence, but it had taken all his control not to let his magic rip the two fae males to pieces. It wasn't like him at all. Elektra was a better fighter than he was. She didn't need his protection. She certainly wouldn't welcome the possessiveness he had no right to feel toward her.

Fae genes, fae genes, fae genes, he chanted to himself over and over. The alternative was that he was a raging dick. He had never been that way over anyone before. He hated the other males who controlled their partners, and he swore never to become one of them. Elektra hadn't kicked his ass into next week, so he would count his blessings and keep his mouth shut until they got back to Inferno.

Vanth knew the second they had stepped out of Faerie and back into the human world because his connection to his ghouls lit up in his mind like a magical flare. There had been no gateway or stone circle or any obvious door.

He looked at the ring on his finger. Maybe it found the nearest weak place between worlds and sent them through it? He shook his head and tried not to worry about it. If he survived the fight with Lazarus, he would be able to return to Faerie and ask Flynt.

They found his van ten minutes later. It was covered in a dusting of light-yellow pollen but otherwise looked in one piece. His ghouls were in the forest, eating gods knew what. Vanth tugged on the magic binding them, and they shuffled out of the trees minutes later.

"For fuck's sake, look at the state of you two," he complained, staring at the mud and blood that covered their fronts. He would have to get them some clean clothes once they had rested. They looked stuffed and slow from eating. He probably should have been more concerned about what they had found to gnaw on, but he had bigger problems. Starting with the reaper in his car. He locked the ghouls into the back of the van and climbed into the driver's seat.

Elektra was already on the passenger side, one leg drawn up to her chest and her gray eyes distant. Vanth pushed down all his worried feelings. She would talk to him when she was ready to.

The sun was going down in the city, and the time differences between Faerie and the human world were unpredictable at best. Vanth was wired, his magic dancing incessantly under his skin.

"I was seventeen when I first went to the temple," Elektra said, breaking the heavy silence in the cab. "My father and mother had already arranged a marriage for me. I was royal, so that's not uncommon. For other females, it's different. I don't know if you know this, but fae women go through certain hormonal cycles that can occur between the ages of twenty and fifty."

"Like a menopause?" Vanth asked, making her laugh softly. "Honestly, my mother did everything she could to keep me away from fae shit. So no, I have no idea what you are talking about."

Elektra shifted uncomfortably. "They aren't like menopause. We call them mating cycles. You basically pump out a whole bunch of pheromones to attract a suitable partner. Sometimes, it doesn't even result in a true mating. Some females who are in a relationship already will just ride it out with whoever they are with. Others will get a fuck buddy for the duration so they don't lose their minds."

Vanth had a sudden feeling about where this conversation was heading. "You are…in a cycle?"

"Your mother believes so, and those douchebags in the forest confirmed it. My cycles have been put off because I was living at the temple. I haven't been back in the human world for this long, and it's been triggered. I'm mortified," she said, her voice cracking as she covered her face with her hands for a moment.

Vanth resisted the urge to reach out and touch her. "And my mother told you this last night after we made out in the training room? That's why you've been…cooler?"

Elektra removed her hands from her face and leaned back in her chair. "Yes. I didn't want to believe her, but the way those males reacted, the way you and I have reacted to each other…"

"Woah up. You think me wanting to make out with you is because your cycle has hit?" Vanth asked. Fae genes. Had her genes been confusing him and not his own?

"It's possible, Vanth. I want to be honest about it because you might not be in charge of your own desires right now. My scent is like a beacon, and I don't want anything happening between us that we are going to regret once the cycle passes," Elektra replied, her face and neck turning scarlet.

"I understand," Vanth replied, his mind whirling. Had she been flirting with him because of the cycle? The thought hurt a surprising amount.

They were silent for the rest of the drive back to his house. Vanth let out the ghouls and followed them into the cool rooms in his morgue. His phone was dead, so he plugged it into the spare charger he kept in there.

Elektra leaned against the fixed embalming table, her skin still flushed.

"Are you going to say anything else? I thought you would be freaking out?" she demanded.

Vanth tried to appear relaxed, but his insides were anything but calm. "It's your body going through it, Elektra. I'm not entitled to have an opinion on it. You say it's only started in the last day or so?"

"According to your mother, yes. I'm at the beginning of it," Elektra said, her pointed ears flushing. "It's why you wanted to kiss me all of a sudden when we were in Faerie."

Gods, she was so damn beautiful. She was also wrong.

Vanth's mouth twitched into a smile. "I hate to break it to you, princess, but I wanted to kiss you long before that."

"How long?" she asked, gray eyes widening.

"Somewhere between the moment you first kicked my ass and when I watched you eat a burger the size of your head," Vanth admitted. He closed in on her, his hands moving to grip the cool metal table on either side of her, caging her in. "My urge to protect and possess you kicked in the moment I saw you. You might want to blame what's burning between us on your pheromones, but it started long before your cycle did. If you want to blame it for kissing me yesterday, you can. I know my own desires. I know what I want."

Vanth could see the flickering pulse on Elektra's neck and smell the sweet honey arousal building between her thighs. She looked up at him from underneath her long lashes. "And what's that exactly?"

"Right this second? I want to kiss you until you believe that I want you because you are Elektra, and not some bullshit fae impulse," Vanth replied.

"Please do that…" she whispered, her hands moving to his waist.

Vanth crowded her and captured her mouth with his. Elektra didn't hesitate. She opened for him, groaning when his tongue slipped inside her mouth in a silky stroke. Vanth couldn't think of anything but the sensation of her lips, the seductive thrill of her taste swamping his senses. Her hands moved under his shirt to caress his skin.

Vanth pinned her in, his leg slipping between hers as he fucked her mouth with his tongue. She let out a whimper when his thigh brushed against her core. Vanth moved his mouth from her lips, kissing along her jaw and to the soft skin of her throat. Her skin was scorching under his mouth, like she was burning up with a fever.

Elektra's sharp nails dug into the muscle of his back, and another breathy sound escaped her. She ground up against him, and a tremble went through her.

"What's the matter, princess? You trying to tell me something?" he purred in her ear before biting down on her lobe.

Elektra dragged him closer again. "More. I need… I can't…"

"Shh, it's okay. I know what you need," Vanth replied. He pulled back from her and spun her around. He took her hands and pressed them to the cool metal of the table. "Keep them there, or I'll stop."

"I'll be good. Don't stop," she said, her ass moving to rub against the front of his jeans. Fuck, she was like a cat in heat, and she was all his. Vanth ran his hands over her back and down her sides.

"If you don't like something, say so," he said, leaning in to nip at her pale neck.

"I will," she replied, her voice getting a desperate edge that went straight to his dick. He wanted to strip her bare and cover her with his marks. His dick strained painfully against his jeans, but he ignored it. He was going to take his time to figure out just how to unravel his sexy little reaper.

Vanth unsnapped the button of her jeans while he kissed her neck. Elektra's fingers gripped the metal but didn't move them, so Vanth slid his hand under the fabric to cup her pussy.

"Fuck, your skin is so hot," he said, his fingers gently stroking.

"It burns. Everything burns," she gasped.

Vanth dipped his fingers lower, both of them groaning when they found her wetness. With his other hand, he turned her face towards him and kissed her again. He wanted to taste every desperate gasp and moan.

Elektra didn't move her hands from the table, but she chased each stroke of his fingers with a desperate roll of her hips. Vanth took her hints and pressed two fingers inside of her.

Elektra cried out, her voice echoing around the cool steel room as he stretched her. Fuck she was so damn perfect and like hot silk in his hands.

"Fuck, Vanth. Harder. I need it harder," she panted, fucking herself faster onto his fingers.

"Shh, it's okay. I'll get you there," he crooned. He was going to be addicted to watching the stoic reaper fall apart. "Don't move those hands."

"I'm not. Fuck! I'm not," she said. Vanth moved his hand out of her jeans, and she swore. "Wait, don't stop… I didn't move!"

Vanth licked the wet sheen of her from his fingers, and his vision hazed. Fuck . A growl escaped his lips, and he pushed her down until she was pressed against the steel table.

A sob escaped her. "Please don't make me beg."

"You're already begging, princess, and I like it," he said and yanked her jeans and panties down. Her ass was so pert and perfect, Vanth's mouth watered. "You stay where you are, or this all ends."

"You're such a sadistic prick," she complained.

Vanth went down on his knees behind her. "Try harder to convince me that you don't love it," he said and licked her soaked slit. She almost levitated off the table, but his hands gripped her thighs tight enough to bruise, holding her in place. He lost himself in every swipe of his tongue against her sweet, hot pussy. Vanth savored every inch of her, paying special attention to any part that made her squirm or gasp.

Elektra rose up on her toes as he fucked her with his tongue, over and over, until she was screaming his name. He couldn't get enough, and he didn't give her time to settle before he was winding her up again. He fucked her with his fingers and tongue over and over. Elektra's legs were shaking, her body being held up by his hands and the cold table under her.

He could have kept her there all night, but his dick was so hard, it was hurting. He didn't know how much longer he could neglect it before he came in his pants like a teenager. He made her come one more time before he finally pulled away from her. He kissed a sucking bruise on her soft inner thigh before slowly getting off his knees.

Elektra looked fucked out and dazed, her eyes glazed with tears and utter bliss. Pride and male satisfaction filled him as he looked at the utter mess she was in. Vanth's heart squeezed even as his dick insisted on getting inside of her.

"Still with me, little reaper?" he asked, brushing a damp curl from her face.

Elektra nodded but didn't say anything. Vanth chuckled and reached for his belt just as his phone started screaming.

"Fuck," he growled and hung up the call. "Fucking Andres can fuck right off…"

Elektra's eyes focused. "The tracking spell…"

"Fuckkkk," Vanth complained. He leaned down and slowly pulled up her jeans, kissing the now-cooled skin of her thighs. He helped her straighten and kissed the tears on her cheeks. He checked the red marks on her hips and rubbed them softly.

"What are you doing?" she asked shakily.

"Checking that I didn't hurt you. I wasn't exactly gentle," he replied and raised a brow at her. "No one has given you a bit of aftercare?"

Elektra shook her head. "No one has stuck around long enough."

"What assholes." Vanth's heart clenched again, hating the thought of no one treating her the way she should be treated. He grabbed some clean tissues and gently wiped her face before kissing her softly. Her fingers tangled in his shirt, pulling him closer.

His phone started ringing again. He groaned and released her. "I have to let you go, or I will take you upstairs and fuck you for the next six hours."

"Duty first, sex after," she said, letting him go.

"Easy for you to say, you just got to come," he complained.

Elektra palmed his dick and gave it a squeeze that had him seeing stars. "I'll make it up to you later."

"Fuck. Deal. Oh, gods, don't do that, or I'm going to blow in my pants," he said, removing her hand and kissing her knuckles. He grabbed his phone and answered with a snarling, "What?"

"Finally, you pick up your fucking phone. Stop doing whatever it is you're doing," Andres snapped back. "I had another visit from that person with the reaper bodies last night."

"Your pet told me," Vanth replied, trying to get his brain to refocus.

"The tracking spell worked, and they finally stopped. I have a location for you," Andres said, his tone softening just a little. "I don't know what the fuck is going on or why you were in Faerie, but you better be taking care of the princess and not dragging her into your bullshit."

Vanth looked at Elektra, who was at the sink, getting a drink of water. "Oh, I'm taking care of her all right," he said and bit back a laugh when she shot him the finger.

"I don't want to know. These people are fucking serious, Vanth. For once in your life, you need to be serious too," Andres replied. He hung up on him, and a second later Vanth's phone pinged with an address.

"Are you up for a hunt tonight, princess?" he asked with a grin. She still looked sexy and disheveled, but her expression had gotten a laser-like focus back in them.

"I'm always up for a hunt," she said, her smile turning feral. "I'll go get my suit on. And Vanth?"

"Yes, princess?"

"Don't die tonight, and I'll let you fuck me any way you want," she replied before disappearing out of the morgue.

Vanth went to a freezer, took out an ice pack, and held it to his dick. It was going to be another long night.