Chapter 22

Zagan

IYLA WAS HORNY AS FUCK. Not only had her panties been soaked, but when I reached out with my senses, her arousal hit me like a freight train. Even now as we climbed into a booth at the club, she kept shifting in her seat next to me, biting her lip, and glancing at me with those fiery eyes.

And goddamn, it took everything inside of me to not take her away where I could fuck her all night long. It had been a few days since we’d had sex, and that time had been a quickie since I was working and had to rush to get back to that. So I was just as eager to get her in bed as she was.

But I also liked tormenting her. There was something undeniably satisfying about watching my sparrow squirm under the intensity of how much she wanted me.

We’d just gotten settled in the round booth on the upstairs balcony of the nightclub Addie had suggested. The lounge was for VIP guests, and with one look at both Addie and I, we were admitted without issue, along with the rest of our group. They didn’t even ID any of us after realizing what celebrities they had in their midst, which worked in Iyla’s favor, considering she was still only twenty.

Nahla ordered a round of shots to start the night off, and when they arrived, we each grabbed one and raised our glass in the air.

“To Iyla and her newfound freedom!” Nahla cheered. “And to her first shot ever !”

There was a chorus of agreements that rang out before we all threw our shots back. Iyla’s face immediately screwed up in disgust as she swallowed the burning liquor. I laughed and offered her another drink to chase it. She greedily drank the beer, but the aversion didn’t clear from her face.

“Gosh. People like that stuff?” she asked, staring skeptically at the shot glasses.

“Hell yeah,” Addie said. “Tequila makes everything better.”

Iyla stared at her like she’d lost her mind.

“I’ll go grab you a better drink,” I said, leaning in close to Iyla so she could hear me over the loud music.

Eden was right on my heels, following me to the upstairs bar. I leaned on my forearms and gave my order for Iyla’s drink. Eden ordered herself a jack and coke, and the two of us watched the bartenders get to work.

“You know, I never thought I’d see the day,” Eden said playfully.

I looked sideways at her where she rested her chin in her manicured hand. She batted her big green eyes at me like she knew something I didn’t.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“The day our little Incubus went soft. It’s cute.”

I quirked my pierced brow at her and turned so that I faced her with only one arm resting on the bar. “Excuse me? Soft?”

She nodded and tipped her chin back at our table. “For Iyla.”

For some reason, my stomach bottomed out at the suggestion, and I scoffed. “Please. You’re delusional. I’ve not gone soft.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Right. I’m the delusional one. You’re the one in denial, but don’t worry. I won’t tell the other demons that you care about a human.”

The uneasiness in my gut amplified, and now, any trace of humor left me. I stared at Eden, brow furrowed, and heart beating harder. “What are you talking about?”

She turned to mirror my pose, facing me with one arm leaned on the bar. “Come on, Z. I’ve known you for over a millennium. You’ve never treated humans the way you treat Iyla. It’s not a bad thing. I think it’s good that you have feelings for her.”

My heart had never pounded as hard as it did now, and for a second, I worried I was going into cardiac arrest. Until reason reminded me that demons couldn’t do that. “Feelings?”

I looked back at our table where Iyla watched her friends talk and throw back drinks. Her brown eyes pinched at the sides in a bright smile, and she threw her head back in a laugh at something Addie said. The beating in my chest stopped. The air in my lungs stilled. Time suspended until all that remained was Iyla and her gorgeous laughter. The delighted sound blanketed me in warmth, like a song written just for me.

I quickly remembered myself and turned back to Eden with a cough. “You’re wrong. She and I are friends because of our bond. That’s why I treat her the way I do.”

The bartender slid us our drinks, and Eden grabbed hers without looking away from me. She gave me a knowing smirk. “Really? Because I don’t look at my friends the way you look at her.” She shrugged. “Just some food for thought.”

She spun on her heel and left me standing there with my heart in my throat. Feelings? For Iyla? That was impossible. Demons couldn’t feel anything for people. At least, most of us couldn’t. Sure, there were a few instances where demons had fallen in love with people, but that was a rarity. And I wasn’t one of them. Iyla was just a human with whom I got along. That was all.

I made it back to the table with Eden’s stupid words still trying to till up my thoughts. Iyla’s big eyes found mine, and a smile was still plastered onto her perfect lips. I handed her the drink I’d gotten her and watched her taste it.

“Better?” I asked.

She took a few tentative sips and finally nodded. “Much better. Thank you.”

Nahla threw back a shot then grabbed her girlfriend’s hand. “Dance with me, baby.”

She and Iseul rushed to the dance floor below. Addie and Eden weren’t far behind, and they easily found partners to dance with once on the floor. Iyla and I slid out of the booth to watch from the balcony above. I rested my arms on the railing, and when I noticed how Iyla shifted restlessly next to me, I made sure my arm brushed against her. She shivered, and I fought a smile at the reaction. She was still teetering on the edge of trying to keep her head here and not on the desire to get railed. My straining cock begged for the latter, but it could wait. I didn’t need all these human eyes watching me fuck someone in public. That would be a shitstorm for the band’s PR team.

“What do you think Coldin’s doing?” Iyla asked like she was fishing for something to distract her from whatever she was really thinking about.

I shrugged, watching the bodies below. “Probably finding a dark corner somewhere in the house to hang out in. That’s all he really does as a snake.”

“Why didn’t you let him come here with us?”

I hesitated and raised a brow. “I didn’t even think about it, to be honest. I don’t really give much thought to him or anyone else.”

“That’s not true.”

I looked over to find her staring at me. The lust in her eyes had been replaced with a sudden seriousness. “You’re very thoughtful,” she argued. “Look at all you’ve done for me.”

Eden’s words tried to push their way to the forefront of my head, but I quickly shoved them back.

“You’re different,” I said.

A crease formed between her brows. “Why?”

I frowned. I didn’t know how to answer that. Eden seemed to think she knew the answer, but she was wrong. She had to be. So then, I was left asking myself: why was Iyla different? It didn’t make sense to me, either.

“Because I’m your bond?” she probed.

I chewed thoughtfully on the inside part of my lip ring, but no matter how I considered it, that answer didn’t feel right. “No. That’s not why.”

“Because I’m your friend?”

That sounded closer to what I was feeling, but I still didn’t know. I’d been bonded to humans before, but I never felt the need to do shit for them. I fucked, I left. Rinse, repeat.

Iyla was more than a person I was stuck with. I wanted to do things for her. I wanted to see the sparkle light up her eyes or to see the way her lips lifted after being held down for so long or to see the way her chest rose sharply when overcome with some sort of emotion. She was more than a deal for me. She was …

“Yeah,” I finally answered with a nod. “Because we’re friends.”

That had to be it.

She smiled at me, and the sight made it harder to breathe. I quickly looked back at the dance floor to clear my head of the confusion her questions and Eden’s thoughts had caused. The music gripped me, and I focused on that until my limbs itched to get down there.

I angled my body toward hers and gestured to the floor below. “Want to dance?”

She looked down, and when her eyes met mine again, they shined with a newfound sense of excitement. “Yes.”

I grabbed her hand and pulled her downstairs to the dance floor just as PLVTINUM’s “Come My Way” came on over the speakers. The high energy beat fueled my body as I moved in time with the tempo, and I swiftly pulled her against me. I pressed one hand firmly into her lower back, and we started moving to the music.

She laughed, seemingly enjoying the lure of the music and the quick-paced dancing. Her movements got less rigid, and she swiveled her hips and pressed into me as I guided her along with me. The music reached the exciting chorus, and I spun her out at arm’s length then twirled her back into me so that her back was pressed to my chest. I gripped her hips and gyrated against her to the song. Spinning her out and back into me so that she faced me again, I saw the euphoria plastered to her lips, and damn .

Nothing compared.

Her smile was sunshine breaking through the darkest storm clouds. The sight and what it did—not to my cock, but inside me—had me pulling her closer so that we were chest to chest, nose to nose, grinding and swaying as our breath mingled and hearts raced together.

The music carried into another sultry song, but the sound got lost on me. My world zeroed in on the girl wrapped in my arms. Our foreheads pressed together, and I kept my hands firmly on her waist while hers gripped my biceps. We swayed to our own beat, lost in our own song, and it was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. The sense of peace, of wholeness, of …

My chest tightened. What was it? What was this fluttering warm feeling that consumed me when I was around her? Not knowing, especially after Eden spouted off her nonsense, was going to drive me crazy.

Her fingers dug into my biceps, and her chin tilted so that her lips were a breath away from mine. “Zagan.”

My cock thickened and pressed into her at the way she said my name like a plea to her god. She wanted me. She needed me. And what kind of savior would I be if I didn’t answer her prayer?

I closed the rest of the space between us. My lips swept over hers, and she immediately opened up to let my tongue slide in. The blood rushed straight to my dick as the kiss deepened, and I gripped her tighter around the waist. I needed her fucking skin on mine. I needed to have my hands all over her. I needed to shove myself deep inside of her.

I pulled back only enough to growl against her lips, “Come with me.”

I grabbed Iyla’s hand and found a hallway to disappear down. I found a vacant bathroom, shoved her inside, and pulled her against me again. Shadows immediately folded around both of us. She gasped and gripped me tighter. When the darkness cleared, we were back at my house, standing in the middle of her bedroom.

I held onto her as she swayed unsteady on her feet. She clutched her head like she was dizzy, which made sense. We’d just walked through the shadows to get where I wanted to go. That, no doubt, had to be discombobulating for a human.

“Did you just transport us back here?” she asked as she finally got her bearings.

“I thought you’d prefer this over fucking in a bathroom stall.”

Her cheeks got red, and her eyes locked on mine. “Is that what we’re doing?”

“Yeah, baby. That’s what we’re doing.”

I swept my hands into her hair and pulled her into me. My mouth dropped to hers, and she let out a breathy sigh as my tongue swept into her parted lips. Kissing her was unlike any high, unlike any buzz, unlike any sin . The sparks her lips and tongue made inside my gut were intoxicating, and I pushed deeper, craving even more of it from her.

My hands moved from her hair, down her back, and stopped at the hem of her shirt. I quickly pulled it off, but my lips were right back on her. I couldn’t stay away for too long, not when her kiss was like sweet lightning in my chest.

I pushed her back toward the bed and ran my hands up her bare stomach to reach underneath her bra. My palms squeezed her perfect tits, and she groaned a sweet little sound as I tweaked her budded nipples.

“I like it when you touch me,” she said breathlessly.

“Oh yeah?” I nipped her lip and took her bra off. My mouth salivated at the sight of her breasts, the nipples pink and hard with desire. The diamond necklace she wore rested at the top of her cleavage, and I took pity on the gemstone. That elegant gem could never hope to compare to her.

“You’re so good at everything,” she said. Her hands found my open shirt, and her nails scraped into my skin as I pinched and pulled at her breasts. “I won’t mind having you as my only partner for the rest of my life.”

I chuckled and kissed the skin on her neck. “Good, because I’m all you’ll ever get.”

She leaned back as I pressed her down, and she fell back onto the bed. I watched her scoot backward, her eyes locked on me like she was ravaging me with her gaze alone. Those big browns didn’t leave me as I stripped off my shirt and let it join hers on the floor.

“So when you feed off me,” she started slowly, watching my fingers undo my pants, “do you get full based on my satisfaction?”

I raised an eyebrow at her curiosity, and for some reason, I liked her asking questions. I liked her wanting to know more about me.

“Basically,” I answered. “The more you like it, the better I eat.”

I immediately saw the wheels turning in her head, and my own intrigue skyrocketed. What filthy little thoughts now floated around my sparrow’s head? I hadn’t done anything very kinky or crazy with her yet since she was still getting a feel for what she liked, but the spark of curiosity in her eyes made me wonder if she was ready to start venturing into darker waters with me.

“We can only sleep with each other because of the bond.” It was a statement, not a question.

I stepped out of my pants so that only my black briefs kept my raging hard-on away. “Correct.”

“What if my kink was group sex or something? It’s not, but I was just curious about how all of this worked. Like, would you starve to death because the other person wasn’t completely satisfied?”

My blood heated, and there was no stopping the smirk that pulled at my lips.

This was going to be fun.