7. Seven

I’d never seen a more immaculate cock in all my life. And I’d seen plenty. Even flaccid, his was dazzling and impressive.

“I’m going to rip your arms off!” he roared, and I shrieked because he was on me faster than I could blink.

He gripped my forearms and squeezed. He must’ve been exaggerating or holding back because they didn’t come off as he threatened, but they broke in several places below the elbows. Now, they hung like wet socks. He took in exactly three heavy breaths and then realized he was straddling me. Skin on skin. That glorious cock pressed into me. I couldn”t allow myself to be aroused by it, so this was a perfect time to slap him.

I flung my noodle-like forearms, and both hands clapped around his cheeks. He roared in my face and sank his fangs into my neck.How did that feel so fucking amazing? That time, I didn’t moan on purpose; it slipped out.

My bones began to mend themselves, and then they grew a life of their own because I ran my fingers up his thick spine. His feathers were so easy to ruffle, and maybe I took advantage of that, but you can’t blame a man for his curiosity!Vastian was just…beautiful.

Ripping his face back with blood-stained lips and a scowl that could compete with that of a demon, I found myself gawking at his mouth. I wanted to taste those red pillows.

“What are you?” he palmed my shoulders and stared into my eyes.

“I told you a mushroom prin—”

His fingers pressed against my lips. “No more jokes. No more ploys. Tell me what you are. Now!”

When he moved them, I had to fight the urge to grab his face. “I’m just a man who can’t die.”

Frowning, he unmounted me and went for his pants. “How did we get here?”

So pissy and moody. The man needed a blowjob and a cupcake.

“So that gigantic demon we saw? He sent us here, probably to throw off my plans. But he’s an idiot.”

Vastian was dressed now. He paced in the grotto”s far corner as the sunlight reflected in. I wasn’t ready to address that interaction with Aryn. And since Vastian knew nothing about him, I didn’t need to. Not that I would, anyway. Hell—even Ariel didn’t know I still pissed myself like the fifteen-year-old boy did. She didn’t know Aryn like I did—didn’t know what he was capable of.

And even for a man like myself, the fucker did something to me.

“The things you are doing to me are bordering along the lines of assault. I will not stand for it any longer. Do not touch me. Do not trick me.” Well, who shit on his toast?

Alright. Maybe my dream man wasn’t open to the idea. But that was life, I suppose. At least for now. Once I got my hands on that fucking spell, I’d find the tallest building and jump off.Then these kinds of inconveniences wouldn”t matter anymore.

“I’ll only stop if you come with me to Mr. Darcy.”

“That cannot happen.” His face shifted then. He was no longer furious but something else—dread, maybe?

“He just needs to see that you are in existence, and then I can get my—” Shut up, Atreyis!

He cocked a brow and stalked over to me. “Get your what? What did you bargain for?”

When he crouched down, and his hair fell around his face, my gut backflipped. This was unfair. Wrong. Maybe if I broke his nose or something, it’d be easier to look at him.

“A new skirt.”

“Did this…Mr. Darcy happen to possess a rather plain-looking chain? Similar to a necklace?” Uh oh.

“Maybe?” I shrugged, but now this was getting interesting. Mr. Darcy said it would make him invisible. I didn’t take it because—why?

“And he claimed to be my brother?” Vastian sat next to me and propped a knee up.

“I did say that, didn”t I?”

“Tell me, Atreyis.” Have I mentioned that his voice was godlike? Now I have. “Do you know who I am? Other than my name?”

Don’t do it. Don’t fucking do it.

“My next wet dream.” Shit.

And I was underwater again.

His nails dug into my forehead as he jerked my head around like he wanted to wash my mouth out. Several minutes passed, and I suffocated twice. That was super thrilling. It was a head rush that no amount of drugs could match. When he released me, I waited for another outburst or temper tantrum.

“My coven will find me. They will hunt me down and drag me back. That cannot happen. This Regal Darcy person is a cunning liar with a tether. This is a huge risk for me, and I owe you nothing.”

Fuck. He was going there. He wanted some heart-to-heart truth. I didn’t do that. Just the thought curdled my bile, and I was about to blow chunks.

“Why are you green?” He scooted away.

Not vomit. It was just a burp. I sagged in the water some. “I want to die. It’s straightforward. He has a way to do that. But you’re the deal.”

“Do you honestly think that this man who has lied once will be truthful in his end of the bargain?” Vastian shook his head.

“Well…yes. People don’t cross me. They know better.” I was getting pruney. Everything felt wrinkly and gross.

“What made you this way? What magic?”

I froze. Every single muscle solidified, and my heart damn near stopped.

No. We were not going there. This was too much even for me. You didn’t talk about some things, and the circumstances surrounding my ailment would never be said out loud.

Ever.

Atreyis, please, save me. Fix it. You promised. Atreyis!

“Stop fucking talking!” I snapped and darted from the water. Balls swinging in the breeze. My legs didn’t stop until I was outside, and my pulse returned to a steady rhythm.

I decided to wash my clothes after the blip of a memory all but crippled me. They stunk, and I needed to busy myself to get over it. I lay out in the sun, which helped, and I stayed there to stew. Vastian was hiding somewhere in the cave. It was going to be a long fucking day, and I was bored. He was the worst traveling companion; I’d never take him anywhere.

Picking up a pebble, I tossed it up and down, debating what to do about the rumbling in my gut.

This part of Veros had various animals, but I didn’t hunt. Could you imagine me hunting? It would result in some fatal injury that wouldn”t kill me, only adding to my perpetual misery and general disappointment with life. And the predator of our impossible duo would not be much help in that department.

Maybe there’d be some berries or mushrooms. The kind that made you see fun shit. Kill two birds with one stone. On my feet, I left him to sulk in there.

Vastian was something else—a scared, stuck-up Vampyr. He said he had a coven from which he was hiding. What was so special about him anyway? Other than being the poster boy for being too pretty for his own good. He didn’t seem to possess any magical powers. All he did was move fast as fuck and drink blood every time he got mad. I didn”t mind the last bit, but still, he expected me to slice open my belly and gut myself so that he’d agree to show his face to a Fairy of all things.

Yes!

There were some delicious-looking purple berries on a bush. Any normal person would have thought against plucking them off that bush and shoving them in their mouth like a rabid animal, but not me. After all, I liked flowers, not berry bushes.

They popped under my teeth and the juice burst. At first, there was nothing—not a single drop of flavor. Frowning, I shoveled more. Maybe it was one of those things where the more you ate it, the better it tasted. But half the bush was barren now, and I tasted nothing.

And I was still hungry.

Groaning, I sulked away from it to further the search. Another twenty minutes passed, and I found a rather fat squirrel snacking on something crunchy. He and I made eye contact. His fluffy cheeks were full of whatever it was, and then he stopped chewing. Those little hands dropped a nut of some kind. Was I that desperate to steal from a squirrel? You’re damn right I was.

Bending down to pluck it from the grass, I paused. Why were my fingers purple? No—not just my fingers, the whole hand. Panic licked up my spine as I watched them tremble. I couldn’t turn purple. It’d ruin my entire look.

“Vastian!” I shrieked and sprinted back to the grotto.

And that’s the story of how Vastian drained the purple poison berries out of my blood for the next thirty minutes.

When he finished, and I was no longer a rainbow, the Vampyr looked unwell. He”d doubled over, braced on the cave wall, and grunted. His shoulders hitched, and his back strained against his gray prison shirt. Vastian didn’t have to do that for me, but I’ll admit that I was threatening all sorts of things before he finally agreed. One of them included getting naked.

“I thought I’d never model again,” I sighed.

“They’d never hire you,” Vastian said under his breath.

“I beg to differ! You haven’t seen me in a feather boa and lace.”

An explosion of violet blood splattered against the rocks. He heaved and heaved. If he didn’t stop, I was going to join him. Gods, he was a hideous puker. I didn’t invoke those fuckers often, but he needed divine intervention. This was just nasty. And then he turned.

“No! Not in the…water,” I practically cried.

Sinking to the floor, I palmed at my face and said farewell to any hope of taking one more dip before nightfall. Could this day get any worse? Honestly?

“This may just be my end,” he croaked, digging his nails into the dirt.

Chewing my cheek, I watched his hair fall into the vomit stream. Oh, for fucksake. Up again, I grabbed the strands and bunched them back away from his face while plugging my nose with my other hand. I couldn’t believe just how bad Vampyr vomit stunk like acid, a sewer, and lemons. After a few more purges, he sucked in a deep breath.

“You are so lucky that you are pretty,” I told him.

When he straightened, his eyes softened. And it scared the fuck out of me. “Thank you.”

“Oh, now you accept compliments?” I scowled. I was not going to acknowledge the flutters forming in my stomach. Nope. Those were most definitely gas from the poison berries.

He shook his head. “Not that. Thank you for holding my hair back. Seeing as I can’t wash it now.”

“Oh.” I blinked.

Something happened then. I wasn”t sure how to describe it in any other way except that the clouds parted.

Doves flew by, and harps played somewhere in the background. This man smiled at me for the first time. How could one genuine smile blast through every stupid thought in my brain like that? It was inviting, sensual, and mind-melting. Just as quickly as it came, it left, and so did the harps, doves, and beam of light. Everything darkened, and I stood there like an ass with my hand in the air.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to close my eyes until dusk. I’m never up this late.” He found a reasonably flat spot and laid down.

“Do you see what I do when I’m bored? If you go to sleep, I’ll have no choice but to give the meat a good ol’ slap.”

“What?” He cocked a brow.

“You know. Fiddle the needle. Wank the crank.”

When he stared blankly at me, I did some charades, and it clicked. “If you stroke your cock in my presence one more time, I’ll snap it off.”

I gulped, unable to decide whether that was good or bad. But then he added, “And you will not enjoy it.”

“Fine!” I threw up my hands and plopped on my ass.