by Katie May
We made quick work removing our pants, but before he entered me, he
sat back and admired my dripping pussy.
“Jax!” I begged, but he gave me a disapproving look.
“I want to taste you…” he murmured, dropping to his belly on the bed.
He gripped my legs and hoisted them on his shoulders. “You smell good.”
His tongue flicked at my entrance, and I swore my eyes rolled back in my
head. When he began to eat me in earnest, I saw fucking stars.
He demolished my pussy as if he was on death row and this was his last
meal. His lips sucked on my bundle of nerves as he added first one finger and
then a second, scissoring them in and out of my sopping cunt.
“Fuck!” I screamed as my orgasm crashed over me. I was drowning in it,
drowning in him, but it was the sweetest death imaginable.
When he leaned forward to kiss me, I tasted myself on him. Somehow,
that only heightened my arousal.
“You taste so fucking good,” he stated candidly.
“I want you in me,” I pleaded, tugging at his cock.
For a brief moment, insecurity flared to life in his eyes as he surveyed my
face.
“Are you sure?” he whispered, sounding more like my old Jax than ever
before.
“Make love to me.”
Maintaining eye contact, he lined himself up with my entrance and slowly
pushed himself inside of me. It was a tight fit—he was bigger than I expected
—but my pussy clenched around his dick as if it was made for him.
“You’re so fucking tight,” he breathed, his hips jerking forward.
“Move.” I wrapped my legs around his waist once more, digging my feet
into his ass.
He was slow at first, careful, almost, as if I was glass he was afraid
would break. But he couldn’t deny his more primitive instincts any more than
I could.
He began to fuck me relentlessly, his balls slapping against my ass as the
bed shook and rocked. He gripped my breasts punishingly as he mumbled
inarticulate praises.
“Fuck, yes!” I moaned as I felt his cock expand inside of me.
“Z!” he screamed, his hips jerking erratically as he came inside of me.
When his hand found my clit, pinching tightly, I careened over the edge
myself, milking his cock for all it was worth.
He collapsed, sweaty and sated, onto my chest seconds later, his head
nestled beneath my chin. His thumb idly stroked my nipple as we held each
other.
“I’m scared,” Jax whispered after a prolonged moment of silence. He
turned his head to press a kiss between my breasts. “I don’t know what’s
wrong with me. I think I’m losing my mind.”
“You’ll be okay,” I assured him, stroking down his back. “We’re on our
way.”
“Please be careful,” he said brokenly. I felt something wet cascade down
my chest. Tears, I realized blankly. “She has something planned.”
“We’ll be careful,” I promised. “Pinkie promise.” He snorted as he eyed
my proffered pinkie before intertwining it with his own. “Have you
discovered anything?”
Jax stilled for a brief moment before his fingers resumed playing with my
breast.
“She has an illusion spell on the house,” he stated at last. “I don’t know
what she is. Not a Mage, not a Vampire...not anything I have ever seen
before.”
“Bash and Ryland traveled ahead of us,” I whispered, tension radiating
through me. “Have you seen them?”
He shook his head. “No. They must not have gotten through the illusion
spell.”
Immense relief crashed over me like a tidal wave. When Devlin had told
me where my other mates were, I damn near lost my mind. I wouldn’t be able
to handle losing them—any of them.
“Z,” Jax began doggedly. He swallowed audibly, his hand once more
still. “Aaliyah is obsessed with you. I don’t know why. She asks about you all
the time, and she warns her...her monsters not to hurt you.”
I pondered this newfound information. Why me? What did Aaliyah want
with me? Question after question continued to swirl in my head like a
hurricane, but conjuring up an answer was like grasping the wind. Utterly
impossible.
“You did good, Jax,” I praised, brushing back his sweat-soaked hair. He
preened at the compliment, a dimpled smile appearing on his handsome face.
“Just hang in there a little bit longer. We’re coming for you.”
“She’s waiting,” he warned, the smile abating as quickly as it had
appeared. I kissed his forehead as he cuddled against me.
“I’ll be ready.”
THIRTY-ONE
JAX
W hen I woke up a few minutes later, she was gone.
I held on to the memory tightly. Guarding it with every
fiber of my being.
Aaliyah would try to make me forget, but I would fight her every step of
the way.
Her golden hair splayed across my pillow. Her wet pussy lips. Those
beautiful, perky breasts with taut nipples. The spark of fire in her gemstone
eyes.
Z.
My mate.
My love.
I repeated those words over and over again, branding them into my brain.
I would do better. I had to do better.
My gaze lowered to the dead human, and guilt rushed through me. This
woman had kidnapped children and murdered them, so I didn’t feel bad about
killing her. I did, however, regret Z seeing me like that.
I had been so blinded by my blood-lust and rage that I’d failed to realize I
had my own personal angel standing directly in front of me.
Z.
My mate.
My love.
I didn’t know how she was able to visit me here, but I wasn’t
complaining. Perhaps it was a product of the mate bond. Maybe it was
something else entirely.
All I knew for certain was that she had saved me.
Smiling softly at the memory of my gorgeous mate writhing underneath
me, I hopped out of bed and stepped into my pants. The last thing I wanted
was to be naked when Aaliyah came back to check on me and remove the
body. She had made her intentions clear more than once, and though my
mind had often been under her thrall, my heart had always belonged to Z.
Still, perhaps I could use this to my advantage.
Aaliyah assumed I was still driven by Gluttony—still trapped in a cage of
my own making, fortified by her powers. She didn’t know that Z had freed
me.
I could see and think clearer than I ever had before in my life.
Maybe, just maybe, she would let something slip if I played my cards
right.
I waited only an hour before Aaliyah sauntered through the door, her red
hair styled high on her head. She wore a fitted green gown that made her look
like a fucking Christmas decoration from the before times.
She smiled coyly as she glanced at the dead girl. Her nostrils flared as she
sniffed the room, and her grin grew. I realized she could smell the lust and
sex still permeating the air.
Fuck.
“Did you fuck the girl before or after you killed her?” Aaliyah asked,
sashaying forward. My shoulders in
stantly sagged in relief.
She thought I had fucked the dead woman, not my mate.
And though the thought of pretending to touch anyone but Z made bile
rise up my throat, I kept my expression impassive as I shrugged. Not
confirming or denying.
“I didn’t know you were down with playing…” she purred, running a
finger down my chest. I caught her hand before it could go any further. This
bitch would never touch me.
Still, I had a persona I had to keep up. For Z.
“I’m thirsty,” I rumbled, infusing sincerity and primal hunger into each
word.
She continued to smile, locking eyes with me.
“I don’t have any more meals for you today,” she said, tugging at her
hand. I released her quickly and took an instinctive step backwards. “But you
can drink from me.”
She undid the first few buttons of her dress, revealing a hint of nipple,
and canted her head to the side.
Yeah, no.
I would rather stab myself in the eye until I’m shitting out pupils.
I pretended to consider it, leaning forward and sniffing her neck. She
smelled like… like darkness. I didn’t know how to describe it, only that
shivers overtook my body. She was swords clashing against shields, and
thunder reverberating in the night air. She was the monster that hid beneath
miles and miles of murky ocean water. She was darkness personified.
Z, on the other hand, smelled like sunshine and roses, breaking apart the
monotony of darkness that had been my one constant for years now.
I scrunched my nose, pulled away from her, and shook my head
vigorously.
“I’m. Thirsty.” I grunted once. And then again, because that seemed like
something a primitive asshole like myself would’ve done.
Her red lips pursed as she gave me a long once-over, her eyes lingering
on my crotch longer than I felt comfortable with.
“Very well.” She redid her buttons and pivoted on her heel. “Come.”
I prowled behind her as we left my room/prison and entered a dark,
gothic hallway. Both the floor and walls were painted various shades of black
with numerous candles dotting the wall. The flames danced rhythmically as
we descended a swirling staircase.
When we finally stopped, my stomach bottomed out at the horrendous
sight before me.
Humans—men and women alike—were chained to the wall. All of them
were naked, their ribs protruding from their papery skin.
“Have at it,” Aaliyah said, waving her hand dismissively. “They’re all
rapists and murderers.” For a brief moment, a forlorn, pensive expression
flashed across her face. “It hasn’t always been like this. Before the demons
arrived, the world had been...peaceful. Serene.” She shook her head
vehemently and released a heavy sigh. “I have to meet someone upstairs, but
help yourself to any of them. And clean up after yourself.”
With that, she turned on her heel and stalked back up the stairs, leaving
me alone with the scared humans.
I didn’t know if what Aaliyah told me was true—if they truly were
murderers and rapists—but I wasn’t going to drink from them either way. I
knew that if I gave in, the blood-lust would pull me back under kicking and
screaming. I would become the ravenous, blood-sucking monster I strived to
escape from.
A Nightmare.
Instead, I stealthily moved away from the prisoners and climbed up the
stairs on silent feet. I had to be careful—if Aaliyah suspected I wasn’t under
her control, she would be livid.
I pressed my ear to the door, but the wood muffled any sound. Silently
cursing, I pushed the door open inch by excruciating inch, willing it to remain
silent. I practically sagged in relief when the door was open enough for me to
stick my head out.
Clipped voices greeted me from further down the hall, and I tapped into
my enhanced hearing.
“...get it done,” Aaliyah said curtly, and I imagined she would be folding
her arms over her chest. There was a heavy sigh, the sound of crinkled
papers, and then silence.
I had begun to believe that the mysterious visitor had left when I heard a
contented moan and a harsh grunt.
Aaliyah.
And a male.
Straining my ears, I heard what sounded like skin hitting skin, and
something inside of me died forever.
Yup. I was going to gag on my own vomit.
Their fuck-fest went on for what felt like hours—but was probably more
like a few minutes—when I heard the sound of a zipper and a deceptively
light giggle.
“Don’t worry,” Aaliyah purred. “I keep my promises.”
“You better,” a rough voice snapped, and every hair on my body stood on
end. Cold fear skated down my spine like an ice cube. My hand tightened on
the doorframe until my knuckles turned white.
“We’ll see you soon,” a third voice declared, sounding bored with the
entirety of this conversation.
Aaliyah laughed again, high-pitched and child-like, as the footsteps
retreated down an opposite hall. I quickly ducked back into the room, racing
down the stairs and sticking my fangs in the neck of the nearest man. I didn’t
suck—and I didn’t pierce him enough to draw blood—but the angle from the
staircase didn’t show that.
Aaliyah bounced back down moments later, significantly more cheerful
than before. There was a rosy hue to both her cheeks that had been absent
prior, and her red hair was tousled.
“How does he taste?” she asked coyly as I pulled away from the
trembling man and pretended to lick him with my venom.
“Sour,” I growled, staring at the woman with newfound horror.
I had recognized the two voices she had spoken to, and it felt like an iron
vise was closing around my heart, drawing blood with each consecutive
squeeze. My head buzzed like a hornet’s nest had been set loose.
Why the hell were the Incubus King and Mage King visiting Aaliyah?
And how did they even know about her in the first place?
I feared my family and I had found ourselves trapped in the sticky strings
of a web, seconds from being devoured. The more we unraveled the secrets
plaguing this world, the further trapped we became.
Pulse skittering, I followed Aaliyah back up the staircase.
Please be safe, Z. Please.
THIRTY-TWO
DAIR
M y wheelchair didn’t come with me.
I only realized it when we pulled to a stop at the side of
the road, directly beside a rundown truck. A growl of fury
emerged from my throat as I stared down at my stubby legs.
Failure.
Worthless.
Nothing.
Each of those words scraped at my heart like a blunt-edged blade. It
didn’t quite draw blood, but it was a constant presence that I couldn’t escape
from.
It was ironic, in a way, the amount of power we gifted physical strength.
It was why women were often seen as weaker than men. Why men and
women alike with disabilities were frowned upon. I was just beginning to
realize that my apparent “inadequacies” were no
t inadequacies at all.
But now, watching my mate and brothers strap weapons onto their bodies,
all of those emotions returned with a vengeance.
“I want to come with you,” I whispered, drilling a hole into Devlin’s
head. He spun, brown brows raised as his violet eyes widened.
“You don’t have your chair,” he stated, already dismissing it. Dismissing
me. I fucking hated when they did that.
“And it’s uphill,” Lupe added offhandedly. He eyed a dagger with
obvious aversion before slipping it up his sleeve. I didn’t think he would even
end up using it—but, then again, what did I know?
“Then fucking carry me!” I snapped, leaning forward and piercing them
with a scathing look. “I’m not leaving my mate.”
“Dair…” Z’s voice was soft, almost placating, and that pissed me off
even more.
“No, Z.” I turned towards her and gripped her cheeks fiercely. She was so
beautiful it physically pained me. “I’m your mate. I need to protect you.”
A somber smile flirted across her face as she placed her palm over my
hand. I couldn’t help but note how jagged my nails appeared when compared
to her perfectly trimmed ones. It was a product of the damn chair—I
constantly tore my nails off when they got stuck in the wheels.
“And I need to protect you. ” I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me
off by climbing into my lap. She nestled her head beneath my chin, and I
peppered kisses on her hair. She felt warm in my arms— right—as if the
world was finally beginning to make sense.
“Because I’m weak,” I lamented bitterly, tilting her head up to stare
deeply into her eyes. Her long lashes fluttered as she met my penetrating gaze
with a fierce one of her own.
“Because you’re you,” she responded matter-of-factly. “You’re not
weak.” She pressed a tantalizingly soft kiss to the corner of my lips. “You’re
not less of a man. I don’t know how many times I have to remind you of that,
but I will. I will remind you every day of my fucking life if that is what it
takes.”
“I love you so damn much,” I whispered, capturing her lips fully with my
own. She tasted sweet—decadent—like when you had dessert before dinner.
Nirvana and bliss overshadowed the darkness, filling those spaces with light.
“I love you too, my perfect Mermaid.” She ran her fingers through my