by Knight
Her eyes flash black before the colour bleeds across them, her body vibrating with matching anger. Good, she should be, it’s better than her sympathy or worse, pity.
“And you are the parasite’s mate,” she yells back. Getting in my face.
“I am nothing to you. By morning, you will be gone, out of my fucking life, and I never want to see your fucking face again,” I yell.
“Liar!” She pushes my chest and I stumble back a step, not expecting it.
I expected her to cry, cower, or to turn away from me in disgust.
“You are a fucking liar.” She pushes me again and I fall back from her strength. “Your words are a fucking weapon, sharper than any down here.” She shoves me until I fly backwards and hit the wall, and then she pins me there with her body, all in my face. “You want me, you want the call, but you’re scared,” she purrs, the black of her eyes reflecting my image.
Growling, I grab her under her arse and spin, before slamming her into the wall. “Who’s the liar now? You are the one who wants me, not the other way around.” I hold her with my body and grab the shirt, ripping it in two so it hangs in tatters at her shoulder, exposing the valley between her breasts. Reaching my hand under the fabric, I groan when I meet the wet skin of her pussy.
I lean in and whisper against her, “Now who’s the fucking liar?” I cup her and she rubs against me even as she growls.
“You’re a fucking coward,” she spits.
“And you are nothing.” Pushing a finger into her, I tighten my hold as her wet heat holds me snugly.
Pulling out, I yank at my shorts and kick them off while she glares at me.
“What, little Griffin got his wings clipped? Big fucking deal, get the fuck over it. It doesn’t mean you can be such a prick to everyone. No wonder you’re alone,” she yells, fighting me as I line up and slam into her.
Her tight, wet pussy clings to me as I gnash my teeth, and pull out before ramming back in, smacking her back into the wall as she wraps her legs around me.
“I will be back to being alone after tomorrow, you’re nothing but a quick fuck.” I lie, lying to myself and her as I hammer into her.
She grabs the metal bar above her head, stretching her body up, and the shirt flutters around her to show me her nipples peeking out. Leaning in, I bite one and leave an imprint of my teeth. She moans, long and loud, her pussy pulsing around me, making me groan as I pull out and thrust back in, her arse jiggling with the movement.
“Like I would ever accept you as a mate,” I sneer, loving it when she gets angry. I need her to be so that she fights me, so that she stays in this moment with me and doesn’t let me slide back into the memories. I need her fury, her rage.
Growling, her fingers cut down my back like claws, making me growl and lunge to bite the other nipple, matching the other with a red imprint of my teeth. She yells, her hand yanking my head back as she moves fast, her surprisingly sharp teeth biting into my neck, hard.
I snarl and grip her arse harder, no doubt leaving bruises, and speed up, my hips pistoning again and again as she screams, her pussy clamping around me, milking me.
I feel my balls tightening and my belly clenches as I explode inside her, making her take all of my cum as I still. Both of us are breathing heavily as I stare into her eyes before slipping out and dropping her to her feet. She stumbles, but I yank up my shorts and high tail it out of there. Her mocking laughter following me.
“Coward.”
She’s right. I am, because she fucking terrifies me. What kind of woman would just accept all my vile and hate, and keep pushing me? Making me spew everything out, all that’s in my head? Who is she to pull me from my pain and crazy, and make me feel?
I was so fucking wrong, she is not nothing. She is everything.
Leaning back against the wall with wobbly legs, I wince as the door slams shut as he leaves me alone down here. I wrap my arms around my chest and cringe at the liquid dripping between my thighs. What the hell just happened?
I only came down here because I woke up with a horrible feeling in my chest, like he needed me. It pulled me down here and I saw him trying to knock himself out, and it’s my fault?
Shaking my head in confusion, I look around and take in the space. I never realised there was a basement, but I don’t know how. It’s got a fucking firing range for god’s sake and a full gym. No wonder he was down here.
I mean, it probably didn’t help that Nos and I had loud sex. That couldn’t have been fun, but he hadn’t shown any real indication he cared. Even as he was spitting those horrible insults and words, his eyes begged for me. It’s like he doesn’t even know himself or what he wants.
Nos warned me, he told me he might be slightly off the rails because of the wing stripping, but I didn’t listen...yet, I wouldn’t change what just happened for anything. I loved it, loved his anger, both of us fighting. It was hot as hell and for some reason, the thought that he’s crazy only makes me more intrigued.
Maybe I’m the crazy one, not him.
Waddling because, well, after sex is never fun, I climb the stairs and head straight to the spare bathroom. Stripping out of the unsavable shirt, I give myself a whore’s bath in the sink, wincing as I graze my sore nipples. That rat bastard, he’s left a red mark of his teeth around both, nearly drawing blood.
I flick off the overhead light with a sigh and head onto the landing. Hesitating, I sigh again. I might not like him very much right now, but he’s hurting, that much is clear.
“Goodnight, Griffin,” I say, loud enough for him to hear. He doesn’t respond, not that I expected him to.
I head back to the guest bedroom and crawl into bed and Nos’ waiting arms, and close my eyes. The sore twinge between my legs makes me smile, even as I fall asleep.
I wake up warm and content, before turning over with a groan and burying my face in something hard. Cracking open one eye, I spot an expanse of bare skin and follow it up to see Nos already awake and staring at me, with his arm under my head and his free hand stroking the skin of my thigh and side.
“Good morning, Little Monster,” he rumbles.
“Ugh, please tell me you aren’t a morning person,” I mumble, burying my head back in his chest as he shakes with silent laughter.
“More like a mid-morning person, though, you did have a late night,” he comments, and I open my eyes again with a suffering sigh and lean back, trying to gauge his mood.
“You knew about that?” I ask, confused.
He grins at me and the worried ball in my stomach disappears. “Little Monster, I have more developed senses than you could ever realise. He is your mate, do not feel guilty. He clearly needed you, but if he ever insults you again, I will rip him limb from limb,” he growls, and his eyes flash white, making my pussy pulse.
Goddamn, I am so fucked up.
“Noted. We should probably get up,” I suggest and he shakes his head.
“Not yet. First, let me just hold my mate for a while, and good morning.” He leans down and sweeps a soft kiss along my lips, making me smile.
“Hmm, you might be able to make me a morning person after all,” I joke, making him laugh again.
I had woken up early and decided to get some work in while the house was quiet. Setting up on the kitchen table with a mug of coffee and my laptop, I plug in the USB I had filled with information from the warehouse when Dawn wasn’t looking. Thinking of her, I look up at the ceiling before shaking my head and logging into my laptop.
I can’t say I’m sorry about what happened last night, even if I should be. I am sorry about how it happened though. I had snapped and gone into one of what the council calls ‘madness spirals,’ and she had tried to pull me out. Some of the things I had said to her had been disgusting and I’m so ashamed, she deserves better than a mate like me.
Ignoring my self-hate, I open the USB and start clicking through files. Most of it has to do with transactions, videos of girls, and buyer lists. All handy to track down the human mo
nsters, but I’m looking for who is buying the others. Anything, something.
I spend hours trawling through footage, which makes me sick to my stomach, and paperwork, before I hear movement upstairs followed by a giggle.
My hand tightens on the mug in my hand and I growl at myself when I crush it, the pieces cutting into my hand. Standing with a sigh, I throw it in the bin and wash out the cuts before heading back to my laptop to keep searching.
When I hear footsteps on the stairs, I stare at the screen intently, not wanting to see the damnation on either of their faces in the morning light.
“Morning,” Nos greets me, way too chipper for the morning as he heads over to the kettle and just makes himself at fucking home.
I nod and go back to the screen, but freeze when Dawn comes to stand over my shoulder. Her smell hits me, all sin and sex as she moves closer, not even flinching when she lays a hand on my shoulder to look closer.
“What are you doing?” she asks and I frown, turning back to the screen.
“Looking at some information I collected from the warehouse,” I mutter and she moves away, leaving a warm imprint in my shoulder that I want to reach up and clasp.
“Let me know if you find anything useful. I have a bunch of paperwork upstairs we could go through as well.” She smiles and sits down, but she winces and I freeze. She must see it because she rolls her eyes.
“It seems I heal fast, but bites from fallen, not so much.” She points at her nipples and I bark out a laugh, looking to her mate to see if he cares. He either ignores it or doesn’t care as he brings over two mugs before going back for another, setting it down in front of me. Pissing me off. Why does he have to be so fucking nice when I’ve been nothing but an asshole to him? It makes me look petty, unless that’s why he’s doing it.
“I’ll go get the paperwork, one sec.” She jumps out of her chair and races upstairs, and both Nos and I watch her go.
The nice act drops in a second as he turns to me with a deadly look in his eyes, and I’m reminded of exactly what kind of monster is sitting at my kitchen table.
“You ever talk to my mate, your mate, like that again, and I will rip your fucking tongue from your throat and feed it to the wolves,” he warns, his eyes flashing white as his body seems to grow. He leans closer and I arch my eyebrow. “I might not be able to kill you, she likes you too much, but I will make your life hell. You better decide real quick what way you want this to go, because I will take you breaking her heart as a form of hurt as well, are we clear?” he snarls.
“Crystal,” I sneer. “You’re welcome to her though, I don’t want or need a mate,” I repeat, the words sounding like a lie, even to myself.
He just snorts, his face and eyes returning to normal. “Whatever you say Fallen, lie to yourself if you have to. It won’t make it any easier.”
I go to ask what that means when she bounds back into the room with a happy smile on her face as she lays the paperwork between her and me on the table.
“So, what’s your plan?” I find myself asking.
She leans back, bringing her knees up and resting her head on them as she looks at the table. “Hmm, well, I was going after my husband—” Nos growls and she rolls her eyes. “Ex-husband, but I’ve already ruined his love life and sort of his money line now. I’m thinking I might expose him to Victor, and in return for proof of their deceit, ask for me to be able to kill him. Payback and all that. But first, I think we need to figure out who is hunting and buying supes. Especially women.”
I raise my eyebrows at the ‘we’ and the well-thought-out plan. It’s obvious she’s smart and has been thinking through every step.
“Well, I have paper trails between Marco, Tim, and Victor’s money here. We could take that to him.” Fuck, why did I say we? She obviously notices the slip because she smiles.
“We, huh?” She grins as Nos laughs.
Fucking skinwalkers.
He glares before looking back at his laptop. “As for the others, there isn’t much here. Our best bet is to track down other members who were working with Marco and Tim, and getting information from them. If we could track or trace the women as well, that would be good,” he murmurs as if talking to himself.
“Sounds great, but breakfast first,” I add, my stomach rumbling on cue.
“Fuck’s sake,” Griffin mutters, but he gets up, goes to the fridge, and starts rummaging around. Letting him have his huff, I start digging through the paperwork and passing some to Nos, planning to look for any indication of who’s buying these women or who we could hunt next.
He bangs the pots and pans around, making my lips twitch as I scour the pages. About twenty minutes later, omelettes get pushed onto the table as he goes back to his seat, ignoring us both.
I tuck into the omelette, groaning at the peppers and cheese. He is such a good cook. When I look up, they’re both watching me.
“Pervs,” I tease as I wipe my plate clean.
Pushing it away, I go back to my paper.
“I think I have something.” Griffin breaks the silence and we both scoot closer as I try to look at his screen.
“It seems Marco trusted one man to run the sales of the freaks. His name is Ray Leroy. I can get his address, one second,” he murmurs, starting to type on his computer, and when I look over his shoulders I can’t even follow what he’s doing. I glance at Nos and he shrugs.
“Got it, okay, so we go to him. Squeeze him for information on who’s selling the supes. Then you can take your shit to Victor,” he grumbles, leaning back and finally looking at me.
“Okay. I’m going to shower and then we can get going.” I down the last, cold dregs of my coffee before pushing away from the table and sauntering back upstairs, feeling both of their eyes on me the whole way.
Grinning, I head to the spare bathroom and flick on the shower. Steam soon fills the room and I jump in, sighing in contentment as it washes away the gross feeling on my skin and relaxes my muscles.
I lean against the wall and let the water run down me. It’s been a busy week. Between dying and coming back, not to mentioning finding two mates, getting kidnapped and escaping, and being brought into a plot to sell supernaturals, oh and dreaming of a dragon who is also apparently my mate, I’m feeling pretty wrecked, so I just take the moment to relax and breathe.
Opening my eyes, I scrub my body and hair, before flicking off the shower and getting out. I realise my problem straight away. There are no towels, and unless I want to put back on the t-shirt I grabbed this morning, I’m going to have to go out naked.
Fuck it.
Opening the door, I slip into the hallway and run into a hard body. I bounce off and fall into the wall. Growling, I glare at a smirking Griffin.
“Were you just waiting outside the bathroom? Because that’s just creepy, dude,” I comment, crossing my arms under my breasts. If he thinks he can make me uncomfortable just because I’m naked then he has another thing coming.
Arching his eyebrow, he mirrors my stance and leans back against the other wall, watching me. His eyes drop to my body like he can’t help himself, and everywhere they look I feel a red-hot burning, like he’s physically touching me. Shivering in desire, I clench my thighs together, which only makes his eyes pull back to mine, and they’re filled with knowing and amusement. Ass.
I tilt my head back and return his stare. From the way his eyes tighten and he tries to push himself back, I can tell he isn’t used to it and doesn’t like it. He’s so cocky and sure of himself all the time, but it’s obvious that he isn’t used to anyone looking past his attitude and anger. He expects people to be scared of him or use him. I see it all, and from the tension in his body, he knows it.
Pushing from the wall, I saunter towards him until my body is plastered against his and I meet his mismatched eyes. “You know, your bullshit might fool some, but it doesn’t fool me.” Smirking at him, I turn and leave him to it.
I couldn’t have two more opposite mates, and I’m finding I love
the challenge. I love Nos’ sweetness and brutality, and I even like Griffin’s take no shit attitude and hardness.
Getting dressed in some skintight leather pants, just to piss Griffin off seeing as though he appears to be obsessed with them, I add a filmy white shirt, matching leather jacket, and some biker boots. I brush my hair and add some red lipstick—thankfully, I had fun on my shopping trip and Nos grabbed all my bags before he left.
Looking in the mirror, I can admit I look hot. Death was good for me. I don’t hunch or flinch anymore, and my eyes don’t hold a sadness or the expectation of when the other shoe is going to drop again.
No, my shoulders are back and I have a new sensuality and power. It shows in the way I hold myself and the look in my eyes. I might not be good, I might not be pure, but I sure as shit am no victim and that’s good enough for me.
Grinning, I head downstairs to see that Griffin, now loaded up in weapons and looking like a walking armoury, is glaring at Nos as he sits on the sofa watching the pacing man. When I come downstairs, however, he stops pacing and both him and Nos look over at me. Their eyes flash as they take in my outfit.
Winking, I grab the front door. “Ready?” I open it and they both rush to follow after me.
One of Carmichael’s family, as he calls them, drives me back to the airstrip. I nod my thanks and watch them drive off before turning back to the plane. Frowning, I eye the dead beast. No lights are on inside, no whirring of the engine, no crew waiting. It looks deserted.
Slipping my swords from the sheath at the base of my spine, I stride up to the aircraft and whatever is waiting inside for me. I should have known the witches would have a backup plan up their sleeves, but they did one thing wrong—got in the way of me and my mate.
I climb the stairs and step into the plane, and sweep my eyes around, my night vision allowing me to see easily. The pilots and flight attendant are tied up in the cockpit and gagged, their eyes are wide and filled with fear as they look beyond me to where the darkness is almost impenetrable at the back of the plane.