by Coralee June
“Come again. I want to feel you like this, gulping on my cock while I fill you with my cum.”
It was like he trained my body to do exactly what he said. The words had barely left his mouth before I was screaming his name, seeing stars all over again as an orgasm ripped through me. Risk shoved his hips up, burying himself inside of me with a guttural groan, and then I felt searing cum burn through me with satisfaction.
I collapsed on top of him, unable to move, barely able to breathe. With my head nuzzled against the crook of his neck, I watched as a deep red hourglass appeared on his throat.
Holy shit.
I just made a high level risk demon my mate.
Chapter 17
I was lying on a pillow of clouds, literal clouds that my new...mate...had conjured in this mysterious between world for me to rest on. “Are you going to keep pretending to sleep, Wicked Love?” he asked, while stroking my cheek. I wasn’t ready to admit that I’d mated him.
Mates.
Fucking mates.
I kept rolling that word around in my head, trying to piece together what this meant for my future—our future. I didn’t know this man. I didn’t know if he had skeletons in his closet or crazy habits, or if he was a serial fuck ’em and feed ’em sort of guy. I knew nothing about him, and now a part of my demonic side was tethered to him...forever.
“I can sense you freaking out. There’s always this high after a big risk and then the inevitable crash. You’re burning with turmoil, and I can practically taste it. What’s going on in that pretty head of yours? Regretting this already?”
That was one thing I definitely knew about him: The man was blunt.
I swallowed, trying to think of what to say without offending the only person that could transport me out of this place.
“I’m just processing,” I cautiously replied. “That was very impulsive, you know? I don’t even know you, not really.” I winced when his brow furrowed, but continued. “Isn’t becoming mates a bit...permanent?”
I was about to start hyperventilating. When this was all said and done, I was going to have a stern group meeting with my spider and my vagina. They can’t just go all sex crazed and leave my brain behind.
“I’m not the demon of thinking through and responsibility,” he said wryly. “I told you before. I love the risk,” he purred. “I live for it. In fact, I haven’t felt this good in years. What if we hate each other? What if you clip your toes at the dinner table, or worse...what if you turn out to be a vegetarian?” he shuddered with a chuckle. “The possibilities are endless.”
His blasé, pleased face confused the hell out of me. I stared as he folded his hands behind his head and looked up at the expansive blank sky overhead, not a care in the world. I glanced at the bright red mark on his neck, and my spider preened.
“Is it reversible?” I asked.
“Nope. Isn’t that fun?”
“You’re insane,” I deadpanned.
“And you’re overthinking this. You wanted me as a mate. I wanted the risk. You need to feed, and I need to fuck you again and again. This arrangement can be mutually beneficial. Besides, we have much bigger problems.”
At the mention of said problems, I closed my eyes and forced all thoughts of Spector away. I wasn’t ready to leave, even though I was uncertain about this whole mate business. I knew that the moment we went back, Spector would bring us in and we’d be trapped once more.
“We have to go back, Wicked Love,” he whispered before turning on his side to face me. I let out a shaky exhale.
“I know. My aunt is in trouble, and I can’t leave Tomb and Crow there. My spider came here to rescue her mates, and I want to help her.”
“It’s so odd how you consider yourself separate entities. They’re your mates, too. This is your mission as much as it is hers,” Risk observed before trailing a finger up my thigh. I shivered with lust.
I knew what he was saying was true. The line between her needs and mine had become so blurred that I couldn’t make sense of where I ended and she began. “So what are we going to do? You can’t just turn yourself in to Spector,” I said, changing the subject. I didn’t like the way Risk knew what I was feeling.
“Why not?”
I shot up from my seat in the clouds and twisted my body to stare at him. Naturally, his eyes completely avoided my incredulous expression and zeroed in on my bare breasts. “Did you not hear what I was saying? Spector is a powerhouse of crazy, and they want you. You need to stay far away.”
“Sounds like a fun risk to me,” he replied while reaching out to cup my neck. His palm was hot and needy, and in an instant, he was pulling me on top of him. More tension filled the air as I straddled his hard, powerful body.
“You’re crazy,” I said, shaking my head at him.
“You’re delicious,” he replied, leaning up to suck and nip at the curve of my breast.
I smiled and threaded my fingers through his hair. “You know, Tomb is going to want to beat your ass when he finds out you’re my mate too.”
Risk chuckled. “He can try.”
“He’s a gargoyle.”
“I’m a full demon,” he countered. “It’ll be an entertaining fight. What about Crow? Will he be angry? Two against one sounds like fun odds.”
I chuckled. “Crow isn’t as possessive as Tomb.”
“Shame. I was looking forward to kicking both of their asses.”
The humor seeped from my expression, and I yanked on his hair to make him look me in the eye. “You won’t actually hurt each other, will you?”
He leaned forward and sucked my lower lip into his mouth before answering. “Demons are alphas. It’s in our nature to battle. But...it’s also in our nature to fuck our mate, and that one usually wins out.”
“Usually?” I stressed.
That infuriatingly sexy smirk of his came back. “You’re going to have to keep up with the whole risk concept.”
I shook my head and slipped off him, looking down as my feet sunk slightly in the puffy clouds. “Okay, what’s the plan? We need to figure out what we’re going to do.”
He sighed and sat up, scrubbing his hands down his face. “Eager to leave so soon?”
“It’s not that. I’d stay in here forever with you if I could...and if the others were safe with me. Tomb, Crow, Cheryl, my aunt, Stiles...”
“Who the fuck is Stiles?” he suddenly asked, looking pissed.
I gaped at the sparks snapping off his knuckles. “Umm, my half-brother.”
The sparks were quenched in an instant. “Ah.”
With a snap of his fingers, we were both fully clothed again, in the same outfits as before. “Thank you,” I said.
He stood up, buttoning his suit jacket and looking just as perfect as before. “You’re welcome. Now hold your breath.”
“For wh—”
Before I could finish the words, his arm was wrapped around my waist, and that same vacuum-packed sensation of being sucked through eternity wrenched over my body. I was squeezed and pulled, nearly bursting from the inside out, and then it was over, and I was slumped against the elevator wall once again.
I reared up and smacked him on the arm. “You bastard. A little warning would’ve been nice!” I hissed.
Risk chuckled before leaning in and placing a smoldering kiss on my lips that made me forget that I’d been pissed at him.
“Better?” he murmured against my lips.
“No,” I grumbled.
He reached around and pinched me on the ass. “Liar. You owe me another gamble.”
I rolled my eyes before reaching up and straightening his tie where it had gotten wind-whipped from teleporting. “Fine. What gamble am I taking this time?” I asked snarkily.
“This one.”
Without any other warning, Risk took my wrist from where I was still fixing his tie, and before I realized what he was doing, his thumb was pressing over the charm on Spector’s bracelet.
My blue eyes flew wide. “No! We
aren’t ready! We don’t even have a plan!” I hissed.
The fucking insane risk demon just grinned as the elevator jolted up, careening all the way to the top floor.
“I know,” he said with a wink, as if this was another rush that he couldn’t wait to dive headfirst into. I wasn’t sure if he was really this driven by his need to gamble or if he just genuinely was so cocky he didn’t worry. Either way, I was certain that he didn’t understand the mess he had just walked us right into.
I watched in horror as the elevator came to a stop, and when the doors slid open, a wall of Spector guards swarmed us. One of them lunged for me, grabbing my wrists and yanking me out of the way.
Risk didn’t like that.
He didn’t like that one bit.
All amusement fled his face. “I suggest you release my mate before I burn all of you in hellfire. I’ll come willingly, but I don’t think hurting her is a risk you want to take,” he growled while shoving aside the supes trying to restrain him and positioning himself at my side. He did it as easily as someone flicking off a bug. The man holding me seemed to battle with his sense of self-preservation but ultimately decided to let me go.
“I don’t want any funny business,” one of the gruff guards said while holding up his relic.
Risk laughed at the meager threat before plucking the relic from his fingers and swallowing it whole. My gut twisted with anxiety. Was he insane? That relic was going to burn a hole in his stomach.
Everyone’s eyes widened as Risk patted his stomach. “It’s like fine whiskey,” he began while leaning closer to the guard. “Burns good on the way down.”
The guards gasped and gaped, looking back and forth at one another, as if debating on what to do. “Relics only have power if you believe in the god they represent. I only believe in myself.” At that, he turned and winked at me, proving just how cocky he was.
I shook my head. Risk was fucking with them and getting off on it.
It seemed like everyone realized at the same time that they couldn’t actually restrain Risk. They started to step back, the fear they felt evident on their faces.
“Now. I hear someone would like to speak with me?” Risk said amicably. “I suggest you hurry and fetch them before I change my mind and leave with my mate.”
His arm wrapped around my waist possessively. He really was staking his claim, and very publicly too. I wasn’t sure if his territorial behavior was necessarily a good thing. Spector had already proven that they were willing to use those close to me to get me to cooperate. I feared adding to the list of people I cared about.
The Spector guards exchanged looks.
“I’m getting impatient,” Risk warned as smoke escaped his mouth in an intimidating fashion. The small space started to reek of hellfire and brimstone, an evident threat hanging in tangible strands of smoldering fumes between us.
The guards jumped to action, guiding us out of the elevator, down the hall, and toward a side room. Their shoulders were pulled back, and they eyed us warily, likely not sure what to make of this situation. They’d originally swarmed our elevator, intending to drag us back kicking and screaming, but now it was Risk calling the shots and demanding an audience with Belvini.
As we moved, I hissed at Risk. “Can you lay off of the mate talk? I’m not sure it’s a good idea to tell them.”
Risk chuckled and replied, not bothering to lower his voice, “Are you embarrassed of me, Wicked Love? I’m wounded.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. He really didn’t understand, and I wished that I had more time to explain what sort of mess we were walking into. We should’ve spent less time rolling in the orgasms and more time plotting. “I’m not embarrassed. I just think we should keep this quiet,” I whispered in response while eyeing a particularly gruff guard on my left.
“I think that ship sailed when you moaned on my cock and branded me with your mark, darling,” he replied evenly. A few of the men stumbled on their feet. Someone coughed awkwardly. I groaned. This new mate was proving to be difficult.
“The portal is just this way,” one of the guards mumbled. His voice was conflicted. It was like the Spector guards couldn’t decide if they wanted to be polite to appease the deadly demon, or if they wanted to run the other way. In our short time together, I’d learned that Risk was the sort to demand respect and fear, so I understood their dilemma.
Risk was cocky, but he was determined. I could see it in the setting of his jaw and the precision of his gaze. I just hoped that his power and determination would survive Spector’s evil agenda.
I hoped he survived Spector.
Chapter 18
I wasn’t planning on attending this meeting with Risk, but he refused to let me out of his sight. The second we stepped through the portal and arrived back at the Spector compound, he gripped me tightly and refused to let go, and everyone was too scared to defy him.
We were guided to Belvini’s office, and each step closer made my chest constrict with anxiety. Belvini made my skin crawl. There was something so intrinsically sinister about him that even my spider wanted to creep out of my skin and escape his presence.
“Brother,” Risk greeted in a disarmingly cheery tone as we walked inside Belvini’s office.
Brother? Brother? Risk saw me bristle at that label and smirked over at me. Unease slipped down my spine.
“Hmm. Brother is a loose term, don’t you think?” Belvini replied dryly. He was sitting at his desk, fingers threaded together and resting on the glass top in front of him. He looked unimpressed and irritated. It was obvious in the way he seethed that he didn’t like that Risk took control of his own capture. “Our mother had entire legions of spawn. You were just another egg in the nest.”
Hysterical visions of a naked Risk emerging from a giant egg made me want to snort, but I reined in the impulse. The corner of my new mate’s mouth ticked just a fraction of an inch, as if he could predict what I was imagining.
“Oh, so your reason for this meeting wasn’t to organize a family reunion?” Risk bantered with a sly grin. My hand was clasped in his, a detail that hadn’t escaped Belvini’s hard stare. I was uncomfortable at the blatant display, but Risk wouldn’t let me shake him off. “Shame. I already invited Lust and Greed. The RSVPs were sent and everything.”
I squeezed Risk’s hand, silently pleading with him to stop goading Belvini. My own brush with demons taught me that they were always looking to flex their dominance and assert themselves as the biggest, baddest one in the room. But now was not the time to challenge Belvini.
“You know I don’t associate with them,” the annoyed Spector president said with a sneer. It looked like he was sucking on a lemon, as if the idea of spending time with other demons made him sick. If that was the case, then why was he building an entire army of us?
“You don’t associate with a lot of us or our ways anymore, do you? You even changed your name, Collector.”
Collector? Risk’s name seemed appropriate for his own particular tastes, and I was now looking at Belvini with newfound understanding. He was a collector—a hoarder of objects, people, and power.
“Don’t call me that,” Belvini snapped.
My eyes travelled between the two of them. It was like watching a very intense ping pong match and trying to count the score. So far, I had a feeling that Risk was winning.
Risk’s eyes flicked to the amber amulet on Belvini’s neck. “Using little rocks to subdue your powers?” He tsked with a shake of his head. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you can’t control your hunger to hoard.”
Belvini glowered. The furious tension between them was palpable. I wanted to crawl out of there and get away from their crossfire, but my spider stood her ground. She wanted to support our new mate, even if he was impulsive and probably a touch insane. It would take some getting used to his impulsive nature and his addiction to adrenaline and chance.
“I’ve heard about this latest venture of yours. Collecting hybrids is your newest way to get off, yes?
And now you need me. To be honest, I’m offended that you thought I’d be taken so easily. Do you not remember Prague?” Risk asked, while taking a step closer toward Belvini’s desk. Though his tone was playful, his eyes bled with threatening char. “Although, I suppose I should thank you. I’m very pleased with my new pet, and I have you to thank for sending her.” At that, Risk pulled me closer and rubbed his lips against the edge of my ear, growling with suggestive possessiveness.
I frowned over at him. His new pet?
Belvini cast a cool look in my direction. “When I implied that you should lure him, I didn’t mean for you to go so far as to fuck him, Miss Coven.” He shook his head, like I’d gravely disappointed him. “At least your spider didn’t manage to kill him.”
I stiffened my spine like a block of wood, but Risk simply sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk and pulled me onto his lap with him. I tried to get up, but he wasn’t having it and locked his hand around my waist dominatingly.
“You know better than that,” Risk replied to him. “A lowly creature demon can’t kill me.”
Warning bells screeched in my ears. What the fuck was happening? I wanted out of this office. I wanted away from these men. My spider was growing anxious, pacing around inside of me, and I felt like I was about to miss a step and go tumbling down.
“Good to know. She may serve other purposes for me then,” Belvini replied, his eyes skating over me, still dressed up in my seductive clothes, with tousled just-fucked hair.
I went frozen. Completely still. I wasn’t even able to take in a breath.
“I don’t think my new pet likes you very much, Collector,” Risk replied with amusement.
He began to stroke me, like he was doing it simply because he could. I cringed from his touch. This was all wrong. Inside, my stomach was twisted like a towel being wrung out, dripping with edginess and making a puddle of fear. I suddenly felt off-balance, like everyone in the room was three steps ahead of me.