Destruction of Two: A Reverse Harem Series (Origins of the Six Book 3)

by A. K. Koonce

  I kick them and my shoes off, standing before her with blood pumping hard through my veins.

  “Come here, mi corazón.”

  She walks to me the moment I speak and I take her small hand and guide her into a big open shower. The pipes don’t make a sound as I turn the knob and I hold her at arm’s length until the steady water warms beneath my touch. And then I pull her flush against me, the perfect curves of her body sliding against mine as I watch the emotion in her gaze grow just from the feel of our bodies meeting just right.

  “Did anyone hurt you?” I’ll kill them if they did. I’ll hunt them down and kill them all. Gladly. Even while I asked, my eyes flicked over her body. There isn’t a wound in sight. Nothing except for traces of blood, ash, glitter, and strangely colored substances that easily slide down her body with the spray of the water.

  I reach for a bar of soap and begin lathering her long dark hair with thick suds, but secretly my heart is pounding its way out of my chest to know if someone laid a hand on my mate.

  Not all wounds are superficial, after all.

  “They were demons, Malek. You can’t get vengeance for me. Not this time.” Her soft hands settle on my hips and I hate that she didn’t answer me.

  She hasn’t said a damn thing about what happened. And I know something did. Something to give her that terrified, almost vacant look in her eyes. She’d flinched when Phoenix and Saint had pulled her into a hug, I’d heard her fucking heartbeat. I’d smelt her fucking fear.

  “You can tell me. You can tell me anything, Izzy.” I brush my thumb along the dirt on her face but soon enough I’m just cradling her head in my hands as the water washes over us.

  “I’m okay,” she whispers.

  Clear water glistens her face as she looks up at me with pure affection and my heart blooms to life under her attention.

  “Okay,” I relent.

  Her brows lift in disbelief.

  Probably because I don’t believe me either.

  But I won’t press her.

  I have her here when I thought I might never see her again. She’s here. That’s what’s important. She’ll tell me when she’s ready.

  “Tell me what hurts then.” I massage soap along her slender shoulders and over the slick ridge of her wing, and her head rolls from side to side as I work her body without ever touching her where I really want my fingers to explore. Her beautiful wings shift in a way that makes me realize she’s enjoying my hands on her body.

  I wait for her to tell me how to take care of her aches and pains but her fingers wrap slowly around my wrist. She guides my fingertips down the valley of her breasts, teasing the slick mounds just slightly before she pushes my palm down her stomach, across her hips, and finally between her thighs.

  “Right here,” she says on a shaking sigh.

  My lips part with a slow smile. I hover over that smirk against her lips, never closing the distance of the water that cascades down our mouths.

  “You hurt right here, mi corazón?” My palm rocks slowly against her sex and her back arches as she nods her head needily to me.

  My fingers slide slowly down the slickness of her folds and my cock throbs at the feel of her hot pussy.

  “What about right here?” I tease her entrance circling slowly before sliding back up.

  “Yeah,” she whimpers out and I breathe in that sigh of desperation like it fills my soul itself.

  I push hard across her clit and her knees shake, nails digging into my shoulders as she presses her slick chest fully against me.

  “Right here?” I whisper against her ear, my lips brushing just faintly.

  “Mmmm,” is all she says as she nods hard, her lashes clenched close as heavy breaths push from her lungs.

  My lips are worshiping along her wet skin as my fingers are worshiping between her thighs and all I want to do is bury myself in her and make her understand how hard my heart beats for her.

  But then, the sound of a throat clearing cuts into my plans.

  Droplets cling to my lashes when I look up and find a demon leaning casually against the tile wall, water spraying over his white shoes that are crossed one over the other. A smug smile presses to his lips when my eyes meet his.

  “Shower sex is actually not the healthiest way to fuck. UTI’s, the danger of falling, things sliding into the wrong place at the wrong time. The bedroom’s a pretty safe environment. I get that that can be kind of vanilla too, but if you wanted to spice things up, I think she has three other boyfriends you could share with.” Phoenix’s arms fold across his wet white shirt, and I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted to rip his throat open so bad in my entire life.

  “Do you mind?” I grind out through tightly clenched teeth.

  “Not at all. Don’t mind me,” Phoenix says, lifting his chin like he’s fully prepared to watch me fuck the woman I know he loves.

  How does he do that?

  Does being soulless completely give him the power to not give an actual fuck when I touch her? Like I am right now.

  I’m just about to tell him to fuck off when he speaks. “I want to call a truce.”

  At that my eyebrow lifts and I finally slide my hand fully away from Izzy’s sex, hating that I’m giving in to an incubus instead of giving her exactly what she wants. If our roles were reversed, he’d fuck her in front of me without even hesitating.

  But mating, it’s intimate. I love seeing her so raw beneath my touch.

  And maybe it’s selfish, but I hate sharing that with anyone.

  “What kind of truce?” I finally ask as the warm water begins to turn cold against my skin.

  Izzy’s breath is a quiet sound like she doesn’t dare disrupt deadly animals in their natural kingdom.

  “I think you want alone time with Iz but I think Iz wants you to get your fucking head out of your ass and try to be friends with us.”

  This truce shit doesn’t sound as great as I had originally thought it would.

  “So, let me meet you on your ground,” he says.

  “My ground?”

  “Yeah, this weekend, the five of us should have a bonding experience. In the woods. Doing… whatever nature shit it is wolves like to do.”

  My eyes narrow and something at the back of my mind says this is a demonic trap preparing me for the bowels of hell. But a logical voice in the front row says he wouldn’t set a trap for someone he cares about.

  And Izzy, he fucking cares about her. Even if he can’t stand me. Shit, just him being here is proof enough of how much she’s changed him.

  Which is why he’s extending a truce.

  A long sigh pushes from my lungs as I glare the demon down. I can physically feel the pressure of her stare against my cold skin. I don’t want to trust him; this all seems vastly out of character for the incubus, and I’m wary but...

  “Fine,” I finally grind out.

  “Wow, thank you so much. I’m fuckin’ flattered,” Phoenix mocks.

  I glare at the side of his fucking face. He thinks I don’t try but I want to slam my fist through his skull every hour on the hour but I refrain and if that’s not trying then I don’t know what is.

  “I want to talk to you too,” he nods to Izzy, and she shifts against my chest.

  “Okay.” Her voice is steady like I wasn’t minutes away from fucking her a moment ago.

  “Dry off and meet me in my bunk,” he rasps in a low voice that sounds deliberately caressing.

  She swallows hard and nods to him but he’s slow to push off from the wall.

  Jesus Christ. Get out already.

  My glare stabs into his back even as he strides out. The door clicks quietly closed behind him.

  Finally, we’re alone.

  And the water is like fucking ice.

  My arms wrap all around her shivering shoulders as I press her perfect curves against me. Enormous stark wings tuck in closer to her back and I hug her even harder.

  “Come on, let’s go dry you off,” I whisper against her long, we
t hair.

  She nuzzles against me and I want to hold her here just because I know things are changing. Things will be different and it terrifies me that it might ruin what we have.

  “Thank you,” she says as she presses a slow kiss to the slick panes of my chest.

  “For the shower or for something else?”

  Her head tips up to me and there’s so much shining depth to her honey eyes. I dive into the darkest part of her gaze and never fully see everything she’s made of.

  “For everything,” she whispers.

  And then she kisses me. And we spend just a little longer holding on to one another because of the truce that might change us tomorrow.

  Thirteen

  Phoenix

  “What do you mean you force the remnants of blood in your body to your dick for sex?” Syko’s pale eyebrows are so low he looks like he might be permanently confused by Saint’s explanation.

  The moment Sasha and Heaven left, real conversations started for Saint and Syko.

  The two of them sit on his bunk across from me and I notice how close they’re sitting, how close they’ve become over the last couple of semesters. It’s only been a day but with Iz back, everything feels unexplainably good now. Our dorm room is the nicest room I’ve ever lived in. My friends are the nicest people I’ve ever lived with. My friends... shit I have friends.

  The laughter humming through the room is proof of that.

  “I mean, vampires do have some blood left in their veins. The older the vampire, the more aged his blood is. Makes him more powerful. I channel that blood lower and lower when I get turned on and... well, you know,” he wags his brows at the nephilim and I’m almost laughing out loud at the disturbed look on Syko’s face.

  “You’re making things up.”

  “It’s an erection not an election. I can’t rig it, asshole,” Saint taunts with the biggest smile cutting across his lips and I honestly don’t know if he’s lying or not now.

  The door sweeps open without a sound and all the amusement halts within me. Malek’s hand is in hers but I honestly don’t even notice the fucking brooding wolf.

  Because she’s only dressed in a small white towel.

  She shifts when she realizes all three of us are staring at her smooth, golden thighs.

  “We didn’t bring any clothes. Sorry,” she says on a quiet whisper.

  “Do not ever apologize for being naked. Please.” Saint’s smile is a manic thing now, like he might pounce on her at any moment.

  She rolls her eyes at him as she turns toward the closet but when she opens it, only men’s button ups are there.

  “Oh, right. This is the men’s corridor.” She hugs her towel a little bit closer to her chest, her big wings ruffling behind her.

  “You can wear one of my shirts,” Malek offers but I’m already pulling back my blankets.

  “Come to bed, baby.”

  Her big eyes shift from me to the soft bed I’m lying on. Her room is across the building. Separating me from her with too many halls and too many walls and I’ll be fucked if I let her out of my sight after just getting her back.

  There were a lot of things I realized in those moments when I found out she was missing.

  One, perhaps I’m not as soulless as I thought I was, because the moment I learned she’d been taken to hell, it was like a dam had broken inside me and every single fucking emotion I’d never felt in all my life came hurtling at me with all the strength of the impact of a train.

  Two, I want these sensations. Wanting in the physical aspect, I know what that is. I know lust, hatred, and anger. But those things seem so miniscule now compared to the burning need I have for Izara. A want that goes beyond my body and hers. A want that demands more.

  Three, I fucking love her. Wholly. Entirely.

  It’s like I’ve been rebirthed with the realization and with her return. I’m smiling, and the hollow emptiness within my chest pangs with a steady fullness.

  I hang on her stillness, waiting and watching and hoping like fuck she’ll come to me instead of fighting me on this.

  Please don’t go. Not yet.

  The quiet spot where my soul should be is painfully silent but when she takes slow steps toward me, warmth blooms all through my chest.

  Her hands release the soft towel. It flutters around her and then hits the floor without a sound.

  Groans hum through the room when her perfect curves are on full display.

  But I never look away from her watchful eyes.

  She lowers and smooth skin skims against my bare chest as she curls into my side. Soft hair tickles my bicep and she rests her head there, staring into my eyes. I wrap her up against me and breath her in.

  Malek slowly turns out the light and hear him more than I see him as he pushes himself up to the bunk above mine. In the muted darkness of the room, I’m oblivious to everyone else except for her.

  I can’t believe I lost her.

  I was such a fucking pussy before.

  My fingers push back her long damp hair and her eyes shine in the moonlight as she watches me watching her. It hurt to be away from her and it hurts so fucking bad now to be here with her and not say exactly what I’m thinking. My chest, my throat, my fucking breath, everything hurts because I can’t fucking say it.

  And then it fights its way out in blurting words. “I love you so fucking much, Izzy. All I feel inside myself is you. It scares the fucking shit out of me to feel all these things and try to figure out what they mean but I know what this feeling is. I know because it’s fucking terrifying and intoxicating all at the same goddamn time. I love you. I think I always have. I wanted to say it to you on prom night. I just—I love you.”

  Fuck. Why did I say all that shit? My chest rises and falls with terrified rasps of breaths. This feeling is entirely new to me and in a sense it’s overwhelming. But I can’t keep keep the words in any longer than I already have.

  A smile pulls at her lips. Delicate fingers brush along my lips and I almost wish they could shove those vomiting words back in.

  “I love you too, Phoenix.”

  My lips part. My chest expands. I’ve never felt my heart beat before but it’s bursting with happiness right now.

  “Yeah?” I ask like I might talk her out of it.

  “Yeah,” she whispers back with a smirk like I’m a total fucking idiot, and I really believe I am right now.

  Her lips brush slowly to mine and I love the taste of her, the way her lips part beneath mine and her tongue waits for me, sliding along mine the moment I invite her to. My palm pushes down her spine, over the curve of her ass and so, so low until I feel her wetness against my fingertips.

  But then logic glares down on me as I remember the real issues that are still here as I make out with my girlfriend like we have zero fucking cares in the world.

  My straining cock wants to punch myself in the dick for pulling back from her flawless fucking naked body.

  “Tell me what happened, Iz,” I whisper, my head still leaning into hers just faintly.

  “I don’t want to think about all that,” she says back, her mouth still hovering over mine with so much damn desire kissing her words it’s hard for me to even think.

  “Who took you there, baby?” My arms tighten around her. “Tell me what happened so I can protect you.”

  “I don’t know who took me. And I don’t need you guys to baby me anymore.” Her tone has a biting edge, but she’s still pressing slow kisses to my lips and I want so fucking badly to give in and kiss her back.

  “I know. I know you don’t need me,” a sigh cuts through my words and then she’s cutting me off too.

  “That’s not what I said.” A sound of pain stings her tone. “I just—I’m okay. It was confusing and exhausting. There was Osmodeus and terrible illusions and it’s so... so messed up that I felt like I belonged there and that I’m fucked up for feeling that way.”

  Osmodeus. A higher demon.

  “You’re not fucked up,�
� I say adamantly but it doesn’t change the lost sound of her voice.

  “I’m just not ready to talk about it. I don’t know.” She looks down into the darkness between us, not meeting my eyes.

  Fuck.

  I want to tell her over and over again that there’s nothing wrong with her. That she’s as close to fucking perfect as I’ve ever seen but I also don’t want to push her. I don’t understand my own emotions, how the fuck am I supposed to help someone else with theirs?

  Maybe I’m not.

  My palms slip beneath her big wings. I pull her into a tight hug, her smooth curves melding against me and I don’t know how, but I never once think about sex as I hold her in my arms.

  I just hold her.

  I comfort her.

  I love her.

  The best that I can.

  Fourteen

  Syko

  Their whispers quiet in the dark as they fall asleep and I can’t help but still watch her as she sleeps soundly. Coincidentally, so is Saint.

  We sit side by side on his bunk and I know it’s past midnight but I can’t stop talking to him. He’s this obnoxious but addicting persona that keeps drawing me back even after I walk away. A crazed part of me feels like a junkie searching for my daily fix. Saint just has that effect on people—on me.

  “You think he’s nap fucking her?” I whisper, my voice resonating loud in the spacious room.

  “Oh, definitely.”

  A quiet moan slips from her lips and I shake my head at how right he is.

  Dammit.

  “It’s weird that I’m slightly jealous that he can wet dream as much as he wants. Fantasize about her until she becomes a beautiful reality. He gets wet dreams on demand and I just have angel wings. Doesn’t seem fair,” I complain.

  My words are followed by another sexy moan out of Izara’s lush mouth. Yeah. Not fair at all.

  A beat of silence passes before Saint replies, “Incredible sexy angel wings.”