Page 31

His fingers slid to the back of her neck then moved up along her scalp. Her breath caught at the scrape of his nails along her scalp and the sudden plunge of his tongue with a hungry groan. Three seconds of that ecstasy stripped her down to pulsing, aching pleasure points. Then just as suddenly, he retreated to his side of the car with a soft, “Ready?”

Larena panted with her eyes closed, her mind still sizzling as her body and breaths shook. He was taking her apart. From the inside out. Unraveling her. All her powers were gone, her strength flicked aside with mere touches and looks. The closest thing to the feeling was when she assumed a human body. That’s exactly how he made her feel. Small, helpless, fragile. Weak. All while being far too alive. More than she’d ever been in all her existence.

She opened her door and got out, needing to escape the thick blanket of rapture crushing her lungs. She looked around at the nearly empty parking lot, finding it all so strange. Like she no longer belonged on the planet.

Reuban appeared and wrapped his arms tightly around her. “You’re okay.”

She shook her head, clinging to him. “I’mnot,” she strained, pressing her head into his chest. “What about themothers?” she choked, his arms tightening around her.

“What if I told you that I think this is all part of Raviel’s plan? That it was supposed to happen?”

The possibility alone shocked her and she pulled back, searching his face. “You’re being serious?”

He nodded at her then blew apart her focus with his lips on her forehead. “Very. I think the war has changed and the boy requires something special from us.”

She was back to perplexed, digging for understanding.

“Raviel will explain it,” he assured.

That’s right. He’d mentioned he was coming that night. She struggled to maintain her train of thought while her body remembered what else was coming that night. All night.

“Your arousal is the most intoxicating thing I’ve ever experienced,” he said, the soft confession licking along her skin. “And I no longer care that it’s forced.”

The violation twisted inside her, wrong in several ways. “What if… not all of it is forced.”

Her gaze caught on his perfect mouth spreading in a seductive smile. “That wouldn’t be much of a punishment.”

She considered it from that angle, now wondering exactly how he felt about all of it. His forced part included. “Unless… you… maybe liked performing the punishment.”

His mouth covered hers as he breathed her name with his aching “Mmmm,” that demanded she return the glorious pleasure back to him. “I do like it,” he swore against her lips, missing her meaning.

“How do you know… that’s not forced too?”

He angled his head as if spotting something in her gaze. “What if it is?”

She realized there were too many meanings to answer that question but wasn’t ready to clarify, not out loud. “I don’t like that I forced anything on you.”

****

The mall’s fluorescent glare stung Reuban’s eyes, a sterile cage of glass and tile that hummed like a dying star. Late hour, nearly closing, and the place felt hollow—scuffed floors swallowing his steps, the faint whiff of stale pretzels clogging his nose. His empath senses twitched, catching flickers of life. A janitor’s mop sloshed in lazy arcs, its rhythm a dull pulse… two teens shuffled past, hoods up, their giggles sharp againstthe quiet. A woman in a red coat hustled toward the exit, bags thudding like heartbeats.

Reuban allowed the click of his black oxfords to ground him as the Sinner’s Bond burned low in his veins from the SUV’s inferno. He’d ordered Larena to stay close and she obeyed him in inches, maintaining a distance he could span with a flick of his wrist. The submission was expected but the arousal it brought him required its own discipline. Every dark corner presented itself as the perfect confessional where he punished her for every clever misdeed his cock could construe as sin. He was beginning to realize the Sinner’s Bond didn’t exist to merely punish her for moral crimes but also came with erotic reparations for the victim—him. And his ever-hungry cock.

He stepped into a department store and headed for the racks sprawled out like a battlefield. In the men’s department, his fingers grazed a black leather jacket. Kross filled his mind as he lifted it. “For our soon to beBigKing,” he said smoothly, eyeing Larena. “Substantial and befitting a King.”

Larena gave a light snort, leaning against a clearance bin, her boot tapping a jagged rhythm. “Perfect for a spark in a powder keg,” she said, green eyes slicing the jacket like a threat. “Leather’ll make him bolder.”

She said it like he itched to crack the heavens. But her words were laced with ghosts of Nephilim she’d fought, so he let it slide.

He handed her the jacket, and she took it then snatched a gray hoodie from a rack and tossed it at him. “Something plain. To remind him he’s also human, not just your shiny new King.”

Reuban caught it, fingers sinking into the fabric, a smile tugging his lips. “My astute little mother,” he murmured, slicing his gaze at her, wanting to suddenly nurse from her breasts. He draped the hoodie over his shoulder as her pulse spiked in his senses.

She tossed him black cargo pants next. Reuban eyed the rugged build then checked the size. “Find me this with a thirty-four waist and same length.”

She moved with that angelic proficiency, whacking through the selection. “Human or not, he’s got eyes like hers, but… sharper,” she murmured. “Like he’s seen too much.” Her words softened, a confession slipping through her barbs.

Reuban caught the cargos she tossed at him and added them over his shoulder. “Eyes like hers, yes,” he said, moving to a shirt rack. “…carrying love, not ruin.” He added a black ribbed sweater to his pile then made his way to a display of boots. He lifted a pair, testing their heft. Perfect. He found a size thirteen and tucked them under his other arm, crossing the aisle into the men’s undergarments.