Page 18 of Another Damned Storm (Another Damned #3)

HOOK

I didn’t know what to make of the demons Never let escape, but once they were out of sight, all that mattered was that she was safe.

It certainly didn’t hurt that she responded to my kiss in a way that soothed my ego even as it riled my passion. Tongues and teeth clashing. Paying no mind to the street around us that was littered with demon bodies, their blood streaming down the gutters with the falling rain.

I pulled back, admiring the amber glow in her eyes when she blinked up at me. The woman was breathtaking all on her own, but knowing my power coursed through her veins, seeing the evidence of it right there in front of me, was a pleasure unlike any other.

With a reluctant sigh, her vision cleared and she straightened. I released my hold, letting her put space between us when it was the last thing I wanted.

“We need to talk.” She ran the pad of her index finger over her bottom lip. “Somewhere private.”

That touch suggested she wanted privacy for sensual reasons, and while her desire was like liquid heat coming through our connection, there was a sense of apprehension beneath it.

I scanned our surroundings, noting a number of people watching us from behind a large steel fence across the street. More peered out through windows and shadowed doorways.

“Do you have a location in mind?” I asked.

“Maybe twenty-six years ago. But now?” She shook her head.

We crossed the street, and her brother was there waiting for us. Through the closed gate, the armed guards on either side of him eyed us suspiciously. Or was their thinly veiled hostility aimed only at me? It was hard to say.

Either way, they kept their mouths shut as Never’s brother directed us down the street to an abandoned shop, with explicit orders to keep an eye out for rogue demons. They might come with the storms, but once they were in the city, many would go into hiding until nightfall.

Whether concealing themselves was instinctual or calculated, however, was yet to be seen.

The shop was boarded up, with a heavy chain and padlock securing the doors. “Are you sure this is the right place?” I asked.

Never shoved her wet hair out of her face. “I’m not sure of much at the moment.”

That was not reassuring. I broke the chain and opened the door. “Remain here until I’ve had a chance to secure the space.”

She rolled her eyes affectionately. “I’m not a weak little human anymore.”

“You were never weak.” She might have had a fragile mortal body, but it housed a willful soul that did not know how to quit.

“You get my point.”

I arched a brow. “That doesn’t mean I’m willing to let you venture into a potential demon’s lair ahead of me. ”

She flashed me a sly look. “I guess chivalry isn’t dead after all.”

Was she mocking me?

“Just wait. Please.” It might not have been a request, technically, but the please had to count for something.

Her lips twitched, which I took as a yes.

The moment I stepped through the door, I knew it was empty.

The air was stale, as though nothing had stirred it in years.

My boots left prints in the dust coating the floors, and mold clung to the corners.

Those dark spots climbed the walls and crawled along the ceiling, staining them a sickly color in the dim light.

It took only a few moments to check the space. Just three mostly empty rooms, save for a couple of dented metal chairs and a battered counter that looked as though a gentle nudge might send it crashing to the floor.

Light pierced the gloom and I spun to see Never peering through the open door. “We good?”

Stubborn didn’t even begin to describe her. “All is well.”

She slipped inside, then spun the lock on the door before turning to me. “I have questions,” she said with a sultry note to her voice that pulled my cock to attention.

“Starting with?” I asked, slowly closing the distance between us. A pulse of desire licked up my spine, but I couldn’t tell if it was coming from me or her.

“How are you here?”

“Magic.”

Her eyelids fluttered. “No shit. What kind of magic?”

“It’s not important.” I would tell her about Anya, eventually. Just not right at that moment. Not when I hadn’t seen her in days.

A little huff. “I thought you would be pissed at me.”

I was inches away when I gave her the truth.

“I am.” I let a sliver of what I was feeling bleed out of me.

Despite the fact that I understood her reason for returning to the Alius, even if it was just a waypoint between the Nassa and the human realm, I was angry that she left.

Or perhaps it had more to do with the way she left.

It didn’t matter that I knew it was coming. Waking up to find her gone was like a knife to the heart.

Her expression heated as she reached down and grabbed me by the belt, pulling me closer. “Would it help if I told you I didn’t want to leave?”

I searched her gaze, letting her emotions wash through me. “A little,” I hedged.

Her fingers worked my belt free. The button and zipper quickly followed. “But I still owe you an apology, don’t I?”

When her hand found my hardening cock, I sucked in a breath.

She leaned in, but instead of kissing me, she just lightly brushed her lips against mine. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Then she sank slowly to her knees.

I gripped her by her hair, forcing her to look up at me. “Forgiveness might not come so easily.”

A smirk played across her face as a jolt of need rocked me where I stood. Rather than respond with words, she flicked out her tongue and raked it up my length, pulling a hiss out of me. When she took me into her mouth, hot and wet, I couldn’t contain my groan.

It had only been days, but from the way my body reacted to her touch, it may as well have been years.

She teased and sucked, working me with her hand as well as her talented lips.

With every other stroke, I slid deeper, and deeper still.

Our connection amplified all of it because I could feel what she was feeling.

All the want, the need, the determination. And her deep-seated affection .

I tightened my grip on her hair, struggling to hold onto my control. “Never,” I growled her name without meaning to, and when I looked down, she was looking up at me, a goddess on her knees with my cock buried down her throat. “Is this your apology?”

She hummed in response, the vibration rippling throughout my body.

There was a part of me that wanted to keep things slow and easy. To let her make amends the way she saw fit. The other part wanted to punish her for leaving. It was a ridiculous notion, but that vengeful part of me tangled fingers in her hair and angled her head just right.

“You’re going to have to work harder than that, love.” I thrust deep, savoring the way her eyes flew wide and her fingers anchored to my hips. Still, I couldn’t just abuse her pretty lips without giving her an out. “Tap three times if I need to stop.” I showed her with a firm tap to her wrist.

A better man probably would have pulled his cock out of her gorgeous mouth and let her reply. As I’d learned many times over with Never, when it came to her, I was not a better man.

She narrowed her eyes, and a sense of challenge raced down the link.

Very well.

I held her hair tight with one hand, braced the other on the wall behind her, and drove my cock deep into her hot mouth and down her throat. I did it again and again, savoring the sounds she made with each stroke.

A wave of possessiveness rose up inside me and I rode it, thrusting harder, gripping tighter.

Her hands never left my hips. Not even when I buried myself to the hilt, her hot throat enveloping my cock, and I held her there.

And held. Because the fire in her eyes when she looked up at me, tears streaming down her cheeks… it was so very addictive .

I pulled back and she gasped for breath around me, but I only gave her a couple of seconds before I cut off her air again and held her. The way her nails dug into my skin, and her throat convulsed around me, threatened my control.

This woman made me feel in ways I’d never thought possible.

“Should I come down your lovely throat?” I asked, my voice rough to my own ears. I eased back and she sucked in air. Before she could answer, I shoved back in ruthlessly. “Blink once for no and twice for yes.”

For several seconds, she just glared up at me without blinking at all. Then one slow blink followed another.

Vixen.

I was dangerously close. The tingle in the base of my spine was quickly growing into an inferno. I pulled halfway out, gave her a second to draw a breath, and buried myself in her again. “Now?”

She answered with another challenging stare before giving me two more slow blinks.

I should have pulled back, but I held a few seconds longer. I’d seen this woman in every state of undress. Above me, below me, straddling my face. That last one, admittedly, was one of my favorites, but none of those was as beautiful to my dominating soul as this one.

Her fingers twitched at my hips, a sign I was pushing her limits even as the amber glow around her irises brightened. A cacophony of emotions poured into me, driving my pleasure that much higher. I eased back once more, clenching my teeth against the welling orgasm.

“Hold on tight, love,” I ground out. Her short fingernails bit into my flesh, but I barely felt it as I drove deep. Again and again.

I came hard, with her hair fisted in my hand and her throat swallowing desperately around my pulsing cock. And I knew, right then, that I could not let her walk out of my life again, no matter the reason.

No matter the cost.

If she had no choice but to return to the Alius, I would find a way to go with her. Because I would gladly burn in hell beside her if it meant I would never have to draw another breath without her.

When I was spent, my legs on the verge of trembling, I hauled her to her feet, pressed her to the wall and kissed her deep and slow, savoring our mingled flavors.

After several languid minutes, Never broke the kiss with a hand pressed to my chest. Her expression was a perfect mirror for the mix of satisfaction, vulnerability, and passion filling me up inside. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

I bracketed her face in my hands, using my thumbs to gently wipe away the remnants of her tears. “Always.” For any sin.