Page 12 of Broken Shadows (Corrupt Shadows Duet #2)

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lorcan

Is it more appropriate to burn the manor down, therefore smoking out my houseguests , or violently evict them with shadows?

“Fuck,” I curse and stab my fingers into my hair as I pace in front of the pool table. This was the only room I’m positive the others have yet to explore. No doubt if Aiden and Ezra knew, my hideout would be no more.

Perhaps Evie had the right idea with the graveyard; dead humans don’t speak—well, most of the time.

A memory of a young female ghost singing and swinging on a playground crosses my mind’s eye.

Evie’s presence consumes every breath and pours down my throat.

The Human Realm finally awaits, no phantom strings yanking me back to the Shadow Realm.

I’m fucking free .

My heart rate slows and a true smile eases onto my face. Yet, the only place I want to be is wherever my little witch is.

I exhale with a barely detectible growl, and rub a hand over my face, enjoying the momentary reprieve from my mask.

Baby Girl , I call down our bond. A minute passes in silence and my throat clogs with anxiety. Shit. Mayb—

Yes, My Demon?

Oh, thank fuck. Come to me. I feel more than hear her sweet, mental laughter.

Desperate?

Yes, I growl and send the memory of her face slackened with bliss as I fucked her in the graveyard.

That’s cheating, she gasps in my mind.

I’m a demon. It’s a rite of passage. Evie’s lust builds, strumming our bond and hardening my cock. I groan. Come. Here.

Well, since you asked so nicely, she replies, then smooths her end of the bond shut.

My lips quirk to one side as her soft, unhurried footsteps sound moments later.

Depraved thoughts skitter across my mind as she walks into the room, closing the door behind her. Her long, unbound hair swaying against the small of her back with the movement. Evie presses her back against the door and bites her lip.

I growl darkly. “That lip… What have I said about biting it?”

Evie’s mouth parts and her teeth release the plump flesh. She glances up at me as I grip the edge of the pool table, and my breath catches.

Her smile falters as she scans my face seriously. “Why am I here, Lorcan?” she asks, rounding the game table and halting at my side.

I straighten my spine, then cross my arms over my chest, forcing my hands to obey and not pull her to me. “Nothing. I’ve changed my mind. You can go back to whatever you were doing,” I state casually and shrug.

Evie’s eyebrows pitch inward, and her eyes darken. “No,” she says simply.

“No?”

“No. I’m not going to leave when you have that look in your eye.”

I scoff. “I do not have a look.”

“You do. It’s the same look you get when you tell me to run.”

“Fuck,” I moan and tip my head back. “Baby Girl, I don’t have enough restraint for this.”

“Why did you call for me?”

I exhale and grip the nape of my neck with both hands. My gaze lowers and pins Evie with a heated glare. “Because I… godsdamnit…” I exhale through my nostrils.

Words, Lorcan.

My hands flex at my sides. “Fucking, Hellfire. I missed you, Little Witch. Okay?” Evie’s jaw drops and her lips form a perfect O, then her teeth snap together and her lips pinch inward, her brown eyes sparkling with… Is that mirth? Oh, for fuck’s sake.

I need to move this conversation onto familiar ground. “And I want you…I always want you,” I growl and take a step toward her, shadows swirling on my arms and covering the ground by our feet. “No, I fucking need you. The craving to be buried inside you, drawing out your pleasure haunts my every fucking breath. I can’t stay away from you. I. Won’t.”

“I never asked you to, Lor,” Evie says. “There has to be a happy medium.” Pausing, she inhales sharply. “Despite my better intentions, I crave you too. But I never know if I want to suck your cock or slap you for all the shit you’ve put me through.”

I raise a brow and will a shadow to grasp her chin. “I don’t know what you expect me to do with that statement. There is no middle ground for me. If I touch you, I’ll fuck you.”

Evie laughs darkly. “I thought you had more control than that.”

A growl crawls out of my throat as I step up to her, push my chest against her, and force her neck to tilt backward. “And I thought you had better sense than to goad me,” I snarl, my hands shaking, the need to grip her throat and claim her all over again pounding through my entire body. My shadows swell and pulse around us in time with the muscle in my chest.

My witch laughs. “You need me,” she states. “Now, shut the fuck up and kiss me, Demon.”

I raise a hand, hover it near her cheek, then lower my lips until they skim hers as I speak, and Primal lust sharpens my words. “Is that a challenge?”

“Absolutely.”

I groan. “Fuck.” My shadows explode in a tsunami of darkness, erasing the space between us. I loop Evie's long, gorgeous hair around my hand and plunder her mouth with my tongue. Dark musings plague my mind as Evie and I stumble and crash blindly into the wall. I moan as her tongue teases my tastebuds. Damn. Her mouth is fucking sinful. My hips buck against her involuntarily.

I need to be inside her.

Throbbing desire spreads throughout my balls the more I imagine thrusting my cock into her dripping cunt. Evie moans as my erection rubs against her pussy, the only barrier between us my fitted gray joggers and her thin leggings. My witch’s hand curls around the back of my neck as she pulls her lips from mine with a gasp.

For a moment we just stare at each other, our panting breaths mingling between us, then I roll my hips slowly, grinding salaciously against her. The heat of her seeps through the fabric barrier tauntingly. Pressure builds in my balls, and I hum as I cup the back of her head, spearing my fingers through her silky strands.

“The things I want to do to you, Little Witch.” I brush my nose against hers, tilt her head back, then wage war on her mouth once more.

My shadows condense, swirling into the tattoos on my body, but don’t calm. They vibrate with unspent lust and magic. Evie moans and my cock twitches against her, pre-cum soaking into the fabric of my pants. “Godsdammit,” I breathe, absolutely consumed by lust; the urge to spread her out on the green felt and feast on her vulnerable body nearly overwhelming.

My tongue bumps along the ridges on the roof of her mouth, then I cup a full breast in my hand, squeezing and kneading it through her shirt. “Remind me to fuck these tits again soon.” The muscles in my neck tighten as my demonic senses pick up a loathsome sound in the hallway.

No. Nothing will stop me from drawing as much pleasure as I can from her.

I throw all of myself into our kiss, gripping our bond and stroking a claw down its length with every caress of my lips, while willing the tenacious annoyance away from our location.

I continue kissing Evie as I cup her ass, stride to the pool table, lower her onto the Kelly green felt, then follow her down. My forearms slide against the soft fabric as I crawl up her body and spread her thighs with my knees. Evie moans beneath me, the scent of her arousal-soaked pussy clouding my thoughts. Cringe worthy wing beats cleave through the haze of desire, stroking my body and mind with flame coated fingers. I should’ve known better than to wish for her familiar to leave us be.

Fucking foolish.

Evie squirms, pool balls clacking as she tries to get up, but I trap her to the table with my hips. My exposed neck zings with slight pain as Gomez’s fangs puncture the skin. “Godsdamn bat,” I hiss. Disentangling my fingers from Evie’s hair, I blindly swat away Fluffy Fucker. He screeches, his wings displacing the air as he flies away from us.

He's gotten even worse with his constant interruptions. I thought his behavior was intolerable before, but now he's a horrible nuisance that will never disappear.

Evie smiles against my lips as I exhale sharply through my nose, then twists her face away from mine, our cheeks pressing together as we seek out the annoying fucker.

Gomez hovers about two feet away, his beady little eyes narrowed with distrust. They flick to Evie, and I swear to fuck the bat smiles, two tiny fangs peeking past his lips. Evie laughs, then curls her arms around my sides.

I glare hellfire at the cute little shit and my shadows rise around him threateningly. Squeezing Evie’s cheeks with a tattooed hand, I twist her face back to mine, then move to claim her lips. The soft pads of my little witch's fingers press against my puckered lips.

“We can’t make out in front of him,” Evie whispers.

I growl, then climb off the pool table and cross my arms. My growl rumbles throughout the room as Evie sets her clothes to rights, swivels her ass on the felt, and jumps to the hardwood floor. “What the fuck does he want?”

Her head tilts to the side as if listening or rather, sorting through the bat’s emotions, then glances from me to her familiar. Her shoulders fall. “He doesn't trust you.”

My nostrils flare, then I spear Gomez with a poisonous glare. “I have done nothing but care for our witch.” I jab a finger into the air between us and the bat flinches.

Shit.

It’s not like I would actually harm the creature.

Wait… What the fuck am I thinking?

My fingers curl into tight fists. “Every time you interrupt us is less enchanting than the last,” I growl. “It. Will. Cease.”

Gomez chirps, then flies to Evie’s shoulder and snuggles against her. Her fingers sink into his fluffy fur and for a moment something ugly pierces my brain.

Those fingers should be wrapped around my cock right now, not giving him godsdamn belly scratches.

My eyelid twitches again and my growl increases in volume as a realization stuns me.

I'm jealous of a fucking bat.

I exhale sharply, stabbing a hand through my hair.

Absolutely ridiculous.

“I don’t think blueberries will solve this one,” Evie jokes, the corners of her kiss swollen lips twitching.

I glare at her, then rub the skin of my eyelid, attempting to stop the skin from fluttering inconveniently. “Very cute, Witch, but I’m serious.” A headache throbs into existence over my left eye.

“What if you got him a present? Gomey loves them,” Evie ponders and scrunches her lips to the side.

“A present… for a bat.”

“I honestly think it could work. Rosa is always getting him little treats and gifts, and he loves her,” Evie elaborates. Her fingers scoop Gomez up under his wings, cuddling him to her chest in a hug. I scoff, striding to the opposite side of the pool table. It’s better to have distance between us before I snap his fragile fucking neck. “Gomey, can you go find Rosa? I’m sure she can find you a yummy treat to nibble on,” she coos, then kisses him on the nose. Gomez chirps once, glares at me, then flies through the doorway.

“I think you both are jealous of each other,” Evie says, her eyes twinkling with humor.

I growl defensively. “I am not jealous of your fucking bat.”

“So, you say, but the twitching of your eyelid and permanent snarl face in his presence shows otherwise,” she aptly points out.

I lower the lip I didn’t realize curled away from my teeth. “Shit,” I mutter.

Aiden shouts excitedly in the hall, “Hey, you two love birds!”

“For fuck’s sake,” I growl under my breath. I twist my head slowly, then stare at the side of her smiling face with darkening, narrow eyes as I slip my mask from my back pocket and slide it over my face. She flicks a glance in my direction and her body jerks, a boisterous snort turned into a laugh breaking past her control.

“Hi, Aiden,” Evie replies, and waves. Aiden bounds into the room, his laughter joining hers, then adjusts his peach ball cap, his blond hair curling around the edges.

Slipping his hands into his pockets, he bobs his head and looks around the room. “Sooo, what are you guys up to? I’m so bored.”

“I have an idea,” Evie says, a smirk playing across her lips. Oh, Hell no. “Aiden, why don’t you go with Lorcan to town? He wants to pick out a present for Gomez.”

“Absolutely not,” I hiss, but my denial falls to the wayside as Aiden’s joy circumvents my attempts.

“Hell yes!” he screams, then holds up his hand as if waiting for someone to slap it. He lets it hang there for a moment, then drops it, a brilliant, shiny smile taking over more than half his face. “Bro bonding time,” he continues,” I’ve wanted to hang out with you forever, Bro Demon. You’re not so bad when all of your time isn’t spent threatening to torture me in Hell.” Aiden’s blue eyes flick from Evie’s watery, mirth filled ones to mine. “You know, to peel my skin off or feed me to the wild dogs in the pits. Remember?”

Fucking traitor, I send down the bond to Evie.

Relax, I promise I’ll make it up to you later, Evie responds in kind and saunters over to me, her hips swaying sensually. Her pointer and middle finger walk up my sternum, then jab into my pec. Don't be such a grumpy asshole. Take him with you. I'm sure he will be much better at picking out a present than you would alone.

“As a matter of fact,” Evie says, speaking aloud, “you should ask Ezra to come along too.” My jaw drops as my witch winks, then glides from the room.

I growl into her mind, You’ll pay for this, Witch.

She replies huskily, Looking forward to it, Demon.

Her voice filters into my consciousness and wraps around my cock as if it’s her tongue, then a shiver skates over my skin.

I’ve created a fucking monster.

Evie’s laughter floats down the bond before I disengage our minds and focus on the present.