Page 135 of Broken Souls

She growls words I doubt are well wishes, but Maddox seems pleased enough with them. He turns to me as we all continue dancing. “Welcome to the family, sis.”

I beam. “Thanks...bruh.”

“Ha!” He whisks his captive away, dragging her towards the woods. My blood heats, knowing what they’re about to do. Varius’ eyes narrow on me, and I am intensely aware of the flush of my cheeks. He’s always been paranoid of my relationship with Maddox, so if he thinks his little brother has just turned me on, will he kill him?

My pulse spikes. I fish for something to say that’ll cool his jealousy. “Varius, I –”

“Ilovethe way you smell,” Aleric says from beside us. “What is that? Cocoa and cum?”

He’s dancing with Sau, and his hands are all over her body. He’s smiling at her, but if looks could kill, he would be gutted, speared through his anus, and set on fire. I’ve never seen Sau be anything more than the welcoming hostess in public, so to see her so openly hostile with an ally we need has taken me by surprise.

As if feeling my stare, Aleric turns his head to look at me. “Thank you for the invite,” he says with a grin. “I’m having a lovely time.”

“Thank you for coming,” Varius responds emotionlessly.

“Oh, I haven’t come yet.” He turns back to Sau and winks extravagantly. “Though I’m certain I will soon.”

“Come while you’re dancing with me, and I’ll cut it off,” Sau hisses.

“Oh, but how can I possibly not, love, when you talk so dirty to me?”

She pretends to stumble, then stomps on his foot with her heel. His grin only widens as he groans, “Oh, fuck, yeah, baby. Do that again.”

As they move away from us, I glance at Varius. “Um… should we intervene?”

“No,” he says tightly, though our bond tells me he wants to. “He has my permission.”

My eyes widen. I know he’s mad at his mother just as much as I am, if not more, but she is the only midwife I trust with our child. If our daughter turns out to be a hybrid, anyone else will kill her and then me while I lay there in labor.

I turn my head to keep an eye on her, but Varius grabs my chin and forces my attention back to him. “She’s the Reaper of the Sired, Micha. She’ll be fine.”

He goes back to touching me intimately every chance he gets. Then his lips find mine, and his hands squeeze my ass. His tongue strokes mine.

When he pulls back, my eyes dart to the people around us as I subtly try to keep my cool. If he keeps touching me like this though, I fear I’m going to throw myself at him without shame. My body is all too familiar with what he can do for it, and I’m craving any sort of connection with him after the week we’ve spent fighting.

His hands squeeze my ass as he lifts me up. He settles my pussy over his erection and rocks into me. I grab hold of his shoulders as I stare at him with wide eyes, my blood rushing through my skull. “Put me down,” I hiss.

“As you wish.” He sets me down, but just as I breathe in relief, he spins me so my back is to him, then shoves me away from him. As I stumble forward a step, I realize we’re at the edge of the party. He smoothly maneuvered us here while we were dancing.

“No. I want to see L–” I start as I turn back around, but he grabs my arm and hauls me in for another deep kiss.

He lifts his lips after a moment, panting hard, but his head stays tilted towards mine. “You can either run, little monster, or I can fuck you right here, but either way, I’m going to fuck you.”

He releases me, and I stumble back, breathing hard. I take a few more steps in reverse, then pivot on my heels, kick them off, and run.

A few people in the crowd whistle and clap wildly, but I don’t dare look over to see who is teasing us. It’s probably his brothers and Dayne. But then I hear my baby sister yell, “Get it, girl!”

My cheeks on fire, I run faster to get away from the utter embarrassment. Not wanting to get fucked somewhere they can all hear, let alone see, I don’t slow down in the slightest when I reach the woods. Tree branches whip across my body, tearing into my dress with delicious stings. The grass and twigs get crushed underfoot. My lungs pump hard, as do my legs, but at the sound of a predator coming up behind me, I suddenly find more energy.

I dart around a tree, then stumble over a root in the dark. But my assassin training kicks in, and my honed reflexes have me rolling back onto my feet before I really register that I’ve fallen. Taking off again at full speed, I breathe the hot summer air into my lungs.

I can hear Varius behind me, his steps heavier than mine, the whips of the branches louder and more numerous. But I can also feel him, the arousal through our bond, the way he can sense me through his special abilities. I can feel my own heartbeat through him, and I wonder how the hel I could ever escape such a predator.

A primal fear rushes through me, giving me more to pull on. Frantic, I dart around trees and duck under branches. I think about heading for the lake, wondering if he can swim. I’m a good swimmer. He has a lot of muscle. It could work…

But when I turn towards its direction, he’s right in front of me. I throw myself to the left, my feet scrambling on the ground. I fall to my hands, then fling myself back up. I take off in the opposite direction, expecting him to grab me with every step I take, but he never does.

I run until my legs ache. Until my lungs and heart feel at their limit. He appears in front of me every so often just to scare me, and that added uncertainty is making me panic, the primal part of my brain screaming that I’m not going to make it out alive.