Page 33 of Galen

“Oh, nothing for you to concern yourself with.” Phoenix smirked again. “Why was he protecting you, I wonder? I fully intended to torture him until he spilled his guts… quite literally… but I showed him mercy and sent my pets to teach him a lesson instead. They were only supposed to hurt him a little and drag him to me, but you know how beasts are. They got carried away.”

Rage bubbled in my veins.

“Come near him again, and I’ll rip out your throat.”

“Don’t tease me with a good time,” Phoenix responded. “Or I might be forced to actually like you. Such a pity that would be.” He cocked his head at Alastair. “I’ll give you one day to think things over. And then I’m bringing the fires of hell to your doorstep.”

He blinked out of sight.

Alastair faced the sea again, his expression deadly. “The box is even more important to them than we thought.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Since when does Phoenix offer us a deal?” Alastair stepped up to the railing and unfurled his wings. “He reeked of desperation.”

“And his threat to unleash shades upon the humans here?” I asked, expanding my wings as well.

“A bluff,” Alastair answered. “Belphegor calls all the shots. Not Phoenix. But if it’s a war he wants, that’s exactly what he’ll get.”

Alastair leapt from the balcony before shooting up into the night sky. I flew behind him.

When we returned to the mansion, I quietly opened the door to Simon’s room and placed two bags on the floor. I had stopped by his loft after leaving Ravenwood and grabbed some of his clothes and personal items.

“Galen?” he asked in a croaky, sleep-heavy voice.

“I didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”

Simon cuddled back into his pillow, and soft snores left him moments later. I walked over to the bed and gently tucked the blanket in around him. The thought of Phoenix being so close to him filled me with a deep rage. The demon could’ve easily killed him.

Something else then crossed my mind. Simon had protected me. Why? Not that it really mattered. Phoenix hadn’t been fooled. But Simon hadn’t known that. Prior to being attacked in his loft, he thought demons and angels weren’t real. He had thought I was just a common thief.

“You’re such a mystery, Simon Parks,” I whispered, resting my hand on top of the blanket. The warmth of his body seeped through it, and I fought the urge to crawl into bed with him and burrow into that delicious heat.

Maybe I should’ve visited the club before coming home to release some of this sexual tension on a random man I’d never see again. Because watching Simon sleep right now? Being so close to his intoxicating scent of rain and earth?

I felt myself creeping into dangerous territory.

I left his room and went to mine, taking off my clothes before falling into bed. Gray and Bellamy were patrolling tonight, so I could rest for once. A familiar smell drifted to my nose.

For fuck’s sake.

Simon’s scent lingered on my pillow, and I turned my face into it. My arousal heightened, and I growled as I shoved my hand down my body and gripped my thick base, giving myself a slow pull. I breathed in his earthy scent as I stroked my hard cock and pictured his sweet lips and hazel eyes, imagined him clawing my back as I fucked him into the mattress.

I clenched my teeth together when I came to keep from groaning out loud. Not as if my brothers didn’t know what I was doing, especially if they were nearby. Just one of the annoying things about our bond.

Once my cock was sated, I got out of bed and walked into the connecting bathroom to wash off.

“Why use your hand when there’s a perfectly good human in the other room?”Castor’s voice filled my head.

“Because I don’t want him.”

“Bullshit.”

“Fuck off.”

I turned on the shower and stepped inside, letting the water wash away the signs of my release. If only it could wash away the reason for me jerking off in the first place. My attraction to Simon pissed me off. I didn’twantto want him.

“If you don’t want him, does that mean I can have him?”Castor asked.