Page 20

Holy hellfire. I’d rather die a thousand deaths than go through discovering my mate missing again.

One minute, we were dropping her off at her room; the next? She was gone. Poof. Disappeared. With no trace of her whereabouts. The first thing that popped in my head was that someone snuck down the hall, got into her room, and took her from right under our noses.

My heart had literally stopped, dropped, and forgot to start again until Luka found us, telling us where she’d gone. Her dead parents’ house.

Bane and I had started tearing the academy apart, threatening every little fuck in our path to find her. I’d for sure thought it was one of them because of the whispers that follow my pinky everywhere she goes.

Instead, she fled, finding solace here. Not that I blame her. She’s been through so damn much in a short period of time. But she needs protection, and being at the academy and hearing what others say should have been enough to prove that.

If she were any other client, we would have dropped this detail in a heartbeat. There are rules to follow when you request our protection. Namely, staying the fuck put. But for her… I’d chase her to the end of the realms and allow her to keep going until she exhausts herself and I can bring her home.

Only one week into finding my mate, and I already know she’s worth it.

Fuck. I sound like a damn pussy-crazy sap, and I haven’t even gotten close to sampling the goods yet.

But I keep those thoughts to myself. Bane would never let me live it down if he knew the thoughts running through my head. I’m an incubus for fuck’s sake. I’m used to pussy being there twenty-four-seven, never going without, and definitely not for how long it’s been since I sunk into a warm hole.

Being at the academy has helped stem the need of pheromones to keep me going—keep me strong—but meeting Bailey has completely changed the game. Contrary to popular belief, when an incubus meets their mate, they’re no longer able to get it up for anyone else. So, as of right now, my dicks are totally useless, unless I call upon Palma and her five friends.

And that bitch gets old really fucking quick.

But if the visage of another person popped into my mind while I was going to town on myself, it’d be flaccid village for me. Though, seeing Pinky in barely anything when she first showed us she was a curiomancer has filled my spank bank to the brim. Just the slightest thought brings her sexy little body to the forefront, and boom, I’m fucking hard as diamonds.

One day, I tell myself. One day I’ll have my mate in my arms, sliding her onto both of my cocks, showing her how much better of a lover her incubus mate is compared to her vampire and demi-god.

The sun set long ago, falling below the horizon, bathing the small housing community in darkness. Street lamps line the single street that ends at the home that Bailey owns. The four other houses—two on each side—pale in comparison to the mansion before us. Each of them has short driveways leading to two-story homes. Nothing fancy about them whatsoever.

But Bailey’s? Yeah, mansion fits, but maybe palace would be a better word for it. Surrounded by a stone wall and a rolling gate, it’s fortified to keep out any unwanted creatures.

Bane and I have taken up post outside the gate, keeping our eyes peeled for any unsavory assholes who may have learned the owner’s identity. Not that I wanted to spend my Friday night here—curled up in my mate’s bed is a much better option—but my brother and I have a job to do.

Just don’t tell him though that I’m here in the capacity as her mate, not her bodyguard.

Thankfully, with the quiet night and darkness, Bane and I have remained undetected. Between my darker red skin and Bane’s black clothing, we’re practically invisible to the naked eye. We’ve kept our attention on the surrounding homes and the street, but nothing has stirred. Lights have flicked off and on in the homes, but there hasn't been so much as a twitch of the blinds or the opening of a door.

Demons, like vampires, don’t particularly need sleep to function. It’s more of a luxury than anything else. So being here will be a piece of cake, but I can’t deny that we’ve been spoiled sleeping every night without worry about unrest in our territories.

Though, if I’m being honest, unrest in my territory usually ends in hate fucking and an orgy.

As the minutes tick by, my mind turns back to my sweet little mate. Wondering what they’re doing inside. Wondering if they’ve fed her. Bathed her. Took away any worries she has over the drama and bullshit at the academy.

It would be easy to steal her away and take her back to my hell territory to live out the rest of her days by my side. She’s strong in her own right, and I know she’d be able to handle her own, but there’d probably be an exorbitant number of deaths from other incubi or succubi trying to seduce my mate.

It would be the last thing they ever did.

Around ten at night, Bane and I settle against the wall of the estate, a deck of cards sitting between us. We have a rousing game of War going where I’m easily winning when a shot of lust hits me square in the dicks.

And not just any lust. No. This lust takes me from soft to hard in less than a second. Sex pheromones follow closely after, seeping into my skin and tipping my magical reserves from full to overflowing in no time.

All thoughts of the game, of my brother, disappear, leaving me with one single focus. Bailey. My mate. She’s being pleasured by her other mates. They’re doing things to her I should be.

Fuck that.

With an inhuman growl, I jump to my feet, my wings flaring behind me as my form grows even larger than I already am in my demon skin.

Startled, Bane drops his cards, following me into the sky as I shoot into the air, ready to give my mate what she really needs. Me. Not them.

“Zane!” Bane shouts over the wind, barely piercing through my frazzled mind. “What’s going on? Is she in danger?” He races ahead of me, then stops, hovering in the air, his flared wings attempting to bar my path.

Fat fucking chance, asshole.

I dart around him, but it’s his next words that stop my trajectory.

“She doesn’t know you’re her mate.”

Lucifer’s balls. He’s right.

“You’ll scare her if you go in there full-cocked,” he nods toward the massive tent in my pants, a slight chuckle in his words, “and you’ll piss off her established mates. We could lose this detail and subsequently lose her at the same time.”

Bane. The voice of reason when my demon gets out of control.

I deflate, fully understanding all the reasons why charging her now would be wrong. We both head back to our posts, my mood more somber than it was before.

Not that it stops the pheromones from making me fucking sex-crazy and needy as fuck.

“We’ll figure it out, brother.” Bane pats my shoulder, his expression earnest, even if he is a demon.

“I hate this,” I pout, acting nothing like the thousands-year-old demon prince I am. I sound more like a toddler who got their favorite toy taken away.

“I know. But it is what it is right now. The best we can do is create opportunities to spend more time with her. Let her get to know you. Then, when she’s finally comfortable and open to it, you can tell her and see where it leads you.”

My back slides down the wall, the scratch across my wings annoying, but it pulls my focus from the lust continually swirling around me, calling to me like a beacon to mate her. I drop my head in my hands, my fingers curling around the bases of my horns. My unkempt black and red locks fall over my face, shielding my turmoil from the outside world.

This isn’t the first time her pheromones have hit me—that was a few days ago—but it didn’t affect me near as badly as now. Maybe it’s because there’s two of them pleasuring her, or maybe it’s because this is actual sex, while before, it wasn’t.

As an incubus, we can tell the difference between an oral release essence and a sexual one. And this… this is sex.

“Come on. Let’s restart the game, maybe it’ll help take your mind off what’s happening inside.”

Fat fucking chance. Only ruthlessly destroying our enemies and bathing in their blood could possibly have the chance of taking my mind off Pinky’s sexual desire.

I pick up the cards Bane deals—this time a game of Crazy 8’s—and pray to Hel, the goddess of the underworld, that I’ll make it through this weekend without storming in there and claiming my mate against her will.

Horns crossed.