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Lyric was literally trembling as she went through the motions of feeling normal. Just cooking egg sandwiches in Mr. Nidev’s kitchen at ten o’clock at night. Nothing to see here.

What was going on? With him? And her? And them? There was something happening, but she wasn’t about to read into anything after that horrifically embarrassing crush confession.

She dropped the spatula on the floor. “Shit,” she gasped, snatching it up and hurrying to the sink while listening to the shower going. God, him in the shower. She was melting. Not once had she felt anything inappropriate for him in the last… whatever time, she quit keeping track. And in the span of thirty minutes she was ready to jump him.

Damn his cryptic ways. He was so good at reading everybody and hiding himself. He needed help with his dilemma. How, exactly? What part of his dilemma exactly? She still didn’t even know the extent or full definition of said dilemma. Lust. What did that mean to him?

If he asked her to help him learn how to date or some dumb crap, she’d die. Again.

She scooped the perfect eggs out of the pan and gingerly set each one on the prepared bread slices. The shower shut off and blasted her panic through her blood. Just be normal. It’s a normal meeting, just like all the ones before. She’d even eaten there before, which meant she was likely over reading everything.

“I think they came out great,” she called, looking for glasses in the cabinet and grabbing two. “I hope you like the yolk runny,” she added, ripping two paper towels from the roll.

“I love my yolk runny.”

She spun around then spun right back to the counter with wide eyes. “Well good then.” He had no shirt on. Oh dear God. She turned with his plate and handed it to him. “Would you like a drink?” She turned to the fridge and opened it. His skin was still wet. His muscles were godlike. And he smelled like a forest raped by a violent thunderstorm. She’d only seen him without a shirt once at the pool by accident. That one accident had accompanied many of her orgasms.

“Looking for something specific?”

Her cheeks went up in flames as she snatched the juice. “Right in my face,” she said, shutting it.

“Mmm, this is perfect,” he said as she forced herself not to hurry and look as nervous as she was.

“So about your dilemma,” she said, needing to jump right into a topic she could zero in on. She sat at the only other chair across from his at the small island, focusing on her plate and purpose.

“Yes. I need a savior,” he said, his voice a low rumble through her body. “Mmmm, you’re good at this.”

She couldn’t take hearing him make those noises. And if she were being normal, she’d have no problem looking at him. “Glad you like it,” she said, forcing her head up. “I have a lot of practice with eggs. It’s all we ate growing up.” She hurried back to staring at her plate, wondering how she was supposed to eat and not get sick. And how was he so calm? Because he wasn’t interested. As usual. Focus on the problem. Which was another problem! It involved the lust. He’d been vague about that part. Maybe it was just like… temptations of some kind. How would she advise without knowing these particulars? How would she ask? Treat it like he is. Like it’s nothing.

“So, I realized,” she said casually while covering her mouth with a hand, working on her bite. “I might need specifics about that issue you have if I’m going to actually help you figure something out.”

“Which issue?”

Yep. Oblivious. This was nothing to him. “The uh, bite issue.”

“The lust.”

Lust. “That’s a… pretty specific word.” And damn dirty.

“But extremely accurate,” he said, sliding his plate to the side.

Oh crap, he was done. She wasn’t going to eat while he watched. “You know what, I’m not good at talking and eating,” she confessed, sliding her plate over as well then crossing her hands on the counter. “So, this lust,” she hurried, forcing her gaze to his because that’s what an unbothered helpful student did. “Can you describe it? Break it down to me clean. Second grade level.” Hold his stare, hold it, do not break eye contact.

She nearly gasped in relief when he crossed his arms on the counter and angled his head off to the right. Her heart thundered through endless seconds. “It starts as a spark,” he finally said. “Deep inside.” He brought his gaze to hers and dear God she was trapped in it. “It’s sharp and electric, but quickly spreads through my veins like liquid fire. The moment I’m around a woman, that spark surges, transforming into a blaze. Every glance, every breath she takes, fuels the fire until it becomes a relentless inferno. My senses sharpen—the smell of her skin, the sound of her voice, the way she moves—everything intensifies, pushing the heat higher and higher. And this firestorm in my body doesn’t just burn, it demands release, building with every second until it feels like it’ll tear me apart from the inside. It forces me into a dark hole where I have to… give in to it. But the reprieve is fleeting. Just long enough to catch my breath before the smoldering begins again, waiting to ignite once more.”

She snapped her mouth shut realizing he was done. Her eyelids fluttered with the effort to pull herself out of the flames he’d dragged her through. “Wow,” she gasped, reaching for her juice, staring into the cup for several disturbed seconds. She realized it wasn’t just arousal flooding her body but… jealousy. He said all that about what he experienced around women so easily. Like he experienced none of that with her at all. “For one, you surely can’t be doing this sort of thing with every woman.”

“Doing? Did you not hear anything I just said?”

She needed air and a reason to get away from his sudden direct, hot stare. She downed her juice with loud obscene gulps and brought her glass to the sink. Her hands shook as she turned on the water and rinsed her dish, needing some of that on her face. And body. She suddenly froze. Had he… given in to it in the shower?

Visions of him jacking off caused her to drop the glass. “Shit.”

“So, tell me, Lyric. Which woman should I be doing these things with?”

She shut the water off. “Obviously I don’t know that.” She ripped a paper towel from the roll and dried her hands. Still shaking. She glanced back at him on the stool, stealing a look at his magnificent body in those black flannel pants. His back was also covered in tattoos, the silky skin glowing under the light. “Is there a woman at the school you have any interest in at all that you would consider for…”

“Using her to appease my lust demon? Because that’s all I want to do. I don’t want to marry. I just want to feed this until I can get rid of it, even while knowing I’ll die trying to keep it.”

The weight of his dilemma gave her enough courage to return to her seat. “You just need to find somebody who understands what’s happening. But I’m afraid you won’t be able to use any woman in such a way. It’s not right.”

“Another fact I know,” he said too easily. “And still, I want it.”

She got caught in his intense gaze, realizing what his nonchalance meant. It meant he might be experiencing those lust symptoms with her. Was he burning, wanting… things with her? “Are you… okay?”

Dumb question. He was clearly not okay. But he confirmed it with a slow shake of his head. It should’ve terrified her, but she felt more electrified at what was happening than scared. What she hoped was happening.

She took a couple of steadying breaths. “Do you… need me to leave?”

He stared so hard at her she couldn’t breathe. His gaze finally slid down to the counter. “No,” he finally said.

She’d never seen him in such a condition. The leader, trapped with nobody to turn to. “I want to help you, but… I don’t know how,” she confessed, breathless.

Another agonizing span of silence passed. “I just… have one question for you.”

Oh dear God. What question? “Okay.”

He slowly raised his gaze, and she fought to remain perfectly still. “What kind of pleasure did you need so much, that you ended your arrangement when you didn’t get it?”

Oh Jesus. Mouth bobbings began. “I can’t… I can’t say it.”

“Is it something a man would do to you?”

She swallowed and barely managed a nod.

“He does it with part of his body?”

Oh double Jesus he was going to narrow it down!

Just answer him. It was practically a sex class. Academics.

Another nod.

“With his hand?”

She closed her eyes, panting on shallow breaths as she shook her head, the silence dragging her through an awkward shame.

“His cock?”

Her gasp flew out at the hot way he said that word. Again, she shook her head, unable to open her eyes now, ready to get to the end of whatever was happening.

“His lips and tongue,” he stated in a soft hunger. “On your pussy.”

Oh my God. She was dizzy. Was she falling? The room was falling.

“Is that it?”

She forced a nod as her heart hammered against her chest bone.

“Thank you,” he barely said.

The sound of the fridge startled her, and she opened her eyes to him grabbing a water. She quietly inhaled and exhaled three measured breaths, eyeing his massive body while she sat locked up and frozen on that stool. He turned and drank the water, his throat muscles contracting as he sucked on the bottle till it was all gone. Then he looked at her.

“Seems like talking about it to you has somehow helped it.” He walked to the trash and tossed the water bottle into the recycle bin. “Do you think you might be willing to provide more of that?”

Holy crap.

“H-here?” she asked, not meaning to gasp it so loudly.

“We can try it on the phone. I’m willing to pay you any sum of money.” He returned to the island, his direct, intense gaze crippling her mind. “Please don’t take that the wrong way. I’m just… desperate.”

Oh mercy, that was some kind of admission for him. She remembered who she was talking to. The man who would do anything to help her and always had. “Of course I will,” she said, clearing the crack from her voice. “I’m sorry you’re going through this,” she thought to say. “It sounds… truly horrific.”

He angled his head at her. “I wish it was horrific. I gave you the dark side of this lust. You should hear the other side of it.” She was riveted again as he took a seat and locked his gaze on her. She wasn’t going to survive this. “That spark I mentioned?” he began, ready or not. “That surge of energy that lights up every part of me, filling my veins with fire? It’s fucking exhilarating.” Holy shit, he cussed. He never cussed. “It’s sharp as a razor, vibrant with insanity. It’s so painfully good I want to be devoured and obliterated by it . And when I finally let it come, this monster of fire tears through me, shreds every nerve in my body with a savage ecstasy. And I… revel in the obliteration,” he whispered. “I crave the aftermath of this twisted, fucked up massacre of my humanity. I know you can’t truly understand it and part of me is so very sorry for you while another part of me, a part growing smaller every day, is so very relieved that you have no. Real. Clue.”

****

The moment Nidev left the meeting with his marsh brothers, he pulled his phone out and opened Lyric’s box. Are you up?

He returned it to his coat pocket and hurried toward the dock ahead of the group where the Twelve would transport them back to the dry dock via their Swamp Dragons. He really needed to discuss other options of transportation. Using aircraft meant radar detection issues so they needed to discuss cloaking. Because this hour-long land route was also getting riskier as the world outside their swamps fell apart.

He returned to the incidents in the Basilique where those bat bite symptoms had raged in new ways. His usual interest in the gifted had reached perverted proportions. While a powerful man had a brutal break down, his sick brain busily analyzed and dissected the layers of gifts he possessed and how they could be utilized. Also, while silently being a freak, he used all his strength to avoid the gaze of the one who’d given him his favorite lust. He felt the push of his hungry curiosity against his pores, an animal sniffing out just how infected he was with the insanity they both shared.

And now his sickness was free to lock back on Lyric. That forbidden taste he’d taken of her had his cock navigating when his brain should be. He was in no rush either way, because taking his time while cracking her wide open was turning into an addiction with rocket boosters. He had to know all the particulars of wrapping her around his cock’s desires. What he’d do, when he’d do it, where, how.

And the why? Irrelevant. As of now. All while the world went up in flames. Speaking of, he’d seen the next coin in his dreams and was all too relieved to skip telling them. Because she took precedence even over that.

There was no worse human being he could think of than one who forsook his duties to slate his shallow lusts at the expense of all mankind. But here he was. The leader of the great prophetic Creole Kings, doing just that. IDOL. That was the word on the coin in his vision. What it meant? No clue. Did he care? Mildly at most.

He wanted this insanity out of him.

He had to find a way to remove it.

His phone buzzed and his cock answered with a lurch as he pulled it out.

Lyric. Yep. Deep in study about ancient rice cooking methods. What about you? Is your meeting over? How’d it go?

He paused long enough to text. It was interesting. I’m headed back now. I need to talk to you.

Sure. Do you want to text or use the phone?

He considered that. Text for now. When I get in bed, I’ll call you.

His cock pounded with a fury as he hurried the rest of the way to the dock, looking once more at his phone. Whatever you need. I’m here for you.

Her perfect, angelic answer gave him the solution to his entire give a shit dilemma. He would tend to the burning world while tending to this burn in his cock. Moral dilemma solved.

On the entire ride back, the icy wind beat against the fire in his blood. But it was no match while he fanned the flames with fantasies now mixed with urgent business. Like getting his lips and tongue on her pussy. Since he knew everything that needed doing outside of this lust, he spent the entire ride tending to its boil. What did he want? With her? That was the answer requiring great detail.

He recalled how his body reacted to her vulnerability. It was a delicacy he wanted to slowly cultivate in her, then devour in a brutal rampage. Wash, rinse, repeat. Only from a different angle. A different pace. And he wanted her insane with needs only he could fill. He wanted to force her to feel every drop of what raged in him.

He wanted her to be his secret fuck angel.

Maybe he wanted to tell her exactly that.

Maybe he wanted to seduce her.

Or maybe he wanted to take whatever he wanted without asking. Anytime he wanted it. Anywhere he wanted it. However he wanted it.

Definitely the last option.

He felt his phone buzzing with her texts the entire ride but didn’t let himself look till in the confines of his Bentley Continental.

He opened her texts.

So, I was thinking… About your…situation…

There it was. That delectable vulnerability. Too sweet to say the dirty words. Too scared to voice them.

If you’re able to obtain what you want by talking to me, it gives you time to see if this could be a permanent solution.

Sorry…just thinking out loud.

Either way, I’m happy to help you however you need. I trust you.

Trust him.

What do you trust me with? he texted. Just getting in my car and about to head back. Can I call you? I need to hear your voice.

The moment she typed her Of course , he switched to phone, and hit the call button then got on the levee road leading out.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Her concern felt like a punch to his lower stomach and balls. “Yes. And how are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m good. A little sore from working out when I couldn’t sleep.”

Sweaty body visions got added to his menu. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”

“Just… so many things on my mind.”

“Julian?”

“Yep. And everything going on in the world. And how I can help you has really been front and center. What did you think of my suggestion?”

“I think I like it.”

“Great!” she said, her tone arousing the fuck out of him. And why? She sounded like she always did, a devoted Creole King Academy student, pleasing her teacher. Yeah, that was it. He liked that. Her being a sweet, good girl. Innocent. Breakable. He loved the idea of her being delicate and fragile. The problem was why he liked it. He didn’t want to protect it, he wanted to crush it then drag them both through the broken pieces until blood covered them. Then he wanted to roll around in that filth while everything bled. After, he could put it all back together, lick it clean and do it again.

“Okay. How are your symptoms?”

Her attempt to hide her sexual fragility stoked his fire. “Raging out of control.”

“Alright,” she soothed as lust thumped in his cock till his entire groin ached. “Just… try and ride it. And… you may as well embrace it, it’s just sexual pleasure and that’s known to be good for you.”

“Lyric…”

Every psychotic urge flooded his tongue in a deluge, forcing him to hold his jaw shut.

“Yes?” she carefully asked, the sound of her fear and arousal tearing through him and thickening his breaths.

“I think… about doing very bad things.” His breath exhaled sharply at the confession. Fuck, he’d opened the door. It would never be shut again.

He waited in the silence, every second she struggled, a stranglehold moving up and down along his cock.

“Do you need… to talk about it?”

“No,” he whispered. “I crave to talk about it. But… it’s things you should never hear.”

“They’re just words, Nidev. You’ll be okay.”

Nidev. It was the first time she called him that. “Don’t call me that.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Call me Mr. Nidev. Or King Nidev.”

“O-okay,” she said quietly.

“And they are not just words. They have power.”

“But… only if you give them power,” she said. “You taught me that.”

“You will give these words power,” he assured. “They will not be resisted. Or turned away. If I speak them, they will accomplish what I intend them to.”

More silence passed and he knew she was weighing things carefully. “Mr. Nidev,” she began, his cock getting slammed by a crippling desire. “You can speak your words to me. You are safe to do so.”

Fuck, she’d used her voice gifts on him. And they enflamed him beyond imagination. “It’s not me at risk, sweet Lyric. It’s you.”

****

Nidev went straight to his room when he entered his apartment and stripped out of his clothes. He wouldn’t shower first, he needed to hear her voice while jacking off. Once under his covers, he drew his knees up and opened his legs, allowing the lust to flood in. Fuck yes. Finally. He pulled his phone out and dialed her number.

“You made it,” she answered.

“I did,” he said, his pulse racing at the sound of her voice as he gripped the base of his cock in a merciless chokehold. “What are you doing?”

“Was just laying in bed waiting for you.”

He moved his hand slowly along his shaft. “Why are you helping me?” He needed to hear her say it. Whatever the answer was.

“Because…” She took a breath and let it out. “I see you as one of my best friends, and I know that may sound stupid.”

“Why would that sound stupid?” he asked, his heartbeat in his balls as he opened wider.

“I don’t know,” she said, sounding like she smiled.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, closing his eyes as another wave of pleasure rolled through him as silence filled the line.

“Thank you,” she finally said, her voice soft and lilting. “So are you.”

Mmmm, fuck, her voice. She was using her gift, likely not even aware. “What do you think is beautiful about me?”

Her throaty laugh tingled over his skin. “Everything.”

He stroked over the head, spreading his precum all over the tight ridge. “Surely you have a favorite thing.”

“Definitely your eyes. And nose. And mouth, top three.”

“Do you want to know what I think is beautiful on you?”

She made strained worried sounds. “I guess that’s only fair.”

“Your ass in those jeans. Your ass in that bathing suit that one time I reprimanded you at the pool. You walked off and I got an eyeful of that perfection. And your mouth. It produces some of my very favorite things. Your smile taking first place among other things.”

“What other things?” she asked, her breathless arousal rocking him.

“Everything else you do with your mouth. Did you know your voice over the phone is the most arousing sound I’ve ever heard?”

She gave him a big nervous laugh. “I’m not trying to do that!”

He stroked the slit on his cock, his breaths thickening. “Are you sure?”

“I am,” she swore, her breaths shaking. “So, you mentioned needing to talk about something. That’s why I’m here if… I mean if you need to.”

“Are you ready to hear me say all those wicked things?”

“I mean… I said I would.”

“You can change your mind,” he said, lifting his hips off the bed and pushing into his tight fist.

“No, I’m not changing my mind.”

“Do you want to know what I’m doing right now?”

“Uhhh if you… need to tell me.”

Her fear delivered a firm lick along his balls. “I do need to tell you. But I need you to need it.”

She filled his ear with several nervous breaths. “I do.”

“You do what?”

“I do need it.”

“I’m laying in my bed. Naked. My legs are drawn up and open. I have my hard cock in my fist and I’m fucking it while imagining doing very, very nasty things. Do you want to know who I want to do those nasty things with?”

“Uhhh,” she barely said, the sound shaking. “Do I?”

“Her name is Doo-nie.”

His breath caught in his chest at the feel of her jealousy in the silence. “And who is that?”

“She attends this school,” he said quietly, flicking his hips faster. “She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. I’ve fantasized very nasty things about her.”

“Pretty sure I know everybody here and don’t recognize that name,” she said, her anger a fire in his spine.

“Look in the mirror and you will meet her,” he said, letting his moan slip. “Do you trust me, my Doo-nie?”

The phone went quiet as they both burned in the flames he’d just lit.

“How do you feel about being my darkest fantasy, Doo-nie? That you’re the woman I think about while fucking my fist? That I fantasize about making you do every manner of nasty thing to me? Tell me.”

“I…” her breaths trembled. “I… love it.”

The tiny confession exploded in his blood. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Completely.”

“Would you like to hear me come?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Mmm, baby,” he said, letting his thick groans loose. “My cock is slick with my desire. I’m going to make you fucking taste it. Would you like that?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“You like playing nasty games with me?”

“Yes,” she gasped.

“I’m fucking my tight fist slowly. I’m going to fuck your pretty mouth with it. I’m going to teach you how to suck my cock perfectly. Do you want to be my good girl student, Doo-nie?”

Her trembling breaths filled the silence before she burned him with, “Yes, Mr. Nidev.”

He gave a long groan as his orgasm sizzled in his spine. “I will be a very strict teacher. I will demand perfection. And you will be punished if you fail to please me. You will not touch yourself,” he warned. “Your body is mine. Your pleasure is mine. Do you understand me?”

“Mr. Nidev,” she whispered around sharp breaths.

“I asked you a question.”

“Yes, I understand,” she gasped. “I’ll be a good girl, so good.”

“Come to my apartment right now. I’m going to teach you how to suck my cock. And then you’ll return to your bed with your pussy dripping and desperate and you will not get a single drop of relief. Unless… you’re a good girl and find a way to please me. Then I may give your little pussy a reward. Are you on your way?”

“Y-yes,” she hurried.

“You have five minutes to get here.” He hung up and his hunger filled every muscle as he ripped his way out of the covers to pace next to the bed. Fuck, what was he doing, was he doing this, was he truly fucking doing it?

He was. Yes, he was.