Page 108 of Red Ruin

“Family secret. Turns out, I’m a throwback to our Sire—the devil king himself. All his strength, inherited in a human shell. Same weakness, too. My venom works like his.”

“How’s that?” I murmur into his calloused skin.

“One host at a time.” Vhex’s grin is so sharp, my fingers twitch.

He slips my horn-hold and flips onto his stomach. As his weight presses me into the blankets, he nests his cock in the V of my shadow-bound thighs.

“And?” My stomach squeezes. “What number am I to you?”

“The only one that matters.” He sinks until our noses brush. “Only one that ever chose lust. When I said wife, I meantwife. You’re it. You’remine.”

My cheeks crisp from the smoke on his breath. Something even hotter stirs my insides.

But, the problem with being number one?

I can always be pushed aside for the next one.

“Vhex,” I sigh against his lips.Just give me a few dick-pistoning orgasms and let me do my job.“We’re not exclusive.”

“I am, though?” Vhex bucks his hips, rubbing his cock through the shadows. “I bit you. Now I can’t come without you. Can’t even jerk off.”

My breath catches.

I emergency brake, grabbing his horn to stop the maddening grind of his hips. “Vhex?”

“That’s me.”

“Can I orgasm?”

“Right now?” He licks his lips glossy. “Let me eat?—”

“By myself,” I grit out. “Or with other Sentinels.”

“There are no other Sentinels.”

I shift my grip from his horn to his throat.

I missed my chance to impale Vhex.

It’s never too late to choke him out.

“I’m supposed to fuck you ’til my dick falls off, then die. But this works.” Vhex leans into my stranglehold. His silks dance with delight. “Ride me until I pumping into your tight, sweet c?—”

I smash a hand to his lips. Vhex’s breathy laugh melts my palm.

I’m willing to give Vhex everything he needs.

But absolutelynothingthat he wants.

“Can I come?” I repeat, uncovering his mouth. “Give me a straight answer.”

“Probably?”

“Vhex,” I growl.

“I don’t know. I’ve never fucked the ones I bit.” He darts to lick my finger. “If it works like the other devils’ bites? You’ll want me to come first.Often. It cools the venom. Slows the flames. Otherwise, this fucking curse only limits me. You’re strong. You have tostaystrong. To outlast me. To survive my power. But from the moment I took your throat? I’ll always be yours. Only yours.”

“So you’re saying…” My head whites out from his words.