Page 14 of Saint (Demons of Foxglove Grove #3)

Lake almost couldn’t believe this was really happening, had to keep mentally pausing to take in the moment and reassure himself it was. That this wasn’t just another wet dream he was going to wake from, tangled in messy sheets, completely unsatisfied.

And empty.

In more ways than one.

At some point, Nix had crawled beneath his skin and snuck into his veins. Lake could feel him there with every breath, every beat of his heart.

“You’re mine,” he whispered the words against the curve of Nix’s spine between nips and licks, one hand kneading Nix’s plump ass cheek. If he could touch him everywhere all at once, Lake would. If he could bury himself as deeply inside of Nix as his Songbird had managed to bury himself within him, he would without hesitation.

Despite his promise to go slow, there was an urgency coursing through him, spurring him on as he traveled up Nix’s body. When he made it to the side of Nix’s throat, he mimicked the bite, lightly setting his teeth against those marks. The scar he’d left behind, a branding to show the universe who Phoenix Monroe belonged to.

A warning not to cross any lines with what was his.

Nix let out a soft mewl and arched into the touch, his ass lifting and rubbing against the bulge caught behind Lake’s pants.

“Take off your clothes,” Nix ordered in a breathy tone, his eyes closed. He didn’t push Lake away or resist his touches, even when he continued to trace the claiming mark with the tip of his tongue.

“Have you forgiven me, Songbird?” Lake shouldn’t have asked it, he knew that, yet the question burst out of him anyway, and they both went still as soon as it was out there.

Slowly, Nix’s eyes opened, though he didn’t turn his head, staring at the window instead. Whether he was assessing his own feelings or merely trying to come up with the best way to turn Lake down, it was unclear, but eventually he broke his own silence.

“No.” Nix’s hand shot back, grabbing onto Lake’s forearm before he could pull away. “Don’t stop.”

“Nix…”

“I don’t have to forgive you to want you,” he insisted. “I meant everything I said. We need this.” He hesitated and then in a quieter voice added, “I need this.”

The sexual chemistry between them had always been off the charts. Lake had been obsessed from the moment he’d first laid eyes on him, and Nix had responded in kind, whether he’d realized at the time or not. In many ways, sex was the easiest thing between them, the thing that kept them bound even when Nix wanted to resist.

Even if Lake had failed at claiming Nix’s mind and heart, he’d known for a long time that he had his body.

But…

“It isn’t enough,” he found himself saying, rising to his knees. “This isn’t enough.”

Frowning, Nix also sat up, twisting around to stare at him in obvious confusion. “You don’t want to fuck me?”

“Of course I want to fuck you, Songbird.”

“Then?” He shook his head. “I don’t see the problem here.”

“That,” he sighed, “in and of itself is the problem.”

Nix paused, considering things, and Lake should have realized he’d figure it out. He was clever, enough to rival West even, and his best friend was the smartest guy Lake knew.

“You aren’t forcing me, Lake,” Nix said.

“Aren’t I? You’re doing this because of the other night. Dinner with Hendrix and Demitrious. Isn’t that the case?”

“That’s part of it,” he didn’t bother denying it, and Lake wasn’t sure if that was progress or not.

“Every time I think I’m getting closer to you, I realize I’m still too far away.”

“It’s not my fault you approached this whole thing wrong from the start,” Nix replied. “You chose to force me before. These are the consequences of your actions. And, what? Now that I’m willing to sleep with you, now that I’m sitting here naked and hard, you suddenly don’t want to?”

“I already said I—”

Nix shook his head, stopping him. “You’re being selfish, Lake. Still. You keep telling me you’re sorry and you’ll make it up to me, but then you go and do things like this all over again.”

“Like what?”

“Stop making all of the decisions for me!” In a burst of energy, Nix shoved Lake onto his back and crawled on top of him. He pressed one hand to the center of Lake’s chest, the other settling over his throat. “Fuck me, mate,” he practically sneered, “or I’ll go to West right now and have him do what you couldn’t.”

At first, Lake was too shocked to react. His Songbird had gotten angry before, had gotten physical when pushed too far, but he’d never displayed this level of dominance.

Then his threat really registered, and Lake realized with a burst of his own anger that Nix meant it.

His eyes narrowed and he settled his hands on Nix’s hips. “Lift.”

Nix stared down at him for a second, clearly trying to figure out if he meant to go through with it. Once he was satisfied with the answer, he did as he was told, planting his knees more firmly on the mattress at either side of Lake before straightening and repositioning his ass directly over Lake’s concealed cock.

“Well?” Lake quirked a brow, feeling a bit like he was regaining control when Nix’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.

“Dry humping? Really?”

“Do you want it or not, Songbird?”

“I want it,” he grumbled.

Lake almost lost his composure when Nix started moving over him, grinding down on his hard-on. He twirled his hips, the glint in his eyes making it clear he knew exactly what he was doing, and Lake recalled how frisky Nix could be when he was in the mood for it.

The image of him tugging West’s face toward the now bandaged side of his neck flashed in Lake’s mind and a growl escaped him before he could help it. In the next instant, he’d flipped their positions, pinning Nix beneath him once more, this time on his back.

Nix laughed, splaying his thighs wide and resting his hands at either side of his head on the pillow. A show of submission that would have been convincing if not for the way he was still smirking at Lake.

“You used to have more self-control,” he teased, and Lake rubbed against him with more force, pleased when Nix’s eyes rolled back and he moaned.

“Keep taunting me, Songbird,” Lake said. “I dare you.”

“If it gets me what I want?” Nix shrugged.

Lake snorted. “You’ve been hanging out with West too long.”

“Whose fault is that?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He reared up so he could unsnap his pants and free his aching cock. “Everything is my fault. I get it.”

“So long as we’re on the same page.”

“We are,” Lake assured him. “Finally.”

He gave himself a few strokes, mostly because he knew how much Nix liked to watch. Sure enough, the tip of Nix’s tongue swept out across his bottom lip, his gaze landing on Lake’s flushed crown.

“Scared?” He was bigger than West and Yejun. The first time Nix had seen him naked, he’d been unable to hide his doubt.

There wasn’t so much as a hint of that on his face now, however. If anything, Nix appeared…eager.

Lake had never lied to himself about the physical need between them. But he was greedy now. He wanted more. Wouldn’t settle for anything less, even if that meant dragging this out when it was obvious the both of them were ready to skip to the good stuff.

“Tell me you don’t hate me,” he urged. “Give me that at least.”

“I don’t hate you,” Nix replied.

But it wasn’t enough.

“I’m talking about me. Not Maestro.” Lake was also aware that Nix sometimes separated them in his head. In the beginning, it’d no doubt been an attempt to keep himself sane after being forced into this life that he’d never wanted. He’d gotten his footing now, however. Surely something had changed for the better… “I need to know there’s something here between us, Nix. Something more than just—”

“You’re getting selfish again,” Nix cut him off, but he didn’t get upset like earlier. Instead, he sighed. “I’ve been telling you that this entire time. It isn’t my fault you’re too dumb to listen. I’ve said it with words and I’ve said it other ways as well. It’s not my job to make you feel less insecure, not after everything you’ve put me through without caring how it made me feel.”

Nix sat up and planted an almost chaste kiss on Lake’s mouth before settling back down against the mattress. “I like you, Lake. Not all the time, and not always the same amount. There are days when I’ve hated you, and I’m sure there will be days in the future when I want to punch your aristocratic chin. I didn’t come here tonight to stroke your ego or wax poetic. I came for something else. So, if you’re not going to stick your cock in me then—”

Lake lined himself up to Nix’s entrance and gave one solid thrust.

Nix hissed in mild pain, having not been stretched enough to take Lake’s full girth so roughly, but that was the only sound of complaint he made. His hands lifted and he dug his nails into Lake’s hips, breathing through it as his cock bottomed out.

Lake stilled, partially to give the man beneath him a moment to adjust, but mostly so he could take it all in.

“You’re beautiful,” he said.

He was. Nix’s skin was flushed and rosy, his eyes lidded and his full lips parted. They’d only just begun, yet he already looked blissed out. Sultry and every bit as eager as Lake felt.

“If you’re so hellbent on speaking,” Nix stated, “speak to me with your cock.”

Lake didn’t have to be told twice.

He started moving frantically, his thrusts shoving Nix down into the mattress hard enough the breath whooshed out of him each and every time. The Songbird’s body squeezed him, those inner walls clinging to Lake’s cock every time he pulled out.

“You’re so warm,” Lake said, dropping over Nix to bury his face in the crook of his neck. He ended up on the side that West had bitten, the bruised and broken skin sealed beneath a protective layer. But he didn’t even care that the mark wasn’t his. “So tight. Moan for me, Songbird. I want to hear you sing for your emperor.”

He grabbed Nix by the thighs and reared up, pulling his legs straight in the process, settling one at either side of his head as Nix grappled with the sheets. Lake’s cock drove forward again, the new angle making his entrance even tighter than before, that electric sensation causing him to lose his mind.

Lake pounded into him, the sound of his balls slapping against Nix’s ass mixing with the heavy thumps of the bed banging into the wall.

“Lake!” Nix gasped and arched his back. “Wait! Please! It’s too rough!”

“You like it when it hurts.” He bet he never tried to stop West. The thought had Lake seeing red and he pulled out long enough to flip Nix onto his stomach. He tugged his ass into the air and held him tightly, lining up his cock for the third time.

Watching his cock sink into Nix’s body, seeing that ring of muscle give way for him…it was the hottest thing he’d ever seen.

“What a waste,” he murmured, entranced by the view as he worked his cock in and out of his Songbird. Whenever he pulled out to the tip, Nix’s gaping hole would start to instantly close. Forcing it back open became his sole mission. “I should have taken you sooner. Shouldn’t have wasted all that time. Could have had you like this every night. Every hour.”

“Lake.” Nix had his face turned, a cheek pressed to the mattress. His hands held on tightly to the comforter beneath them, and there was a glimmer of tears in his eyes. “Slow down. I can’t—” he hiccupped, and then swallowed and tried again. “It’s too much. You’re so big.”

“Not really the thing you want to be saying to get me to stop, Songbird.” He wasn’t going to stop. He might never stop. But saying as much would only serve to scare the smaller man writhing beneath him, and Lake didn’t want that.

He filled him up and ground against his ass, hitting different places within that had Nix mewling like a kitten and mindlessly clawing at anything he could get his hands on.

Lake gathered Nix up, forcing him onto his knees, gravity helping to pull him down and impale him on his cock. They both let out a cry of pleasure, and before Nix could struggle to free himself too much, Lake wrapped a hand around his neck. He pinned them together, Nix’s back to his front, and rocked his hips upward, spearing through Nix’s hole in shallow, yet brutal thrusts that kept them both on the edge of release.

“You’re mine now, Phoenix Monroe,” he swore, lips pressed to the curve of Nix’s ear. He breathed in the scent of him, nails digging lightly into the sides of his throat. When that caused Nix to whimper, he eased up just a little. “West’s mark is healing nicely.”

He looked it over, not losing his rhythm in the process, his other arm banding around Nix’s small waist to bounce him up and down on his cock so he could drive deeper even in their current position.

Nix howled, his head pressed to Lake’s shoulder as his back arched and his ass clenched around Lake.

“You’ve signed the paperwork,” Lake rambled, “and now you’re being fucked by me. In my room. In my bed. Go ahead and soil the sheets. I’m going to make you sleep in them. That’s if I decide to let you sleep at all.”

“Lake.”

“Do you remember the promises I made you when I was Maestro?” He’d said a lot of things, many of which even he couldn’t recall. “You thought you could get back at me by letting West mark you? By having Yejun suck me off? Baby. All of that only made me more determined.”

“For,” Nix’s breath caught in his throat, “what?”

“I’m going to pump this tight ass full of my come and make you walk around all day with it dripping down your thighs. You won’t be getting any clothes, not for the foreseeable future. West might like eliciting pain, but I like it rough. I’m going to fuck you over every surface in the Roost. Have you squirting all over the furniture and across the floors. I’ll leave it there for the boys to see when they return from West’s match. How’s that sound, Songbird?”

“That…” He tried to shake his head, but Lake’s hold around his throat prevented him from doing so. “No.”

Lake laughed. “No? Touch yourself, see what you find, then try and tell me no again.”

Nix hesitated, but he did what he was told, his left hand moving to cup his balls. The second he made contact he hissed, his dick jerking.

“There you go,” Lake praised. “You’ve already started making a mess. There’s precome splattered on your stomach and the tops of my thighs just from riding me. I’ve decided. No sleep for you tonight.” He nipped at the rise of Nix’s cheek, just beneath the mask. “Should we take this to West’s bedroom next? I’ll fuck you at his desk and we can ruin one of those fancy keyboards he’s so fond of. Imagine his face when he comes back and finds the keys all sticky.”

Nix’s hole squeezed around him again.

“Oh? Do you like that idea?” Lake slammed Nix forward when he tried to deny it, flattening his body over Nix’s. The move trapped the smaller man’s hand beneath them as well, still cupping his balls. Lake could feel the tips of his fingers graze his own sack with every inward thrust.

“We can do Yejun’s next,” he continued, using his knees to spread Nix’s legs wider beneath him. “Maybe find a blank canvas and create a masterpiece of our own.”

“I am not,” Nix struggled to speak, losing his voice whenever Lake’s cock plunged deep, “coming on a canvas. That’s twisted.”

“June will like it, I promise.” The sick thing was, Yejun probably would.

West too.

“Ready to come for the first time?” Lake didn’t give Nix time to answer, his cock battering his insides. He bit down on Nix’s shoulder, careful not to break the skin, and then grinned in self-satisfaction when that seemed to do the trick and push the other man overboard.

Nix sobbed as he twitched beneath Lake, his cock emptying out on the bed, release soaking into the sheets. The orgasm took its time rocking through him, his body jerking for a full minute, Lake’s thrusts slowing but never stopping.

“Please.” Nix slumped, his eyes closed, breathing ragged. “Please.”

Deciding to take pity on him, Lake sat up, planning on flipping him over and taking the next round more gently. He didn’t anticipate the Songbird’s quick reaction.

Nix shoved him away and then shot off the bed. He’d only made it three steps before Lake was there though, pushing him onto the ground roughly. As soon as he hit the floor, he rolled onto his back, gasping when Lake dropped over him.

“Was that really necessary?” Lake asked once he’d secured him.

“Get off of me.”

“You said this was my birthday present,” he reminded. “Are you going back on your word, Phoenix?”

Nix stilled, mind clearly racing.

But Lake could tell he had him.

Turning his voice husky the way he knew Nix liked best, he kissed his brow and then ordered, “Submit, Songbird. Let me show you what we’ve been missing.”

After a moment, Nix spread his legs.

Lake’s cock found his entrance with ease, tearing through him all over again.

Though he’d originally planned on taking things to other parts of the house right away, Lake claimed Nix another four times in his bedroom, fucking him until he was raw and too out of it to formulate full sentences.

Then and only then, did he pick Nix up and carry him down the hallway to make good on his word.

He wrung Nix dry over West’s keyboard and made him squirt all over West’s pillow for good measure.

There weren’t any blank canvases in Yejun’s room, but he made do. Nix came over a set of his paints and a pile of dirty clothes the guy had left lying around.

When they were done there, Nix tried to put a stop to things again, but his resistance was only halfhearted, and he gave in rather quickly, not struggling when Lake hauled him to the library.

And the stairwell.

And the downstairs bathroom.

The dining room.

They were in the kitchen when the others finally returned home, which was the only way Lake realized what time of day it was.

He considered putting an end to things then, since they’d been at it for over twelve hours, but the sound of West and Yejun’s footsteps approaching quickly changed his mind. Instead, he plowed into Nix’s abused ass with all the force he would muster, greeting his best friends with the sound of their fourth combusting on his cock.