Page 31 of Savage Blood (Den of Shadows #6)

Chapter

Twenty

A fire spread over my damp flesh, consuming any rational thought as Fane Maverick pressed his body into mine. His heat had me groaning as did the wicked promise of pleasure-pain flashing in his luminescent eyes.

I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, every inhale filled with his dark, seductive scent—like danger and smoke.

But my stubborn side emerged, and I gnashed my teeth. “What makes you think I want anything from you?”

At the sound of his low chuckle, throbbing unfurled between my legs. “Let’s not play this game, fiera mika. You know I felt that ache deep inside you the moment I wrapped my hand around your throat.”

I couldn’t stop a whimper from slipping out of me as he caressed the apex of my legs, my body’s warmth intensifying at his touch.

“Besides,” he whispered against my neck, his breath like a flame, “I have a much better game to play.”

My hands pressed into the chilly marble counter as talons threatened to burst from my fingertips. “Maybe I don’t want to play any games with you, Maverick.”

He gave a lazy shrug. “I could just vanish, then, leave you with these cravings for the amulet. I’m sure a cold shower could help. Some.”

As he stepped away, my little cry of protest had a sinister grin splitting his mouth. “That’s what I thought.”

The cocky bastard knew I wouldn’t turn this down. And the real reason had nothing to do with alleviating those cravings for the Infernal Sol. This was about another type of addiction altogether. I wouldn’t admit it, though, and neither would he.

We’d just pretend for tonight.

Fane’s other hand snaked around my waist, slid up my stomach, and gripped a breast through my sports bra. But suddenly, his phantom hand moved right through the material, twisting and pinching my nipple.

I gasped at the sting of pain and then the burst of pleasure erupting through my bloodstream. He knew exactly how to make my knees tremble.

“This is nothing, little rebel.” Fane’s teeth dragged down my jaw and then my throat, spreading a line of fire across my hot skin.

Another invisible hand slipped between my legs, and without warning, a finger plunged into my entrance. I cried out this time, my head falling on his hard chest. His satisfied smile in the mirror only made me grind against him.

A rough growl rumbled through Fane as he rocked his hips in time with mine and rubbed the hard ridge in his jeans against my ass. My breaths came in ragged pants, the fingers on his real hand tightening around my throat while those phantom ones stroked my bundle of nerves .

We hadn’t been together in so long.

Absolute torture.

I wanted Fane.

Needed him.

More than food or water or air.

“Fane,” I moaned, giving up all pretense.

What was the point? He had an all-access pass to my emotions.

A string of curses burst out of the demon shifter. And then his savage heat dissipated.

And he was gone.

I slumped against the counter with a cry, panting. “Are you fucking kidding me!”

Was this Fane’s evil plan? Get me all hot and bothered only to leave? He couldn’t be that damn cruel, and he couldn’t possibly think that would help me overcome the reignited longing for the stupid amulet.

My hands curled into fists, moments from striking the mirror when the door whipped open, revealing a hulking demon shifter, pupils in diamonds and eyes blazing crimson.

Fane, in his real body, pulsated with rage. And lust.

I swallowed thickly as he entered the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him, shaking the iron towel hook on the smoky gray wall. His nostrils flared, and so much heat throbbed from him that his very steps threatened to singe the gleaming white floor tiles.

“Have you been in Silver Ridge this whole time?” I choked out. “Watching me?”

“I’m never far from you, fiera mika.” He stopped behind me like his phantom form did a minute ago, grabbed my hands, and pressed them into the cold marble counter. The shiny silver fixtures on the white porcelain sink caught the red glow in his stare. “Don’t move.”

A scowl crossed my face at his command. “You’re not my boss. I don’t have to?—”

His teeth sharpened as he let loose a bone-chilling snarl. “Do not fucking move.”

Fear, the kind I craved, slinked down my back as Fane’s hand vanished under my sleeveless hoodie. Every hair on my nape rose as my body reacted to the threat he posed.

He was barely in control. His beast longed to take over and let his instincts run wild.

He could kill me easily.

But I was a different kind of prey for him now.

The demon shifter wanted to claim every inch of me so no other male would ever dare touch what was his.

A shiver rolled down my back at the thought of him doing every terrible, twisted, and naughty thing that ever crossed his mind. His warning growl made the moisture pooling between my legs soak through my clothes.

Fucking hell.

The tearing of fabric resounded against the marble and porcelain surroundings as Fane ripped my hoodie off and then slid a sharp talon down the back of my sports bra. My flesh prickled at the danger, but he didn’t break my skin.

If he had, I wouldn’t have minded.

Fane tore the straps to free my breasts of the tight material, his chest heaving as he explored them in the mirror.

When he cupped each one, squeezing and rolling my hardened buds, I whimpered. The ache ripping me apart grew tenfold, and if he wasn’t inside of me soon, I’d take matters into my own hands .

“Don’t even think about moving.” His rough, raw whisper made me want to provoke him.

Fane didn’t give me time to react before he stripped my leggings and underwear off, leaving me completely bare.

“His scent is on you.” Those lethal talons dragged down my spine as he loomed at my back like an apex predator about to strike. “It won’t be in a minute.”

My knees almost buckled.

And then he lowered to his knees, lifted one of my legs onto his shoulder, and glided that wicked tongue over my aching center.

My head fell back as a moan burst from my lips. Remaining upright was a freaking miracle.

So was his mouth.

“Hmm, fiera mika, there is nothing better than your taste.”

His husky voice slicing through my mind was enough to push me over the edge. Between that and the licking, twisting, and thrusting of his tongue, I nearly passed out. Fane had to grip my thighs to keep me from falling.

“Fane, don’t stop. Please .”

The cravings for the amulet vanished as the demon shifter tormented me with that hot mouth, each stroke of his tongue taking me closer to the brink of insanity. I longed to grab his hair, but I played the good girl this time, afraid he’d stop before I reached that pivotal moment of bliss.

My hips rocked as tremors raced through me. The long counter swam, the tiny rivers of silver within the marble blurring as Fane slowly tore down every damn brick I’d placed around my heart.

Of course, when this was over, I’d rebuild them. I had to.

“You’re never this good for me, Teague.” His taunting laugh in my head should have pissed me off .

Instead, it made me quiver.

And then his fingers sank inside me, and I was effectively gone.

A cry burst out of my mouth, and I screamed a garbled version of Fane’s name as I came. Before the ripples of pleasure stopped radiating through my core, Fane dropped my leg and rose behind me like a tempest brewing on the horizon.

This was no ordinary storm either. It would demolish everything it touched.

I wanted to be completely and utterly annihilated.

Within a matter of seconds, Fane kicked his boots off and shed his clothes, revealing that powerful, intimidating body full of muscles, scars, and tattoos. Even though I knew every inch of him, exploring those dips and curves, flaws and imperfections was never tiring.

I could do it for hours, days, weeks, years.

Forever.

Fane’s hands trembled as he gripped my hips and positioned himself behind me. His lack of control was clear in his scarlet gaze and in those sharp teeth flashing beneath the pendant lights.

He hesitated, knowing once we started, he wouldn’t be able to stop. And this wouldn’t be something sweet or soft.

But Fane knew me better by now. I craved every side of him, even the terrifying, possessive beast that most would run from.

Not me. I ran to my beautiful beast.

“Do it, Fane,” I panted. “Take me. Claim me. Make me yours. Don’t dare hold back.”

That was enough to snap any remaining control Fane had, and he thrust into me with a feral growl.

Pain nearly tore me in half. I hadn’t felt the huge intrusion in weeks, but as he pulled out and thrust again, that pain quickly melted into pleasure.

He didn’t hesitate to keep driving into me over and over with wild movements. His fingers dug in, branding and bruising me. The delicious heat building between us surged into a violent inferno.

Sweat slicked our skin, and my talons burst out, digging ridges across the marble. Destroying the bathroom would definitely piss off Alpha Ari.

“Yes, Fane, make me yours.”

A snarl burst from him, and one of his hands left my hip, tangled in my hair, and pulled my head back. “You are mine, fiera mika. Always have been. Always will be. Mine .”

That one word made electricity ripple low in my center, poised to push me off that high cliff and send me soaring toward the heights of ecstasy. Stars spotted my vision, and my panting grew louder.

His hips pistoned into me at a nearly unbearable tempo, rough and fierce like an animal that had never known the inside of a cage.

Wild. Savage. And perfect.

Fane’s teeth flashed in the mirror moments before he sank them into my neck, right over his bite, and the orgasm ruptured within me. I screamed, and tears spilled down my cheeks from the intense undulations of hot bliss rolling in my stomach, to the ache between my legs, and out toward every limb.

I would have fallen if Fane wasn’t holding me up, continuing to pump in and out, chasing his own release. My talons dug farther into the marble as the entire counter shook with the force of Fane’s primal onslaught .

“We’re going to break the fucking counter,” I mumbled, or at least I thought I did.

Either way, Fane understood and unlatched his mouth from my throat, blood dripping down my neck and chest. He snatched my hands off the counter.

When he pulled out of me, I whimpered at the loss, but my disappointment evaporated like hot ash once Fane jerked me around and crushed his mouth to mine. A moan ricocheted between us as our tongues tangled, the briny taste of my blood mixing with his seductive, smoky flavor.

My pulse throbbed as Fane lowered us to the floor, the cold tiles like ice against my burning flesh. He maintained the kiss as he spread my thighs and drove his hard length into me again.

And again.

He could use me and mark me all he wanted. If I died right now, I wouldn’t care, not with him, my mate, inside of me.

“I fucking missed you.” His mouth trailed down my neck, sucking, biting, and marking.

Fane did it on purpose, unable to control his beast’s instincts to lay his claim and show everyone, especially Saint, who I belonged to.

After a few more moments of Fane’s punishing thrusts, we both came, the pleasure bouncing between the bond and doubling over with so much intensity the whole damn compound could have felt it.

“Tate!” Fane roared, spilling inside me as his talons scraped the floor by my head.

I trembled beneath him, a helpless slave to our desire while flames licked at my every crevice and filled my every cell. A dozen curses tumbled from the demon shifter’s mouth, and he dropped on top of me, our frenzied breaths mingling .

We stayed wrapped in each other, a tangle of arms and legs, while he remained inside of me, neither of us willing to let go. My heart crashed against my ribs in the same frantic dance as his.

The mate bond between us crackled and hummed with contentment, something it hadn’t felt in weeks.

And something it might not feel again for a long time—if ever.

Someone shook me awake, and for a moment, I thought my neck tattoo tingled. “Fane,” I murmured.

“Sorry, it’s only me.” Dark strands of hair fell into Saint’s worried face as he perched on the edge of my bed, the moonlight from the windows casting a glow around him. “You were having a nightmare.”

My cheeks heated while guilt curdled in my gut. “I didn’t mean anything. His name just came out.”

That was a lie. Fane had been on my mind all night. After we’d rested on the floor in the bathroom for a few additional minutes, Fane claimed me a couple more times. When he left, I could barely keep my eyes open.

But he was all I saw when I closed them.

We knew it was a one-time—okay, four-time—thing. Having sex didn’t magically fix our relationship. He’d still hurt me, and he was hurting me even more by pushing me toward Saint.

I understood he wanted me to heal, but why couldn’t we find some other way? Why was Fane so willing to risk our bond? Just being around Saint might not even work. Like Enid said, we were fated mates but not mated .

Did Fane really want me to break our bond and mate with another man?

I blinked back the tears, a lump growing in my throat. What if that was the only way to save the bitten shifters from Barric?

“Do you want me to go?” Saint asked.

Instead of telling him to go, I pushed the covers down, inviting him to stay. Maybe I was angry at Fane. Or maybe I was just lonely.

Saint didn’t hesitate to crawl into my bed and curl up behind me. We were close but not touching. And then he did touch me.

His fingers danced lightly over the bruises Fane had left on my neck and shoulders. Saint probably smelled him and sex all over the room.

“Will it always be him, Tate?”

My throat tightened, and it took a moment to find my voice. “He’s my mate.”

“I can sense you opening up to me, though,” Saint whispered. “You feel something for me.”

Maybe I did.

“As pissed as I am at Fane right now, I don’t want to break our mate bond.” I traced one of the scars on my wrists, thinking of how many nights Fane had held me during my nightmares. “We’ve been through so much, and I can’t just give that up. I can’t give him up.”

“Well, maybe I can’t give you up, either,” Saint mumbled under his breath.

My eyelids fluttered closed, but I said nothing else. Doing this, being with Saint so he could heal me, was wrong. It was screwing with his head, giving him hope for a future with me.

A low growl rumbled through my mind, and my eyes shot open to find Fane’s incorporeal form looming in a shadowy corner of the room.

My heart thumped against my ribs. He was here when I woke up. And from the rage suddenly pummeling the bond, he’d heard Saint’s words.

Did Fane take them as a threat? Would he fight for me or simply let me go for good?