chapter FIFTEEN
THANE STRUGGLED TO rein in his temper. At any moment, Elin could race around a corner and witness the horror of his actions. If she saw that side of him...if she screamed...
He burned the demon and all of its severed parts, destroying the evidence. He’d gotten the answers he’d sought anyway. He now knew the prince was a fallen angel named Malice, once a soldier in the Most High’s army. Unlike demons—spirits that inhabited the earth long before humans—the prince had a corporal body, and therefore couldn’t possess someone else’s.
When Sent Ones fell, they lost all power. The same held true for the angels, but they could gain power through acts of evil and spiritual theft, basically siphoning it from others.
Like any living being, the prince had weaknesses. However, Thane had yet to learn what they were.
Pride?
Hatred?
Malice’s endgame? The destruction of mankind. Both to punish the Most High for banishing the fallen angels from the highest level of heaven, and to try to steal all the power he felt he’d been denied.
To start, Malice and his five cohorts had struck at Germanus—ripping out the root—but there would be others.
Malice’s next move? Unknown.
When Kendra continued her pleas for help, Thane took a page from Jamilla’s book of attack and removed the girl’s tongue. There was no way he would let her receive aid from the very girl she’d beaten and scarred, and as soft as Elin’s heart was, she might very well ask him to release her.
He might very well say yes.
Now, guilt was heavy on his shoulders. “I’m willing to look past the surface to the reasons, and fully accept my share of the blame for the horrors of our relationship, but I will not tolerate bad behavior.”
Her narrowed gaze sizzled at him, even as blood leaked from the corners of her mouth.
“Do not speak to my human again,” he told her.
After sending Adrian to find Bellorie, Thane stepped out to see Elin. Only to watch a guard grip her fragile wrist.
No one touched her but Thane. Anyone tried...they died.
When did you become so possessive of a female?
When I encountered this one, apparently.
He met her smoked-glass gaze and remembered Orson’s use of the word halfling. Please, don’t be Phoenix.
He closed the distance. Perhaps he should send her away for a few hours. He was always seething with intensity after battle or torture, and he’d just come from both. If he went about this next encounter the wrong way, he would scare her. But she lifted her chin with brave determination, surprising him, and a deep sexual awareness cut through his fury and fear.
He couldn’t send her away.
For a moment, he saw her as she’d been in the tub. Naked. Flushed with heat and arousal, nipples turgid, stomach quivering, legs parted for his fingers. Even now his shaft readied for her, growing long, thick and hard.
Not yet.
A tremor rocked her, as if her body reacted to his of its own accord.
“Are you cold?” he asked, just in case. “I will have a robe fetched for you—”
“I’m not cold.”
Did she hunger for his touch? His taste? He would give anything to know.
“I’m, uh, sorry I interrupted your murder session.” She reached for him but balled her hand just before contact and dropped her arm to her side. “You, uh, seem to really be enjoying it.” Her gaze landed on the bulge between his legs, before darting away.
He clenched his jaw. “I didn’t enjoy it the way you’re thinking.”
“Hey, no judgment,” she said, palms out in a gesture of innocence.
“Elin. I’m aroused, yes, but it’s for you.”
Her eyes widened, some of the smoke replaced by crackling flames. “Oh.”
That was all he got?
“Yes. Well.” She cleared her throat. “Do you have to torture the Phoenix? Can’t you let them go?”
“I wasn’t torturing a Phoenix,” he said. “But I will. Soon. An eye for an eye—”
“Puts you in a never-ending cycle of violence, yes,” she interjected. “They’ll retaliate, then you’ll retaliate again, and so on and so forth.” She sighed. “Look, I know I didn’t have any right—”
“You have every right,” he said, and knew he’d just shocked the listening vampires. But it was true. Why deny it? Things were different with Elin. Things had always been different. He liked that she’d sought him out, expecting him to fix her problems. He even liked the scolding she’d just given him—maybe because she was right.
She nibbled on her bottom lip, as though unsure. Of his reaction? As if he would harm her? “Really?”
He nodded. Then, with his eyes still locked on Elin, he snapped, “Leave us” at the vampires.
The pair rushed to the elevator without delay, disappearing behind the doors. He wouldn’t take Elin to his suite until she felt safe with him. Because, when he got her alone—anywhere other than here—he would pounce on her. He knew it.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this world,” she remarked.
As if he would allow her to leave it. “You will.” A command he expected to be obeyed.
She shrugged. “Does it affect you emotionally, to torture others?”
No one had ever asked him such a question, and he wasn’t quite sure how to respond. He’d been a young lad of three when the gold striations had appeared in his wings, informing him and everyone who looked at him of his warrior status. At the age of five, he’d left the only home he’d ever known to begin his training.
At ten, he’d made his first demon kill.
Elin reached out and twined her fingers with his. Her skin was warm and soft, though calloused. The freely offered contact—the comfort of it—stunned him.
“Never mind,” she said. “You don’t have to answer.”
He did anyway, desperate to prolong the connection. “Demons are evil, with nothing good in them. With them, and the centuries of our battles, I regret nothing.”
Her head tilted to the side as she studied him. “How old are you?”
“Old.”
“Over two hundred?”
“Yes.”
A gasp. “Over three hundred?”
“Yes. Let me save you some time. I am a little over a thousand.”
“Wow. That’s, like, really old.”
“Just as I said.”
“No, Grandpa. You left out the really.”
His lips twitched at the corners. She’d teased him; she wasn’t afraid of him. “Come. We have much more to discuss.”
He ushered her into the elevator. When the doors closed, sealing them inside, the scent of her filled the confined space and enveloped him; he could almost taste the cherry flavor he knew was embedded in her skin. His body ached.
He didn’t want to wait to pounce.
He pushed a button and stopped the elevator before it reached the upper floor.
He turned to her and leaned against the railing. Whatever she saw in his expression made her gulp. She backed away from him, trying to move out of reach, but he caught her by the wrist and tugged her close, between his spread legs.
“Whatever you’re thinking,” she said, breathless, “take another route.”
“But I like these thoughts.” He leaned down to run his hands up the backs of her thighs, cup her bottom and squeeze, making her gasp. Then he pinned her against the railing and braced his palms beside her temples. He wanted so badly to rub the hardest part of him against the softest part of her and barely managed to hold himself still. “Tell me. Are you ashamed of what we did in the tub?”
“Ashamed? No.” Her gaze held his, unflinching, letting him see the fire banked in those smoked-glass eyes. “But...”
“But?” he insisted, suddenly hating the word. “Why did you run?”
“A lot of reasons,” she hedged.
“Start with one. We’ll work from there.”
“Okay, fine. Number one, guilt. I’d just betrayed my husband.”
As he’d suspected. Confirmation was sweet. “Was the male—”
“Bay.”
“Was he cruel? Would he want you to remain alone?”
“Noooo,” she admitted, drawing out the word. “But that doesn’t change anything.”
The tenderness in her expression roused his jealous side. A side he hadn’t known he possessed until he’d met her. “So...you would honor his memory...but not his wishes?”
Her lashes practically fused as she glared up at him.
He didn’t want her angry; he wanted her pliant. So let’s try this another way. “You attended parties as a couple?”
“Yes.”
“You had fun. Laughed.”
“Yes,” she repeated, her head tilting with confusion.
“I bet he adored your laughter.” I do.
“Ah, okay. I see where you’re going with this. I should live my life the way he’d like. Carefree.”
“Weedless.”
She pursed her lips. “What about you?” She waved her hand to indicate the club behind the elevator doors. “I know you’re some bigwig billionaire sky mogul, but what do you do for fun?”
He thought for a moment. “I don’t. As one of the strongest fighters of my race, I fight. I’ve always fought.”
Her fingers abandoned his robe to twirl the curls at his nape. Even better. “Poor Thane. You’ve never had time to play?”
Every muscle in his body clenched. “I seem to remember playing earlier today.”
She sucked in a breath. Apprehension—and desire—danced through her eyes.
“That was a lot of fun,” he whispered. “I’d like to do it again.”
She gulped. “All right,” she finally said, her voice going low and husky. “Let’s play.”
A sense of triumph flared. “Yes. Let’s.” He arched his hips, grinding his erection between her legs, and she moaned. “We’ll play Elin, May I.”
Her breaths came more heavily as she nodded.
“Elin, may I kiss you?”
She nodded again, her eyes wide, and he lowered his head. But he didn’t press his mouth against hers. Not yet. He hovered above her, breathing her in, drinking in her mounting arousal—and letting her drink in his.
She braced her hands on his shoulders, waiting. “Thane. I’m ready. I’m not even going to make you beg for it.”
“You want me to beg for it?” He knew how temptation worked. Knew it was better to chip away at resistance a bit at a time. A taste here. A nibble there. Until the first true craving hit...and it was too late to stop. “Because I will.”
A tremor rocked her.
“May I cup your breasts? Please.”
“Y-yes,” she agreed softly.
“May I spread your legs and stroke myself against you?” Her mind might want to stay true to her dead husband, but her body did not. “May I bring you to climax?”
Her next exhalation came fast and shallow. “Please.”
Such a sweet capitulation. But still he didn’t rush into action. He grazed the tip of his nose against hers, and gave her the barest of kisses.
She tensed, eager for more, only to deflate a moment thereafter. “Are you having fun?” she gritted.
“Yes.” At last he traced his tongue around the seam of her lips. “Do you like my game?”
She fisted his hair so tightly, several strands pulled free. “No. You’ve asked, you’ve received permission, but you haven’t taken.”
He nuzzled her cheek. “And you want me to take?”
“Yes!”
“Me. Only me?”
“Yes!”
“When?”
“Now!”
Such vehemence. He couldn’t resist.
Thane kicked her legs apart. As he pressed his lips against hers, thrusting his tongue deep, he cupped her breasts, her nipples already hard little buds. He ground his erection between her legs, giving her everything he’d promised in one fell swoop.
Everything but the climax.
Soon...
His tongue changed tempo, to one his body matched, thrusting against her...thrusting...faster and faster...harder and harder... Groan after groan left her, each needier than the last.
He fisted her hair and kicked her legs farther apart, and when her body dropped, he was there to catch her with another thrust, hitting her sweet spot with more fervor.
She clung to him. She clutched at him.
When her climax came, it was swift and brutal, just the way he’d wanted it to be, and she cried out. Though he was panting, practically on fire for her, he moved away from her, severing all contact. Her knees almost buckled, and he had to stop himself from reaching for her.
The more she hungered, the more she would seek him. And the less likely she would be to leave him when it was over.
“My resistance is so weak,” she grumbled, smoothing the hair from her damp forehead.
“Or my persuasion is so strong.”
Her grin was slow, but it melted the ice that had managed to meld to his heart. “Yes. Let’s blame you. But what about your needs?” Her gaze lowered to his shaft. “What about that?”
Hot arousal continued to pump through him, clamoring for release. And though he was almost blind with need, he wasn’t giving in. Not yet. “You’ll take care of me, kulta. Don’t worry. Just not here, and not now.”
She trailed her fingertips down his length, the whisper-soft caress making it twitch in response, and making him sweat. “How will I take care of you? Where? When?”
He met her gaze. “The first time, you’ll use your mouth, and we’ll be in my suite.”
A tremor nearly knocked her off her feet. “And the second time?”
“With your body, bent over the couch.”
Another tremor shook her. “When?” Her voice was breathy. “When do I get to do those things?”
She was so warm...so willing...so difficult to resist. “After we chat.”
“But we’ve been chatting,” she complained.
Yes, but he had a very important question to ask her.
He punched a button on the console, allowing the elevator to continue its rise, to stop and open its doors. He ushered her to his suite, careful not to brush against her. One more moment of contact, and he was certain he would forget his purpose.
Bjorn lounged on the couch.
Something inside of Thane eased at the sight of his friend...only to tense back up when he noticed the male’s condition—pale skin, haunted eyes, hair sticking out in spikes, and lips cut from being chewed.
“I’m well,” Bjorn said, noting his reaction. “Don’t worry.”
“I see you’ve brought us tonight’s entertainment,” Xerxes piped up. At the wet bar, he poured amber liquid into a glass.
Thane’s most primal instincts balked. They had shared women in the past, but they wouldn’t be sharing this one. “She’s mine, and mine alone.”
“Actually,” she said, her chin going up. “I’m my own. I’m funny that way.”
Xerxes hid a smile behind the ambrosia-laced whiskey.
A tray of food rested on the coffee table, Thane saw. The fruits, cheeses, and breads he always kept on hand, now mixed with the chocolates he’d added to the order. He sat in the chair, the food within reach, and dragged Elin into his lap.
“Eat,” he commanded her.
She struggled against him, reckless in her bid for freedom.
He tightened his hold and said, “Enough, kulta. This is happening.”
“No, it’s not. I’m not going to have a snack while leaning against your erection,” she finally gritted out. “Okay? All right?”
“Not okay. Not all right. You caused it.” Far from embarrassed, he gripped her hips and yanked. When she gasped, he wound his arms around her, using them as shackles, locking her in place. “The more you move, the bigger the problem is going to get.”
She stilled instantly. He wanted to laugh.
Darling human. What was she doing to his staid world?
Both Bjorn and Xerxes watched the entire exchange with unabashed interest.
“Thane Downfall,” Elin said in a mother-to-child tone. “Did you just make a penis joke?”
“Joke? I spoke true.”
She shook her head in exasperation. “Gotta baby-step it,” she whispered. And before he had time to question what that meant, she added, “So...how did this bromance begin?” motioning to the three of them. “Oh, chocolate!” Finally, she’d noticed. She selected—every piece.
“In tragedy,” Xerxes said.
“Oh.” She melted against Thane, as if to shield him from further harm, and consumed her treats. “I’m sorry. I was expecting something epically bromantic.”
Thane kissed her temple. “Something beautiful bloomed from something evil. It was epic.”
She relaxed, and he realized the chocolate was already gone. “Beauty from ashes. That’s nice.”
“If only that were always the case,” Bjorn muttered, breaking his heart.
“It will be today,” Thane said. “Elin is going to tell us everything that was done to her in the Phoenix camp, and we are going to punish those responsible.”
She stiffened all over again. “I gave you a few details already.”
“Not enough.”
“Well, I don’t want to give you any others.”
“In this case, your wants do not matter. You will be avenged whether you’d like to be or not.”
Quietly she said, “Baby step, baby step.” Then, with more volume, she added, “Believe me, I have been. Those stakes took care of business.”
“For me. Not for you.”
Sighing, she patted his thigh. “I think it’s really sweet that you want to brutalize people on my behalf, I really do, but I’m going to take a pass on this one, and that’s final.”
Final? Hardly.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “I’ve seen your naked body and know all your scars. I can guess the types of beatings and whippings you were forced to endure. The same beatings and whippings will be meted out against every Phoenix waiting in my cells, even those who were kind to you. If any were. You can either tell me what I want to know, and I can release the innocents, or they can all suffer the same fate.”
She twisted to meet his gaze. “You wouldn’t.”
“If you believe that, you don’t know me very well.”
“Oh!” she growled, clutching the collar of his robe. “You make me so mad at times. But guess what? I won’t be intimidated. I decline both options and offer you another. Go screw yourself.”
He wrapped his fingers around her throat, drawing her deeper against his chest, and placing her ear at his mouth. “I’ll decline that one, and give you another. Tell me you are half human, half Phoenix, and I’ll let you leave with every single one of the warriors now.”