by Lexi C. Foss
The stirring of a memory taunted the edges of my mind. His breath against my neck. Teeth puncturing my skin. A groan of approval leaving his throat. I nearly moaned in response, the thought so vivid and real that I almost thought he was doing it to me now, but his lips were still pressed to mine, his tongue completing a slow dance inside my mouth.
You’ve bitten me before, I realized.
Yes, he whispered. The night I saved you. I needed your essence to complete the life transfer that saved you.
I shivered. I liked it. And how messed up was that? It’d been the worst night of my life, yet I’d found some joy in the experience I shared with Grigory. The one that had tied us together and brought me back to life.
It revitalized you, he replied, his power humming through my veins. It’s not wrong to enjoy that.
I considered that. He was right, and yet… A part of me wanted to die that night.
I know.
You made me live.
No. You made yourself live, Zay. I just helped you along. And I would do it all again, even if it made you hate me, he whispered into my mind. You’re not my burden, Zay. You’re my savior. You provided the distraction I didn’t know I needed. You’ve helped me survive the last year of my own hell, something I’m only now realizing. His tongue slid against mine, his mental words a passionate caress.
I drew my fingers up his arm, needing to touch him. My palm curled around his shoulder, my heart beating fast in my chest. Reality is so much better than my dreams, I mused, adoring the way his muscles bunched beneath his shirt.
He smiled against my mouth. Yes, but those fantasies provided us with the taste we needed.
Not completely, I told him. You were the only one allowed to taste.
“Do you want to taste me, Zaya?” he asked out loud, his voice deep and seductive and holding a dark note that made my heart race.
“Yes.” The husky quality of my voice sounded so foreign to my ears.
“Hmm,” he hummed, his nose drawing along my cheekbone as he moved his lips to my ear. “Maybe we can play after this is done.”
“Maybe?” I repeated.
“Do you require more certainty?” he asked in a low whisper. “Shall I vow to let you taste me when we’re done?”
Oh, that tone… I tried to squeeze my thighs, but his leg kept me from seeking the friction I desired. A moan caught in my throat, my blood raging through my veins. “I like the idea of a vow.” Because it meant he trusted me and knew whatever he found lurking in my head wouldn’t incriminate me.
Grigory already believed my innocence, even with the evidence in front of him. I could feel it in his mind, the uncertainty of it all, his true disbelief that I would kill Yakariah in such a gruesome manner. A part of me fell for him a little harder.
Hell, that was a lie.
I’d fallen for this man months ago, and not just because of the dreams. I admired his courage and strength, his willingness to do what was right, his ability to help others, and his faith in me. It’d been there from the beginning—with each lesson, each push in the right direction, he ensured I wasn’t just alive, but strong, too.
He called me his savior, but in truth, he was mine.
His lips skated down the column of my neck, to the tender pulse that called his name. He tasted my skin, his growl of approval vibrating me in all the right places. “I’m going to bite you, Zay.”
“I know.” I angled my head, providing him with the access he needed. It was my version of consent. I also spoke it through my mind, telling him I trusted him not to hurt me.
I won’t, he promised, his fangs elongating to sharp points against my skin. I’ll be quick.
His extended incisors pierced my throat, the sharp pinch causing me to jolt in surprise, then moan at the delicious sensations that followed. Noxia demons were known for their ability to pleasure their prey through a bite. I’d been in too delirious a state our first time to understand it.
Now I did.
And now… now I wanted more.
Except images spiraled through my mind as Grigory coaxed my memories out of hiding.
I saw it all through my eyes, talking to Cyprus and the other guard in the hallway, walking back to my room, going into my closet to change. That was where the edges grew fuzzy, darkening until a piercing pain inside my head forced the memory to clear.
There was a thump of a sound.
I walked out to investigate.
And something pierced my neck.
I lifted my hand away from Grigory to touch the spot, but his palm against my nape covered the location.
Then my eyes widened at what came next.
A masculine voice hissed instructions in my ear, telling me where to find Yakariah and how to kill him. Scaly green fingers met mine to curl my hand around the throwing blade I’d retrieved from my closet moments ago. The second one was missing, giving me pause.
Some voice in my mind screamed at me to fight, to locate that other knife and stab the male behind me. But another prick to the back of my neck had me nodding in agreement.
I don’t understand, I thought. When did this happen? How?
But as the memory continued, it became clearer and clearer that I’d fallen victim to some sort of hypnosis. The voice gave me a flash bomb to use against the guard in the hallway. I did exactly as he said, then wandered through the palace in search of Yakariah.
He was on his way back to his rooms when I found him. I didn’t hesitate, my fist connecting with the back of his head to send him forward a few steps. Then I pounced.
He begged me not to kill him.
He pled with me for his life.
And I stabbed him in the heart.
Repeatedly.
Carving a hole.
And taking the organ out with my opposite hand.
My stomach churned at the wrongness, my breaths shallowing in my chest.
I tried to shake my head, but I couldn’t move with Grigory bent over me, his lips on my neck. He was no longer drinking from me. Yet he held me in place, his forehead buried against my throat as he focused on my mind.
Tears trailed down my face as Yakariah stole his last breath, his blood bathing the hallway.
Then I went to my knees beside him to stare at the wall, just as the voice had told me to do.
And waited.
Something began to tingle inside me, my spirit resurfacing as if awaking from a dream, and then the screaming started.
This was the part I remembered—being found covered in blood.
Grigory pulled out of my head at that point, his dark gaze capturing mine. “You were compelled by a water demon, but I don’t know which one. You never saw his face. However, venom hypnosis is rare. We’ll be able to isolate the culprits rather easily.”
“He begged me not to kill him,” I whispered. “And… and…” I couldn’t finish, my heart in my throat. I killed him.
“Not by choice, Zay.” His grasp on my nape tightened. “Look at me.”
I hadn’t realized my gaze had slipped from his until he said it, but I was too ashamed to pull my attention back to him. I killed him.
“Look at me,” he repeated, his voice underlined in demand.
I tried to do as he commanded, but the words I killed him continued to repeat in my thoughts. They echoed so loudly I couldn’t focus on anything else. My cheeks were damp with tears, my heart breaking in my chest.
I had begged once.
I’d implored Necros’s men to stop.
They were killing me.
Fucking me to within an inch of my life and laughing the whole time.
I’d craved death by the end, even while I still cried for them to stop.
Yakariah had cried, too.
And I killed him.
Grigory bit my lower lip—hard—and used his tongue to soothe the ache. I flinched, his punishment unexpected and harsh. Yet it pulled me back to him, away from the obsidian depths of my mind that threatened to swallow me in the nightmarish recollectio
ns of my past.
He grounded me in the present, his dark eyes glittering as he stared down at me. I hadn’t even felt him push me to my back, hadn’t noticed his hips pinning me to the mattress, but I felt him now. He balanced himself on his elbows on either side of my head, caging me between him and the bed.
I felt the weight of his dominance and the power in his spirit. It seeped into my bones, melting me beneath him and forcing me to give him my undivided attention.
He’d move if I wanted him to.
But I would never ask him to.
“You didn’t kill him by choice,” Grigory said, his minty breath hot against my parted lips. “Someone compelled you to do it. That person murdered Yakariah, not you.”
I shuddered, his words resonating deep within me as if he were persuading me to believe him. Yet I didn’t feel his influence, just his vehemence. He didn’t blame me and urged me not to blame myself.
“It wasn’t you,” he added in a softer tone. “Someone violated your mind and forced your will, and I’m going to make him pay for it with his life.” His lips touched mine, sealing his vow. “No one will ever be allowed to hurt you again, Zaya. I’ll slaughter anyone who tries. Destroy them with my mind.”
His promise settled over me, through me, securing itself to my soul.
I believed him.
Could see the way he’d rip apart my enemies inside his mind.
Whatever tunnel he’d opened between us had been strengthened by him imbibing my blood. It was as though he’d given me access into his spirit, allowing me to see all his true intentions, the real Grigory that lurked beneath the shield of duty.
And I liked what I found.
“What’s happening between us?” I asked him, breathless from the sensation of having my essence woven with his. “It feels like our bond is… growing.”
“Because it is,” he replied, pressing his forehead to mine. “You’re mine to protect and I failed you, but that will never happen again. No one will be able to touch your mind now. It’s safeguarded by my own.”
“You’re claiming me,” I realized out loud, my heart racing in my chest.
“I claimed you the moment I saved your life,” he corrected. “I’m just following through on the promise I should have made to you last year.”
“By turning me?”
“No, sweetheart. I’m merely deepening our connection. My blood runs through your veins, just as yours runs through mine, thus tying our fate together. But your life is still very much your own.”
I didn’t fully understand, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Right now, all I desired was to feel. To thrive in the sensation of our linked souls.
His life was mine.
My life was his.
At least for the moment.
And I’d never felt more alive.
“Kiss me, Grigory,” I told him. “Please.”
“Mmm, I did promise that you could taste me,” he replied, his tone a sensual caress that heated my blood. “Set the pace, Zaya. Take whatever you want from me, however you want. I’m yours to command.”
I rolled off of Zaya, pulling her on top of me, giving her the control I knew she needed. At least tonight.
A year and a half ago, her body had suffered brutality unlike any other.
And this week, someone had raped her mind.
Whoever it was would pay. I’d make the culprit crawl to her and beg her forgiveness, then watch as she dragged a knife across his fucking throat.
It would be glorious. Bloody. Revenge.
“Yes,” she agreed, seeing the desire in my mind and making me admire her all the more.
“You’re so strong,” I marveled, loving how her warrior spirit had latched onto my comments and held on without questioning my logic.
So many would have succumbed to the darkness and self-loathing, but not Zay. Instead, she allowed herself to believe in her own innocence, to realize that while she’d completed the murderous action, it hadn’t actually been her doing it.
Zaya sat up and straddled my hips, her eyes taking on a turquoise glimmer that made my blood simmer hotter for her. She’d lost her boots, socks, and jacket before sliding into my bed, and I’d followed suit, leaving me in just jeans and a sweater.
“Whatever I want?” she asked, clarifying my statement about taking out her desires on me.
“Whatever you want,” I agreed.
She smiled. “Then I hope you’re okay with us staying here for a little while, because I have a very long list.”
“That’s good, Zay. Because I have quite a list as well.”
She arched a brow, her palms falling to my abdomen. “I thought I was setting the pace?”
“Yes. For now.” I grabbed her hips and squeezed just enough to show her I was still very much in control here. “But when you’re done, it’ll be my turn.”
Her nipples beaded through her T-shirt, her excitement palpable. “All you ever do is taste me.”
My lips curled. “We’re no longer dreaming, Zay. I’m going to do a hell of a lot more than taste you.”
“Why now?” she asked, her pupils dilating. “Why not before?”
“Because I set rules before.” Rules I now despised. “But I’m breaking all the rules now. Why not shatter a few more?”
“What rules?”
“Rules that told me you were off-limits.”
“Because of my past?”
“Because of Adrik and Valora,” I corrected. “I was meant to save you, not claim you.”
“But by saving me, you inadvertently claimed me,” she pointed out. “It’s your blood that brought me back to life.”
I shook my head. “No, sweetheart. It was your spirit that brought you back. All I did was aid in your recovery.”
She grinned down at me. “You’re saying all the right things, Grigory.”
“Am I?” I replied, my grip on her hips lessening as I shifted my thumbs to dance beneath the hem of her shirt. “You going to reward me?”
“I feel like twelve months of dreams where I do nothing but go down on you seems appropriate.”
“I wouldn’t complain.”
“You would if that was all I allowed,” she murmured, her lips curling devilishly.
I drew my touch along her lower abdomen, tracing the top of her pants. “You’d miss my tongue between your thighs, Zay. I’d give you one week before you’d beg me to fuck you.”
“I’ve already begged.”
“You have,” I agreed, shifting my palms upward along her stomach and drawing her shirt up with it. “So are you going to stretch this out another twelve months? Or are we finally going to fuck?”
Lightning flashed in her gaze as I skimmed the underside of her breasts with my thumbs.
She responded by pulling her shirt off over her head, exposing her pert tits to my view. “Touch me.”
“I am,” I murmured, drawing my fingers along her luscious swells and watching as her nipples strained in response.
“More.”
“Tell me what to do,” I countered. “Tell me how to touch you, Zay.”
She grabbed my sweater between her fists and yanked on the fabric, her eyes blazing with turquoise fire. “If I have to tell you what to do, then we’re in trouble. Grab my breasts, Grigory. Now.”
I grinned at her and complied. “You’re supposed to be setting the pace.”
“Maybe I’m tired of dancing around it,” she returned, arching into my palms. “Maybe I want you to set the pace.”
I rolled her onto her back in an instant and settled myself between her thighs. My palms went to her hips, angling her where I wanted her and pressing my groin into hers. “You don’t want me to take over, Zay. I’ll devour you.”
“Oh, I want that,” she said, wrapping her legs around me and thrusting upward. “I want to feel you inside me, Grigory. I want you to fuck every bad memory from my head and remind me what it’s like to well and truly live.”
My cock pulsed against the zipper of my jea
ns, eager to comply. “Soft and tender, or hard and fast?” I asked. “Tell me how to take you.” I already knew her answer from her thoughts, but I wanted her to say it out loud, to hear the command from her lips.
And she didn’t disappoint. “Hard. Fast. Thorough.” She scratched her nails over my back, my sweater saving my skin. “I want you to make me forget my own name. Take me to the stars if you have to—just do it right.”
“A challenge,” I mused, drawing away from her and grinning at her responding growl when I forced her to release my back.
Her growl turned into a groan of approval as I removed my sweater. She licked her lips, her nostrils flaring when my hand went to the button of my jeans. I only popped it open before bending to pull one of her nipples into my mouth.
A curse fell from her pretty mouth, her fingers locking in my hair as if to hold me against her forever. I allowed it only because I desired a long, sensuous taste of her. She murmured words of approval when I switched breasts and ran my hands down her sides to play with the top of her pants.
Her button unlatched with a flick of my thumb, then I dragged her zipper down.
She hadn’t worn anything beneath her clothes, making this a beautiful experience. Going forward, I’d have to hide all her lingerie because I liked her bare beneath the clothes.
I kissed a path downward, pausing at her belly button to dip my tongue inside while meeting her burning gaze. “More, Grigory.”
“As you wish,” I murmured, continuing my sensual path to the trimmed curls between her thighs. I shifted to remove her pants, leaving her naked on top of the sheets. “Such a gorgeous view,” I told her as I resettled between her thighs. “I could stay here all night.”
“You’d better not,” she replied. “I expect mo—ohhhh…”
I chuckled against her clit before sucking it into my mouth and laving her with my tongue. She squirmed, her fingers fisting the silky fabric beside her hips, and a delicious sound left her throat. I hummed in approval, propelling her toward a cliff of no return.
She was so fucking ready.
