by Lizzy Ford
Declan hesitated. “I know. I’m not one hundred percent certain this is the right thing to do, but the sooner we get them away from the Sucubatti, the better. Maybe if we seclude the Professor and his kind, they’ll provide more information about what Olivia’s done to Zoey.”
“Tough choices. I’m glad you’re decisive enough to make them,” his father said. “I learned the hard way, but you’re a natural.”
“It certainly doesn’t feel that way.”
“If it gets easy to make a decision that involves the lives of others, you need to be replaced,” his father said.
Declan smiled at his father’s wisdom, sensing the man beside him had been like Zoey when young.
“I don’t know what to do about Zoey,” he started.
“She won’t fall into place like a puzzle piece, based on her file. She’ll have you to ground her, though.”
“I thought it would be the other way around.”
“It will be when needed. The disadvantage of being an Incubus: we know sex. We don’t know women.”
Declan laughed.
“Seriously. Do you know how long it took for your mother and me to figure each other out?” his father asked fondly. “I should say, just to be able to live together peacefully?”
“Please don’t say years.”
“Years. Relationships are about things we don’t innately care about. Like trust and communication. What Incubus needs that shit? We weren’t created for relationships, but we have to learn.”
“That’s the second time I’ve heard the word trust used today,” Declan said.
“You are more like your mother than me, which will serve you well,” his father added. “You have patience, and you already know what you need to do to win your girl. We’ll figure out what Olivia did and make sure your Zoey is okay. The rest is up to you.”
Declan listened. He didn’t think it was going to be as easy as his father made it out to be and wondered if his father was keeping secrets again.
Chapter Fifteen: Strike Two
Any hope she had of Declan having some small grain of mercy was crushed when she awoke with a migraine. Zoey groaned and gripped her head. She broke their connection by rolling onto her stomach, which only made it worse. She vaguely recalled her evening, but not how she ended up in Declan’s bed instead of her own.
“You ready to negotiate?” he asked casually.
“It’s just a tiny headache,” she snapped.
He chuckled. “You’re a horrible liar.”
“I’m good. Getting ready to catch a ride home.”
“You know you’re not going anywhere.”
She wasn’t going to admit he was right. He rolled her over. She didn’t resist. A small pulse of magic, and her headache was gone, her mind clear. He stirred her sex energy with his touch. Her body hummed already.
“Damn you,” she muttered.
“You’re angry.”
“Very.”
He gave her a slow smile. “Tell me why.”
“You mean, aside from you betraying me and making me betray my friends?” she demanded, pushing herself up. “Marking and dumping me on the Professor’s porch three years ago without telling me about this bonding thing? Then reading my mind yesterday at the inquisition?”
“And …”
“Isn’t that enough?”
“Making you realize you’d given me access to your soul when you never gave Eric your heart.”
Zoey stared at him. “Can you read my mind?”
“Only sometimes, when we’re touching, like we are now.”
“I don’t like this game,” she said. She strained to move away.
“I love it.” He pulled her back and slung his thigh across hers to keep her from moving. “There’s more, isn’t there.” The fire of challenge was in his eyes. He let more of his magic free, and it fed her anger and sex energy. It overtook her senses. She struggled to resist him, knowing he was doing it again on purpose.
“Stop,” he warned again. “Remember?”
Zoey sighed. She pushed down her resistance, if only to feel the warmth of their bond.
“Yesterday, after you fucked me over, I wanted to kill you,” she told him, the fury rising within her again. “Not in a quick, clean way.” She propped herself up on her elbows to bring her face closer to his. “You can’t have access to all of me, Declan. It’s so not fair.”
“That sounds like a dare.” The light in his eyes burned brighter, and she sensed the patience he showed their first night was gone.
Zoey broke the tension between them first, kissing him. His magic roared through her, lighting her anger into a frenzy. His touch was demanding rather than gentle, and she yielded quickly, surprised when he pushed her to climax fast, using his mouth and hands. Her orgasm came fast and hard, slamming into her. Declan entered her then, pushing the waves of pleasure higher and higher, nipping, kneading and maneuvering her body roughly. Lost in the sensations, Zoey cried out as he held her in the state of pleasure, her body bucking beneath his. She entered his mind, the strange place between them, as he fucked her hard and fast. His restraint was sliding as he commanded her body to new heights using magic and physical prowess.
A new sensation – deep and primal – built within her, mirrored through their bond and the physical joining. The strength of it alarmed her at first, until she recalled that he shared his soul with her the first night and did so again tonight. This time, though, he was nudging the door of hers open.
The tension of his body grew, the connection between them taut and straining as they both fed off the sex energy. Near madness with an orgasm extended for half an hour, she started to slide into darkness when the primal build-up broke simultaneously with Declan’s orgasm. Zoey’s strangled cry sounded distant to her ears as ecstasy paralyzed her with undulating ripples that tore through her, physically and spiritually. The sense of being united with him were more intense as their pooled pleasure swept through them on all levels, shattering the barriers between their minds and souls. They were fused by the sex energy.
When the physical sensations relented, Zoey lay still, uncertain if she could move at all. Declan was panting from effort and the effects of the bonding.
He rested on top of her. He nibbled her earlobe then spread kisses across her face.
“What the fuck was that?” she managed.
Declan laughed softly.
Zoey’s eyes fluttered open. He touched her face, peering deeply into her gaze. She saw his soul and realized he’d done it; he’d united theirs into one. The flow between them was natural, no longer stopped or controlled by one or the other. She couldn’t throw up her barriers if she wanted to.
That he had unfettered access to her was a terrifying thought.
“You’re mine, Zoey,” he said. “You’ve lost two bets to me in two days.”
“Doesn’t it scare you?” she whispered. Her body was slow to respond, but it worked. She touched his face, tracing the chiseled features.
“No. It does you?”
She nodded. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.
“Was I too rough?” he asked, wiping them away.
“No, never. Unless you’re interrogating me in front of the damn Enforcers.”
“That side of me scares you,” he guessed.
“This whole thing does.”
“You can go back to defying me. You’ve got one more strike.”
She smiled. “Oh, I will.”
“Good. I love your fire and I love quieting it even more.”
His words thrilled her. Sensing she hadn’t recovered yet, he settled beside her and pulled her into his body. Zoey breathed in the scent of his neck and wound her fingers through the dark curls on his chest. Their legs intertwined, she shifted her hips until they were pressed against his.
“This is how you should’ve been yesterday at the hearing,” he said. “Quiet. Calm.”
“Compared to how I normally am, I was,” she retorted with no heat. “I fucked it up, didn�
��t I?”
“I would’ve read you anyway,” he replied.
“Really? You knew that before I walked in?” She pushed her head back to see his eyes.
“Yeah. I knew about Liam and Vikki. I wanted to see how much you knew.”
“Can I read you?” she asked.
“Not sure I want you trying.”
“Just for that, you damn well better tell me how!” she said. She placed a hand loosely at his neck, the way he had her, without knowing what to do.
“Alright. We’ll see how tough you are,” he said. He trailed kisses down her forehead and nose then pressed his warm lips against hers.
“No,” she said firmly. “You’re not distracting me.”
Declan nuzzled her cheek and then leaned back.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to read me,” he said seriously. “I don’t know if you’ll be strong enough to talk to me mentally.”
“I want to try.”
Can you hear me? His voice was in her head.
She nodded.
“Normally, Halflings of either society can’t propel their thoughts into the mind of a full-blood, even though we can do it to you.”
“How do I try it?”
“Focus on me and the bond, all you have to do is –“
I’m glad I’m here with you. She didn’t wait for him to finish his instructions, but concentrated on him and the magic between them.
He stopped mid-sentence, a smile spreading across his face. This was different than his other smiles. This one was tender.
“It was just a test,” she said, her face warm at his look. “You know.”
“Right,” he whispered. “You surprise me more and more every time we meet.”
“What else can I do to you with this bond?” she teased. “You’re sure I can’t read you?”
“We’ll test it another time. Maybe after strike three?” He kissed her deeply, trying to distract her.
Zoey almost fell for it. She pulled away from him and laughed.
“I’ll be more powerful than you after strike three!”
“You sent me one message and now you think the universe is yours?”
Here’s the second, she replied mentally.
Declan laughed. “Okay, two!”
“So when you chose to take me for strike one, did you do it so you could read me the next morning?” she asked.
“I could’ve read you either way. Your bond to the Professor has been weak for awhile, mainly because of his age. Being bonded to you was easier, but I’m quite a bit stronger than the normal Incubus.” The words were factual, not arrogant.
“Hurricane?”
“Do you really want to know?”
She shook her head, already uneasy with the idea.
“You knew I was lying the whole time,” she said with a sigh.
“Yes.”
“All of you were messing with me.”
“Absolutely. They’re all my brothers. They found it funny someone as wild as you were mine.”
“Son of a bitch!” She didn’t know why she was embarrassed by that fact.
“If it helps, we only mess with people we like. You made a memorable impression, especially after you almost took out Wes,” he said, amused. “I warned them.”
“I was really hoping he’d kill me fast.”
“Not a chance, and Vikki’s staying here. I didn’t take her from you.”
“I know,” she replied. “We’re…” she stopped and willed herself not to think it.
“Rule two.” The edge was in his voice.
“Who invented these rules anyway?” she retorted. “And why…” she trailed off.
He pushed her onto her back, the dangerous light that had been present when he told her about rule number one in the alley returning. Her heart flew into a frantic flight, her breathing uneven.
“Don’t do that,” she begged.
“Talk.”
“We’re forming our own Cambion hunting vigilante group.”
The lethal spark faded. “It’s against the rules.”
“Yours or the Sucubatti’s or Incubatti’s?” she asked.
“Does it matter?”
“I won’t break yours.”
A trace of a smile crossed his face. He kissed her, easing her tension, then pulled her against him as he rolled back to his side. She assumed his lack of response was tepid acceptance.
“Do your rules apply to you, too?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said then added, “Oh, and Zoey...”
She lifted her head to look at him.
“Strike two.”
“Goddamn it!” She flushed. “There will be no third date!”
“At the rate you’re going, you’ll be back tonight,” he teased. “You lost your last bet anyway. Double or nothing wasn’t it? Which means I get to fuck you for four more nights?”
“I do not recall,” she snapped.
“Then it was seven.”
“It was four, jerk!”
She was starting to like the way he teased her, almost as much as how he fucked her. Zoey buried her face in the nape of his neck, breathing in his rich vanilla scent, surprised to realize she really did like him. And hated him. And was bound to his soul. No part of her wanted to leave his body or to wake up without him.
“What happens after strike three?” she asked suddenly. “Assuming it happens. Not saying it will, but is there still a price tag on healing me?”
“It depends.”
“No noble dedication to your poor little soul-mate?”
“Do you plan on coming to my bed every night willingly? Or do I have to hunt you down?”
She grunted noncommittally in response.
“If you agree to be in my bed every night, I’ll be the noblest of all,” he said, smiling. “If you form a vigilante group that breaks off from Incubatti and Sucubatti, and you make me hunt you down to fuck you, you’ll pay a price every time. I have a feeling that’s what you’ll do, at least for awhile.”
She rolled her eyes at him, silently agreeing. “Double or nothing would be eight nights?”
“Yes.”
“Double or nothing it is,” she decided. “What’s the bet? Three days for strike three?”
“Three is generous, don’t you think?”
Zoey rolled out of his grip in protest. He rested his hand on her hip to stop her in place. Laughing, she grabbed the edge of the bed and tugged free. He growled in response, a sound that barely sounded human. His body settled on top of hers. Gasping, she yielded to the shot of magic. He slid between her thighs.
“One day,” he whispered. “You’ll be back tonight.”
“Fuck you,” she replied, already awash in their shared arousal.
Declan kissed her then worked his way down her body, using his hands and mouth to overwhelm her senses. Zoey relished the sensations. She reached for him more than once, needing to feel him inside her rather than the sensual teasing. Declan pushed her hands away every time, until she sat up restlessly to stretch for him. Declan sat as well from his position at her feet. He pulled her into his body, kissing her hard. One hand twisted a nipple while the other slid into the core of her womanhood. Zoey clawed at him, unable to stand his teasing any longer when she was so wet and ready.
“Fuck me, Declan,” she demanded breathlessly.
He moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against him. She groaned and wriggled.
“I was patient last night. Now it’s your turn,” he said again with a husky chuckle.
Kneeling with her legs apart, Zoey rested her head against his shoulder, in heaven with his hands roaming her body and his hard dick at her back.
She captured his thumb as it crossed her lips and sucked hard on it. His other hand reached around to trace down her belly to her core. He pushed two fingers inside, rubbing her G-spot hard in rhythm with her tongue’s work on his thumb. His thumb slid along the sensitive nerve between her petals and flicked her clit. Near orgasm
again, she bit his thumb.
He responded by pressing his penis between the cheeks of her buttocks.
“Please,” she begged.
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered.
“I want you to fuck me.”
“How?” His fingers continued to torture her. He pulled his thumb from her mouth and wrapped his arm beneath her breasts. “C’mon. Tell me how you want me to fuck you.”
“I don’t know,” she groaned.
He removed his hand from her core. Zoey let him position her, push her knees apart and hold her upper body suspended. His hips shifted away as he prepared to enter her once more. Almost panting with need, she gasped as his penis slid into her sheathe while two fingers slid into the tight ring of her anus.
“You’re so fucking juicy,” Declan’s voice held a note of strain, as if his self-control was no longer effortless. He moved in and out of her a few times then withdrew, his penis replacing his fingers at her anus.
Lost to her senses, Zoey felt the softness of the meat of his palm against her lips. Her mouth opened, and she kissed then gripped him with her teeth.
He penetrated her anus, slow and gentle, letting her body adjust to his size.
“Bite,” he whispered in a rough voice.
Zoey obeyed. Pain and pleasure roared through her as he plunged into her. She moaned and bit him hard as he moved in and out of her faster and faster. When the pain passed, she released him, and his hand went to her clit again, stroking and fondling her, matching the rhythm of his pumping.
They plummeted into the world of shared passion. Rather than resist, she clambered for access to his mind, needing to feel the mental connection as well as the physical one. He suspended his pleasure the first night, but this time, he was barely holding on. His desire was hot, his pleasure raging as it consumed both of them.
He lowered her onto all fours then gripped her hips, plunging into her faster and faster. He drove her near the breaking point then held her there longer, his fire consuming her even in the world of their souls, until she heard herself begging him for release.
Zoey’s orgasm broke a second before his. She dropped onto her stomach, body rendered weak by the pleasure that wracked her. Declan collapsed onto her back, shaking under the force of his release and breathing hard. He kissed the side of her face, and the two of them lay still, aside from the convulsions of their orgasms.
