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Sloth (The Damning Book 4)

Page 7

by Katie May


  lightheaded. Dizzy. Nauseous. Bile crawled up my throat.

  “How?” I croaked out.

  Aaliyah grinned like the cat who ate the canary. “The demon killed her

  lovers, because she knew they would get in the way of her relationship with

  her sister. She chose her sister over her mates, as she would do time and time

  again.” Her face was inches from mine, her eyes wide and slightly manic

  when they met my own. “I suppose you can say history is repeating itself.”

  “That’s…that’s a cute story,” I managed to say. But the bravado I

  infused my words with was faked. Something cold and slimy settled on my

  skin like a disgusting layer of tar I couldn’t scrub away.

  “It is, isn’t it?” She stared into my eyes another moment before turning

  away and continuing her aimless pacing. “Do you want to know how the

  story ends, Gabriella?”

  “Don’t call me that,” I snapped, forcing my hands to stop shaking.

  “That’s not my name.”

  She ignored me. “It ends with the demon getting exactly what she wants.”

  She spun abruptly, spearing me with an indecipherable look that had every

  hair on my arms standing on end, saluting the world.

  “And what exactly does she want?” I didn’t dare breathe. Aaliyah was a

  ticking time bomb, and one wrong move would have her detonating,

  destroying everything in the immediate proximity.

  A distressed, almost anguished expression marred her face as she moved

  to stand directly in front of me once again. Tears hung suspended on her

  thick lashes, as her brilliant green eyes turned hazy.

  “She wants her family back,” she whispered brokenly. And then, “Say

  hello to my next monster for me. I chose him especially for you.”

  Before I could demand more information, could piece together what

  exactly she meant, Aaliyah’s hands were on my chest and she was pushing

  me…

  Directly out the window and into the turbulent ocean far below.

  I WOKE WITH A GASP BEING YANKED FROM MY LIPS. MY HANDS WERE

  sweating, and my heart raced fiercely. Bright sunlight seeped through the

  open windows as I struggled to orient myself to my surroundings.

  I was in the van still…but it was stopped. And from what I gathered, none

  of my mates were present either.

  Panic momentarily stole the breath from my lungs until a rough hand

  clasped down on my shoulder, stilling me.

  “Hey.” Ryland’s voice curled around me like heady smoke, and I

  squeezed my eyelids shut at the comfort and safety that immediately

  infiltrated my system, dissipating the fear and anxiety. “You’re okay. You’re

  safe.”

  “Where are the others?” I whispered, peeling my eyelids open all the

  way. His hand tightened slightly before he released me. A second later, his

  shadows coiled around me, their presence more comforting than menacing,

  and I found myself on a lap I couldn’t see. His entire body was shrouded by

  his thick, heavy shadows.

  “They’re talking to a healer Bash knows,” Ryland explained soothingly,

  his wispy hand brushing at a strand of my curly hair. “When you didn’t wake

  up…” His voice hitched, almost as if he was replaying some unspeakable

  horror in his head, and I winced.

  “How long was I out?”

  “Too long,” he responded tersely. “And then you started muttering weird

  things…” His body shook beneath mine as featherlight kisses brushed the

  back of my neck. Goosebumps erupted on my skin before I could stop my

  body’s visceral reaction to his touch.

  Forcing myself to focus, I asked, “What things?”

  “Aaliyah,” he responded simply. “You said her name.”

  My dream returned to me with a vengeance, slamming into my mind and

  sending me toppling off a cliff—just as I’d done in my dream.

  Before I could lose the memories of my mysterious encounter with her,

  because I truly believed she had somehow found a way to enter my dreams, I

  told Ryland everything that had happened, including the strange history

  lesson she gave me. Ryland listened without interruption, and the only

  indication he was distressed by my words was the tightening of his shadows

  on my arms and legs. They pushed down, cutting off my circulation, before

  immediately curling back in on himself.

  Call me a kinky bitch, but a part of me really, really liked that.

  “That’s…interesting,” he said after I finished my spiel.

  “That’s all you have to say?”

  He buried his face in my hair, his shadows momentarily retreating to give

  me a glimpse of his dark brown skin. His hands tightened on my waist,

  smoothing across my stomach, before he dropped both of them to my thighs.

  “Are we positive that this wasn’t just a dream caused from your fever?”

  he pressed, but not as if he didn’t believe me. If anything, it sounded as if he

  did believe me and was desperate for me to say something that would prove

  us both wrong.

  “Positive. It felt real, Ry. I’m pretty sure Aaliyah entered my dreams

  somehow.”

  “That’s not good, Z,” he murmured, his voice laced with worry. His

  hands tightened on my thighs, and a sliver of lust embedded itself in my

  heart, despite everything going on. My breasts suddenly felt extremely heavy,

  my nipples aching.

  “I know.” His calloused finger lazily moved between my thighs, creating

  a pathway of fire through the material of my pants. When his thumb brushed

  against my pussy, I jolted, my entire body held tauter than a string on a bow.

  “How long do you think the guys will be gone?” I whispered as he

  continued to pepper kisses up and down my neck.

  “Long enough,” Ryland murmured, dropping his hand beneath the

  waistband of my pants. I spread my legs even wider as he fingered the hem of

  my panties. After a moment, he shoved one finger inside and slid it through

  my juices.

  My eyes rolled into the back of my head as he began to finger me in the

  back of the van, his entire hand resting inside my panties and his thumb

  rubbing against my sensitive clit. His other hand moved to cup my heavy

  breast, tugging at my nipple through my shirt and bra.

  “Ryland…” I moaned, forgetting about the strange dream and the fall into

  the ocean that woke me up. I even forgot about the poison, my entire

  attention consumed by my shadow mate.

  He moved his hand underneath my shirt, pushing it up around my

  shoulders. He then twisted my body so he could lower his head to my breast,

  sucking my nipple through the fabric of my bra and leaving wet spots in his

  wake.

  His fingers moved faster and faster, pumping in and out of me as he

  continued to devour my tit like he was dying for a taste. He shoved down the

  cup of my bra, pushing my boob up even more, and sucked it entirely into his

  hot mouth.

  I gripped his wrist with one hand, encouraging him to move his fingers

  even faster, while my other hand fisted in his dark hair. The shadows receded

  at my touch, revealing the mate I knew and loved. His obsidian hair and dark

  skin. The face mottled by vicious white lines. The eyes that peered back at<
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  me, emanating a sort of love you only ever read about in storybooks.

  He released one breast and moved his attention to the other, shoving

  down the bra cup for that one as well and claiming my nipple. When his teeth

  clamped down on it, my hips shot off the seat, my impending orgasm on the

  horizon.

  “Yes, Ryland. Yes,” I praised as he pressed down on my clit. And then I

  was shattering, shaking, swearing as he continued to finger fuck me through

  my orgasm. When I finally came back down to earth, after traveling in circles

  around the sun, I claimed Ryland’s lips in a desperate, frenzied kiss.

  “How did you know that was what I needed?” I whispered as he lazily

  cupped both my breasts and gave them a squeeze. Somehow, he was able to

  distract me from everything that had just transpired in my dream. It felt so…

  ridiculous to worry about Aaliyah and her schemes when I was with my men.

  “Because I know you,” he responded simply, a smile dancing on his plush

  lips. A white scar sliced through his upper one, but it somehow enhanced his

  beauty. Ryland was stunning, there was no doubt about that. I never

  understood why he hid, but I wouldn’t begrudge him something that made

  him feel more comfortable. “But you should probably fix your shirt. The

  guys and the healer will be here any second.”

  “Maybe I will if you stop fondling my tits,” I teased as his thumbs ran

  over both of my nipples.

  I was totally ready for round two. And three. And four and five.

  “But they’re just so pretty.” He flashed me a roguish grin as he dipped his

  head and bit down on one. I gasped, threading my fingers through his hair, as

  desire percolated in my lower stomach, wetting my panties even more.

  “Ryland…” I warned. “I need to fix my clothes. And hopefully, change

  my pants. A certain someone made me come inside my panties.”

  He grinned impishly at me, still not releasing my nipple from his teeth. I

  loved him like this, jovial and carefree, as if we didn’t have a guillotine blade

  hanging over our heads. “Who was this fellow? Shall I beat him up?”

  “Fellow? Who the fuck says fellow?”

  “Um…the guy who just made you come in your pants.” He finally

  released my poor, abused breast, frowned disgruntledly, and then helped me

  fix my bra and shirt. “Such a shame,” he murmured with a dramatic head

  shake. “Such a damn shame.”

  I actually laughed out loud. “You’re such a dork.”

  “Only when it—”

  A loud squawk sounded from outside, cutting off whatever Ryland was

  going to say.

  Immediately, he was on his knees, peering out the window, his muscles

  going rigid.

  “Ry?” I asked, alarmed. I twisted around until I was able to grab a pair of

  knives I kept beneath the seat. The poison may have made me weak, but I

  wasn’t an invalid. And if there was a threat coming, I would fight until my

  very last breath to protect myself and my men.

  “Aaliyah said she sent another monster, didn’t she?” Ryland asked grimly

  as his shadows flickered in and out of existence. I felt them coil around my

  body too, sheltering me from the impending threat.

  “I didn’t think…” I trailed off as I followed the direction of Ryland’s

  gaze. It took me a moment to spot the creature flapping its huge, leathery

  wings in the distance. As of now, it was just a speck of gray in the sky, but I

  could see it rapidly approaching us, growing larger by the second.

  “Is that…?” Alarm coated my voice as Ryland nodded gravely.

  “That’s a motherfucking dragon.”

  NINE

  KILLIAN

  Bash stopped the van in front of a desolate little hut a few miles away

  from the main road. Its mushroom roof poked through the boughs

  of trees, a strange combination of russet-red and pale gold. The

  house itself practically blended into the forest, constructed entirely of twigs

  and branches.

  “Your healer lives here?” I inquired curiously, staring at the tiny,

  nondescript building in the middle of freaking nowhere. I scratched absently

  at the back of my neck as my eyes flickered to Z’s sleeping face. She was so

  beautiful, it felt as if I couldn’t look away, as if she were a blinding, all-

  consuming light somehow capable of chasing away the even darkest of

  shadows. You learned to crave the light, lose yourself in it, and you found

  that when it was absent, you had nothing but a gaping hole in your chest

  where your heart should be.

  That was what she was—my light.

  My heart.

  “Paco is the best damn healer I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting,”

  Bash confessed, though he didn’t immediately get out of the van. Instead, he

  stared straight ahead, his blond brows furrowed and his emerald green eyes

  rife with pain and frustration. From where I was seated beside Z, I could only

  see his profile, but I knew my brother was deep in thought.

  If I had to guess, that thought had to do with the sleeping blonde on my

  lap, her head resting dangerously close to my traitorous cock.

  The fucker didn’t get the memo that he couldn’t lust after her until she

  was healed.

  “Killian, Jax, and Dair…you guys come with me. Ryland, stay with Z,”

  Bash instructed once the silence became too pronounced even for me. And I

  lived in the freaking silence.

  “Why us?” Dair asked immediately, swiping at a strand of his blond hair

  in agitation.

  Bash released a heavy sigh, his fingers once more tapping against the

  steering wheel. Ryland had driven the first few hours, but when Z started

  releasing distressed, pained noises in the back of the van, we feared he would

  crash in his haste to get to her. Bash had eventually taken over while Ryland

  hovered on the other side of her, his shadows repeatedly flickering in and out

  of existence as he struggled to control his growing anger and fear.

  “Paco’s powerful,” Bash began by way of explanation. He moved to get

  out of the van, and after only a brief moment of hesitation, my eyes straying

  to Z’s unconscious form, I followed. Jax began muttering under his breath the

  second he was away from Z, his arms wrapped around his waist and his eyes

  flicking in all directions without sticking on one thing in particular. Bash

  moved to help me with Dair and his wheelchair as he hurried to explain.

  “Paco might have a potion that can help, at least temporarily.”

  “Help?” Dair questioned once he was seated in his wheelchair. His

  forearms flexed as he began to roll himself up the cement. Fortunately, Paco

  had a driveway leading up to his shed instead of just plain dirt. And though it

  was cracked and crumbling, it was easier for Dair to wheel himself over than

  anything else would’ve been.

  “With your legs.” Bash nodded towards the mermaid prince, whose face

  went slack. Pain momentarily creased his features before he schooled his

  expression—a feat I knew took years of practice.

  “What if I don’t want help with that?” he retorted bitterly. “I’ve been in a

  wheelchair for many, many years. Just because I can’t walk like you can,r />
  doesn’t mean I’m—”

  “Don’t be an asshole,” Bash bit out as he stormed towards the cottage,

  leaving Ryland and Z behind in the safety of the van. I wasn’t worried about

  my mate. I knew Ryland would protect her with his life, as we all would.

  There was no one who was more important to any of us than that brave and

  perfect girl.

  Dair’s lips thinned before he eventually released a ragged sigh. “I’m

  sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I just…”

  “Struggle,” I finished for him, and when his eyes flickered my way in

  surprise, I blushed and ducked my head. “But if this Pablo can—”

  “Paco,” Bash corrected automatically.

  “—help you, then shouldn’t you let him try?” I tilted my head to the side

  curiously. I wasn’t judging him. There was a lot I didn’t understand, and

  Dair’s torture at the hands of his brothers and father was one of them. I didn’t

  understand how he felt, and I didn’t think I ever would. If he wanted to

  remain in his wheelchair the rest of his life, proving to his family each and

  every day that they hadn’t broken him, then he could and I would support his

  decision.

  My brother seemed to hold this delusional mentality that his predicament

  somehow made him lesser than us, especially in Z’s eyes. That couldn’t be

  further from the truth. As an incubus, I could sense lust and love, and the

  affection wafting from Z was nearly smothering. But it was a good type of

  smothering, like wrapping yourself in a quilt after spending hours outside in a

  snowstorm. It didn’t matter who she was with, she loved us all the same.

  Loved us.

  My heart still gave a rather girly flutter in my chest at the prospect of

  someone as incredible as Z loving and caring for someone like me. As quick

  as that thought came, I vanquished it. I was just as bad as Dair when it came

  to my own insecurities and self-loathing. How could I help my brothers if I

  struggled each and every day with my own turbulent mind?

  Forcing myself to focus on the topic at hand, I turned towards Jax, who

  was staring intently at the tinted windows of the van, almost as if his gaze

  could penetrate the steel and see the slumbering girl inside.

  “And him?” I bit down on my lower lip as I stared at the eccentric

  vampire. Like with Dair, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he’d been

 

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