There was a glint of possession in his gaze, as though she were his and just didn’t know it, yet. Instead of shying away, something in her rose at that look, something equally as possessive, something covetous and hungry.That avidity spread from her, spanning the distance between them. She felt it brush along his hard frame, touching him in truth. Light slanted across his face, revealing a flash of surprise in his cerulean eyes and the intrigued curl of his lips.She knew, somehow, he’d felt that invisible caress like a ripple against his skin.Lowering his drink, he tilted his head and said something to his friend, never letting her out of his sight. A white flash caught her attention, and she dragged her gaze back to the devilish blonde whose smirk turned into a wide, dazzling grin.&nbs
Her breath hitched. His voice was deep, the bass notes rich and gravelly, shivering up her spine like distant thunder. Livia wanted to hear him speak again just to soak in the resonate sound once more.Dancing with this man, who should feel like a stranger, yet didn’t, was exhilarating, a breath of fresh air in lungs that had been starved for far too long. She was alive. She was thriving.The desire to know his name, to see his face, became an aching need, but she refused to break the trance into which they’d fallen. Instead, Livia kept her eyes tightly shut and immersed herself in the moment, knowing somewhere in the back of her mind it would need to last her for when she was inevitably alone again.The song changed, becoming something dark and primal. Their bodies moved together faster, harder, followi
Lips parting on a sharp exhale, Livia fought to keep her eyes open and on the sinister blonde still watching her from the sidelines as the man behind her slid a big hand over her hip, across her thigh, then between her legs.Just that small amount of pressure where she throbbed so needily had her crying out softly, the sound drowned out by the din of the pub. The expert way he circled his fingers over her, unerringly finding her swollen, throbbing bundle of nerves beneath the layers of leather and lace, had her knees going weak.He caught her, holding her against him effortlessly, moving her body to the beat. Grinding together, they found a new rhythm, rocking forward and back, their hips in perfect sync as he pushed her against his hand before she pressed back against his cock, both giving as they took.As if the r
“Livia,” he rumbled back, her name a deep, low melody rolling effortlessly off his tongue.It shivered down her spine, sending tiny bumps rising along her skin. She wanted to wrap herself up in his voice and listen to the lilting bass notes on repeat.Gazing up into his eyes, she opened her mouth to ask him the same when some instinct had her turning in time to see the dark one prowling toward them. A flash of light skimmed over his cruelly beautiful features, revealing heat and hunger in his eyes warring with something colder, something menacing.The fallen angel she’d compared him to was gone, leaving a far more dangerous devil in its place.Her familiar stranger saw him coming half a second after she did, but instead of offering a greet
Earlier, Rhye watched her slipping through the crowd like water while he absently waved a hand to dissipate evidence of his release. The witch’s movements were lithe and graceful, as if this weren’t her first time having to escape.Livia.There was something strange about his little beauty, something undeniably mysterious but equally alluring. She was amazing. There was something about her that he couldn't put a finger on. He hadn’t realized his companion had already spotted her before he approached, but once he’d seen her, he couldn’t have turned away, and they were just as spellbound.He even noticed Joseph and Leon raising their brows and smirking at him. He'd never treated a woman like this before, let alone someone as magical as she was. Someone of his caliber was despised.Even through the humans packed tightly together on the dance floor, he’d noticed her pale blonde hair. It was as pure and luminous as a beach pearl, a color that no human could achieve naturally. And yet, he
The thought was enough to make Rhye growl, the low, protective sound buried under the noise of the club. The three of them watched as she peered back through the crowd, her gaze fliccouncil from one to the next, before the tightly packed bodies filled in the small trail she’d created in her escape. A connection, an undeniable thread, spanned between him and the little temptress, and it pulled taut, the sensation a tug in his chest as she left him behind. Livia Those little words whispered into the back of his mind. It’d been as natural as breathing to call her such, and that might have been the most surprising of all. Could she truly be the other half of my soul? She was small, so fucking small, but she’d fit against him as though they were made for each other. And the connection... Rhye rubbed his chest, half expecting to feel a physical string tying them together, but his fingers grazed only the soft cotton of his shirt. "What else did she say?" Leon asked, leaning slightly c
Livia's neighbor finally, blessedly, stopped harassing her that morning. That, and the creeping claustrophobia, were the only reasons she finally left the safety of her house to come here and work off some of her frustrations. No, that wasn’t entirely true. There was a part of her—a foolish, lonely part—that wanted those men, any of them, to find her, even if it meant putting herself in danger. Luckily, the draw she’d felt that day was mostly absent, only present as a faint tug toward the east, easing the foolish temptation and leaving her feeling relatively safe. Drawn from her thoughts by the sudden sense that someone was watching her, Livia tensed but contained any other outward reaction. As casually as she could, she rolled her head to the side so she was staring out her side window and scanned the dark parking lot. It took only a moment to locate what looked like a homeless woman, standing in the shadows next to a dumpster at the edge of the lot. Something about her had skit
Bernard didn’t have an ounce of toxic manliness in him, so she wasn’t surprised when he smiled like a proud big brother instead of being bitter about constantly losing to a woman. Especially one so much smaller than him. “I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve.” “Oh, yeah? Well, bring it, old man. Let’s see what you’ve got.” “Old man! Oh ho ho, it’s on now,” he roared, green eyes sparkling. Once gloved up and inside the ring, they circled, no longer smiling as they sized each other up, both looking for weaknesses and cracks in the other’s defenses. Livia lost patience first, as usual, and attacked, using speed and her small size to dart forward within his guard. Feinting with a jab, she tried to land a shot to his ribs. Unfortunately, that left her face unguarded. She saw the punch coming in time to twist and avoid most of the blow, but not all of it. He caught her at the corner of her mouth, splitting her lower lip on her teeth. Darting away again before he could land anothe
Shock at what she’d done had barely begun to flicker through her mind when she felt something heavy and oppressive build within her. A sudden, sharp pain in her chest had her crying out as something foreign inside her pulled tight, stretching like a rubber band. Oh, god, it hurts. It felt like every atom of her being was being simultaneously crushed and pulled to its breaking point. The foreign sensation grew stronger and heavier until it felt like she was being ripped apart. The agony was unreal. She tried to scream her pain, but her chest was caving in, and she couldn’t breathe. It was gathering her power. She could feel it, like a thorned vine, latching onto the tendrils; she could feel it squeezing them, choking them. With a violent, agonising wrench, it yanked her power back into her, the cold, burning pain of it tearing a ragged shriek from her throat. Like a hand swatting a fly, the whiplash of it folded her body in half and sent her hurtling toward the floor. Strong arms
Thighs clenching at the feel of it, so erotically foreign, yet so right, she writhed between kisses and moaned. In response, Rhye coils his tail around her leg, guiding her to widen her stance. He slipped a thigh between her legs at the same moment he cupped her breasts, as he sucked her earlobe into his mouth. Moaning in delight... "Oh, God..." Livia growled.The multitude of sensations had her crying out into Rhye’s mouth. Pressing her breasts into his hands, she ground down against his thigh, needing the pressure where she was so wet and swollen for him.Like an extra set of arms, she felt him wrap his majestic tail around her, enclosing her in a cocoon of warmth, safety, and need. Even with her eyes closed, she knew he didn’t surround her completely. She didn’t have to wonder why. The knowledge that he’d left a gap so she could breathe and her inner demon could watch unimpeded had a new rush of wetness slicking her core. It was like she had been transported to a different dimensio
That was enough to snap her out of the trance.Unsure if she was more freaked out about being hypnotized by a fucking tail, or charmed that it seemed to like her, she pet it in return, carefully stroking a fingertip lightly over the spade tip.If it were possible, her eyes would have widened even more at the shiver working through Rhye.Did he like that?Oh, how she wanted to play and find out.Soon, it retreated, and Livia marvelled at all three men as she really, truly realised that they weren’t humans. They were predators and, unlike humans, had the features necessary to both lure in prey and kill it. Joseph’s eyes, Rhye’s tail—they were all mesmerising."Like cuttlefish," she muttered under her breath.Rhye zeroed in on her and cocked his head. "What’s that?""Oh, nothing." Peering up at Rhye, she prompted, "You wanted to ask something earlier?"The alpha gave her a look that said he knew she was intentionally redirecting the conversation but that he was going with it. "How did it
The words escaped without thought, but she didn’t have the mental capacity to regret them, even when the room was suddenly full of low, masculine laughter."Does that mean you think I’m pretty, too?" Leon rumbled, his eyes, now a vivid purple, sparkling—literally sparkling—as though they were dotted with a thousand tiny stars.His voice had already been deep, but now it was even more so. The gravelly, bass sound vibrated through her like distant thunder but was also creepy at the same time, but Livia didn't show how scared she was of the two-headed wolf. There was something about Leon's wolf that made her shiver with fear. He was something else. There was darkness in him, and she could see it. Livia paused, seeing a vision of Leon killing Joseph in the subway, while Rhye was unconscious on his side. Livia gasped; anger settled over her, and rage throbbed in her like a heartbeat. Leon creeped into Joseph... He would kill him. Livia could feel it... She didn't have a choice but to use h
Livia frowned. She picked up on that apparently being a bad thing easily enough, but why he thought she would care was beyond her. When she voiced as much, he just blinked at her like she’d stunned him speechless; at first, she was sure.Peering between the two of them, she took in the tense set of their shoulders and the tightness in their expressions that lingered, despite her assurance that she didn’t care about their lack of purity.Deciding to fix the problem she’d inadvertently caused, Livia smiled softly at them. "I don’t care if you’re pure or as mixed as milk and coffee, but I’ve obviously stepped on a sore point, so I rescind my invitation." Hoping to lighten the mood, she ended with a haughty sniff and an imperious wave of her hand.Joseph’s eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. "Well! Now that you don’t want to see, I want to show you. What is this witchery?"Leon made a low sound and nodded, mimicking Joseph’s suspicious expression, though his grey eyes were dancing with amu
Speechless, Livia gaped at the beautiful monster before her. Drawn like a moth to a flame, she took a step closer, wanting, needing to see him, to touch him. She managed a single step before Rhye cursed, eyes wide and dark brows furrowed, as he stared down at himself."How the fuck did you do that?" he demanded, pinning her with a stunned look.God, but his eyes were unreal. Vibrant, ocean deep blue with a sunburst of bright green around the pupils. They were the eyes of a predator. Eyes of a pureblood alpha. She wanted to get lost in them, wanted to stare into them until she’d mapped every facet."I have no idea," she admitted with a slow shake of her head. At the disbelieving expression he gave her, she tried to think past the shock of seeing him and explained, "The heat of your power was starting to get painful, and then, all of a sudden, it felt like mine got pissed off and threw yours back at you.""You shouldn’t be capable of that," Rhye muttered, but it was said almost absently
The memory of the creepy, child-looking demon and the sensation of it sucking the power out of her, remembering how weak she’d felt afterward, sent a shiver down her spine and hardened her resolve. All her martial arts and self-defense training had been useless against the thrall it had used on her. She’d spent too long and worked too hard to not be a victim to give up on this now. Rhye smirked at her for the second time that day, setting a new record. His eyes shone with approval at the resolve in hers. “I can force your power out of you. If you’ll allow me to try,” he tacked on at the end. Livia appreciated the effort he was making to be more polite, now he knew she wasn’t a spy sent to surveil them. She just wasn’t sure how to react to this new Rhye. He’d gone from cold and dangerous to interested and almost nice. Almost. It was a jarring change. Seductive, dangerously enticing, and intriguing as hell, but still jarring. Livia glanced at them, gauging their reactions to his of
Cocking her head, Livia frowned at him. "I don’t understand." Her eyes went wide as it hit her. "Oh my god, I get it. So, if they make vampires popular in movies and books, demons will become stronger because more humans are glorifying them. Same for witches and werewolves and everything else, yes?""Exactly.""Holy shit. I wonder how much I affected them in my Twilight phase as a kid."Joseph growled, "Those fucking movies! The "vampire" and "werewolf" demons were out of control. The "underworld demons" were pissed. They’d been top dogs for most of what"—he glanced at Leon—"like the last thousand years?""Mm, thereabouts, yes.""Wait. Did I hear you say ‘top dogs’?" she asked, ignoring the twilight thing in favor of something more important."Yes, but now anymore," Leon nodded.“Spiteful little fuckers, really. And always hungry!” Joseph pointed to a few thin white scars crisscrossing the back of his hand, scars she’d somehow never noticed before. “They like people meat, and they are
"As Joseph said, it’s not exclusively a torture chamber, and it’s not used as such all that often. Only when we’re left with no other recourse," Rhye soothed with a small smile.Her gentle giant, the man who touched her with such tenderness and care, was talking about torturing people with about the same amount of contrition as confessing he didn’t always take the time to recycle.That wasn’t actually what shocked her, though. She knew they were on the dark grey side of the morality scale.When she continued to frown at him, he lifted a hand and cupped her cheek, looking suddenly unsure. "Does that bother you, Livia? Would it help to know we don’t hurt the innocent?"Rhye was very still at her back, she noticed. He hadn’t pulled away from her physically, but she could sense him closing off, could almost feel him pulling the cold, unfeeling mask back into place.Joseph, who’d strolled farther into the room, snorted. "Of course she knows that!" He stopped walking when she didn’t immedia