His focus was on my mouth, and I forced myself not to lick my lips. But his gaze was like a physical touch, and I felt it in every single part of my body.
“I can still taste you sliding down my throat as I swallowed your orgasm.” He slowly, sensually trailed his gaze back up to my face so he could stare into my eyes. “I’m dangerous, Kayla. Prone to violent tendencies and outbursts. Hell, even I can admit I’m a damn serial killer. I don’t have a heart to give, but I have my existence devoted to you. I’ll protect you with my life, bring you pleasure, keep you safe. It’s what I was born to do, even if love isn’t something I can give you.”
I nodded slowly but wasn’t sure what I was agreeing to. “Okay.” It was all I could muster at the moment. “I’m not safe unless I’m with you.” Was that a question? Was I asking him to try to reassure myself? “Are there other creatures? Werewolves, witches, things like that?” I couldn’t believe I was entertaining any of this.
“There are more creatures than I could ever tell you about over bourbon and wine. Vampires and werewolves, although the latter prefer the politically correct term ‘Lycan.’ But I like to fuck with them and don’t give two shits what’s politically correct, so I call them whatever the fuck I want, even if they do want to tear my throat out after.” He flashed a grin. “There are nymphs, wood and water ones. There are also demons, shifters of all kinds. Then there are the rarer pieces, Angelis, which are part celestial beings and demonic entities—well, celestial in our belief system, that is.”
All I could do was blink. And blink. And blink.
“I’ve never actually seen an Angelis in person, so who the hell knows if any are even still around. Then you have your standard sirens and fae, merfolk, incubi. And so on and so forth.”
I wanted to say something, anything, but my mind was churning around all this new information.
“Then there are the creatures in the Katara Faction.” At my furrowed brow, no doubt my expression looking even more confused, he continued, “The ‘evil’ ones of the Otherworld.”
“And I assume you specifically are at the front and center of this Katara group?”
“Goddamn, I think I love that fucking mouth of yours.” I got really hot in all the right—or maybe wrong—places at his praise. “I’m so hard right now, princess.”
Don’t imagine it. Don’t imagine it.
He started laughing deeply. “Anyway, not to get off track, yeah?” At my silence, he went on. “There are the Therabus, these annoying fuckers who can shift into human visages and suck the energy from others. They are like the leeches of our world to those who are weaker. Then you have one of the craziest fucking species I’ve ever seen. A Diablos, which I’ve only ever met one in my lifetime, and he was a prickly bastard. Fucker had horns and these weird-ass eyes, fangs that make my pearly whites look like they belong to a child. Just all kinds of fucked-up shit going on with that species.” He leaned in all conspiratorially. “And dude had the biggest cock I have ever seen, and that’s saying something, since I’m packing, baby.”
I felt my eyes flare. I didn't know why I was surprised by his brazen, crude attitude and personality, but he kept astonishing me, it seemed.
He moved back but was smirking, and I had no doubt he loved the way he kept shocking me.
“This is so fucked up,” I whispered.
He hummed after I spoke. “Only way to live, princess. But doesn’t it make everything feel sooo much better?”
20
Adryan
“The fact that you had the steel balls to come to my home when I specifically told you and everyone else to leave me the fuck alone,” I snarled and looked at James, “really pisses me the fuck off, man. Like it really pisses me off.” I turned from my desk, leaned against it with my arms crossed, and glared at the prick.
Aside from seeing her once, I stayed away from Kayla the rest of the day. Although I’d found myself standing on the other side of the closed bedroom door, my forehead resting on the wood, listening to her breathing, moving around, so close to me yet so far away.
Being away from her was painful, not just because my body and soul—well, whatever fucking soul I possessed—knew she was mine, but because I was walking around with a fucking hard-on from hell. I needed to be buried in her, to fully claim her, mark her pale neck, making sure she smelled like me so every bastard knew their demise if they fucked with her.
But when she ignored me, I knew she had been dropped into a fucked-up situation and needed time. Hell, just being mated to me would have been hard as hell on anyone.