“Jealous?” I repeated. “I’m not jealous.”
“You are very jealous,” he teased, nipping at my jaw. “But it’s okay. Because I felt the same about you and Necros. It took everything inside me not to rip his head off while he…” The words were cut off on a growl as he kissed me again, this time harder, with a hint of possession underlying his touch.
I liked it.
Especially the way his palm circled my throat, holding me in place as he devoured my mouth. His other hand remained on my hip, pushing me into the bed as he settled between my splayed thighs.
“I love you in my clothes,” he said, running his lips across my cheek to my neck. “It’s so fucking sexy.”
I warmed beneath him, pleased at the compliment, then stilled as his lips brushed my pulse. “Adrik…” He’d never really bitten me before, not while I was coherent.
“Do you know how I’m controlling them?” His voice whispered across my skin, making my heart race. “Because I bit them, Valora. It’s how I access and control the minds of others. But you’re different.”
“How?” I breathed, hypnotized by his words and his touch. “Why am I different?”
“I let you inside my mind. I let you hear me.” His canines skimmed my throat, sending shivers down my arms. “It’s a very intimate experience, having you in my head. I had to block you out to concentrate earlier. And it hurt to do so.”
His lips closed around my throbbing pulse, sucking lightly, his tongue tracing the rhythm pounding beneath my skin.
My
fingers threaded through his hair, urging him to taste me again. To bite me. To allow me to feel his power.
“I need to replace them,” he murmured. “Their blood still coats my throat when all I desire is yours.”
“Then do it,” I replied. “Bite me.”
His teeth pierced my neck, the puncture deep and true. I groaned beneath the strange sensation, my blood heating and cooling simultaneously as he took a harsh pull from my vein.
If the stars had a taste, it would be you, Valora. His words were sharp in my mind, his hunger palpable.
It should have terrified me, but the moment felt so right. So erotic. Even while screams of pleasure came from the other room as the women on the couch reached a crescendo in their passion.
One is a succubus who hasn’t fed in a month, he advised. And the other is a demon who prefers females to men. Your husband is a sick fuck.
I know.
We will kill him.
I know, I repeated, arching into him as he sucked once more, guiding my life essence into his mouth and down his own throat. My thighs tightened around his legs, my core beginning to ache with a need only Adrik could satisfy. But he sighed into my neck instead, his teeth replaced by his tongue as he sealed the wounds with some sort of shadow magic.
“Necros is planning something,” he said, going to his elbows on either side of my head. “I think he means to hurt you, Valora. Badly.”
I gazed up at him. “What do you mean?” And why is he bringing this up now?
“Because we need to discuss it before I grow distracted,” he replied, hearing my thought and punctuating his words with a soft thrust of his hardness against my dampening center. “Necros orchestrated this sick and twisted game to break you, thinking that you might respond to the torment with your gifts.”
My blood began to cool. “I did.”
“I know, but he doesn’t know that. And I rather stupidly pointed out that while sexual games may evoke fear, it’s not the same kind of fear as a near-death situation. I’d meant it as a deterrent, to try to end his erotic insanity, but I think I awoke a new idea instead.” He had the good grace to grimace. “I just don’t know what.”
“So he intends to… do something else to me… instead of the sharing?”
He nodded. “Garul and Jives were relieved last week, but I wondered if he might bring in more. Now, I think he’s planning something far worse.”
“To provoke my power to rise,” I translated. “So he can steal it again.”
“Yes. Or rather, so he can try.” He cleared his throat, his fingers combing through my curls. “Your energy is bubbling beneath the surface of your skin like molten lava waiting to erupt. But Necros seems oblivious, which leads me to believe Lucifer has to be present to assist. Otherwise, your husband would have sensed your growing energy these last few days and already tried to absorb it.”