Devil May Breathe (The Devils of Vitality)

by Chani Lynn Feener

To him, Pavel had always just been another member of the Retinue. Another person he was duty-bound to interact and get along with, nothing more. And Pavel hated it.

“Yes. Kazimir and I are over this time. What’s it to you?” “Just curious.” Lie. Excitement and anticipation were bubbling up inside of him and it was all he could do to contain himself from letting it out.

On the outside, he didn’t appear to be any more interested in the proposal than he had a second ago, but Pavel knew him. Knew all the minutiae details of his face and his body language. He might seem unaffected, but internally his mind was racing through this new development, trying to figure out Pavel’s angle.

Zane blinked, but Pavel was too committed to uncovering the truth now to try and figure out where he might have slipped. Had it been his tone? A look on his face? The possessive way he’d taken a single step closer before catching himself? All of the above?

The moment he turned his back, he could feel Zane’s frown following him into the shadows as he took his leave. It felt good, finally having the other man’s eyes on him. Yes. It was time. He was going to make Zane see him. And he was going to enjoy every single moment of it.

He hated that he’d been so easily tossed aside even more than that. Bastard.

Kelevra Diar, the Imperial Prince third in line for the throne on Vitality, wasn’t just the leader of the Retinue. He also happened to own Zane.

HUH

Zane had no idea that girl had a freaky side to her.

SHESBACK

Zane leaned back and checked, and sure enough, the man was hard and leaking all over—A hand suddenly covered his eyes and he froze. “I don’t think that’s where you need to be looking to get the job done,” Pavel’s voice came directly behind him. When had he gotten so close?

“I’m barely keeping myself collected as it is, Doctor. Watching you play with another man’s naked form was not on my agenda, and I’m finding it difficult not to pull one of your fancy knives free.”

“I’d use the knife to castrate him. Since you liked looking at his junk so much, I feel the need to do away with it so you no longer have that option.” He sucked in a breath. “What?”

His twin brother was there too, as well as one of the professors from Vail, Bay Delmar, but the two of them seemed every bit as uninterested in being here as Zane was, sitting off in the corner, whispering to each other as though the rest of them didn’t exist.

He had enough on his plate without adding yet another psychopath or sociopath to this fucked up family of theirs.

And he and Kelevra were family, even if that connection was due to the fact he’d been sold off by his parents and gifted to the Imperial Prince the same way one might gift a pet.

HELLO?

Once he had it, he rolled it absently in his palm, the hand still holding Zane dropping. But not letting go.

She must not have wanted to thank him all that badly, because she practically turned on her heel and fled.

arlet is always going through it LMAO

“Disappointed?” Pavel smirked and then moved in, immediately situating himself in Zane’s personal space. “You didn’t honestly think she was going to be the one who finally wants you, did you?”

He clenched his jaw at her description but didn’t dare say anything against it. That’s all he was to her anyway. A toy. An object she could use whenever she pleased. In many ways, she wasn’t wrong, but the major fact she always seemed to forget was that he didn’t belong to her.

“What did she say to you?” there was a darkness in his tone that almost had Zane shivering.

About watching the life drain away. Seeing a person come apart, both internally and externally.

A year later, Zane arrived on planet and was gifted to Kelevra for his eighteenth birthday. Pavel had been angry. But not because Zane had been presented like a rare gem instead of a person. He’d been angry because he’d been given to Kelevra instead of him.

But at least the prince appreciated Zane and knew his worth. That was the reason Pavel had stepped aside and allowed it. Why he’d been a dutiful soldier in Kelevra’s personal “army” all this time. He was taking back what was rightfully his now though.

“Mine,” he stated, jabbing the tip of the scalpel into the center of the bloody chest laid out before him. “A fact you should have un...

But he’d hesitated when asked if he’d ever been allowed to watch while someone else had done those things. That hesitation had cost him.

oh shit pavel is INZANE

Just like Pavel had hoped he would. Good boy. He couldn’t wait until he could purr the praise against the curve of Zane’s ear.

There was a flicker of surprise on Zane’s face before he schooled his features once more. Soon, Pavel was going to teach him not to do that. Not with him. He wanted everything. His thoughts. His emotions. His honesty.

“I do like that last part,” Pavel admitted. “But you’re wrong about my intentions. I don’t want to kill you, gorgeous. I want to own you.” Zane blinked at him. “What?”

“Would you run for him?” “No,” Zane’s eyes narrowed. “You sound upset by that possibility.” “You’re catching on.”

It was actually kind of hot. The medical student losing his carefully constructed icy persona, coming apart as he paced back and forth, trying to collect himself.

Pavel would fill that role for him. Bedpartner. Lover. Confident. He was going to fill every role imaginable. Embed himself so thoroughly in Zane’s life, tangling the two of them together by all the possible definitions of relationship.

“I did this so I could possess you, Doctor. I’m going to devour you, head to toe, top to bottom.” Didn’t matter that those two things meant the same thing, excitement was bubbling beneath the surface and pretty soon he really was going to run out of patience. “I’m going to brand you and make you complicit in the deconstruction of your own life.”

Once I’m through with you, you’ll see nothing but me. My face is going to be the first one you seek whenever you enter a room. My touch the only one your body will respond to. I’ll have you lapping at my heels like a good little—” His quarry didn’t let him finish.

Zane scrunched his nose in distaste and hissed practically under his breath, “You can’t be serious right now.” Pavel: As serious as a serial killer hunting his lover down in a forest.

He wasn’t a fan. Pavel: The idea of being mine. How had— Pavel: Lover.

It wasn’t his fault, really. He had an addiction to being wanted. Something that was starting to become painfully obvious Pavel had somehow discovered.

“Stalking you?” Pavel finished for him, chuckling when that caused Zane to suck in a sharp breath. “How badly do you want to know?” Part of him didn’t at all, but the other part…the part that craved attention…

“Keep running, gorgeous,” he urged, the excitement in his tone ringing loud and clear. “After I’ve caught you and taught you a few lessons, I’ll answer that question. Promise.” Lessons?

That pretty much just left Zane. He was the only Retinue member currently unattached and probably the only one with any sort of time on his hands to waste. Once this little game came to an end, Pavel would most likely pat him on the back and thank him for a good time. A one-time good time.

He liked that he would be Zane’s first. That he was the only one who’d ever hunted his man down. The only one. He was going to be the only one. Period.

Zane tasted better than he remembered. Like honey and wine and—

He let out a whistle. “You look lovely, gorgeous. All flushed from the run and anticipation.” He tipped his head and reconsidered. “Or is that fear I’m sensing?”

Pavel had killed a lot of people during that year. But that was over. From now on, the only person Zane would be allowed to turn to for comfort was him.

“We both know it. Why bother pretending?” “I’m not—” Pavel twisted that sensitive bud, quirking a brow when Zane cried out. “What did I say about lying?”

“Trying to piss me off? Interesting approach. You’ll have to do better than that though. I’ve got years getting used to what it’s like being in your peripheral. Standing off to the side, close enough you’re aware I exist, but not near enough you care about my presence. We’re going to fix that. After tonight, you’re going to be hyper-aware of me, aren’t you, gorgeous?”

“or are you going to suffocate for me?” Pavel would never let that happen. But Zane didn’t need to know that part.

“You’re wishing you hadn’t dropped your dagger right now, aren’t you?” “I would stab it through your navel and drag it all the way up to your heart,” Zane said without skipping a beat.

That was when he’d make it clear in no uncertain terms exactly who Zane Solace belonged to, and what this night truly signified. But for now…

“Pass.” “That isn’t an option.” “Make it one.” Zane forced himself to come to a stop. “You’re in charge here, right? So make it one. Find someone else to play with. I’m not interested.” “So I’ll make you interested,”

“Pretty,” Pavel praised. “Your skin is so soft, so golden in the firelight. There’s not a damn thing about you that isn’t perfect, gorgeous, did you know that? No wonder everyone’s always fighting over you.”

Everybody always crooned over him and sang his praises, sure. Hit on him and insinuated they’d like to take a tumble between the sheets. But he could tell that’s all it would be. A quick fuck so they could brag to their friends about how they’d bedded the frozen Prince of Medicine. No one wanted him. They just wanted his dick and bragging rights.