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“I’m sorry I turned my back on you. And I’m sorry I broke the promise to always be there for you. You are my family. First and always. I love you so much.” Kitty’s eyes broke from the wall to Ash’s, something I hadn’t seen in her face for a long time hinted on her face. Hope. Love. Not romantic love, but the deep love we had that spanned centuries—lasted through the highs and lows, through death, starvation, torture, poverty. We had been there for each other through it all and always had each other’s backs.
I shook my head, turning to Zander. “Listen, pony-boy. You have the most important things in the world to me. Get them out of here and protect them with your life, or I’m coming for yours.”
“And before you shove that bullshit that you’re a fae lord and I have to do as you say…” She cocked back the weapon. “Remember, I never voted for you.” “You don’t vote for leaders,” Killian exclaimed. “We inherit them through lineage or challenge.” “Then I challenge you to fuck off.”
A growl rose from her throat, her eyes narrowing like a cat’s, ready to attack. I leaned down, and her canines, sharp and pointed, snapped at me. “Hanna…” I said her name slowly and calmly, my hands going up in defense. “I need you here with me, little viper.”
Relief almost sank me down through the dirt, the ache in my chest loosening as I watched her eyes dart around, then land on me. The moment they did, something skimmed against my chest, like she was peeling it open.
I promised myself I would do whatever the fuck it took to stop it from happening to this amazing woman. And promises were binding.
She drove me crazy. Always fucking there, always taunting me, challenging me, and I wanted it to go away. Her to go away. Stop making me feel things I was ashamed to feel. She was fae, and even if I no longer completely saw them the way I once had, it didn’t mean my principles changed about who I’d be with. Humans—that was who I was supposed to be attracted to.
“No one fucking touches my mate.” Mate.
Something in me understood what mate meant. It was beyond any human notion of commitment, marriage, or love. It was forever.
“Oh, mini me thinks he can take me on?” Warwick spat on the straw, our fight stirring the animals into a frenzy. “Bring it, captain one-pump.” He grinned, blood coloring his saliva, before his punch slammed me back into the post.
“You ever come at me again, I will fucking kill you. This was out of respect for my fucking mate. She still likes you.”
“This is fucking mine.” I pinched at her clit. “No one else’s.”
“Master custard launcher!” Opie cheered. “You’re awake.”
She marked her way through every fiber, branding herself through me. Which made me the one she should actually fear. The moment I found her, she would pay.
“Softy.” Ash snorted, sitting up. “What would Brexley say?” Ash tsked, shaking his head. “Giving in to your kid’s demands. Not very parental of you.” “Shut the fuck up,” I muttered,
The fact that I was even in this situation, waking up to an imp and a Brownie sticking fingers in places I didn’t want to think about, and not killing them, told me all I needed about how much that woman had changed my life.
Fuck. If this was permanent, I would kill captain one-pump within a week.
I resented what he was to me. I hated that he took magic from me, loathing this need I had to protect him.
He nodded, trying to hide a cheeky grin in response to my unspoken question. “Shut the fuck up,” I muttered. “Didn’t say anything.” “Didn’t have to.” “It’s okay to admit you’re becoming a softy.” “Said the guy carrying them on his back.” “I don’t want to deal with Brexley’s wrath.” Ash pulled on the backpack with the two stowaways inside. “Now she actually scares me, you big ol’ teddy bear.” “I will kill you.”
“Rosie!” Wesley motioned for the redhead to hop on with him. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw a moment of hesitation, her eyes sliding to the side to where Killian was, but then it was gone. She bounded behind Wesley, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Kek crawled on with Lukas, Hanna with Scorpion, leaving Ash and Caden together. Ash shot me a look, murmuring, “Great, I get the mini you. Like the original isn’t enough to deal with.” “Revenge is a bitch.” I grinned cruelly back, then peered around.
“Kek!” Ash bellowed, about to leap off his bike, but Lukas grabbed her, pulling her into his chest. There was a moment I saw Lukas whisper to her, his mouth brushing her forehead. Her body snapped back, breaking her from her trance.
A laugh, which was light and husky at the same time, tinkled through the air. The sound wrapped around my dick. It heaved fury through my veins and locked my fingers into fists, turning my head to the very pair I was thinking of.
Watching her climb on the bike behind him, her thighs clamping around his all day… I never wanted to kill anyone more in my life… because he was an asshole, not because I liked her. I mean, she was smart, funny, strong, and fucking stunning, but she drove me insane. She pushed back on everything. They were actually perfect for each other. Both annoying.
We could never be together, even if it was allowed. She was human. She’d grow old and die, and I wouldn’t do that to myself. What the hell I’m I talking about? I shook my head. Why was I finding reasons not to be with her when I didn’t want to be with her?
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” “Please.” Birdie rolled her eyes. “Your dick energy for her? It’s off the charts. You stare at her all the time. When you guys are near each other, the room about explodes.”
Love wasn’t ideal for leaders, and it certainly wasn’t meant for me. I had mistresses, not lovers, and Rosie was too close in the circle to just fuck and walk away from. The thought of treating her like a prostitute, the very thing she was forced to be because of her ex-husband, made me sick. Screwing her and walking away? No. I just would stay away.
Sonya made me see I was a leader before, but not a good one. My ego and insecurity about my past made me blind. Too satisfied with the title and not the actual job. Now I wanted nothing more than to fight for my city, for the people. To deserve another chance to lead this country.
Her expression tightened, her voice dropping. “So, either you give me a reason right now or get the hell out of my way and don’t ever intervene in my life again.”
A deep panic coursed through me. The idea of letting her walk away screamed in my soul.
My hands clasped her face, my mouth slamming down on hers. Holy shit. The moment my lips touched her, it was like an electric shock to the system,
Hungry. Raw. Desperate. Merciless. And Rosie gave it back as if she had no control either, her nails tearing at my clothes, her hips rolling into mine, needy and frantic.
Placing my fingers in my mouth, I sucked off her taste and strolled by them, my arm brushing hers. “She was right. It was nothing.”
“Hanna.” My chest splintered open, and I scrambled over to her, my knees dropping into the dirt. I pulled her into my chest. Her wails went so deep, they were lost in her throat. “Shhhh.” I wrapped her tighter, rocking her back and forth, my hand threading through her hair. “I’m here.”
“You are not going anywhere. You are staying here. You are staying with me.”
“I’m telling you this once, little viper. You aren’t going anywhere without me.”
I would slaughter anything that stepped into this forest and tried to hurt her. I would destroy anything that got in my way, and if she ran, there was nowhere she would go that I wouldn’t find her. The overwhelming sensation curled in my chest, making me feel dizzy.
“You only took one dose. This might be all it is.” “And if it’s not?” One side of my cheek lifted, my thumb wiping away her drying tears. “Then I better start taming this pussy now.” I yanked her into me, not giving her any time to react before my lips were on hers.
Somewhere along the way, my hate turned into something completely different. I saw nothing but strength and fire in her, nothing but depth and beauty. She fascinated me, challenged me, angered me, and made me want to fight the world to keep her protected and close. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to make sure of that.
Next time, I would take my time. I liked it rough, and I preferred it kinky, but right now, my only thoughts were being inside her.
The intensity was like nothing I had ever experienced before, and my past was full of fantastic sex with thousands of different partners over the centuries. This? This sunk into my very being, drilled into my veins, and coated my skin. It owned me.
My throat tightened, struggling to swallow, a realization turning into fear. Because for the first time in the many centuries I had lived, keeping sex separate from my life and never getting together with anyone in my circle, I didn’t want to run.
I had been beaten, burned alive, gutted, electrocuted, tortured, and still nothing compared to this. The tease of her. Feeling her sporadically through the day, buzzing through my system, a whisper, a glimmer in my peripheral, a moment I could almost link to her before she pulled back.
The instinct went beyond the link we already had. And though I had uttered the word out loud before, it still pressed down on me with panic. It was something I never expected or wanted. Until her. There was no fear of accepting it, but of losing it. Mate.
“There, Master Beef Bazooka!”
“Or more like bones.” Opie tapped at his nose. “Not that I know what bones smell like.” Chirp! “I don’t know what boners smell like either.” Chirp! “That’s a total misunderstanding!” Opie exclaimed. “I was merely curious.”
“Eszem azt az ici-pici szívedet!” I’m gonna rip your heart out and feast on it! Lukas fought against Kek and Ash, but they held him in place. “You’d probably like that, wouldn’t you?” Tracker glowered at Lukas. “I knew you always had a hard-on for me, you sick fuck. Watching me all the time. Made my skin crawl.” He spit at him. “You disgust me.” I sensed Ash before he even moved. His fury whisked through the trees, snapping branches. “I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you.” Ash moved, but Lukas grabbed him, now being the one to hold him back, whispering in his ear, trying to calm him down.
The urge to defend and protect him like he was my little brother crawled up my spine, spreading my shoulders out like a shield. I fucking hated him, but I also would kill anyone who got near him.
“You take me to Brexley, where I take the nectar, and then I’ll shoot you two together. Sound good?” “Minus everything you said, and insert I shred your body into pieces and gut you like a pig, and I’m all in,” I rumbled,
Tracker pushed down on the trigger, a bullet heading straight for Killian. “No!” A scream tore through the night, Rosie’s figure smashing into Killian’s, pushing him out of the way. Blood spurted out of her side, her body jerking as the bullet drove through her ribs.
