you’d expect from me. She didn’t hunt Luxen and wanted no part in fighting them.”
“Did she feed off them?”
My lips twisted into a wry smile. “If we don’t feed, we are weak as a human is. I’m not trying to be insulting by that, but if we don’t feed or have something we can substitute, we can’t protect ourselves.”
There was a pause and then, “Substitute?”
“We can feed off humans, obviously, but they don’t make us as strong as feeding off a Luxen. My sister chose not to feed off Luxen or humans. So she was very vulnerable.”
“What happened to her?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“She was doing okay, but living among others of our kind was hard. We didn’t understand why she wouldn’t feed because it was so dangerous for her.” I paused, opening my eyes. Fucking staring at the ceiling. “Anyway, she withdrew from us, ended up blending in with the humans. I stayed near her. So did Lore. She went to college and all that. She met someone and…she was happy.”
“Met someone? A human?”
“Yep.” I laughed, but it was cold and flat. “She was with this male when she ran into some Luxen. And even though she hadn’t fed from one of them in years, the Luxen saw her as a threat—their enemy. And the reason why? Because we’d attacked a cluster of Luxen a week before. She didn’t have anything to do with that. We did.
But it didn’t matter. She wasn’t strong enough to defend herself and neither was the male. They killed her and the human. Left their bodies out in a field like trash for us to find.”
“Oh my God,” Serena whispered.
I didn’t say anything. There was no room for a God in any of this. My sister was killed because of how our two kinds warred against each other. There was no other reason. She would’ve never hurt them. And maybe they wouldn’t have hurt her if it hadn’t been for what we had done. It was my fault. It was Sin’s fault and Lore’s.
We’d brought death to our sister.
Oddly, I didn’t hear or see Serena move, but her hand was on my arm as she knelt in front of me. Tears made her eyes shine. I stared down at her, at once angry and itchy to get out of here. I don’t even know why I told her any of this.
I started to stand, but then she did the un-fucking-believable. She placed her head on my knee.
Her head was on my knee.
I froze. I stopped breathing and I just stared at her. Her eyes were closed like she’d fallen asleep or was praying. I doubted she was doing either.
“My mom was murdered for the twenty bucks she carried in her purse,” she said, voice shaky. “That was all. Her throat was slit for twenty dollars.”
I said nothing.
“The worst part?” she continued softly. “My mom would’ve given the kid the money if he’d asked. He didn’t have to rob her. He didn’t have to kill her.”
“I have discovered that humans kill as senselessly as the Luxen and our kind do.”
Serena pulled away, but my hand snuck out, curving around the back of her neck.
Her lips parted and her aura shifted from pale blue to pink. She wetted her lips, and my cock roared to life. That quickly. Hard as a rock.
Yeah, enough of this sharing shit.
“Thank you for telling me this,” she said.
Whoa. What? “Why?”
“It helps me understand you better.”
I froze again. Understand me? Anger rose in me like thick smoke, mingling with something I couldn’t even name. A feeling I didn’t recognize.
“You want to understand me better?” The edge to my voice caused her eyes to flick up. “Serena?”
“I…” She shook her head.
She could sense the change. Instinct was strong in her. She just never listened to it.
And that’s how she ended up where she was right now.
With my hand on the back of her head, I guided her forward, until she was on her knees, between my legs. She gripped the arms of the chair, balancing herself.
I bent my head to hers, feeling my lips curve up as they brushed her cheek. “You want to understand me? Really? I know I shouldn’t have you in here with me. I know you’re not safe with me, but I have you here. I don’t think you really want to understand me, Serena.”
She drew in a sharp breath but didn’t pull away. “If you were going to hurt me, you would’ve done it by now.”
I laughed, stirring the hair around her temple. Her warmth drew me in. “You really believe that?”
There was a pause. “I wasn’t sure before, but now I do.”
“You’re insane.” I moved my lips over the curve of her jaw, enticed by the delicate shiver coursing through her. “And it’s too late.”
Her breath was soft against my cheek. “Hunter…what are you doing?”
“What I want.” Taking her hand, I led it to the bulge beneath my jeans. Serena let out a gasp. “And I want you.”
I waited for her to pull away. I gave her that. If she shied away, I’d let her leave. I’d have to nail my hands to the chair to stop myself from chasing after her, but I’d do my best to let her leave.
But she didn’t.
Maybe she had a death wish. After last night, I wasn’t sure I could rein in the darker part of me. Didn’t matter at this point. I pressed her hand against me, and I bit back a groan. With my other hand I tucked her hair back and then placed my hand on her cheek, tilting her head so our eyes met. “Understand me better, Serena.”
Her chest rose rapidly and the pink around her swirled into red. I rocked my hips, pressing into her palm. Pleasure-tipped darts shot down my spine.
“Should we be doing this?” Serena asked, her voice thicker than normal.
There were a lot of things we should be doing right now. This wasn’t one of them.
But like I had realized before, she was an itch I had to scratch. “This is what I need.”
“Need?”
I felt my cock swell. “Yes.”
Serena was a funny little thing, because as she spoke, her hand rubbed the aching length of me through the jeans. “You’re not going to go Frosty the Snowman on me afterward?” she asked.
“Frosty?”
She bit down on her lower lip as she nodded. “Where frost covers everything and you want to eat me?”
I chuckled. “How many times do I have to explain this, Serena? I wasn’t trying to eat you. Although, that does sound tempting.” My gaze dropped to where her thighs were slightly spread. “Really tempting.”
Blood rushed into her cheeks. “You know what I meant.”
“What?” I slid my hand through her hair, and in an instant, I pictured those blond locks teasing my dick. “I thought you trusted me.”
Her eyes met mine, steady and clear. “I do, but you don’t trust yourself.”
“Does that matter?” I tugged on the wild wave of gold, forcing her head back.
She swallowed. “Yes. It matters.”
Interesting. Letting go of her, I stood and tugged my shirt over my head. When she watched my hands go to the button on my jeans and her pink tongue darted out over her lower lip, I knew there was no way in hell she’d make it out of this room now.
One look at her on her knees, and
Unzipping my pants, I felt my sex spring free. I reached down, wrapping my hand around the base. Her eyes were wide, but the gleam in them was pure heat. I realized that I’d stopped breathing as I waited for her.
She leaned forward, and I swooped down without thinking, claiming her lips in a soft, almost tender kiss. I
