Chapter 15 #2
She rolled her eyes, but she studied the passing demons with a frown. “Nobility is a societal construct in the Demon Capital more so than anywhere else in Kalista. It surprises me, to be honest.”
“True,” I hummed. “Cursinia and Briesia have their own social class issues, though.”
“But Cursinia is less about wealth and more about power,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, but family names hold just as much power there as they do here.” I blew out a steady breath. “Ever since the hierarchy was abolished, supernaturals found more issues within their own species rather than other species. It’s fucked up.”
“The way our nature sees the world is fucked up,” she agreed.
We turned a corner into a slightly narrower street. It was still thick with demons but a little more rowdy.
A demon I recognized from my teenage years, with broad shoulders, cracked horns, and the same ugly fae woman tattoo on his neck, stopped mid-conversation and squinted at me.
“Havoc?” he called, loud enough to draw attention.
“Is that you? Hey, isn’t that the hot basilisk chick that won the House Gauntlet at Apex Elite Academy? ”
I felt my demon form ripple before I even summoned it. My eyes heated, vision tinting red at the edges. Chaos magic pulsed off me in a low wave, brushing against the people closest to us and making them flinch instinctively.
The shadow beside my feet surged upward, coalescing into Snakey’s form. He was a massive serpent that hissed, baring spectral fangs at the demon.
I turned my head slowly toward him.
“She’s my mate,” I growled.
His eyes widened as he lifted his hands, backing away, the scent of fear spiking hot. I didn’t even need to be a shadow or fear demon to sense it. “Didn’t mean anything by it,” he stammered. “Just—I—heard stuff. That’s all.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you heard,” I snarled. The magic around me crackled once, then settled as he stumbled down the street and vanished into the crowd.
Rune snickered under her breath. “Possessive much?”
“Of you?” I said, the chaos easing as I focused fully on her again. “Yeah. Absolutely.”
“I’m yours, Havoc baby,” she purred. “How do you want me to prove it?”
I tugged her down a side alley that was much narrower than the main street, tucked between two tall sandstone buildings. Their golden-brown surfaces were etched with old graffiti and faint scorch marks from demonic fights.
The air was cooler in here, shadows pooling where the sun couldn’t reach. Faint light spilled in from the street, turning dust motes into little sparks.
At the far end, the alley broke off into deeper shadow. I stopped halfway and turned, guiding her back until her shoulders brushed the warm stone wall.
She looked up at me, golden eyes glowing, even in the dimness with desire dancing in their depths.
“I didn’t know you were into public sex,” she teased lightly, the matebond laced with adrenaline.
My hand slid along the wall beside her head, the other resting at her hip. “I’m into anything,” I murmured, dipping closer, “as long as it includes you.”
Her breath hitched.
I lowered my mouth to hers slowly, giving her time to pull away if she wanted, because I was going to fuck her in this alley if she didn’t stop me.
She didn’t.
Her lips met mine with a soft, eager pressure, and the world ceased to exist. Desire for her rolled through me, thick and all-consuming. I curled my fingers into the fabric at her hip and pulled her closer, her body fitting against mine as if it had been molded for this.
And it had.
The Fates made sure of that.
The matebond thrummed with our mutual need for one another.
I angled my head and deepened the kiss, tasting spice and whatever hot venom she was pumping into me by her touch.
She sighed into my mouth, hands fisting in the front of my shirt, dragging me in even closer.
My chaos magic sparked along my skin, wrapping around us like a possessive storm.
Her back pressed into the wall, and I shifted, bracing one forearm beside her head and using the other hand to slide up her side. I moved over the curve of her waist, the dip under her ribs, feeling the warmth of her through the thin fabric of her top.
She broke the kiss for half a second, gasping in a breath, eyes wide and dark. “Slater…” she whimpered.
“Yeah?” I rested my forehead against hers.
“I need you.”
“I’m yours.” I kissed the corner of her mouth, then the other side, then the tip of her nose, and her forehead before kissing her lips softly again.
“Mine.” Her hands slid up from my shirt to the back of my neck, fingers threading into my hair, tugging lightly.
My cock strained against my pants.
I’d caused havoc my entire life. I’d torn through many social situations with no care for repercussions, broken enchanted tech, and hacked my way through defenses that were supposed to be impenetrable. I’d grown up in a territory that thrived on destruction and reckless choices.
None of that prepared me for this.
For her.
For the way a single look from her could make my ribs feel too small for my heart.
I kept my forehead resting against hers, breathing her in, our noses brushing as our breaths mingled.
“I love you,” I told her, voice cracking with the weight of my feelings for her.
“Slater,” she whispered, fingertips tracing the line of my jaw. “I love you, too.”
I leaned in to kiss her again, taking her mouth against mine. Her skin was so soft as I slipped my hand up her shirt and gripped her perfect breast in my palm, flicking her nipple with my thumb.
She moaned, arching into me. “Can you make it quick? As much as I love taking our time, most likely, we’ll get called away soon for a mission.”
“You look perfect right now, venom baby. You know what else would look good in you?”
“Isn’t it supposed to be ‘on’ me?”
“Nah, because the answer…” I grinned down at her, grabbing her soft shorts and pushing them to her ankles, letting her step out of them.
“Is?”
My gaze met hers as I looked up at her and stood. “Me.”
She huffed a breath, but I knew she was trying not to laugh. “Wow. Clever.”
“Thanks for noticing.” I winked and undid my pants and pulled my throbbing dick out. “Yes, I can make it quick.”
“But not too quickly.” She bit her lip, pulling my lips back to hers.
“Of course not.” I lifted her leg and pushed inside her.
As I made love to my mate in a shadowed alley of my home territory, I felt like everything was going to be okay because I had her, and I wasn’t ever planning on letting her go.