24. Isla
Chapter 24
Isla
WEDNESDAY
E cho had lost it.
His desperation and hunger were growing as time went on, but I had no idea how that was possible. We’d been fucking for what felt like days . I’d pass out with him pounding into me and wake up to him sliding inside of me, ordering me to let him in again. There wasn’t a part of my body that wasn’t sore and aching from the marathon sex.
“Let me feed, damnit!” he growled, the rumble in his chest so deep I could feel it in my bones.
“I don’t understand,” I managed to force out, trying to stay still. Like any predator, he only seemed triggered by too much movement.
Echo bared his teeth, an inhuman glow warming his gold and green eyes. The one spot of blue in his right eye was bright when he leaned close enough that we were only a breath apart.
“You. Aren’t. Letting. Me. In.”
Each word was more distorted than the last, and I couldn’t help but flinch back from the malevolence in his tone. The tiniest hint of the man I recognized slipped through at the movement. Pain and regret teased the coldness in his eyes for only an instant before they were gone.
“I’m letting you fuck me. What else do you need?!” I shot back. How dare he pin his dissatisfaction on me! I’d given my time and my body, yet he still wanted something more. What more was there to give?
He pulled out of me, laughing cruelly when my body fell limply to the bed, seemingly boneless. I cried out, craving him even though no physical part of me longed for his touch.
“I guess I need to try something else,” he rasped before stalking out of the small room.
We were still in the greenhouse, closed away in the tiny study room that smelled like sex. There were smears of blood on the glass walls from the first time Echo had fucked me in here. Covered in the blood of the bullies, he had claimed me so thoroughly that I became delirious.
After all this was over, I was going to find out more about these ruts. I had put together that it had to do with him feeding on sex, but that was it. This seemed more complicated than that, though. He resembled a starving man, dead set on gorging himself on lust, and for whatever reason he couldn’t.
I’d worry that I was shielding on instinct, but I wasn’t . The only shielding going on was from Cas, but that was merely separating us from each other. There was no reason it should cut me off from anyone in the outside world. Maybe it had to do with my powers? Me being a witch? I just didn’t have enough information to form even a guess.
The bottom line was that I was clueless, and Echo’s growing anger and frustration had me starting to wonder about Aizel’s advice: no fighting, go with the flow, cooperate. I wasn’t usually the type of person to do any of those things unless I had a good reason, but I’d really tried my best in this clusterfuck of a situation.
I couldn’t see Echo from where I laid, but I was tired of playing along, acting like a meek fuck toy for him to abuse as he wished. He’d mentioned fucking his past partners to death, draining them of everything to feed himself. I refused to go out that way. I’d fight him. Maybe that was what he needed. If everyone else had played along to their own demise, then maybe I needed to give him something else.
What about after this?
I shoved that thought aside, not ready to think about that. There were other considerations that fought for my attention. Would this ruin our friendship? Did I want to be friends with Echo after this? I might have gone along with this, but it wasn’t like I wanted it.
Forcing myself to stand up, I groaned. Every muscle in my body protested the movement. I wasn’t going to have sex for years after this. His cum and my juices wet my upper thighs, making me wish I had something to clean myself up with. The sheets would have been an option if they weren’t also covered in sweat and cum.
Walking past the pile of my discarded clothes, I stepped out into the greenhouse and inhaled. The fresh scent of plants and dirt were a breath of fresh air.
“Witch, what are you doing out here?” Echo sang out, and I shivered.
“I’m done.”
“Done?” he asked calmly as he came into view. He tilted his head to the side, considering me closely, and his brow furrowed in confusion. Every movement was slow and calculated, nothing like the Echo I had come to know.
I nodded. “If you find me so lacking, then get someone else.”
“Excuse me?” He growled, his eyes flashing, and suddenly he was right in front of me. He closed the few inches he had on me to get in my face. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“You’re bitching that I can’t feed you, so find someone who can.” I waved a hand to dismiss him, but he caught it mid gesture. He squeezed hard enough that I gasped in pain, and this time there was no hint of regret. He sucked in a breath, eyes closing as though he were savoring the hurt he’d caused.
“You’re not walking away from me, Isla. Everyone else has, but you aren’t going to.”
“Everyone else has?” I asked, unable to keep myself from doing so. Echo froze, and I reached up to cup his face in my hands, ignoring the warning glare. “Who could ever walk away from you, Echo?”
“This isn’t about that!” His voice cracked, the tension on his face betraying how much he was fighting to keep any emotions to himself.
“It is now,” I told him firmly.
“You’re talking far too much for my liking. I have better things you could be doing with that mouth of yours,” Echo replied as he pushed back until I hit the glass wall.
I narrowed my eyes at him in defiance. I’d let that little slip go for now, but I wasn’t about to forget it. “We did this your way, Echo. Now, we’re going to do it mine.”
“Watch yourself, Isla. You aren’t in charge here.” He reached up and grabbed my throat, pinning me in place.
“Maybe I should be because you haven’t fed yet,” I shot back, forcing false bravado into my expression.
“You—”
“What kind of incubus are you, Echo? You can’t even feed off of some regular witch,” I taunted him. “You said I won’t let you in, but maybe?—”
The slap echoed in the small space, the sound louder than the pain it caused. I laughed at him, and within the darkness that filled my veins, I felt Cassius stir behind his walls.
‘Beastie?’
“You need to do better than that, Echo. Hit me, fuck me, use me like you fucking mean it. I’ve noticed your lingering glances, but you’re always too shy to do anything. Man up, Echo.”
‘What the fuck are you doing, Isla?!’
‘Put the shields up.’
‘You’re going to get yourself killed!’
‘Shields. Now,’ I ordered.
Before Cassius could do anything, Echo hit me again. Blood coated my tongue as my head whipped to the side. Laughter that sounded foreign fell from my lips, and when I tried to move, I found I couldn’t control my body. Cassius had taken over. I was aware, but I was definitely not in the driver’s seat.
‘Cassius! I pushed him.’
‘He hurt you!’
‘I made him. Taunted him. He hasn’t been able to feed off of me this entire time. Passive isn’t working with him. He needs something different. He won’t hurt me more than I can take.’
Cassius paused, and I could almost feel him considering what I’d said. Hopefully, he listened. There was a time that he wouldn’t have, so I just had to hope that he trusted me now.
‘We are going to discuss your complete lack of self-preservation after this,’ he growled in my head.
‘Deal,’ I replied breathlessly. Relief filled me when he stepped back to let me have control of my body again.
‘I’m not shielding this time.’
‘But—’
‘It looks like he gets to fuck both of us.’
ECHO
Anger and lust simmered in my veins in equal measure as I smelled Isla’s blood in the air. A frustrated growl spilled out as I tried to rein in the feral side of my nature but every push from Isla made my precarious hold slip even more.
If I had thought I was starving before this, now I was ravenous. No matter how much I fucked her, I couldn’t feed. It was like there was something blocking my magick every time we came together.
The laughter earlier had jolted me. The sound of it was just slightly different, and her stance had become looser and more relaxed. In the blink of an eye, the difference was gone. She stared up at me, licking at the bright red blood that wet her lower lip.
“You have a death wish,” I whispered, mesmerized by the scent of her sweet blood.
“You’re not the only one to say that to me.” She reached out and gripped my wrists. The pressure of her grip drew my eyes to hers, rendering me unable to ignore her and the words that sought to sneak inside my mind, inside me . What did she want from me? What did she think she was going to draw out of my ravaged soul?
“Trust me?”
I couldn’t manage any words, so I simply nodded then pulled back enough to see what she would do.
She slipped out of my hold and put a few feet of distance between us. A cocky grin filled her face before she crooked her finger at me.
“I don’t know much about incubi, Echo, but I do know predators like to hunt. So hunt me. Chase me down and show me and my magick that you’re the stronger predator. Earn the right to feed off of me.”
“Isla,” I cursed her name even as my cock became unbelievably hard. Just the mental image of chasing her down made me want to come.
A taunting laugh, then she was gone, running through the greenhouse. Magick stirred in the air, and the smell of earth became so strong that I couldn’t sense anything else for a moment. Then the plants started to stir. Vines rustled, slithering along the glass panes to block the sunlight until we were in complete darkness.
If the witch wanted a hunt, that’s exactly what I was going to give her.
We were ready to hunt and claim the witch that called to us.
The predator that I held in check so often stretched, purred in excitement as I slipped into the darkness.