Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
CHAOS
My heavy, rhythmic footfalls and steady breaths were the only sounds that accompanied me as I ran through the wooded area surrounding Malice’s chateau.
With little else to do but wring our hands and talk incessantly about what our next move might be, I needed an outlet.
That became punishing my body through intense exercise.
It was either that or pummel my brothers bloody.
And while helpful, at least for me, no one appreciated being a human-sized punching bag.
Following a slight curve in the path, I released a pulse of pent-up power. There was a loud crack immediately followed by the ominous sound of a tree toppling down.
“Timber, motherfucker,” I muttered. “Who needs an axe?”
“Are we seriously running?” Merri’s voice caught me off guard, annoyance coloring each word.
I staggered to a stop, feet skidding on the dry terrain before I could face her.
When I did finally turn around, she had closed the distance between us.
Gods, she was beautiful. Skin glowing, hair pulled back in a high ponytail exposing her perfect features.
I glanced down at my dirt-streaked legs, baggy basketball shorts, and sweat-soaked tank with exaggerated arm holes that left most of my ribcage exposed. I could not have looked worse.
Tugging at my shirt, I pulled the fabric up and off, attempting to mop up as much sweat from my face as I could.
“You’re here,” I said stupidly.
Merri pressed her lips together, but to her credit, she didn’t laugh at me. “I am.”
“We tried to come for you, but the house was vacant. You aren’t where you think you are.”
“What are you talking about? I’m at the lake house. I can see the lake from the kitchen window.”
I stepped closer to her, desperate to feel her skin on mine, but she took a hurried step backward. “Merri . . .”
“I need you to explain what you mean when you say the house was vacant.”
“Exactly that. The four of us came for you, weapons and horses at the ready, but the house was nothing more than an abandoned shack. The lake was there, now only a dried, cracked pit of rotting fish.”
Merri held up a hand. “Back up. Horses?”
My lips quirked. It was such a Merri point to get caught up on. “We are the horsemen.”
“Well, yeah, but . . . Okay then. Sorry, continue.”
“Wherever you are, it’s an illusion. He doesn’t have you at that address. Not even close.”
The color drained from her cheeks as my words sank in. “I . . . But that’s where I went. That’s the exact address.”
“And I’m sure you’re right about that, Red. But the facts are the facts. The moment you got there, he sprung his trap. Your reality changed. Malice thinks he might have used some sort of portal that teleported you to a different location or plane as soon as you arrived.”
“But wouldn’t I have been able to tell?”
“Not necessarily. He could have had the whole property spelled to look however he wanted it. And stepping through a portal is no different than crossing a threshold, so it would have been easy enough for him to do. Liminal spaces hold their own power. Combined with his, you wouldn’t stand a chance of noticing. ”
“Fuck.”
“Exactly.”
Eyes wide and searching, she asked, “What am I supposed to do now?”
“You need to figure out where he’s keeping you.”
“And how am I supposed to do that? It looks like a fucking lake house. It’s not like there are neighbors I can ask. Or like Lucifer will just hand out the information freely.”
“He might. He does love to show off.”
“But wouldn’t that tip him off that we’re on to him?”
A thrill raced through me at her use of the pronoun. She still saw us as a “we.” That had to mean something. If nothing else, there was hope.
“He’s not stupid. He already knows. He’s going to be focused on his goal for you. That’s all that matters to him right now.”
Merri’s gaze had wandered, and she was chewing distractedly on her bottom lip.
“Hey,” I murmured, using the distraction to step forward and tug her lip free with my thumb. “It’s going to be all right. Between the five of us, we’ll figure it out.”
“Sure.”
“You came to me for a reason, Red. I doubt it was to chit-chat.”
She hadn’t slapped my fingers from under her chin. That was a good sign, and as she lifted her bright blue gaze to meet mine, I saw a flare of hunger there.
“You know why.”
My dick stirred to life, the mesh shorts doing nothing to hide the swelling erection.
There was nothing more I wanted to do than help her feed and feel that connection with her again.
Since she’d been gone, her absence had been a gnawing hole in my gut.
A physical ache I couldn’t ignore. I never wanted to be separated from her like this again.
The knowledge should have concerned me. I mean, I’d spent centuries without her and did just fine. But all of that changed. There was no way I could live any kind of life without her in it.
Merri was right. We were mates. It was like that poem. Whatever souls were made of, hers and mine were the same.
I don’t know how the fuck it was possible, but that didn’t make it any less true.
“Let’s get back to the house,” I said, my voice deep with longing. “I just need to clean up—”
“Way ahead of you,” Merri said.
I blinked, and we were in my bathroom, the room already fogging with steam from the shower. As I watched, she stripped out of the hot pink sports bra and leggings combination she’d worn to drive me crazy, leaving her naked and ready like she was a gift only for me.
“Take off your clothes and get in the shower, warrior.”
Usually I liked to be the one in control, but right now, listening to her tell me what to do only added to my arousal. If letting her call the shots was the only way I could get my hands on her, I’d gladly play along.
My shirt dropped to the floor first, having already been removed. Then I sort of kicked off my shoes and shimmied out of my shorts at the same time. Merri watched me with obvious amusement.
“You should take that act on the road, big guy.”
“Ha ha,” I deadpanned, stalking toward her. I gestured to the shower with my head. “You first, Red.”
“You just want me to get wet. Joke’s on you,” she said, leaning close and dropping her voice to a whisper, “I already am.”
Fuck. Me.
I reached between my legs and grabbed hold of my already throbbing cock before giving the considerable length a stroke. Precum beaded at the tip, and it was all I could do not to wipe it off with my thumb and feed it to her.
“You’re always wet for me, aren’t you?”
She shrugged noncommittally. “Don’t flatter yourself. It comes with the territory.”
If things were different, I wouldn’t have let her get away with being such a brat, but as things currently stood, I was just too fucking happy to see her, so I let it slide.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“You’re still not in the shower.”
I gestured to the glass-encased area. “Ladies first. I insist.”
Huffing, she turned away from me, giving me a perfect view of her heart-shaped ass as she opened the door and stepped inside.
If she thought I was going to let her call all the shots without fighting back, without trying to reclaim her as mine, she was dead wrong.
I’d take control one step at a time, and remind her how much she loved it when I took care of her.
I’d earn my place in her heart again if it was the last thing I did.
She might think of these dreamwalks like showing up at a fast-food joint, but I would never be a hamburger, or whatever the fuck it was she called Malice.
No matter what any of us claimed, it had never been just about feeding her or knocking her up before Lucifer.
It had always been more. Would always be more.
The water was a warm comfort as I stepped under the spray, my tense muscles loosening as the heat sluiced over my skin.
Merri had already soaped up a loofah and wasted no time in her efforts to get me clean, or so I thought.
The bright notes of citrus mixed with a deeper scent of sandalwood as she washed my chest, over my shoulders, and down my arms. But she avoided going any lower just yet, and I wondered if perhaps she was trying to torture me.
“Turn around,” she whispered, her voice tight and betraying how much she wanted me.
“Trying to get me to drop the soap?” I teased. “Because I’m not sure you have the equipment for that.”
“I have fingers. And a wicked imagination. Wanna try me, Chaos? I can manifest a strap-on.”
I wish I could say I wasn’t remotely interested in the possibility, but my dick gave a decidedly interested twitch. When it came to Merri, I guess there wasn’t much I wouldn’t explore.
“I’ll try anything . . . once.”
Her brows flew up, and a smile teased her lips. “Noted.”
Turning my back on her, I waited for the touch of the loofah, but was pleasantly surprised when it was her soapy fingers that found my broad back.
I melted into the feel of her touching me, a sense of completion washing over me at the contact.
I’d missed her more than I’d been willing to admit to myself.
But living without the woman I loved was like living without purpose.
Her hands trailed over my shoulders, down the backs of my arms, and across my hands, until she threaded our fingers in a tender gesture that lasted for the briefest moment. Far too short for my liking.
Before I could catch her fingers, they trailed lower, ghosting over my ribs and abs. She pressed her wet body against mine, her chest to my back as she ran those devilish hands over my thighs.
My legs trembled, fucking trembled.
“Christ,” I bit out, pressing a palm against the tiled wall to keep myself steady.
“Tell me how much you want me, Chaos. I can feel it, but I want you to say it,” she purred.
Her hands slid to my inner thighs, running up until her fingertips barely brushed my balls.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“I want you, Merri. I always want you.” She grabbed my balls and rolled them in one hand. “Fuuuuck. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”
“Mmm. I can see that,” she murmured. Then her other hand wrapped around my straining length, and she stroked me from root to tip.
It was damned lucky I was already bracing myself against the wall because my knees about gave out.
“Feel good?” she asked, a cocky smile in her voice as she continued to work up and down my shaft.
“Slow down,” I begged, not remotely ready for this to be over. It would be days before I’d get my turn with her again. I needed this to last.
“Not a chance,” she whispered, voice close to my ear. She wasn’t quite tall enough to get all the way there, but the effect was the same.
“Red,” I warned, but my protest was weak at best.
“Give it to me, Chaos. Give me what I want.”
“I will— Oh Gods,” I groaned, toes curling as I fought the waves of pleasure that were bearing down on me.
“Now,” she ordered.
“Let me inside you,” I bit out around clenched teeth. “Let me put my seed where it belongs.”
“No,” she said, biting down on the back of my arm before releasing a wave of her power and forcing the issue.
I came with a startled cry, jet after jet of my cum coating the wall.
“Mmm, that’s better,” she crooned. “God, you’re delicious.”
She released her hold on me and stepped back. That was all the opportunity I needed to round on her. I grabbed her by the throat and walked her backward until she was pressed against the tile, a lust-drunk expression on her face.
“You didn’t let me finish inside you,” I said, my voice low and tense. “That wasn’t very nice, Red.”
She looked up at me through hooded eyes. “You lost that privilege.”
I blinked at her. “What?”
“You don’t get access to my body when you treat me the way you did.”
“Merri—”
“No. Don’t try and argue this. You fucked up. I get to say who I accept inside me, and I don’t accept you.”
Frustration burned through me, both at the rejection of the two of us connecting in the most intimate way possible, and at the very real problem this presented. Regardless of how mad at us she was, she still needed to get pregnant.
“And how are we supposed to keep Lucifer from filling you with his hellspawn if you won’t let us get there first?” I snarled.
She shoved at my chest. The move alone wouldn’t have done anything, but I released her and took a step back.
“Are you fucking kidding me? That’s what you’re worried about?”
“Of course I am.”
“Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you four chuckleheads pushed me away.”
Guilt hit me in the gut, but I persisted. “Don’t be a stubborn little brat about this. It’s stupid.”
She scoffed, shoving at my chest again. “Stupid? You think I’m stupid because I’m setting boundaries? You think I’m stupid because you broke my fucking heart and I won’t let you do it again?”
“I think you’re stupid if you think Lucifer won’t try anything. He has one goal, Merri. One. He will do anything to achieve it.”
“Yeah, well, I think you’re a real asshole.”
“I don’t care if it means that you’re safe.”
“Safe? You think getting me pregnant keeps me safe? Newsflash, Lucifer already has me. If I’m pregnant, he has no reason to keep me around. The best way to keep me safe right now is to keep that option open.”
“So he can take what you won’t give him by force?”
I couldn’t say it more plainly. Well, I could, but the thought of what he might do to her if she didn’t give in made me see red, and that wasn’t good for any of us.
“He won’t.”
I let out a derisive snort. “You’re naive if you believe that.”
Her eyes narrowed as my words hung between us. “Thanks for the meal, but you can fuck all the way off, Chaos.”
And just like that, Merri was gone, and I was awake in a puddle of mud and decomposing leaves in the middle of the woods.
I slammed my fist into the ground, the trees around me quaking in protest.
None of that had gone according to plan.
Worse, she was fucking right. Not about Lucifer, but about me.
And I didn’t even get a chance to tell her I was sorry.
I’d gotten so worked up about the danger she was putting herself in that everything else flew out of my head.
I was the asshole in this situation. In every sense of the word.
“Motherfucker.”