Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
LEVIATHAN
“Are you squirreling away for the winter?”
I throw Asi the finger from behind the open fridge door. Where the fuck are those little snack pack things Gerald made the other day? The ones with turkey, cheese, crackers, and cookies? Fuck, if he didn’t make enough, I’m going to ask Asi to take him back to the chamber until he learns how to fucking portion.
I huff, figuring I’m going to have to make my own. I take whatever lunch meat we still have and some slices of swiss cheese. I dump it on the tray alongside a tin of cupcakes a member made, stupidly thinking it would help make her a conduit. I also grab a couple of sodas, some juice, and a couple of bottles of water.
“Woah, are you going camping or something?” Gore asks as he rounds the corner, hopping onto the island to inspect the tray, gasping when I reach above the fridge. “Wait, don’t take the candy!”
“When have I ever camped before?” I grunt, ignoring his latter statement and grabbing the bag of chocolate.
He shrugs, rifling through the bag for a handful of chocolates before I can take them all. “There’s a first time for everything.”
“Does this have anything to do with the man currently in your room?” Asi asks, glancing up from his sketchbook.
I shoot an accusatory glare at Gore. I knew he wouldn’t last two goddamn minutes. “You told him.”
“It was Bel!” he argues, raising his hands in the air.
Asi snorts. “It would have been you if he hadn’t spilled first. You were nearly pissing yourself to say something.”
Gore narrows his eyes. “You’re mean.”
“And you’re both getting on my nerves,” I snap, slamming the fridge door shut.
“So, is it for him?” Asi presses, trying to look disinterested. “The one you asked out for coffee?”
“You asked someone out for coffee!” I groan as Bel joins us, skipping up and plucking a chocolate midway to Gore’s mouth. He gawks at me, something manic and crazed in his eyes. “Tell us more.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” I say, taking the tray in my hands. “Don’t bother me. I’ll be busy.”
“Busy getting your dick wet, more than likely,” Bel chuckles under his breath. “Trying to buy his affection with food?”
I frown at that, gripping the edges of the tray until my knuckles turn white. Buy his affection? Is that what this is? I’m not entirely sure. All I know is that Aiden must be hungry, and I have food to give him. He doesn’t want to be here with me. He couldn’t see me. He just needs some food in his stomach, something to make his head a little less hazy—not that knocking him out helped—and he’ll realize what I already know.
He’s just not thinking straight.
“Why is there a man crying in your room?”
Just what I needed. Mammon joins us, arms crossed over his chest as he levels me with an almost fatherly look of disappointment.
Wait, Aiden’s crying? I need to see this.
I try to shoulder my way past Mammon, but he holds firm, nearly knocking me back with a hand on my chest. I growl at the contact and he eyes my collar warily. “You’re not going anywhere until you explain yourself.”
This is ridiculous. I have my naked bounty upstairs waiting for me. All that everybody is doing is just pissing me off. I’ve waited for the day where I could have Aiden all to myself and they’re ruining it for me.
“Get out of my way,” I bark out.
Mammon holds still “No.”
“Gore and Bel play with their bounties first,” I say, throwing them a look as they shrug in agreement. “Who says that I can’t either?”
“Gore and Bel have never brought one here ,” he starts, ticking off a finger. “Gore and Bel have never lost their shit and killed an outsider without an order to do so.” Another finger as his accent grows thicker. “Those two fucking psychos?—”
“Ouch.”
“That hurts, Daddy.”
“—aren’t you .” He ticks off a final finger. “You playing is dangerous.”
I scowl at him. “We’re all dangerous.”
He shakes his head and whispers under his breath. “Not like you.”
He’s right. While we’re all twisted and devious in our own way, my brothers aren’t like me. We don’t talk about our past, but I know that I was born dark. I crawled my way out of the womb, nearly tearing the female in two. I’ve always been this. Never anything else. The rest don’t wear collars because they don’t have to. I’m a hellhound at the command of my master, because if I were to be set free, there’d be no one left to suffer.
“Tell me what makes him different,” Mammon commands, using that tone that leaves no room for interpretation.
I shake my head. He’s just… different. He was meant to be mine. They can’t see it. Aiden’s special. They’re just jealous they haven’t found a bounty that was made solely for them.
“He’s not yours to keep,” Mammon snaps when I don’t answer him. “You remember that, right? He belongs to Master, and we do what we’re told with them.”
No. No… That’s not right.
My skin itches.
I crane my neck, red wounds dragging against the leather. He’s not Master’s. Not until the time of the sacrifice. Until then, he’s my property, my bounty, mine.
Keep him. Keep him. Keep him.
Chomp, chomp.
My chest starts to stutter. It’s hard to breathe as my vision blacks out. They’re going to take him from me. They’re going to claim my bounty as their own. My paranoia spikes.
“Well, you’ve gone and done it now, Mammon,” Gore laughs, the sound nothing but static to my ears.
I shove my way past them all, feet racing up the stairs.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
My little lamb.
My perfect slaughter .
I unlock my door quickly, pieces of chocolate falling to the floor as I try to balance the tray in one hand. Once I’m in, I slam it shut. I secure the lock and deadbolts, pound my fist against the door, and groan.
I drop the tray and it clatters with a pathetic slam. I fall to my knees, rolling my forehead against the door. No, no, no, NO!
I claw at the collar. My skin itches. The beast is growling and snarling and?—
“Levi?”
I turn with my lips curled, the skin around my scar pulled tight. Aiden stands in the corner of my room but not even his naked figure is enough to pull me back.
Take it off.
TAKE IT OFF!
I yearn for my hands to wrap around his throat. I want to feel his blood coating my skin. I want to hold his beating heart in my hand and squeeze the life out of him.
Keep him.
I roar, pounding my fists against my head. Emotions I’ve never felt coming to the surface in a distorted mosaic, like someone took a work of art and shattered it, haphazardly putting it back together again until it was a distorted nothingness.
He lets out a small whine as I reach for the knife by the door. I don’t question why it’s still there and not in his hands, not when I’m too focused on what I crave. I sprint toward him, throwing him onto the bed, and press the knife against his throat.
I’m dangerous. The others aren’t like me. I can’t control it.
I press down harder until he bleeds, a thin trickle of blood running down his elegant throat. His wide eyes show fear and terror but… inevitably? Defeat? Shadows that lurk in his blue depths that call to my own.
“Levi,” he croaks, licking his lips as a tear rolls down his cheek. “Are you going to kill me?”
Keep him.
KEEP.
HIM.
I take the knife and flip it, digging it into my arm. The pain erupts, shooting darts of pleasure down my back. I press down harder until it pools messily on Aiden’s chest. The itch goes away but only momentarily. Guided by nothing but compulsion, I lean forward and lick a stripe across his neck, the metallic tang of his pure blood making my cock hard. I take my wrist and hiss at the sting as I spread my blood across Aiden. I throw the knife behind me and dip a finger in my blood, trailing it up until it reaches the wound on his neck, and rub it in.
“A part of me,” I whisper, once again licking him, taking in our combined essence. I murmur against his neck. “We’re together.”
“O-Oh, o-okay,” he stutters, but he still tries to squirm away from me.
I growl, face meeting him as I see the confusion written across his expression. I track his tears as they fall, mouth watering before I lean down and press my lips against them. They taste salty but sweet on my tongue. I take more, covering his cheek with our blood as I mouth against it.
My eyes flick up to his lips.
Keep him.
Driven by instinct, I lay my mouth over his. When he forces his jaw tight and keeps me out, I slap him until he opens up. I plunge my tongue inside him, running it along the inside of his cheeks, making sure he can taste us as well. He starts to sob and I inhale them, a part of me soothing as I pull back only to spit in his open mouth.
Better .
He looks so beautiful. Covered in blood, tainted by my spit, and at my mercy.
“I brought you food,” I mumble against the corner of his jaw. “You should eat.”
He blinks at me. “Eat?”
I’m reluctant to get off him, but I manage to find the strength. I go to the door and frown when I see the food is now scattered on the floor. How did that happen? I pick everything back up, organizing it neatly, before bringing it to the bed. Aiden’s still lying there in a daze, soft little cock nestled against the top of his thigh.
I could just eat him alive.
I set the tray down on the nightstand and he eyes it with suspicion. Poor little lamb. Doesn’t he know by now that I wouldn’t enjoy seeing him die by poison? Doesn’t he understand me?
I bite the inside of my cheek, rage flaring inside me as I take a cupcake from the tin, and place it against his lips. “Open.”
He hesitates but does as I say. He takes a bite but doesn’t break eye contact with me, so alluring it makes me want to crawl into his mind and see what he’s thinking.
“Do you like it?” I ask, forcing more into his mouth. “There’s ham and cheese. Soda, too.”
He nods shakily, breaths uneven on his exhale. “T-Thank you.”
I hum in pleasure when he finishes the cupcake. He sits up, inching away from me. Why does he always do that? I don’t let him get far as I sit on my bed and lay my head on his bare lap. “Eat.” I let out a choked groan as I try to put him at ease. “Please.”
He starts to shake but reaches for another cupcake. I let my eyes flutter shut as I crane my neck and take his soft cock in my mouth, the weight surprisingly as comforting as slicing my own wrists. He gasps, a piece of cupcake falling on my head, but I don’t care.
“They’re going to take you away,” I mumble against his dick, sucking until the paranoia goes away. “I won’t let them.”
He doesn’t say anything. It’s like he freezes. Going so very still it makes me furious. I… I don’t like it. It makes my stomach churn unpleasantly. I go back to suck him, resting his cock against the inside of my cheek as I trail my hand into my pants and reach for my own length.
Softly, I start to stroke myself. After a minute, I hear him chewing, and I pick up my pace. Something primal within me stirs to life. I can’t place why him eating is giving me this reaction, but I let it happen.
I come once I hear him let out a little burp, moaning against his cock as I taste saltiness on my tongue.
Mammon was right. I am dangerous. The sweet addiction that is Aiden is making me nearly hysterical. I’m doing things I’ve never done before with him. Feeling … things.
But he’ll have to kill me before he takes this away.