Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Lothar
“Anything?” Roxy asked under her breath.
I followed a worn path around a cluster of gray slime-covered trees. “Still nothing.” When we got to this realm, I felt his energy, which was what hounds used to track, but now the trail was cold. Beelzebub knew we were here and had found someone or some place that could block him from me.
“Well, if our informant’s right, we’re close. According to the map they sketched for us, Drake’s place isn’t far from here.”
I grunted, unable to take my eyes off her as she strode ahead.
I could still smell her pussy, still taste it on my tongue.
I didn’t understand what was going on. I’d never had the driving urge to fuck her, not like I was experiencing now.
Her scent had made it impossible for me to spend any length of time with her, even if I had admired her ass from across the room a time or two, and yeah, how good she felt pressed up against me when she hugged me before her scent got too much and I had to retreat.
Her scent was still an issue, but for some reason I was handling it a lot better.
My gaze slid down her back, over her ass, and down to her strong thighs capable of choking a male out if the mood struck her. My dick got hard again.
I clenched my teeth. What had changed? Why was making her come all I could think about?
Why couldn’t I get the sound of her voice begging me to touch her out of my head?
This was Rox, I admired her. She was an exceptional female, a talented warrior, and good and loyal friend—but that’s all she was.
It was all I’d wanted from her, all I still wanted—a friend.
The beast, on the other hand, had gone full rogue. He was losing his shit around her more and more often, roaring at me to get closer to her, to touch, to scent, to fuck—to bite.
It was fucking with my head, confusing me.
So when I woke to Roxy all over me, rubbing against my thigh, something flipped deep in my chest. There’d been other moments on this trip where the beast and I were in alignment—seeing her with Asmodeus was definitely one of them.
And when we were under that tree and the need to kiss her, to taste her pretty lips, had taken over was another.
It was a head-fuck because, yes, her scent still made me want to retreat, but when I wasn’t close enough to her, I didn’t like that either. Maybe it was just a matter of us being stuck together?
Hounds were notoriously horny, and it had been a while since I’d done more with a female than gotten her off.
We were big males, our cocks included, fucking wasn’t always an option, especially with humans, but everything in me knew that Roxy wouldn’t have an issue with my size.
Like shifters and demons, she was made different.
So why fight it? Neither of us was against casual sex. We were both old as fuck and we’d tried everything. Beings like us didn’t have hang-ups about that shit. There was an obvious attraction there. Pleasure was pleasure. I’d just never seen myself spending that kind of time with Rox.
If I wanted to calm down my beast, I needed to give us what we both wanted. “Rox, what happened earlier, back in the room?”
Her shoulders stiffened. “Mmm-hmm.”
“The way I see it. You want me, and I want you. You wanna stop playing and do this? I want more of you, babe, and I think you do too.”
She was silent for several very long seconds as she sidestepped spitting flowers and dodged fallen branches and brittle bones sticking out of the mud. “What exactly are you asking for, Loth?” she finally said, not looking back.
I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see me. “Let’s fuck, at least while we’re away from home. Get that shit out of our systems. No point going to bed each night wanting more when we could have it.”
She huffed out a laugh and shook her head. “As easy as that, huh?”
I ducked under a moss-covered branch. “Seems logical to me.”
“Things could get complicated,” she said.
She still hadn’t looked back at me. I didn’t like that. “How?” I licked my lips and bit back my groan when I tasted her again. “Already made you come, Rox, why stop now?”
“What about Asher?”
My head jerked back. “Like I told Gus, me and Ash don’t fuck. We hang, we ride our bikes, nothing more.”
Roxy stumbled but caught herself. “The amount of time you spend together…I thought you two were an item.”
I was getting sick of people saying that shit. I was betting Ash was as well. “Ash had a mate, the male died, she’s not looking for anything other than an occasional fuck with someone random, which means she’s got no interest seeing them again after, that counts me out.”
“How disappointing for you,” Roxy said, kind of stomping around another tree.
I frowned. “I’m not disappointed. I’m sure if Ash and I fucked, it’d be good, but not any more than any other female, and if I’m that hard up, I can get laid whenever I want.
” No, I hadn’t been with anyone in a while, because it had felt like too much effort.
But Asher’s pack mates came to our bar, Hell Fire, all the time, and they liked to fuck as much as we did.
Or I could go to Hell. Some demons loved the danger of being with us, following us around like fucking groupies.
Roxy finally glanced back at me. “Is that right?”
I shrugged. “Well, yeah.”
She spun around. “Well, don’t let me get in the way of you hooking up with someone else.”
“What are you talking about?” She stalked off, and I quickly strode after her, not sure what just happened.
“I could, but I don’t want any other female.
Despite your offensive scent, and all the fire and attitude you’ve thrown at me lately…
shit, maybe it’s because of the attitude?
I honestly don’t know, but right now the only female I want to fuck is you. ”
She rubbed her temples and released a long breath. “Wow, with lines like that, you should still be a virgin.”
This conversation was confusing me, and I got pissed off when I was confused.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.
And I don’t know what you want me to say.
Your pussy was dripping all over my fingers a few hours ago, now you’re pissed off because I said we should get each other off while we’re here? ”
She blew out a long breath. “There you go again, you charmer, you.”
My anger shot higher, and the beast made his displeasure felt, showing me images of Roxy and a particular lord, while pushing against my skin and snarling in my skull. “Sorry if I’m not fucking Asmodeus. Seems he’s the only male who has the ability to charm you out of your clothes.”
“You did not just say that to me,” she fired back.
I scowled, not sure what the hell I’d done wrong.
“Gods, you’re an asshole.” She strode ahead again.
Now I was an asshole? What the fuck did she want from me? “Whatever, Roxy. Forget I said anything. This is way too much trouble just to get off.” As soon as the words left me, I regretted them. I was confused and angry, but how much I wanted her had not lessened in the slightest.
She spun back to me, her eyes flaring. “Awesome. Perfect. Sounds good to me. I’d hate to cause you any trouble. And it suits me just fine, since no one can get me off like I can,” she said, then stormed off. Again.
Motherfucker. Why did she have to go and say that?
Now the beast was filling my head with images of Roxy doing just that.
My brothers apologized to their mates when they said things to piss them off.
Roxy wasn’t my mate, but I did want her in my bed, so if I apologized, maybe she’d stop arguing with me and let me give her what I knew she wanted as well.
I rushed after her, rounding a cluster of trees, and found her behind some kind of thicket made up of deep purple leaves. She turned to me, one finger to her lips.
Slowing my roll, I stopped beside her. There was a house just ahead. “You been here before?” I asked low.
“No, Drake is super paranoid about his private residence and doesn’t invite just anyone here.”
The ruler of the Ferine lived in a strange house that was all sharp angles.
It was black with pointed turrets on both sides and pointed stone windows.
It was surrounded by a black iron fence, and the yard around the house had a bunch of hideous concrete statues covered in moss and other creeping plants.
“You know this guy,” I said. “How do you think we should approach this?”
She nibbled on her lip, and my stomach fucking clenched when a look came over her, one that had her pouty lips curling up in a sultry smile.
“We’re going to fake it.” She pulled her bag off her back and rummaged around inside.
“Drake doesn’t know that we know that Beelzebub is here, and even if he thinks we know, he can’t let on that he knows that we know, because that would be admitting he’s turned his back on Lucifer and provided his enemy with a place to hide out. ”
I had no idea what the fuck she’d just said.
She winked. “So we’re going to walk on in.
I’ll say Lucifer’s sent me as his ambassador on a…
a friendship tour to strengthen our alliances.
” She pulled a red leather box triumphantly from her bag.
“I’ll give him this, say it’s a gift from Luci, and thank him for his continued loyalty.
Drake will assume Lucifer gave us his location. No way he can turn us away then.”
I frowned. “What’s in the box?”
Roxy flipped it open. A large ring with a huge stone sat inside.
It was ugly as fuck. “Where did that come from? Is it real?”
“It’s just a cheap novelty.”
She pressed something on the side, and the stone snapped open. There were a couple of little green pills inside. “What the fuck are those?”
“It was a parting gift from Urs. She said to use it if…” Her eyes darted up to mine, then back down.
“If I needed to take down…something large.” She tipped the pills into her hand and slid them in her pocket.
“I’m betting Drake won’t think to question the authenticity of the ring.
Hopefully, he won’t look too closely at it until we’re gone.
” Her grin turned wicked. “Preferably with an unconscious Beelzebub in tow.”
“If you think it’ll work, I trust you,” I said, and meant it. Roxy had more experience with people like Drake and other high-ranking fuckwits than I did.
Her smile brightened. “Well, isn’t that a nice change.”
I ignored the barb, and she thankfully let it drop, even though I deserved it after telling her I didn’t trust her. “Ready when you are.”
She shoved the red box in her pocket, slid her bag back on, and straightened her shoulders. Then she glanced back at me. “How are your acting skills? Any good at improvisation.”
I stiffened. “I think you know the answer to that.”
She pressed her hand to my chest, looking up at me, and my heart slammed against it. “Fine. You can play my strong and silent boy toy. Do you think you can handle that?”
“Boy toy?”
“My much younger, sexual plaything,” she said, and smiled sweetly.
“You just said you didn’t want that.” But hope throbbed through me.
She rubbed at her temples again, something she’d done several times during our conversations recently.
I assumed it was frustration she was feeling, that’s what my instincts told me.
I didn’t understand why she was frustrated though. “What?”
“We’re just acting, remember? Also Drake knows I don’t need a guard.
He’ll be suspicious of you anyway, which is why we need a decent cover story.
The only logical reason I’d be traveling with a hound would be for your tracking abilities.
So we need to make sure you’re here with me for another reason. Capisce?”
“And that reason is sex?” I said, my voice back to being rough as fuck.
“Yup.” She nodded. “A boy toy, since you’re my junior by a good number of years.”
When you were as old as us, that shit meant nothing. She was purposely trying to piss me off. “If you introduce me to that asshole as your boy toy, I won’t be happy.”
“What about sex puppet?”
I growled.
“Fuck buddy?” Her brows lifted, her blue eyes wide and innocent. “That’s a nicer one, right? I mean it’s all right there in the name.”
“Do not call me your fucking fuck buddy, Roxy. I’m warning you.”
She tapped her lower lip. “Manstress?”
I snarled a warning.
She threw up her hands. “Fine. What about paramour? Surely even you can’t be offended by that one.”
I hated it, but I guess it was the best of her suggestions so far. “Fine.”
“The moment we walk through those gates, you need to be on. They’ll be watching us,” she said, then tossing her long dark hair back, she transformed in front of my eyes, becoming the warrior she was.
Roxy carried herself with the bearing of a general as she strode right through the iron gates and along the cobbled path, weaving through statues, and up to the front door.