Chapter 16
Peach
Salem has me bent over the couch, arms behind my back, while he fucks me from behind.
He’s got my wrists in one of his hands, and the other on my nape, holding me in place just how he wants me.
It’s been two weeks since I went to dinner with his family, and things have been pretty amazing between us.
Every time we make love, I want to tell him to bond with me. But because I haven’t spoken up beforehand about my magic, the words get stuck in my throat.
“Fuck, no pussy has ever taken me so well,” he growls behind me, slapping my ass. We’ve been learning about each other in and out of the bedroom, and I know that Salem likes control. He’s dominant as fuck, and he’s also a kinky bastard. And I’ve learned that I love everything he does to me.
“Such a good girl for me, Peach. I think you deserve a reward, don’t you think?”
I also love his filthy mouth.
He pulls out his big fat cock and gets down on his knees, spreading my cheeks with his fingers and licking and eating me until I scream my release with his name on my lips.
He stands and slides back into me, fucking me harder than before, which pushes me into another orgasm.
I love him fucking me. Nothing in my head exists except my pleasure.
He makes a deep, guttural sound in the back of his throat as he joins me. He kisses up my neck while his knot swells, keeping us locked together. “Fuck, little one. The way you make me feel. You’re all I need.”
Dirty and sweet.
And all fucking mine.
When he’s able to pull out, he does so gently, lifting me in his arms and carrying me to our bedroom. He tilts his head to the side, brows furrowing in thought. He usually does that when he’s listening to whatever his brothers are saying in his head.
He looks down at me, a muscle working in his jaw. “Axe is looking for me. He wants me to fight. Laurel told Silver and Sage to tell me to go. That means she must have had a vision about it.”
“Are you going to?” I ask, reaching up and cupping his cheek. “Because if you are, I’m coming.”
“Peach.”
“No, Salem. I want to be there. And if Laurel saw it in a vision, we obviously need to go,” I say, squeezing his face between my hands and placing a kiss on his lips.
“You were there with me in the vision,” he hesitantly admits, and I nod. “Okay. Let’s have a shower and get going.”
“What should I wear?” I ask him when he places me on my feet.
“Wear whatever you want, little one. I can fight. Anyone touches you, I’ll kill them.”
I grin.
* * *
I’ve been in the Incubus Kingdom a few times.
It’s quite a modern place, filled with a busy nightlife and stunning architecture.
But I can’t say I’ve ever been to an underground cage fight.
The stands are filled with people wanting to see some blood, and the energy is dark.
Tense. Maybe it’s all the incubi magic, wanting to drain all the lust out of the room.
“I didn’t even know my brothers knew about the fighting,” Salem mutters under his breath.
“You think you can keep something that big from them?” I ask, amusement lacing my tone.
“I don’t share everything with them. I sure as fuck am not going to share you with them,” he growls, narrowing his eyes to slits at the thought.
I laugh, and the light that hits his now softer eyes tells me how much he likes that. “Don’t laugh like that, it makes me want to fuck you, and right now, I have a fight to win.”
I lower my voice to a sexy rumble. “You can fuck me after you win.”
“And what if I lose?” he teases.
“Then I’ll fuck you.”
He throws his head back and laughs. I see Axe staring at him like he’s never seen him before.
Salem’s flat palm goes around my stomach, his hard, warm body pressed up against me. When his fingers start to slide up my hip and under my tunic, I lose all rational thought. “Saying things like that will get you fucked right now, little one.”
“Save your energy,” I admonish, stepping out of his hold.
He pulls me back against him. “I’m going to make this quick, and then we’re going back home. Stay with Silver and Sage.”
“Where are they?” I ask, looking around.
They appear right next to us, making me jump.
“Right here.” Salem smirks before he lifts my chin to give me a soft, sensual kiss full of promises.
He leaves me standing wedged in between his two imposing brothers, while he walks to the cage and pulls his T-shirt off along the way.
I don’t like the fact that all the females get to see his ripped body, and my eyes narrow as I glance around the crowd.
“You okay?” Silver asks, staring down at me with an unreadable look in his eyes. He seems to be studying my every reaction.
“Yeah,” I reply, not wanting to tell them I’m only just finding out how much of a jealous mate I am. “Who is he fighting?”
“We don’t know yet,” Sage replies from the other side of me. “Axe is going to announce it. And then there’s another fight after if Salem accepts it.”
The lights dim, and an announcer begins to introduce Salem.
“He’s back! Undefeated and well known in the underground fighting world… it’s Salem!”
The crowd goes wild, cheering for my mate.
“And in the other corner is a new fighter. Someone requested this fight! It’s Jagger!”
When I say my jaw drops, I mean it drops.
What the fuck is my stupid brother doing?
“Oh fuck,” Silver mutters, bracing his hand on my shoulder. “Peach, this isn’t going to end well. What do you want us to do?”
“Can they use magic?” I ask, brow furrowing.
Jagger can’t fight. I mean, not like Salem can. And he’s much smaller than Salem. His magic isn’t even as strong as Salem’s, but he has a few sneaky things up his sleeve.
“No magic, just fists.”
“Can we stop the fight?” I ask, wanting to strangle Jagger myself.
“No,” Sage replies, just as the bell goes, and the two men start to circle each other. Salem looks over at me, as if asking me what he wants me to do.
Jagger throws the first punch, and Salem just takes it.
He doesn’t fight back.
“Fuck,” Silver mutters again, his jaw tensing. “He’s not going to fight back, so you don’t fucking get upset.”
I freeze. I don’t know what to say or do. I don’t want Salem to take any hits from Jagger, but if I give Salem my approval to fight him, Jagger might be killed.
Sage crosses his arms over his chest, standing with his boots apart. “He said he doesn’t want to hurt your brother. He knows that it will hurt you.”
Jagger gets another hit in. Salem drops him with a chop kick to his leg, but doesn’t make any further moves.
Except then something happens. Salem starts to cover his eyes with his hands, and I know that Jagger is cheating and using his fucking magic.
“Tell Salem to fight back, now. Jagger is using his magic. He’s cheating. Salem is going to lose his senses. Jagger can block his sight and hearing.”
“Motherfucker!” Sage growls, starting to pace.
I can tell they’re both talking to him, having a three-way conversation in their heads.
“I’m going to go and find Axe,” Silver states, rushing away.
Sage steps closer to me, tucking me into his side as we both watch Salem hit out at Jagger without his senses.
When Jagger gets him with a kick to the head, I’ve had enough. “I’m going to fix this,” I say, moving toward the cage entrance.
Sage grabs me and pins me against him. “No, he’ll burn the whole fucking realm down if anything happens to you, Peach. Stay here.”
“I can stop Jagger with my magic!”
Sage still doesn’t let go, and I don’t have time before my mate gets hurt, so I use my magic on him too.
“Let me go,” I state, projecting my persuasion into it.
He does.
I walk up to the stage and lock eyes with Jagger. Before I handle him, I quickly turn to the audience. “Everyone, go home now.”
They all leave.
“Jagger, stop using your magic on Salem. Now.”
He stops, a look of confusion on his face. I’ve never used my magic on anyone before. Even when he would ask for money or take whatever he could from me, I’d never use it to tell him to leave me alone.
Because he’s my brother.
I gave him his free will, something no one knew that I could take away.
But the time for playing nice is over.
“What are you doing, Peach? He needs to be stopped. He’s not going to have you.”
Tears pool in my eyes as I say the next command. “Leave, Jagger. And forget that you have me as your sister. Forget about Salem. And never try to hurt him again.”
When I turn around, I realize that when I told the audience to leave, everyone left, including his brothers and Axe.
Jagger zips away, and now it’s just Salem and me standing in the ring.
“Salem?” He tilts his head to the side, trying to listen. I know that his senses will return. Jagger’s magic doesn’t take them away. He simply dulls them to nothing in his presence. Since he’s gone, so will his magic.
“Peach?” he mouths, then shakes his head. His voice comes out stronger this time. “Peach?”
I step closer to him and touch his arm. He blinks quickly until they open and look right at me. “Fuck, that was terrifying.” He scowls, lifting me in his arms and holding me.
He glances around and sees that we’re alone. “What did you do?”
I bite my lip and sigh heavily. “My magic is dark, Salem. I can control people. Crowds. The entire kingdom. I can make them do anything that I want. If people found out about this, they would kill me.”
His eyes darken, and he rests his forehead against mine. “No one is going to touch a hair on your head. Why haven’t you told me about this? Is this why you didn’t want to bond with me? I knew there was something you were keeping from me. I was waiting for you to tell me.”
He zips us home so we can continue to have this conversation in our own space. We both sit on the edge of his bed, facing each other.
“When I first found out you were my mate, that’s why I freaked out.
I’d heard all of these horrible things about you, how you were an evil murderer, that you weren’t sane, and then I thought about what would happen with a weapon like me in your clutches.
Because that’s what I am, Salem. You know how hard kings fight for seers.
Imagine what they would do for me,” I try to explain.
“What could I have done to use your magic, little one?” he asks, reaching out and taking my hand.
“You could have threatened me or harmed those I love to do your bidding.” I shrug, knowing now that he would never do that because he always puts me first, no matter what.
“You’re the last person I would ever threaten or harm. You’re half of my soul, Peach. Hurting you would be hurting me.”
“I know that now.” I sigh, swallowing hard. “I just didn’t know how to tell you. I’ve never told a single soul about what I can do. Jagger doesn’t even know. There’s a darkness inside me, Salem. And it terrifies me.”
He nods slowly and reaches out to tuck an errant lock of hair behind my ear.
“I don’t care what magic you have, sweetheart.
You could kill every person you touch for all I care.
” He pauses and then adds with a smirk, “Well, besides me, of course. I love you just as you are. And you know there’s darkness inside me.
But I don’t see any in you. You haven’t used your magic for anything bad, not that I’d care if you did, but you haven’t.
You’ve been minding your own business, baking cakes, and running a successful bakery.
” He laughs to himself. “Unless you’re forcing people to buy your baked goods? ”
I roll my eyes. “No, you know I’m not doing that. I’ve never taken away anyone’s free will besides what I did today.”
He kisses the tip of my nose. “Well, then I guess the only darkness you have inside you is when I’m fucking you, little one.”
I shake my head at him. “I should have known that you wouldn’t care what magic I have. But you know, when we bond, some of that might transfer to you.”
His eyes widen. “And maybe part of you was worried that I’d use that for my own personal gain.”
I lick my suddenly dry lips. “Yeah, I guess so. Maybe.”
“I can’t promise you what I’m going to do, so you’re just going to have to trust me. I’d do anything to protect you, Peach. Anything.” His words are a warning.
And I find myself not really caring. I love Salem, and I’m ready to be all in with him.
He pushes me back on the bed and straddles me. “Now, I didn’t win or lose, but I didn’t kill your brother, so I feel like I should get to fuck you as a reward for that.”
Hell, yes.