Chapter 7
SABLE
Dawn comes in gray and salt-stained, pressing its thin light against the windows as if the day itself is reluctant to enter.
The house smells of cold ashes, iron, and damp wood, but there’s something else threaded through it now—something warmer, sharper, like heat caught beneath skin. I feel it before I see him, the tether humming low and steady as I move across the room.
I don’t bother knocking.
“Rhazek.”
He’s in front of me before the word finishes leaving my mouth.
Too close.
Always too close now.
“You called,” he says, voice low, controlled, but not untouched.
“I said your name,” I snap, though the edge in my voice feels thinner than it did a moment ago. “And you appeared. Again.”
“Your pulse spiked.”
“That’s not an invitation.”
“It is a trigger.”
I exhale sharply. “You killed something outside my house.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t wake me.”
“There was no strategic advantage in doing so.”
“There would’ve been trust,” I fire back.
His gaze sharpens. “Trust is not an infernal mechanism.”
“No,” I say, stepping closer despite myself. “But it’s a human one, and last I checked, you’re tethered to one.”
Something in him reacts—not outwardly, not dramatically, but I feel it. The bond tightens, not painfully, but with a pressure that settles deeper than before.
“You are correct,” he says.
I blink. “That’s new.”
“I am adapting.”
“That word again.” I laugh under my breath, but it comes out softer than I intend. “You keep saying that like it doesn’t mean something different every time.”
“It means something different every time.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“It is not meant to be.”
My pulse climbs again, not just from frustration now, but something more complicated. Something warmer. More dangerous.
And he moves.
He’s in front of me fully now, close enough that the air between us disappears entirely. The ward sigils flicker once, then steady, as if the room itself recognizes what’s happening before I do.
“You reacted,” I say.
“Yes.”
“Because of me.”
“Yes.”
I don’t step back.
Instead, I close the distance.
“What happens if I don’t give you space?” I ask quietly.
His voice drops. “You are already not giving me space.”
“Answer the question.”
“You already know the answer.”
“Say it anyway.”
“It stabilizes.”
I swallow.
Then I lift my hand and press it flat against his chest.
The bond ignites. Not like before. This time it blooms like the first flowers of spring.
Heat spreads outward in a controlled wave, not sharp or breaking, but deep and steady. It moves through my chest into my ribs, down my spine, and back again, like something aligning instead of colliding. Beneath my palm, he feels solid in a way he didn’t before—real, anchored, present.
Rhazek goes still.
“You feel that,” I whisper.
“Yes.”
His voice is rougher now.
“Better?” I ask.
“Yes.”
I slide my hand slowly across his chest, feeling the subtle vibration beneath the surface. Infernal markings rise where I touch, glowing faintly under my fingers, tracing the shape of something ancient and deliberate.
His breath shifts.
That catches my attention.
“You don’t need to breathe,” I say.
“I do not.”
“But you are.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His gaze locks onto mine. “Because of you.”
That should make me step back.
It doesn’t. Instead, I move closer.
Close enough that our bodies align, that the warmth between us stops being separate and becomes shared. The tether hums stronger, not straining now, but deepening, like a chord struck cleanly.
“You’re clearer,” I say softly.
“So are you.”
His hand lifts, hesitates for the barest moment near my face, then settles against my jaw. The touch is careful, deliberate, like he’s learning the exact pressure required not to break something fragile.
I lean into it without thought or clear purpose, just instinct.
“Little Flame…” he murmurs, his bronze sklin warm and surprisingly soft against my cheek. I turn my mouth into his grasp, kissing his palm and tasting his sweat. It’s like slightly charred ginger, but far from unpleasant.
My hands are on his chest now, feeling the contours of demonic muscle. I can feel the power beneath my fingers, ancient and wild. Yet I believe…no, I know that he won’t turn that power against me.
Rhazek cranes his big bull neck, moving his face closer to my own. Through a half-lidded gaze, I peer into eyes of molten gold. Eyes that burn for me. His breath comes hot and steady against my skin.
“I am yours, Sable,” he growls, voice steel wrapped in velvet. “And you…you…”
I’m surprised to see the fear in his gaze. Fear that if he says what he’s thinking out loud, that this moment will shatter like crystal.
“I am yours,” I finish for him.
Rhazek kisses me, crushing my lips with his own.
I expected it--wanted it, gods, I’ve wanted it for days--but it still takes me aback.
His clawed hand slides from my cheek to the back of my neck.
Fingers that can rend steel hold me with utmost care--and wanton need.
I don’t resist as he pulls me firmly into his kiss.
My heart leaps in my chest at the taste of him. He tastes good, like a well-stoked fire warming a decadent dessert cake. Rhazek takes me with his other arm, wrapping it around my body, palm finding the small of my back. I melt into him, unconcerned that my feet no longer touch the ground.
His tongue claims my mouth, exploring and tasting and testing me. He wants to know what I like, what I want. I don’t even know myself, but he’s determined to find his way. Rhazek’s arms, thicker than drawbridge chains, hold me captive but no more than my own desires.
“Oh gods,” I cry as he drops his mouth to my neck.
His tongue glides along my skin, before his hot mouth and soft lips join the fray.
I cling to him, arms around his neck, pussy screaming how much it wants to feel him inside.
Is it the bond, or my own need, driving me so? I can’t say, and I do not care.
The only thing that matters is how he’s making me feel. The claws that catch, the fangs that snap, now ply themselves to something far more intimate and ancient than violence. One hand drops to my ass, kneading my flesh through the thin fabric of my dress.
His mouth continues to lick and kiss my neck while he hikes up my dress.
His claws scrape along my thigh, not enough to draw blood but enough that i know they could.
I gasp as he shreds my undergarment right off my body without a second thought.
The sudden exposure makes my clit tremble with anticipation.
“Sable…” he murmurs into my flesh. “I need you.”
The confession drives me even wilder. I cling to him, my voice rough with desire when I speak.
“Then take me.”
A sudden growl, and he lifts my leg with a firm grasp beneath my thigh. With one infernal surge, his clothing vanishes and I’m embraced by a naked demon--a very ready naked demon. His cock slaps against my thigh, then the crown nestles against my dripping wet pussy.
I arch my back, lifting my hips as much as i’m able while suspended off the ground. Rhazek slowly glides inside of me, stretching and filling me. I cry out, biting his shoulder as the sharp inch and wave of thrumming pleasure consume me.
With a guttural growl, Rhazek spins me about and plants my back against the stone wall. I grasp him with all four limbs, eyes fluttering closed as he thrusts strong and deep.
My body moves on instinct, catching his rythm, matching it, until we move in perfect harmony. My nails claw at his neck and shoulders as he drives the breath out of my body with every adroit thrust of his hips.
I fly right over the precipice of climax before I have time to scream. I gasp in a heavy pant of air and let it out as an undulating groan. My pussy convulses, hungry to feel him more.
His little grunts and growls of pleasure are like the finest symphony to my ears. I have no doubt he is here with me, and thinking and feeling only me. I feel another orgasm coming on and wonder if I'll survive it.
He grows rigid as steel inside of me, his muscled body taut as a bowstring as he leans into me.
Rhazek lets out a cross between a howl and a snarl as he cums, filling me with hot seed.
His cock throbs as I writhe in the throes of ecstasy.
My legs turn to jelly, I forget my own name, but he doesn’t let me fall.
Still buried inside of me, he pulls me from the wall and wraps me in a shockingly tender embrace.
“My Sable,” he purrs. “My little flame.”
I can’t speak, can barely even think as pulses of delight streak through me one after another.
He slides out of me, cradling me in his arms like precious cargo.
I put a hand on his sharp-featured face, scarcely believing this is the same being who rends flesh from bone.
I lose track of time, unsure how long I remain in his arms.
Downstairs, Corin makes an exaggerated noise with a chair.
“Still alive up there?” he calls.
I close my eyes briefly, then laugh under my breath. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“Good. I was starting to worry the house collapsed.”
Rhazek’s expression shifts, something almost like amusement touching it.
“That one,” he says, glancing toward the floor, “is going to be a problem.”
“He already is.”
I step back slowly this time, but the distance feels different. The tether stretches, but it doesn’t strain. It holds.
Stronger.
Clearer.
I look at him, really look this time.
“You’re more stable,” I say.
“Yes.”
“And not just because I’m close.”
“No.”
“Because of that,” I add, gesturing between us.
“Yes.”
I nod once, filing it away.
Physical closeness strengthens the bond.
Not just proximity.
Connection.
That changes things.
A lot.
“We should go downstairs,” I say.
“Yes.”
Neither of us moves immediately.
Then Corin calls, louder this time, “If you two are done conducting extremely suspicious research, there is tea.”
I cover my face with one hand. “I’m going to kill him.”
“He is currently difficult to kill,” Rhazek replies.
“Don’t encourage him.”
We head downstairs together, the air in the house feeling different around us. Not lighter. Not safer.
Stronger.
Corin looks up when we enter, eyes flicking between us with entirely too much understanding.
“Morning,” he says, far too casually.
“Not a word,” I warn.
“Very well, I will not comment on the moaning, growling, or rhythmic thumping.”
I glare at him and grab a cup.
Behind me, Rhazek takes his place—not in the shadows this time, not hovering like a distant threat, but within the room, within reach.
And for the first time since I signed that contract, the bond doesn’t feel like a chain.
It feels like something I might actually learn to wield.