42. Chapter 42
42
O ur own dungeons weren’t much better than what I had seen of Javier and Thane’s accommodations in the dream. I wrinkled my nose in disgust as I followed Gavin and Ash through a heavily warded door on the mansion’s main level and my nostrils were accosted by the stench of unwashed bodies and old, dried blood. At least it didn’t stink like an outhouse. Perhaps we were humane enough to include toilets in our dungeon cells, unlike the House of the Sun who, if my dream was accurate, had gone the bucket route where waste management was concerned.
I attempted to put the rank odor out of my head and psych myself up for the task at hand. I wanted to find Javier and Thane more than anything. The Sun Watch was holding them prisoner, which really pissed me off. I held on to that anger. Fostered it. Felt the need to find them become all-consuming.
We descended a long staircase and entered a wide corridor lined on either side by cell doors. Bastian’s arm curved around my back, settling on my hip in gentle reassurance. I offered him a distracted smile, and his fingers gave me a gentle squeeze.
We passed empty cell after empty cell until, finally, we reached one that was occupied. Even in the shadows, I recognized the shifter lying on the narrow cot from the encounter in the graveyard.
Gavin rapped his knuckles on the bars before fitting a large, old-fashioned iron key covered in tiny glowing markings into the lock, which also displayed a small, luminous silver sigil. “On your feet, shifter,” Gavin ordered, pulling the cell door open on creaking hinges.
Silas raised his head, his eyes reflective like a cat’s in the darkness as he scanned our group.
Ash stalked into the cell and grabbed Silas’s arm, hoisting the shifter up to his feet. He wrenched the smaller man’s arms behind his back, securing them in his iron grip.
Silas tugged against Ash’s hold for a few seconds but quickly seemed to realize that fighting the hulking vampire was futile. As the shifter settled down, he glared at each of us, though Bastian received most of his ire.
“Traitor!” Silas spat, curling his lip.
Bastian’s hand clenched and relaxed on my hip, and I sensed his conflicted emotions.
I looked at Bastian fully, raising one hand to press my palm against his cheek and turn his attention toward me. I poured as much love and respect as I could through my gaze, hoping he could feel how much I appreciated him. How much I needed him.
Bastian closed his eyes and bowed his head, and I felt him relax beside me.
“She must have a magical cunt,” Silas said snidely. “I hope fucking her is worth the betrayal of your entire fucking people.”
Bastian stiffened, then took a step toward the cell door. His chest heaved, rage making his heart race.
Gavin sidestepped into the opening, blocking Bastian’s path to the other shifter. “Go wait upstairs,” Gavin ordered.
“That’s right, traitor ,” Silas said, sneering. “Be a good dog and listen to your new master.”
Riled up by the other shifter’s words, Bastian pressed forward against Gavin, his expression murderous. “Let me through,” he growled.
I reached for Bastian, curling my fingers around his arm, just above his elbow. “Go upstairs, Bas,” I said, pissed off beyond reason at the way the other shifter had played on Bastian’s emotions.
His jaw clenched and unclenched, but he made no move to step down.
“We need him,” I whispered, a trace of my will making the hushed words echo throughout the dungeon. “Go upstairs.”
Bastian bowed his head, finally taking a backward step. He glared past Gavin at the other shifter for another few seconds, then turned and stalked up the corridor toward the stairs.
Gavin and I watched him go, my hands balling into tight fists. When Bastian was out of sight, I turned back to the cell, shimmering with anger. “Move, please,” I told Gavin, my hushed voice still echoing with power.
Jaw clenched, Gavin angled his body sideways, leaving me just enough room to pass.
I marched into the cell, pulled back my arm, and slapped the smug sneer off the shifter’s face. “He is a better man than you could ever hope to be,” I hissed as Ash forced Silas to stand up straight. “At least he can live with betraying his people because it was his choice. Because it was the right thing to do.” I tilted my head to the side, studying Silas’s wary expression. “I wonder how you’ll cope with what you’re about to do?”
Silas’s sneer returned, but there was fear in his eyes. “And what’s that?”
“You’re going to tell me the ward code to get through the portal gate into the Sun Keep,” I said sweetly.
He shook his head, his sneer melting away. “I would never do that.”
The power pulsed within me, wanting to get out. Wanting to make him confess the truth. “Tell me the ward code to get through the portal gate into the Sun Keep,” I repeated, my will ringing through my voice.
The shifter bared his teeth, more of a grimace than a threat. He resisted for pained seconds but finally cracked his jaw open. “I need my hands free to show you,” he said, tugging against Ash’s hold.
Gavin stepped in front of me, having silently entered the cell, and used his body as a physical shield between me and the shifter. “Go ahead,” he told Ash with a single nod of his head.
Ash released the shifter, and Silas immediately clawed a fingernail down his own forearm. Blood welled in the deep cut, and my mouth watered, my bloodlust rising to the bait. With my will unleashed, I felt raw and exposed. I licked my lips and curled my fingers into tight fists, digging my nails into my palms. Now was definitely not the time to give in to my urges, but those urges were damn persistent.
Surprisingly, there was no sexual component to the dark hunger. I didn’t want this immortal. I just wanted his blood. And I wanted it bad .
As Silas coated his finger in the welling blood and drew on the wall, my breaths came faster, my muscles trembling against my conscious restraint.
Gavin peered at me sidelong, a low growl rumbling in his chest. His bloodlust was rising to the call of mine. Suddenly, my desire transferred to him, and I was no longer interested in just blood. I wanted Gavin’s blood and his body. I needed him. Now.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, tears welling as I fought the need to lunge at Gavin. “I don’t think I can—” I drew in a shuddering breath, the air carrying the rich scent of immortal blood. “I need to—”
“Take her out,” Ash said. “I can finish here.”
Gavin grabbed my arm, his expression fierce, his eyes on fire with silver light. He pushed me backward through the cell door, then across the way to the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. My back hit the wall, and Gavin released my arm, moving his hand to my neck to gently tilt my head to the side. He pressed the length of his body against mine and grazed his teeth over the crook of my neck, and I shivered at the delicious sensation.
“You need to learn control,” he said, the words laced with a growl. He dug his teeth into my flesh, careful not to break the skin, teasing a bite. “I look forward to teaching you.”
And then he pulled away from my neck and raised his arm, tearing into his own wrist. He pressed the open wound to my mouth, and I moaned as his chocolate and spices flavor glided over my tongue. This was what I wanted. What I needed .
Too soon, though, Gavin pulled his wrist away, replacing it with his mouth. His kiss was brutal and savage, and I loved it.
I felt his hands tugging on the waistband of my jeans a moment before it loosened. He gripped either side of my unzipped fly and yanked his hands apart, using his vampire strength to viciously tear my jeans along the seam. With another yank, he shredded my underwear. A heartbeat later, his hands were gripping my thighs, lifting me and guiding my legs around his hips. The head of his hard length nudged my slick sex, and I dug my nails into his shoulders, urging him on.
I gasped into his mouth as he thrust into me, ramming my lower back against the wall with bruising intensity. The rough force was exactly what I needed, the harsh sensation drowning out the lackluster setting until every sense was filled with Gavin, with his taste and his scent and his sounds. With the feel of him taking me. Pressure and pleasure twisted in my core, building with brutal intensity, climbing to incredible heights.
As Gavin pounded into me, he broke the kiss and tilted his head to the side, offering me his neck. I struck without hesitation, digging my teeth into his flesh until the skin broke and more of his intoxicating blood gushed into my mouth. Blissful oblivion exploded from the core of my being, and I tore my mouth away from his neck, letting my head fall back against the wall as the pleasure carried me away.
Gavin’s thrust grew shorter, and he lost his rhythm until, at last, he buried himself inside me and stayed there, groaning out his release.
Our ragged breaths merged, and Gavin rested his forehead against mine. “Apologies,” he breathed, lowering my legs to the floor. He cleared his throat. Or maybe it was a weak chuckle. “You’re going to need a change of clothes.”
A breathy laugh escaped from my mouth, and I buried my face against his shoulder, my cheeks suddenly flaming. How was I going to get back up to the residential wing to swap out my pants? Talk about a walk of shame.
Gavin made a low, rough sound, and his body shifted as he craned his neck to peer back into the cell. “Move him to another cell,” Gavin said. “I don’t want him messing with the sigil.”
“Of course,” Ash agreed, a hint of strain in his voice. “I’ll wait for you here.”
How hard had it been for Ash to stand by while we gave in to our baser instincts? The man had an iron will. But then, this was all part of the mission to rescue someone he loved, and I supposed there was no greater motivation than that.
In one smooth motion, Gavin scooped me up like I weighed nothing at all and cradled me against his body as he carried me toward the stairs. I kept my face buried against his shoulder, perfectly happy to hide on the way up to change my clothes.
I refused to let my body’s needs control me again, even if giving in to those needs was immensely pleasurable. As Gavin carried me upstairs, I silently vowed to make learning how to control my bloodlust my number one priority. Gavin had said he would help me—teach me—and I fully intended to take him up on that offer.
I smiled against his shirt, absolutely certain these were lessons I would really, really enjoy learning.