120. Mira
Chapter One Hundred Twenty
Mira
“ A nnabeth, I’m sorry!” I say, having finally caught up with her. -Kitsune are foxlike by nature and can easily evade predators, but the phoenix is a born predator, and I used those skills to find her. “I didn’t mean to?—”
“Fuck my boyfriend?” she spits through her tears, though her fists are clenched, and I can sense she is moving past anger and delving deep into rage.
“Anna, I?—”
Rafe appears out of nowhere, surprising both of us. He steps in front of me, using his arm to keep me behind him.
“I met her first,” Rafe says, as if by way of explanation. I peek over his shoulder and see her blink. Some of the anger is receding from her eyes as confusion sets in.
Rafe takes a step closer to her, making sure to keep his body between the two of us.
“And I thought she was lost to me.” Rafe keeps his eyes on Anna-beth.
“I told you that it was never you. You were perfect. I mean that,” he says, taking another step closer.
“You were patient with me. Far more patient than I deserved.” He rubs the back of his neck.
Annabeth watches Rafe and then looks around him at me, and whatever she was looking for in my expression, she clearly got.
“Is she the reason you never wanted to be intimate with me?” she asks, and I grimace.
I shouldn’t be here for this. This should be between them, but I also don’t want to leave her.
She was kind to me when I arrived, and that meant a lot to me, even though I know I deserve her hatred .
Rafe shakes his head and tucks his hands in his pockets, clearly less concerned about getting cursed now. “No, Anna. That’s?.?.?. It’s all me.” He looks away. “I had my consent taken away from me as a kid. So that is something I struggle with.”
His pain calls to me, and I can’t keep from pressing up against his back, needing to comfort him. I know this isn’t something he’s even told his sisters, but he clearly thought Annabeth needed to know to assure her it was never about her.
“Then why her?” Annabeth asks, her eyes flicking to me.
Rafe glances at me over his shoulder, and I nearly fall to my knees with what I see in his eyes. “Because she’s my mate,” he says, and my knees actually buckle this time. I tighten my hand on his arm to stay standing as he looks back at Annabeth. “I know you have one too, Anna, and it’s not me.”
“Demons don’t have mates,” Annabeth says, shaking her head, and she’s right, they don’t, but?—
“I’m not a demon,” Rafe says. “I am the Prince of Hell, and I am a Fallen.”
I watch him. Could he be right? Lucifer has been with his queen for millennia, and he is besotted with her, but it would make sense for him to want to keep this secret.
If it were common knowledge that Lilith was his mate, she would be seen as a weakness.
To take the mate is to take half of him, his heart, his soul, his power.
Annabeth frowns, but then she tilts her head. Her eyes glow slightly, and a tear slides down her cheek. “It’s true,” she says, as if the knowledge of Rafe has unlocked something deep within her.
“You love her,” Annabeth says. It’s not a question, and my stomach twists.
“I do,” Rafe says, still not looking at me. “You never did anything wrong. You were more than I deserved at the time.”
Annabeth turns her pink eyes to me. “I’m so sor?—”
“You love him,” she says, cutting off my apology.
“I do,” I say, and my heart feels like it expands with the confession.
“The blame is mine. I pursued her,” Rafe says, stepping in front of me again.
“The fault is ours,” I say, shifting to stand beside him.
Rafe growls at me in warning. “She wanted nothing to do with me when we realized she lived with you, but I persisted.”
“Rafe,” I growl back. “That is not the case. ”
“Yes, it is,” Rafe insists.
I turn to face him. “No, it isn’t. I have been completely head over heels in love with you since All Souls.”
“Mira.”
“Rafe.”
“Oh goodness. You two?.?.?.” Annabeth says with a sigh. “I don’t hate ?either of you. Mira, you should find somewhere else to live, and then we’re all even.”
Rafe slides his hand into mine and squeezes. I look between the two of them, my entire being in chaos.
“I will go get packed up. Annabeth, I am so sorry. I should have told you. I just didn’t know how,” I say.
It is to be expected that she no longer wants to room with me.
I am just feeling the enormity of the situation.
It’s all too fucking much. Hearing Rafe say I am his mate, the overwhelming emotions of hearing him say he loves me, and saying it back.
I pull my hand from Rafe’s and turn away from them, but he grabs my wrist, his claws out.
I look down at his grip on my arm, realizing that his tension is only increasing, but I’m not exactly sure why.
Annabeth quietly leaves, and when she is gone, Rafe’s breathing becomes ragged. His claws dig deeper into my flesh, and I feel warm, sticky blood against my skin.
“Is it true?” I ask into the silent forest.
Rafe pants, but nods. He still is not looking at me. I can feel the demon bucking against Rafe’s control, and I know he needs to be pulled from this spiral. Gently, I pry his fingers open until I’m free.
“Close your eyes and count to ten,” I instruct, keeping my voice calm.
Rafe turns to look at me, his eyes roiling like storm clouds again. He lowers his chin, his chest heaving with deep, ragged breaths, and I swear I can see his already muscled body bulk up even more. His base instincts are barely being contained, and the pieces finally start to fall into place.
“Close your eyes,” I say again. “I’m going to run.” His eyes darken, and his lip lifts in a silent snarl. “And you’re going to chase me.”
He was afraid when Annabeth was here, and he managed to hold it all in while I, his mate, was in danger, but now, his adrenaline is fueling him. He lets out a low warning growl. His eyes are pitch black, the demon staring at me with a voracious hunger that floods my core with heat .
“You’re struggling with the demon, Rafe. You need to embrace it. So you’re going to hunt me.”
His fangs lengthen with his excitement. He wants this. He needs it. His body is so on edge, malevolence coursing through him.
“Close your eyes,” I say again, backing up a step. His fists clench at even that small retreat. “And count to ten.”
Rafe growls, but he forces his eyes closed and silently starts to count.
In a flash, I am gone, my own heavy dose of adrenaline coursing through me as I run through the trees.
He barely makes it to ten before I hear his snarl as he gives chase.
I run faster, wanting nothing more than for him to catch me, punish me, but I know the more challenging I make the chase, the better it will be for both of us.
I look over my shoulder, and I pay for my lack of focus when a branch slashes my cheek, making me bleed, but I know it’s just going to make my scent more potent and drive him even crazier.
I pass my hand against some tree trunks, smearing some of the blood that coats my palm from when he cut into my wrists.
I hear him gaining on me, the steady beat of his heart somehow more threatening than the low growls passing his lips.
My lungs burn as I add another burst of speed.
I hear his talons scrape against bark, and I know he is marking over the blood I left on the trees.
Possessive beast. I veer slightly to the right, making him work for it. Making him work for me.
My core is a throbbing fire, and I feel the uncomfortable way the wet lace of my panties rubs against my pussy. He’s gaining on me, and I want to let him catch me, but I know he desperately needs this, so I will hold out?—
I am tackled to the ground, hitting the soft mud hard. Rafe yanks me up to my knees, his claws making quick work of slicing away my jeans and panties before plunging into me with a snarl.
“You caught me?.?.?.” I gasp out, my cheek pressed into the dirt.
Rafe leans over my back and slams his fangs into my shoulder, using them to hold me there, to pin me beneath him as he fucks me without mercy. I press my hands into the ground, trying to anchor myself as his thrusts turn brutal.
“Fucking your prey, demon?” I moan, my pussy quivering around his thick, hard cock.
He pulls his fangs from my flesh, sliding his tongue over the deep punctures. “Mine,” he growls demonically .
The dirt beneath me acts as a conduit for my heat, but without being able to reach Rafe’s horns, my body continues to get hot.
My hair bursts into a mane of flame, and I feel the flames licking down my back.
Rafe groans at the heat and plunges his fingers into the fire, gripping the burning locks at the roots.
Rafe’s body hums with aggression, and our power seeps from us, explosive, flammable magic rolling off our bodies, only stoking our need with every punishing thrust. Rafe’s fangs pierce my other shoulder, right where it meets my neck.
My hips buck, and slick pours down my thighs as his teeth tear into my skin.
He plunges into my body, growing more feral and animalistic as he fully succumbs to his demonic side.
My toes curl from the pleasure, and Rafe growls a moan against my shoulder.
“I love you,” I say, the words falling from my lips as easily as air fills my lungs. Rafe snarls in answer, the demon sucking almost tenderly at my shoulder. I feel my orgasm so fucking close, and I don’t know how much of this forest will still be standing when I reach it.
As if he knows, Rafe tilts his hips a fraction, and I scream as my orgasm detonates within me, every cell in my body exploding into a fiery inferno.
Rafe pulls his hips back, fighting against the grip of my molten core.
He pushes my thighs wider with his knees and slams into me so hard I see stars.
His teeth still buried deep, he roars into my shoulder.
His body shudders, his cock swelling and throbbing as his own orgasm comes on hard, filling me up with his release.
His hips buck against me, and he pulls back on my hair, trying to get as deep as possible.
His ragged breaths begin to slow, all that pent-up energy finally dissipating.
I feel his fangs shrink even as they are still piercing my skin.
He eases them out fully, my blood staining his lips as he rubs his face against my neck, marking me with his scent.
He pulls out of me just long enough to flip me onto my back and then pushes his cock back inside me, continuing to rub against me, kissing, nipping, and sucking at my throat.
I tilt my head for him, giving him access to any fucking area he wants.
He rubs his hands down my arms, massaging muscles I didn’t even know were aching until he starts to roll them between his strong fingers.
“Kiss me,” I say, and he immediately presses his lips to mine, kissing me deeply.
His tongue tastes like my blood, but all it does is make me want him to kiss me deeper.
I slide my tongue along his still slightly elongated fangs, and they slice my tongue.
The sensation of the caress across the sensitive surface of his teeth and the taste of my blood once again filling his mouth makes him moan, and he rocks his hips against me.
He pulls back and looks down at me, his eyes slowly clearing as the demon recedes. “How?.?.?. how did you know?”
“Know what?” I ask, tenderly sliding my thumb over his lower lip, swiping my blood across its softness. I am a little obsessed with his mouth. The rest of his body is so hard, but his mouth is deliciously lush.
Rafe watches me, and the look in his eyes takes my breath away. “What I needed?”
I think for a moment. “I’m not sure. I just knew.”
Rafe glances at my lips. “Thank you,” he whispers before leaning down to kiss me again, rolling us so I’m sprawled on top of him. “Did I hurt you?” he asks, an edge of concern in his voice now that his mind is clearing.
I shake my head, leaning up on my forearms on top of him. Did he cause me pain? In the best way. Rafe’s eyes lock onto the trail of blood coming from his bite on my shoulder.
“I liked it,” I say, rocking my hips a little, enjoying him still being inside me. “A lot.”
Rafe groans. “You did?”
“Can’t you feel how wet I still am?” I ask, clenching around him.
Rafe moans again, but his hands go to my hips, and he holds me still, looking up at me. “Move in with me.”
“Rafe?.?.?.” I blink and go still. That is so much pressure for such a new relationship, let alone one as intense as ours.
“You said you’d move out of the dorm.”
“I will. I’ll go to the admissions office and get reallocated.”
“Move in with me,” he says again. “We have extra rooms.” He adds when he senses my resistance.
“Your sisters?—”
“Want me to be happy, and this will make me happy.”
I exhale heavily. “Let me think about it?”
“So you’ll do it?” he asks, his smile playful.
“You need to ask your sisters, and if they agree, I’ll think about it.”
Rafe smiles widely and starts to smother my face in kisses. I laugh, feeling loved for the first time in my life.