CHAPTER TWENTY NINE #2
I almost tripped over my own feet on my way out, expecting the hallway to greet me in silence, only to find him.
Davien.
Leaning casually against the wall like he’d been there the whole time, arms folded, head tilted slightly as his eyes lifted to meet mine the second I stepped out.
And my stomach flipped at the sight of him. His dark eyes were pinned on me, his pupils blown and he didn’t look away as he slowly walked towards me. Over six feet of well-honed muscle strode toward me, each movement unsettlingly fluid and calculated, a slow grin growing on his hard face.
“Are you lost? The men's room is that way,” I joked, somehow managing to keep my voice steady, despite the way my heart fluttered.
His two large black boots halted, toe to toe with my own, and I felt his hot breath tickle the shell of my ear. “How far are you willing to take this?” he asked, the smooth baritone of his voice making me weak in the knees. I hated that he had that effect on me. Worse still, that he knew.
“Further than you,” I teased, my own voice husky with lust. I allowed my gaze to roam his body under his watchful eye.
It was far too easy to play this game when he walked around looking like that.
And I’d be lying if I claimed part of me wasn’t curious about what he might feel like beneath me—properly, fully.
His laugh was warm and thick as honey, dulling all my senses until they were homed in on only him. The room around us fell away and it was just the two of us. Before I could react, a hand wrapped around my throat, pushing me against the wall.
Oh fuck. Yes.
His mouth was on me in the next second and I opened my mouth to him, a moan escaping me. His kiss was powerful, possessive and urgent, like maybe he’d been waiting to do this and it wasn’t just a dare. Far too real to be a lie.
He broke the kiss, his lips resting against my skin for just a heartbeat—like he hadn’t really wanted to pull away—his hot breath sending shivers down my spine. “You win, Princess.”
And then he turned away abruptly, leaving me standing there, watching him as he walked in the opposite direction.
What?
No.
“Fine,” I taunted. “Walk away, maybe Nikolai will fuck me,” I wasn’t even sure why I’d said that. Nikolai was nice and all but I genuinely wasn’t interested in him in that way. I didn’t really even understand why I wanted Davien but I did. This wasn’t a game anymore.
I wanted him.
All of him.
“What did you say?” he snapped in an instant.
“I said,” I repeated. “If you won’t, maybe Nikolai will. He seems keen enough, don’t you think?”
He spun in fury, pinning me back against the wall. “If anyone’s going to fuck you,” he practically growled against my skin. “It’s going to be me.”
“You sound very sure of yourself all of a sudden,” I taunted, untucking his vest from his jeans, allowing my hands to roam over the expanse of his chest before unbuttoning his jeans.
“With good reason,” he said in what could only be described as a half moan as I slipped the tips of my fingers below his waistband, a mere whisper away from his hard cock.
He grabbed my hand and spun me around so fast I barely registered what was happening.
He pushed the skirt of my dress up above my waist and tore off my tights and underwear.
Then kicked my legs apart with his knee.
I couldn’t help the moan that slipped out when he roughly grabbed hold of my pussy.
But not wanting to give in too easily, I made a weak attempt at pushing him away from me. “Anyone could walk in.”
“You can act like you don’t want me all you want, actually it kind of turns me on,” he said, his tone low and lustful as he pushed two fingers into me. “But look at how wet you are for me. You’re practically dripping, Ailsa. And don’t pretend the chance of being caught doesn’t thrill you.”
Fuck, the way he’d said my name sounded far too good.
He wasn’t wrong but I couldn’t let him have the upper hand so with my vampire speed I turned around and pushed him back, opening the door behind him and pushing him through the threshold.
I didn’t want a quickie, I wanted to take everything he had to offer.
We’d entered some sort of storage room with no window, and from what I could make out, was filled with badly organised stock. I really didn’t care.
All I cared about at that moment was him.
I pushed him down, forcing him lower until his ass hit the floor.
His eyes held mine, darker here in the low light yet more open than I’d ever seen them. There was something raw in them that told me he wanted this as much as I did. For real.
Not giving him the chance to move—though the smirk on his face told me he was happy where he was and if anything, this was a test to see if I’d follow through—I straddled him.
He didn’t throw me off him this time.
Instead, his hands came to my hips in a possessive grip.
I leaned in to his touch. It was so easy, like this is what we should have been doing all along. The way in which he looked at me now was in such stark contrast to how he usually did. There was so much desire and desperation in his gaze.
“Davien,” a male voice called, cutting through like a blade and we broke apart instantly.
Nikolai stood at the end of the corridor, breath uneven—not from exertion, but urgency. There was something uncharacteristically frantic in his expression.
“They’re here,” he said. “I’m sorry—I can’t—” He shook his head, already stepping back. “I can’t get caught.”
Something cold slid into my stomach.
“No—” I started, but he was already moving. Then he was gone.
“Shit,” I breathed.
Davien grabbed my wrist, pulling me after him as we tore towards the back entrance.
But where Nikolai had made it out only seconds before, we were too late.
Wood splintered inward from the door being forced open.
Black figures flooded the space, too many to count at a glance, weapons raised, eyes scanning.
I looked over my shoulder in a desperate plea for escape, only to find them coming at us from that direction too.
We were surrounded.
It had to be the Ninth.
They’d found us.
How?
I didn’t have time to think about that now.
The sound of a crack split through the air.
So loud it felt deafening and Davien’s body jerked beside me. He staggered and for that split second everything slowed.
My heart slammed hard against my ribs as I turned, eyes dropping to where his hand had already gone to his side, dark staining through his vest.
“Davien—”
“I’m fine,” he bit out, though his jaw had tightened, tension pulling through his entire frame.
Behind us, footsteps were closing in.
We weren’t going to be able to run from this.
But that didn’t mean we were giving up.
Our eyes met, and no words were needed. The decision passed between us in a single look.
We were fighting.
“Alright,” I breathed, straightening. “Let’s do this.”
His mouth curved—not quite a smile, but close enough. He moved before I even registered it, his body a blur as he closed the distance, disarming the first attacker with brutal efficiency, twisting the weapon from his grip and turning it back on him in one seamless motion.
I didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t think.
I just followed his lead.
Where he went, I went.
Where he struck, I filled the gaps.
We moved together, like we’d done this a hundred times before. Like we were built for it.
A man lunged for me from the side—I felt him before I saw him, instinct and training kicked in as I ducked, pivoted and drove my elbow back into this throat hard enough to send him reeling.
Davien was there a second later, finishing him.
Another came at him from behind him and I reacted without thinking, my hand snapping out, that same strange energy from training surging through me as the air tightened around him, halting him just long enough for Davien to rip his head clean off his shoulders.
“Good,” I muttered.
We didn’t stop moving.
Even as more of them poured in.
But they weren’t ready for the way we fought, not as individuals, but as a team. A unit. An unstoppable force, perfectly in sync with each other.
Blood painted the floor and walls and the air was thick with it.
We fought until there was silence. I stood there, chest rising and falling, the echo of it all ringing in my ears as I looked around.
There were none left standing.
We’d done it.