“Screw you!” I gasped as something grabbed and jerked me back down into my chair. My eyes rounded, and he smiled at the fear escaping me as dark, wispy tendrils of what looked like smoke wrapped around my legs, arms, and waist, forcing me to sit. My chair slid over the floor until I was directly in front of him.
Panic shot through me, and my heart hammered against my ribcage, threatening to leave bruises from the intensity in which it thundered. Kieran didn’t hide in the shadows, gathering intel. Nor did he have people passing information to him, through the shadows, as I’d assumed everyone meant.
No, this asshole controlled the shadows!
Chapter Twenty-Two
“We’re having a conversation, and we don’t need to label our relationship at this time,” Kieran stated, sipping his drink while holding my stare. He enjoyed the fear escaping my pores, thickly filling the air between us. “I will own you. The only question is, how hard do you intend to fight me before it happens?”
“You’re insane, Kieran. I am not yours.”
“Not yet, but you will be. You trespassed on me twice, and there will not be a third time. Much like you, when someone fucks around with me, I strike back. You, though, have interrupted my business. Most people wouldn’t dare do something so suicidal, and yet you didn’t hesitate. In fact, you threw it in my face that you’d done it. So, choose which of your friends will die, and don’t lie to me about who means the most to you. I already know the answer.”
“Nope,” I snorted, glaring at him as the shadows released me. Their touch was like his, seductive and enticingly erotic. “I bet those are handy during sex,” I offered, turning to watch them slink back into the corners of the room.
“Would you like to find out?” he asked softly, narrowing his eyes to slits. He clucked his tongue, and they raced toward me all at once.
“No!” I squealed, watching as they paused inches away from my skin.
One tendril crawled up my arm, sending a shiver of desire rushing through me. I gasped, closing my eyes as another moved along my thigh, caressing me like a feather on the delicate flesh. Opening my eyes once more, I found Kieran focused on the wisps of dark matter that slipped beneath my dress, stroking me there.
“You need me more than you think you do, hunter.”
“The only thing I need from you is the location of where I can find my father.” I grabbed the armrests and squeezed as the inky wisps continued sliding along my inner thighs. His dark violet depths burned with lust, and he swallowed audibly, dispersing the shadows instantly.
“Do you know what attacked you last night?”
“It was the fae,” I snapped, fighting the need to rip him bare and take what he offered.
I needed to find a stranger, ride him until I got off, and leave him. Meaningless sex was simple, and it wasn’t messy. There were no emotions involved, and I preferred that to any meaningful relationship that could end badly.
“You didn’t think I knew what was attacking us? I am not stupid. I understand they believe we have something that belongs to them. But they’re also taking women.”
“Indeed, they are,” he confirmed, lifting his glass before that dark, sinful stare lowered to where my thighs clenched tightly together in response to his shadow’s touch. “But have you guessed why?”
“My father left me with a fae woman once. She told me a story about her homeland. It was a fable, or what she called a sad tale, of what had spread through their land. She had abandoned her home because the fae men craved to procreate, but couldn’t. Their world had lost something it needed very badly. They would brutally rut on their women so violently, in fact, that they wound up murdering their mates. They discovered that half-breed bastards, like me, who they didn’t care to claim, could bear their children. So, I imagine they’re here to take women like me to breed. What they don’t know is that we were warned, and most females in the guild choose to be sterilized to prevent that from happening. Many didn’t want to have families since we are considered filth by your race’s standards.”
“Are you sterile, Xariana?” he asked, and my cheeks flushed. “I didn’t think so. How long before you are among the women they take, tied to a bed and fucked until you conceive a child for one of the fae? You can’t stop them, and you know it. I had to step in last night because I don’t like anyone fucking with those I intend to punish.”
I blinked, recalling the shadows that had sent the fae running. Kieran had been there, but not to save me, just to prevent me from being taken, so it didn’t ruin his plans for me. Chewing my lip, I narrowed my gaze at his calculated stare.
“You desire what they are after, don’t you?” I questioned, turning the information over in my head. “Your coming to town wasn’t by chance. It was a choice. You’re here to find what they want, aren’t you?”
He nodded his head, finishing his drink before his shadows lifted me in the air without warning, depositing me onto his lap. Kieran’s fingers slipped over the outside of my thighs, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. It was that, or I would have fallen in a tangle of ungraceful limbs on the floor at his feet. My stomach coiled, and my nipples pressed against the constraints of my dress, wanting to be sucked and tasted by this sadistic prick.
“Nothing is ever by chance, little huntress. Your father knew what I was, but he refused to listen to me. Now he’s in the hands of his enemies. I thought they were here for you, his only child, but they’re not even a tiny bit interested in you, but I am,” he purred, gently rubbing circles on my thighs. “You will be mine.”
“No, I won’t.” I watched the seductive smile that played on his lips. “You may try, but you’ll lose this fight, Kieran.”
“We shall see, won’t we? If you get desperate enough to find Xavier, you will agree to my terms.” He sat back to look up at me. It forced me to adjust in his lap, regretting it when I felt his cock lengthening against my heated junction. “I don’t like the idea of breaking you, but I will. I need you to understand this. I will do whatever it takes to get you.”
“If you want to fuck, just ask,” I snapped, feeding him his own words.
“It isn’t about sex,” he whispered, moving his hands until he gripped my hips. “Sex is meaningless, and I can get it from anyone, and at any time I wish. I want you on my team to hunt for me.”
“You have trained killers on hand, asshole. You are the head of E.V.I.E.! You don’t need me. Snap your fingers and your hunters jump to do as you tell them. I am not the sort of creature who jumps because some pompous prick demands I do so. Also, I don’t need your dick.”
“My sources tell me otherwise, Xariana,” he rebutted, using my full name like he couldn’t taste it enough on his tongue. I started to argue, but he placed his hand on my lips, picking me up and carrying me to his desk, and sitting me on top of it as he stared down at me. “I have it on good authority that you ran away from here because you caught the man you planned to marry, fucking your friend beside the wedding cake you were there to try.” Kieran chuckled.
“Dodged that one, huh? I didn’t run,” I lied, biting my lip nervously, feeling him growing erect against my pussy.