“Why don’t you tell them?” she asks, holding her wrists together.
“Care to add any specifics?” I fold an end over the material bridging her hands.
“Why don’t you tell your brothers what the amulet is doing to you?”
I consider bullshitting her with a, No idea what you’re talking about, but with the look she’s giving me, she won’t let me dismiss it.
“Angels are created with light to protect from the darkness. I’m not going to force them to deal with something they’re programmed to fight because it makes me uncomfortable.”
I finish the knot with a gentle tug to tell her I’m done. She sits back on her heels, and before she digs deeper into where she doesn’t belong, I strip off my shirt and walk away, making sure not to massage the spot on my chest until after I get out of the room.
Nyx has only been here since yesterday, but her scent already covers my bathroom and is all over my sheets. Every single time I turn around, I’m breathing her. Eating, showering, sleeping, and most definitely when I wake up in the middle of the night with her back against me. The shirt she’s wearing has ridden up, leaving her warm skin torturing mine.
Christ, if I were ever going to lose my mind, it would be because of her.
I run my hand over the curve of her hip, and she relaxes into me, the sexiest hum escaping her. And there’s no chance I’m going to stop touching her now. I keep skimming down the front of her bare thigh, and her body shifts further into me. Her head lulls back against me as my palm glides back around, and when I nudge her panties down, she sucks in a breath.
“Chaz,” she starts as a warning but never finishes.
I’m right there with her, reminding myself of all the ways this goes wrong. I just can’t stop with her. Fuck, I’m not even sure I want to anymore. Everything’s so screwed, so why not enjoy the ride?
My lips graze over her shoulder. “Tell me no.”
But she doesn’t. She rubs her ass against me. I pull her against my hard-on, grinding right back. I move to grab a condom, pushing down my boxer briefs. When I turn over again, she brings her arms over her head. She hooks them over the back of mine, forcing my face into her neck. I roll on the condom and slip inside her from behind. Slow thrusts while she sighs and pushes back.
“Chaz.” The breathy way my name spills out of her mouth makes me groan, and I pump into her faster, pulling her leg back so I can go deeper before sliding my hand between them. I move my other down to her breast, my arm holding her against me.
When she tugs at the back of my head, I bite down on her shoulder until she whimpers, but then she’s tugging at me again, asking for more.
“What are you fucking doing to me?” I ask, then I drag my teeth over the shell of her ear. “So goddamn irresistible.”
She moans, already close, and so am I. I unhook her arms from around my head, pulling out of her long enough to push her onto her back. She loops her arms over my neck again, her knees pressing into my hips. The chill starts in my spine, working its way out until her skin cools where I’m gripping the back of her neck.
“Yes,” she says. “Put your hands on me.”
Not about to argue with the chick I’m burying myself in, I run my other hand up her leg. Her breaths become desperate, and when she comes, I barely get through another three thrusts before I’m growling out my own release. My forehead rests on her cheek for a few seconds, and then I roll onto my back.
I’m still panting, semi-coherent after I take care of the condom and flop down beside her again. “You’ve got to be pretty fucked up to get off on the darkness.”
“Well”—Nyx drags my arm across my chest to her—“I guess we’re pretty fucked up then.”
She moves my hand under her shirt and flattens my palm over her stomach. Shifting to my side, I let the shadows out against her skin and watch her. The more I expel, the cooler our skin becomes, and the more she squirms under my hand. And she’s right. We’re both fucked up because I could get hard again at how she responds to it alone.
But our darkness-play ends when my phone vibrates on the nightstand at the exact moment the pounding on my apartment door begins.
Nyx sits up. “Who’s that?”
“You really don’t want to know.”
I untie her and grab the amulet off the nightstand and a shirt on my way out of the bedroom. Both are on a minute later when I walk into the kitchen to get the blocker bag out of the cupboard, the amulet giving off a faint glow concealed by the fabric.
“Chazaqiel,” Lydia says outside the door. “I can hear you walking around in there.”
Before I pull out a crystal and disengage the spell, I take a deep breath. Here’s to the amulet hiding my dark side.
The crystal plinks onto the counter.
“Come in,” I call, my tone lighter than a goddamn balloon.
Lydia drops into my living room, and I walk past her as dismissively as ever. She doesn’t immediately strike me dead with a bolt of light. A good sign.
“And to what do I owe the pleasure?” I ask. “Here to beg me to help you relive the best night of your existence?”
“Ew. No.” She straightens her shoulders, her cheeks pink. “I told you I’d be checking in more frequently. I need to make sure you three aren’t trying to—”
“Serve out our punishments in peace? Job well done, gorgeous. But I think Armaros might be a little too comfortable up in Seattle at that swanky house his charge owns. You might want to send a few locusts and nip that shit in the bud.”
“You are quite possibly the most annoying being ever created.”
I splay a hand over my heart. “Touched.”
Something moves behind her, and Nyx peeks out from the hallway. Fucking hostages. Never staying where you leave them. Lydia follows my line of sight and then turns back slowly.
“Who the fuck is that?” she whisper-yells at me.
I shrug. “You expect me to remember her name?”
I nonchalantly walk over to Nyx and hook my arm around her, pulling her into the living room. She looks just-fucked and like she’s second-guessing her decision to snoop. Completely understandable, given the death glare beamed at her.
“Great.” Lydia shifts her look to me. “Hurry up and report on your charges, so I can clean up your mess.”
“Kai and Avery Benson,” I say. “They’re asleep, but I can grab them if you want to meet them too.”
“No, I think we’ve had enough mortals listening to our conversation for one night.” She takes a step toward Nyx, holding out her hands like she’s approaching a skittish forest animal. “What’s your name?”
Nyx glances up at me as I step away from them, waiting until I’m out of Lydia’s line of sight to shake my head. She looks back to Lydia, who is lifting a hand to her cheek. Nyx’s eyes widen, but the second the light touches her skin, she falls into character. Pliable, innocent, defenseless. Everything she’s not.