My chest hurt. It fucking hurt because I’d been the one to dash that hopeful expression off his face. “You swear on your brothers’ lives that you’re not lyin’ to me? That you didn’t hex me?”
He nodded, but his eyes looked glassy. “Yeah… of course.”
“Say it.”
He swallowed and blinked a few times before staring me straight in the eye. “I swear on my brothers’ lives, on my parents’ grave, on my own fucking life, that I didn’t put a hex on you… and that you’re my viramore.”
I sat back in disbelief that he’d done it, and disbelief that I actually fuckin’ believed him.
He hardened his resolve and asked, “Do you want me to do a promise spell, or I dunno, you could get a fucking lie detector test or some shit. Would that make you feel better?” He leaned forward with one elbow on the table. “I don’t fucking lie. I might be a dick, I might break a few rules, but I’m not a fucking liar. I’ve been messed with too many times to do that to another person.” He slid out of the booth and stood, but I didn’t miss him wiping his eye before he faced me again and tapped his knuckle on the tabletop. “See ya around, Hiro.” Then he turned on his heel and walked out.
I sat there in shock for about fifteen seconds before my sense kicked in, and I ran after him. It took me a second to figure out where he was when I ran out of the bar, but then I remembered that he liked to fly his damn dragon, so I rushed around the side of the building, praying I wasn’t too late.
When I reached the alley behind the bar, Basil was leaning against the brick building, one leg propped up behind him, an arm crossed over his chest with the other hand covering his eyes. It would’ve been a sexy stance if I hadn’t felt his pain.
“Basil?”
He jerked upright, dropping his hands and standing in a defensive position.
Slowly, I approached him and said, “Don’t go.”
He lifted his arms up wide. “What do you want from me, Hiro?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
He clamped his lips together and nodded a few times before turning and walking away a few more steps. When he turned back around, there was anger in his gaze. “Why are you being like this? What the hell is your issue with witches? I’ve never done anything to you to justify you treating me like shit.”
My jaw clenched, but I knew he was right. I knew deep down that he’d never done anything to deserve this anger, he wasn’t the one to blame. And the fact that I could fuckin’ feel his hurt, that made my mouth open up with the truth. Or part of it anyway. “Witches murdered my wife.”
All of his anger flew out of him as he sagged and went back to that saddened look again. “I’m sorry, Hiro.”
Nodding, I stepped closer to him and met his eyes. He’d meant that. He was sorry. But I didn’t want his sorry, I didn’t want any of it. I didn’t want to think about Millayna, I didn’t even want him to know about her.
What I wanted was to stop thinking about this little witch in front of me, to stop caring about what was going on in that head of his. But I couldn’t seem to stop myself. And that pissed me off.
So I stepped closer until our chests were almost touching.
He was making me crazy. Out of my damn mind, pull my hair out, crazy. Why, out of all the people in the world, was it this little fuckin’ witch that I couldn’t stop thinking about?
Those dark as hell eyes were staring up at me, and how he managed to look vulnerable when I knew he was anything but, I didn’t know. His eyes were glossy again, his cheeks a rosy pink, his lips parted as he stared up at me. When his tongue peeked out to wet them, I had to hold in a groan.
Before I could second-guess myself, I surged forward, grabbed the back of his neck, and pushed my lips against his. His gasp allowed me the entry I sought, and I forced my tongue into his mouth. Grabbing his hip with my other hand, I held him in place and pressed harder against his mouth. I wanted to punish him, I wanted to hurt him for making me feel this way, I wanted to show him that he had no right claimin’ me as his viramore.
But instead of fighting back like I expected, he accepted the punishing kiss, melting into me. When he whimpered into my mouth, I almost pulled back, but I didn’t. Instead, I stepped into him and walked him backward until he hit the brick wall.
When I broke the kiss, he breathed out, “Hiro,” and my heart squeezed in my chest. He wasn’t supposed to take it, he wasn’t supposed to blink those vulnerable eyes up at me, he wasn’t supposed to accept my punishment. I couldn’t take him like this. He already had a grip on me, but I needed him to let go of it. I needed him to forget me. I needed him to move on.
I needed him out of my fuckin’ system.
When he leaned in to kiss me again, I grabbed his hips and spun him so his mouth couldn’t reach me. If I kept kissing him, I might melt into him as much as he was meltin’ into me.
“Hiro, I—”
“Shh.” I cut him off as I pressed my forehead against the side of his neck, taking a breath.
“Hiro, please—”
“Shh.” I cut him off again. “Do you want this?”
“Yes.”
“Say it.”
He paused, then breathed, “I want you. I want this.”
I grunted. “Then keep your mouth shut, baby, unless I say so.” How that baby slipped in there, I’d never know.
He gave me a short nod, but I could see his expression harden as he looked over his shoulder at me. Good. That was what I was looking for. No more of those vulnerable fuckin’ eyes. Still, I pressed a quick kiss to his lips as I unbuckled his pants and pulled them down only far enough to expose his round ass.
After I rubbed a hand over it, I undid my own pants and pulled my cock out. I pressed him to the wall so his cheek was flat and he wouldn’t be able to look down, then I took off one glove where he couldn’t see. I went to spit in my hand, but Basil stopped me without moving his cheek off the brick.
Reaching behind himself, he grabbed my hand and whispered a spell, making my hand slick with lube, then he braced himself against the wall. Not wanting to think about the random spell, I smeared the lube on my hard cock, then buried my fingers in his ass without another word. I wanted to fuck him out of my system, but I didn’t want to truly hurt him, so I started opening him up.
He knocked my hand away after only a minute, so I lined myself up and pushed in, stilling for a moment and breathing against the back of his neck before sliding farther inside his tight heat. I sucked on the skin of his neck, biting and bruising it as I slid all the way in, then stilled again so he could adjust. I didn’t want to be careful, but no matter who he was, I would get no enjoyment out of it if my partner was in pain.
He nudged his ass back, so I leaned away, grabbed his hips, pulled out, and thrust back in, hard. He moaned loudly, so I did it again and again until I knew he could take more. Then I leaned my chest against his back, held his hip tight with my bare hand, and grabbed his hand with my other, slamming it against the brick over his head. He laced our fingers together and pushed back into me.
And then I pounded into him the way I wanted, the way I’d been dreaming of, as I sucked on his neck and ignored the tiny gasps falling from his kiss-bruised lips. I set a punishing pace, putting every bit of my frustration and annoyance into it, every bit of anger toward him. Everything I gave him, he took with pleasurable moans that were making my balls draw up tight.