“Kill her.” Ivan ran scenarios in his mind. “Your brother was weak, and you’re definitely the brains of the duo. Don’t let emotion rule you right now.”
“You killed my brother.”
“Yes, but he was an idiot. I’m sorry he’s dead, but you and I have a business to run.” With the young demon watching him alertly, Ivan kept the conversation as vague as possible and tried to hide the flush of anxiety roaring through him.
Phillipe coughed. “I’m going to find you, and your death ain’t gonna go easy.”
The line went dead.
That stupid woman. He should’ve killed her the second she’d finished cleaning up the office. Now he had the demon nation, the Coven enforcers, and Phillipe Sadler after his ass. Not to mention the consortia members. He needed to mate Felicity Kyllwood and move his next plan into motion. “Your mother had better show up.” If nothing else, just having her captive would give him leverage until he could take care of his enemies.
Logan snorted. “My mom is gonna be pissed, asshole. Believe me, you do not want her to show up.”
Ivan frowned. “You know how weak she is.”
Now Logan full on laughed. “Man, don’t let her size fool you. You’re pretty much a dead man sitting there talking to me.”
Impressive. Such loyalty and blind faith from a real soldier. Ivan smiled. “Well, she’s mad at me anyway.”
“I’m sure.”
“Considering I killed your father.”
The atmosphere altered. The young demon changed into a soldier right before Ivan’s eyes. “Excuse me?” Logan asked.
Ivan forced a smile. The promise of death in the kid’s eyes didn’t unnerve him even a bit. “You heard me.” He expected an explosion and a string of threats. What he got, instead, was dark silence.
He swallowed. Maybe he would have to kill the kid before Felicity arrived.
Chapter 24
Daire’s penthouse was still smoky, and the boarded-up window turned the place a little dark and gloomy. He ignored the state of his once pristine place and concentrated on his mate, nudging her toward the bedroom. The talk with Zane had exhausted her, and she’d been through enough of an emotional turmoil for now. So it was time to take care of her.
Zane sat in an only slightly damaged chair by the stone fireplace, reading property records, while Felicity had been drinking tea in the kitchen. When she’d returned, she’d looked pale and wan. “You need a warm shower and some sleep,” Daire said.
She shook her head. “Ivan will call.”
“No.” Daire leaned down and smoothed hair from her face. “He’s going to let you stew for a while, and he’s going to make plans for the moment you walk into his trap. He’s not hurting Logan, but he’s preparing for a fight.” Daire turned her around and pushed gently. “In order to fight, you need a hot shower and sleep.” She’d been pale and shivering since they’d talked in the rain, and he was finished with that.
Zane glanced up from the table. “I agree, Mom. Shower and sleep.”
Felicity rolled her eyes. “Don’t gang up on me.”
Daire pointed at her still wet socks. “Go. Warm. Up.”
She twisted her lip and glanced down. “A shower wouldn’t hurt.” With a defiant toss of her still damp hair, she grabbed her cell phone off the sofa table and squished over the wooden floor to the bedroom.
Zane waited until the bathroom door had closed. “I don’t think Bychkov will call tonight.”
“I agree. It makes more sense to wait it out and make us tense.” Daire rubbed a hand over his hair. “He’s also not interested in Logan and doesn’t have a history of torturing people.”
Zane nodded. “Are you trying to reassure me?”
“Aye.” If it was Daire’s brother being held, he’d want all the logic he could get. “Bychkov goes for the quick kill, as you know, and he won’t kill Logan while your mother is safe here.”
Zane nodded. “I know.”
Daire exhaled slowly. “There’s a guest bedroom off the kitchen. Both your brother and Garrett have stayed there, so I make no claims as to the cleanliness, although I do have a service that comes through once a week.”
Zane leaned back in the chair near the fireplace. “You are not setting foot in that bedroom.”
Daire grinned. He couldn’t help it, although the last thing he needed right then was a fistfight. “Listen, kid. That horse is out of the barn.”
Zane leaned forward. “I can put the horse back if I cut off your head.”
True. “Your mother is a grown-up, and she can make her own decisions. If she wants me out of the bedroom and here on the sofa, I give you my word I’ll be out here.” Daire turned for the bedroom.
“I’m more worried she wants you in there,” Zane grumbled.
Daire swallowed down a chuckle and shut his bedroom door, heading immediately for the bathroom, shucking clothing on the way. He was nude by the time he reached the bathroom.
Steam coated the mirror and the phone set on the counter. He prowled across the stone tile and stepped around the stone wall to find Felicity, pale in the soft light, under a hot stream.
She jumped when he walked in behind her. “Daire.”
“It had better be,” he rumbled, sliding a palm down her hair.
“Um, you shouldn’t be in here,” she said.
He grinned and squirted shampoo in his hands. “This is exactly where I should be.” Indulging himself, he threaded the soap through her thick hair and then rubbed it into a lather. “You have the most beautiful hair I’ve ever seen.” His fingers went deeper, and he massaged her scalp.
She leaned into his hands with a soft moan.
The sound licked along his skin to kiss his cock. He kneaded her nape, noting the knots and working on each one until she’d relaxed. She turned around.
He bent her back. “Close your eyes.”
She complied, and he washed the suds from her hair. He wiped a couple of suds off her forehead. Her eyes glowed a dark onyx in the steam, a sexy contrast to her light hair. The warmth cocooned them. “We shouldn’t.”
He chuckled. “There’s nothing else for us to do right now.” A part of him wanted to relax her so she could sleep, while another part, one deeper and more primal, wanted to plant himself deep inside her and keep her safe. “I know you want to meet Bychkov by yourself, but that can’t happen.”
She flattened her palms over his pecs. “Getting him alone has always been my plan.”
Crazy woman. Why did her insanity arouse him so? He reached around and palmed her ass, lifting her up against the stone. “The idea of you in danger makes me want to really hurt somebody.”
She smiled and clapped her knees around his ribs. “Ditto.”
Now wasn’t that sweet? He lowered her and pressed against her sex.
She hummed and lifted her head, arching against him.
He slowly slid inside her, taking his time, enjoying the devastating heat surrounding his shaft. The warmth slid through him to take root in his chest. If he had a heart, she was in there.
Her cheeks flushed and her eyes darkened. “I love when you’re inside me.”
Such sweetness. He leaned down and took her lips, teasing her with soft licks at the corners of her mouth. “There’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be,” he said, meaning every word. He’d lived long enough to contemplate the afterlife, and he was fairly certain heaven existed. But he knew without question that heaven on earth did, and right now, he was there.
Her smile was slow and so sexy his heart ached. “Just so you know, even though it has been crazy, I’ve really enjoyed the last week,” she whispered, tilting her pelvis and taking more of him.
He pulled out and thrust inside. “As have I.” He stilled as her words sank in. “That almost sounded like a good-bye.”
“No.” Her nails dragged down his chest. “It’s a true statement just in case. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”