21 Shades of Night, page 312
Keir pulls my head back by the hair, eyes dark with lust. “That’s quite a welcome.”
“Unfinished business,” I call back.
“So we finish this time?” he whispers in my ear.
His mouth assaults mine before I can respond. He’s the one against the wall, but his grip on my waist prevents me fighting back as he sinks his teeth into my lip. I wince; his laughter rumbles against my chest as I tear my mouth away, touching my sore lip. Keir holds me against his chest, noses touching. My lips and face sting from his scruff and harsh kisses, and I struggle to breath in the heat and his embrace.
In a deft movement, Keir spins me around against the wall, and pushes his hips against mine until I’m trapped against the wall. “You should be careful who you play with, Ava.”
The strength of his muscled body as he pins me against the wall is all that stops my weakened legs giving way to the floor. Hands slide beneath my top, skin searing where his fingers explore my skin. Hot heavy breaths accompany rough kisses along my neck and shoulders, as his fingers explore across my body. He cups my breast, and I catch a surprised breath as he runs a thumb across my nipple peaking beneath the lace.
This isn’t what I planned, but the pull to this demonic Keir is stronger than before he lost his soul, his loosened control a bigger turn on, and that scares me. I grip his fingers, preventing any more touching, and he laughs at me. Awareness of his arousal through his jeans tugs me back to the reality of the situation, and I wriggle against him. Wrong move—a growl of pleasure escapes his throat.
“We go back and finish this.” Keir winds my ponytail around his fist, eyes glittering in challenge. “Or I take somebody else home.”
I hook my fingers into his belt loops. This is the chance I’ve needed for weeks, and never wanted to take.
“Yeah, not the right place for this.” I slap his hand away from my ass. “Let’s go.”
Keir pulls me by the hand back through the crowds; we emerge into the cool air. Keir’s grip on my hand remains tight and he tugs me into the shadows.
“Not going to change your mind are you?” he asks. The wind whips strands of hair loosened by Keir’s touch, and I shiver against the cold and him. Keir’s question holds a threat in the tone as he seizes my arm. “Because if you let me down, I’m going back there for her.”
I drag my fingers from his. “Are you trying to blackmail me into having sex with you?”
He runs a finger along my swollen lips. “I don’t need to blackmail you when you’re as desperate for this as I am. Why else would you come here tonight? I thought we were just soul tied, but I’m soulless, and you still want to screw me. I’m happy to oblige; I’ve put this off too long.”
This guy is not Keir. This is a demon. He’s killed people.
I’m backed against the rough bricks, and he steals my breath with another kiss. He’s right; the only feelings Keir holds for me are lust. I’m no different as the heat pools between my legs, breasts aching and heavy, craving his touch. Keir’s body once made a promise he refused to fulfill, and at the time, it hurt that he wouldn’t. Now he wants me to give myself over to him, when Keir no longer holds the love that joins the promise. I want him, and the distance I’m attempting to keep between us narrows.
Keir thinks he’s luring a love-struck Ava to steal her soul, convinced I’m weakened by emotion the way Dahlia is, but he doesn’t realise his soul waits for him in my room. I can fool Keir my lust for him is out of my control, but can I fool myself I can restrain this? I tighten my arms around his neck and kiss him until my lips are sore.
Chapter 28
WE DON’T SPEAK on the short walk to campus, side by side, not touching. I pause close to my halls block and take his hand.
“Your room?” he asks, brow tugging down.
“Yes. Not yours. I don’t trust you.”
“And I should trust you?”
I lift my arms. “Check for weapons if you like.”
“Inviting me to frisk you?” He puts his forehead against mine. “I’m not bothered. You won’t get a chance to use one. Don’t forget attacking me is pointless. I’m a lot bloody stronger than you.”
My hands shake as I open the door to my room, conflicted mind racing. Keir immediately slams the door behind us and draws me close. I brace myself for more passion, but he gently traces his tongue along my lips.
“I was stupid to refuse you before,” he whispers, moving his lips across my face to my ear.
The sensation triggers a desire coiling downwards and my hunger for Keir takes over. I push his mouth open with my tongue, the taste of him overwhelming. His low laugh vibrates against my mouth and he turns his head.
“Keep yourself under control, soul hunter.”
His reaction drops me back to earth, and I attempt to disentangle myself from him. Keir clutches me closer, and I grip his powerful shoulders as he squeezes me tight and kisses me. Our tongues battle in an intense kiss, the familiar tingling spreading along my spine, and I fight my body’s desire to give into this. Every place our bodies touch, the more melded with him I feel and I panic. This is with clothes on; what the hell will happen if we’re naked?
“Keir.”
“What?” he asks hoarsely. “What’s wrong?”
“Slow down.”
“Why?”
Keir releases me and grabs his T-shirt by the shoulders, dragging it over his head, and I shiver at the primal look in his darkening eyes. As he stretches his arms upwards, Keir’s jeans sit lower on his hips for a moment, and I stare at the v pointing downwards. I close my eyes. Control.
The sinewed muscles of his forearms tug at my memories, back to the time he folded them around as he held and loved me.
I’ve used sex to trick demons before, but my revulsion kept me in control. I shouldn’t be attracted to a demon, not even this one.
Desperate to feel Keir’s skin, to connect, I place a hand on his chest. Beneath his hard muscle, Keir’s heart beats against my palm, and my stomach flips. The heart I once stopped beating, beneath a livid red scar.
Keir shoves me against the door with one hand and holds me. His other hand pushes beneath my thin top, teasing feathery touches along my belly. Pressing his hand harder into my shoulder, he slides a hand up my inner thigh. A noise of surprise escapes my lips and I tense for his next move.
“You’re so fucking hot, Ava.” Keir yanks up my top and roughly pushes the lace of my bra to one side.
His mouth closes around my nipple and I grip has head as he swirls his tongue around the peaks. I struggle against where he holds me with the other hand, pissed off with his harsh control.
“I don’t like this.” I pull at the hand on my shoulder.
He looks up. “Seems like you do.”
“Let me go; I’m not doing this here.” I stare back in challenge. What if he doesn’t listen? If I change my mind, will he let me go?
“However you like, Ava.” Keir steps back.
I suck in a breath, drag my top over my head, and push Keir onto the bed. “My way. If I say stop, you stop.”
He grins, eyes appreciatively sweeping my semi-naked body as he hooks a leg through mine and trips me onto him. “Sure thing. I have other options.” Panic pushes in at his semi-threat. “No, Ava. I won’t hurt you, unless you hurt me.”
Liar.
His warm skin presses against mine as he hooks one of my lace straps down, kissing my shoulder. There’s no doubt over consent here, but this will be a battle. We’ve explored each other’s bodies before, but never taken the final step to trust; I never realised if I did, I was lost. His decision to stop a few weeks ago in case he put himself in a vulnerable position makes sense, because here I am.
I need to stay in control. Somehow. I straddle Keir and dig my nails into his shoulders. Keir’s palms my breasts through the lace, breath shallowing as his control loosens too. His arousal pushes against his jeans, and the barrier between us does nothing to quell the tightening between my legs. He flicks open the button and attempts to push my jeans to my hips; I slap his hand away, and Keir laughs low in his throat.
“C’mon, Ava.”
The crystal rests in the drawer beside my bed to the left of Keir’s head, and I need Keir to stay where he is, to keep my self-control while he loses his. Right, Ava, that’s not going well so far. I unhook my bra and slide down the straps as Keir puts his hands behind his head and bites his lip, watching as I drop the bra to one side. I pull my hair from the ponytail and let it drop across my breasts.
Keir shifts beneath me, and he pushes my hair away. “Don’t hide.”
I give him a coy smile, rewinding to the times I’ve been in this position before with demons—and killed them. I lean over and run my tongue along his lip. He attempts to catch my mouth for a kiss but I play, teasing. My nipples brush his taut chest, adding a frisson I could do without right now.
Keir traces his hands down my back and grabs my ass.
How far do I need to go before he loses his focus on anything but sex? In the darkness, I could pretend he’s my Keir; a more passionate one kissing and touching the way I always wanted, but I can’t pretend I wouldn’t give into the raw hunger for him.
“Let me feel how wet you are for me, soul hunter,” he whispers, sliding a palm between my legs. “Take these off.”
Soul hunter. Not Ava. His fingers push the seam of my jeans against my most sensitive part, and I swallow. His other hand massages my breasts, pulling at my nipples as his breathing comes hot and heavy. I swallow down the edging anger, at least he’s in the position I need. I reach behind Keir, my hair falls forwards, and my breasts touch his face. Keir’s mouth closes around my breasts, tongue flicking my nipples and I inhale sharply, interrupted by the desire to sink onto him.
With Keir lost in his lust, I stretch an arm out and edge the drawer open. My fingers reach the hard crystal and I curl my fingers around, holding the ball in the palm of my hand. I push the drawer closed and it bangs. Shit.
Keir wrenches his mouth away, pushing me over. His heavy weight holds me to the bed and he stares at my outstretched hand.
“What are you doing? What’s in your hand?” he growls. “Surely you’re not going to try to kill me?” He pries at my fist. “Let that go.”
I thrash against his weight and grip, the crystal digging into my hand. “I’m not trying to kill you.”
“Then what? Let the fuck go.” The lust in his eyes is replaced by anger. He yanks my hand to his mouth and bites my fingers.
“Fuck, Keir!” I drop the sphere containing Keir’s soul and it tumbles to the floor.
Keir stares at the soul crystal, eyes widening, then narrowing as he looks back down at me. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Take back your soul, please. Be Keir again.”
His grip on my arm tightens, weight still holding me in place, as he reaches for the sphere, looking at it with the same fascination as the first time he saw it. “I can’t believe Asher and Eli let this out of their sight. I was waiting for them to do the job, not give a loose cannon like you the task.”
I swallow down the fear but the anger is replaced by amusement lighting his face. “Oh… You’re not supposed to do this to me yet, are you? You always were too cocky for your own good.” He throws the crystal in the air and catches it. “No buddies to back you up then, Ava? Lucky me, I take home two souls tonight. Mine and yours.”
Keir drags me to my feet, one hand around my wrists, and my legs tremble. “You were going to take mine?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“Stupid girl. Of course, an angel soul is worth a lot to me. Not as much as this one, but still valuable.”
“You wouldn’t,” I whisper.
Keir sneers. “When will you get it into your head I’m not him? I’m not your pathetic soul-tied puppy dog. You think I wanted to make love to you like he would have done?” Keir drags me by the arms against him. “I just want sex. Dirty, hard sex. You know all the girls I’ve ever screwed in my life are dead, right?”
Keir’s words sting as if he’d hit me. “You wouldn’t kill me.”
He looks over my shoulder and runs his tongue along his teeth as I struggle against his iron grip. “Wrong. I guess I need to decide how.”
He lets go of my arms and shoves me hard; I fall back to the bed.
“I guess I could break your neck.” He looks down on me. There’s no sign of the guy who’d told me he loved me, eyes empty. “Any chance of finishing what we started first?”
I grab my top and pull it on; covering the naked breasts Keir grazes his heated gaze across.
“I’ll take that as a no then.” He shrugs. “I’m not really in the mood anymore, and I’m guessing you’re not.”
The crystal glitters as he sets it carefully on the desk behind him.
One option left. Stay alive long enough to smash the crystal.
I keep my eyes on Keir’s, hoping he sees my prone figure as defeat. For an eternal moment, he holds my gaze and his face softens with confusion. Is there doubt in his mind?
Fuck it. I throw myself forward, sending an off-guard Keir crashing into the desk. His head hits the corner with a thud and the crystal rolls to the floor. Cushioned by the carpet, the sphere doesn’t break.
Keir sits and looks at the blood he smears from the back of his head onto his fingers. He growls in anger and an invisible force hurls me backwards against the wall, and I’m unable to move.
“You’re wasting your fucking time,” he snarls.
I struggle for breath. “Keir… let me go, make this a fair fight.”
“Fair? Do you think I do fair? You made me bleed!” He holds his fingers in front of my face, almost touching my nose. “Again.”
I squeeze the tears back before they have a chance to fall. “Killing me when I can’t fight back? Coward.”
His eyes glitter and he steps back; I crash to the floor and Keir drags me to my feet. “You’re just making things worse for yourself. Remember what I said about you signing your death warrant?”
“I’d rather die here than spend eternity in the Hell realms,” I spit. “You’re doing me a favour.”
Long fingers curl around my throat and crush as cold, empty eyes look into mine. I scratch at his hands and his expression doesn’t change. The realisation hits—I am Dahlia. I brought him here because I thought a part of Keir wanted to be who he once was. I wasn’t prepared to listen either. I’ve been confronted with the truth enough times but my denial didn’t ebb. Without his soul intact, Keir will kill me. This guy is remorseless and my death as meaningless as hundreds of soul hunters before me.
Keir drops his grip, and I sink to the floor, one hand still on Keir’s fingers as I vainly look around the room for something to retaliate with. He kneels over me, focused on choking my life out. Time ticks towards dark oblivion as I pat around the floor in an attempt to locate the crystal. I bump the hard object with the edge of my hand.
Before the growing black obliterates my vision, I lift my arm and hurl the crystal across the room, toward the open bathroom doorway. The crystal crashes against the tiles and Keir’s head snaps around at the sound of the splintering crystal.
“What the fuck?” he yells, turning to the bathroom.
He drops his grip and I gasp for air, blinking away the black dots behind my eyes. From the shattered crystal centre, a white mist snakes upwards and circles the room as if searching for a way out. Please don’t choose to be free and leave me in a room with a demon and death.
The soul twists upwards above our heads and hovers between us, a cloud of rainbows shining above. I shiver against the strange sensation that the soul can see me and reach out to touch. The soul shies away from my fingers and moves toward Keir.
Keir presses himself against the wall as the cloud targets him. “No! I don’t want this.”
“Your soul, Keir, it wants to belong with you.”
As if listening, the small cloud grows and engulfs Keir’s head, his face disappearing behind the luminosity. An expression of horror crosses his face as the soul forces itself into his open mouth and disappears. Keir gasps, the way he did the moment he died all those weeks ago and falls to the floor.
Chapter 29
THE PASSION AND anger of the last few minutes drops into silence, my ragged breathing all I can hear. I wrap my arms around myself and shuffle on my backside against the bed, staring at the unconscious Keir.
What happens now? Will he regain consciousness soon, and if he does who will I face? A demon trying to kill me again? I struggle to my feet, head aching. Fear of death hangs over me; how close I came to oblivion, and I instinctively want to run.
Keir doesn’t move.
Have I killed him?
No. If a dagger in the heart didn’t, this won’t.
I drag my hands through my tangled hair. I have landed myself in deep crap with the others for doing this and fuck knows what damage I’ve done to Keir this time. But I didn’t have a choice, did I? If I’d waited, someone else could be dead by now.
Footsteps and voices echo in the hallway outside my room; people heading home from their simple lives. Humans, born into free will and not fighting for freedom or life, the way I do. Sure, their lives are difficult because of their physical weakness, death following them every day. Is their weakness payback for their freedom?
I discovered the truth about souls weeks ago, but I’m confused. Why would souls choose humans, become physical, and give up their own freedom? One thing I never considered, made clear by the action of Kei’s soul tonight, is these souls are a living entity who chooses a host.
Souls I’ve spent the last few years imprisoning, unable to make their choice.
I’m not sure how long I stare at Keir’s body, terrified over my next move. My hands tremble as I gather enough courage to face consequences and dial Dahlia’s number.
