Page 79 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

He brought the kiss to an end and his bright blue eyes sparked in the dark with fizzes of lightning. “I love watching you come into your power. Makes me want strip you bare and fuck you till you scream.”

Oomf. Yes, please. Now. I wanted it here. Just take me and—

A cough interrupted my spiralling thoughts and broke into the fantasy that was developing in my mind. I turned to find the others watching me with a lustful expression.

“I wish we didn’t have to see Ares.” Casimir’s voice was a deep rasp, and it was strained, as if he was holding himself back from doing exactly what Nox just did.

Silence descended between us all again and the tension became palpable, like a living breathing thing that I could almost choke on.

“What the fuck are you all doing out here?” Hawk growled, snapping the tension. “Why’s the Minotaur on the ground? Did I miss something?”

“Just our girl being badass,” Rook said with a smirk and my heart warmed at his words. It made me feel like I belonged. Like I had a home, and somebody wanted me around. I’d spent so long being an inconvenience, or being in the way, that I had very little self-worth. Tears bubbled in my eyes as I looked at them all.

“Why are you crying?” Casimir asked, stepping forward and brushing a tear off my cheek.

“You said ‘our girl’.”

“And that made you cry?” Casimir frowned, an authentic confused look clouding his face.

I didn’t want them to think it was a bad thing that brought tears to my eyes. The way they were looking at me made me feel like they were all one word away from killing someone. “Yes, I’ve never been anybody’s anything and it was nice to feel, for a moment, like I belonged somewhere.”

I kept my gaze focused on Casimir, watching as the shades of Deimos bled through his features. They were pissed.

“Raevyn, whatever your life was before your sacrifice, I know I speak for the others, when I categorically say, you belong to us.” Casimir’s tone was dark and irrefutable, and I felt his words brush against my heart like a visceral thing. They settled in my bones like a brand, and I felt them, a mark upon my soul saying, ‘here is Raevyn, owned and loved’.

I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around Casimir’s waist. “Thank you.”

His lips pressed against the top of my head, and he pulled me into his chest. He smelled like cinnamon and warm nights by a campfire. “Anytime, little bird.”

“Well, this all seems very cosy.”

The voice was low and husky, like the owner of it breathed fire. It made me shiver, and not in a good way. Something about the depth of his tone caused fear to traipse up the length of my spine.

I turned towards the owner of the voice and holy shit. The guy was a fucking monster. He was taller than Hawk, with rigid lines of muscles all over his chest. His arms were the size of tree trunks, and his bare chest was smothered in blood.

“Fuck me,” I blurted.

Impossibly green eyes met mine and a salacious grin curled his broad mouth. “Only if you ask nicely, gorgeous.”

I snorted. “That’s not going to happen, buddy.”

He hummed and flashed me a cocky grin. “We’ll see.”

“Back off,” Hawk snapped, stepping between the God and me. “She’s off limits.”

Ares held his hands up placatingly. “I was just being friendly –” he pointed to the Minotaur who’d finally managed to get to his feet – “unlike you.”

I shrugged. “He wasn’t letting me in. I asked him politely to check his list again and he was a rude asshole. I merely taught him some manners.”

“I see,” Ares said with a chuckle. “If Jax succumbed to every pretty face at the door to my club, it would be overrun. You must accept his apologies. Please follow me, but be warned, Bloodsport isn’t a place for everyone.” He brushed his thumb over his bottom lip, drawing my attention to how plump it was. “And pretty faces like yours are a rare sight here, so a word of advice, don’t look in the shadows. You might not like what you find.”

Then he turned and disappeared into the darkness beyond the door.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Casimir

We followed Ares into the club and as soon as we crossed the threshold the sound of bones crunching and skin slapping skin filled the air. It was primal and called to the darker side of me. Deimos was definitely becoming stronger, but I think that had more to do with me being more accommodating. I hadn’t had a blackout period in a while, and I was more aware of when he was watching through my eyes than I had been before. Perhaps that was him being accommodating too.

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