Page 84 of Curses & Kitsune

The stairs creak as I head downstairs to the kitchen. I pour myself a tall glass of water and down it in a few gulps.

My wolf stirs within and whispers, Danger.

I freeze, straining my ears for the slightest sound as the hairs on my neck stand on end. Something’s wrong. Drawing in a breath, I parse through the scents in the room. My heart lurches as I catch an odor that shouldn’t be here. Another wolf. Right behind me.

Growling, I spin around, claws out, only to freeze as something sharp digs into my neck.

“Forgot about me, didn’t you?” Ishida whispers, eyes glowing in the dark, claws sharp at my throat.

“Not at all,” I admit, fury rising within me. This son of a bitch killed Jinta. “I’ve been waiting for you. Knew you’d show your face eventually, so I could rearrange it for what you did to my mate.”

Ishida’s lips curl in a silent snarl. “Your human pet got what was coming to him!”

A furious growl rises from my throat, but it cuts off as Ishida squeezes my neck.

“You think you can just settle down, live the easy life? After getting my brother killed? No, no, no. I’m going to kill you, Noboru, and then I’ll kill that bitch Makoto. You took a human for a mate. Now you’re letting a woman lead? You should have died! Not my brother. I’ll take over. The pack will revere me for killing the Wolf of Asakusa.”

I snort. “Are you stupid? I sent out letters to every yakuza organization in the city, letting them know you’d been exiled. You’re done for, Ishida. You’ll never work as a yakuza again. Find another occupation. Like, I don’t know, a garbageman.”

Ishida’s eyes widen, crazed with fury. “You… you’ve ruined everything!” In the shadows behind him, Jinta prowls closer and closer, armed with the short sword he keeps under our bed. Now that he can’t shift, I’ve been teaching him how to use it. Just in case.

I stare Ishida down and growl, “So go and kill me, but if you do, you better be ready to run because the Namikawa-kai will hunt you for the rest of your life. Makoto will see to that.”

Ishida’s hand shakes against my throat, then his eyes narrow in determination. His claws dig in, drawing blood to the surface, but before they can penetrate my flesh completely, Ishida grunts and stumbles into me. Grimacing, I side-step him, and Ishida crashes over the counter, the hilt of a blade protruding from his back right where his heart is.

Before my eyes, Jinta rips the blade out and stabs him again and again. “Fuck you, you piece of shit!” he shouts, eyes wild as he brings the blade down more times than I can count.

“Hey, easy, Sunshine.” I grab his arm. “You’re getting blood all over my kitchen.”

God damn. My mate is a fucking savage.

I’m about to tell him how hot that was, but Jinta’s eyes are wide. Stumbling back, he drops the sword. His hands shake as they drip with blood. Shit. Jinta’s so soft and sweet, he’s gotta be in a state of shock.

“Hey. It’s okay. Ishida was scum, he deserved it!” I grip Jinta’s heaving shoulders. “Sunshine, look at me. The first kill is always the hardest. I know mine really fucked me up for a while, but—”

Whatever I was going to say is cut off when Jinta lunges in and kisses me hard, pushing my lips back against my teeth. His scent darkens with arousal, and I quickly realize he wasn’t breathless from shock.

I groan against his mouth, head spinning as Jinta’s tongue plunders my mouth and slides against mine. I keep forgetting that for as soft and sweet as Jinta is, he’s got a dark side, too. And apparently, killing for me really gets him going.

“Wanted to do that for so long,” Jinta pants between ravenous kisses, moaning when I grab his ass and squeeze. “That son of a bitch nearly took me from you. He deserved it.”

I bite down on his bottom lip. “You liked that? Revenge? Killing for me?”

“Yes,” he whimpers as I nip and suck on his earlobe.

“Good,” I growl, and I grip the back of his thighs and lift him into my arms. “Like killing for you, too. I’d burn the whole fucking world down for you.”

“I know!” Jinta grabs my face in his hands, kissing me until my lips are sore and tingling. “Do anything for you, baby. Anything.”

The moment we’re upstairs, my back is to the mattress and Jinta’s above me. I tear at his clothes until I’ve stripped him naked. When Jinta grinds his hard cock against mine, I see stars. I yank open my robe, exposing my cock, and Jinta already has lube in his hand. He slicks me up, then preps himself, blanching his lip with his teeth as he fingers himself open.

Panting, Jinta straddles my waist and bears down until I’m notched against his hole.

Gripping his hips tight, I say, “Next time you ever doubt how fucking strong you are, just remember that you had the Wolf of Asakusa on his back beneath you. Remember how you took what was yours.”

“Mine,” Jinta says, lowering his hips.

“Yours,” I snarl out the word as my cock slips inside him.

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