Page 105 of Inflamed By an Incubus

Vail swallowed and nodded, and lingered a moment as his gaze dropped to her lips. A war played out in his eyes, the tension that had drained from him swift to return as he stared at Rosalind’s mouth, his throat working on another hard swallow.

She curled her hands over his shoulders and he bent for her, his concerned look going nowhere, gaining a trace of disbelief as she eased towards him and gently claimed his lips in a tender kiss.

Something was up.

Vail had been mercurial in the Fifth Realm, his mood dangerously unpredictable. Fenix had foolishly believed that he had changed, but he could see now that Vail was still troubled and was still treading a dark path that looked as if it might swallow him whole. He brightened as his mate kissed him though, as if her affection banished the shadows from his mind and filled him with light. His pointed ears flared back against his wild blue-black hair as he lowered his hands and hesitated for only a second before claiming her waist and tugging her closer.

Fenix slid another look at Evelyn and found her watching Vail and Rosalind, not with concern but with a soft, almost yearning expression on her beautiful face. Did she want him to hold her and kiss her like that? Gods, he wanted it.

Her golden gaze drifted to him, the heat and need in it hitting him hard as it trickled into him through their bond, igniting his instincts—both his ones as her mate and his ones as an incubus. His tank was full, but just the thought of finding a quiet place to be alone with her had his engine revving again.

Rosalind stepped back from Vail and gave him another soft look as he twisted away from her and headed for the house. Her gaze tracked him and when he disappeared inside, she turned to Fenix.

“Bit of a rough morning. Had a visitor while Vail was sleeping and I should have known better.” She shook her head, frowned at the grass and then over her shoulder at the cottage. A sigh escaped her. “I think he’s getting better and then I mess up… and it’s days of him struggling to live with himself again and losing hope.”

That didn’t sound good.

“What happened?” Evelyn beat him to asking that.

Rosalind heaved another sigh. “He teleported into the living room and beat the absolute hell out of Atticus. I knew I should have gone upstairs straight away to wake him. Vail hates Atticus as it is and I told that idiot to stay away… but he needed a potion I knew how to make so of course he just pops by like he always does… and sometimes I think he’s trying to antagonise Vail. Sometimes I swear he’s flirting with me.”

If Fenix had been in Vail’s boots and someone had been flirting with his mate, Fenix wouldn’t have sent him away with a bloody nose. He would have killed him. Just the thought of someone coming on to Evelyn had white-hot jealousy surging through his veins.

Fenix remembered being on the receiving end of Vail’s jealousy in the Fifth Realm and couldn’t help thinking that Rosalind was playing with fire. Vail was extremely possessive and fiercely protective of his mate, and she needed to lay down the law with Atticus before Vail ended up killing him.

“I’m so stupid.” Her slender shoulders sagged and then she rallied. “Well, if he shows up unannounced again, I’m not going to intervene this time. Lesson learned. It’s better I let Vail get it out of his system and Atticus learns a lesson about boundaries than I have to coax Vail back from that dark place he goes to whenever he messes up with me.”

“With you?” Fenix frowned at her, feeling a little lost. “I thought he messed up by beating up this Atticus fella.”

Her eyebrows rose and then she waved him away. “Oh no. Mother earth, no. I don’t care if Vail and Atticus get into a fight. Atticus deserves a good spanking for still coming here after I’ve told him repeatedly to use the bloody phone if he wants something. No. I… well they were causing a ruckus and things were getting broken, and there was a high danger of my entire ingredients collection getting trashed… and you don’t know how long it took me to get my hands on some of those herbs and mushrooms… and I kinda… might’ve… tried to intervene and paid the price.”

She hooked her fingers over the sweeping collar of her black dress and tugged it down a little, revealing two long pink streaks that darted from her left shoulder towards her breasts.

Claw marks.

Vail was upset because he had hurt his mate.

“They’re fine.” She angled her head so she could see them. “I took some blood from Vail and of course he went overboard and stole the injuries from me through our bond too.”

“Wait. What?” Evelyn piped up, confusion washing across her face as she frowned at Rosalind. “You took his blood and he stole your injuries?”

“It’s the perk of mating with an elf.” Rosalind tried to smile but it faltered as she stroked the marks. Her blue gaze shifted from them to Evelyn. “Vail’s blood heals me, and he can also use our connection to take on my injuries, meaning they appear on him instead. It’s something we’ve discussed in the past and he agreed not to do it unless it was absolutely necessary… mostly because it’s dangerous. If he loses blood or is hurt… well… things can get a little dicey… for everyone else in the world.”

“I’ve seen it happen.” Fenix looked at Evelyn. “Back in the Fifth Realm where I met Vail and Rosalind. I saw it happen. There’s another side to Vail, one born of the darkness. Tainted elves are dangerous, and Vail is about as—”

“He’s getting better,” Rosalind interjected, a sharp edge to her tone, and the sense of power in the air rose as she planted her hands on her hips.

Fenix held his hands up in an act of surrender.

“It was just a hiccup this morning.” The witch pouted and looked as if she wanted to argue more about how sane or not her husband was, but the male in question exited the wooden kitchen door and stilled on the patio, a tray of drinks clutched in both hands before him.

Fenix felt it when Vail’s gaze shifted from Rosalind to him. A shiver bolted down his spine and he mentally zipped his lips and kept his hands in the air, hoping Vail wouldn’t rip him a new one.

Deeply aware that the elf knew Fenix was responsible for his mate being upset.

Rosalind’s mood changed in the blink of an eye, a bright smile curving her rosy lips. “Coffee! Vail has been working hard to master the art. We bought a nice new machine and so far there’s only been a few incidents of milk covering every inch of the kitchen and exploding espresso grounds.”

Fenix didn’t want to ask how someone managed to make espresso grounds explode.

---