Page 1 of Inflamed By an Incubus

Prologue

Aderyn grunted as she hauled Fenix into a deep, dank area that came and went, flowing in and out of focus as he struggled to remain awake. Her fear seeped into him through their bond, a tangible thing that drove him to reassure her, to steal that emotion away by somehow healing the gaping hole in his side that was leaking blood.

Probably leaving a trail of it for someone to follow.

His beautiful mate adjusted her grip on his shoulders, fisting the black leather jerkin he wore, her claws piercing the material. “Stay with me, Fenix.”

She sounded desperate, her usually light voice strained with fatigue and fear, and he reached for the connection that linked them, needing to soothe her.

“That trick is not going to work this time.” She huffed and grunted as she dragged him into a large cavern and paused to look around. He stared up at her and wanted to curse when she kept wavering in and out of focus, a blur of spun gold and violet one moment and clear the next. She glanced down at him, worry in her pale eyes that almost matched the colour of her hair as it swayed away from her purple leather corset. “This will do.”

She eased him down onto his back and he grimaced as his side blazed. He needed to get a look at the wound because it felt as if someone had punched a hole clean through him. The surrounding area felt cold, the chilly air in the cavern sucking the heat from the blood that continued to pump from him. He was losing too much.

Aderyn eased to her knees beside him and looked him over, the worry in her golden eyes growing as her fine eyebrows furrowed. Those eyes darted to meet his. “We need to help this close.”

Fenix swallowed hard and shook his head, because if she did what he thought she was going to do, then he would pass out and he needed to remain awake. He needed to be here for her, in case the mage came after them again.

“Should not… have… killed her.” Every word was a struggle as he pushed them from his lips and he hated the way her expression shifted, her emotions changing with it.

He didn’t want to hurt her, but it had been a mistake to kill the wife of the mage, a female Aderyn had befriended and believed able to help her find a way to reopen the gateway between this world and the one of her phoenix kin—a portal that had been sealed shut for centuries. He could understand the betrayal had wounded her and part of him couldn’t blame her for how she had reacted. He had felt how crushed she had been when they had discovered the female had wanted to lure Aderyn into a trap, gifting her husband with the power contained in Aderyn’s phoenix blood.

But killing her hadn’t been the answer.

The mage had come after them because of what Aderyn had done.

Fenix gazed up at her, seeing how much she still hurt because of the betrayal, that pain hidden beneath the worry she felt for him. He cursed the mage’s wife, the less reasonable part of him—the part ruled by his instincts as her fated mate—wishing he had been the one to make her pay for how she had treated Aderyn.

His kind, beautiful Aderyn.

If his female had one flaw, it was that she always saw the good in people and never the bad.

He supposed his flaw was that he too often saw the bad in people and not the good.

The corners of his lips twitched at that.

Fate truly had made them for each other.

Aderyn leaned over him and claimed his lips, tearing a low groan from him as hunger surged and he felt her strength pouring into him. He greedily devoured what she offered to him, savouring her kiss as he fed upon it, part of him trying to hold back his own needs so he didn’t hurt her while the rest of him craved more, demanded he take everything from her. She tasted of heat and spice, a hint of smoke and love. He wanted her to break this kiss while at the same time he never wanted it to end.

A warm haze rolled through him, fogging his mind as his incubus nature rose to the fore and attempted to steal control. He relished the feel of her lips upon his and how strong she was—strong enough to withstand him even when he was starved, maddened by a need to feed. A weaker female would have been killed by him in the throes of his hunger, when he was mindless and vicious in his pursuit of the pleasure that would feed him. Not his Aderyn.

His mate had brought him back from the brink more than once, feeding him well enough to leave him sated for weeks, surrendering herself to him and giving him more than sustenance. She gave him pleasure too. Something he had never truly felt with anyone other than her.

She drew back and feathered her fingers down his cheek, concern shimmering in her eyes as they shone with flecks of amber fire and her brow furrowed. He mourned the loss of the feel of her touch as she sat back and glanced down at his side, her expression growing sombre.

“I am sorry.” She gave him that look, the one that said this was killing her but she was going to do it anyway, was going to go against his wishes and deal with the wound. “I cannot let you bleed out.”

Was it that bad?

He moaned and grimaced, his lips pulling taut as he tried to sit up and get a look at the wound the mage had dealt him when he had struck him with a glowing orb of blue magic that had poured lightning through Fenix’s veins. Pain blazed through him, stole his breath and ripped an agonised bellow from him that echoed around the cavern as he sank back against the damp stone ground. He struggled for air, his heart labouring as he fought to remain conscious.

Aderyn pressed her right hand to his shoulder and leaned over him, and he had the feeling she was doing it to keep him in place. She smiled softly.

“Look at me, Fenix.”

He shifted his gaze to lock with hers, cursed her in his mind when he saw the apology in her pale golden eyes and knew in his heart it wasn’t only because she was about to hurt him.

“Do not,” he croaked, desperation flooding him, making him restless as a need to stop her from doing something so reckless and dangerous seized him.

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