Page 75 of Tortured Soul
Dimitri hummed under his breath, his second hand now playing with my hair. His love language had always been physical touch, and I almost forgot how good it felt to have him fuss over me like this.
Arc couldn’t seem to look away, an indiscernible glint in his mismatched eyes. I closed mine and leaned back against Dimitri’s chest.
“How and when did you two meet?” Arc asked, his voice innocent but with an edge to it.
Here we go…A groan escaped my lips as Dimitri chuckled.
“He’s your mate too,zhizn moya. You don’t have anything to hide from him.”
“Well, you answer the questions then.” Because I was in no condition to think about anything while my old lover’s touch was nearly making me purr.
“We met in her hometown a little under 1,580 years ago,” he said thoughtfully. I could hear the small nostalgic smile in his voice. “She was picking up stones for her mother at the bottom of a cliff.”
How convenient for him to not mention the fact that I didn’t, in fact, collect said stones until much later that day, too busy freaking out about the handsome giant fighting off a Hell Beast in the cave. Arc went to talk again but Dimitri interrupted.
“My turn,” he said. “Is Carter going to be a problem in this whole situation?”
Arc paused, and our eyes met briefly before he focused back on Dimitri, his jaw clenching.
“I’ll turn his balls into dust if he continues being one.”
And somehow, I believed that. With what happened back in that alley to the demon who had attacked me then vanished into thin air, leaving only dark particles flying around, it was possible that he’d be able to do that to a Divine too.
“Fair enough,” Dimitri said, before his hand left my hair to grab his coffee.
Arc studied us intensely. The way Dimitri held on to me, the way I reacted to his touch. Maybe he was jealous that I was letting my old lover put his hands on me when I asked him not to.
“Why have you not binded your souls yet?” Arc asked, and my whole body tensed above Dimitri.
His hand froze on my thigh for a second before moving to my hips with a dry chuckle.
I was lifted from his lap only for my ass to land on the island counter to face him, the shirt barely low enough to hide my uncovered core. Dimitri reached for his back pocket and placed the small tin and knife on my palm.
“Please,” he said low enough that I knew it was just for me, even though Arc probably heard the plea.
I nodded, heat rising to my cheeks and my throat bobbing as he placed his open hands on the top of my thighs, waiting.
There was no way he didn’t notice the lack of panties under the shirt…
Like I did on the bike, I opened the tin and started to apply the light mixture on his jaw, over the short stubble, and under Arc’s scrutiny.
“Lola didn’t only sell her soul when she became the first Succubus. Shelostit,” Dimitri answered, insisting on the word. “The bastard she sold it to didn’t mention it would happen, and left with that piece of her, never to show his damned face again.” He paused, casting a glance toward Arc. I followed his gaze, closing the lid on the tin to leave it on the counter next to me. “She has no soul to bind to. That’s why you probably felt that she was your mate instantly, but she couldn’t.”
Placing the knife on his cheek, I forced myself to focus on my task as the two men stared at each other—or at me. I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t want to see their eyes.
“What if—”
“Areyougoing to be a problem?” Dimitri interrupted him again, his face still turned toward him.
I held my breath, shaving the sharp edge of his jaw. Only Dimitri would be so blunt to almost threaten an Immortal as powerful as Arc in his own home, while casually stroking my thighs and sitting on a stool between them.
“She’s my mate,” Arc said, matter of factly. “Circumstances don’t matter. Whether she can feel it or not, she’s the core of our bind group. As long as it involves you, Carter, or me, and as long as she’s safe, I don’t see why I’d be a problem.”
Dimitri turned his face back to me, lifting his face up when I moved it with my finger. His eyes sparked with something strange.
“Are you—”
“What about her other mates?” Dimitri asked right as the blade reached his throat, holding my gaze with defiance.
