Page 161 of Savage Blood
Finally, a new lord had been chosen for the Underworld city, and it wasn’t Ruin. He’d never wanted the position.
He and Roxie escaped shortly after I brought Fane backfrom the dead, but I had a feeling we hadn’t seen the last of those two. At least Fane didn’t growl every time someone said Ruin’s name.
Ruin’s leaving had more to do with Roxie than anything. He worried about her safety and freedom now that the raven council sought to punish her for breaking several accords and for siding with Barric.
Their little demon bond was a lot more powerful than Ruin let on. I could see it in the way they looked at each other. The Infernal Sol’s influence had caused some of her more psychotic behavior in the Underworld, so maybe she’d mellow out.
“Do you think she’ll bite him?” Fane asked as he watched Mina and Hawk on the dance floor. They split their time between Mohan Wilds and Savannah, since Hawk was still a raven, but I wasn’t sure how long that would last.
If they really loved each other, she’d want to bite him. And Hawk would let her. He’d been drifting further from the ravens after seeing his aunt for what she really was.
Sensing the streak of panic through the bond, Fane used his thumb to stroke a circle on the strip of flesh above my jeans. “Hawk is strong enough. He’ll survive the bite.”
Saint said the same thing during his visit to Silver Ridge the other day. The packs had to choose a new head alpha of Georgia, and plenty had thrown his name in the hat. Things between us were still awkward after rejecting each other, but he seemed open to being friends—one day. Without him, Fane might not have survived. I never would have thought to heal him if not for Saint.
Fane’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and when he drew it out to check the text, he smiled. “My mom found this the other day.”
My heart clenched when he showed me the picture of himand Warin, his brother’s broad smile radiating warmth. Not an ounce of cruelty shone in his electric blue eyes.
Fane spoke about Warin more often now, the pain from his death not gone but softened, as if the wounds had started to heal. He wanted to keep his memory alive so that the world never forgot him.
I wanted the same for Jayla. Unfortunately, I didn’t have even one picture of her.
“Don’t be sad, fiera mika.” Fane put his phone on the table and rubbed his thumb across my cheekbone. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Does it involve you getting naked?”
He chuckled, his white teeth flashing. “We can do that later.”
Fane crossed the VIP room, moved behind the bar, and stooped to grab something. As he brought up the picture frame and I closed the distance between us, a sharp breath caught in my lungs.
“How did you…?” I took the frame from him and studied the picture of Jayla and me that hot summer day we snuck into the movies.
But we never took any pictures.
And then it dawned on me. Fane painted the scene with such realistic clarity that it could be mistaken for a photo.
He captured the moment better than any camera could.
“I’ve seen her dozens of times through your dreams.” He shrugged. “I can paint hundreds of these. Hell, I’ll make albums for you for every damn memory.”
A bittersweet ache unfurled in my chest, and tears instantly rolled down my cheeks. “Are you real, or did I dream you up?”
Fane took the frame and placed it on the table beforepulling me into his arms. “Maybe both. You’re definitely the creature of my dreams.”
“Or nightmares.”
“Dreams, nightmares, fantasies, all of them, Teague. You have been all of them.”
I rose on my toes while he lowered toward me, and our lips met in a fiery kiss that turned the smoldering embers into a blazing inferno. Wrath had pretty much given us this VIP spot after we broke the third couch while partaking in some naughty fantasies.
We had a habit of breaking things.
Fane lifted me, and my legs wrapped around his waist, the wall pressing against my back. I moaned as our hips rocked together, his hard length rubbing my center.
“I will never get enough of you,” he murmured against my lips. “Never.”
As he sucked my tongue into his mouth, shivers rolled down my spine. I drew his shirt over his head, dropped it, and went straight for the button on his jeans.
