“So she was basically your blood whore?”
“Yeah. I guess.” Another shrug. “The coven provided livestock and blood bags galore, but for me, those things weren’t enough. She helped me. I guess that kind of drew me to her even more. Back then, I felt so alone. The thing with my family’s minds being mesmerized to think I’d just deserted them was still fresh. She was there for me when I was going through a lot of shit.”
“But you fucked just the once?”
Corry’s attention drifted back to me, his blue orbs bright in the moonlight. “I care about her a lot. It just didn’t feel right when we were together.”
The way he looked at me now made my chest heavy, his saddened gaze like an anvil on my lungs. It was a bit annoying that it hadn’t occurred to him that he should have warned me I’d be meeting the sex demon he boned, even if it was just that one time. But his reasoning was sound. When he was a new vampire, his self-control had been basically non-existent. The fact that they hadn’t gone back for seconds served as proof that there’d been no spark with her.
I took a few steps toward him, closing the distance between us, and leaned my head against his chest. His arms closed around me, and his palms stroked my hair, smoothing down the wind-tangled trusses.
“So you’re not mad anymore?”
“I’m not mad. Just think carefully about your future surprises. If ex-flings are involved, they probably shouldn’t go unmentioned. I’ve barely got a grip on the other side of me, Cor. It scares me how powerful it is.” When my voice began to quiver, he cupped the back of my neck, his thumb massaging the skin there as he pressed an ardent kiss to my brow. My mark pulsated at the contact.
“You’re doing brilliantly. Every day you become stronger, and you can’t forget that the thing inside you is on your side. I may not know much else about it, but I do know that.”
I looked up at him through my tear-coated lashes. It was inspiring how much confidence Corry and the rest of the princes had in me. If only I could be as sure as them. I was getting there, but I couldn’t fully trust myself until I understood exactly what I was and where I’d come from.
“When you fucked her, did you bite her?” I almost had to force out the question that had been weighing on my mind, haunting me. Memories of the first time I’d laid eyes on the scar my father had left on Sterling’s throat came crashing back. I’d been savage in my need to mark my territory, and that was back before my powers had been fully awakened.
“Corry, if she carries your mark I can’t ever meet her.”
“She doesn’t,” he assured me with a tone I trusted implicitly. “I told you already, I’ve never made a mating bond with anyone before you. I know I’m the one with the least amount of self-control, but I’ve felt this overwhelming need to wait for the right person to come along and make me feel as you do.”
My fingers curled into the youngblood’s jacket and I pulled him to me, everything in me telling me to get closer.Closer.
“Kiss me.” It wasn’t a request. I needed his lips on my mouth, just as much as I needed blood in my veins and air in my lungs.
The vampire did as I told him, his lips moving against mine in a kiss so warm and comfortable, I wanted to sink all of myself into it.
“Aw. You two are adorable,” a smoky female voice said from behind us. Corry and I pulled away from one another and looked to see a woman leaning beside the open hangar door with a cigarette pinched between her fingers as she eyed us.
The woman had teal hair gathered into a thick bun on top of her head, too many facial piercings to count, and a forehead tattoo that curved with her hairline. Squinting, I tried to read what it said and realized it was some sort of gibberish script I couldn’t decipher. She wore a see-through fishnet top with a black bra beneath, an open denim jacket, and shredded black skinny jeans.
In short, she looked like she’d raided my closet, and if she had, I wouldn’t be mad. She lookedgood.
Corry’s body tensed beside me, as if she was some blood-sucking harpy rather than a hot punk chick. “How long have you been standing there, V?”
The woman snorted. “Since we heard yelling. We took a vote, and everyone sent me to spy.” Her dark, almost obsidian eyes burned orange as she took a drag of her cigarette. Smoke curled up over her nose and coiled into the shape of horns before dissipating. Suddenly, my mild physical attraction to her evaporated, and an unpleasant sense of unease took its place.
“They thought it would be funny, considering the fight seems to be about me,” she said in a bored tone that suggested she didn’t find it amusing in the slightest.
My gut churned, my sneaking suspicions confirmed.
This was her.
The demoness.
Chapter thirty-five
The Gang
Thedemonessloungedagainstthe garage with a lazy smirk perched on her pert lips.
She was beautiful, exotic, and oozed a sexual prowess that was just as present as her give no fucks demeanor.
I braced myself, preparing for the chaotic, dark part of me to come bursting out and make myself known as the dominant female. But nothing happened.