Page 75 of Run Like the Devil

It was that the Path would manage to strip away everything that made my life worth living.

Chapter Eighteen

Tyrus

I woke almost unbearably warm. My sleep-addled mind wondered if I’d fallen asleep too close to the fireplace.

Two rooms sat upstairs in the strange, empty house, and Gorrin and I had picked one while Loch got the other. Each room had its own fireplace, in addition to one in the living room, and we had started each to heat the entire house. There was no power, but because the Path was dim rather than dark, it didn’t matter so long as we kept the windows open.

I would have rather slept beside Loch. However, she deserved a good night’s sleep.

She wouldn’t get that if any of us stayed in the same room as her.

Still, this warmth…

Something soft and teasing pressed to my throat, the sensation familiar. Still, it took me longer than it should have to rouse fully, to open my eyes.

And when I finally did, I found far more than I expected.

Loch straddled me, her body naked and bathed in the glow from the fire. She looked like some demon who would drag men’s souls to hell. Worse? I was pretty sure that if she wanted it, I’d sell my soul all over again just to touch her.

She lifted her gaze from where her lips had lavished gentle attention to my throat until they locked on mine, and I hadn’t realized just how much of a turn on eye contact could be.

There was something lovely about having her full attention while she had her lips on me. It made me want to see her down on her knees, her lips stretched around my thick cock, her eyes locked on mine as if nothing else in the world existed.

I’d known I could be possessive, but the depths of that desire surprised even me.

I groaned at the thought before I could stop myself, before I could scold my libido for running wild.

Loch is still nervous. Don’t behave like an animal.

Plus, a glance to the side showed Gorrin across the room, sleeping on the floor on his back. He didn’t normally sleep in the Chasm, but it seemed the Path wore even him down.

“What are you doing here, Little Demon?” I asked.

She scooted up my body, her lips teasing my jawline until she whispered into my ear. “I was lonely.”

“Were you now?” I lifted my eyebrow, calling her out on her little lie. “Lonely people don’t normally get naked and molest sleeping people.”

She rocked her hips, but because of her shorter height, she wasn’t quite lined up to rub against where I really wanted her. Still, it seemed the hard planes of my abs were enough for her, because she shuddered hard and repeated the motion.Because she wore nothing, I felt her heat and wetness against me. It made me grateful I’d gone to sleep naked.

I reached out and slid my hand into her hair, forcing her away from me enough to capture her gaze again. “Are you sure?”

Loch stared back at me, as it felt as if her little game broke apart. That was fine with me, because one of the things I adored most about this woman was how unfailingly honest she was. She lied, sure, but this part of her had never managed to hide a thing from me. Her passions and her fears and her desires had always been clear to me. I didn’t want her playing a part, behaving in a way she thought she should.

If she wanted me, I doubted I’d ever turn her away, but I needed it to be real.

“I feel like I’m losing everything,” she admitted, her voice shaky and unsure. “Everyone is suspicious of everyone else. All the things that matter to me are slipping further and further away. Hubis fucked up my head, and now the Path is doing the same, and I just feel…” Her voice trailed off, as if she didn’t know exactly how to finish the thought.

She didn’t need to finish it, though. I understood because I felt exactly the same way. The Path made me feel as though I were losing my grip on everything, on the things I’d thought so solid before.

So instead of arguing with her, I pulled her closer and took her lips in a deep kiss, then whispered over the crackling of the fire. “Okay, but I expect that you will tell me if you want to stop. If you change your mind, or if you want me to slow down, I swear to you that I will.”

And that promise mattered to me. I lied all the time to get what I wanted, having little care about the truth when it came to my goals. This one meant more to me than any other, though. It didn’t matter how far I went, how desperate I was for her, if she wanted me to stop, I would.

Loch took her bottom lip between her teeth, the fire reflecting off the whiteness, before she nodded in agreement.

Which was all I needed to hear.

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