Graves caught Az’s gaze, head tilting slightly.
Az’s eyes narrowed. "Get him off you, Lu. He won’t listen to us."
Az tried to ignore the way her other hand twisted, fingers gripping Bastian’s shirt, while the vampire’s head moved side to side slightly, making her breath hitch in a series of gasps.
The waves of warm desire that pulsed through their bond turned lethargic.
He was taking too much.
Fuck!
Graves’s hands hovered over Bastian’s shoulders, afraid to touch. "Luella, sweetheart, listen to us. Tell him to stop. You can get through to him."
Blearily, she hummed, neck tilted back painfully as she lightly struck against the vampire’s side. "Bastian," she hiccupped, "let me... let me go. Please."
He groaned, and she made an echoing sound.
"Please, Bastian. It—ah—" She flinched as Bastian drew from her deeper. Az met her gaze, clenching his hands at his sides to stop himself from touching her. "Ithurts."
Her lie filled the air—and Az knew it was just that. An utter lie. Desire pounded against him, growing weak the more he drank from her.
Luella’s words made Bastian still for just a moment, the top of his head obscuring her eyes as he leaned into her. His shoulders were tense, fraught with held-back lust.
The only sound was the creaking of the ship as it rocked, and the howling of the wind above them.
"Please," Luella whispered.
There was a soft noise as Bastian released her, a string of his saliva, tinted red, connecting his mouth to her flesh before he wiped it away with the back of his hand. His lips were stained red, and two holes, dripping with hot blood, marred the delicate, pale flesh of Lu’s neck.
He still held her up against the wall, and his eyes—once a deep, vivid maroon—dulled to a soft, sated color, more russet than anything, the shade of old coins.
"Oh, gods, what have I done?" Bastian’s head thumped against hers, a strangled noise ripping from him. "Take her…" He sounded breathless. "Take her away from me. Ican’t?—"
Graves stepped in, his hand finally falling on Bastian’s shoulder. "Let her go," he murmured.
Bastian did, and Lu’s feet slid to the floor, wings crinkling against the rough wood at her back. When the vampire no longer held her up, she crumpled, legs wobbling. Az caught her, holding her against him, careful of her wings and the two fucking holes in her neck.
Blood trickled sluggishly from the wounds. Not dire, but just the sight of her blood outside her body made the demon want to rage.
Bastian’s head hung low. He didn’t look at Lu. Choked and pained, he gasped, "Take me away from her. Take her away.Get out."
Graves’s fingers tightened on Bastian’s shoulder.
"Take her to another room," Graves ordered quietly. Az opened his mouth, ready to ask which fucking room, but Graves stopped him. "Don’t tell me where."
Az nodded, understanding that Bastian didn’t need to have the temptation of knowing where she would be staying dangling before him like that. He shifted Lu to face him, hands firm where they held her up, careful and sweet. "Can you walk?" the demon asked her.
Sleepily, she nodded, one foot lifting to press upon the ground, but her legs buckled under her immediately, and she slipped, knees nearly crashing into the bloody, glass-littered floor.
Az lifted her with an endearing grumble. "Tell me when you need me, Lu. I will always help you."
She sighed against him, legs wrapped around his waist, her core pressing against the source of his arousal, which hadn’t gone down at all. He took a steadying breath and left the room. Bastian and Graves were quiet as the door fell closed.
The hall was thin and dark, and he kept himself as steady as possible as he held Lu, the tips of her wings brushing his forearms, where they draped over her back. The ship leaned harshly to the side, and he shifted his body so his shoulder would hit the wall—and not her.
He dove inside a room at random, one at the far end of the hall. The thick, wooden door gave way with a rough kick of his foot. Inside, it was bare, save for a swaying hammock kepttethered to the walls, a lone flat, yellowed pillow thrown inside it. Shit.
Az shifted his hold of Lu to one arm, stilling when she sighed sleepily, cool tip of her nose brushing against his neck. She was bleary and blissed. And he was unsettled and wanting.
