Page 24 of You Give Me Fever

Clara squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm not your baby."

Frenzy grinned again, stroking his fingers along the side of her neck.

"But you're his?" He asked. "Mm? You let that big brute take whatever he wanted from your poor, frail little human body?"

Frenzy made a "tsk tsk tsk" sound, just barely shaking his head as he leaned down to brush his lips against the side of her neck while he spoke.

"What a shame," he said, whispering now. Seven hells, her skin was so warm. And she smelled delicious. Like baking bread, rosemary, and the sun. Had he ever been able to get warm since dropping Below? "I can do that too, you know, Miss Bailey. Far better, in fact. Ask me how."

"Don't you dare," Clara tried to make her voice sound firm, but fear and illness made it come out weak, shaky, breathless.

"Don't tell me you don't like it. Lying is a sin," he said, flicking his tongue out to taste her skin and nearly climaxing right there. "Fuck, girl, you taste like sunshine."

Clara brought up her hands to shove against his chest, but Frenzy caught each wrist, bringing one up to his lips.

"I've fucked my way through Hell a thousand times over, Miss Bailey," he growled, keeping her wrists in his hands. "But I've never been able to get warm. I've never really felt sated."

He flicked his eyes up to hers—narrowed and practically glowing with fury—and what was left of his heart struggled like a lion in its cage.

"I don't believe I'll have such a problem with you."

Clara fought his grip, struggled to punch, slap, and kick, but he clasped her tightly to himself with the strength of shackles. He darted forward to kiss her, holding her still against him and growling in the back of his throat.

And then—he was gone. Clara looked up, and her breath froze in her throat. Shiver was there—looking far bigger than usual, and so well defined that she could see every feature on his furious face, see a mess of curls shifting around his horns as he slammed the other demon to the opposing wall.

"Shiver!" Frenzy cried out in pain, even in fear. His smirk was gone, replaced by a clawing desperation like a man whose last cigarette has fallen down the drain. “Please, you don't understand—I need this, I need her! I'm not like you, I can still remember what it was like⁠—"

Shiver had already sliced open his palm with the tip of one horn, ignoring Frenzy's pleading as he furiously painted a sigil on the wall in his blood.

Frenzy stopped, gaping at the red blood—red!—dripping down Shiver's wrist. Since when did demons bleed real blood? It was such a shock that it took him a moment to recognize the bind and torment signs being smeared onto the wall.

"Shiver wait, don't—just let me—just one night and I'll⁠—"

Shiver slapped his mess of a palm to the center of his scrawling, and in a flash of light, Frenzy was gone.

Clara was frozen to the spot.

"What did you⁠—"

He had her in a crushing embrace before she had even seen him cross the room. The moment he allowed her a breath, he was cupping her face in his huge hands, turning her to inspect her for injuries.

"Are you hurt? What did he do? He is not dead yet, but I will remedy that shortly if he so much as breathed too heavily on you."

"He said you're supposed to kill me."

Shiver froze. His eyes, which had been focused on one of her wrists, slightly red where the demon had gripped her, seemed to focus on nothing. Clara waited for him to look her in the eyes, and he did not.

"Well?"

"Honey, Frenzy is a vile, evil…"

"Is he lying?"

Shiver waited a bit too long to answer, and by the time a sound came out of his mouth, Clara had already shoved him away.

"You were going to kill me?!"

"Not anymore!" Shiver said, hands up as if he could push away her fury.