Page 96 of Pride: Kneel Before None

He had insisted that he tag along today to give Tighe a mini-makeover, insisting it was the least he could do after his sister had aided in Crestpin’s deception.

Ace, for once, didn’t argue.

Something buzzed past my ear.

“Eep! Is it on me?!” I flailed in a tight circle. Lava roaches were foul flying insects, and the fact that one had flown so close? Fucking terrifying. “Ace, get it off!”

Both his brows lifted above the top of his sunglasses. “Elder Knight of Hell and your psychotic mother, and a bug is where you draw the line?” There wasn’t just a hint of amusement in his tone. There was an obnoxious, neon-light level of amusement in it.

He stepped forward, his hands settling on my shoulders as he kissed my forehead. “It’s gone. If it comes back again, I will personally see to it that it faces the wrath of Superbia’s most revered Knight of Hell.”

I shifted on my feet, hands brushing my arms at imaginary sensations of creepy-crawly legs.

Ace looked past me over the top of my head. “Little Spade, look.”

He jerked his chin in the direction of the bridge that led out of Blackscale.

I turned, and there was my brother. Tighe hobbled across the planks, still wearing the same tattered clothes I’d seen him in the last time we were here. But he wore something new now.

A relieved smile, one that spoke to how sweet freedom tasted.

When he finally crossed the final threshold that designated Blackscale property, I launched myself at him. My arms wrapped around his neck, squeezing tightly and ignoring the pained grunt from him.

“Told you we’d get you out.” I smiled brightly as I pulled back to look at him. I didn’t care that he looked like shit. Okay, maybe I cared a little bit. Our family had a reputation to uphold.

Tighe grinned. “Didn’t doubt it for a second.”

“Liar,” I replied with a shake of my head.

Ace let us have our reunion for several more moments before he came up beside me, a hand resting on my lower back. “We should get out of here.”

Something resembling a look of unspoken respect passed between him and my brother before Ace guided us back to the helicopter.

Halfway there, Iggy stepped forward to introduce himself.

“Ignatius Pechiortrov. Glamor demon extraordinaire. Personal fashion consultant to the Ace Reynard and the boundless beauty that is your sister. Now let’s see what I have to work with.” He dove headfirst into assessing Tighe’s current state, tutting at what he had to work with.

My brother raised his hands up in front of him. “No glamor necessary, just a shower and clean clothes.”

“Nonsense. We have enough prideful bastards around here. I won’t have another one added to the lot,” he murmured as he circled Tighe.

The two of them moved ahead, climbing into the chopper. Iggy’s magic was already modifying my brother’s appearance, restoring it to the roguishly charming state it had been before Blackscale had dug its claws into him.

Overhearing the excited conversation between them, mostly from Ignatius, I nearly tripped over my feet at what was said.

“I am a master of my craft!” Iggy exclaimed. “By the fates and powers, these pants look exquisite on you.”

Tighe chuckled, a rough sound that likely hadn’t been made since his stay in prison, but genuine, nonetheless. “Enough room for all of me. Impressive, given I pack double the fun and double the pleasure,” he said with a playful lilt in his voice.

Once an incubus, always an incubus.

I’d never heard Iggy stutter so spectacularly before.

Before I could experience any secondhand embarrassment from my brother openly flirting with Iggy, Ace intervened.

His hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing just firm enough to move me until my back was pressed against the hull of the helicopter. The sunglasses were gone, and the dark hunger lit up the evergreen of his eyes as he pressed the rest of his body against mine.

The insistent press of his hard cock against my lower belly was impossible to ignore despite the layers of clothes between us. Something else was there, something less comfortable digging into me.