Page 24

Over by the armchair, Tanner has been stitching Rev’s hand and now smothers it in a thick pink cream; the same one he used on my injured hand after I smashed Kole’s tattoo gun.

Rev is awake, and Sarah has brought her a cup of hot, sweet tea. She sips it, using her good hand to hold the mug.

“You might lose some function,” Tanner says as he finishes winding a bandage around her hand then uses another strip to create a sling for it. “Or maybe some sensation in your fingers. This really should have been done in a hospital by a doctor.” He pushes his fingers through his hair, biting his lower lip.

“You did a good job, Tanner,” Rev says, smiling at him. “We both know we wouldn’t have made it to the hospital if we’d tried to get there. I might have lost the hand altogether. Or my life.” She meets his eyes and says, “Thank you. I mean it.”

Tanner stands up. His hands are bloody, so he leaves Rev with Sarah and goes to wash up in the bathroom. While Luther and Kole help Mack over to the couch, I wait a moment, watching the bathroom door. When Tanner doesn’t re-emerge, I follow him.

Without knocking, I push the door open and find him leaning on the sink, his large, beautiful shoulders shaking as he breathes heavily. When I touch him, he jumps. But when he realizes it’s me, he pulls me to him with a force I barely recognize. Hungrily, he slams his lips onto mine and pushes my hair from my neck. Winding it around his fist, he tugs so that my head jerks back, then he plants a line of hot wet kisses down my throat.

“Tanner,” I whisper. This wasn’t what I came in here for. I followed him to make sure he was okay, to try and make him talk to me about what was going on inside his head. But when white hot arousal starts humming between my legs, and twists in the pit of my stomach, I forget all of that. I want him to devour me. I want him to fill me up and remind me that we’re here, that we’re alive, and that we have each other. “Fuck me,” I tell him. “Fuck me so hard I see stars.”

Tanner pauses for a split second, drinking me in, then he rips my shirt over my head and tosses it to the floor. He is moving quickly like he’s never needed anything so much in his life. He doesn’t take off my bra, just pulls it down and dips his head to bring his warm wet mouth to my nipples. Swirling his tongue over them, he unfastens my jeans. I reach for his too and fumble with the buttons.

His cock springs free, almost hard but not quite. I curl my fingers around it and feel him stiffen in my grip. Tanner catches my hand, then meets my eyes. “I need to be inside you, Nova.” He searches my face. His expression is one of utter desperation. “I need to feel something good. I need to make you come.”

Spinning around to face the sink, I remove my jeans and throw them to the side of the room. Tanner pulls my panties aside and settles his hands on my hips, nudging my ass out to meet his crotch.

I look up and see him in the mirror, staring down at my ass as he drags his hard, throbbing cock over my slit. “You’re wet,” he breathes, sending tingles through my entire body. “You’re already wet,” he says again, almost in disbelief.

I don’t speak, just brace my arms on the sides of the sink, allowing my breasts to meet the cold, smooth porcelain. Tanner swipes a finger over my already-throbbing clit then without warning plunges inside me with such force I jerk forward.

I moan and tighten my grip on the sink. With one hand on my hip, and the other curled around me to toy with my pussy, Tanner fucks me. Hard. His chest glistens with sweat as we find a rhythm that makes us both moan and pant. He tugs my hair, pulls me onto him again and again, then holds me still and slams into me.

My cunt flutters as his length swells inside me. When he takes his fingers away from my pussy so he can grab my waist with both hands, I move my hand to my clit and make urgent circles. The orgasm that comes is quick and violent. I grab hold of the sink so hard I feel like it might shatter, shuddering as I jerk back onto Tanner’s shaft. Tanner moves his hands to my shoulders and his fingernails dig into my smooth skin as he holds on tight and pounds into me. He cries out and fills me with his hot white liquid. We are both shaking when he lets go of my shoulders and kisses the spots where his nails marked me. Smoothing his hands over the expanse of my back, he kisses my neck, my ear, the groove between my throat, and my shoulder. I watch him in the mirror. He sweeps my hair to one side and kisses my neck again. His teeth graze my skin then there’s pressure. A surprising amount of pressure. It makes me jump and he quickly takes his mouth away.

Standing up, he gathers our clothes. When I turn around, leaning back against the cold sink, he kisses my forehead. “Thank you,” he says, pressing his forehead to mine. “I needed you so badly, Nova.”

“I needed you too.” I stroke the side of his face. But when I turn back to splash my cheeks with water, I catch my reflection in the mirror and notice the smallest shadow of a bite mark on my neck.

Since when was Tanner into biting?

17

NOVA

When we emerge from the bathroom, Sarah is making tea. She takes a tray over to the coffee table and hands each of the guys a mug. “What were those things?” she asks, finally seeming to have found her voice again.

Mack repeats a similar story to the one Rev told me on the roof; magickal beasts that are neither demons nor from the human realm. Beasts that are able to cross between dimensions because they belong in neither.

“They came for Nova?” Sarah says, glancing at me and pulling her sleeves down over her hands so she can fiddle with them. “Because she is The Phoenix?”

“Ragnor gave The Shadow King my name,” I tell her in a matter-of-fact tone. We all know Ragnor only has my name because Sarah gave it to him and, although I know why she did it and have forgiven her, something inside me can’t help wanting her to remember what she did.

“The King wants me dead because I’m supposed to stop the prophecy. Presumably, he’s not able or willing to come to Earth himself just yet.” I look at the others for confirmation that they’ve come to the same conclusion I have.

Mack nods gravely. “I believe that’s the case, yes,” he says. “Otherwise, he would have appeared when Eve performed her ritual at The Hollow.

“Perhaps there is another ritual to be performed,” Rev says. “Perhaps he simply doesn’t want to risk coming into contact with Nova himself. She’s supposed to stop him from rising, right? So, maybe he wants her dead before he attempts it. To make sure he succeeds.”

Mack rubs his beard with his thumb and index finger. “It’s certainly possible. He has been trapped in the underworld for thousands of years. However he intends to return to Earth, he needs Nova out of the way in order to do it.”

“Why didn’t Ragnor just kill her?” Tanner’s question interrupts Mack’s train of thought. As he looks around the group, I try not to allow myself to react to the fact they’re all talking about me being murdered as if it’s normal parlance now.

“Why didn’t Ragnor kill her?” Tanner repeats himself. “He’s had several opportunities. When he kidnapped Nova and Kole, and when we fled from The Hollow and came out here to the cabin. Nico said Ragnor and Eve knew where we were the entire time.” He stands up from his seat on the arm of the couch and waves his arms at our surroundings. They knew we were here, yet they waited to simply hand over Nova’s name. Why?”

No one answers. Something flits across Kole’s face. A few days ago, I trusted him more than I trusted myself. Now, every time I look at him, I wonder what he’s keeping from me. Does he know something we don’t? What else isn’t he saying?