Page 113 of Broken Shadows

I drop my forehead against his neck and Lorcan sags against my shadow ropes, his chest heaving. “Godsdamn, Little Witch, you can dominate me anytime.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Lorcan

Warm drops of near scolding water flow from the copper faucet and into the stone tub as my little witch and I step into a bubbling bath. My lips press against her temple in a kiss.

Evie tilts her head back, dunking her long, chocolate tresses into the steaming water, closing her eyes. All the muscles in her body seem to loosen at once, her shoulders slowly lowering as she lowers her chin and rivulets of hot water gushes from her unbound hair. I watch her hungrily, my still erect, freshly pierced cock bobbing as I pour a dollop of soap onto a sponge from the Bitter Sea and scrub it over my skin. “You’re so exquisite, Baby Girl, and fuckingmine.”

Her eyes blink open, droplets of water clinging to her dark lashes. “As you aremine.” The corner of her mouth twitches upward. “This is an incredible tub, by the way. Perks of being royalty?”

I chuckle. “One of the many.”

I growl playfully as I bend and suck one of her nipples into my mouth, then nip it and draw away.

My hunger for her strengthens as she soaps her breasts and swirls the bubbles onto her tattooed skin.

Perhaps when we get out of the bath, I'll trace every inch of your tattoos with my tongue. I flood our bond with my never-ending lust for her.

The hair on the back of my neck rises as something crashes in another room of our suite. I growl, “What the fuck?” Gripping Evie’s chin, I stare into her eyes. “I know better than to ask you to stay here—”

“Then don’t.” My witch scoffs, pushes past me, snatching two dark emerald towels from the warming basket and wraps one over her breasts.

I catch the other one before it strikes me in the face. “Didn't fucking think so?” I stride in front of her and stalk out of the bathroom as I secure the towel at my hip.

Steam billows out after us, rising toward the ceiling. My shadows coat the floor in darkness as I follow the sounds of further destruction to the cozy living room. I dodge to the left, then smash an end table with a shadow before it can hit Evie, splintered wood flinging in all directions like miniature missiles. I shift without a thought, pushing my demonic-self free, charging Samuel with a snarl on my lips.

He darts towards the door as I slash a shadow around his torso, then jab him in the windpipe with my fist. I hardly recognize the growl releasing from my throat. “What the fuck are you doing in my chambers?” I don't dare risk a glance over my shoulder to set my eyes on Evie, even though everything within me urges me to see that she’s unharmed. Samuel might be younger than me, but he's a quick bastard, and I know better than to take my eyes off the enemy.

He lashes a shadow across my cheek like a whip as he laughs manically, his out of focus, dark gray eyes gleaming with delight. “I know why you're really here,Lorcan.” He spits my name like it's an insult. Shadows fly in every direction as he keeps backing toward the door.

“It seems like you have all the answers, so you tell me. WhyamI here?”

He laughs harder, fisting his reddish-brown hair and yanks. “You want to take her from me!”

I roll my eyes. “I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about, Samuel, nor do I care to. Why don’t you go back to whatever hole you crawled out of?”

He growls and reaches for my face with extended claws, but his arms are too short to make contact and he still hasn’t used his shadows. “I don't understand why she wants you,” he sneers.

“Fine, I’ll willingly swallow the bait. Who?”

“My goddess, Evangeline, of course. She kept looking at you and…” The blood in my veins turns to steam. And there’s that fucking cunt’s name again.

I growl louder and step towards him, claws raised, as I back Samuel into the wall by the open door leading to the rest of the castle, pieces of broken ceramic slicing into the soles of my bare feet. “The onlypersonI give a fuck about—”

“Is me.” Evie steps up beside me as I stab my claws through his shoulders and into the stone wall behind him, dark blood quickly puddling at his feet. My brother struggles to get free, sheer madness that feels nothing like my own in his narrowed gaze, and tears at my hands with his nails as if he’s forgotten he has powers. I disregard the pain, bleeding scratches healing just as quickly as he inflicts them.

Evie folds her arms across her chest, then speaks. “Are you here totryand kill me?”My cock jerks, tenting my towel as my witch stares him down, somehow making him look small even though she's several inches shorter than him. “Oh, wait, you tried that once already, and it didn’t work out so well for you,did it?”

“You fucking bitch,” Samuel spits out, shrieking as I twist my claws into the meat of his shoulders.

Remove your claws, Evie orders down the bond.

I don’t give it a second thought as I retract my bloody claws and step to the side, Evie gliding into the vacant space. Her death magic swirls from her chest and hovers an inch away from his face as power thickens the air, raising the hair off her neck, and darkness swells over her chocolate irises. “If you even think to come anywhere near this floor of the castle again… Well, you know exactly what I’m capable of. Get. Out.”

Samuel bares his teeth but slinks past her and over the threshold, leaving his pool of blood as a parting gift.

I grin at my witch, then squeeze her to my chest. “Fuck, you’re sexy when you get blood thirsty.”