Page 53 of Hunted By Darkness

“Don’t be coy, little rebel. I know your feelings for me are what inspires the verses in poetry.” He grinned down at me like a little kid who’d gotten his hands on his favorite toy.

It annoyed me how much I fell for that smile. Any time this brute looked at me like I was all he saw, I couldn’t help but fall in love with him again. But I’d give away the entire game if I said so.

“Bit of a stretch, isn’t it?”

He grabbed my face hard enough to make me listen, but his touch was as gentle as always. Bending his head close, he snickered. “Cheeky.”

The kiss was brief but powerful. His breath painted my wet lips as the music changed and the humans around us hollered and shouted their excitement. The song drew a bigger crowd. Humans poured onto the dance floor to move along with the melody and sing the lyrics.

A little cerulean snake of magic around Silas’s finger danced between us, elevating his voice over the screaming crowd. I wouldn’t have heard him otherwise. “You asked what the lad had on me.” Silas pressed close, his body merging with mine. My little black dress started to ride up my thighs, but he tugged it down before one of his large hands took the shape of my ass. “It’s simple, love.You.”

“Me?” I asked, a little breathless. We might be surrounded by a human crowd gone wild, but all I saw, all I heard, all I felt was him.

Silas’s mouth moved from my ear to the pulse point on my throat. My breath caught, the feeling of his teeth scraping over my skin a surprise when it shouldn’t be. “Oh, aye. That cute wanker knows you in ways I don’t. I don’t like it, but it’s the truth, and I’d be a daft bastard to deny it.” His hand locked around my jaw again and lifted my gaze to his. “When he sayssomething about you, I listen. And he said you needed this, love.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he tutted me with a little grin. Then he kissed me again. His tongue teased across mine, swirling and stroking, while his other hand grappled my ass harder.

“He’s right,” Silas murmured against my mouth between kisses. The music’s tempo quickened, and the floor under our feet thumped from the humans around us enjoying the new song playing. “You deserve a night out where you’re just…Nika, yeah?” He drew back enough for me to catch another devilish gleam in his golden eyes. “My gorgeous girlfriend.”

Laughing, I nodded. “Okay, I get it.” He tried to kiss me again, but I evaded him. “Even the great Shimmering Assassin has fallen for Lev’s charms,” I teased with an eyebrow waggle.

“Oi,” he grumbled, but I was already swaying in time with the beat, singing the words I heard more than once.

Lev had gone through all the trouble to make this night happen. He’d even wrangled two men who couldn’t stand the sight of each other into coming along. The least I could do was try to enjoy myself. Who knew when the next enemy would come looking?

Fighting and dancing weren’t terribly different. Learning to move your body to destroy an opponent, strike back and evade their advances, became something of a dance. I’d argue Silas was an incredible dancer himself. I’d seen it enough times to know we’d have no trouble syncing.

And tonight he was my opponent.

Embracing my mischievous self, I swayed from side to side and dragged my hands down his chest. With a careful step, I stole the spot behind him and pressed a daring kiss on his back. He tried to turn, but I evaded him again, twisting around his body and keeping just out of reach. I swayed back and forth,moving my arms and hips in a sensual display, the way I knew would get to the insatiable beast.

He wanted to see me dance? Then I’d give him a show.

His eyes tracked every movement I made. I came close and escaped whenever he tried to touch me. My caresses were brief, my touches meant only to tease. I rubbed my body against his before spiriting away. Frustration twisted his face after several minutes. He’d never met anyone he couldn’t catch. I was fast even without the use of my magic.

Biting my lip, I winked at him and ran my hands along my curves within view but irritatingly out of reach. His jaw clamped shut and his golden eyes became silver. With a growl, he snatched me before I could get away again and held my body impossibly close.

“You’re a bloody tease,” he accused on a husky whisper.

Grinning, I reached up and traced his lower lip with my thumb. “Never said I wasn’t.”

We moved together, swaying and pressing. The vicious beat and strobe of lights kept the dancing fast and a little bit wild. We never stopped touching each other. It’d been a while since I’d sweated doing anything but training or fucking. After only ten minutes, perspiration slid down my neck and chest. He chase several drops with his tongue.

“I’ll be honest, love,” Silas’s voice rumbled next to my ear, his hands in my hair. “This is bloody fucking torture. Why did I ever agree to watching you dance in this dress anywhere I couldn’t tear it to pieces and fuck the moans out of that pretty little mouth?”

Reaching for his head, I cradled his face in my hands. “You’ll just have to settle for kissing me, I guess.”

He groaned like I’d told him to strip me down right there in front of everyone. Yanking my head back, he bent down to capture my mouth in a feral kiss. It was unhinged, hot, andabsolutely perfect with every curve of him fusing with every curve of mine.

I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that, dancing, kissing, locked in a passionate heat of our own making. It might’ve been minutes, hours, maybe even days, but I never wanted it to end.

It was tough to admit how much fun I was already having. I was free to do whatever I wanted. Here, my only agenda was to have a good time.

Maybe Lev was right. Living a little was exactly what I needed. It’d felt like since fleeing the Dark Fae Society, my life had become a death march to the final battle with a demon. I’d spent every day focused on what it’d take to be ready. I wanted to make the right decision. The world depended on it. That responsibility was heavy, and I carried it every day.

Out here at a human club where no one knew us, no one wanted us dead, no one cared what we did, the weight I carried eased a little. My worries faded. It was just me and the boys, nothing more, nothing less.

Sweat poured down my body. “I think I need a drink,” I finally told the mercenary presently kissing a trail down my neck.

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