Page 78 of To Crave Deeply
His eyes glanced over my shoulder, and I could feel the shadow mage behind me. There was a pull to his magic, like my magic recognised something familiar about him and wanted to explore it.
“Yes. Just seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” I mused quietly.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had any real fun,” Edwin muttered behind me. I turned around and caught a flash of something disturbing lurking in his eyes. Something that made me pause and question whether this guy was sane.
“As much as I’d like to be able to let you go and train with him, it will have to wait. Demons and dark creatures that have escaped their prisons in Hell are trying to destroy the Conclave. I’ve managed to get the members of the Circle to safety, but we still need to secure the town.” Alec sounded weary, and I could tell that this was hard for him. Taking on all this responsibility without any real notice must be a shock to the system.
I stepped closer to him and dropped my voice. “When did you last eat something?”
His chin dipped as he disappeared into his own thoughts. “I’m not sure…”
I chuckled. “A while ago then? Make sure you eat something, Alec. I can’t have you fainting on us because you forgot to eat.”
His honey-coloured eyes met mine and a small smile curled the edge of his kissable mouth. “Yes, ma’am.” He pinched my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “When was the last time you fed your demon?”
“She isn’t my demon,” I replied flatly and there was a sudden sharp sting deep in my gut. I winced and hissed a breath through my teeth.
“Are you sure about that?” I didn’t miss the amusement in Alec’s voice. “She seems to think she is.”
Well, that was something to think about later. I’d fed her in Hell, but I had a feeling she’d need feeding again before heading out to battle the demons that were trying to destroy the Conclave.
“How bad is it out there?” I asked.
Alec sighed and dropped his hand from my face. “It’s bad. We’ve managed to secure the town square and things seem to be stable for now. But it seems that no matter what we do, they just keep appearing. I would have thought that with Rae strengthening the wards of Hell, less demons would have escaped. The only thing I can think of is that there is a crack somewhere in the wards. Something we missed.”
“Lucifer should be here. He should be sorting this mess out,” Edwin stated, calling my attention to him.
“He’s busy dealing with Hell. It’s chaos down there, too,” Alec replied, and my heart sank. I hadn’t spoken to Lucifer since agreeing to marry him. Shit. I bet he thought Iveri was still in control. How could I have been so selfish? How could I have been so distracted that I hadn’t even thought of what must be going on down there? I needed to reach out to him immediately. I needed to—
Hands framed my face and rich amber eyes met mine.
“Breathe, Lori,” Alec ordered softly.
Shit. Panic had started to set in, and my heart was pounding in my chest. As I stared into Alec’s eyes, I felt calmness wash over me. My demon was agitated, too, which didn’t help. I could feel her pacing, just waiting to be set free. She must have recognised some sort of dominance from Alec, because as soon as he fixed me with that firm stare and told me to breathe, she’d stilled and taken a breath with me.
“Thank you,” I muttered. I really needed to get a hand on the whole panicking thing. Why was it that in the heat of battle I was calm and collected, but here, in a room of friends, I could completely lose my shit?
Alec swiped his thumb across my cheekbone and smiled. “Don’t mention it.” His hands dropped from my face, and he straightened up, falling back into the role of leader. It suited him. He stood taller; his cockiness was still there, but there was something in the way his self-confidence beamed that had me willing to follow him anywhere.
“Now. Go and gear up, feed your demon, and then report to Fenris down in the town square. Edwin, I know you’re not part of this team, but I would appreciate it if you would accompany them. Fenris may have a use for you.”
Edwin smiled darkly. “Of course. I’m happy to help.”
More like happy to slay bad demons and souls that had escaped punishment. But who was I to judge? I had a demon chomping at the bit to get to those souls that needed torturing. She couldn’t wait to consume them. To destroy them. To—
Whoa.
Slow down there, little demon. We are not eating everyone.
I sensed her narrow her eyes at me in defiance and I chuckled, which earned me a confused look from the men around me.
Yeah. I couldn’t explain that one.
I turned to Edwin. “I’ll meet you by the door shortly.” Then I grabbed Torsten’s hand and practically ran up the stairs.
As soon as the door to my bedroom closed, Torsten slammed my back against the hard surface of the door and his mouth was on mine in a deep kiss. His tongue rasped over mine with a deliciousness that had my toes curling. All the pent-up need spilled over, and his hands were in my hair, pulling until it hurt. Without Iveri’s command in the way, Torsten could kiss me and fuck, was I enjoying that rough tongue against mine. Those teeth nipping against my bottom lip.
He ripped his mouth from mine. “Feed,” he growled as he rocked his hips against mine. I didn’t even try to bite back the moan that crawled out my throat. He smiled wickedly at me, and it reminded me how dangerous this man was. How dark. How violent. And my pussy clenched with need.
