Lord of Chaos (The Dragon Demigods #7) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,24

her nipples trying to poke holes in her shirt. Thank fuck for my tight jeans and t-shirt right now.

“Is she okay?” I can see Nia is listening.

“Who?” I frown.

There’s more shrieking. “Her.” She points in the direction of the hallway.

“Yes, of course,” I growl because duh.

Nia licks her lips, “You look angry.”

“I’m not angry,” I snap at her.

I see her shrink. “I’m sorry this happened, and that—” she starts to say.

“It’s not your fault, and I’m not angry with you.” I keep my voice even. “Just a little irritated with Trident.” I shake my head and clench my jaw, pressing my lips together.

“In all fairness, we did drop in on him unannounced, and he did…promise.” She frowns, looking unsure.

I roll my eyes.

The banging is so loud at this point that I wonder if the wall is going to lose some plaster. It’s quite possible.

Nia frowns, “Don’t his neighbors complain? From the sounds of it, he does this sort of thing often. I would complain.” She wrinkles her nose.

“All the time, and yes, they object in a big way. He had to move out of his apartment and into a free-standing house because of all the complaints. I mean, imagine having to live right next door to this.”

Nia laughs. She’s quite beautiful when she’s relaxed. Her honey-hued eyes dance and shimmer. Her mouth is full and slightly bow-shaped.

I feel my own lip twitch.

The banging is hard and fast at this point. The moaning lets up for a moment or two, and then the woman screams. As in, all out and blood-curdling. I’m thankful because that means it’s almost over.

Nia jumps up. “Is he hurting her? He wouldn’t, would he?” Her eyes are moving from left to right. She’s listening to the woman screaming. She looks more and more panicked as the scream goes on.

“No!” I shake my head. “He isn’t hurting her. She’s fine.”

The scream gets louder. Her throat must be bleeding. She’ll be hoarse after this.

Nia’s eyes go huge. “That can’t be good. It can’t.” She looks upset. Very agitated. She starts to walk in the direction of the hallway. “He’s hurting her!”

I take her hand, holding her back. “It’s fine. I swear. He’s not hurting her.” My voice is soft. “That’s not pain.” Thank god the screaming abates. It has turned into a moan. A long, drawn-out moan. Enough already, asshole! The groan is laced with pleasure. “See?”

Nia doesn’t look sure, and for the first time, she seems really afraid and very upset. She’s still listening. Still trying to decide. Then she nods and pushes out a breath. She still looks freaked out.

“You okay?” I ask.

She swallows thickly and nods. Her eyes have this haunted look that I don’t like. What the fuck did that asshole do to her? A reaction like this doesn’t come out of nowhere. Somehow, I know Gaire was involved. His reference to breaking Nia doesn’t sit well with me.

I give her hand a light squeeze and let it go. I haven’t held a woman’s hand in a very long time. It was forever ago. Another lifetime. A better time. Back then, I didn’t know what I was. I didn’t know yet that I’m a monster. Ignorance is bliss. Awareness, on the other hand, can be torture.

Tri is still breathing hard when he saunters into the living room half a minute later. He stinks like hard sex. I wrinkle my nose. Thankfully he’s wearing a pair of shorts this time. “You could have taken a shower.”

“I thought this was urgent.” He shrugs, all-out grinning.

“We can wait five minutes,” I say, folding my arms. “You need to get the woman out of here. It’s dangerous for her to be here right now.”

Tri’s eyes darken. He nods once and leaves.

“I’m afraid power and brains don’t always go hand in hand,” I mumble almost to myself.

“Mmmmm,” she says. “I don’t know. I think Trident is plenty smart.”

“He has a funny way of showing it.”

“The way I see it, both of you have walls built solidly around yourselves. You’re both standoffish and—”

“You call that standoffish?” I point at the entrance to the hallway.

She nods. “I doubt he sleeps with the same woman more than once or twice. You forget I’ve been hanging around all of you for a week. I’m observant.”

I nod. “I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right. The sex, the multiple partners, the jokes…it’s his wall. You’re a grumpy asshole who prefers to speak in one-word sentences. That’s when you’re not running away or not even turning