wave, she grinned. Before I could respond, Fin’s hand closed on my nape, and he turned me to face him. His mouth closed over mine in a savage kiss that I longed to answer. Fuck, did I want to, and for a moment, I let myself get lost in it.
But this wasn’t Fin.
Don’t ask me how I knew it, but I did. Fin cared a lot. He might laugh, tease, and cajole, but he wasn’t Nero. He didn’t fiddle while Rome burned. The sharp sting of his teeth scraping across my lower lip sent blood welling up between us, and his arms were like steel bands locking me in place.
Want you… His thoughts tangled with mine. Need you…
I groaned as he pushed a thigh between mine. It had only been a few weeks, but I had missed him.
Them…
I ignored that little voice, then lifted my hands to grip Fin’s face. I wanted to whisper sorry or to at least offer some soothing comfort for what I was about to do. The daeva was driving them all mad.
The wolves.
The vampires.
Fin.
His lust had always been a potent thing, but it seemed to have fanned from raging fire in the hearth to forest fire out of control. I sucked it out of him.
Every.
Damn.
Drop.
I sucked it until my head was light and my soul giddy. Fin jerked his head abruptly, breaking the kiss. Blood flowed from the fresh set of injuries he’d left on my mouth, but I didn’t care.
Fuck me.
There was so much power in what I’d just pulled out of him. His eyes narrowed on me, then focused on the room beyond. His pupils had blown, and even his expression seemed a little lost. “What the hell…?”
If he’d been a lesser vampire, what I’d just done to him would have dropped him where he stood.
“She doesn’t get to have you,” I told him, and he yanked his gaze back to me. The words slurred a little on my tongue, and I stumbled as I turned away from him and focused on the daeva.
Shock rippled across her features, and I grinned. Between the blood and my teeth, I had no doubt it wasn’t a pretty smile.
I could almost read the words she mouthed as I charged off the stage.
“You bitch.”
Yeah.
I was a bitch.
Oh, it was on.
I lunged.
Chapter 7
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” - Sun Tzu
The battle raging around us in Bon Vivant polluted the air with the stink of blood, fury, and fur. A host of other scents assaulted me, but I ignored them as I dove across the room for the daeva. Damn shame that the dancer I’d admired started all this shit. Then again, maybe that was why I admired her.
It was certainly not my first bar fight.
She hissed when I struck. I learned a long time ago to not curl my thumb into my closed fist. I also avoided hitting bone, like you found along the jaw. Joint shots really fucking hurt. Slamming my fist right into her boob though?
Not only had the air whooshed out of her, but her whole body shuddered. Grimacing, she bared her teeth at me, and I couldn’t help the smile curving my own lips as I seized a handful of that gorgeous hair and slammed her beautiful face into the bar top.
Once.
Twice.
And on the third, her wild shriek of defiance sliced through the air. The glamour around her began to break apart, and at least some of the fighting behind me faded to silence. Eyes darkening to near soulless voids, the daeva tried to wrench free of my grip.
But look at that—I could hold on even as she raked her claws down my arms, leaving bloody furrows in her wake. She snarled at me, and I slammed my head forward. The collision of our skulls left my ears ringing, but she staggered dazedly.
If I hadn’t had her hair looped around my closed fist, she probably would have collapsed. Too bad for her, I wasn’t done yet. Something sharp raked down my back, but the attack didn’t last longer than a split second. I caught sight of Fin via the mirror behind the bar as he tore apart the vampire who’d been about to grab me.
Dismissing both from my mind, I focused on the daeva again. Her fierce need to amp the chaos in order to feed her bloodlust couldn’t just be channeled elsewhere. I had to break it apart and shatter the possessive hold she exerted on all of them,