Page 59 of Tempt

I feel a growl rippling up my throat, and for a moment I’m grateful he can’t hear it, but he must sense something because his hand shoots out and presses right up against my chest. The growl immediately turns into a thrymm. I can’t stop myself. There is no greater pleasure, no greater comfort, no greater need than to feel the touch of my VySytheh.

‘Fine,’ he signs after my thrymm starts to fade. He pulls back, his fingers lingering for a moment. ‘But you’ll change your mind.’

‘I won’t.’ I can’t.

He smirks at me, then shrugs. ‘We’ll see.’

It’s a challenge. It charges the air between us, and before I can stop myself, I have him by the throat, pressing him against the seat of the car. His eyes go wide, but he’s not afraid. I scent desire on him. Want. That same need I feel every time I set eyes on him.

Leaning in, I lave my tongue over his neck, over his jaw, taking affection and pleasure the Vyastil way. And then I make my way up to his mouth and give him a very long, desperate, and very human kiss.

By the time we’re in the bedroom with Dante kneeling at Luca’s side, the contract is signed, and there’s no going back. I’ve already received messages from Davis confirming the identity of Zane Brooks, but currently, the driver is still unidentified.

Davis said in his message that a warrant for Zane had been issued and it won’t be long before he’s taken into custody. I have a feeling Zane won’t give up the name of his co-conspirator, or any information as to what they were doing and why they hurt Luca, which means he’ll take the fall.

Everest is devastated and angry, Rathyn is trying to calm him down, and Dante is furious that Luca is still hurt.

It’s a good thing he didn’t see me before, Luca sends to me.

Yes. But you shouldn’t hide your pain.

I’m fine, he sends back. I can feel his scoff.

He’s going to notice we’re speaking this way, I warn him, and then the connection between us goes quiet. I must speak with Rathyn for a moment. I will be back.

I know the brothers need some time together, so I beckon Rathyn onto the balcony while Everest paces and makes frantic phone calls in an attempt to find his friend, though I doubt he will. Not yet, anyway.

“I hope Everest recovers from this betrayal,” I say once Rathyn and I are alone.

He nods once. “Yes. You are certain it was him?”

“I am. It is…unfortunate.”

“I’ve suspected him for some time,” Rathyn says. “My Everest has confessed that Zane’s parents belong to one of the fringe groups who have protested the clinic, the portals, and the presence of Vyastil in town. I was afraid it went deeper than just the protests.”

I digest this information, but I’m not surprised by it. I understand the human hatred of us. How they feel used and coerced into things they don’t want to participate in. Vyastil do not understand pleasure—not really. We have not for centuries. Not the way humans do.

But any Vyastil who is still pretending they don’t understand intimacy is lying to themselves. And to others.

We won’t be able to keep up that excuse forever.

“What is the plan?” Rathyn asks.

I glance up at the sky. I love the human world at night. We cannot see stars from Erethar. Our universe exists in another realm, and our atmosphere is too thick and most stars are too far away for us to see with the naked eye.

This is a sea of lights that I cannot get enough of, and it pains me that I will be giving them up for a long while.

“I have taken Luca on as a companion.”

Rathyn makes a startled noise. “I don’t understand. Your former human⁠—”

“Yes.” I don’t want to invoke Kori’s name here. Not when Luca is so different from him. When he’s so much more. “But it’s the only way to protect Luca. If my suspicions are right, then he is in danger here, and I don’t think there’s anywhere else we can take him that he’ll be safe from these rebellious humans.”

Rathyn growls deep in his chest. “Dante will not be pleased.”

“No, but he will have to understand the choice that my—that Luca—made.” I nearly slipped, and the way Rathyn’s eyes fix on my face, I can tell he heard it. But he does not draw attention to it.

It is a kindness from him I don’t expect.