Page 48 of Wicked Curses
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
Sahira turnedwith the blade as she swung it at him because, by Hecate, she wanted him to bleed. If anyone deserved it, it was this bastard, but he was as fast as the shadows he controlled as he ducked her swing and grabbed her wrist.
She bit back a cry when he squeezed down, but her fingers instinctively released the blade. Cursing, she kicked at him, but he swept her legs out from under her before she could make contact.
If it wasn’t for his hand on her wrist and him seizing her other arm as she started to fall, she would have gone down. Instead, he kept her upright as her back crashed into the wall.
Before she could react, he drove his thigh between her legs, and his face hovered only inches from hers. It was only when his chest pressed against hers that she realized how bad her mistake was, because not only was Orin’s thigh between her legs, but he was naked.
In her fury, she hadn’t noticed his nudity before. The horrible reality of it was crashing over her as she tried to maintain her calm while inwardly screaming against her body’s involuntary, physical reaction to his. She shouldnotlike how this felt, how warm he was, or how good he smelled, but every part of her liked it.
This disgusting man had been spying on and touching her, yet her body still tingled from his caress. Her traitorous nipples hardened against the thin material of her nightgown.
Gritting her teeth, she willed herself not to react to him, but it was impossible when his mouth was so close to hers. And those utterly alluring lips were twisted into a cruel smile that created a knot of unease in her belly.
“Hello, little witchy witch,” he purred.
Sahira refused to react. He was one of the most lethal immortals in all the realms, and he’d turned his wrath onher. But no matter what he did, he wouldn’t intimidate her.
And if he planned to try to kill her, she’d put up a fight so big they’d hear it throughout the town. Belda and the others would make him pay for not taking her to the pit like he was supposed to.
His breath tickled her neck as he inched closer. When the beat of his heart thudded in her ears, a sudden burst of clawing, insatiable hunger caused her fangs to prick.
She’d never gone so long without blood before; there was never a reason to. Now the reason for her thirst was staring her in the face with that malicious grin and calculating gleam in his eyes. He’d made it so she could only feed from him, and she was determined not to do so.
Orin had been different since she got here; he hadn’t been pushy, overly touchy, careless of boundaries, or with other women. Sahira was sure he was still screwing plenty of other women—he was a dark fae, after all—she just hadn’t seen him with any since having the misfortune of walking in on his orgy when she first arrived.
Her stomach curdled at the reminder. However, a man determined to escape this place had replacedthatOrin. They’d acted like a team while working to figure out an escape.
That teammate was gone, and in his place was the dark fae she equal parts loathed, distrusted, feared, and desired. Unlike Cole, Varo, and Brokk, Orin was pure dark fae. He was everything that represented his race—cold, calculating, vicious, and with only the ability to care about his family.
Sure, Lexi and Cole’s relationship had twined them into a larger family web, but they weren’t blood, hadn’t grown up together, and throughout most of the time they’d known each other, they could barely tolerate one another. Even if it devastated Lexi and pissed Cole off, he’d kill her if he believed it would benefit him.
And he’d also mess with her if he believed it would benefit him. He’d marked her as his prey, a game he would win, and he’d started tormenting her by entering her room at night. Had he done it so they would end up like this: him nude and against her while she wore only a thin nightgown?
She wouldn’t put it past this manipulative prick to have done it for this moment. He knew she’d gone a while without blood. Maybe not the exact amount of time she’d gone, but at least the five days she’d been here. He’d have to know that if they got too close, she might find the lure of his blood too enticing to resist.
And, as a dark fae who survived on feeding off sex, he would also know that drinking from the vein of another could be an erotic experience for a vampire. That was the reason he’d volunteered to be the one who fed her.
Orin’s head tilted to the side as it did when he was studying things. Unfortunately, she’d become the object of his attention.
His smile became crueler as he shifted his hold on her wrists until he locked them within his grip. There were chains more breakable than his hold as she jerked against him.
The annoying prick lifted his index finger and waved it at her as he chided, “Uh-uh.”
Sahira stiffened at his condescending tone, but she didn’t move as he used the tip of his finger to trace her bottom lip. When she jerked her head away, he grasped her cheeks with one hand and turned her back so she had to look at him.
She glowered at him as the continued beat of his pulse pounded in rhythm with the throbbing of her fangs, and her traitorous body yearned for more of his touch. Determined to get her desire under control, she couldn’t stop her eyes from falling to his mouth again.
Orin released her cheeks and returned his finger to her mouth. She tried to clamp her lips shut but couldn’t keep them closed against his prodding.
When he lifted her upper lip, he grinned at her elongated fangs. “Hungry, witch?”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
If looks could kill,he’d be dead a thousand times over from a million stab wounds while his balls dangled from a necklace around her neck. Thankfully for him, looks couldn’t kill.
Also thankfully for him, his fiery little witch was quite beautiful when she was mad. She was a sight to behold in her simple white gown, her cheeks all red and eyes glistening.
