“Like you?” I fire the question back with a glare and pursed lips but then it suddenly sounds like the best idea, really.
Nubbie is massive. Probably because of that gym obsession he has but I’m not really complaining now.
Good for him for bulking up to an impossible size to be my intimidator.
“Yeah, no, not me.” His deep mossy eyes pass a disgusted look over me like he couldn’t care less what happens to this little feck. And yet, he pulls me closer as he steps carefully over a sleeping black panther curled up just outside our room.
Shifters—shifters everywhere in this place.
I can break him. I can hire him as my intimidator.
I just need a bit more time, here in his arms, where he has to look at my pathetic fucking face and somehow keep saying no.
I will break him.
“Wait.” My palm settles on his chest and every part of his body tenses from the way my fingertips arch there over his soundless heart.
He really is attractive in a captivating way. All of these people have this alluring ability to make me want to dive right into the violence they’re hiding just beneath the surface.
This guy is no different. He’s just more blunt about what lurks on the inside. His jagged exterior and tattered interior all match.
And yet, I’m still stroking my hand down his chiseled chest. His body is sculpted to the point of distraction.
The low state of his brows shadow his wide eyes when he looks to me with, dare I say, some concern there in the depths of his gaze.
“How bad does my neck look? My dad—my adoptive dad is supposed to come see me as soon as they allow visitors.” My chin tips up and I angle my neck closer to him.
Warm breath trails a heated path along my skin while he hesitantly looks from my eyes to my neck and then back again as if he senses a trap.
He’s smart.
Finally, a low rasp comes out from his throat in such a sensual sound that my thighs shift in his arms, his fingers tightening over the bare underside of my legs. “It’s pretty sliced up,” he whispers. He swallows slowly, attention lingering there on my wounds. “You’re weak, Feck. He could have really hurt you.” I hear the word feck but it’s drowned out by the way his tone is filled with thick concern.
“Then help me,” I say on the softest voice I’m capable of. “Please.”
“How?” Annoyance stings through him and we’re right back to square one again.
Footsteps sound at our side and Saint pushes the door open, appearing as if from nowhere. “Easy, pretend to be her boyfriend.” Had he been listening at the door? The fuck... “She’ll be safe even when you’re not around. Safe by association. No one’s gonna mess with something that’s yours.”
Something that’s yours.
... I belong to this asshole now? That was not the plan.
“Yeah, she doesn’t even know my name so I doubt this lovely couple plan will really work. She hates me.” He tells his friend as if I’m not even in the room with them.
“And yet you’re holding her the way a groom would his bride.” The vampire cocks a dark brow.
Nubbie’s arms give out so fast I nearly drop right to the ground. My nails dig into the back of his neck for support and the groan that shakes through his chest is a sound that wakes up my sex drive so fast I have to beat it back down with a broom before I can focus on a single thing either of them are still saying.
“Just date her,” Saint says carelessly with a shrug, pushing the subject so hard it feels suspicious.
“I’m not dating her,” Nubbie growls with so much disgust I have to remind myself I’m still clinging to him like old toilet paper stuck to his boot.
My hands unlock and I shove off of him with a bit too much force. No one even looks my way when I nearly plant my face onto the floor.
“Then pretend date her,” Saint presses.
“No.”
“Yes.” The vampire’s amusement grows with every push and pull of their argument.
“Fuck you.”
“Fuck you harder.” Saint’s smile shines in his bright blue eyes even as his friend is giving him a death glare that his kind must practice religiously with the devil before coming to earth. “You won’t date her because you don’t know how to do anything with a woman that doesn’t involve your cock.”
For several seconds the demon just clenches his jaw, aggression rolling off of him in slashing energy that I can physically feel pulsing through the room.
“Fine,” he snaps out on a cold, cutting tone. Glaring green eyes span to me and it takes me a second to realize he just agreed.
“Oh, I’m sorry, were you asking me out just then? I’ll have to check my calendar, August is kind of a busy month for me.” I nod to him and every little shake of my head seems to piss him off even more. “What’s your name, Nubbie?” My lips quirk, but I force them not to lift into the taunting smile that’s demanding to be let out.
A spasm shakes through his jawline, his head tilting back with a tired look while he glares down on me.
“Phoenix.”
Phoenix. That’s prettier than I would have expected from a Prod who apparently has no soul.
My hand lifts and he glares down at that little offer held between us. Calloused fingers slide against mine, his big palm settling there for a lingering moment while I shake his hand slowly.
“Nice to meet you, boyfriend.”
He blinks an annoyed look of anger at me.
His warmth slips away from me and he stalks out of the room without another word, the door banging shut behind him. I stand there for a moment longer and consider the deal I just made.
I’m dating the campus asshole and he’s repulsed by every little thing I do. I can calm him. I know I can. This set up could be good for us both.
If we don’t kill each other first.
This boyfriend/girlfriend thing isn’t as great as everyone makes it out to be.
Seven
Malek
“What do you mean you’re dating her?”
It’s rare a smirk that tilts the nasty demon’s lips.
“I mean she asked, and I said yes,” he replies carelessly, pulling himself up to the bar, his massive body flexing with the pull of his muscles as he lowers himself slowly before bringing his chin right back up above the metal bar.
“You’re only speaking to me right now to piss me off. And I don’t believe you for a second.”
“Why? Did you think you’d fuck the pretty feck first?”
Feck. I hate his kind and the way they use that offensive term. He thinks he’s so much more powerful, more worthy because he’s hellbred.
He’s an abomination. Nothing special in a place like this.
“She’s not a feck. Don’t call her that.”
“She’s shown zero powers. She’s a feck. Until proven otherwise.” He drops, his shoes hitting the soft mat before a pile of brick and fire land at his feet. He doesn’t look up at the damage the man at his side is doing.
It’s chaos in this place. It’s good she didn’t come today. She’s not ready. I want to ease her into it. I showed up early to do just that.
And yet, Phoenix was faster.
I should go talk to her. Find out what the hell Phoenix is talking about.