“I know. We’ll fix it when we land.”
“No time.” He shook his head, eyes dull. I grabbed his face and held him, staring into Liam’s eyes, feeling his soul as if it were a tangible thing.
“Then I guess we better hurry this up.” I straddled him, cinching my legs around his waist so I wouldn’t fall. “Berget, spot me.”
“You got it.” Her hands clamped onto my shoulders as I pulled Faris close, tipping my head so he could get at my artery easily. My stomach surged with anxiety. “And pull him off if he gets going too strong.” I’d done this before, and a vampire high on my blood was a dangerous thing.
“Let him die,” Doran said. “He’s not predictable.”
“I can’t,” I said and then Faris buried his fangs into my neck. I gasped, the pain gone in a flare of familiarity. I squirmed in my seat, tried not to think about Liam, but it was impossible. His fangs slid into me, like other things had slid into me, and I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from moaning.
A slow building pressure started way too low in my body and I wanted . . . things I couldn’t have. Faris didn’t have any such qualms, the rumble of pleasure in his chest all too audible. His arms locked around me, pinning me to him. He was no longer drinking from me, but his tongue worked a trail of magic up the bare skin of my neck to my jaw and then he was kissing me.
I’d forgotten how good he was at this part of things. Fingers dug into my shoulders in an attempt to pull me away, and someone called my name. But I didn’t want to go. I tasted Liam on his lips. My wolf. I buried my hands into his hair, holding him close, my mouth hungry for what he offered. My body recognizing the grip of his hands. I opened my eyes. Gold eyes stared back at me.
His voice was husky and deep. “I’ve missed you.”
A sob ripped out of me, as I touched his face, and then those eyes shifted to blue. Faris licked his lips, a slow smile curling across them. “Well, that was more than pleasant.”
Hang on, storm cloud. Blaz shouted and there was no question of me moving. Faris held me tightly, our bodies breathing in sync as the rain and wind lashed at us, sweeping across our skin. His eyes never left mine, and my breath caught. Rain slicked his hair back, trickled down his face and dripped from his jawline.
Fuck, this was a bad idea. So very wrong. But I couldn’t let go, it wasn’t safe.
Not really all that safe to hang on, either, as evidenced by the way he looked at me.
Fuck. No, not fuck. Not fuck. Faris burst out laughing. “Your face, gods, you should see the horror on your face. Would I be all that bad to bed?”
His chest shook with mirth against mine, which only caused friction of my wet shirt on parts of my body that hadn’t had a man’s touch in a long time. A gust of wind hit us, pressing me against him even harder. His mouth was on the edge of my ear, sending shivers through my body. “Really, Rylee. There has always been chemistry between us, why deny it?”
“Because it’s Liam. You hold his soul, even now, and my soul responds to that,” I said, pushing against his chest, but finding my fingers digging into the fabric and pulling him close.
“Not possible.” He spoke with certainty, but I knew differently.
“We took a vow, no one knew,” I whispered. “No one knew, and now I feel him in you. And it makes this . . . difficult.”
“He’s not in me.” He pushed me away but didn’t let go. His eyes narrowed. “Liam is not in me.”
My eyebrows climbed. “Really?” I reached up and ran a finger down his jaw. “Liam, you want to inform him?”
Faris tipped his head and then his eyes went wide. Like fall out of his head wide.
“No.” He breathed the word. I didn’t hear it, but I saw his mouth form it. And then he let go of me to grab his own head. I let out a yelp, a gust of wind snapping me to one side. If I hadn’t been hanging on with my legs, I would have been blown off.
What are you doing back there? It feels like when you and Liam mated. Tell me you aren’t letting Faris into your panties?
“I am not,” I bit out. There was a dip in the air currents, which threw me once more against Faris who wrapped his arms around me. But it wasn’t his eyes. Liam spoke. “He doesn’t know how to get rid of me. He invited me in, and now we seem to be more than a little bit stuck. ”
That was Liam through and through, and I lifted my head. “Don’t push him, please, Liam. I need his help. You know that.”
Golden eyes fluttered closed and when they opened they were blue. “You told him to go easy on me?”
I nodded. Faris swallowed, his throat bobbing with the effort. “This is every necromancer’s worst fear—that a spirit they let in will . . . stick.”
I no longer wondered if things could get weirder or worse. I knew they would. Like waiting for a change in weather, I figured I had to wait only ten minutes.
Nope, fewer than that.
CHAPTER 7
Rylee
Blaz tucked his wings and dove, hard and fast. My stomach rolled and I closed my eyes, but I wasn’t sure that it was all due to the movement. He landed on the roof of Jack’s mansion as the sun kissed the edge of the horizon.
“Everyone, inside.” I pointed to the door and no one argued, though I noticed Faris didn’t let go of me, his hand on my lower back a heavy weight. Ushering me ahead of him. Like Liam had done how many times? Shit, this was going to be hard.