Chapter 66 Her mind
My skin heated, and Saint released me, allowing me to lay back. Eryx took the joint from my fingers, and I watched the cherry create a trail of light before he took a drag. "Sian, let the others know they can look for that thing we need to find. Eryx, keep my mate here while I deal with the other issue. Do not fucking touch her, asshole."
I watched as the men stood, leaving me at the mercy of Eryx, who I knew had none to offer. He smirked, sensing my fear as the scent escaped the tight hold I'd had on it. When the door closed behind Saint, Eryx sat up, slowly undoing the cuffs to his white shirt, and silently rolled his sleeves up. He produced another joint, lighting it before lying down beside me, studying my face.
"I almost wish you were mine, Brae. I so want to play with that darkness you are hiding from us. We can see it, you know? The need to feel the pain that dances in your pretty eyes," he growled huskily, leaning over to press his mouth against mine, forcing smoke into my lungs. I shuddered at the heat his lips created, which hadn't gone unnoticed.
His fingertips trailed around the burn on my chest. They followed the curve of my breast, though he never allowed his touch to move to my nipple that hard- ened painfully. Eryx's intense blue gaze watched my face as the smoke billowed out of my lips, curling into the air.
"You're so fucking high right now, aren't you?" he chuckled, leaning over my face to trace his nose over the curve of my jaw. "I used to hate Saint for being the one who got you. I wanted you, Braelyn. I wanted you so fucking bad when we were younger. I always wondered if you'd taste as sweet as you looked or if you'd taste bitter."
"You always scared me," I admitted through chattering teeth.
"I know, but you wondered about me, didn't you?" he laughed coldly, drag- ging his lips over mine once more before leaning back to inhale the weed. His attention lowered to my hardened peaks, and his fingers drew small, tight circles over my stomach. "If Saint lets me kill you, I fully intend to fuck you first. You won't get out of this life without me knowing what you taste like, Princess. You owe me that much, at least." He took another drag, watching me through heavily hooded eyes.
There were tracers from where the cherry of the joint moved, causing my eyes to close as he lowered his lips against mine, snaking his tongue out to coax me to open to him. Eryx didn't kiss me; he fed me smoke instead. He didn't move away, holding his mouth against mine as his shirt created friction against the sensitive peak of my nipple. I exhaled, and he captured the smoke with his mouth, pushing it back into my lungs. His lips crushed against mine and his teeth tugged at my bottom lip playfully.
"Fuck me if you don't taste like forbidden fruit, Princess," he growled, sitting up quickly as the door to the room opened.
"Get your hands off of her, asshole," Saint growled, stalking into the room. I followed Saint with my blurred vision as he leaned over the bed, slowly dragging his heated breath over my skin. He dipped his head to kiss along the curve of my breast and growled against the shell of my ear, "Are you ready to play a game, Brat?" Whether it was fear or excitement, I couldn't be sure, but it sent a shudder rushing through me. My mind was foggy, and my entire body felt weighted down as if something held me to the bed with an invisible grip. "What did you do to me?" I asked, noting that I felt no pain. I felt-free. At the moment, nothing held me prisoner, not even my demons.
"Loosened your tongue," Saint chuckled, holding his hand out for the joint. He inhaled, turning to look at me before blowing the smoke into my face. My eyes grew hooded, watching his tongue sliding over his bottom lip, then sucking it between his teeth.
"How bad do you need to be bent over and fucked right now, Princess?" Eryx asked, his fingers playing with the bow on the stocking of my garter. My gaze slid from Saint's lips to Eryx's burning stare, then back to Saint as my heart began hammering against my chest. I tried to get up, but they both placed a hand on my shoulders, forcing me back down against the mattress. "Relax, I don't intend to share you, Brae," Saint scoffed, watching me. "I may want to strangle you, but I sure as shit don't intend to share you. Not unless you're a part of this shit, and if that is the case, you will get what you deserve."
"I'm just playing with you, Princess. For now," Eryx said huskily. He studied my face and slowly slid his gaze down my body before scrubbing his hand over his face and then pushing his fingers through his hair. "You should cover her, asshole. You know how I feel about her. This is fucking torture."
"Grab a nightgown out of her closet, and hand me the bourbon. She's still in possession of her mind if her heart is beating that wildly at the idea of fuck- ing you." Saint sat up to pull his shirt off over his head and dropped it to the mattress. He straddled my body and leaned his mouth against mine. “Can I hurt you, Brat?" His heated stare was burning into mine with a hauntingly familiar expression. "Do you enjoy pain? Is that your fucking kink?"
"I don't understand," I murmured, blinking to dispel whatever the hell was inside the whiskey. He smirked, watching me. "I feel funny,"
"It's mugwort and witches thyme. It's an aphrodisiac and hypnotic concoc- tion for our kind, Braelyn," Saint admitted, pressing his mouth into the crook of my neck, kissing my wildly beating pulse. "You'll beg to fuck me, and you'll tell me whatever I want to hear to achieve that end."
Something silky touched my skin, and I looked down at the white night- gown that Eryx tossed to us. Saint crawled over the side of me, leaning against the pillows before reaching for me. He lifted me, slipping the soft fabric over my body, then placing me against his chest. Eryx sat in front of me, the bottle of bourbon held in his lap. I licked my dry lips, shivering against the heat of Saint's hold.
"Open that pretty mouth of yours, Princess," Eryx demanded, holding the bottle up against my mouth.
I opened it, watching as he tipped the bottle up, forcing me to drink or wear the alcohol. Three long pulls from the bottle, and he removed it, lifting his thumb to trace the droplet of whiskey that escaped my lips. My tongue licked it at the same moment his thumb moved to capture it, connecting. Eryx stared at my mouth longingly as I licked his thumb and the corner of my mouth.
"Pretty, isn't she? Like poison ivy, before you know it, you're covered in the shit, and it's too late to back out," Saint growled, causing Eryx to drop his eyes to my mouth, where his thumb remained, even though I'd removed my tongue. "How are you going to know when this shit kicks in enough to ask her what you want to know?" Eryx asked.
"You're going to kiss her, and if she kisses you back, we'll know. You terrify her, which means if she's kissing you, she's ready to play." Saint laughed darkly as Eryx lowered his heated stare back to my mouth. "It will be the one time you get to kiss her because we both know she wouldn't allow it if her mind were working at full capacity, asshole." My eyes held Eryx's stare while he studied me, scrubbing his hand over his face before he left the bed to deposit the bottle on the dresser. He pulled his shirt out of his slacks and slowly began to unbutton it while continuing to hold my stare. Eryx moved around the room, pulling off his shirt to reveal intricately inked skulls covering his back. It was hauntingly beautiful and so like him to have something like that on his flesh. Lighting the candles, he moved to the door and flicked off the lights. He leaned casually against the wall, watching as Saint ran his hands over the silk that covered my stomach.