CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
DAEARY
I staggered away from Beth, barely able to walk straight. Not once in my long life had I allowed myself to be drained to such a low point. But it had been the only way to save her.
It was more evidence of what I knew to be true in my heart. My soul had bonded to hers. Yet I could not tell her. Until recently, I had had no idea that it was possible for the likes of me to bond with a human.
Maybe it was my Fae heritage, or maybe all incubi could do it, but how would I have known? My father had not been around to teach me, and the few others of my race had taken one sniff and decided they wanted nothing to do with the halfbreed, the abomination.
My fire flickered in vain, searching for fuel that was not there. I had used the last of my strength when I pushed life back into Beth. I had nearly drained her to the point of death. Her spark had entered me like a bright star, so beautiful and pure. I had a split second to acknowledge it, but if I had not acted as quickly as I had, she would be a corpse now.
I gripped my middle and bent over double, remembering her lifeless body floating in the pool. I had had no choice but to push my own life-force into her.
There was barely a spark left inside my center, and my feet would no longer carry me. I had minutes to live before I burned out, dying in this cursed Fae palace’s drafty corridor.
My toe hit a loose flagstone, and I lost my balance, crashing hard against the wall. My legs gave out, and I slid to the flagstones until I crouched in a sitting position, gasping for air. When I had left Beth, I had had no time to throw on my clothes. I would leave this world as naked and unloved as I had entered it.
No longer able to hold up my head, I allowed gravity to pull me sideways until I lay on the ground.
“You there. What are you doing here?”
I couldn’t open my eyes, not even to glower at the Fae who were standing over me.
A second voice said, “I recognize his kind. He is an incubus.”
“Is he dead?”
Warm finger pressed against my neck. “Not yet. But he will be soon.”
For a brief moment, nobody spoke. Then the first voice said, his voice heavy with lust, “How about we have some fun as he passes into the Goddess’s realm?”
A harsh chuckle came from the second man. The swish of breeches being dropped alerted me to their decision. When they rolled me to my front, I did not have to pretend I was half dead. I was seconds from crossing over, and my body was shutting down.
A hand ran down my ass, pulling my cheeks apart. I could not feel the Fae’s fingers because my skin had become numb, but his lust called to my inner demon like a foghorn. My starving body tugged on his life force. I would need a lot more to live, but the injection of energy was just enough to let me do what I needed to.
I held still while they exposed my dark entrance. I would allow them to proceed with the violation if it were unavoidable.
I did not want to die—not now that I had found her.
But it wasn’t necessary. The moment the stink of their desire enveloped me, my demon struck, ramping up what was already there.
The two Fae fell to the ground, moaning and writhing, as the most intense lust they had ever experienced convulsed their bodies. My gentle tugging turned into a vicious pull as I drew their excitement into me. It only took seconds to take enough to allow me to rise to my knees and watch them.
Their members lay against their flat bellies, red and engorged. They were fucking the air, their hands fisted around nothing. Their heads were thrown back, and their necks corded as they groaned loudly. Within moments, their cocks erupted, spewing come over their clothes, hitting their chins.
My demon would not let them go. They might still have lived if I had allowed it, but in their cruel joy hurting a defenceless man, they had doomed themselves.
I was not going to let them live. The next person might have been somebody who would not survive their viciousness. Pushing more lust into them while consuming their delicious excitement, I never let up until they came a second and a third time.
They whimpered toward another climax, their struggles slowing down. Then both men stiffened, their final orgasm forcing their sparks into me, extending my lifespan while taking theirs.
The last time I had done this had been years ago. I didn’t enjoy taking lives, but that was the nature of my kind. We took, or we were taken.
After the light had died in their eyes and their hearts had stopped beating, I was walking away swiftly, knowing they would be detected soon. I entered another apartment at the end of the hallway, rushed past a startled servant, and disappeared through a window into the gardens below.
The power I had taken from the would-be rapists did not last long. My inadvertent bond with the little half-human made sure of that. Already I was feeling tired. I gritted my teeth. Taking the life spark of two healthy Fae had not been enough to save me.
I bent over a low garden wall, hanging my head, and squeezing my eyes shut to fight the rising nausea. I had tried to hold back with her, but had I not returned tenfold from what I took, I would have killed her.
So here I was. An incubus who had lived for centuries, brought to my knees by a little half-breed, a chit of a girl. I could not ravish her without killing her. And I could not take from anyone else because of the blasted bond that my demon had forced upon both of us.
I had no options. I would kill to live a little longer, to enjoy her luscious body, her bright mind, her pure nature. There were forces who would see her dead, but I would protect her with my last breath. And I would do it joyfully.