Dark Wings (Never Dark Book 1) (16 page)

I studied him for a little while. His brown eyes pooled with fear and I could feel him shake. He was telling the truth. “You
’d want to hope that’s the truth because if I find out you’re withholding important information from me, I’m coming back for you.” It was a bluff on my part. I wasn’t going to hurt this guy. I let him go and he fell backwards, cowering into the corner of the bar. I left The Soft Kitty and climbed back into my black Jeep. I’d wasted so much time waiting for this godforsaken place to open Famine could be anywhere by now. Suddenly, I remembered that Jenga had given me a head piece. I clipped it onto my ear and switched it on. Immediately, it beeped.

“Jesus Christ, Violet. I thought you we
re going to keep it switched on.”

“Sorry
, I forgot.”

“I chewed my nails down to
the bone worrying about you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Relax. I’m okay. Famine wasn’t at
The Soft Kitty.”

“So go to
Big, Busty Babes.”

I leaned my head against the head rest and sighed. “I was only inside for five minutes and I’ve already had enough of strip clubs.”

“Well, I’ve been stuck in HQ all day, fetching information for Govlonsky’s mission all day, so don’t complain because you’re sick of running around different strip joints, staring at nice boobies and sipping martinis.”

“I’m not staring at
nice boobies or sipping martinis,” I protested.

“Still. My life sucks and you need to fix it.”

“Fine, I’ll go to the other strip club.” I started up the car and an annoying chewing sound filled my ear. “Are you eating?”

“Yes, it’s lunch time. I’m eating an apple.”

My stomach grumbled. I was so hungry my chest burned and I felt nauseous. One hundred yards up the road I spotted a burger drive through place. I pulled in and ordered a large cheeseburger with fries and a Coke. As I drove, I wolfed down my meal and it was disgustingly satisfying.

“At least with your figure you can get away with eating a cheeseburger meal
,” Jenga informed me through the ear piece. Was she kidding me? Jenga was in perfect shape. I mean, I was more muscular than she was, but she had that classic, slim build that most girls would die for.

“Whatever, your body is perfect.”

“Ooh, is Violet Ashton hitting on me?”

I rol
led my eyes and hung up on her, throwing my ear piece into the back seat. She’d hate that, but I thought it was funny. I even laughed at myself.

***

Big, Busty Babes
was marginally classier than The Soft Kitty
.
It wasn’t painted black—that was a start. The building was made of a subtle mahogany brick and I didn’t have to walk through any weird furry curtains to get inside. Compared to The Soft Kitty this club was much nicer inside. There was no furniture that resembled any body parts, only sleek black leather couches. The floor glowed white as LED strips ran underneath. It gave me a headache, actually. I made my way over to the bar and a big breasted blonde manned it. She wore a tight black dress that stopped just underneath her bum cheeks. I glanced at her nametag, Barbie.
You’ve got to be kidding me.

“What can I get you?”
she asked as I leaned on my elbows on the glass top of the bar.

“I’m looking for someone. Mikael?”

“Mikael Cross? The owner?” She scoffed. “Good luck finding him. He hardly
ever
comes here. I’m the manager, though, is there something I can help you with?”

“Do you know where I might find him?”

She shrugged. “Nope. Sorry.”

Ugh
. I slumped onto a barstool. “Give me a shot of tequila, please. No lime. No salt.”

Barbie poured me a shot and slid it over. I downed it quickly and bit my tongue against the burn. Barbie’s blue eyes watched me in amusement. “You want a job? We could use a red head.” She flicked her head to the main stage and three blondes
in g-strings grinding chrome poles to the club music.

“No thanks, it’s not
really my thing.”

“But catsuits are?”

I felt so stupid walking around Earth in a catsuit, but I wanted to have optimal protection. “Apparently. It’s a long story.” I tapped the bar. “I’ll have another one.”

She slid the shot over to me and I reached for it. Only my fingers never came into contact with
it. I hit the ground hard, and for a few seconds I couldn’t see where I was. I didn’t get the chance to jump to my feet. Instead I was pulled up by the throat, my feet never coming in contact with the floor. I gasped for air and my vision returned. The dark man that had me by the throat was massive and he was wearing his security t-shirt.
Figures
.

“Is this how you treat all your guests?” I managed to squeeze out. “That can’t be too good for business.”

He squeezed harder, cutting off my oxygen completely. “Why are you looking for him?”

Barbie jumped the bar, ran to the front door
, and pulled it shut.

“I asked you a question, you angel piece of shit!” The man boomed. His black eyes flashed red and I opened my mouth to speak, but it was impossible. I grasped at his hand desperately. He was getting madder and madder and I couldn’t tell him that his hand was preventing me from talking. Demons can be so dumb. I kicked him in the balls and he dropped me immediately and I stumbled.

“Fucking bitch,” he groaned.

My head spun as oxygen flooded back into my lungs, but I didn’t have time to sit around and wait for my breath to come back. I was hunched over a barstool. The man’s cornrows
bobbed against his shoulders as he ran at me. I grabbed the wooden bar stool and smashed it into tiny pieces over his head. Not that it did much damage. He stumbled back a few steps and pulled out the thick splinter of wood that embedded itself into his forehead. A thick line of blood ran down his face and over his full, brown lips. He ran at me again and I jumped over the bar. He grasped the bar and pulled the surface clean off. I watched in shock. This guy was strong, but not the strongest I’ve fought. He plowed through the bar as I grabbed the cup hanger above me and swung my legs around to kick him in the face. His thick, strong hands grabbed my legs before impact and yanked me. My hands slipped off the holders. As I swung down, I pressed my hands to the floor, preventing my head from slamming into the cool tiles. The brute let go of my calves and I pulled myself through his legs. He turned around and I kicked him in the balls again. He keeled over and I threw my elbow into his face. Stunned, he fell backwards. His large body made the floor shake as he slammed into it. I grabbed a bottle from the bar and smashed it over an unbroken surface. I jumped at the brute, slamming the broken glass into his chest and directly into his heart. Blood spilled from his mouth as he slowly disintegrated into a thick, black sludge. I kneeled in the sludge, my chest rising and falling heavily. When I stood up, I saw Barbie out of the corner of my eye, cowering behind a leather couch.

“P-please, don’t hurt me.” She sobbed.

“Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” I ran my arm across my forehead to clear off the thin sheet of sweat. “But next time, tell me when someone is behind me.”

She nodded quickly.

A smoky scent filled my nostrils as thick arms seized my waist. I lunged forward, but before I could break free, the feeling of being weightless consumed me. The bar disappeared and I appeared somewhere else in a black haze. Somewhere familiar. I saw the big, glass window that overlooked the city and the bed I was handcuffed to before I had been compelled. Lucas’s touch tore through me as he spun me around with tremendous force. He grasped me by the shoulders with such intensity that it hurt. My eyes traveled upward; loose jeans, a tight white t-shirt, and finally a pair of cold brown eyes. They were eerily dark, like the time in the parklands, and suddenly I was scared, but I didn’t want him to know that.

“What the hell are you doing?”
he growled, his eyes wildly searching mine. His nostrils were flaring

I shrugged out of his grasp. “How dare you use your stupid demon powers on me!”

I paced the room, from the bookshelf to the window and then back. Lucas watched me with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his denim jeans. It’d been a while since I’d seen him so casual. The white t-shirt he was wearing clung nicely to his well-formed chest. I sighed. I needed to get out of here and I doubt he would let me go, even if I asked nicely. I stopped at the bookshelf and pulled out a book. Anger filled my chest and I launched the book at his head. Wasted effort on my part though, he caught the book and pointed his long, tanned index finger at me. He was still pissed. “Please don’t throw my things.”

I threw another book and another book until Lucas got too frustrated to stand there and catch them all. He dropped the books in a pile on the floor and ran at me. I jumped before he got to me and sprung off his shoulders, just like I did once in training. When I hit the floor
, I low kicked his legs, but just like that time in training, he didn’t fall. His legs buckled and I grabbed for his shoulders, but he used his stupid demon teleportation powers and disappeared. I rose to my feet. I was alone. I took a step forward, but was slammed into the wall behind me by something I didn’t see coming.

His brown eyes flared with frustration and his chest rose and fell with deep breaths. “
Stop!’ he snapped. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

I groaned. “Just kill me and get it over with.”

He stared into my eyes and I couldn’t tell what exactly he wanted from me. A low growl escaped him as he pressed his nose to my throat. Every nerve in my body stood to attention as his hot breath warmed my skin. He pushed off me and turned around, running his fingers through his short black hair in exasperation. “I don’t want to kill you, not anymore. I wasn’t myself,” he said, coming to face me. “I want to be with you. I want to hold you and touch you and—” He exhaled. “I. Want. You.”

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. My words were stuck in my throat, but more importantly
, I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.

“What were you doing at Famine’s club
s?”

“Looking for him.”

“Are you insane?” he yelled, startling me. “I’ve bent over backwards trying to protect you from them! Don’t you know how much you mean to me?”

“I shouldn’t mean anything to you anymore. You don’t mean anything to—”

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him with incredible force. He pressed his firm lips hard against mine, cutting my words off. He pressed the base of his palm hard against the warmth between my thighs and I squeezed them together. “Don’t you fucking say it…”he snarled, “…because I know you don’t mean it.”

I swallowed the moisture from my m
outh as we watched each other, waiting for the other to start the battle up again and we did… only it was with our tongues and not our fists. Lucas buried his tongue in my mouth eagerly and I reciprocated.
What is wrong with me? Why am I so turned on by a guy that tried to kill me? And why is he so turned on by a girl that tried to kill him?
We hated each other… or at least we were supposed to. We were enemies, plain and simple. What we were doing wasn’t allowed. Being caught would mean death on my side—victory on his, probably. But I guess underneath all that obligation and hate, there was old love. And passion. And trust. As long as one of those was showing, so would the others. Reaching to my backside, he grabbed it, causing me to gasp against his mouth. He pressed a thigh between my legs, completely pinning me to the wall and I liked it. He set my hair free from its tie and it bounced around my shoulders. His fingers tangled in my hair and yanked my head back slightly, burying his nose in my neck and growling softly. Lucas found the zipper to my catsuit and unzipped it, exposing my skin to the air. He pulled back for a moment to admire me and I was thankful I wore a nice, black lace bra
and
matching underwear. Wait. No, I wasn’t because I couldn’t let this happen.
I am not going to have sex with a demon
.
No matter how delicious they taste or how good their hands feel on my skin
. He nibbled at my bottom lip and desire pooled between my thighs. He remembered how much I enjoyed being nipped by his teeth.

“Lucas,” I breathed, pulling away.
“We can’t do this.”

“We can do whatever we want.”

A slight pang of nausea rolled through me and a smoky taste lingered at the back of my throat. When the hazy smoke evaporated, I took in my surroundings. I was still in Lucas’s room, only this time I was positioned on my back… on his bed. Lucas lay on top of me, watching me in amusement and waiting for me to cuss him out for teleporting me again. I was going to until I became painfully aware of his body pressing against all the right places. His mouth curved into a cocky smile and the sexually deprived being inside me took the reins. Desperately, I urged Lucas’s mouth onto mine.

His
hands made their way into my catsuit. The feel of his bare, rough hands on my naked skin made my body tremble. One arm wrapped around my waist, holding me close. The other hand palmed my right breast. My nipples ached as they strained against the confines of my bra. I rolled Lucas off me and I straddled him. He held firmly onto my waist as I shrugged out of my catsuit. His brown eyes were glazed with lust and his dark eyelashes looked heavy as he stared into my eyes, at my mouth, and then at my chest. I unclipped my bra and my generous bust bounced free. I tossed the bra to the side as a groan fell from his lips and it made a stronger desire burn through my core. “Jesus, V.” Underneath me, Lucas swelled harder against his jeans. He sat up and held me tightly against him. He sucked my nipples between his lips and every now and then his teeth would graze over the very tip, making me shudder. I moaned gratefully when he stuck his tongue into my mouth and rolled me onto my back. He moved down my legs and tugged either side of my catsuit, his eyes not leaving mine for a second. I lifted my hips a little to make it easier for him to take it off. He’d managed to take my underwear with it and I was completely exposed, watching him destroy me with his eyes. He pulled off his white shirt, exposing his fantastically chiseled chest and a tattoo of a complex dragon that curled around his left breast and halfway down his thick bicep.