Valentino inhales sharply and the sweet taste of his lust fills the back of my throat. He lets out a low growl and nips at my lips.
“You’re trouble, Xaze,” he murmurs, cupping my jaw and teasing me right back with the flutter of his mouth over mine.
“I’m a demon.” I smirk, flicking my tongue along the seam of his lips.
He chuckles and then releases me. “Pack and I’ll meet you downstairs as soon as you’re done.”
I sigh and nod. There will be time to play once our lives are no longer hanging in the balance. Right? There has to be…
Chapter Nineteen
VALENTINO
Thirty minutes later, I pace the living room waiting for Xaze to come down. To say I’m restless is an understatement. Not only are we potentially walking straight into trouble, but Lake’s words haven’t stopped twisting themselves around in my head.
You two are fated mates.
Fuck. Could it be true? The way my dragon swishes and purrs makes it clear he sure thinks so. Is that why things between me and Xaze have been so… intense? Gods. A mate? I never thought?—
“I’m ready,” Xaze announces from the top of the stairs.
I turn my attention in his direction, my breath catching in my throat. He’s wearing an emerald colored, leather bodysuit that clings to his frame like a second skin. Every curve and lithe muscle is on display. It dips lower in front, revealing the hint of male cleavage created by his pecs. On his feet are black ankle boots with a chunky heel. His wild hair is tied back in a low ponytail.
“I did my best to pack light.”
My pulse beats so loudly I can’t hear anything.
“Tino?”
Blinking hard, I snap out of my haze. “You look…” I swallow hard around the lump in my throat. My body vibrates as he saunters in my direction, humming harder the closer the pretty demon gets.
“Oh, this old thing?” He laughs. “Lake convinced me I needed it in my closet. You like it?”
I nod, too stunned to use words. Xaze pats my cheek, but instead of the smug smirk of a sexy incubus, a soft, brilliant smile spreads across his lips.
“I hoped you would.”
The two of us stand in silence for several beats, searching each other’s eyes. His pupils shift, revealing the demon behind the glamour, and my dragon goes wild, desperate for more. I want to see him as he is. My dragon pushes forward, peering through my eyes.
“There’s my dragon,” Xaze whispers. “Handsome boy. Ready to show me all of you?”
A deep rumble bubbles out of me along with a cloud of smoke.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Come on. Your brother is waiting.”
Xaze takes my hand, leading me out the back door, and suddenly I’m the one with the invisible leash. With the binding spell gone, I really expected to feel like myself again, but nothing happening to me right now is normal.
I look up to see the woods behind my house. “How did you know where to go?” I ask, finally able to speak again.
Xaze shrugs. “You said forest, so this made sense. Besides…” He glances ahead. “I can feel you.”
“Feel me?”
He twists around, walking backward so he’s facing me. “I don’t quite know how to explain it, but it’s kind of like sensing your intentions or motivations? You know where Mac is, so in a way, so do I.”
“Do you like it? Feeling me so much.”
His eyes heat as he nods. “Yes, Tino. I like it.”
