I frowned at Carter’s behavior. He was looking for a fight. Searching for more reasons to be mad. At me, at Dimitri. At the whole fucking world.
“Because I didn’t. Lola has the other one.”
Carter scoffed at Dimitri’s answer. “I’ve seen her naked. She doesn’t wear any mark.”
If I could see Dimitri’s face, I knew I’d find him grinning. Way too happy to shut his mouth with knowledge Carter didn’t have.
“Because my promise was madebeforeshe turned into a Succubus. It didn’t just mark her, it marked hersoul,” Dimitri said. “Not the demon, but the Phoenix. She can hide it with shifting power, unlike the one she had with Arc.”
I reached for the hem of my T-shirt with shaky hands, lifting it up to just below my breast, letting my power recede to reveal the mark mirroring Dimitri’s. Carter’s eyes narrowed as he studied it. The red and slightly silver color over the side of my ribcage.
Dimitri’s breath hitched and his hand left my stomach to trace the lines with his fingers, the motion slow, admirative. Reverent.
But Carter’s anger didn’t diminish. He took a step back, turning his head to the side like looking at me disgusted him.
“I don’t trust you,” he gritted. “I don’t think I ever will.”
It hit me like a blow to the chest and I stumbled back, right into Dimitri. But as I was about to lash out at him, to call him a fucking liar for his meaningless words from the nights before, Dimitri’s hand slithered up to my throat, tilting my head to the side.
“Not surprising,” he crooned, sliding his nose along the side of my throat. “I knew you’d get into the anger stage way quicker than anyone should. That you’d be too weak to eventryand fight it.”
I let out a stuttering breath as his lips dropped featherlight kisses on the sensitive skin, going from the soft spot under my ear to my shoulder, pulling down the sleeves of my top.
“After all, you’ve hated her from the start. The idea of a mate that was something other than Divine made you sick, didn’t it?”
“You’re wrong.” Carter’s full body shook in anger, hands fisted at his sides, arms and shoulders tensed like he was preparing for a fight or restraining himself from starting one.
“Am I?”
Dimitri’s hand slid under my T-shirt, going up to my breast and grabbed it softly, letting out an appreciative growl in the crook of my neck.
“Then why are you reacting so strongly now? Why are you so mad about some information you have no right to demand?”
I whimpered as he grazed my nipple with the side of his thumb, his teeth scraping on my throat.
“And why are you still here, unable to look away from her?”
My eyes snapped open, only to find Carter’s stuck on me. On my now exposed breast. On Dimitri’s hand circling my throat to keep my neck exposed. On my thighs clenching to try and relieve the building desire.
What was Dimitri doing?
“I think, deep down, you know where that anger comes from. Didn’t she warn you it would happen?”
Carter’s eyes widened, realization hitting him in the face. I had warned him. Told him about the angry stage that would come. And he somehow forgot and thought his anger was legitimate. Justified.
“Letting it win will only prove my point,” Dimitri continued, his hand leaving my breast to go down. Down until he unbuttoned my jeans. Until he slipped it in my panties, fingers finally meeting my wet core, pulling a gasped moan out of me. “That you’re justweak. That you can’t handle having a mate like her.”
Dimitri was riling him up.
And it fuckingworked.
Carter’s whole posture tensed even more, like trying to fight his own self. His intrusive thoughts. The disproportionate rage plaguing his mind.
I arched against Dimitri, welcoming his touch. His lips on my neck. His fingers between my legs. The deep guttural sounds coming out of his throat.
I wanted it all.
“So greedy,” he crooned, biting the skin at my throat as my hips moved against his hand. “You want more?”
