When the Wolves Cry (Twin Flames Duet #1)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

TALA

The pretty nurse wipes the inside of my elbow down with an alcohol wipe. “You’ll feel a pinch followed by some pressure and your arm will go a little cold, that’s normal.”

I nod, meeting her ocean blue eyes.

“You want a countdown?” she asks.

“It’s okay, you can just do it. Thank you for asking,” I grin.

“Okay, just relax and take a deep breath.”

A sharp pinch flares up, causing my face to tighten and my eyes to water. The weird pulling sensation along with the sight of my blood rapidly filling the tube makes me cringe.

“You are almost done, sweetie. One more vial and the pressure will be gone.”

I roll my top lip against my septum ring, fidgeting to distract myself. “It’s pretty common to get an STD test, right?”

I haven’t had any symptoms or anything. But I’d rather be safe than sorry since another woman’s juices were inside me.

That makes me feel even sicker.

She finishes the last one, letting my vein free of animposter. Holding a cotton pad to it, she looks at me sweetly. “At the very least, a dozen a day here. It’s important to maintain a healthy sex life. That includes routine checkups, Pap smears, condoms, birth control… I have time for a Pap if you want to do it while you’re here.”

“I would, just to get it out of the way, but I’m on my period.”

Saved by the red devil in my belly. I would rather gnaw on some glass, than feel the cranking of aspeculumspreading me open.

She gently places a bandage over the cotton, then rolls her stool over to her computer while snapping her gloves off. “Let’s get that scheduled for…tsk,tsk… Oh! Your birthday is Wednesday!” She flashes a bright smile. “Happy early birthday! You being a two-thousands baby makes it easy to remember your age, huh?”

“It does, actually,” I titter. “Days bleed together sometimes. It’s easy to lose track of time.”

Jesus, Tala. First time speaking to a human? Way to paint the rainbow gray.

She doesn’t mind my grimness. She keeps her smile on while scrolling through her computer. “They really do. More often than not, I think.” Quickly giving me a somber grin, she pulls a white card out from the stack. “You’re due for your annual Pap on the twenty-eighth. Does that work for you?”

That depends on if the demon shackles me in his basement or not.

I should not like that idea. I wonder if I could stealthily smack myself across the face to rid my brain of the images corrupting me.

The woods are burning down around me. I’m spinning in aimless circles, hearing battle cries of women and watching ravens take flight through the flames. Their screams and cries echo in my head like I’m trapped in an empty room with them. I try to find them to help them, but the fire burns brighter and traps me in a circle, slowly suffocating me.

Sweat rolls down my hammering chest as I bolt upright from my pillow, sucking in a sharp, desperate breath.

The moon is casting through my bedroom window, directly over the end of my bed. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I crawl towards it and sit on my knees, looking out at the stars to find a sense of calm.

I lift my matted hair up from my neck, sighing in relief from the cool air kissing over my misted skin. I hold it up until I feel cold chills, then let it fall, exasperatedly trilling my lips.

Unfolding my legs, I creep over the edge of my bed and walk over to my ornate dresser. In an obsidian dish sits a half smoked joint from Nadia and me. I grab it and my black lighter and turn around—and my heart lodges in my fucking throat.

The moonlight’s filtering over his preying eyes, and he’s just casually manspreading in the furry chair in the corner of my room.

Not giving a shit.

“What the fuck, Jax?” I snip, the menstrual rage boiling my blood.

“What were you dreaming about?” he asks sedately.

I slowly blink, shaking my head in disbelief, and pace back over to my bed. “I don’t know,” I huff, crawling into the middle.

“Talk to me about it, baby.”

My eyes thin. “I’d rather talk about why you think it’s okay to break in and watch me sleep.”

His sharp canines flash chillingly, smiling like he sees nothing wrong with being a creep. “I am enraptured with you, Tala. I want to see everything you do, every face you make, the way you breathe when you sleep and lightly hum. I want to see it all. You also have a price on your head, little wolf. It’s easier to keep you safe when you’re close enough to touch.”

The joint falls from my lips, the flame swaying and highlighting my puzzled face. “What do you mean by price?”

He runs his hand through his messy hair, stretching back and giving me a glimpse of the black ink heavily designing his lower abdomen. I swallow the saliva trying to drip over my bottom lip, forcing myself to look away from the beast.

“Brutus Tuffin, who you know as Pyro, has been sending people to try and kidnap you. The man at Harvest & Horrors , the waitress at Aurora’s … I’m sure you know TravisGuildonand Blaze Hendrix. Those kids you went to school with have also been trying to grab you. They’ve had the assignment since your grandparents’ house fire and apparently, they don’t know where you live. They somehow built this house with nothing tied back to you or your blood. The only name that comes up on bills is Maiko Ruger.”

My intuition warned me that the shit water ran deeper than my grandparents. So, it’s not terribly shocking to hear, but my stomach is twisting a knot up to my throat and my hands are growing clammy.

“Okay… but I’ve left since they died. How have they not trailed me home?”

He sits up. “Because they’re dense and don’t have the slightest clue as to what the fuck they’re doing. They’re just idiots caught up in the world of blow and are being sent out for dirty work. Kendra gave you that number so Pyro could track you and sheroofiedthat extra drink she passed you.” He shakes his head like it’s idiotic. “They have the skills of Google, baby. It doesn’t surpass that.”

I don’t want the joint anymore. I’ll probably trip out and think that other monsters are in my house.

I pick it up and flick it across the room, watching it thunk off the wall and land next to my mirror. Letting my weight fall backwards into the mattress, I shoot my legs up in the air and click my heels.

“Well, that fucking sucks.” I watch the bands of moonlight glisten on my black toenail polish, flexing them back and forth while I overthink. “I wonder why they chose an alias for the house. As far as I know, my grandparents weren’t caught up in anything sketchy to warrant that.”

“Hmm,” he growls in thought, kind of startling me. It’s dark in here and he always sounds like a beast when he rumbles like that.

I look away from my polish, over to the demon that’s ogling my legs like they’re the juiciest turkey legs at Six Flags. “Jax,” I hiss. “Not the time, dude. Not the time.”

His brows furrow, hungry eyes flicking at me. “Did you just call me “Dude?” he asks gruffly, standing up and slowly cocking his head.

Good job, Tala. You pissed Satan off.

I drop my legs. Before they can meet the bed, his hand darts out and catches right under my knees. “You want to say it again?” he warns.

I shake my head, heart palpitating.

He slowly slides his rough palm down my thighs, causing my legs to stiffen up in the L-shape.

“Attagirl,” he drawls. “You can call me Jax, Babe, Sir… Daddy. But you will never call me Dude, Bro, or anything that makes me seem less than what I am to you.”

I frown, disgusted by it all. “I will never call you Daddy. And you’ll be lucky if I ever address you as Sir. I quite like calling you what you are… Satan,” I finish with a dramatic whisper.

Side-eyeing me, he licks over his teeth, creeping his hand farther down. “Does playing with fire make your pussy wet? Because that’s what you’re doing, little wolf. Except this isn’t a little flame you can blow out. It’s a cataclysm.”

I whimper, his fingers skating over the silk covering me.

“Why don’t you open your legs, move your pretty silk to the side, and prove me wrong,” he suggests, deep voice sharp with finality.

My face scrunches. “Why don’t you if you want to see it so badly? I promise seeing a tampon isn’t a sexually pleasing sight.”

I swallow roughly, watching his thick brow arch. His finger teases over my throbbing clit, and my stomach tightens.

“Your pussy will be mouthwatering no matter what. And it kind of seems like you want me to look, Tala. You’re more than capable of lowering your maddening legs. Instead, you have them hiked up like you’re working your way around begging. Like, you want me to pry them open, slide my tongue over your weeping cunt, and ease my fingers inside you.”

I do. But I can’t let him.

My body shakes as I slam my legs down. I briefly tighten my face at his sultry scowl, and roll to my side, and crawl the hell away.

I was going to make a dash for the hallway, but Sirohi is sitting in the threshold, looking way too cute to ignore.

I slip off my bed and mosey over to him. Dropping to my knees, I pet his sweet face and rake my nails over his back. He shuffles closer in, stretching his neck up and lightly thumping a rear paw on the floor. I laugh a little, getting a pleasant distraction from the cards I’ve been dealt as of recently.

But I also remember what happened to Sirohi.

I’m sure the horrors are long forgotten now. Jax takes really good care of him and clearly loves him enough to bring him everywhere he goes. It’s still upsetting to reflect on though.

Water hisses and runs steadily in my bathroom, and my face twists quizzically at Sirohi’s beady eyes. “What is your dad doing?” I whisper, giving him a kiss on the forehead before standing up.

Walking towards the bathroom, an orange glow stretches along the cheetah print wallpaper. It grows brighter, and I turn in, instantly locking on Satan filling the freestanding bathtub.And lighting candles.

“What are you doing?” I ask whimsically.

He sets the second candle down on the wooden stool next to the tub, turning to browse the shelf ofsalts and dried herbs. “Giving you a bath,” he rumbles.

Deadpanning at the behemoth grabbing a bat-shaped bath bomb from the jar, I fold my arms up and step closer. “I’m not a dog, Jax. You don’t need to give me a bath,” I say jadedly.

Ignoring me, he holds the bath bomb up. “What’s this do?”

I pop my lips. “Drop it in and see.”

He eye fucks me, a devilish smirk forming in the flames’ luminescence. Vaguely bumping a single brow, he tosses the bath bomb into the water, intently watching it fizz and turn the water black.

Putting my pride to the side, I amble over to the ornate mirror above the sink, grabbing a clip and expertly tossing my long hair up with it. He watches the movement—and stalks up behind me.

Stop getting butterflies, desperate slut.

Our eyes connect in the mirror, and he lightly draws his fingertips overMaiko’spaw print on the back of my neck, slowly lowering his mouth to it. “Maiko?” he asks, warm breath coasting over my skin.

It’s not surprising he knows about him. Therefore, I nod, bracing my hands to thecountertopas he kisses the print I wanted, but knew I was too weak to see every day.

Still kissing the back of my neck, his fingertips skim up my sides. The chills harden my nipples to peaks, and the visual of him teasing my silkcamiup makes my heart race.

He kisses around the side of my neck, and I lift my arms—letting Satan undress me.

The silk falls to the floor, matching the drop of my stomach as his calloused palms glide around my sides, mapping up my ribs.

I expect him to fondle my tits and gawk at them through the mirror. But he backs away and walks over to the tub, turning the water off and refusing to look at my exposed chest.

It’s respectful. Yet it pisses me off.

Is this man only looking at me when I’m not aware of it? If so, that’s incredibly fucked up.

Shoving my thumbs in the waistband of my silk shorts, I yank them off my legs and sit my ass down on the toilet. The entire time I do my usual roll up routine for a tampon, he doesn’t look at me. In fact, he’s for some reason undressing.

I’ll give him the samecourtesy.

I wipe the crimson from my whore of a vagina, rushing over to the tub before Shark Week ends up playing live on my bathroom floor. I check the temperature with my hand and almost let a smile slip, then step into the scalding hot water that could boil flesh from bone.

Little pieces of dried rose petals are drifting around, clinging to my chest as I submerge myself in my filth. Out of my peripheral vision, Iblurrilysee the heavy ink designing his beige skin approaching the tub. Soundlessly.

He never makes a noise when he moves.

The silence is stressing me out. “Will you play music or something?” I ask, still not looking at him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he drawls, and turns his back to me.

While he walks over to his jeans, Irespecthim and quickly zip my sight to the serpent wrappedonimask taking up his entire muscular back. It shades flawlessly into his traditional Japanese sleeves and around his sides.

Bitch, look away.

His tight ass is tattooed.

I’m unable to explore his inked ass and legs. My cheeks puff up with the whine wanting to crawl out and I whip my head straight.

Is his dick tattooed as well?

Smells Like Teen Spirit filters through his phone’s speaker. He turns it up loud enough to eat the silence and saunters back to the tub.

I don’t know how the hell he’s expecting to fit. I disregard the demon and pretend to be interested in my nails as he gets in. The water sways and raises higher up on my chest, his legs rubbing against mine and making it impossible to ignore him.

Stealthily, I scan over the scales, waves, andfloralson his bent legs, and meet the glistening obsidian watching me.

I’ve never seen his eyes twinkle before. They’re always bottomless pits unless the sun is beaming into them.

His arms are relaxed around the tub, and he’s just kicked back,knowinghe’s a Dark God. I won’t let myself explore the ink beckoning me. I’m having a staring contest with the Devil.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” I say jadedly.

“I already did,” he counters dryly.

My eyes narrow hatefully. “Let me guess, you’re gonna add it to your spank bank of non-consensual pornography.”

His brows pinch tighter, crafting a wrinkle in between them that shouldn’t be attractive. But it is. “Baby, I close my eyes and stroke my cock to the thought of you. Not a physical visual. I always look away when you undress. The only time I’ve seen your pretty tits was one night when you ripped your shirt off in the middle of your sleep.”

I slowly blink, putting out the fire that’s about to emit from my tongue. “Then how did you know I was about to masturbate after Harvest & Horrors ? I could’ve just been getting in the shower.”

“You should check every room when you get home, little wolf. I was already in here, watching you think about me as you threw yourself onto your bed. Once you sprung up, I knew what you were doing. I tried to leave, but the Devil wanted me to watch… I wasn’t going to look down until you opened your thighs for me.”

Annoying pressure blooms low in my pelvis. I’m aware I should be livid that he thinks it’s okay to stalk me like prey. But I like it. Enough to maneuver my legs and sit on my knees in between his legs.

“So, you’ve only seen these?” I tease.

His jaw tics, and his hungry gaze switches to my dripping tits. “Mm-hmm,” he rumbles, a squeaky groan coming from the tub that’s about to crumble under his hands.

I want to see how much it takes to make his self-discipline snap.

Leaning forward, I grab his hard shoulders and crawl up into his lap. It’s not comfortable. There’s minimal space for my bent legs and his monster cock is lengthening against my bare vagina.

It’snotnormal. Nor will it fit inside me. Ever.

I stretch my chest a little higher, running my hands up the back of his neck and into his hair. It’s long enough to cover the backs of my hands… To curl my fingers into for leverage.

Goddamn it. I might snap before him. And I can’t. I might have a poisonous pussy. A bloody one, for that matter.

His rough palms graze up my back, instituting fiery tingles that make me arch into him. “I know your friend Paxton works at Wyvern’s Ink . He’s done your tattoos. But you’ve never had an appointment with him to get your rosy nipples pierced. So, who did it?” he asks testily.

This position is too uncomfortable to maintain, and I’m horrified he’ll split me to my ass if I stay here any longer. I let go of his hair and push through the wall of his hands, drifting back to my own spot. “Nadia and I did it,” I reply grimly, the memory resurfacing.

“Look at what you fucking did to yourself! You really are a fucking whore! That trashy friend of yours is making your image even worse.”

I rest back, extending my legs out onto him. His expression softens as he roams my face like he wants to ask something. Though, I’m sure he already knows the answer.

“It was the first time he ever did it,” I say.

His jaw sets with a faint ripple in his lip, and he stays silent to let me speak.

“I came home from Nadia’s thinking he’d like it. Mind you, we had only been dating for a few weeks at the time. He moved in so fast because I didn’t know how to establish boundaries. Anyways, he didnotlike it. He flipped a switch and turned dark.”

I think I’m witnessing the first case of rigormortisovertaking a live body. He’s ramrod stiff, not blinking. I don’t even see his chest moving to clarify that he is in fact alive and breathing.

Growing nervous that I just killed him, I sit up, the cool air kissing my wet skin, and press a hand to the dog tag on his sternum while inspecting his stone scowl. “Jax…”

His arms move, and his hands rub up my back. “Sorry, baby. I’m trying to figure out how to conjure a necromancer to resurrect the piece of shit. Just so I can torture him all over again.”

He’s so pretty. It’s annoying.

Because here I am, possibly contagious and trying to swear off men, and he’s making my heart patter and my skin tingle with the need to feel his. And god-fucking-damn it I want to kiss him. I want to taste his sins. I want to know his secrets and what scares him, what his story is and where he comes from. I want to know everything about him.

I want everything about him.

He cages the back of my neck, hand so large, his fingertips meet on my throat. Exploring around my ribs with his other, he settles in the valley of my breasts, and a salacious grin exposes his sharp canines. “Maybe I should call you Little Rabbit with how fast your heart beats for me.”

I lean in, faintly brushing my lips over his. “Rabbits are fast too,” I whisper, and push off the behemoth, crossing my fingers that I don’t fucking slip as I shoot up and lunge out of the tub.

The runner saves me. It dries my feet and gives me grip to run through my bathroom. I rip my towel from the wall in passing, wrapping it around my wet body while running through my room and hurdling over Sirohi.

I can’t hear the behemoth. All I can hear is my own thunder down the hall and the rabid beat in my temples.

Running down the stairs, I look in the mirrors, and a yelp of excitement sizzles in my chest—seeing the hunter, the Big Bad Wolf, right on my heels and smiling.Sharply.Hungrily. His monster cock is fully erect, swaying with his slutty hips and stunning me.

I slip on the last step, yelping and rolling my ankle as I trip onto the mid-level landing.

His hand swerves around my waist, breaking my fall and twisting me right into his bare, wet torso. Like lightning, he grabs under my arms and hauls me up his body. I eagerly wrap around him, and he backs me up into the mirrors. Roughly. Forcing my clip to dig into my head and the mirrors to groan in distress.

“So typical for the rabbit to get wounded and fall into the jaws of the wolf,” he says brusquely, assertively grabbing my hips.

My towel is wide open, only hanging on by the grip he has on me. I claw into his hair, smiling at the groan of pleasure he lets out. “If the wolf was smart, he’d find another rabbit to consume. This one’s likely to spread diseases.”

He forcibly rolls my hips, grinding my throbbing pussy against his abs. It zips lighting up my stomach, calling for a whiny moan to fall from my lips. “I know you got tested. But I watch you too closely to let something slip by unnoticed… So, tell me, baby. What the fuck did he do?” he asks callously, lingering over my lips and inhaling my desperate breaths.

“Does it matter if he’s dead?” I question.

“Everything matters, Tala. Every. Single. Fucking thing matters to me, baby girl.”

Sweat mists on my drying skin. I’m unsure if it’s from our flames reuniting and burning hotter than they ever have, or from the images, the sounds, the feelings, everything from that night—running into the light of remembrance.

I relax my hands, coasting them down the back of his head and molding them to the shape of his sharp jawline. “He was fucking someone in my bed when I got home from the embers of my grandparents. He got mad that I interrupted him… and he raped me with the condom he was wearing with her.”

Somehow, spilling the beans to him doesn’t make me want to double over and stab myself in the stomach.

He’s the only soul I’ve told.

Besides you .

His nostrils flare, chest heaving with the vexation boiling his blood. “We’ll find her. You can add some more teeth to your collection.”

I shake my head, lightly grinning in adoration of him. “I don’t want revenge, Jax.”

“What do you want, baby? Whatever it is, it’s yours.”

The rush of truth warms my chest. And I smile, covering his lips with my thumbs. “You.”

I close the space and kiss my black nails, getting enough of his lips and scruff to make me want to plead for more.

He growls, eyelids dropping to slits. “You’ve had me since your siren ass walked into that room. And goddamn it, little wolf, you make me so fucking crazy.”

“I like your crazy,” I whisper.