Hellfire Crown by Meg Xuemei X.

CHAPTER 5

Tessa

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a flash of hot wind and hellfire, he teleported me to his vast bed. I wasted no time in pushing him down and straddling him, my hands planted firmly on his taut chest.

He grinned like a handsome devil, his hands laced behind his head as he waited for the erotic show to begin.

My heart stuttered for him. The lust glinting in his midnight eyes mirrored mine.

His sensual lips curved up; they had once said cruel things to me, but I’d forgiven him, just as he’d forgiven me for taking the contract and coming to slay him. He knew now that I wouldn’t harm him, at least not intentionally, and together we’d find a way to get me out of the bind.

Yet I scowled at him, not wanting him to have too much power over me, not wanting him to know the effect his dark, glorious beauty had on me.

“You’re just going to make me do all the work?” I asked.

“Yes.” He grinned. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Mate.”

I’d make him beg, I swear.

I heaved up my hips, placed the tip of his massive erection against my wet entrance, and slammed down. I held still.

He gasped in pleasure, his eyes rolling back. He bucked his hips, wanting to be in control, desperately wanting to thrust into me.

My body buzzed, in sync with his raw male need. But I couldn’t have it his way.

“This is my ride, Demon King,” I told him, loving the wild look in his eyes. Yet I still held still to drive him crazy. Only when I said ‘go’ would I go.

I offered him a wicked smirk, then I started to glide along his hard length. Slowly, slowly, and then faster.

And then I went wild.

I didn’t need to be gentle with the powerful King of the Underworld. He could take anything.

I rode him harder and faster, hearing his breathing growing as ragged as mine. Pleasure infused us both.

Kill him, a vicious voice commanded me, rolling through my head, banishing the haze of lust.

Your mark is most vulnerable now. Finish him off.

Dark icicles sank into my veins. The blood contract was trying to get hold of me.

No, I said and slowed down my moves along Loki’s hard shaft.

Slay the target and fulfill your contract.

A force slammed into me, compelling me to put out a hand to summon the angelblade, forged and designed to kill angels and demons. My fingers curved around the hilt of the blade as it materialized, crimson runes flaring along the edge of the steel like flaming blood.

It wanted my mate’s death. It wanted to bleed him.

The blood contract had been reactivated. It demanded I fulfill my end of the bargain.

Tears flowed down my face, but I had no control of my body. I lifted the angelblade and struck.

Blood spurted out of my mate, painting my naked body in a splash of red.

A head rolled from a neck, falling under the bed with a thud. Loki’s bright eyes dimmed while still staring at me, accusing me of the final betrayal.

He’d let his guard down around his own mate, and I’d become his executioner.

“No! No! No!” I screamed in terror, Loki’s cock remaining rock hard inside me.

I stumbled away from him and rolled off the bed. I dropped to my knees and dry-heaved before I screamed again.

I willed everything to go back in time. I willed none of it to happen.

A blink.

There was no head on the floor. There was no blood on my hands. And I wasn’t holding the angelblade.

My hearted rammed painfully into my ribcage, blood rushing in my ears. Yet waves of relief washed over me along with fear.

“Bunny, what’s wrong? Baby?” Loki poked his head out and peeked at me from the bed.

I stared back at him, still in shock, my lips pulling back in a snarl, not at him, but at the premonition. While I was greatly relieved that I hadn’t murdered my mate, grief and horror at what I’d thought had happened still flashed in my mind, raw and hard.

“You’re alive,” I sobbed in relief and joy. “I didn’t harm you. I thought— I saw—”

Loki jumped out of the bed to come to me. I put out a hand to stop him from advancing toward me and scooping me into his warm embrace again. I didn’t deserve any kindness or comfort. And I couldn’t be trusted.

“Don’t come near me, Loki,” I warned. “You need to stay away!”

“You’re my mate,” he said, a riot of confusion, hurt, worry, and anger wheeling in his eyes. “Why should I stay away? We should always be together.”

“You don’t understand what happened,” I said, tears streaming down my cheeks. “I can no longer be trusted. I saw that I killed you. I don’t care if it’s a hallucination or a premonition, but I can’t be near you again. I’m a danger to you. I’m the worst threat to my own mate.”

Loki regarded me, brooding, yet he didn’t seem alarmed.

“The blood contract has been activated?” he asked coolly, although it wasn’t really a question.

I stared at him incredulously. Then I lost my temper. “How can you be so calm?”

He arched an eyebrow. “What do you want me to do, then?”

“Shouldn’t you be very much concerned or strike me down?”

“Never, Bunny, never,” he said. “I’ll never lay a finger on you. Nor will I allow anyone to do so even if you put a blade against my neck.”

“You’re nuts!” I shouted at him. “I could be the death of you. Don’t you get it?”

“You’re already the death of me.”

I blinked at him, not getting it.

“Which means I won’t continue on without you,” he said, studying me. “I think you’ve put a spell on me.”

Warmth swelled in my chest.

“I’m not a witch!” Then I realized that he was trying to distract me by saying things about spells. I knelt on the floor, hands almost tearing my hair like a madwoman. Who wouldn’t be if she thought she’d killed her mate? “You raged on and on before, when you first found out about me and the blood contract.”

“That was a phase and I got over it,” he said. “Now we’ve mated. You told me the truth and you didn’t intend to kill me.”

“I intended to kill you just now.” I raised my exasperated voice. “A phantom voice spoke in my head and commanded me to slay you.”

“But you didn’t. And I like the word slay better than kill. It sounds like slaying a dragon.”

“You’re joking about it now?” I suddenly lost it and wept. “I thought I’d beheaded you. I saw your head fall.”

“I’m still here with my head secure on my neck, Bunny,” he said. And then suddenly, he was in front of me, gathering me into his arms, even though I tried to shove him away to keep him at a safe distance. “I’m fine, baby. Touch my pretty head, and you’ll feel better.” He pulled me so tight against him that I felt my bones crunch under the pressure, but that closeness was what I needed after the terror I’d experienced in my premonition. “It was just the dark magic of the blood contract messing with your head, darling. It’s not real, but this thing between us is real. We can beat it.”

His wiped my tears away and kissed my lips gently and passionately. He always desired me. Heat and lust roared to life in me.

“Understand this, Loki,” I said. “The blood contract won’t release me until one of us is dead.”

“I prefer the third alternative—kill my father and make the contract go away. And you won’t kill me, Bunny. I know it in my heart now.”

“How can you be so sure? That’s stupid. You can’t let your guard down around me. You can’t trust me.”

“Then who am I going to trust, my mate?”

“Mari and your inner circle.”

“You’re one of us now. You’re my mate, the most important person in my life.” He kissed me again. “There’s no need to freak out.”

“Can you take this seriously, Loki?”

“I am taking it seriously.”

I searched his handsome face. “One day, this impulse to murder you might be too strong for me to handle. One day, the blood magic might just prove to be too much. One day, when I can’t tell illusion from reality, it’ll be too late. It’ll be over. Even if you’re willing to risk your life with me, I’m not going to trust myself with you again. I have to keep my distance from you from now on. I need to deal with this blood contract thing first and not let it control me.”

First, I had to destroy that angelblade. I’d ask Mari for help, or I could ask the dukes to help me melt the angelblade in Hell’s hottest inferno. Maybe that would work.

Right now, even though it was nearly impossible to pull away from Loki, I needed to stay away.

“We should not have sex again,” I said, biting my lip. “Not until I can be sure that I won’t take you out under any circumstance or under any compulsion.”

I wasn’t going to risk my mate just because I wanted to spend more time with him. No matter how bad the mating fever was, I should not go near him before things were under control, before I could stop the blood magic from fucking with my head.

“You won’t kill me, Bunny,” Loki added confidently. “Our mating bond won’t let mates kill each other. But you trying to stay away from me and not letting me fuck you will surely kill me.”

“Not everything is about sex!” I hissed at him.

He grinned. “Feel better after yelling at me? But sex is still the best way of letting off some steam.”

“You’re an idiot, do you know that?” I asked. “Right, don’t answer me.”

“You’re a high risk, and I’m your brazen idiot who loves to walk on the wild side.”

“Who am I kidding? You’re the King of Hell.” I rolled my eyes. “Even so, I’m not letting you get into my pants again until we’re rid of this blood contract.”

“And I won’t let that contract stop me from fucking my mate, my biggest joy in life,” he said. “We won’t let our enemy win.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

He scooped me up from the floor and carried me toward the outer room. “And you’re delicious. It’s time I fed my mate.”