He angled his head, fitting them together closer, and the fingers around the back of her neck clenched. His hard cock throbbed in his pants, and he wanted to grind it against her, and damn, he couldn’t even describe how badly he wanted to feel her breasts. All that flesh overfilling his hand… And what would her ass feel like if he grabbed it? Thick and luscious and—
Before he knew what he was doing, he was digging deeper into the kiss, sweeping his tongue into her mouth.
Naiamah hadn’t said anything about using tongue. She hadn’t even described what type of kiss or how long it had to last. Nope, this was all him, but he didn’t even fucking care. As soon as his tongue brushed against Sunshine’s and she made a tiny gasp against him, all else ceased to exist.
He did it again, head spinning when he felt a tremor roll through her. The way she relaxed into his hold, dropping her head into his hand, opening her mouth to make space for his searching tongue… He’d never been this turned on in his life.
That he could remember, that was.
For some reason, it was that thought that gave him the presence of mind to pull back, and he did, breaking the kiss with a jerk of his head.
Remembering his lost memories was the reality check he needed, though he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because it was angels who had stolen from him, leaving him feeling like an empty shell afterward with no explanation why.
It took him another moment to gain the control to release his hold on Sunshine’s neck and step back, especially with the way she was looking at him, her chest heaving through her cloak.
Almost dreading what he’d find after having completely forgotten her presence, he turned to face Naiamah upon her throne. She was grinning so widely, the tips of her fangs were visible.
And then she started to fuckingclap.
Raum wished he had a dozen daggers hidden under his cloak so he could throw them at her, one by one, pinning her to her stupid throne like it was target practice.
“Good show,” she said, ignorant of his murderous intent. Or she just didn’t care. “That was delicious. Pure, untapped lust.” She closed her eyes and inhaled. “You can’t fake that kind of chemistry. I could sit in the midst of an orgy for a week straight and not get that much energy. Truly an invigorating display.”
He focused on flexing and relaxing his claws over and over again while reliving his knife-throwing fantasy.
“Honestly, I’d have given you what you wanted for that alone, but you already offered the gold and there are no take backsies, so it’s mine. But really.” She cackled, throwing back her head and tossing her silky hair. “I’m so supercharged from your lust, I feel like I could rip Lucifer’s head off with my bare hands and use his exposed spinal column as a dildo.”
Gross.“We gave you what you wanted,” Raum growled. “Now I want the amulets.”
“Of course, sweetheart. I’m a woman of my word. Mostly.” She winked. “I can get what you need, but I’ll need a few minutes to reach out to my contact. In the meantime, you can go downstairs and enjoy some top-quality entertainment. Or if you like, I could secure you one of our private rooms.”
“That won’t be necessary,” he bit out.
“Your loss. But you can’t wait up here. I’ll have one of my guards notify you when your product is ready.” She flicked her fingers at them in dismissal.
Grinding his teeth, Raum led Sunshine toward the exit, saying nothing.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Naiamah called out just before he started down the staircase.
He turned back.
“Will you pass on a message to Belial for me? He’s playing hard to get lately, and I’m getting lonely.”
Raum froze.
“Tell him I say hi and ‘miss you, precious.’ He loves when I call him that.” She cackled. “Oh, and tell him I said, ‘Repression never works.’ He’ll know what I mean.”
Heart pounding, Raum turned to go, but Naiamah called out once more.
“Be careful with Murmur, yes? Poor Belial put so much effort into setting up that meeting and negotiating a truce. It would be a shame for you and your…employerto mess it up now.”
As the implications of that sank in, Raum grabbed Sunshine’s arm and rushed down the stairs, Naiamah’s cheerful farewell echoing after them.
13
Conflict Of Interest
Sunshine hurried after Raum as he took long strides out of the club. They’d only had to wait a short time for the amulets to be delivered—securely stowed in a velvet bag, which Raum pocketed—but every second was excruciating.
