Page 39 of Jackal's Pride
I was ready for her now.
I made my way to the cage. Inside, Maureen sliced open a demon’s neck. Blood squirted as he collided with the mat. She saw me staring and glared.
“You’re up next,” Fear told me.
No doubt Maureen had a say in this. “Who’s my opponent?” I asked, never taking my eyes off her.
“Me.”Maureen. She twirled two twin blades around in her hands and beckoned me forward with her chin.
I hadn’t expected this outcome, but my pulse beat rapidly in my neck at the prospect of more blood. “But the collar?” We both knew the collar couldn’t hold me back anymore as long as I could fight past the pain. I was willing to play this game with her, anyway.
“Shut up and get in here.” She twisted around and ignored my question.
All right. Our game was long over. She could no longer tolerate me. This was what I wanted in the beginning, but that was not the outcome I desired now. I did as she asked though.
When I was inside the cage, Fear locked us inside and Maureen finally faced me again. “I give you permission to try to hurt me.”
She made it easy on me but why? I almost chuckled as I arched a brow at her. There was no way she’d defeat me, especially now that I didn’t have the pain of the collar to worry about. “Are you sure?” I asked her.
She held a hand close to her hip and huffed haughtily as her forehead furrowed in the middle. The glint in her eyes was murderous. “Don’t underestimate me.”
“Don’t take me for a fool because I’ve been sleeping,” I responded in the same confident and furious tone.
“You know how this works. Considering you’re both entities, the first one to kill the other wins. Only once, then no more.” I didn’t miss the warning in Fear’s voice as he squinted at Maureen then me. “All right, begin.” He smacked the cage, made up of bones, and stepped away.
Maureen was in motion. She screamed like a Viking as she charged at me, but when I braced myself for impact she faded. I barely had time to sense her re-fading behind me. I sidestepped. Her blade tore into my shoulder instead of my chest. Not that I had a heart for her to carve out. But it was better to err on the safe side.
I roared in fury. That was close. She wasn’t wasting time. Removing the blade, I twisted around. She aimed for my chest again, but I caught her hand. “My little fighter, do you wish to kill me so badly?”
“Yes.” She kicked me in the groin. I dropped her hand and tumbled back several steps. “We both know you’re planning your worst the moment that collar breaks.”
“Thatwasthe truth,” I acknowledged, rubbing my shoulder as it knitted back together. “But oh, how those plans have changed. Now, I want something unprecedented.”
Her eyes flickered. Suddenly her pretty orbs appeared several shades darker. “You should have listened,” she warned me. “You could have gone back to sleep instead of pissing me off!”
“You are the reason I can’t sleep,” I growled. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of slumbering as long as I got you.”
“You don’t have me.”
“But I do.”
I breathed her in, soaking up every detail. The hatred in her eyes. The shimmer beneath her skin that was waiting to break free and get a hold of me. The rapid fire of her heartbeat, and the outrageous way it pulsed along the vein in her neck. My eyes drooped, getting heavier as a craving gripped me, claiming me from the inside out. Oh, how I wanted her. It was almost choking—the way it wrapped around my neck and pulled me toward her.
The one hundred and thirty-seven hearts did nothing but encourage my behavior. They knew I had no intention of killing her in this ring. My driving goal was to prove to everyone that the Grim Reaper’s daughter belonged to me and no one else.
Even if I had to steal her body and feast upon it while every demon watched.
“I belong to no one,” she shot back.
It was because of those words that I had to show her how wrong she was. For if any soul could belong to another, hers was mine to take and keep. Her enticing scent spoke enough for the both of us.
I grabbed her wrist. She jerked away and sliced my chest with one of her thin blades. Blood oozed down my stomach. As I stalked across the mat, the slash knitted together.Slash, slash, slash.She cut my chest and face before I caught both of her wrists in one hand. I squeezed, then dug my fingers into the tendons. She hissed, pain marring her dark, stormy eyes. She bared her teeth at me.
The blades clattered to our feet, her palms unable to keep hold of them from the pressure of my grip. Letting go of her, I wrapped her around the torso and tossed her to the ground like a rag doll and straddled her long, lithe body. So enticing. The fighter in her kicked and thrashed beneath me. Her struggle was reminiscent of a female wolf picking her mate. It didn’t happen until he conquered her. Grim’s daughter and I had so much in common. She gave herself to no one, but she would for someone worthy.
“This marks the day that you submit to me.” I rubbed my nose through her hair and inhaled. Her rage, chaotic and spicy, collided with her lavender and sweet lust. The combined scents overloaded my senses, overriding my presence with hers until I couldn’t differentiate between her and me. It was as if Maureen was becoming a part of me. All the other smells in the room paled in comparison to hers.
Her palm caught my shoulder. Pressing hard, she tried to lift me up, but couldn’t. It was no struggle to keep my body over hers. There was a fight in her eyes though. I still hadn’t reached her yet. I still hadn’t conquered her. My attention went to her other hand where she shoved it between us, then she balled her fist up—I detected her movement between our bodies. It was like something was in her grip. She smiled like she was winning yet I knew there was nothing she held in her hand when she crammed it between the small bit of space between our chests. She whispered with triumph. “Pride submits to no one.”