Slay My Soul
Chapter 32 Max

I grunt as Eve smashes my face with a left hook and follows it with a swift kick to my kidneys. I know she has her genes all activated bar one, but she was a well-known prodigy before that when she was just a wolf. Fuck, even Garret has kicked my ass. Where is my prodigy-ness thing? I am built like a tank, but the few hits I land on her don't get so much as a hint of a reaction from the woman opposite me. I call bullshit on the gene pool. Mine is clearly lacking.

Of course, it doesn't help that we returned from raiding another convoy a few days ago, and Eve was pissed as hell. The unmarked trucks were full of people. Walking blood bags for the vampires, and not willing ones. We were shocked to replace the truck drivers are part of a massive human trafficking ring. The most recent heist had children among the adults. The thought of those children being fed on against their will had sent Eve off the deep end. What she had done to the truck drivers had made what she had done to Magda, look like a sweet tea party. Eve's sanity is slipping. I know deep down that it is the broken bond with Reece dying that is responsible for her downward spiral. If true mates die, the one left behind either dies soon after, dies slowly, or descends into madness.

Eve has managed to channel her madness into fighting the enemy, and it has acted as a release for her crazy, dark side. The fact that she isn't attacking innocent people, blows me away. The mental discipline that it requires is something I can't even begin to fathom. Her violent releases don't make me want her any less. If anything the control she exhibits leaves me in awe of her. Carino has a theory that when I mate Eve it might slow or stop it from getting worse, but he doubts she will get back to where she was prior to Reece's death. Judging by the recent blood bath she has played in, I need to move up my plans. Instead of waiting for Eve to come to me on her terms, I may need to try and outright seduce her.

I am so stuck in my own head, dodging blows and dealing with them on auto-pilot that I'm surprised when I connect full force with her jaw, snapping her head to the side. I blink and realize her arms have lowered to her sides. She has left herself open on purpose. She grins and licks the blood trickling from her now split lip.

"You hit like a little bitch," she smirks, raising her arms back up in defense. I growl and swing with all my strength, only to hit her full force again when she suddenly drops her hands again.

"Fuck!" I curse, as she makes gagging noises from the blow to her trachea, but also makes a wheezing snorting noise. The little shit is laughing at me.

"Again," She wheezes, eyes dancing happily as she grins at me.

"Eve, I'm not going to hit you for shits and giggles. Either fight properly or we are done here," I growl, my pride smarting.

"Again!" She demands, eyes hardening. I back away. I don't know what is going on but I am not going to willingly hit the woman I have fallen hard for.

"What's this actually about Eve? You know this isn't normal behavior, right?" I ask cautiously.

"You know this doesn't exactly work normally these days," she states, tapping her temple. "One day it's going to go completely. My grips slipping." She looks at me and I see Eve, pre-Reece, peeking back at me for a moment. "I try and ease it off with our enemies. Hurting others helps, but feeling pain myself, helps ground me too. Please, Max, I need this." The desperate tone of her voice twists my insides and for a moment I consider it, just to stop her from feeling the way she does. I curse under my breath and wrack my brain for another way to help her.

"We do this my way, or not at all," I state suddenly, mind made up. She nods eagerly and my heart breaks a little. How have the others not realized how bad things have gotten? God, some of them even egg her on when her violence is let loose. Is it because they want her to purge herself as much as possible? Or because some of them are already as twisted as she has become and they get off on it? I will honor her wishes. I will hurt her. However, she will enjoy it - my way. I walk her over to the weights bench and make her kneel on the ground, leaning over the bench. She cocks an eyebrow but does as she is told. I reach down and tear her pants from her violently. "Count as we go," I demand.

"What?" She asks, her face scrunching up in confusion. Wondering what the fuck I am doing. My hand hits her toned ass with a loud crack. Her head shoots up, eyes going wide.

"Did you just spank me!" She demands, outraged.

"Count!" My hand cracks her ass again. She moves to get up and I slam her cheek down on the bench seat and pin it there. She starts thrashing and I smack her ass in a quick-fire round. She makes a little noise after the sixth quick crack, as her ass becomes tender. "Count!" I grit out, stopping myself from caressing her bright red curve. I hit her full force again.

"One," she breathes out quietly, testing it on her tongue.

"I can't hear you," I snap. "Louder!" Smack!

"One!" She growls.

"Don't use that tone with me. Count and say thank you after each one," I demand. Smack. She flinches.

"One!"

"Try again. It's one, thank you. Two, thank you," I snarl.

"You're welcome," she coos, wagging her ass at me. I growl and wail on her ass, seeing my vision redden as her ass does. "Ow! She exclaims, trying to wiggle away. "Fine! One, thank you!" She yells. I stop and stroke her burning cheek. The muscles in her neck relax a tiny bit.

"Good girl," I praise and her muscles relax even further. She gives a soft sigh. Praise kink. Definitely, something to keep in my back pocket. I raise my hand and strike her ass again.

"Two, thank you." I rub her cheek again. We continue on to fifteen. By then I'm not just rubbing her toned globe, I'm massaging it. I am hitting the exact same spot every time. It has to hurt like a bitch by now. She won't be sitting on it anytime soon in the future. By thirty she is definitely feeling it.

By forty she is on the edge, a slight whimper on the edge of her voice. By fifty she is begging me to stop. She is so close. Fifty-seven finally brings her the release she needs. A sob escapes her lips instead of the number. This is what she needed, to be brought down to earth and confront her emotions. It is a true emotional release. She needs to purge her inner darkness.

"You did so well," I praise, soothing her raw ass gently. "Let it all out. That darkness, that sadness, that guilt, all the things that make you feel bad, and then I'm going to make you feel so good," I croon to her. Big heaving sobs shake her shoulders as she mutters and curses to the Fates. I use the grip I had on the back of her neck to drag her into my lap and I rub her back while Eve cries her heart out. I'm unsure how long we sit on the ground, but eventually, Eve's sobs settle into little hiccups and then taper off completely.

"Thank you," she whispers into my shoulder. "I didn't know that's what I needed." I kiss the top of her head and she raises her tear-streaked face up to look at me. Some girls ugly cry, Eve just looks beautiful.

"Now I'm going to make you feel better," I say, wiping a rogue tear from her cheek. I reach down and pull her sports bra over her head. Leaving her completely naked to me. I lower my head down and let my lips touch hers gently, before adding pressure and siding my tongue into her mouth. She lets out a moan into my mouth and I grasp her hair and angle her head more while I deepen the kiss, further stifling a groan. I was obsessed with her lush mouth before, now I am fucking addicted. It takes everything I have to pull away and start exploring my way down her body. There is so much more of her to discover and become equally addicted to.

I take my sweet time exploring her and testing her responses to the touch of my fingers, the brush of my lips, and the edge of my teeth. Finally, I arrive at the holy grail. My tongue darts out to taste. I thought her skin tasted amazing, but her glistening pussy leaves it far behind. Her honeydew is beyond words. Sweet and addictive, a drug. I dive in, loving the sounds that erupt from her mouth. I devour her and worship her. I don't slow down or tease. I keep going and introduce my fingers to her tight soaked hole, relishing the thighs that tighten around my ears as she comes to the edge. I suck up all the dew that gushes as she orgasms with my name on her lips like a prayer. I lick her gently as she pulses and comes back down to earth. Then I crawl up her body and position myself at her entrance, while I reclaim her mouth. I brace myself to slide in, heart beating in my chest. I am going to claim my mate in every way possible. I pull my head back so I can watch her reaction to me entering her for the first time. Her pupils are blown wide with lust. I grip her hips tighter and nudge my tip in, watching her lips part in anticipation. We have danced around each other too long, the bond is going to turn us into beasts once we truly get started. I push in a little bit further, feeling her clench around the head.

The door flies open to the gym.

"We got another convoy to raid! Chop, chop!" Luka calls out, eyes flitting over the gym till he spots us among the weights on the floor. "Oh fuck," he curses. A loud growl of warning flows out of my throat. "Shit man, I am so, so sorry!" Luka grits out, clearly pissed at what he knows he has just fucked up.

"Rain check," Eve whispers, pulling away from me gently. I groan. The pain from being so close to claiming her, momentarily cripples me, as I realize it is not going to happen now. My bond screams at me to complete it.

"Eve, you guys can stay. We got this," Luka pleads.

"You guys don't get to go without me, you know my rules. We don't lose any more of our circle." She hurries off to the locker room for clothes.

"I cannot express how sorry I am," Luka apologizes. The importance of what he interrupted, hitting him hard.

I glare at him as I pull my pants up and adjust my painful erection.

"I will cock block the shit out of your ass for the rest of our lives," I hiss at him in frustration. "This damn raid better have something dripping in fucking diamonds to fucking excuse this. I pray for your future health this goes smoothly and fast, so I can finish what I started."

"Me too man," Luka whispers. "Believe me, me fucking too."