((a/n: Sorry for the delay, I needed time to heal and then life got crazy...you know, all the good stuff. Good news is that I wrote an extra long chapter (split in two parts—both posted because ily) and it is VERY spicy. plz, you know the drill. Anyways, thanks for being patient with me, babes.))

I straighten as my gut clenches, roiling like I've downed an entire bottle of vodka. I take a deep breath, bracing a hand on the leather couch underneath me as I try to reign in the aggressive nausea that bites the back of my throat.

Theo glances at me, brows raised. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," I mutter, laying a wan hand over my forehead. I expect it to be warm with sickness but the cool, slightly clammy skin of my face presses against my palm.

I take another breath, gasping when bile crawls up my throat, sprinting to the bathroom. I barely make it to the toilet before violently vomiting the contents of my stomach into the porcelain bowl.

"Whoa," Theo murmurs in the doorway, watching me wipe spittle off my mouth with the back of my hand. "You alright?"

My brow furrows. "I don't know." Besides my unsettled stomach, my heart thunders like I've sprinted a few miles. I lay a shaky hand over where it shudders in my chest. "I think something's wrong."

He frowns. "Are you pregnant?"

"What?" I jolt at the idea. "No."

He squints dubiously at me. "You sure?"

"Yes," I frown, "I'm sure, Theo."

He hums suspiciously, leaning against the doorway as he looks at me dubiously. "Amber hasn't given you anything, has she?"

I blink. "No, why?"

He looks away. "No reason."

"Are you implying she's crazy enough to poison me?"

"Well," he winces. "Kinda."

He takes another thoughtful moment of silence, brow furrowing. Something worrisome flashes over his face before he strides over and takes my wrist in his hand.

"What are you doing?" I try to jerk my arm back but his vise only strengthens, making my pulse beat dully against his skin.

He yanks my sleeve up, eyeing the skin underneath. The intense look sits strangely upon his face. "Calli," he says, eyes flickering back up to mine. "Do you feel anything else?"

I peek down at the skin curiously, stomach tightening at the serious note in his voice. The serpentine twitches on my arm, her little tongue peeking from her mouth. She winds herself taut around my arm, small body trembling with unseen pain.

A trembling breath shudders through my lungs. My stomach roils but I can't decide it's from nerves or the unsettled acid in my gut. "Maybe just my stomach?" I try and rise, a startled gasp ripping from my throat as I nearly topple over. Theo's arm winding around my waist saves me from knocking a tooth out on the toilet. "What's going on?"

He curses. "Lay down. I need to make some calls."

Before I can protest, he throws my frail body over his shoulder and deposits me in the black silk sheets of Sinclair's bed. I frown up at him as he pulls a phone from his pocket and presses it to his ear, turning his back as he speaks quietly into the microphone.

"Theo." I think about sitting up but the sudden weariness that weighs my bones makes me think better of it. "Tell me what's happening."

He ignores me, tapping his fingers absentmindedly against Sin's mahogany dresser as he listens to the person on the line speak. I gasp as his brow furrows and he slams his fist into the wood. "What the fuck do you mean? Where is he?"

I watch him with wide eyes at the unnatural display of behavior. I knew he had it in him somewhere—you have to be a tough son a bitch to have Sinclair Black handpick you to work at his side, but the display is strange nonetheless.

He lets loose an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his brown strands. "Get moving. Something's wrong. Very wrong." He glances at me before ending the call and shoving the phone back into his pocket. "I'm leaving for a bit. Don't try anything, Calli. I mean it."

I blink. "Alone?"

"Yes." He sighs, frowning at the calculated look that casts over my face. "You'll be locked in but I wouldn't try anything stupid. Sin won't be in the best mood when we haul him back."

"You're bringing him back?" My heart lurches at the sudden realization that passes through my head. The weakened state of my body, the strange and fluttery acidic feeling in my stomach. "Something's happened to him."

He looks away, jaw clenching. "Probably."

Something tightens in my chest. It's a foreign, heavy feeling that makes my heart skip a beat and draws nausea back up to my throat. "Is he going to be okay?" God help me, I shouldn't be worried for the man. If anything, I should be more concerned about the fact that my own life is at stake.

He hesitates before speaking like he wants to lie but knows better. "I don't know."

"I want to come with you."

Theo stiffens. "No."

"Yes," I throw back. "I won't be left in the dark."

His gaze catches on my arm although my sleeve covers the shifting scales underneath. "You won't be."

"Because of some stupid snake?" I pull up my shirt, scowling at its writhing form. "How's this going to tell me shit?"

"No," he says, eyes drawing back up to mine. "Because if something happens, you'll be dead."

...

Theo leaves me behind even as I beg to come along. I don't complain too much. As much as it pains me, I know I'll only slow them down in this state.

The wait seems to last an eternity as I wait for their return. When the door creaks open downstairs, I drag myself out of bed and hobble downstairs, ignoring the way my bones creak with effort.

There are a few men I don't recognize, Oliver and Theo being in the very center of the group huddled around a crumpled form.

Even near death, a strange rugged attractiveness surrounds Sin. Dark hair plasters to his forehead, his usual warm tone lightened into a sickly pallor. His eyes are closed, long dark lashes brushing the top of his sallow cheeks. Blood cakes to his white dress shirt so thickly I can't make out where the wound begins.

My legs tremble at the sight and I grapple onto the bar to steady myself. If not for my own beating heart I'd think him to be already dead.

My tongue is thick in my mouth as I speak. "What happened?"

Oliver glances at me, face cold. "You should leave."

"Where's Amber?" Theo cuts in. One of his hands is pressed to Sin's abdomen, red soaking around his fingers.

"Where?" My brow furrows. "I don't know. Why?"

Theo looks away, brows drawing together. "Go upstairs, Calli."

"Someone tell me what's going on." I hobble forward a step, ignoring how one of Sin's men takes a warning step in my direction. "He's supposed to heal himself. I've shot him in less fatal places and he's barely blinked an eye."

"Upstairs." The unfamiliar man steps forward, wrapping his large hand around the crook of my arm. "Now."

I jerk my limb back, glaring at him as his hand holds steady. "I don't know who you are but you have ten seconds to let me go before I kick you in the balls."

"Gil," his voice rasps from the couch, "take your hands off of her."

I almost sigh in relief at the sound of his deep rumble. I never realized how much enjoyment I get out of the sound until now. "Sin?"

I have to force myself to breathe when he opens his eyes. "Yeah, angel?"

"What's wrong with you?" I avoid the glare Gil gives me as I approach his weakened form. "Why aren't you healing?"

I let him raise his bloodied hand to wrap around mine, crouching next to him as he tugs at my arm. His other hand gently cups my jaw as he nudges my face into his.

His lips are gentle as they move against mine. The kiss is so tender that I'm reluctant not to move back in as he pulls away.

There's a stronger gleam in his eyes, the grip on my cheek a touch firmer. It all clicks into place in my brain. "Haven't been getting your dick wet lately, have you?"

He snorts at the crude wording. "That's one way to put it."

"I'm going to get her," Oliver sighs, impatiently striding toward the door. I can practically hear the scowl in his voice.

I frown. "Who?"

He pauses, turning toward me just so I can see the grim expression on his face. "Amber. And before you ask, you know why."

An ugly feeling fills my chest. The fact that I know Sin has already been balls deep inside of her makes me want to rip her throat out.

"No," I growl quickly, then wince at how possessive it comes out. "No. That won't be necessary." I swallow the flustered lump in my throat. "I'll do it."

Sin's hand squeezes mine. "You're not ready."

"You're dying." I squeeze back twice as hard, eyes narrowing as they meet his again. "I think my virginity is the least of our concern."

He rolls his eyes, the tiny boost of energy allowing him to push himself up against the pillows. "Everyone needs to leave."

"This isn't some domestic spat, Sin," Oliver says, looking an inch away from throttling the man. "We don't have time for this. You need to heal. Now."

Sin's mouth curls in a way I know nasty words are coming but I beat him to it. I grapple for the gun pushed into his waistband, her small handle fitting perfectly around my fingers as I aim it at Oliver's head. If he thinks he can pressure him into sleeping with that red-headed leech he has another thing coming. "Not only is it none of your business, but also not your place." I click her ammunition into place, smiling cruelly as his eyebrows raise in surprise. "Get the fuck out, Oliver."

Sin waits until everyone leaves to let loose an exasperated sigh. "Maybe I shouldn't encourage you to threaten my men but damn." He scrubs a thoughtful hand over the scruff of his jaw. "It was hard not to throw you over this couch and spread your legs from that."

I stare at him, face heating, too rattled to muster words.

"Or when you do that." The hand slides over his eyes as he kneads a weary hand over them. "Holy shit. It makes me imagine doing bad things to you, angel. Things that a little virgin girl is not prepared for."

"Like—" I swallow the growing thickness in my throat, heat growing in my core. "Like what?"

"Like how red those pretty cheeks will get when I slide into you in the first time." His hand moves away from his face to capture mine, finger sliding over my cheekbone at the thought. "Or when I fuck my fingers in that tight little pussy. Not in bed, though. Once I get a real taste I'll want you everywhere. In front of strangers, in front of my enemies." He smiles at the ruffled expression that crosses my face. My stomach tightens in a way that tells me I'm not nearly as horrified at the idea as I should be. "I'll push a finger inside of you under the table and watch you squirm and grind against my hand. And everyone will know from your flustered pink face and the expression you make when you're trying to look like it doesn't bother you."

I blink, looking away from him and trying to reign in the growing color over my face. Pretty sure it's spread all the way down to my toes at this point.

He rasps a rugged laugh. "Yeah. Just like that."

Words feel wrong in my throat so instead I press my mouth back onto his. His pace has quickened with the urgency of his words, both of our bodies heated with the image of his hands on my body.

His fingers slide into my hair as he grabs a fistful and pulls my head back just enough to trail his lips down the cut of my jaw and down to my throat. They pause over my pulse, the quickened beat shuddering over his lips.

"You're scared," he mumbles into my skin.

I scoff. "Who isn't scared of you?"

"Touché."

I ignore the festering nerves in my stomach as I climb atop the couch and straddle my legs over him, careful to avoid the wound on his stomach. I never imagined my first time being with a demon, much less one bleeding out on a couch, but I don't entirely mind. With Sin, it feels right. Things with him are dark and desperate and wrong in all the right ways.

He groans, shifting restlessly underneath me. "Angel," he warns, fitting his hands over my hips and pushing his thumbs into the crease of my thighs despite the way his brow furrows.

"What?" I've never done this before and the sense that I've gotten myself in over my head is nearly overwhelming but the hungry look that flashes over his face when I grind my hips against him sends a trill of confidence through my chest.

I shift my hips again, gasping as his cock presses against my ass. I blink, trying to decide what to do now that I've made it this far without him stopping me.

He watches intently as I slide down his body until I rest over his legs, fingers creeping over the zipper straining against his hardened cock. A strange look crosses his face, almost as if he can't decide if he wants to push my hand away or throw me over the cushion and take me ravenously.

"Angel," he murmurs, gaze transfixed over where I bare him and take his length into my palm. Sin hisses in a breath, hips jolting underneath me.

He's so warm and soft in my hands. I shift my fingers down his shaft, enjoying how nice my fingers look wrapped around his wide girth.

"Your cock looks so pretty in my hands." I lean forward, a fresh shade of pink dusting the tops of my cheeks as I press a soft kiss to the precum that beads at his head.

He grunts, hips rolling in search for more friction. "Don't think anyone's ever called my dick pretty before."

I hum in acknowledgment and lick the stickiness off my lips. It's a little sweet, mostly a bit strange tasting, but not unpleasant. My tongue gently laps up the remaining bead and tails down his shaft.

His hand finds my hair again. It squeezes gently but doesn't pull my head away. "Angel," he mutters stiffly.

I glance up at him. "Am I doing something wrong?" I bite back a smile as I slowly lower my mouth around him, rolling my tongue over his tip, his gaze burning around my touch.

"No," he says, throwing his head back as he shudders around me. "No, fuck. That mouth is so perfect."

"Can I—" I pause at the sheer flustered mortification that blooms inside at uttering such words. "Can I suck it?"

He curses, head tilting back up the memorize the way I cup his cock closely near my face as I stare unsurely up at him.

His hand slides down to cup my cheek, his thumb tenderly rubbing over my cheekbone. "Fuck, angel. I know I shouldn't but when you look at me like that," he pauses, gaze searching mine. "Goddamn it, who could say no to those eyes?"

I frown. If anything, I've always considered my eyes a bit strange. "How do you mean?"

"They're like two little stars. So warm and strong. The most beautiful thing I've ever seen." His thumb slithers up to trace my brow. "You're beautiful, angel. So beautiful."

A soft breath passes through my lips. "You think so?"

"Yeah." He shudders around my lips as I lower my mouth back onto his cock, running a warm hand over the top of my head. "My beautiful girl."