Carnage (Hell Hounds MC, #1) (7 page)

“And then he bit me. Didn’t even buy me dinner first. Can you believe that?”

“Leta?” Car’s head snapped around to look for the source of the voice that had been haunting him for the last three days.

“Hey, asshole. Miss me?”

She was back. Alive. Hell, she looked good. Better than good, in fact. She looked good enough to eat.

Please, don’t be another hallucination.

She was dressed in the same kind of black bike leathers that he and the other Hounds wore, and there didn’t appear to be a mark on her.

His hound howled in triumph as he surged to his feet and pulled her into his embrace. She came to him willingly, twining her arms around his neck as his mouth found hers.

Her scent wrapped around him, more intoxicating than anything he had drunk in the hours since he was banished from her side. It wasn’t until he ran a hand down her back that he noticed the first change. There were feathers under his fingers.

“Wings?” he asked before kissing her again.

“Among other things,” she answered.

“Uh, Car? Breaking rule number two again probably isn’t the best idea...” Ruin pointed out.

“Even if she is seriously hot,” Discord added, moving out of reach before the words passed his lips.

“He’s been granted an exception,” Leta said with a laugh that lit up his world.

“Don’t even look at my woman again or I’ll beat you to death with your own spine, Dis.” He uttered the warning with a low, rumbling growl and then turned his attention back to Leta. “Lucifer granted me an exception?” he asked.

“Uh huh. But only with me. I catch you stroking anyone else’s feathers, and I’ll kick your sexy ass.”

Between the copious amounts of booze he had consumed, and the fact that all the blood in his body was currently rushing to his cock, Car was having trouble following what his woman was saying. All he knew was she was back in his arms, and this time, he would die again before he let her go.

“So you’re mine? Luc accepted my offer?”

She shook her head. “Nope. He made me one instead. I’ll explain once we’re home.”

“I can’t go home. Luc killed my ability to teleport.”

“Who said you were driving?” she asked and tightened her grip on him. The next thing he knew, they were standing in his bedroom, the bed still rumpled from the last time they’d been there, what felt like a lifetime ago.

He was home, and Leta was with him. It was a fucking miracle, and those weren’t exactly in great abundance this far from Heaven.

Leta had so much power coursing through her veins she didn’t know what to do with it all. Luc had, surprisingly, been a man of his word. The second she signed the contract binding her to his service, he began teaching her about her abilities and helping her unlock gifts she never imagined she had. He also added to her powers, all in exchange for her pledge of loyalty and obedience, just the way he’d described.

She was a Hell Hound now, with the same skills as Carnage and his men. It was a lot to get used to, but Lucifer had spent hours with her, patiently showing her how to channel and control her new abilities. She had wanted to teleport back to Carnage and tell him how things were going, but Luc had vetoed that idea. He didn’t want her leaving Hell until he was certain she could manage her new skills without killing anyone, including herself.

The first time she managed to manipulate a current of air her wings had manifested, called forth because she had finally managed to connect with the element of air. She was still getting used to them, but she had almost mastered the knack of getting them to fade away when she didn’t need them.

She had learned about her father, too. It turned out Lucifer had a number of children. Her father was one of his lieutenants, a position he held for several hundred years before his death. He died in an unauthorized skirmish with some of Heaven’s enforcers. Luc didn’t understand why at the time, but now he believed Skalos died trying to protect Leta and her mother from Heaven’s wrath.

In the course of one night, her entire world changed. She had everything she ever dreamed of. A home, family, a life defined by purpose instead of mere survival, and more money than she could spend in a thousand lifetimes. The only thing she didn’t have was Carnage. She missed him every second they were apart, and judging by the passionate way he was kissing her, he had missed her, too.

The next time they came up for air, he spoke. “I need you so fucking badly right now. I want to see you, feel you. I need to prove to myself that you’re here, and this isn’t some vivid hallucination. I’ve been out of my damned mind, thinking I’d never see you again; that you were dead, or worse. I’m not letting you go, this time, Leta. He’ll have to kill me before I let him take you from me again.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” she asked, finally taking a good look at Carnage. He wasn’t simply tired; he was exhausted, with several days’ growth of beard on his face and a lifetime of pain showing in his eyes. Without thinking, she cupped his face in her hands and let a wave of healing energy flow into him, renewing his body and cleansing the nearly toxic levels of alcohol from his blood with a thought. “What happened to you?”

He laughed. A sharp, bitter sound. “Luc sent me to the weapons vault below our clubhouse, then stripped me of my ability to teleport. I was trapped there until the next morning when one of the guys came down to restock. After that, I went to Haven, started drinking and didn’t stop until you appeared.” He wound her hair around her fist and tugged her head back so she was looking straight into his eyes. “I thought I’d lost you. I know it sounds insane, but I can’t ever lose you, Leta. You’re mine...and what the fuck did you do to your eyes? They’ve got black rims now.”

“You’re a real romantic, you know that? Is there no poetry in your fucking soul? My eyes are gorgeous, and they happen to match yours, black rings and all. I think it’s pretty cool, and you better agree with me, or this reunion isn’t going to end the way I hoped it would.”

“And how did you see this ending, exactly?” he asked, his voice deepening to a sexual rumble.

“With me getting fucked by my mate. He’s an asshole, but since he went and bit me, I guess he’s going to be my asshole. Forever.” If that’s what Car wanted. If he didn’t choose to be reborn. That’s the reason she’d come back for him so quickly. She had a lot to learn, but she needed Car even more then she needed to master her new powers.

His eyes widened. “Mate?”

“Yes, mate. Didn’t Luc explain any of this to you?” She looked around his bedroom again. Everything was exactly the same as it had been yesterday. Like no one had been here since then. A slick, sick feeling started in her gut. Something wasn’t right.

“I haven’t seen that bastard since he threw me out of my own house three fucking days ago.”

“You’re not making sense. Luc came for me yesterday evening. We talked. He promised me you were safe, and he wasn’t going to punish you. It was part of the deal I made with him. He said he’d send someone to tell you I was okay and would be back soon...are you telling me he didn’t?” Her stomach twisted as understanding dawned. Luc had lied to her. Son of a bitch. She should have known better.

“Did he also happen to mention he’s the Prince of Lies? It’s not a pretty turn of phrase, sweet cheeks, it’s his
modus operandi
. Time doesn’t pass the same on the other planes. You’ve been gone for days, not hours. And while he didn’t hurt me, he left me without my powers and no idea what was happening to you, which was fucking torture, so yeah, he punished me indirectly for what I did. He’s an expert at loopholes.”

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Car. Fuck. I’m so sorry.” Guilt slammed through her, making her heart stutter and a slow-burning rage ignited in her soul. Somehow, she was going to make Luc pay for this.

Car kissed her, cutting off her apologies. “You’re here now. That’s what matters. Explain what you mean about us being mates. And why you have wings, and well...everything.” He kissed her again. “Or better yet, explain it to me later. I just want to hear one thing from you right now. Tell me who you belong to.”

“You. But only if you’re sticking around. I heard you might be considering leaving all this behind and being reborn.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you. Since you’re on Team Hellfire now, that means I’ll be staying.” He gripped her hips and spun her around so that she was facing away from him. “Get naked. Fast. You’re about to get your wish about how this reunion ends.”

Leta tossed him a sultry look over one shoulder, then manifested a set of impressive claws and shredded her own outfit.

“You’ve got claws, too?” he asked, already tearing off his own clothes the same way she had.

“And fangs. All part of the Hell Hound package. You’re stuck with me now, Car. At least until that part of my contract is up in...oh.... about five hundred years.” She was bound to Lucifer until the end of days. After all, she had agreed to fight for him in the final battle, but for now, she was signed to the same contract as the other Hell Hounds. Her duty was to Lucifer, and her job was to go where he told her to go and hunt the creatures she’d already been hunting. The dark, dangerous beings who preyed on the innocent and lived in a world of nightmares.

Carnage stepped out of the tattered remains of his clothes, then picked Leta up and set her on the bed so that her pert ass was on display for him. Fuck, she was beautiful, and she was all his. She had actually chosen to make herself like him. It was the most humbling, sexiest thing he could imagine. “Five hundred years isn’t going to be enough, you know. I’m going to want you forever.”

He slapped her ass, loving the way her delicate skin bloomed pink where he had struck her. “That’s for vanishing for days and making me think you were dead.”

She made a muffled squeak, but when she looked back at him again, her eyes were glowing with arousal, not anger. “I didn’t know Luc kept you in the dark. I really am sorry about that. I thought we’d train for one night then I’d be back to tell you all about it.”

He spanked her again, on the other cheek this time. “That’s for trusting the Prince of Lies. He may be our king, but you can’t trust that bastard at all.”

She moaned softly, her head falling forward, dark hair spilling over the mattress. “I’ll have to remember that in future.”

Car leaned in so that he could see the sweet, slick folds of her pussy framed between her smooth thighs. “One more thing you need to remember, sweet cheeks.” He nipped the pink flesh of one cheek, then kissed the sting away a moment later. “You’re a Hell Hound now, and that means I’m your leader. Disobey me, and I’ll have to punish you.”

“Cheat on me, and I’ll neuter you,” she countered. “You might be the leader of the Hell Hounds, but as it turns out, I’m the granddaughter of the King of Hell.”

“You have yourself a deal, mate. Wait, what did you say? Granddaughter?” He sputtered.

“Uh huh. Your mate’s a princess, or so I’ve been told. It was news to me, too.”

“Never fucked a princess before,” Car muttered.

“Now you’re never going to fuck anything else. I’m yours, but you’re mine, and I will kill any woman who so much as looks at you wrong.”

Car didn’t do relationships. Not when he was mortal, and certainly not after he became a Hound. Things were different now, though. Leta didn’t have anything to worry about. Whatever this mating thing was, it had him by the balls and wasn’t letting go...and he was fine with it.

He slid a finger into her pussy, working it into her tight channel as she moaned and pressed backward against his hand. She was wet and welcoming, already primed for his cock, and he knew he couldn’t wait any longer. They had centuries to make slow love to each other, but tonight, he needed to fuck her until neither of them could move.

“You’re the only woman I want. Even when I thought you were dead, you were all I wanted. Tell me you’re ready for me,” he said, already fisting his cock and moving into position behind her as he pumped his fingers in and out of her channel.

“Fuck, yes. I’ve missed you.”

He flicked a finger over her G-spot then withdrew his hand, replacing it with his dick. She moaned again and rocked backward, taking the tip of him inside her before he even moved. He gripped her hips and thrust home, sinking into her heat with a low groan. Being inside her was even better than he remembered. Her inner walls flexed around him, and he let himself go, pounding into her hard and fast, holding nothing back as he laid claim to what was his.

She took him easily, moaning each time he buried himself to the hilt. He reached up and stroked one of her ebony wings, and she trembled, her soft noises of desire growing more desperate with every touch. Soon they were both panting, skin slick with sweat, both of them lost in a perfect storm of passion.

She braced her arms on the bed and pushed back against him, meeting him thrust for thrust. He wrapped an arm around her, drawing her up so that she was kneeling, her back pressed to the solid bulk of his chest. He filled her with every arch of his hips, gripped tight in the slick heat of her pussy. He groaned her name as the need to come hit him hard, and he gave into it, emptying himself into her with long, hard jets.

She gripped his wrist, lifting his arm to her lips. Her fangs were buried deep into his flesh before he knew what she was doing. She bit him hard, drawing blood and sealing the bond between them the same as he had done to her. She shuddered and came on a wild cry that reverberated off the walls.

His teeth sank into her throat a heartbeat later, and the two of them rode out the last seconds of their orgasms locked together in a moment that seemed to go on forever.

When she finally released him, she pressed a kiss to the spot where she had bitten him, sending a gentle pulse of healing energy into the wound before whispering a single word. “Mine.”

“You got that right, sweet cheeks. I always said that you were mine. It just took you a while to realize I was right.”

“Asshole.”

He nuzzled her neck and chuckled softly. “I love you, too.”

* * * *

L
ucifer cleared the image from his scrying mirror with an idle wave of his hand, then picked up his drink and toasted himself. “That worked out even better than I hoped. Well done, me.”