Desire Unchained (9 page)

“Yes.” It was an extension of the
dermoire
running up his arm … a knotted collar around

his neck. She reached out to touch it, but he shied away.

“Don’t.” His voice was low and rough. “I’m having a hard time controlling myself. The

things I want to do to you …”

Her heart thundered in her chest. Jumped to her throat so she could barely find her voice.

“Is … is that normal?”

“I’ve heard that taking a mate before The Change brings it on faster.” His gaze darkened

until the whites of his eyes had nearly been consumed by the black. “Because of the permanent supply of sex.”

The mere word, the possessive intensity in his expression, nearly had her moaning.

“Think again, buddy. I’m not going to be your little sex slave.” She hoped that sounded more

convincing to him than it did to her.

Shade put more distance between them, but the way his body was coiled, the way he

watched her, reminded her of a panther ready to pounce. “That’s not how it works.” He fingered

his throat. “Are there one or two rings?”

“One.”

“There will be two once the
s’genesis
is complete. The first one means I’m bonded. The

second means I’m fertile. You’ll develop arm markings that match mine in a few minutes. Since

the lycanthropy altered your DNA, you’re no longer fully human, so the bonding shouldn’t kill

you.”

Shouldn’t?

This was really, really not good. She shoved to her feet and started to pace, the wolf

blood itching just beneath the surface of her skin. “Okay, how do we unbond?”

He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “We don’t.”

“What do you mean,
we don’t
? There has to be a way. A spell, a ritual—”

“
There isn’t.
” He rubbed his jaw again. “Fuck.”

It occurred to her that she should be more upset, but since they were probably both going

to die sometime in the next day or so, mating for life didn’t seem like a big deal.

“For fun, let’s say we survive the Ghouls. What does being bonded mean for me? For

us?”

He stood, paced for a moment, his toned body a thing of beauty as he walked. “Forced

fidelity, for one thing. Neither one of us can willingly have sex with another. You’ll feel pain if

you try. I won’t be able to get it up. It means we will sense each other’s arousal no matter how

far apart we are. We’ll feel each other’s emotions. I can feel your anger right now.”

“I’ll just bet you can.” She glared at him. “So this all sounds pretty shitty. Why would

anyone do this? I mean, I get that it might make things easier on you, but why would women do

this?”

“Not women. Our blood is toxic to humans, so we can’t bond with them.”

“Fine. Females, then. Why would demon females bond with you?”

“Demons do fall in love, you know,” he snapped. “Females do want to keep the male

they love from going insane and fucking everything that moves.” He took a deep breath, and

when he spoke again, he was calmer. “Some species get longer lifespans out of the deal. Prey

species get a protector in a mate. There are lots of reasons a female might bond with a Seminus

demon.”

“What about werewolves?”

“Out-of-this-world orgasms.”

She stared. “
That’s it?
Great sex? I’m forced to deal with you for the rest of my life and

all I get out of it is great sex?”

“
Better
than great sex,” he said, sounding a little put out.

She reached for her clothing, scattered around her. “This is just great.” And she wasn’t

talking about her panties, which had been shredded.

“I’m not real happy either, princess.”

She resisted the urge to snap at him. This wasn’t his fault. “What’s up with your brother?

Why is he so …”

“Psycho?”

“That works.”

“He’s always been off kilter. He was born to Neethul slavemasters, an extremely cruel

race. When he went through his
s’genesis,
he lost what few marbles he had.”

She tugged on her jeans, and at some point she must have growled, because he shot her a

curious glance.

“You’re close, aren’t you?”

In answer, her muscles tightened painfully, as though they were being separated from the

bones. “The full moon is almost here.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. As soon as I change, they’re going to skin me.”

Shaking his head slowly, Shade fingered his earring. “I don’t think so. Roag bonded us

for a reason.”

“So he won’t kill me?”

He met her gaze. “Oh, he’ll kill you,” he said quietly. “But not yet. I think he has

something far worse planned.”

Doctor Gemella Endri stood in the physicians’ lounge at Underworld General, watching

Wraith pace while Eidolon and Kynan tried to calm him.

The futility of their efforts was heartbreaking. Wraith had been coming apart at the seams

for hours now. Even his clothes hadn’t been able to stand up to the stress. His T-shirt had been

stretched irreparably at the neck from his hands’ constantly tugging at it as though it had been

strangling him. She figured that as much as he’d been pacing, his combat boots’ soles should be

completely worn down.

Shoving both hands through his hair, he stopped walking and threw his back against the

dark gray wall covered with incantations written in blood—protective spells that prevented

violence. Mostly. He and his brothers were exempt from the violence restriction.

“I still can’t locate him. Dammit, I can’t find him!”

Eidolon looked up from where he sat across from Gem, his dark eyes haunted. The

ambulance Shade and Skulk had been driving had been found, but there had been no sign of the

demons, and everyone in the hospital was operating in worry mode. “Can you feel him at all?”

Wraith stared at the ceiling, which was as dark as the walls. “I get blips of him when he’s

in pain, but they don’t last. Someone must have put a masking spell on him or something.”

“It’s the Ghouls, isn’t it?” Kynan voiced what they had all been thinking, and Gem drew

an anxious breath.

“
No.
” Wraith shot across the room and slammed Kynan against the wall, which began to

pulse as the threat of violence rose. He shoved his forearm into Ky’s throat, putting pressure on

the jagged scars running from Ky’s jaw to his clavicle. “Don’t say that. Don’t even
think
it.”

Kynan didn’t react, other than to watch Wraith with calm eyes. What he’d said was right

on target, and they all knew it. Just this morning an Oni demon had been brought in, her tongue

and three eyes harvested by Ghouls, which only intensified their worry.

“Let him go, Wraith,” Eidolon said in a soft, soothing voice. “Concentrate on Shade.”

Several agonizing heartbeats ticked by before Wraith finally shoved away from Kynan. “I

gotta get out of here.”

Eidolon stood, adjusting his stethoscope to keep it from sliding off his neck. “Wraith …”

The warning in his voice was as sharp as a scalpel blade.

“Spare me the just-say-no lecture, bro.” Wraith stalked out of the lounge, and with a

curse, Eidolon followed, leaving Gem alone with Kynan.

“That is one messed-up demon,” Ky muttered, rubbing his throat as he snagged a Red

Bull from the staff fridge. Gem had to pry her gaze away from the way his scrubs hugged his fine

ass as he bent over.

“I think we’re all a little messed up,” she said tiredly.

“You mean everyone? Or just demons?” Ky popped the top while watching her with

those denim-colored eyes that always made her breath come a little faster. “Like you.”

The blunt reminder put her in her place. He was a human who used to kill demons for a

living, who now had every reason to hate them. Yet he worked with them, socialized with them,

and at UG, he healed them. Still, he couldn’t see beyond what she was. Couldn’t see how badly

she wanted him.

Granted, the wounds he’d suffered when his wife betrayed him were still raw, but Gem

wanted desperately to heal him, if only for her own selfish reasons.

She loved Kynan Morgan, and had for years.

Didn’t matter that he was no longer the man she’d fallen in love with. The demon half of

her rejoiced at the loss of his purity, his
goodness.
The human half wept, longed to see him whole again.

“Gem?” Kynan’s hand came down on her shoulder, startling her out of her pathetic

musings but soothing her with his heat.

God, he was hot. Dark, spiky hair, blue eyes, deeply tanned skin. His athletic build was

made for marathons both in and out of bed.

“Ah, Gem?”

She blinked. “Sorry. I’m distracted.”

“We’re all worried about Shade and Skulk.”

“Are you? Truly?” Her question came out more sharply than she’d intended, and she

carefully leveled her voice with the next one. “Do you honestly worry about them?”

“You think I don’t care because they’re demons?”

“It occurred to me.”

“I’ve known humans who were more evil than either of them.”

The answer gave her hope, a light, fluttery feeling in her belly. “Could you … could you

ever, um, be with a demon?” The question was out of her mouth before she could take it back.

Vocal cord damage sustained during his Army days had left him with a rough, gravelly

voice, but now it went even lower and rougher. “What are we talking about? Sex?”

Her mouth went dry, and a shiver of both desire and anxiety raced through her. “I—I

don’t know. I just … could you see yourself with one?”

One long finger trailed along her jaw, the most intimate contact they’d ever had. “Never.”

With that, he stalked out of the room.

Kynan ground to a halt just outside the lounge door, his heart pounding, his breath

searing his throat. The shadowy hospital halls closed in on him, and he had to brace himself against the wall as a dizzying sense of vertigo bore down on him.

What the hell had just happened back there? In all the years he’d known Gem, he’d never

caught more than a friend-vibe from her, but suddenly, she’d seemed … wanting.

Wanting
him
? Why? He was damaged goods and a Class-A asshole. Not to mention the

fact that for over eleven months, his libido had been as dead as his wife.

But suddenly, as he stood there with Gem, his body had resuscitated as if it had been

jacked up by a defibrillator.

She’s a demon.

“Half demon,” he muttered to himself.

But the demon half is as bad as it gets.

Jesus Christ. He stood there warring with himself in the hallway, his scrub bottoms

revealing his current aroused state, and why? He’d just made clear that he could never become

involved with a demon, not even for something as shallow as sex, because sex had never been

shallow for him.

Man, the incubus brothers would laugh their asses off if they knew
that
about him. How

he’d always considered sex to be something special, to be shared between two people who cared

for each other. But it wasn’t as if he was judgmental of those who didn’t feel the same way. He’d

grown up the son of a call girl who had gotten out of the business when his wealthy, married

father paid her a large sum to keep quiet. He’d seen the best and worst of people growing up and

then again in the Army during battle. People did weird shit when they were stressed or hurt or

just because of their upbringing.

So no, he didn’t judge, and he didn’t jump to conclusions.

Maybe he’d simply misinterpreted Gem’s question. Maybe she hadn’t been talking about

sex—or, at least, sex with
her.

Maybe he was a fucking idiot, because he knew damned good and well what the

conversation had been about, and his dick knew, too.

Not that it mattered, because nothing could happen between them, no matter how sexy

she looked in her leather miniskirts and thigh-high stockings—which he just realized at this very

moment were unbelievably hot.

Fuck. He was in a shitload of trouble, and he had no idea how to dig himself out.

Six

Shade paced, thinking of a plan to get them out of the dungeon. He watched the Keepers

who came and went, trying to get a bead on their patterns, species, and sex. Seducing a female

would give them their best shot at escape, and so far, he’d seen two—the female imp who had

taken him from the cell earlier, and another who fed them.

Runa had fallen asleep a few minutes ago, so he sat next to her, back against the wall, and

thought about Roag, hoping to remember something that might shed light on why Roag blamed

Shade and his brothers for what had happened to him in the fire at Brimstone.

Runa’s soft snores lulled him as he thought about the last day he’d seen Roag alive.

The first ambulance run of the day had been a bust. By the time Shade and Skulk had

arrived at the alley where a Soulshredder had been injured, he’d died, leaving behind only a

thin, greasy oil slick on the ground. Returning from the run, Shade had turned into the

condemned parking garage, spiraling down several levels beneath the New York City streets.

Deep underground, a garage door shimmered, invisible to humans, but a beacon for demons.

Shade had punched a button on the ambulance’s dash, and the gate opened, allowing the rig to

enter. They’d emerged inside a giant parking lot adjacent to the hospital.

After parking in an ambulance stall, he’d headed for the break room, where Eidolon was

arguing with Wraith, over something stupid, no doubt. Roag was propped against one wall,