by Susan Hayes
He expected her to fight him. He was even looking forward to it, and she didn’t disappoint him. Her teeth closed on his lower lip with enough strength to draw blood. The taste of him on her lips sent his hound into a frenzy. He wanted this, wanted her marked with his scent, with his blood, so that everyone would know she belonged to him, and him alone.
“Mine,” the word came out in a low growl.
She tore her mouth from his, stomping on his foot hard enough he was thankful that his boots had steel toes. “What are you, a seagull from that fish movie? I’m not yours.”
He locked his arms around her and lifted her until her feet were dangling several inches off the ground. “You’re wrong. You are mine, Leta.”
“I’m not wrong. You’re insane. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want you to take me to see Lucifer. Now!”
“No.” Car couldn’t think straight, couldn’t focus on anything but the woman in his arms. No one was taking her away from him, not even the Devil himself.
“Put. Me. Down,” she insisted and kicked him in the shin.
“Not doing that, either,” he told her, then lifted his head as the distant wail of sirens caught his attention. “Fuck.”
“Looks like we’re going to see the big guy whether you want to or not. We sure can’t stay here any longer. The nice lady in the diner must have called the cops when she saw the big, scary biker coming after one of her customers.”
“Or she saw her customer pull a knife on a total stranger and then try to set the place on fire. You’re not exactly innocent here, sweet cheeks. In case you’ve forgotten, I did invite you to come with me, nice and polite like. You’re the one who went all stabby-stabby.”
“Either way, we’re going to Hell now, right?”
“Wrong again.” Car whistled sharply, and his bike started on its own. With a throaty roar it revved up then peeled out of the parking lot, headed for the open road.
“You’re fucking kidding me. Your bike is a robot?”
He chuckled. “Nope. My bike used to be a horse. I’ll introduce you to him another time. For now, he can lead the cops a merry chase while the two of us go somewhere we won’t be interrupted. And before you try to roast me again, keep in mind that I’m fireproof, and so is everything else where we’re going.”
“And where—”
He teleported away while she was still mid-sentence. There was only one place he could possibly take her. It was insane, but it was also the last place Luc would think to look for a bounty hunter that was supposed to be on a mission.
He would have to bring her to his home in Purgatory.
8
Leta
“—are we going?” Leta finished her sentence as they rematerialized. The words weren’t even out of her mouth before she knew wherever he’d taken her, it wasn’t anywhere on Earth. The light was strange for one thing, dim and cast in dingy hues of yellow and orange. Her skin itched as unfamiliar magicks buzzed at the edges of her mind and a deep sense of wrongness overcame her. This wasn’t her home plane, and it wasn’t anywhere she wanted to be.
A quick glance around didn’t offer any clues as to her location. They were in a room with dark wood paneling on the walls and dark stone floors under foot. Everywhere she looked were antique furnishings and shelves full of books, some of them so old they looked like they were bound with leather or cloth. Instead of overhead lights, oil lamps and candles burned, adding their flickering light to the dim glow from the windows.
“Where are we? Some kind of museum?” she asked as she took in her surroundings.
“We’re not in a museum,” he answered, and she could swear there was a note of insult in his tone.
“Then where the hell are we?”
“You just answered your own question. Welcome to Hell, sweet cheeks. Well, Purgatory anyway.” He swung her around so she could see that they were standing in what looked like a study, with hallways and doors leading off in several different directions. “This is my home.”
I’m literally in Hell. Fan-fucking-tastic.
“Hang on, I thought demons…I mean the fallen, lived in Hell proper. Isn’t Purgatory the halfway house for human souls that weren’t evil enough to be sent to Hell, but had screwed up too much to get into Heaven?”
“It is. I’m not one of the fallen, I just work for them.” He shrugged his massive shoulders and started walking down a dimly lit hall, dragging her with him.
Leta tried to wrap her head around the fact that the most fearsome creatures in Hell’s infernal army weren’t fallen angels at all. “You’re human?”
“I was, once.”
“You were human, but you let Lucifer turn you into something else. Who does that? What exactly are you, Carnage?”
His lips curved up into a dark smile. “Horny.”
His answer should have pissed her off. If anyone else had uttered those words, they’d be spitting out the shattered remains of their dental work right now. For some reason, when he said it, her heart raced, her pussy got wet, and her clit started throbbing in time with her pulse. It was insane, but right now she was tempted to lean in and kiss him until neither of them could remember their names.
Instead of giving in, she bit the inside of her cheek to break the spell. Once she could think again, she poked a finger into the massive wall of his chest. “Whatever sexual whammy voodoo thing you’re trying here, it’s not going to work. I’m not interested.”
He laughed, turned, and pressed her up against the nearest wall until their mouths were only a fraction of an inch apart. “Little liar. You want me as bad as I want you. I can smell it. You’re already wet for me, and I can hear your heart pounding like a war drum right now. Whatever this is, we’ve both got it bad. I’m betting it would feel so damned good if we gave in and let this happen.”
“I’m an abomination,” she reminded him.
He raised a blond brow and gave her a panty-melting grin. “And I’m the Devil’s bounty hunter. What’s your point?”
She struggled to find one, but it was impossible to think past the urgent demands of her body. She wanted him like a junkie craved her next fix, and for the life of her, she couldn’t think of a reason to deny herself one last moment of pleasure. There had been so few of them in her life, and she wasn’t likely to get a chance to experience anymore. Not once he delivered her to Lucifer.
“This is an incredibly bad idea,” she murmured before closing the tiny space between their mouths and sealing his with a kiss. After a lifetime of running, Leta was tired of it all. Just this one time, she wanted to taste what it was like to have something she wanted, no matter how insane it was, or what the price would be.
She had never had a home, or friends, or anything resembling a normal childhood. All she ever had was her mother, and Atariel had died years ago, sacrificing herself to save her little girl. The vampires had only found them because her younger self had lacked the discipline to shield herself from detection. It was her fault, she had been weak, and her mother had paid the price. She carried the guilt of that knowledge around with her like iron chains she couldn’t break.
She had been the cause of so many deaths. So many lives snuffed out because they came in contact with her. That’s all it took. Death followed her like a shadow, threatening anyone she ever dared to get close to. This one time, she would let herself feel something. After all, Carnage was a fucking Hell Hound. If anyone could defy death, it had to be him.
9
Carnage
Her kiss was all the permission Car needed to take what he craved. Man and beast were in perfect harmony as he set her on her feet, then crowded her against the wall once more. She was his, and he was going to show her exactly what that meant.
Their tongues dueled, and their hands tore at each other’s clothing as both of them gave in to the inevitable. This was meant to happen. It had to happen. He knew it with a certainty he didn’t understand and didn’t bother to question. It was the truth, and that was enough for him
.
He went to strip his shirt off and paused as he realized there was one last obstacle he needed to remove. They were still bound together by the manacles on their wrists, the ones that blocked her abilities, including teleportation.
“Swear to me you won’t leave me,” he demanded, the words coming out with more than a hint of a growl.
Her head snapped back, and she stared at him in bewilderment and anger. “This again? I’m not yours, and I’m not swearing anything of the kind. This is just my last hurrah before the end, big guy.”
He blinked at her in confusion, playing over what he had meant to say… and what had actually come out of his mouth. Yeah, he was losing his fucking mind, and it was all her fault. “Promise you won’t teleport your sexy ass out of here, and I’ll take off the cuff. That’s all I meant.” He jerked the chain that connected them. “Otherwise getting naked is going to be tricky.”
“Oh.” She actually looked flustered for a second, and that flash of vulnerability made her even sexier. It was the first time he’d seen her softer side, even if it was only for an instant.
“I’m not going to run. You can take it off. Like I said, this is my last chance to play before what’s probably going to be the end of my life. Besides, I know what you are, and what you can do. If I run, you’ll track me down again. It’s what you do, right?”
“It’s what I do,” he agreed, then kissed her again. He couldn’t get enough of her. He wanted her naked, to be able to touch and taste every inch of her. He had to force himself to end their kiss long enough to get rid of the manacle. He flung it to the floor, impatience getting the better of him. He had better things to be doing with his hands right now.
She shrugged out of her coat, and it fell to the ground beside the cuffs, quickly joined by his shirt, then hers. She still had one boot on and her pants tangled around her ankles when he gave in to the need to kiss her again.
There was nothing tender about their passion, no sweet words or gentle caresses. This was raw, rough, and carnal, just the way he liked it. He kept her pinned to the wall with one hand as he kissed her hard and then let his mouth blaze a path down to the swell of her breasts. He cupped the warm weight of one breast in his palm and flicked a calloused finger over a perfect pink nipple, making it tighten and drawing a moan from her throat. In response, she buried her fingers in his hair and tugged him in closer, her nails biting into his scalp.
When she arched her back away from the wall to offer herself to him, he accepted her surrender without hesitation.
She was his.
10
Leta
Leta threw back her head and moaned in delight as Car dropped his mouth to her breast and started to suck on one nipple while teasing the other with his fingers. Every touch was making her pussy wetter, and when he scraped his teeth across her tender flesh, she felt a zing of pleasure that went straight to her clit. She gripped his hair tighter, and he growled in response. Back and forth they went, challenging each other every second even while they pushed themselves ever closer to the jagged edge of their control.
She reached between them to yank open the fastening of his pants, sliding a hand beneath the leather until she found the hard shaft of his cock. He was so thick her fingers barely spanned his girth, and as she measured his length an inch at a time, she realized his dick was as big as the rest of him…and damn, he was huge. What little of him she had managed to see unclothed was impressive. Powerful shoulders, a broad expanse of chest covered by dark gold hairs, and a perfectly sculpted set of abs she wanted to trace with her tongue.
He groaned and thrust his cock into her hand, fucking her fingers as he continued to play with her breasts until she was on the verge of coming from the stimulation alone. His mouth should be registered as a lethal weapon because every kiss and nibble was killing what was left of her control.
He released her breast from his mouth and dropped to his knees, then looked up at her with an arrogant grin.
“You might want to hang on tight, sweet cheeks. This ride is about to get rough.”
She pulled his hair and winked at him. “You talk too much.”
A primal growl rumbled up from his chest, and the next thing she knew, he had manifested claws, using them to slash through her pants. He tossed the shredded remains aside and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the inside of her knee. His tongue swirled over her skin for a second, then he lifted her leg, still clad in her boot, and draped it over his shoulder. The moment her thighs parted, his gaze locked on her slick cunt. His hands cupped her ass cheeks, holding her still as he leaned in and buried his head between her thighs.
He zoned in on her clit, sucking and licking the delicate bundle of nerves until she was trembling with need. He kneaded her ass in time to the swipes of his tongue, keeping her right where he wanted her as he devoured her a lick at a time. True to his word, he wasn’t gentle. He nipped and sucked at her delicate flesh until every touch came with a faint bite of pain that only heightened her pleasure. As her orgasm loomed, she found herself whispering his name over and over until it turned into a breathless chant. Her words seemed to inflame him, and when he drove two thick fingers into her channel, her body exploded into shards of pure bliss.
Car was nearly out of his mind with the need to fuck. Being this close, her scent washed over him, filling his lungs and drugging his senses. He surged to his feet, lifting her with him. She clung to him like a limpet, her arms twining around his neck and her legs wrapping around his hips as she nuzzled a kiss against the side of his neck.
“I hope you’re going to fuck me now,” she whispered, a lilt of laughter in her voice.
“Damn right,” was all he said and all the warning he gave her. He shoved his pants aside, freeing his cock from its leather prison. He centered himself at her entrance and took her in one hard thrust. She moaned and bit him, her low, needy sounds vibrating against his neck. Slick heat surrounded him and her inner walls pulsed around his cock, milking his length even before he started moving.
11
Carnage
It was the closest he had ever been to the perfect bliss of Heaven.
He pumped his hips, and she tightened her grip around his waist, taking him even deeper this time. She lifted her head and kissed him, her beautiful eyes wide open and staring into his. The last of his control dissolved away, leaving him fueled by nothing but lust and the need to claim the woman in his arms. He powered into her, each thrust coming harder than the one before it. Soon the room was filled with the sounds of passion, the slick slap of flesh and pleasure-filled cries only making him wilder.
“Carnage!” she cried out his name.
It was the name he had chosen for himself, but not his true name. He wanted to hear her say the name he had been born with, a name he hadn’t heard spoken for more than five centuries.
“My name. Is. Alaric.” He uttered the words in time to the pounding rhythm of his hips, not understanding why he needed her to use it.
“Alaric,” she whispered his name like a dying man’s prayer. Soft and reverent, that one word resonated in the darkest corners of his empty soul. It stirred long forgotten feelings and awakened a part of him that had fallen silent since his death.
He lost himself in the exquisite pleasures of her body, the man he had been once and the supernatural creature he had become merging into one being. Complete and united at last, brought together by the one thing they both craved: Leta.
His thrusts became erratic, his balls tightening, and his breath growing ragged as he raced toward orgasm, intent on taking her with him when he came. The sharp sting of nails raking across his shoulders sent him hurtling to the brink, and with the last shreds of his control, he managed to shift their bodies, changing the angle between them so that his shaft slid over her clit with every stroke.
Her inner walls gripped him hard, pulsating around his dick as she moaned and raked her nails across his shoulder blade again. The added stimulation was more than he could take and he e
xploded into release, emptying his load inside her as he bared his teeth and sank his newly elongated fangs into the soft skin of her throat. Her blood coated his tongue, the two of them locked into a primal give-and-take of life essences. Never before had he had the compulsion to bite a lover during sex. This was about her, about marking and claiming Leta for all time.
I’ve lost my fucking mind…or my heart. Shit. Please let it be my mind.
12
Leta
Leta’s neck throbbed where Carnage—no, she corrected herself—where Alaric had bitten her. There was a strange, searing heat coming from the bite that slowly seeped deeper into her body. It was a disturbing sensation, and it helped snap her out of the blissful fugue she had been enjoying.
“What the fuck did you do to me, asshole?” she demanded, pushing at his head until she could look into his glowing, amber eyes.
“Mine now.” His voice was gruff, the accent thicker, and fangs peeked out from behind his blood-tinted lips.
“You can keep saying that all you want; it won’t make it true. I don’t belong to anyone, Alaric. I can’t.”
His lips curled into an irritated snarl. “Denying what’s going on between us doesn’t make it any less real, either. Trust me, this isn’t the way I usually handle retrievals.”
She laughed. “So, I’m an exception? You don’t bring every woman you go after here for a quick fuck before you hand them over to your buddy, Luc?”
For a moment, glittering flames flared deep in the glow of his eyes. “I never bring anyone here. Not women. Not men. Anyone.”
