Marked (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Missy Lyons

  He watched carefully as he approached the body, looking for the rise and fall of Tyler’s chest. He didn’t see any breathing, but that didn’t stop him from shaking his friend awake.

  He breathed for the first time when Tyler opened his eyes.

  Tyler had that “I just woke up” look on his face, and it was doing things to Joshua that he didn’t want to admit. He looked sexy as hell when he just woke up and his hair was lightly tousled.

  Joshua’s chest clamped down. “Damn. I thought you were dead. Are you okay?”

  “What are you talking about?” Tyler looked irritated.

  “The bathroom is covered in blood. It freaked me out that you might be hurt.” Or dead, but he didn’t to admit he cared that much. It was hard to voice that fear.

  “It’s okay, but it warms my heart to think you were worried about me.”

  “If it wasn’t your blood on the floor, then whose is it? Do I have to call the cops? Are they okay?”

  “No, it was my blood that was spilled. Last night, an old jealous demon paid me a visit, and she threatened your safety.”

  “What do I have to do with anything?”

  “You are everything to me, now. I would do anything to protect you as my mate.”

  “Well, it would have been more helpful if you were around last night. I thought I had it bad, but I wasn’t hurt nearly as bad as you.” Joshua pulled the sheets away to look for the wounds. “Why aren’t you hurt? A normal man would have bled to death.”

  “I am not a normal man.” Tyler winced as if he was in pain, but Joshua could see no wounds on him. Anywhere. Then Tyler lifted his shirt and he saw the damage. There were cuts across his midsection as if someone sliced open his skin with shallow welts.

  “Yeah, I see that,” Joshua answered, his eyes perusing his would-be lover’s pain-racked body. “I thought I was messed over until I saw your sorry ass this morning.”

  “Who attacked you?” Tyler retrained his focus on Joshua. “You have a black eye.”

  “I don’t know. I think I overheard them say Brian and Lewis. They could have been using fake names but it’s not like they actually introduced themselves, but I think they were looking for you.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “This freaky tattoo you gave me. You got to take it back.”

  “I can’t take my brand back. It’s yours now.”

  Joshua shivered. “It’s alive.”

  The air sizzled between them. It always seemed to do that when Tyler was near to him.

  Tyler’s voice softened. “What happened, Joshua?”

  “Last night. These two thugs attacked me. I thought they were bouncers, but they were talking about what they planned to do. They meant to kill me. Then this thing”—he unbuttoned his shirt and pointed to the tattoo on his chest—“jumped off my chest and killed them both.”

  Tyler glanced at the sleeping gargoyle tattoo and then back up to Joshua’s eyes. “He was protecting your life.”

  “I can’t have things jumping off my chest and killing people, Tyler. I want to be a cop, not a killer. Take it back. Now!”

  “I can’t. He chose you. You are his master, and you can control him. I can teach you to use your gargoyle as your protector. He won’t kill unless you give him permission, but I won’t hide the fact that I am happy he was there to protect you when I could not. I could not bear to think of having lost you last night.” Tyler’s eyelids hid his emerald-colored eyes, making the dark circles under them more prominent. He looked not only tired but older somehow. “Not after having just found you.”

  “Fine, you can teach me, but we have to get some food in you first.” Joshua was nervous. Tyler looked okay on the outside, he may not have a scratch on him, but he was moving slower than normal and he looked older somehow and very sick after last night’s attack. “You don’t look so well.”

  “Only one thing would help me, and it’s not food.”

  “What? Anything you need, we’ll find it and get you better.”

  “I am a male demon, an incubus, and we don’t live off food. I need sexual energy to survive, and now that I’ve found my mate, I only want you in my bed.” Tyler joined his hand in his and kissed the palm. The day-old beard tickled Joshua’s skin and sent a shiver down his spine. “I don’t want anyone else to feed off of.”

  Joshua craved his touch since the moment he left his arms. Suddenly he didn’t know why he was fighting Tyler so hard. Nothing that felt this right could be wrong.

  Tyler may be a demon of sorts, but he needed Joshua, and Joshua felt a similar yearning. It felt right when they were touching, fucking. It would be his pleasure to give Tyler what he needed.

  Tyler rolled over to reveal all twelve inches of him. Seeing Tyler naked only helped Joshua to make the decision. He fell forward onto the bed pulled into Tyler’s waiting arms. Tyler helped him to undress with efficient hands that made him naked within seconds.

  Tyler was greedy with his kisses, sharing a ravenous hunger. It made Joshua shiver, and his cock grew long and hard with need. Joshua relished Tyler’s touch. His fingers ran over the length of his body, helping him to undress.

  Tyler sighed in pleasure, and Joshua felt an energy ebb and flow between them.

  “Do you feel that? Sex isn’t just sex with an incubus. It is a give and take. Sexual energy feeds and fills.” Tyler was on his body, in his head, and all around him with a voracious appetite for more.

  Tyler pulled him over his body. Joshua’s legs knelt on either side of him, and the cock pressed upward toward his ass. With just a little encouragement, Joshua arranged the mushroom tip to go into his butt. His ass sucked Tyler in without any effort or any lube. It was like they were born to be mated to each other. Joshua squeezed his eyes closed and savored every inch that slid into him. When Tyler rested fully inside and Joshua wouldn’t go down anymore, Tyler opened his eyes once again. He placed the palms of his hands on his mate for balance and began a steady rhythm up and down. Tyler grabbed Joshua’s cock in his hand and stroked the length of him.

  “I could fuck you like this forever.” Tyler pumped his hips endlessly as if to prove it, pushing that long hard cock deep into Joshua’s ass. He moaned as Tyler’s cock filled him. Joshua bucked under him, but he held on to Tyler’s torso.

  “Forever would be nice,” Joshua whispered. He couldn’t imagine ever giving this up. Something that felt this good couldn’t be wrong.

  “Nobody else will feel as good as we can be together.” Tyler wrapped his hands around Joshua’s balls and squeezed, giving Joshua just the help he needed to make Joshua cry out. Liquid spurted out of his cock, oozing all over Tyler’s rock-hard belly, pooling in his belly button.

  “That’s it, baby,” Tyler crooned.

  Joshua moaned, and his body tightened over Tyler’s cock. His butt squeezed, holding him tighter inside. He felt the pressure build and then explode. Liquid pleasure filled him, and it oozed from the cracks, escaping his tight ass.

  “Oh my god, that was incredible,” Joshua uttered, awash in pleasure. He waited for Tyler to become less stiff and finish his orgasm before lying atop his lover. “Is it always this good?”

  Joshua sighed in contentment and let himself slip into a restful state to recover. Sated pleasure filled him, and he felt loved when Tyler touched him. This wasn’t like any other man he had been with, and he only wanted more the longer he stayed in his arms.

  This wasn’t wrong.

  Tyler wasn’t human, but it didn’t matter. There was no one Joshua wanted to love more.

  “Only with you.” Tyler threaded his fingers through his and brought his knuckles to his lips. “You are incredible, my mate.”

  Chapter 9

  Joshua’s heart filled with excitement. The hard work he had spent dedicating to the Academy had paid off, and he reached graduation against the odds. His brother was in the audience with his sister-in-law, and with his new lover in his life, it felt like he finally belonged to a family.

&nbs
p; After a brief army march and military cadence to show off their skills, the entire graduating class sat in neatly arranged chairs in front of the podium. Kevin was the class spokesman.

  He got up there and gave homage to the people they lost along the brutal path of training and the families that supported all the cadets through their rigorous training. Those people helped them to survive the tests and gain the skills they needed to make it as an officer.

  But after all the speeches and the pats on the back, it was the walk across the stage that made Joshua the happiest. He got to shake the hands of Chief Payne and took a rolled up paper tied with a string. It was the symbol of him having passed, and he was ready to go out into the world as a police officer.

  He was ready to scream, “I did it!” to everyone, but held his composure.

  After the ceremony, his brother found him immediately. John was dressed in a simple suit, and a nicely dressed blonde clung to his left arm. He walked up to him and didn’t hesitate, just gave him a big hug.

  “I am so proud of you.”

  “Thank you. That means a lot, brother.” Joshua gave his arm a gentle squeeze before letting go.

  “You must be Joshua. John talks about you all the time.” His wife followed John’s example and gave him a welcoming hug. “I am so happy to finally meet you.”

  “I hope he says more good than bad,” Joshua joked.

  “Of course.” She smiled graciously. “And it will be good to have another cop in the family. John will finally have someone to talk to who really understands him. Congratulations, by the way.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Well, can we take you out to dinner to celebrate?”

  “Yeah, there’s just someone I have to find first.”

  “Is this the guy you were telling me about?”

  “Yeah, his name’s Tyler.” Joshua removed his hat and ran his hand over the fine stubble of hair that grew on his head.

  “That’s great. Why don’t you bring him along if you want?”

  “We’d love to meet him,” Sarah agreed.

  “Okay, wait here and I’ll find him. I know he’s around here somewhere.”

  “No problem, Joshua.”

  Joshua turned to leave and filtered through the crowd. Friends gathered with their families, and he didn’t want to interrupt their time together, so mostly he just waved politely and moved on.

  He knew Tyler was there somewhere because he had seen him onstage with the rest of the instructors. Finding him for the second time was more difficult than he first thought however.

  He tried door after door, and the man was nowhere to be seen.

  He tried the door to his office, and it should have been empty, but a woman was inside. She was dressed neatly and all in pink, and her blonde hair was tied up in a fancy twist on the back of her head. She focused her blue eyes with acute attention on him.

  “Hi, you don’t know where Tyler—Officer Drummond might be, do you?”

  “So you must be Joshua? Interesting.” She leaned against the large desk and admired her nails.

  How did she know his name? Joshua didn’t have a clue who she was. “Do I know you?”

  “Tyler didn’t warn you about me? I would say I’m surprised, but I don’t think anyone takes me seriously. Do you think it’s because I always wear pink?”

  Joshua wasn’t sure what to say, but he was getting a weird feeling about being left alone with her. “Maybe I should go.”

  “Not so fast. I’ve been waiting for the day we’d meet.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Lilith. Tyler must have forgotten to tell you about me.”

  “Yeah, it must have slipped his mind.” He scratched his head for a moment wondering why it would matter.

  “He and I are old friends.” The sides of her mouth twisted up in restrained mirth. “You humans have a saying for it. I think you call it friends with benefits.”

  The lightbulb switched on in his head.

  Lilith was possibly an old lover and probably a demon as well. This was just the kind of sticky mess he did not need to get involved in. “Well, if you don’t mind, I have to be going.” Joshua turned to leave, but suddenly she was there in front of him. Her pretty little plucked eyebrows pulled down in a frown.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You don’t want to see me get angry.” She had a picture of his brother and held it up for Joshua to see. “Cooperate with me and maybe I won’t kill everyone in your life you love.”

  Joshua froze. “What do you want from me?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  She lifted her palm to her mouth and blew a glittery dust into Joshua’s face. He breathed it in and coughed the dust tickled his throat and immediately made it hard to breathe and impossible to talk.

  He fell to his knees, clutching at his throat.

  “Sweet dreams, human.” Her laughter was absorbed by an empty blackness that swallowed him whole.

  Chapter 10

  “Where am I?” Joshua awoke to being held in strong arms. His body rested on cool stone surrounded by a neatly trimmed Japanese garden and koi ponds. It was intensely beautiful and awe inspiring.

  “It’s a holy place among immortals.” Tyler brushed back the hair from his face. “Darkness has no hold here.”

  “Lilith! What happened to her?” Joshua sat up suddenly and looked around, but the fog hovering off the ground hid a great deal of space. He sensed somehow she wasn’t near. “Why isn’t she here?”

  “As I said, darkness has no hold here.” Tyler grimaced. “We are safe inside your mind.”

  Joshua was suddenly alarmed. “My body and soul are separated? Did she kill me?”

  “No. I am here because we are bonded together. You gave me the key when you returned my love.” Tyler pressed Joshua’s hand to his heart. “A mating among my kind is a bond deeper than human love and lasts longer than a lifetime. It’s the kind of thing poets write love sonnets about.”

  “Since I found you, I can’t imagine life without you,” Joshua whispered. “I ache to be with all the time. I want it so much it hurts.”

  “That is why I need you to listen closely to me.” Tyler ran his hand along Joshua’s cheek. “We do not have a lot of time together, and Lilith still has your body. She doesn’t want to see us together. I thought I did the right thing the other day by sacrificing myself, but I see now I was wrong. She is jealous of what we share.”

  “Okay, so what can I do about it?” Joshua asked.

  “This”—Tyler moved his hand to cover his mate’s brand—“is your key to survive. You must become one with your brand, and he will protect you and guide you out of her lair to safety. She cannot kill you so long as you wear it on your chest.”

  “Can’t you help me?”

  “She has already blocked me with powerful runes and spells. I cannot enter using a portal, but that will only slow me down. Not stop me. I can help you from within here. I am coming to get you, but you have to hang on long enough for me to help you.” Tyler gently touched Joshua’s forehead.

  “She told me if I fight, she would kill my family and everyone I love.” Joshua felt the sting of tears at his eyes.

  “You walked right into her trap. It’s not them she wants.” Tyler had a lost look in his eyes. “It’s you.”

  “I know, but I couldn’t risk her hurting my family…or you. Lilith thinks you will be hers after she gets rid of me.”

  “She’s wrong. I’ll die first. You and I are fated to be mated for life. Nobody can come between us, but she’s going to try. The only way she can take away our bond is to remove your brand or kill you.”

  The full impact of his situation hit Joshua like a brick. It was do or die time. “Nobody’s going to take my head or you from me. So how do I do this thing?” Joshua came full circle and was understanding that Tyler would not only love him but protect him. He was the perfect partner.

  Tyler laced his fingers in Joshua’s and kissed him. “We do it toge
ther.”

  * * * *

  Joshua woke up to see Lilith standing over him with a jewel-encrusted knife. It looked too fancy to be used for anything not ceremonial, but a knife was still a knife, and dull blade or not, it could hurt. Instinctively he pulled away. The chains wrapped around his body restrained him.

  She arched an eyebrow and then smiled, showing her white and unnaturally pointy teeth. “Ahh, the little boy finally woke up from his nap. Welcome to my home in Purgatory. Do you like it? I decorated it myself.”

  Joshua looked around the palatial room. The walls were done in fine marble, carved columns held up the roof, and all of it was decorated more elegantly than the finest hotel in all of Texas. Joshua felt oddly out of place, naked and lying prone on a stone altar in front of a carved idol. Runes were carved into the altar that looked old, and a dark substance he could only assume was blood darkened the writing.

  “Umm, yeah.” She beamed at him, waiting for the glowing compliments. “I might be able to give you a better idea of what I think if you let me go.”

  “Are you crazy? I’m not letting you go. I have to kill you now.” Her maniacal laughter filled the halls.

  “You don’t have to kill me. It’s not like I am going to tell anyone.”

  “There’s no one to tell. That’s the beauty of this. Dead men don’t talk.”

  “Your plan is going to backfire. Tyler won’t let you hurt me, and if you succeed, he will never forgive you and he definitely won’t sleep with you again.”

  “I hate to tell you this, but succubi and incubi are basically sluts of the demon world, and Tyler is no exception. If Tyler wants to eat, he’ll come back to me eventually. They always do. You might have had a chance if he could find you in time. Too bad there is no one around to hear you scream.”

  “I am not alone!” He could barely think as the knife came down on him. His heart thundered in his chest, and his adrenaline pumped through his blood, but he willed himself to become one with the entity that shared his body. He welcomed that thing that lived on his chest deeper into himself.