Mated (Dark Ties Book 2)

by A. Vers

  Her honesty rocks me back. “Nisha—”

  “I know. We don’t want kids,” she mutters, rolling on her side away from me. “But it still fucking sucks.”

  The dismissal is obvious and I don’t know what else to say either. What else to do.

  My eyes dip to the empty window.

  “Rest,” I mutter and climb to my feet, that twisted emotion in my gut growing. “I won’t be far.”

  She merely huddles into the pillows and remains silent.

  Turning on my heel, I walk out onto the porch and close the door. My eyes close and I press a hand to my temple. Her delectable scent rises from my flesh, adding to the need still swirling in my veins. The want.

  Nisha may be craving me, but it’s nothing to the craving I still have for her.

  Chapter 34

  Nisha

  I wait for any further sounds from the porch before climbing unsteadily to my feet and moving to the bathroom.

  The room is hazy through what feels like the world’s worst fucking fever. But the body aches have eased. At least for now.

  All thanks to Tanner.

  I lean against the counter with a groan.

  Yeah.

  Tanner and all his help.

  Help that has now ruined me for every other male I could ever sleep with.

  It’s more than his body, his mouth. Those long fingers. It’s his attentiveness. His focus. I shiver and grip the cool countertop as the heat inside my belly flares again.

  But despite all his help, the throb between my legs has only eased a little.

  I now understand why domestic animals seem so needy during their heat cycles. As it is, I need an IV sedative and a vibrator on standby.

  Turning on the shower as cool as I can stand, I climb under the spray and gingerly rinse Tanner’s scent and touch from my skin.

  I can’t be mad at him. He’s being safe for both of us in a time when I don’t care enough to worry about it. I turn my arm and take in the small scar from my implant birth control. It’s useless now.

  Fucking figures.

  I press my head to the tile wall.

  It’s stupid craving him.

  I’ve been with more than my fair share of men. And craving leads to attachment.

  I can’t get attached to Tanner.

  No matter how good in bed he is, no matter how much I am starting to admire him as a person, I can’t develop feelings for the man.

  That would spell trouble for me.

  Shutting off the water, I grab a towel and dry myself before wringing out the ends of my hair and stepping out into the main room.

  I slam to a halt in the doorway, heat climbing up my body like one of those cartoon characters from my childhood.

  Caine leans against the wall next to the door and Tanner sits at the foot of the bed. Both of them stop talking.

  Ripping the towel from my hair, I wrap the material across my front. “Caine? Why are you in here?”

  He offers me a surprisingly somber smile. “The cat and myself would like to speak to you, kitten.”

  I glance, startled, at Tanner. His face is tight, but he gives me a nod. “Didn’t know you had gotten in the shower, Nish,” he tells me softly. “If you want to get dressed, you can.”

  I peer between them, eyes narrowing.

  If I want to get dressed?

  What kind of phrasing is that?

  I cinch the thick green fabric around me with a bit of shuffling and drop my hands to my hips. “I hadn’t planned on getting dressed again until all of this was over,” I say pointedly as I glare at T.

  Caine lets out a delighted chuckle. “As ferocious as always, kitten,” he murmurs. “But perhaps, you would permit me to offer a solution?”

  I wave vaguely as I walk to the fridge to grab another bottle of water. It’s more for something to do than any real want of the cool fluid.

  “You know what kind of demon I am?” Caine asks.

  I snare a bottle and turn back around. “Asmodean. Yeah.”

  His smile is all teeth. “Your faculties are well in place, it seems.” He glances at Tanner who frowns but doesn’t remark. “That will make this easier on all parties involved.”

  “Spit it out, Caine,” T snaps.

  The demon laughs and the sound rolls through the room and over my skin like a fucking caress. I stand up straighter, eyes wide.

  Caine pushes from the wall, his body clad still in midnight jeans and the remains of his black tank top. “Tanner fears his restraint with you, kitten,” he says as he walks toward me. “I have had years and years of experience in the bedroom, and though I cannot sate you as the cat can,” he lifts the hem of his tank, flashing quite the defined v of his hips and archaic black marks, “I also cannot get you with child.”

  My jaw drops and my heart slams. “Maybe the heat is affecting my brain cells, but are you saying what I think you are?”

  He lets the material fall, his eyes roiling with a soft crimson light. “You need to be taken, kitten. Not so much now, but soon.” One of his artistically long hands raises and he caresses my bare arm. Gooseflesh peppers my skin and my thighs clench. “I am offering to help the cat sate your need. Whether it be by my magick or my flesh.”

  I stare at him.

  There is no teasing in his gaze. Or his expression. Only a kind of quiet resolve. It’s uncharacteristic for the demon. But also mildly reassuring.

  “Why would you offer that?” I ask in barely more than a whisper as he continues to watch me.

  “I have grown fond of you, kitten,” he says. “And I can taste your need. Even now, it fills my head in a cloud. You have been cared for. But not as your body needs. The cat knows that too.”

  He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I can feed from you during every coupling without causing you ill effects. It can keep the desire to something you can tolerate. That you can function with.” He smiles. “And I am rather hungry, you see. So it all works out for me.”

  I glance over his shoulder at Tanner.

  The other man has turned his head to watch us, his eyes pulsing silver and filled with that predator’s light from earlier.

  “And you’re okay with this?” I ask.

  His jaw ripples. “If you are, then yes.” He pushes to his feet. “I can’t take you like I want to, Nisha.” His words and the harsh gravel of his tone makes my nipples bud. “I can’t risk it. But Caine can.”

  Caine runs his hand down my arm, shackling my wrist. I look at him. “No one will force you, kitten,” he says, his tone almost kind. “But if you prefer, we can also take you back to Silver Rock. I am sure Callus and some of the others would be more than happy to help.”

  The growl that spills from Tanner leaves me quaking. Not from fear. But need.

  Tanner’s dulcet growl is just a firm reminder of the power in his lean frame. Of his body in mine.

  I drop the bottle of water as my hands convulse. No one makes a move to pick it back up. “No. No Silver Rock,” I breathe, watching Tanner. Caine’s fingers on my skin are almost hotter than T’s. Filled with hellfire no doubt. “I’d rather stay here.”

  Some of the tension in Tanner’s shoulders evaporates. The rumble is still present, but softer now.

  Caine leans into me, his breath hot over my ear. “He will take you, Nisha. In time.” I go still as the words are spoken so softly that I am sure Tanner cannot hear. “But until then, allow me to aid you both. Just a little.”

  My eyes flutter as he nips gently at my ear. His arm winds around my waist, cinching me tighter into his body. I don’t resist.

  He gives his own sound of approval. “Good, kitten.” His lips are hot up the side of my neck. Then his teeth sink into my skin in teasing nibbles and my body grows just as hot as his touch.

  Over his strong shoulder, Tanner remains frozen in the center of the floor, his eyes so bright they seem to cast the whole room in silver light.

  With one hand gripping my throat, Caine nuzzles the side of my face. He bites m
e harder and I cry out, thighs clenching at the brief pain. He chuckles and pulls back. “Is that a yes, kitten?” he all but purrs in my ear.

  Everything quivers. My body, my insides. My breath. The heat that has sat idly on the backburner begins to pulse in earnest, building between my thighs until I shift to relieve the ache.

  An ache that is getting worse every time it flares.

  Caine is offering what Tanner won’t. He will sate the fire one way or another. He will make it go away.

  But at the end, there will be no new demon boyfriend. That’s what he is really offering. Sex without any problems or feelings. Just a good old fashioned fuck.

  I glance at Tanner and find him still watching me, his face carefully empty.

  Caine said Tanner would take me too. In the end.

  My body shivers and my fingers tighten over Caine’s arms.

  I want Tanner to fill me. To do what I know he can. But if he won’t, the demon will.

  Eyes locked in Tanner’s, I do the only thing I can do.

  I nod.

  Chapter 35

  Nisha

  Despite the fire in my veins, Caine does not press me. He gives me a tender kiss on the temple and steps away.

  I huddle in my towel, my hands in fists as he seems to appraise the bedroom and what it offers.

  “Play first or eat first, kitten?” he asks.

  I shiver and my heart slams. “Eat, I guess.”

  His lips form a masculine pout, and he walks back to me.

  My heart picks up speed and I stumble back a step. “Caine …”

  His smile is all temptation and Sin. “You cannot fear me, kitten,” he murmurs, bearing down on me until I bump into the wall.

  My spine jars and his hands land beside my head as he leans down. He inhales. “No. That is not fear in your scent, kitten.” He scans my face. “The thought of being with both of us intrigues you.”

  I don’t deny it.

  Caine is like the bad boy you crave in school. You know a night with him will be everything you could hope for, but aren’t sure if the emotional devastation afterwards is worth it.

  But there is no hope of an emotional attachment to Caine.

  He is in love with Lilah and I …

  My head turns and I find Tanner closer than before.

  He, on the other hand, could be trouble.

  With Chuck’s betrayal, I’m not ready for anything serious. But a few nights of insanely hot sex with two of the hottest men I have ever met?

  It sounds like a grand way to move on.

  When Caine’s hands slide down the wall and one slips under the open side of my towel to knead my hip, I arch without thinking. His other hand finds the small of my back. He draws me against his chest. My towel loosens around me.

  Tanner’s silver eyes pulse behind him. But he makes no move to come closer. To join us.

  I turn my head and find Caine’s face inches from mine. He scours my expression and gone is the smile. His focus is riveted on my mouth and my lips tingle.

  “Even with your shower, kitten, the cat’s scent is all over you,” he says. “All except those lush lips of yours.” His head cocks. “Why deny yourself all the joys of her body, cat? Especially one so succulent?”

  Tanner remains silent as I stare at Caine. “You’ll kiss me?” I ask.

  His head dips in answer, feathering his mouth back and forth over mine in a silken, almost painful caress. The motion is teasing. Meant to drive a woman wild. I reach up and slip my fingers into his dark hair. He makes a sound of approval as his hands flow down over my ass to lift me against the wall.

  I wrap my legs around his lean waist. He keeps a decorous amount of space between us despite my efforts to close the distance. But as the fire in my veins heats, I growl. “Caine.”

  He chuckles against my mouth. “Hunting your prey is about the chase, kitten. Not merely the kill.”

  His fingers dip to my towel and he eases it open, leaving the fabric framing my body as he leans back, fitting his hips to mine to hold me up. Those hellfire eyes roll from the top of my head down to where our bodies are so close together.

  “Such delicious muscle,” he murmurs to me. “So strong. Agile.” He palms my breast in his hand. His thumb scrubs over my nipple.

  My head falls back and I let my eyes flutter closed as he pinches and rolls the tightening bud between his fingers. “Yes, Caine.”

  Strong fingers wind in my hair and hard lips press over mine. I moan at the fierceness of the kiss. The heat it sparks.

  I dance against Caine’s body, arching and grinding my body against his. He continues his slow, deliberate arousal as his mouth sends fireworks arcing in my veins and my stomach fluttering.

  A low growl vibrates into my mouth and something sharp pierces my lip.

  I jerk back, eyes wide.

  Tanner is tight to my side, his silver eyes throbbing in echo to my frantic heart and his teeth are sharp and deadly in a still mostly human face. He leans forward and licks my lips. Caine takes the opportunity to pinch and pull my nipple until it almost hurts.

  I gasp and Tanner’s tongue slips between my lips, winding with mine, and I can’t help but revel in the passionate exchange. He grips my hair and the side of my face, feasting at my mouth until I go boneless in Caine’s hold.

  “So responsive, kitten,” Caine says as Tanner nips at my mouth one more time before pulling back. Caine smirks. “Now, I will ask again. Play first or eat?”

  I stare between them, my mind reeling and my body tingling. I lick my dry lips.

  The fire they are sparking leaves me tight and wet against Caine’s front. I can feel him through his jeans, his length solid. Hard.

  Tanner is in no better shape as I glance down.

  Neither male is against this. And to be honest, I’m not either.

  My thighs shake and I grip Caine’s hair tighter. The very thought of both of them … Of Tanner finally letting his leash go with Caine’s deliberate nudging … Of the demon filling the ache between my thighs …

  “What if … What if I don’t know how to do this?” I ask.

  Caine smiles and there is nothing but the demon in the motion.

  With his dark hair left jagged over his forehead and eyes, he is made of sinister sex in a lean, muscular package.

  He lowers me to my feet and I lean against the wall for support. Tanner’s arm winds around me and he pulls me back against his chest, fitting himself to the curve of my ass. My eyes flutter.

  God.

  Caine’s hand flies out, wrapping those long fingers into my hair like a handle. I rise up on tiptoe as he pulls just a bit. His eyes roll with honest to god flames. “Tell me, kitten. Can you follow orders?”

  Tanner rumbles behind me. “Order her. She listens.”

  My face flames at how he commanded me earlier. At how much I wanted him to keep doing it. I nod.

  Caine’s lips curve. “Good. But does the kitten like to play?” he croons and a new shiver of excitement dances through me. Caine’s dark head cocks, shading his eyes even more with those midnight locks. “How about we play a game before we eat, cat?”

  The vibration from Tanner’s chest intensifies, filling my back and diving through my body until I am left shifting uncontrollably in place. Something hot and wet glides up the side of my neck and my eyes flutter.

  “A game?” I croak.

  Caine presses into my front, blanketing me on both sides by hot male flesh. “If you can handle the game, you will get a prize, kitten.”

  Tanner cinches his hands on my hips, digging his fingers into my flesh as his cocks grinds into my bare ass.

  “What’s the prize?” I ask, breathless at the feel of his hard length so close to where I desperately want it. Where I need it.

  Caine’s devilish grin turns to pure sex. “Oh, kitten,” he says, tightening his hold on my hair and drawing a gasp of need from my lips as the world goes white hot with pleasure. “We are.”

  Chapter 36


  Tanner

  Caine pulls Nisha toward the unmade bed but the beast inside of my body won’t let me stray far from her. I follow, my hands kneading and massaging her flesh. Her breath comes in erotic fast bursts.

  Her need fills the air until it is all I can smell. I will never get her fragrance out of my head. I know it. My beast knows it.

  I growl.

  She shivers against me, rubbing those plump cheeks of hers over my cock.

  Caine grips her hair and drags her onto the bed on her knees so that she has to face us. “Stay, kitten,” he commands.

  She goes ramrod straight, her sea green eyes wide, feverish. But she doesn’t move.

  The demon’s hot hand presses into my chest. “And you, cat?” he asks. “Do you take orders?”

  I bare my teeth at him.

  His lips never break from that devil may care smile. “Such ferocity, cat.” He stalks around me, his hand gliding in a calloused caress over my chest, shoulder, back. The sensation is odd. Not bad. Just different. “What about a suggestion?” he asks from behind me.

  I turn my head.

  Those fiery irises of his track over me before raising to meet my gaze head on.

  There is something about the dark knowledge in his gaze. The honesty. A small tremble ripples through my frame. His smile would make angels fall.

  “Alas, I know you have never experienced many of the pleasures I can show you. And though I have no problem teaching you, this is about Nisha.” He stalks back around my front.

  “Kitten?” he calls. Her head turns to him and the fire in his gaze grows. “Disrobe the cat.”

  Shit.

  Nisha climbs seductively from the bed, her long limbs unfolding and flashing her glistening center to my hungry gaze. My hands curl into fists. She reaches for the fly of my jeans, thumbs it open, and slides down my zipper.

  I inhale the delicious scent of her skin. Feel her heat against me.

  Caine crosses his arms behind her. “Take them off, kitten.”