Carnal (Her Dark Desires #1)

by Lola Taylor

  Not in a million years. In one of my self-defense moves, I reached down and grabbed a fistful of his balls. He yelped and gaped at me in astonishment. “Have you lost your mind?” he squealed.

  “No,” I said, never flinching, “but you’re about to lose your dick if you don’t back the hell off right now.”

  “You crazy bitch!” His eyes glowed red, and I braced myself for a fight.

  Power radiated off someone behind me as a deep voice said icily, “Is there a problem?”

  The vamp’s eyes snapped to Hector, who stood over my shoulder, staring menacingly down at the vamp. The vampire actually gulped. “Um, no,” he said, tacking on a charming smile for good measure. “Everything’s fine. Just a misunderstanding, Mr. Aurelius.”

  My brows raised. Apparently Hector’s reputation was for more than his good looks and acclaim as a bedmate.

  “Good,” Hector said. “Love, will you please release this nice man now? I think he’s learned enough.”

  I gave a good twist and let go. The vampire scrambled away, disappearing into the crowd as quickly as he’d asked me for a dance.

  Warm hands wrapped around my waist, moving me to the beat as Hector came up behind me and started grinding to the rhythm. I reached up and wrapped one arm around his neck while the other reached behind him to press his hips harder against mine. “This is a bad idea,” I murmured, already losing myself to the heat of our connection.

  “I think it’s a fantastic idea,” he murmured, nipping at my earlobe.

  I groaned and rubbed against him like a kitten, feeling him growing longer and harder through his thin pants. “You’re making me horny.”

  “That’s the point.”

  “To get me ready?”

  That abruptly killed the mood. He stopped moving and stepped back, though his hands remained on my waist.

  I turned around, hating the anger and the sadness in his eyes. “You okay?”

  He laughed bitterly. “No. I’m going insane inside, thinking of what’s about to happen.”

  “Me too,” I said quietly.

  The music abruptly died, and a spotlight shone on a stage set with a table adorned with a velvet cushion and gauze. It looked like a fancy mattress, like something you’d find in a king’s bedroom chamber. Everyone’s attention turned to the stage, and I narrowed my eyes as Dean Prescott took the microphone with a cheesy smile. “Welcome, esteemed patrons of Elysian!”

  They all cheered. The room was full of half-drunk and horny-as-hell succubi, incubi, vamps, weres, you name it. Save for the few people in the room without a signature, most of the audience was of the supernatural kind.

  “We’re all here tonight to witness the performances of some very special candidates from our elite Elysian program,” Dean Prescott went on. “Remember, if you’re struggling with shape-shifting, have problems with blood-sucking, or if you just want to be comfortable in your own skin, Elysian can help. Please see our table at the front for registration details.”

  I rolled my eyes. Of course. Had to get some promo in.

  “Each group will be judged on their performance, from their presentation to their technique. Our judges are…” He rattled off their names, all staff from Elysian.

  “Why aren’t you judging?” I asked Hector.

  He stood there with a stormy look on his face, his muscular arms crossed over his big chest. “Because I’m your mentor. They don’t want me to give you a biased score.”

  “Makes sense,” I muttered.

  Hector sighed and dropped his arms. I took the opportunity to discreetly take his hand and squeeze it for all it was worth.

  “Now, please welcome our first candidate!” Dean Prescott said. “Tina Messenger!”

  It was amusing seeing such an exotic woman - and a succubus at that - step onto the stage, waving and smiling like she was at a Miss America pageant. Her partner was a human male, who looked as nervous as I felt.

  After waiting for the judges’ consent, Tina wasted no time seducing Brian, the human volunteer. It was obvious from his clumsy manner he wasn’t nearly as experienced as Tina. He actually reminded me of myself a few months ago.

  Had it only been a couple of weeks? It seemed like I’d known Hector for a lifetime.

  As I watched Tina mount Brian atop the velvet-cushioned table and start riding him for all to see, I squeezed Hector’s hand tighter and tighter. I was surprised he hadn’t lost circulation, but he never once let go.

  By the time Brian and Tina came, I had almost bitten my lip off in worry. After it was over, Tina helped a wobbly Brian up, where he was ushered over to paranormal paramedics. No doubt having your soul sucked out of you left you feeling a little woozy.

  One by one, the judges raised their scorecards, which Prescott gleefully announced to cheers and whoops. It was like they were judging a fucking ice-skating competition.

  Tina squealed at her high marks, and as her mentor, an equally gorgeous succubus, stepped on stage, Tina hugged her with a big smile on her face. They stepped off, her mentor patting her on the back and offering congratulations the whole way, and Prescott took the stage again.

  “Our next candidate - Sally Sanders!”

  All the air left my lungs in a whoosh. I hadn’t expected to go so soon.

  Hector almost didn’t let go as I tried prying my hand free from his grasp. Taking a deep breath and concentrating on not throwing up, I slowly made my way to the stage. The applause only made me more sick at my stomach as I ascended the steps. After my eyes adjusted to the brightness of the blue spotlight, I caught Prescott grinning at me from below. His wicked expression said it all.

  Hmph. So he expected me to fail, did he? Well, this girl was about to prove him wrong!

  Which was easier said than done when the potential love of my life was standing at the back of the crowd, eyes burning with an intensity that left me breathless.

  Heels clicked on the other side of the stage, and I turned to see who my partner was.

  For the second time that night, I was struck speechless.

  A beautiful blonde woman wearing a sexy black lingerie set winked at me from across the stage. My stomach flopped. While Hector and I had talked about it because it was part of the job, I’d never considered I’d have to do it with a woman. I’d never been attracted to a female, pretty as she was as she sauntered toward me. I made myself walk toward her, prepping myself mentally to just get this over with.

  It doesn’t mean anything. It’s part of your job. Remember, you can’t let Prescott win. Hector’s job and your future is on the line.

  My nerves only became more wired as I tried encasing my heart with steel. I froze, letting the girl come to me.

  I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t cheat on Hector.

  He was right. We should have run away when we had the chance. Maybe we could still escape. Desperate, I started searching for exits. Maybe I could fake sudden illness, postpone this long enough for Hector and I to escape.

  “Done it with a woman before?” the blonde asked coyly.

  “Sure. Plenty of times,” I said distractedly. “I’m a pro.”

  She smiled, but there was something off to it. Did her teeth look extra sharp?

  In the background, I was vaguely aware of Dean Prescott announcing our names as the girl leaned in.

  “Glad to hear it. Because I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

  I tensed. What. The. Hell? That was distinctly a man’s voice who’d whispered in my ear. And not just any man, but-

  I stepped back as the girl shape-shifted, her image shimmering and skin stretching until her features were completely morphed, and a strikingly handsome yet sinister-looking man stood before me in all his naked glory.

  Damien smiled at me. “Hello, love. Miss me?”

  Chapter 16

  MY MIND SCRAMBLED TO form a solid plan for escaping, because I knew there was no way in hell I could beat this guy. Preparing to shift, I felt my skin start to tingle when a fireball flew rig
ht past my face, nearly slamming into Damien.

  He gracefully backflipped, twirling through the air as if he weighed no more than a feather, and landed on his feet. He bowed to me. “Excuse me,” he said, then turned to face a fuming Hector. “You insist on getting in my way, but one way or another I will have her.”

  “Over my dead body,” Hector growled, then lunged himself at Damien.

  All hell broke loose.

  Our guards immediately moved into place, surrounding Hector and making to grab me.

  Damien clapped his hands, sending a shock wave throughout the room that catapulted me, Hector, and anyone within a thirty foot radius through the air. Something hard smacked me in the back of the head, followed by the sound of splitting wood as the table gave way under my weight. Stunned, I lay there gathering my wits, blinking to stave off the stars sparking along my vision. What I saw on the stage made my jaw drop.

  Smoke poured from Damien’s fingers, writhing and screeching as shapes formed. I watched in horror as several streams of darkness became demonic creatures with red eyes and long, snapping jowls.

  I was so preoccupied with watching the spectacle before me that I didn’t register Hector was at my side until he was pulling me to my feet. “We have to get out of here. Now,” he growled, pulling me toward the exit.

  I couldn’t move. My legs had turned to lead. “What is he?”

  “His signature is still shifting too rapidly for me to tell for certain,” he said, “but I’ve only ever seen demons possess this kind of power.”

  My eyes bugged. “Damien’s a demon?”

  “Or at least, half of one. Come on, move! We have to get out of here!”

  People screamed as shadow monsters filled the air, looking like a cross between a bat and a pterodactyl. They teleported in and out of the darkness, appearing in puffs of dark blue smoke, swooping down from the ceiling to claim victims as they returned to eat their prey in the rafters.

  Prescott cowered in the corner, his eyes glued to the smiling figure on the stage.

  “We have to help them!” I shouted.

  Hector shook me hard. “There is nothing you can do. I’m not risking losing you.”

  “But all those people-”

  “I’ve called the D.P.I. They’ll be here any minute.”

  People jostled us in their frenzy to get out. I warred with myself, wanting to help even though I knew Hector was right. I wasn’t strong enough to take on a demon. What little I knew about them was that they were Class A paranormals, at the top of the pyramid.

  Hector must have taken my silence for an answer, as he began dragging me toward the exit. I looked over my shoulder, afraid Damien would come for me, but he wasn’t looking at me.

  He was looking at Prescott as he slowly descended the stage while the dean scrambled to get away.

  “Wait!” I yanked on Hector’s arm.

  He swore. “Dammit, love, if I have to pick you up and carry you-”

  “No, look!” I pointed at the stage.

  Hector squinted, then his eyes went wide.

  Damien had Prescott by the shirt and had lifted him clear into the air so high his feet dangled.

  Hector and I glanced at each other. “If you’re one of those people who’s always wanted to kill his boss…” I muttered flippantly.

  His mouth twitched with a smile. “Maybe so, but I couldn’t live with his death on my conscience. Wait here.”

  “Like hell I am!” I yelled, running after him.

  Blasts of flame roared through the air as Hector ignited any shadow monsters that dared try attack us. They swirled in a vortex of shadow and fire around us, screaming as Hector’s flame evaporated them.

  Bits of fiery debris fell around us, and I coughed as smoke filled my lungs.

  When the mist cleared, Damien stood before us, Prescott yanked against him with a knife at his throat.

  Hector held a hand out to hold me back. He stood in front of me, separating me from Damien. “That man has done nothing to you,” he said.

  Damien laughed as if this was the most hilarious thing in the world. “Oh, he’s got a lifetime of penance to pay, which I plan to collect on shortly.”

  I frowned. What was he talking about?

  The mirth in Damien’s obsidian eyes died away. “But that’s not why I’m here. I came for you.”

  He looked right at me. Fire lit up Hector’s arm as he raised it, preparing to strike, but I grasped his shoulder. “What do you want from me?” I shouted at Damien.

  He smiled. “Your heart. Your body, your soul. I want all of you, sweet Sally.”

  The thought of belonging to Damien that way disgusted me.

  “You’ll never have her!” Hector snarled.

  Damien raised a brow, looking as unconcerned as ever. “And you think you can, incubus? You’re forbidden to love, remember? To do so would break your laws, and you would both be exiled.”

  “I’d rather live an eternity as an outcast than a lifetime without her,” Hector said. “Sally is my other half. She’s meant for me, completes me. But a demon wouldn’t understand that. You’re incapable of emotion because you’ve never been human.”

  In an uncharacteristic turn of expression, Damien actually looked haunted for a moment. “You think I don’t know pain? That I suffer no loss? Oh, I’ve seen loss. I’ve known regret. I’m a slave to my desire, and I curse the day I was born every morning when I wake.”

  I stared at him. His brand of crazy had just gone off the deep end.

  “You can’t have me,” I said firmly, gripping Hector’s free hand. “Because I’ve already chosen him.”

  Damien’s gaze turned dangerous. “They always choose someone else. But you’ll be begging for me to take you before this is all said and done.” He raked the knife along Prescott’s trembling throat, cutting a thin red line.

  I started forward, but Hector held me back.

  “Look around you, Sally, at the pain and destruction you’ve caused.”

  “You mean that you’ve caused!” I yelled back.

  He tsked his knife at me. “I wouldn’t have had to resort to such extreme measures had you come with me the way you were supposed to, had you died back at the bunker.”

  My blood ran cold. “So that thing… it was you.” Was that what demons truly looked like?

  He smiled. “My better half. Not very photogenic, though. I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you your pathetic excuse for a dean here if you agree to come with me. What do you say?”

  “I say it’s non-negotiable,” Hector growled.

  “I didn’t ask you,” Damien said, voice like steel.

  I hesitated, eyes bouncing back and forth from Damien to Hector to a pale Prescott.

  “Honestly, Sally,” Damien murmured darkly, “can you stand to have any more blood on your hands?”

  For a moment, I felt sick at my stomach as the guilt of knowing all those people died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. All because I was here, and some demon was obsessed with claiming me, whatever that meant. I shook my head. “It’s not my fault you’re a sociopath. I mean, really, who has to resort to kidnapping to get a girl to go out with him?”

  Damien growled.

  I pressed my advantage, egging him on to distract him. Hector caught on, because he slowly let go of my hand. “What’s wrong, Damien?” I said. “Afraid of a little rejection? Is that why you’re so desperate?”

  “Shut up!” he roared, pointing the knife at me.

  Hector and I edged closer, but Damien didn’t back away. I knew his pride wouldn’t let him. “You can’t get anyone to love you, so you try to force them. But it doesn’t work that way.”

  “Bitch!” he screamed, throwing Prescott to the side as he lunged.

  It all happened so fast. Hector threw me to the side, and the next thing I knew, Damien was engulfed in a tunnel of fire that went clear to the ceiling. His back arched, and his mouth opened up in a distorted scream as he fought to keep his shape.
>
  “Grab him and get out of here!” Hector yelled, but I was way ahead of him. I had my arm slung under Prescott’s shoulders and had dragged him to his feet.

  “Not without you!” I shouted back.

  Hector’s face was desperate. “Please, Sally. I don’t know how long I can hold him.”

  Right about that time, the column of flame began laughing.

  A face appeared in the fire, smiling. “You may have destroyed my human form, but I’ll return with another body. There’s always another empty vessel to inhabit.”

  With that, he disappeared and the fire swelled.

  Hector’s face went white and he dove for me. “Get down!” he yelled, about the time the column literally exploded.

  We hit the ground in a pile, with Prescott on bottom, me on top of him, and Hector covering us. He sent up a shield of fire that absorbed the flame raining down on the place.

  Curtains and other flammable objects caught fire, and sirens wailed in the distance. Smoke was rapidly filling the place, making it harder to breathe as Hector hauled us up, and we ran for the exit.

  Paramedics snatched us up soon as we cleared the exit, and Blue and Red Witches and Warlocks contained the fire before it got too out of control.

  D.P.I. swarmed the place, and the clubgoers were gathered outside like a frightened herd.

  Hector refused to leave my side. Hand clutching mine, he walked with me over to an ambulance to be examined. “I thought you had killed Damien,” I rasped, still trying to clear the smoke from my lungs. “Until he started talking trash again.”

  Hector’s expression was troubled. “I knew it wouldn’t kill him, because fire cannot destroy a demon. They were born from it. But I knew it would destroy his shell.”

  “Shell?”

  “The human body he’d possessed. They’re also known as ‘vessels.’”

  I shivered. “Is that what he wants to do with me? Possess me?”

  Hector put an arm around me shoulder, holding me tight. “Don’t worry. He’ll never have you.”

  I swallowed hard. “I hope you’re right.”

  Chapter 17