by Jo Carlisle
A golden bar hung suspended horizontally, with a length of chain at each end attached to the rafters. It had been lowered to just a few feet above the pillows. An earthen jar sat on the rug nearby. An image of what this room’s purpose might be started to emerge, and Harley didn’t like the picture one bit.
Arron guided Soren to the center of the pillows, next to the gold bar. “Kneel,” he instructed, his voice giving away neither pleasure nor sympathy. Glaring at him, Soren did as he was told. “Now raise your arms.”
He did, and Arron bound his wrists to the bar overhead with gold chains. The position rendered Soren completely vulnerable to Leila’s wishes. The rage in his dark eyes made Harley retreat a couple of steps. Leila was merely amused.
“I see you haven’t lost your fight. Believe me, darling, it will do you no good. Arron, let us begin my mate’s anointing.”
“Fuck you,” Soren hissed. “I’m not your mate, for the last damned time!”
Leila shrugged. “In your old life, that was true. But you don’t have that option anymore. You’re about to become something much more powerful than you’ve ever imagined. You’ll embrace it, and we’ll rule the Coalition together.” She turned to Harley. “Lie back and enjoy the show, princess. Don’t even think of trying to escape. If you do, your former lover receives the punishment for your actions.”
“Damn you to Hades,” Harley spat.
“Such a disappointing threat. Next time, try an original one that actually means something to me.”
Fuming, near tears of frustration, Harley sat down. The pair moved to Soren, and he lifted his head in proud insolence as Arron retrieved the jar and tilted it over his chest. Rivulets of oil streamed down his skin, the taut plane of his flat stomach, and lower. Their hands began to smooth it all over his body, slicking every contour and crevice until the ripples of his muscles shone.
Soren stared straight ahead, quivering as their caresses strayed between his legs, stroking his shaft. He swallowed hard, shaking his head in denial as he swelled and filled, his cock standing as erect as an exclamation point.
“No,” he groaned.
Harley’s heart ached to see him being used this way, forced into an encounter he wouldn’t have chosen for himself. The Fontaine men oozed sexuality, and Soren was no exception. He could no more stop his reaction than he could stop breathing. When Leila threw a smug smile over her shoulder, Harley longed to rip her fucking head from her neck.
Their robes slid away and they sandwiched him, Leila’s breasts grazing his chest as she twined a hand into his thick hair and kissed him, the other hand stroking his cock. He couldn’t pull away with Arron at his back, caressing his shoulder and neck. “No . . . don’t.” Closing his eyes, he moaned, helpless against the relentless assault.
They pleasured him, lowering his defenses to move in for the final kill. Stroking and licking every inch of him until his eyes glazed over with lust he couldn’t deny any longer. His arms shook in his bonds and his breathing came fast and shallow. Harley’s throat burned with tears.
His voice, husky with desire, cut her to the bone. “Ohhh . . . oh, gods, yes . . .”
Lips turned up in a malicious smile, Leila removed her necklace and uncapped the vial. “Drink, Soren. Embrace your destiny.”
“N-no. I can’t.”
“You must. Give yourself to the darkness, my love. It is time.”
Arron moved behind Soren, pulling him against his chest and laying Soren’s head back to rest on his shoulder.
Harley’s heart knocked against her ribs as Leila brought the vial to Soren’s lips and tilted it. With a groan, Soren drank all the blood inside, and for several seconds, nothing happened. He panted, leaning against Arron’s chest, and seemed about to speak when his entire body seized as though zapped with a million volts of electricity. He bucked wildly in his restraints, head thrown back. Agonized screams tore from his throat again and again.
Tears streaming down her face. Hands clasped over her ears, Harley watched in horror. It was taking all of Arron’s strength to prevent Soren from hurting himself. Both men’s muscles bunched from the strain.
Blue lightning shot from Soren’s fingertips, crackled through the air above their heads. The walls shook with the thunderous force of his pain and rage. Harley sobbed, positive that he would simply vaporize from the immense pressure.
Soren’s body remained rigid until his screams subsided into hoarse moans. The eerie lightning receded, and Harley fought down a bubble of hysteria. His head fell forward, chin resting on his chest, and he sagged in the bonds.
“Please,” he rasped.
Leila moved to him again, smoothing a graceful hand over his chest. “What, darling?”
Slowly, he shook his head from side to side, as though trying to focus his thoughts. “I need you. The hunger. It’s killing me . . . hurts so bad . . .”
“Tell your queen what you desire.” Her fingers kneaded his balls, eliciting a helpless groan.
“I have to drink. I’m so thirsty!”
“Beg.”
“Please, I’m begging you!”
Leila smiled, her black eyes gleaming. “You admit that you belong to me? You surrender your body and soul to my will?”
His breath caught. “Yes.”
Longing to cut out her black heart for touching Soren, Harley opened her mouth to protest. Arron shot her a warning glance, and she snapped it shut.
“Say it, Soren!”
Soren raised his head, and Harley stifled a cry. His eyes no longer held even the faintest hint of amber. The light of his soul had faded completely. Those black eyes glittered with malice. Evil.
“My body and soul are yours, Leila. Take them both and we’ll rule the Coalition together.”
She rubbed her breasts against him. “Very good, my mate. But Prince Valafar is immortal. How will you destroy him?”
“I don’t know, but there’s a way to find out.”
“Which is?” she demanded.
“If I drink his blood, all of his knowledge will be mine, including how he can be destroyed. But he has to be seriously weakened for anyone to get that close to him.” He hesitated. “Please, I need—”
Leila’s face darkened in fury at yet another obstacle in her quest. “We’ll just have to bide our time until we find a way to bring him under control. Arron, release our fledgling prince.”
Arron freed him and he fell to his back, breathing hard. Leila lay down beside him, then slowly stretched herself across his chest, looking down at him with naked desire before lowering her lips to his. This time, his mouth began to move with hers.
In that instant, Harley wanted to die. Nothing—not even the most hideous physical death—could’ve been as cruel as watching the man she loved lying naked with Leila. Willing. She didn’t notice that Arron had come to sit beside her. He took her hand and gave it an almost imperceptible squeeze.
“She owns his soul, but not his heart, little dove,” he whispered in her ear. “He resists her still.”
“Not all of him is getting the message,” she sniffed, wiping at the tears that wouldn’t cease.
“Do not worry. Your lover will take nothing more from her than blood to survive. Because his senses are overwhelmed, he would react physically to anyone right now, even a troll. He can’t resist our touch. He’s locked in battle with the evil that has taken him.”
Coldness enveloped her, and she searched Arron’s lovely green eyes. “What if she realizes it?”
He glanced at Leila, who was kissing Soren as though trying to suck the air from his lungs. Careful to keep his voice low, he leaned closer. “She is blind to all except her obsession to destroy Valafar. That’s why she doesn’t hear us speaking to each other.”
The awful pain in Harley’s chest eased a bit. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”
Soren rolled, pinning Leila underneath him, his swollen cock pressed against the whiteness of her flat belly. Burying his fingers in her black hair, he tilted her head back a
nd grazed her neck with his sharp eyeteeth. Then he sank his fangs deep into her throat. She screamed her pleasure, arching against him. He rode the pleasure, taking, taking.
To Harley, the act seemed as intimate as making love. He’s mine. I should be the one easing his pain, not his murderer! Watching them cleaved her in two. Blindly, she turned and buried her face in Arron’s shoulder. His arms went around her and he gathered her close.
“Shh, I know. Remember, the act means nothing but survival to him. There is no true passion between them. With you, it would be different. In your heart, you know this.”
She supposed so, but she let Arron continue to hold her until Soren rolled away from Leila and lay on his back. Harley peeked over Arron’s shoulder. His eyes were closed. The lines of agony around his mouth had softened, but his arousal had not. Harley felt a hot little spurt of satisfaction that the bitch hadn’t managed to coax his seed from him.
Leila stood and moved away from Soren, belting her robe just as a sharp rap on the heavy chamber door shattered the quiet. Leila stalked to the door, throwing it wide. “Trisha? What in great, blazing Hades do you want?” she yelled in the Chosen’s face.
“I—There’s a big m-man in the foyer. One of your new demons—”
Leila grabbed the girl’s arms, enraged. “And you interrupted to tell me this, you little idiot? You knew I didn’t want to be disturbed, damn you! What does he want?”
The young woman raised her elfin face to look directly at Leila. “He b-brought with him another demon, b-bound in chains of gold.”
“The devil you say,” Leila whispered. “Who the hell is it?”
“The demon is called Zenon . . . and he says the bound one is Prince Valafar.”
Soren sat up on his elbows, watching with interest as Leila all but ran from the chamber, Arron on her heels. The door slammed and locked in Arron’s wake, and Soren nearly smiled. Puny stone and wood couldn’t hold him now. New, malevolent strength surged through his veins, and he longed to test it.
But first ...
Harley glanced at him, green eyes wide and shiny with tears from all she had seen. Her wounds ran deep, and the vampire he couldn’t remember wanted to comfort her, love her. His beast only wanted her underneath him. Mine.
“Come here.”
“Go beat yourself off, you jerk.” She spoiled the barb by reaching to wipe a tear that had escaped from the corner of her eye.
His lips turned up. This must be why in his old life he’d loved this woman. “Well, now. That wasn’t very friendly. Looks like I’ll have to give that smart little mouth something satisfying to do.”
He moved to sit on his knees, close to her back, and rested his hands on her slender shoulders.
“Get away from me,” she snapped.
“Is that really what you want?” He kissed her neck, smiling when she shivered.
“Yes.”
“Beautiful liar. Tell me to stop.”
“Stop.”
“Once more, with feeling.” His teeth grazed the delicate flesh at her nape, then traveled upward to the soft shell of her ear. She started to move away, but he held fast.
“Soren, we need to go see about Valafar. He’s in trouble.”
“Mmm.” He nibbled a path from her earlobe to her neck, his hands sliding under her arms to cup her breasts.
“Leila has destroyed your whole life! How can you think about helping her kill Valafar? You have to fight what’s happening! She’s taken over your soul and killed your brother Luc.”
Luc. The name delivered a crushing blow to his chest. Sadness rolled through him, drowning him in a giant wave. Blurred images sped past. Two tall, handsome men. A mansion. Horses. Sex, blood, and lots of it. Anytime he wanted.
This woman, spread in lovely submission between him and a black-haired demon.
He couldn’t hang on to their meaning.
“I’m trying to fight!” He jerked her around to face him, rage joining with the darkness spreading across his soul like an inky stain. “You don’t have any idea what hell is! It’s inside me. I want to do terrible, depraved things.”
Harley stared at him, paling. “What kinds of terrible things? Like you did to Jordy?”
“Yes!” Jordy. Yes. How could he have forgotten? He bent over her and tipped up her chin with a finger, forcing her to look up at him. “I want blood. More and more blood. I’ll never be able to get enough. I need it filling my mouth, my cock. I-I don’t want to kill for it, but I will—the hunger is so bad I can’t stand it anymore.”
After a moment, she flattened both palms on his heaving chest. “Better me than her.”
His balls tightened in anticipation. “But what if I can’t stop?”
“I trust you.”
He didn’t need further encouragement. Slender, creamy thighs beckoned him to delve inside. To taste her pink, delicate sweetness. Auburn tresses fell in a curtain around her slim shoulders. Her stormy jade gaze revealed fear—and incredible arousal.
Soren knelt between her splayed legs, gripping her thighs and kissing his way along the inside, toward her center. Finding the tender nub, he flicked it with his tongue. Leisurely at first, then faster, darting into the soft folds to lap every drop of her honey.
“Ohh, Soren! Yes, yes.”
She began to relax, closing her eyes, arching her back to thrust her breasts forward. Offering herself to him. The pressure in his balls, the fire licking his shaft, drove him to near madness. He wanted to crawl inside her, consume her. He barely heard his own command above the blood roaring in his ears.
“Lie down, hands above your head.”
She complied, raising her arms and crossing her wrists. Soren maneuvered over her, pinning her wrists with one hand, her submissive position short-circuiting his brain with animal lust. If a more sexual invitation existed for one person to do whatever they wished to another, he didn’t know what it could be.
With one finger of his free hand, he stroked her clit, gleaming and flushed from his attention. Liquid gold rushed over his hand, and she whimpered.
“Please!”
“Please, what?” he demanded.
She bucked against him. “I need—I want—”
He reveled in her soft moan as he guided the tip of his head to her entrance. “You want this?”
“Yes!”
Fingers digging into her flesh, he impaled her. Buried to the hilt, he rocked, hips thrusting. Grinding into her as fully as possible. Her muscles clenched, sheathing him, her little clit rubbing his slick cock.
“Harder!” she cried.
He slammed into her again and again, the pulse of her life force calling to him. His fangs lengthened. He’d take all of her. Letting go of her wrists, he wrapped her hair in his fist and pulled her head back as he fucked her. Exposing her neck and the sweet blood flowing there. She’d surrendered, ready for him. He smelled the musky perfume of her excitement.
He brushed his lips against her neck once, then sank his teeth deep. She screamed, bucking wildly beneath him. Her rich blood welled on his tongue and he drew hard, pulling the nectar down his throat in greedy swallows. It filled him, engorged him, and the beast rose in triumph.
“Soren! Please . . .”
She was helpless beneath him, at his mercy. His willing captive.
You can’t deny what you are. Ravage her!
He drank, riding her, and when she began to spasm around him, holding back wasn’t an option. They exploded together, her heat flooding him as he shot his release deep inside her.
Do it! There will be many more to satisfy our hunger!
“Shit.” Soren withdrew and rolled to lie on his back, gasping. Fighting the strong urge to pounce on her and finish it. Drain every delicious drop from her body. The beast craved the kill. The ecstasy of taking his pleasure as life faded away.
Soren closed his eyes in despair.
The constant assault on his senses, the lure of evil, was becoming impossible to resist. The beast was merging with his min
d, methodically overtaking his soul. Sometimes, like this moment, he could discern between the two of them. Soon he would no longer be able.
Harley squirmed beside him, and he opened his eyes to see her lying on her back, gazing at him, dark auburn hair tangled around her face, a small smile teasing her lips.
Look at her. She’ d willingly die for you. Drain her!
Yes, he longed to do it, imagined riding her again, ripping open her throat. Tearing the meat to get all of the—
“No !” He bolted to his feet, panic thundering in his chest. He was becoming Leila’s creation. A murdering brute.
Her smile vanished and she sat up. “What’s wrong?”
Shaking, confused, he clasped his hands over his ears. His voice cracked. “Who am I? Help me, Harley.”
She hurried to him, took his face in her hands. Her beautiful eyes bored into his. Calm and reassuring. “You’re Soren Fontaine, the man I love. No matter what.”
“I don’t know who that is anymore.” He swallowed hard.
She pressed against him, kissed away his tears. “Oh, honey, you will. Believe it. Please don’t cry.”
“I’m so fucking scared.” Wrapping his arms around her, he crushed her to him, willing her strength into him.
“Me, too. But we’re going to get through this together, if you’ll just stay with me.”
You’ve already lost, bastard.
He hugged her tighter. “Harley, if everything goes wrong, if there’s no hope for me—” He broke off, choking on the words.
She pulled away, touched his hair, his face. “Then I promise I’ll do whatever it takes to set you free.”
He gave her a gentle kiss, lingering for a moment, letting her love wash over him, quieting his raging, black heart.
And understood that he was saying good-bye.
13
Soren pulled away from her, casting about the room, searching for something they could wear. “We have to get the hell out of here.”
“Don’t bother. We’re locked inside, anyway.”
“Not for long.” He held up a pair of robes that had fallen behind one of the sofas and tossed one to her. “Put this on.”
