Damned and Desirable (Eternally Yours Book 2)

by Tara West

  I’m fairly certain the stifling air in the cave dropped about twenty degrees.

  Shadow held out a hand, waving his fingers. “Give her to me, and I will see she is kept safe.”

  Callum widened his stance and held his ground. “You had your chance. Like I said before, the bitch is mine.”

  Shadow’s body lengthened again, so tall it stretched to the stalactites hanging from the ceiling, and then he disappeared, like a flame doused by fire. An uneasy feeling settled in my gut, as I knew the demon hadn’t vanished. He’d disguised himself in the darkness. I heard a snap, like the cracking of a whip, then a curse, before the entire cave lit up in flame. I ran back to Callum’s den as other demons followed at my heels. I knew they were thinking what I’d been thinking. This fight was about to get real ugly, and no way in Hell were they going to get near it. I only hoped Callum won the battle. If I had to be someone’s bitch, I’d rather be his.

  I sat beside Callum on the bed, watching him guzzle more alcohol from the jug. “Devil’s whiskey” was what he called it. It smelled foul, like fermented eggs and skunk. I scooted back every time he belched. His breath was rancid and hot, sometimes so hot that flame followed. Gross. Talk about indigestion.

  I wrung my hands together as he used a dirty rag to clean his wound, a six inch slash across his chest that had torn away scales and ripped open the flesh beneath.

  “What happened?” I asked, and then cringed, afraid to know the answer.

  “The bastard cut me,” he growled. “What does it look like?”

  I swallowed hard, wishing I had some water. My mouth was parched again, feeling more hot and dry than the stagnant air. “Did you destroy him?”

  “Hard to tell.” He flinched and swore as blood trickled from his wound. “I scorched every wall of the cave, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t slip out.”

  I bit my bottom lip, turning my gaze down. Callum was injured because of me, and if Shadow had escaped, there was no telling what other danger would follow. “I’m sorry I caused so much trouble.”

  “This is Hell.” He chuckled. “I deal with trouble on an hourly basis.”

  I didn’t like the way he refused to meet my eyes, and I especially didn’t like how his hand shook when he tried to clean his injury.

  Frustrated, I snatched the rag from him and washed it in a wooden basin, wringing it out several times before cleaning it again under the stream of water dripping down the side wall of the cave. I also stole a few sips of water for myself. It was cool and refreshing, and hormone water or not, I was thirsty.

  I sat back down beside him with a groan and began washing out the cut, trying my best to ignore the way he winced every time I touched him. Several scales had been ripped at the roots and were hanging by torn tendons.

  “Why are you protecting me?”

  “You’re my brother’s woman.”

  My gaze shot to his. His dragon features had softened, rendering his face more human than anything. I realized the tough hide was just a mask, concealing the man within the beast, a man who had risked his soul to protect mine. I wondered, not for the first time, how such a person could have been banished to Hell.

  “How did you end up here?” I asked, not caring that the question was too personal. If I was going to trust him with my soul, I needed to understand the man behind the demon.

  Wisps of steam snaked out of his nose as he heaved a sigh. “It’s a long story.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” I finished squeezing water on the wound, careful not to peel back his scales. Then I leaped back as he splashed whiskey on it. I could actually hear his flesh sizzling. Ouch!

  He tilted his head back and growled, squeezing his eyes shut. His entire body went rigid and his hands shook. He remained this way until the sizzling stopped, and then he let out a slow exhale. When he looked at me, it was as if the fire had drained from his eyes. He was exhausted, and I suspected it was more mental than physical.

  “I slept with a married woman,” he said, his chest falling with the admission.

  I recalled the night I’d died. Aedan had taken me to pick up another soul, a man named Stan who’d cheated on his wife and been accused of embezzlement and tax fraud. Stan had somehow still made it to the bottom level of Purgatory. Callum couldn’t have been as bad a person as Stan. On the evolutionary chain of lowlifes, Stan was on the bottom rung for sure. He’d tried to squeeze my tits moments after dying in a Jacuzzi with an underage prostitute.

  “That’s it?” I shook my head, clucking my tongue. “Sorry, but I knew a guy who did a lot worse and made it to Purgatory.”

  He turned a bashful gaze to the floor. “There’s more to it than that,” he said in a barely audible whisper.

  I took a chance and leaned in closer. The whiskey on his breath didn’t smell as strong anymore. Either that, or I’d become conditioned to the odor. “Well, if you ask me, I think you deserve to be in Purgatory.” I tried to pat his hand, but it ended up being a squeeze instead. “You’re Aedan’s brother, after all. How bad can you be?”

  He jerked out of my grasp as if he’d been scalded. He shot to his feet, looking down at me with a scowl. “I’m far from perfect, Ashley.”

  Really? Because other than the fact that he’d made a name for himself terrorizing the living, I was starting to think this dragon was a good guy.

  I stood, tentatively searching his eyes for the softness I’d seen moments ago. I had no idea what had come over me, but a fog settled in my brain, obscuring all other thoughts but this overwhelming need to be near to him.

  “Ash,” I said as I stepped so close to him, I could feel the heat radiating off his body. I reached up and settled a hand on his chest, just below his scar. “That’s what my friends call me.”

  Narrowing his eyes, he pushed my hand off of him. “It’s the water.”

  “What?” I searched his eyes, the fog in my brain sending all my emotions into a spiral of despair, and something else, lust. Omigod. I was lusting after my boyfriend’s brother. This was so not good.

  He took a step back, waving toward the stream of water. “That which thirst quenches leaves desire unsated.”

  I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. “You’re not making any sense.”

  “There’s something in the water here. It makes you…” he paused, a smile tugging at his lips. “Horny.”

  My hand flew to my throat. “Are you serious?” Earlier, when he’d warned me about the hormone water, I figured my tits would grow an extra cup size or I’d need to start waxing my upper lip.

  “That’s why I drink Devil’s whiskey.” He picked up the jug and took another swallow. “Takes the edge off.”

  He held it out to me, but I waved him away.

  I got this sickening feeling in my gut when I realized I’d just come on to my boyfriend’s brother. Holy shit! I’d never tried to cheat on my boyfriends, not even the jerkiest of the jerks, and certainly not with their brothers. “So every time I drink water, I’m going to get horny?”

  He grimaced. “Afraid so.”

  I looked at that refreshing stream in a new light. It was poison designed to make me betray the man I cared for. This place sucked. I’d thought Hell was about physical anguish, but the mental torture was worse. I didn’t think I could live with myself if I slept with Callum, even if he was a sexy dragon demon with a tight ass. I had to get my lust under control, but could I go without water in the hottest place in all of eternity? Even in Callum’s damp cave, the place was unbearably humid. My jeans stuck to my legs, and my hair dripped with sweat. “I’ll die of thirst.”

  “You’re already dead, Ashley.” He stumbled back as he spoke, and I realized the whiskey was starting to take hold. “You don’t need to drink. You just have to get used to being thirsty.”

  I threw up my hands. “Oh, this sucks.” So I was left with two options, be thirsty and miserable or be horny and miserable. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I really needed to get the hell out of here.

>   “There you are. No surprise to find you in trouble, as usual.”

  I spun around at the familiar nasal whine of my ex-boyfriend. “Travis? What are you doing here?”

  Not that the asshole didn’t deserve to burn for all eternity, but I’d had no idea Travis was dead. Last I’d seen him, he’d been hearty and healthy, sponging off our cougar college professor. Maybe he’d breathed in enough of her second hand smoke. Maybe he’d pissed off her ex-husband or one of her three grown kids and they’d put a slug in him. Either way, I couldn’t say I was happy to see him again. The man had always ridiculed me for the smallest things and strutted around like his three-inch penis was God’s gift to women.

  He looked like the same old Travis, dark hair and eyes, high cheekbones, and a confident smile. He was dressed preppy casual, looking as if he was about to sip a mocha cappuccino at his favorite coffee shop while listening to smooth jazz and feigning interest in a literary novel. What had I ever seen in that pretentious prick?

  “Never mind what I’m doing here.” He pointed at me with an accusatory finger. “What are you doing here?”

  I looked at Callum for help, but the asshole had actually kicked back in a wooden chair, feet propped up on the table, watching our exchange with a smile as if we were his own personal one-act play.

  “It’s a long story,” I said with a sigh as I shot Callum a glare that could have melted lead.

  “Let me guess.” He turned up his chin, a familiar look of contempt in his eyes. “You were being stupid.”

  My wings involuntarily snapped open, buzzing as I jutted hands on my hips. “Well, good to see death hasn’t made you any less of an asshole.”

  I was so very tempted to smack him upside the head.

  “Ash,” Callum chuckled as he joined me.

  “What?” I spat, lifting off the ground as my wings flapped angrily.

  He settled a hand on my shoulder, pushing me back down as he looked deep into my eyes. “Let me handle this.” He walked up to Travis and shoved him with a hand on his forehead.

  Surprisingly, Travis didn’t acknowledge Callum as he continued his verbal assault. “You kill yourself with a blow-dryer, get kicked out of Heaven, and now you wind up in Hell. Honestly, Ash, either you have the worst luck in the world, or you’re hiding your blonde roots.”

  Callum pushed Travis back until he was standing on the threshold of the cave entrance. Travis tried to duck around Callum as he continued to hurl insults at me.

  The guy was insatiable. He didn’t even try to get Callum off him.

  Callum turned to me, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “You might want to stand back.”

  I sucked in a gasp when Callum puffed up his chest and unleashed a flaming assault on my ex-boyfriend. In a matter of seconds, Travis was toast, reduced to nothing more than a pile of ash at Callum’s feet.

  “Holy shit!” I shrieked, my hands flying to my mouth. “You killed Travis.”

  “Don’t worry.” Callum eased into his chair. “He’ll be back.”

  I gasped. “What do you mean?”

  “That demon wasn’t Travis. That was your nettle.”

  “My what?”

  “A nettle. Everyone in Hell is assigned one. You know how in Heaven they have valets?”

  “Yeah.” I flushed as I was struck with the memory of my first and only night in Heaven. My valet had looked just like Aedan, and I guess Callum, too. He’d been big and beautiful, with a sexy southern accent, and we fucked like rabbits all night long.

  “A nettle is like a valet, only instead of making your afterlife easier, they make it a living Hell, no pun intended.” He took a swig of his jug and belched a puff of smoke. “I just knocked him down a level. It usually only takes nettles a day or two to work their way back up.”

  “So you have a nettle, too?” I asked, and then my attention was drawn to a pile of ash by the table and three more by the bed. Holy heck, how many nettles had this dragon smoked, and didn’t they have brooms in Hell?

  His eyes darkened as a puff of steam escaped his nose. “Unfortunately.”

  “Callum, darling.”

  I spun around at the sound of the sweet seductive voice and then my jaw dropped at the naked beauty standing in the entrance. She looked like an angel, with a halo of blonde hair cascading down her back, full, firm breasts, a small waist that flared at the hips, and large, green eyes framed by thick lashes. My heart thudded when I looked more closely at those eyes, which looked too familiar.

  “Speak of the devil,” Callum mumbled as he stood and pushed his chair back.

  “Your brother is gone for the day.” She tilted her chin and held out her hands, brazenly eyeing him while licking her lips. “Come make love to me.”

  Callum didn’t even flinch before he unleashed a steady stream of fire, reducing her into a pile of dust. Then he sat down and took a long, deep drink of whiskey.

  “She was pretending to be Aedan’s wife, Katherine, wasn’t she?” I asked as I sat across from him.

  He stared blankly at the table. “Now you know why I was cast down to Hell.”

  I shut my eyes against the onslaught of depression that washed over me. Callum had been cast to Hell for sleeping with Aedan’s wife. How awful. No wonder Aedan refused to speak of his wife and brother. But the man sitting before me didn’t strike me as the sort to purposely betray his family. Of one thing I was certain, he was sorry for his sins. Not long ago Aedan had told me that once a soul was cast to Hell, there were no second chances. Too bad, because if anyone deserved one, it was Callum.

  I wasn’t so sure about Katherine. I didn’t know her, so I couldn’t judge, but I secretly hoped she wasn’t nearby. My encounter with Mar had been awkward enough. I didn’t want to face another one of Aedan’s Murphy women anytime soon. “Aedan told me Katherine went to Hell. Is she on the same level as us?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.” He shot me a warning glare, wagging a finger at my chest. “She is a serpent demon, and you would do well to stay away from her.”

  The way Callum’s shoulders slumped made him look defeated and tired, and every bit older than a century. I could tell he was sorry for what he’d done. I needed to change the subject, if for no other reason than to get Callum’s mind off the past.

  “When my nettle comes back you’ll get rid of him again, right?”

  He nodded. “As long as I can.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He leveled me with a look so sinister, fear solidified my veins, making it difficult to breathe and impossible to move. “Shadow’s master will come for us, Ash, and when he does, things will get ugly.”

  I jumped to my feet, my wings snapping open with an angry buzz. “That’s it! I refuse to be a sitting duck any longer.” I stomped out of the den and through the cave tunnel.

  Just as I’d hoped, Callum fell in behind me. “Where are you going?”

  I waved a hand toward the faint glowing fuchsia lights at the end of the tunnel. “To the gate. I don’t care how ugly and mean that dog is. It beats sitting around here waiting to get captured.”

  Callum grabbed my elbow, spinning me to face him. “You don’t know your way to the gate.”

  I jerked out of his grip. “That’s why you’re taking me.”

  Smoke poured out of his nose as his demon eyes narrowed. “And if I refuse?”

  I tilted my chin, waving a hand at the creepy shadows that had slinked into the tunnel, observing us with glowing, feral eyes. “Then I’ll get one of your demon roomies to show me,” I said this with a smile, pretending I wasn’t about to shit my pants as the shadows hovered closer.

  “Blast, woman!” He crossed his arms over his scaly chest, right before snarling at a demon who’d sidled up to his back. “You are stubborn.”

  I shrugged, turned, and bolted for the exit without a backward glance, hoping my prayers for him to follow me weren’t futile. I jumped off the ledge, flying toward the direction of the flaming pit, relieved to hear Callum’s flapping wings as he ca
ught up to me.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” he grumbled.

  “No,” I said with a wink. “But you do.”

  Aedan

  Jack had kept vigilant watch with one head while sniffing the ground with the other. I knew he was trying to track Ash, but so far he hadn’t shown the slightest indication he’d found her trail.

  Despite Sarge’s bulky frame, he moved with the stealth of a seasoned soldier. I still couldn’t believe he’d agreed to come. He must have figured the reward would outweigh the risks.

  Though Ash had reassured me they were just friends, I wasn’t convinced they didn’t share a deeper connection. But I forced myself to put it out of my mind. There would be time to dwell on that after I’d retrieved Ash from Hell. Because I would find her. I didn’t care if it took a hundred years. I refused to lose another person I loved to eternal damnation.

  After trekking through the dead forest for several hours, we finally made our way to an abandoned cave at the edge of the trees. I had no idea what time it was, since the sky was always dark in Hell. The only illumination was from the faint glow of the distant fire. From the ledge of the cave, I saw embers from the pit below sending bursts of iridescent light into the sky like backward shooting stars. It would have been a beautiful sight had I not known we were in the belly of the beast.

  We made a fire out of tree limbs, not for warmth, but for light, as even inside the cave, it was hot and humid.

  The cave floor was fortunately soft, made up of a slightly sticky clay that was cool to the touch. I hadn’t packed sleeping bags, so the bare floor would have to do. We’d decided to rest long enough to gather our strength and to take shifts keeping watch. After a few hours, we’d resume our search.

  Once we were all seated around the fire, I pulled out four candy bars, handing one to Sarge and two to Jack. Then, I passed around a bottle of water, reminding them again to ration it. Though we didn’t need water to survive in Hell, the sweltering heat left our mouths drier than a dustbowl, and the water was a welcome reprieve.

  “Were you planning a trip to Hell?” Sarge asked as he handed back the bottle.