Damned and Desperate (Eternally Yours Book 3)

by Tara West

  He had a point. If he wanted to rid himself of me, he would have let them sacrifice me to the dragon. Still, there was something about the spider I didn’t trust. She wanted to keep me below, that much she’d made clear. But why? Was it really for my safety, or did she have an ulterior motive? I shook my head, gesturing toward the open doorway. “Seems to me this spider is just as controlling.”

  His frown was sullen, like the rest of him, as he jabbed his hands in his pockets. “You are right, but she has kept her followers safe from torture for over a thousand years.”

  “By trapping them against their will?” Surely, he didn’t think living with this monster was a better option.

  His brown eyes darkened to onyx. “Would you prefer the alternative?”

  “The Sergeant is up there, and so are the Nephilim slaves Scorpius cast down. What happens when the Nephilim army comes for their kin? When my brother and Ash come for their friend?” Somehow, I suspected this spider wouldn’t be too amenable to having an army of giants invade her territory.

  Shadow cast his gaze to the ceiling. “That is why I must return to the top. I’ve only come to see that you are well.”

  “The spider lets you go?”

  “Of course. I am the only among our number who can cloak himself in darkness.”

  I was amazed he’d gained her trust in such a short time. Could he have been right? That this spider was truly trying to save souls condemned to Hell? Still, there was the question of what would happen to my friends once they met up with her.

  “And what would you do when you find them? Bring them down here?”

  “Yes. They will be safe here.”

  His unwavering stare unnerved me. Not that I thought he meant me harm. No, not that. But I now realized why he was so open, so direct. He’d gone mad, and his madness would be my brother’s undoing. White hot rage seared my skull as I jumped to my feet, waving my hands wildly in his face. “But my brother and Ash belong in Purgatory, not in some God-forsaken hole!”

  He stretched his body toward the ceiling, a lean shadow peering down at me with condescension in his raised brows. “And certainly not in the belly of the beast.”

  “Listen to you!” I roared. “You’re so used to being controlled, you’ve just traded one master for another. Think for yourself, man. If you want to help them escape the beast, then get them back to Purgatory.”

  “There is no way back up.” There was a hopelessness in his voice, and I feared he believed it to be true.

  “Who fed you that lie?” Though I already suspected it was the spider. “If there’s a way down, there’s a way up. “

  The darkness that contorted his features faded as he contracted toward the ground. “Things will get easier for you once you learn to accept your fate, once you learn to embrace the web of light.” He spoke as if in a trance, confirming he was once again lost to the mind control of an evil demon.

  Clenching my fists, I stomped toward him. “I won’t learn to embrace a foolish religion that was forced down my throat.”

  His eyes widened and then narrowed, right before he disappeared in a shroud of darkness. If he insisted on hiding behind a web of lies, so be it. I wouldn’t be so easily fooled.

  Though Shadow had disappeared, I sensed something was amiss when a chill stole up my spine. The light on the wall flickered as the slightest of breezes blew into my small chamber. Inhaling deeply, I stoked the embers within my chest as I backed up, scanning the room for any sign of Shadow.

  Someone was here, of that I was certain, for I could feel a strange presence. But where? I spun in a slow circle, examining each crevice in the wall’s stone surface for something that didn’t fit. And then I chanced a look up, at the thousands of spiders blanketing the ceiling.

  I fell to my knees, releasing my fire, even as they descended upon me. I burned as many of them as I could, their piercing little screams like bullets to my brain, causing me to recoil. Despite my fires their numbers were too many, falling on me like bees swarming a hive. My breathing came in gasps as my fire burned out. They raced across my limbs, coating me in a sticky substance, making it impossible to move. I tried to swat them away as they wedged beneath my scales, but the more I struck, the harder they stung me, sending shards of flame coursing through my veins until I fell over, immobilized by the pain. They crawled across my brow, coating my face in the sticky substance, reducing each strained gasp to a shallow wheeze.

  Ash MacLeod

  Anak had discovered a hidden chamber, but it took a lot of cajoling on my part to get him to allow the “devil woman” to come with us. Couldn’t say I blamed him for mistrusting Katherine. She wasn’t exactly on my list of favorite demon bitches, either. Luckily, she and her snake were still knocked out with no signs of waking up anytime soon. After we proved her restraints were tight enough, we draped her across Boner’s back and were on our way.

  We had to leave Jack behind, though. He wasn’t finished with that boulder, poor horny doggie. Anak assured us we wouldn’t be too far away.

  True enough, the secret chamber was only a stone’s throw from Jack, hidden behind an outcropping of sharp stalagmites. One by one, we slipped inside a tunnel barely wide enough to fit Anak. It was a good thing Jack was preoccupied, because I didn’t know if he’d be able to fit. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to find the chamber inside was roomy and immaculate, lit with several candles draped from the tall ceiling and decorated with pristine Grecian urns, marble benches, and stone statues. The floors looked clean and polished, and the walls were a smooth, pale stone. Whoever lived here sure was tidy. I hoped he or she was nice, too.

  “Whoa! What is this place?” The first thing I thought of was the Nephilim pyramid, a little slice of Heaven smack in the pit of Hell.

  The giant straightened his long neck and puffed up his chest. “Anak make sanctuary.”

  “How did you make it?” Aedan asked.

  The giant motioned toward our surroundings. “Anak find melted candles and broken things here. Someone live in chamber first.”

  I ran my hand up the smooth side of a Grecian urn nearly as tall as me. “You made this?”

  “Anak make things nice.” He crossed the room to a stone statue of a beautiful angel playing the harp, and with one sweep of his fist, smashed it into a thousand pieces.

  I mourned the loss of such beauty, but sadness turned to shock and then wonder as Anak held a hand over the broken pieces, and they fused back together until the statue was once again whole and flawless. Okay, so that was a cool power to have. I wondered if it also worked on living things. As if on cue, that volcano on my shoulder started to throb again, a grim reminder Hell sucked big fat demon balls.

  “Can you heal my shoulder?”

  “Yah.” Anak crossed to me. He placed a hand on my wound, and I was instantly infused with a soothing warmth that radiated all the way to my toes. Imagine my surprise when my awful bloating and cramps also subsided. Had Anak erased my period, too? Holy shit! Sure, he’d just eliminated my excuse to gorge on chocolate, but there was no chocolate in Hell, anyway. This giant would be every girl’s best friend back on Earth.

  He stepped back, flashing a wide, goofy grin. “Angel no hurt now.”

  I twisted my neck and gaped at my shoulder while flapping my dry wings. Not only was my skin smooth and flawless, but the pain was gone. My ripped tank top was fused back together and looked brand new.

  Aedan pulled my shirt to the side and ran a hand over my skin, causing a trill of pleasure to race through me. “Amazing,” he breathed.

  I smiled up at him, pretending the horny water still didn’t have me in its grip, but it did. It really, really did. I eyed a narrow tunnel at the back of the chamber, hoping Anak had created a suite and a king-sized bed with satin sheets and a wedge pillow. Heck, since it was my fantasy, throw in some edible undies, a big fat vibrator, and a jar of body butter. Honestly, though, I’d settle for an empty cave as long as I was alone with Aedan.

  “Can you fix
me?” Boner asked as he clomped up to us. He frowned at his swinging testicles. “It’s getting hard to walk.”

  When Anak placed his hand on Boner’s back, I expected Boner’s balls to shrink down from watermelons to coconuts. Imagine my surprise when Boner turned into a man again. A very naked man with a very large hard-on. Seems Anak didn’t have a cure for horny water.

  “Oh, wow.” Boner crossed one leg over the other, trying to shield his flagpole with his hands. “I should have brought clothes.” His face flushed a bright crimson. “Sorry.”

  Weird. I’d never seen him self-conscious about his dick before. As he batted his eyes in Mar’s direction, I sensed a weird vibe between them.

  “It’s okay,” Mar said before ripping off the bottom of her toga. She’d torn off enough to reveal her legs all the way up to her kneecaps.

  My word! How risqué and improper. All her prude friends in Heaven will be clucking their tongues when they hear of this.

  Mar’s cheeks flushed as she draped the fabric around Boner, tying it at his waist. She didn’t even flinch as the eye of Boner’s flesh snake popped out of the top. She just adjusted the fabric higher.

  Aedan loudly cleared his throat, sounding like a hungry bear. “Anak, where are the other Nephilim?”

  The giant’s face fell. “Anak no find them.” He pointed a long finger toward the floor. “Anak fell through dirt and land here.”

  The lines around Aedan’s eyes lengthened. “I hope the others didn’t land on the other side of that web.”

  “It can’t be any worse than Tombstone,” Boner said. Then he pointed a finger at Aedan. “By the way, how did you keep Doc from reading your mind?”

  Good question. Supposedly, the doctor could see our next move before we could, but Aedan had completely blindsided him when he’d produced a silver sword.

  Aedan flashed a sideways smile as he held up the star. “I wished for my mind to be a fortress.”

  “That was quick thinking,” I said. Then I imagined Aedan’s head surrounded by Lincoln Logs or a metal grate. “Good thing that star didn’t take your wish literally.”

  After Anak dried Aedan’s and Mar’s wings, we flashed each other sheepish looks, like a bunch of kids who’d been sent to time-out. Only instead of getting busted with our hands in the cookie jar, we’d all been caught jerking off.

  “So what do we do now?” Boner asked us. At least I think he was asking us, because his gaze kept shifting to Mar, whose cheeks were getting redder by the second.

  The giant frowned down at us, clucking his tongue. “Friends need rest.” He flashed a goofy smile, pointing to Boner’s obvious hard-on. “Water still make friends crazy. When water wear off, we go find Nephilim kin.”

  Hang on. Why were Boner and Mar giving each other coy looks? Were they intent on finishing what they’d started back at our crazy fuck fest? I supposed it would work since he was no longer a horse, though he was still built like one. What a painful way for a girl to lose her virginity, because I was fairly certain Mar’s one-hundred-year old cherry was still intact. It might have shriveled up or gotten lost among the cobwebs, but there was no way she’d ever been laid. Not with that stick wedged so far up her ass.

  I had no idea how I felt about Mar and Boner hooking up. On one hand, I wanted to be the one to witness Mar’s fall from grace. What would Aedan think of his prim and proper princess, knowing she got it on with a twelve-inch dong? On the other hand, I didn’t want to see Boner get tangled up in her web of pouty faces and tantrums. She’d make his afterlife miserable for sure. Some part of me, some taunting little voice in the back of my head, said I was jealous of Mar, and so I wanted her to be miserable. After all, she’d been Aedan’s first love, and though I knew he loved me more than anything, I still suspected he had feelings for her. Maybe if she got together with Boner, that would be enough to purge her from Aedan’s heart for good. Boner could always dump her if her nagging and whining got on his nerves. Then she’d be divine and dumped, and she’d have to gorge on cheesecake to get over him.

  Sheesh. What was wrong with me? Maybe I’d been in Hell too long, or maybe there was something else in that horny water, but I was turning into a vindictive, jealous bitch. I wasn’t normally so evil, except during a certain time of the month, but Anak had taken care of that. I had to get out of this place before my inner-demon got the best of me. Before I turned into Katherine.

  “Go rest, friends.” Anak made a shooing motion and then pointed at a narrow passageway in the back of the cavern. “Anak make beds.”

  Okay, was he telling us to go rest, or was he encouraging us to go have sex? Something about the mischievous gleam in his eyes told me Anak was expecting us to get it on. Why was he so intent on everyone getting laid? Was he some kind of giant perv who planned on pulling up a chair and munching on popcorn in a front row seat while we acted out live XXX theater?

  We were all kind of gawking at each other, and I could tell nobody wanted to make the first move. I mean, this was all so strange. Anak had made us beds? Yeah, really strange indeed.

  Aedan laced his fingers through mine and pulled me aside. When I looked into his intent eyes, I couldn’t help but bite my lip as a wave of lust overcame me. His eyes dazzled, and the heat radiating off his body was so welcoming.

  “Ash, can I talk to you in private?” he breathed against my cheek.

  Well, hot damn. Seemed I was producing my own horny water. My lady parts started running like a leaky faucet, and every time Aedan brushed my palm with the pad of his thumb, more and more moisture gushed out of me. Anak was going to get a front row seat after all, because the effects from the water still hadn’t worn off. The bad thing was, I was starting not to worry who saw us. All I cared about was Aedan’s penis pounding inside me, banging on that little bundle of nerves until I screamed loud enough to blast out the receivers at the prayer call center. My wings hummed with energy as I wordlessly followed him down the narrow corridor and past a room that was small and dimly lit with a bed in the center that appeared to be a slab of stone. Aedan led me toward a room at the end of the tunnel. Good. Boner and Mar could have the stone bed. Hopefully, our room had more modern furnishings. If not, we’d have to make it work. Maybe Aedan could wish for a pillow and some satin sheets. Although I was willing to fuck Fred Flintstone style if need be.

  Damn this water!

  Aedan O’Connor

  I could feel the lust radiating off Ash as I led her toward the farthest chamber. I suspected she was only interested in one thing at the moment, but that’s not why I wanted privacy. I had to explain myself, though I had no good excuse for my behavior. I’d not only let myself down back there, I’d let down everyone, especially Ash, the one woman I’d swore on my soul to protect.

  The room appeared to be much like the first one, with a stone slab for a bed and a low candle flickering beside it. Since the star granted my wishes, I closed my hand over the emblem and asked for more comfortable furnishings, pleased when I opened my eyes to a four poster-bed with a soft comforter.

  Ash squeezed my hand and gasped her delight, pulling me toward the bed. Yeah, only one thing on her mind. Despite the effects of the water, I still couldn’t understand why she’d want to sleep with me after I’d failed to act like a man.

  I jerked out of her grip. “Ash, I wanted to apologize for my behavior back there.”

  She fell to the mattress and began flinging off her clothes. “Don’t blame yourself. The water made all of us horny.”

  I tried not to get distracted by her big, beautiful breasts as she threw her wet bra across the room. “That’s not what I’m talking about,” I said as shame forced me to look away. “I meant my behavior in the water.”

  She heaved a sigh, slipping off the bed, her breasts heaving as she fluttered up to me. “That’s okay.” She smiled sweetly. “I know you’re hydrophobic.”

  I fought the urge to take her pebbled nipple in my mouth, suckling until I made her scream. “That was no excuse.” Despite the
fact I was distracted, very distracted, by her naked beauty, I couldn’t evade the overwhelming feeling of guilt that consumed me. I had been a Grim Reaper for over a hundred years, retrieving souls many times who were hostile and battling demons who’d tried to steal my soul to Hell. Never once had I lost my composure. But the one time my girlfriend needed me to be strong, I’d panicked, flailing around in the water like a frightened child. If it hadn’t been for Ash’s quick thinking, telling me to wish for a raft, I might have drowned. And then what? Would I have descended into another lake in level five? I’d told Ash I couldn’t swim, which was a lie. I’d swum in the Galveston bay many times as a youth. I’d even dove in once and rescued a young woman who’d fallen from the pier. Then came the night I’d drowned in a fierce hurricane trying to save Katherine’s life, and I’d woken up in Purgatory with a foolish fear of water, letting the memory of my death consume me for over a hundred years. I would not let that happen again.

  “Do we have to talk about this now?” she pleaded. Sensing my need, she lifted my hand to her breast, forcing me to squeeze her pillowy softness until the nipple hardened beneath my palm.

  My conscience warred with my desire, and it took all my willpower to release her. “Yes, we do. I should have done more to take care of you.”

  She rubbed the apex of her desire against my thigh before cupping my balls in her hand. “We’re safe, aren’t we?” She batted her lashes while looking innocently up at me.

  I tried to ignore the rings of lust pulsing through me as I hardened beneath her touch. “No thanks to me.”

  “You don’t always have to be the one in control.” She bit her lower lip while stroking the length of my cock. “I can take care of us, too.”

  And she proved that point perfectly with her seductive skills. My flesh hummed and throbbed with need, entranced by her touch as if placed under a spell.