by Lia Davis, Milly Taiden, Kerry Adrienne, Vella Day, Andie Devaux
His animal wanted him to tear down the door and tell her Kele meant nothing. That Laura was his mate. His one. But he couldn’t do that. Kele had been a special person in his life. The truth was that if she showed up there, he’d still feel indebted to his old relationship with her. A prick of pain hit him in the chest, straight to his heart.
He couldn’t hear anything from the bathroom as he dressed, but he sensed his words had hurt Laura. He wouldn’t lie to her. She was the one woman for him, but he’d been married, and he couldn’t stop himself from feeling committed to Kele if she showed up in the Seventh.
***
Damien hated that Laura refused to see him. No matter how much he tried to get Davi on his side, she’d shrugged and told him she wasn’t going to force Laura to talk to him. Now he stood on the training field with his mind at Davi’s castle. Two of the guards in training came at him. Instead of using his bigger body to deflect their hits, he shifted into the wolf dying to break free.
He growled, the sound filled with fury. He knew his wolf wasn’t like when he’d been alive. From the moment he joined Davi’s ranks in the Seventh, his animal had changed. He’d been bigger. Stronger. Angrier. Davi mentioned it was all part of the process to keep him as the head of her guards.
He bit into one of the arms of the young guard, pulling it out of the socket and spraying blood all over the field. The second guard used his sword, swinging it to cut at Damien’s large hind leg. Damien snarled and kicked him with the same leg he’d cut.
Two new recruits decided they’d show off by helping out the guys in training. Now it turned into four against Damien. He didn’t give a fuck. His anger over missing Laura and feeling guilty over wanting her instead of Kele pushed the beast in him to rebel.
One of the guards tried to use his sword to cut at Damien’s neck, but he shoved out of the way, keeping the kid from being able to reach. This was hell. If they cut his head off, he’d be seen as a terrible leader of the guards. If he killed the new recruits, who gave a shit? There would be others. It wasn’t like they were truly dead. If he destroyed them in Davi’s level, they’d just be sent to the Sixth. It wouldn’t do to have guards that couldn’t keep up. Davi liked blood thirst. All he’d have to do was tell her the entire gory tale.
Two guys came at him together, trying to overpower him with numbers like the first two had. He pawed at one until the guy dropped the sword, then he bit both arms off the guard. The second guy was kicked off him until he could give him his full attention. He turned on his heels, jumping through the air and landing on the first guard. A single bite to his neck and the recruit was finished. The final guard tried using the sword, but only managed to slice one of Damien’s paws before Damien got his canines into the guy.
He shifted back into his human body. He was bloody. Angry. And horny for Laura.
“That was quite a show there,” Davi said from behind him. “I thought you made it a rule not to shift when training?”
He marched to the building to shower. “Fuck the rules.”
“Oh, Wrath. Are you trying to turn me on?” She sighed.
The woman was crazy. He still couldn’t figure her out. “What do you want?”
He opened the door to the showers and found a surprise he was not prepared for.
“Damien!” Elena flung herself into his arms. “Are you ready to fuck me brainless?”
What. The. Fuck. He had such shitty luck lately. “Elena, it’s not a good time. You need to get out of here.”
He turned to Davi, glaring at her. It was her fault Elena showed up everywhere he went. He could not walk home without her tackling him near the entrance or in the middle of the street, asking him to fuck her in the ass.
“Hi, Davi,” Elena greeted. “He likes to play hard to get a lot.”
Davi grinned. “Does he?”
Elena nodded. “Oh, yes. I’ve practically put my ass on his face and he won’t do me. It’s so frustrating.”
Damien turned to Davi, grabbing her by the arm and tugging her to the other room. He could be sent to the worst level of hell for putting his hands on her, but there was no other way to make her see sense. “Get her the hell out of here. She’s driving me fucking crazy.”
Davi raised a brow and glanced at his hand on her arm. He took his fingers off her and waited.
“Fine. I will get her off your back. Here I thought with that insatiable animal inside, you’d be able to keep a nymphomaniac busy.”
He groaned. “She’s a nympho? No wonder. Just get her out of here. Keep her away.”
Davi raked a nail down his chest. “And what do I get in return, Wrath?”
Fuck. It was like that with Davi. She could never just do a good deed. Then again, if she did, she wouldn’t belong in hell. “I’ll see what I can do to get Laura back. Give you some of those minions you want.”
Her expression brightened. “Really? You want Laura like that?”
Why lie to himself any longer? “Yes. She’s mine.”
“Oh. Okay.” She flicked her wrist. “Elena won’t bother you any longer.”
Finally!
He turned away from her to head into the shower. “Thanks.”
“Oh, one more thing, Wrath,” she called out, making him stop in his tracks to glance over his shoulder at her. She licked her lips and winked. “Nice ass.”
Chapter Seven
Laura tried not to look at Damien, but it was hard seeing as they were standing in front of each other. His stony face didn’t make her feel any better. It wasn’t her fault that he didn’t want to move from the past. She’d spent too much time with him. Her emotions had gotten tangled up with all thoughts of Damien. A sharp pinch of sadness hit her in the heart.
He finally met her gaze. “Why are we here?”
She pursed her lips, curling her hands into fists. She’d been taking kickboxing lessons like he’d suggested, trying to work on ways to rid herself of the anger. She’d also been doing Pit Yoga. Why anyone wanted to sit in a room hotter than the worst levels of hell out of their own free will was beyond her.
The yoga was supposed to help her relax after the boxing and allow her to control her frustrations and put her mind at ease. Damien had done that. Given her ideas on how to find solutions for her problem. Now look at them. She’d kicked him out of her place and refused to see him. Even Davi had tried to interfere, but Laura had been adamant. If he couldn’t let go of his wife and offer her his heart, then she didn’t want to be with him.
“I don’t know why we’re here,” she snapped, looking away.
“You know, if you were a shifter, I’d say you’re an alpha female. The trait is in you.”
She rolled her eyes and glanced back at him. “But since I’m not, that makes me a bitch, huh?”
Whoa! Where had that come from? She never snapped at anyone like that lately. Seeing him must have agitated the hurt feelings she’d been coping with since they’d last seen each other.
He shook his head. He tensed and sadness flitted through his eyes. “You’re too sweet to be that.”
Right. Not good enough for him to want to commit to, though. She opened her mouth to speak when Davi appeared in her office.
She glanced from one to the other. “Not tearing each other’s clothes off and fucking on my floor, I see. Why?”
Laura cleared her throat, choosing to ignore the question. “You needed to see us?”
Davi grinned. “You two have all this pent up sexual tension. I’ve got the urge to run out of here and go find a new cock for some quick, dirty time in here.”
Laura’s eyes went wide. She hoped Davi wasn’t planning on doing that in front of them. Knowing her boss, she was likely to get it on in front of anyone.
“What do you want with me?” Damien growled.
Davi blinked. Laura’s gaze shot to his face. He didn’t budge or flinch. He didn’t care how Davi took his words.
“You two are pretty sexually frustrat
ed, so I’ll let that slide, Wrath. I have some questions regarding a new soul that came into this level by mistake.”
Laura frowned. Someone else handled soul transfer. She didn’t know why Davi would think she’d be able to help.
“You two sure you don’t want to fuck like rabbits by my fireplace? It would make for good entertainment.” Davi winked.
“We’re not fucking in front of you, Davi. So get on with it.” Laura sighed.
Davi sniffed. “Party poopers.” She wiggled her fingers and a file showed up in her hands. “I understand you are both acquainted with Ketalina Callis.”
Laura frowned at Damien, shaking her head. “No.”
He did the same. “I have no clue who that is.”
Davi search through her files and then snapped her fingers. Two guards, some of the scariest beings in the Pit, showed up holding a woman. The woman was shackled in fiery chains. She had to be one of the bad ones to have two guards on her and shackles too. Her face was hidden behind a cloak so they couldn’t make it out.
“Ketalina Callis?” Davi asked.
The guards growled a nod.
Davi motioned for the guard to remove the cloak.
“Oh, shit!” Laura gasped.
“What the hell is the meaning of this?” Damien growled. “Why is she shackled like a high security threat?”
Davi moved forward. “Because she is a major threat. Aren’t you, Ket, or as you have been called in Damien’s time, Kele, or as you were called in Laura’s time, Katherine?”
It was her cousin. The evil bitch that had been the cause of Laura’s demise. “Why is she here? Not that she doesn’t deserve it.”
“Ketalina?” Damien snarled, anger and shock visible in his tight features. “Who the fuck is this?”
Ketalina, or as Laura knew her, Katherine, smirked. “I’m too high a witch. Nobody can go up against me. I’m too powerful for the likes of you. I made a deal with Riyanna before I came here.”
Davi grinned. “Ketalina is a bad, bad witch. She’s been transferring from body to body for hundreds of years.”
“What do you mean transferring?” Damien asked, curling his hands into fists.
“I needed to live, Damien,” Ketalina said. “The body I had during your time alive was sick. Kele’s body was dying. I couldn’t keep it, so I needed you to die so I could get a new body.”
Laura gasped. “What?”
Davi nodded. “She met Damien once she’d transferred into Kele’s body. She sacrificed Damien, by having him kill off a man she said abused her. Once Damien was killed, she was able to take the other man’s wife’s body and continued living. By getting Damien to get rid of the husband, there wouldn’t be a husband to notice the change in his wife. Besides, Damien would have scented she was in the new woman’s body.” Davi turned to Laura. “When she got to your time, you figured out she wanted to kill you.”
Laura gave a sharp nod. “She wanted my wealth.”
Davi smiled. “You’re so smart, Laura. That’s why you’re my right hand. Yes, she wanted your wealth. She also wanted a new body.”
Ketalina glared at Laura. “You! You almost cost me my life. It was because of you, I got a second chance at life.”
“You didn’t die from the fall off the cliff,” Laura said.
“Almost.” Ketalina gave an evil smirk. “But I called upon Riyanna. She stopped me from death with the promise that I give her my soul.”
Laura snorted. “Your ass was coming down here whether you made a deal with her or not.”
Davi laughed. “Very good, Laura. You’re absolutely right. She was meant to come down here before she made a deal with mother.” Davi glanced at her. “But it seems that when she offered mother her soul, she promised to serve her in the First.”
Shit. That was the worst level. Eternal torture and damnation. Good for her. She’d made Laura miserable enough. It took her a second to realize that her cousin had also lived as Damien’s wife. The wife he was so attached to.
“Before I send her off to mother’s care…” Davi grinned. “Anything you want to say, Laura?”
Laura glanced at the woman she’d known as her cousin. Pure evil filled Ketalina’s gaze. Laura smiled at the woman who had caused her death. She had a lot of anger inside, most of it due to her inability to let things go. It was then she realized she could start with Katherine or Ketalina. “Tell your mother to double chain her, so her evil ass doesn’t escape.”
“What about you, Wrath? Anything you want to say?”
Laura held her breath, watching multiple emotions play over Damien’s features. The lingering one was fury. “Yeah. Let me have five minutes alone with her in a room.”
Her heart sank. Could he possibly still care about her after what she’d done?
Davi shook her head. “Sorry. She’s going straight to the Pit.” She glanced back and forth between Damien and Laura. “I’ll return shortly. I want to make sure she gets there myself.”
“Damien,” Ketalina said in a soft voice. “You love me, don’t you?”
Damien’s eyes turned bright with the power of his animal. “I don’t know you. But I’ll tell you something, be glad you were taken before I found out what you did to Laura or I’d have torn you up, piece by piece.”
Laura gasped. He was angry over what Ketalina had done to her instead of worrying about how she’d caused his death? How she’d lied to him?
Davi sighed. “You say the most romantic things, Wrath. I’ll be right back.”
Laura glanced at Ketalina, watching the other woman continued to stare Damien down. Davi motioned her hands and she, the guards and Ketalina disappeared.
“Laura,” Damien said, closing the distance between them.
Damn. Now what? She couldn’t stay angry at him after what he’d said a few minutes back. Not to mention he looked so good she considered pushing him on the chaise in front of the fire and having her way with him. That was so improper. Not to mention Davi probably had cameras in there. They could end up on the next episode of Naked News. Ah, what the hell. Okay, so maybe for once she’d forget all about what was wrong and go for what she wanted to do.
She backed away toward the chaise, not saying anything to him, but watching him follow her.
“Please don’t run from me,” he pleaded. “I didn’t know how to explain to you how much you suddenly consumed my thoughts.”
Once he was close enough to grab, she curled her hands on his black T-shirt, yanking him toward her. “Shut up and kiss me.”
He blinked once, but didn’t waste time. He cupped her face and lowered his head to meet her lips in a blazing kiss.
She pushed him onto the chaise. He landed on his back. For a second she thought he might break it, but it seemed Davi had some sturdy furniture in the place. Good to know. Laura hadn’t taken the lead in sex. Ever. She wasn’t really sure what to do, but she did know one thing. She wanted him naked.
“Take the shirt off,” she ordered, her heart hammering hard in her chest.
He sat up, his eyes blazing gold and did as she asked. Okay, that was a good start. Dammit. She should have paid more attention when Davi had tried to give her lessons on how to be seductive. Right now all she could think of was to get on her knees and try some of the stuff she’d seen on the porn videos she’d watched.
“Now what?” he asked, his voice a soft rumble.
She peeled off her clothes, yanked the pins out of her hair and stood naked before him, hair tumbling down her back. The hunger in his eyes encouraged her to keep going.
Leaning over him, she tucked her hands into the waistband of his pants and pulled them down, freeing him. She hadn’t seen him this close the last time they’d been together. Kneeling between his open legs on the chaise, she lowered her body over his hips.
“Laura,” he grunted. “You don’t have to, baby.”
She glanced up from his cock and watched a vein throb on the side of his jaw. “I
want to.”
He let a breath out in a rush. “Good, because I really want my dick in your mouth.”
She splayed her hands flat on either side of him and held herself up with them.
He decided to help by grasping his length and holding it up to her lips. “Suck me.”
She felt her pussy heat. He jerked his cock in front of her face. He slid his fingers into her hair, gripping a handful of the strands away from her face. She lowered, licking a circle around the head of his shaft.
“That’s it, sweetheart. Now take it down your throat and let me feel your hot mouth sucking me off.”
She was so going to have to buy a dirty talking manual soon. Like real fucking soon so she could shock him with her porn star quality sex talk.
Widening her lips, she took him into her mouth, using her saliva to allow him to glide down her throat. She did it slowly, having not done it too many times, she didn’t want to mess up with him.
He grunted, squeezing his grip on her hair and shoved her face into his cock. “That gagging noise sounds fucking sexy as hell,” he groaned.
She pulled back and then took him in further. Up and down she slid on his cock with her mouth. Her body felt tight with need. She glanced up, watching his abs tighten with each thrust into her mouth.
“Fuck! Oh, you got a hot little mouth,” he moaned. She flicked her tongue over his dick, going back and forth and hollowing her cheeks tighter. “Do that thing with your tongue again.”
She did, flicking her tongue as best as she could in the tight confines of her mouth. He tensed even more. “Get up here. I need in you.”
She released him, leaving a trail of saliva on his dick. “You didn’t let me finish.”
He helped her straddle him, holding his cock so she could slide down on him. Placing her hands flat on his chest, she pressed down, pushing him into her pussy.
It was a slow slide down, but once her ass met his pelvis, she groaned at the feeling of fullness.
