“How…” I tried to think of the right word, but all I could come up with was, “sad. What is a Chosen?”
“Some demons have a Chosen one. Perhaps all demons do and they aren’t born yet, or we haven’t discovered them, or they perish before we find them. No one knows how it all works. Some of the demons who went to Earth before the angels entered Hell found their Chosen amid humans. The demons who found their Chosen there never returned to Hell and perished on Earth with their mates.”
“Oh,” I breathed, as this whole new aspect of demons opened up to me. “That is such a…”
“Sacrifice,” he said when my voice trailed off.
“Yes, but also romantic in a sort of insane way.” I couldn’t imagine loving someone so much I would give up everything I’d ever known for them.
Corson chuckled as he ran his hand over my hair again. I snuggled closer to the gentle touch while I tried to recall the last time someone had held me so tenderly.
“Demons can be more than a little insane sometimes,” he replied. “And a demon will do anything for their Chosen as it is an eternal bond. They also can only breed with their Chosen. Males and females will often know, or at least suspect another is their Chosen before they have sex, but that is the way to confirm it. Demons also only bite another during sex if it is their Chosen. If for some reason, their bite marks should fade, other demons will always know when another has been claimed and stay away from them.”
“A bite and sex are what decides a Chosen?” I asked incredulously.
He rested his chin on my head. “No, there is far more involved in the bond than that. Male demons don’t produce sperm until they find their Chosen and the females don’t produce eggs. Call it a form of immortal birth control, if you will. Even if they find a Chosen, females only produce an egg every ten to fifteen years, and it’s still rare for a female demon to conceive when they do enter their fertile time. A male can always scent when his Chosen is fertile, and the couple usually locks themselves away for the month it occurs. I’ve also been told sex is more pleasurable with a Chosen, and I’ve witnessed that the Chosen bond makes a demon stronger.”
“Amazing.” I couldn’t deny I was fascinated by this insight of love and monogamy from a species I’d mostly considered heartless monsters. “So how many women have been your Chosen?” I joked, though the idea of him with all his numerous women set my teeth on edge.
His hands tightened on my arms. “None. Once a Chosen is found, there is never another for a demon.”
“Oh,” I said dully. “What about past girlfriends?”
“Demons don’t have girlfriends. We know our Chosen is the only one who will matter, so romantic bonds with others aren’t forged. Besides, the only feeling involved for a demon when it comes to sex is getting off. It may sound cold to humans, but that is simply the way of things for us, outside of the Chosen bond.”
“Does it get tiring to constantly be moving on like that?”
“Maybe, but that is the way things are and will continue to be unless I meet my Chosen.”
“Do you want to meet her?”
“I’ve thought about it more since Kobal and River met, but it might never happen for me. I am content with going about my life the way I always have.”
“But somewhere out there is the demon or human you’re meant to be with?” I asked.
“Perhaps. Maybe she isn’t alive yet, maybe she is already dead, maybe she is something else, or maybe I am never meant to find my Chosen.”
“What else could she possibly be?”
“Angels and demons left offspring behind when they were here all those years ago. Some of those descendants still walk this Earth. My Chosen could be one of them.”
“I see.” And then a thought occurred to me. “Is that what the queen is? Is River one of those angel or demon children?”
“River is many things,” Corson replied.
“But—”
“I will not discuss it.”
That was all I would get from him on the subject. River was another one of those he cared about, and with his loyalty to Kobal, Corson wouldn’t reveal anything River and Kobal didn’t make public knowledge.
“What happens if two demons meet and only one of them feels the Chosen bond?” I asked.
“That has never occurred,” he replied. “Not between two demons anyway. There is a connection between them both, no matter what type of demon they are. Many demons are a mix of breeds because of that. Bale is a cross between a fire and visionary demon. She has visions, which are often sporadic, and can withstand fire, but she is unable to use fire as a weapon like other fire demons.”
“I see,” I murmured. “What about a demon with a human? Would a human feel the Chosen connection?”
“No.”
“So if your Chosen is a human, you would have to make her fall in love with you?” For some reason, this idea almost made me laugh. I couldn’t picture Corson trying to romance anyone.
“I guess,” he muttered, sounding less than thrilled about the prospect.
“It wouldn’t be that horrible. Well, maybe it would be for the woman.”
“Oh no, Wren, it would be extremely enjoyable for the woman.”
My breath caught at his purred words and the promise behind them. For a minute, I allowed myself to imagine how pleasurable Corson could make it. Would I like sex more if it was with him? Demon or not, I felt the answer to that was a resounding yes.
“Humans are mortal,” I managed to get out when I found my voice again.
“Are they now?” he drawled. “I’d never heard such a thing before.”
“That’s not where I was going,” I replied with more snippiness than I’d intended.
I hated that he always had me on such a roller coaster ride of emotion. Hated that he had me wondering what would happen if I slid my hand between the buttons of his shirt and pressed my palm against his flesh. Or what he would do if I slipped my hand between his legs. I gulped at the idea and my skin tingled with excitement.
“I meant that a demon would have to watch their Chosen grow old and die if it was a human,” I finally said. “They wouldn’t be able to become mortal by staying on Earth and dying with their Chosen anymore.”
“Perhaps,” he replied. “Or maybe the human could become like Hawk.”
I considered Hawk, the handsome soldier camped with us. I didn’t know all the details of what had happened to him, but from what I’d seen of his healing ability, speed, and the fact that I’d seen him emerge from Hell with River, I knew something had changed him from mortal to immortal. No normal mortal could have survived that long in Hell.
“However, not all humans survive the change, and many cannot handle the consequences of it or their newfound powers. Hawk is a rarity,” Corson continued.
“Hmm.” Resting my hand against my mouth, I stifled another yawn.
“You should rest some more,” he said gruffly.
I nodded, but after that nightmare, I doubted I would get any sleep tonight or today or whatever time it was. Reluctantly, I detached myself from his arms and lay on the ground. I instantly missed the heat of him, but I would never let him know that. I curled into a ball and rested my hands beneath my head.
Dirt and rock scraped when he shifted. Then he was lying beside me and wrapping his arms around me. “What are you doing?” I demanded, even as my body sank into his.
Damn, traitorous body!
“You can’t be so stubborn as to deny you’re freezing.” His breath stirred my hair against my ear, but he released me.
I couldn’t deny it. However, it was one thing to take comfort from him, but to snuggle up next to him while I slept? You’ve done it with countless others to keep from freezing to death.
The only difference was he was a demon, yet I liked some of the demons. Bale was about as welcoming as a rabid dog most of the time, but I admired her ferociousness and dedication to her king. The skelleins were amusing. Shax was friendly enough, so was Hawk.
And Magnus, though smug, protected those he cared about.
I also liked Corson, a little. So why was I always so snippy and jumpy around him? Why did he always make me feel like I teetered on the edge and if I leaned too far over I’d plummet to my death?
Okay, maybe not my death, but I’d plunge into something I couldn’t handle, and I had to keep control at all times. Allowing my control to slip even a little could spell my death and the death of others.
But sometimes, I would give anything to loosen my hold on my restraint, especially now when I was aching for his arms again.
“Is it okay if I hold you?” he inquired.
“Yes,” I forced out.
When his arms slid around me again and my chill eased, I realized I could no longer deny that I liked him a lot more than a little.
Chapter Eighteen
Corson
I tried to ignore my throbbing erection as Wren slept soundly in my arms, but the woman had draped herself across me and burrowed her head beneath my chin. Her breasts were pressed firmly against my chest. One of her hands rested an inch above the head of my cock, while the other was beneath my neck.
The infuriating woman knew how to drive me mad even in her sleep.
When she murmured and shifted, her mouth ended up in the hollow of my throat. My dick became impossibly harder as her breath whispered over my skin on each of her exhalations. She may be a form of torture, but I didn’t dare move and chance waking her.
It was a first for me to put someone else’s needs ahead of my own. The only one I’d ever put ahead of myself was my king and later River when she became my queen, but not a bedmate. When morning came, I parted ways from my partner and rarely returned to the same woman again. I didn’t hold them after sex, but I found my arms drawing Wren closer.
I would return to her. I didn’t know where the knowledge came from, but it blazed across my mind and lodged inside me.
My heart beat faster than it ever had with a woman, and I couldn’t begin to count the number of women I’d been with over the years. I didn’t recall most of them, but I did know none had affected me as much as this prickly bird in my arms did. I frowned as I pondered why she affected me as much as she did.
Before I could delve too deeply into it, she murmured something before going rigid against me. I didn’t have to feel the flutter of her lashes against my skin to know she’d woken. I expected her to bolt away from me, but she remained unmoving in my arms.
Afraid she might jerk away from me, I leisurely rubbed my hands up and down the cloth covering her arms. She didn’t move an inch when I caressed her sleeves before sliding a hand up to clasp her nape. I lifted my head and placed a kiss on her forehead.
When she still didn’t pull away from me, I slid my lips lower over her cheek. Her heartbeat thundered in my ears, and she stopped breathing when my mouth found hers. I ran my tongue over her lips, tasting them as she remained still against me and the warmth of her soft mouth branded mine.
Then her lips parted enough to allow my tongue to slide into her mouth. I flicked my tongue over hers as her body stretched out on top of me and her tongue hesitatingly entwined with mine before becoming more assured with her thrusts.
My hand rose from her nape to cup the back of her head and draw her closer. Her fingers dug into my shoulders. Her other hand dropped down and brushed over my dick. She stiffened when she discovered how hard I was, but when I nipped at her lower lip before sucking lightly on it, she relaxed against me once more.
She moved her hand to grip my waist, and then her hips shifted and her legs opened to let my shaft slip between the junction of her thighs. For a moment, she froze, and I became convinced she would stop this, but then she rose before sliding down the length of my erection.
Running my hand along the side of her slender body, I traced the lithe muscles of her abdomen before clasping one of her breasts through her shirt. The hardened bud of her nipple burned my palm through her shirt and bra. When I ran my thumb around her nipple, she moaned and pressed closer to me.
My excitement rising, I released her head and grabbed her hips to guide her faster against the length of my erection. The sensation of her body riding mine caused me to growl as she rotated her hips in such a way that she was fucking me without ever pulling my cock from my pants.
Her fingers dug deeper into my flesh; her breath came in small pants as she eagerly met my movements. For the first time in my life, I knew I was going to come before entering a woman, and I welcomed the release.
Wren
Not real. Not real. The dark makes all of this not real.
But it felt too good not to be real. Everything about Corson felt so amazingly good. From the heat of his lips on mine to the smoky taste of him. He wove a spell over me as every time I considered returning to reality, his hands pulled me back under his magic once more.
And he wasn’t even touching my skin!
What would it feel like if he placed his hands on my flesh? I desperately wanted to know even as I tried to pull myself from the drugged stupor he wove over me.
This is wrong; I shouldn’t, we shouldn’t…. Every time a new protest rose in my mind, it died away.
Am I dreaming?
The question was answered when he pushed the evidence of his erection against me. I became wetter with need as I instinctively met the rhythm he set.
It had been a couple of years since I’d been with a man, but horniness was no excuse for making out with a demon. While my brain shot out this reminder, my body decided my brain could deal with it later. My body was in charge now, and it demanded more of Corson.
My nipples ached, and my breasts became heavier as he kneaded one before turning his attention to the other. His tongue moved in ways I’d never known one could move. He drew me deeper and deeper into his kiss until the mineral scent of the tunnel and the wintry air ceased to exist.
There was only Corson and the tension building between my legs and coiling higher into my belly. I thrust against him and rotated my hips until he was rubbing my clit just right. He nipped at my lip again before lifting his hips off the ground.
He likes that.
The realization brought a rush of power with it. He was as lost in this moment as I was. This was already more intense than anything I’d ever experienced with someone before, yet I found myself wondering what he would feel like inside me.
Amazing, he would feel amazing within me.
My pulse beat faster in my ears as I contemplated pulling his dick out and sliding myself onto it. I could feel the thick length of him through both our pants, and I knew he would stretch and fill me completely when he slipped inside me. He would demand nothing less than a complete loss of control from me, and for the first time in my life, I craved that.
I was too far gone in this moment to take the time to stop though and when I circled my hips against him once more, something within me fractured. I cried out as the orgasm rushing through my body caused my back to bow. Corson drove my hips harder against him before groaning. The sound he emitted was almost as erotic as his hands, and it had me on the verge of riding him again.
In the end, exhaustion won out, and I slumped on top of him. My head fell to his chest as his hand ran leisurely over my hair. I inhaled his scent and relished the lingering thrills of pleasure coursing through my body.
Closing my eyes, I took a minute to pretend we weren’t in this place. That he wasn’t a demon and I wasn’t a Wilder. That so many hadn’t been lost, and Hell and Heaven were still abstract concepts everyone only speculated about.
But I could only keep reality at bay for a few minutes. Then, ice slid over my skin, and the dank scent of the tunnel filled my nose once more. When I shivered, his arms enveloped me. He drew me closer to nuzzle my forehead with his lips. How many other women had he held like this? And what did it matter? He was a demon. I shouldn’t be allowing him to cradle me at all.
But God help me, no matter how wrong it was, I wanted more of this demon.
What would the other Wilders think if they learned what I’d done in this tunnel? They accepted working with the demons, and some Wilders had done more than just work with them, but I was supposed to remain distant, and I definitely was not supposed to be crawling into the arms of one.
Worse than what my fellow Wilders would think of me was what would Randy think?
Dread coiled through me at the possibility of seeing revulsion in Randy’s eyes, or of him turning against me. There had always been the possibility he wouldn’t agree with my decision to work with the demons, but he wouldn’t have hated me for making the choice. However, he might loathe me if he learned of this. He’d lost a lot to demons too.
Reality was like a bucket of cold water dumped over my head. I was enfolded securely in the arms of a demon, but not just any demon. Corson. The one demon I’d vowed never to give in to. Well, I’d vowed never to give in to any of them, but especially not this one! Not the one who proudly displayed the jewelry of all his conquests and would happily add me to that list, if he could remember my name for long enough to add it.
What was wrong with me? A day or two trapped in his presence had made me like the other numerous women who had fallen into his bed. Maybe we hadn’t had sex, but it had been close, and I’d gotten off on it. If I wore earrings, he’d be smugly parading them around for everyone to see. Now, he’d give me that knowing look and I’d hate myself and him for it.
But worst of all was the knowledge that I didn’t want to be one of the many, not to him. With horror, I realized that I might actually be coming to care for him. If I wasn’t careful, he’d break my heart and have no idea what he’d done.
Distance. I need distance from him and all of this. Unfortunately, there was little distance to be found in this maze, but I didn’t have to stay in his arms.
Hell on Earth (Hell on Earth, Book 1) (Hell on Earth Series) Page 11