by Cynthia Eden
“Oh, wait,” Malik cut in. “Maybe you don’t need the clothes.” He uncrossed his arms. Lifted his right hand. Uncurled his fist. “Maybe you were looking for this?”
He held the chunk of amber in his hand.
Her breath heaved out. “Why would I need that rock?”
His jaw hardened. His fingers closed around the amber again. Closed tightly around it, and then he let the dust fall from his hand. He’d just obliterated the amber. “Why, indeed?”
She was in trouble. Actually, he was. They both were. Because when she looked down at her hands, they were starting to glow. “You need to get away from me.”
“Why? Because you’re planning on turning me in? Tell me something I don’t fucking realize. I know what the amber was. I’ve seen a beacon rock like that before.”
Her angel and his dirty mouth—
“You were planning to trick me. You went in to see Lawrence because he was working on something for you, wasn’t he?”
Josephine swiped her tongue over her lower lip. “You know, this is a really good chat. But I think we should delay it. I need a little alone time right now.” She rose from the bed. Or, rather, she started to rise, but something was wrapped around her ankle and when she attempted to swing her legs to the side of the bed, the something jerked her back. “What in the hell?” Josephine tossed the covers aside.
There was a gold chain around her left ankle. It looped around her skin, gleaming in the light. One end around her ankle, one end around the bed post.
Oh, hell, no. “Malik?” Her furious gaze rose to him. “Want to explain this?”
“Sure.” He stared back at her with eyes that she would not think were amazing. “My turn,” he murmured.
“Your turn? Your turn for what? This isn’t a game.”
“I snagged that charm the first time I was at Lawrence’s place. Figured I could use it. I recognized the markings on the gold. Knew it was designed to keep a vamp chained down. I’m surprised Lawrence didn’t try to use it on you.”
“Don’t be surprised,” she gritted, trying to choke back her anger. “Lawrence was smart enough not to try this crap on me. You should have been smarter, too.” Rage was burning inside of her and when that rage mixed with the magic she’d gotten from the witch—“Get out of here, while you still have the chance!”
“You’re chained. You can’t leave. Not until I let you go.”
He had no clue.
His gaze raked over her body. When she’d been about to jump out of the bed—before she’d realized that the jerk had put a chain on her ankle—she’d tossed back the sheets. She was naked. Completely naked before him, and his gaze was drinking her in.
Her nipples tightened. Heat pooled in her core. A reaction to the rush of magic in her. And, dammit, yes, a reaction to him. There was some weird primal shit that happened when he looked at her.
Sleeping with the angel had been a mistake. A very bad one.
Maybe a lethal one. For him. “You don’t understand what’s happening here.”
He lifted one brow. “I’ve got a gorgeous, dangerous vamp naked in front of me. That’s pretty obvious.”
Her fangs were out. The urge to bite was overwhelming. She lifted her hand toward him. Knew he’d have to see the light that surrounded her fingers. “Notice anything new?”
“You took his power.” He rolled one shoulder in a careless shrug. “The way you do sometimes when you kill.”
Shit. So he’d been watching those parts, too? Made sense, though she’d hoped he hadn’t been aware of that particular Josephine-life detail. For some reason, it made her feel ashamed. Not like she could help it, though. She was…what she was.
There was a reason Luke had chosen her for his missions. He’d known what would happen. So had she.
I take and take, until nothing is left.
“You need to get away from me,” she warned Malik. “This stupid chain isn’t going to hold me—” She reached down for it, curling her fingers around the gold and trying to snap the chain.
It didn’t break.
“Don’t worry. I made a few enhancements while you were out. It will hold. For now.” He was still at the foot of the bed.
She moved toward him, not covering her body, not caring right then. She rose onto her knees.
His face was so hard. A muscle flexed along his jaw. “You were going to bind me, weren’t you, Josephine? You asked Lawrence to create a new binding chain for you.”
“Who told you that?”
“Merius.”
“And, what, you believe him? Over me?” Did she sound scandalized? She was certainly trying to sound that way.
His lips quirked. “You haven’t denied anything yet, love.”
No, she hadn’t. Fine. “I asked him to get me a chain, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to use it, okay?”
He leaned closer. “Liar…liar.”
“Malik—”
His hands curled around her shoulders.
Oh, damn.
Just his touch, and her whole body electrified. Need surged inside of her. The magic she’d tried to control poured through her veins. She was almost dizzy, so very desperate. “Get away!” Before she hurt him. Before she destroyed him.
His head came even closer to her. “No.”
“Malik—”
“You think I don’t know what you need? You think I don’t know you? I’ve seen this before. Seen you burn hot and wild after you take power. Seen it almost drive you mad.” Each word was snarled. “You go out. You find prey. You gorge on them. You burn from the inside, out.”
She was and that was why her skin was practically glowing. The result was different, though, with every infusion of power that she received. This time, Lawrence’s magic was hitting her in a hard, desperate rush. “I will hurt you.” Didn’t he get that she was trying to protect him?
His smile was sad. “You already have, love. But I’m still here.”
What?
No, no, she didn’t want to—
His hand curled under her chin. “You need to bite, you need to feed, then you bite me.”
She absolutely couldn’t. It was forbidden. One of the oldest rules she knew. When she’d been a child, Josephine had been told, time and time again…
Never the ones with wings, child. Never the ones that come to you in the shadows.
Such a strange warning, back then. But it had continued, when she’d been a teenager, when the blood lust had begun to hit her…
Don’t drink their blood. You won’t be able to stop. You’ll destroy. You’ll go mad. A fate her father had suffered when he’d broken that ancient taboo.
Her father. The vamp who’d slaughtered so many innocents. Who’d made the whole world turn red with blood.
The man she’d been hidden from for so long. The man who’d eventually found her. The man she’d killed. Her first kill for Luke. The first kill after their deal.
“I won’t watch you go to another. I can’t.” There was something different in Malik’s voice. A hard edge that could have been jealousy. Angels didn’t get jealous though.
But…
Angels don’t feel lust.
He did.
Angels don’t kill.
She knew he would.
Angels don’t fall.
He had.
“Tell me what you need,” Malik ordered her.
“I need you…” That was so true. No, no. Josephine grabbed for the control that was slipping from her with every single breath. “I need you to get this freaking chain off me. Then you need to get away. Far away. I’ll find you later.”
He tilted her head to the side. His mouth skimmed over her neck. He licked the skin. Kissed right over her racing pulse. “I can always tell when you lie.”
No one could tell. She was a freaking world class liar. Because she didn’t have a conscience. She didn’t—
“You want me. Your breath is coming faster, your nipples are tight, and if I were to touch you between you
r legs, you’d be wet.”
“I’m on a magic high. I will hurt you!” Why couldn’t he get it? “I can’t have sex without biting right now. And when I bite and drink—” She might not stop. Her whole body was almost burning with power. A power she couldn’t control much longer. Not without more blood. She needed to feed. That was how she always controlled the surge of power. With blood.
He offered her his neck. “Go ahead.”
Why was he doing this? “Do you want me to go crazy?” Josephine whispered. “Do you want me to leave a trail of blood in my wake? To savage every human I encounter?”
His gaze became even more intense. “Why would you do that?”
“Because my father did that. After he drained an angel.”
Shock flashed on Malik’s face.
Her smile was cold. She was cold. “He went absolutely mad when he killed an angel and took her power.”
Now he shook his head. “No, that’s not—”
“Possible?” Josephine cut in. “Of course, it is. He wasn’t just any old vamp. Not my father. Not Vlad.”
The name meant something to him. Didn’t it mean something to everyone?
“An angel came to him. Tried to make him see reason. The angel thought Vlad would stop the slaughters. Stop turning the countryside red with blood.” Angels could be so naïve. “He didn’t stop. And the angel never went back to heaven.”
Because there’d been nothing left.
“He took and took and only a shell remained before the angel died. Then there was no more sanity for him. Only rage. Only bloodlust. Until he was put down.”
It was there, on his face. The realization. Right. He’d watched her kills, hadn’t he? Only he probably hadn’t realized that her very first hit for Luke had been—
“Who stopped him?”
She let her smile stretch. He needed to see her for exactly what she was.
He did. She could see the understanding dawn in his eyes. “You? You killed your own father?”
Guess Malik hadn’t been assigned to “guard” her during that particular time. “I killed him, and I will kill you.” He needed to hear those words. He needed to get the hell away while there was still time. “If you let me sink my teeth into you, you’ll be signing your death warrant. I’ll drain you dry. I’ll be just like him, only there won’t be anyone strong enough to stop me.” No one left around to make a deal with Luke.
His breath came faster.
Her hands rose and raked over his chest. She let her nails cut into his shirt. “You want me.” Do it. Say it. Say anything to make him leave. “And you’d just stand there, helpless, while I killed you.” She was practically salivating. She couldn’t stay this close to him! She needed blood. For the last time, she told him, “Get. Away. From. Me.”
And…he did.
Malik backed away from her. He stared at her with a faint line between his eyes. Stared at her as if he hadn’t ever seen her before. Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe he’d just seen the woman he wanted to see. He’d overlooked the monster.
His fault, not hers. She’d never pretended to be anything else.
“You…you will stay here,” he ordered.
No, she wouldn’t.
He backed out of the bedroom and shut the door behind him. The click seemed incredibly loud. Too loud.
She felt something on her cheek. It was wet and cold and Josephine swiped her hand over her cheek—water? Where the hell had water come from?
But she knew, of course.
She was crying. Just when she’d thought her day could not get much worse.
Her eyes squeezed shut. The power built inside of her. It built and built, and she could have sworn that her skin was catching fire. Josephine reached for the cursed chain around her ankle. Once more, she tried to rip it off her. She yanked as hard as she could, but it wouldn’t break.
Then her eyes popped open.
Sonofabitch. If the chain wouldn’t break…
She grabbed for the wooden bed post. She yanked it, tearing the wood apart. Just ripping it right in half. Her breath heaved out, and she gave a low, animalistic growl as she jerked the chain from around the jagged chunk of broken wood. The chain was still around her, but at least she wasn’t anchored to anything now. She could get the hell out of there.
She grabbed a sheet and bounded toward the window.
The bedroom door flew open behind her. It figured that he’d heard the wood breaking. But she wasn’t about to stop. If she stopped, he’d put his hands on her. If Malik put his hands on her again…
I won’t be able to hold back. Not any longer.
“Josephine, no! Stop!”
She didn’t stop. She ran onto the balcony. Grabbed the railing. She was only about ten or eleven floors up this time. She could survive this. No problem.
She jumped. The sheet flapped around her as she fell. It whipped, and she could see the dark cement coming up to meet her.
Freedom. So close. Maybe a bit painful on impact, but—
She didn’t reach the cement. Instead, Malik caught her. His arms wrapped around her as he yanked her body against his. “No!” Josephine screamed. She’d tried to warn him. Tried to get away, but she had no control left. The witch’s power was pulsing, driving her, the darkness within stretching and growing.
“It’s okay,” Malik whispered. “I’ve got you.”
Her head turned. And her fangs sank into his neck.
No, angel. I’ve got you.
Chapter Ten
Pleasure burst through his body. Her fangs were in his throat, her tongue licked over his skin, and Malik’s cock was so hard that he thought he’d explode at any moment.
He flew her back to the lodging that he’d acquired. Held her tightly in his arms as he carried her into the bedroom. Her mouth was still on him. She was drinking from him, and the soft movements of her lips and tongue were inflaming Malik.
Her legs had wrapped around his hips. The sheet she’d taken had fallen somewhere—and he sure as hell didn’t care where. Her breasts pushed against his chest, her hips rocked against his cock, and nothing would have stopped him from fucking her right then.
Nothing.
She’d warned him that she would kill. She’d warned him that she’d go crazy if she had his blood.
She was drinking from him. He’d done this. And, sweet hell, but she felt good.
He lowered her onto the bed. Her whole body was warm, and a faint glow surrounded her. He’d seen that glow engulf her right before she’d leapt off the balcony. He’d acted on instinct, charging after her, and now—now he’d sealed both of their fates.
Her bite wasn’t making him weak, though. It was turning him on. Ramping up the dangerous desire that he already felt for her. His hand slid between their bodies. He jerked open his jeans. His cock sprang toward her.
Her mouth tore from his neck. “Malik!” A wild, feverish cry. “Malik, I need—”
He would give her everything. “I need you.” She was the only thing he had to have.
He drove into her. Her legs closed around him even as her mouth pressed to his neck again. Pleasure poured through him, and he withdrew, only to plunge deep into her over and over. Josephine met him, thrust for thrust, driving just as desperately against him. There was no stopping. There was no holding back. This wasn’t gentle or easy. It was rough and desperate and primitive and consuming.
She came around him, and her sex squeezed him tightly with the force of her release. He followed her over into oblivion, sinking into her and holding her in a grip of steel. If this was his end, if this was the way he’d go out…then so fucking be it.
One hell of a way to go.
***
Merius stared at the dead body on the floor. The witch was surrounded by a pool of blood, and, yes, the coppery scent was making him twitchy. He yanked out his phone. “I need a clean-up crew.” He rattled off the address, never taking his gaze from the body.
A moment later, he shoved the phone into his back poc
ket. The crew would be there within ten minutes. And soon, the evidence would all be gone. It wouldn’t do for the local cops to find this body. No, that wasn’t an option. Humans were supposed to stay far away from messes like this.
It was safer for them that way.
He heard a faint creak behind him, and Merius whirled around.
“Easy.” The man there—tall, dark-haired, with battered gold eyes—raised his hands. “It’s just me.”
Just me. What a load of bullshit. “I think you’re the worst fucking thing out there,” he said to the guy who’d once been his friend.
Leo. The paranormal being who’d been thought of as the Lord of the Light for centuries. Only…Leo had recently gotten a new job. He and his twin brother, Luke, had switched places. Because Fate was tricky—and life never worked out the way you expected.
I thought I’d always be an angel. Never imagined I’d fall so far.
Leo had probably thought he’d always be in charge of the good paranormals, but, now, the guy was the Lord of the Dark. And the Bad Things line up behind him.
“I’m insulted,” Leo murmured as he slowly lowered his hands. “I thought we were friends.”
Merius just stared at him.
Leo winced. “Too soon?”
“What in the hell do you want, Leo?”
Leo’s gaze drifted to the dead man. “Would you believe that I’m here to help you?”
No, he wouldn’t believe that.
“I got word that an angel was falling.”
Now Merius laughed. He also walked away from the body. The scent of blood was making his temples throb. When he strode outside, Leo followed right behind him.
Merius gazed at the sun. The sun didn’t hurt vamps. That was just a BS rumor. He didn’t even know who’d started it. He could still go outside. He still breathed. His heart still beat. He just had a brand new, dark craving.
A craving for blood.
And death.
“You got your intel too late,” Merius finally murmured. “The angel already fell—and he came for me.”
“What?”
Merius glanced back at Leo. “Seriously, aren’t you supposed to be all-knowing?”
“Hardly.” Leo shook his head. “I rule the bad ones. Not angels. Not anymore.”