A DANGEROUS BARGAIN (The Sentinel Demons) (17 page)

“Shower, clean clothes, and sheets done,” he replied, his voice laced with humor. “I’ll be right back.” He lifted her from his lap and set her gently on the clean sheets.

He disappeared before she could blink, and he was back within seconds, his arms full of food from the refrigerator. “It’s a good thing that you went shopping so that we actually have food,” he commented drily as he returned, dumping the food on the bed and swinging her back into his lap, as though terrified she would disappear.

Most of the food was leftovers, but neither one of them complained as they dined on cold chicken and pizza, washing it down with cans of soda, and shoveling everything in quickly because they hadn’t eaten in two days. Other than taking quick trips to the bathroom, Kat hadn’t moved from Zach’s side.

Once they had their fill, Zach did his demon style clean-up, making everything disappear like it had never been there.

He laid back and pulled her pliant body over his, removing her nightshirt with his magic, sighing as they touched skin to skin. “Jesus. I thought I’d never touch you again.” His hands roamed the skin of her back and down to her bare ass, caressing with a firm touch, as though he were trying to reassure himself that she was still with him.

His fear was nearly palpable, still so thick in the air around them that Kat speared her fingers into his hair and kissed him. It was meant to be a kiss of comfort, but his mouth instantly seized hers, his tongue taking control as he nearly kissed the breath from her body. A masculine groan rumbled in his chest and he flipped them over, his lips never leaving hers as he wedged his big body between her thighs.

Don’t ever leave me, Kat. I won’t survive it.

The voice in her head was demanding, yet pleading. Zach plundered her mouth as though he couldn’t get enough of her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, needing him inside her. She put her heels on his ass, trying to nudge him to enter her already wet flesh, but he kept on kissing her, devouring her with his tongue, mimicking what he wanted to do with his cock as his hand ran up and down her sides, his fingers grazing over her skin, leaving goose bumps on her flesh wherever he touched. Her need for him becoming urgent, she thrust her hips up, trying to get him to fill her. “Zach. Please.” She needed him so badly, her whole body craving the union of their flesh after their two-day ordeal.

Lifting his mouth from hers, he brushed his lips over her face, her hair, her neck, and taking extra time to run his tongue over her mating mark. “I’m going to make love to you, Kat. And I’m going to savor every second that I’m inside you, possessing you, taking what’s mine. I need it and so do you. My body burns for you, but that’s only part of how much I need you, and I need more than just your body.”

He wanted her to surrender, to give him all of her. And there was nothing she wanted more. The small sliver of his soul that rested inside her thrummed with heat, spreading outward and fusing more tightly with the rest of her soul, and the warmth that spread over her body was electrifying.

Zach moved lower, his lips and teeth worrying her nipples, first one and then the other, bringing a needy moan to her lips that she released in a rush. “Oh God. Zach. I need you.”

“You have me, sweetheart,” he replied huskily against her breast. Sliding up her body, his mouth to her ear, he added, “I’ll never let you go.”

His cock slid slowly into her, filling her to capacity inch by inch. He was making love to her, and she shivered with the ecstasy of belonging to him as he buried himself to the hilt. One of his strong arms curled under her ass, cupping it with his hand and keeping her steady for his taking. Her hands fisted in his hair as she felt their intimate connection-body, heart, and soul.

“Look at me. I want to watch you when you come,” he demanded as he brushed the hair from her face, his amber gaze searing her as she met his eyes. Their eyes locked as he pumped into her, each stroke a branding, another soul-deep connection that joined them together forever.

His thrusts became more urgent, more demanding, but his eyes never left hers. At that moment, he was the master, and Kat could do nothing but submit. She gasped and moaned as each deep, steady pump of his cock nearly made her come undone. She fell into him, drowned in his eyes, as his intense gaze watched her.

“I love those needy noises you make for me,” he rasped, his face fierce as he palmed her ass harder, bringing her throbbing clit against his pubic bone with every hard entry of his cock. “Only for me.”

“Yes. I love you, Zach. So much.” The words sprung from her mouth naturally as every part of her being fused with his as she shattered, her climax shooting through her body with startling force.

“That’s it. Need me. Come for me,” Zach rumbled, his eyes holding hers as she shuddered and released a throaty moan.

Kat’s eyes were glued to his, her channel spasming around his cock as her orgasm continued to rock her body. Zach pulled his hand out from under her ass, using both hands to hold her head in place, keeping her immobile as he buried himself inside her again and again. He was opening himself to her, letting her see how she affected him as he released a masculine, tortured groan while his scorching release flooded her womb. At that moment, they were both lost in each other, their eyes locked, every part of them combined.

Zach rolled to her side, pulling her until she was half sprawled over him, her head on his chest. Kat couldn’t move, breathing heavily as her sated body went limp on top of Zach. His lovemaking had been so intense that she was drained…but in a good way.

“What happened to Kristoff?” Zach asked aloud.

Still trying to recover her breath, she answered him with her mind.
He said he’d be okay. His reaction was less intense. I’m sure he’ll come by soon.

“We need to go back to the demon realm to try to rescue those women,” Zach answered fiercely.

“No.” Kat sat up and looked at Zach’s face as she spoke. “You are not going back. There’s nothing you can do. You know you don’t have any power there and you’ll suffer the consequences. Not even Kristoff can get them out. He said the time will come when they can be rescued.”

“I need to go,” he snapped at her.

“Fine. Good luck getting back into the demon realm because I’m not taking you. I’m not taking any Sentinels until they have a chance of actually rescuing those women. I won’t be responsible for people dying because you’re being pigheaded. It makes no sense, Zach.” Exasperated, she sat up and glared at him.

“I’ll find a way in. I need to go,” Zach said impatiently, his jaw tight and his face strained.

“Why are you being so damn stubborn?” Kat sniped at him, irritated. Talking to Zach right now was like talking to a brick wall. And she was so damn tired. She hadn’t slept for two days.

“Sleep,” Zach answered, his voice suddenly concerned. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

Kat turned her back to him and laid her head on the pillow, truly angry with him. “You mean you’ll order and you’ll expect me to do what you want. Well, I won’t. Going back into the demon realm is suicide for a Sentinel right now.”

Zach released a frustrated sigh as he moved closer to her and curled his arms around her waist protectively. “It’s who I am, Kat. My demon instinct is screaming at me.”

“You don’t always have to be ruled by your nature. I know you can do the right thing, even if it goes against your instincts. This is common sense.” Even though she was still angry, her body relaxed, her energy completely drained. She couldn’t take anymore.

Kat heard Zach mumble something under his breath, but she didn’t have the strength to listen to his thoughts or ask him to repeat what he said.

Within moments, she was asleep.

She’s gone.

Zach could feel the emptiness in every room of his sprawling mansion. It was as if the life had been sucked out of the residence without Kat’s presence.

He rubbed his chest as he felt the physical ache of her absence. He got up and poured himself another drink and sank onto the couch in which he’d reclined while Kat had brought him to ecstasy with her mouth.

Breathing in deep, he tried to catch her scent, some remnant of her presence. It was fading. She had just left this morning, and already the emptiness was clawing ruthlessly at his insides, leaving him bleeding and raw.

She had left behind every article of clothing he had gotten for her, all of the cosmetics…anything that he had purchased during her stay. It was as if she didn’t want anything he had to give her…including his heart. She had briskly told him that she wouldn’t touch a dime of the money that he had put in her account, so he might as well remove it.

Zach had been so destroyed by her actions that he had blocked their mental communication, leaving it open only enough to know she was safe. He didn’t want to hear her rejection, or how she was thinking about getting back to her old life as soon as possible. Her hustling out of the door to the waiting taxi she had called, without so much as a fond farewell, had annihilated him.

Every demon instinct he had told him to go after her, throw her over his shoulder and bring her back to him. But damn, humanity could be a real bitch. He wanted her to be with him by choice, and she had chosen to leave. Still, he was seriously considering going demon on her and dragging her back. Really, it was just a matter of time. The demon wanted his
radiant
back, and the man couldn’t survive without her. His pride be damned. He wouldn’t last another hour, although he wanted to think he could.

“I can’t decide whether you’re a complete moron or a masochist.” Kristoff’s deep, sarcastic voice jolted Zach out of his thoughts.

He scowled at his king as Kristoff poured himself a glass of Zach’s best Scotch and seated himself in a comfortable recliner across from Zach. “Is no place sacred to you?” Zach grumbled as Kristoff made himself comfortable.

“No. Not when one of my Sentinels is acting like an imbecile,” he remarked casually as he took a sip of the perfectly aged whiskey before adding, “Did you or did you not let your
radiant
leave when she was angry with you?”

Zach felt his anger rising as he said, “She didn’t want to be with me. Her ass was gone the moment we argued. She claimed she was in love with me, but she still left me.”

Kristoff raised a golden brow as he replied, “Even after you told her you loved her?” He shrugged. “Or maybe you don’t love her. You didn’t want her?”

“I want her. I love her,” Zach blurted out emphatically. He took a deep breath before adding, “And I didn’t tell her I love her.”

Kristoff shook his head at Zach. “She’s miserable. You’re miserable-”

“She’s miserable?” Zach hated that thought. “How do you know?”

“She’s under our protection. I checked in on her tonight before I came to knock some sense into your head.”

“How do you know she’s not happy? She hates it when people read her thoughts,” Zach demanded. Honestly, it was more the fact that he hated anyone reading Kat’s thoughts except him…but he wasn’t going to admit it. Not out loud anyway.

“I’m king. I didn’t need to probe her mind to know she was unhappy,” Kristoff stated smoothly and without arrogance, as if he were just stating a fact. “Besides, she was crying with her sister and she mumbles to herself when she's alone.”

Zach cracked a small grin. “I know.” Her mumbled conversations with herself were actually pretty adorable.

“She kept muttering something about being in love with a stupid demon who didn’t want her or respect her,” Kristoff continued. “When I heard the ‘stupid demon’ part, I was pretty sure that was you,” he finished in a wry tone.

Zach’s heart dropped into his stomach. His Kat was crying? Shit. He couldn’t bear the thought of her seeing even a moment of unhappiness in her life. “Do you think she really loves me?” he asked Kristoff sheepishly. She’d been pretty pissed at him when she left, not bothering to mention when or if she was coming back.

“Either that or she’s been making time with another demon…which I highly doubt,” Kristoff answered as he looked at Zach like his Sentinel was a simpleton.

“Did you know before you sent me on this mission that she was my
radiant
?” Zach wondered aloud.

“I knew she was a Sentinel’s
radiant
and she definitely wasn’t mine. I admit that I suspected as much.” Kristoff’s answer was careful and evasive.

Zach was doubtful about the “suspected” part. He was fairly certain that Kristoff had known, but was unwilling to admit it. There was plenty that his demon king didn’t share. “Why did you come to me and recruit me, Kristoff? I was young. I wasn’t your usual type of recruit.”

“Some things are fated, Zach,” he said abruptly, his expression aloof. His reasons were obviously something he didn’t want to discuss in detail. “We were both in the same place at the same time. You needed rescuing. Let’s leave it at that for now.”

Zach silently cursed his king’s mysterious answers. Kristoff liked to play the badass demon king sometimes, but Zach knew better. “I never really thanked you for that. I should have.” He would have been homeless in the street and probably dead soon after, had Kristoff not come to him. He’d been too bitter to thank Kristoff before, but now he was ready to say, “Thank you. For everything. You took me into your home and taught me everything I needed to know to be a Sentinel. You didn’t have to. You could have found someone older. Someone better,” Zach muttered, knowing that after two centuries, it really was time to thank his rescuer. What had happened to Sophie wasn’t Kristoff’s fault…yet he had blamed him.