DemonicPersuasion (4 page)

The head of his dick breached her stretched hole and Fade’s
fingers curled into shaky fists against Iasion’s back. She breathed. The wanted
fullness pushed fierce joy surging in a slow wave up her spine. It was almost
too much to bear.

“Practically a virgin.” Stheno breathed out a sharp breath
against her neck as he sank deep into her ass. He swore over her skin. “I can’t
remember when I last had one.”

“Last year.” Iasion pulled her head from his shoulder and
that familiar dark smile caught her breath. Her eyes glazed as he licked her
top lip. “That girl from Alpha-Tauri-4.”

Stheno laughed as his hands slid over her ribs to push
between her body and Iasion’s. He squeezed her breasts, his thumbs flicking
against the hardened nubs and driving fresh heat down into her belly. “We broke
her.”

“We did.” Iasion tugged on her bottom lip. “Want us to break
you, Fade?”

“Yes…” She would agree to anything, anything, if they did
something to let her come. Her thoughts whirled, her body not her own, whipped
with insane need and the cutting promise of the most incredible orgasm of her
life.

Iasion took her mouth, starving her of air and both men
moved…together.

Fade screamed, and the crush of their bodies, the heat, the
overwhelming feel of both men filling her, fucking her, seared through her
flesh. Light flashed under her eyes, the hot scent of sex swirling around her
and the fierce, hollow ache lessened, pulling fast in her flesh. Promising
more. Promising—

Burning white light flashed over her and she cried out,
arching back against Stheno, taking him deeper as Iasion thrust into her pussy.
The push of her orgasm smashed in waves and she shook, flailed, losing all
control of her body. And still they fucked her, chasing fresh heat and the last
echoes of her release.

She clung to Iasion, his gaze spearing her, taking her
breath as her heart hammered. Already, the promise of another orgasm rose up
through her flesh, teasing her, and she kissed Iasion. His taste had sharpened,
the bitter hints of Athanasios burning against her tongue. She deepened the
kiss. Wanting him. Needing him.

“Yes…” Stheno bit her shoulder, the sudden shock of pain
forcing a moan from her. “You’re ours.”

Fade let them have their way, let them fuck her hard and
fast, squeeze and bite as the tension of her orgasm twisted and tightened until
they came and the fire of their release swept over her in a second wave of
blistering joy.

Fade fought to breathe and sagged against Iasion, her body
spent and the urge to do no more than curl up and sleep pressed between two
bodies washing over her. Stheno stroked warm, heavy hands down her back and
eased free of her body.

“We have them, their minds are buried, but we still lack
strength to hold them longer.” Iasion knelt before her bed and pulled away. His
eyes closed briefly and a wry smile lifted his mouth. “The irony being that if
we could stay, could take you,” his hand brushed her jaw and she leaned into
his touch, “over and over, then we would have the power to keep these men
because you did like this flesh, didn’t you, Fade?”

Her face grew hot and it was hard to hold his silver-cut
gaze. She’d had incredible, incredible sex with two complete strangers, held in
the thrall of some unknown being and not once had guilt twisted her. Not once.
Now it hit her in full force. She’d betrayed Foster.

“A man who spurns you,” Steno murmured, an edge to his
voice. He ran his fingers over the pyramid set on the table again, the stream
of light slipping in smooth flows to its surface. A weariness sank his sharp
face, his skin grayed and he let his head drop. “Stheno is resurfacing.”

Panic shot Fade off the bed. She had to dress, grab her
things and run. The club would be the safest place. She had money. Enough to
get her off-planet…but not as someone else. And they’d broken her Fadeyka
cover. Shit.

The transport would be public, would expose her to more
hunters like these. A bitter laugh escaped her as she dragged on underwear over
her sticky thighs. She doubted she could fuck all of them. She closed her eyes,
heat rising in her face. Having sex had bought a few precious minutes.

“Take this.” Iasion handed her the pyramid. “You have to
keep it with you now.” He stroked her cheek again and the flicker of silver
sank in a sweet rush under her skin. “You need it.”

Fade blinked. “I need it?”

“Our energies are merging.”

They were what? What kind of insanity swept over her now?
“Do I get any say in this?”

His smile was dark. “No more than we do, but there
are…benefits to our association, are there not?”

Face scrubbed at her damp face and pushed the pyramid into
the holdall, stuffing it between her few clothes. She had little to bolt with.
All her money went to rent and food. Iasion sank onto her bed, his skin graying
as Stheno’s had. “You’re losing?”

He nodded and toppled sideways, his heavy frame thudding
into the thin mattress. “They will sleep. For a…short time. Run, Fade.”

She pushed her fingers though her hair again. She had
everything she owned stuffed into a black bag. In a few panicked heartbeats,
she threw on her clothes and stamped into her boots. With her coat on, the hood
up and her atmos.mask protecting her face from the smog, she grabbed her bag.

She glanced back to the silent men. Stheno naked at the
table and Iasion slumped on her bed, his trousers loose and his dick flaccid
and glistening against his leg. A snort broke from her. “It’s going to be
interesting explaining this to yourselves when you wake up.”

“Try explaining it to me.”

Heat bloomed in her chest and she stared at the dark figure
standing at her door. Her hand shook as she pulled away her mask. “Foster?”

Foster grabbed her bag. “This your hobby?” He pointed a gun
at Stheno and his hand flexed around the black grip. “What you do on your night
off?”

Fade pressed her fist to her chest to stop the fast thud of
her heart. “Why…why do you have a gun?” His words sank in and her belly grew
hollow. “I didn’t invite them. They came…” She paused. Foster didn’t know about
her former life, or why she was hiding out on Theta-Scorpii-3. She swallowed.
“They came to kill me.”

An eyebrow lifted. “So you fucked them into submission.
You’ve missed your calling, Fadeyka.” He stood back and waved her to the door.
“Out now. I have a transport waiting.”

“You’re not surprised.”

“About this. Yes, I am. Believe me. Now move.”

She stumbled forward. “No, about them being here to kill
me.”

He rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth and his blue
gaze narrowed on the two men. “Not here.” He aimed his gun, his mouth thinned.
He couldn’t be about to… A silent flash of white light hit Stheno and a
heartbeat later, Iasion. “Get out, Fadeyka.”

“You…” Her feet were frozen, her heart in her mouth.
“They’re dead?”

Foster holstered his weapon and took her arm. “We don’t need
to be followed.”

Fade hastily pulled her mask over her mouth and nose as the
wild winds and smog rushed over her face. Two transports blocked the front of
her tenement, both sleek and black, powerful, expensive machines. The door to
the second vehicle opened and Foster pushed her inside. Belts wrapped over her
and the door clunked shut. Heavy, filtered darkness settled and she yanked the
mask from her face, but she couldn’t look at Foster as he climbed in beside
her.

He’d killed them. She knew, deep down, it made sense.
Without Athanasios taking over their minds—as insane as that sounded—they
would’ve tortured and killed her. She knew that. But still… Their flesh had
just given her the most incredible experience of her life.

“
We saw what they had planned. Don’t mourn them.
”
Athanasios’ stark voice with its strange echo—as if a multitude of voices spoke
as one—touched her thoughts. “
You made love to us, Fadeyka. We gave you that
pleasure. Not those…creatures.
”

She closed her eyes and pressed the heels of her hands
against them. “Where are we going?”

“My place.”

The transport rose effortlessly and silent into the air and
wove into the stream of traffic moving between the living blocks. Fade let her
heart settle and rubbed her cold hands together. She was alive and she was with
Foster. Two impossible things together. “How did you know?”

“I’ve known for a while that you were hiding something.” He
glanced at her, the light from the surrounding towers cutting across his face.
“You act hunted.”

Fade fidgeted in her seat, the belt biting into her neck.
“Yeah, well, I’m not the mysterious and taciturn ex-military man, am I?”

He flashed her one of his rare grins and Fade’s stomach
flip-flopped. His attention turned back to the thick line of traffic. “True,
that role is taken.” The smile faded. “Putting you in the Cage was Mercer’s way
to get to me.”

That had been obvious from the beginning. Mercer saw her as
Foster’s pet, but she wasn’t going to apologize. “I needed the money.”

Foster’s long fingers gripped the wheel and his knuckles
strained. “You could have come to me.”

“We don’t have that sort of…” She was about to say
relationship. But that wasn’t what they had. There was her attraction—an ache
that ate at her—and his cool disinterest, touched with little sparks of
possessiveness that completely confused her. “I work for you. Employer,
employee. It wouldn’t have been…appropriate.”

There was an edge to her voice, she couldn’t help it. He’d
refused her. And now here he was, running in trying to save her. She pulled in
a slow, steadying breath, the clean air of the cabin sliding deep into her
lungs.

He was silent, his attention fixed on the heavy flow
surrounding them and Fade allowed herself to look at him. The familiar, sharp
profile that had cut through her dreams and starred in more of her fantasies
than she wanted to admit. Her attention drifted to his hands—unusually without
gloves—and the need in her flesh caught her by surprise. He always wore them. Always.
Fuck. The thought of his fingertips tracing lines against her skin was her
strongest fantasy. She pressed her thighs together, the tight seam to her
trousers intensifying the deep throb in her pussy.

“
What are you doing to me?
”

Her plea was ragged, desperate…and met with low, echoing
laughter. “
Not us, Fade. You want him. Our touch, through us and others,
builds need. Desire. It’s made all the more delicious by the fact that you
can’t have him. That he’s forbidden.
” There was a long pause and Fade bit
her lip, her hands fists against the thick padding of the chair. She fought not
to make a sound. “
Close your eyes. Imagine him. He’s angry. There’s that
muscle jump under his left eye. You know the one. Those men touched you, fucked
you and he hasn’t. He’s not had one single taste.
”

There was a bitterness to the mingled voices that stopped
her eyes from drifting shut. Foster had kept her, her specifically, from
finding Athanasios. “
Why didn’t he want me to go into the Cage?
”

“
As soon as he can he’ll slam you up against the nearest
wall. Tear your clothes. Expose your sweet pussy.
”

Her breath hitched, her heart a drum in her chest. The
bitter hint of coal teased the tip of her tongue, the sign of her interaction
with Athanasios…but that was all. There was no slide of him, them against her
skin, just words burning into her. Pain sliced along her lip as she bit into
it, trying to deny the wild need coursing through her body.

She shut her eyes, feeling Foster, the drive of him, deep
and hard, taking her,
finally
making her his.

“Fadeyka?”

Lights danced across her closed eyelids. Close. She was so
close…

The illicit stroke of those strong hands, the press of him
against her, pinning her to the wall, the floor…anywhere. A shiver shook her,
followed by a tremble through her flesh that she couldn’t contain. He would see
her come. Watch her fall apart from the mere thought of him.

“Fadeyka!

He touched her cheek, the light press of his fingers against
her skin spiraling fire. She gasped, her eyes suddenly open wide. He leaned in,
the scent of him wrapping around her, warmth and musk and his mouth, his lips
simply…there.

The orgasm flared, quick and tight and sudden. Fade arched
against the heavy seat, a cry breaking from her, her flesh alive with fire and
wild joy. But it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. She grabbed the collar of
his coat and yanked her to him, her mouth finding his.

Fade groaned. His lips were hot and sweet, the barest hint
of his tongue deepening the wild thrum still holding her body. If he would only
return her kiss…but he drew back and wiped a hand across his mouth.

His gaze was hard, dark. “You’re fine.”

Fade blinked, the pleasure in her flesh falling to ashes.
She turned in her seat, turned away from him to stare out the transport window.
They waited in the thick flow of traffic beside a busy platform, the entrance
to a club gaudy with vari-colored lights and images of the workers within. She
held back a bone-deep sigh. He’d rejected her. Again. So much for Athanasios
pushing the idea of him being jealous of the men the Yalene had worn to fuck
her.

A wry smile touched her mouth. And of course, they were
silent too.

Fade focused on her breathing and fought to ignore the
tension that thickened the cramped space of the transport. She couldn’t look at
Foster. She’d kissed him and she denied her fingers the need to touch her
mouth. The ghost of his lips against hers still lingered. And of course, she’d
come in front of him.

Her face burned. And he probably thought she was having some
form of seizure.

The transport climbed, moving up the slip lanes. Foster
lived out on the more exclusive peaks of the barren rock. His employers paid
him well. He turned the craft toward one of the wide monoliths and eased onto a
narrow platform. The engines grew quiet and Foster flexed his fingers around
the levers.

Fade risked a look to his face and found his lips thinned
and his shoulders still tight. The muscle was ticking in his jaw. The slight
shudder of the transport said the platform was retracting, drawing them into
the living block. A solid gate dropped down behind them.

“Stay here.” Foster held up his finger as she opened her
mouth to argue. Anger burned in his dark gaze. “I said stay.” He pulled out his
weapon, checking the charge in the dim light of the transport, before he
slipped out and secured the vehicle.

Fade wiped a trembling hand over her face. Her life used to
be so staid and ordinary. One decrypted message had shoved her into endless
trouble. And here she was stuck on a rock, running for her life, with a man who
twisted her heart inside out on a daily basis.

The locks to the transport clunked and her door opened.
Foster, his breathing quickened, holstered his weapon. “It’s clear.” He grabbed
her bag and waited for her to climb out.

“What happens now?”

Foster put his hand to her back and urged her forward. “I
sort out this mess.”

“How?”

A panel scanned him and a door opened in the blankness of
the wall. He pushed her through and she found herself in a corridor leading to
a wide room. A vast window looked down onto the city, the weaving traffic a
flow of brilliant light against the living blocks and jagged crystal peaks.

With the filtered air of his apartment and shielding
deadening the noise of the outside world, Fade could forget for a moment why
she was in his space.

Foster shrugged off his coat and threw it over the back of
the nearest chair. In the low light, the shine of the weapon strapped to his
body tightened her nerves. She wasn’t in his home because he wanted her there.
She was hiding out.

“The bathroom’s through there.” He pointed down a corridor.
“Wash.”

“I just—”

“Wash.” His dark gaze narrowed on her and she shivered. His
anger was almost palpable. “Now.”

Fade pressed her lips together, turned and headed down the
narrow corridor. She didn’t look back. No doubt Foster would be cursing her.
The door opened before her to a brightly lit, stone-lined room and closed just
as softly behind her. She fell back against the door and scrubbed her face with
both hands. What little fantasy she could have about Foster had been crushed.

She pushed out a hot breath and tugged at her jacket. She
stripped the rest of her clothes quickly, hanging them on hooks. Her image
caught in a mirror and Fade stared at a stranger with tangled hair and bruises
and bites staining pale skin. Her fingers skimmed the bite on her shoulder and
she hissed against the pain.

The memory of what she had done, what Athanasios had shared
with her chased the pain through her skin with heat. What did the creature want
with her? Her and Foster?

She stepped into the wide square and waved her hand. Warm
water splashed across her body and she gasped, her fingers rubbing against her
skin to form lather. Mint and eucalyptus surrounded her. She breathed them in,
the scents pure Foster, and her eyes burned. She fought back the sudden tears,
her throat and chest tight. She’d screwed everything up.
Everything.

Waving off the water, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it
around her body. Nerves cramped her gut. She didn’t want to face Foster. He’d
caught her with two men, watched her come…and told her to wash it all off her
body.

A rough laugh broke from her. Had she imagined his interest?
Had it been something she’d constructed, something to hang on to as her life
went completely to shit?

Fade gripped the sink she stood before, the mirror
reflecting the flush to her skin. At least Athanasios had left her alone whilst
she showered. She could imagine Foster’s disgust at hearing her moans of
pleasure.

Fade closed her eyes and denied more tears. A sob almost
escaped as a hot mouth kissed her shoulder. “
Athanasios…
” A warm, male
body surrounded her, his arms against hers, his chest hard to her spine. “
I
don’t think…
” Her thoughts trailed away. It wasn’t the feel of bare skin,
but smooth, warm fabric and the scent surrounding her was still pure mint and
eucalyptus. Not a hint of coal.

Her eyes shot open and she stared in the mirror at the man
behind her. “Foster?”

He didn’t smile, offered her no warmth, but the dark heat in
his eyes caught her breath. “You belong to me. Not them. Not…
it
.” He
licked a droplet of water from the line of her shoulder. “Me.”

He tugged her towel free and let it fall to the floor, his
fingers trailing down her spine. His bare fingers. Fade’s eyes flickered shut
at the illicit sensation of his fingertips on her skin.

“Eyes open.” His words were a low growl against the shell of
her ear. “You want this? You watch.”

Fade had to obey and met his gaze in the mirror. The
darkness she found there was something from her fantasies and she bit her lip as
he grazed the bite on her shoulder.

“Did you enjoy them?”

There was an edge to his question that fired heat low into
her belly. She ached to press back against him, but he had her trapped between
the rough material of his trousers and the cool stone of the sink. “They were
going to kill me.”

His gaze narrowed and his teeth scraped her bruised flesh
for a brief, heart-tightening moment. The pain slipped into pleasure as he
licked and kissed the freshened bite. “Not my question. Did you enjoy them?”