DX (5 page)

“I want a deal,” Tuan said.

Hell gasped when she felt Jaden leave her. She’d have fallen if he hadn’t kept an arm around her. It was a sickening, disorienting stripping of herself from the inside. Fabienne shouted when Jaden appeared in his demon form. God help her, she wanted him back. Fabienne would have fired the Ruger, but Tuan lifted a hand, staring at Jaden.

“It really is you,” he said.

Jaden tightened his arm around Hell, keeping her steady. “Go on, Tuan Ng.”

Tuan’s eyes went flat. All his considerable attention was on Jaden. “I want protection for my people against dogs and humans.” He stayed close to Fabienne. “Your services,” he said. “At my command.”

“Why should I enslave myself to you, vampire?”

“Partnership in the Golden Wing.” Tuan smiled. “Forty-nine percent.”

Jaden shrugged. “And?”

“Show me where the portal is being built,” Tuan continued, “and I’ll see you get through whenever you want. As long as another one like you takes your place, ready and willing to do exactly as I say.”

Hell’s stomach felt like a rock. She didn’t like the look on Tuan’s face. The fang was too certain of himself. “No,” she said. “Jaden, no.”

Jaden let out a breath. “For that,” he told Tuan, “you must protect Hell with your life.” He stared at the vampire. “If she dies or is harmed, I promise I will kill you.”

“Jaden, no.” She swung around in front of him. “No. Don’t do this.”

He touched her cheek with the side of his thumb. “This way there is a chance.”

“No.” Frantic, she put her hands on his chest. If he obligated himself to Tuan, he’d never be free. Ever. Tuan would use him the same way Milos had. “I’ll do it,” she whispered to Jaden. “Everything.”

“Hell,” Tuan said. “Please do not interfere.”

She didn’t look at Tuan. God, was she crying? She couldn’t stand the thought of Jaden enslaved to anyone. She swiped a hand over her cheeks and damned if they weren’t damp “Forget the Golden Wing, Jaden. I’ll do what you said, plus make you a full partner with me. Marshall and Lightfeather Investigations. Fifty-fifty.”

Tuan laughed.

“Everything? Are you certain?” Jaden asked.

“Yes.”

He bowed, one fisted hand over the other. “Helen Marshall, it is done.” He kissed her , and she melted against him. His arm snaked around her waist.

“Hell?” Tuan said.His eyes glittered, but Fabienne rested a warning hand on his arm. “It isn’t over between us,” he said.

“Yeah,” she said, slipping her hand in Jaden’s. “It is.” For the first time in her life, Hell walked away from Tuan Ng without a shred of regret, and it felt good. Really good.

In the garage, Jaden touched the hood of her silver Lamborghini Murciélago like he’d found paradise. He opened the driver’s side door and slid in. He adjusted the seat all the way back. A grin on his face, he leaned over and popped up the passenger side door.

When she had her seatbelt secured, she looked at him and took a deep breath. “My place or yours?”

“You said you were a slob.” Hell stood in a living room without a stick of furniture. The walls were bare. No pictures. No artwork. No curtains. The floor was hardwood with no rugs. No nothing. There was a ceiling light, but the bulb was out because nothing happened when she flipped the switch.

“I am.” Jaden walked across the room. Hell stared at his back, unsettled by the shiver of pleasure she got from looking at him. Midnight hair spilled down his naked torso, thick and glossy. He wasn’t taller or more muscular, but he felt menacingly bigger than in his human form. Part of her liked the danger. A lot. He disappeared through an open door. A light went on in another room.

“No, see, in order to qualify as a slob, you have to have stuff you fail to put away.” She stared at the empty room. “I don’t think you have any stuff.” He lived in a high rise with a spectacular view of the city. Not quite the same as looking down from the vampire level of Strata +1, but impressive all the same.

“Come, Hell,” he called from the other room.

The clack of her square heeled boots echoed across the floor. A light was on in an open area that formed a nexus between the kitchen, a small bedroom or office and the master bedroom. Jaden had just tossed the car keys on the floor. The kitchen was immaculate.

“Don’t you have any furniture?” An entire herd of butterflies took flight in her stomach. Was she really going to do this? Bind herself to a Bak-Faru demon? He seemed so matter-of-fact. Like it was no big deal, what she was going to let him do. Maybe for him it wasn’t. For her, it would change her life.

He held out a hand, pale amber eyes fixed on her. “I have a bed.”

Yes, she was going to do for Jaden what she’d refused Tuan. She put her hand in his, and he led her to his bedroom. Her throat went dry as Death Valley in mid-summer. He turned on the light. For a heartbeat, she thought the room looked onto a desert under a crimson moon, but it was a landscape painted on the entire far wall. Pillows by the dozen, all in brilliant jeweled tones, lay on the floor next to the mural. A cobalt blue bowl was nearby on the floor. The other walls were stark white. She said, “You don’t have a bed.”

He wrapped his arms around her and dropped a lingering kiss on her shoulder. “Yes, I do.”

“That’s a pile of pillows, not a bed.”

Jaden let go of her and walked to the pillows. “This is where I sleep, therefore, it is my bed.” He bent to unlace his boots and take them off. She shrugged and took off her shoes and socks, too. The heat of his smile about combusted her right then and there. “Come here.”

When she did, he put his hands on her shoulders and leaned toward her. The air smelled clean and sharp. A faint scent reminded her of sandalwood but she couldn’t tell if the odor came from the pillows or something else. He was close enough for her to see his eyelashes were black as soot. A tingle spread outward from her spine. He had the most incredible eyes she’d ever seen. She wasn’t doing this for his eyes, Hell reminded herself. She was doing this because nobody deserved to be enslaved.

He knelt at the side of the bed. As he did, his hands slid down her body, leaving heat in their wake. He reached for her hand and tugged. “Sit.”

She lowered herself to the pillows, nerves fluttering at the edge of panic. Jaden touched her cheek at the inside corner of her eye. “I understand you do not want this.” He traced a line beneath her eye, then spread his fingers over her cheek. “I will be a good mate for you.” His voice caressed her ears. “You will be safe with me,
tes
.” At her puzzled expression, he smiled. “
Tes
is what a demon male calls his beloved.”

“Let’s get this over with, okay?”

He reached behind his neck and untied his pony tail. Long, black-as-midnight hair fell past his shoulders. Silver threads glittered in both braids. Seeing him with his hair loose felt shocking and more intimate than if he were nude. His cheekbones looked even more angled, his mouth soft, and Hell couldn’t help the reaction of her body. He drew a short dagger from a sheath fastened to his belt. “Your arm.”

She eyed the knife. “Will this hurt?”

“A little.” Facing her, he tucked her wrist between his side and his upper arm. Their eyes met again and she swore she could feel the mental pulse of him. “Thank you, Hell. For my freedom.”

“Do it. Before I lose my nerve.” She raised up on her knees to relieve the pressure on her shoulder and turned her head so she couldn’t see her arm or the knife. “I’m a wimp when it comes to pain.”

“There are words you must say.” Hell was grateful for his matter-of-fact voice. “I will give them to you at the proper time.”

He began to chant, a low sound that threatened at every moment to make sense, but never did. The words gathered around them at the heated air, pressing in on her. She flinched when he made a cut in a vein at the inside of her elbow, a quick, sure slice. Pain blossomed and then evaporated. She looked despite her queasiness. Blood welled and ran along the crease in her elbow to land in the cobalt bowl he’d set beneath her arm. He released her and fisted his hand. With the other, he nicked his arm in the same fashion and collected his blood in the bowl.

His chant was in her head again, beating in time with her heart. Picking up the bowl, he tipped it over the cut in his arm. Bright droplets hit his skin and flowed toward the wound and all the while, he was chanting nonsense words. His body radiated heat. The air around them glowed amber. Her head throbbed, and a presence curled inside her. He stretched out her arm again and held the bowl over her cut. “Say these words, Helen Marshall.”

Blood dripped onto her when with his help she repeated the sounds. Her skin sizzled and a trickle of warmth entered her arm and flowed into her. She stared at his face, watching his mouth move as the trickle heated and thickened. The shadow coalesced inside her and became an awareness that wasn’t her. She swayed. That dark presence was Jaden. She knew what he was. And everyone who’d ever said
they’re not like us
didn’t understand the half of it.

He let go of her arm and reached for one of the tiny braids at his temple. Hell took a breath and tried to find someplace in her where Jaden was not. Her lungs wouldn’t expand, and she wondered if she would suffocate. Fear uncurled in her belly. Jaden touched her chin, lifting her face so she looked into his glowing amber eyes. Her panic receded, and she could breathe again. He separated one of the silver strands from his braid. With a low, dark word, the material changed in his hands, becoming a small braided circle that did not quite close. Smiling, he pushed her back against the pillows and replaced the ring in her belly button with the one he’d just made. Another word preceded a flash of amber light. She gasped at the sensation of heat through her piercing, a sharp burst of fire. He tugged once on the ring and whispered, “It is done, Helen Marshall.”

She couldn’t tell if he was whispering in her ear or whether his words had worked their way inside her head. The sensation of his being inside her hadn’t stopped but was settling down, working through her and twining with her being. He’d said he didn’t think she would feel much of the bond, but he was wrong. Her awareness of him was physically and mentally visceral. There was a blackness to her sense of him that came from him having the sort of power that made his world one with few limitations. The reality of what he’d done took her breath. He’d entrusted her with his life. For as long as they lived, there would be no other women for him.

“You are mine, now, Hell,” he whispered. He touched his lips to her forehead, and desire roared through her, overwhelming and uncontrollable, emotions foreign to her; his bitter satisfaction at having taken the one action that could see him free, resignation that the solution was permanent, remorse that he had acted and the conviction that his predicament had given him no choice but to tie himself forever to a human. And, there was his desire for her. Her, and no one else. He’d known all along it would be like that for him.

She put her hands on either side of his face, tears burning behind her eyes because if not for Milos, he would never have done this. “I’m sorry, Jaden.”

He pulled back to stare at her and as he did, his black hair brushed the backs of her hands. “You have no need to feel sorry.”

“I’m still sorry,” she said.

“But I am not. Not now.” He spread his fingers over her belly. Her skin shivered, a delicious sexual charge. “Are you all right?”

”I think so.” She reached for the ring he’d put in her navel and met his fingers, still splayed over her belly. “What is this?”

“A gift. A mark every Bak-Faru male gives his mate.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “It is more usual to put this in a mate’s hair,
tes
, but yours is too short.”

“Too bad.”

He laughed and stroked a finger across her forehead. “You will always feel me, but with this—” He touched the ring, and she bowed off the pillows with the flood of sensation through her. His feelings, his desire, his darkness. “You will know me and be able to touch me as I touch you.”

She sat up and was immediately woozy.

“If you need my strength, Hell, use it.” He reclined on the pillows and put his palm on her back, a warm and solid contact. Her dizziness lessened.

She turned around, looking down at him and found his eyes wandering her body. Not even Tuan had looked at her like that, as if she were the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. “What if you need mine?”

“I could use it.” His palm continued sliding over her skin. He placed her on the pillows next to him. He leaned over her, his hair a veil of black. His body lowered over hers, and he kissed her gently, tenderly, as if afraid of hurting her, as if she were the most precious thing in the world. One hand moved from her belly to the waist of her pants. Her breath hitched. They’d talked about her being his mate, and she’d realized that must encompass a sexual relationship, but, she hadn’t equated that with his wanting her like this. It scared her, the depth of his feelings for her.

The thing was, she’d wanted him long before this. Her desire wasn’t anything new. He was dark, she felt his otherness, qualities she happened to like in a man, and now he was also driving her out of her mind with longing. He wasn’t just in contact with her body, either. His mind and his will, the dark and maleficent essence of him, was inside of her, feeding her and taking her inexorably toward pleasure.

He slid down her zipper. One tug, and her pants were half way off. His fingers brushed her bare skin on the way down her legs and again on the way back, a slow, languorous upward caress. The entire time he was doing that, he kissed her, and his mouth was soft and gentle. This wasn’t like before when they’d been headed for sex, back there in the Lower. This time, he was going to make love to her. Jaden, a Bak-Faru demon, darkest of the dark demons, was going to put his body inside hers, and she was going to welcome him.

Jaden hooked a finger in the waist of her panties. Her white cotton low rider briefs went sailing off to wherever her pants went, and Jaden touched her there, a gentle brush, an electrifying flick. Her breath came in ragged huffs. She was trying to catch up to what had just happened to her, but sensations she didn’t understand flooded her, thoughts that weren’t hers, alien feelings that caught her up, and then there was his skin, hot beneath her fingers, the scent of him, something dark and mysterious and beyond arousing. His fingers curved around her hips and his chest slid along her skin, his thigh brushed her legs. With nimble hands, he unhooked her bra. She watched his eyelids flutter closed while he touched her. His mouth was hot on her breast, her shoulder, her belly, and then between her legs, his tongue slow, the pressure almost unbearable. She tangled her fingers in his hair, urging him on. With Tuan, she’d never been able to entirely lose her restraint, but with Jaden, she had no restraint at all. She shattered within moments.

His mouth came off her to be replaced by his fingers and a moment later his arm went around her waist, moving her further up the mound of pillows. His body followed. Black hair fell around her, onto her shoulders and against her cheeks. “Beautiful,” he said, but once again, she didn’t know if he’d spoken out loud or in her head. “You’re beautiful, Hell.”

He rolled to one side and worked at his pants. Golden-bronze skin stretched over muscle, and she felt weak when she saw his naked body. She put a hand to his chest, and he stilled while she touched him. Inside, she quivered with desire. Heat centered in her belly and between her legs. His body was perfect for her, everything about him aroused her. His penis was erect, and she was dying to touch him there, dying to have that inside her.

As if he’d read her mind, and maybe he had, Jaden pulled himself over her, naked, his fevered skin sliding over hers like warm silk. “Beautiful Hell, you’re the first,” he said.

Her heart did a jitter step. “What?”

“I have never mated with a human female.” He kept one hand propped on the pillows while the other slithered down her side to her hip and then to the back of her thigh, lifting her leg so he was cradled closer to her body. “I have heard many things about human women.” His penis strained against her belly, and she pressed against him. Jaden’s mouth curved in a whole new smile. “I have heard you are cold inside and that because you are small, a demon male feels more pleasure. That you like to ride a male without mercy, and I have heard that your tongues are deformed so you are able to drive a male out of his wits with pleasure. Can your tongue do that?”

“Uh, I could try.”

His smile turned wickeder yet. “I have heard that because human men are weak and cannot change their form to please their females, human women are eager to mate with a Bak-Faru demon.”

She threw her arms around him and pulled him close. “Jaden, what are you waiting for?”

“You,” he said. “Only you.” He adjusted his pelvis and slid inside with a groan of pleasure rumbling in the back of his throat. Just like that, her world changed. He was inside her body. Jaden was inside of her, moving, touching, his body sliding against hers, his hair so dark around his face his eyes looked like fire. He was hard and stretching her. He slowed, waiting for her body to adjust. She arched against him, needing to take as much of him inside her as she could. Their connection stopped time. A growl rose in his throat, an un-human sound that thrummed between her ears. He put his weight on his palms and pushed his shoulders up and his hips inward and forward.