The Demon Who Fed on a Shark (9 page)

lover, but he didn’t. Instead, he forced himself to relax, laying there for Morgan’s pleasure. He wanted to give Morgan everything the

other man wanted. He wanted to share his life, his body, and yes, his heart and mind, with Morgan. Suddenly, he knew that Morgan would

never begrudge him for his past sexual encounters. They’d been a

necessity, nothing like this, like the almost tortuous passion he felt for Morgan. They’d been an unsatisfying snack where Morgan was a

feast. His hunger could only be sated within Morgan’s body, and

Morgan wasn’t afraid of it.

Morgan’s large, strikingly warm hands began to map his body,

zeroing in on his nipples. As Morgan tweaked the tight buds, Alexis

arched his back, demanding more, crying out his lover’s name as the

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fire of need increased inside him. He spread his legs wide, exposing

his clenching anus to Morgan’s gaze. A small, quiet groan was his

reward, and Alexis felt that sound all the way into his heart.

The next thing Alexis knew, Morgan’s lips were on his, devouring

him, preying on his mouth. Morgan took and gave, biting at Alexis’s

lower lip so hard he drew blood. In that kiss, Alexis tasted the true extent of Morgan’s desire for him, and suddenly knew that he’d been

a fool to ever be afraid of this. Morgan would never hate him. Morgan loved him too much for that to happen.

Alexis surrendered to Morgan’s kiss, enjoying the kiss, reveling in

the passion. Morgan’s hands never once ceased exploring his body,

making tongues of fire lick over his skin. Alexis wrapped his legs

around Morgan’s waist, squeezing his mate, trying to pull him closer.

Nothing either of them did seemed to be enough. The heat scorched

them both, so intense it couldn’t be pushed back or quenched.

Still lost in the kiss, Alexis heard Morgan retrieve the tube of

lubricant from the nightstand, where they’d placed it earlier. A snap and a click sounded, clearly announcing Morgan’s intentions, and

Alexis relaxed his body, waiting for Morgan’s caress.

Morgan pushed two fingers inside his waiting hole, fucking him

with the digits, stretching him, preparing him for invasion. His sinful touch made Alexis writhe on the bed, and he tried to impale himself

on the fingers, seeking more. It was not enough. He simply couldn’t

get enough of Morgan.

But Morgan seemed intent to draw the experience out, seducing

Alexis with every single caress. When he broke their kiss to breathe, he started licking down Alexis’s neck, awakening every nerve from

Alexis’s body. His skin tingled where Morgan’s tongue touched it,

and his cock throbbed, demanding to be let in on the action.

As if guessing Alexis’s thoughts, Morgan kissed all the way down

to Alexis’s abdomen until he reached Alexis’s cock, never once

ceasing the slow thrusting motion of his digits in Alexis’s ass. Briefly, their eyes met, and Alexis’s belly fluttered in anticipation at the

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promise in Morgan’s eyes. And then wet heat engulfed his cock as his

lover took the hard shaft in his mouth.

His vision dimmed around the edges as absolute pleasure coursed

through him. With each suck and lick, it increased more and more

until imminent climax threatened. Morgan’s clever fingers pushed

him closer and closer, and Alexis couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to have Morgan’s cocks inside him when he came.

By some miracle, he managed to stammer out one single phrase.

“Please, Morgan, fuck me.”

In the blink of an eye, Morgan removed his fingers from Alexis’s

ass and his mouth off Alexis’s prick. Alexis didn’t even have time to feel their disappearance. His lover’s twin dicks breached him,

thrusting deep and almost splitting him into two.

Alexis bit his lip so hard he tasted blood. It wasn’t to keep himself from crying out. That had already become a lost cause. But he hoped

the slight pain would push him away from the impending orgasm,

give him just a bit more time to revel in the moment.

It worked, just barely. Thankfully, Morgan allowed him a few

moments to adjust to the girth of the twin cocks, and Alexis used

them to regulate his breath and push his climax back. He didn’t want

to come yet. This was too important.

His efforts were completely wasted when Morgan pulled out and

thrust back in, his hard cocks brushing against Alexis’s prostate.

Practically sobbing with desperate arousal, Alexis moved with

Morgan, his need for his lover growing to unexplainable proportions.

Over and over, in and out, thrust and push, the sliding dance as

old as time itself continued, driving Alexis mad with desire. Once

more, the circle of passion manifested between them, fueling off

Alexis’s powers and funneling into Morgan. Again, Alexis felt that

urge, that distinctive need for something he couldn’t quite grasp.

Only, this time, he could. He knew what he needed. He ached for

Morgan to bite him, to claim him, to take him as a mate.

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Morgan lowered his mouth over his neck, ready to strike. But just

as Morgan’s sharp teeth pierced his flesh, uncertainty struck Alexis.

He remembered his parents’ words. He remembered his own fear, the

knowledge that he was tying Morgan down to a disfigured pariah by

accepting this love. And then he remembered all the men he’d been

with, all the things he’d done in his past. How could he allow Morgan to see that? No. He needed to stop this.

But it was too late, much too late, and white-hot pleasure-pain

filled Alexis as Morgan bit down on his flesh. He felt something, a

connection click into place, and fear and denial filled him. A slow

heat developed in his belly, strange, unlike anything he’d ever

experienced. He feared it.

The pleasure of Morgan’s touch exploded into absolute pain. The

thread tying their hearts together unraveled, and for a minute, Alexis fell, unanchored in a reality he could no longer make sense of, in a black void where only his fears existed. He cried out, but he couldn’t hear his own screams. It was a relief when everything went dark.

* * * *

Something had gone wrong. Morgan sensed it from the very

moment Alexis’s blood had filled his mouth. He’d tasted fear

mingling with the endorphins of arousal, a fear that had no place

being there, in Alexis’s heart and body.

But he’d been unable to stop himself in time. It had all been so

fast. Suddenly, the world shattered around him, and Alexis’s scream

of pain swept through him like a dagger. He moved his mouth away

from Alexis’s neck and licked the wound clean, then hugged his lover

to his chest, trying to calm him.

The cries diminished in volume, but Alexis’s body continued to

tremble, almost seizing. Alexis’s eyes rolled in his head, and despair coursed through Morgan as he realized his sweet love had lost

consciousness.

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His family must have heard the screams because moments later,

the door burst open. Layton shot into the room, followed by their

parents. “What’s wrong?” Layton asked. “What is it?”

“I…I tried to claim him,” Morgan said. “I don’t know what

happened. It hurt him.”

Morgan held his lover in his arms, trying his best to soothe the

other. “He needs medical attention,” he told his parents. He was

reluctant to move Alexis, just in case he hurt his lover further.

Byron was already out the door, but even with his almost

unnatural speed, it seemed to take forever until he brought the doctors in.

In brisk, efficient motions, the medical staff pushed Morgan away

and proceeded to examine Alexis’s still-trembling body. Nothing they

did seemed enough, and Morgan wanted to scream at them, to urge

them to move quicker, to act wiser, to do anything, just anything to

stop this. But he was helpless, and he couldn’t even refute his father when the other man ushered him from the room and a far too heavy

door separated him from his lover.

* * * *

“But why would something like that cause him to get sick?”

A small whisper reached Alexis’s ears, startling him from his

slumber, or rather, summoning him from his unconsciousness. The

low volume suggested that the speaker didn’t want to be heard, but

fortunately, Alexis was an accomplished actor. In spite of the ache

throbbing through his entire body, he managed to feign sleep.

Another voice, which Alexis recognized, answered, “I don’t

know. I’m not sure I want to.”

It was Layton, and he seemed very upset about something,

probably Alexis’s situation. The second person spoke again, and now,

Alexis identified the voice as belonging to Malcolm.

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“I hate to say this, but I think Morgan might have rushed into

things. God only knows we like Alexis, but he’s an incubus. He’s

different. How can we even be sure things work the same with them?”

Alexis had to force himself to continue breathing evenly. “Alexis

was Morgan’s choice,” Layton said, “and I trust my brother to know

what’s best for him.”

Malcolm didn’t speak again. Instead, Alexis heard footsteps, and

the door opened and closed as the older man left the room. Moments

later, another person came in. “Hi, Dad,” Layton murmured. Skylar,

then.

“How is he?” Skylar inquired softly.

“Sleeping,” Layton answered. “Morgan?”

Skylar sighed. “He’s inconsolable. Byron had to order him to eat.”

Pain and bitter guilt assaulted Alexis at the knowledge that he’d

hurt his lover. His own hopes and selfish desires had led him to this.

He should have known he could never give Morgan what the other

man needed.

“Have you come any closer to figuring out why Alexis got sick?”

Layton inquired.

For a few moments, Skylar didn’t answer. When he did speak, his

voice sounded defeated. “Oh, Layton. I’ve never seen something like

this, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time with the agency, it is that always, always, a person responds positively to being

claimed by his or her mate, at least physically. It is the difference between biting your other half and any other person, at least for

species who used the bite as the solidifying element.”

“So…You think Alexis isn’t really Morgan’s mate? But Morgan

is so certain of it…”

“I know he is,” Skylar replied. “That’s why it hurts so much. I

don’t want to doubt Alexis again. We already did, once, and we all

know how that turned out.”

“But there’s no other explanation, is there?”

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They were talking about deception, Alexis deceiving Morgan into

believing in a false bond. Everything inside Alexis screamed at the

injustice. He loved Morgan. He truly did. Yes, he was afraid. Yes, he might have fucked up. But he would never, ever, take advantage of

Morgan like that.

But of course, Morgan’s family would never believe him. They

were more likely to judge him after their own standards after the

smallest slight, even if they did have good intentions. What did that say of him?

Then again, how did he know what they were saying wasn’t the

absolute truth? How did he know he hadn’t accidentally fallen into the habits of his kind and inadvertently seduced Morgan, going beyond

any limits he should have gone? It wasn’t impossible, not for an

incubus, to induce ideas or affections that felt true for the person

experiencing them, but were, in fact, empty and fake.

The idea chilled him to the bone. He wondered if that was the

reason why Morgan seemed unaffected by the scar on Alexis’s face.

Naturally, Alexis hadn’t wanted Morgan to leave him, and if Morgan

was under his unconscious control, the shark would probably pay no

attention whatsoever to Alexis’s disfigurement.

It was all starting to make sense now. Alexis suppressed a sob of

self-loathing. He should have listened earlier. He should have gone

with his parents when they’d told him to come home. He hadn’t, and

now, he was deeply in love with a person who only thought he shared

Alexis’s feelings.

Alexis couldn’t allow this to continue. He would destroy

Morgan’s life more than he already had. If he removed himself from

Morgan’s presence, the spell would slowly fade, and Morgan would

find someone new, his true mate, the person he’d wrongfully

considered Alexis to be.

Tears threatened to fall, but Alexis angrily pushed them back. He

couldn’t allow Skylar and Layton to figure out he was awake. He

needed to come up with a plan to get out of here. It wouldn’t be easy

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since the Cunningham complex was impenetrable. There were so

many alarms and security systems here that even Alexis’s own

parents had never bothered to install. How could he leave such a

fortress?

There was only one way, only one power he could use. Morgan

might never forgive him, but perhaps that would be for the best. If

Morgan understood what Alexis was, if he realized that it had all been a lie, he would be free to pursue his own destiny, free of Alexis.

He couldn’t put his plan into practice with Skylar there, but