Zurlo, Michele - Riley [Daughters of Circe 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (15 page)

“I bit you.”

Riley gaped at him. Caiden couldn’t contact wolves. And now that Teigh had given up his power, he couldn’t do the things he did as the Shadow Man. Soren had effectively cut her off from their other lovers. “Soren, I didn’t want you to bite me.”

He didn’t answer, but his head cocked to the side. Riley concentrated hard, and she saw the glimmer of an outline. At least one demon rode in the truck with them. She had no chance of reasoning with him while they were around. Her transformation into a wolf would be complete the next night when the moon reached fullness, but that didn’t help her right now.

Tears stung her eyes as the wild gleam clouding his eyes only brightened. With all her heart, she wished she could wave her hand and make it all go away. “Soren, I love you.”

“Don’t,” he said. “Don’t play that game. I know you can see them. We decided you needed to see them. You need to see the little demons you created. You need to see them as they destroy you and I take all of your power.”

His words chilled her, but she couldn’t peel her gaze from the way his hands worked the leather covering the steering wheel. He was trying to fight his compulsion. She hoped he had enough strength to beat it. The compulsion was an accident, a cruel trick of fate. Her father always warned her of the unintended consequences of using vast amounts of power.

She moistened her lips. “I still love you. I’ll always love you. Teigh and Caiden, too. None of us will abandon you, Soren. Ever.”

“Shut up, Riley. Tell me where Shade and Torrey live. If the time is truly upon us, then Marius, Demetrius, and Flynn are there with their witch-wolf. They would have had the children already.” He scratched at his forehead, his wolf nails leaving a trail of bloody tracks. The wounds beaded and disappeared, leaving thin droplets of blood streaked across his forehead.

“We need Teigh and Caiden for the ritual. We need thirteen or it won’t work.”

Soren shook his head. “Two wolves can replace them. Teigh has no power to add to the ceremony. He’s just a regular human now. Caiden is a ghost. He would be relying on us to pull him to this side of reality. That’s why you can only fuck him while you’re sleeping. It was good of him to exhaust you and Teigh for me.”

That answered the question of how he got her out of the house without Teigh resisting. She closed her eyes. Teigh being asleep had been a blessing. Now that he was human, Soren could have easily killed him. Though, knowing Soren, he had placed a charm on Teigh to keep him from waking. He likely had done the same thing to her. She elected to not mention that she and Teigh had been awake the last time they’d visited Caiden. “Soren, you don’t want to do this.”

“Yes, I do. I want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I want your power and you’re going to give it to me. You’re all going to give it to me.”

Riley didn’t believe that. She couldn’t believe that. He had fled the house rather than hurt her. The demon whispering in his ear looked frighteningly familiar. Soren said she created the demon. If she had, those memories hadn’t yet returned.

Then something Caiden had said resurfaced. These demons were the souls of the humans who had attacked and killed them in the first place. The conflict had followed them through time and multiple incarnations.

Rather than argue with Soren, a pointless endeavor, she settled back against the seat and let her neck rest. The place where he had bit her itched and throbbed. When she moved it, sharp pain shot through her. From watching Torrey, she knew the full transformation was close. Hopefully, the bite wasn’t infected. That infection had certainly done a number on Torrey.

“Fine.” She strove for a crisp edge to her tone. “At least stop and get me some food. I’m starving, Soren. I know you aren’t that much of a monster.”

He flinched, proving her point. The lights of a little diner shone a mile or so up the road. Just when his foot pressed the brake, the demon went into overdrive, jumping and working its lips feverishly. Its little mouth spewed words Riley couldn’t hear, but they made Soren change his mind. “Sorry. You’ll have to wait.”

She stared out the window and watched the light fade from the sky. As they passed the big sign welcoming them to Big Sky Country, she sighed. Torrey’s home wasn’t too far away, but it was hell to find. Riley had never shown up unexpected. Not only was it dangerous to wander around wolf country unescorted, she could never find the homestead without a guide.

“Riley, tell me where they live and I’ll go much easier on you.”

She made a dismissive noise and waved his request away. “You’re going to go easy on me anyway. You might crave a power I don’t yet possess, but you still love me. You loved me from the moment you saw me.”

He glanced over at her. “It didn’t stop me from kidnapping you.”

Sympathy gripped her insides. She knew he aimed to trigger the anger and uncertainty she had displayed only four days before, but all hesitation had disappeared from her heart. Anger over the kidnapping had vanished.

The truck slowed to a stop as he pulled to the shoulder of the road. Riley didn’t make a move. Not only were they in the middle of nowhere, but she couldn’t hope to outrun Soren.

Soren stared at her for the longest time. Finally, he broke the silence. “You’re right, Riley. I do love you. I don’t want to hurt you. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that will stop me from taking everything from you, and I have to kill you to do it.”

She turned her head slowly, uncertain which emotion shone from her eyes. He was seriously beginning to creep her out, but he was also starting to piss her off. “I love you, too, Soren. Caiden and Teigh do, too. Don’t make the mistake of thinking anything you do can stop us from loving you.”

“Take me to Shade’s house.”

There really wasn’t a way out of this. She knew that from the moment she woke up with that horrible crick in her neck. Still, she let him stew for a little while longer. “Fine, but you have to promise me one thing. I can take the power from everyone there into myself. Let me do that, Soren. That way you’ll get it all and you won’t have to hurt our daughters or our grandchildren.”

Calling her beautiful little nieces “grandchildren” almost made Riley laugh in the middle of her request. However, she needed to make his connection to their loved ones very clear. She knew he wouldn’t be able to live if he hurt any of them. She knew if she couldn’t save him, then they were all doomed to die. Their souls would be doomed to an eternity apart. So many people depended on her.

He nodded. “No games, Riley. You take all the power and then I’ll harvest it from you.”

She jerked on the handle to open the door and kicked it open with her foot. “I could give it to you, Soren. Has it ever occurred to you to just ask for it?”

He lunged for her. Riley skidded across the rocky strip next to the road, and Soren landed heavily on top of her. “You’re not leaving me.”

With a grunt, she pushed against him, digging her elbow into his rocklike ribcage. He didn’t budge. “I wasn’t running away, Soren. First, I would never leave you. Second, I have no illusion that I can outrun you. Now get off me.”

He hopped up gracefully and pulled her to standing. “Where are you going?”

Riley parked her hands on her hips. “This is the first time you’ve stopped since early this morning. I thought I’d head into the brush and pee. Then I thought you’d shift into your lupine form and sniff out Torrey and Shade. I don’t know exactly where they live. This is about where I meet them when I visit.”

“You really don’t know where they live?” He faltered a bit, and his head cocked to the side.

Riley wanted to smack the demon. Okay, she wanted to kill him, but she knew she didn’t have enough power to do any real damage yet. Truth be told, she wanted to smack Soren, too. Teigh and Caiden both had much more sympathy for what he was going through, but a big part of Riley just wanted him to man up and fight for their love. “Teigh and Caiden both know where they live. Too bad you didn’t bring Teigh with us.”

He listened to his demon for a minute longer. Then he focused his attention on Riley. “You can find Caiden. Go now and ask him for the location of the cabin.”

The only times she had been able to contact Caiden had been while she was asleep or having sex. She wasn’t about to fall asleep close to Soren. She might love him, but she no longer trusted him.

“Okay, but you have to lick my pussy. I need an orgasm to find him.”

* * * *

Soren wanted to die. Riley didn’t seem to comprehend how much danger she was in. Not once had she tried to escape him. She put far too much faith in their ancient bond. It was no match for his compulsion. He wanted her to stop him. Even if it meant his death, he needed her to stop him.

And now she had made this outrageous demand. Women, especially strong women like Riley, didn’t demand sex from their kidnappers. He stared at her in the bright light of the nearly-full moon and blinked hard. “What?”

She rolled those beautiful brown eyes, fisted his hair in both hands, and jerked his lips to hers. The soft, sweet scent of her rose, invading his senses until he couldn’t think anymore. He didn’t want to think anymore. The demon he couldn’t see, but he could sure as hell hear, protested. Soren shoved it aside. It might make him crave her power, but it couldn’t stop him from wanting something, and he wanted Riley.

He lifted her against him without breaking the kiss and carried her back to the truck. Their tumble had left the door wide open. The wolf blood inside her had already healed the few scratches she had sustained. Light from the cab competed with the darkness for a few feet, but it lost the battle in the vastness of the valley. He set her on the seat and fumbled with the button on her jeans. She helped remove them the rest of the way, and then she leaned forward, capturing his lips again.

Her kiss sucked at his soul, urging it to the fore of his consciousness. He knew without a doubt he could never hurt her. She had mentioned giving him the power. Did she love him enough to turn everything over to him? What the hell would he do with all of that power? Circe was the daughter of the sun. She knew what it meant to wield it. She knew what it meant to contain it. Soren had no clue. Perhaps it would consume him, and he could escape this hellish existence.

But she didn’t really let him think. She broke the kiss. Her lips moved to nibble at his jaw and sear a path down his neck. Her touch never failed to drive him out of his mind. He pushed her back so that she lay down across the seats. He let his hands roam her body as he savored her with kisses. This was likely the last time he would get to make love to her. The demon had faded away for now. Who knew what would happen the next time? Who knew whether the damn thing would linger nearby, demanding he end her life with his hands? It seemed to take delight in causing him pain.

He could taste pieces of the sun on her flesh, a power that hadn’t been there before. Particles of energy zinged through his body, staving off the worst of his cravings. He parted her thighs and ran his fingertip through her glistening wetness. After all he’d done to her, after everything she knew he planned to do, she held nothing back. Her body quivered and shook.

Love gripped him hard, coiling spiky tendrils that burned with bittersweet pain, and visions of her growing round with his children danced before his eyes. He swallowed the lump in his throat and bent his head. She jumped as he blew short bursts of air across her clit.

“Soren, don’t tease. I’ve missed you too damn much to have patience for teasing.” She shifted against the seat and pushed her pussy toward his face. “You owe me anyway, for putting another charm on me when you promised you’d never do that again.”

He licked a long swipe along her weeping slit. While he hadn’t admitted to placing a charm on her or Teigh, it was the only logical way he could have removed Riley from the house without Teigh putting up a fight. There was no way Teigh wouldn’t have fought. Soren would have been forced to hurt or kill him, and that thought turned his stomach. He shoved aside his complex emotional turmoil and concentrated on Riley’s sweetness.

She might not want him to play, but he refused to rush. He wanted to savor every drop of cream. She whimpered as he loved her with his tongue. Instead of grabbing his head to hold him close, she reached above her head and dug her nails into the seat. He recognized the subtle signs of Caiden’s influence, and pangs of regret hammered his insides. The visage of his lover would never again fill his eyes.