A DANGEROUS BARGAIN (The Sentinel Demons) (14 page)

He didn’t give a shit what sort of dormant magic she held inside her; all he cared about was her, making her his, binding them together.

Kat’s breathing was deep and even, causing Zach to release a masculine sigh of relief. At least she was sleeping restfully, finally free from the pain of the toxin.

Closing his eyes, he tried to relax his body and sleep, but all he could think about was that damn bargain, and he cursed himself for ever making it. He didn’t want Kat under demon compulsions. He just wanted…her.

Pulling her tightly against him, he felt her warmth seeping into his soul, as he had felt it for every hour of every day they’d been together.

I’m a lucky bastard to have her for a mate. I don’t deserve her.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t help but feel that she was getting the short end of the deal. But, like it or not, she would be his. Her life depended on it now.

I can make her my radiant and still set her free to live a better life. She doesn’t have to stay with me or live in my world.

Even as the thought rolled through his mind, Zach felt a growl rise up in his throat. To let Kat go after he released her power would be nearly impossible. Sentinels may have evolved and become nearly human, but his core was still…demon. And his demon need for Kat was completely animalistic and elemental. Yet, his desire for her to be happy struggled against those primitive desires. She’d spent her adult life catering to the needs of others.

Because she has such a huge capacity to give and sacrifice for those she loves.
Christ. He’d give anything to be a recipient of that kind of love. He’d been alone so long, so fucking lonely. These days with Kat had been the first time he’d ever really felt alive and whole in two centuries.

His mind troubled and weary, it was quite some time before Zach finally fell into a restless sleep.

“You want me to be your mate?” Kat looked at Zach, turning away from the cup of coffee she had been doctoring with cream and sugar, to make sure she had heard him properly.

She’d been out like a light all night and most of the day, sleeping off the effects of the Evil’s poison. Maybe she wasn’t hearing him properly, or her brain wasn’t quite processing his words right. After she had showered and come downstairs to make something for dinner, she had felt okay. She and Zach had made sandwiches and had eaten together, talking mostly about the horrors of last night. She had thought she was pretty much back to normal. Now…she was starting to doubt she was totally functional.

It’s not possible that he wants to bind himself to me for eternity.

Problem was, he looked completely serious, and as her gaze raked over him, as he leaned that hot, muscular body against the opposite wall of the kitchen, she knew she
had
heard correctly. He nodded slowly, his hungry eyes meeting her startled gaze with a stare so intense it sent shivers down her spine.

Picking up her coffee mug, she asked him casually, “Why?” He hadn’t ever mentioned her bonding with him before, or the two of them mating.

Pushing himself off the wall, he stalked toward her slowly, his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans, his eyes molten. “Is it really so hard to believe that I want you?”

Um…honestly…yeah. It is hard to believe.

Kat didn’t answer aloud. She raised her coffee to her mouth and took a sip, watching him move slowly toward her.

He got as close to her as he possibly could without touching her, crowding his large body next to hers, leaning one hip against the cupboard. “I think we’ve had this discussion before, Kitten. I don’t want to be without you,” he replied huskily, his eyes never leaving hers. “But there are certain things that you need to know. You deserve better than me. I know that. But nobody will ever cherish you as much as I will, if you just say yes.”

Kat released a shaky breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding. She had never known it was possible for a man to look both incredibly dominant and vulnerable at the same time. But Zach definitely did. His face expressed a variety of emotions, unguarded and raw, and it made her heart ache. “What do we have to do? Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“I know exactly what I want. I’m looking at her right in front of me. It isn’t a question of what I want. This is about you,” he grumbled, taking the mug from her hand and setting it on the counter so he could match her palm to his. “If we bond, some of the lightness of your soul will transfer to me and you will receive a small piece of my darkness inside you. It won’t change who you are, but you’ll carry a small piece of my dimmer soul with you forever. Personally, I think it’s fucked up, but that’s the way the Sentinel bonding works.” Entwining their fingers, he took their joined hands and laid them gently on his chest.

Honestly, there wasn’t anything Kat wanted more than to give Zach some light in his life. He certainly hadn’t had any throughout his demon existence, spending most of that time feeling guilty about the decisions he had made when he was little more than a child. And carrying a small piece of his soul actually was appealing. In fact, she craved it. If Zach was darkness, she’d willingly wallow in it. He might think his soul was completely black, but Kat knew it wasn’t. “I want it. I want you.” Her words were a whisper filled with longing, the only thing she was able to say.

His eyes starting to glow, he trapped her against the counter, his expression fierce. “This is forever, Kat.”

Oh yeah, she could definitely do eternity. If Zach would look at her like this forever, want her this way for the rest of their existence, she’d never be lonely again. But she’d get old while he…wouldn’t.

“You won’t age after we bond. Our life forces will be bound,” Zach answered, obviously reading her thoughts. “Our demon bargain is over. It ended at sunset. I can’t tell you how fucking happy I am that we can do this without the influence of the compulsions.”

How could she explain that she’d always known the difference between the compulsions and her own emotions? She’d wanted Zach desperately almost from the moment she had met him, and she knew her feelings weren’t the result of the demon bargain. “Nora and Stevie?” What would happen with them?

“You’ll never be able to tell them. For a while, they’ll see you age appropriately as they do, but at some point you’ll have to fade out of their life and the lives of their descendants.” Zach looked pensive and nervous, the muscles in his biceps rippling as his whole body tensed. “Hell…there’s nothing about the arrangement that’s fair and I know you’re getting a raw deal, but I still want you to say yes. I need you to say yes. I’m a demon, I’m selfish, and I want you to agree more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my entire existence,” Zach told her in a low baritone vibrating with emotion. “I’m doubtful I can even give you a child of your own. Children between a Sentinel and a
radiant
are rare
.
”

Kat hesitated, even though she knew exactly what she wanted. It was habit, a moment of lingering doubt that a man like Zach was ready to make an eternal commitment to a woman like her. But he had just told her how he felt, and she believed him. She had practically raised Stevie with Nora, and she didn’t feel the desperate need for a child of her own. But she did crave Zach. If she wanted happiness, if she wanted to reach out and take something she desperately wanted just for herself, all she had to do was say it. “There’s no guarantee any couple can have a child, and if we can’t, I’m okay with that. So, yes. Please. I want to be your mate, Zach.”

He was on her before she had a chance to breathe, seizing her around the waist and transporting them to his bedroom.

He did the transfer slowly, and she ignored the slight dizziness as she looked up at Zach’s heated eyes, his look dark and fierce as he stripped naked, his hot, possessive gaze never leaving hers.

“Once I speak the words, I’ll be bound and helpless, Kat.” His voice was husky and filled with yearning. He reached for the tie on the silken robe she had donned upon waking, groaning as he found her body naked beneath it, her gown dropping to the floor without a sound. “I’ll be powerless until you accept me.”

Kat knew the basics. Zach had explained how a Sentinel mating worked in general terms, and it had conjured erotic images that she’d never be able to forget.

He turned and ripped back the top sheet and the quilt, leaving only the bottom silk sheet. It was a soft, creamy white that contrasted with his dark body as he lay down in the center of the bed, waiting for her.

Her hands were trembling as she crawled onto the bed, humbled beyond words that he trusted her enough to be completely vulnerable to her. “Won’t this be difficult for you? You don’t like being confined,” she murmured softly as she knelt beside his body.

Mates had to come to a Sentinel of their own free will, the demon willingly and magically bound to ensure that the union was the
radiant’s
choice.

She would have total control of this fierce, spectacular man/demon. The thought was heady and so erotic that she could barely contain her longing to touch him.

“No. If every moment of it brings me closer to having you as my mate, I won’t even notice,” he answered her question hoarsely. He uttered a few lyrical words, a harsh demand in the ancient Sentinel language that would start binding them together for eternity.

When he finished, Kat looked at her demon, helpless and at her mercy, his arms at his side, unable to do much more than strain against invisible bindings. Tears rolled from her eyes, knowing how difficult this was for him, even though he denied it.

“Take me, Kat. Dear God, please touch me.” His plea came out as a strangled groan that set her into motion. If he was willing to do this for her, she was determined to make it extremely pleasurable for him.

Kat straddled him, her hands running over his rippling muscles on his chest. He was hers. This incredible, infuriating, hot, sexy male was all hers.

“Mine,” she whispered, fierce possessiveness overwhelming her senses as she joined their lips together in a kiss that made her toes curl. She might be in control, but his tongue mastered hers, entwining them with a passion that stole her breath. He devoured her mouth as she threaded her fingers in his hair and rocked her quivering wet mound into his belly in a slow, sliding motion.

Zach panted as his mouth broke away from hers, his expression wild and untamed. It unleashed an answering feral desire in her that was so intense she nearly climaxed as her clit slid against the firm muscles of his abdomen.

“Ride me, Kat.” She smiled at his demanding tone as he tugged against his bonds.

“Who’s in charge right now, demon?” She knew she’d never have this chance again. Zach was definitely, unashamedly, an alpha male and it thrilled her sexually. But this was a novelty that was so erotic and hot that she couldn’t resist playing with him, trying to pleasure him.

He growled as she slid down his body, gently biting at his nipples, flicking them with her tongue as her hands caressed every inch of his burning skin.

“You’re playing with fire, Kitten.” He snarled the warning, making her shiver, but not with fear. Adrenaline coursed through her body, his out of control wildness sweeping over her, making her desperate to satisfy him.

Kat kissed and licked her way down until she could grasp his rock hard member in her hand. She gripped him firmly, dying to taste him, hungry for his essence. She moaned as she licked the slippery drop at the head. He tasted like Zach…and his flavor was addictive. She could feel him jerking against the binding as she slid her lips over the engorged shaft, grinding her mound against his leg.

His hips rose off the bed with a power that lifted her body as he fought to thrust into her mouth. “Fuck. Ride me, Kat. Now.”

Her body was burning for him as she moved her lips slowly and sensually along his cock, loving the feel of the huge shaft between her lips. Her cheeks bulged and hollowed as she sucked him slowly, lost in erotic lust and the unique taste of her mate.

“Kat!” His command was desperate and demanding all at once.

Reluctantly, she removed her lips, wanting to suck him until he released so that she could drown in his ecstasy, but she had to have him inside her. Moving sensually up his body, she shimmied until her pussy was directly above his twitching cock. Her hands braced on his chest, she rolled her hips. Already saturated and aroused nearly beyond endurance, she drenched his cock as it glided along her clit. “Oh, God, you feel so good, Zach.”

“Take me inside you. I need to be joined to you. Now.” He was demanding, cajoling, his body writhing as though he needed to fuck her or die.

It was one of the hottest things Kat had ever seen.

No longer able to go another moment without him filling her, Kat reached for him, placing the head against her begging entrance. She sank down onto him, her channel opening, stretching as he slid inside her.

His hips strained as he pumped his groin upward, impatient and wanting.

They groaned together as he buried himself to his balls inside her with a hard thrust.

Kat rocked, loving the feel of him filling every inch of her. He consumed her, pouring into every lonely place inside her.

“Fuck me, Kat,” Zach demanded, as his hips thrust up again and again, the motion urgent.