DX (6 page)

He was as much inside her head as he was inside her body. She found a world expanded into heat and emotion. She could feel his magic, practically touch the malevolent source. He drew her into him, his emotions, the cresting urgent instinct to mate, and she met him without reservation. He was inside her head, sharp blackness in a maelstrom of darkness and heat, and he was feeding her his reactions, taking more and more control of her body because he needed the dominant role. He was holding back because he was afraid of hurting her when, in fact, he wanted rougher sex and more control.

“You’re not hurting me,” she said. And he wasn’t. Her mouth traveled down his throat to his shoulder, and she bit him. He growled. The rhythm of their lovemaking increased, the edge of Jaden’s need to dominate rolled through her. She responded to the rawness. Moments before she would have come again, he pulled out of her and turned her onto her stomach. One of his hands slid around her stomach to her belly button to tug gently on her navel ring as he entered her. Hell’s body went taut. He cupped her hips. He knew she wanted to touch him, to explore his body, but he denied her because he had no intention of allowing his first mating with her to be anything other than what his nature demanded from them both.

He fed her images of her pale spine and the fit of her backside to his pelvis, his hands holding her hips. He gave her the coolness of her skin under his palms, the slick pressure of her around his cock, the tightness of his balls. She was cooler than a demon female, and he found that arousing. She felt different to him, physically and mentally. Foreign, and exotic, and he liked that, too. His belly was hot against her backside, his penis sliding in hard. She felt a shift in the distribution of his weight, the scrape of his skin against hers.

“The Bak-Faru are shapeshifters,” he said into her head. He propped his weight on one hand, and through half open eyes, through a mind drugged with arousal, she saw a hand that wasn’t human. He leaned back on his haunches, taking her with him, one arm tight around her waist. An un-human hand traveled the length of her thigh while his hot breath scoured the back of her neck. He’d made his penis thicker and his body gave off enough heat that her skin was soon covered in a layer of reactive sweat. She was beyond any edge she’d ever thought existed. Jaden turned her to face him again, settling her against the pillows. He’d taken a monstrous shape, an unwordly, snouted, be-clawed creature. She held out her arms. The beast morphed into the form she knew as Jaden, her beautiful, bronze-skinned, black-haired demon.

Jaden took her in his arms again, and she embraced him. He came inside her and growled, and she convulsed around him. She felt him take her orgasm and ride it, pushing her beyond anything she’d ever experienced and then he joined her, his climax roared through her until she fell at last into the malevolent embrace of his mind.

After a while, he said softly, “Are you sorry to be bound to me?”

“No.” And it was the truth. She wasn’t sorry.

“Another time,” he said, keeping her in his embrace, “another time you will do with me what you will.”

She rolled onto her stomach and rested a hand on his belly. “Is that a promise?”

“Always.” He kissed her again, and she was ready to start all over, but he sighed and pushed himself upright. Her heart fell because she knew what he was going to say before he said it. “It’s time to find Milos, Hell.”

“Give me your comms, Jaden. Or a cell, if you have one. We’re not going to meet him without some back up.” When he gave it to her, she punched numbers on the comms. “West?” she said when he picked up on the other end. “Hell calling.”

The offices of Marshall Investigations, make that Marshall and Lightfeather Investigations, consisted of a rented room in a cruddy upstairs space she shared with palm reader and seer Madam Lakisha. An insurance agent had another office and a Conversion Counselor who seemed to lose more clients than he saved these days took the third. They all shared the restroom and a windowless conference room/seance parlor, which was where she and Jaden were when Milos walked in with Elijah Douglas. Jaden, in human form, was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. He had on a fresh shirt and his Ray-Bans in order to hide his eyes.

She wore one of Jaden’s black tee-shirts and sweat dampened the back. She felt Jaden’s presence. He was a part of her now, and she was a little freaked to think that wasn’t going to change. Ever. Her pulse kicked into double time when Elijah and Milos sat at the battered table. Hell tried to figure out how to tell Elijah was possessed, but she couldn’t. Not from looking at him. She tipped her chin toward the werewolf. “What’s he doing here?” she asked Milos.

“He…contacted me after that unfortunate incident at Mimouza.” Milos had dark circles under his eyes, and the lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth seemed deeper than she remembered, but maybe that was the lighting; a cheap, under-wattage chandelier for evenings when the conference room hosted a seance. His attention fixed on Jaden. “I don’t know if I can save your deal, Hell,” he said. “This hasn’t gone as planned.”

“You have Elijah. And you know I can get you Tuan Ng. Let’s start talking.” She reached for the pitcher of water and poured a glass. Her hands shook. Milos must be feeling pretty confident because he hadn’t done even a cursory sweep for bugs. Which he should have. In the back of her head, Jaden was a presence, a constant awareness. His hatred for Milos was dark and edged with fire. She felt, too, the compulsion Milos had over Jaden and Jaden’s resentment. She shared his outrage. “Water, Milos?”

“No, thank you.”

She avoided looking into the werewolf’s eyes. “Mr. Douglas?”

The werewolf shook his head. His body stayed in motion, a finger tapping the top of his thigh, a foot shifting on the floor, never still for a moment. Like Milos, his attention was on Jaden. The room felt like it was going to combust.

“You will do nothing to interfere, Jaden,” Milos said.

Jaden’s hatred burned in her head. Hell leaned toward Milos. No more pretending. “Why not?” she asked. “Say, want to know what I found out about the DX? Oh, but here’s a better question. Why’d you sell me out? I trusted you, and all the time you were handing me over to a demon.”

“So that’s how it is,” Milos said after a quick glance at Jaden.

“That’s how it is.” She knew Milos wasn’t sure which demon she meant; Jaden or the Setonian.

He shook his head. “Humans aren’t at the top of the food chain anymore. If we’re going to survive, we need allies who can protect us, and they aren’t dogs or fangs.”

A few scattered pieces clicked into place. “What have you done?”

“We’re giving them the Lower, Hell.” He smoothed his hair. “As soon as we get the portal working, and trust me, we will, we’ll have enough demons to pull this off. They get their own playground up here, and in return, they protect us humans from the dogs, fangs and rogues. It’s practically a done deal.”

“Are you crazy?”

Milos threw up his hands. “We lost control of the Lower years ago. Look at them. They live like animals. It’s anarchy. If we don’t do something, the whole damn city will be in chaos and the only people left will be prey for the monsters. Why not let the demons have the Lower while the rest of us save what we can of Crimson City?”

“Sounds great,” she said. “Unless you happen to live in the Lower.”

Milos slicked back his hair, then reached for the water. “There’s always collateral damage.”

“That what I am? Collateral damage?”

Milos stared at his hands. Perspiration trickled down his temples. “They wanted a gesture of good faith before we negotiate in earnest.”

“In other words, me.”

He bit his lower lip. “We can’t let them run loose, not without a solid contract. I’m sorry, Hell. You don’t know how sorry I am, but it had to be someone I care about. Someone I loved.” He looked at Elijah and trembled. “For God’s sake, this is killing me! Fucking take her, will you?”

For once, Elijah went still. “No,” he said. Within the single word, the werewolf’s voice shifted from smooth to rough. His head jerked, then stilled.

Milos paled. “She’s there. All yours, Elijah. I’ve wanted her for years. Years! You know it’s the truth.” His voice broke. “She’s exactly what I promised.”

Elijah shook his head.

Milos drew his sidearm. The click of the safety going off sounded like an explosion. “I’m sorry, Hell,” he said. He pointed the weapon at her forehead, aim steady. “We need to seal this deal, or pretty soon there won’t be any such thing as humanity.”

She felt energy gathering in Jaden. He was still compelled to do nothing, but his obligation to protect her built to an unbearable pitch. “You’re insane, Milos.”

“Hell, get your ass over there or I’ll shoot you. I swear I will.” He smiled. “I doubt Elijah wants to kill you. Not right away. I wouldn’t if I were him.” His voice lowered. “But if he does, isn’t it worth it to save the rest of us? Now move! Jaden. Get her over there.”

Jaden morphed to his demon form and stepped in front of her. His refusal to do as Milos ordered was tearing him apart. With a shock that wrenched her soul, Hell realized Jaden had known this would happen. He expected to die.

“Get out of the way, Jaden,” Milos shouted. “Do you hear me? What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Energy boiled in him, malefic and searing hot. If she didn’t do something, this was going to kill him. She reached for their link, and it was like turning a faucet from a trickle to full blast. The air around him started to glow.

“Take her!” Milos cried.

“The Bak-Faru has bound her to him.” Elijah twitched again and Hell wondered if that meant the demon was having trouble controlling the werewolf. It was, after all, a full moon. “He will not allow me to take his mate without killing him first.”

“Bullshit!” Milos shouted. “He isn’t going to interfere. He can’t. I told him he can’t.” His attention shot to Jaden. “Whatever the fuck you did, undo it. Now! Or I’ll kill you. And then it will be my pleasure to hand her over.”

“You will not harm her, Milos Sanders.”

Milos pulled the trigger just as Hell pushed every ounce of herself into Jaden. The surge of power from her to Jaden knocked her to her knees.

The bullets melted in the air, raining down like metallic hail.

Amber light boomed through the room, blowing Elijah off his chair. Milos tumbled backward, knocking over a chair. The pitcher of water exploded in a hiss of steam. Milos ejected his empty clip and scrambled for another. He shrieked as the gun melted in his hand and dropped to his knees, screaming. Hell felt the drain on her energy, but she refused to stop. The flow remained a torrent.

With a smile of malign joy curving his mouth, Jaden whirled on the wolf. His ponytail arced through the air. He uttered a single word, and something foul gathered in him and shot toward the dog. Elijah convulsed and hit the wall, mouth open in a howl that shattered the air. The dog slid to the floor. A second shape appeared, standing on werewolf’s feet. In a blink, the form became the physical manifestation of the Setonian demon. From head to toe, the demon was the color of new blood; hair, eyebrows, skin and even his eyes were crimson.

“You cannot survive,” the Setonian told Jaden. “Your female will be mine.”

On the floor, Elijah’s body twitched. A wet, crackling sound rippled through the room. Cold fear rushed through her, but she continued to push herself into Jaden, letting him draw on her reserves. He couldn’t die. She would not allow it. Elijah’s transformation completed. Less than a foot from where Milos knelt, the werewolf quivered in a four-footed stance, head down, muzzle open, saliva dripping. The dog lunged.

Shit. Jaden remained bound to protect Milos. Sooner or later there wouldn’t be anything more of her for Jaden to draw on, and she knew without a doubt that when they reached that point, he would either be killed by the Setonian or Milos or the strain of his competing promises would end his life. She launched herself at the other demon, toward the embrace of his scarlet arms. Jaden whirled, and the room exploded with amber heat. Milos screamed. Only once. When she opened her eyes, all that remained of the Setonian was reeking ash, and Elijah, in werewolf form, stood over Milos’s unmoving body.

“Goddamn!” Jim West stood in the doorway, gun drawn. His eyes were wide on the smoking ashes of the Setonian. He swapped out his clip and aimed at the dog as he walked around the room to Milos’s body. His eyes shifted between Hell, Milos, Jaden and the werewolf. “Goddamn fuck me, Hell. I thought you were lying. Milos
was
behind it.”

“Uh huh,” she said.

“What the hell did you use on the DX, Lightfeather?” West asked, nodding toward the ashes. Hell didn’t correct his conclusion that the Setonian was the DX.

Agent Jaden Lightfeather smiled. “Classified.”

A shudder went through the werewolf. Hell closed her eyes when she heard the first wet pop. Elijah as a wolf was terrifying. Elijah as a fully clothed human was impressive. Elijah as a naked human was a plain uncomfortable sight. She stared at the werewolf’s bare feet, splattered with red droplets. With a nod at Jaden, Elijah said, “I owe you. You ever need help, you let me know.”

West pressed two fingers to Milos’s neck. “Shit.” He hit his comms and called for a clean up team. When he’d given their location, he put his back to the wall and slid down, gun arm balanced on his upraised knee. “For the next five minutes, I don’t see anything. Anybody here when I get up takes the blame for this whole fucked up night.”

Elijah wasted no time. But on her way out with Jaden, Hell paused at the door. “Thanks, West. Maybe you’re okay. For an asshole.”

Hands clasped behind his neck, West stared at the floor. “Get the fuck out of here, Hell.”

She grabbed Jaden’s hand, and they headed for the street and her Murciélago. As she and Jaden approached the car, she stopped him with a hand to his arm. She pushed his chest, but he didn’t budge. “What?” he said.

“You’re stuck with me now, you know.”

“Yes.”

“So, don’t you ever try to die like that again.” She ruined her big scene by breaking out in a sob. “I don’t think I could live if anything happened to you.”

Jaden pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Hell.
Tes.
You are my heart.” She put her arms around him and held him close. He growled. “My place,” he said in a thick voice, “or yours?”

“Mine.” She swiped at her nose. “Because I have furniture.” But once they were in the car, Jaden kept his hands on the ignition. “What?” Hell asked.

He looked at her and said, “How about we go someplace else?”

Hell stared back at him and thought of Bodega Bay and Aunt Lucy’s empty house and a sky full of stars. She remembered the mural in his apartment with its dark, open sky. “Like where?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged but she knew he wasn’t feeling as casual as that. “Someplace far away.”

“Someplace we can see the stars at night.”

“Yeah. Someplace like that.”

“Is four hundred and fifty miles north far enough?”

Jaden grinned. “Let’s go find out.”

She said, “I’ve heard this place is so pretty, we might not want to come back.”

Ten minutes later, Hell screamed as Jaden hit the gas and her Lamborghini Murciélago shot into traffic amid a screech of brakes and blaring horn

I hope you enjoyed DX. Thanks for reading!