Unearthed (42 page)

Everything they were experiencing right now was new—the unity of their bodies, part of her soul leaving her and moving into him. If he showed her something recognizable, familiar, good, maybe she’d remember. So since he couldn’t think of a joke to tell her, the only other thing he could think of was the connection created every time they kissed.

“Keira, kiss me. Let me feel your lips.”

She nodded slowly.

“Yeah?” He blew out his breath, smiling, laughing almost. “Come closer, but don’t get off me. We can’t leave each other now. Not ever. Understand?”

“No. But I trust you.”

“That’s all that matters. So come here already.”
Come back, hunter.
Like he had. Like he never could’ve done without her. Davyn stretched up as much as he could because with her eyes glazed and her movements slow, she’d never get close enough. When her lips finally touched down on his, he groaned.

“More,” he said. “I want more.” He forced her mouth open with his tongue, demanding she take him in. And she did. The kiss deepened. More and more until there was a desperate quality to it, a need greater than even the Devil could create.

They stopped moving, as if both of them needed a moment to accept what was happening, recover from what they’d done. They breathed in unison, their lips still touching, their bodies pressed tightly together. Her warmth was different than the heat of hell or even the sun. It was overwhelming. Beautiful.

“You feel better than I could’ve ever imagined.” It was just a whisper, a mumbled promise that he had returned, that he cared. That he’d come back to her, and that this was right.

“Davyn?” she asked, pulling away slightly.

“I’m right here, babe. Right here.” He couldn’t lose her now or ever again. “I need more, Keira. I need all of you.” He paused. “Make love to me. Just…be with me. From now until…yeah, until forever.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” The worry hadn’t left her eyes, but the fear had, the loss.

“You didn’t hurt me. You saved me, turned me back into the guy who’s the closest I’ll ever be to deserving you.” He smiled because it was true, and she’d almost given up everything to do it. “But listen, I don’t know if the bond is complete, and if we stop before it is...” He’d lose her. “We can’t stop before it’s done. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, I do. Now.” With a deep breath and a whimper, she moved against his thrusts. Her lips pressed to his, her hips came down hard, forcing him deep into her. She kissed him desperately, needing reassurance that she’d done the right thing. That he wasn’t mad at her or what she’d done. When she finally released his mouth, they both cursed. Then laughed.

“It feels so good to have you inside me, demon.” Her smile stunned him, although that could’ve been the way her body tightened around his cock unconsciously.

“Good doesn’t even begin to describe how it feels to be inside you.”

They looked at each other without moving or speaking, until he started to believe they were going to be all right.

“Your fresh-out-of-hell self is a dick, Davyn.”

“Yeah. Yeah, he is,” he said, laughing. “Now shut up and fuck me, hunter.”

Oh, and did she ever. It was a good thing he didn’t need a lot of air because his body had shut down everything but the feel of her heat and the spikes of pleasure that kept getting more and more intense. So far beyond any high he’d ever experienced, there were no words in any language to describe it. It was freedom, purity, grace. Like flying in the clouds but ten times better. Surrender to a sweetness no one had ever deserved to feel, let alone a demon.

Their hips moved in opposition which was ironic in itself, because he’d never felt more in sync. The sounds of pleasure she made, even while fighting the edge, only made her more beautiful. Something that defied the possible.

But it was what happened two minutes later that absolutely ended him. When her body clamped down on his cock and didn’t let go until she’d finished crying out his name and an impressive run of four-letter words. Yeah, that was perfection.

Wrong again.
When he came, he thought the earth had cracked open. For a moment, he ceased to exist, dissolved into energy, and understood that everything was possible.

Pure
. He felt pure. No pressure, no control, no pain. Free.

Beauty beyond the clouds until, without warning, he was pain and heartache and fear—a lifetime of human emotions rolling over him, crushing him, tossing him around like a mortal. He’d never been afraid before and, holy shit, did it suck. But it was still so much better than where he’d been.

Keira clenched her eyes shut against the flash of blinding light. She lay there on top of him for an unknown amount of time, too physically and mentally exhausted to move. Her body felt as if it had just been torn apart and thrown out of a tornado…into barbed wire.

Davyn
. When she opened her eyes, everything was dark. Not a little dark, completely dark. Like a moonless night in the middle of the desert. At least the red was gone.

“Keira?” He jostled her by shifting his chest. “Come on, babe, tell me you’re okay. Damn it, say something.”

“Are you…back?”

“Yeah.” The amount of relief in his voice brought tears to her eyes. “I’ve been here a while, just waiting for your lazy ass to wake up.”

She moved her fingers up his chest to his face, the only way she knew he was real and that this wasn’t a dream. When her shoulder couldn’t keep her arm up anymore, she ran her fingers through his hair and stayed there.

“I missed you,” she whispered.

“Me too. Well, no. That’s not actually true.”

“Gee, thanks. Add that to the list of things not to say when you come back from hell.”

“I would’ve, if I’d been me. And now that I am, you’ll have a lot more time to learn how to put up with me.”

“Good.” She laid her head back down on his chest, listening to the pounding of his heart, imagining that was where part of her soul now lived. Safe inside him. “Hey, think we’ll be able to go to the bathroom solo?”

He laughed. “I don’t know. This is my first time stealing someone’s soul.”

“You didn’t steal it. I gave it to you. Think of it like a gift with a lot of strings attached.” Boy, did they have things to discuss. At least now they had time. “Do you feel different?”

“In every way imaginable. Better. Freer. I might even be smiling.” He kissed the top of her head, the only part of her he could reach. She wanted to feel his arms around her, but she’d made a promise to Parker—keep him tied up for another ten minutes, just in case. Hopefully by then the lights would come back on and she’d have enough energy to go get her knife.

“That was, without a doubt,” he said, “the best and worst moment of my entire existence. How about next time we do it, we skip all the bad parts?”

“I don’t know. That was my first time sleeping with a demon.”

“Oh, there will be no sleeping, babe. Not a wink until we know for sure. Actually, we’ll need at least a few dozen trials before we can judge accurately, so we should get started right away.”

She laughed. “I’m gonna need a few minutes to breathe.” She rested her forearms on his chest, her chin on top of them, content beyond anything she’d ever felt. Happier. Freer. Strange, seeing how she’d just given up a vital piece of herself.

“Do all human women feel as good as you do?”

“Davyn!” She ducked her head down and laughed. “I don’t know. I’ve never—”

“Don’t get all human about it—it was just a question. Seriously, help me understand why you’re all not a lot nicer to each other, if there’s a possibility of this happening when you are.”

“Probably because we all get too human about it.” She paused, remembering fondly. “Plus, that’s not how it usually feels.”

“Listen, we can play around with bondage as much as you want later, but right now I’d really like to touch you.” He sighed when she didn’t respond or move to get him out of the ropes. The bed frame squeaked when he pulled against it, and the contraction of his pecs and shoulders almost knocked her onto the floor.

“I need to be sure nothing else is going to happen.” She rubbed the right muscles on his chest, trying to get them to relax. “Just a little longer, okay?”

“I get it, I do. It’s smart, but it’s a shitty time to start protecting yourself from me. I can feel you inside me now—your soul. As if you weren’t too much of a distraction before.”

It had been a few minutes, enough time to know he was who he should be. But today more improbable things had gone her way than ever before. She’d used up a few lifetime’s worth of good luck.
Screw it.
She needed to feel his arms around her.

As she climbed off him, she caught her foot on his hip, and grabbed onto him to keep from falling headfirst onto the floor. “Feel kind of shaky.” Understatement.

“Your body needs time to adjust. Mine gained something that yours lost. Don’t worry about it. Relax and enjoy seeing me naked and bound. Granted, you’ll be seeing a lot more of the me-naked part. No more salt though, deal?”

Oh no, she’d forgotten about the salt. “My knife is on your dresser.” With the rest of her weapons. Her first attempt at standing was a huge fail, and she fell back onto the bed. “I’m sorry. How bad do the ropes hurt?”

“I’ll live. Relax, hunter. The hard parts are over.”

“Right.” They were both free. She took a deep breath. “Can’t wait to start fighting over stuff like who ate the last cookie or who didn’t put away their stakes after they were done with them.”

“No more fighting. Not between us. ’Kay?” Davyn flinched, and his muscles didn’t release right away. “Untie me. Now, hunter.”

“Wow, that was quick. What happened to me relaxing, you living, and neither of us fighting for a while?”

“It’s not a joke,” he said quietly. “Cut me out of these things right now.”

“Just a sec, I’m kind of dealing with something right now. So excuse me if I’m not moving as fast as you want me too.” She stretched, testing her muscles, feeling as impatient as he sounded. Her legs still shook from a fraction of her body weight.
Damn it
! If this was a normal reaction to demon sex, they were going to have problems. At least her vision was clearing.

“I can go through lava faster than you’re moving.”

“Thanks for the observation, but it’s totally unhelpful.” She didn’t understand why he sounded so on edge. “What are you not telling me?”

“Don’t freak out.”

“More proof you’ve never cared about a woman before. You can’t just say, ‘Don’t freak out,’ and not have her—”

“I’m so very disappointed in you,
chérie
.”

She spun when she heard Lamere’s voice, squinting into the darkness.
No, he can’t be here.

“I told you not to freak out,” Davyn grumbled, “at least not until I was untied.”

“You’re supposed to be in hell.” Her voice didn’t totter nearly as much as her legs did as she stood to face the vampire’s blurry image. “I watched that female beat you.” How could he have come back from that?

“Perhaps you should have stayed to watch me tear her arms off her body. Then her legs. Then her head.” His tone wasn’t hostile or cruel. It was patronizing. “She was angry at me for sending her to hell, so now she never has to return.” Which meant he’d scattered pieces of her in the bay. “A true Champion cannot be beaten,
ma belle
. You should know this.”

“Keira, take these things off me,” Davyn whispered, “and then get the fuck out of here.”

Not even close. The vampire yanked her back by her hair and threw her into the wall across the room. She grunted when she hit. Her instincts wouldn’t help her, her skills, strength, all useless now. After two failed attempts to get to her feet, she pulled herself up, the wall behind her the only thing keeping her that way.

“Disgusting.” Lamere grabbed a t-shirt off the dresser, knocking some of her weapons onto the ground. “No one but I will ever see you unclothed again.”

Her reactions were too slow to catch the shirt before it hit her with just enough force to unbalance her. But she was just as grateful to have it while sitting on the floor as she would’ve been standing. It was Davyn’s and covered her from neck almost down to her knees, hiding her body from her enemy.

“You’re supposed to be down under, vamp!” Davyn called out. “What happened? The Devil didn’t want you either?” He threw out insults or more depraved suggestions than he had when she first caught him. She knew he was trying to give her a chance to get away. Unfortunately, she was going to need a lot more than a chance.

Less than thirty feet away, Davyn couldn’t do anything but watch her be destroyed. Lay where she’d trapped him and witness her death.

It was useless. All of it. Everything they’d been through today and every other day. The world didn’t want Keira to be happy. She was knocked over by a fucking t-shirt. How could she fight a vampire who’d escaped death so many times?

“Get up!” Davyn screamed. “Don’t let him win. He’s nothing compared to you. Nothing. Show him who you are, hunter.”

“I can’t.” She wasn’t afraid, didn’t curl up in a ball and pray he would end it fast like she had in his dungeon. Her muscles just weren’t working. Now that she finally understood how to heal, her body had betrayed her, left her weak and hurting.

“You beat me, hunter! A demon. That’s impossible, but you did it. You changed me. So get off the fucking ground, and do it again. Change him into dust.”

She wanted to scream back at him, tell him to stop asking her to do something she couldn’t. Lamere’s nails dug into her scalp when he grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet.

“You gave away what was mine,” Lamere whispered as he pulled her flush to him. Cold. Unyielding. “Your soul is lessened now.
You
are lessened.”

“Bullshit,” Davyn called. “Who you gonna believe, hunter? Him or me.” Something in his voice broke through her clouded reality. This wasn’t just about her. She was responsible for Davyn, and he was responsible for her. Right now, it was her turn to find a way out for both of them.

“The demon ruined you.”

She took a deep breath. Her soul had made it through the worst shit imaginable. She hadn’t given it away—she’d shared it with the man she loved, who believed in her. Who made her stronger. Lamere wanted her weakness, enjoyed her pain and tears.