Tangled Sin (A Dark Realm Novel) (28 page)

Riley walked inside. He shut the door and leaned against it, expression flat. Equally flat eyes skimmed over her. Gut deep, she realized he was reining in a seething mass of anger, one not only aimed at Piers.

Tell him you weren’t protecting Piers. Do it quick.

“Aren’t you going to find out if everything is settled?” he asked before she could speak. “Don’t you want to know what happened to twenty-nine?”

“No—” She winced at the pain flaring from her jaw.

He stalked closer, a keg of unadulterated power with a buzzing detonator. “That’s not the impression I got. You wanted to let him go despite the fact that he hurt you. Mauled you. You can barely speak.”

“Because I was afraid for
you
, not him,” she protested and tried not to flinch at the ache in her cheek.

His expression tight, he clasped one big hand around her nape, the other gently touched her lips. Warmth coursed through her face. The pain in her cheek and mouth faded. “I was at Satire when I felt your pain…like a vise in my chest. I flashed here to find that two-bit bastard on you. I wanted to annihilate him, shred him to pieces for hurting you, for putting his fucking mouth on you.”

At his low, furious tone, her fear rose again. She tugged his hands from her face. “No-no, you cannot—”

“Do not tell me how to exact my retribution, Saia.” He wrenched away from her, prowled around her room, a dangerous predator held by a thin leash.

Uneasy, Saia searched his taut features. Something was off, the knowledge settled within her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Sharp. Terse.

“Don’t lie. I feel it.”

He cut her a dark look. And then she saw it. His eyes glowed. Searing desire meshed with anger. Raw. Primal. “I need you so damn bad.” His tone dipped lower. “But I'm too fucking scared to touch you. Scared of what I’ll do—” He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped his head as if in pain.

“Riley?”

His hands dropped, his eyelids snapped open. “I have to get outta here.” He pivoted for the door. She darted after him and blocked his way. “No. I can't let you leave, not like this—”

His chest heaved. “Saia, get out of my way.”

“No.” The air around him shimmered. Before he flashed out, she grabbed his arm. “It’s okay. You can have me…any way you want.”

Green eyes scorched hers. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won't.”

A primitive streak of possession seeped into his expression. “I will fuck you hard…in ways you won't like.”

Her heart crashed against her ribs. If that was a threat, hell, it was working, but she refused to show him her wariness. She remembered what he’d said in Stygia about demons thriving on fear. “I'm not afraid of you.”

“Aren’t you now?” Rough laughter. Dark. Dangerous.

His brilliant gaze on hers, he prowled closer. She inched backward as he corralled her with his big, sexy body until her knees hit the bed. She stumbled and he took her down, landing with her on the mattress. The air gushed out of her lungs. Braced on his elbows, he trapped her with his lower body. Grasped both her wrists and yanked them above her head.

Her heart fluttered like the wings of a bird. “What are you doing?”

“Still not afraid of me, mate?”

She sucked in a sharp breath at his sly tone and challenged, “Is that what you want, my fear?”

He didn't answer but impatiently cast his attention around before looking down at her. A devilish smile rode his mouth as he freed the belt from her bathrobe. Pushing to his knees, he sandwiched her body between his spread thighs and dangled the belt in front of her. “Go on, stop me.”

Stop him? How could she, when the very thought of him taking her restrained had her growing damper. She wasn’t one for the hardcore stuff, but with him she wanted anything and everything.

“I'm going to tie you up, exactly the way I’ve wanted, then I’m going to fuck you.”

She swallowed hard at his promise, grew wetter at his threat. And finally, admitted the truth to herself. Part of what turned her on, made her violent with need, was just how dangerous he was. Even now, everything in her warned her to tread carefully…but she never did listen to sound advice.

He worked fast, efficiently, like he’d done this many times before as he bound her wrists together. Her belly dropped at the thought of him with other women, then she shoved it away. He’d chosen her, mated
her
.

He leaned over her and secured the tie to the white lattice bar of the wrought-iron frame. Satisfied, he settled back on his heels. She tugged at the binding, it wasn’t tight, had some give, but there was no way she could free herself.

Slowly, he parted her robe like he was unwrapping a gift. Her heart galloped to her throat. His eyes became liquid green heat as they roamed over her naked body to stop at the juncture of her thighs.

“You’re perfect.” Reverent words. “And sexy as hell, lying there for me.” He eased back a little, spread her legs apart, and settled between them. Torturously slow, he skimmed a finger up one side of her cleft, down the other to dip into her wetness.

Blood heated and pounded in her head. Those tormenting fingers wandered up her belly, circled her navel, and roamed her torso to the curve of her breast. He flicked her stiff nipple, and she shuddered. Arousal flared higher. With just a touch, he was going to kill her.

He traced her parted lips with his moist fingertip, sharing the taste of her arousal. Hunger darkened his eyes when her tongue touched his finger. He lowered his head and licked the dampness off her mouth. Moaning, she leaned in to kiss him, but he lifted his head, a knowing smile riding his face. “Like that, huh, mate?”

She panted like a runner in dire need of oxygen. He shifted and his warm mouth closed on her achy nipple and he sucked on the taut nub.

Oh, dear God.
Desire tore through her body, every inch of her skin on sensory overload. She arched her chest for more. He ignored her offering and slid lower down her body, his jeans a rough friction against her sensitive skin. His mouth inches from her burning center, he looked up. His gaze trapping hers, he licked down her cleft.

She stopped breathing.

“You taste so damn good. Lilies, musk, all female…
mine
.” He stroked her clit with another languid lap of his tongue. Lazily, he laced his fingers through her wet curls. “Shall I tell you what you look like from down here, hmm?”

Lightly, he traced the shape of her femininity and dipped into her. Her heart drummed against her ribs. “A siren. You tempt me like no other—you know that, my little tormentor? One I can't get enough of.”

Her core throbbed, ached for his touch. She squirmed under his intense regard. Wanted his mouth on her to ease this burning need that made her want to climb out of her skin. She yanked at the annoying ties, looked up and tried to free herself so she could haul him close.

He tugged her curls. “Eyes on me, mate.”

Her gaze flew back to him.

“Do you want me sucking this?” He flicked her clit. She shuddered and bit her lip to keep from crying out. “Or perhaps you want my tongue doing this?” That devilish smile again, he ran his finger around her nub and dipped his finger into her and stroked her.

“Oh, God!” she cried out. Her body strung taut as he kept her on the edge with his little games.

“No, no, Saia. My name—just mine.”

“Riley,
please
!”

“Shh,” he murmured, his thumb lightly stroking the top of her sensitive clit, rousing the fire higher. She whined, yanked at the belt again as he played with her without giving her the release she craved.

“Tell me what you want?”

Is this what he meant that he’d do things to her she wouldn’t like? Because she sure hated it! Her mind trapped in a sexual haze, her body a mass of quivering sensation, she glared at him. “Everything you said. I want it all—every goddamn thing!”

“Say it, Saia.”

She glowered. “Damn you—fuck me.
Now
!”

He laughed, pushed her legs over his shoulder. He worked his finger into her, added another, stroking her inner walls, finding the spot that drove her out of mind. In and out, he worked his fingers. Harder, faster. Relentlessly, he drove her to the edge. The pressure unbearable. A thin cry broke out as she teetered on the edge. Her mind scattered, no longer aware of anything but what he was doing to her. He grasped her swollen clit with his lips, with teeth and tongue he sucked her…then bit down, hard.

Her mind splintered. Choking back her cry, she came apart in his mouth, indescribable pleasure swamping her body.

He licked her for a few seconds more before shifting to his knees.

Shuddering from her powerful release, she watched him free the button on his jeans and unzip his fly. His rigid sex sprang free. He crawled over her restrained body and thrust his tongue into her mouth. She tasted herself, wanted him with desperation that bordered on madness. Shivers cascaded over her skin, desire pierced her body with a sharper edge.

Panting, she freed her mouth. “In me, now.”

The tormenting man from earlier vanished. He shifted to his knees, his skin appeared stretched over his bones, his eyes gone a burning green. He lifted her bottom and set her over his thighs, spread her open.

Her gaze lowered. He gripped his erect sex in his fist and ran the head down her cleft to her opening, and with one hard thrust, he slid deeply into her. She moaned, at the incredible sensation streaming through her at the tight fit.

A deep, sexy as hell groan escaped him, and like a man driven to possess, he took her, harder, faster. Her body arched, wanting more of him. She looked up. Lime-green eyes watched her closely as he angled his hips, the added friction of his cock rubbing against her clit, the pleasure so intense, she shut her eyes.

Lime-green?

Her lids snapped open. A crimson stain spread into his eerie irises.

“Riley, your eyes—” She gasped.

Something dark moved in those glowing depths. It stared at her. His demonic nature was at the forefront, his eyes completely red.

“He’s gone,”
it said in a guttural tone.
“It’s just you and me. My need to reclaim you…mate.”

Desire flatlined and morphed to panic. “
Riley
—” she cried out, yanking at her hands.
“Riley, answer me!”

His pounding hips stilled. Chest heaving, he blinked, staring at her with unfocused eyes.

The next instant, he reeled back with preternatural speed to crouch in the corner, absolute horror reflected in his crimson gaze.

“No-no!” He grabbed his head.

Her heart thudded violently. “Riley?”

His expression wild, he shook his head and jerked to his feet, his rigid sex gleaming from her wetness. He stumbled around in the dimly lit room, his movements uncoordinated. His chest expanded, his breathing harsh, as if struggling to free himself from an internal war.

Fear turned to worry. Something was terribly wrong. She jerked at her hands. “Untie me.”

He glanced blankly at the restraints. A shaky wave of his hand and the belt fell from her wrists. She pushed off the bed, yanked the belt free and tied it around her robe again. It registered then that he hadn't even taken his clothes off.

With slow, controlled movements, she approached, didn't want to startle him. “I know you're upset. But I'm okay. This—” She waved to the bed. “It’s okay, too.”

“Don’t.” His harsh tone stopped her dead in her tracks. “I don’t want you near me.” He zipped his pants. Ran agitated, trembling hands over his clipped hair. “This…you, a mistake. I have to go.”

“A-a mistake?” Her heart tripped. “What do you mean ‘a mistake?’”

He just shook his head and flashed from the room.

His vision hazy, Riley took form in some piss-reeking alley in The Quarter. Rats scuttled along the walls, eyeing him with accusatory, beady black stares.

He braced a hand on the worn, graffiti-covered building and doubled over.

What the hell was he thinking, taking his mate in such a ruthless, depraved way?

She liked it. Liked us.
The words ricocheted around in his skull.

“Fuck off. She is mine, not yours!” Anger flared. A shaft of power burst from him. The boarded windows of a nearby building exploded, showering him with shrapnel. Rats squeaked and scurried away.

The voice inside his head laughed.
I must claim her, too.

Never!
Struggling to tighten his psychic shields, Riley squeezed his eyes closed and cursed the wretched affliction coursing through his blood, his very being. He stumbled, landed against a grimy wall and grabbed his head. The damn thing seemed to be splintering along with him. He should have known—gods, he should have known last night that this shit had started.

A week too early.

The transference was happening.

Stop fighting this and we’ll co-exist in peace. Your sire fought it, too, and lost his mate. I am you, just another facet—something more. Go back to our mate. All will be sooo goooood.

The taste of Saia still on his tongue, Riley groaned with unfulfilled need. At times, he liked to dominate in bed, made no excuses for it. But this—this was a burning desire to restrain and devour. The bastard inside him wanted to consume her. It was what it did.

“It’s the way we are,”
it said.
“Your needs are darker now.”

Over my dead fucking body!

Riley flashed again, but couldn’t get away from the thing hammering inside his skull, crushing his mind. He wasn't going anywhere near his mate while this shit rode him.

Damn his sire! Was this so he’d be forced back to Stygia? Not fucking happening.

He yanked his cell from his pocket, and with shaky hands, made a call. “I'm going to be unavailable for a while. Guard her with your life.”

“Aye, my lord,” Ikaria responded.

He rang off. Shoved the phone back into his pocket.

With his skin stretched taut like an elastic band, his mind ruptured into a whirlpool, along with his brain. His erratic thoughts scattered into a thousand fragments then reformed with fierce, sharp focus.

Through a crimson blur, he scanned the area around him. Yup, lots of dark buildings. Perfect for what he wanted. A fetid, sulfuric scent burned his nose, and he inhaled deeply. Caligos.

Ohhh, yeah, they would do. He swaggered up the alley, dragging a fingernail against the rough wall. The spark of pain emerging from his fingertip and the harsh scraping sounds barely made an impact. Seconds later, he drew to a stop.

Well now
. He eyed his prey. Two thick, swirling, black veils of mist trying to inhabit some poor human sod at the same time.

“That’s not real sporting, is it?”

Both half-submerged into their dazed victim, the Caligos stilled. Bastards didn't eat, but emotions were fair game.

“Ménage, huh? Who knew you things rolled that way?”

Confusion thickened their emotion-drugged mind. Since the mortal was already done for, Riley leaped at them, punched the one on his right. It didn’t even hurt—felt way too good. With both Caligos trapped inside their human host, they would feel every bit of pain. He spun around and kicked at the corporeal form. The body stumbled.

The Caligos rushed to attack him, two shapeless black mists trailing from the human’s mouth.

“
Oursssss
.” The disembodied voices floated to him.

“Of course, he is,” Riley drawled, dark laughter echoing in the alley.

He didn't care about that mortal, cared only about one. A female with hair like miles of black silk. He craved her.

Go back and let’s take her.

Fuck off!
Anger and absolute possessiveness strummed through his psyche. He hated this trespasser inside him. With a vicious right hook, he sent the human with the two Caligos stumbling. A single thick swirl of mist escaped from the human’s body this time.

Riley lashed out again. Like a blade, his sharpened talon sliced across the Caligo’s human throat. The abomination fell to its knees.

A wave of his hand, flames burst out and consumed the body.

The escaped Caligo, a formless shape, hid in the shadows, unable move as fast in its true state.

With his mind, Riley willed the mass to him.

It folded in on itself and returned, wobbling to him, its disembodied voice slow and raucous.
“No ennnnd…no ennnnd…”
it pleaded, its shape hovering between a shapeless black mist with a bloated middle and a hideous human with a bulging belly.

Obviously, it had already devoured some poor sucker to be able to take his form, even if for a few minutes.
“Go back…Gehenna…no return.”

Back to the pits of Hell? Yeah, right. A shitload of lies. But its soliloquy was top form, even for an amorphous shape-shifting scourge.

Riley flung out a hand, releasing a spear of flame, engulfing the black mass. Its ear-splitting shriek resonated in the alley, then absolute silence.

Absently, Riley glanced around. Yeah, the city could do with a bit of cleaning.

“You cut a fine line, Sin,” a cool voice drawled from behind him.

Riley turned and smirked. “Archangel, come to watch over me?”

Raphael strolled closer, the foul, piss-filled breeze lifting strands of his silvery hair, a stark contrast to his pale, emotionless face.

“Despite choosing a mortal as a mate,”—he got straight to the point—“you can no longer remain for long periods on this plane among humans. Same rules apply to vast powers.”

“Stop throwing your panic around me, old one. I hurt anyone, then do your job—take me out. But FYI, my mate cannot exist for
long
periods without me, you do the math while I go find another scourge to annihilate.” Riley sauntered off.

“There is a place safe for her, too.”

Raphael seemed determined to stalk him. Fucking pain-in-the-ass angel.

“Yeah?” Riley tossed over his shoulder. They thought him that stupid? These righteous fools didn't want him on the human plane. If they thought he’d take Saia to some forsaken shithole, not happening. “Can't stay and chat, but I’ll keep you in mind when I want to move house.”

“You do that.” Raphael’s cold voice followed him. “You do that, Sin.”