Gods, I wanted this man. The lust I’d felt for the attractive males at the clubs in the Underworld was nothing compared to this. My heart pounded, and my breath ground out in ragged spurts.
I slid the jumpsuit over his hips, and it pooled to the floor in a gray puddle. My mouth salivated at the sight of his sculpted body in only tight boxer briefs. The proof of his arousal sent burgeoning heat in my lower core.
Enough waiting. I wanted him now.
Running my fingers down his sides, I reached for his boxers and tugged.
He froze. His tongue stopped its scintillating caresses, and his hands loosened from my hips. “I can’t, Azara. Not like this,” he mumbled against my lips.
“Not like what?” I screeched.
He stepped back, and my legs slipped from his waist then my feet hit the floor. His eyes locked on mine, the depth of emotion behind the raging silver fathomless. “Do you remember me? Do you remember us?”
Us? A whisper of a memory streaked by before it fled to oblivion. My heart ached from its absence. “No,” I muttered, my humanity overpowering my lusty demon.
He whirled away, a string of curses tumbling from his lips.
I glanced around the room and noticed the warden was gone. When had he left exactly? I stared at Talon’s bare broad back, and a deep chasm opened up inside me. Why couldn’t I remember?
He spun back a moment later, his eyes shiny. He took a step closer then stopped, as if thinking better of it. “I love you, Azara.”
The words hung in the air for an impossibly long moment.
“Do you feel anything for me?”
The air siphoned from my lungs, invisible claws crushing my organs. I searched the empty void, the gaping chasm, but I felt nothing. I wanted to say yes—I had no idea why, but I knew that I should love this man. But other than primal urges, a physical need demanded by my she-demon, I didn’t feel anything.
I swallowed hard, letting the silence stretch between us.
He finally turned away and trudged out the door.
Chapter Nine
Four pairs of intense eyes bored into me from across the table. I squirmed, shifting uncomfortably in the hard chair. Maybe I’d been a little overzealous in leaving the lavish confines of Thax’s castle. One night at Darkblood Prison trapped with the Triad, and my cousin’s deceit didn’t seem as terrible anymore.
The guys had explained they were enforcers of some kind—like the warden’s special helpers. Which granted them exclusive access and occasional use of their powers. Sounded like a sweet deal to me. I’d been sworn to secrecy and forced to take a blood oath. I really couldn’t care less who they were, as long as I got my answers. Which I still had about a million of.
A guard poked his head in the door of the rec room, and four heads spun to the entryway. “Ten more minutes, guys, then they’re coming in.”
“Fine,” said Talon, “Thanks for the head’s up, Actaeon.”
The dragon corrections officer eyed me, his reptilian pupils narrowing before he turned on his heel and the door slammed behind him.
Of the four men scowling at me, the lines of anger carved into Talon’s face were the deepest by far. Every time our eyes met, daggers shot from the blazing molten steel. Bits and pieces of my she-demon coming out to play with the surly dragon danced across my mind whenever I closed my eyes. Heat rushed my insides at the saucy memories, and I crossed my legs under the table.
“What option do we really have?” asked Hayden. I’d met the fallen angel last night after the warden slapped on magic siphoning cuffs, cutting my demon off, and dropped me into a cell with him and the angry dragon.
“We have to come clean with Maxim,” said Vander, the werewolf, I’d met this morning. Beside him sat the vampire member of the crew, Dallas. I didn’t understand why they were called the Triad when there were four of them, but then again with my absent memories there was little I understood these days.
“Absolutely not,” Talon growled. “With the number of deaths under Azara’s belt this week alone, facing the Tribunal wouldn’t even be an option. She’d be back in this hell hole for another decade.”
“Then what do you want us to do, T?” Dallas raised his dark brow at their apparent leader.
“I don’t know.” He loosed a frustrated breath and dragged his fingers through his hair. “First things first though. We have to get her demon under control. If and when we tell Maxim, we’ve got to have an explanation if Azara has any hopes of seeing the light of day this century.”
Great. “So, do I have a say in this?”
“No,” Talon barked.
Dallas and Hayden exchanged a smirk before schooling their expressions to normal.
“Why did you come back here, precious?” Dallas crooned. His voice was smooth like molasses and just as sweet.
“To get answers. That day I saw Talon at the brownstone in the city, I remembered bits of our conversation. He seemed to know me, and he was the only one besides my cousin who did. All the Underworlders I’d met in the past week thought I was Thax’s distant cousin-slash-paramour.” I shuddered at the thought. “I usually black out when my demon emerges.”
Talon’s brows perked up. “Completely?”
“Most of the time.” Heat rushed up my neck as flashes of his hands all over my body raced through my mind. I sure as hell hoped I wasn’t bright red.
“Okay, so how do we button up the demon now that she’s been let out of her cage?” Vander asked, his warm hazel eyes drifting over me.
“More training. Same as before.”
“T, I’m not sure the two of you in the same room with pointy weapons is a great idea.” Hayden smirked as he side-eyed me.
“He’s probably right.” Vander leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table. “I can work with her. I’ve got experience taming my own beast.”
Talon’s lips contorted into a frown. I waited for him to say no, but he sat back in his chair and threw his hands up. “Fine. Give it a try. I only hope she doesn’t try to eat you.”
Dallas and Hayden broke into a fit of laughter, and I knew I was definitely missing out on some big private joke.
I lifted my hand and flashed him my wrist. “How would I even be able to with this bad boy?”
“Oh man, T, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do with the little pumpkin.” Hayden popped up from his seat and Dallas followed suit. “We’ll see you guys later, duty calls.”
Turning to Talon, I forced my eyes to meet his. “I’d like to do that catching up sooner rather than later. I’ve got a lot of questions.”
“Well, they’ll have to wait.”
I opened my mouth to object when the rec room door swung open, and a dozen inmates flooded the room. Jumpsuits in every color of the rainbow filled the small space, some heading for the TV and others settling into tables like ours.
“Azara, oh my gods!” A pink-haired faerie darted toward me with a huge smile plastered across his face. “Where have you been?” He flicked his thumb at Talon and pouted. “This guy wouldn’t tell me a thing. Rumor was you’d escaped!” The pixie folded his lithe frame into the chair beside me, excitement dancing across his mossy green eyes.