“And yet you have a pretty woman with you.” The darkness fades slowly, revealing a man. Except he’d only be mistaken as a normal man if someone didn’t have an ounce of self-preservation or a single instinct to their name. Light brown skin, dark hair and eyes, a face so perfect it’s actually a little eerie to look at. He catches me staring and smiles.
I flinch. Yes, he might be pretty, but he’s easily the most dangerous being I’ve ever come across. And that’s saying something considering the men currently sharing my bed.
The demon doesn’t move, but he seems closer all the same. “Or not a woman at all.” He inhales slowly and his smile widens. “Seraph. Wolf, things truly are never boring when you’re involved.”
“What can I say? I’m a gift.”
“You are.” The demon studies me. It feels like he’s crawling around inside my skin. “I thought you smarter than getting snagged by a seraph bond.”
Wolf shrugs. He finally takes his hand from my breast and moves it to my shoulder. A reminder to stay in place. “Can you blame me?”
“With this pretty package?” The demon shrugs. “I understand, even if I wouldn’t make the same misstep.”
Wolf laughs, his high and wild cackle. “Liar. We both know there’s one pretty little thing that’s turned you into a teddy bear. How are things going on that front, Azazel?”
Just like that, the easiness is gone from the demon’s face. “Watch your tongue, vampire. You amuse me, so I come when you call. The moment you stop amusing me, I’ll rip your bones from your body, one by one. I’d like to see you heal from that.”
“Yes, yes, consider me cowed.” Wolf waves that away. “Can you do anything about a seraph bond?”
Azazel goes back to studying me. “If I may?”
“By all means.” Wolf answers before I can do it myself.
That’s all the warning I get before he’s in front of me, pressing a cold hand to the center of my chest, right where I feel the bond the strongest. It’s not a welcome touch, but he’s hardly being untoward. At least on the surface. Beneath the surface is another thing entirely. I can feel his power course into me, thick and smooth. It leaves a prickly taste on the back of my tongue and I flinch.
Azazel moves back slowly, expression contemplative. “I can break it.”
“Really?” I don’t mean to speak, but I honestly didn’t think he’d be able to.
He flashes me a smile that’s all charm and no little amount of threat. “Human religion might be more fiction than truth, but they weren’t wrong on this one subject. Demons and seraphim are natural enemies, and our powers reflect that. I can dig out a seraph bond.”
Wolf narrows his eyes. “Would that mean seraphs can negate demon deals?”
“Careful, vampire. You’re playing with fire again.”
“Silly me.” Wolf tucks me more firmly against his side. “Let’s hear it. All the nitty gritty details.”
Azazel is still studying me. “It’s not likely to kill the vampires involved, though that’s always a possible side effect.” He shrugs. “I like you, Wolf, so the cost is my normal rate. Seven years of service.”
I open my mouth, but Wolf beats me there. “We’ll consider it. You’ll have the answer within a week.”
“Normally, there’s little rush, but I have a pressing engagement in ten days.” He gives that dangerous smile again. “Having a seraph on the auction block would be quite the feather in my cap. The others would love it.”
“You’ll have the answer within the week,” Wolf repeats, an edge in his voice.
“So be it.” Azazel shrugs and then he gone, disappearing in a surge of shadows. It takes several long minutes before all remnants of his power dissipate as well.
Only then does Wolf release me and sigh. “Well, that’s a dead end.”
“What? Seven years isn’t that long.” Even if I’m not immortal—something I still need to investigate—I’m going to live significantly longer than a human would. Seven years is nothing if it means breaking the bond.
“Here’s a hint, love. If it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.” Wolf leans his head against the back of the couch and closes his eyes. “Azazel says seven years, but he’s not talking about in the mortal realm. He’s talking about in the demon realm. That might mean a few seconds gone here, or it might be a few hundred years. There’s no way to tell, and he’ll lie if you ask him. The way the realms interact when it comes to time passing is one of the few things Azazel’s deals can’t control.”
Panic flickers through me, but I shove it down. “So a few hundred years pass. Who cares? It’s not as if I have any ties to this…realm.” Later, I’ll have a mental breakdown about the fact that there is apparently more than one realm. Right now, compartmentalizing is the name of the game. “You’ll all still be alive.”
“Maybe.” Wolf’s stares intently at the spot where Azazel disappeared. “But if he’s auctioning you off…” He shakes his head. “Malachi would go nuclear. Rylan might be more subtle about it, but he’s not going to let you auction off that pretty pussy for his sake.”
“What about you?” I don’t mean to ask the question. I really don’t. But it’s out in the air between us, and there’s no taking it back.
“What about me?” Wolf grabs one of my thighs and tugs it up and over his lap. He skates his hand up beneath my dress and palms my bare pussy. “I’m a horrible cliché, love. I’m not overly fond of the thought of you fucking any monsters but us.”
“But…” My thoughts scatter as he pushes two fingers into me. “But Wolf.” It’s nearly impossible to focus while he’s slowly fucking me with his fingers, that hungry look on his face, but I give it a valiant effort. “But the bond.”
“Eh.” He pulls his fingers out to spread my wetness up and around my clit. “No matter how much it triggers Rylan, you’re hardly an evil overlord.” He uses his thumb to stroke my clit. “If that ever changes, I’ll kill you myself.”
Chapter 9
Maybe I should find the threat of Wolf killing me terrifying. Wolf is terrifying. Even knowing him such a short time, I’m painfully aware of the fact that he doesn’t bluff. It doesn’t make him more predictable, though. He changes direction as easily as the wind.
Still…
“Promise me.”
He pauses, his dark brows pulling together. “What?”
“Promise me that you’ll kill me if I try to abuse the bond.”
He lets loose one of those mad laughs that I’ve come to enjoy so much. “No. I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.”
“But—”
“What if you abuse the bond on accident, baby seraph?” He goes back to slowly fucking me with his fingers, his thumb playing across my clit. “It would be a shame if I had to rip out your throat because of an ill-worded promise. Malachi would never forgive me.”