Devil Take Me (10 page)

“I want you to fuck me.” Annie’s voice was low and soft, ragged with need. “Please, fuck me. I want your cock inside me, want to feel you—”

“Changing tactics are we?” He pressed another kiss to the valley between her breasts, delighting to hear her heart beating even faster.

“You are such a bastard.” She squirmed beneath him, pressing her wrists into his hands, trying to gain her freedom—but not truly. Namtar could feel her holding back, waiting to see if he would release her or if he would continue to overpower her, pinning her to the bed, forcing her to wait for the pleasure he would give her.

“Be a good girl and wait patiently and I’ll let you come.”

“A good girl? You’ve got to be—”

“Fight me and you will be punished.” He bent his head and captured her nipple between his teeth, biting down until her breath hissed from between her teeth.

“You son of a bitch.” She moaned, bucking her hips, struggling to force his weight from her body.

Namtar moved to her other breast, biting the fullness just below her pink bud, using enough force that—when he finally pulled away—an imprint of his teeth remained behind, marking her skin. The sight nearly undid him. He wanted to brand her again and again, make it clear to any who saw her that this woman belong to him, body and soul. His grip on her wrists tightened until he had to make a conscious effort to gentle his touch. He wanted to help Annie dance the edge between pleasure and pain, not truly hurt her.

“Notify me if there is any real pain, and I will stop immediately,” he lifted his lips from her addictive flesh, looking deep into her eyes.

“There is pain. Let go of me,” she said, but he heard the dare in her tone.

“I said real pain, ninani.” He nipped at her breast again, bringing a gasp from her throat. “Real pain.”

“Get off of me!” She tossed her head back and forth, tried to kick her legs, fisted her hands and did her best to punch at his face. Her power rose again, flaring around them, stinging his skin as his teeth no doubt stung hers, driving him mad with the need to fuck her, to be inside of this woman, his woman.

His breath came in swift pants as he marked her other breast in the same fashion, this time dragging the tender skin between his teeth as he moved away, pinching her skin together so that she cried out in pleasure-pain. Immediately he moved to the nipple he had neglected, suckling her into his mouth—hard and deep.

“Fuck! God, yes.” Annie trembled and her struggles to free herself transformed into the writhing undulations of a woman on the precipice.

“Mine, you are mine.” The words emerged as more growl than speech as he licked and sucked and bit, ravaging her breasts until she screamed out his name, claiming her satisfaction before he had even touched her between her legs.

Namtar shuddered and cried out along with her, knowing he had met the woman he hadn’t had the wisdom to dream of.

Namtar didn’t make her beg again, but surged up over her, penetrating her with one smooth, swift stroke. Her knees wrapped tightly around his waist, pulling him closer, tighter, deeper, though a part of him knew he could never be close enough to this woman.

“Namtar.” She whispered his name against his lips, her voice catching as she struggled to breathe through her tears.

Namtar stilled his thrust, holding still once he was buried deep within his Annie. He released her wrists, bringing his hands to her face, forcing her to look at him. “Did I hurt you? Truly? If I have, I swear I will suffer any punishment you—”

“No, you didn’t.” She smiled, but instead of ceasing, her tears flowed even more quickly, streaming down her pale cheeks. “Not even a little bit.”

“I would never cause you pain of any sort, Annie. Know that. Know I would rather do myself injury than cause you one moment of torment.”

“I do. I know.” She brought a hand to his cheek. “I think that’s why I’m crying.”

“Annie, I—” Namtar began, determined to tell her the truth, to let her know his secrets before their relationship grew any further. He should have told her from the very beginning, but he had never dreamed the attraction between them would lead so quickly to feelings other than lust.

Damn him, but he hadn’t been certain he was capable of feelings other than lust. Still wasn’t sure the tenderness he felt as he looked down at the woman in his arms wouldn’t fade with time.

“Don’t talk.” She leaned up and kissed him, a soft press of the lips that soon turned hotter. “I don’t want to talk.”

Her legs tightened around him as she arched her hips, taking him impossibly deeper inside her, until his sac was cradled between the cheeks of her ass and all thoughts of feelings other than those emanating from his aching cock vanished. Namtar groaned as Annie’s tongue pushed into his mouth, sweeping inside, tasting him, claiming him.

“Fuck me,” she whispered past the tangling of their lips.

Namtar could do nothing but obey.

He surged into her welcoming body, again and again. She met his thrusts, taking everything he gave and returning his passion with equal intensity. She hummed against his lips, soft, eager sounds, urging him on—faster, harder, until there was nothing but Annie, nothing but their bodies coming together with a perfection he hadn’t dreamt possible.

She cried out, bucking into his cock, her pussy tightening around him, so hot and wet Namtar abandoned hope of holding out any longer. He needed release, needed to come, to lose himself inside the woman he—

“Annie!” He roared her name, blocking out the dangerous thoughts he’d been on the verge of thinking, losing every worry, every care in the fierce waves of pleasure rocking his ancient body to the core, stirring things within him he feared.

He had a nation to rescue, an ancient bitch of a death goddess to defeat, and couldn’t allow tender feelings to stand in his way. He still hadn’t secured Annie’s magic, let alone her soul—a fact brought home to him as she came again, pushing her magic into him with such force he had no choice but to roll away, gasping for breath.

“Namtar, God—” She reached for him, but jumped back with a little yelp as their magic collided. It was only a brief burst of electricity, however, proving to Namtar that her power stemmed from a dark origin. It had to be so or they would not be compatible… Well, at least not magically.

“Are you all right? Did I hurt you?” she asked, moving to sit beside him, close but not touching.

“Not at all, I just…wasn’t quite ready for another magic lesson.” Namtar smiled up at her from where he lay on his back, but it wasn’t long before his gaze drifted lower, to the marks he’d made on her breasts.

Goddess, but the sight of her lightly bruised skin was enough to make desire rise within him once more, only seconds after a release more powerful than any in recent memory. Recent being a relative term, he supposed, since he hadn’t taken anyone to his bed in at least five seasons. Watching Ereshkigal’s ravenous carnal appetites brutalize their people had cooled his lust considerably.

But Annie brought it rising to the surface with a vengeance, making him wonder if they would sleep any more this night than they had the last. If he had his say, the answer would be no—a firm, resounding no. They could sleep later, after he had found something with which to tie her to the bed, perhaps face down this time so he could put his teeth to her beautiful ass.

“Magic lesson.” Annie repeated the phrase slowly and reached for her dress.

“Don’t get dressed.” Namtar put his hand on hers, resisting the urge to pull away as her power flared again. Instead he drank her in, pulling that dark pulse of energy into his own body until his eyes glowed brightly enough to bathe Annie in a wash of golden light.

“I have to get dressed, otherwise I don’t think I’ll ever get that talk.” She pulled away from him with a shaky breath, the hunger and obvious reluctance in her eyes enough to satisfy Namtar…for now. He would have her again this night, at least once, maybe twice, or perhaps—

“Namtar?” she asked as her head emerged from the top of her dress, her curls wild around her face, making her even more sensual looking that usual.

“Yes, ninani?”

“I asked you a question.”

“Did you?” He smiled again and reached for one of those curls, aching to twine it around his finger, to tug until she bent down and offered him another taste of her lips.

“Yes, I did,” she laughed and pulled away, though he didn’t miss the blush of pleasure heating her cheeks. She saw how he desired her and it pleased her, which pleased him more than he would have imagined. How long had it been since he’d looked to another being with an eye to what made them happy?

He didn’t have an exact answer, but he knew it had been too long. He would have to improve that fault of character if he hoped to be a better king than those who had come before him.

“Listen, “Annie said, scooting away from his questing hands. “I know you think I’ve got some kind of power, but I…I’m the least magical person I know. I have horrible luck, really, God-awful. It’s almost like I’m cursed or something.”

Namtar sighed. Annie would not be put off another moment. “You very well may be cursed.” He explained to her his theories on the history of her family, though even as he spoke doubt crept into his mind.

If she were a cursling, wouldn’t all her power flow directly to the god or goddess who had blighted her family? Surely she would not be able to dispense energy, especially in such massive amounts. If her prosperity had been blighted by the Olympians, they would have made sure to word their curse so that no source of power was untapped. But he could think of no other explanation for her misfortune, unless she truly had been born under the worst of stars.

“That’s…I don’t want to believe it, but it would explain so much. It’s not just me, but my entire family.” She sat on the edge of the bed, looking suddenly weary. “My parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles. They were all just as unlucky as I am, a lot of the time fatally so. Aunt Dinah was the only relative I know of who lived past the age of forty.”

“She was a spinster?”

“No, she was married once. He died when they were both in their thirties. She never remarried.”

“And she had no children.”

“No. Not unless you count me, which I know she didn’t.” Annie looked down at the hands fisted in her lap and Namtar could feel the wave of pain that tightened her chest.

He was growing connected to her already, no matter that she hadn’t willingly bonded their souls. He could only imagine the intimacy they would know after the bonding. It would be as if they shared the same skin, a fact that no longer frightened him as much as it once would have.

“That would explain her living into old age. Curses are passed down to the next generation. Only after a child has been produced will the curse eventually bring about the deaths of the elder family members.” Namtar moved to sit beside her, knowing the words he spoke were true but still doubting his explanation. For some reason, his intuition told him there was more to Annie and to her family’s history than could be explained away by an ancient curse.

“So Roger was doing me a favor by putting me off every time I mentioned starting a family.” She laughed, but it was a bitter sound. “He didn’t really want children. I can see that now.”

“And you do.”

“I think I wanted babies more than I wanted Roger.” Namtar watched her face soften as she thought about the babes she dreamed of. A heaviness took root in his chest. Even if he wished to continue his family line, he could not give her children. The ancient Sumerians of dark power could only conceive with another of their own kind, and then only rarely.

Not only would he have her give up her soul in exchange for an eternity in the Underworld, but he would force her to spend that eternity without the children she craved. No matter how hard her life had been leading to this point, no matter who might have marked her for death, it would be cruel of him to offer safe haven in his future kingdom without letting her know the truth.

Tell her. Tell her she will never be a mother, and the rest of it as well. Before it is too late, before—

“Annie, I must tell you why I have come to the Earthly plane.” His heart beat faster and his eyes gleamed so brightly Annie was once again washed in a golden glow. “It is time for you to know of the great need that has driven me from my home.”

“A great need,” she repeated slowly. “You need something from me, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do,” Namtar confessed, hating the stiffness that came over her, hardening her features and dulling the light in her eyes.

“You need my magic, this power I didn’t even know I had, right?” She smiled, but once again he saw no happiness in her expression. “I should have known there was a reason you stayed with me other than concern for my welfare.”

“Annie, I—”

“No, please, don’t apologize.” Annie jumped from the bed when he moved to take her hands, and paced toward the closed curtains. “There’s no other reason you should care what happens to me. I mean, it’s not like we’ve had time to really get to know each other. The sex was great, don’t get me wrong, but—”

“Our joining was the most wondrous I have experienced in thousands of seasons.”

“Right. And I’m as beautiful as a goddess and all that other stuff. You don’t have to bother with the lines anymore, okay? I’m a sure thing.” She stopped her restless movement and turned to face him, an icy look in her eyes that matched the contempt in her tone.

“A sure thing? What do you mean by this?” Namtar kept his tone even and controlled, focusing on the end he must achieve despite the hurt her words caused. She was correct. There hadn’t been time for a real relationship to build. His tender feelings for her, his fantasies about making her his queen and partner were foolish beyond measure.

“I’ll give you the magic, the power, whatever it is. You can have it all. I don’t want it. I never even knew I had it, so I’m sure I won’t miss it.”

“I didn’t come here for your power,” Namtar said, then forced himself to finish his thought. He must tell the entire truth here and now if he ever hoped to regain her trust. “Your magic was a surprise, but I will admit it would be an asset to my cause.”

“Fine, you can have it.”

“I can not have it. Such a thing it impossible.” He let out a frustrated sigh, wishing she would look him in the eye. Instead, she gazed over his head, at his feet, anywhere but his face, as if she was too revolted to look upon the countenance of a being such as himself.

“Those glowing eyes look real enough.”

So she did find his face hideous to behold. Namtar forced away another wave of pain. He did not care if she found one of the manifestations of his power repulsive. He required her soul and her cooperation in matters of state, nothing more. If she chose to have separate rooms once they inhabited the Underworld, he would have no cause to complain. Their passion would have eventually run its course. Better for it to end now, before either of them were hurt. Logically, it was the best course of action.

Then why did his chest ache as if he’d been beaten?

“I have absorbed some of your magic during our coming together, but in order for that power to be mine to summon as I wish I must have more from you than your body.”

“More?” She spat the word at him like a curse, but he forced himself to continue.

“Yes. I must have your soul, your immortal soul.” He watched the meaning of his words sweep over her, making her lips part and her eyes widen in shock. “That is what I have come to Earth to secure.”

“My soul?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Annie propped her hands on her hips and shook her head back and forth, looking at him as if he were a wicked child. In that look he saw what an excellent schoolmistress she must be. Teaching children, yet another thing he would take away from her if she agreed to be his. Namtar winced at the thought.

“I am not joking, unfortunately. I must find a human woman willing to abandon her hopes for eternity. In exchange I am prepared to offer my protection, immortal life in the Underworld, and great status and riches as befits the position of human consort.”