Soul Enslaved (Sons of Wrath Book 3) (24 page)

She’d read about the Savidon in her medical studies, how the ancients, if denied, became so crazed with desire they’d sometimes inadvertently kill the one they’d chosen to bond with—a result of the craving overwhelming them. Aside from the physical pains they went through, the psychological stuff damn near ruined them, like a period from hell—literally.

In the demon world, the strong typically found mates, and since nature had no concept of man-whoring and the popularity of living the single high-life
by
choice
, an unmated demon got branded a weak demon.

Sabelle’s eyes widened at the bulges popping through Gavin’s skin—nothing weak about those. Each day his body would strengthen, thicken, harden—physiological changes that would ensure his ability to fight off whatever rival happened to be stupid enough to stand between him and his potential mate. Only one thing survived the nuclear rage of a demon going through his Savidon—the bones of the poor bastard competing for the same female. Wrath demons were fierce as a general rule. A Wrath demon going through his change was an anomaly best avoided where possible—not only for the competition, but any female he chose would be confined as a prisoner to his bed until it passed.

She’d never read about a case being as bad as it seemed to be hitting Gavin, though. Even if they made a hulky transformation, as she understood, the demons didn’t typically take on a beastly form. His skin morphed to a deep red, his lips darkening to black. Hell, that’d scare just about any female away. Not to mention the glow of Gavin’s eyes and the fangs peeking from his lip throwing off an
I’ll eat you alive then fuck your brains out
vibe.

Not Gavin at all.

Chained or not, the sight of him becoming more enraged by the minute had her heart slamming against her ribs.

He wouldn’t be able to stay in Sabelle’s bed for long. Not even unearthly steel would keep him bound, as his muscles fortified by the minute. She’d need something sturdy, strong enough to keep a tank from plowing through it.

Sabelle swallowed a gulp, clutching to her bedroom doorframe, while Gavin undulated against her bed as the Savidon wracked his body.

“Fuck!” His voice bounced off the walls and tightened her muscles.

He needed release.

Having watched him struggle against his binds for the last hour or so, she needed a fresh, non-drenched pair of panties—a disturbing revelation, that fear seemed to be stoking her arousal.

Hell, Sabelle couldn’t remember the last time she’d been with a man, and goddamn it, every cell in her body screamed a reminder of that unfortunate fact, as she marveled the sight of his ass and thigh muscles flexing with each upward thrust against the steel. The sweat beading his body added a lickable shine to his skin, and a plume of sexual torture clung to every molecule of oxygen between them, it’s punch-drunk tentacles reaching out to her, arousing and tantalizing. With each tug of the chains, his entire body trembled, titillating her libido like the quiver of a spider’s web.

 Beautiful. A contradiction of elegance and savagery wrapped up in the ultimate alpha package.

Gavin’s signature smell pumped from him in force, so delicious and thick she could taste it on the air until saliva pooled on her tongue. As the scent clouded her brain with bergamot and musk, a hint of cinnamon lacing the heavenly intoxication, Sabelle closed her eyes and licked her lips.

Mmmm
. To feel him shatter in her grasp. Hear his curses in her ear as he exploded inside her for the first time in centuries. The delight of being captive and at his mercy—

Stop.

She rubbed the back of her neck and crossed her arms over her chest, hoping to stamp out her pesky pert nipples telling her just how much she didn’t want to stop it. “What was I thinking, bringing you here?”

As if things weren’t bad enough that she had a pimp hounding her ass, she now had a sexually charged Wrath looking to fuck her into a stupor.

Yet, the thought of that left her knees weak.

Because Gavin wasn’t just any Wrath. He was the alpha Wrath. Not some mindless barbarian.

The male was logical. Fierce, but calm. Commanding, but empathetic. Intelligent. Composed.

It fucking excited her to see him lay out there, all chaos and uncontrolled lust.

“Sabelle.” The gruffness in his ordinarily silky voice, so masculine and authoritative, seemed to connect with the butterflies in her stomach, and she clenched her thighs at the tickle in her core. “I need you.” His eyes remained closed, so he must’ve been dreaming. About her. Gods, what the hell did he dream?

Dizziness. Gravity disconnected, and her limbs turned light.

Whoa
. The room went tilt-a-whirl and she curled her fingers around the doorframe to keep from falling.

Heat scorched her body, and her lips parted with each gasp for breath.

“I want you,” he rasped. “Come to me.”

That voice—a siren of absolute ruin.

If she did go to him? Sabelle could pretty much kiss her plans goodbye. That line of reasoning seemed to be holding the shorter of the two strings, though, as another ripple of excitement beat at her core.

She shook her head and blinked hard.
No. Don’t do it.

“You’re mine. Come.”

Come. Yes.
His words prickled her nerves and the distinct awareness of fabric from her Tshirt rubbing against her stiffened nipples forced her to rub a hand across her chest to abate the tickle there. Through the darkness his body glistened with sweat. Sweat she suddenly yearned to lick from his skin.

Whatever happens, stay away from me.
Gavin’s words while she’d chained him echoed like a mantra, but hell if she could convince her feet to follow order.

His eyelids flipped open. He stilled on the bed and lifted his head, trickles of sweat rolling down his temples and red glowing eyes guiding her like a beacon of doom. “Need to feel you. Just one touch.”

Yes.

Those smoldering eyes and the slow sweep of his tongue over his lips, fangs peeking out, had her feeling devoured, ravaged by his stare. Her sexual autopilot took over, and Sabelle tiptoed across the room, toward him until standing beside him.

Gavin lay back on the pillow, his chest rising and falling with deep breaths. “Touch me.”

His words washing through her, she marveled at the deep grooves that emphasized every muscle in his body—so tense, they looked as if they’d pop right through his reddened skin.

His back arched, and he made a sound like an animal in pain as he strained toward her. “Release me. I need to touch you.” His lip peeled back into a snarl. “Your body belongs to me. Mine to fuck. Release me!”

A dark veil, teeming with a sinister aura, settled over her. Thick and black, it threatened to suffocate her.

She tilted her head, and something inside of her came alive. Like laughter bubbling from the depths of her soul, a wicked craving rose out of the darkness. She smiled and leaned forward. “Demon,” she said on a breath, “I plan to keep you chained and so mercilessly aroused that you die of need. I’ll watch you writhe and suffer as I tease and taunt you. And you won’t fuck me until I
say
you can.”

What the hell?
Had that come from her mouth?

She backed away when he jumped toward her.

Halted by his binds, his eyes narrowed, blazing with red fury. “I’ll have you, Sabelle.” His nostrils flared, jaw taut, lip curled. Like a beast. “I’ll take what’s mine, and you’ll pay for the pain.”

Oh, gods, the vision of that. Lying helpless beneath him. Her clothes shredding away from her body as he tore into them like a birthday gift. What should’ve scared her, should’ve set her feminist alarms blaring inside her head, had the complete opposite effect. The thought of being at Gavin’s mercy had her panties soaking wet.

Stop, stop,
stop
.

She pushed away from the bed, rubbing her hand across her forehead. “Gavin, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean …” The blackness lifted, bringing the surroundings back into clarity. Embarrassment beat at her from every direction and kept her cheeks burning hot. At least he had an excuse for his behavior. He’d even warned her. Prepared her for it. Hers had come right the hell out of nowhere. “I don’t know what came over me. Jesus. I’ll leave you alone.”

“No!” His upturned brows and the sadness in his eyes touched her heart. “Stay. Stay with me.” The rapid shift of his eyes reminded her of a wild animal. “Don’t leave.”

Against everything within her, she nodded and sat beside him on the bed. The tension between their bodies could’ve caught flame with a match—like a current of sheer torment running between them. Tingles skated her flesh like fingertips—Gavin’s fingertips—and Sabelle bit back the longing to straddle his thighs and stroked a hand down his temple.

The gesture seemed to calm him, his thrashing against the binds lessening. “The light … it’s so … warm and bright.” His breathing slowed, the red of his skin less intense as he lay staring up at her. “Your touch. Your voice.” His nostrils flared. “Your scent. Keeps the rage away. I need it. Stay with me.” Even his voice sounded less demonic. “What are you?”

“What am I?”

“How? How do … you keep … it away?” He definitely sounded more like Gavin that time. “What … are …?” His words trailed off as sleep seemed to pull at him.

Despite the warning signals distantly chiming inside of her mind, she reached out a hand and smoothed her fingertips over his abs. Hard. Solid. “What do you think I am?” she whispered.

“My … angel.”

Sabelle soaked a washcloth in the bedside basin she’d prepared earlier and, folding it, patted Gavin’s sweat-laden forehead.

His eyelids blinked slow and lazy before his head lolled to the side. The occasional muscle spasm jerked his body until, at last, he lay still.

Alone with her thoughts, another painful round of embarrassment had her inwardly cringing. What the hell’d made her say what she had to him? Like some messed up doppelganger took over and spoke on her behalf. She’d be the one answering to it, though, unless, by some miracle of the gods, he didn’t happen to remember conversations during his Savidon.

Stupid Sabelle.

She dipped the washcloth again, wringing the water with more force than necessary. Okay, even if she was a succubus and teasing just happened to be part of her DNA, she’d never acted on it. Never taunted a man like that before.

Placing the washcloth against his forehead, Sabelle marveled his peaceful face. Gone was the beast, replaced by the handsome prince. The five o’clock shadow he somehow managed to keep perfectly trimmed, his beautiful bronzed skin that carried the faintest of scars, the artistry of his chiseled jaw line, and the power he exuded even in sleep. Like watching something majestic, a lion, sleep.

Never had she been so utterly consumed by a man. So turned on and tuned in to his every word, every expression. Pure fascination, just watching him dream.

Of course he’d bring out her natural instincts.

Dammit.

For years, she’d suppressed her ingrained ability to seduce. Seducing a man meant death. To the surprise of everyone who doubted her, she kept her cravings on a short leash and managed to get by without killing a different man every night, like the rest of her species. For the sake of her children, she’d avoided men like a plague and kept herself occupied with activities that pushed her inherent urges deep inside. Locked up. Hidden away.

So far, she’d succeeded. So far.

Pings of fear climbed her spine. Because Gavin had unearthed something inside her. Something dark. Wicked. Dangerous in her current state.

Much as she tried, Sabelle couldn’t deny that she enjoyed the tension between them. Sure, it’d embarrassed her and would make the next morning an absolute suckfest. Still, she longed to tango with him again, to push her limits and see how far she’d take it. Could she stand to tease him? Seduce him? Energy had coursed through her body, excited the hell out of her in those moments of sexual banter. Truth be told, she’d actually
liked
it.

A thought that scared the shit out of her.

CHAPTER 9

Three hundred and fifty seven imperfections marred the wooden tabletop Sabelle stared down at, past her coffee cup sitting half full and cold. She’d counted every damn one of them, waiting for sunlight to creep into the dim room.

Gavin’d be awake, no doubt.

Aside from the mortification of what she’d said to him, one other issue had become clear to her—whatever attraction she’d felt toward him before had just quadrupled over night. Bad news for a succubus vying for freedom.

Call it a crazy primal instinct but that whole
taming the beast
thing was probably about the hottest foreplay she’d ever engaged in. More than that, though, whatever she’d done seemed to have resulted in his peace and contentment. Perhaps it could’ve been any female calming him, and maybe there’d been nothing to it, but for one irrevocable moment in time, she’d felt special.

Sighing, she rose from the table, poured the remains of her coffee down the sink and headed up to her bedroom. Queasiness churned in her gut as she approached the door. A quiet knock announced her entrance, and she opened it to find him staring at her from the bed. Like waking up from a one night stand where neither person remembered the other’s name. Completely, utterly awkward.

“Sabelle.”

“It’s … Gavin, I didn’t—”

“Don’t apologize—”

“Please, let me finish.” She brushed her hand through her hair and stepped inside the room. “I said things last night … things I didn’t mean to say.”

“We both did.”

“Yes, but you, at least, had an excuse.”

“Yours couldn’t be helped, either. The pheromones given off during a demon’s Savidon could make a goddamn wolverine want to get cuddly.”

“Hey, did you … just
compare
me to a wolverine?”

His dimpled cheeks were the kind of sight that made ovaries drop. “No.”

Sabelle stifled a smile, dropping her gaze to her fidgeting hands. “You brought out something inside of me. Something I haven’t felt in a long time.”