Soul Enslaved (Sons of Wrath Book 3) (7 page)

Alone, he stared into the mirror.
Christ.
His facial hair had grown in, and the rock he’d spent the last month chipping away at, added a gritty topcoat to his skin. He rubbed a hand down his face, pushed away from the sink and removed his prison-issued shirt. It’d need to be washed, too. The only other shirt he had was the black T-shirt he’d worn on the day of his sentencing, and he didn’t plan to change into that until he’d cleaned the blood off of himself. Nola hadn’t given him the opportunity to grab clothes before showing up at Sabelle’s door.

The freshly sealed wounds across his abdomen made him wince. Not because he’d likely have scars afterward—shit, that didn’t matter, considering he’d be sentenced to death after his time in Obsidius. The wounds reminded him that he’d have to go back. That death would come slowly and deliberately. Whatever time he spent with Sabelle would only delay the final outcome.

Torrents pulsed through the spigot until they finally caught in the sprayer and Gavin stepped inside the cramped space, his six-seven frame instantly engulfed. Warm fists of water beat against his battered muscles. Felt so good, he could’ve fallen to his knees in grateful prayer. The wounds almost sizzled in the scorching heat of the water, but the tension in his muscles eased, and he fell forward, resting his head against the cool tiles and releasing a quiet moan.

He ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck me,” he muttered, reveling in the heat and relaxation, so much he could’ve fallen asleep while standing.

He’d been reduced to simple pleasures that were merely a part of the life he’d once had. A life that would never be again, thanks to a crazy-ass redhead he’d fallen victim to months ago. One who somehow managed to do the impossible: deny her servosx and seduce Gavin.

Don’t do this again. Not now.

He’d spent the last few weeks kicking his own ass, hating himself for what he’d done. The way he’d sealed his fate by telling her to think of him every time she fucked her bastard husband. The husband who’d supposedly treated her like shit, though Gavin had begun to question
that
. She had witchcraft in her blood, no doubt. Only a slick female could evade her servosx. The idea of such a thing boggled his mind, and he’d have been inclined to think she didn’t have a mate at all, except that Gavin’s friend, Aeguza, who happened to be a very prominent demon of the underworld, confirmed not only that she did, in fact, have a servosx, but had a history of going outside of her bond—a trickery handed down by her mother.

Gavin turned his thoughts to Zeke in order to keep from pounding his fist into the wall. The last time he’d seen his brother, he’d lay mutilated, sedated with Abyzz, after being at the hands of an Enforcer who’d tortured him to damn near death. No doubt, two months would be enough time to heal many of his wounds, but it’d take more time to be back to one hundred percent. And Logan. Jesus, he’d never seen a brother pull the same one eighty that Logan had for his female and child. Like he’d been born a new male. A knot formed in his chest and stomach at the thought of never meeting his soon-to-arrive nephew, though Gavin had made a point of leaving behind a note, sealed for him to read when he was older.

A zing shot through his body, severing his thoughts.

The tickle of water trailed down his skin, and Gavin pushed against the tiles, palms flat against the white, ceramic surface, as an urgency tugged inside of him. A craving, but for what?

His dick lurched in response.

He’d known sexual cravings before. They mostly struck at the flirtations of a beautiful woman. What he felt in that moment, though, had an underlying discomfort. A sickness—like, if he didn’t attempt to sate it, he’d fall into a downward spiral of destruction.

He’d also known drugs in his past. He’d known the feeling of desiring something so strongly, it superseded everything else.

Pain struck his groin, and Gavin damn near collapsed, clutching his fast-hardening cock.
Fuck
. Against the will to clamp his eyes, he caught sight of his trembling hands, the skin there turning red through the billows of steam that enveloped him.
No.

For weeks, he’d been confined to silence and the awareness of his body’s reaction to pain. He’d felt nothing like the stabbing aches that wracked him just then. In fact, the pain had begun its slow burn the moment he’d recognized the scent belonging to Sabelle. Her name echoed inside his head, like a chant.

Sabelle. Sabelle. Sabelle
.

In return, he could almost hear his name rip from her lungs on a wave of ecstasy.

Stop it. Stop it. Gods, stop it
.

No way he’d fuck a succubus. Didn’t even want to
muse
about it.

Gavin gripped tight to his stiffened length and stepped just outside of the spray. Her kids slept in the next room for chrissakes. That thought alone had the pain abating, his fantasies falling back into normalcy. He glanced down to see his cock had begun to go flaccid in his palm.

Thank you, gods.

He quickly finished washing, flipped off the shower, and threw back the curtain.

“Fuck!” Gavin stumbled back, catching himself before cracking his head on the porcelain tub. He snatched a towel to cover his lower half.

In the middle of the room, stood Sabelle’s son, staring up at him with the curiosity kids had that put Gavin on edge.

“Hey, Thomas, what do you want?” He scratched the back of his head, wondering how much of him the kid had seen.

Sabelle appeared at the door and quickly averted her gaze, shielding her eyes with a hand. “Oh!” In a scene that was almost comical, she blindly reached for her son. “Tommy, let’s go. Get out of here. C’mon. Sorry.” Her hand seized her son’s, and she yanked him out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Heart hammering in his chest, Gavin blew out a breath. He’d faced off with some of the biggest, baddest demons in the underworld. Yet, nothing scared the shit out of him quite like a cherubic child brimming with curiosity.

***

“Are you shitting me?” Denyalis’s gaping mouth could’ve housed a small village, and her eyes popped like two bright green saucers, as she stood, arms crossed, leaning against the kitchen sink of her apartment.

Sabelle rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. “No. I’m not shitting you.”

“Where is he? Did you bring him? Is he big?” Amazingly, Denya’s eyes grew even wider. “Mmm. I’ll bet he’s really big.” She licked her lips. “And strong.” Her pretend shiver crinkled Sabelle’s brow. “Gods, could you imagine those muscles flexing with every thr—”

“Just …” Sabelle held up her hand. “Just stop. Okay? Stop. You sound like a severely undersexed nympho.”

“I’m a virgin succubus, which is pretty much the same thing.”

Sabelle cocked her head. “He’s in the hallway. I wanted to chat with you alone for a minute.”

“Right on.” Denya’s eagerness had Sabelle rolling her eyes.

“I’m going to need you to take the kids at night. Don’t even think—”

“Holy shit.” Her grin taunted Sabelle’s palm. “You
are
planning to fuck him, aren’t you?”

“Honestly, Denya, it’s taking incredible strength not to pummel you to the floor right now. Just hear me out. He’s helping me with something. Something I hope will change our lives for the better. Give my kids a better life.”

“What?”

“I can’t tell you. But know that, if I could, I would.”

“It’s not dangerous, is it?”

Sabelle sucked in a breath and braced herself for the lie. “No.” She brushed her hand through her hair. “I just don’t want TJ and Janie …”

“To hear you moan in ecstasy every night? I get it.”

“Denya …” Sabelle’s voice carried a warning. “I don’t want them getting too comfortable with a man staying in our home. I prefer they not be around him much at all while he’s here. They’ll see him. They’ll start getting ideas. And I don’t want to give them any sense of false hope.”

“Oh, Sabelle.” She shook her head. “This isn’t like when we were kids, hoping for the right guy to come along and save us from our mother and the daily rations of Ramen noodle hell. You’re one lucky
biotch
. Holy shit nuggets, a Wrath? Do you know how many times I’ve BOBed myself, fantasizing about one of those guys? They’re like celebrities. How the hell did you manage that?”

Sabelle clamped her eyes shut and tried to strike the visual of her sister’s infamous vibrator she’d actually
named
Bob, from her mind. “I brought his brother back from the dead.” Sabelle frowned. “And you better not talk like that in front of my kids, got it?”

“Auntie Denya is as angelic as they come.” She raised two fingers and placed her palm against her heart. “Scouts honor.”

“You were never a scout.”

Denya rested her head on the palm of her hand. “Have the two of you … ya know?” She bit her lip, eyes all alight with something that made Sabelle want to smack her.

“No. He’s here for one reason, and one reason only.”

“Which is …?”

“Are you going to take the kids for me, or what?”

Denyalis’s shoulders slouched as she sat back in her seat. “Of course.” She crossed her arms. “Selly, you need to lighten up. Quit being so hardass.”

“Being a hardass is what’s kept me living the life I want to live. It’s what keeps me from being someone’s slave. I will never—”

“Be a victim. Yeah, I know.” She leaned forward again. “Aren’t you ever curious, though? Renoshza is supposed to be the ultimate, no going back.”

“You break that seal, and you might as well shackle yourself. You’re twenty-two. You’ve got so much life in front of you. It’s not every day a succubus manages to keep her virginity intact and avoid the whole pimp thing.” Sabelle crossed the kitchen and placed her hands on her sister’s shoulders. “Can I trust you with them? It’ll be a week, maybe two. And I’ll come by every day to check on them.”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine. No summer classes. Woot!”

Sabelle pointed a finger. “No drinking. No boys. No weed. Got it?”

Hand poised in salute, Denya smiled. “Aye, aye. Go have fun with your sexy mancandy.” She feigned a moan. “Have a bite for me. And make sure you give me all the details. Juicy details. Take a ruler. I want dimensions.” She clasped her fingers. “Can I get a peek of him first?”

Tipping her head back, Sabelle rolled her shoulders. If Denya only knew what an arrogant ass Gavin could be, she—no, never mind. Her sister wouldn’t care. “Fine.”

Sabelle shook her head and walked passed her sister into the open-plan part of the flat, where Thomas and Jane sat petting Denya’s old German Shepherd, Zeus. She knelt down, joining the two, and petted the comparatively large dog. “Zeus, I want you to keep these two out of trouble, hear?”

“Mommy, he doesn’t speak that,” Janie said and giggled.

“Zeus knows. He speaks a special mommy language.” Sabelle howled like a dog, perking Zeus’s ears, and he gave a chop of his jaws like a failed attempt at quietly howling back, resulting in more laughter from the children. “You see?” Thomas and Jane howled as well, exciting the dog further.

“Seriously, I want you to be good for Auntie Denya, okay? Never leave her sight.” She gave each one a kiss on their soft baby cheeks. “Mommy loves you both very much.”

Damn her eyes for tearing up at the words. Like she couldn’t even stand the thought of one night away from them. But as Detroit went, Denyalis lived in a much better neighborhood, and, with the police station so close, a safer position. Besides that, Sabelle and her sister had an understanding: no bullshit. When it came to her kids, Sabelle had zero tolerance for recklessness.

Denya was an engineering student, a smart one, who’d been the first to score a scholarship and prime housing off campus. Yeah, she happened to be crazy and carefree, but she also had the smarts to know not to fuck with her older sister.

“C’mon,” she said to Denya. “I’ll let you get your fix before we go.”

Denya hopped and clapped, chasing behind Sabelle. Throwing open the door revealed Gavin, casually leaned against the wall, and for the slightest moment, Sabelle’s heart caught in her chest.
Damn
. It didn’t matter that he was dressed down, enslaved, and a wanted man in Obsidius. Gavin dominated. Plain and simple. He took up a room with his presence and swallowed the focus of every woman—including Denya.

“This is my sister, Denyalis.” Sabelle nudged her near-comatose sister, who stared like an invalid from beside her. “Denyalis, this is Gavin.”

Gavin offered a crooked smile and took Denya’s hand. “Enchante.”

Her sister’s eyes widened as he kissed the top of her hand. Jesus Christ, couldn’t he do an introduction like normal men?
Hey, sup?
No, even a simple introduction had to be all ‘
Enchante
’ and sexy. Didn’t help that his voice was deep and dark and all kinds of wicked, so any woman with a pulse would fall victim to it. What the hell was that anyway, French?

Denya offered a wide smile and bit her lip, giving an exceptionally obvious onceover. “
Very
… nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine.”

Oh, for crying out loud.
“Okay, so call me if you need anything. And I do mean
anything
.” She pointed at Denya. “You know my rule.”

“Yes. Never hesitate.”

“Okay.” Sabelle sucked in a breath and stepped one foot inside the apartment, where Thomas and Janie’s giggles echoed as the dog licked their faces. “Mommy loves you!”

Of course they didn’t answer back.

CHAPTER 3

Sabelle placed her hands on the kitchen table and stared at Gavin. “The terms.” She cleared her throat.

The man didn’t just fill a room—he consumed it, stole all the oxygen, and replaced it with the sizzling crackle of power. Talking terms took brass balls, because businessmen often walked away with their tails tucked between their legs after a meeting with him. She’d seen them at the casino, bold and confident when they arrived. Like little boys who’d had their favorite toy truck stolen at the playground by the time they left.