Zoey Rogue (29 page)

Declan looked his soul-mate over critically. Dressed for clubbing, she smelled of smoke and alcohol. Her nose was bloodied and one eye swelling. She was weaving on her feet with Liam trying to steady her. What the fuck was it with his girl always showing up in his arms torn up?

“Looks like it,” he replied.

“Oh, hell no,” she gasped, as if recognizing his voice even if her glazed eyes didn’t focus.

“Vikki gave her too much of something,” Liam explained. “She’s been… interesting.”

He pushed her through the doorway. Declan caught her. She didn’t try to resist, but sighed and sank into his arms. The cheek she rested against his chest was cold. Their connection hummed, comforting him and melting her. Whatever Vikki gave her, it must’ve been a horse tranquilizer. There was no fight or fire in the woman in his arms.

Liam grinned and closed the door. Declan reached forward to lock it.

“How was the hot date?” he asked, managing to hide his irritation. He pretended he wasn’t upset by her interest in seeing the ex again. It wasn’t the only reason he spent the evening boxing his father, who kicked his ass several times. The other was the idea the woman in his arms, nuzzling his neck, not only killed an Incubus, but might be a secret weapon that could be activated against him.

“I know, I know,” she mumbled. She sighed.

“You know what?”

“You’re going to say everyone else is right. I was wrong. I have to let go and be not-normal.”

“I was going to say I told you where you’d be spending the night,” he teased. “And yeah, you need to let go.”

“Hurts.” She pulled away enough to meet his gaze. Tears shimmered in her eyes. He felt her ache, and sympathized with her. She lost her stability and the place that had been her home in twenty-four hours. He entered her mind, looking again for indication that she had killed Julius.

Nothing. Declan didn’t understand it. He had no idea if he could trust her, but he wanted her with inhuman need.

“I know. I felt it,” he said and kissed her forehead.

“Because we’re bonded.”

“Yep. No going back, no matter what.”

A shiver of emotion went through her. Declan felt her sliding into the effects of the drug. He gripped her more tightly and bent to lift her. He carried her into the living area and set her on the couch, seating himself on the coffee table facing her.

“How much for my hangover?” she asked. “It’s gonna be bad.”

“Why don’t we wait to see what you’re willing to pay in the morning to make it go away?” he asked, smiling.

“Noooo,” she whined.

“You know the price.”

“No strike two,” she said stubbornly.

“You’ll change your story in the morning.”

She groaned, and he chuckled.

“Every night can’t be like this, where you end up unconscious or beat up or half-dead in my arms,” he told her. “You’ve got responsibilities, Zoey, and what happens if I’m not here to help you? You should think more about the consequences of your actions.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Technically, I can,” he pointed out. “Very easily. It’s not a good start to a relationship, though. I’m hoping you’ll figure this shit out soon.”

“If I don’t, are you sending me back to the Professor?”

Declan hadn’t considered she might never settle down. Knowing she was wild and understanding that wasn’t going to change were two separate issues. He knew how to tame that spirit at night. During the day …

“No,” he said firmly. “We belong together. I’m not certain how you’re going to fit in here.”

“I don’t fit in anywhere.” There was a mournful note in her voice.

“You do with me, in every way,” he replied. “I’m an Enforcer. Soul-mates normally are able to represent us. That would require you to put your weapons away.”

“I kill things. I don’t want to change.”

That might be an issue
. He didn’t say the words out loud. Her eyes were closed, her voice taking on a dreamy quality.

“Will you make love to me, Declan?” she murmured. She took his arm and tugged at him.

“You’re no fun to me this way,” he replied, unable to help the small smile. She both frustrated him and made him sane, all in the same breath. He was too easily affected by her, but at least she was likewise affected by him.

“But, I … want … you…now…” Her breathing deepened, and she slid into sleep.

“I’m going to ask Vikki what the hell she gave you. I might need it in the future,” he said quietly. He reached out to her and touched her face.

While he adored her sweet spunk, her inability to conform was definitely going to be an issue. His father and mother had been partners. What if Zoey wasn’t able to adapt to the Incubus society any more than she’d been able to the Sucubatti’s rules? What if he couldn’t figure out the trigger that turned her into some sort of Incubus-killing machine?

Declan rubbed his mouth. It wasn’t like he could walk away. Likewise, he wasn’t at all certain how he was going to handle the duties of leading and a soul-mate who killed Incubuses. If that news got out, he’d have to make a very brutal decision.

First things first, he needed to survive this mess.

His gaze lingered on her. She was deep asleep. Rather than stay, he changed and returned to the gym, only to be intercepted by his father in the elevator.

“Still?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah,” Declan replied.

“You can do something more useful. We’re planning to pick up the Bennies and girls this weekend, as you requested.”

Declan nodded in satisfaction.

“You feel strongly enough about this to move our plans forward?”

“I do,” Declan said. “Not only do we owe it to the Benefactors, but to the girls.”

“Olivia is on board. I don’t trust her, but I’ll have to this weekend.”

Declan hesitated. “I know. I’m not one hundred percent certain this is the right thing to do, but the sooner we get them away from the Sucubatti, the better. Maybe if we seclude the Professor and his kind, they’ll provide more information about what Olivia’s done to Zoey.”

“Tough choices. I’m glad you’re decisive enough to make them,” his father said. “I learned the hard way, but you’re a natural.”

“It certainly doesn’t feel that way.”

“If it gets easy to make a decision that involves the lives of others, you need to be replaced,” his father said.

Declan smiled at his father’s wisdom, sensing the man beside him had been like Zoey when young.

“I don’t know what to do about Zoey,” he started.

“She won’t fall into place like a puzzle piece, based on her file. She’ll have you to ground her, though.”

“I thought it would be the other way around.”

“It will be when needed. The disadvantage of being an Incubus: we know sex. We don’t know women.”

Declan laughed.

“Seriously. Do you know how long it took for your mother and me to figure each other out?” his father asked fondly. “I should say, just to be able to live together peacefully?”

“Please don’t say years.”

“Years. Relationships are about things we don’t innately care about. Like trust and communication. What Incubus needs that shit? We weren’t created for relationships, but we have to learn.”

“That’s the second time I’ve heard the word trust used today,” Declan said.

“You are more like your mother than me, which will serve you well,” his father added. “You have patience, and you already know what you need to do to win your girl. We’ll figure out what Olivia did and make sure your Zoey is okay. The rest is up to you.”

Declan listened. He didn’t think it was going to be as easy as his father made it out to be and wondered if his father was keeping secrets again.

Chapter Fifteen: Strike Two

Any hope she had of Declan having some small grain of mercy was crushed when she awoke with a migraine. Zoey groaned and gripped her head. She broke their connection by rolling onto her stomach, which only made it worse. She vaguely recalled her evening, but not how she ended up in Declan’s bed instead of her own.

“You ready to negotiate?” he asked casually.

“It’s just a tiny headache,” she snapped.

He chuckled. “You’re a horrible liar.”

“I’m good. Getting ready to catch a ride home.”

“You know you’re not going anywhere.”

She wasn’t going to admit he was right. He rolled her over. She didn’t resist. A small pulse of magic, and her headache was gone, her mind clear. He stirred her sex energy with his touch. Her body hummed already.

“Damn you,” she muttered.

“You’re angry.”

“Very.”

He gave her a slow smile. “Tell me why.”

“You mean, aside from you betraying me and making me betray my friends?” she demanded, pushing herself up. “Marking and dumping me on the Professor’s porch three years ago without telling me about this bonding thing? Then reading my mind yesterday at the inquisition?”

“And …”

“Isn’t that enough?”

“Making you realize you’d given me access to your soul when you never gave Eric your heart.”

Zoey stared at him. “Can you read my mind?”

“Only sometimes, when we’re touching, like we are now.”

“I don’t like this game,” she said. She strained to move away.

“I love it.” He pulled her back and slung his thigh across hers to keep her from moving. “There’s more, isn’t there.” The fire of challenge was in his eyes. He let more of his magic free, and it fed her anger and sex energy. It overtook her senses. She struggled to resist him, knowing he was doing it again on purpose.

“Stop,” he warned again. “Remember?”

Zoey sighed. She pushed down her resistance, if only to feel the warmth of their bond.

“Yesterday, after you fucked me over, I wanted to kill you,” she told him, the fury rising within her again. “Not in a quick, clean way.” She propped herself up on her elbows to bring her face closer to his. “You can’t have access to all of me, Declan. It’s so not fair.”

“That sounds like a dare.” The light in his eyes burned brighter, and she sensed the patience he showed their first night was gone.

Zoey broke the tension between them first, kissing him. His magic roared through her, lighting her anger into a frenzy. His touch was demanding rather than gentle, and she yielded quickly, surprised when he pushed her to climax fast, using his mouth and hands. Her orgasm came fast and hard, slamming into her. Declan entered her then, pushing the waves of pleasure higher and higher, nipping, kneading and maneuvering her body roughly. Lost in the sensations, Zoey cried out as he held her in the state of pleasure, her body bucking beneath his. She entered his mind, the strange place between them, as he fucked her hard and fast. His restraint was sliding as he commanded her body to new heights using magic and physical prowess.

A new sensation – deep and primal – built within her, mirrored through their bond and the physical joining. The strength of it alarmed her at first, until she recalled that he shared his soul with her the first night and did so again tonight. This time, though, he was nudging the door of hers open.

The tension of his body grew, the connection between them taut and straining as they both fed off the sex energy. Near madness with an orgasm extended for half an hour, she started to slide into darkness when the primal build-up broke simultaneously with Declan’s orgasm. Zoey’s strangled cry sounded distant to her ears as ecstasy paralyzed her with undulating ripples that tore through her, physically and spiritually. The sense of being united with him were more intense as their pooled pleasure swept through them on all levels, shattering the barriers between their minds and souls. They were fused by the sex energy.