Demon Branded (Demons of Florida) (3 page)

“Don’t be afraid. I will not harm you.” It took all he had to turn from the glimpse of pink between her legs. He gripped her thigh, took a deep breath to steady himself, and set the tatt gun to work, making the second mark on her smooth flesh. Blood pooled and her body arched over the deep red silk beneath her.

“What in the hell are you doing?” Her raspy, gravelly voice made him pant with the need to kiss that delicious mouth.

Sweat trickled down his hairline but he concentrated, ignoring the urge to move and the taunting scent of woman that begged him to taste her pussy—the one just right there but that he didn’t dare take a peek at until he was done.

“Claiming you. Now hold still.” He flipped the device back on. The hum filled the room. Carefully, he started to work on her hip again. The scent of her blood mingled with his. His hand tightened but he kept himself in check.

She jerked. Her other leg brushed against him. He hissed with the contact of her flesh against his raging hard-on. She yanked her arms but couldn’t get free. “Demons are foul. Assholes. Fuckhats. Kidnapping women. Going to rape me, prove you’re evil and have a big cock? All you’d do is show you’re pathetic. Can’t get it up if a woman’s not tied down, you bitch?”

“I do have a big cock.” He chuckled, ignoring the rest. He couldn’t let her accusations, her understandably wrong assumptions about him, stop him. But the dark humor took him, and the demon nature to taunt, couldn’t stop the retort. “I’m sure you can handle it.”

She growled, low and threatening. As a wolf, she presented danger. As a woman, her rumble reached inside him and grabbed his gut. It was a complete turn-on.

“I won’t be handling it.” Her disgust was plain, harsh. “If you touch me with that thing, I will rip it off.”

“I can’t wait for you to handle it.” Visions of her hands—of black polish on short nails above a wrist tied in red silk—wrapping his cock and stroking, filled his head. Ruthlessly, he concentrated on the art taking shape on her upper thigh and extending toward her hip. “This is my name in demonic script. And a phrase which essentially means:
demon and woman, united as one
.”

“Stop.” The command held power. She was an alpha, through and through. His muscles twitched and he had an urge to step away, but he resisted.

“It won’t work. If I could disobey that demon spawn who was the woman who birthed me, I can resist your commands. There are some who do have the power to force my compliance. At the moment, you are not one of them.”

“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t do this. I don’t know you. I don’t know what you want, but I’m just a wolf. Nothing special. You don’t want to do this to me—whatever it is. If you let me go now, I won’t call the police.”

“This won’t be much longer. I’m sorry if it hurts. Do you feel its power, the heat?”

She didn’t reply, which was answer enough. She must feel the magic as it coalesced. He spoke, to cover the sound of the buzzing. To keep his nerve, to remind him why he did this. “And you are more than just a wolf. You’re a she-wolf, an alpha female, strong enough to resist the petroleum allergy that plagues your kind. Strong enough to go against the Hunters of Orion.”

She drew in a sharp breath, and it wasn’t from the pain of the tattoo. Glancing at her arms, he wanted to ask, but that was for another time.

His she-wolf snarled, “Someone’s been feeding you lies.”

“Not at all.” It had taken years to negotiate, to gain the trust of a wolf PACk willing to listen. With his father, step-mother, and Brock, the PACk leader, the plan had taken shape in the past two weeks, since Brock had spoken of his sister.

Tiago had altered the plan somewhat. “You’re Fiona Wolfrick, sister to Brock, who gave his blessing by the way. He hopes you’ll come visit once this plan is seen through. He called you Ona.”

Her entire body tensed and he made the last mark on her skin. Rich red liquid welled in the pinprick. As he’d worked, her blood had been absorbed by the magic of the device. His mouth still watered, craving it, wanting to lick it away. He’d never had such ghastly urges before. Until tonight, even earlier this evening, the sight of blood made him nauseous.

“My brother?” A small break in the word gave her away. She hid softness under that hard exterior. “What did you do to him?”

She bowed up and he carefully extricated himself. He’d tied her down to brand her. Not to force her—though he’d fully expected an enthusiastic invitation once he’d marked her. That’s why he’d taken off his clothes, in what appeared to be a vain hope. If he stayed there one minute more with her creamy skin sliding against his legs where he sat between her thighs, he wouldn’t be able to resist. His cock dripped precome on the bed and the steam hissed as it hit.

Her breathing went choppy and she tugged on her wrists. “It’s getting a little too hot in here.”

“Yes,” he grumbled.

He stood, and she carefully kept her gaze on his face. Her blue eyes didn’t flicker, but the rush of her blood sounded loud in the room. A human wouldn’t hear, but he did. She did. They both knew she was afraid, but she didn’t show it. Flipping his palms up to show he meant no harm, he carefully wrapped his hand around her ankle.

She jerked, but he held her tight.

“I’ve done as needed. If you were human, you’d already be eager to finish our joining. But that isn’t a crucial step for us to take tonight.” He swallowed a groan. He’d so hoped the demon brand would send her into heat. Because damn, he wanted to finally have sex. His kind had innate abilities to please a partner, but it came at a cost. Once bonded, he’d never want another woman. He’d never taken that chance with casual sex. So here he was, a twenty-five year old virgin. “I will untie you on your word to stay calm and listen.”

“Right.” She laughed. An edge of scorn and hysteria pitched the sound high and wild. “I can stay calm.”

It didn’t matter what she said. He’d taken the essential, irrevocable step. The first step in the plan to bring down the reigning Demon Queen had begun.

Chapter Two

Damn the demon had a large as hell dick. But Ona didn’t sense an incubus vibe from him. If he were one, he’d already be mounted on her, thrusting that long, thick cock inside her. She creamed. Squirming, she held her breath, refusing to scent the proof of her lust.

She was a disgrace. Sex was a tool she used. It was an arousing and enjoyable pastime. But with other wolves. With humans.

Never with demons. She’d never fucked a demon, never would. So even if she were tied down on this sinfully soft red bedding, spread like a buffet, and slick and horny, it didn’t mean she wanted it.

“Untie me already.”

His nostrils flared. He gripped her ankle in a painful vise. She sucked in a breath and he let go with a downturn of his well-defined lips. His fingers stroked over her skin as he untied her foot. “I’m surprised to see your other markings. They should have healed. Someone hurt you, to give you those. Who was it?”

The last came in a full-throated demand that resonated low, harsh, and lethal. The room shook and his brow went down in a fierce scowl.

Unbelievably, she wanted to soothe him. It must be self-preservation. Fucking Stockholm Syndrome. Great. Just what she needed next in this fucked-up life. She wouldn’t let it make a difference.

So far, he’d seemed more sane than most, but as he was a demon, any moment he could turn feral and break her neck, if she were lucky. If she were unlucky, he’d make her death slow and painful. “They are a special mix using gasoline. They eventually fade after several shifts.”

Damn. She ground her teeth against the strangest urge to tell him anything and everything. Until today, the only person who’d known that was one tattoo artist on the fringes of Atlanta—a trusted friend under her protection. Not to mention under her thrusting body whenever she went for a touch-up.

He dropped her foot and tilted his head, staring at her arm. “Why?”

“None of your business.” He didn’t need to know what she did undercover inside the Orions—and that having tatts gave her a human alibi. No one had ever suspected she was a wolf.

“Ah. The Orions.”

“Fuck you,” she spat. Her cover had been blown. Now it was all lost. All fucked. Everything. Her rage surged. She held tight to the she-wolf clawing to get out. She needed to keep her head, and her beast knew nothing but anger and pain.

“That would be a nice gesture, but as I said, unnecessary. Those may fade.” He swept a hand toward her upper body and the movement made the muscles of his arms ripple. Her gaze traveled swiftly over him. He was toned. Tall. And still sporting that long, hard cock nestled in a patch of dark hair with a nice trail up a flat tummy. And just enough chest hair to cling to. “But I marked you with demon blood. That won’t wash off.”

“Why did you?” She clamped her mouth shut and bit her lip. She wouldn’t talk to him any more. She didn’t need to understand him. She needed to get the hell out of here.

“The first union of a demon and a wolf. We’ll unite the lesser demons out there who are hiding, or waiting for a sign to rise up. We’ll be the ones to stop the young Demon Queen. She’s determined to expand their territory from Florida.”

“They’ve been trying to do that for years. The government lets them play in Florida, but if they step out, they’d send the troops in.” At least, the government thought they kept the demons in check. A rift had allowed demons to spew into Florida decades ago. There’d been quite a small war waged, but demons died when their necks were severed. They weren’t invincible, just nearly.  A dangerous truce was settled. As far as the United States thought, they’d lost Florida but had saved the rest—Georgia and Alabama being in-between limbo states. The hot zone. In the shadows, the back alleys, the forests, the wolves and the hellions fought over border state territories. But most demons hid within the human world, quietly finding their own amusements by using the hellions and the Hunters of Orion to their purposes. If they ever banded together, the world was in for a shit storm.

Ona found herself leaning toward him to hear more as he untied her other foot. She grimaced and fell back on the bed, doing her best to appear relaxed, to lull him. When he freed her, she’d show him exactly what she could do to a demon.

“There’s a unique opportunity to turn the tide.” He flicked a glance up her body, starting with her feet, pausing on her hip that stung like a bitch from that tattoo he’d given her, and lingering for seconds on her tits. Then he found her face. His dark brown stare caught her, mesmerized her as he rounded the bed. Red flames flickered in their depths but it didn’t send her into defense. Instead, her mouth watered with further insane lust. “The Queen chose to unite with the house of Montevedo, as the past two have tried to do. The current queen believes she can succeed where her predecessors have failed.”

“Why this time?”

His brow quirked and he leaned toward her taking a deep breath. His eyes closed and he shuddered, but he didn’t move from his position, leaning over her only inches from her face. His eyes opened slowly. A sleepy gaze searched deep inside her, like he reached into her to see everything she was. The she-wolf whimpered and brushed against her skin, as if trying to get out and reach the demon. Not to tear out his throat, but to rub against him.

Her eyes widened and she thrust her head back in the pillow. “Why?”

Why did her beast suddenly want to rut and mate? A flicker of unknown sensation crawled up her spine.

“I am the last unmated Montevedo male. My guess is the Demoness believes that three quarters demon is enough to keep her bloodline pure while that quarter of humanity will allow her to bespell me. She is perfectly right. So I’ve taken myself out of her reach, the best way possible. I mated myself to a wolf.”

Stunned, Ona blinked as he untied her wrist. Her muscles bunched, but she grew lethargic and heavy, unable to move. He rounded the bed toward her last bound arm. In seconds she’d be free, but instead of jumping through the window, she had an undeniable urge to get to the bottom of this.

She shouldn’t. She should run. But, Brock had been involved somehow. Maybe she should listen. The demon’s fingers caressed her remaining tied wrist. She tensed.

“What does it matter if some demon bitch wants to fuck you?”

His head snapped back a bit. His jaw tightened and his eyes flashed. Steam rose from his skin and he leaned over her again. Taking up all the space in the room. Everything disappeared but those intense red-tinged eyes. “Would you want a demon bitch to fuck you? I suppose I might be into pain and blood if given the chance, but I’d rather not.”

The words wove into her belly and made it burn in pure white rage. Jealousy. A ball of determination hardened behind her rib cage. This demon was hers. No demoness would have him.

Her eyes went so wide they stung. None of the visceral reactions that still echoed and rolled around inside of her made sense.

“What the ever-loving-fuck did you do to me?” she yelled. She’d always known she’d take a mate. A wolf. She’s always known she’d dominate him. She’d always known it’d end in misery. Because as an alpha, she couldn’t accept another alpha, but she couldn’t see how she’d ever respect a mate who couldn’t stand up to her. “Never in my nightmares would I have ever imagined mating a demon. You’ve made me insane.”

“Not insane. You will see the wisdom, that I had to take this action. I accepted advice from my father in this decision. As well as your brother’s. I’ve tied our life forces together. We are as one.” His long fingers encircled her wrist as the silken ropes dropped away.