Jaxon figured he’d better have a chat with Anubis once he was done hunting for the night and had returned home. If there was something wrong with Jaxon, the god of the underworld would be able to fix whatever it was. Anubis had been the one to give Jaxon his shape-shifting ability in the first place.
A few minutes later Chyna returned carrying two plates of food. Jaxon sat up as she approached the bed. He had to admit he liked the fact she wore his t-shirt. It was too big for her—the bottom of it reached her mid-thigh and the sleeves ended at her elbows—but he thought she looked better in it than he did.
“Here you go,” she said as she placed one of the plates on the bed next to him. A knife and fork were on it as well as the food.
“Thanks,” he said and shifted over so she could sit beside him.
Chyna sat on the mattress cross-legged. Before she could start to eat, Jaxon reached over and tugged his shirt up her body and off. She gave him a questioning look.
He smiled. “You look better with it off. Plus, I don’t want to be the only one eating while bare assed.”
She returned his smile with one of her own. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a naked picnic on my bed before.”
“Well, now you can say you have.”
They ate in companionable silence until they’d eaten everything. Once Chyna put her utensils down, Jaxon snagged their plates and put them on the floor. He then turned to face her.
“That was delicious, but now I’m ready for my second course,” he said as he crawled closer.
Chyna leaned back on her hands. Her head fell toward her shoulder blades as he kissed the side of her neck. “And what would you like for this second course?”
“You,” he replied huskily. “I want you spread out on the bed while I feast on every inch of you.”
He felt her shiver, and the scent of her arousal perfumed the air around them. He loved the smell of it. He breathed deeply, taking as much as he could into his lungs. His cock hardened, more than ready to sink deep inside Chyna’s pussy and take her hard and fast.
Jaxon snaked an arm around Chyna’s waist and kissed her with all the passion that blazed inside him. Once he had her groaning into his mouth, he pulled away before he positioned her on her hands and knees. He ran a hand over her bottom, then dipped it between her spread thighs to stroke her pussy. His fingers came away wet. She was ready for him.
He shifted so he knelt behind her and took hold of her hips. Jaxon had thought to take his time with Chyna, but he wanted her too much. He stroked his cock against her wet opening. Once he was liberally coated, he brought the head of his shaft to her pussy and pushed home. Her inner walls closed around him, making him groan. She fit him perfectly.
He took her in hard, deep thrusts. Chyna pushed back, matching the pace he set. Jaxon could already tell he wasn’t going to last long, even though they’d already made love once before. She felt too damn good. Already his balls were drawing close to his body. His cock grew even harder as Chyna’s pussy gripped it tight.
In and out he surged. A low growl he couldn’t hold back rumbled out of him. Chyna let out a keening moan and her pussy squeezed and released his cock as she came. Jaxon’s release inched closer. As he kept thrusting, on the very precipice of his climax, his gums burned, heralding the change in them.
His gaze became fixated on Chyna’s back where her shoulder and neck met. Still sliding his shaft in and out of her wet passage, he bent over her. He opened his mouth, his upper lip peeling back. The urge to bite, to sink his teeth into her soft skin, battered him. Jaxon lowered his head, intending to act on what instinct screamed at him to finish.
At the last minute, he realized what he was about to do. Jaxon straightened and pumped his hips faster. With a loud moan, he came, his cock pulsing, filling Chyna with his cum.
Jaxon gathered her into his arms and took them both to their sides. She spooned against him, nestling deeper into his embrace. It had happened again. This unnatural urge to bite Chyna like an animal had reared its ugly head just before he’d come. It didn’t make any sense to him. He’d never wanted to go all animal on any of the other women he’d slept with. Just Chyna. The sooner he talked to Anubis about it the better.
Chapter Four
Jaxon was on the hunt for evildoers. He’d left Chyna at her apartment with a promise they’d get together sometime the next day. He’d actually had a hard time forcing himself to leave her. The idea of holding her through the night as she slept had been a temptation he’d wanted to act on. And it was a first. He never wanted to spend a night in a woman’s bed unless it involved a marathon of sex.
He walked down the sidewalk, waiting for the familiar pulling sensation that meant his prey was nearby. Most nights he never experienced it. It was a good and bad thing that San Diego’s crime rate had become so low. It was great for the mortals but not so much for him. He’d been created to send evildoers to the underworld to be judged. Without them, he didn’t have a real purpose.
Jaxon had thought of talking to Anubis about being given another city to watch over, one that would keep him busy, but Jaxon liked San Diego and didn’t want to leave it. And now that he’d met Chyna, there was no appeal in leaving it at all. He shook his head and snorted to himself. Two days. That was all it had taken to have him feeling closer to Chyna than he’d ever been to another woman. He just had to wonder if it would last.
The sudden strong pull of evil had Jaxon coming to a standstill as he tried to focus on where it came from. It was so intense, he knew if he didn’t get out of sight right now he’d shift out in the open.
Following the pulling sensation, he all but ran into the dead-end alley it led him to. The change tore through him the instant he was no longer so exposed. Jaxon gritted his teeth at the pain of his bones and muscles shifting and realigning. Once it was over and he was in his half-human and half-jackal form, it didn’t take him long to spot his prey.
A man stood at the very end of the alley, appearing as if he only waited for Jaxon. His prey didn’t have any kind of reaction to seeing the creature Jaxon had turned into as he came closer to the male. When dealing with mortals and prey alike, it was normal to have them almost pissing themselves in fear once they saw him. This man was different. The scent of fear didn’t emanate off him. All Jaxon smelled was the rank scent of evil. It was so thick he almost had a hard time breathing past it.
Jaxon walked toward his prey in long strides, determined to “see” the evil within the man. He’d come within a yard of the evildoer when the man spoke some words in a language Jaxon did not know, and Jaxon found himself slamming into an invisible barrier. He took a step to the side and ran into the same obstacle. Same with the other side and at the back of him. It was as if he’d been trapped inside some kind of invisible force field.
The evildoer laughed, the sound full of malice. His prey’s eyes glowed red as he approached Jaxon. Whatever this man was, he wasn’t human. Jaxon beat at the invisible wall but it held, keeping him in place.
“I have you right where I want you, warrior of Anubis. There’s no escape. So you might as well stop trying to get free.”
“What are you?” Jaxon asked.
“I’ve become your hunter, warrior.” He circled Jaxon. “My brethren and I have been hunting down each one of your kind, those of you who vowed to serve the god of the underworld. We escaped to the mortal realm to put an end to Anubis’ warriors so the souls you send to him end up with us, where they belong.”
Jaxon now knew exactly what this creature was. Anubis had told him to be on the lookout for one since a couple of the other warriors had had attempts made on them recently.
“You’re a demon,” Jaxon said with a growl.
The demon stopped in front of Jaxon. “Very good. But knowing what I am isn’t going to save you now.”
The creature lunged through the invisible barrier that kept Jaxon trapped. The demon took hold of Jaxon’s lupine head with his hands coming to rest on either side of it. Jaxon let out a howl of pain as something shot from the demons fingers into his head. It felt as if daggers were sinking into his brain. Even though he was stronger in his half-human and half-jackal form, he couldn’t break free of the creature who held him. The pain increased, then the world went black and Jaxon lost all awareness.
* * * * *
The sound of waves breaking against shore brought Jaxon awake. His eyes snapped open and he stiffened when he realized he was outside. Gazing around, he sat up and saw he was under one of the city’s docks. The sand was cool beneath him. He looked out toward the water and saw the sun was just about ready to set.
It couldn’t be. He had no memory of how he’d gotten there, but the last thing he did remember was when the demon had trapped him during his night of hunting. Had he lost an entire day?
Jaxon looked down at himself. He breathed a small sigh of relief that he was at least in his human form. But then he noticed several large patches of blood on his shirt and jeans. Lifting the t-shirt, he saw he’d been wounded. The one between his ribs looked as if a knife had been plunged into his side. Another on the right part of his chest appeared to be a gunshot wound. He had no memory of being hurt or in a situation that would have caused it to happen.
He rose to his feet, wincing at the aches and pains that accompanied the action. Jaxon looked around. There were only a few mortals about, and they were far enough away they really wouldn’t be able to see him in too much detail.
He walked up the beach toward the street. Getting back to his place was a priority. Talking with Anubis had become crucial. The god would hopefully be able to shed some light onto what had happened to Jaxon.
At the street, he pulled out his cell phone and called for a taxi. He was nowhere near where he’d left his car parked at the start of his night of hunting. And walking to it would take way too long.
The cab arrived and Jaxon got into the backseat. The driver didn’t even bother to turn around to look at him, which suited Jaxon since he was in no mood to think up some kind of excuse to explain his bloodstained clothes.
After the taxi driver let him out and Jaxon had paid the fare, Jaxon walked the short distance to his car. The first thing he noticed was the parking tickets on the windshield tucked under one of the wiper blades. There were two of them. He’d only expected one. He snatched them up and looked at them. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the dates. He hadn’t lost a day—he’d lost two.
What the hell?
Jaxon fished his car keys out of his jeans’ front pocket, then unlocked the driver’s door. He got in and started the engine. As he drove to his house, he racked his brain to see if anything of the last two days would rise to the surface. Nothing did. It was a bit scary to think he’d blacked out for that length of time. What the fuck had the demon done to him?
At his home, Jaxon parked his car in the garage and entered the house through the connecting door. He headed straight for the mini-temple dedicated to Anubis. He felt each of his wounds, but he ignored them. He was immortal and they wouldn’t kill him. Plus, they’d eventually heal on their own. Deep wounds such as those took longer than superficial ones.
Jaxon opened the door to the temple room and walked inside. He went to the altar. “Anubis. Anubis, I need to speak with you.”
It didn’t take long for the god of the underworld to answer him.
Jaxon? What happened? I lost my connection to you for the last two days.
“I don’t know. I just woke up under one of the docks with no knowledge of how I got there or what had caused the wounds I have.”
What is the last thing you remember?
“I was out hunting when I felt a strong pull of evil. I followed it and shifted to my other form. It was a demon. He trapped me in some kind of invisible shield. He told me how he and his brethren are hunting down all of us who serve you to take us out. Then he grabbed my head and I blacked out. I don’t remember anything else.”
This demon must be a lot stronger than the other two who went after my warriors.
Anubis paused before he spoke again.
I need to see what he did to you, and what happened during the days you were missing. It isn’t going to be fun for you. I might have to push past a block to get at the memories. It will more than likely be painful.
It wasn’t as if Jaxon had any choice. He needed to know what had happened to him. “Do it. Can you at least heal my other wounds first?”
Of course. No need to make you suffer any more than you have to.
Jaxon sucked in a sharp breath as a hot, burning sensation zapped through his wounds. The one from the gunshot burned the worst as the bullet worked its way to the surface. Once out, it fell to the floor.
Now for the not-so-fun part
, Anubis said.
There was a sensation of someone ruffling through his mind, but it wasn’t as unpleasant as Anubis had said it would be. “This isn’t so bad,” Jaxon said.
That’s because I was just seeing if those memories had been blocked from you first, which they have. Plus, whatever the demon did to you must be buried with them.
“Terrific.”
Here we go.
That was all the warning the god of the underworld gave Jaxon before he went to work on plowing through the block. Now this felt as if someone was taking an icepick to his brain. Jaxon held his head and groaned. He closed his eyes and concentrated on not collapsing on the floor. He breathed at a fast rate through gritted teeth. This must be what evildoers felt when Jaxon pushed into their mind to see all the evil they had done in their lives. He knew it was painful, but he hadn’t known how bad it actually was.
After a long-ass minute, the pain stopped as abruptly as it had started. And that was when his lost memories slammed into him. The demon had fucked him over royally. He’d taken away Jaxon’s humanity, so while in his half-human and half-jackal form, he was more beast than man. The reverse of what it normally was. And while in such a state, Jaxon had killed. Not with a sword or dagger but as a jackal would with his sharp teeth and claws. The only good thing about it was that the mortals he’d killed had been evil. But the bad thing was that in killing them he’d sent them to the underworld where the demons dwelled. No wonder Anubis had lost his connection with Jaxon. With no humanity left in him, he’d been working for the demon.
“Fuck,” Jaxon said in a harsh tone. “He forced me to break my vow to you.”
No, he didn’t. You weren’t cognizant of what you did. You never would have done those things if you had been. He used a spell on you to bring out your beast side.
“Will it happen again? Was this a one-time thing?”
Sadly, no, it isn’t. The demon’s spell was used in such a way that it can be triggered again without it having to be cast each time.
Jaxon did
not
like the sound of that. “Isn’t there any way for you to remove it?”
No. It’s buried so deep in your mind I risk doing permanent damage. It also has a fail-safe. Any tampering of the spell will trigger it, which will destroy your humanity—forever.
“So I’m supposed to walk around for eternity like a ticking time bomb just waiting for the demon to set the spell off whenever he wants?”
It won’t be for all eternity, Jaxon. To get rid of the spell, you have to send the demon to me. Once he’s been judged, he will no longer have any hold over you.
This just kept getting better and better. “So I guess my number-one priority will be finding this demon and taking him out. Hopefully he’ll reveal himself to me again or I’ll be screwed.”
You won’t have to worry about him hiding from you forever. He’s a demon. He won’t be able to resist coming to you to gloat.
Now Jaxon had two things to worry about happening when he was with Chyna. At the thought of her, he remembered he was supposed to have seen her two days ago. She probably thought he’d stood her up. That he’d gotten her into bed and now he was finished with her. He also remembered he had wanted to talk to Anubis about the biting urge he had while with Chyna.
“There is one other thing I have to talk to you about.”
You’re worried about what happens when you sleep with Chyna.
Anubis said it as a fact, not as a question.
“Yeah. How did you know?”
I saw it in your memories. There is nothing to worry about. You are supposed to want to bite her.
Jaxon scratched his head. “Ah, why would I want to do that? It’s never happened with another woman.”
Of course it hasn’t. Those females weren’t your mate. Chyna is. Once you bite her, you’ll give her the immortality I can’t grant her. I could only do that if she was dying on a battlefield and called out to me to save her life, as you did. Your life forces will be tied together.
He stiffened as a wave of denial surged through him. “No. No, no, no. Chyna is not my mate.”
Why not? I never intended for my warriors to remain alone forever.
Jaxon shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. It isn’t that she can’t be my mate. It’s the fact that I never want one. I will never tie myself to a woman like that, especially for all eternity.”
Regardless, Chyna
is
your mate. You can’t turn your back on her. The urge to bite her, to claim her as yours, will become harder and harder to ignore each time you sleep with her. At one point, instinct will take over and you’ll do what needs to be done. But I don’t want you letting it get that far. Chyna must be given the choice. I won’t be denied on this, Jaxon. You will make her your mate.