Ruined (The Eternal Balance #1)(69)
The demon stepped back and sat in the chair across from the bed.
“Eons ago, there was a great war. A century of battle that soaked our land with the blood of soldiers. Lucifer, having had enough of our games, banished the demons from hell. Zenak and I were punished more harshly. The instigators of it all, we were trapped in limbo. Not here. Not there. And then the Tainted came along. Born with a blemish on their soul, it created an opening. A doorway that we might pass through. It was a way for us to walk in the mortal realm as our brothers did.”
“The other demons, you mean?”
It nodded. In an instant, it had my shirt over my head and on the floor at our feet. “As with most things in nature, there was a loophole to our punishment. An opportunity to gain back the power and standing that we’d lost. To be truly free again.” The demon sighed. It was watching Sam hungrily. “Come here,” it commanded.
She hesitated, but stood and crossed the room, stopping in front of the chair.
Azirak studied the planes of her face and the way the lines of her shirt hugged her curves. It listened to the sound of her breath, moving through her lungs at a slightly elevated pace and matching the beat of her heart. I felt the demon’s desire. It was like standing in the middle of an inferno, burning with no hope of rescue. The thing wanted Sam. Images flashed before my eyes. Sam, naked and writhing beneath it on the floor. Calling out its name and begging for more.
“You asked what would happen if blood was spilled. You must first know that it isn’t just any blood. It must be royal blood. If that blood is spilled, then hell will happen upon this earth,” it said.
“What—”
“Enough,” it snapped. “Touch me.” Grabbing her hand, it held it up to my bare chest.
Sam’s stayed like that for a moment, before pressing down harder and scraping her nails downward.
Azirak threw back my head and let out a moan. So did I. There had never been anything like it. The pleasure. The pain. She wasn’t gentle. The scratches left deep red trails, one even breaking the skin. A thousand razor-sharp needles mixed with alluring scent. Sam. Lust. It was the most erotic f*cking thing ever.
When she came to the waist of my jeans, she undid the button and yanked down the zipper. Hard. Blood thundered in my ears. I didn’t know how the demon was doing it. Staying so still. I’d have attacked her by now. Thrown her down and torn off every scrap of clothing on her body. Not Azirak. It retained control, standing statue-still as Sam slipped her hand into my jeans.
She cupped me, working her hand and squeezing lightly. Azirak gasped, and when Sam’s fingers moved to the waistband of my underwear, fingers slipping inside, the atmosphere in the room changed. It darkened. Something shattered, and a floodgate opened. In that moment, all I wanted was to take her. Any way I could. Every way I could.
The demon lifted her off the ground and charged the bed, pinning her beneath my body. Its mouth was on hers, ravaging, while my fingers tugged—no, pulled—at her hair. It ground itself against her, and the noises she made, soft moans and surprised whimpers, drove us both close to the edge.
“I understand now,” it whispered, pulling back, hoarse and short of breath. “The allure you hold for him. He wants you. As do I.”
Sam sat up, her breath ragged, the expression on her face sad. “I want him, too. But only him.”
Just when I thought it would tear her jeans off and finally in the most f*cked-up way possible give me what I’d waited so long for, Azirak was off the bed and across the room. A new feeling filled me, coming from the demon and bleeding into the room. Blue. Sadness. The rejection it felt was stifling, choking out the air, and I couldn’t breathe. When the reality of it hit me, I was stunned. I loved Sam. I’d loved her my entire life. But now, I wasn’t the only one. Azirak loved her, too. I didn’t know when it happened, or how, but I knew it just as I knew my own name. Azirak was in love with Sam. It wouldn’t feed from her.
It bent to retrieve my shirt from the floor. “I am sorry. There is no him. There is no me. There is only us. You will both need to accept this.”
My feet, still under the demon’s command, carried us from the room and onto the street.
Chapter Thirty
Sam
I paced the hotel room for the six hundredth time. This was becoming an annoying habit. Back and forth between the cheap faux wooden desk and someone’s sick idea of art—a horrible painting of a countryside pasture. Jax had been gone awhile and I knew I shouldn’t worry—he was a demon for crap’s sake—but I did. The way Azirak left made concerned me. I’d made a deal with it. Information in exchange for… For what? Would I really have gone through with it? Screwed a demon? It gave a twisted new definition to the phrase “anything for love.”
I sank onto the bed, too tired to keep moving. Sleep hadn’t been something I’d gotten much of in the last few days. Since the dreams started, I’d been avoiding it. Coffee, caffeine pills. Whatever I could do to stay awake. Unfortunately, it was all about to catch up and the timing couldn’t possibly be worse.
Moving. I needed to keep moving. That way, I couldn’t nod off. I jumped from the bed and resumed pacing. No nightmare land, then no sleepwalking into the arms of the enemy. But with each step, resolve crumbled a little more. Grabbing the TV remote, I flipped it on and began channel surfing. Unfortunately, there were only two. Old game shows and infomercials. Both would have the opposite effect I was after.