Desire Unchained Read Free Page A

they brought me in.” She figured she sported a shiner from the whack across
    the face she’d taken, but other than some scrapes and bruises, she was fine.

    “You’re sure?” He shifted to his knees and grasped her calf with his free hand.

    Runa recoiled, but he held her easily. “Don’t touch me.”

    “Easy, sweetheart. I’m just doing a system check.” His voice was rough and resonant,
    sensual without even trying. “You used to like it when I touched you.”

    “Yeah, well, that was before I caught you in bed with two vampires. Oh, and before I
    found out you were a demon.”

    “Only one was a vamp.”

    She sucked in an angry breath. “That’s all you have to say for yourself?”

    “I’m not the talkative type.”

    “Unbelievable,” she muttered. “You deceived me, cheated on me, and you can’t even
    bother with an I’m sorry?”

    He removed his hand and sat back on his hip, one leg tucked beneath him, the other
    cocked at the knee. He stared at the wall, his shoulder-length black hair falling forward to
    conceal his expression. “I’m sorry you thought I was human. I never said I was.”

    “Call me crazy, but is that really something I should have thought to ask?” she spat. “I
    guess I should have, because I might not have been so shocked to see a real-life vampire and a …
    whatever it was in your bed.”

    “You weren’t supposed to come to my place that night. You said you were busy.”

    “I wanted to surprise you.”

    And she’d done that, all right. She’d walked into his apartment, arms full of makings for
    a romantic meal.

    As soon as she’d stepped through the door, she’d heard the noises coming from his
    bedroom. Stomach roiling with foreboding, she’d crept down the hall to the open door.

    Shade had been on his back, sideways on the bed, his legs dangling over the edge. A
    naked woman straddled him, rode him slowly, her face buried in his throat. Runa must have
    made a sound, because he’d turned his head and looked at her with glowing golden eyes. Crazily,
    the first thing that came to mind was that she’d never seen his eyes when they’d made love. He
    always closed them, buried his face in her neck, or took her from behind.

    “Join us?” he’d asked, and that’s when Runa had noticed the other woman kneeling on
    the floor, her face between his legs.

    The woman on top of him raised her head. Blood ran down her chin, and when she
    smiled, her fangs flashed. A spiked leather collar ringed her neck, the chain connected to it
    ending in Shade’s fist.

    As Runa stood there in shock and horror, the woman bent, tongued his nipple, and picked
    up her pace. Shade moaned, gripped the woman’s hips, and arched into her.

    Runa had fled. Sobbing, she’d run—from one nightmare into another.

    “You said you were busy,” Shade repeated, fixing her with a penetrating stare. “I wasn’t
    expecting you.”

    “So that made what you did okay? When did you start screwing around on me?”

    He propped an elbow on his knee, somehow managing to look casual, as if he got
    captured by Ghouls all the time and maybe enjoyed it a little. “Don’t ask questions you don’t
    want to know the answers to.”

    “Oh, I want to know.”

    “I don’t think you do.”

    “You’re an ass.”

    “Tell me something I don’t know.”

    “I was in love with you.” Silence fell like an executioner’s ax. Oh, God. Had she just said
    that? Out loud? If the way the blood rushed from his face was any indication, then yep, she’d
    opened her big yap and made a fool of herself. “Don’t worry,” she said quickly, “I’m over it.
    Over you.”

    He leaned forward. “Good. Do you know what I am? What I really am?”

    “You’re a Seminus demon.” She glanced at the black markings that ran from the fingers
    of his right hand all the way up to his neck, tattoos she’d thought were just that; tattoos. But
    she’d since learned that they were something he’d been born