Page 14 of Siren Sins
Derek nodded. “That you are, my boy.”
Without meaning to, my gaze swept past his shoulder and found Sonya. The prophecy had dominated every motivation and now gave me the clarity I needed to have the resolve to stand against the Incubus King. My will strengthened to see her head arched back and her fingers clawing into the dragon’s hair as she moved under him. I promised myself I would keep her safe… we all would.
After the peepshow between Sonya and Jet was over, I’d thought that Derek would have taken me to some dark and murky cell. That’s how I’d always been treated, but instead, he shoved me into the elevator with him and two other men. One produced a key and next thing I knew, we were going down.
When we were twenty levels underground, I shivered and gave Derek a wary glance. “You got some creepy cell waiting for me?”
Derek crossed his arms as if he was bored. “I wouldn’t call it a cell, but I suppose it depends on your definition.”
I glowered. “Any place I can’t leave when I want to.”
He shrugged. “Then a cell it might be, if you want to leave after I show you a piece of your home.”
Intrigued, I watched with wide eyes as the elevator doors opened and bathed us with blissful light. It was as if I’d broken down Angelstone and crushed it into a fine powder, then set it on fire to melt into the very air.
I sucked in a breath and stepped into the soft golden glow of the room. “What is this?” I gasped. He’d teased me that I’d finally see proof of what I was, but I was no stranger to Angelstone. My uncles procured it by the masses, digging out deposits of it that rested beneath ancient churches and other holy sites. My mother, a powerful Seer, knew it was the only refuge from the plight to come. “If you’ve hurt my family—”
“Relax,” Derek said with a soothing voice. He had that kind of smug “I know I’m amazing” look, but this time he might have earned it. “America isn’t the only place with Angelstone.” He propped his hands on his hips and smiled at the Angelstone. “Welcome to one of my hidden treasures, the Shanghai Sanctuary.”
We were no doubt in underground tunnels, but everywhere I looked the walls, floors, and ceiling were polished to a fine golden marble sheen that illuminated our surroundings as if sunlight poured in. Light came from everywhere, but it was a soft and comforting glow.
When my eyes adjusted, I spotted furniture that decorated the lengthy rooms that wound with the natural flow of the tunnels. We were far from alone. The emerald velvet chairs boasted couples lost in their individual bubbles of intimacy.
I squinted as I tried to judge the tunnel’s inhabitants. The women were human, but the men most certainly were not. Their eyes were slitted with a familiar reptilian streak and tattoos blurred over their skin. I approached, but they didn’t seem disturbed by my presence. The one closest to me ran his hand down his woman’s bare thigh, his touch light and gentle. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she eased down onto the plush sofa.
“Can they hear me?” I asked in a whisper.
Derek hooked an arm around my neck with faux camaraderie. “No. They’re immersed in bliss. Thanks to the Angelstone, it’s not sex, not here. It’s something more intimate than that.” He pointed at another couple. The dragon’s emerald scales blazed over his arms as his woman straddled him, but they were both fully clothed and seemingly uninterested in anything more primal than what they were doing. She ran her fingers down his arms, her fingertips barely grazing the edges of his scales. “See what I mean? See how they’re lost in pleasure, but barely touching one another?”
Mesmerized, I crept closer to the couple and watched how they continued to scarcely caress one another, both lost as if in the throes of orgasm with mouths parted. I turned to the Incubus King. He was the king of sex, literally. I didn’t know why he’d create a place like this, nor what he gained from it. “Have you done something to them?”
He smiled, and it was a wicked kind of smile that said that he most certainly had. “Think of them as thralls, but not to me.” He waved out his arms. “They feed this place with life. It’s one of many reserves that I will call upon when it’s time.” He leaned in and his tone took on a conspiratorial whisper. “What I need your help with is a few more levels down.”
I frowned. “You wantmyhelp?”
He grinned and wrapped his fingers over my shoulder. “Yes. Like I said, this place is a part of your heritage. If you want to know who you are, if you want to survive what Sonya will do to your broken soul, then it’s in your best interests that we work together.”
Even before his fingers squeezed hard enough to bruise, I vowed not to do anything of the sort. The Incubus King was a charmer, but I wasn’t easily charmed. “Go fuck yourself.”
An Alliance
Sonya
Curled in a dragon’s arms, I relished the experience of sex with someone new, and someone powerful. I didn’t have to worry that I’d break him, or that a lingering moment of lust between us would suck out his insides until he was a cold carcass. Sex with humans like Nate had come with a price, and even if I’d cheated a bit with the Blood Stone, I’d never felt so relaxed as I felt now. Jet was so warm and strong. My insides curled with reminiscent pleasure at the sensation of such heat in the most erotic of places.
Biting my lip, even as I relished the hard warmth under my cheek that was Jet’s chest, I forced myself to remember why I’d slept with him. He wasn’t just exciting and alluring; he was one of my four, and my ticket out of Shanghai. I doubted he was ready to accept our ancient bond, especially when I couldn’t even describe what it was, so I stuck to my initial plan. If he wouldn’t leave for me, perhaps he’d leave for the sake of pride.
“So, what's he like?” I asked as I forced myself to stoke the flames of his jealousy. “Your brother, that is?”
Jet sneered. “He's ajiàn.”
I smirked at his instant scowl of distaste. “What's ajiàn?” I asked.
He pursed his lips and hummed thoughtfully. “It could be translated a few ways. Let's go with ‘he's a dick.’”
I snorted. “I see.” My hand lowered, finding the erotic part of him surprisingly rigid. I would have thought it worn out by now. “If his dick is anything like yours, maybe Derek’s alliance won't be so bad.”
He rolled his eyes and pushed me away. His rejection stung, but I could only blame myself. I was trying to make him jealous and it was working. “His women never complain,” Jet admitted, “but their eyes are dead after a while. You wouldn't want to be his bride, even if he wanted you.”
