Seduce the Darkness (Alien Huntress #4)(46)
Author: Gena Showalter

"He did what?" She had thought it odd that AIR had spent so much money on a real oak dresser and a mattress made from true feathers, but she’d never suspected Devyn’s involvement.

Ann lifted a butterfly needle. "We were set to buy the cheapest stuff we could find—sorry, but it’s true—when he told us not to bother, that he’d buy what you needed with his own money."

Why would he do such things? She was nothing to him. He was already dating other women. Not that he’d ever taken Bride on a date. And not that she would have said yes if he had. Really.

Ann pushed the sharp needle into her vein, blood slowly, too slowly, filling the tube attached to the other end. "Dallas told me he heard Devyn call you sweetheart."

"Yeah. So." Devyn had an endearment for everyone. "He’s only ever called me darling," Claire said.

"Me, too. Darling this and darling that. He calls Eden Black pet, and he’s obsessed with her, but he’s never called her sweetheart."

Bride’s teeth and nails sharpened dangerously. "Obsessed with her? Why?"

"She’s Rakan, and he’s never had a Rakan."

Sounded like something Devyn would say. I want to kill Eden Black.

"But, anyway, he tortured that human for you." Claire stepped around the table and eyed Bride questioningly. "Even cut his head off."

"Yes. But only because I had something he wanted." She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her tone.

Madison, too, veered around and faced her. "Honey, he pursued me for a week—that’s the most I could resist him, and the most time he’d give me. He’d already moved on to someone else when I threw myself at him to regain his attention. Anyway, during that week he heard my partner berate me, call me names. Believe me, I had something he wanted, too, but he didn’t kill Tate for me. Didn’t even yell at him."

Wait. "You’ve been with Devyn?"

Smiling happily, Madison nodded. So did Ann and Claire. Bride’s eyes widened. "All of you have been with him?”

“Nearly every female agent in AIR," Ann said, and she didn’t sound upset.

"Why that… that… man-whore!" Bride had known he was promiscuous, but damn. Was there no one he wouldn’t screw? Probably not. Besides Bride. Her, he pleasured with his fingers and his mouth but didn’t penetrate.

Why hadn’t he taken her? She’d been willing. Much as she would have liked to deny that, she couldn’t.

The tourniquet loosened on its own, and Ann tugged it from Bride’s arm. She withdrew the needle with one hand and placed a bandage over the puncture wound with the other. "So tell me. What was he like? With you?"

All three women leaned in close, their heartbeats suddenly a roar in her ears.

Bride squirmed in her seat, sweating, now having trouble catching her breath. Her gaze locked on Ann’s pulse, and even more moisture flooded her mouth. The agent’s skin appeared soft, her vein full. One little nibble wouldn’t—

Argh! No.

"Bride?" one of them said.

She blinked, bringing them back in focus. No blood. Not now. They were still staring at her, waiting. Waiting for information about Devyn. She knew they wanted to compare her experiences with their own so they could feel better about how he’d treated them. Fine. She’d give them all the gory details.

"He nearly blinded me with that glowing skin thing," she said stiffly. "I mean, really. How annoying is that?"

"He glowed?" Claire asked, brow puckering.

The three women shared a strange look, as though silently asking each other if Devyn had glowed for them. Each one shook her head no.

He hadn’t glowed for them?

"Tell us more," Madison pleaded.

The words tumbled from her before she could stop them. "He tried to make me beg for it, but I refused. He gave it to me anyway, but he wouldn’t let me leave afterward. And when I tried to walk away, he tightened his hold. Talk about frustrating!" See, she wanted to shout. He’s not a prize. He was domineering and too determined to have his way.

One by one, the women straightened. They shared another look. A look of wonder, this time.

"What?" she demanded, wiping at the sweat on her brow with the back of her wrist. Her hand was trembling.

Ann was the first to shake off the awe. "He held you? After he finished with you?"

"Yes." Why were the lights in the cell suddenly winking on and off? Light, dark, light, dark. And why didn’t the agents seem to notice?

"He couldn’t get his clothes on fast enough with me," Madison said with a pout.

"Two seconds after he came, he thanked me and rolled from the bed," Claire said. "He was out the door a minute after that."

Both females sounded like they stood at the end of a tunnel, their voices thick and distant, slowed.

"He did me up against a wall and patted my head when he was done. Then he walked away and never looked back." Ann sounded closer, but no less slurred. "’Course, I couldn’t chase him because I was boneless, completely sated." She paused. "Bride, are you okay? Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look terrible."

They watched her with expectation, waiting for her reply. About Devyn? About her health? She didn’t know what to say. Clearly they thought it was a miracle that Devyn had stayed with her after his climax, but they couldn’t know that he’d had nowhere else to go. That he’d been waiting for Macy. That he hadn’t trusted Bride to stay put.

He didn’t like her, not the way they thought. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone on a date with another female. He would have been here, claiming his kisses. Feeding her that delicious blood. Blood … Need blood.

"Bride?"

Dizziness flooded her mind, her thoughts breaking apart, unable to realign themselves. Where was she? What was happening to her? She pushed to shaky legs, but they were too weak to hold her weight, and she crashed into the cold concrete floor. A sharp pain exploded in her temple, and the world around her blackened completely.

"Open your eyes, sweetheart." Word of Bride’s collapse had spread through AIR quickly, and Devyn had come running. Though he’d forced himself to remain outside headquarters these last three days, he’d never strayed far from the building.

Not even for the date he’d called a halt to half an hour into. He’d taken an agent to dinner, but before the appetizer had even arrived, he’d tossed a wad of cash on the table and left. Hadn’t been right. Hadn’t felt right. Bride was being drained, and he was out having fun. Well, not fun. He’d been miserable, unable to charm or flirt with his intended partner for the night.

He didn’t know who he was anymore, or what he wanted. No, not true. He wanted Bride.