Sherrilyn Kenyon: No Mercy

“A bear can dream. But those dreams can also get him skinned.”

“Will you be naked when you skin me?”

She shook her head. “Does everything come back to being naked?”

“Not everything. Just when a beautiful woman’s involved and only if I’m really lucky…. Any chance I might get lucky tonight?”

She let out a short “heh” sound. “You sure you’re a bear and not a horn dog?”

He laughed. “Believe it or not, I’m not usually quite this bad.”

“Why don’t I believe you when you tell me that?”

“Probably because I’ve been really bad tonight.” He winked at her. “I’ll stop. You said you have a question that unfortunately does not involve nudity?”

Sam had to force herself to keep a straight face while he continued to tease her. Don’t let your guard down. Men like Dev only wanted a woman for a few hours and then they were done with her.

No matter how cute he was, he was not her type and she was definitely not interested in learning the inner haunts of his mind.

“That Daimon you think you saw…did he say anything to you?”

“Not really. Just asked when we’d reopen.”

“You remember what he looked like?”

He gave her a droll stare before he answered in a flat tone. “Blond and tall.”

Sam rolled her eyes at his description. All Daimons, unless they dyed their hair, which was rare, were blond and tall. “Anything else?”

“He had fangs and dark eyes.”

Like every Daimon she’d ever seen. “You’re really not helpful…. Would you mind if I touched you?”

His right eyebrow shot north before that familiar teasing light came into his blue eyes. “Touch me where?”

“Stop being a perv for three seconds. I just want to see what you saw that day.”

He stepped away from her. “I’m not going to let you into my mind, girl. You might steal my passwords or something.”

“I don’t want your passwords.”

“Uh-huh.” The doubtful expression on his face was actually adorable. “That’s what they all say, then the next thing you know they’re in your bank accounts, stealing money, and using your Facebook account to sporn others and getting you banned for life. No thanks.”

“Sporn?”

“Porn spam. Don’t get that innocent look like you don’t know what I’m talking about. I know all about you and your Amazon buddies…. I’ve heard the stories. Seen the news and all that. I’m not letting you near my brain such that it is. Last thing I want to do is forget what Ms. February looks like in all her glory. I went to a lot of trouble to memorize that page and I want to keep it.”

Sam wanted to be angry at his ridiculous outburst, but he was too funny about it. “Stop being a baby and give me your hand.”

He took another step away from her. “No.”

“You’re serious?”

“Of course I am. I don’t want you in my head. Last time a woman read my thoughts, I got bitch-slapped so hard, my ears are still ringing from it. And as a guard bear, I need my hearing intact. Could be fatal to lose it.”

“I’m going to bitch-slap you again if you don’t stop being a baby.”

He growled like a caged grizzly. Impressive sound. But she’d once worn shoes made out of the hides of tougher animals than him and that had been before she’d had her Dark-Hunter powers to back her skills.

“I’m not intimidated.”

“You should be. ’Cause that’s the only warning I plan to give.” Dev really didn’t want to do this. He’d never been one to let anyone see inside him. It was intrusive and rude. “I can’t stress enough how much I don’t want you in my mind.”

“What’s in there that you’re so afraid of sharing?”

“My dirty underwear.”

She scoffed as she tried to touch him. “I don’t want that. C’mon, Dev.”

He shied away again. “C’mon Dev nothing. My thoughts are my own and I don’t see you letting me mind meld you.”

She kept trying to touch him, but he was really quick and darted just out of her grasp every time. “That’s ’cause I have nothing to show you that’s important to you. I just want to see what the Daimon looked like. That’s the only thing I’ll take. I promise.”

“Yeah, right. Can you honestly control your powers that well?”

She blushed.

“Ah, see, I knew it. You’re going to go digging in there and I’m going to forget how to do origami or something. Or worse, I’ll start peeing in corners and burping at inappropriate times.”

“Like you don’t do that anyway.”

“Are you profiling me because I’m a guy or a bear?” His tone was highly offended. “Lady, you don’t know me well enough to make that comment and for the record, I have a lot of unbearish habits. I even drink tea in a crappy pink-flowered cup. Have I said how much my sister annoys me?”

She ignored his tirade as she brought him back on task. “It won’t hurt.”

“Yeah, and the flashy thing is just an eye test.”

What in the world was he talking about now? “The what?”

“Flashy thing? Haven’t you ever seen Will Smith in Men in Black ?”

“Uh…no.”

He sighed. “You’re so deprived.”

“And you’re so peculiar. Is there anyone else who saw the Daimon who isn’t afraid of me?”

“I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid of the brain damage you’re going to give me. No offense, but I need my last three working brain cells.”

“I’ve never given anyone brain damage by doing this.”

“Uh-huh.” He wrinkled his nose. “That you know of. Have you done CAT scans on everyone you’ve done this with? No. Do you know whether or not you took out their long-term or short-term memory portions of the brain?”

No, but that really wasn’t an issue. She wasn’t going to radiate him or anything. “Paranoid much?”

“Absolutely. You watch this door for a hundred years and see some of the shit that comes through here. You’d be paranoid too. I don’t want no mojo hocus pocus stirring in my head. If I want to play head games, I’ll download Sudoku on my iPhone.”

Sam held her hands up in surrender. There was no use arguing with someone who was this stubborn. “Fine. I’ll do it without touching you.”

“Ah, now that’s just rude.” He narrowed his gaze on her.

Sam knew he had something in mind and when he spoke again, she gaped at his intentions. “Fine then if that’s what you want. You go digging in my head and I’m going to stand here and undress you with my eyes until you’re buck naked. Just so you know, I’m putting you in a sheer red thong. No bra…maybe a pair of red pasties…no, better yet, strawberry-flavored nipple paint and I’m coating your entire body in honey.”

Sam grimaced. “You’re a male pig.”

“I’m a bearswain and you’re lucky I’m tolerating you to pick through my brain. Last person tried that, I ate their head, and besides, I should get something out of this before you destroy my frontal lobe and make me drool on myself and relearn how to use eating utensils. Have you ever tried doing that when you’re a bear? It wasn’t easy the first time. Last thing I want to do is relearn it at my archaic age.”

She had to roll her eyes again at his unwarranted hysteria. “I don’t think that’s the part of the brain that controls your drool.”

“But you don’t know for sure, now do you? No, you don’t. ’Cause you’re a Daimon necrologist, not a Were-Hunter neurologist. You don’t know what damage you’re going to do until it’s too late and then an I’m-sorry-Dev-I-burned-out-your-brain ain’t worth squat. Probably won’t even understand the apology because you’ll hose my Wernicke’s area of the brain and set me back to infancy.”