Sherrilyn Kenyon - No Mercy

Ignoring him, she closed her eyes and reached out to him with her powers. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t like doing this.”

“For the record, it don’t. But while you’re in there if you happen to see where I lost my nano, let me know. Been looking for it for days now. And the least you could do, Ms. Intrusive, is tell me where to find it.”

He was so strange.

Sam drew a deep breath and while he was distracted, reached out and wrapped her hand in his hair before laying her bare fist on his neck. She laughed triumphantly while he cursed. But she had him now and he couldn’t pull away without losing hair. She had no idea why getting something over on him made her feel so good, but it did.

Until she realized that she wasn’t reading anything from him.

Nothing.

What the…?

It wasn’t possible. She touched someone and they bled out thoughts. But not this time. Dev was completely blank to her.

She had nothing.

He snatched her hand away from his neck and grimaced as he lost some hair. “That was a dirty trick.”

She ignored his anger. “You’re empty.”

“Well, you ain’t so great yourself, lady.”

She shook her head at his offended tone. “No, that’s not what I meant. I can’t read you. At all. It’s like…” Like she was normal.

Not possible. She buried her hand in his soft hair again.

Still nothing.

Dev started to push her away, but two things kept him from it. One, he didn’t want her to snatch out another handful of his hair and two…

She felt really, really good this close to him. The scent of her skin filled his head and all he could see was the image he’d told her he was going to imagine. Every nerve in his body fired as he stared at his own reflection in her sunglasses and saw her naked in front of him. Before he could stop himself, he pulled those sunglasses off and tilted her chin up.

Don’t do it.

Asking him to stop was like asking a rock to swim—an impossible task. His body hungry for her, he dipped his head down and sampled heaven. Her soft lips met his and she breathed into him.

Sam’s senses fired as she tasted the heat of Dev’s kiss. Raw and demanding, he ravished her mouth and left her breathless. But it wasn’t just his kiss that ignited her, it was the fact that she couldn’t feel his emotions while he did it. Hear his thoughts. For one moment and for the first time in over five thousand years, she heard nothing but the beating of her own heart. She felt only her sensations.

Not his. Not even a smidgen.

That reality ripped through her and made her hungrier than she’d ever been before. She could sleep with him and not be haunted by it.

Her heart pounding, she deepened their kiss, wanting to savor every lick and touch the way she’d done when she’d been human.

Dev’s hormones kicked into high gear as she ran her hands over him, pulling him closer and closer…like she wanted to crawl inside him. She reached down between them to cup him in her hand through his jeans. Nothing could have made him hotter. Well, not entirely true. Had they been naked with her on her knees, it would have definitely made him hotter. But this was damn close.

He turned with her and pressed her against the wall. She lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist and squeezed him tight between her strong thighs.

Oh yeah… If they were naked, he’d be in complete ecstasy and right now all he could think about was being inside her.

“Dev! Fight!”

Dev jerked as he heard Colt’s voice over the headset—this time of night, they worked a skeleton crew which meant he and Colt were the sole awake muscle in the bar—the rest of the men were off the clock and most likely asleep. The only other staff in the bar was Aimee and their new human waitress who was the size of an emaciated twelve-year-old. Since he didn’t know if the threat was human or preternatural, he couldn’t ignore the call.

Damn it. He could kill them for the crappy timing.

He met Sam’s startled gaze. “Sorry, love. Gotta go.”

She nodded as her legs fell away and she freed him.

Whoever had done this, they better be dying ’cause if they weren’t, they would be. Grinding his teeth in frustration, he dodged through the doors to head for the ruckus.

Sam cursed in frustration as she took off after him to see what was going on.

Okay, I’m really not this big a slut. It’d just been so long since she’d touched a man without having to deal with his issues, that her hormones had swallowed her common sense. And honestly, she wanted him back for another round….

One that lasted a whole lot longer than three minutes.

Trying not to think about that, she went to help with whatever was happening.

Sure enough, there was a massive fight in the bar between two biker humans. Dev grabbed the biggest one and pulled him away from the smaller man he’d been pummeling while another shapeshifter male got between the combatants.

The bigger human slugged Dev hard across his face.

Dev didn’t even flinch as he grabbed the human by the shirt and shoved him back. “Boy, you knock on the devil’s door and he will head slam you through the wall.”

“Fuck you.” He moved to strike Dev again.

Dev ducked, spun the man around, and threw him so hard into the wall that his head left a dent in the Sheetrock. The human staggered back two steps, then crumpled to the floor.

“Dev!” Aimee Peltier snapped, coming around a table to check the human’s pulse. Tall and slender, her long blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She glared up in fury at her brother.

Dev’s face was a mask of innocence. “What? He was warned. Not my fault he’s too stupid to know when to shut his mouth and keep his hands to himself. I ain’t a saint, baby. They hit me. I hit back. You know the Sanctuary motto.”

The bear who held the other human laughed. “So Dev, you want to escort this one out?”

The human held his hands up in surrender. “I’m leaving. Right now. I don’t need to kiss a wall first.” He bolted for the door.

Aimee rose to her feet with a lethal glower. “He’s breathing, but damn, Dev…You know better. You could have killed him.”

Honestly, Sam considered Dev justified in what he’d done. Like Dev said, he’d warned the human.

A weird groan came out of the man before he rose to his feet. He narrowed his gaze on Dev. “You’re going to die for that, Bear.” He swept his gaze around at the other male bear and Aimee, then turned that soulless stare to Sam. “All of you are going to die, including you, Dark-Hunter.” Throwing his head back, he laughed maniacally.

This guy was definitely not human….

Dev grabbed him. “Enough of that crap. You’re—”

The man exploded all over him.

Dev cursed as he was soaked by something light yellow that had the viscosity and properties of snot. It went all over him, even into his mouth, eyes, and ears. “Ah, gah, it’s a slug demon. Aimee, mindwipe the humans. Colt, get me a towel and Lysol and Listerine.” Spitting out some of the mucus, he slung his arms, which caused the snot to fly in all directions.

“Hey!” Sam snapped, ducking the sticky shrapnel. “Keep your snot to yourself.”

Dev scoffed at that. “Oh, so now you don’t want to touch me, huh?” He tsked. “What is it with women? The instant you put a little slime on them, they get squeamish and have no more use for you.”

As he stepped toward her, she backed up. “Don’t make me have to hurt you.”

“You’re such a tease. I knew it. Fine, I’ll take my slimy self upstairs and deslug. Definitely brushing my teeth first. Then gargling with boiling water and straight rubbing alcohol.”