Enslaved (The Inbetween Novels) by R.C. Murphy Read Free Book Online Page A

them. When he took a lover in the Inbetween, the same green eyes tormented him. His concern about her did not affect his performance as an incubus. Once he was pulled to the Inbetween, the control he possessed over his body was forfeited to the woman who called him. Despite his wishes, despite where he longed to be, he still filled the wombs of women with his infertile seed.
    Deryck was disgusted with himself.
    A plate clattered onto the table across from him. Deryck flashed Herryk an annoyed look.
    The male scowled in return and pointed his fork at the expanding mess on Deryck’s plate. “Trying out a new diet? Or are too tired from your numerous hours in the Inbetween to eat?”
    “I have no clue what you’re talking about, Herryk.” Deryck kept his face blank; afraid the male’s dark eyes could see right into his mind.
    “You’ve been absent a lot, Deryck. You were never one to whore yourself so often.
    “Maybe I’ve decided to challenge you for top dick in our little band of brothers.” Deryck set his fork on his plate and pushed back from the table. “All my work seems to have put off my appetite. Or perhaps it is the company.”
    “No one is above me here.” Herryk rose.
    “We are all equal. You’d do well to remember that,” Wolfrik called across the room.
    Deryck sent the male a grateful look. “I have nothing to prove.”
    “How many women have you bedded this week, Deryck?” Herryk was incapable of letting anything go once he thought his reputation would be surpassed. Deryck’s predecessor, the one he’d assumed the name of at his initiation, had been a victim of Herryk’s scheming to be the best. To date, no one knew what happened after he was removed from the compound.
    “I’ve been doing my job and not competing against those I am supposed to work with.” Deryck snagged a pear out of the bowl at the center of the table. “Which I need to get back to, if you’re done trying to prove yourself.”
    “You’re up to something,” Herryk accused.
    “He’s probably taken a regular,” Garik chimed in from his seat.
    “You’re full of shit, Garik. He wouldn’t.”
    “I have not been seeing the same woman all week.”
    Herryk’s cold eyes snapped from Garik and studied Deryck. Deryck held his breath, waiting for the male to manipulate him with one of the infamous spells he’d inherited from his sire.
    “Well, damn. Maybe he has. Didn’t think you had it in you. Who is it?”
    “A gentleman doesn’t fuck and tell.”
    “Tell me when you see a gentleman enter our ranks and I’ll believe you.”
    The walls of the dining room seemed to close in around him. Too many eyes watched and Deryck knew they were trying to figure out if he’d taken a regular female on the Inbetween or if Herryk was right to suspect him of joining his competition. He wouldn’t tell them about Shayla and put both of them in danger.
    Ignoring the lecherous calls of the other incubi, Deryck left the dining hall. He took the short staircase down into the courtyard and followed it to the far side of the compound. Garik’s garden greeted him with a nose-full of fragrant flowers similar to those he’d left behind on Shayla’s desk. He should’ve grabbed them before he left, but his mind was focused on trying to fix his wrongs. After realizing how bad he’d scared her, getting out of the building before the angry humans descended on him took priority.
    Deryck sat on the lush green grass in the garden. A lavender plant swayed in the breeze, leaning closer as if to tell him a secret. Gods, did he wish it would. Someone, something in the universe must know why he’d been sent to the human realm to meet the only woman to arouse him outside of his indentured servitude.

 

     
    Faye possessed the uncanny talent to make herself at home in any environment. Her favorite place to turn into her private domain was Shayla’s couch—where she currently sprawled, taking up far more space than her slim body should be