His Dark Bond by Anne Marsh Read Free Book Online Page B

sickness.”
    “So you just killed him.” She didn’t look as if she found his explanation particularly convincing, but that was her problem. Not his.
    “There will be more rogues. There always are.” He shrugged. And he’d kill each and every one of them. That was truth she could take to the bank.
    Instead of looking grateful, however, she looked even more horrified. He should have expected her reaction. She was human. Until today, she’d gone about her life ignorant of the role she was about to play.
    Ignorant of one inescapable fact: she was a pawn.
    And, since he could not allow Cuthah to control or destroy her, he would put her into play. He would match her with one of his brothers.
    “You can’t go around killing people.”
    He crossed his arms over his chest, deliberately playing with her.
    “Rogues don’t count.”
    Her face froze. It was too bad, really. Her smile would have lit the room, but she wouldn’t smile for him. So, fine. Fortunately, he didn’t need her smiles. All he needed was her body. Her soul. And a few words.
    It didn’t take her long to battle back, though. “Call MVD,” she ordered, sitting up straighter. “Let them handle it.”
    “There is nothing they can do.” He didn’t even have to lie, because that was the honest truth. There was nothing M City’s paranormal police division, MVD, could do here. The fact was that MVD was outmanned and outgunned. Good for picking up the bodies, but not so good for putting them down. Fortunately, she had him and the Fallen to see to her protection. “You stay here. With us.”
    “You bastard.” Her fingers curled into the pillows on top of the bed, and he wondered if she was going to throw a pillow at him, because he could see her visibly reaching for control. He liked seeing her on his bed. “Take me back. Now.”
    She stayed on the bed, though, and he figured that was telling. Her body accepted that she wasn’t getting past him, even if her mind was having a hard time playing catch-up.
    He shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. Eyed her slowly. Even all mussed up and heated, she was lovely. Her hair had uncurled completely from its disciplined chignon, delicate wisps caught along her jaw. She was beautiful, right down to the pink flush on her cheekbones as she glared at him.
    “I told you.” He didn’t usually have to repeat himself, but somehow he didn’t mind making an exception for her. Because it riled her up. He was a bastard, but he found that feminine resistance damn sexy. Since she wasn’t going to be his, he figured he was entitled to a little payback for the work he’d done to get her here. So he’d enjoy all the outrage she wanted to throw his way and drink it in, just a little. He had to wonder, though, what she would think if she knew that he could taste her anger, and it was ambrosia. “You stay here.”
    Her eyes flared, and he drank more deeply. Feminine outrage. A flicker of—not fear, but discomfort. Something had changed between them during the car ride. Curiosity. Heat. He leaned forward. “You’re going to bond with one of my brothers. All you have to do is choose.”
    Zer slid the little white lie in without blinking. Humans knew about the bond mates. Hell, they lined up and volunteered to become bond mates. The soul mates, however, were a carefully kept secret. Almost no one in the human world knew about soul mates because the Fallen didn’t advertise that possibility. That knowledge was a dangerous liability—and the mother of all bargaining chips.
    Plus, soul mates were forever. Nessa St. James was already reluctant—so how much more reluctant would she be if she knew she was trading away her life and not just a handful of days, weeks, or months? She’d find out when she found out—and it would be her mate’s problem. Not Zer’s.
    “You realize,” she said, laying out her objections in those cool, measured tones that didn’t match her rumpled appearance and that had him wondering