Bound by Revenge (Guardian Series) (26 page)

“You broke my fucking leg, you asshole. I’m gonna kill you for this.” Marius meant every word.

He was going to try at least.

Alex was determined not to give him the chance. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin chord coiled tightly in a circle. With a flick of his wrist, it unwrapped like a whip. Positioning himself behind the leanthan, he wrapped the thin steel chord once around his thick neck, then in a figure eight around his wrists before doing the same to his ankles and connecting the two ends.

Once he was sure the leanthan was secure, he pushed him aside with his foot letting him fall against the wall and moved onto the demons.

Taking down that brute boosted Alex’s confidence and he was anxious to do it again. His heart pounded in his chest and adrenaline surged through his veins.

“One down, two to go.” Alex said as he stepped past the leanthan and walked over to the demons. 

Chapter Nineteen

Morgan looked stunning in a pair of skintight leather pants and a white ribbed tank top. She wore red stilettos that couldn’t be more inappropriate for a fight. She had to do it though. She wanted to look her best when she faced off against Vance. Just in case he was going to change his mind. It was still possible. The image of him running into her arms, covering her neck in aggressive kisses as his hands roamed freely over her body brought a flush of heat over her skin.

But looking at his gait when he approached, she lost the little bit of hope that still lingered. He was there to fight. If she wasn’t going to get to have sex with him at least she could kick his ass. It came a close second for her. The rush of adrenaline was almost as good as an orgasm.

“Hi honey. I’m so glad you came.” She stood on her toes to give him a quick kiss. Her lips left a red imprint on his cheek.

“Get off me, you bitch.” Vance snarled. “Whatever you’re up to, you’ll never get away with it. We’ll be there, every step. Everything you do. We
will
stop you.”

“That’s good to hear. I was starting to think you were losing interest in me.” Morgan replied, examining the manicure she splurged on that morning.

“Ha, in order to do that, I would have had to
have
interest in you at some point. And I just don’t remember that being the case.”

“Don’t be coy with me. You’re girlfriend isn’t listening right now. She’s got her hands full with one of my men.” She giggled, insinuating Sam was doing a little more than fighting.

Vance ignored Morgan’s double entendre.

“It’s got nothing to do with her and you know it. You were never more to me than a quick lay. A way to take the edge off. I never had feelings for you.”

“That’s a lie.” She screeched and stomped her foot defiantly only making a faint clicking noise on her heel.

“Do you really believe that, Morgan? Or are you just trying to make yourself feel better?” Vance couldn’t believe Morgan was having a tantrum in the middle of a battle. Her fists were held so tightly that her skin was turning white halfway up her arms. And he expected her next move to be a childhood classic, holding her breath until she got her way.

“You asshole. I’m gonna make you regret being so mean to me. You’re going to be begging me to take you back. You just wait.” She yelled.

“I think I’ll be fine.” He barked as he braced himself for Morgan to attack. He could see her temper gradually building. Vance knew exactly what he was doing. His best chance of getting the upper hand in the fight would be to jostle her focus. And telling her the truth, without any sugar coating, brought her to the brink of explosion.

Vance had fought beside Morgan but never against her. At least he knew what to expect. It was just going to take a little while to figure out her pattern. She always resorted to a pattern of some sort. It was part of her own peculiar brand of OCD. Everything in her life was planned out and scripted.

He threw the first punch, cautiously. He knew he wouldn’t make contact and he wanted to keep control of his body when he missed. The recovery had to be quick or Morgan would take control of the situation. And just like he thought, the punch hissed through the air and never touched Morgan. She flashed behind him the second he should have landed the punch across her face. Vance ducked down, expecting the move, and threw his shoulder back. He hit her square in the stomach. All the time they’d spent together was coming in handy.

Morgan recoiled to regroup. Vance took the second for himself as well. A head on fight wouldn’t do either of them any good. Their skills were almost equal. They’d seen each other fight too many times to remember. He wasn’t about to waste any of his precious energy unless he had a shot. That shot would be catching her off guard.

She shook it off, surprised Vance had gotten the better of her so early on. And a little impressed.

“Have you been practicing honey?” She breathed into his ear as she skittered past. “Just for me?”

“Nothing I do is for you.” Vance’s stare was like ice and he hoped his words came across just as cold.

“Don’t be that way.” Morgan pouted as she took the next shot. A rapid slap across the face. But with Morgan’s strength, the girlie gesture was anything but delicate. His skin stung at the contact.

She cackled at his stunned reaction. And she was just having a good time. She hadn’t begun really fighting yet.

They both knew it. That’s why Vance was biding his time. He watched her move and studied her patterns. Once they both started bouncing around, all hell was gonna break loose.

“Don’t you miss me, baby?” She looked up at him with wide eyes, imitating an innocent young child.

“I wouldn’t miss you if you were the last person on earth.”

“How dare you?” Morgan’s high pitched squeal was enough to shatter someone’s eardrums.

“You should appreciate my honesty. Somebody has to keep you in check. The way you run around like you rule the world.”

“Fuck you. I do and you know you it. Everyone gives me what I want, including you. I’ll get you back. We both know you can’t resist me for long, Vancey. Your angel over there doesn’t have a shot. And if she proves too much trouble. I’ll just make sure she gets out of my way permanently.”

“You’re not gonna get the chance. I’ll kill anyone who even thinks about hurting her. You’re no exception.”

“If that’s what it’s coming down to, honey, then let’s do this.”

Morgan threw her arm out and willed one of the iron window bars from its position securing the windows from the streets below and into her outstretched hand.

Not content with the one, she forced a second bar free. Instead of pulling it to her other hand, she let it fly awkwardly towards Sam. It hit Sam on the back of her head before it fell with a loud clunk on the ground at Sam’s feet.

Morgan giggled as she watched her successful attack on Vance’s girl.

Vance, on the other hand, wasn’t amused. He could see that Sam wasn’t hurt badly. She continued to fight with Arratta, not hindered by the blow that had already healed. But for Vance it wasn’t so easily forgotten.

“See what I told you. You can’t protect her all the time. You don’t even know when I’m gonna attack. You should save both of yourselves the trouble and just come back to me, Vancey. You know you want to. This isn’t you at all.”

“This
is
me. It’s always been me, Morgan. You have no idea. You never took any time to get to know me, to know what I wanted out of life. You just used me to help you get what you wanted.”

“Of course. We’re demons. Don’t you ever forget that. We were born self-centered, egomaniacal, control freaks. I just happen to be better at it than you.” Morgan curled her lips up in a cute smile and batted her long black eyelashes at Vance.

“That’s not me. I care about others. Especially Sam. But you’re right. I can’t prevent you from going after her again. That’s why we’re going to finish this right now.”

Vance ran at Morgan, ignoring the iron bar in her hand and forgetting his plan to bide his time. With a quick pass of her arm, she was able to deflect his attack and cracked his teeth against the black iron and laid him out on the ground before her.

“Be careful, honey. You’re going to accidentally get hurt.” She said quietly as she stroked his hair.

“Accidentally, my ass.” He groaned, wiped the excess blood from his face and snapped his jaw back in place.

This time, she let him make contact. He threw her down to the ground. She moaned in pleasure at the feeling of Vance’s weight on top of her body. It was the wrong move. It destroyed that last bit of control in Vance and he reached to pull the gun from his belt.

Morgan was devastated that it had come to this. She never even considered that Vance would leave her. Worse yet, the thought of him turning guardian made her sick to her stomach.

She had always felt they were perfect for each other. They’d traveled together since the first time they’d met. Not hand in hand or anything, but they were always on the same assignment and they’d had a lot of fun in the process.

Feeling him lying on top of her, Morgan couldn’t help but think about the first time she’d realized she didn’t want to spend any time without him.

They had just finished their first mission together. They had followed Sam to Connecticut that spring, ending up on a college campus. A great place to be a demon.

They watched Sam enroll and sign up for classes and took note of who she was spending all of her time with.

Her charge was a young man in his last year at school. He was at a crossroad in his life, just like all the other charges they’d ever had. His particular decision, whether to go into the family business or follow his dreams and go into law. A tough choice for the youngest child of an extremely wealthy leader of a drug smuggling ring.

Boy, the month they spent there was great. Sam did everything she could to keep him on track, to keep him attending all his classes, to get him to apply to graduate schools, to get him to make the right decision.

Morgan and Vance, on the other hand, had the good job. They convinced him to sneak out, skip classes, forget to turn in papers and, above all else, party like the spoiled rich boy he really was.

And party, they did. Alcohol, drugs, girls. Night after night of nothing but bacchanalia. And while their charge was enjoying himself with a group of extra-friendly young tramps, Morgan had her first taste of Vance.

There was nothing gentle about the demon. He was the personification of rough, callous masculinity. And Morgan loved it. He pulled her into his embrace. He regarded nothing but his primal need for satisfaction. His rough whiskers scratched against her soft cheek while he forcefully kissed her.

He had his way with her three times that night. He left every muscle in her body aching as if she’d been in a car accident. She was addicted to him after that. She was never able to replicate the passion with a mere human, and most other immortals repulsed her. So she’d party alongside him, fuck a punk human when it furthered her cause but only enjoyed herself with Vance.

It had been two long months since she last felt his passion and his strength. And feeling his body long and heavy on hers left her hormones screaming for satisfaction. She could only hope that his body would betray him and flood him with the same memories. He was a demon, after all. Strong enough desire could snap him out of his current funk and drive him back into her arms.

The cold metal barrel touched her skin, breaking her grip on the fantasy.
Have it your way, but if I make it through his Sam’ll pay
, Morgan thought to herself.

Alex had never fought a demon. Unless he counted the brief amount of training, practicing against Vance who technically wasn’t even a demon anymore. Now he stood face to face with two absurdly large men that he knew were actually immortal. An intimidating thought, since chances were he’d have to kill them both. They were the only thing standing between him and his baby brother.