No Mercy (Dark-Hunter 18)

Dev laughed as he peeled the wax shell away from a mini Babybel piece of cheese--she didn't know why she'd bought them since she normally couldn't eat cheese without having farm flashbacks--which weren't bad, just annoying to listen to cows mooing while she ate. But it'd looked so good on the commercials and in the store that she hadn't been able to resist it. He offered her the first bite.

She hesitated, but as she sank her teeth in, she realized that it, too, was safe. It amazed her that she could eat it. There was just something about Dev...if he touched it first, it was like he cleansed it and removed what ever funk would attack her.

"You could have sent me away at any time," he said as he ate his own little Babybel.

"True. But I'm just as bad and horny as you are."

"Nah, you're not..." A wicked light came into his beautiful blue eyes. "You're worse."

Laughing, she choked on the cheese.

Dev quickly handed her his glass of wine so that she could clear her esophagus. "Sorry about that."

Sam froze as the domesticity...the normality of this moment hit her hard. It was like the realization knocked her out of her body and she floated above them, looking down. Dev was lying on his back with the sheet pooled at his waist while she lay beside him on her stomach. They were relaxed and enjoying each other's company--like two old friends. She hadn't been this way with a man since the night Ioel died.

Grief racked her entire being. How could I do this to him? How could I ever be so comfortable with another man after all he did for me? Gave me? Ioel had been loyal to her from the first moment they'd met. He'd never even looked at another woman. More than that, he'd almost caused a war within his own clan when he'd refused to marry the woman he was betrothed to so that he could marry Sam instead.

And he'd died protecting her and their children.

Images of that night ripped through her, shredding what little sanity she had as she saw him die in front of her eyes. Even after all these centuries, she still wanted him back. Still missed everything about him. The way he smelled. Felt. Kissed...

Oh God, Ioel...

How could he be gone?

Dev frowned as he saw the terrified look in Sam's dark eyes. It was like she was reliving a nightmare. "You okay, baby?" He reached out to touch her.

She pulled away instantly. "I need you to leave."

"Yeah, but--"

"Now!" she barked.

Dev held his hands up in surrender. "Fine. But if you need me--"

"I won't. Now get out."

Her tone offended him to the core of his being and it took everything he had not to lash back at her. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew something inside her was hurting, he would have. But he wouldn't be that cold. He didn't believe in kicking anyone when they were down.

If there was one thing in life he understood, it was concealed pain. That core part of the soul that hurt so bad all it knew to do was lash out against anyone unlucky enough to be there when it snapped out of control.

Guess I was nothing but a booty call after all. He didn't know why that thought cut him, but it did. He felt used. How weird.

What ever. He wasn't about to sit around here and beg. It wasn't in him.

Sam watched as Dev vanished from her bed. Part of her wanted to call him back and apologize. The other part wished she could return to the night Ioel died and have stayed dead instead of making her bargain with Artemis.

Yes, it'd given her vengeance against the ones who'd killed those she loved. But her family was still dead. And eternity without them was brutal. Their pain had ended. Hers went on to infinity. There was no hope of it ever ending and that was what had made her a Dog of War. That rage and fury over the injustice of it all that screamed out for some semblance of solace when there was none to be had.

Trust no one. Not even blood.

In the end, everyone had a price and for the right amount, anyone would betray even those they loved most. It was harsh, but true.

Dev had been a nice distraction for a few hours. Now real work began and he wasn't part of her world. Her life was her job. She didn't want any kind of emotional attachment. She didn't want to be normal or have anything like other people.

She was a Dog and she bled their spirit.

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi.

Age. Fac ut gaudeam.

Between a rock and a hard place.

Go ahead. Make my day. Loosely translated, but the meaning was the same. When cornered, the Dogs fought until they died. No one touched them.

They were the ultimate killing machine. The ultimate protectors of the world. She would stand and she would fight.

Forever alone. To the death.

--either with her shield or upon it.

Those words resonated deep inside her as she went to shower. But as she let her mind wander, she saw a new enemy appear. One far deadlier than any they'd ever faced before.

And this particular one would be coming for her.

Things were about to get bloody and she would be in the very center of it.