Sleeping with Monsters Read online

  I stood in the mirror of the upscale boutique he’d dragged me to. The saleswoman had been more than happy to assist once Spyder had pushed into the boutique behind me. Up until then, she’d eyed me like a bug she wanted to squish with her red-soled heels. She licked her lips and made a production out of the most expensive clothing that they had in stock once Spyder had mentioned Lucian’s name.

  “This dress isn’t even supposed to be seen until spring, but for you…” she flirted openly.

  Spyder smirked; his eyes seemed to slowly caress her figure before they moved to the dress. It was sheer, baby blue, and looked like something you’d wear on a honeymoon, instead of to a sex club. He took it from her and handed it to me.

  “Go try it on,” he ordered, and I rolled my eyes as he turned to her and crooked his finger. I ignored him and headed into the dressing room, slammed the door, and stripped off my clothes. I removed my bra once I’d made sure the dress had enough support for the girls and left my panties on. Good thing I’d done laundry, since they couldn’t be seen through the sheer fabric.

  I turned in the mirror, noting the thin straps that crisscrossed over the shoulders and laced down the back, leaving the area just above my ass bare. I tilted my head, and then eyeballed the door as noise sounded from the other side.

  I opened the door and hesitated. Spyder was on the couch which was positioned right in front of the dressing room. His head was back, and the woman was sucking his cock without any care of discovery. My eyes slid to the front door and saw the open sign was facing me. She’d at least had the sense to lock the doors.

  I stepped back, which alerted Spyder to my presence, and instead of looking away from me, those bedroom eyes held mine as her head bobbed over his cock. She moaned as he pushed her head down as far as she could go, holding her there as he gazed coldly at me.

  I should have looked away. I should have slunk back inside the dressing room to hide. Instead, I watched as he lifted his hands and slid them into her hair before lifting her head up, exposing his thick cock to my prying eyes. I swallowed, taking an involuntary step backwards, away from him. He’d said twelve inches, and he hadn’t been bragging. If anything, he’d been modest in his calculation.

  His eyes slid down my scantily clad body which had heated, because hey, I was a woman and I wasn’t immune to him. He shoved her back down without warning and she cried out, her protest muffled around his cock as I wondered if she had any gag reflex at all. He smirked as I grabbed for the door of the changing room, my shoulder burning with pain.

  I leaned my head against the wall, hating that I’d stood there like an idiot, watching them. Why had Lucian sent us together? He knew we would be like this, he had to know. I closed my eyes, listening as she cried out, no longer muffled by his cock. I heard skin hitting skin and the screams of pleasure as she took what he so freely offered her. His grunt sounded, and I opened my eyes, staring at myself in the mirror as my shoulder began to buzz with hotter pain.

  “That was, that was wow,” she whimpered breathlessly as she struggled to catch her breath.

  “Get dressed and find her some shoes. She can’t go barefooted.”

  “We just…you want me to wait on that whore after you just fucked me?” she huffed.

  “She’s not a whore, she’s my kitty.” His tone was dangerous, as if he was daring her to say it again. I heard shuffling, a terrified scream, and then heels clicking as they moved across the floor. I shook my head, not wanting to know what had just happened.

  I took the dress off, and was standing in nothing but my panties, feeling pretty stupid and out of place when the door opened. I grasped the dress in front of me; he didn’t say anything, and he didn’t have to. I felt it, the need to give in to what we both felt, even if it was just a spell. I was so kicking Lucian’s fucking ass when we got back from here.

  “She wasn’t you,” he murmured as he leaned his head against the wall and nodded to the scrap of fabric in my hands. “Put the dress back on; we can leave from here. She’s getting shoes to go with it.”

  “I don’t have make-up here,” I admitted absently, wondering why it even mattered.

  “You’re fucking beautiful the way you are. You don’t need that shit on your face—and leave your hair down.” He stepped closer, uncaring that I was almost naked as he trailed his fingers down my cheek. “I know, I felt it too,” he admitted. “I hate him a little every time the mark on you burns.” He rubbed the area of his shoulder that was the mirror of where he had bitten me. “What the hell was he thinking?” He backed away from me as he adjusted his pants.

  “These should fit her,” the saleswoman hissed, throwing the shoes into the dressing room. Startled, I jumped and dropped the dress as if we were under attack. Spyder growled and turned to leave the moment it dropped.

  I slipped the dress back on, lacing up the back before I slid my feet into the heels. I took a quick peek in the mirror and stepped out of the dressing room with my own clothes over my arm. I moved across the room to the register, where Spyder waited for me.

  “Fifteen-thousand-and-seven-hundred, even,” she huffed as she glared at me. “You may want to invest in breast enhancements if you’re going to dress her in couture; there’s not very much there.”

  My stomach dropped, but not at her words. Who the hell bought a dress costing that much?

  “Her breasts are perfect, you should see them bounce when she rides a cock,” he growled, winking at me as my cheeks heated. Of all the comebacks, he had to say that? I mean, I knew he watched, but he didn’t have to point it out.

  I moved away from them as she huffed and puffed and rang up the dress. I wanted to cry at the price, argue that it was too much, but he’d ignore it—besides, Lucian deserved it.

  The moment I stepped away from them, I pretended they didn’t exist as she jotted down her number on a business card and slid it across the counter to Spyder, who lifted a brow in question.

  “Call me,” she said in a thick voice.

  “You weren’t that good,” he snorted, grabbing the receipt, my bag of clothes, and leaving the card behind as he left the store.

  I didn’t say anything as we sped away from the store. I didn’t know what to say. I mean, I’d watched him with her, and he’d watched me. It had been both awkward and a little hot, which also bothered me.

  “You jealous?” He turned off on an old highway and stared ahead at the road. “You shouldn’t be; she meant nothing.”

  “You mean nothing to me,” I growled, pissed off more at myself than him. I was jealous, and he wasn’t even mine! How dare I feel anything, or hate some unnamed woman for having him. I had no right to feel it. She didn’t deserve my hatred, because he was a free agent and she’d done nothing wrong, other than being a petty bitch who would fuck a strange man at the drop of their pants.

  He smirked wickedly as he accelerated the engine. “Noted.”

  “That came out wrong.”

  “No, you mean nothing to me, either. This mark tells us something different, but neither of us actually feels what it’s telling us. It’s good you know it, because honestly, I’d rather break your pretty neck than shove my cock down it.”

  “You’re an asshole,” I breathed as I turned to look out the window.

  “I never said I wasn’t an asshole, kitty. I won’t lie to you. Nor will I fuck you unless Lucian says I can, and if he does, I will wreck you. That I can promise you. What I did to the bitch back there wasn’t even a warm-up,” he taunted coldly. “Do me a favor; stay the fuck away from Lucifer so he forgets you exist. That way you don’t have to worry about that bite.”

  “I didn’t go looking for him the first time,” I seethed.

  “No, but you didn’t see through the glamour to get that it wasn’t a dream and he wasn’t Lucian, either, and we all know you could have. You allowed it to happen, which is something you won’t do again. The ma
rk won’t allow you to go to him; it will make sure you know who and what the fuck he is.”

  “Whatever,” I mumbled as we pulled into a parking lot packed full of cars. In the distance it was as if the club was part of the mountainside. “What the hell?” I angled my body to find Spyder studying the club.

  “Something is off,” he muttered under his breath. “You stick to me like my cocks inside you. Got it?”

  “Got it,” I whispered as we parked and got out.

  We started up the path which led to the club. The people waiting in line were off too. Instead of looking excited about getting a chance to get into the club, they looked vacant. As if they weren’t really interested at all about getting inside, or didn’t care either way. Where people at Lucian’s clubs exuded excitement, this one reeked of fear.

  Once we reached the front door, a bouncer blocked our way. Spyder pulled out his wallet and thumbed through a stack of hundreds before holding a wad of cash out to the man.

  The man eyed it and smiled coldly as he removed the red rope and swung his hand out in the direction of the pulsing club.

  “Nice mortal you got there; she’s your problem. If she dies, there’s no reimbursement,” he warned.

  “Nothing will happen to her,” Spyder snorted. “My property is mine to protect.”

  “Yeah, sure, asshole. She’s sweet; we like to break the sweet ones.”

  “This pussy only fucks me, see this?” he asked, yanking on my neck. “Claimed, in every sense of the word. I tell her what she does, who she fucks, and right now, that’s me until I say differently,” he growled threateningly.

  I didn’t say a word or argue what he’d said to the guy. I’d watched the couples inside Lucian’s club the last time I’d been in there. The ones who wore collars didn’t speak unless told to; they didn’t argue with those who claimed them. They did as they were told, and who they were told to do. They were every dominant’s dream: docile, domesticated, and subservient. Pretty much everything I wasn’t.

  Once we were inside the club, Spyder pulled me to him as a man with beady, glassy eyes approached us. Spyder held my tits, crushing them with his hands as I stifled a groan as the pain hit me.

  “Beautiful,” the man breathed, reaching out a hand to touch my hair.

  “Do not touch my property,” Spyder warned coldly.

  “I have three; you can have them all for the night if I can have her?” The man’s hand moved, touching my hip until Spyder growled.

  “She’s not for trade,” he rumbled threateningly. “She’s new, still being trained to serve my needs.”

  “I like them like that, their skin is pure still. I’ll pay you very well to watch as you break her.”

  “I’ll find you if I change my mind,” Spyder said, dismissing the man as he pulled me with him through the throngs of people. Once we were lost in the crowd, I spun around into his wide chest as he pulled me closer, acting on instinct. He smelled exotic, addictive, and anything but human.

  We were being watched by the bouncers, huge creatures that eyed us suspiciously as we swayed to the heady, sultry music that played inside the club. Spyder’s hands slid to the base of my spine as he watched them.

  “Kiss me, kitty,” he urged softly as his mouth lowered to hover next to mine.

  I swallowed hard as I tried to think of a way out of kissing him. But, I’d told him I could do this. It wasn’t as if it would mean anything. We were playing roles here. One’s meant to save a life, right? I lifted on my toes to connect our lips and shock waves rushed down my spine as we connected. His lips rubbed against mine before his tongue pushed past my lips, claiming my tongue. He tasted of sin, sin mixed with leather and expensive spices. I moaned against him as he deepened the kiss, and then pulled back, staring into my gaze.

  I mumbled incoherently trying to figure out what to say as I fought against the mixed emotions the kiss had caused. “What did he mean by break her?” I blurted, swaying to the music as I stared into his eyes. He smiled softly, as if he realized what I was doing and allowed me to ignore what we’d just done. It had worked though; the bouncers had moved their attention away from us. But my eyes seemed unable to stay off his lips, wondering how I’d felt as much as I had with him.

  What the fuck was wrong with me?

  “He whips and fucks his females until they are nothing more than a bloody mess on a whipping pole. He’s an extreme sadist, but where most draw a line, death is his line. The tattoos on his left arm are those he released to death. The ones on the right are for those who lived.”

  I shivered as I ignored the tightening in my throat. I wasn’t meant for this world. I wanted to find that man and rip his throat out. I doubted the women had been willingly tied to any pole knowing what their fate would be. I was relieved when we started moving again.

  I followed Spyder further into the seething mass of people who danced body to body. It forced us to push through them to get where we could find somewhere to sit down. By the time we reached the middle of the dance floor, which was pretty far into the club, my head started to pound and my stomach roiled. Pain shot through me and my hand, which was in Spyder’s, slid free as I started to fall backwards. He caught me and held me against his side as he began to shove people out of his way.

  “Something is wrong,” he noted, and I nodded. Heat unfurled inside of me as I clung to Spyder like a lifeline. I felt sick, and my head pounded with the music. Once we cleared the crowd, I covered my mouth as the nausea swirled in my throat with a painful pulse.

  “Bathroom,” I whimpered as saliva built in my mouth. “Now,” I beseeched.

  He rushed me in the direction of the bathroom, pushing the door open as he helped me inside. Once he’d stepped the first foot inside, he was pushed out by an invisible force. He tried again and the door slammed shut in his face.

  I rushed to the stall, unable to wait as I tossed my cookies, violently. Once I had nothing left in my stomach, I headed to the row of sinks, washing my mouth out and patting my face down with the wet paper towel as a stall door opened and a redhead stepped out. She had vivid green eyes, which sized me up and down as if she knew me.

  “You finally made it,” she grinned at me as she washed her hands. “I feared you wouldn’t after you didn’t show up last night.”

  “You’re the witch?” I stepped away from the sink to look at her. She didn’t have a mark on her that might indicate any kind of trouble or distress. She wore a beautiful gown, white for purity, which seemed off inside this particular club.

  “I am. I’m Tiffany, Tiffany O’Hara.”

  “You couldn’t find a safer place to meet up?” I asked with a shake of my head, and she gave a small shrug.

  “Places like this are in these days. We should go, though, we’re not safe here. They enjoy witches a little too much in places like this.”

  “You think?” I hissed, marching for the door and opening it wide.

  Spyder looked pissed. His eyes looked me up and down for injury before he grabbed my arm and started towards the front door.

  “I found her,” I announced briskly with a tilt of my head in her direction.

  “I don’t care if you found her, we’re leaving, now,” he snapped.

  I took in the bedlam of the club. Clothes were coming off, and couples were fucking right out in the open. I kept my gaze on Spyder’s back until Sweet Dreams started playing and my blood ran cold. I pulled against Spyder’s arm as an illusion of wings caught my eye. One minute he was there a few feet from us, then the next he vanished like a mirage, only to reappear a little closer to us without wings.

  A man with black hair and vivid indigo eyes watched me with a knowing look in his sinful gaze. I felt my body heating up as he moved towards us in a brisk pace. Spyder yanked on my arm, swiveling to see why I’d stalled.

  “Bloody hell,” he growled as he shoved me behind him, but it w
as too late.

  Lucifer moved in a way that hurt my head. One moment he was across the crowded room, and the next he had a hold on my arm and was yanking me towards himself. Pain shot through me as his fingers curled around my arm, biting into my flesh. Black, skeletal wings exploded from his back as barbed vines shot from his fingers, wrapping themselves around and through my arm. I screamed and tried to pull myself away from him as I struggled to remain in Spyder’s arms.

  “She is mine!” Lucifer growled coldly.

  “Fucking try to take her from me, asshole,” Spyder returned with a dangerous glint sparkling in his eyes.

  One moment I was being ripped in two directions with demons descending on us. The next, Spyder detonated with power—raw, uncut power that slammed the air out of my lungs as if he’d pulled the air from the room itself. The runes which covered his arms lit from within and his hair lifted in the air as he let out an earsplitting howl as demons exploded into black clouds of ash around him.

  He had power glowing from his fingers that must have been holding Lucifer to the ground. I gawked as I gasped for air, afraid I’d pass out from the lack of it. Lightning flashed and zigzagged around the club as thunder rattled it. Lucifer on the ground shook with it; blood oozed from his nose and eyes as Spyder held him there with his power.

  I struggled to get up, but I couldn’t move. No one could. Whatever the fuck Spyder was, he had brought the entire club to the ground with ease. My hand lifted, touching his leg as darkness threatened to consume me.

  Silver eyes looked down at me, blue flecks mixed in the mercury depths. His hair was bluish white, as if someone had stolen the pigment from it and given him some hellish, stylish highlights. I dropped my hand, my head flopped to the floor, and my eyes drifted to Lucifer’s. He no longer actually had eyes, just blood oozing from where they should have been.

  What. The. Fuck.

  Spyder reached down and yanked me up as he moved. I pointed at Tiffany, who looked like she was also about to pass out from the power in the room. He grabbed her hand and dragged her with us into the dark night. Once outside, I greedily sucked in air. Tiffany sputtered, wheezed, and coughed as she sucked in her own.