Soulbound

29. Dani

I awake to the sound of screaming.

My eyes fly open in a panic and I jolt upright, raising my arms to fend off the harpies' attack. Cotton sheets twist around my ankles as I lurch to the side and I find myself falling with a soft thud! to the carpet below.

Carpet?

I blink the sleep from my eyes and glance around. I was in a bedroom. An upstairs bedroom judging by the staircase off to the left. But where was the road and the trees? Where were the demons that were chasing us like a flock of angry birds?

Where was Ashe?

Another scream echoes from somewhere downstairs and like a splash of ice water to the face everything comes rushing back.

Oh God, I saw her topless last night.

I had tried not to stare, or to not make it obvious that I was staring, but her beauty was captivating despite the spatters of blood on her skin and the painted chains that curled around her arms and torso like a silver boa constrictor. It was a constant reminder of the burdens she carried and yet she wore them with such fortitude that it was hard not to admire her for it. And, regardless of the death that they symbolized or the commitments that she was bound to as a Reaper, I found it strangely sexy all the same.

A heat flushes my cheeks as I recall the feel of her soft skin beneath my palms, the flawless alabaster like smooth marble under my touch. Her body had radiated heat like a furnace, drawing me in and begging me to touch more of her.

If only she would let me.

I don't think I've ever wanted someone so badly. I couldn't fully explain the attraction I had for her and, if anything, the distance she's been keeping me at should be enough to turn me off completely. And yet I craved her attention, her touch, her warmth. It ignited my insides like the spark of an old flame. I could go crazy trying to rationalize it.

Or maybe I already am crazy. Never in my life did I think I'd be running through the woods to escape a bunch of harpies, let alone with a magically-chained demon at my side who stirred up the kind of feelings that I haven't felt since Monica. A demon who could just as easily kill me herself as she could get me killed for simply knowing about her.

But regardless of the imminent danger, we had made it out of the woods. We made it back to Marco's in one piece. We were safe. Rose was safe—

“Rose.”

My heart leaps to my throat as I scramble to my feet and make my way to the living room. If she was waking up then I needed to be there for her. Marco might end up frightening her and I highly doubt that Ashe would have the patience for the questions she was sure to ask. Hell, that woman barely had patience for me on most days.

“Calm down!” I hear Marco growl over a muffled scream. “We're here to help you. You're safe now!”

As I round the corner I come to an abrupt stop at the sight unfolding before me.

Rose was curled up on the couch, her back pressed against the armrest and silver chains wrapped around her body like rope. Her blue eyes flared as she thrashed against the restraints, her cries stifled by the chain that gagged her mouth.

Goddammit, Ashe! “What the hell is going on?”

The redhead glances over her shoulder, her brow furrowed as she holds her arms out in front of her. The chains gleam in the light as they snake out from her skin and I repress a shiver. I'll never get used to seeing that.