Games of Desire Read Online Free Page B

he had the dress fastened, Marax stayed where he was. He wanted to take care of her. That was another checkmark on his mental list. They were adding up far too fast.
    She faced him and the message was clear—it was time to talk. He scowled, but if he was right, she was in this with him and deserved the information.
    “How much do you know about demons?” he asked.
    Chloe shrugged. “I guess what any wizard knows. My dad was the half demon and he died when I was a baby, so I don’t have any insight from him.”
    “Yeah.” Marax tried to figure out what else to say, but where did he begin?
    “Just lay it out there. I’m tough enough to take it,” Chloe said.
    And she’d read his thoughts, he was sure of it, and this was another sign he didn’t like. “Okay, straight out, here you go. The closest thing humans have to mating is marriage, but mating is more. When two demons mate, it’s for life. It means they’re locked to each other—and only each other—sexually until one of them dies. It also means they’ll defend each other against anyone and anything else. This last instinct is particularly strong in males.”
    She looked confused. “So when you have sex with another demon you’re mated to her?”
    Shaking his head, he said, “It doesn’t happen with just any demon, it happens between two demons who are meant for each other.”
    “Like soul mates?” Chloe asked.
    Marax hated that term. Humans bandied it about as if it were easy, but then for them it was. They called a person soul mate, married them, and ten years later decided they’d made a mistake and went on to the next. Demons didn’t have that luxury. There was no moving on, there was only forever and woe be it to mates who barely tolerated each other. Like his parents had until the day his father had disappeared.
    Shaking his head, Marax pushed that thought aside. This was about him and Chloe, no one else. “Close enough,” he allowed. “A demon can love and marry anyone—our prince is married to a vampire—but a demon only mates with another demon.”
    “Which leaves us out.” Chloe used both hands to push her hair behind her shoulders. “I’m not a demon.”
    “Yeah, well, something sure as hell happened tonight and if you were half demon or more, I wouldn’t doubt we were mated.” Marax took a deep breath and got aroused all over again. “All the indications point that way. This hair-trigger desire, one stronger than we’ve ever experienced before? A sign. The incredible orgasm we shared, the fact that we bit each other here,” he tapped the mark she’d left on him. “The protectiveness I feel for you, the way you’ve read my thoughts when I haven’t sent them to you—all signs.”
    “I haven’t read your thoughts.”
    Hadn’t she? It was possible she’d made an assumption earlier, but it had been a damn good one. There was only one way to find out. With care, Marax walled off his mind, ensuring he wasn’t sending anything to her and turned away to hide his face.
Why’d you sleep with me? We both know you’re not the kind of woman who does one-night stands.
    “Because I wanted a night where I could be me,” she said with heat, “where I didn’t have to be careful. I wanted a night to do something wild. It doesn’t mean more than that.”
    That eliminated his last doubt, and he’d been hoping he was wrong. Grimly, he faced his mate. “I didn’t say that out loud and I didn’t send it to you, but you heard me anyway. A demon only reads untransmitted thoughts from his mate.”
    “You’re lying.”
    Her tone pissed him off. “Why would I lie about this? Do you think I want to be mated? All I came here for tonight was some stupid fucking antidote so my idiot nephew wouldn’t embarrass the family with his green skin. I sure as hell didn’t come here looking to tie myself for life to a wizard.”
    The stunned expression on her face knocked the temper out of him. “What did you just say?” Chloe’s voice