Read Bring Out Your Dead for Free Online Page A

sighed and started kissing him back. The
world had gone mad, everything I knew was being turned on its head,
but damn if I didn’t care.
    “ We have completed several
of the steps,” he murmured into my mouth, his tongue flicking
against my lips. I moaned and sucked his bottom lip, shamelessly
pressing myself against him. “But we must exchange fluids once
again for the Joining to be complete.”
    “ I’m not going to make
love to you,” I whispered just before I deepened the kiss, tasting
his mouth, twining my tongue around his.
    “ You must,” he groaned,
pulling my hips tight against his. I had no doubt that he was as
aroused as I was, but even though I was giving in to this
unexplained attraction, I wasn’t stupid.
    I pulled my mouth from his. “I have been
married five times, Sebastian. I’m no stranger to either men or
lovemaking. But I do not indulge in casual sex, no matter
how…metaphysical the relationship is. There seems to be something
between us that I wouldn’t mind exploring further, but I am not
sleeping with you.”
    Your souls are at
risk , he said, nibbling my lower lip. My
knees buckled, leaving me swooning in his arms, my head spinning
with the scent and taste and feel of him against me.
    Do you think they have
never been so in the past? I slid my hands
under his shirt and let my fingers dance across his back. I wanted
to touch him, all of him, but I knew one of us had to keep some
control, and clearly Sebastian was not going to be that person. I
confined myself to stroking the planes of his back as he kissed me,
allowing him to explore my mouth.
    This is
Salvaticus , he reminded me, his tongue
dancing against mine. For a week, all will
be chaos, but even when Salvaticus is over and Vexamen upon us, the
demon will not forget you. You will be in danger from here to the
end of your days if you do not Join with me.
    “ I can take care of
myself,” I mumbled against his mouth as we came up for air. “I
always have.”
    “ That was before you were
marked by a demon. No, Beloved, the only answer is for us to
Join. Now. ” Hot
kisses burned my neck as he found a spot that sent shivers of
absolute pleasure down my back.
    “ Can you explain…oh, dear
God, yes, right there…can you explain just how this Joining is
going to save my souls? As far as I can tell, it’s just some sort
of emotional commitment. I don’t see how that will help protect me
from a demon or its lord.”
    Unbidden, my hands skimmed around to his
sides, sculpting the long, sweeping lines of his torso. He nipped
my neck when I found a pert nipple that was all but begging for
attention. “A Beloved is the woman who redeems a Dark One’s soul.
In return, he is bound to her, and protects her at all costs.”
    “ You don’t have a soul?” I
pulled back enough to peer into his eyes. They glittered hot with
desire, but I didn’t see anything in them to indicate he was
soulless. There was no sick feeling of dread emanating from him, as
was common in a creature of the dark. The only feelings I got from
him were desire, need, want, and an overwhelming sadness that
pulled at my heart. “You don’t look like a demon.”
    “ I am not a demon. Dark
Ones are cursed to remain soulless until their Beloveds regain it
for them, but we are not demonic.”
    His eyes, dark navy-gray, regarded me as I
tried to sort through what he’d told me. “You seriously believe I
can regain your soul for you?”
    “ I know you can. It
follows the Joining.”
    A little burst of pain zinged through me at
the realization that I was means to an end for him. I was certain
that the whole business with him protecting me from a demon was
simply a little sugar-coating over the more important issue of his
soul. Regardless of all that, I was shaking my head even before he
finished the sentence. “I can’t be your Beloved.”
    “ You are.”
    “ No.” I pushed back on his
chest. To my surprise, he released me. My breath came hard and
rough, my heart