Con swallowed dryly, which seemed so odd with the way his mouth was watering. He needed this, but it felt so wrong, as if he were being unfaithful to Sin.

In a way, he supposed, he was.

Sharla’s fingers tightened on his hips, urging him on.

The door flew open. Crashed into the wall behind it hard enough for plaster to fall to the carpet. Con whirled, instinctively tucking the human behind him. His heart pounded, his breath rasped in his throat, and when he looked into the hard, frosty eyes of the male in front of him, he knew he was dead.

Shade’s gaze shifted to Sharla. “Get out.”

“Go fuck yourself, asshole,” she spat, stepping out from behind Con, but staying close. She was mouthy, but not stupid.

Con gripped her shoulder and nodded. “Go.”

Glaring at Shade, she gathered up her clothes and shoved by him, not bothering to dress. Shade shut the door, and Con braced himself for a fight. In his weakened state, Con couldn’t put up much of a battle, and Shade would kick his ass. Thing was, he couldn’t dredge up much give-a-shit.

“I’m surprised you’re alone,” Con said. “Figured all of you would want a piece of killing me.”

“For what? Trying to bond with Sin against her will, or for hurting her?”

“Both.”

“As tempting as it is, I’m not here to kill you. She begged us not to, and we owe you for saving her life.” Shade dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out a bag of blood, which he tossed on the bed.

Con drew a harsh breath. “Is that…”

“Sin’s.”

Surprise rocked Con back a step. His entire body trembled, and it took everything he had to not pounce on it. But he definitely couldn’t yank his gaze away from it. “I can’t. I’m trying to detox.”

“You’re a mess. Drink it. Come back to the hospital with me, and we can detox you there. You’ll have a better chance at success, and it’ll be faster and a hell of a lot less painful. We’ve gotten a lot of experience with Wraith.”

“I’ll deal. Can’t go to the hospital.” Not with Sin around. It would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull. “And I’m not touching that.”

“Don’t be an idiot. Drink the fucking blood.”

“No.”

Shade came at him, and Con met him, head-on. They were nose to nose, chest to chest, and Con could feel the aggression rolling off Shade. The demon wanted to shed blood as bad as Con wanted to drink it.

“Are you completely suicidal?” he growled. “You’re suffering, and you don’t need to. Sin wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

Sin would probably loveto see him like this.

“Step off, Shade.” Con’s adrenaline rose in an angry tide, his hunger cresting, his fury at himself peaking with it, creating a caustic temper that had him ready to knock the demon’s teeth in.

Shade shoved at Con’s chest. “You stupid son of a bitch. You know detoxing by yourself is risky as shit, and the only fucking way we’re letting you live is if we know you aren’t a danger to Sin, so drink!”

Con swung, and it was on. Fists flew, and furniture broke as they threw each other around the room. Con’s waning strength became a factor, and it wasn’t long before Shade was straddling him, forearm over his throat as he jammed the bag into Con’s mouth. Con shook his head, his teeth firmly clamped shut, but Sin’s heady scent was all over the unit, and his fangs remained elongated no matter how hard he willed them to retract.

Shade was ruthless in his determination, and he kept pressure on the bag, scraping it back and forth across Con’s mouth. Finally, the plastic snagged on the tip of one canine, and a drop of blood dripped onto his tongue. Con’s entire body jerked as if an electric current had shot through him.

Game over. Delirious with need, he gripped Shade’s wrist and held his hand steady as he bit deeply into the bag. Sin’s essence flowed down his throat, lighting him up from the inside. He moaned at the taste, at the relief from the painful hunger that had ridden him hard. He wished Sin were here. Wished he could sink into her body as he ravaged her throat. He’d take her hard and fast, listening to her screams of pleasure… her screams… her blood.

Con… stop. The voice barely penetrated his feeding frenzy. Sin was beneath him, her struggles ineffective against his new strength and need.

Yo, get off me. No, not happening. He’d have to bite again, because the vein he was at had run out… Maybe he’d drained her. Terror welled up through the bloodlust, piercing the addiction.

“Con! Fuck!” Male voice. Deep.

Con blinked, coming out of his haze to see Shade beneath him. Con’s erection was pushed hard against Shade’s thigh, and yeah… not cool.

Panting and shaking like a leaf, Con scrambled off him. “Ah… I don’t… that was, ah… not for you.”

“I fucking hope not,” Shade muttered. He rolled easily to his feet, seemingly unperturbed, but then, he was a sex demon, and Con doubted much fazed him when it came to that. And seeing how Con was a thousand years old and had done pretty much everything, it shouldn’t faze him, either. Except that Shade was the brother of the female he craved, and… yuck.

Con remained on the floor, sitting on his haunches. He scrubbed his hands over his face, suddenly exhausted. “Gods, I hate this.”

“Come to the hospital.” The black leather of Shade’s jacket creaked as he folded his arms across his chest, and Con knew this argument was a losing one. But his stubborn self couldn’t cave in that easily.

“I can’t.”

“You let Sin warm up to you, and then you smashed her under your boot.” Shade’s already deep voice dropped an octave. “The least you can do is get yourself clean. And, buddy, I told you, kick the habit so you aren’t a danger to Sin, or we’ll put you in the ground.”

Fair enough, and no less than what Con deserved. “The detox… it’ll be ugly. You’ll have to keep me caged or bound.”

“I’m pretty much an expert at that.” There was a glint of wry amusement in Shade’s eyes as he gestured to the door. “Let’s go.”

Sin needed sex.

The need wasn’t so bad yet that it hurt, but it wouldn’t be long before the cramps, sweats, and nausea hit her. She’d put it off because the idea of being with anyone other than Con made her sick.

It made her cry, too, but she wasn’t about to admit that to anyone. Not even Lore.

She’d spent the night at his place, the North Carolina shack he rarely used anymore now that he lived in Italy with Idess. Thankfully, he’d stayed away, even though he probably knew she’d been there. Still, he and the other three brothers had tried to call her about every fifteen minutes, and she finally had to shut off her phone just to keep her sanity. This morning when she’d checked her messages, she’d found forty.

She’d deleted them all without listening. But the text message she’d just gotten from Shade as she sat at the bar in a demon club made her heart stall. Apparently, Con was at UG, and it would be best if she stayed away.

No problem. Being felt up by the handsome, crimson-skinned Sora demon behind her was what she wanted to be doing anyway.

Her heart knocked on her rib cage, calling her a liar.

The Sora’s strong hands gripped her hips, his broad chest blanketed her back, and the bulge in his jeans was an insistent prod on her ass. Not long ago, she’d have responded, would have had him in the bathroom or on the dance floor, making use of his multitalented tail by now. Instead, all she could think about was Con.

“Bastard,” she snarled into her beer mug.

“That’s not a nice thing to say to the male who is going to make you scream his name,” he said, as he nuzzled her neck. His teeth clinked against the chain around her throat, and she swore she felt it tighten.

She drained her beer as his hand slipped under her leather skirt, his fingertips brushing the silky material of her underwear.