Moonlight poured in through the window of my apartment, painting everything in its silvery strokes. I’d just climbed out of the shower and toweled my hair dry in the living room. I checked my phone on the table for any messages from Knox, but there was nothing. My stomach did that queasy thing that came with guilt. I never should have kissed him. I dropped the towel on the back of a chair and fastened my onyx necklace around my neck, its beads cold against my skin. Time to get dressed and head down to the Howling Wolf bar. Knox said he’d turn up with holy water, and maybe after telling the men they might be marked, I’d speak with Knox about our kiss. I didn’t want that coming between our friendship.

Raven was with another client who’d hired her for the night. That girl had three loyal customers, though she wasn’t stupid and had worked out each was married and used her as their escape fantasy. Fine by her, she insisted, because at the end of the day, they were a means to make money and she created conversation and showed interest to keep them around. She once told me she had men figured better than a shrink. Guys were simple, she insisted. They wanted to feel adored, self-important, and have the girl fawn over them. Selfish bastards.

Was that why Ryder had cheated on me? We’d had a few too many arguments and it was easier for him to go elsewhere than work on our relationship? And yet my thoughts swung right back to Knox. Our kiss. The guilt. For years we’d danced around each other, the sexual tension keeping me awake too many nights. I cherished everything about him, and I couldn’t bear to lose him from my life. Sure, he’d made the first move, but would he now experience remorse and keep his distance? That scared me more than anything.

“Okay, enough sentimental shit.”

As I moved, my head spun and I gripped the table for steadiness. Got to eat something, or I’ll pass out. Worst yet, if I ordered a few drinks at the bar, I’ll get smashed on an empty stomach. Not a bad way to spend the night after my crappy few days, but as divine as that sounded, that wasn’t the plan. Speak with all four guys bitten and tell them they’d been marked. Meaning if they felt anything unusual happening to them to not ignore it. Hell knew how a demonic mark impacted its host. And once tonight was over, I’d spend time speaking researching it, speaking to a sorcerer I knew. But first, I had to deal with the current shit.

I turned toward the pantry, and again the room rotated around me. I stumbled and grasped for the handle but missed. My knees kissed the tiled flooring. On all fours, I couldn’t stop the twirling. Low sugar had made me pass out before, but I didn’t need this now.

With my eyes closed, I focused on my breathing. In and out. Slow and steady. Stop the spinning. I imagined myself engulfed by the moon’s glow, flooding me with each inhale to ground me.

The knots in my muscles eased, and a loud exhale poured from my mouth. I crawled out of the kitchen, figuring I might call Knox or Ryder before I passed out. It’d never been this bad before.

For those few moments, my mind flipped between me fallen over in the kitchen and a vision of me strolling in a forest. Both so vivid and real.

Warmth stroked the length of my spine, and I rubbed my eyes as the images flicked back and forth so fast, my stomach stirred with bile. Panic sat in my chest, constricting my lungs. What was happening?

Laughter boomed in my head, and I knew at once the spirit was at the forefront of my mind. Something nudged my insides, and a rush of air blast past. A prickly sensation spread through my torso, arms and legs.

I kicked and punched the air, as terror squeezed my lungs. “Fuck off. You can’t have my body.”

The chuckling grew louder, deafening.

Then at once, silence hit, and a peacefulness engulfed me. I opened my eyes to a darkened forest with the path lit up by the moon. Something about the place felt secure like I’d been here before. And for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what I’d just been doing and thinking. It felt important, yet I couldn’t remember when or why I’d walked in the woods at night. Everything but the present sat just out of reach in my mind.

I strolled alone and naked. Safe and at peace. The fresh air filled my lungs, and I scanned around for anyone else, but not even the animals stirred. There was only a light wind and the trees rustling. Maybe I’d find someone to guide me.

My beads swayed across my chest with each step, gliding over my breasts. A light breeze brushed past.

Branches from the oak trees swayed and whooshed.

“Hello?” Where was I? I stopped, except a feathery touch sliding along my stomach had me looking down. My necklace was growing in length. The jewelry reached my thighs now, and my skin tingled where it touched.

The same way Knox and Ryder and Dean had made me feel, hot and bothered. I could never get enough of them.

My onyx beads traced my stomach and chest, each ball sliding across my breasts. I gasped as they stroked me, unable to get enough air into my lungs. One by one, they tugged against my puckered nipples, sliding over my skin like a lover’s caress. And I couldn’t move, my brain threatening to shut down as I trembled with the wave of bliss surging through me.

Still the chain swayed across my body, but part of it also curled around my neck like a serpent. In a sudden jerk, it pulled taut across my throat.

I gasped, and my knees buckled out from under me, and I was flung backward to the ground. My heart pounded in my chest, and the beads kept riding over my boobs. Taunting them, flicking them. An exhilarated fear owned me as the necklace snaked down my arms and curled around my wrist, bracing them outward. I lay on my back, held down. My breaths were short and raspy, but the earlier fog kept dancing in my head and I didn’t want to move. Couldn’t. I ached for the release inside me.

A section of the necklace curled around my breasts, tweaking across my nipples. A few of the orbs crept over my chin and into my mouth. I ground them between my teeth as they wheeled across my tongue. I tasted Knox, and then Ryder, inhaling their muskiness as if they kissed me in unison, fondled me, built me up toward an orgasm.

I writhed, imagining them touching me.

Beads planed across my stomach, dipping ever-so-slightly down my body. I moaned, my hips wriggling. Part of the necklace slid lower still. Every cell in my body soared, and my libido pulsed. I spread my legs, desperate for a touch, and the cool breeze did little to cool the inferno.

They skimmed over my curls and dipped in between my inner lips. I arched my back, groaning. Cold, icy beads rolled over my already hot and swollen clit. I mewled, rocking my hips.

The jewelry around my neck and wrists kept me pinned down, but I thrashed with pleasure, widening my thighs. I trembled with excitement as a tidal wave of attentive fingers stroked me without pause. My pussy throbbed, and my stomach tingled.

Link after link, the chilled balls glided over my folds, faster, rubbing me raw. I couldn’t catch my breath, and euphoria crashed through me.

I convulsed against my restraints, swaying my hips. Fire burned through me as the friction on my clit set me off, and I came all over the onyx beads caught between my clasped thighs. I wanted nothing more than to remain in this world of pleasure. Each moan shuddered through me, and I lay there, spent. Exhausted and smiling like a Cheshire cat.

Told ya I’d make you my bitch.

At hearing the familiar voice, a sickness rose through me, and I quickly scrambled up, but I was still in the forest. I screamed with pure terror, my voice echoing around me. Darkness crowded the edges of my vision, clawing at my sight as the moon faded.

Fear swallowed me with a feeling of being smothered by an invisible straitjacket. My heart pounded loudly, echoing my ears. A sinking sensation of my body draining into a pit of blackness hit me.