Broken Heart 06 Come Hell or High Water Read Online Free PDF Page A

dissipated.
    "Trained properly, you would've been able to hold me," he said. "Might've even trapped me."
    Just how much did I not know about my powers? And why the hell hadn't anyone told me or taught me?
    His palms cupped my hips, his grip just loose enough to give me hope that I could escape. Except that I couldn't and we both knew it.
    I hadn't had my pint, and I could smell Connor's blood pulsing like sugared poison in his veins.
    "You want to sink your fangs into me, lass?" He grinned flirtatiously, as if he hadn't betrayed me. As if we were still lovers. I felt shattered, and I wanted to cut him with the pieces of me that were left.
    "You're a bastard."
    "I know." For a moment, he dropped the cynical-asshole act and let me see his pain. Despite all he'd done, I knew that pain, whatever its source, was real.
    I wanted to believe that the man I'd known for the last month, the man who'd loved me so well last night, was the true Connor.
    But demons were liars. They were also charming beyond belief - until they got what they wanted. I'd fallen for his act, as easily duped as an innocent human instead of a demon-hunting vampire. I was so ashamed.
    "We're bound!" I couldn't even wrap my brain around the concept. I'd mated. With. A. Demon.
    The true horror of my situation hit me. Bile rose in my throat. Danny. How could I raise my kid married to a demon? Even a half demon was bad. Connor 's lie - and, let's be honest, my stupid, impulsive nature and rusty goddamned libido - had stripped me of motherhood privileges.
    "I'm going to kill you."
    "You can't. And if you could, would you really rob Danny of his mother?"
    "You already did!"
    His cool expression slid away as regret filled up his gaze. "For that, I'm sorry."
    "Right. I'm sure it's tearing you up inside." Rage burned through me. Whatever happened to Connor happened to me now, too. The vampire marriage curse was absolute. We were mates, bound for the next century, and there was nothing I could do.
    Despair wound through me.
    "Why, Connor?" I whispered. "Why did you do it?"

Chapter 4
     

     
    "To protect you," Connor said quietly. Wow. He was good. I almost believed him.
    "Yeah. 'Cause you're such a nice guy." I yanked out of his embrace and he let me. I stumbled back, feeling so vulnerable, so overwhelmed.
    What have you done, silly little girl?
    It was my mother 's voice, so gently chiding, and she was unable to keep the sparkle of humor from her eyes when trying to berate me. Even now she was the small, still voice in my head. Oh, Momma. This isn't shoplifting a candy bar at the Thrifty Sip.
    "I don't know what's going on, but I know this is about you. So our mating wasn't some altruistic scheme to protect poor ol' me. You're protecting yourself. You're the bad guy here." And I'd probably ousted the good guys. Nicor had certainly danced around the subject enough. If he'd said, "Hey, you just boffed a demon..." I heaved an internal sigh. No. I wouldn't have believed him.
    I wondered if I could get back to my phone and call Damian. He was in charge of security. And I was in charge of demons. I just couldn't get my hands on this one.
    Oh, you know what I mean.
    Connor glared at me, but he had no right to be offended. If he didn't like the sarcasm, then too damned bad - it wasn't the worst he was gonna get from me. I pressed my hands against my cheeks. I felt hot even though I didn't have the capacity for heat to flush my skin. Usually after imbibing a pint, I could mimic responses. I felt nearly human. For a short while.
    I scrubbed away the feeling. Maybe it was the flames of hell licking at me for binding myself to a demon.
    What really sucked was that mates couldn't live apart - not for long. We didn't have to be in each other's presence every second of the day. However, the longer the amount of time mates were apart, the weaker they got.
    "We need to go," he said.
    "Um, no. You need to go." Only I knew he wouldn't. He couldn't.
    I needed to get away from him for a