Sin Undone

“So… why would that be a bad thing if the couple was mated?” “Because the male can go out of control and kill the female while feeding.” Shit, this was hard to talk about, and not because he was violating some ancient dhampire rule. He was way too intimate with the consequences of addiction. “That’s why there are very few mated dhampire pairs.”


“How could there be any?” Her eyes widened with curiosity, and for the first time, he could see a little of Eidolon in her as she dug into the mystery. “Do the mated males feed from other males and females to keep from getting addicted to their mates?”

He nearly laughed. “That only works temporarily. Eventually addiction happens because feeding and sex are intertwined. At that point, males inject a venom that bonds the female to him and he to her, and that ends the addiction.”

“Then what’s the problem?” “There’s a catch.” Strange how nothing good came without strings. “We don’t produce the bond fluid until we become addicted. By then, your control is shot and what you crave is the high you’ll get when they die. So instead of injecting the bond fluid, you run the risk of draining the female and killing her instead.”

She hooked her thumbs in her front pockets and propped a hip against the kitchen’s log entryway as though settling in for a long convo. Which wasn’t going to happen. “You sound like you know something about that.”

“It’s how my mother died. My father killed her.” A thousand years ago, before the two dhampire clans had merged, his parents had belonged to separate clans, both from royal blood. It was hoped that by mating his parents, the clans would join peacefully. It went well… Con and his younger brothers, Dubdghall and Eoin, had been conceived without his father succumbing to addiction, mainly because he took his pleasures—sex and blood— from other females except during his mother’s breeding heats. And then, during his mother’s fourth heat, his father lost control, and instead of bonding with her, he drained her.

“Oh, wow,” she said, her dark eyes shifting from the rapidly lightening dawn back to him. “What happened to your father?”

“The death of the female ends the addiction, but he couldn’t live with what he’d done. He destroyed himself.” That was the understatement of the century. Con’s father had burned himself alive. Sin rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, suddenly looking a little pensive and, for the second time in the last few hours, vulnerable. “Have you ever…”

For a long time, he considered his answer. For an even longer time, he considered lying. And then he hurled the answer like the rock he needed to throw. “Yes.”

“Did you bond with her?” “No.” He hadn’t gotten the chance… Hell, he hadn’t wanted to. He’d wanted blood and sex from her, but not a lifetime commitment. And even then… the desire for sex hadn’t even been a fraction as intense as what he wanted from Sin.

“Did she die?”

“Yes.”

“Your fault?”

“Yes.”

He expected her to react with disgust, but she just cocked her head, stared at him, and then gave a definitive nod.

“I’ve killed a few dudes after I slept with them. Mostly it was because they tried to kill me.” She shrugged. “It happens. You shouldn’t punish yourself.” It was his turn to stare. Every time he thought he had her figured out, she did a one-eighty and reacted in the exact opposite way he’d anticipated. He loved that. No one had ever kept him on his toes the way she did. Even if she was utterly annoying about it.

“I knew better, Sin. I knew what would happen if I fed from her too many times, and I did it anyway. I wanted to take feeding to the very edge, to see how far I could go without crossing the line. I played with her life, and she’s the one who lost.”

“And that was how long ago? Have you done it since?”

“It was eight centuries ago, and no.” He pinned her down with his eyes, making damn sure she understood what he was saying. “Until you.” Oh, yeah, she got it, inhaled a ragged breath and swallowed hard. “Are you…”

“Close.” Too fucking close. Even now he was inching toward her, his mouth watering. “And what, exactly, does that mean?”

“It means I have an overwhelming desire for your blood. Only your blood. Eventually, feeding from anyone else will make me sick. Probably already will. The addiction grows with each feeding. It’s like a drug. I’ll need more and more, until I can’t stop.”

“Is the only way out to kill the female or to bond?” “It’s possible to detox. But it takes a long, miserable time. Some dhampires have died before the addiction broke.” Kicking the habit wasn’t easy, and even once it happened, dhampires couldn’t so much as be in the same room as the female whose blood addicted him, or it started up again, even more fiercely.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing the virus is out of your blood.”

“Thank the gods.” He gestured toward the back door before he lost himself to temptation again. “We’d better go.” He paused. “How long before you need sex again?” “Several hours, probably. You seem to have some powerful juice.”