Darkyn's Mate

"Like a human lie detector?"

"Of sorts. You will sense without reading minds."

"If I had that originally, Wynn couldn't have almost killed me and I wouldn't be here now," she murmured.

"It's useless to dwell on what might've been. What is and will be are all that matters."

She ran her hand down his arm and side, unable to shake the desire to saturate her senses with every part of him. The thought of an eternity with someone incapable of caring for her was a nightmare beyond those she had already lived. She tried to distract the building panic.

"Do demons have emotions?" she asked.

"They are not of your understanding," he replied. "The blood bond is the greatest obligation a demon can take to another. It is not based on emotion."

"You did it to make sure you win a deal. That doesn't seem …" smart.

"Smart," he repeated, even though she hadn't spoken it. Darkyn lifted his head to study her. "How would a human who lived a fraction of one life judge my actions as foolish?" He tensed.

"You're angry. That's an emotion I do understand," she said. "It scares me."

He said nothing for a moment then lowered his head to nuzzle her neck. His body relaxed. Deidre took it as a sign he was passing on the subject. She did the same, unwilling to provoke him.

"Why me, Darkyn?" she asked, distraught. "I'm nothing like you."

"You see the stars and the moon instead of how dark the night is." He quoted, trailing hot kisses along her collarbone.

Her whole body deflated at his mocking tone. They were the same she'd said to Gabriel on the beach, the night they met. She'd been on the verge of dying, discussing how her impending death forced her to decide whether she wanted to live or mourn.

"That's so cruel," she whispered.

"I made a deal for you. No one else."

She considered his words anew as she heard her own. He wanted a mate. He wanted her. Darkyn was like a housecat that dragged in beheaded birds and left them in the middle of the floor for its owner. Was the offering a compliment or a complaint?

She was too unsettled by the past two days to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Can demons love?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "We have no need for such a human emotion."

"Not even for affection?"

"I know pleasure."

"That's physical. Is there no demon equivalent for … mental pleasure? Fondness?"

"There's no difference for demons."

Deidre had the sense of speaking a different language, even though she understood his words. How did they not have emotions when she saw signs of them?