Pain streaked through her, radiating from the male’s hand all the way to her organs, which suddenly felt like they were shifting, rearranging, tying themselves into knots. Gasping, she leaped off the bar stool and dashed outside, where the unique, moldy smell of Bangkok made her stomach rebel on the cobblestone walk. What the hell was going on with her?

Taking great gulps of polluted air, she sagged against the side of the building, which housed an underground prostitution and drug parlor in the front, and the demon dance club in the back. The sounds of the raunchy nightlife drowned out the throbbing pulse in Sin’s ears; it was four a.m., and this section of the city was still alive. Every vice, every fetish, no matter how illegal and disgusting, could be satisfied in Bangkok, and the universal truth remained in effect here: wickedness preferred the cover of darkness.

As the nausea waned, Sin’s needs came back front and center, an aching, shivery presence. She’d never hated what she was more than right now. Before Con, her body had been a tool, something as impersonal as a hammer. Now it felt like hers, like she finally owned it, controlled it, and the idea of sharing it with anyone but Con…

Fuck. Get over yourself. She brushed by the bouncer at the door and strode directly into the crowd of people writhing on the dance floor. Seizure-inducing lights flashed to the techno-pop beat of the music as Sin eased against a large male Bedim. They were a sensual, dark-skinned race whose young males were forced out of their community for ten years to experience life outside. Upon returning, they would be given a harem of females, but until then, they had to find pleasure elsewhere.

He turned into her, his masculine smile something that should have started her engines. Her body was full of need, but as he smoothed his palms down her bare arms, only cold shivers followed.

“Touch me,” she growled, and he grinned, moved his hands to her breasts.

Instantly, her stomach rebelled again, and she tore away from him, panting, praying she wouldn’t lose the rest of her liquid dinner all over the dance floor. Quickly, she grabbed another male and swung him around. She palmed his groin… and lost it. Totally blew chunks on his spandex zebra tights. Which, really, needed to be put out of their misery, because hello, the ’80s were long gone.

Humiliation rocked her, and she stumbled out of the bar. Her lust hadn’t eased, and neither had the want for Con. Had he bonded with her after all?

A horrible thought spun up. When male Sems bonded to a female, they couldn’t so much as get it up for any female other than their mate. What if female Sems went through something similar? Something that would make her unable to ever sleep with another male?

Head swimming with the horrific possibilities, she hopped a Harrowgate to UG.

When she stepped out, she saw Tayla speaking with Serena, who was holding a squirming Stewie in her arms. Knowing at least one of her brothers would be nearby, Sin looked around and, sure enough, Eidolon, dressed in his usual green scrubs, emerged from one of the exam rooms.

Sin marched up to him. “Where is Con?”

Eidolon handed a chart to a nurse. “He’s detoxing. You can’t see him.”

“I don’t care if he’s dancing ballet in the cafeteria. I need him.”

“Sin, you can’t. You’ll only set him back—”

“I don’t care!” She was practically shouting now, and her sisters-in-law were moving toward them. Dammit. She didn’t need more witnesses to her weakness and embarrassment. She’d find Con on her own. She shoved past her brother but he grabbed her arm and swung her back around.

“I won’t let you near him.”

“Then you can watch me die.” She broke away from him, unable to bear his touch, not because it made her ill, but because she couldn’t deal with affection right now.

His eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“Remember when I said Con tried to bond with me? Well, it looks like he didn’t just try. He did.”

For a moment, Eidolon stood there, frowning, and then his eyes shot wide. “So you can’t…”

“No, I can’t.”

“Fuck.”

“Exactly. Now where is he?”

Con hadn’t expected to be housed in a room decked out like a Hilton hotel suite or anything, but he had figured the Sem boys would at least provide him with heat.

Not so much.

Apparently, ice-cold temperatures helped hasten blood addiction detox. How, Con didn’t know, but he half-suspected the boys were torturing him, and it was working. He was freezing his ass off. Well, he froze when he wasn’t sweating out a fever.

Shivering in the scrubs E had thrown at him, he paced back and forth in the room, where all the furniture except a bed had been removed. He was chained to the floor with a manacle around his ankle that allowed him to move around—but only during the short periods of lucidity, like the one he was experiencing now. Usually, he was a violent, pissed-off animal, and when he felt the starvation begin to ride him again, he’d hit a call button, and one of the brothers, along with several orderlies, would chain him to the bed, sedate him, and jam a feeding tube down his throat.

The human blood they forced into his stomach was keeping him alive, even though most of it came back up.

Fuck, he was miserable. He’d looked in the bathroom mirror, had barely recognized the gaunt face or the hollow eyes staring back at him. He was so weakened that after only a couple of minutes of pacing he’d have to rest, but then, his periods of noncrazy lasted only about five minutes, anyway.

He glanced at his watch. In about ninety seconds, he’d slide back into insanity, where nothing but hunger, violence, and Sin existed.

Sin.

He ached for her. His entire body felt bruised, and the center of his chest stung, telling him his yearning was more than physical. He missed her, couldn’t stop thinking about the stupid little things, like how she smiled. How she ate. How her voice went low and smoky when he touched her. Holy hell, he would give anything to be with her like a normal person.

But that would never happen, and he was the world’s biggest dumbass to even fantasize about it. The best he could hope for was to get clean and spend the rest of his life ruling the dhampire clan. Participating in the mating rituals with females he probably wouldn’t even like.

The door swung open, and Eidolon strode in. “Get on the bed.”

It was a little early, but Con didn’t have the energy to argue. He lay stiffly as Eidolon strapped him down… extra tight.

Con glared. “What, is circulation in my extremities an option now?”

Eidolon tugged hard on the leather strap that crossed over his chest. “Sin’s here to see you.”

“What?” Con’s voice was strangled, and it had nothing to do with the final strap Eidolon was tightening over his neck. “No! You can’t let her—”

“Too late.” Sin swept into the room the way she always did, like a storm cloud that stirred up everything and everyone around it. She was wrapped like a gift in black leather, from her zip-front, sleeveless corset and matching miniskirt to the sleek boots that came up to her knees, revealing a toned expanse of thigh he remembered touching. Kissing. Remembered those legs wrapping around his waist and resting on either side of his head.

Fever swamped him, his fangs sliced out of his gums, his vision trained on her like a laser sight, and his entire body strained against the bonds. “Get out.”

Eidolon complied, even though he wasn’t the intended recipient of Con’s order. He did, however, shoot Con a deadly look of warning before he closed the door behind him.

“Wow,” Sin said, her high-heeled boots clacking on the floor as she approached. “I didn’t expect a party or anything, but I figured you might be able to handle a hi.”