Free A DANGEROUS BARGAIN (The Sentinel Demons) by J. S. Scott

eyes gleaming golden light.
    “No, we don’t. And we haven’t figured out completely how this is happening. Every Sentinel is going to have to be vigilant,” Kristoff asserted, his expression implacable, his innate instinct to protect humans clear from the fierce expression on his face. Turning to Zach, he pinned him with a commanding look. “You need to make a life bargain with Kat or bind her to you for her protection. It’s the only way to keep her safe right now. It’s highly possible the Evils will try again and there’s no guarantee that you will be the witnessing Sentinel next time, although I suspect that the Evils need a sleeping, vulnerable Sentinel nearby to pull off this crap. They’ve obviously figured out how to bring a Sentinel into the dream realm as just a witness and keep them subdued unless they're denied. I noticed in Kat’s dream that you weren’t able to make a move until she refused the Evil.”
    All the breath whooshed out of Zach’s lungs at Kristoff’s statement. “I can’t make her my radiant . She doesn’t deserve that. You know what has to happen and what she’s already been through,” Zach growled back at Kristoff. No matter how much his demon nature clamored for her to belong to him, he wasn’t taking her. His darkness was too black, too suffocating.
    “She wouldn’t be your radiant if she couldn’t handle it. Goddammit, Zach, this is no time for you to have your head up your ass by lamenting over what you think are mistakes in your past. You need to look to Kat’s safety. Make a life bargain with her…or I will. She can still be set free after the bargain and retain our protection.”
    Zach looked up at Kristoff, wanting to go for his throat. This wasn’t about past mistakes or insecurities. This was about Kat, a woman he could see from the inside out, a woman who had spent her whole adult life caring for others and asking for nothing for herself. She gave…and… gave…and gave, until Zach wasn’t sure how she had anything left to give. How could he take the rest of her life from her?
    I could set her free if I made a life bargain, give her everything she needs to live her life the way she deserves.
    There was no fucking way he was letting Kristoff make the bargain with her. Just the thought of another man being able to control how Kat lived her life sickened him, demon king or not. It had nothing to do with trust. He’d put his life in Kristoff’s hands. But not Kat’s.
    Mine.
    “I’ll do it,” he replied adamantly, knowing Kat needed protection, unable to let anyone else but him provide it. He didn’t trust anyone else to look out for her the way he would. She needed a life bargain to protect her, and he didn’t want her bound in any way to another male.
    Problem was, he wasn’t sure he trusted himself either. Once Kat had bargained her entire life to him, how in the hell would he ever let her go?
     

Chapter Six
    The next day, Zach wondered absently if a demon could do himself harm from whacking off so many times in such a short period of time. He had lost track of how many times he had taken himself in hand during the short duration that he’d known Kat, to take himself out of a state of arousal in order to keep Kat from feeling his compulsions. She was rapidly driving him completely insane.
    She’d made a life bargain with him without hesitation after Kristoff, Drew, and Hunter had left during the night. The swiftness with which she’d agreed had humbled him, her trust in him so damn undeserved. The life bargain would protect her from all Evils unless something happened to him, but the terms of the initial bargain still had to be fulfilled.
    Six more days of this fucking torture. Six more days of trying to block my wants.
    Unfortunately, he was utterly and completely fixated on Kat, his wants all revolving around her. Anything else he wanted could easily be hidden from her, but his need for her was nearly impossible to control.
    With her being under