Lover Arisen, page 25
“As opposed to when, next Christmas?”
He tipped his beer to her. Then he apparently gave up on the couching-terms thing. Like, entirely: “She’s a demon.”
Erika sat back. And yet wondered why she was even slightly surprised.
Well… because it wasn’t every day you woke up and realized you were in a Conjuring sequel. And she really should have a response. A shocked face, at least. Maybe a curse or two breathed softly.
Instead, she felt absolutely nothing.
“A demon.” More beer. She needed a loooooot more beer. “As in, pea soup, spinning heads, Linda-Blair-type demon?”
Like there was another kind?
“That’s what you humans call them.”
Annnnnnnnd that was a lead-in to the real question.
So she kept going with what they were on: “She’s what you are fighting.”
“Not by choice, but yes.” He put his hand on his bare pecs. “She’s in me, Erika. Do you understand what I’m saying.”
As the little hairs on the back of her neck stood up, she thought about her dream of the shadow. Then she focused on him properly. Funny, how this man wasn’t a stranger anymore. Then again, they had so much in frickin’ common after tonight that things had changed. He was more like a friend now.
No, that wasn’t the right word, was it. “Friend” was not how she thought of him.
Not when she looked at his lips.
But whatever, the not-a-stranger thing was why she had asked him to come to her “apartment” that wasn’t really an apartment. If he’d been a straight suspect, a thief, a possible killer, she’d have taken that Honda right over to HQ and called for backup to go raid the garage and bring him in.
None of this was normal, however. Not one goddamn thing, not what he was able to do with her brain, not that brunette, certainly not the shadows. So yeah, Balthazar was a thief, but what would turning him in do for her or anybody else? He’d just manipulate the minds and memories of anyone who showed up with handcuffs. Work of a moment.
So instead of losing him into the night, and understanding nothing about what had happened to them, she’d rolled her own dice and taken a chance that he wouldn’t hurt her. Which was no chance at all, really. He’d only ever tried to keep her safe—
Wow, she thought abruptly. He was still half naked.
And what a view at her kitchen table.
Funny what you noticed… and didn’t, depending on how stressed you were.
She cleared her throat. And stammered anyway. “So you’re… she’s possessed you?”
He looked down at her empty napkin holder. When he nodded, that chill on her nape got worse.
“How can you get her out?”
“I need that Book,” he replied. “The one that was at the triplex. That’s why I was there the night I met you. And then tonight, I went to the bookshop because I Googled rare booksellers in Caldwell and it was the first that came up. I thought maybe I could get a lead or some background on the thing.”
“I went there for the same reason.” She tapped the side of the bottle with her fingernail—and then promptly irritated herself with the sound. “I have an idea about how we might be able to get some information on it. But it’s going to have to wait until morning.”
“What’s your plan—”
“What are you.”
There, she was out with it. The big question. The one that she was most worried about the answer to.
And when he didn’t immediately respond, she shrugged. “You might as well tell me. You said that the less I know, the more free I am, but that’s not true when you’re sitting in my kitchen in a sheet.”
After a moment, he nodded. “I agree.”
But then he didn’t say anything else.
As the silence stretched out, she got up from her chair. Maybe it was the half of a Miller Lite. Maybe it was just how much she had seen in the course of the night.
Maybe it was because of all the places life had taken her—most of them being really fucking god-awful—the idea that something otherworldly was in her house seemed more meh than emergency.
When she went around her table and stood in front of him, he looked at her, the heavy cords of muscle that ran up the sides of his neck flexing as he tilted his head back.
Don’t touch him, she told herself. You touch him right now and there’s no going back.
“There isn’t one anyway.”
“What?” he murmured.
“It doesn’t matter.”
She got so close that his knees had to part to accommodate her. And then she brushed at his hair, thinking of how she’d stroked it when he’d been lying there on the floor of that storeroom, in a pool of his own blood.
“Show me,” she demanded. “If you can’t tell me, show me.”
There was a heavy pause that seemed to have the same density as the aftermath of a bomb blast. Instead, it just turned out to be the preamble for what really knocked her over.
His upper lip rolled back off his front teeth.
And as she noticed that he had really, really long canines…
…they dropped down from the roof of his mouth, right in front of her very eyes.
Erika started to breathe hard, and even that didn’t do anything to relieve the crushing suffocation in her chest.
“Vampire,” she whispered.
“You have nothing to fear from me. You need to know that—”
“Oh… God.”
With an expression of exhaustion, he put up his hand as if trying to stop the conclusions running through her mind. “Hold on, you humans have it all wrong. There’s no biting and turning people, and a stake through the heart is no different than a dagger. And to hell with the defiler of virgins bullshit—and no, garlic and crosses don’t do anything.” He shook his head. “We are a separate species from you and we just want to live our lives in peace, something that’s really hard to do when there are so many of you around—and when we have other things unrelated to humans that want to kill us. It’s a battle, all the time. Good thing we’re really good at fighting.”
On that note, he linked his arms over his naked chest and sat back in the chair. Going by the jut of his jaw, she had a feeling he was offended by a lot of her kind.
Join the club, she thought to herself. Sometimes she wasn’t all that impressed with humans, either.
“Why are you smiling?” he said.
She reached up and touched her mouth, unaware that there was a wry lift to her lips. “Um… I guess I’m just surprised I’m not scared. And shocked that I don’t feel as though we’re all that different.”
“You shouldn’t be frightened of me.”
“I’m not. Instead, I find you…”
As she let the words drift, she focused on his mouth. And wondered what it would feel like to kiss him. Just bend down and press her lips to his.
But are you ready for what would happen next, she asked herself.
“You can finish that thought,” he said in a husky way.
“Hmm?”
“Finish your thought about what you think of what I am. Because you’re totally free to share any opinion when you’re looking at me like that.”
“How am I looking at you.” Her voice lowered, and not because there was anybody around to hear her. “Tell me.”
“Like you want to kiss me.”
Erika opened her mouth. Closed it.
He put both his hands up. “And honestly, even if you’re just curious, that’s okay with me.”
Erika frowned. “As if I’d use you as some kind of experiment?”
“It’s all right.” His lids lowered. “Because if you try me, only to see if I’m the same as a man, it gives me a chance to prove to you I’m better than anything you’ve ever had.”
“You’re pretty confident.”
“Not at all. Facts.”
As her body heated up, she could have sworn he purred in the back of his throat—and she became very aware, as she stood so close to him, that this… electric moment… was where things had been heading all along. Probably from the first time she set eyes on him.
“Do you believe in fate,” she murmured.
“Kiss me right now and I’d say yes, absolutely, I do.”
Erika waited for some kind of self-protective instinct to steer her into such neutral conversational territory as: So how long have you been possessed by a demon? How many times have you fought a shadow? Are all of your buddies, including the one with the tats on the temple and the goatee, vampires as well?
Any plans for the summer?
Yankees vs. Mets?
But nope. Her warning system stayed silent.
So she did the only thing she could think of.
She leaned down and took his face into her hands. As he tilted his head even farther back, the way he acquiesced to her touch made her feel even more in control. And wow, that cologne of his… it was as if he’d just put more on.
Right before her lips brushed his, he sighed. Like he had been waiting for this for as long as she had.
“Me, too,” she whispered.
And then there was the first contact, her mouth pressing into his, the sizzle of pure lust going all the way through her body as that purring sound rose from him once again.
Turning her head to the side, she gently explored what he so willingly offered. And what do you know, he was right.
He was one hell of a kisser.
When she finally eased back, his eyes glittered up at her. “So what do you think?”
“I think…” She brushed his hair away from his forehead. “It’s a good start.”
“My turn?”
She had to smile a little. “Like I was doing that wrong?”
Balthazar sat forward, his hands going to her hips. “Oh, no. You’re perfect.”
“But you can do better?” She raised an eyebrow. “Fine. Show me what you got, vampire—”
He was up and out of that chair in the blink of an eye. And the next thing she knew, she was in his arms and being bent backward—so that the only thing keeping her off the floor was his strong arms. As she gasped and grabbed on to his bare shoulders, she was aware of the power in his body—and how much smooth skin and hard muscle there was on him. Staring up into his heated eyes, she’d never been so turned on in her life. And it wasn’t about some Dracula myth, either. It was about him. This man—male, whatever. It was about… Balthazar.
“Now I’m going to show you the way a vampire kisses a female he wants.”
The mouth that claimed hers was not gentle. It was demanding and a little rough, and when his tongue entered her, she gave up any pretense of trying to hold herself up. She gave in fully to the sexual wave, letting herself go.
And he was right.
He was the best she’d ever had. Her whole body came alive, her breasts tingling, her sex aching, her legs going straight to jelly. God… she just wanted more. No, she needed more.
When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard—and he seemed surprised. Like he’d thought it would be good, but he hadn’t thought it would be that good.
“Your scent is beautiful,” he growled.
“I’m not wearing perfume.”
“You are.” His eyes went down her body. “The very best kind. The kind that’s going to make it impossible for me to sleep during the day. It’s your arousal. I can scent how much you want what I can give you.”
Erika was panting—and didn’t bother to hide it. Especially as his words sunk in. Wait, what? He wasn’t going further with this?
“Or maybe…” She slid one of her hands up to the nape of his neck. “Maybe we can do something more about this?”
The smile on his face was dark. Erotic. As hungry as she felt.
“I thought you’d never ask,” he purred.
And then he kissed her again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Back at Devina’s lair, the demon watched as her long-awaited happily ever after rose from the floor like he was a mountain range birthed by the earth itself, growing more powerful with each inch of height he unfurled for her very approving eyes. And when he was at his full vertical, his magnificence was too much for her, and she covered her face with her hands.
Beneath her palms, she was smiling as her eyes flooded with tears.
The sense of a long journey coming to an end, a home reached, a family finally established, struck her with such force, she swayed on her stilettos.
And that was when he touched her for the first time. It was just a fingertip, pressing into her sternum, between the swells of her hypersensitive breasts.
As Devina’s breath caught, that pinpoint of contact moved to the side slowly, and it took the fragile silk of her blouse for a little ride… until her taut nipple felt a rasp and then the cooler air.
“I’m going to fuck you,” the male said in a low voice.
Yes, you are, she thought as she lowered her hands—
Oh, God. He was aroused, fully aroused, his cock jutting out from his hips, clearly capable of doing the job she wanted it to, deep inside her core—
Her one true love clapped a hold on the base of her throat, right at her collarbones, and the smile he gave her was the kind that she imagined a serial killer wore when he was just about to go to work.
Between her legs, her clit throbbed.
Those strange, all-wrong eyes bored into her as he started to push her back, and she had no choice but to walk with him if she wanted to keep on her feet.
It was a dance between their bodies, a to-and-fro of balance and steps, all of it directed by him—and when the wall came up behind her and there was no farther she could go, he stopped, too. His upper lip curled back, and that was when she saw the fangs. Clearly, they’d been there all along, but she’d had too much eye candy to gorge on to notice them.
Devina moaned. She had a thing for vampires. She really did.
“You like these,” he murmured as he bared his canines at her.
She liked all of him. “Yes.”
“I plan on using them on you.” He pressed into the base of her throat with his grip. “For a while.”
Her breath came hard, pump pump. “You think you’re going to kill me, don’t you.”
“You look surprised. But you didn’t summon a Tinder date.”
Devina shook her head. “You can’t kill me.”
“Who’s going to stop me.” He glanced around at the clothes, the shoes, the bags. “Nobody’s going to save you. Especially after I put a gag in your mouth so no one will hear you scream.”
“I don’t need saving, lover.”
With that, she cast him off her with a burst of energy, sending him flying back through the air, all the way across to the very far side of her lair. As she slammed him into the solid concrete, the expression on his face was so fucking priceless, she wished she had a cell phone and could take a picture.
Now Devina was the one coming forward, and she deliberately left her blouse wide open, her exposed, tight-nippled breast bobbing with her stride. As his eyes locked on what she wanted him to see, she undid another couple of buttons and unveiled the other one.
She hoped he enjoyed the view. She was certainly approving of the way that enormous cock stood out at her, thick as her forearm, the potent sac beneath promising her all kinds of ejaculations—
Babies.
She faltered as the thought ricocheted through her.
A male like this… could get her pregnant, couldn’t he. If she wanted him to.
When she halted a good ten feet away from him, the male she was easily holding in place frowned. Then he strained, pulling against her hold. Which of course would get him nowhere. She was more powerful than that—
As his right arm broke free, he glared at his left like he was pissed it wasn’t following directions—and at the show of strength, Devina dropped the baby bullshit and narrowed her eyes. How was he that strong?
“What’s your name,” she blurted.
Those black-and-blue eyes narrowed on her. And when he didn’t answer her but just continued to pull against his confinement, she realized… he was not going to ask her to let him go. He was also not going to tell her anything simply because she wanted the information. He was not going to follow any order or even a request.
Goddamn… she wanted him.
Devina’s Louboutins started moving again, and she stopped when she was right in front of him, watching as he continued to strain and jerk against that stuck left arm of his, his erection thrusting forward, retreating, swinging to the left, to the right. The struggle, coupled with his arousal’s slapping movement, was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen, his growing anger at her making him glow with nasty intent.
Her hand went to one of her exposed breasts and she played with her nipple, tweaking the flesh between her fingers. Pulling it out and letting it snap back into place. Rubbing it.
Those fangs made another spectacular appearance and he hissed—like in his mind, he was biting the tip off and swallowing it.
“What’s your name…” Even though she knew he wasn’t going to answer. “Tell me.”
There was a delicious thrill to his denying her, and later, she would recognize that this was when it all started. The addiction to him.
Turned out, her version of true love had a compulsive element to it. Made sense. Happiness had always bored her. A cycle of aching need, followed by ecstatic acquisition or fulfillment, culminating with a glow of satisfaction? That was her fucking jam.
Devina smiled. “I’m not letting you go, unless you tell me your name—”
His left arm popped loose, and she lifted an eyebrow. Then he began to bend forward, his chest and abs flexing, his teeth with those fangs gritting, sweat breaking out across his skin—until his torso somehow peeled free of that wall. He should not have been able to do any of this—and that was when her second realization hit.
“You’re like me.” And she wasn’t talking about character traits. “You’re something else, aren’t you.”
No ordinary vampire could do any of this shit.
And of course, her true love didn’t say a damn thing. He just continued to pull, pull, pull against the hold on him. He trembled, his shoulders flexing, the veins that ran down his arms popping, his abdominals standing out in stark relief—and he was still aroused, whether it was from fury at her or sexual attraction, she wasn’t sure, didn’t care. She’d take the former, because it was fun, and the spell should have ensured the latter.
