don’t exist.”
“You’re not here just for me, though, are you?You’re here to hunt them. To send them back where they came from.”
Again, she spoke with hope. Again, he gave her the answer she wanted.
“I have to destroy them to protect you,” he said.
“You know how to do that?”
Her lack of faith offended him. “Yes.”
“Is that why you’re helping me find my brother?”
“Roxanne, creatures of the Beyond can’t cross over into your world at will. They have to be invited.”
“Were you?”
“A billion prayers are made every hour. Angels are always invited.”
“I wasn’t praying.”
“Weren’t you?”
The question made her eyes round and her lips soften. He knew he’d hit upon something secret, something she never shared. What prayer had she kept hidden just for herself? What plea had gone unanswered for so long that she’d forgotten she’d asked?
“So you’re saying that for these demons to be on earth, they had to be invited in.”
“In a manner of speaking. When your brother died, I felt a pressure in the air that I couldn’t explain. I think it was a door opening in the Beyond.” He paused. “A second later, the hellhounds came in.”
She’d grown very pale but she kept her chin raised, her eyes steady on his face. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m not sure I understand it either. But we don’t have time to talk this out now. They’re coming.”
He could feel their approach. They emitted a dark pulse of power that hummed like an electric line coursing with energy.
“I know someplace we’ll be safe until we figure out what to do. But first we’ve got to lose them . They’re watching the lot. They know what car we came in.”
“They,” she repeated softly. “Scavengers. Hellhounds. Demons.”
There was no derision to her tone; no skepticism lingered at all. Intrigued, he nodded and said, “We need to get out of the room, circle to the back of the building, and find another set of wheels.”
“Find? You mean steal?”
The innocent umbrage in the question cut through his tension and made him smile. “Yes.”
She grimaced at her bloodstained shoes but quickly put them on. The bedside lamp did little to chase away the gloom, but he could still see the fear gleaming in her eyes.
He lifted his duffel with one hand and took her icy fingers in his other.
“Trust me, Roxanne,” he said, his voice husky with all that entailed.
Doubt clouded her expression, but she nodded. He tugged her hand, urging her forward and toward thedoor. He paused before he opened it and looked down at her face.
She gazed back, eyes wide. Her long, gold-tipped lashes cast feather-light shadows on her cheeks. The color had drained from her face, giving her an ethereal look that made something inside him clench.
She thought him an angel.
What would have happened earlier if he hadn’t heard that baying in the distance? If reality hadn’t knocked on the moment and demanded attention? Would he be lost inside her, even now? Delving in the heat of her, taking what she offered? Basking in the exciting and forbidden? He’d wanted things he’d never even imagined.
He wanted them still.
He leaned closer and she swayed in response. He took the infinitesimal motion as an invitation and his lips found hers without blunder, without hesitation, a skill that must have come from the human who’d kissed a thousand times or more. But for the reaper, it was still new. The taste of her on his tongue. The surge of power that came from knowing he could make her go soft and hungry with his touch.
Her mouth was lush, her breath sweet. The feel of her lips couldn’t be measured. In all the eternity of his existence, he’d never been jealous of humans. But that was before he knew the curve of this woman’s body,the softness that felt like mink against his brawn. The breathy sounds she made when kissed just so, touched her, right there. The sensations turned him inside out and consumed him. He
“You’re not here just for me, though, are you?You’re here to hunt them. To send them back where they came from.”
Again, she spoke with hope. Again, he gave her the answer she wanted.
“I have to destroy them to protect you,” he said.
“You know how to do that?”
Her lack of faith offended him. “Yes.”
“Is that why you’re helping me find my brother?”
“Roxanne, creatures of the Beyond can’t cross over into your world at will. They have to be invited.”
“Were you?”
“A billion prayers are made every hour. Angels are always invited.”
“I wasn’t praying.”
“Weren’t you?”
The question made her eyes round and her lips soften. He knew he’d hit upon something secret, something she never shared. What prayer had she kept hidden just for herself? What plea had gone unanswered for so long that she’d forgotten she’d asked?
“So you’re saying that for these demons to be on earth, they had to be invited in.”
“In a manner of speaking. When your brother died, I felt a pressure in the air that I couldn’t explain. I think it was a door opening in the Beyond.” He paused. “A second later, the hellhounds came in.”
She’d grown very pale but she kept her chin raised, her eyes steady on his face. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m not sure I understand it either. But we don’t have time to talk this out now. They’re coming.”
He could feel their approach. They emitted a dark pulse of power that hummed like an electric line coursing with energy.
“I know someplace we’ll be safe until we figure out what to do. But first we’ve got to lose them . They’re watching the lot. They know what car we came in.”
“They,” she repeated softly. “Scavengers. Hellhounds. Demons.”
There was no derision to her tone; no skepticism lingered at all. Intrigued, he nodded and said, “We need to get out of the room, circle to the back of the building, and find another set of wheels.”
“Find? You mean steal?”
The innocent umbrage in the question cut through his tension and made him smile. “Yes.”
She grimaced at her bloodstained shoes but quickly put them on. The bedside lamp did little to chase away the gloom, but he could still see the fear gleaming in her eyes.
He lifted his duffel with one hand and took her icy fingers in his other.
“Trust me, Roxanne,” he said, his voice husky with all that entailed.
Doubt clouded her expression, but she nodded. He tugged her hand, urging her forward and toward thedoor. He paused before he opened it and looked down at her face.
She gazed back, eyes wide. Her long, gold-tipped lashes cast feather-light shadows on her cheeks. The color had drained from her face, giving her an ethereal look that made something inside him clench.
She thought him an angel.
What would have happened earlier if he hadn’t heard that baying in the distance? If reality hadn’t knocked on the moment and demanded attention? Would he be lost inside her, even now? Delving in the heat of her, taking what she offered? Basking in the exciting and forbidden? He’d wanted things he’d never even imagined.
He wanted them still.
He leaned closer and she swayed in response. He took the infinitesimal motion as an invitation and his lips found hers without blunder, without hesitation, a skill that must have come from the human who’d kissed a thousand times or more. But for the reaper, it was still new. The taste of her on his tongue. The surge of power that came from knowing he could make her go soft and hungry with his touch.
Her mouth was lush, her breath sweet. The feel of her lips couldn’t be measured. In all the eternity of his existence, he’d never been jealous of humans. But that was before he knew the curve of this woman’s body,the softness that felt like mink against his brawn. The breathy sounds she made when kissed just so, touched her, right there. The sensations turned him inside out and consumed him. He
Similar Books
