“I told you not to watch.” Emotionless.
Her gaze jerked to him. “Luis…” His eyes were still black and a faint glow seemed to light his flesh from the inside out.
“Witches…always curious, just like the damn cats you all used to be so sickeningly fond of.” He spared a glance for the demon on the ground. “I hope you’re burning somewhere now, asshole.”
Then he turned his back on the demon and fully faced her.
Her heart hammered in her chest and Serena realized her palms were slick with sweat. Not cold any longer, she was burning hot.
Fear could do that to a woman.
He lifted his right hand and Serena jerked back.
His mouth tightened. “You knew what I was when you summoned me, Serena.”
Yes, yes, she’d known.
“And when you fucked me.”
It was hard not to flinch at that one.
His hand was still in the air between them. Regular nails now, thank the goddess, but…“I don’t understand.” She stopped. Cleared her throat because her voice sounded too weak—and she didn’t want to be weak. “How—how did your hands change? Cazadores don’t come from shifters and—”
His fingers balled into a fist. “I’ve killed shifters. Dozens of them. Demons. Djinn. The ones who stalked the earth, determined to torture and murder, I stopped them.” Slowly, he uncurled his fist and his fingers, as they extended, had what looked to be about four-inch long claws sprouting from their tips. “Most don’t understand. They think all I do is kill, but I’m a soul-hunter. I hunt, and I take the powers that lurk in the souls of the Other, so that when they leave this world, they go out as helplessly as humans.”
I take the powers that lurk in the souls. Oh, shit. Shit. “You mean—all the beings you kill—”
“I get their power.” A shrug. The claws vanished in a blink. “Think of my touch as a binding spell, sweetheart. Instead of the three marks, it just takes the grasp of my hand, and any Other becomes helpless. When the powers drain away, the body dies.” His lips twisted. “And my job is done.”
No regret. No guilt. “You just…kill.” No, he drained powers first, then he killed. Her gaze darted to the fallen demon. She shuddered.
He killed.
Just like the warlock who was after her.
Her arms wrapped around her stomach. “Why did you kill him?” OK, yeah, the guy had scared the hell out of her, but other than making her heart jump into her throat, he hadn’t actually done anything to her and—
“Jack fancied himself a modern-day copy of the original.”
Serena shook her head and forced her gaze back to him. Stop looking at the dead guy. “I don’t know what you’re—”
“Jack the Ripper.”
She blinked.
“He liked to slash his victims apart just like the original Ripper, except he didn’t go after prostitutes—he went after humans, or weak paranormals. Then he had a good old time making them scream and slicing up their flesh.”
Let’s hear you scream.
Serena rocked back. “You-you knew who he was the moment you first sensed him, didn’t you?” He’d known, and he’d let her stand there and talk to a fucking sadistic killer.
One who wanted to make her scream.
A grim nod. “You were never in any danger. I would not have—”
“Asshole!” Maybe it was a good thing she didn’t have her full power right then—she would have tried to fry the jerk. “How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not bait?” Her hands were at her sides now, fisted, because she really, really wanted to slug him.
All powerful cazador or not.
“Serena—” He stepped forward, reaching for her.
She threw out a spell. Sent the air to swirling around her as a force field sealed her away from his touch.
His fingers slammed into the invisible wall. His eyes slit. “Serena.”
Her brow furrowed as she fought to hold the field. It was weak as hell, but she was making a point! “Don’t use me, cazador!”
His fist punched against the field. “I’m trying to save your life!”
“You could have warned me about Jack, you could have—”
“I didn’t know that asshole would be hunting here. By the time I realized it was him, it was too late, and he hunts by sensing fear. If I’d told you what was happening and how easily I could take him down, your emotions would have changed and he would have sensed it.”
Her temples began to throb. The wall was getting even weaker. “I don’t want to be bait,” she repeated, but this time, she was talking about the warlock. Or maybe she’d been talking about him all along. Her hand rubbed her right temple. “I don’t want to be bound.”
“I am with you, Serena. No one is going to hurt you. No one.”
“I want to protect myself.” She always had. “I don’t want to be weak.” As weak as the pitiful spell that wasn’t really holding him off. He could have broken through her force field with one push of magic.
But he hadn’t.
“You’re not going to be weak,” he promised and his hand flattened on the field. “We’re going to get the bastard, you’re going to be safe, and I promise, I’ll return you to full power.”
Her hand lifted, hovered over his. “Why did you agree to help me, Luis?” She’d summoned him, but he could have left. Could have vanished in a blink.
“Because I wanted you. From the first glimpse through the fog, I wanted you.” Power filled his words.
And she’d wanted him.
“Trust me, Serena. Trust me to save you. Trust me to—” He broke off, shaking his head.
For a moment, her gaze again dropped to the body of the dead demon. Goose bumps rose on her flesh.
Luis had spent lifetimes battling demons like Jack. Fighting to keep the world safe.
Fighting alone. Always alone.
“Why do you do it?” she whispered. “The council is long gone. It’s not your duty to keep fighting these bastards.” Though she’d screamed that it was his job the first time they’d met. But it wasn’t. He was entitled to live a life just like any other. So why did he do it? Why keep fighting the darkness?
“Because someone has to,” he said simply. “And I’m one of the only beings strong enough to face those in the dark.”
Her heart pounded so hard that her chest hurt. Was it truly that simple for him? And, goddess, but what must his life be like? So many battles. So much evil.
“Serena…” A plea was in his voice now, with even a touch of…desperation? “Trust me.”
She jerked her gaze away from the demon. Met Luis’s stare. Her lover with the golden eyes and the touch of death. The man who fought evil, when others would have run.
Trust him? Oh, yes, she did. With her life.
And with her soul.
As her spell faded with a whisper of air, her fingers curled over his. “I do trust you.”
He got her off that street and away from the body as fast as he could. Luis didn’t worry about disposing of the demon. The cops would find the body, or, if they didn’t, well, the other demons who frequented the area would make certain that no one found Jack.
Another bastard off his list.
Damn. When he’d caught the demon’s scent and realized who was out stalking, he’d nearly lost it. Almost let his power rip out full force.
He hadn’t wanted Serena close to that bastard. Hadn’t wanted Jack to so much as look at her.
But he’d known that if any Other in the city knew about the warlock, well, it would have been a piece of shit like Jack. So he’d held on to his control as long as he could. Let Serena lure the guy in, and when Jack had made the mistake of reaching for Serena, he’d attacked.
He hadn’t wanted Serena to see him make the kill.
When she looked at him, sometimes, sometimes, he’d catch a hint of fear or worry in her eyes.
But she often just looked at him as if he were…a man.
He wanted her to
keep looking at him that way. Wanted her to always look at him as if he were just her lover.
And not the killer she’d summoned.
His body was bursting with energy. The power of the touch ran through him, pulsing in his veins. The demon’s energy blended with his own, sending the currents of magic pumping through him.
Usually after a touch of death, he found a woman. Got between her legs and rode hard and fast for the rest of the night.
He felt the same wild need now, the same lust.
But he didn’t just want any woman.
He wanted the woman who sat so stiffly beside him as she drove her car, streaking down the streets and racing through the darkness.
The woman who had touched him after a kill and said she trusted him.
Truth.
“Luis…” Her voice was husky.
He glanced over at her.
“Something’s…wrong.”
He tried to unclench his fingers from their white-knuckled grip on the door handle.
“Are you all right?”
She hadn’t lied to him. He wasn’t about to lie to her. “I will be.” Once the edge of tension wore off.
In about eight or nine hours.
Fuck.
She braked at a red light. Turned to face him. “Tell me what’s happening. You’re stiff as a board over there. You’re sweating, and you haven’t moved in fifteen minutes. Are you sick? Are you—”
“It’s aftereffects, sweetheart.” The only weakness his kind had. The energy from the kill pumped through his body too hard, too fast. The result was a furious tension and a ravenous sexual hunger.
But then, his hunger for Serena was always pretty ravenous.
The light changed to green, but Serena didn’t take her foot off the brake. “What does that mean? Do you need to rest? To eat, to—”
“Fuck.”
She blinked.
No lies. Not between them. Not to her. “To get back to being one hundred percent, I need to fuck. I need to get you, naked, and plunge into that pretty pink sex until the power shock fades and I’m close to normal,” normal for him, “and I can stop breathing without my cock twitching for you.”
Her lips parted. “Ah…I…see.”
Probably not. She didn’t understand that he was literally drowning in her scent then, that talking was hard, and that every breath he drew, he tasted her.
And wanted to fuck her so bad he ached.
She glanced around the darkened streets. Gave a nod, then punched the gas and spun the wheel to the left.
“Serena!”
Tires squealed.
She didn’t glance his way. “You want me.”
Hell, yes.
“You need to have sex to…work through this tension.”
He needed to have sex because he wanted inside her. But, yeah, getting past the power surge was necessary, too.
“My art studio is a few blocks away. I-I had to get a place to meet with my clients. It’s not real big, but if you don’t mind the paint and the lack of a bed—”
If he could have her, he wouldn’t mind a damn thing.
“Then we can be there in two minutes.” She glanced at him, and Luis was caught by the desire he saw in her emerald stare. One that was almost a match for his own ferocious need. “And you can have me in three.”
Hell, yes.
7
The scent of paint hit him the moment Serena unlocked the door to the small loft.
“I-I rented here because the light is so good. The clients like the studio and I like to have a separate place for doing their work.” She flipped on the lights.
Luis tried to bite down on his hunger. Her art was on the wall. Same dark colors. Same proud passion. “You’re damn good, Serena.”
Her lips parted in surprise.
He had to kiss those lips. Feel that tongue he could see peeking behind her teeth.
“Ah, thanks. Painting—it’s almost like magic to me.”
She smiled at him, a sweet, real smile.
His heart lurched.
Ah, hell…No way was he going to be able to wait.
Luis dragged her into his arms. Kicked the door closed and took her mouth.
He kissed her with a fury and a hungry need. Started stripping off her clothes. Heard the thud of her boots as she kicked them to the floor.
He wasn’t going to take the time to strip. He unbuckled his pants, shoved them out of the way, caught his straining erection and—
“Let me.” She breathed the words against his mouth.
Then she pulled back and dropped to her knees before him.
“Serena.” A few drops of liquid pulsed from the tip of his cock.
Her fingers closed around him. Squeezing. Stroking. She seemed to know exactly how to touch him and make the hunger grow even more.
His knees trembled as his cock jerked eagerly in her grasp.
Her lips curved. Parted.
Then she bent her head toward him, that luscious red mouth open, and took him inside.
His teeth clenched as a ragged groan burst from his lips.
She moved her head, sucked, her cheeks hollowing as she drew on him.
Stars danced before his eyes. His fingers sank into the riotous mass of her curls. So damn soft.
And her mouth was so hot.
She drew him in deep, then pulled back to lick the head of his arousal. Swirled her tongue over his flesh. Another long, deep suck.
Then she swallowed.
His fingers tightened as his control snapped. He started moving her, faster, harder, thrusting his cock, trying to go deeper.
She swallowed again.
Luis came, roaring her name and shuddering helplessly as she drank in his essence.
When she’d wrung every drop from his body, she pulled away from him. Rocked back on her haunches.
Luis stared down at her.
His cock began to swell again.
What looked like white sheets were draped across the floor behind her. Paint spotted the material.
The sheets would be better than the floor.
“Take off the rest of your clothes, witch.” The strongest witch he’d ever met.
She’d bewitched him with nothing more than a touch that first night. Enslaved him with a smile.
He knew the truth now. He would never, ever get enough of her.
She laughed as she pushed off her panties. “But I wanted more.” Her eyes danced with hunger and sensual power.
Because she’d just broken a cazador’s control.
He dropped to his knees before her. Kissed the delicate inside of her ankle. One, then the other. Licked his way up the silky smooth skin of her leg. “My turn to taste.” He wanted to hear Serena scream his name.
And what a cazador wanted…
He parted her legs. Touched the warm, creamy flesh that had already plumped with arousal. Her clit was waiting for him, and when he touched the button of her desire, Serena’s back arched off the floor.
A good start.
He put his mouth on her and took.
Her moan was so sweet.
But he wanted more.
His tongue stroked over her. Licked. Fast, hard licks. Then short, slow swipes.
She began to call his name.
But not to scream for him. Not yet.
He pushed two fingers inside her. Felt the delicate muscles of her sex clamp greedily around him. He thrust, driving knuckle deep, then retreating.
Licking.
Her hips rocked against his hand, jerking faster with each move of his fingers.
Luis wanted more.
He pulled his fingers free. Lowered his mouth. Touched her trembling flesh with the tip of his tongue.
Then drove his tongue inside of her.
The scream she gave was pure music to his ears.
Luis thrust his cock into her just as the last tremors of her climax faded.
Serena stared up at him. Lines of tension and need were etched onto his face.
A dark power drove him. She could feel the magic in the air. But there was more.
The hunger she felt for him, the stark lust she’d experienced nearly from the beginning, was reflected in his eyes.
Power to power.
Lover to lover.
Sex to sex.
She locked her legs around him. Held on tight as he slammed into her, driving that thick cock deep into her. Her muscles clamped around him. Clutched tight, and a flash of pleasure had her undulating beneath him.
Then he thrust harder. Curled his hands around her hips and lifted her into his strokes.
His eyes began to darken as he gazed down at her.
The pleasure built again.
She didn’t look away from him. Couldn’t.
Serena tightened around him and rode his cock as wildly as she could.
When the next climax hit her, she didn’t even try to muffle her cry of release.
But then, neither did he.
She slept at some point. After she rode him, breasts bouncing as she took his cock inside. After he flipped her onto her stomach and took her with her hands digging into the paint-stained sheets.
She slept, and he watched her.
His fingers traced the star on her belly. Such a beautiful, simple design. One witches had long used.
I don’t want to be weak. Her words played through his mind.
His little witch didn’t understand, even without her magic, she wouldn’t be powerless. She was smart, resourceful, and brave. Not many would have stood beneath that streetlight and waited for a lost demon to walk from the darkness.
And not many would have risked using dark magic to summon him.
He brushed his face against her curls. Inhaled her scent.
I don’t want to be weak.
His head lifted. His mother had been weak, at the end.
Life was too short for so many.
He put his hand back over Serena’s stomach. Power and a dark need still filled him.
But his control was back, and it would hold. No matter how much his witch tempted him.
Because he had a promise to keep and a warlock to kill.
She shifted against him, and her lashes blinked open. “Luis?”
Bending, he pressed a kiss to her sleep-softened lips. “We have to go, sweetheart.” There were only about two more hours of darkness left.
Everlasting Bad Boys Page 23
