Hot as Hades

by Alisha Rai

Warning: This title contains obsession, soul possession, and hot carnal transgression. Oh, and a few scares for good measure. You can’t keep this bad demon down—though you’ll want to try.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Far from Heaven:

  He was out of his damned mind. It was the only explanation for why she still drew breath. At any moment, he could have reaped what was his, and yet something in her pleading blue eyes had stopped him cold in his tracks.

  She was miserable…well, yes, that was mostly his own doing, and no doubt simply side effects of his claim on her soul. He’d sensed it the moment he touched her, felt every iota of her torment swirl right through him. Glimpsed the pain her former lover had just caused. For that alone, he’d wanted to rip that one’s soul out. Unfortunately, the man wasn’t tainted enough, or the temptation might have been too much to bear.

  He’d remained homed in on her, fascinated with the play of emotions across her face, across her thoughts. They were clearer with physical contact, but even from a distance, he’d been able to catch traces of her anger and frustration.

  Well, he’d done his job, hadn’t he? She’d been sent back to earth time and again for her strength, her goodness and her compassion. He’d broken her down, taken all of that away from her from the time she was an infant. Now she was desperate. She was weak and afraid. He should have been rejoicing over his success, laughing about stealing away and corrupting one of Heaven’s favorites. He might even climb the ranks over this one.

  If he’d get off his ass and take her already.

  Funny how he was contemplating greatness while he felt like some randy incubus whenever she looked at him with those eyes that were seeking answers for her predicament from somewhere, anywhere. Little did she know she’d found the only being who could give them to her.

  He watched from the shadows of the cavernous structure where her vehicle was parked. As she’d slid inside the car, her dress had slithered up one pale thigh, leaving almost her entire leg bared down to the dainty unshod foot. His mouth had watered. His cock had pulsed. It was doing so now, a pleasurable ache that was directly responsible for the idiotic decision to disable her car’s engine with a quick blast of his dark magic. To keep her here, to probe her mind and heart some more. To test the silvery threads of desire he’d felt within her roiling emotions, to touch her again.

  She’d been so soft, and it wasn’t often he felt that particular tactile pleasure. His world was hard and black and scorched, the most forsaken, desolate wasteland anyone could envision. It was home, but a few more brushes of that cool, silken skin and he might grow attached to the topside world. It was a risk he was willing to take.

  He approached the side of her boxy yellow car and peered inside. She’d crossed her arms over the steering wheel and was draped over them, her shoulders shuddering. Sobbing. Her hair cascaded over her back and arms, a heavy curtain of silk.

  She might tell him to leave her at this point. He might only frighten her. Nonetheless, he lifted one hand and tapped on the window.

  Her head jerked up and her eyes met his, widening slightly as their gazes connected through the glass. She made a quick effort to duck and swipe at her cheeks before popping open the car door. “Um, hi.” Her voice was raw and husky with tears. Despite her efforts, dampness clung to her cheeks, and a stray hair caught in the moisture. He longed to brush it away.

  “Are you having some trouble?”

  Her laugh was without humor…it was actually one of the most despairing sounds he’d ever heard, and that was saying a lot. “If you only knew what a loaded question that was.”

  Oh, he did know. “I can help. Maddie.”

  She softened at his adding her name to the offer. He saw it. Her eyes closed briefly, then she shook her head. “No. You can’t. No one can. It’s not just that my car won’t start, it’s…it’s everything.” Her lips twisted in bitterness. “Every fucking thing.”

  “He doesn’t deserve you.” But aren’t you one to talk?

  She made a breathless sound as her gaze darted up to his again, those luscious pink lips parting with surprise. “You don’t know anything about me. How can you say that?”

  Deciding to risk shattering the fragility of the moment, he lifted his fingers to gently grasp her chin. “I don’t have to know you. I have eyes.” And he let those eyes wander down to where the bodice of her dress cradled her full breasts, to where the skirt dipped between her thighs. Beautiful. Her figure was lush, curvaceous, just beckoning his hands to chart the dips and swells. His thumb stroked her cheek, where the skin looked like porcelain but felt like satin. It couldn’t be his imagination that she was leaning into his touch.

  He would have her throughout eternity. But she wouldn’t be as she was now, alive and still vibrant despite all he’d taken from her. He wanted a taste of her now, the sweetness of her flesh, the salt of her tears. He wanted to breathe deep the musky fragrance blooming even now from her sex.

  Her lips were trembling. “I…do I know you somehow? Have we met before?”

  Interesting. She never would have seen him, but she most likely would have sensed him near her. She might recognize his presence, know by instinct that he was familiar to her. He allowed a reassuring smile. “Maybe we knew each other in another life.”

  She wet her lips, staring at his own now. “This is so not me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I don’t know you.”

  “I thought we just established that you did, somehow.”

  That gained him a tiny smile. “You know what I mean.”

  “I think I do. You don’t know me, and yet…” His finger slid down the curve of her neck, over the persistent throb of her pulse. Delicate muscles tensed beneath his touch. He could now read every turbulent emotion as clearly as if it were his own. What would that feel like if he were buried to the hilt inside her? To feel those emotions crest as she came apart around him? “You want to. You can’t explain why. You wonder if it’s such a bad thing that you want to let go just once in your life.”

  His finger reached the neckline of her dress. Her eyes closed, her breath held, as she fell under a spell he wasn’t even bothering to weave…at least not by any magical means. She sat very still, captive by his intuitive words alone. “And it’s all right. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t matter, not for you. Nothing matters. There’s no one to impress anymore, no one to judge you.”

  “What if I judge myself?”

  “Guilt is so useless.”

  “I think you might be a very bad influence.”

  Ash traced his finger just inside the edge of her dress. “I think you should let me be. Take me home with you.”

  Maddie’s eyes opened and she drew a deep breath. She gave a meaningful nod toward the front end of her vehicle. “I hope your ride is nearby.”

  For a moment he held her gaze, drinking in the molten blue of her eyes. A pretty blush spread up her cheeks, and she made no move to push his hand away. He made no move to test her further. He knew he’d won.

  Giving her a crooked grin, he leaned into her car, reached across the steering column and turned the key. The engine purred to life. Maddie gasped.

  “What the…? A few minutes ago it was totally dead. How did you do that?”

  He stood straight and shrugged with feigned aw-shucks innocence. “I guess I have the magic touch.”