by Elisa Adams
The shower turned on and he thought about her under the hot spray, her nude, toned body glistening with water droplets and frothy with soapsuds. He groaned. How could she possibly still affect him like this? He’d had her hours ago, and yet he wanted her again. A memory of the taste of her blood, tangy and sweet, flooded his mouth and he had to force himself not to follow her into the bathroom and take her against the shower wall. He’d given her a lot to digest, and she’d need the time alone to think about it. But not too much time. When she came out of the bathroom she’d be all his again. It was the only way to keep her from running once his words sunk in.
And when she found out who really killed her husband.
He unclipped his cell phone from the waistband of his pants and dialed Eric’s number. His friend answered on the fourth ring. “What do you want now, Kincaid?”
Sam laughed. “Nice to talk to you, too, Malcolm. Do you have a free minute?”
“Just about that. Ellie just walked through the door, and she’s in a mood, if you know what I mean.”
Sam smiled at the mention of Eric’s mate. Ellie had been human too, when she and Eric had met. Maybe there was a chance that he and Faith… Don’t go there, Kincaid. Ellie’s loss of her human life, and his involvement in it, was one of the reasons the Council was investigating him. “I won’t keep you long, then. I need a favor.”
“What’s up?”
“I’m away from my computer for a while. Can you look into something for me?”
“Sure. What is it?”
“Marganis Pharmaceuticals.”
Sam heard Eric’s low whistle on the other end of the line. “Does this have anything to do with Paul Richardson? Or maybe his wife?”
“Yeah, it kinda does.”
“You know she’s missing, right? I wasn’t going to say anything, knowing your twisted fixation with the woman, but it’s been all over the news.”
Damn it. “She’s not missing. She’s with me.”
“What?” Eric coughed. “What the hell did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything she didn’t ask me to do. She came to me and asked me to protect her.”
“The Council is going to be seriously angry over this. You’d better watch your back.”
Sam scrubbed a hand down his face. “I don’t care. Let them be angry. This is a lot more important.”
“How can a human woman be more important than…?” Eric stopped. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.” Sam nearly laughed at his situation. A year ago, he’d taunted Eric for a similar problem. He’d never been a big believer in karma, but now he had to wonder. “Just look up the name for me and get back to me when you find something, okay?”
“Sure. Take care of her, okay?”
“I plan to.”
“Oh, and Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“If you get into any trouble, you know you can call me. Give Mrs. Richardson my number too, just in case.”
“Thanks. I will.” He disconnected the call, set his cell phone on the table next to the bed. With any luck, it wouldn’t come to bringing in outside help. But if it did…
No. He wouldn’t think about it now. He closed his eyes, determined to get a little rest before Faith finished her shower. He’d need all the strength he had when it came time to face her again.
Chapter Six
After an obscenely long shower—partially because the hot water felt incredible after what she’d been through but mostly because she wanted to make Sam suffer after what he’d done with the underwear and his annoyingly domineering ways—Faith stepped out of the bathroom in nothing but the thong, a towel clutched in front of her chest. He hadn’t provided her with pajamas, and as exhausted as she was, she couldn’t bring herself to care. So he wanted her to sleep naked. So what? She’d brought it upon herself when she’d offered him her body. Though if she’d known then what she knew about him now, she would have ignored Paul’s advice and run in the other direction.
Holding the towel secure over her breasts, she stepped to the bed against the far wall. Sam slept on the other bed, his chest rising and falling with his even breaths. Too many emotions raced through her mind. He worried her, scared her with his confessions and his domineering behavior. Yet at the same time heat rose in her at the thought of him controlling their play. But he was a demon, and some kind of vampire. Or so he said. She didn’t know what to think, what to believe. Her upbringing, everything she’d grown up knowing, pulled her in one direction while instinct shoved her in another.
Did he have powers that could make her want him, even when her mind warned her against it? She wouldn’t doubt it. Why else would she have let him touch her like that in the woods? Take her right up against a tree, in full view of anyone who might have passed by.
She pulled back the covers on the bed and was just about to let the towel drop when Sam stirred. “What do you think you’re doing?”
A curl of arousal formed in her belly as fear welled in her heart. “What do you mean? I’m tired, and I want to go to bed.”
“It’s early.”
“Not that early. It was a long night, and a long day. I need some sleep.” She glanced at him, her hands on her hips. “I’ll take this bed, and you take that one.”
His expression turned stormy. “I don’t think so. We made a deal.”
“Listen, asshole, I need a break from the deal, okay? I’m about two seconds away from freaking out here, so I suggest you shut the fuck up and let me get some sleep. You’ve really thrown me for a loop, and I need some time to work it out. I’m going to sleep here, and you’re going to sleep there, and you’re going to like it.”
Without another word, she dropped the towel and slid under the covers. Despite his gaze on her, scorching her skin, probably angry as hell and ready to strangle her, she fell into a fitful sleep.
* * * * *
Faith walked through her house—not the motel room she shared with Sam, but the mansion back in Connecticut she’d shared with Paul. She made her way down the long hallway to Paul’s den, his favorite room in the house. Something warned her not to go inside, but she stepped over the threshold anyway.
A strange, dark shadow hung over the oak-paneled room, something she couldn’t see, but felt deep inside her. Sinister. Evil. She gulped as her blood turned to ice in her veins. “Paul?”
“I’m right here, Faith.”
She spun around, her eyes half-closed, expecting to find Paul as she’d found him the night he’d been killed—broken, lifeless, his neck snapped and his eyes glassy. But he stood in front of her, full of the life and vibrancy she’d admired in him during the course of their brief marriage.
He smiled. “How are you?”
Laughter bubbled inside her at the inane question, given the seriousness of the situation.
“You’ve asked a lot of me.”
“I wouldn’t have asked more than you could handle, Faith. You know that. I chose you because you’re strong. You can carry on and finish this, even without me.”
“I don’t want to. Paul, they’re trying to kill me.” Hot, salty tears streamed down her cheeks, and no matter how much she swiped them away, they kept coming. “I want out of this. I never agreed to this when I agreed to marry you.”
Paul ran a finger down the side of her cheek. Her husband’s touch should have stirred something inside her, but it didn’t. It never had. Instead, the touch comforted, and reinforced her decision to carry on with his plan.
“You will do this for me, Faith, won’t you?” Paul asked, his tone tender and caring, the way she’d always remembered it to be.
She couldn’t let him down. He depended on her. The world depended on her. “Yes. I will.”
“You still have the formula?”
“Yes, Paul. I told you I would guard it with my life, and I’ll do that.”
“Good girl.” Paul smiled the charming smile that had turned her heart over the day they met. “You remember where it needs to go?”
; “I do.” She returned the smile, her heart aching for the loss of the friendship she and Paul had, before he’d been killed. He was the first person to ever care about her, the first person in her life who hadn’t cast her aside for bigger and better things, and for that she’d always be grateful.
“That’s my girl. I knew I could count on you.”
Guilt sliced through her when she thought of Sam. Sam with his rugged face and dark demeanor and body to die for, and for the first time, she felt unfaithful to Paul. She shouldn’t…they’d agreed on an open marriage from the start, but faced with Paul as she remembered him in life, the attraction she’d always felt for Sam seemed wrong. Maybe it was, but she couldn’t help it.
“Have you told Kincaid what you need to do yet?”
She shook her head. She’d planned to, from the first night, but something inside her told her to wait. She knew now that he wasn’t what he had seemed.
“You need to tell him, Faith.”
“I will. Soon.”
Paul nodded. “I’m counting on you. He will protect you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. You deserve more than I could give you. What he can give you, now that I’m gone.”
“Paul, don’t.”
“Do it, Faith. Bring the drug where I told you to. Tell Sam. Trust me. Once he knows where it’s going, he will help you get it there.”
The ominous tone of Paul’s voice wasn’t lost on her. She shivered.
The shivers soon faded as something soft, wet and warm stroked between her legs. Paul? No, not Paul. Never Paul.
Sam.
She snapped her eyes open, blinked in the dim light provided by the parted curtains. It had all been a dream. Paul was dead. She’d never have the chance to speak to him again. And she wouldn’t give Sam the formula. Not until she was sure she could trust him to do the right thing.
The warm stroke came again, harder this time than the first. She hadn’t dreamed that. Her mind reeled, her gaze searching the darkened room. When had the sun set? She must have been more tired than she thought if she’d slept the day away. Well, she had been up most of the night before—and running for her life—to blame for that. She shook her head, her mind finally shaking off the last remnants of sleep. She lay on the mattress, naked, uncovered, her legs parted with Sam’s dark head between them. A shock of arousal coursed through her and she bit back a moan. He must have removed her panties while she was still asleep.
Didn’t she tell him they were going to sleep in separate beds? She fisted her hands in his hair and pulled his head up. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He smiled, his face glistening with her cream in the dim moonlight. The visual only increased her arousal. “If it’s not obvious, you have issues.”
His smile, genuine and honest, made something hitch inside her. She’d never met someone so cold, so intense. So precise and calculating that just watching him work scared her. But when he smiled, his whole face changed.
No. This is wrong. He isn’t even human. She tried to scoot away, but he held her in place with his big palms on her thighs. He dipped his head again, his tongue stroking along the wet folds of her slit. She shivered.
“No, Sam. This is wrong. We shouldn’t be… I shouldn’t be…”
He lifted his head, exasperation heavy in his eyes. “You spend way too much time thinking of how you shouldn’t feel, shouldn’t act. For once, just let yourself think about how you should. Do I make you feel good?”
She licked her lips, nodded. Yes, he made her feel good. Too good. He made her forget her situation—which would break only break her heart in the end.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“You’re…you’re not human.”
“I’m a demon, Faith. That’s not a bad thing. You won’t burst into flames just saying it.”
“I know.”
“I don’t think you do.” He nipped gently at her folds, making her entire body quiver. “But you will. I promise. Trust me. I’ll show you that I can be just like any other man you’ve ever known.”
She froze, her blood chilling in her veins. He had no idea what he was saying. “No. I don’t want you to be like any man I’ve ever known.”
“You haven’t had good experiences with men.”
She shook her head.
“I can change that.” Without further comment, he brought his mouth back to her pussy.
He spread her folds with his thumbs, dragged his tongue from one end of her slit to the other before swirling it over her clit. Her body responded instantly, cream coating the walls of her cunt as desire curled in her belly. He sucked the hard bud into his mouth, tugged and pulled with his lips and teeth. Shards of arousal shot through her stomach, lighting a fire deep inside her. She arched her hips toward the irresistible touch of his mouth, wanting more. Needing more.
Needing to forget.
“That’s it, baby,” he breathed against her skin. “Don’t think. Just feel.”
She obliged him without argument. Thinking, in this instance, could be dangerous. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she was making a mistake in allowing him such free rein, but she was powerless to stop him. Powerless to stop what she wanted as much as he did. Maybe more. Had she known she would respond to him so strongly, she never would have used her body as a bargaining chip. She’d spent her whole life avoiding heartache, but she wouldn’t be able to with Sam.
His tongue circled the entrance to her cunt before he pushed it inside, stroking in and out of her like she wanted his cock to do. The rough-slippery feel of him against her inner walls drove her arousal higher, sent waves of chills racing through her body as her heart rate speeded up. Thinking again became impossible, any important thoughts lost in his sensual onslaught. Her hands flew to his hair, clenching, tightening in the strands until he groaned. She held his face against her, didn’t let him move past the motions of his lips and tongue.
Her nipples pebbled, begged for his touch. She moved one hand away from his head and brought it to her breasts. Her fingers played over her nipples, tugging, squeezing, their touch shooting fire from her breasts to her cunt as she imagined it was Sam’s fingers instead of her own. His groan snapped her gaze to his. He lifted his mouth from her long enough to give her a seductive smile.
“Oh, yeah. That’s awesome. Keep playing with those amazing breasts.”
Oh God. His request turned her on as much as her actions did. She pinched her nipple between her thumb and forefinger, rolling it back and forth. His tongue swirled around her clit again, his lips nipping the tender flesh with gentle caresses. Each stroke of his wet tongue brought her higher and higher, tightening her stomach until her climax rocked through her, sending a gush of cream to her cunt. Sam lapped it up, milked shudder after shudder out of her until she collapsed on the mattress, wrung out and sleepy.
He crawled up her body, pulled her in for a long, scorching kiss. The taste of herself on his lips and tongue sent a quiver of arousal through her pussy. The head of his cock probed her entrance and slipped inside. She moaned at the feeling of being stretched so fully by him. He made her feel things she’d never before even wanted to feel, but now, with him she welcomed them. She wrapped her arms around his neck, preparing to hang on for the ride.
Instead of the fierce taking, the pounding thrusts she anticipated, he stroked into her with slow, measured movements that comforted as well as aroused. His weight on top of her, his lips on her face, her throat, warmed her from the inside out. She’d never expected tenderness from such a man. Everything about Sam warned her he was harsh, domineering, dangerous. Yet this…it shocked the breath from her lungs. Her body and mind spent, she clung to him, rode wave after wave of soft, shimmering orgasm as he wrung tremors through her. He offered her refuge, a safe place away from fear and stress and threats against her life.
She ran her hand down his back, urged him to take his own release. His thrusts grew faster, less controlled. His breath came in short, hard pants. His eyes closed, his lips
parted and his face strained as his climax took him over the edge, her name on his lips. She’d never seen a sight more beautiful. For once, she stopped thinking of him as wrong—the wrong man, the wrong situation, the wrong reasons. None of that mattered anymore. He might just be the only thing in her crazy, messed-up life that had gone right.
Where had that thought come from? She frowned, shook her head. It wasn’t possible that she could think of him as anything other than a temporary bed partner. She’d had enough pain in her life. Adding to it wasn’t an option. She pushed the thoughts out of her head, letting herself get lost instead in what he could make her feel. Anything beyond that was too dangerous to contemplate.
Sam’s lips brushed her shoulder as he pulled out of her, rolling to his side on the bed. His hand rested on her stomach, his fingers lightly stroking her sensitized skin and inciting a riot of tingles. “You were having a nightmare.”
She nodded, tugged on her lower lip with her teeth.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She opened her mouth to tell him what she’d seen, but something held her back. “I don’t remember much of it.”
He seemed to accept her answer. He pulled her to him, fit her head against his chest, and kissed her hair. “It’s going to be fine, Faith. I promise.”
She tried to smile, but it fell flat. She had a feeling it was going to be anything but.
Chapter Seven
Faith woke with a start, goose bumps pebbling every inch of her skin. She shivered, reached for Sam to keep her warm. She found his side of the bed empty. Her heart lurched into her throat. Had he left her alone? She reached for the light, but a hand closed over her wrist. She would have screamed, if another hand hadn’t slapped over her mouth seconds before the sound erupted from her throat.
Her heart stopped for the brief moment it took her to recognize the spicy masculine scent of the man holding her. Sam. He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear. “Get dressed. Now.”
She shoved his hand away from her face. “It’s dark. I can’t see.”
