Hotter Than Hell

by Kim Harrison

  More importantly, he had earned his reprieve from the flaming depths of the Realm of the Dead, where most demons and the soulless were sent.

  He rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefingers.

  If he took Ericka’s soul, she would go to the Realm of the Dead when her human shell died.

  The mere thought made him grind his teeth.

  If he did not take Ericka’s soul…That was unthinkable for an Incubus or a Succubus. To fail in the last assignment, to be moments from salvation from the Realm of the Dead, then feel the fire’s hideous, terrible bite for all eternity. Sweat broke out on his skin at thoughts of the endless labor he would be forced to do as liquid heat splashed against his body.

  Aedan returned his gaze to Ericka, to that beauty and innocence that called to his being like no other had before.

  “You want her.” Jeff appeared at his side, bringing him out of his thoughts. The Succubus stroked his arm. “More than anyone you have taken in their dreams. This one is important to you.”

  Aedan forced himself to tear his gaze from the erotic sight of Ericka Roberts. “She is naught but another human.”

  “Hmmm…” The black-haired beauty at his side looked at him with her brilliant gold gaze. Her toga sparkled, the same color as her eyes. “This assignment is taking longer than normal.” She curled her fingers around his biceps that flexed beneath her touch. “Another Incubus, Kyne perhaps, should accompany you.”

  A low rumble rose in Aedan’s chest. His jaw tightened at the thought of another Incubus touching Ericka.

  That was irrational. Aedan had played out this drama with countless women over the centuries, fulfilling their needs and desires in exchange for their souls. What Incubae and Succubae performed had been twisted into something considered evil. When in fact what they did only served to pleasure men and women and bring their fantasies to life. So what did their souls matter if they could have every wish granted?

  Jett gathered her long hair and pulled it over one of her shoulders. “Perhaps you have become too close to this human. Maybe you should have Kyne take your place completely, before you get into trouble.”

  “No.” The word came out sharper than Aedan intended. “Ericka Roberts is my assignment and I shall deal with her.”

  Aedan caressed Jett’s back at the base of her spine with his palm. Touching her in that location always served to distract her, and she released his biceps when he moved away.

  As he watched Ericka his cock ached enough to drive him senseless. He hadn’t allowed himself an orgasm, just as he refused to let Ericka climax.

  He vanished his toga with a thought as he prepared to walk through the veil.

  Tonight…would Ericka be ready to offer up her soul?

  Was he ready to take it?

  CHAPTER 2

  WHEN THE BED SANK BENEATH THE WEIGHT OF someone easing onto the mattress beside her, Ericka wasn’t surprised. She opened her eyes and smiled at her dark lover.

  Shadows still hid his gaze from her, but because she had left several candles lit, this time she could make out his angular jaw, a cleft in his chin, and his straight nose. Dark hair skimmed his shoulders and his smile was so sensual it made her squirm.

  His naked body was a work of art. If she wrote fiction, she couldn’t have created a character to rival him. Broad shoulders, carved biceps, a muscled chest, well-defined abs—definite hero material. And his cock—wow.

  Ericka reached up to touch his face and he captured her hand in his. He held it to his heart and she felt his flesh, so warm and real against her palm.

  “Who are you?” she asked as his mouth neared hers. “What are you?”

  “Aedan.” His accent sounded old-world, as if he came from another time, another place. “I am here to fulfill your fantasies.”

  “That doesn’t include leaving me hanging like you have been, right?” His breath teased her lips as she spoke. She should have been irritated, but somehow she wasn’t. “I certainly haven’t fantasized about that.”

  Aedan stroked her naked body with his fingers as he kissed her. It was sweet, incredible, and she hungered for more. She grasped his cock and began stroking his erection as their tongues met and she tasted his unique flavor.

  He hissed against her lips before drawing away. Moonlight spilled through her window and when he moved she saw his face clearly for the first time.

  The man was gorgeous. And he had gold eyes. Not brown or amber or any shade in between. They were gold.

  In a powerful sweep of his arms, he caught her in his embrace, forcing her to release his erection. She gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck as he stood.

  She couldn’t tear her gaze from his golden eyes as he carried her to the braided rug and laid her on her back in front of the lifeless fireplace. Additional candles flickered to life around them and she widened her eyes in surprise. Yet at the same time it seemed as natural as the way he came to her every night.

  Candlelight touched his features, casting dark shadows on the planes of his face. He settled beside her and she caught her breath as he trailed his finger over one of her nipples that tingled beneath his touch.

  In her heart and soul, she knew it had been him all week. It had never been just a dream.

  He was here, now, and real.

  Hell, she did write about paranormal events. Anything could happen.

  He started to lower his head to slip one of her nipples inside his warm mouth. It was all she could do to make herself stop him.

  “Aedan.” She captured his face in her palms and it surprised her how smooth his skin was, no roughness from stubble. He paused and his golden eyes met hers and so many questions rose within her. She wanted to know more about the man who came to her each night.

  He caught her wrists in one of his large hands, pulling her palms away from his cheeks. “What, sweet one?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut then opened them to stare at him. “We need to talk.”

  For a second he furrowed his brows and then his features relaxed. He gave her a dark, sexy look that made her want to forget about questions and answers and just melt into him. “I can think of much better things to do,” he said as he lowered his head and slipped her nipple into his warm mouth. At the same time he moved one of his thighs across hers and pressed his cock against her hip.

  Something between a sigh and a moan escaped her before she tried to draw her wrists away from his grip. “I’m serious—” She cried out as he bit her nipple then whimpered when he moved his mouth to her other taut bud. “I can’t think—stop.”

  Aedan raised his head and studied her. She felt his body heat, the firmness of his grip around her wrists, his thigh pinning hers. “What do you wish to discuss?”

  She tugged her wrists and he released them. “You.”

  Something dark flickered in his eyes and for a moment his sensual expression slipped away. But then he smiled again. He placed his hand on her belly, and his warmth seeped into her skin and spread throughout her.

  Ericka took a deep breath. “How do you come here? How do you get into my condo?”

  “You believe in the unbelievable, Ericka Roberts.” He traced her navel with his fingertip. “You tell me.”

  She frowned. “That’s not an answer.”

  With a casual shrug of one shoulder, he said, “I am who I am.”

  This was going nowhere in a hurry. “Are you real?”

  He pressed his erection tighter against her hip and brushed her brow with his lips as his scent of sandalwood and male swept over her. She wanted him to roll her onto her back and feel his body weighing hers down.

  “Do you think I am real?” he murmured.

  “Yes—I think so. Yes.” She tried to focus as he moved his mouth to her earlobe and gently nipped it. “But I need to know more.”

  He bit her earlobe again before trailing his lips down her jawline. “And that would be?”

  “Where you come from. Things about you.” She brought one of her hands up and
placed her palm on his chest, forcing him to raise his head and meet her eyes. “Do you have any brothers or sisters? What about your mother, your father?”

  Again that dark look flickered in his eyes, but vanished when he smiled. “I have many brothers and sisters. And my mother…she is different.”

  He gave a low groan as she scraped her fingernails from his chest to his abs. “Different, how?”

  “In ways I find difficult to explain.” He sighed. “She has much to attend to and I do not see her often.”

  “Oh.” Her fingers neared his cock as she skimmed past his abs toward his groin. “At home in Seattle, my family is constantly around and my mother fusses over all of us. Sometimes I need to get away, you know?”

  A soft look came over his features. “Yes.”

  Her hand reached his erection and she wrapped her fingers around it, causing him to suck in his breath. Ericka smiled at the desire and strength rising within her. Power. She felt so much power over him and his desires. It was her turn to drive him crazy.

  She pushed harder at his shoulder and he rolled onto his back at the same time he removed his thigh from where it had rested on hers.

  Ericka moved off the braided rug and straddled him. “You will tell me more.” She gave him her naughtiest grin. “But not now.”

  Before he could speak, she eased down his body so that she was between his thighs, her mouth brushing the soft skin of his erection.

  Aedan groaned and tangled his fingers in her wavy hair. After all the teasing he had done, she was tempted to draw out his torture as long as possible. She ran her tongue along the length of his cock and cupped his balls with her free hand.

  He gripped her hair tighter and raised his hips as she slipped her mouth over the head of his erection. He was so big and thick, and tasted salty and delicious.

  Tenderness filled his voice when he said, “I want to see your beautiful eyes.”

  Immediately she looked up and she wanted to melt right into that wonderful golden gaze.

  Damnation, but the feel of Ericka’s mouth was incredible around him. She sucked as he raised his hips and slowly thrust in and out of her mouth. She gave just the right pressure that would please any man.

  The thought enraged him. He clenched his fist tighter in her soft red hair and she whimpered. He wanted to be the only man to please her.

  But then he realized once again that he wasn’t a man, that he would never be a human male. He was an Incubus, here to take this woman’s soul.

  Only he found himself not wanting her soul—but her heart. Her innocence, her intelligence—everything that drew him to her again and again made him want her for so much more.

  Gods, what am I thinking. Her heart?

  His look must have been fierce because Ericka widened her eyes. He calmed his expression but gritted his teeth as he felt an orgasm rushing toward him with the power of an Underworld storm.

  He thrust in and out a few more times and then jerked his cock out of her mouth just as he was about to reach orgasm. He held Ericka still, his hand fisted in her hair. Her lips were moist and his cock wet from her mouth.

  He wanted to take her now, to fuck her hard and fast until they both reached climax.

  But his nightly visits had been to prepare her for this moment.

  Time to take her…and take her soul.

  Aedan shifted beside Ericka on the braided rug as he drew her up from between his thighs so that she lay beside him. She sighed as he kissed her and slipped his tongue into her mouth. She tasted his wild male flavor, and his scent of sandalwood and sex filled her senses.

  When he drew away he smiled and her heart nearly stopped beating. “Your beauty is beyond compare, Ericka Roberts.”

  She started to return his smile but instead frowned as a thought occurred to her. “How do you know my name?”

  “I know much about you, sweet one.” He brought one of his hands between them and drew a line from between her breasts to her belly button. “You have a large family whom you love very much. You write about Otherworldly realms and all that is paranormal.” Aedan pressed a kiss to her forehead before he moved his lips to her ear and whispered, “What less would you expect of your dream lover?”

  He had her there.

  Any other thoughts she might have had escaped her as he cupped her mound with one hand while skimming the curve of her neck with his lips and tongue. He slipped his finger into her slick folds and she whimpered.

  Slowly, so slowly, he eased down her body, licking, tasting, sucking. His tongue left a wet path over her collarbone then up the rise of her breast to her nipple. When he latched onto the taut nub, Ericka cried out and arched her back. His long dark hair brushed her skin in a silken caress as he moved his mouth to her other nipple.

  Ericka’s mind spun and she was beyond words as he thrust two fingers into her core and pumped them at the same time. She clenched her hands in his hair and squirmed as she rode his fingers while he pounded them in and out of her.

  When he had eased himself down her body so that his head was between her thighs, Ericka could barely breathe. Blood rushed in her ears as his breath stirred the curls of her mound.

  Ericka let out a cry as he swiped his tongue from the sensitive place between her anus and folds, all the way up. His hair felt silken between her thighs as he moved his head and drove his fingers in and out of her.

  The intensity of his licking and sucking was almost too much to bear. So much, so much, so much! She had to climax. She was so close to orgasm she could almost scream.

  She parted her lips with a louder moan while he continued to delve into her folds. Tingling sensations ran rampant in her body, and her mind spun with desire.

  Just when she thought she was going to lose control, he stopped.

  “Aedan!” she shouted and looked down at him. She felt dizzy, lightheaded, and had to have an orgasm so badly she was almost insane with it. “Don’t stop. Please.”

  Tears stung the backs of her eyes from the incredible need to climax. Aedan raised his head at the same time she looked down and she saw a spark in his gold eyes. He was so good-looking, so masculine, so powerful, his muscles flexing with every movement he made. Her breathing grew harsher and her heart thundered as she stared at Aedan’s starkly handsome face. Her dark lover.

  Always she’d thought of him as her demon lover, the way he came in the night and left her sweating and wanting. Was he going to leave her aching for fulfillment—even more so than before?

  Not this time! Not this time. He can’t do it to me again.

  Aedan smiled, an incredibly sexy smile that caused more tingling and wetness between her thighs.

  He lowered his head and swiped her folds again with his tongue. She gasped as he began pounding his fingers in and out of her core again.

  This time it seemed like her head was going to float away and only the heat and ache in her body kept her grounded. What he was doing to her was more than she could bear. Her body trembled. She was so close to losing total control.

  She couldn’t think past what she was feeling. The edge of an orgasm so powerful rushed toward her—it was like she was burning in white-hot fire.

  Oh, God, she needed to climax and climax now.

  He stopped.

  For a moment Ericka was disoriented, ripped away from the peak she had almost fallen over.

  “Don’t stop,” she begged again. Perspiration coated her skin and her hair was damp against her scalp. She squirmed as he slipped his fingers out of her core. “Don’t do this to me.”

  A predatory smile crept over his face. He rose up between her thighs and placed his cock at the opening of her core and nudged it enough to make her gasp. She held her breath, waiting for that moment of penetration that would bring her fulfillment. For days she’d prepared for this. He would finally be inside of her.

  Aedan’s gaze caught hers and for a moment it was like he had cast a spell over her. Ericka’s body was still on fire but suddenly she felt suspended in t
ime. Waiting. Wanting.

  He opened his mouth as if to say something, then stopped. Again he started, then closed his mouth.

  His expression changed to one of anger. “She’s not ready yet,” he growled, like he was talking to himself.

  The spell fell away. “I’m ready!” Ericka squirmed, wondering what in the hell he meant.

  He shook his head. “Not yet.” Ericka cried out as he moved away and rested on his haunches.

  Tears flowed freely down her face. She rose so that she was sitting up and pounded her fists on his rock-hard chest. “You can’t do this to me!”

  He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I am sorry.”

  Frustration and fury tore through Ericka. “You bastard.” She slapped him as hard as she could.

  Aedan’s head snapped to the side, and then he looked directly at her. She flinched when he put his fingers to her forehead.

  Relaxation flowed through her, taking the edge off her need to climax. Not entirely, but enough that she didn’t think she was going to die if she didn’t have an orgasm.

  Aedan drew Ericka into his embrace. She collapsed against his chest, her arms around his neck. And she cried. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak as Aedan rose to his feet and carried her toward her bed.

  He laid her gently on the mattress and she stared up at him. The bedsprings creaked beneath his weight as he sat next to her. He stroked her hair from her face and he wore an odd expression. Regret? Sadness? Longing?

  She didn’t care. This time she was pissed.

  “Damn you.” She pushed herself up in her bed and shoved him away. “Why are you doing this to me?”

  He shook his head. “It is difficult to explain.”

  “What?” Ericka nearly smacked him again. “How can it be difficult for you to not give me a damn orgasm?”

  “It is time for me to go.” He cupped her face and ran his thumb across her cheek. “I am sorry.”

  She knocked his hands away and stared into his eyes. “Tell me who you really are. Tell me what’s going on.”

  “Nothing, sweet one.” He brushed his fingertips over her forehead and closed his eyes, the gold of them lost to her for a moment. “Be at ease.”