by KD Jones
“Let me go!”
He leaned down and licked her neck. “Did you know that with one drop of your blood, I could track you anywhere on the planet, Earthly plane, or even in the demon circles?”
Shit, she hadn’t known that. “What do you want?”
His fangs scraped against her skin. “I want to take you back with me, so that I can enjoy you.”
“Like a trophy?”
Chuckling he licked her, “Yes, I love collecting trophies.”
How many women had he stolen away and enslaved? “How many…”
“I used to keep three women with me to satisfy me for many years. I grew tired of the ones I had and having been searching for replacements. Sadly, I thought my search would go unfulfilled, but then I stumbled upon you fighting a demi-demon and just knew I had to have you.”
“You seem to talk a lot, and by the way, you definitely don’t have me.”
He pulled her tighter against him and she could feel his arousal. “I enjoy talking and I beg to differ. I very much have you.”
No matter how hard she struggled, he held her steady. Looking down at the woman clearly dying on the ground, she wondered if that would be her soon. If Karl took her to the demon circles, no one could save her. She would die there.
“Let her go, demon,” a voice called out from the darkness.
Ari. Thank God he was there. The demon didn’t let her go, just turned both of them around to face the new person interrupting their encounter.
She looked at Ari, but he kept his eyes on the demon. She had never been so happy to see him.
“Aw...the demi-demon watchdog. Is he your lover? I thought the red-haired boy might be, but then you broke things off with him tonight.”
He had been watching her outside the diner? Did he see Leeza, Jerry, or Michael? She couldn’t have him endangering those she loved. She had to break free somehow. She closed her eyes and focused on that inner glow inside of her.
Come on, I need your light… Somehow that glow inside her answered her call and grew brighter and brighter until it broke free from her body, throwing the demon backward and freeing her. She stumbled forward and Ari was there to catch her. She was still glowing, but it didn’t seem to be hurting Ari, who wouldn’t let go of her.
“The Child of Light?” the demon said in surprise. “I thought you were a myth. What a prize you will be for my collection.” Karl smiled, and then just misted away into the darkness.
“What the hell? He can turn to mist?”
Ari’s hands were on her face, checking for bruises. “He must be very old.”
She pushed his hands away. “I’m fine, but the girl…” She rushed over, but knew before she reached for a pulse it was pointless. “She’s dead.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here. The demon sent a decoy demon to pull me away from this area.”
“Her death is on my hands. I should have never let him walk out of the club with her. It happened so fast I didn’t have a chance to stop him once he got into the alley.”
Sirens rang out and it sounded like they were getting closer and closer. “We need to leave, Cass. That’s the ambulance I called for the woman. Come on, I’ll take you home.”
She followed him, feeling really numb inside. Even the throbbing pain from her cheek didn’t distract her. A girl was dead because she had failed to act quickly enough. There was no fixing that. She got on the back on Ari’s bike and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his back as tears fell, stinging her. Good, she deserved to feel the pain.
Chapter 19
At her apartment
Ari pulled up at her apartment building and helped her inside. He flicked on the lights and her eyes blinked at the brightness.
“Sit at the bar. Where’s your first aid kit?”
“In the bathroom,” she said, sitting down on the barstool. She shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it in the empty stool next to her. He came back a few minutes later with the first aid kit, placing it on the bar to open it.
“I’m fine, Ari.”
He glared at her. “You’re not fine. Didn’t I tell you to stay away from the demon?”
“I didn’t go there to look for him, I was looking for you. He just...showed up. Guess he was stalking me.”
Ari took out a cotton swab and poured peroxide on it, then lifted one of her hands up to clean the scrape on her palm. “Why were you looking for me?”
She had been so distracted by watching as he cared for her with such gentleness, she didn’t hear his question. “What?”
“Why were you looking for me?”
“Tara came by the diner tonight, furious that you had called off the engagement.”
“Fuck! I’m sorry about that. I told her to leave you alone, but she can be a real…”
“Bitch?”
“Yeah, a bitch.”
“She said that you couldn’t call it off because of a blood deal done. Whose blood was used to do this?”
“Tara’s parents who are more influential hired a lure demon to broker the deal. He had recommended sealing it with the blood of three people on both sides. Her parents, my parents, and the both Tara and I once we were both born finalized it with our own blood.”
“But you two were just infants.”
“Not to our parents. Our parents saw us as pawns to exchange for what they needed.”
“Ari, I’m so sorry.” She turned the hand he was cleaning over so that she could squeeze his hand.
“It doesn’t matter now, I won’t go through with it.”
“But Tara said that your lives could be taken for the contract being broken.”
He cupped her bruised cheek gently and brushed her cheekbone with his thumb. “I can’t be with her when I’m deeply in love with someone else—you.” He leaned forward and kissed her, and for once, she wanted it to happen, so she leaned into him.
Fireworks went off inside her at the taste of him. He always tasted a little like the red cherry licorice he so often chewed. She wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting to get as close to him as possible. She hated it when he pulled back, but she took it as a chance to kiss his chin and neck.
“I’m in love with you, too, Ari. Always have been.”
Ari growled with need and bent to pick her up. He carried her to her bedroom while she nibbled his neck. His scent was intoxicating, she had always thought. It seemed to be becoming more so the more she touched him.
Reaching for his jacket, she shoved it off of him, desperate to get him naked. He must have had the same thoughts because he gripped her t-shirt at the collar and ripped it completely, exposing her black t-shirt bra.
She tried to do the same, but apparently there was a technique to ripping shirts that she wasn’t practiced in. She fumbled. “Damn it! Get this thing off!”
He chuckled as he took the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. As soon as his shirt was off, she had her hands running up and down his chest. Ari was just as fit and muscular as Michael, but his skin had a beautiful natural golden tan. With his black hair and dark eyes, he was dangerously hot. It was his voice that sealed the deal for her, though, the first time he spoke to her. That deep, sexy voice made her whole body respond instantly and had been a voice she heard often in her dreams. But this wasn’t a dream; it was the real thing.
He kicked off his shoes and shucked his jeans, but she didn’t have time to check out his package because he knelt down and helped her remove her shoes, then unsnapped her jeans, dragging them down her slim legs. Next he dragged her panties down and she stepped out of them. All she had on was her black bra, while Ari was completely and gloriously naked. He stood up slowly, running his hands up her body, making her tingle all over.
“I am trying hard to take things slow, but you are a temptation, one I have never been able to resist,” Ari told her as he reached behind her back and unhooked her bra.
Cass stood there feeling exposed and vulnerable. She wasn’t as well endowed as some of the gi
rls she had seen Ari with.
“Why are you frowning?”
“I’m just, no one has seen me like this before—naked.”
Ari stepped back a few steps and looked her over with genuine desire in his eyes. “You are so beautiful. Looking at you is like looking at the stars. I could get dizzy staring for too long.”
That made her feel a little less self-conscious. She took his hand as he led her to the bed, which allowed her to finally check him out. His ass was one of those nice guy bubble butts, she couldn’t wait to get a handful of that. When he turned back toward her and sat down on the side of the bed, his cock sprang up, large and long. It was like…huge. Was that supposed to fit inside of her?
“It’s not going to hurt you, Cass. You can touch me, get comfortable.”
She sat down beside him and placed her hand on his thigh. “I’ve never...you know.”
He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief at her touch. “I know. I’ll make it good for you, I promise. I need you to trust me and to tell me if there is anything that I do that hurts or that scares you. I’ll stop anytime you need me to.”
“I trust you, Ari.” She wanted to show him just how much, so she moved to straddle him. She could feel his cock trapped between them. It was thick and hot. She looked into his dark eyes and everything else faded away. Cass kissed him, opening her mouth and using her tongue to tease his. Each stroke fueled her body, and she moved her pussy up against him, making him groan.
“You’re driving me crazy, honey. I’m trying my best to go slow.”
“Maybe I don’t want slow.”
He surprised her by holding her as he flipped her onto her back, and then his body came down on her, heavy but not crushing her. It felt wonderful having his body covering her like that. The heat of his body warmed her and she knew that when she slept with him, she would hardly ever need a blanket to keep warm.
“There’s so many things I want to do to you,” he said as he kissed his way down her body. Hovering over her breasts, he cupped them with his hands and massaged them. His lips found her nipple and suckled her. The strong pulls were reaching her pussy.
“Oh...so good.”
He moved to her other breast, giving it the same attention and driving her crazy with need. “I have dreamed of this so many times. You are so much better in the flesh.”
“I know what you mean. I keep dreaming of us having sex in the park at night.”
Ari stopped what he was doing to look up into her eyes. “I have the same dream.”
Were they sharing the same sex dreams? That was weird and amazing at the same time. She felt his hands moving down to her hips, then to her inner thighs, opening her up to him. He moved down, kissing her stomach, making a path to her pussy. His wide shoulders wedged between her thighs, opening her up for his view. She hadn’t really paid that part of her body much attention and was a little nervous about him seeing so much of her.
He lowered a little and took a deep inhalation. “My God, you smell so good.”
She wanted to ask him what she smelled like, but forgot everything when he licked her seam. Oh man, that was...sinful. He did it again and again, bringing forth more of her juices. He inserted his finger carefully, pumping in and out of her. When he added a second and third, she stretched, accommodating him. When he pulled out, she protested.
“Come back inside me.”
He looked up at her as he rose up. “I will be inside you. All of me inside of all of you.”
This was it. She was finally going to have sex and she couldn’t be happier that it was with Ari. It just felt right.
His face was above hers and she felt the tip of his cock at her entrance. “Look at me, Cass.”
She locked eyes with him, feeling him spread her, inch by slow inch. There was a slight pinch when he broke through her maidenhead. She had almost forgotten about still being innocent, since in her sex dreams it always happened so fast. Finally he was seated inside of her and she breathed a sigh of relief. It was a strange feeling, being filled, but that weirdness faded as he began to move in and out of her.
Ari kissed her again as he pushed in and then out. When he lifted her leg higher so that he hit her at a deeper angle, she nearly came right there. She was fighting off her orgasm, wanting it to last longer. Cass felt this rising electrical current surging up her spine, getting stronger and stronger until…
“Ari!” She careened of the cliff, flying toward the Earth.
He clutched her hips and plunged deeper and deeper until he came as well. “My Cass.”
Ari turned them on their sides and just held her, breathing in and out. He peered into her eyes. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head. “That was amazing.”
“Yes, it was.”
Smiling and yawning at the same time, she snuggled up to him. “Ari?”
“Yes?”
“About the contract…”
“Let’s not talk about that right now.”
“You need another lure demon to help end the contract, don’t you?”
Ari didn’t say anything, but she knew the truth now. Her grandfather was supposed to help Ari end the contract in exchange for finding his long-lost granddaughter. Ari had held up his end of the deal, but clearly her grandfather had refused to help Ari. That was unacceptable.
She snuggled into his arms and felt her weariness sinking in. “I’m really tired all of sudden.”
He pulled her tight to his chest. “Sleep, you’ve had a long night.”
“Goodnight, Ari.”
“Goodnight, beautiful.”
Chapter 20
Early morning
Ari left right before the sun rose, kissing her deeply and promising to come back later that day. He was checking on something that might help them catch Karl. She was glad to have some time to think, because there was someone she needed to see right away.
After getting dressed, she went outside and used her speed to run downtown to Abraham’s office. She was supposed to start working in his office next week but she might have to reschedule it until this blood demon was caught. Her failure in stopping him had already caused three girls’ deaths. She refused to allow another innocent to suffer.
The doorman beamed at her as he opened the door. “Good morning, Miss Knight. I wasn’t expecting to see you until next week. Your grandfather will be extremely pleased that you’re here.”
“Thanks...Geoffrey.” Whew, she almost didn’t remember the guy’s name.
She took the elevator up and went to the reception desk. “I need to speak with Mr. Knight.”
“He’s on a phone call but let me message him that you’re here.”
A few minutes later, Abraham opened the door to his office, smiling at seeing Cass there. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until next week.”
Cass walked past him into his office. “I have something important to talk about.”
“Rita, no calls for me!” he called out at the receptionist.
“Yes sir, Mr. Knight.”
She stood in front of his desk, fighting to keep her temper in check. She heard him close the door and moved to sit at the big oak desk. “Please, have a seat.”
Cass sat down and shifted uncomfortably. She needed to stay calm if she hoped to get what she wanted. Abraham was a smooth operator and she had to be prepared for him to put up a fight.
“What can I do for you, Cassandra?”
“You made a deal with Ari, that if he found me that you would help him end his arranged marriage contract.”
“I didn’t agree to anything. I just told him that I would look into it, which I have done. No official agreement was signed between the two of us.”
“You’re splitting hairs. He found me and brought me to you, and yet he is still committed to that stupid contract. Is that the kind of businessman you are? You can only get what you want if you can screw someone else out of what they need?”
“First off, I don’t like the tone you’re taki
ng with me, young lady. Second, I looked into the contract just as I said I would do, and the contract is almost airtight.”
“You said almost. So there is a way for it to be broken?”
“I would have to reach out to the lure demon who brokered the deal and find out what compensation would need to be paid.”
“Compensation, like money?” She didn’t have a lot of money, but whatever she had, she was willing to give it.
“Among other things that might be requested.”
“Find out how much it is. I’ll pay it somehow.”
“I could pay the compensation for you.”
She was on to his ways now. “What would you want in return?”
“You would agree to work here full-time and move in with me and your grandmother.”
“I work at the diner.”
“You would have to give that up. I can’t imagine that you make very much.”
Cass hated the idea of leaving that job. It meant more to her than just a means to make money. Leeza and Jerry had become her family.
“I love working at the diner. It’s not about the money, I’ve made friends there that are important to me.”
“Would you be willing to reduce your hours at the diner, then? I want us to have a chance to get to know more about each other and I think working at my office will give us that chance.”
She had to admit she was curious about her mother’s people. She would always remain close to Leeza and Jerry, even without the diner. Jerry did have more people working for him than before, so she wasn’t needed there full-time anymore.
“I will work full-time flexible hours, since I still want to go to school part-time. I will also pick up weekend shifts at the diner on occasion.”
“I can agree to that. Now, all that’s left to discuss is the living arrangements. We would like to move you into your mother’s old room, of course.”
“I’m not living with you. I have my own place with my friend.”
