Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance

by Ashley Jennifer

  “This is the only way of fixing your friend’s problem and you’re my only hope of getting back what he took from me. Please, Payne.”

  Payne swallowed again, his throat as rough and dry as sandpaper. He closed his eyes and hung his head, waging a war against his better judgement. He had promised to find a way of freeing Chica and he had found one. He couldn’t give up now when he was so close. But could he do as she was asking?

  Could he put aside his hatred of his incubus side and learn to embrace it?

  Payne clenched his fists and knew the answer to that question in his heart.

  The things he did for his friends.

  CHAPTER 3

  Elissa had firmly crossed a line and she had a feeling where. She had known from the moment she had set eyes on Payne in the street that he was more than what she could see on the surface. She hadn’t expected him to be part vampire though.

  Or should that be part incubus?

  She should have schooled her features when he had revealed that little titbit about himself, not pointed out that he was a half-breed with some serious issues.

  Payne stood before her, his head hung and eyes closed, the soft sandy spikes of his hair catching the firelight and shining. His powerful body was taut beneath his clothes, as tight as a bowstring, his fists clenched at his sides. She could see his struggle written in every toned facet of his physique. He opened his eyes and looked into hers. Their deep grey depths sparkled with flecks of blue and gold, a sign of his incubus nature.

  Elissa couldn’t imagine what sort of mental number having a dominant vampire side and recessive incubus one did on him. Incubi were in no way submissive creatures. It probably pushed for control all the time, barely held at bay by his stronger vampire instincts. She hadn’t been lying when she had said he was all shades of messed up, but she had only meant this war between his dual natures. The way he had reacted said that he had taken it to mean something far deeper than that.

  What reason did he have to feel majorly screwed in the head? It had to be more than just the twin species in his genes.

  The struggle shone in his beautiful eyes, as clear as day to her. He wasn’t bothering to mask his feelings as he waged a silent war in search of an answer to her proposition. The flecks of gold and blue brightened, marking his apprehension but also his desire. He wanted her. She shivered at the knowledge, feeling empowered that such a beautiful man would desire her. She had offered herself to him, wanted him too, but he had denied her.

  She had never seen a male so fiercely deny his desires.

  She had definitely never seen an incubus refuse an advance from a female.

  Normally, they were quick to take what they were offered. She had heard tales about the sexual prowess of incubi from some of the female fae who visited her spell store near the square, every one of them wicked and filling her head with forbidden desire.

  She had even met a few incubi, selling them vials of potions designed to remove inhibitions and unleash desires. Ever since the incubi had taken a vow to feed only from willing females, swearing they would never use their abilities to take an unwilling woman and make her sleep with them, she had been busy concocting and selling liquids that would help them bend their own rules.

  Payne was nothing like the incubi she had met, and something within her said that it was more than just his dual natures at work.

  He gazed off to her left and Elissa took the opportunity to close the purple wooden door, shutting out the noise from the street. She used her magic to lock it. Not that it would stop him from leaving. He could easily teleport away. She did it to drive her point home. She didn’t want him to leave. They needed each other.

  She ran her gaze over him, starting at his black boots and dark blue jeans, and then drifting upwards to his hands. Strong hands. Long fingers. Made for squeezing, palming, stroking and caressing. She blushed and averted her gaze. It lingered on his bare right forearm and the scars that littered his skin. He must have badly injured himself at some point in his life or perhaps his not quite one hundred percent vampire genes meant that he didn’t possess the same level of healing that pure vampires had.

  Her eyes roamed up his torso. His dark grey shirt fitted snugly to his lithe body, revealing just enough about his physique to arouse her curiosity. The top few buttons were undone, giving a hint of muscled chest and sexy collarbones. No bite marks on his throat. Not into that sort of thing? Maybe he didn’t take vampire lovers.

  She reached his face and slowed her visual exploration of the six-feet-plus of sex god in front of her. Every feature was sinful, from his profanely sensual lips, with slightly fuller bottom one, to the strong cut of his jaw, to his straight nose and fine eyebrows that flared above his striking grey eyes. They shifted back to her and her breath hitched in her chest. The dark edge to his eyes sent a thrill through her. Mother earth, he was gorgeous.

  Forbidden.

  She knew the rules. Incubi were demons. Demons were a big no-no for a witch.

  She wouldn’t break the rules with him. Cross her heart. She just wanted to peel away the layers of this enigmatic male and learn about him. All witches were naturally curious, but Elissa was honest enough with herself to admit that what she felt for Payne went beyond natural.

  It was dangerous.

  Part of her said that she should help him because he had helped her by saving her from those Rozengard coven brutes. The rest of her said to bargain with him and try to get a taste of him. She wanted to know if the reality would live up to the fantasies she had about being with one of his kind. It was a risk though. A huge one. Incubi were volatile and aggressive. She might end up in over her head and she knew what awaited her if that happened.

  Her heart piped up and said to ask only for his assistance. He was her key to getting Luca back. She had sworn to her sister to protect the boy and that bastard had taken him from this very home three weeks ago. She had cried for hours before finding the resolve to get him back somehow.

  Elissa had scoured every book in her sister’s home but none of them had provided her with a means of finding where Arnaud had taken the boy.

  She had been out looking for new books to buy when she had run into the men from Rozengard. They had asked whether she whored herself for demons too, calling her spiteful names and pushing her to get a reaction out of her. She had honestly thought that her life had been about to end in some dank street and that Luca would be lost forever.

  And then Payne had come blazing into her life.

  When he had caught her wrist to stop her from whipping him, she had seen the markings on his forearm. His lineage. Arnaud had been the second name in. Fate had given her a chance to reach Luca and save him. She needed Payne to help her.

  Payne growled. “I’m not interested in playing.”

  No. He had to help her. She took a step towards him and hesitated when his eyes narrowed on her, bleeding red around the edges of his irises. Volatile and aggressive. She didn’t need to provoke him. He had already proven he had a nasty temper.

  “Please.” If she told him what she wanted to take back from his grandfather, would he help her? Elissa realised that it would only make him more unlikely to lend a hand. He clearly despised his incubus side. He wouldn’t want to help another one, not even an innocent child.

  He squared up to her and she didn’t like the way he towered over her in an obvious attempt to intimidate her. It worked. She wanted to shrink away or at least drop her gaze. It was a struggle to keep her eyes locked on his.

  “Tell me what I need to do to know where the incubi den is and I will go alone.”

  Elissa shook her head. His eyes blazed red. She wasn’t going to let him threaten her.

  She breezed past him and he huffed. She could feel his gaze tracking her. Her body burned wherever it touched her and she wanted to smile when it slid slowly down her back and settled on her bottom. He so wanted her.

  “Tell me, Witch,” he barked and Elissa ignored him, going about her business.
>
  She stacked more of the books, taking her time to neaten the piles, aligning the sides of each tome. When she was done with that task, she went to the desk and sorted through the loose sheets of parchment, arranging her new spells into alphabetical order. She wished she had something to knock a vampire-incubus on his backside, but she made her living by mixing politer and more useful potions and so had Verity.

  He growled again, this one born of frustration, and Elissa realised that he didn’t like it when she acted as though he wasn’t a threat to her. It annoyed him. She tested her theory by neatening the glass beakers on the shelves above the desk, ordering them by size from big to small.

  He snarled this time, impatient and snappish.

  He moved, coming to stand behind her. Elissa didn’t look at him. It was hard to ignore her desire to turn and face him. She could feel him close behind her, her body tingling with awareness of his, veins filling with hunger to turn and step into his embrace, tiptoeing to bring her lips to his. Would he kiss her or push her away? She continued to tidy, picking up all her tongs, tweezers, spoons and stirrers and putting them into the desk drawer. She frowned, pausing with her hand on the front of the open drawer.

  “Why did you choose the name Payne?” She knew fae kept their real names secret and with good reason. A fae’s real name could be used against them. If someone with power used it, the fae would be unable to resist their commands. She focused on the man behind her. He didn’t know much about fae or incubi, but she bet he knew about the name thing.

  He didn’t answer.

  Elissa turned to face him. “Don’t be shy. You can tell me since we’ll be working together.”

  He glared at her. She smiled. His expression only darkened. Her smile only broadened. She liked the undercurrent of tension that rippled through him whenever his eyes met hers. Every time they did, the struggle returned, causing lines to bracket his sexy mouth and his eyes to narrow. Oh, he could fight it all he wanted, could fight her all he wanted, but in the end she would win and get her way.

  He stepped back and folded his arms across his chest, revealing the lines of his fae markings as they tracked up the underside of his forearms. They curved upwards before disappearing under his shirtsleeves. Where did they go? She wanted to know. Did they snake over his biceps? Did they extend beyond his shoulders? Would he push her away if she traced them with her tongue or moan in pleasure and hold her closer?

  That last one shocked her and she forced her eyes away from them.

  “Come on, Payne. It’s just a silly simple question. I’m sure you can answer it. You’re not a dumb blond are you?”

  He growled at her, flashing fangs. Elissa barely contained her smile. It was fun to tease him but she was growing tired of this standoff. She walked towards him and he rounded her, going to her desk. He planted his backside against it, crossed his long legs at the ankle and stared at the door. Oh. A man who knew how to employ the power of the silent treatment. She moved into his line of sight.

  He shifted it to above her head.

  Freaking curse him. She was tempted but it wouldn’t get her anywhere. Incubi were thick-skinned and he would probably punish her by leaving.

  Elissa adjusted her plum halter-top to flash a little more cleavage in his direction and then toyed with her long hair.

  No reaction. The blue and gold in his eyes didn’t even change. His fae markings remained placid cool grey.

  It irked her.

  Wasn’t she pretty enough to get his attention?

  She paused.

  Did she want him to think she was pretty?

  No. She was just bored and annoyed, and he was stubborn. He was a challenge and she liked that. The fact that he was damned hot was just a cherry on top of a very delicious sundae.

  He was a way of getting what she wanted. Luca back in her arms, safe and sound.

  What she had proposed seemed like a fair exchange to her. She really didn’t understand his reluctance. It was strange. He was willing to go alone to get the ring, and might even get Luca for her too if she explained her situation and convinced him that leaving a young boy in the grasp of his grandfather was cruel, regardless of how Payne felt about incubi, but he refused to let her tag along in the role of his lover?

  Most incubi would have been all over her, intent on turning it from pretend to real. Payne looked as though he wanted to run a mile from her, as soon as possible and as quickly as he could.

  Elissa crossed the room and stopped before him, standing close. He didn’t look at her. His gaze remained glued on the strip of wall above the door.

  She shook off her nerves and raised her hand. Was she really going to do this? Her fingers shook and she focused, trying to steady them and her trembling heart. She ran her fingertip along his collarbone. No reaction. Her gaze leapt up to his. The colours in them remained muted. He looked like a man waiting for a long jail sentence to end, as though everything depended on surviving until he made it back through that door. Why didn’t he just leave then?

  Did the ring mean that much to him that he was willing to endure her company and wait until she changed her mind and did things his way?

  “Is the ‘friend’ with a problem your lover?” The thought that she might be caused a weird tight sensation behind Elissa’s breastbone and acid in her stomach.

  He reacted to that, his gaze darting to her and darkening. “No.”

  It went back to the door.

  It was progress. He didn’t have a lover. Elissa found that oddly relieving.

  She upped the stakes and ran her finger over his lower lip. He bore his fangs at her but nothing more.

  “I don’t like strong silent types,” she muttered and focused her magic, willing it to reveal the object of his focus.

  Her insides lit up.

  He was locked on her like a heat-seeking missile on an inferno. She delved a little deeper with her magic, unravelling the threads of his feelings. They were murky. Probably his mixed genes at play. She searched and found a glimmering red ribbon of desire amongst them. He did want her. There was so much black in his feelings though. She hoped it was just his genes muddling her spell and not a sign that he held endless darkness and pain inside him. She lowered her hands to his chest, resting her palms against the rock hard muscles hidden beneath his soft grey shirt.

  Elissa tiptoed and shivered as their bodies came into contact. She brought her mouth to his ear, making sure their cheeks brushed. His heart thundered like a war drum against her hands and she realised something shocking. He was trembling too. She closed her eyes as he moved, his cheek against hers and his breath cool on her throat. Mother earth, it felt so good that she forgot what she had intended to say.

  Her cheek heated against his.

  Elissa swallowed and remembered what she had meant to ask him. “Why did you call yourself Payne?”

  He grabbed her waist and pushed her away. “It is none of your business. Tell me how to find the incubi den. I desire to leave.”

  Like hell he did. The remaining trace of her spell said that he wanted to stay. She would have given anything to be powerful enough to cast a telepathy spell on him. Verity had been a witch of that level. Gods, she missed her sister. Unbidden tears sprang into her eyes. Payne released her as though she was about to explode.

  “I did not mean to hurt you.” He jammed his hands into his pockets.

  Elissa scrubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms. “Just something in my eye.”

  Payne looked away. She had never seen a man look so uncomfortable. She stared at him, trying to figure him out. There had to be a way to make him go along with her plan. She reached out without thinking and absently ran her fingers over the pronounced bumps of the markings running along his right forearm.

  He was on her in a flash, his hands grasping her upper arms, claws digging into her flesh. He growled in her face, his fangs enormous and filling her vision. She flinched away, shrinking back and uttering several prayers for protection.

  �
��I only wanted to touch them,” she whispered, unable to find the courage to speak any louder.

  Payne shoved her hard onto the wooden desk chair. “Don’t touch me again. I’m not interested in your fucked up games. I don’t like being touched.”

  Elissa frowned up at him, seeing the truth behind his words in his vivid blue and gold eyes. Red was bleeding into them, mixing with the other colours, subduing them.

  “An incubus who doesn’t like to be touched?” She found that hard to swallow. She ran her hands over her arms, focusing her magic on them and healing the puncture wounds from his claws.

  “I’m a vampire.” His low snarling tone warned her to drop it but witches had never been a species who backed off in any situation, even one that could end in blood and death.

  She laughed and pointed to his markings. “The writing is there for all to see! A dazzling lineage too... all powerful incubi.”

  Payne turned on her again, his eyes red now and pupils elliptical. He bore his fangs at her. “I’m a vampire!”

  Elissa sighed and curled up on the chair. She really had to stop provoking him. She tried hard to resist but in the end, it slipped out. “Deny it all you want. You are an incubus in part, but you really don’t like that part, do you?”

  He snarled at her. “Shut the fuck up.”

  Elissa did hold her tongue this time. His fae markings were black and red. She knew a little about an incubus’s markings and those were the colours to watch out for. Anger. Rage. A burning need for violence. Death to anyone who said the wrong thing. She toyed with the nearest spell book, giving him time to cool off so he didn’t kill her.

  Payne unleashed a low curling growl and shoved away from the desk. He paced across the room behind her and she could sense his eyes on her the whole time, boring into the back of her head. His agitation flowed from him in tangible waves, darkening the atmosphere.

  “Just do whatever you need to do to help me.” He stalked back across the room.