A movement to his left caught his attention.
Turning his head, he saw Amanda coming through the doorway, dressed in sweats. He couldn't believe how sexy he found them on her. She had her hair in two braids down the side of her face. There was something innocent and almost childlike in the way she was dressed, but there was nothing girlish about the woman approaching him.
She shook the man in him all the way to his foundations.
"How long have you been home?" she asked.
Kyrian would have answered, but she chose that moment to walk up to him and kiss his cheek. A strange sensation ran through him. Her actions were those of true affection.
"What are you doing up?" he asked. "It's after four."
"I couldn't sleep."
She left his side to walk to the other end of the atrium room. When she turned to face him, he saw Nick's baseball glove on her hand. Like a pro, she held the glove up to catch the ball.
He smiled and tossed the ball gently to her.
She caught it, then fired back a fast ball that hit his glove with a resounding smack and burned his palm beneath the leather. "Ow!" he teased at the sting on his hand. She threw better than Nick did. "I'm impressed."
She winked at him. "I was the closest thing to a son my poor father had. He taught me to play."
Kyrian tossed the ball back to her. "He taught you well."
Her smile widened. They tossed the ball for several minutes in silence. Gods, he had never thought to find a woman willing to do this with him at such an unholy hour. Even Nick complained, but Amanda seemed content just to be with him.
"How did it go?" she asked. "Did you find him?"
"No." He sighed. "I just can't figure it out."
"You will."
He hesitated as he heard the utter confidence in her voice. "You have no doubts?"
"None. I know you won't let him hurt us."
"I couldn't help Rosa."
"I'm sorry," she said as she caught the ball and returned it. "It must be hard for you to accept that fact, but it wasn't your fault. You did your best to protect her."
Kyrian clenched his teeth. "It hurts. More than I thought possible. I can't believe he got to her."
Her eyes were sympathetic and warm as she smiled sadly at him. "I guess it explains how he got into our houses to start the fires."
He nodded. "He probably used Allison. I found her passed out in her room, much like Rosa. I think the human mind can't handle the stress of it."
"If it helps, Tabitha said Allison is fine and back home now, so Rosa should heal and be back to normal without any lasting damage."
"That's good to know." Kyrian watched her as she played ball with him. And with every toss of the baseball, he felt himself slipping more and more.
He knew he was falling for her and he was powerless against it.
In fact, the longer they played, the more he wanted her. He watched her shirt pull tight when she drew back to toss the ball. And he loved the way tendrils of her hair swept onto her face and she had to brush them back. Her lips were parted and her breathing heavy.
He found himself purposely throwing the ball over her head to watch her reach up to catch it. Every time she did, the sweatshirt rode up, baring a portion of her stomach to his hungry gaze. Then she would run after the ball, her breasts bobbing, her hips swaying. But the best part was seeing her well-proportioned backside when she bent over to retrieve the ball. Gods, but that woman had the best derriere ...
Unable to stand it anymore, he tossed the glove to the ground.
Amanda froze as Kyrian took long, determined strides toward her. Before she could figure out his intent, he picked her up in his arms and kissed her fiercely.
Those wonderful, hard muscles flexed around her while he held her feet off the ground. Due to her size, no man had ever been able to pick her up, and yet Kyrian did it with such ease that it made her heart pound. She loved the way he made her feel. So feminine. So petite.
She wrapped her legs around his waist as his tongue ravished her mouth. Oh, the heaven of those hard, developed abs flexing between her thighs ... The man was perfection.
Growling, he nipped her lips with his fangs while his hand cupped her bottom.
He left her lips and nuzzled her neck, nibbling his way under her chin. Her entire body melted at the feel of his hot breath on her skin. Oh yes, this was what she had wanted all day. Just to feel his arms holding her. To have him in her arms where she could give him all the love she felt for him.
She throbbed, needing him to fill her again.
Kyrian shook from the force of his want. Over and over, he remembered the way she had felt as he slid himself into her. The look on her face as she came in his arms.
He burned for her, and yet he dared not take her.
Not now. Not when he needed his strength to fight Desiderius.
Still, his body didn't listen. He had to touch her. Had to feel her skin.
Before he could stop himself, he sank to his knees and laid her down against the cold tile floor.
Amanda swallowed at the raw hunger on his face. He removed her clothes so fast that she barely felt his hands on her at all. But once he had her naked, it was another story entirely.
Only then did he slow down.
Fully clothed, he stared at her naked body in the moonlight as he ran his hands over her breasts, tracing them, teasing her hard nipples with his palms. "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he said, his voice low.
Amanda knew better than that. She'd seen the beauty of his wife, but the knowledge that he felt that way about her sent a shiver through her. He was definitely the best-looking man she had ever seen. Period.
As he leaned down to kiss her passionately, she reached to unbutton his shirt.
Kyrian caught her hands in his and shook his head no. If he let those graceful, soft hands touch his skin, he knew he would be lost.
Instead, he kissed each palm in turn, then returned to her throat, her breasts. He sampled her body with his lips, his tongue, his fangs.
As Kyrian tasted her, he felt his honed powers surging. Desperate and hot, he trailed his mouth from her breasts down to her satiny stomach, then to her thighs. He heard her gasps of pleasure as she opened her legs to him.
Right then, he wanted to possess her with a ferocity that overwhelmed him. It was primitive and all-consuming. And all he could think of was Amanda.
Her blood pounded in his ears.
Shaking from the force of it, he closed his eyes and took her into his mouth to taste the sweetness of her body that he craved most.
Amanda moaned at the feel of his tongue inside her. Burying her hands in his hair, she lifted her hips to him. He was so wild as he tasted her. So ferocious and thorough that she hissed at the incredible feel of him making love to her with his mouth.
He was absolutely relentless with his hot caresses, and when she came, it tore through her, making her scream and writhe with the most blissful orgasm she'd ever experienced.
Still he tasted her. Again and again. His tongue and mouth swirled and teased, stroking her, coaxing her until she was lost in the throes of another orgasm even more intense than the first one. Her head spun from it and every single nerve ending in her body tingled.
Kyrian pulled away from her then, and crawled up her body like a hot, panting predator. His eyes were even blacker than they'd been before as he parted his lips and stared at her neck with a hunger so intense it startled her.
"Kyrian?" she asked.
Kyrian could barely hear her through the haze in his mind. All he could smell was her scent. Her body pressed against his as he throbbed and ached for more.
Take her. Taste her. Claim her.
Make her yours ...
He ground his teeth as he watched the vein in her neck pulse. Just one taste ...
One taste ...
But it would be against her will.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
He struggled against
Her scent was all over him. She was all he could focus on. All he could think of.
And it made him dangerous. Lethal.
Growling, he summoned up the last of his willpower and forced himself away from her. "Run, Amanda," he snarled.
Amanda didn't hesitate. Something was wrong with him. Grabbing her clothes, she ran to her room.
Kyrian heard her footsteps recede as he lay on the cold floor. He buried his hand against his burning erection as he writhed in pain.
This was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. Dear Zeus, another minute and he would have sunk his fangs into her.
Closing his eyes, he shook as he fought down the beast inside him. The beast that demanded he take her over and over, no matter the consequences.
*
Amanda didn't stop shaking until she reached her bedroom. She would never forget the feral look on Kyrian's face when he had told her to run.
She'd never feared him before, but right then she had seen the Dark-Hunter in him that she was sure made the Daimons wet themselves in terror.
Breathing deeply, she tried to calm herself. All she'd ever wanted was a normal relationship.
But then normality with a vampire was asking a lot.
Her heart pounding, she paused as she saw herself in the mirror. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, her neck red from where his whiskers had rubbed against her.
"Amanda?"
She paused at the sound of Kyrian's voice through the door. "Yes?" she asked hesitantly.
He nudged the door open, but didn't come inside. "Did I scare you?"
"Honestly?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
His heated gaze bored into her. "I'm sorry."
She knew he meant it. Could see the guilt in his eyes.
"Why haven't you asked to go home?" Kyrian asked, his low tone cutting across the quiet stillness of the room.
She tensed at his question. "You want me to leave?"
He was silent so long she didn't think he would answer. Finally he whispered, "No, I don't."
There was so much heartfelt emotion in those three words that she couldn't have been more stunned had he declared his love.
She started for him and he took a step back. She realized he still wasn't in full control of himself. Even so, she wanted him.
"Then I won't leave until I wear out my welcome."
Kyrian froze at her words. In the back of his mind was the thought that the earth would surely cease to exist before Amanda wore out her welcome in his house. And it was quickly followed by the knowledge that when the earth ceased to exist, he would still be alive and Amanda ...
He winced at the truth of immortality and the knowledge that for the two of them there could never be a happily-ever-after.
CHAPTER 11
The next night, Kyrian was haunted by what had happened with Amanda.
He'd come so close to losing it with her. So close to ...
He forced it from his mind as he walked the rooftops of the French Quarter at midnight. The frigid winds whipped at his leather coat while he walked along the roof's edge, looking down into the alleys below.
Like a cat, he often prowled high above where no one could see him coming. At least not until it was too late.
He paused as he heard something.
"Don't hurt me." The frightened voice was faint on the wind and came from several blocks over.
Twice as fast and as surefooted as a cheetah, he glided over the rooftops until he found the one who had spoken. To most, it would look like a poor man being mugged in a dark alleyway, but the four blond Daimons were highlighted by Kyrian's Dark-Hunter vision.
He arched a brow at the ordinariness of the scene. For some reason, Daimons liked to travel in fours or sixes.
They had the poor human man cornered against an old, rundown building.
Something about the human seemed strangely familiar to him.
The stench of the garbage was pungent as the man tried to hand the Daimons his wallet. "Take it," he said, his voice wavering. "Just don't hurt me."
The tallest Daimon laughed. "Oh, we're not going to hurt you, little human. We're going to kill you."
Kyrian stepped off the roof with his arms spread for balance. His black coat fluttered in the wind as he fell three stories down to the alley below.
He landed in a silent crouch behind them.
"Did you hear something?" one of the Daimons asked, looking around.
"Just the sound of a human heart pounding." The tallest Daimon grabbed the man.
"Or," Kyrian said, rising slowly to his full height. He pulled his coat back and placed his hand over the hilt of Talon's srad. "The sound of four Daimons about to die."
As they stepped away from their victim, he recognized the human. It was Cliff.
Cliff recognized him at the same instant.
"You!" he roared. "What are you doing here?"
Damn you, Fates, Kyrian thought. The last thing he wanted to do was help the man who had hurt Amanda. She had told him the whole story of her ex-fiance. Right down to Cliff's harsh criticisms of her family. The man didn't deserve his help.
Damn you, Code.
Out loud Kyrian said, "It would appear I'm saving your life."
"I don't need your help."
The four Daimons turned to look at Cliff, then burst out laughing.
"You heard him, Dark-Hunter," the Daimon leader said. "He doesn't need your help. So, go on. Go away."
More tempted to leave than he ought to be, Kyrian let out a slow breath. "Yes, but you know, sometimes you just have to save them even when they don't want to be saved."
The tallest Daimon attacked. Kyrian tossed the srad, but before it could make contact with the Daimon, Cliff grabbed the Daimon and whirled him away. "Now, I'll show you who's bad." He punched the Daimon who just stood there, laughing at him.
The srad bounced off the wall, breaking into two pieces. Moron! If not for Cliff's bullshit heroics, the Daimon would be dead.
Forcing himself, Kyrian ran to get between Cliff and the Daimon before the Daimon struck. He barely made it. As it was, he ended up being kicked into Cliff's flabby body.
The two of them fell to the ground. Rolling with the fall, Kyrian got to his feet in one swift move while Cliff struggled on the ground.
Kyrian fought the urge to roll his eyes at the weakling. "Would you run already?"
Cliff blustered as he gained his feet. "I'm just as capable of fighting them as you are."
Kyrian growled low in his throat at the imbecile. For one thing, Cliff was barely six feet tall while the Daimons were Kyrian's height and over. Cliff had the body of a couch-warrior and the Daimons were well-honed and ready to kill.
Oh yeah, Cliff was a big threat.
Before he could move, two Daimons rushed him. Kyrian caught the first one with his boot and obliterated the Daimon into dust. The other slashed out at him with a sword.
Kyrian flipped up and backward, coming to rest on the fire escape above them.
"Hey!" Cliff said. "How did you do that?"
He didn't have a chance to answer before the other three Daimons started up the ladder after him. Kyrian jumped back to the alley.
The Daimons followed.
Kyrian braced himself for them. As soon as the leader drew near, Cliff came running up beside him with a long two-by-four. He swung to hit the Daimons at the same time the Daimons moved for Kyrian.
Caught between the two, Kyrian couldn't maneuver. As a result, Cliff's board caught him across the back of his head.
Pain shot through his skull as he staggered back.
With a shake of his head, Kyrian recovered his senses a second before two Daimons grabbed his waist and knocked him to the ground. They grabbed his arms and spread him out. Panic set in the instant they held him there as his old memories surged through him.
"We found his vulnerability," one of the Daimons said. "Tell Desiderius that with his arms spread out, he goes nuts."
They might have found it, but none of them would live long enough to reveal it.
Roaring with rage, Kyrian brought his legs up over his head and flipped himself up between them. His fangs bared, he stabbed one Daimon and then the other.
The remaining Daimon took off toward the street. Kyrian tossed the other srad straight into the Daimon's back. He evaporated.
Kyrian turned to see Cliff gaping at him.
His face ashen, Cliff's eyes rolled back in his head an instant before he passed out.
Disgusted, Kyrian went to check on him. His pulse was fast, but stable. "What did she ever see in you?" he asked as he pulled out his cell phone and called an ambulance.
*
Hours later--once he was sure Cliff would live--Kyrian made his way into his house.
Still no Desiderius to be found. Anywhere.
Damn.
He stopped at the kitchen door to watch Amanda curiously. It was almost five A.M. and she appeared to be making soup and sandwiches.
How very odd is this?
She moved around the kitchen like a graceful nymph, completely unaware of his presence. She hummed a gentle tune, "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Grieg if he wasn't mistaken. What a strange choice.
He'd never seen a more beguiling woman in his life. She wore a silk dorm shirt that gave a hint of transparency, yet completely concealed her body from his view. The light blue color was a perfect complement for her pale skin and auburn hair.
His body reacted instantly to the sight of her, growing hard and hot.
The more he watched her, the more he wanted her.
She poured the soup into mugs, then dipped her finger into the soup to test the warmth.
It was more than an immortal man could take.
Moving like a shadow, he came up beside her and caught her hand.
She looked up with a gasp until she registered his identity. Smiling at her, he guided her finger into his mouth where he swirled his tongue around it, tasting the soup and the woman.
"Delicious," he breathed.
A blush covered her cheeks. "Hi, honey, how was work?"
He laughed out loud at her Donna Reed impersonation. "Been watching Nick at Nite again?"
She shrugged coyly. "I thought you might like to come home to a hot meal for once. It must get lonely to have nothing but an empty, dark house to greet you."
More so than she would ever know. He stared down at her, at those parted lips that beckoned him. It had been centuries since anyone greeted him when he returned. Centuries of untold loneliness and solitude.
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