DemonWithin

by Rebecca Royce

“All I want is you.” Her words were barely a whisper as she maneuvered her body over his until she could reach his belt. “And right now you have too many clothes on.”

  He couldn’t stop staring into the brown depths of her eyes. Why hadn’t he ever known glasses could be sexy? If he’d been hypnotized, he never wanted to be brought back to the real world. He felt her push down his zipper and fiddle with the button on his pants.

  Then her mouth came down on his. Together they melded their bodies, both still wearing their shirts, as their tongues danced in unison. Dakota pulled down his pants and his briefs until they were both half nude.

  “Do you still have condoms in your wallet?”

  “Yes.” He looked over her shoulder until he located his pants in a heap on the floor. “In my pocket.”

  “I’ll get it.” She scooted off him and retrieved the foil wrapper from his wallet. His cock throbbed in anticipation.

  “You’re so beautiful.” He wished he could be more articulate.

  “I’m not.” She kissed him on the mouth. “You’re the beautiful one.”

  After opening the wrapper with fumbling hands, he managed to roll the condom on. He would give anything to someday feel her skin-to-skin. Maybe he could convince her that she wanted to stay with him when this ended. He had a knack for getting people to do what he wanted—maybe it would work with Dakota.

  A hiss was all he could manage when she took him inside her. Their movements had to be shallow—unlike the couch in her apartment, the seat didn’t offer much room for movement.

  Dakota’s muscles clenched around him as he moved in and out of her body. She rode him like a horse, the image so seductive that he knew he’d call upon the memory anytime he wanted to get hard for the rest of his life.

  His balls tightened, spurred forward by her inviting warmth and the way her body seemed to be made to fit against him. But it was too soon. He didn’t want this to end…maybe ever.

  “Don’t hold back. I’m so close.” Her voice sounded hoarse and he shuddered beneath her as he plunged forward, wanting to take her hard.

  She shattered around him, her head flung back as she screamed his name. He pulled her up against his chest as his cock finally gave in to the pleasure surging through his veins. He came and came, wishing he could hold her against him forever.

  The plane jolted to the left, bouncing over turbulence, as if their moment together already had to come to an end. Brady didn’t let go of Dakota. He’d decide when this was finished, not air pockets or demons. Whatever happened, this wasn’t over between them.

  Chapter Five

  Dakota stared at the scene in front of her and wondered how it was possible she could feel absolutely no fear when she’d spent the last eight years so terrified she’d had to hide from the world. Nanette and several other Satan worshipers surrounded Sydney’s bed.

  Brady was screaming at them but she’d long since lost track of what he was saying. She blinked rapidly, her entire attention focused on Sydney Knox. The poor girl had been trapped in her own body, assaulted by a demon for twenty-five years. How had she held up as well as she had? Physically she looked stunning. The same high cheekbones as her brother, but other than that they didn’t have very much resemblance. Where he was darkness personified, she seemed to be bathed in white light. Her hair, so blonde it almost looked as if it gave off its own aura, and her bright-blue eyes made her look as though she should be on the cover of some magazine, not lying on a bed possessed.

  Her aura, filled with black demon light, still had traces of the person she must be. Purples, golds, oranges and yellows. Dakota sighed. The woman would have grown up to be some kind of artist. Or maybe she still could be. It all depended on what still existed inside her when the demon came out.

  “You’re awfully quiet. Don’t you have something to contribute to this?” Nanette had not aged well. Lines marred her face, and dark spots told Dakota that the other woman had spent too much time outside in the sun.

  “I wish I could help you. I know you want Sydney’s demon. I get that. But Sydney isn’t possessed.”

  Sydney reared off the bed, stopped only by her full-body restraints. She strained against the metal holding her down. “Liar.” Her voice sounded more like a grumbled mix of intonations than one actual sound.

  Dakota took a step toward Brady’s sister. How could she have ever thought she could leave after seeing her possessed? Tears threatened to fall but this wasn’t the time for them and shedding them would not give credence to what she needed to say to Nanette.

  “My demon says you’re lying.”

  “Your demon?” She looked around, looking for the creature Nanette spoke of. “Oh the one who fooled with us back in Queens? Yes, that one. What’s the problem? Is he low ranking on the hell scale? I know you want him in me. But he’s never going to be strong enough. Too low ranking to handle an exorcist. You should keep it in you, where it is right now. I think it’s more your style, Nanette.”

  The room glowed red for a moment before a loud clap sounded. The same tricks the thing had pulled in her apartment. Witnessing the antics a second time did not make them more impressive.

  Nanette’s demon probably didn’t like her calling it “hers” but neither did he want to be discounted. The floor of the room shook for a moment before it stopped. Dakota took a deep breath and let her second sight open up completely. No one would know she’d done anything at all. To everyone else in the room, she’d look as though she were simply standing still, staring at Nanette. Truth was, she was regarding what stood behind Nanette, not touching her.

  The demon stared back at Dakota with red eyes. Black of body—and she suspected of soul—the red of his piercing gaze was something most people would never see. Other than her mother, she’d never known another person who could see the demons in their corporeal form. Sometimes victims would claim to have seen them briefly, a blur across the room, a shadow on the wall. Their minds weren’t able to focus on what they’d witnessed and eventually the little they had seen would fade from their thoughts as though it had never been there.

  But not for Dakota. She would never forget.

  “Where is your salt now, exorcist?”

  The room fell silent as everyone heard the demon address her. Two of Nanette’s group fled from their posts, leaving only two more people to stand with Dakota’s nemesis. This didn’t surprise Dakota one bit. The idea of a demon was one thing—the actual reality was something quite different.

  “I don’t need salt for you, demon.” If they were using titles, and he had called her exorcist, she could use her own. “The salt is kind. What I’m going to do to you now is permanent.”

  “You don’t have the power. Your kind never does.”

  “Oh no?”

  “Dakota.” Brady’s voice shook where he stood behind her. She had to give him credit for remaining in the room. The final two devil worshipers had fled while she’d spoken to the demon. She could hear their feet running down the hall. They deserved to be punished for the role they’d played in the events unfolding, but that wasn’t for her to decide.

  Brady grabbed her arm. “Honey, are you okay?”

  Nanette laughed. “Honey. Classic. I love it. Did you fall for the exorcist, rich boy?”

  They started to argue and once again Dakota tuned them out.

  The women in her family had performed the same function for generations. No one knew where the power had first originated. Her mother had called it their divine gift and much as Dakota often thought it a curse, she knew she could wield the power as well as any of the women who had come before her.

  Even if she hadn’t been able to save her mother, it didn’t mean she would forever be a failure.

  She closed her eyes and called the light to her hands. As her fingers warmed up, she knew she’d succeeded. The demons couldn’t stand the true light of the universe. They couldn’t take the pain of coming into the brightness that existed everywhere but where the creatures dwelled.

&
nbsp; Raising her arm, she opened her eyes and pointed at the demon. She had a moment’s satisfaction to see his eyes widen in shock.

  “I curse thee, beast. I curse thee to never walk among men again.”

  Beastie grabbed his throat. “No, it’s impossible. You’re all just a myth. The Wielding Women were wiped out thousands of years ago.”

  “I’m afraid you were misinformed.”

  With a flick of her wrist, she pushed the light outward from her hands, catching the demon as if she’d thrown a lasso and snagged him.

  He roared as the light pulsated around him. Fighting like the caged animal he was, he tried to escape the grasp that now controlled him. It did him no good. His body dissolved into nothing, a hint of dust in the air.

  Dakota smiled. It felt good to use her gift as she’d been intended to.

  “What have you done? Where has he gone?”

  Dakota turned to regard Nanette. She still felt detached from all that was happening in the room, which made sense since her job was not yet complete. Sydney still needed help. But Nanette couldn’t know that.

  “Not so powerful without your demon behind you, are you?” Brady lunged forward, a chair in his hand. He whacked Nanette with it and the woman crumpled to the floor.

  He bent over and felt her pulse. “She’s not dead. I kind of wish she was, but she’ll be available for the authorities to handle now that this is over.”

  She tilted her head to look at him. “Over?”

  “You got the demon.”

  “She got one demon, brother dear.” Sydney reared up again. “But he was pathetic—a no one, a hanger-on who never had any real power. She’ll never get me. Understand this, exorcist—no matter how much you try, you will not release me from this body and even if you could, I’d kill you on my way out.”

  “I thought you said she wasn’t possessed.”

  Dakota looked at Brady’s beloved face. When had that happened? On the plane? In her apartment? On the sidewalk outside the school? How was it possible to fall in love with someone so completely in so short a period of time?

  The questions didn’t really matter—only the fact that she loved him counted for anything.

  “I lied.” She walked over to him. Her hands still felt warm from the light and she wanted to touch him with them. He shuddered under her touch as she stroked the sides of his face and the bridge of his nose.

  Grabbing her hand in his, he brought it to his mouth and kissed it gently. “What is this energy coming off you?”

  She shrugged. Having opened herself up again, the light felt as natural as breathing. “It’s what I do.” She took her hand back. There was still business to be done. “I need a favor.”

  “Name it.”

  “Leave.”

  He sucked in his breath. “No fucking way.”

  “Brady, listen to me. I have to do this. You cannot distract me. If something happens to me, Sydney is still going to need you. You can’t be in here. You can’t be at risk.”

  “No.” He pulled her to him. “You have become, in the short time I’ve known you, the most important person in the world to me. If there is danger to this, don’t do it. We’ll find another way.”

  His words were kind but ridiculous. Now that she’d seen Sydney, she had to do this and face whatever danger presented itself the way she’d been raised to—with strength and dignity. Looking at his aura, she could see that he meant what he said. Orange danced with greens and blues. He wasn’t going to be leaving the room.

  Sighing, she took his cheeks in her hands one last time. Reaching up, she kissed him gently. “Stay back out of the way. I wouldn’t risk you for anything.”

  “That’s right—if she gets me out, I might just turn around and possess you, lover boy.”

  “Quiet.” Dakota wouldn’t even let the demon put that thought in her head. Too much rode on her keeping her thoughts pure and strong. They would be her defense against the demon as much as her power.

  “You don’t control me like you did that pathetic weakling.”

  “Demon, I bid thee leave this woman’s body. You’ve done enough damage. Your time is over.”

  Dakota placed her hands on Sydney’s body. Brady’s sister’s skin felt clammy. Dakota had no doubt that the creature would pull out every stop to save itself, even killing Brady’s sister in the process.

  Calling upon every bit of strength she possessed, she surged the light through her body and into the demon. “I said, get out.”

  The lights in the room flickered on and off. Sydney screamed at the top of her lungs, sounding not like a demon but like a ten-year-old girl in a woman’s body who had endured more than anyone should ever have to.

  Dakota couldn’t let herself think, couldn’t let herself feel. All she could do was hold on for dear life and hope she survived whatever happened. One way or another, she would clear Sydney of the demon—even if Dakota died in the process.

  The walls around them bled. Damn, the beast was really, really powerful. Still she couldn’t let go. The light burned now as it moved through her fingers. Her knees threatened to buckle and still she hung on because she knew in that moment what she’d still been unsure of deep in her heart—she could do this. It didn’t matter how strong the demon was, he’d not defeat her.

  The lights in the room became pitch-black as unholy heat zoomed through her veins. The demon had risen and he wanted her body. She narrowed her eyes. He wouldn’t be getting in.

  “Dakota!” Brady’s frantic yell was the last sound she heard before she passed out.

  * * * * *

  “Hey there, pretty lady. Time to open your brown eyes.”

  Dakota’s lids felt heavy but she wrenched them open, groaning as she did. Her whole body ached as if she’d run a marathon she hadn’t trained for.

  “What?”

  Brady’s eyes, gentle and soothing, gazed down at her as he stroked her knuckles with his hand. “You scared the crap out of me. I think you took ten years off my life.”

  She couldn’t remember anything. The last thing had been passing out, which meant that despite her bravado, she hadn’t succeeded. “Sydney?”

  “She’s doing okay. Well, as fine as can be expected. She woke up. To talk to her after all these years. It was really…something.”

  She’d bet it had been. “Does she know what happened?”

  “Oh yes. Seems she’s been conscious of the whole thing for twenty-five years.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Tears swam to her eyes. How would the woman ever survive? How could she go from being ten to being thirty-five overnight, trapped with a demon the whole time, and ever be okay?

  Brady wiped her tears away. “She wouldn’t be here at all if not for you. When you killed that thing…”

  “When I what?” Dakota tried to sit up but Brady stopped her, making her lie back down on the bed.

  “You don’t remember? The whole thing is a bit of a blur to me, but basically I think it jumped into your body and you threw it out. There was a loud roar of pain before it vanished.”

  Dakota rubbed her eyes. “I don’t remember any of it. I lost consciousness.”

  “You were like a ball of light.”

  “Really?” Her mother had spoken of such things, but as if it were legend, not something that could actually happen. Had she left her body and become the light she channeled?

  “Really.” He nodded. “When I could finally get to you and saw you were breathing…well, it’s the most relieved I’ve ever been.”

  She nodded, making herself avoid eye contact with him. If she’d looked at his aura and seen his need to get her away from him now that the task of saving Sydney was behind him, she’d break down in tears.

  They would have to say goodbye now. Somehow she’d have to survive it and pick up the pieces when she could breathe again.

  “What’s the matter?”

  She smiled, her heart panging so hard that it caused an actual pain in her chest. “I guess you’re going to want to
get going now. Sydney will need you.”

  “Hey.” He bent over, kissing her on the forehead. “Sydney is good. One of the doctors gave her something to help her sleep. The police have taken Nanette away. Not sure exactly what she’s going to be charged with, but she’s gone. I want to be with you.”

  She shook her head. “You have such a sense of obligation. I’m all right. I did my job. I promise I’m okay.”

  “You aren’t an obligation to me.” His eyes bored into hers. “I need you. If you can’t move out here to be with me, I’m going to have to figure out how to run my business from Queens.”

  “What?” She pinched her skin to make sure she was actually awake.

  “I want to be with you. Forever. You’re mine. And I don’t know how I’m going to let you ever do what you just did again, but you’re certainly never doing any of it without me.” He rubbed his forehead against hers. “I love you.”

  The tears she hadn’t wanted to shed fell from her eyes. “I love you too.”

  He’d brought her back to the life she was supposed to live. She really was an exorcist as her mother had been. She wasn’t a failure. And Brady loved her.

  Their mouths met, fused together by the love they’d just confessed. She knew she’d finally found home and it was in Brady’s arms.

  About Rebecca Royce

  As a teenager, I would hide in my room to read my favorite romance novels when I was supposed to be doing my homework. I hope, these days, that my parents think it was worth it.

  I am the mother of three adorable boys and I am fortunate to be married to my best friend. We’ve just moved from New Jersey to Texas where I am learning to love Barbecue!

  I am in love with science fiction, fantasy and the paranormal and try to use all these elements in my writing. I've been told I'm a little bloodthirsty so I hope that when you read my work you'll enjoy the action-packed ride that always ends in romance. I love to write series because I love to see characters develop over time and it always makes me happy to see my favorite characters make guest appearances in other books. In my world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.