by Tina Folsom
~ ~ ~
Enya noticed the skeptical look on Zoltan’s face. She couldn’t blame him. To find out that the leader of the demons had once been a Stealth Guardian would throw anybody for a loop. No wonder he didn’t look convinced. But soon, once she showed him the proof she had, he would have to accept the truth.
When they’d disposed of the fifth dead demon, Enya pointed to Zoltan’s jacket. “Take it off and toss it in the trash.”
He cast her a puzzled look. “You suddenly don’t like my taste in clothing?”
“See the specks of green demon blood? If you want me to get you to a safe hiding place without being seen, you need to get rid of it.” She rid herself of her own jacket, which also had blood splatter, then started to collect the demons’ daggers. She carefully wiped the green blood off, then tucked them into her boots and pockets.
Zoltan threw his jacket into the dumpster. “That’s why the fifth demon saw you. You can’t make demon blood invisible.”
For a second, Enya hesitated. Had she told him too much already? After all, he was still a demon.
“Don’t worry. We figured it out eventually. You haven’t told me any state secrets.”
“Well, then let’s move. Don’t talk once you see other people around, or they will discover us.”
“This will be interesting. I’ve never been invisible before.”
“News flash: you already are. Now shut up and follow me.”
Zoltan looked at his hands, turned them, then met her gaze. “I don’t think it’s working. I can still see myself. And you, for that matter.”
Enya rolled her eyes. “Trust me, to everybody else, we’re both invisible. So let’s go, before I regret this.” She started walking, and he sidled up to her. “Your eyes turned back to demon-green during the fight. Did you lose your colored lenses?”
“They dissolved. It’s the chemical that causes the green color. It eventually burns through them.”
She and her colleagues had assumed something like that. “How long do they last?”
“The ones I wore, about eight hours. But my subjects don’t have access to them. They use commercial colored lenses. And they disintegrate…” He hesitated. “…faster.”
She shook her head. “You don’t like your subjects very much, do you?”
“They’re expendable. And stupid.”
“Have you always seen them like that?”
He shrugged. “Why not? I’m smarter than them, stronger than them. Why else do you think my opponent sent five assassins?”
She let out a chuckle. “Arrogant much?”
“You think I’m big-headed? Is that how you like your men?”
“We’re not talking about my taste in men.” Luckily, several people came walking toward them, so she had a good reason to shut him up. “People ahead—quiet.”
For the next ten minutes, while Enya navigated them through several busier streets until they reached a more deserted area, they didn’t talk. Ahead of them, close to a freeway onramp, stood a motel. Enya pointed to it. At a traffic light, they waited for it to change, then crossed the street and entered the property. Just outside the office hung a neon sign.
She pointed to it. “We’ll stay far away from it.”
“So you know?” he asked.
“That neon lights burn out when a demon comes close? Yes, the warning has saved many a Stealth Guardian’s life.” She pointed to a room at one end of the T-shaped building. It was their best choice. The office window from which the manager could have had a direct view of the unit was boarded up. It appeared somebody had smashed in the glass.
At the end unit, Enya stopped. “I’ll see if it’s empty. Wait here.”
She walked through the closed door. As she’d hoped, the room was unused. There was no luggage anywhere, the towels were clean, the wastebasket empty, and the bed unused. The blackout curtains were already drawn. Perfect.
She walked back to the door and opened it. “Quickly.”
Zoltan entered and locked the door behind him. “Light?” he asked.
“Only use the bedside lamp.”
He flipped the switch, while Enya took the daggers she’d taken off the dead demons out of her boots and pockets and placed them on a small desk.
Zoltan looked around in the dimly lit space. She noticed his gaze fall on the bed and a grin form on his lips. Figured.
“Don’t even think about it.”
To her surprise, he dropped the grin and turned serious. “Tell me why you think I was once a Stealth Guardian and why I have no recollection of it.”
“You were a six-month-old baby when it happened.”
“When what happened?”
“You were kidnapped, though back then your parents believed you were killed by the demons. There was blood in your crib, sufficient to suggest that they’d slaughtered you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “So how would you know that that baby isn’t dead after all?”
“Because Winter saw it.”
“The psychic.”
Enya nodded. “Yes, I believe you met her.” She stopped herself. “No, let me rephrase that. You kidnapped her.”
“I did. But only to make her an offer. Unfortunately, somebody snatched her right out of the Underworld. One of these days, you’ll have to tell me how you guys did that.”
“In your dreams,” Enya said curtly.
“Fair enough. So, Winter had a vision. What did she see?”
“The boy as an older child, maybe a twelve-year-old, but with green demon eyes.”
“That could have been any child. What makes her think the boy she saw was the baby the demons took? From what I know about babies, they all look the same, and you can’t really tell me you can predict what a child would look like twelve years later. No offense. There’s nothing to connect her vision to me.”
“There is. In fact, there are several things.” She lifted one finger. “Winter had her first vision about the baby being taken when she was in the Underworld, I believe at the moment you struck her when she defied you. That physical contact may have triggered the vision.”
He shrugged. “Is that it?”
Enya shook her head and pulled out her phone. She opened her pictures app and scrolled to the photo she’d taken when visiting Cinead’s house earlier. She turned the screen to him.
“This is your father as a young man, most likely about the same age as you’re now. When I saw it earlier today, there was something so familiar about it. I just couldn’t put two and two together until Winter told me about her latest vision about the boy having turned demon. That’s when I knew.”
She looked directly at him, but Zoltan didn’t meet her gaze. Instead, his eyes were glued to the picture on her phone. He reached out and took it from her hand, stunned silence accompanying his action. Then he shook his head as if he didn’t want to believe it.
“Many people have similar looks. I bet if we searched the world, we’d find several other men who look similar to me. That’s not proof.”
“Fine.” Enya took the phone back. She wished she didn’t have to issue her next command, but it appeared that Zoltan was more stubborn and harder to convince than she thought. “Turn around and drop your pants.”
“Excuse me? Does that mean we’re done talking and are going straight to sex?”
“This isn’t about sex.”
“Okay, making love, then. Whatever you wanna call it.”
“I said turn around and drop your pants.”
Slowly he turned and started opening his pants. “Be careful, or you’re gonna turn me on, and we both know where that leads.” He pulled his pants down to mid-thigh.
“The boxers too.”
He complied with her command. “Like what you see?” He couldn’t have said the words in a cockier tone if he’d tried.
Enya decided not to answer, pointed her phone camera at him, and snapped a photo.
Zoltan whirled around. “Did you just take a picture of my ass? Is that your i
dea of kinky foreplay? ’Cause I can give you better ideas, if you’d just ask.”
She scoffed. “I took a picture of your birthmark.”
“What for?”
She turned the screen to him. “This is your birthmark.”
He shrugged. “You think I’ve never seen it? I do look in the mirror occasionally.”
“I can believe that.” What man didn’t check himself out to see if he measured up? And Zoltan did measure up when it came to most women’s expectations. He certainly did for her.
She swiped to a photo she’d taken earlier in the day and pointed to it. “This is a photo of a painting of Angus, Cinead’s baby son. Look at the left butt cheek.”
Zoltan dipped his head to look closer, then he took the phone from her hands and pinched the screen to zoom in. His eyes widened. He swiped to the picture Enya had just taken, then back again, then he suddenly lifted his head and stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
“It’s not,” she said. “That’s you at six months old. You’re Angus. You’re Cinead’s son, and you were a Stealth Guardian when you were born.”
Angrily, Zoltan pressed the phone back into her hand. “Fine! So what if it’s true? Do you really think that my father would welcome me with open arms? Hate to remind you”—he pointed to his eyes—“but I’m still a demon.” He pulled up his pants.
“There has to be a way to change that.” She put away her phone. “We can find a way.”
“If you know anything about demons, and I think you do, then you know this one thing about us: once a demon, always a demon. There’s no redemption.”
She knew that. But against all odds, she hoped that there was a way to save him.
Suddenly, Zoltan’s fingers were under her chin, and he tilted her face up so she had to look at him.
“You know there’s no redemption for a demon, and still you came to save me tonight. Not for my father, not for the Stealth Guardian race, but for yourself, Enya. You still want me, but you can’t face the fact that I’m a demon, and I’ll always be a demon. It’s time you acknowledged that.”
“I can’t.” She tried to free herself from his grip, but he backed her against the wall.
“Yes, you can. If I, the leader of the demons, can admit that I’m falling for a Stealth Guardian, for my mortal enemy, then you can do it too.”
15
Shit!
The words were out, before Zoltan’s brain could register them. He hadn’t meant to say them. Love had no place in his mind, and even less in his heart. So why on earth was he suddenly talking about falling in love? Was it just a means to manipulate her further so she would come back to him? It had to be. The evidence was clear: he wanted Enya back in his bed. Hence, any means was fair game. Even declaring he was falling in love with her? Certainly. However, he hadn’t made the conscious decision to use this particular tactic to get her to come back to him. So why had the words rolled off his tongue so easily, so smoothly? And why had they sounded so sincere?
“That’s bullshit! You’re not in love with me!” she said with a raised voice.
Something about her attitude riled him up, made him want to contradict her. Just for the hell of it. “We wouldn’t be the first star-crossed lovers. Romeo and Juliet? West Side Story? Why can’t it be Zoltan and Enya?” And all of a sudden, he was wondering himself: why couldn’t it be Zoltan and Enya? What was so wrong about that?
“Because suddenly we’d only have enemies. My people would cast me out and hunt you down. And yours would do the same.”
He smirked, inexplicably pleased with the direction the conversation was taking. “And again you don’t deny that you care about me. Don’t you think that’s telling?” He dipped his head, bringing his lips to within an inch of hers. “You want me, babe, just as much as I want you. If you don’t, then all you have to do is push me away.”
She could end it all here. Give up, take his offer, walk away. But he didn’t want her to. And why should he? He’d lusted after Enya for far too long, and he was so close to getting what he wanted. So what if he started developing feelings for her? Considering how hot the sex between them was, it wasn’t exactly a surprise that their desire for each other was turning into something else, something more intimate. It didn’t change anything for him. He was still the Great One. Where was it written that the Great One couldn’t fall in love and still rule the Underworld?
He scrutinized Enya’s face. Even though he wasn’t quite sure what she would ultimately decide, of one thing he was certain: she wasn’t anywhere near regretting what she’d done. She’d enjoyed the fight, enjoyed killing the demons—and frankly, so had he—and not just because she thought Zoltan was born a Stealth Guardian and she needed to save him.
That part, he believed now. The evidence was too convincing to deny, even for him. When he looked at the photo of his father as a young man, he’d thought he was looking in a mirror. But even knowing that what Enya said was true didn’t change anything for him. He could never turn back into a Stealth Guardian. He’d always be a demon. And it was that fact—a fact Enya knew better than anybody—that made him believe that Enya had saved him for her own selfish reasons.
She cared about him, and if he could get her back in his bed, he’d make her face just how much. He’d make her realize that although their relationship had started out with deception and a good dose of sex, there could be more to it. After all, he’d fantasized about Enya for years, and while he’d always thought of making her his slave once he’d overthrown the Stealth Guardians, that thought rang hollow now. He didn’t want Enya against her will. He wanted her to want him with the full knowledge of who and what he was. No ifs and buts about it. He realized now that taking her as his slave would have never been enough. He wanted her as his queen.
“Enya,” he murmured. “You have to make a decision. Show me that you’re not indifferent toward me, or push me away.”
“I need time,” Enya said, her breath brushing over his lips.
He recognized her words as a cry for help. “I’ll give you all the time you need, until you’re ready to tell me what you feel. But I need you in my bed now. I can’t wait another second. So I beg you, even if all you feel right now is lust, share it with me.”
She lifted her hands to his face and cupped it. “Will that be enough?”
“No. But I can be a patient man.” He slid one hand down to her ass and drew her to him, so she had to feel his cock. “My body, on the other hand, isn’t quite as patient. When I’m with you, I can’t keep my carnal side in check. When I’m with you, I’m not in control of that part of myself.” In fact, he already had a full-blown erection, and they hadn’t even kissed yet.
“Are you just saying that to get me into bed?” she asked.
He drew his head back a little, and she dropped her hands to his chest. “Oh, Enya. Getting you into bed would be so easy. All I would need to do is tie you to it and ride you for as long as I want to. But that’s not enough. It was my fantasy for a long time… from the moment I first saw you. But everything’s changed. Now I want so much more. I want you to want me, me, Zoltan. I want you to come to me of your own free will. I want you to crave my cock inside you. My mouth on your tits. My hands on your skin. Because that’s what I crave: to be imprisoned inside your tight pussy, and to feel your hands and lips on me. To look into your eyes when you come, when only the two of us count. That’s what I want.”
An unsteady breath rolled over Enya’s lips. “You need to stop talking, or I’ll come without you even touching me.”
“I take that as a yes to sharing my bed.”
Enya didn’t answer. Instead, she slanted her lips over his and kissed him, while she slung her arms around him and pressed herself to him as if she was afraid he would try to escape.
Zoltan welcomed her by delving his tongue into her mouth and dancing with hers. He loved kissing her, teasing soft moans from her, until she was breathless, until her body was soft and yielding. He felt
her breasts crushed against his chest, felt her hard nipples poking him through his shirt. He squeezed her ass, loving how her firm flesh felt in his hand. There was nothing tentative about Enya. When she surrendered to her carnal need, she surrendered fully, held nothing back. He loved that about her. She wasn’t playing games with him, wasn’t coy or calculating, but sinful and passionate.
He loved how she shoved his pants down and rubbed herself against his cock, practically rode the hard ridge where pre-cum leaked from its tip and seeped through his boxer briefs. He wasn’t idle either, pulling her top out of her pants and sliding one hand underneath it. Like the times before, she wore nothing beneath it, no bra to hinder his access. Her clothing was as uncomplicated as her attitude to lovemaking.
He captured one breast and kneaded it in his palm, enjoying the way the firm flesh responded to his touch, and the way Enya yelped into his mouth when he tweaked her nipple hard. And although he knew she liked it rough, tonight wouldn’t be about that. Tonight he would show her that he cared about her, that he could be a tender lover, a tender man.
Getting hot, Zoltan let go of Enya for a moment and freed himself of his shirt, then reached for Enya’s top and pulled it over her head.
“My God, you’ve got gorgeous tits,” he said, and pulled her back into his arms. “Everything about you is perfect.”
He captured her lips again while he busied himself with opening Enya’s pants and pulling them down sufficiently to slide one hand into her panties and touch her pussy.
Enya gasped and tilted her head back, her eyes closing. “Oh, God.”
He rubbed along her wet slit, then slid his dew-covered finger upward to her clit. “Look into my eyes and I’ll make you come.” He wanted her to see his demon eyes while he pleasured her, wanted her to recognize that even though he was a demon, he wouldn’t hurt her. “Please.”
Enya opened her eyes and looked straight at him.
“That’s it, babe. Just like that.” He held her gaze while he painted circles over her clit, rubbing the little organ harder and faster. Enya panted, her lips parted. Perspiration collected on her brow. He increased his tempo, caressing her center of pleasure with mounting eagerness. He’d never thought he’d love pleasuring a woman without wanting anything for himself. But in this moment, all he could think of was Enya’s pleasure.