by Cynthia Eden
Harrison’s eyes flickered.
“You can relate, huh?” A quick distraction, but one that she needed. “You have some family issues you want to talk about? You can, you know. You can talk about anything with me.”
“Never knew my mom,” he said flatly as if it didn’t matter. “She cut out right after I was born. Didn’t want to be saddled with a kid.”
Her lips parted. “That’s not—”
“My dad, yes, sure, there are plenty of people who say he’s a bastard. And that I’m exactly like him.”
Elise pressed her lips together. Before he’d dropped that line about his mom, she’d been about to tell him…That’s not what I heard. He was being all tough and stoic. Typical hunter. But she could see through his mask. He hurt.
She didn’t have the heart to hurt him more. In fact, she wanted to take away some of his pain. What in the hell? Am I sick? Did I catch a human cold or something?
“Elise? You okay?”
“I don’t think you’re a bastard.” Truth. Maybe she had when they’d first met but…no, he wasn’t. “I think you’re a good guy who has done the best he could do with a hard life.”
“Every hunter knows the life is hard. We don’t have a choice about facing the monsters out there.”
Her gaze lowered. “And you hate monsters?”
“I hate evil. I hate the freaks who get off on killing and torturing. Someone has to stop them, and it’s my job. Been my family’s job forever.”
She glanced over at the fire. “Speaking of…is your dear old dad still out of town?”
“I got word that he’s coming back to Savannah.”
Her shoulders stiffened. “Oh, that’s…” Horrible. “Will you be meeting up with him soon?”
“No.” Clipped. “We don’t see eye to eye. Like I told you, people think I’m just like him but…” His words trailed away.
Her gaze swung back to him.
“But I don’t want to be.”
Her heart hurt for him. “You don’t have to be like him. We don’t have to be a damn thing like our family members. We are our own people. We make our own choices. We create our own paths in this world.”
“You and your father…you have your own paths?”
“Definitely. It’s much easier now that he’s dead.”
“I’m…sorry.”
Elise had to laugh. “Don’t be. He wasn’t a nice man.” There had not been a whole lot of nice growing up with him.
“Are you alone then? No other family?”
“I have another relation. Though he isn’t exactly a fan.”
“Then he’s a fool.”
She rocked forward and gave a little hum.
He smiled. “You hum when you’re happy.”
“It’s an old habit. One I’ve been told over and over again that I have to break.”
His hand lifted and his knuckles stroked her cheek. “I like it.”
I like you. Her eyes widened. She caught herself before she let those telling words slip out. “I, um, I’m not good at letting a lot of people get close to me.” She was sharing so much with him when her intent had been to get him to open up to her. But Elise found she couldn’t stop. “You can put up walls to protect yourself from the world out there, but, after a while, you realize all those walls can make you cold.”
“You don’t seem cold to me.” His hand slid down her neck.
She shivered. “You seem really hot to me,” Elise mumbled. It was the truth. The man’s touch was scorching her. But, honestly, that should be something that made her happy. She knew what his growing warmth meant and it was good. Part of her big master plan. Yet when she thought of the plan, Elise could have sworn she felt a strange hollowness inside of herself. She stepped back, sliding away from his touch. Time to distance herself—physically and mentally. “You killed Gustave?” She hadn’t been able to ask that question when the human cops were around.
“He wanted to take you from me. That wasn’t going to happen. Since he threatened you, since he wanted me out of the way, the bastard had to die.”
Not like she’d mourn him. Elise angled to stare at the flames, giving Harrison her back. “One more threat gone.”
She felt him advance on her. The air heated. Thickened. Then his fingers were sliding over her shoulders. He was touching her on one of the most delicate, sensitive parts of her body, and she had to bite her lower lip to hold back her moan.
“I’ll stop all the threats to you. I promised I would, didn’t I?” Harrison’s breath blew over her ear. “You told me the truth, that you were desperate and cursed, and I gave my word to help you.”
“Y-your word is important to you.” He was still lightly running his fingers over her shoulder blades and her whole body was pulsing. Her nipples were tight. Her sex was aching. She wanted to arch against him and demand more of his touch. So much for the idea of more distance between them. She wanted to spin around and jump him.
“It’s very important.” His index finger traced her left shoulder blade. “You changed clothes.”
“I—” What? What had he said? Clothes? Elise cleared her throat. “You ripped my shirt when I was in the ambulance. And there was blood and ash on it, so I just grabbed some different things from the downstairs gift shop. Boutique. Whatever it was. I billed all of the stuff to the room.” She’d picked up lots of items—gone a little wild, in fact. Elise currently wore a silky, sleeveless top. Soft, black pants. Black heels. Everything was expensive. Stupid expensive, but she liked the clothes.
She liked his touch more.
“Gustave said something right before I had to kill the bastard…something that I can’t forget.”
Her eyes squeezed closed. “Seems to me like Gustave was a crazy-ass werewolf. I mean, he sent a hit squad after me. Don’t think you should go believing anything that nut-job had to say.” Don’t believe him. Don’t!
“Werewolves don’t usually mistake things like this.”
She had to think of a way out of this mess. If old Gussy boy had spilled the beans and said—
“He called you my mate.”
Okay, I can work with this. Her eyes opened. She turned, easing her body so that she faced him. So that she was wicked close to him. Elise gazed into his eyes. “That’s how werewolves think, isn’t it? They think in terms of mates. Not boyfriends or girlfriends, not lovers, it’s all about—”
“He said I’d claimed you in front of him and his men. Then I remembered that he was right. I told him that we were together. You used those words, and I repeated them.”
“Hmmm.” She blinked. Hoped she looked innocent. “Maybe it’s like…handfasting? Is that the term?” She damn well knew it was. “People join hands and declare their commitment to each other. Witnesses are present.” Elise tapped her chin. “I guess it’s sort of like what happened at the werewolf den, and werewolves do have a rep for being very old school.” She nodded enthusiastically. “That’s probably what he meant.”
“I don’t think so.”
Hell. She’d thought she sounded so—
“Because he asked if I’d fucked you.”
Oh, my. Gussy, you’re a jerk and I’m glad you’re dead.
“Said if I hadn’t, then it wasn’t too late. That he could still take you.” His eyes glinted on that last bit. “Then Gustave died because I wasn’t in the mood to have anyone take you from me.”
Her body leaned toward him. She was pulled to him.
“You’re hiding secrets from me.”
Elise nervously wet her lips. “How could I be? You’re a hunter. You know when someone lies.”
He smiled. A sensual and dangerous smile. “I do.”
Her stomach knotted.
“Mate.” He seemed to taste the word.
She was afraid to breathe.
“If I fuck you, does that mean there’s no going back? Because I think that’s what Gustave meant. Whatever is between us will get set in stone the minute I sink into that gorgeous body of yours.�
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Elise didn’t say a word. She couldn’t.
“Talk to me, Elise.”
Her name seemed like an endearment. So strange when his gaze was blazing, but his voice had turned tender on her name.
“Talk to me.” A pause. “Or are you afraid that I’ll discover your lies?”
No. “I’m not afraid of you.” She wasn’t. She was drawn to him. She wanted him. She needed him. Fear didn’t enter the equation for her. “If we make love, then there’s no going back. Not for you. Not for me. Because I don’t think it’s just going to be some big one-and-done business that we forget the next day. I think it will change us both.” She’d managed to tell him the truth. Because she could only tell the truth. He didn’t understand that about her yet. Eventually, he would.
“I don’t make love, baby.” He stepped back. “I’m not looking for some happily-ever-after ending. That’s not what hunters do.” Now he paced around her and moved toward the fire. “We fuck. We give our partners so much pleasure they scream.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “Hunters have incredible stamina.”
“I do not doubt that.” She shrugged and tried to look careless. “But I believe there is more involved than just fucking. Or at least, I think there will be more for us.” She held his gaze. “Like I said, I think when we make love, it will change things.”
He peered back into the fire.
She exhaled. Shook her head. Blew out another breath.
“Mate.”
Elise stiffened.
“A mate is forever in a werewolf’s world.”
“Good thing you’re not a werewolf.” You’re something so much better.
“Hunters don’t mate. We live for the job. We kill. We move on.”
She couldn’t stop herself. “Have you ever thought there might be more to you than just being a hunter?”
His laughter was low and bitter. “My father was a hunter. His father was a hunter. It’s been that way for centuries. We hunt the monsters. We put them down.”
He was looking into the fire. He missed her flinch.
“By the time I was six, my father was teaching me how to track werewolves. How to find demons. Other kids were playing with toy trucks or going to little league practice. I was sharpening my knives and learning how to melt silver in order to make bullets that would kill werewolves.”
Her arms wrapped around her stomach.
“I made my first kill when I was fifteen. A vamp came for my father. I stopped him. And, shit, you know the thing about vamps? How they always look the same, no matter how old they are? The vamp I killed…he looked like me was my age. That…stayed with me. He just—” But Harrison broke off. “Screw it. You don’t need to hear about my shit.” He whirled away from the fire. Focused that electric gaze of his on her. “I want to know about you.”
“I like hearing about your past.” What she didn’t like? “But I am so sorry you had to grow up that way.”
“Running from town to town? Fighting? Killing?” A roll of his shoulders, as if the matter didn’t merit any concern. “Someone has to do the dirty work and keep the world safe from monsters.”
The knot in her gut grew worse. “And that someone is you? You’re so sure about that?”
“It’s the only life I’ve ever known.”
Yes, it was.
“But what about your life, Elise? I want to know more about you. You told me about your folks, yet I have the feeling that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I want more. I want everything.”
If she gave him everything, he’d destroy her.
“So far, I know that you say you were cursed.”
“I didn’t just say it. I am cursed.”
He took a step toward her.
She backed up.
His jaw hardened. “I thought you weren’t afraid of me.”
“I’m not.”
His look was doubting.
“When you touch me, I tend to not think as well as I should. And I’ve been drinking.” She could still taste the champagne on her tongue. She wanted to taste him. “I’m trying to be good.” Hah. A truer statement had never been spoken.
His lips quirked. “But are you good?” Another step toward her.
She wanted to back away. Instead, she stiffened her spine.
“Tell me the truth. Are you good, sweetheart? What was your life like before the curse? What secrets are you keeping from me?”
She didn’t speak.
“Who are you?” Harrison rasped the words.
“I’m basically the queen of the universe,” Elise announced flatly. “And my heart is as dark as they come. So don’t worry about happy endings with me. That isn’t in the cards. Instead, I’ll make you love me. I’ll make you need me. When I have you completely wrapped up and lost in me, then I’ll use you to do my most wicked bidding and you will be helpless to resist.”
He stared at her. Just stared.
Fucking champagne. She needed to take back all of those words. She was in such serious shit right then and—
Harrison threw back his head and laughed.
Laughed hard and loud and, oh, but he was completely adorable.
She smiled at him.
He was so freaking cute as that deep, bellowing laughter echoed around her. He was cute because…he thought she was being sarcastic. Precious. She smiled at him.
His laughter slowed. His gaze seemed to soften as he stared at her. Then he was lifting his hand and cupping her cheek. “There’s one thing you should know about me.”
There were dozens of things she wanted to know about him.
“I’m never helpless, baby. Never.” Then his head lowered and his mouth crashed onto hers.
***
“I’m telling the friggin’ truth,” Ward huffed. He stood outside of the hospital, the setting sun hitting him as Gray waited by the open door of a black truck, a doubtful expression on his face. “The woman had wings.”
“And you had a concussion,” Gray cheerfully reminded him. “So while the building was collapsing around you and fire was raging, maybe you imagined things.”
Ward didn’t budge from the sidewalk. Gray had come to pick him up, and he owed the other hunter for that solid, but Ward wasn’t crazy. “The wings covered us. The place was collapsing and we would’ve been buried alive, but her wings flew out and took the brunt of the impact.”
Gray tapped his fingers along the open passenger door. “So you’re saying she saved you.”
“Yes, of course, Elise saved me. She saved me, she saved Krista—” Krista had cut out and left the hospital without him, and he had no idea where she’d gone. Like a few bullets flying and a collapsing building would keep her down for long.
“Uh, huh.” Gray nodded and pursed his lips. “You see the problem here, don’t you?”
“I see a jackass who won’t believe me. A jackass who is supposed to be my friend.”
Gray smiled. “If Elise has wings, she’s a monster.”
“I—” He stopped.
“Fallen angels have wings. Demons have wings. Don’t really know of anything else that does. Fallen angels and demons? Bad. They are very bad.”
Ward didn’t know what to say.
“Why would something like that save a hunter?” Gray pushed.
He didn’t speak. I don’t know.
“Right.” Again, Gray nodded. “A monster wouldn’t save a hunter. That shit isn’t done.”
Ward climbed into the truck. Maybe he was wrong. He had blacked out for a while.
Gray slammed the door shut and took his time strolling around the front of the truck. He hopped inside and, a moment later, he had the engine purring. “How about we give the woman the benefit of the doubt? She saved your ass and Krista’s, so let’s not get the hunters to swarm in and kill her, sound good?”
“I don’t want anyone to kill her.” He rubbed his aching eyes. “Maybe I was wrong.”
“I’m sure you were wrong.” Gray tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “
Did you tell anyone else about this nonsense with the wings?”
“Yeah.” He winced. “I told Harrison.”
Gray swore.
“It’s okay, man. He’s her protector. Not like he’d hurt her.”
Gray’s jaw dropped as he gaped at Ward. “When it comes to monsters, we both know Harrison never hesitates. He’s more the kill first and ask questions later type of guy.”
“He…he wouldn’t do that with her.”
“If she’s a monster, he sure as hell will. If she’s a monster, the woman is screwed.”
Chapter Eight
“I want you,” Harrison growled against her lips. Her mouth—God, her mouth was making him insane. Those full, pouting, red lips. She tasted so sweet and she made him want to sin in a thousand different ways. He kissed her again. Harder. Deeper. His hand slid to sink into the thickness of her hair as he tipped her head back and just took.
Her hands rose. Curled around his arms. He felt the bite of her nails through his shirt, and he loved that little sting. She was sexy and tempting, and he wasn’t going to walk away again. Not ever again.
He wanted her naked. He wanted in her.
But then her hands slid to his chest. She pushed against him. “Stop.”
Fucking hell. He sucked in a breath and lifted his head. Her eyes—those incredible, unforgettable eyes—searched his.
“What’s happening here?” Elise asked him.
Despite the dark lust thundering through his body, Harrison’s lips quirked. “I’m trying to have sex with you.”
“You’re trying to fuck me.”
Moments before, she’d talked of making love. He didn’t make love. He fucked. Love wasn’t part of his life, never would be. Sweet and tender times weren’t in the cards for hunters. “This isn’t about mating. I don’t care what bullshit the werewolf spouted. Sex is sex.”
“Fucking is fucking?” Elise whispered. “Not with me. Not with us. I told you, we cross this line—”
“Everything changes. I was warned.” The problem? He didn’t give a shit about the warning. He wanted her. His control had broken and there was no holding back or playing it safe. She’d nearly died in the speakeasy. She could have been crushed beneath the debris, could have died from smoke inhalation, could have burned…