by Cynthia Eden
Eric laughed. “Thanks for the invitation, but I’ve already been to hell. Happened the first time I lost my Sabrina. I don’t intend to ever go back.”
Adam tried to grab Eric again, then he realized…“You’re not fucking here.”
“And you’re not very fucking bright, are you? All muscle…I mean, all stone. No brain.” Eric stared back at him, but the man’s appearance wasn’t as clear any longer. “Technology is amazing. An absolute miracle. Science is the new magic these days. Things like you…you’re a relic. Nothing more.”
Adam was staring at—what? Some kind of fancy hologram?
“Sabrina opened my mind. Anything is possible now. I can create anything. I can do anything. I can go anywhere, anytime.”
That was why Adam hadn’t heard the guy’s approach. Eric wasn’t really there. It was just a hologram or projection of the guy.
But the blood…that was real. He spun and rushed back toward the warehouse.
The hologram called after him, “I’d like to know…why did you mess up my good time tonight? I don’t know you…and I really hate when strangers get involved in my life.”
Adam hesitated just long enough to look back. “I’m going to kill you.”
Eric smiled. And then he just…disappeared. Winked away…like a computer, turning off. Adam bounded back into the warehouse. He followed the scent of blood and found a woman…trying to crawl away. A woman in a red dress, with blonde hair that looked far too much like Sabrina’s. Adam saw the woman from behind, her face obscured from view and…
Sabrina. Eric picked her because she reminded him of Sabrina.
Adam reached for her, but stilled when he realized he had the hands of a beast. If he touched her, even using care, he could crush her bones. The woman was still alive. Barely, but…
She looked toward him. Blood streamed down her throat. That’s why she stopped screaming. She stared at him and horror widened her eyes. She opened her mouth, screaming silently now as tears leaked down her cheeks.
He’d seen that horror before.
“I won’t hurt you—”
Her eyes rolled back. She passed out even as the blood kept pumping from her wounds. She needed help. But not the kind of help a gargoyle could give.
So he had to turn back into the form of a man.
***
“What in the hell are you?” Eric leaned closer to the computer screen as he studied the bastard who had taken out three of his guards.
Good thing those assholes were there. Gave me time to escape. And his driver had followed the exact escape plan that had been in place. Drive fast…as if I’m with you. Be the distraction.
If the guy lived, Eric would give him a bonus.
But for the moment, his attention was completely focused on the stone beast. Only…a hand had just burst through the beast’s chest. A human hand. It was punching its way out of that stone.
Like the stone is a shell, and the man inside is breaking his way to freedom. How very, very interesting.
Eric’s fingers flew over the keyboard and he directed his surveillance cameras to zoom in closer on the man. The guy was slowly coming out of the stone. Breaking his way to freedom. Breaking out of the stone prison that had been his body. The man emerged fully nude. He was tall, muscled. He had dark hair. Dark eyes. The stone was rubble around his feet as the fellow rushed for the fallen woman. The mystery man put his hands to her wounds, trying to stop the loss of blood.
Intriguing. It would appear that this particular monster wanted to be a hero.
As Eric watched, the man scooped the woman into his arms and ran from the room. Eric tensed. If the blonde survived, she would be a problem for him. A very big problem.
But he couldn’t go after them. Not then. When the uninvited guest had come crashing to the scene, Eric had retreated to the safe room hidden on the lower floor of his warehouse. If he left that room too soon, he could wind up as dead as his guards.
Eric was afraid to leave.
He didn’t like being afraid.
But that bastard made of stone? He scared Eric. That meant Eric had to find a way to end the freak—very, very soon.
He switched video feeds. The mystery guy had loaded the woman into the limo. They raced away from the scene. Dammit. The woman could not survive.
And neither could the wannabe hero.
It was a good thing that he’d put a GPS tracker on the limo. The hero thought he was getting away, but he wasn’t. Not really.
Eric reached for his phone. He dialed quickly, and when his call was answered, Eric said, “I need a clean-up crew at the warehouse. And I’ll need my force team to tie up some loose ends.” His force team…that meant the guards he kept armed to the teeth. They did the grunt work for him. After a few more terse instructions, Eric hung up. His fingers tapped on the keyboard, and just like that, he could see where the limo was going.
“You’ll be sorry that you ever interfered with my business.” Eric smiled. He had a plan, and he wasn’t afraid any longer.
Chapter Five
She’d stripped out of the evening gown. It wasn’t as if she could wear the thing to bed. But Sabrina hadn’t wanted to priss around the penthouse naked. So she helped herself to one of Adam’s shirts. The thing pretty much swallowed her, not surprising really, given Adam’s size. The bottom of the shirt hung to the middle of her thighs. It was a soft, cotton T-shirt, and it smelled like Adam. A rich, subtly masculine scent.
She liked wearing his shirt.
Sabrina had discovered there were three bedrooms in the penthouse. All nice bedrooms, with big beds and killer views. But…
Sabrina found herself curling up in Adam’s bed. His scent lingered in the bed, too. It was a faint thing, but oddly, it reassured her. Being in his bed made her feel safe. Ridiculous, she knew that. It was just a bed.
His bed.
She wasn’t in his bed as some sort of invitation. Really, that wasn’t it at all. The penthouse was just so empty. So big. And it felt cold. Or, rather, the other rooms felt cold. She was warm in his bed.
A clock sat on the bedside table. The glowing numbers were easy to see in the dark. Two hours had passed since Adam left her. Two incredibly long hours. She squeezed her eyes shut. Sabrina knew she should try to sleep, but —
The faint squeak of the wooden floor had her eyes flying right back open.
He was there. Standing beside the bed. A big, hulking shadow. She jerked upright, breath catching in her chest.
“Easy.” Adam’s voice was quiet, but rough. Sexy.
She jumped from the bed. Easy was the last thing she felt. Her hands grabbed his shoulders. That wasn’t good enough. Suddenly she was yanking him close and holding him in a tight hug. Had she been afraid while he was gone? Yes.
She’d been afraid something would happen to him.
Adam tensed in her hold. Then his hands came up and curled around her hips. He held her a moment, his grip almost painfully tight, but then he was pushing her back.
“He’s not dead,” Adam told her grimly. “You don’t need to thank me yet.”
Her lips parted. He’d thought—She felt heat stain her cheeks. “Asshole,” she snapped, “I was worried about you, okay? I hugged you because I was glad you were back. Nothing more.”
“And you’re in my bed because…?”
She glared at him.
Adam gave a low laugh. “Right. Why don’t you hold that thought while I go wash the blood off?”
He turned away from her.
Wash the blood off? It was so dark in the bedroom that she hadn’t noticed any blood. He was in the bathroom now, and he’d just flipped on the light in that space. Sabrina hurried after him. “Is it your blood?”
He stood in front of the marble sink. With the light shining down on them, she could see that he was wearing clothes that were too tight, too small. A black shirt and black pants. And was that blood on them? She did see what looked like darker spots on the shirt.
“Not mine, h
ers.” He jerked on the shirt and it seemed to rip apart beneath his hands. She saw the blood then—dried blood on his chest, on those powerful muscles. On his chiseled abs.
“Hers?” Sabrina repeated even as her heart seemed to drop in her chest.
Adam stalked toward the shower. A quick twist of his wrist and water shot out from the shower head. From both gleaming showerheads. Then his hands went to the top of his pants. He stripped out of them and they hit the floor.
The guy didn’t even seem to notice that he was giving her a perfect view of his ass. Maybe he just didn’t care.
“Yeah, hers.” His voice was rough and angry. He didn’t look at Sabrina. “A woman with your blonde hair. A woman that your buddy Eric stabbed over and over again. Then he left her to die. It was her blood, her screams—that led me to his warehouse. Only when I got there, he was gone and his guards were left. His guards and his driver. When they fought me, they didn’t survive.” His laughter was a dark rumble. “At least the bastard driver had back-up clothes in his car. So when I left the blonde at the hospital, I wasn’t naked.”
She shook her head, a denial of his words, of the attack on that other woman. A denial that this was happening at all.
But it’s what Eric does. He hurts me…like he did tonight in the crash…and then he kills someone in my place.
Adam slid into the shower. She lunged forward and grabbed his arm, stepping onto the tiled floor and feeling the water rain down onto her. “No!”
His gaze met hers. “Fucking, yes. I counted nine stab wounds on her body…that was before he cut her throat so she wouldn’t be able to scream any longer. A human. He was playing his torture games on a human. If I’d gotten there just a bit sooner…” His lips twisted in fury. “He would have been the one with the wounds. He would have been the one lying in a pool of his own blood. Choking on the blood.”
Her racing heartbeat shook her whole chest. “Did you see him? Did you see—”
He twisted his hand, and, suddenly, he was the one holding her. He’d yanked her even closer to his naked body. The water from the shower head on the right had already soaked her hair and the T-shirt she wore. The cotton clung tightly to her body.
“You didn’t tell me just how much you’d inspired him.” His mouth was less than an inch from hers. His words were angry, so was his expression. “Just what did you help him to do? What all techno tricks did you teach him? Because I thought I had the sonofabitch. Then it turned out he was just a hologram. He wasn’t even there.”
“Yes, he was.” Her body trembled. “If the woman was still alive, he was there. He must have just hidden from you. Did you search the warehouse?”
His jaw locked. “She was dying. I left to get her help.” He let her go. Moved back. Put at least a foot of distance between them. “I could have searched, or I could have saved her. I made the choice.” His lips flattened. The water pounded down on them both. “I’m sure you think it was the wrong fucking choice, but she was bleeding and helpless and—”
Once more, she surged toward him. Once more, her hands wrapped around his shoulders. “I don’t.” Dammit, why did everyone think she was so selfish? So evil…oh, right.
Muse. I’m supposed to be bad.
Some days, she was. She liked to give out punishments to those who pissed her off. She liked to deal her brand of payback but…
An innocent woman? Tortured?
What had Adam said before…? She had your hair.
“I took the limo. I took the dead driver’s clothes that were inside, and I dropped her off at the nearest hospital.” A muscle jerked in Adam’s jaw even as water beaded down his cheek. “And I let the bastard get away. Next time, he won’t be so lucky.”
“Thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for? I just told you, I let him get away. I—”
She rose onto her toes and pressed her lips to his, stopping that angry tide of words.
She’d thought he was dangerous.
He was.
She’d thought he was dark.
He was.
But…
He’d saved a woman that night.
That hadn’t been in his aura…A goodness…a sliver of light. She hadn’t seen that.
At the touch of her lips, a long shudder worked over his body. His hands were at his sides. His mouth was open and her tongue snaked out to lick his lower lip before dipping inside. She kissed him with skill, with sensuality. After all, Sabrina knew how to kiss. When it came to sex, no bragging, but she was pretty much a rock star.
She’d had plenty of centuries to practice. And to seriously inspire.
But…
He wasn’t kissing her back.
She was using her patented-bring-him-to-his-knees inner lick on his mouth, and he was stone still.
Stone still. Fitting but…
But he wasn’t kissing her back. He was holding his control so casually when desire had tightened her breasts and made need heat between her legs.
And for once, she wasn’t so sure. Uncertainty swept through her and her mouth slid away from his. Sabrina blinked up at him. Water clung to her lashes.
“You like playing with men?” he growled. “Seducing them, getting a rush of power?”
She shook her head. But…
His head lowered. His eyes narrowed. “You should be careful with me. I don’t play.”
He also hadn’t kissed her back. Not even a bit. Embarrassing. Depressing. Because…
I really wanted him. Not because he was strong and big and bad. Her normal attraction requirements. No, this time, she’d been drawn to a potential lover for an entirely different reason.
Because he was good. Because he saved a life, not took one. Because he helped a stranger when there was nothing in it for him.
Sabrina whirled away from him. The T-shirt clung to her like a second skin. Her breasts were aching and tight—because she had been turned on by the kiss. But he…he’d been stone cold. She should have known better. What in the hell had she been thinking?
He caught her before she stepped out of the shower. He whipped her around and pinned her to the glass wall. “No, sweetheart, you don’t get to tease and leave.”
Now anger pulsed through her. “I wasn’t teasing.” Her chin notched up. “Just making the mistake of touching stone that doesn’t feel.”
He moved his body closer to her. His lower body this time.
And she realized that he felt plenty.
Talk about hard as stone. His cock was erect. Fully erect. Long and hard and oh, so ready. She hadn’t looked down at him before. She’d been exercising some extreme restraint—and when they’d been kissing, their upper bodies had been close. Not the lower parts…
“That’s why you don’t tease. Because when I want someone, it can be a dangerous thing.”
Those words should have been a warning. They should not have turned her on more. It just went back to her slightly shady inner wiring. A bad girl wanted what a bad girl craved…
“If you kiss me again, I won’t hold back. I will take you.”
She blinked away the water that had dripped from her lashes. “Maybe I’ll be the one taking you…”
He gave a ragged laugh. “You do like the fire.”
Even though she’d been burned.
She’d been burned…and other women were paying the price for her last mistake.
Pull away from him. Get your shit together. You’re feeling vulnerable and mixed up and you need to back away. Back away! “I want out of the shower now.” Sabrina spoke slowly, clearly. “Let me go.”
He stared into her eyes. She could only see the darkness in his gaze. Nothing else.
But there was more to him than the dark.
His hands fell from her. Her breath whispered out. She hurried out of the shower, stepping onto the lush rug and immediately creating a puddle of water on top of it.
“The shirt looks good on you.”
His gravelly words reached her.
“But I bet you’d look even better without it.”
A bit more confident now that she was away from him, Sabrina nodded. “You’re right. I absolutely would.” Then, because he’d done her the favor of showing her his ass, she decided to be fair. She turned away from him and yanked that wet T-shirt over her head. Then she dropped it, and walked away.
She didn’t let the shaking start until she had closed the bathroom door behind her. Then she locked her arms around her stomach and rocked forward, her confident pose absolutely gone.
I counted nine stab wounds on her body…that was before he cut her throat so she wouldn’t be able to scream any longer.
It was good that her face was still wet from the shower. This way, her tears would stay hidden.
***
She’d left him wanting. Fucking aching.
He’d gone to her with blood on his body. And she’d kissed him.
He’d failed. He’d let her tormentor get away. And she’d rubbed that luscious body of hers against his.
She had the best ass he’d ever seen. Heart-shaped, full. Perfect for grabbing and holding tight during one rough ride.
He yanked the handle on the shower, making the water go ice cold. He needed that icy blast because he was not going back to her with his dick at flag-pole level. She liked manipulating him, he got that. Manipulation was part of her make-up.
But she wasn’t going to play him. He wouldn’t let her.
So he stayed beneath that shower. He let the icy blast do its work. Or tried to let it. But images of her kept sliding through his mind.
And the way she’d used her tongue when she kissed him…
The water just couldn’t get cold enough.
Next time, sweetheart, you put your lips to mine…and I won’t hold back.
***
Eric was back in his Miami mansion. He had homes all over the U.S. now. When you were richer than God, you got perks. He had a lot of perks. When he’d first been with Sabrina, his home had been in California. And after she’d left him…
I didn’t have a fucking home. Not for too long.
He liked the Miami place, though, because he knew Sabrina liked to hide in the Miami crowds. He’d bought the place just so he would be close—but not too close—to her.