by Ford, Lizzy
I’m going crazy.
“We’ll go somewhere safe.”
“Nathan,” she called after him.
He turned.
“Did I cause any of this?”
“Absolutely not.”
“You can’t have it both ways. If he’s anchored to me, and you want to kill me to make him go away, then I had something to do with what just happened.”
“We need to talk about this later.” Nathan spun and walked away. “You just have to trust me, Kaylee. You have nothing to do with what he did.”
I couldn’t live with myself if I did.
Nathan opened the door of a rental car. She got into the passenger side. Neither spoke as they fastened their seatbelts. He began driving, but it wasn’t until he turned a corner that she heard the distant wail of sirens.
“We’re just going to leave them?” she asked.
“Demons don’t exactly leave survivors,” he replied.
“There were so many people in that building.” Her panic was stirring again.
Nathan rested one hand on her thigh. His heat spread through her.
“Stop trying to placate me,” she said angrily, pushing his hand away.
“It’s not placating when you care about someone,” he snapped. He replaced his hand.
Taken aback by his words, she stared at him.
“Generally speaking,” he added.
“What does that mean?”
“It’s my job to protect people like you.”
A police car screamed up behind them. Nathan calmly pulled to the curb.
He glanced at her, away then back. He stretched to touch her cheek then cupped the back of her neck, leaning forward. His warm lips were soft, his kiss light yet possessive, like they were old lovers renewing their relationship and not strangers where at least one party didn’t trust the other.
What surprised her was not how easy it was to respond but how natural his kiss and touch felt – and how quickly they set her body on fire.
The convoy of an ambulance flanked by two police cars passed. The car behind them honked.
He leaned away.
Kaylee was glad his focus was on the road. Her body burned with desire that settled in the base of her belly and raced through her blood to her head, where it scattered any chance she had of thinking or speaking coherently.
She didn’t push away the hand he left on her thigh or bother asking where they went. Sorrow, fear and desire were enough of a distraction, and every time they spoke, she learned something else she didn’t want to know about his strange world.
Nathan said nothing as they drove out of DC and into Maryland. The cityscape turned suburban before the signs of manmade structures fell away and were replaced by nature. The leaves of trees lining the highway had begun to change color after the recent cold snap. Usually, she found the sight beautiful. But today, she only thought about how the leaves were dying and falling, like her coworkers.
She leaned forward, elbows on her thighs. She felt ill again and focused on breathing, so she didn’t pass out or throw up.
Nathan rubbed her back, his comforting warmth trickling through her.
“It’s not that bad.”
“Are you insane?” she asked incredulously.
He chuckled.
“This isn’t bothering you at all?” she asked.
“Of course it does,” he replied. “I don’t take death lightly anymore.”
Kaylee focused on not fainting instead of pursuing the odd statement. When the feeling passed, she straightened in her seat.
“Who are you Nathan? Really.”
“What I said. A spirit guide.”
“That’s an occupation. Who are you?”
“You want me to write you an essay?”
“Maybe I do. You can call it, why Kaylee should trust me after I screwed up her life.”
Nathan laughed. “I didn’t screw up your life. You can thank Shadowman for that one.”
She waited for him to say more.
He didn’t.
“That’s it?” she prompted. “I’m just supposed to accept you barging into my life?”
“Pretty much. I’ll leave just as fast when this is over.”
Kaylee frowned. Of all the things to think about, why was she wondering if he meant this as a warning? That he was only there for Shadowman and not her, even after their second kiss that knocked her socks off?
“That might be how things work in your world but not in mine,” she told him. “I want you to take me home.”
“It’s not safe there.”
“Bad shit didn’t start happening until I met you.”
“Look, Kaylee, whatever your feelings are towards me, you just have to trust that I know what we’re dealing with,” he said. “You don’t want to end up like Mike.”
Her brow furrowed.
“Shouldn’t have said that,” he said, glancing out the window.
“Mike’s dead,” she said in a hushed tone.
“Yeah. Looks like Shadowman took him out Wednesday.”
“He was a sorry excuse for a human, but he didn’t deserve to be murdered,” she said, upset again. “Why?”
“Not sure. Shadowman might’ve thought him a threat or needed him out of the way for some reason. Maybe he was too close to you.”
“Or he took me to a place where I got stabbed. But that doesn’t make sense.”
“Whatever his reasoning, it had nothing to do with anything you did, Kaylee.”
“Easy for you to say.” She stared out the window. “Why didn’t he kill Amira instead? She’s the one who stabbed me.”
Nathan was quiet.
Kaylee’s focus sharpened. “You know why Amira is in the middle of everything.”
“I do,” Nathan said. “Basically, Shadowman wants something from her. He may have used you and Mike to find her then planned on grabbing her when you visited. Her attempt to kill you probably scared him off, distracted him, at least for a short time.”
“Why does he want her?”
“Sorry, sweetheart. You don’t need to know that.”
Her face grew hot for a reason other than attraction to the enigmatic man.
“Don’t call me sweetheart,” she growled. “Take me home, Nathan, or I will call the police.”
“Police can’t help you handle Shadowman.”
“No, but they’ll keep you away from me.”
“I’m not your problem.”
There was no arguing with a man who thought he was always right. In truth, she did feel safer with him. And uncomfortably turned on.
“If Shadowman listened to me when I told him not to hurt you, he’ll listen to me about not hurting anyone else,” she reasoned out loud. “So you can just take me home. I’ll have a talk with him and we’re done. No one else dies, including me.”
“Yeah, that won’t work,” Nathan said, amused. “I don’t know why Shadowman listened to you, unless he knows I’m going to help keep you alive. But it wasn’t … normal for him to pay any attention to his host. He’ll want you to stay alive – but that’s it.”
She shuddered, not wanting to imagine what life would be like living with a demon.
“I’ve gotta ask someone why he didn’t try to tear my limps off,” Nathan added.
“You know he’s in the car, right?”
Nathan’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Yeah, I know.”
“He’s not hurting you.”
“He probably thinks I’m taking you to the person he’s looking for. Which I’m not.”
“So he’s using me to get to you, and you’re using me to get to him,” she summarized. “Great thing we have going on here.” She pulled his pinky free from the hand resting on her leg and lifted his hand, pushing it aside.
Nathan didn’t change directions or give any indication he was softening his stance on taking her home or telling her more than the basics. Every day was getting worse and much stranger. How long before one of Nathan’s people
found her and killed her or Shadowman killed everyone around her?
He left the highway at the small town of Columbia, Maryland, and drove several miles through older communities. At long last, he pulled into the driveway of a single story house set off the road. Parking in front of a two-car garage, he turned the car off and got out.
Kaylee considered staying in the car and demanding he take her home then relented. With the air conditioner off and Shadowman hanging over her, the car was too oppressive for her to stay.
She got out and looked around. The trees hedging the house swayed and rustled in a gentle breeze, and the cool touch of autumn was in the air. She breathed deeply.
Shadowman left. Kaylee grimaced, no longer comforted by his departure. At least when he was hovering, she knew he wasn’t going to show up in his faceless human-esque form and scare the hell out of her.
“Who’s house is this?” she asked Nathan, who waited at the sidewalk.
“A friend’s,” he replied vaguely.
“You don’t trust me but you insist I trust you. You know that’s not how relationships work, right?” she snapped.
He winked.
She folded her arms and trailed him to the house. He didn’t knock but walked in. She entered. The living room was comfortable and decorated in the same floral style of her grandmother’s house.
“Bathroom’s probably down that way,” Nathan said, pointing down one hallway.
“You don’t know?”
“I’ve never been here before,” he said. “You might want to wash that off.” His gaze was on her neck.
“Wash …” she touched her neck. Her hand came away with gummy blood.
Frowning, Kaylee walked down the hall he indicated and stepped into a bathroom with outdated décor.
One look in the mirror, and she froze. Starting to panic, she patted herself down and tugged off her jacket, searching for the wound. There was none on her.
Whose blood was on her? It wasn’t a lot, but it belonged to someone.
Maybe to one of her coworkers or any of the other office dwellers that had been in the building before Shadowman dropped them into a hole to the center of the earth. How many people were in the five-story structure? Two hundred? Three hundred?
Her dizzy spell returned, and Kaylee sank into a sit on the edge of the green tub behind her. She held her head in her hands, vision blurred with tears she couldn’t control.
Three hundred people. Counting Mike, it was three hundred and one. She pulled her fingers away from one side of her face. There was blood on them, and they shook.
She was alive, because Shadowman needed her to be. He’d killed a few hundred people in a matter of seconds to keep her that way.
The sound of the linen cupboard opening drew her attention. Blinking to clear her sight, she saw Nathan pull a washcloth free and close the cabinet. He said nothing as he ran the faucet to wet it then knelt before her.
Taking her chin gently, he lifted it so he was able to wipe away the blood on her neck.
Kaylee struggled to keep from sobbing, unable to fathom the lives of three hundred people ending because of her. Her attempts to maintain her composure after days of insanity broke. She pulled away from Nathan and stood, intent on running and hiding somewhere while she cried.
He caught her and tossed the washcloth then wrapped his arms around her tightly.
Kaylee sucked in his scent and clung to him, shaking. His strength didn’t falter, even when hers did. He held her close in a bear hug, his warmth creeping through her. For once, she didn’t care what someone thought of her or if he now considered her weak or silly for crying.
“You’re doing good,” he whispered. “This is a lot to handle.”
She rested her cheek against his chest, working hard to regain control of her emotions.
Nathan maneuvered them towards the sink. He perched on the edge and kept her between his thighs, his left hand resting on her hip.
She wiped her face, embarrassed by how she looked.
He said nothing, his attention on removing the blood from her neck. He pulled the washcloth away to rinse it off.
Horrified and disgusted by the sight of blood, she closed her eyes. Nathan cleaned her up quickly and with gentleness she didn’t expect after his refusal to tell her anything about him. He kissed her like she mattered then talked to her like she didn’t.
But did she want to matter to him? Especially when she was plagued by Shadowman?
Nathan brushed tears from her face with his thumbs, and she realized he was done removing the blood.
Opening her eyes, she found him gazing at her. His warm, strong hands cupped her cheeks briefly before they trailed across her shoulders and down her arms. She registered how close she was to him, how incredible he smelled. His intensity was comforting this time, an assurance she was safe, at least for now.
“You’re even pretty when you cry,” he said, smiling. “It’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.” Her voice was husky from crying. “Will he kill anyone who comes near me?”
“It’s possible.”
She dropped her gaze and stared at his chest. “Now you’re going to tell me …” she swallowed, struggling with the words, “… this is why you should kill me. Aren’t you?”
“Let’s focus on calming you down and making you feel better first,” he said.
Nathan kissed her again. His lips were demanding this time, his kiss rougher. Fire tore through her, a combination of need, fear and sorrow. Nathan was offering comfort, a distraction she desperately needed.
Kaylee wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Any restraint she thought she needed began to melt under the passion of his kisses and heat of his hands.
He guided her out of the bathroom and into a bedroom.
His hot lips left her mouth to press light kisses down the side of her jaw then down her neck, like small bursts of lightning, while his hands slid under her shirt.
Kaylee gasped at the heat of his strong palms against her bare skin. She breathed in his scent, and the heady, sweet, masculine smell filled her senses, made her want to taste his skin, his mouth, every part of him. Need was racing within her body, and an ache stronger than any she’d felt before pooled at the base of her belly while her core grew hot.
Nathan unsnapped her bra then lifted her shirt over her head. His hands trailed down her arms to her sides. She tossed her bra, anxious to feel his touch, and leaned into him, kissing him hungrily.
Lifting his shirt above his head, Kaylee paused to marvel at the supple muscles of his chest and shoulders and trace a hand down the ridges of his abdomen. She paused at his belt and looked up uncertainly.
“You want my pants off, I’ll take them off,” he said with a husky chuckle.
She flushed and took a step back, not sure why his amusement made her feel … inadequate. She wasn’t very experienced, and she hadn’t considered that he might be used to women who knew what they were doing.
“Oh no. Come back here,” he said and then kissed her deeply.
Kaylee wove then leaned against him again, shivering at the sensation of his hot skin against hers. She wanted to feel that him over her body, to melt into his heat, strength and solidness and let it surround her, fill her, claim her.
His hands ran down her back to her hips, and he unbuttoned her pants, leaving her mouth to pushing them and her underwear down to the floor. He stood slowly, running his hands up her calves, thighs and hips then around to her ass. Kissing her once more, he squeezed her cheeks and pulled her against him so that she could feel his arousal pressed against her lower belly.
He felt big. No, huge. She wondered how much was the pants and how much was really him. Curious, Kaylee slid a hand between them to stroke him gently through his jeans.
He was huge. The thought of him filling her made the sacred place between her legs yearn for him enough that she wasn’t certain if she could walk. She fumbled with the
buttons of his jeans then gave up, her hands trembling from need.
Nathan broke off the kiss and looked down, resting his cheek against hers.
“Judgment free zone,” he whispered. “Just need to know what I’m dealing with here. How many times have you had sex?”
“Oh, god,” she said, face flaming. “I’m so sorry. I’m just …”
“Less than three partners?”
She nodded, afraid to know what he thought of her.
He seemed satisfied, the glow in his eyes growing.
She, however, was embarrassed. Kaylee silently cursed herself for melting at his feet and moved away, wondering if this was a mistake, even when it felt so right.
Nathan stripped off his jeans, and she glanced down then back, staring at the long length of his arousal.
“Jesus, Nathan!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t expect …”
“I’m well-endowed in a few areas,” he told her. “C’mere.”
“You don’t care that I’m like … a newbie?”
“Oh, no. Makes it better.” He held out a hand.
She took it, still staring at his dick. “Will you even fit?”
Nathan laughed. He gripped her fingertips then lifted her hand and spun her, releasing her to wrap his arms around her and tug her into his body.
The feel of him against her backside made her groan. Every part of her body screamed for him to be inside her. He was so close, so, so close to where he needed to be. Kaylee found herself pressing her rump into him harder, infatuated with the feel of him and aching to the point of hurting.
“Trust me, I’ll fit,” he whispered against her ear and then kissed the delicate skin that ran from ear down her neck. “I’ll show you as many times as you want me to.”
His hands skimmed up her belly and cupped her breasts before he took the coral tips between his index finger and thumbs.
Kaylee rested her head against him and closed her eyes, mesmerized by the sensations. Her senses were drowning with him, her skin so sensitive, and the slightest brush of her skin against his made her shiver. The energy he channeled melted her from the inside out, and she wriggled her ass against his dick again in a silent plea.
“Soon,” he assured her. “I want us to experience one another first.”
He squeezed her nipples gently, and bursts of pleasure-pain went through her. His hands left her breasts and traced down her body once more, to her hips. With one hand on her belly, he kept her in place while the other slid further south, towards the part of her begging to be touched.