It wasn’t until the house was within sight that premonition took over and had an alarm pinging in Raz’s head. He allowed them all to walk a few more steps, only speaking out when they had reached the driveway.
“Get in fast and don’t ask why.”
Eva whipped her head in his direction, her hand tightening at her side where her dagger was. Her green eyes met his and darkened as she realized he was serious. There was knowledge in her gaze that indicated she felt it, too, but just didn’t want to alarm anyone. But she clamped her mouth shut and nodded her head, giving the area a quick sweep before she ushered the kids in urgently.
They had just gotten to the porch when it happened.
Raz felt the dark presence explode. Then a blur appeared before him, cutting him off before he could reach the porch and throwing him up in the air. He landed on the ground on his feet just as Eva ordered the kids to run, which they did before she whirled and pointed her dagger at what was attacking him.
“Go,” Raz snapped out.
The demon was a Greater demon—something that could take any form it wanted and could control lesser demons if need be. Greater demons were the most dangerous kind because they came with any kind of power, and this one took the form of a beautiful woman with dark hair and a golden complexion.
The woman stared at him with bottomless black eyes, but didn’t attack a second time.
Out of the corner of his eye, Raz registered Eva finally entering the house’s safety, which eased his relief a bit. He faced the demon fully as the creature smiled, her white, sharp teeth showing. When she spoke, her voice was modulated and soft, filling the air with a saccharine tang.
“What’s a vampire doing out here?”
“What’s a demon doing out here?” he shot the question back just as softly.
The demon shook her head. “I asked first.”
“And I refuse to answer,” Raz responded.
She obviously didn’t like that. But she stepped forward and showed her teeth again, keeping Raz still as he stared. Belatedly, he realized that her smile was part of her energy, so strong that it even kept someone as powerful as him momentarily paralyzed.
He snapped out of it with effort. The demon noticed and didn’t waste any time as it attacked again, a blur of teeth and stained black claws that grew out of nowhere and swiped at him. He sidestepped and tried to escape, but she tackled him to the ground before he could, and she dug her claws into his stomach and tore at it before he could fight back.
Pain slid inside him before strength kicked in, allowing him to push her off. He tried choking her but realized that the wound on his stomach was deep, and his strength was slowly weaning off. There was no other choice but to flee this time, and Raz gritted his teeth as he staggered back.
Then he was running as fast as he could for the house.
Eva was waiting by the open door, her hands steady with a shotgun now and her eyes snapping with fire. He felt clawing at his ankles, shooting another bolt of pain in him as he jumped the distance from the porch steps straight to the door. Eva’s hands stilled, and a firing shot filled the air. There was a silencer, but it might as well have been a megaphone in their sensitive ears. A hiss came from behind him, but she slammed the door shut right in the demon’s snarl, cutting the creature off completely.
More hissing came from outside, followed by an angry growl. But the spell held true, and the demon couldn’t get a foot or hand in no matter how she tried.
Raz and Eva stared at each other.
“I may need some patching up,” he gritted out. He coughed, and blood spilled out.
Eva gasped as she finally realized he was covered in red stains. Then she straightened and pulled him up, guiding him to a chair in the kitchen.
“Hurry up. You are bleeding hard.”
With a nod, Raz closed his eyes and let her take over.
CHAPTER TWELVE
There was nothing worse than getting fired from your really good job just because some demon was stalking your house 24/7.
On one hand, Eva didn’t have to worry about house supplies and food because her fridge and cupboards were already filled with at least a month’s supply. They solved the blood issue by having Malena express deliver a box that would last Raz, Peter, and Ana a week—something that Raz didn’t like at first, as he was adamant he only took animal blood since a few years ago. Considering his injury and the fact that his stomach organs were almost ripped out of his body, he had no choice but to comply and let Eva take over.
He wasn’t injured for long, though, a testament to just how fast a vampire could heal. Within four days, Raz was as good as new, and he once again took over the daily house sweep while she planned out the escape routes. Since the demon’s presence was still lurking around, they couldn’t escape yet—not that Eva wanted to. It was a last-minute resort, as Eva decided to take a stand first and fight before she fled.
This was her home, and no demon was going to drive her away.
The kids, however, weren’t as contented as her to stay. By the third day, they were growing impatient, and it reflected in different ways. Peter complained a lot, from feeling too hot to wanting to go out and get some fresh air. He was pretty insistent that he could protect himself from some demon, and Eva knew Peter didn’t comprehend the full danger of the situation they were in.
Ana, in the meantime, was broodier and quieter than ever, closing in on herself while she looked on outside. Her eyes noticeably went red from time to time, but she didn’t say a word or complained.
On the fourth day, when it looked like Ana was on the verge, it was Raz who took her aside and told Eva not to worry. Raz and Ana disappeared for a little bit upstairs, and when they were back an hour later, Ana was noticeably calmer.
“What did you do?” Eva asked.
“Gave her some of my blood,” Raz replied. “It’s not as tasty, but it’s good sustenance.”
This happened every night since then, with Raz alternating between Ana and Peter and teaching them control. It wreaked havoc on Eva’s nerves, and she found that there was only one solution to ease it down: by baking her heart out.
She started with bread in the mornings, filling the house with its scent and actually making the kids forget about their current quarantine, since they loved her bread. Then she also experimented with cakes and pies, keeping the quantity minimal so she’d have more reason to bake the next day. Nights were for cookies, which were her personal favorite. She loved to eat them fresh from the oven, when they were still hot and moist in her mouth.
As she baked, thoughts filled her mind. How long was the demon going to stay outside? She only had a glimpse of the beautiful woman, but even she could tell that there was something not normal in the vision, particularly around the eyes, which had no pupil and were purely black. Then there were the claws, which were irregularly long and not like the elegant ones she’d seen once or twice in shifters.
Other than the demon, what was she going to do about Ana and Peter once Raz was gone? Would they be able to live normally within the human society? Would they lose control? She now understood Michael’s aversion to involve them in his life. At first, she thought he just didn’t care. But now Eva realized that maybe Michael cared a little too much.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Eva paused from scooping some dough onto a tray. She looked up and found Raz leaning against the kitchen archway, his arms folded in front of him. He was wearing the spare clothes she found from an ex-boyfriend: jeans that were the right size and a dark blue shirt that was a bit loose on him. It didn’t matter, because he still looked like he could walk into any party and be the center of attention.
She tried not to notice his good looks and tried to focus on the matter at hand.
“How are they?”
“They’re good and sleeping.”
Eva nodded, relieved. “How are you?”
His brown eyes were steady on hers, and for some reason, it made her hands still. He no
dded back. “I’m fine. Thanks to you.”
The sincerity in his tone, and the lowness of it, got to her. He always looked at her like that—just a little intense, just a little soft, and it had her insides going in a whirl before she could stop it. Frustrated, Eva broke the gaze first and turned around, affecting a casual tone as she placed the tray in the oven and set the timer. She then went near the kitchen sink and began taking out more ingredients as the nerves came back.
Bake and forget. Bake and forget.
“I owed you one when you saved my life back then,” she said. If she kept talking, maybe he’d get bored and go away. “And when you saved the kids from that vampire. Granted, you’re a vampire, too, and I usually don’t trust your kind, but you’ve saved our lives twice now, and I can’t thank you enough.”
Not hearing any response, she turned back around.
She froze.
Raz was no longer in the archway, but near the kitchen counter and still watching her. It had her mouth going dry and her heart beating a mile a minute, and Eva realized that if she kept staring, she was going to end up doing something she would sorely regret.
Like touch his face to see if it was as warm as his hands.
And maybe kiss those sensual lips that beckoned her to have a taste—
Eva gulped, and Raz’s eyes followed the movement. She turned back around and stood on tiptoe, trying to gather her bearings as she reached up to the cupboard above her.
“So yes, thank you. My brother must have meant a lot to you.”
Silence filled the space, but he responded after a few seconds. “He was a comrade. We just went on missions together. Actually…he kept the kids a secret.”
“Why?”
“Probably to protect them,” he admitted.
“And did it protect them?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out,” Raz murmured.
Warmth filled her back, and Eva belatedly realized that it was Raz. In what felt like slow motion she reached out for a can of peaches up in the cupboard, then his hand was brushing it as he reached out, too. The movement pressed his front to her back, and her breath hitched as he slowly took the can and placed it on the sink. His hand settled beside the can, palm lying flat on the sink tiles. His other hand did the same to her other side, essentially trapping her in place.
She felt him inhale behind her, then exhale. His breathing wasn’t quite as steady, and his suddenly lower voice sent a shiver down her spine.
“You shouldn’t keep turning your back to me,” he muttered.
“Why?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “Because I shouldn’t trust you?”
“You shouldn’t,” he agreed.
“But I do.”
“You shouldn’t,” he repeated, tone harsher this time. His warm breath settled at the nape of her neck, and it was all she could do not to whimper. “Your neck distracts me too much.”
Oh.
Vampire instinct.
“You’re a vampire. You want to suck my blood. It must be normal.”
“No.”
“No?” she echoed.
“I don’t want to suck your blood.”
A vampire didn’t want to suck her blood? Was she supposed to feel insulted or something? Eva tried to figure out what to say, but his presence was much too distracting.
“So if you don’t want to suck my blood, then I don’t know why I’m so distracting—” Her words ended in a gasp when his hands suddenly settled on her waist, turning her around in a split second. The strength it took to do it so quickly had her heart thundering in her chest, and her eyes widened as she found herself face to face with him, their mouths just inches away.
“I keep wanting to kiss your neck,” he said, his voice soft and seductive. “I keep wanting to, and it’s been incredibly difficult to control myself.”
Out of all the things he could have said, that was the last thing she expected.
Attraction sizzled between them, hot and potent. The image of his mouth on any part of her skin, particularly her neck, flashed in her brain and made it short circuit as something scorching settled in her belly. She watched his eyes darken, then watched as he visibly tried to control himself this time. Then he made a fraction of a step backward, telling her he wasn’t going to pursue it because he knew the dangers.
But she was tired of being cautious.
It was Eva who used her hands to pull him back, using whatever strength she had in her.
It was Eva who closed the distance between them.
And it was Eva who stood on tiptoe and pressed her mouth against his, damning all consequences in the process.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
There were many responses that would have been applicable had a shifter kissed a vampire, especially when said vampire had this unwritten policy that he wouldn’t ever cross that line. He was a vampire by heart, and there was no taking that away especially when he was one of the most powerful in their society.
But Eva’s kisses felt like fire, and he’d never experienced this with any other woman.
Never.
It consumed him. Her mouth felt soft and tasted like heaven, seeping into him until his veins were singing from the hotness of it and his blood was pounding incessantly in his brain. He should have resisted, but Raz realized that he couldn’t, not when this had been plaguing him since that day he’d seen her differently, and there was no stopping something that strong.
One kiss, and he was giving in. Raz kissed her back, opening his mouth and practically swallowing her whole as he pressed her back on the kitchen tiles and took control. One second, their kisses were soft and experimental—and the next, the blood was rushing downward from his brain to his groin as one change of angle caused the kiss to go hotter and heavier.
A sound came from her throat, a moan that made his hands tighten around her waist. He pulled her against him, felt her soft body yielding before he felt something else—her hardening nipples against his chest, he ran his hand up her back to feel she was wearing no bra underneath her thin sweater.
His cock hardened in response, and his fingers touched the edge of her sweater.
Her tongue came out, curious. His was ready to meet it, colliding wetly and pulling her in until her taste was all he could remember. She was a combination of the baking scents he enjoyed so much, and tasted of something sweet with a hint of coffee—his favorite taste in the world, only stronger. Raz’s mind grew blank as her hands began to move, impatiently pulling his shirt up just as his hand closed in around one perfect, plump breast and kneaded softly.
The world blurred, and so did his senses. His thumb grazed her pebbled peak, and the thought of having it in his mouth as he suckled it had a groan coming out before he could stop it. An answering moan came from her, followed by her uttering one single name and one single world.
Raz.
Please.
It woke him up.
Alarm bells lit in his brain, clearing the cloud and letting him know the warning that he’d been trying to hold on to since day one: she wasn’t like him.
She wasn’t a vampire, and he had no business fooling around with her.
Abruptly, he took a step back, breaking the kiss in the process. His hand took a longer time to slide out from under her sweater, and it was still itching by the time he was done. He fisted it as hard as he could, trying to hurt his skin as he rested it behind him and gathered his breath.
His sanity.
Her warm breath was still fresh in his mind, and the way she breathed erratically now didn’t help. He could hear every pump of blood in her heart, could still smell her skin. Unbidden, Raz’s fangs grew as need unlike any other gripped him like a vice and told him to sink it into her skin and feed on her sweet blood.
He took another step back. Then another, until he was standing on the archway again and just staring at her.
Eva’s hair was mussed, and her sweater was exposing part of her stomach. She crossed her arms over it, but a
ll it did was press the clothing tighter around her, giving him a sight of the plump breast he just touched earlier.
Damn it.
Raz closed his eyes and counted to ten in his head. When he opened them, he found her green eyes staring at him wide, the desire in them loud and clear. What he would give to cloud them with pleasure. What he would give to make her open her mouth and scream out his name—
Stop.
Raz clenched his jaw. “I’m sorry.”
Eva’s head snapped back like she’d been slapped. He could have punched himself when he realized how insensitive an apology sounded right now, especially when it was obvious that they both enjoyed that moment. But before he could rectify it, he saw her eyes clear, whatever hurt passing in them gone too soon as a calm expression took over. She didn’t look angry as she nodded her head.
“We both wanted it. Let’s just forget it.”
With those parting words, Eva slipped into the space beside him and out of the kitchen, careful not to brush against him. Her soft steps echoed up the stairs before disappearing altogether, and it was only then that Raz let his own control slip just a little bit.
He was never shaken by a kiss before, and it shook him now that it had to be her. It was already dangerous, this game he was playing with her and the lies he was feeding her, but kissing her was altogether a whole new level of danger that he couldn’t risk. Guilt ate at him as he wondered when he could tell her the truth—that he was only here because of a mission and not because of some misguided friendship with Michael.
If she found out, she would never forgive him.
And maybe that was for the best.
He needed to keep his distance. He needed to end this as quickly as he could, starting by confronting that demon outside and finding out the last piece of the puzzle. He knew he was closer to it now, could practically feel the answers vibrating in the air, just waiting for him to grab at it.
Then, once they were all safe, he needed to leave and never return. Everything else after was up to Lucinda, and he only hoped to hell she wouldn’t resort to killing the kids when she found out everything.
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