His gaze slid to the clock radio, then to the sky. It was pitch dark outside despite the 6:00 a.m. time. In the middle of all of this blackness, was she his light? But even if this was true, how could he ask her to live in a world with Beasts and creatures from hell?
Greg felt every nerve ending in his body like a live charge, every hair standing on end. He kept expecting Segundo to show up, to detour their progress. But hours had passed since they’d taken the journal and departed Dallas for Mexico, and Black Dog’s covert skill had proven more than respectable, even with a group of four Jeeps carving a path as one.
The piece-of-shit Texas back road they traveled held more potholes than solid ground, but it also kept them off the radar. Away from the police and, it appeared, from demons as well.
He’d found the pertinent map inside the journal without challenge, and was pleased it was legible—for the most part anyway. He at least knew what city they sought, what general destination. There were Hebrew notes to be translated, which meant a detour through Mexico City. The rich history of the city drew enough exploration that he’d find someone to help, willingly or unwillingly. Either way, he’d find someone.
Because whatever else of value was inside that journal, he planned to unravel it before he handed it over to Segundo. One never had enough ammunition. The journal and the magical box should give him enough leverage to obtain the power he wanted, to ensure he would be turned into one of Segundo’s kind, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
Greg clutched the bag in his lap a bit tighter, the bag holding his prize. No one else had seen it, and they wouldn’t be seeing it, either. The journal was his. And soon much more would be, too.
Chapter 16
Jessica ended a call with her father and dropped the cordless phone on her living-room couch. She and Des had stopped by her apartment to pack and clean up before a flight to Mexico later in the day. “He’s meeting us at the airport. That gives us a few hours until we have to leave.” An image of the evil red eyes she’d stared into less than an hour before flashed in her mind and she shivered.
Des ran his hands down her arms, his touch sending an electric charge through her body. “You should take a hot bath,” he suggested. “Get rid of that chill.”
As much as she found the suggestion appealing, she couldn’t help but worry. “You’re sure those ‘things’ won’t show up here?”
“It’s safe. I promise. The Beasts shy away from public places, and a busy apartment building during the morning rush hour qualifies.”
“Check,” Jessica said. “Stay in public places. Less chance of dying.”
Her life would never be the same after all of this, she realized suddenly. From this point forward, she would wonder what lurked in the shadows. Wonder who might be hurt if she didn’t warn them, if she didn’t act.
She shoved aside the thought, deciding to deal with the present for the time being—a bath and dry clothes and sensible shoes being priorities. Des didn’t have that luxury, though. He was covered in mud, his pants and shirt soaked, and had no change of clothes.
“I have a washer and dryer in my utility room,” she said. “You could throw your clothes in to wash.” Shyly, she added, “You could join me in that bath if you like.”
Heat flared in his eyes, but as quickly as it appeared, he schooled his features with reserve. Abruptly, he dropped his hands to his sides and took a long step backward.
“There are things about me you don’t know, Jessica.”
“Then tell me,” she urged.
“Jessica.” He hesitated.
Obviously, he didn’t think she could handle whatever he had to say to her. Sure, she was a little frightened of what he might reveal. The unknown had a way of unsettling her. She’d pretty much surmised Des couldn’t be wholly human, but there was a sense of rightness to being with him that kept her grounded despite the uncertainties.
She fixed him in a level stare, urging him to see the truth in her eyes. “You can’t tell me anything that will scare me away, Des.”
His mouth set in a grim line. “Don’t be so sure of that.”
“But I am sure,” she countered, without hesitation.
“Think about what you saw back at that house. I live in an eternal war. What do you think it takes to do what I do? To kill as a way of life?”
“To kill monsters? Bravery. Most of us would hide under the bed and pray it was a bad dream. You’re a hero, Des.”
His eyes flashed with disbelief. “You have no idea who and what I am. When I raise my sword in battle I become one of those Beasts.”
Instantly, she rejected that statement. “You are not one of them.”
He sat down on a footstool; the action was laced with exhaustion and defeat. “You don’t understand, Jessica.” His head dipped between his shoulders.
She squatted down before him, her backside resting on her heels. Her hands settled on his knees, the dampness of his jeans pressing against her palms. “Make me understand.”
When he looked up at her, his eyes were stormy. “You should go take that bath before you run out of time,” he told her.
Frustration took hold. After all she’d been through, the fact that Des was shutting her out hit a bad note. There wasn’t time to plead for answers. They were in the midst of intense circumstances. She didn’t want to be in the dark. Didn’t operate well that way, in fact. Jessica could deal with a lot of turmoil but not without some semblance of control. And knowledge was control.
Her voice was low and tight as she resisted the urge to yell. “I deserve answers, Des. You say I don’t know what you are, then tell me. You fight those Beasts.” She decided to be direct. “Those Beasts aren’t human. Are you?”
“The less you know, the better off you are. The easier it will be to go back to your life when this is over.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Surely, you don’t think I can ever go back to the way things were before this? I am a part of this war now, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. And if what my mother believed to be true is true, that we are descendants of angels, then we were born into this battle.”
“There are others chosen for battle, Jessica.”
“Like you.”
He drew a breath. “As I said, the less you know, the easier—”
She cut him off. “I’m not buying that. Not after everything I’ve seen already. I have a right to know.” She didn’t give him time to argue, charging forward with her question. “You are one of those chosen for battle, right?”
Though his reluctance was evident in his features, he responded. “The Beasts have a mission. To grow their army by stealing souls and converting men into Beasts.”
Jessica blinked. “I don’t understand. What do you mean by convert? How?”
“They drain the victims of their blood, stealing their souls in the process. All that is left is pure evil.”
Realization came over her with grim reality. “So those Beasts you were fighting were once men?” He nodded. “Evil men who were targets for that reason?”
“No.” His lips thinned. “The Beasts thrill at claiming what isn’t theirs. They often target happy families, forcing the man to watch as they use his woman, tormenting him before they convert him. After he’s converted, he doesn’t know love. He knows nothing but evil. He feels none of the loss. Just a desire to create it for others.”
Her stomach turned. “They kill the woman when it’s over.”
“Yes,” he said softly.
Thinking these Beasts were simply demons from hell was one thing. Finding out they were once men, turned into monsters who preyed on innocent people was another. It scared her, but it also created resolve.
“I don’t want to run away, Des. I want to fight. I can’t go back to where I was before, pretending none of this exists. I won’t.”
His hands circled her wrists and he leaned close, fixing her in a hot stare. “Look into my eyes, Jessica. Look into the depths of my soul. Because I think if you try
hard enough, you’ll find a reason to run. Because my soul is stained, and I am no longer human. A Beast stole that part of my life and still lingers inside me. I was one of those they converted, saved by a higher power to serve humanity. But the Beast remains, a part of me that allows me to face my enemies on a level playing ground. But it does more than help me fight. It battles the good in me and it makes demands.” A second passed, his eyes darkening further. “And that Beast demands you, Jessica. It wants you just as much as the man.”
His words washed over her and logic said she should be afraid, but her heart and her soul told her differently. Over the years, she’d touched pieces of history and felt a rush of evil that had sickened her. Her mother had spoken of such a reaction as well. She felt the evil in the Beasts. But not Des. Des made her warm with emotion and hot with desire.
“Then let the Beast have me,” she whispered.
Sexy, wild hair framed her face, accenting the dark passion in her light blue eyes. She was beautiful and everything inside him screamed that she was his.
Des barely contained the roar of primal desire burning a path through his body. “You have no idea what you are saying.” The words came out a hoarse whisper.
He straightened at the waist, trying to put distance between them before he lost control, before he did something they might both regret later.
Countering his action, she lifted off her heels, to her knees, closer again. Too close. Not close enough.
“I’m not afraid of you, Des,” she declared.
The soft words playing on his emotions, seducing him, taking him, demanding he act. He moved without conscious thought, pulling her into his arms and claiming her mouth as he wanted to claim her body. He’d contained the Beast the last time they’d been together, but as his tongue swept past her teeth, man and Beast were united in demand.
The sweetness of her taste did nothing to sate his hunger. A hunger that reached deep into his core, an emptiness only she could fulfill. Hunger to claim the other half of his soul coming to life in physical need. His body pulsed with adrenaline, with molten fire.
Des slanted his mouth to deepen the kiss, pulling her closer. Her soft moan almost did him in. He was hard, ready to find his way inside her, his zipper stretching to the limit, just as his resistance had before this kiss.
She tugged at his shirt, and somehow the action jerked a tiny part of Des’s mind back to reality. He tore his mouth from hers, his hands framing her face. Their eyes locked, their breathing heavy and oddly in unison.
“We have to stop, Jessica. I can’t promise to control myself.”
“I don’t remember asking you to,” she said instantly.
“You don’t understand.”
“Explain later. After you make love to me.” She pressed her lips to his and then slid off his lap. Before he knew her intentions, her dress fell to the floor, shoes kicked off and discarded. Next her bra and underwear.
She stood there, a goddess with pale skin, a vision too lush, too tempting for any man or Beast to ignore. He reached deep, fighting his urges, trying to regain control. He knew how to control his Beast, he reminded himself. Perhaps it was this, the unnatural way he suppressed it with Jessica, that was wreaking havoc on him. Perhaps the Beast had flared out of control because he hadn’t allowed his primal side freedom to explore her.
Before he could reconsider, he pulled his shirt over his head and then pushed to his feet, completing the process of undressing. Jessica stepped forward the instant he’d completed his task. Des sat down on the stool, reaching for her, temptation delivered to his hands. He pulled her between his legs, the Beast in him wild, ravenous and free.
He covered one of her breasts with his hand, the hard peak teasing his palm. His mouth worked the other nipple, sucking and licking. Jessica arched into his touch, her soft sounds of pleasure licking a sizzling path along his body and settling in his groin. Her fingers slid into his hair, her touch soft and seductive.
She tilted his head up, her eyes locking with his, passion overflowing in the look she cast him. “Des,” she whispered, and he swallowed the word with a kiss.
Somehow, she had made it to his lap, her legs straddling his hips, his cock pressed to her core. Their tongues tangled, their kiss passionate. Their upper bodies melted together, her breasts pressed against his chest, her hands traveling, exploring. She offered herself freely, no fear of the wildness his body, his kiss, expressed. And the more he took, the more she gave, the more he wanted.
Forcing his lips from hers, Des murmured, “This isn’t enough,” and reached between them to encircle his erection.
Jessica’s hands went to his shoulders, her gaze to where he intimately slid his cock along her core. She gasped as he stroked her clit and he glanced up at her, taking in the beauty of her passion-filled expression—the impact like the striking of a match.
Des had to have her now. In one fast move, Des slid the head of his erection along the wet core of her body and entered her. The minute he felt her warm, wetness, her tight confines squeezing him, his hands went to her hips. He thrust upward as he pressed her downward, forcing her to take all of him, not willing to wait. Not willing to go slowly. Not this time. This time was for the Beast. And the Beast wanted more.
A thick feeling of lust and desire surrounded them, a haze that fed the pumping of his hips, the sway of hers. His fingers slid around her ass, caressing her cheeks, urging her to move with him. Harder. Deeper. But…it wasn’t enough.
He pushed to his feet—the footstool restrictive—intending to go to the couch. Her legs wrapped around his waist; her arms around his neck. Des thrust several times, unable to wait, unable to find the couch. She arched backward, her nipples peaked in the air, his hands tightly wrapped around her waist, protecting her from falling.
Suddenly, he realized the trust that she had put in him. The confidence she had that he would hold on and not let go, that he was strong enough to be the force that held them both. The impact of that thought sent him to the couch, the man beginning to surface where he’d let the Beast take control. And that was where his battle began. The battle of man and Beast.
Jessica rocked on top of him, her curves, her soft moans surrounding him, pulling him into the passion. She was close to orgasm, he could feel it in the tiny spasms tightening around his cock, feel it in the desperation of her movements. And with each pump, each thrust he, too, felt desperation. Because he felt the rise of the mating call, felt the desire to claim what was his.
He pulled her close as he’d done before, burying his face in her neck, his hands on her back, holding her next to him. Hiding from her vision, afraid she would see how his teeth were elongating, afraid she would see the Beast burning in his gaze.
Drawing a calming breath, he tried to get lost in their movements, in the sexy sway of body melting into body. She felt like heaven. She felt like home. Like a place of belonging he’d never experienced. His chest tightened as her body milked him, her orgasm coming hard and fast, and he knew from their last encounter this would be the moment of ultimate temptation. Knew her pleasure somehow called to the mating urge. He’d been crazy to think letting the Beast free would save him from this. Because the truth was, when it came to Jessica, there was no separation of man and Beast.
His breath lodged in his throat as he fought the urge to sink his teeth into her shoulder and mark her as his mate. But once he did that, there would be no turning back. Her lips brushed his ear, her breath whispering against him. He pumped his hips, again, again, one last time, forcing the desire to claim her into a sexual burn. And then he exploded, shaking with the intensity of release.
Seconds passed, their foreheads pressed together, her fingers gently caressing his jaw. She leaned back a bit and stared down at him, emotion in her eyes, tenderness.
“You can’t scare me away,” she whispered.
His heart squeezed with her words and he pushed to his feet, blocking his expression from her view as he carried her toward the bedroom so sh
e could shower and dress.
In his mind, he responded to her words: I wish that were true.
Jag’s words came back to him then. Perhaps you’re more afraid she’ll find the man. Tonight, he’d shown her his Beast. She had yet to see all of him. The man, the slave boy, still hid. Jag had been right. The present was about the past. It created a separation between him and Jessica. And Des wasn’t sure he could change that.
Chapter 17
Dressed in black jeans, a pink T-shirt and her favorite leather sneakers, Jessica sat on a love seat in the airport Wi-Fi lounge waiting on her father.
She eyed Des, who sat next to her as she took a sip of her triple-venti white mocha. “Lack of sleep has officially taken hold. Every inch of my body hurts.”
“You can sleep on the plane,” he said, no mention of being tired himself.
It turned out Des had had clothes in the trunk of his car, so he’d been able to change. In faded jeans, a black T-shirt, and worn black boots, he looked wholly male and quite delicious. The three Quarter Pounders she’d watched him down before they’d gotten their coffee had been another story. Lack of sleep had her stomach feeling downright queasy.
She studied him a moment, amazed at how simply looking at him warmed her inside out. His sexy, dark looks were the kind that turned heads, and plenty of them. But Jessica, like most women, had seen her share of hot men. Des thrilled her in a way beyond what another man could. She’d had relationships in her life, but none that had felt instantly comfortable. Instantly right.
The events of the past week were frightening, and out of control in a way that would normally make her uneasy. But that sense of destiny and rightness filled her more with each passing minute, a sense of these events being what her entire life had been about.
A crazy urge overtook her and Jessica didn’t fight it. She reached out and ran her hand over Des’s freshly trimmed goatee. There was a hint of auburn mixed in the darker beard that matched his hair. Her eyes lifted to his, and she felt the connection clear to her toes. Felt him all over. Wanted to know everything about him.
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