Kyla clenched her jaw and resigned herself to the obvious. “I don’t think you’re particularly safe to drive. Perhaps I should call us a taxi?”
“I’m fine.” He forced a hiccup for effect, a triumphant grin spanning across his handsome features. Kyla scowled as she stood up, giving him the evil eye.
“Honestly, I’m fine. I don’t feel effects of alcohol.”
She rolled her eyes as she folded her arms over her chest. “Of course you don’t. You’re superhuman, of course. Idiot.” She snorted as she walked off towards the lift, shaking her head in disgust.
A hardened line framed his jaw as his temper snapped. Storming after her, he grabbed her arm, swinging her around to meet his icy stare. “Maybe I am.”
Ignoring his burning vice-like grip, Kyla stared him down. “Of course. And I’m Tinkerbell.”
He shoved her towards the lift, poking her with his fingers like a cattle prod. They gained some curious glances from nearby people watching their heated exchange, but as was normal with humans, nobody did or said anything.
“Get in.”
She tried to yank her arm free of his powerful hold, twisting herself around to angles a contortionist would be proud of. A low, animalistic growl emanated from his fine form, freezing her to the spot.
“What the—?”
“Get in.”
Submitting to his angry demands, she walked into the metal cage and said nothing. The sound of her blood pumping around her body echoed in her ears. Her ribs almost ached with the heavy thuds coming from beneath them. As the doors shut behind them, he turned to her, his mesmerizing green eyes glazing over with a fierce warning. She yelped as his grip tightened on her arm. Before she could even think, his hand moved in a blurry flash, whipping the mystical ring from her finger.
“Hey—”
“Shut up.”
Squaring her to face him, he locked their eye contact before dissolving their energy from the lift. Seconds later, they reformed on the top of the Eiffel Tower. With pins and needles assaulting her nerve endings from her first disintegration, it took her several seconds to grasp where they now were. When she did realise, she screamed, fear clutching at every cell in her trembling body. The cool wind whipped at her flesh as she stood astonished, struggling to comprehend the current situation.
“What the hell? What are you doing? How did you get us up here? We were just in the lift. I don’t understand…” Her bright blue eyes brimmed with tears as she looked around in utter confusion and rising panic.
Azazel looked deep into her eyes, inducing purpose oozing from his body. Hypnotising emerald green eyes gleamed back at her as he spoke. “Calm down.”
“How do you expect me to calm down? You’ve just…teleported us to the top of the Eiffel Tower for goodness sake!” Her chest heaved with her short, raspy breaths. “Oh my God. Did I really just say teleport? I did, didn’t I?”
A brief flicker of worry dashed through his façade as he realised his compulsion wasn’t working. “Do you use pomegranate oil?”
“What? What the hell has that got to do with anything?”
He dug his fingers into her shoulders as he shook her back and forth with urgency. “Do you use it?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Shit.” He glanced at the floor, deep shades of black beginning to surface in his eyes. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Doing what? I don’t understand, Ben, you’re scaring me! What’s going on?”
His eyes met hers—no longer dancing green gems but jet-black pools of oblivion. “There’s only one way this can go from here. I’m sorry.”
“Your eyes—”
“I’m sorry. You will understand, trust me.”
“What? Understand wha—”
In a split second, he spun her around, giving her a firm nudge in the back.
Kyla didn’t stand a chance.
She toppled over the edge of the viewing platform, hurtling towards the ground at a sickening speed.
CHAPTER VII
Racing towards the ground, the cold air lashed at Kyla’s cheeks leaving red marks on her pale skin. Tears streamed from her widened eyes as she emptied her lungs in an attempted scream. As the grey, bleak concrete hurtled ever closer, she squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see her grisly end.
An abrupt stop knocked all the air from her body. Her eyes flew open to reveal Azazel sporting a triumphant grin. Resting in his muscular arms, her mind whirled in a flurry of movements as she tried to make sense of the last few minutes.
“Hello, gorgeous.”
Kyla could barely comprehend his words as he strolled them down the street towards the Bentley. She gazed around her in awe as everyone she laid eyes upon stared straight ahead, a blank expression on their faces as they marched forwards in a silent, rhythmic walk.
The eerie quietness coating the busy city sent chills up and down her spine. With each passing second, her mind became more accustomed to the peculiar events surrounding her. Finally reaching the car, Azazel set her down on her feet. Before he knew what was happening, a sharp sting cracked across his left cheek.
“You bastard! What the hell was that?”
With shallow, ragged breaths consuming her, her perky breasts heaved up and down in front of him. He found it impossible not to speak to her chest. His attention was entirely captured.
“Hey! My eyes are up here!”
His gaze flickered to her ashen face, scanning over her with a burning desire. He licked his lips and rubbed a hand over his smarting skin.
“My, you are one hot chick when you’re mad.”
A wrathful expression swept over Kyla’s face. “You’re a first-class arsehole.”
Watching her shaking form before him, Azazel couldn’t help but grin as he took a cheeky bow. “Why, thank you. I’ve been promoted. I only managed second-class last year.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“Oh, baby. Anything from you is a compliment.”
He reached out, curling a hand around the nape of her neck. With his fingertips, he massaged a slow circle into her skin, lulling her into a breathless moment. He closed the gap between them, inching his lips towards hers with predatory precision.
“It’s OK.” He pressed her to him, savouring the closeness of their bodies. “I know you’re head over heels for me already. That’s why I caught you—you fell for me.”
Kyla took the last few millimetres between them, sealing their lips together in a heated kiss. She snaked her hands across his defined torso, climbing his broad shoulders to roam through his silky blonde hair. Just as he parted her lips with his tongue, an explosion of colours danced through her mind.
Picking her moment, she broke their embrace. Shoving him back with all her might, she took a mean swing at his handsome face.
He caught her fist in one smooth move. Twisting it, he yanked her forwards and twirled her around. His other arm wrapped around her waist as he nuzzled into her hair. His hot breath tickled her neck, goose bumps chasing over her skin.
“Now, that’s not very nice, is it?”
She wriggled inside his strong grip, grinding her teeth in frustration. “Let me go! Are you insane or something?”
He planted a firm kiss just below her ear. The sweet fragrance of her pulsing veins called to him. Fighting the urge to taste her, he drew in a deep breath and calmed his primal desires.
“No, I’m not insane. But you are. You’re insane about me.” As his voice rose at the end with a victorious undertone, he released her from his hold.
Springing free from his arms, Kyla spun around, her whole body quivering with anger. “I don’t think so. I’m insanely mad at you!”
“But still insane about me one way or another.”
She snorted. “You’re twisted. And freaky. I don’t do twisted freaks.”
“You should try it.” He winked. “We’re much more fun. Heck. I’m even open to being your first try.” A sly smile spread across his red lips and h
is eyes twinkled with mischief.
Frustration and anger boiling up inside her, Kyla readied another punch. This time he grabbed both of her arms, pinned them to her sides, and shoved her back against the cool metal of the car.
“If you’re so desperate to touch me, all you had to do was ask.”
Kyla bit down on her bottom lip as her playful sarcasm made an appearance. “Does that rule apply to your brother too? At least he seems to have some understanding of manners.”
Azazel’s fun mood flipped to a sheer darkness he’d not experienced for millennia. His eyes flickered to a black so obscure, Kyla found herself lost in their shadowed abyss.
With his anger scaling to new heights, his fingernails grew to sharp points. He smiled at her, revealing his teeth forming into needle-like points. His veins began throbbing, seeming to jump out of his skin as they coloured a sinister shade of purple.
Kyla’s eyes widened. Her heart rate trebled. All power of speech left her as she drank in the sight of the menacing creature before her. Her arms began moving of their own accord, trying to escape his unyielding grasp. A scream escaped her as one of his fingernails sliced through her flesh amidst her desperate bid for freedom.
His ominous glare darted to the trickle of blood trickling down her arm. The murky depths rippling through the dark veil over his eyes told of the urges seizing his thoughts.
Fear gripped her in a fateful hold, the helplessness of her situation sinking in. “What…what are you?”
He grinned, the full moon glistening against his pearly white razor teeth. “Your worst nightmare.”
Kyla shook her head as if it would shake reality from before her. “This is impossible…”
“No, sweetie. Impossible is trying to staple water to a tree. I, on the other hand, am more than possible.” He moved a hand to her face. With a careful precision, he tilted her chin up and traced a pointed fingernail across her throat. “Along with the fact you just pissed off the wrong demon.”
Her jaw dropped open as the word “demon” bounced around her mind. As much as she tried, she could not tear her attention from his frightening face. Adrenaline coursed through every fibre of her trembling body.
“Please don’t hurt me.”
A wicked grin spread across his lips. He leaned in towards her throat, hovering with threat. “Little late for that.”
CHAPTER VIII
Kyla gulped, attempting to remove the ball of terror lodged in her throat.
“I don’t think so, Azazel.”
Azazel tore his hungry stare from Kyla to see his brother standing a few feet away, fully fledged in his own matching demonic form.
“Well, little bro. Don’t we mean business?”
“Get off her. Now.”
“And if I don’t?”
Balthazar smirked. “Would you care for a repeat of our last fight?”
Mulling over his options for a brief second, Azazel shoved Kyla away from him as if discarding a broken toy. “What are you doing here anyway? Have you been following me?”
“It would seem it was much needed.”
Azazel snorted. “I don’t need a chaperone on a date.”
“Clearly, you do.”
The two brothers glared at each other, tension escalating with each passing second. Balthazar’s fingers twitched, whilst Azazel stood with his arms crossed, defiance written all over his fine body.
“Did you think you were funny? Pushing her off the tower?” Balthazar asked.
Azazel smirked. “I found it quite amusing. Until she hit me. Talk about ungrateful. I saved her from splattering across the ground and that’s what I get in return?”
“Azazel, she is not a play toy. You need to learn some manners. That is not how you treat women.”
Rolling his eyes, he tutted. “For goodness sake, Balthazar. They’re human. We’re demons. I swear you’re going soft in your old age. You get worse every year.”
“Shall we ask the dear woman who she thinks is worse?”
Azazel’s jaw clenched. He curled his top lip up into a snarl. “Now let’s make it fair, shall we? After all, brother, she doesn’t know the true depths of you, does she?”
The atmosphere bottomed out to new levels. A warning growl from Balthazar vibrated through the city like a deep rumble of thunder. “Go there. I dare you.”
Assessing his options whilst remembering how their fights usually ended, Azazel backed down. Being the older brother didn’t mean he was the stronger of the two.
“I’ve not seen you turn form over a woman since Alice. Are you feeling something for her, dear brother? Here…” Azazel dug into his pocket, flicking Kyla’s ring at his sibling. “Thought you might find this interesting.”
The second he caught the ring, Balthazar’s attention on the mysterious object became so great, his demonic flare disappeared back beneath his layers.
Azazel sauntered over to him, his own purple shades fading. “Hmmm. I wonder where she got that from, hey? With her gran’s mystical stories and her fiery red hair—”
“Shut up.”
The roaring noise of the Bentley’s W12 engine distracted them both from their intense moment down memory lane. Screeching tyres accompanied the loud noise of the twin turbo engine whirring its way to insane speeds.
Azazel sighed. “That’s the end of the Bentley then.”
“Did you really expect her to stick around after that? Seriously. All these years around humans and you still can’t read them any better than a moth can.”
“It’s not my fault they don’t like my kind of fun and get all freaked when they realise that actually, demons do exist.”
“Tact, Azazel. It’s called tact.”
Sighing, Azazel rolled his eyes. “What’s the point? It’s much more fun my way.”
Balthazar nodded, a sarcastic smile tweaking at his lips. “Of course. And so much more successful. Obviously.”
“Bugger off.”
“As you wish.” Slipping the ring into his pocket, Balthazar spared one last look at his older brother. “You want me to fetch her, don’t you?”
Azazel scratched his head. “Well, I don’t think she’ll react very well to me…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll sort your mess out. As usual.”
A broad grin swept over Azazel’s face before he disappeared, heading back to their quiet village.
Wiping the compulsion from the Parisian people, Balthazar released the pilot from his duties before concentrating on Kyla. He closed his eyes and stroked the ring in his pocket to help hone in on her energy. As obvious as an orange amongst a sea of green apples, Balthazar located her speeding towards Calais.
Cool as a cucumber, he formed himself in the passenger seat with a honey-coated smile. “Hello, sugar.”
Kyla screamed, losing control of the car. She swerved across the four-lane motorway and into the path of a lorry. The lorry blasted its horn at her, albeit too late. Bashing into the rear end of the expensive vehicle, the brute force of the impact snatched the steering wheel from her hands. Before she could even think, the car splayed out into a fishtail spin down the road.
Balthazar saw his moment without a second’s hesitation. “Time to go!”
Kyla had little time to register his hand wrapped around hers. A burning hot tingle prickled all over her body as she suddenly found herself inside their magnificent mansion.
“What the…?”
Shaking like a leaf, she clutched at her chest, her heart pounding. With a spinning mind, she allowed Balthazar to guide her over to the plush red sofa.
“Look at me.” He placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to catch his eye. “Just breathe. Deep breaths in, and let them out slowly.”
She followed his instructions, finally reclaiming control of her breathing. After a few minutes, she finally spoke. “What the hell?”
Moving his fingertips in a slow circular massage on her shoulders, Balthazar calmed her into his comforting touch.
“I’ll explain
everything. OK?”
She nodded.
A couple more minutes passed before her impatience got the better of her. She brushed Balthazar’s hands from her and stood up.
“Start talking.”
Chuckling at her assertive nature after what she’d just been through, Balthazar nodded. “Well, the long and the short of it is Ben and I are demons. We live in Hell and have a boss called Lucifer. We get three months a year to do as we please and this year, we just happen to be here.”
Kyla’s eyes flickered across his handsome features. After a few seconds of processing his words, she burst into laughter. “Of course you are. That’s the explanation I came up with as well.”
Balthazar smiled. Sitting and waiting for her to soak it all in, he delved into the deepest recesses inside him. Unpleasant memories swarmed his mind, poking at him over what he was going to have to relive.
After a couple of minutes, she stopped, a serious look sweeping across her face. “You’re not joking are you?”
He shook his head.
“Are Tom and Ben your real names?”
He shook his head. “He’s Azazel. I’m Balthazar.”
Her mouth fell open. “But…but you’re just legends.”
Balthazar chuckled. “Don’t let him hear you say that. He’ll take that title gladly.” A warm smile folded across his rosy lips. “We’re not legends. We are real.”
“How old are you?”
“Let’s just say we can verify that King Arthur was not just a myth.”
“Wow.” She crossed her arms over her chest, mischief settling in her eyes. “So you can do magick and stuff?”
“Yes.”
“Can you teach me?”
“No.”
She pulled a full-on pout at his negative response. “Why not?”
“Because it’s not something everyone has the ability to do.”
“Well, maybe I do?”
“You don’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I do.”
Kyla eyed him with suspicion before changing the subject. “So…what do you guys eat?”
Sex, Lies & Demon Ties (Dark Desires #1) Page 4