Seducing the Hunter (Mills & Boon Nocturne)

by Vivi Anna

  “Checking up on me?”

  He searched her face, looking for some sign of Leanne’s truth. She was pale, definitely, skin slicked with sweat, and her eyes did have a distant look to them. But did that necessarily mean she was dying?

  “You’re more than drained from the teleportation, aren’t you?”

  She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “You said there was a price to pay for the spell. It was your life, wasn’t it?”

  Her gaze flitted away from him.

  “Are you dying, Daeva?”

  “What makes you ask that?”

  “Can’t you just answer the question?”

  She was quiet, her eyes settling on everything but him.

  He took hold of her arm forcing her to look at him. “Is it because you are bound to me, to the Earth?”

  Her gaze lifted to his. She didn’t need to answer because he saw the truth in the stormy, gray pools of her eyes. “It doesn’t matter, Quinn. All that matters is keeping the chest safe.”

  He didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to face that truth. There had to be a mistake.

  “What if I release you? Would you get your life back?”

  Her eyes widened at that. “Why would you even suggest that? It’s against everything you stand for. Everything an exorcist is. Your dad was killed by a freed demon.”

  He gripped her arms tight, pulled her to him. “I would do it for you.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. And it broke him inside to see them. As they rolled down her cheeks, he wiped them away. “Say something. Please.”

  “You would risk all that you are for me?”

  “Yes.”

  She fisted her hands in his shirt and leaned into him, pressing her lips to his. She kissed him hard and he responded in kind, burying one hand in the long silky fall of her hair.

  They stood on the stream’s edge feasting on each other, desperate for each other. Then, spent, Quinn pulled back, resting his forehead against hers. The taste of her was strong on his lips. Forever, he would remember her flavor, strong but sweet like honey.

  “I can perform the ceremony right away. I just need my chalk.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want you to.”

  He pulled back to search her face. “Why? You’ll die if I don’t.”

  “Because once I am released, I will end up back in hell. I won’t go back, Quinn, no matter what.”

  “But if I don’t...you’ll die.”

  She shrugged. “I always said I wanted to be fully human. And this is what it is to be human. To face mortality.”

  He shook his head, angry and frustrated with her attitude. “It’s stupid if I can save you.”

  She gave him a half smile that was infinitely sad. “You have already saved me, Quinn. You did the moment I met you. You made me realize what being human was really about.”

  He felt weak inside. And guilty. He’d tossed away the best thing that had ever happened to him because of his fear and ignorance.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For being so stupid three years ago. For not listening to you, for not believing in our love enough.”

  She kissed him softly, lingering on his lips. “I forgive you.”

  He sighed. “How long do you think you have?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope it’s enough to do what I need to do.”

  “We’ll make it enough. Even if I have to carry you the rest of the way.”

  More tears ran down her cheeks, and he kissed them away.

  Chapter 24

  Daeva snuggled into Quinn’s warmth inside the sleeping bag. After their moment at the stream, they had returned to camp, eaten, talked with Leanne about the next leg of their trip, then sat and watched the fire, listening to the sounds of the forest. They had sat side by side in comfortable silence. There had been nothing to say, not yet anyway. They’d saved their communication until they were alone in their tent.

  And now they were.

  Bringing his hand up, he cupped her cheek, bringing her down to his mouth and kissing her. It was a beautiful, beguiling kiss that plucked at her heart.

  Moaning into his mouth, she trailed her hand down his body. She needed to feel him in her hand. He was hot and heavy against her palm, like silk and steel meshed together. She stroked him once, then twice, until he broke the kiss and gasped.

  “I want you, Daeva,” he groaned. “I have to be inside you now.”

  “And you will have me,” she breathed. “You’ll always have me.”

  Insane with need, she rolled him onto his back and lay on top of him. Purring low in her throat, she pressed kisses to his chin and neck. She trailed her tongue over his pulse points and up to the lobe of his ear to suck it into her mouth. All the while, she continued to stroke him with a fevered pace.

  Still gripping his hard length, Daeva pushed aside the cover and moved down his body until she was straddling his thighs. Leaning forward, she flicked her tongue over the tip of his cock. Quinn clamped his eyes shut and moaned as she took him into her mouth. She licked and sucked on him until she could feel his legs quivering. She wanted him like this, vulnerable to her.

  “I can’t hold on,” he panted.

  She held him still until he softened a little and retained his control. Then she licked down the length of him, wanting him to lose it all over again. “Yes, you can.”

  His eyes were dark and hooded. The muscles ticked along the rugged line of his jaw. She loved that look about him. Dark, fierce, barely holding on. She’d remembered that look from their past and would carry it with her for the hours she had left.

  After one final stroke of her tongue, she moved up his body to straddle his hips. The delay was destroying her. She’d waited long enough to find bliss. She held him firmly in her hand as she lowered herself. Inch by exquisite inch, he filled her. He was a big man, but still the perfect size for her. When she was fully seated, she held herself still and looked at him. The man she loved. The man who had given her the only thing she’d ever thought she couldn’t possess from humanity.

  She rubbed her hands up and down his chest, enjoying the way his hard muscles felt under her palms. Watching his face, she contracted the muscles of her sex, squeezing him tight inside her. Every flicker and grimace of emotion that flashed over his handsome face gave her fierce pleasure.

  As she started to rock her hips, Quinn reached up and molded her breasts in his hands. He squeezed and flicked his thumbs over her nipples. Waves of pleasure swept over her and she arched her back to catch them cresting. Up and down, back and forth, she moved on him, finding a rhythm, squeezing her muscles with every stroke.

  She watched his beautiful face contort with strain as she quickened her pace. She knew he struggled for control and that he was quickly losing it as she took him up and over. There was a sense of power in that, and she reveled in it.

  “You’re so beautiful, my Daeva,” he panted while he moved one hand down to where they joined. He circled his fingers into her slick core, finding her clit with expert ease.

  He stroked her as she stroked him. Firmly, pushing her toward climax. Biting down on her lip she tried to stop from screaming out his name. She didn’t want to alert Leanne. Although the Cree woman surely knew the sounds of pleasure.

  Grabbing hold of his shoulders, she picked up her pace, moving faster, harder, taking them to the edge. As the first crest of orgasm mounted inside, she dug her nails into his flesh. With a loud drawn-out moan, she pushed down on him, filling herself completely with his hot male flesh.

  He pressed down on her sensitive bundle of nerves one more time and flipped her over the edge. She collapsed forward onto his chest as she spiraled toward her climax. He wrapped his arms around her, burying himself deep, soaring over into ecstasy with her.

  He found her mouth and kissed her hard as the depths of passion drowned them. Everything went white behind her eyes and she thought she’d pass out. Bu
t everything was clearer, everything brighter in her mind’s eye. And she knew deep down inside that she’d found the true meaning of humanity in this man’s arms.

  Chapter 25

  Daeva heard Leanne outside the tent packing up her gear and getting ready to press on. Careful not to wake Quinn, she slipped out of the sleeping bag and got dressed.

  As she crawled out of the tent she saw the sky was just starting to pinken. Her breath came out in plumes as she zipped up her jacket, and she shivered despite the jacket’s warmth. She’d been feeling the cold more and more. It was as if a sliver of ice had been imbedded in each of her bones. She couldn’t shake it. The warmest she’d been was next to Quinn, basking in his body heat inside the sleeping bag. But she couldn’t go back there now.

  She found Leanne at the fire, drinking a cup of instant coffee. She offered some to Daeva. “It’s not great but it’ll warm you.”

  Daeva took the offered cup and drank the hot liquid. It scalded her tongue and throat on the way down but she didn’t care. Anything was better than the blistering cold inside.

  Leanne watched her. “It leaves you quickly.”

  Daeva nodded, knowing exactly what Leanne was talking about. “I don’t know how long I have. Twenty-four hours maybe.”

  “We will be at the mine in four hours. I hope you know where to look once we are there, because the mine has many tunnels, some of them sure to have collapsed. It will be very easy to get lost.”

  “Once I’m inside, I should be able to feel where the chest is.”

  They drank in silence for a while, listening to the breeze rustle the leaves. Daeva found it so peaceful, right here, right now. Peace that she’d never thought she’d ever have in her life.

  “Does he know?” Leanne asked her.

  “He knows enough for it to hurt him.”

  Leanne nodded, then dumped the last dregs of coffee out of her cup. “We should get going. Time’s more important than ever, now.”

  As Leanne finished packing, Daeva stared at the tent where Quinn still slept. She knew she had to wake him, knew that they needed to move on if they wanted to get to the mine in time, but it was that time she feared. The closer she got to the mine, to the chest, the closer she came to losing everything that mattered to her.

  Less than an hour later, they were all packed up and making their way through the trees and past the stream. Quinn hadn’t said much since she’d woken him. She wasn’t surprised. She didn’t have much to say, either. They had expressed themselves last night in the most intimate way. She knew he loved her. There wasn’t anything else she really needed to hear.

  The final walk wasn’t as arduous as before. She had less weight on her back and but also in her heart. Her steps weren’t nearly as heavy.

  Daeva wondered if this was what it was like to accept one’s mortality. She’d always been curious about death and loss. Now she was getting intimately acquainted. It wasn’t so bad. Not really. She’d lived a very long life. Seen more, done more than any mortal could even comprehend. But when she glanced at Quinn behind her on the path, she realized that he’d given her more than any and all of her experiences combined. Love had always been the ultimate prize she’d longed for. And he’d given it to her.

  Maybe she could die peacefully, knowing she’d experienced the greatest thing worth living for.

  They stopped less frequently during the last leg of their journey. They were all anxious to finish. All for different reasons, she suspected. Especially Leanne. Once at the mine, she’d have fulfilled her part of the curse. Daeva just hoped she could lift it as promised. Just because she’d put it on didn’t necessarily mean she could easily erase it. Demon magic wasn’t so straightforward, even for a demon. There were a lot of hoops to jump through.

  As they neared the entrance to the mine, Daeva sensed they were not alone. And it wasn’t the bird and critters that had always been there, surrounding them. No, this was something else. Something unnatural. Sorcerer magic had that unnatural tinge to it.

  Leanne must’ve sensed it, as well, because she had the rifle poised and ready to shoot.

  Daeva dropped back to Quinn and whispered, “We aren’t alone.”

  His gaze darted to the left then to the right. “The Cabal?”

  She nodded. “I think so.”

  “How did they find us?”

  “I didn’t set up wards last night. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  He gripped her shoulder and squeezed. “It’s not your fault.”

  “Regardless, it’s too late to worry about it. I say we make a run for it.”

  “Do you have the energy?”

  “I have enough.”

  “Okay.” He broke stride and caught up to Leanne to tell her the plan.

  The guide slung her gun around her shoulder then looked to Daeva. Without a word, she sprinted up the rise. Quinn and Daeva were right behind her.

  They tore up a small hill. Once on top, Daeva could see the boarded-up entrance to the mine in the valley below. They’d have to cross open land to reach it. There was no other choice.

  She dumped her pack—she wouldn’t need the meager supplies now—and raced down the hill. This was a one-way trip for her now. As she ran behind Quinn, she glanced quickly to the left side. She saw two sorcerers emerge from the trees about twenty feet away. Two fiery, green balls of magic splattered the ground near her feet. But she kept running.

  Quinn looked over his shoulder at her.

  “Go!” She waved at him to keep going.

  More green fire landed near her, a few sparks landing on her pants. Instantly they burned through the fabric and seared her skin. She patted the fire out with her hand but didn’t slow her pace.

  The sorcerers were closing in, running just as quickly as she was, maybe more so. It wouldn’t be long before they hit her, or worse, hit Quinn or Leanne. As Daeva sprinted the last of the way, her lungs burning, her muscles screaming in agony, she fisted her hands together and concentrated on the fire inside her. Two perfect spheres of red flames formed in her palms.

  Turning, she flung them toward their pursuers. One ball hit its mark. Searing fire engulfed the sorcerer’s head as he dropped to the ground. The other dodged the assault and kept on coming.

  In the meantime, Leanne had reached the mine’s entrance and she was kicking at the boards that crisscrossed over it. She wasn’t making any headway. When Quinn arrived, he took out the pickax and started to hack at the wood. It wouldn’t be fast enough.

  Daeva dodged another assault from the remaining sorcerer just as she formed two more balls in her hands. She was barely seven feet from the mine now.

  “Out of the way!” she shouted.

  Leanne and Quinn both dived for cover as Daeva flung her magic at the mine’s entrance. The wood disintegrated into charbroiled splinters that rained down over both of them and the ground.

  Nearing the now-open entrance, Daeva grabbed at Quinn to get him up and going. Leanne was already sprinting through the opening. Daeva and Quinn came in, breathing hard, after her. A spray of green followed them in, kicking up dirt and debris.

  She looked at Quinn and Leanne. “Are you both okay?”

  Leanne nodded.

  Quinn took her arm. “You’re hurt.” He was looking down at the holes in her pants where she could see the red and raw skin of her leg.

  “It’s nothing.” She nudged him away. “We have to get deep inside the mine but we can’t have them follow.”

  “What do you suggest?”

  She glanced up at the tunnel roof, held precariously by an old wooden frame. “Cave-in.”

  “That’ll trap us, as well,” Leanne said.

  Daeva looked at Leanne. “I know.”

  Another blast of green fire hit the dirt wall beside Quinn. Rocks and wooden slivers pelted him in the side of the face. Blood spotted his cheek where a piece had nicked him.

  “I think we’re screwed either way.” He wiped the blood from his skin.

  Daeva nodded.
“Move back into the mine. I don’t want to crush you.”

  After flicking on her flashlight, Leanne obeyed. Quinn hung back with Daeva.

  “You’re expending a lot of energy.”

  “I know, but it has to be done.”

  He leaned in and stole a kiss. “Don’t kill yourself in the process.”

  “I won’t.”

  With that, he followed the faint light trail Leanne left with her bouncing flashlight.

  Once he was safely away, Daeva concentrated on all the fire inside her. She built it into her hands, creating a huge scarlet wave of power oscillating between her palms. Closing her eyes, she directed everything she had into that moving stream until it was huge and barely containable.

  After taking a deep breath, she directed that pulse at the ceiling near the mine’s entrance. It had the desired effect. The wooden frame burst apart, and rock and dirt and slate fell to the ground, completely blocking all access to the mine.

  There was no way the sorcerers could get in quickly. And no way Daeva, Quinn and Leanne were getting out. At least, not this way.

  Once Daeva was certain the entry was sealed tight, she jogged down the dark tunnel in search of the others.

  Chapter 26

  “Everything go okay?” Quinn asked Daeva as she came alongside him at the Y of two tunnels.

  She nodded. “As well as it could. They won’t get through.”

  “Which way?” he asked her.

  Leanne shone the light down one, then the other tunnel. Both were cramped and narrow offering no hint as to what lay beyond them. Already the stagnant air was pressing down on his lungs. He couldn’t imagine being down here for long, but he suspected that was exactly what was going to happen unless they suddenly stumbled upon the chest then miraculously found another way out.

  Daeva pressed her hand to the rock wall on the left. She closed her eyes, and frowned. Then she moved to the other side and did the same. Her frown was a little less this time.

  “This way.” She pointed toward the right-hand tunnel, then stepped into it, wobbling a bit on her feet. Quinn grabbed her arm to stop her.