by Dee Carney
The fact she was immensely attracted to him had no bearing whatsoever on her decision.
She almost snorted.
Right.
In any event, she needed his permission to move forward, only Aaron kept him under close watch by the other werewolves. Mayda’s intervention allowed him to camp inside the house with the other members of the coven and pack, but that was about as much influence as the coven’s High Priestess was able to exert.
She turned to Ava. “Do you think Aaron would have a problem with me helping him?”
“What are you thinking?”
“That I might be able to help with the demon-touch. I don’t know for certain, but if Devin will let me, I’ll try.”
Ava grimaced. “That’s going to be a tough sell, Selena.”
“I can do this, Ava. I can’t help you all with the whole demon-slash-Dina thing, but this is what I do.”
She nodded. “I see your point, but just give me a little while to convince Aaron. And don’t forget, we do need him—I hate to say it out loud—but cursed, until we can figure out what Dina and her minions are up to.”
Selena allowed a hesitant smile to creep onto her face. “You would convince Aaron for me?”
“Of course I would, sweetie.” Ava smiled back. “A second is all I need to see there’s something going on between you and Devin.”
“Is it really that obvious?”
She laughed. “To someone who’s already in love? Yeah. It is.”
Hours later, the conversation with Ava toyed with her mind. Love. It was such a foreign concept, she didn’t know how to process it. Her psyche must have agreed because she spent hours tossing and turning, the sheets winding into a tangled mess before she gave up on the idea of sleep. Perhaps some night air would clear her head.
Only by the time she made it through the back door and set foot onto the cool, damp lawn with bare feet, Devin continued to plague her thoughts. She walked the yard’s perimeter, trying to sort out how to help him. How to deal with…all of it.
“You shouldn’t be out here.”
So lost in her thoughts Selena almost screamed when he jolted her out of them. Of course she recognized the deep, sensual voice, but what was he doing outside at this time of night? She always walked in the darkness when she couldn’t sleep. Besides, morning was technically just a hop, skip, and a jump away. Any minute now, the sun would peek over the horizon and bring a new day.
“Devin? How…” She peered into the small copse of trees at the property’s border, unable to locate him.
“Do you always roam around wearing next to nothing?”
Next to nothing? She wore her usual ensemble to bed: a simple cotton shirt with matching boy shorts. He chuckled at her apparent confusion, a sound as rich as his speaking voice.
“Who are you?” he asked.
She ignored him for the time being. A quick glance around confirmed her suspicions that he lacked his guards at present. Aaron would have a conniption fit when he found out. “How did you get out here?”
“Answer my question first.”
He moved and she saw him then. He walked toward her, away from a backdrop of cherry and dogwood trees. His eyes glinted like stars in the fading moonlight, something erotic and feral deep within them.
She tilted her chin. “Selena Owen. The coven’s healer.” Drawing on a reserve of courage, she took a step forward. “Now answer my question. How did you get out here?”
“My brother knows I do as I want. His dogs only serve to test my creativity, not hamper my movements.”
Now what did that mean exactly? She couldn’t think about complex, deep meanings because suddenly he was upon her. Standing so close, she could feel the heat of his breath settle on her skin. All too soon, he allowed her another glimpse of how the curse must have served to his advantage. He moved like greased lightning. Here in one instant. Gone in the next.
He stared down at her and she felt protected in his presence. Everything she’d been told about him—the menace of his walk, talk, and stance said that she should have been afraid to be alone with him, of the transformation that could snatch his humanity away, but she felt calm. At peace.
“Why do you intrigue me so, Selena Owen?” His voice softened to just above a whisper. “Something in me cries out when in your presence. I want to touch you, be with you, and…and I don’t know why.”
He raised his hand to her face and stroked her cheek. Slid gentle fingers over her jaw until he traced her lower lip. “I could kiss you until we both weakened from it. Still that wouldn’t stop me. You are meant for me—you are mine—and I don’t know why. Why do you call to me like this? Demons believe in mates, matching souls that know each other from the first moment, but I was a werewolf before I was ever a demon. I shouldn’t believe in their stories.” His gaze dropped to her lips again. “But with everything that I am, with everything I feel in me, I know your heart beat, your every breath, as if they were my own.”
If he truly knew her heart beat as he’d professed, he knew it hammered now, his blunt confession spinning her mind off kilter. She dared not close her eyes, for his presence consumed her, his being like the aroma of a fine wine she inhaled until she became dizzy. If left to her own devices, if her mind didn’t refuse for both of their sakes to believe in soul mates, she would have stood there until her body drank him in until full.
She needed to change the subject. Fast.
Speaking over a dry throat took effort. “I can help you, I think. If you’ll let me.”
His face darkened. “No one can help me.”
Calloused fingers still traced over her mouth and she pulled her face away from the burning touch. One thing she knew well was her craft. No one told her what she could and could not do. “Let me be the one to decide that.”
“You think your witchcraft is why I crave you? Because of what you might be able to do for me?”
It wasn’t the only reason. She knew that, but logic needed to prevail here. “It makes sense.”
“No,” he said. “It doesn’t. Not to me. I have this need for you…”
As if to demonstrate exactly what he meant, Devin’s mouth crashed against hers.
Chapter Three
The impact of his kiss made her breath catch in her chest. She could scarcely breathe with his large hands pulling her tight against him. His arousal, large like the rest of him, pressed against her belly and sent her mind reeling again.
Mine.
Like before, his thought echoed into hers as if they belonged together. Whatever this primal urging, he’d been driven to want her. To need her.
She shivered at the realization because, Goddess above, no matter how much she wanted to deny it, to tell herself jealousy of the other mated witches drove her response, her mind and heart would not be swayed. She needed him, too.
When she lifted her hands to his hair, she threaded her fingers through the unruly locks. Devin’s moan of satisfaction rippled into her mouth. She yielded to the force of his kiss and boiling heat cooled to a simmer. He kissed her with a tenderness she didn’t know could exist. His tongue touched hers, just long enough for her to learn the taste of him then yearn for more when they parted.
Mine.
His voice whispered now, no longer the growling declaration of possession from a moment ago.
Her body awakened against his, an ache growing between her thighs. Sadly, she could count the number of previous lovers on a single hand, and now didn’t know how to ask him to touch her. To douse the growing heat threatening to overtake her bodily. All she could do was shift with embarrassing shyness against his erection.
When Devin pulled away, she opened her eyes to look into his. Even in the dark night, she saw the smoldering flames in them. “This is dangerous, Selena. No matter what I want—what I hope you want, too—this is dangerous.”
Her swollen, moist lips stung. A thrilling reminder of him. His hunger. His need.
“These are dangerous times, Devin.”
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He shifted his gaze away. “I would never forgive myself if I hurt you.”
She cupped his face in her palm, angling him until they looked directly at each other. “Then don’t hurt me.”
He hesitated a moment, then lowered his head. “I won’t,” he whispered before his lips caressed hers.
Somehow, for some reason, she knew he wouldn’t.
He slid a hand beneath her shirt, his fingers grazing against her breast. Her nipple awakened beneath his touch, rousing from a long slumber. She fit neatly in his large palm, and he squeezed until she released a sigh against him.
His tongue teased into her mouth. Swept over her lips and toyed with her. In his kiss she found his tenderness. His ability to cherish and be cherished. It made her yearn for more.
Impatient, he pushed her shirt up and she broke away from him to maneuver out of the material. Her hair settled across her shoulders and she shivered. The cool night breeze touched her nakedness and she wanted to curl up against him again. To feel his warmth wrapped around her.
As if he sensed her thoughts, he stepped close to her again, but not before sliding his hands into the waist of her shorts. Cotton panties and shorts rolled down her thighs until gravity brought them to the ground. She stood before him naked, exposed for his scrutiny. She didn’t consider herself much to look at. Small breasts, barely a curve to her hips. But when he looked at her, she felt majestic enough to grace the cover of a magazine.
She held her head high when his gaze traced the length of her body. A flush started in her cheeks and crept down until her body blazed beneath his stare. He looked into her eyes again before branding her with a gentle kiss.
“Beautiful,” he murmured.
When he stepped back to kick off his shoes and remove his shirt, Selena’s mouth dried up. Muscles and bulk rippled in the night air. The few glimpses the gap in his shirt provided had been just an appetizer to the real deal. And, sweet Lady above, the real deal fueled her wildest fantasies. Even the red handprint branded on the side of his neck awed her. The imprint added a certain dramatic flair and sense of danger to him.
He glanced at her when he pushed his slacks over his hips. She should have been embarrassed, tempted to look away, but the slow unveiling of skin held her captive. He had to have known the effect he had on her based on the wicked grin splitting his face.
Then he was fully nude.
“Goddess,” she breathed.
Like the feral beast raging inside him, he advanced heedless to their surroundings, his gaze focused on his prey. The determined look on his face made her very well aware of his intentions—as if she didn’t know already.
Devin pulled her into his embrace and she melted against him. Somewhere in the back of her mind, something screamed that this didn’t happen for women like her. She was the plain Jane. The one always left behind. But her heart…her heart knew she belonged here. Knew on some level she and Devin were meant for each other.
His mouth captured hers and she vaguely realized he lowered them to the ground, the cool grass their cushion. She gasped when warm fingers slid over her folds, arousal and shock twisting within her. With one stroke of his finger, she arched her back, and shock gave way to a rush that sent her nerves skittering. He withdrew from her mouth, freeing her to cry out against his assault, to moan as he continued to torment her body with such delicious expertise.
“Just like that.” His hushed encouragement almost sent her over the edge.
Beneath half-lowered lids, she watched the way he scrutinized her. He seemed intent on her needs, unable to tear his gaze away from where he stroked with two fingers. Gliding through her moisture, over her clit and winding her body with pleasure. It coiled over her, sure and willful, ready to consume her until she could scarcely breathe.
Before he sent her there, just as she teetered on a ledge, Devin slid down her body and positioned himself between her thighs. She almost cried out from the abrupt halt of sensation, but her mind zeroed on his new position.
“What are you doing?” The question came out on a breath, as she struggled to form every word. Her back stiffened, but the bulk of his body trapped her in place.
He looked up with more wickedness in his eyes. “This.”
Selena’s horrified gasp morphed into a moan of complete and utter rapture. Devin’s mouth worked magic on her pussy. The same thighs she just a few minutes ago used to try and maneuver herself away from him wrapped around his head, daring him to leave her replete.
An orgasm paralyzed her as it snaked through her body. The vibration started at the center of her core, where Devin’s tongue-toyed with her, and spread until she shook from the force of it. Her body clamped down and she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t scream, couldn’t fight the intensity ripping its way through her. He seemed encouraged by her immobility and worked harder, faster. His skill drew out the overwhelming sensation until she thought she would die a sated, boneless death.
Then he was at her mouth, kissing her with a fever and desire she’d never known before. The tangy taste of herself on his lips aroused her as surely as his passion. His erection pressed upward, the tip of his cock finding her entrance.
With an audible groan, Devin slid forward, impaling her with one swift motion. The force was both brutal and fulfilling. Her body wrapped around him, holding tight to his length as he filled her. Pleasure and pain, thrilling and terrifying, rocketed through her blood, through her being. The feeling of being stretched brought with it a flood of emotion that she couldn’t believe possible in the short time she’d known this man.
As if sensing her thoughts, withdrawing and plunging forward, he kissed her hard again. She opened eyes she hadn’t realized were closed and gazed into his.
“I love you,” he whispered. His breathing was ragged. The corded muscles of his neck strained. “I can’t explain why, but I know down through my soul that I love you.”
He increased his pace while she absorbed his declaration. Combined with his actions, she’d been shocked into silence. Nothing on earth could have prepared her for his bluntness. Lust, sure. But love?
“I know it’s too soon. I know what I’m saying makes no sense, but I…”
“Devin.” The warning tone in her voice had to tell him. She couldn’t respond with anything he wanted to hear.
He captured her mouth with his in a kiss so desperate, she knew with certainty he meant what he said. As impossible as the notion seemed, in the hours they’d known each other, he loved her.
She grasped his jaw in her hands and returned his kiss. Gave herself over to the sensations building within her again. They could explore growing emotions later. For now, she just wanted to revel in this with him.
Blood roared through her veins and, over the pounding of her heart, she thought she heard his next muttered words. But they made no sense. Between whispered words of love and sighs of pleasure, he uttered something she could barely hear. A note of sorrow in his tone was unmistakable, though.
“Devin?” She choked on his name because at the same instant, her breath hung in her throat. A wave, the tip of renewed orgasm, caught her off guard as his languid strokes picked up pace.
“Not now,” he muttered. Another wave crashed over her even as his words became more distinct this time.
Not now?
“No!” His protest melted into a groan as he shuddered.
“Devin?” Selena pulled her face away from his neck to look at him.
Devin’s eyes were open and, Goddess above, in the rising sunlight she saw they were no longer the jet black she knew. His irises swirled in a conflagration of colors. Blacks, grays and oranges tumbled over each other. As she felt the first jet of his release inside of her, Devin’s eyes fixed onto one color.
Blood red.
He looked down on her, his body wracked with violent tremors, caught between a world of aroused exhilaration and pain.
His voice thick with emotion, he said, “I’m so sorry.”
Chapter Four
Selena barely had a moment to register his apology. A sensation as cold as ice clawed through her veins, the feelings of only moments ago a distant memory.
His skin mottled beneath her fingers and she almost snatched her hands away. Canine teeth elongated while others sharpened. Before she could react, Devin scrambled away from her, the removal of his body stripping her bare. His words hoarse, he cried, “For God’s sake, run Selena!”
She didn’t stop to think. The urgency in his voice, the unabashed apology told her everything she needed to know. Grabbing the first article of clothing she saw, she pulled her mind from its orgasm-induced haze and half-stumbled, half-ran to the house.
Cries of outrage and pain amplified behind her and she almost turned to look but fear kept her face forward, searching hard and fast for the door to safety. She didn’t fear Devin. Not the Devin she’d been making love with, anyway. But the Devin who was still cursed, who could be whisked away to the demon realm in the space of a heartbeat, the one who could himself be transformed into one of those dark creatures, she feared for him.
No wonder Aaron’s warnings echoed in her mind. A danger to those around him. At all times.
She managed to slip on his shirt before she felt the presence behind her. Dark and hungry.
Malevolent.
If she turned to face the menace, would she have the skill to defend herself? On some level within the reaches of her mind, she knew the creature chasing her was some iteration of Devin. And that’s what scared her most of all. Five minutes ago, she’d given herself to him without hesitation. If she saw him now, saw the creature he’d become, could she still find comfort in his arms when he was himself again?
She glanced down when a hand clamped down on her shoulder. The crushing weight of his strength almost caused her to stumble. Pain scorched through her skin, the tips of his claws undoubtedly drawing blood as they punctured the shirt and found purchase in her flesh. Thank the blessed Goddess, her hand wrapped around the doorknob to the house a split second later.