Burning Midnight

by Rose Wulf

  Ben released a long-suffering sigh. “I guess I can understand,” he said. “But just so you know, letting your brother help is still normal. So don’t feel like a quitter if you change your mind.”

  “Sure, sure,” Gwen promised. “When I get to the unreasonably heavy stuff I’ll cash the offer in. Thanks, bro!” She tapped the button that disconnected the call as his exclamation began to sound, enabling her to win the non-argument. Because that was what normal siblings did, too. Then she drew a breath and let her gaze wander to the next box in line. Who left me alone in Kohl’s, anyway? She hadn’t had this many clothes in forever. How did the average woman organize—let alone wear—such a variety?

  “For the record,” an unexpected, but distantly familiar, male voice said behind her, “it does sound weird. Must be a human thing.”

  Gwen choked on a shriek and turned as she stood, even though she finally placed his voice and his sarcasm by the time she spotted him leaning against the far wall. It was Knox, the demon who’d originally attacked and tried to kidnap her before switching sides out of desperation and somehow ended up rescuing her. Not from the curse, of course, but from the more literal clutches of his former employer, Creed, and Creed’s behind-the-scenes partner, Uriah. The Archangel. All in all, while she supposed he’d balanced out his scale with her, he still wasn’t her favorite person. Demon. Whatever.

  “Holy crap,” she said, taking a breath. “You scared the shit out of me. Can’t you knock, Knox?”

  Knox rolled his eyes at the admittedly terrible pun. “Of course, I can. But it’s so much more fun this way.”

  Scowling now, Gwen planted her hands on her hips. “What are you even doing here?”

  His expression fell to neutral and he studied her, looking her slowly up and down. Not trying to be subtle about it. An odd kind of shiver ran over her and Gwen did her best to hide the reaction. She forced her feet to hold still, her hands to remain on her hips, and her face to betray no signs of the nearly overwhelming urge to shift self-consciously. She could only pray she wasn’t blushing. Why was he looking at her like that? She couldn’t really even tell what that look meant, but she swore she could feel it.

  “Well?” Gwen pushed instead. “Don’t tell me you finally went speechless?”

  Knox made a sound reminiscent of a snort and a grin slipped into place as he met her gaze again. “Never. Promise. As for why I’m here, let’s just say I had the urge to pop in and see how a newly freed soul lives.”

  Gwen huffed, shifted her weight, and crossed her arms. “Seriously? Is that it, is that all you see when you look at me? A ‘newly freed soul’? Demons are so—so materialistic.”

  He responded with a brief, alluring chuckle and pushed from the wall, hands in his pockets. “To be fair, we are demons. Creatures of sin. So it kind of fits.” Once he’d stepped into her personal space, he softened his voice and added, “Do you really want to know what I see when I look at you?”

  Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat, Gwen bit her lip to keep from spouting a sarcastic response. That was such a loaded question. And for whatever insane reason, she actually didn’t know her answer. She’d asked the question impulsively, annoyed at being just another soul. Now, though, and especially remembering the way he’d looked at her … all kinds of strangeness was happening inside her.

  “You know what?” she finally said. “No. I don’t really care. I just don’t believe you. There has to be an actual reason you’re here.”

  Knox arched a brow but did not step back. “You think I’d lie?”

  Meeting his expression with a matching one of her own, Gwen said, “Demon. I listened.”

  This time he grinned. “Touché. But c’mon, I haven’t been a threat to you in, what, ten months?”

  “Would you believe there are a lot of people out there who’ve never been a threat to me at all?”

  “Details, details,” Knox replied. He stepped back, finally, and raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. “But in the interest of peace, you’re right. I do have an ulterior motive.”

  Gwen’s stomach clenched. There was just no way his real reason for coming was a good one. She really didn’t want to get dragged back into the whole angels-versus-demons thing. “Shocking.”

  Looking away briefly, as if in shame, Knox dropped his arms and said, “I need to hide out for a bit. I figured with you out of things now, and since you know me, you were the best option.”

  Her mouth fell open. It was possible her jaw actually hit the floor. “I’m sorry,” she said after a delayed minute. “You expect to just pop in and stay? And that I’ll be okay with this because, what, you maybe at best made up for trying to kill me?”

  He scrunched up his face as if thinking it over for a moment before nodding. “That pretty much sums it up, yeah.” Grin returning, he added, “Thanks.” He turned to exit the bedroom, leaving her temporarily stunned. “You got anything good in the fridge? I’m in the mood for something greasy.”

  Giving her head a shake, Gwen darted out after him. “Hey, I haven’t agreed to anything, mister! And stay out of my fridge!”

  Knox let go of the refrigerator handle and held his hands up as if he’d been caught doing something bad. “Okay, okay, your place, your fridge.” He took a step away for good measure. “I don’t suppose you’ll heat it up for me?”

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Gwen muttered. “I’m not your ‘little woman’ or something, you got that? And if you need somewhere to lay low and lick your wounds, you’re better off under a bridge.” She wanted to cringe, since ordinarily she’d never say such a thing, but she had to remind herself that Knox was a manipulative demon. De-mon! She absolutely, definitely, positively did not want any demon staying at her home.

  ****

  “Don’t you have friends? Or, like, a distant cousin? Someone who owes you money? Anyone like that?” Gwen asked as she lifted the final slice of pizza to her mouth. She still didn’t know how he’d gotten her to cave. It wasn’t like he was a smooth-talker. Everything he said aggravated the hell out of her—ironic, really. Did she honestly feel guilty over the idea of leaving a demon to fend for himself? Or was it this demon, because yeah, he’d once bailed her ass out of a tight spot when he technically didn’t have to? You’re just a good, decent, person. Nothing wrong with that. She hoped.

  Knox swallowed his latest bite, stretching one long leg out until his sock-covered foot nearly touched her pillow. Yet another horrible thing about this situation—the only place to sit was still her airbed. Meaning they were sitting together eating pizza on her bed like teenagers. “Nope, no one like that,” he replied calmly. “Well, there’s probably someone out there who owes me something, but no one I’d trust not to try to kill me the second I turn around.”

  “Gee, I can’t imagine why,” Gwen mumbled around her mouthful. It only occurred to her after how terribly unladylike that was. She waited until she’d swallowed the rest before more clearly asking, “What makes you think I’m not one of those?”

  “You?” Knox asked. He grinned and something about the expression made her take a breath. “You don’t have it in you. You don’t hate me enough.”

  Doing her best to ignore the strange alteration of her heartbeat, Gwen stubbornly argued, “What makes you think I don’t hate you? You remember how we met, don’t you?”

  Instead of answering the question, Knox lifted what was left of his slice of pizza. “You bought me pizza. You’re offering me safe haven. You haven’t prayed for help yet. Ergo, you don’t hate me.”

  She hated how right he was, though. Every single one of those things was spot-on. Dammit. She didn’t even understand it herself, honestly. How could she expect the very subject of the confusion to be able to explain it to her?

  “Confused?” Knox asked after finishing off his early dinner. He still wore that damned grin. “It’s pretty simple, Gwen. You’re a good person. And you recognize that, circumstances aside, I’m not the villain of the story. You can’t tu
rn your back on a person in need when they’re not pure evil.”

  Gwen sighed. Was it that simple, though? Weren’t demons supposed to be pure evil? “Thanks for the compliment, I guess,” she started, “but don’t give me too much credit. None of that went through my head. I just … I guess I owed you one. So when this is over, we’re even.”

  One of his dark brows curved high on his forehead. “I thought me saving you just wiped the ‘me trying to kill you’ part out?”

  “You saved me from Creed,” she said, the memory rushing back in all its terrifying detail. From finding Belle’s thought-dead sister chained to a wall to Knox’s timely arrival and subsequent rescue. He’d taken them to a random hotel room and stayed with her, willing to risk his own life should Creed—or the Archangel whose base they’d apparently been in—give chase. Pushing the memory back, Gwen added, “You saved me, but you didn’t have to stay and wait with me. You could have found a viable excuse to run.”

  “I suppose I could have,” Knox agreed. His tone was quieter, almost reflective. “But it never occurred to me.”

  For whatever reason, she believed him.

  Releasing a heavy breath, Gwen tossed her paper plate into the pizza box and indicated for him to do the same. She’d feel guiltier about going through an entire pizza in one sitting if he hadn’t eaten more than half of it. Setting the box on the floor, Gwen said, “This doesn’t mean I like you, got it? It just makes us even.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Knox joked. He looked around, his extended foot rolling side to side absently, before he asked, “Why’d you pick such a small place, anyway?”

  Still distracted by the foot near her hip, Gwen replied, “Not all humans are swimming in money, okay? I’m trying to live within my means.”

  “Huh.”

  Gwen bristled and narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s that mean?”

  Knox returned his gaze to her and casually said, “I just figured you had money. What with how well your brother’s doing and all. I never took you for broke.”

  “I’m not broke,” she said firmly, shoving at his foot on reflex. “I’m just— Look, okay, I had money. Not that it’s any of your business. But when you have money and only a few short years to enjoy it, you sometimes tend to spend it frivolously. Because it doesn’t matter. At least, that’s what I did, and now I’ve used up most of my inheritance and I need to start being smart about money. Which means living small for a while.”

  Why had she told him that?

  “Sorry,” he said, straightening and tucking his leg beneath his opposite knee. “I wasn’t trying to poke a nerve that time.”

  Gwen stared at him for a beat. He actually seemed sincere. Not sure how to take that, she opted to maintain her usual attitude. “So you admit that you do it on purpose?”

  He made a sort of scoffing-laughing sound, the moment of calm gone. “Absolutely.”

  Had she really expected any less? Heaving a deliberately exaggerated sigh, Gwen moved until she was sitting with her feet on the floor, the bed dipping below her weight. “All right, demon,” she declared, grabbing the pizza box from the floor and standing. “I may have lost enough sanity to let you stay here—briefly—but I don’t give out freebies. You wanna hang around, earn your keep.” She emphasized her command by tossing the box at him, aiming squarely for his chest.

  Knox caught the box easily, blinking as he looked down at it before back up to her. “You … want me to put this in the garbage?”

  “For starters, yes,” Gwen said. She pointed to a box against the wall between the living area and kitchen, adding, “Then open that and get to putting things away.”

  “Happy to,” he said, the airbed squeaking enough to tell her without her needing to look that he was standing. “But don’t get mad at me when things aren’t where you’d put them. My organizational sense is probably different from yours.”

  God, he’s right. What was she supposed to do? Let him color-coordinate her closet? She didn’t have a separate box just for bras and panties that she could hide away. No way was he going through that box!

  Gwen blinked at a snap of fingers in front of her face, unexpectedly finding Knox standing far nearer than he had been. One arm was lifted, his hand mere inches from her nose, poised to snap again. Even as she registered that he stood at her side, close enough that his body heat warmed her, his other hand landed at the small of her back. The touch just a bit heavier than cautious, but lighter than threatening. Warm, sturdy. Startling.

  “You still in there, Gwen? What the hell was that?” Even his voice held a faint hint of concern.

  Gwen drew a breath and swatted his hand from her face, stepping away from him before the warmth on her cheeks could get any brighter. He just caught me off guard. It was a natural reaction. “What are you talking about? I never went anywhere.”

  Knox frowned. “You paled, opened your mouth to speak, swayed a little, and just started walking away. I’m not saying you had some kind of seizure or looked possessed or anything, but it didn’t look like nothing.”

  “It’s you, okay? It’s your fault. You’re weirding me out.” There, she’d said it.

  Shit, she should definitely not have said that.

  What was she thinking? He didn’t need to know he was freaking her out! He already knew way more than he had any business knowing! Why had she said that? What was wrong with her?

  “My fault?” Knox repeated as her inner panic built. His grin reappeared quickly and something playful flashed in his dark eyes. “Oh, I see. I’m under your skin, am I?” He took a step closer, then another, never breaking eye contact. “Thinking about me makes you all lightheaded and breathless, is that it? That’s awful flattering.” His calm, deliberate steps had taken him inside her personal space now. Her body was reacting very strangely to his implications. If he didn’t shut up, she was going to have to punch him. “Tell me more.”

  Gwen swallowed heavily as the scent of him reached her nose. He somehow did smell good, God help her. “Knox,” she said quietly, reaching up and resting a hand against his chest. Silently bemoaning the tight strength she found there, and the tingling sensation that ignited beneath her palm, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Shut up.”

  It had been her intent to add a hard shove with the words. Really emphasize her point. But he reacted too quickly.

  One of Knox’s hands curved over the side of her cheek, fingers dipping into her hair, and then his lips were on hers. He slid his tongue into her mouth and the final vestiges of resistance fled from her as Gwen kissed him back. She twisted her fingers in his shirt as his other hand settled over her spine, holding her closer. His kiss was hot and intense, his tongue stroking along hers before sucking it into his mouth. The sensation, combined with an increase of pressure from the hand at her back, had Gwen’s toes curling into the linoleum. She grabbed onto the back of his shoulder for support as he elicited a moan she hadn’t even felt building.

  All she could think about was the heat of his body, the passion in his kiss, the strength of his grip. She didn’t think she’d ever been kissed like this before and her head was spinning. And, God, did he kiss like this when he went down on a woman? She hoped so. More accurately, she wanted desperately to find out. Every stroke of his tongue over hers sent shivers down her spine and added fuel to a sudden fire inside her. A fire she was incapable of putting out on her own.

  Knox pulled back, taking a step backward as he licked a droplet of saliva off the corner of his mouth. “Lightheaded and breathless yet?”

  Gwen stared at him for a long second, trying to place the question. Or at least understand it. Her body screamed at her to ignore it altogether and just drag him back to the airbed, but the slow return of oxygen to her lungs—and therefore her brain—held her in check. It got easier when she figured out his comment. “You’re a jackass.”

  His eyes laughed silently at her. “Am I?” His tone said the rest. They both knew she’d lost herself, as humiliating as it was. They both knew she ha
dn’t even tried to push him away.

  Still, she wasn’t the only one who’d been into it. There was no way a person could kiss that good without enjoying it. “Okay, I admit, it’s been a while.” She matched his grin with one of her own. “Might as well enjoy a minute or two with a creature made for sin, right? What woman could blame me?”

  Knox laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “But,” Gwen began, stepping into him again and praying she could stand strong long enough this time to make her point, “one kiss does not get you out of helping out around here. These boxes won’t empty themselves.”

  She hadn’t even realized she’d poked him in the chest until he caught her by the wrist. His voice was thicker when he spoke next and it reignited the spark in her blood like gasoline. “Message received. So how many kisses will it take, then?” He leaned closer, lips brushing her ear, and whispered, “Or maybe it’ll take something … deeper?”

  Gwen bit back a groan at that implication. Her body was so damn ready, right then and there, it was embarrassing. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t do it for a dozen reasons at least, though she was afraid she might have to actually list them all to herself to get her hormones in line. It really had been a while. In the meantime, he’d just do something worse if she didn’t respond. So she drew in a breath through her nose and opened her mouth to say … something. Preferably helpful.

  It was in that instant her gaze alighted on an unnatural shift in the shadow across the room. She’d been through enough to know what that meant, and apparently, fear was significantly more effective than a cold shower. Gwen grabbed tight hold of Knox’s arm—the nearest part of him she could reach—even as he began to turn, probably having sensed the impending problem himself.

  More shadows gathered as Knox cursed under his breath and put himself largely between Gwen and the solidifying darkness.

  “Knox?” Gwen asked quietly, familiar, dreadful anticipation choking her voice.

  “Oh,” a female voice called from the shape beside the front door. The darkness separated from the wall entirely and formed a feminine figure, fading away to reveal the demon herself, as the voice continued. “Am I interrupting something?”