Demon's Caress: Demon Heat, Book 1 (3 page)

Kobal stood, capturing her attention as he paced in a tight circle around her. His shoulder brushed against her, and even that slight touch was enough to send goose bumps erupting down her skin. The chemistry was undeniable, and under different circumstances she would want to explore it. But Shax had taught her the danger of mixing business with sex. Kobal stopped beside her, and she fought the need to step back. She held her ground, even as the closeness set off reactions in her body that she wanted to quash. His gaze slid over her, stopping on her lips, her breasts, and the notch between her thighs that he’d touched so recently. His voice dropped to a silky challenge. “Samael wants you to spend some time with us today, right? Those were his orders?”
 

There was the slightest of emphasis on orders, reminding her that she answered to Samael, whether she liked it or not.

She stiffened and gritted her teeth, struggling with the need to kiss him. Or light him up with a flame ball. Not that it would do much to hurt him, but it’d make her feel better.

“Leave her alone, Kobal.” Raum cast his partner a quelling glance, and to her surprise, he subsided. Then the green-eyed man looked at her. “Let’s have dinner together. Minimal commitment on your part, and you give Samael what he wants in good faith.”

There was no demand in his voice, which made it easier to relent. In the end, it was a sensible compromise. It was
not
because she wanted to spend time with them. She sniffed. “Yeah, okay. I can do that. We’ll need to order in, because I don’t have anything here.”

Kobal’s face contorted in an expression akin to disgust. “We can’t eat here. This place sucks. I’ve seen cheap motels that were better than this.”

Raum groaned and dropped his face into his hand. “Kobal.”

“What? It’s true.”

Blinking, she looked around at her apartment. It sported the furniture that had been installed when Samael had the high-rise constructed. Maybe it was a little run down, a little…bleak. There wasn’t a single picture or memento anywhere, and she’d been topside for a hundred plus years, so she’d had time to collect some. And she didn’t remember the last time she’d gone shopping for food. The natural form of demons was ghostly—one of the qualifications for serving on earth was the ability to maintain corporeal form for long periods of time. As long as they stayed corporeal, they had to fuel themselves as humans did. She usually just grabbed something from the cafeteria Samael had had installed in the building, and when she was feeling really ambitious, she got Chinese take out from the place around the corner.
 

“I don’t spend a lot of time here.” Which was pretty damn obvious now that she looked around. This place was no more personal to her than one of the motels she might stay at on a longer hunt. Her apartment was…pathetically lonely. Like the rest of her existence since she’d become obsessed with being the best hunter of all time. Since Shax had nearly destroyed her. She tried not to wince at the accurate description. “Um. Okay, we can go out. Or go to the cafeteria.”
 

“No, we’re eating at our place.” Kobal’s jaw set in a stubborn line, his arms crossing over his muscular chest. “If we only get dinner with you, we’re not spending the time with a bunch of other demons watching. Or, worse, in public with mortals hanging around. Plus, by human time, it’s breakfast, and I don’t want that.”

Raum shrugged. “I’m a fair cook. What do you like?”

“Food.” She hated to agree with anything they said, but she didn’t want breakfast either. It was the end of her day, dinnertime. But like most of the evil creeps they hunted down, demons had to keep night hours. Plus, mortals tended to dismiss the strange things they saw in the dark as figments of their imagination, which helped demons catch their prey. “Nothing sweet. Just regular food.”

A rare grin flashed over the sharp features of his face. “I think I can manage that.”

She kicked herself for smiling back at him. She’d decided long ago to turn away from relationships and focus on her work, which wouldn’t leave her raw and stripped bare. When she was on a hunt, she was in control. She had a mission. She had a purpose. In a bond, there was no control—there was only pain and suffering and insecurity. Bonds could make her feel more alone than being single ever had. And no one was going to save her when a soul got so evil it almost sucked her into the vortex prison. She’d be tangled with that darkness for eternity.

Horror curdled in her gut. It was good reminder of why she didn’t want a Triad, no matter how attractive or interesting she found these two demons.

 
“This is it.” Raum held the door open for her, motioning her into the apartment, which was three floors above hers.
 

She blinked when she stepped over the threshold. It was nice. Masculine and comfortable. The furnishings were straight lines and warm wood. The walls were medium blue, unlike her blank white walls. “This is pretty.”

It was nothing like she’d expected from them. In fact, she hadn’t thought much about demons decorating their apartments to make them more inviting. Lilim’s place had been wild, with her own graffiti spray painted on the walls and hanging aluminum street signs she’d stolen, which had just made Maron shake her head and roll her eyes the few times she’d been there. But the men’s space was…somewhere to relax. She could feel her muscles unkinking as she walked around the open space, the kitchen, dining room and living room flowing together.

“Mid-century, modern Danish style.” Kobal gestured to the furniture, then pulled out a chair at the dining room table. “I’ve collected the pieces here and there over the decades. It’s comfortable. Have a seat.”

“I like it.” The longer she stood there, the more she could see how it fit them. Understated and not fussy, like Raum, but still eye-catching and compelling, like Kobal. That she was even thinking this way made her frown. It didn’t matter where or how they lived, so long as they did their jobs. She was never coming back to their place anyway.

The bonus of eating here was that she could leave whenever she wanted. There was no way to force her to stay—she could evaporate through a wall if she needed to. If they’d stayed in her apartment, she couldn’t have kicked them out if they’d decided to hang around. This worked out much better, and not because she liked the feel of their place.

She slid into the chair Kobal held out for her, crossing her legs under the table. Best to get this cozy scene of domesticity over with as quickly as possible and return to her solitary reality. “So, what’s for dinner?”

“Steak. That all right with you?” Raum moved around the kitchen with the same quiet efficiency that he did everything else. He stopped for a moment to kiss Kobal. It was over in a moment, but the sight of their mouths meshing made her remember the night they spent in a cheap motel somewhere in New Mexico. They’d kissed then too. And they’d kissed her. They liked to touch. A lot. Heat bloomed inside her and she pressed her thighs together to quell the ache between them.

“Yeah.” She coughed and glanced away. “I like steak.”

“Sounds good to me.” Kobal sauntered over and parked himself next to her, his shoulder and thigh crowding against hers. She almost swallowed her tongue as lust slammed into her. There was nothing sexual in the way he touched her, but it didn’t matter. No matter how she sliced it, she wanted him. Them. Hell, Raum didn’t even have to lay a finger on her to rev her up. It was hot to watch him.

There was no safe place to look at this point. They were there, big and hot and far too sexy for her peace of mind. She shifted in her seat, which just rubbed her up against Kobal, and sent anticipation zinging through her system. She pulled in a deep breath, and her awareness expanded. She could feel the heat of them, smell them, sense the very essence of them. It was like when she hunted a dark soul, only far more pleasurable.

“Give me a hand with this, would you, Kobal?”
 

She startled when Raum’s deep voice rumbled from the kitchen, and sighed in relief at the momentary reprieve when his partner got up to help. The relief was short lived when Raum took Kobal’s seat beside her, his side plastered against her. Kobal sat across from her, offering her a smile that would entice an angel to fall.

The men set three plates on the table, each one loaded with steak, steaming vegetables and rice. It smelled delicious. Her stomach rumbled, yet another need from her body demanding attention.
 

“Thank you,” she said, pulling her plate toward her.
 

“No problem. Enjoy.” Raum flashed a quiet smile when he watched them dig into the food.

She shifted in her seat, biting back a moan when she rubbed against his broad shoulder and muscled thigh. Her breasts grew heavy, the crests drawing to tight points. The lips of her sex went slick with juices. It was too much—she wanted to scream, to punch something, to drag both men to the floor and fuck their brains out. Anything to release some of the tension that gripped her rebellious body. She stared down at her meal, eating mechanically. It was tasty, but she didn’t care. This was, without a doubt, the most carnally frustrating day of her life.

Kobal’s sensual voice flowed over her, but she was doing anything to keep her focus off of them. Just put the food in her mouth and chew. Just finish this meal and get the hell out of there before she did something stupid. She choked when Raum’s big hand slid up her shoulder to get her attention. Tingles broke over her skin, and she shivered, her sex clenching in helpless desire.
 

“Do we have your attention?” Kobal’s blue eyes twinkled, inviting her to join in the fun with him. “How long have you been working with Samael?”
 

She swallowed the bite of food in her mouth. “A hundred and five years…and a couple of weeks, give or take.”

Raum’s fingers moved to massage the back of her neck while Kobal nodded and kept talking. “We were in the Buenos Aires silo for the last couple of centuries, before we transferred here.”

There were silos like theirs all over the world, one for every hellmouth, each headed by a high demon like Samael. Of course, operatives could be sent anywhere in the world. It wasn’t a jurisdictional thing. Whoever’s watchers identified the evil first was responsible for bringing in the soul, no matter how far the hunters had to go to make that happen.
 

“What made you transfer?” She forced the words out passed the knot of lust that squeezed her chest. Raum’s hands continued to work the nape of her neck, and it was all she could do not to drop her head forward and give in to his touch.

“Who doesn’t want to work with Samael? We’d caught some serious nasties after we bonded, and we figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask if he wanted some new blood.” His white teeth flashed in a grin. “Besides, we figured—what’s the worst he could do? Roast us alive?”

She chuckled. Their boss had an exacting reputation, but that was what made him the best. “Nah, he’ll just send you after an evil housewife soccer mom. One who’s more worried about getting in your pants than being soul sucked.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a little sucking.” The wicked glint in his gaze made it clear what kind of sucking he wanted, and she rolled her eyes at him.

He laughed at her, and she couldn’t stop her smile. Raum rubbed her back, and when she looked at him, her heart tripped at the sight of his lopsided grin.

The rest of the meal went much the same way, with Kobal teasing her, asking her about herself, telling her about both of them. Cases they’d been on, hilarious bloopers of near-miss assignments. The man had to be a trip to work with. Raum added a few tidbits here and there, a few zingers that had them chuckling. Overall, he said little, unlike his partner—he just touched her. His fingers toyed with her hair, slid over her shoulders and down her back. He brushed her hand when he poured her a glass of wine. He seduced her without even trying.

The two played off of each other, Kobal’s easy conversation and humor relaxing her and getting Raum to unbend and open up. Despite the blade of sexual frustration knifing through her, it was…fun. She hated to admit it. She didn’t even remember the last time she’d had anything even remotely resembling fun. It wasn’t her style.

“Let’s clean up.” Raum rose from the table when they finished eating, cupping her elbow to help her to her feet. He picked up his plate and silverware and led the way into the kitchen. She did the same and followed him, with Kobal bringing up the rear. The last thing she wanted was to be in tight quarters with them, but this meal had become her personal sexual torment. All she had to do was hold out a bit longer and she could escape. Her vibrator was going to get one bodacious workout when she got home, that was for sure.

To keep herself from thinking about anything sexual, she turned the questions on Kobal. Leaning back against the counter, she crossed her arms and asked the one thing she hadn’t been able to figure out since they’d started pursuing her. “The two of you seem…good together. So, why do you want to mess with that by bringing in someone else? Is it really just for work? Because a bad bond isn’t worth it.”

“Not just for work, no,” Raum answered.

She threw up her hands. “Then why?”

Kobal shifted for a moment, but then met her eyes. “Because neither of us just wants men. We want women too. And we’re not going to get that in our current bond.” He motioned to his very masculine partner. Then his gaze narrowed on her. “We know what we need, and we’re not willing to play it safe and stagnate because we’re too afraid to go after what we want.”

“I’m not stagnant.” Liar. “And if you think I’m that bad, why would you want me?” Why the hell would she ask that question? She’d never considered herself a masochist before, but that certainly set her up for some stinging pain.

“Who wouldn’t want you?” Kobal’s voice sounded baffled.

She snorted, but when she looked, she saw how serious their faces were. They genuinely believed that. Any demon would want her. She’d never had any trouble finding male company for a night or two if she wanted it, including the night she’d spent with them. But there was wanting and there was wanting. Sex was easy. Bonding was harder.