Everlasting Bad Boys (20 page)

Again.

It took all of his control not to come in her hands.

He grabbed her hips, aware that his hold was too tight, too rough, but not able to ease his grip.

No damn way.

Luis lifted her, pinning her back even harder against the wall. Her legs were up, her sex open, and her hands still pumped him.

Fuck.

“Guide me in,” he growled. “Take me deep inside, Serena. Let me watch you…”

Her skirt was bunched at her waist. The folds of her sex were flushed pink and glistening.

Damn, but he wanted another taste.

Her fingers tightened around him.

His hips thrust forward helplessly as sweat slid down his back.

Serena guided the head of his cock toward her body, straight toward the tight opening that quivered for him. When he felt the first brush of that creamy, hot flesh along his erection, Luis clenched his back teeth.

Control wasn’t going to be lasting much longer.

Every instinct he possessed screamed for him to thrust forward—as hard and deep as he could go.

But he wanted to watch her. Wanted to watch as his cock slid slowly into her straining core.

“Luis…” His name came on a breath.

Ah, hell—

He slammed balls deep into her.

And immediately felt Serena’s sex begin to spasm around him as she came.

His spine prickled. Her contractions were silky, strong, squeezing him even better than her hand. He pulled back, drove deep.

Retreated.
Her creamy grasp was so strong and—

He plunged deep.

Heard her strangled cry of pleasure.

Felt the bite of her nails on his skin.

He wanted her to come again. With him.

Her legs locked around his hips and he pumped into her, driving as fiercely as he could for the rush of release that he knew was waiting.

The ripples of her sex continued. She moaned and shuddered against him. “Luis. Luis.
Luis!”

He felt the second climax hit her because the pleasure hit him, too.

Semen jetted from him, spilling deep into her body as he came, pumping and thrusting and holding on to her with all of his strength.

The power of his release had his knees trembling, his breath rasping out, and the room shaking around them as his magic and power surged through the kitchen.

The release went on, the pleasure filling every pore in his body. He emptied into her, hungrily drinking in the ragged sounds that tore from her lips.

Pleasure is power.

Power for his witch.

Power for him.

His gaze met hers as the spasms began to ease. Her lips were blood red. A tear tracked down her cheek.

Then her mouth curved and her hand released its fierce grip on his shoulder to slide down his chest, stopping right over the heart that raced for her.

“Again.”

And the already swelling cock inside of her was only too happy to oblige.

After all, only a fool would deny a witch’s demand.

She yanked off his shirt. Her mouth locked on his nipple, and he thrust deep into her wet heat.

Luis had never thought of himself as a fool.

Night found them on the streets. Walking in the darkness on the side of town that most didn’t even realize existed.

Buildings stood as battered shells. Boards lined the windows of the closed shops. A few burning garbage cans spit flames into the sky and chased a bit of the darkness away.

In the distance, a drum pounded in a furious, driving beat.

There were clubs in the city. Places that the
Other
frequented. They were close—close enough for Luis to smell the blood in the air.

The blood that would lure the vampires.

They weren’t heading to the clubs. No, their prey wouldn’t be inside.

The monsters they sought were
on
the streets. Waiting. Planning. Hunting.

Just as he was.

“Dammit, didn’t we have this whole talk already about using me as bait?” Serena muttered, slanting him a simmering glance.

She stood just under one of the few street lights that actually worked. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her booted feet spread apart.

He stood a few feet behind her, body pressed tight to the cold brick wall and completely hidden by the shadows.

“We both agreed you weren’t going to be bait for the warlock.” She wouldn’t be, unless that dark choice became absolutely necessary.

But he would protect her.

He wouldn’t fail again.

“Then why the hell am I the one standing out here all defenseless with come-and-get-me written on my forehead?”

Simple. Because the woman looked like perfect prey in the dark sweater that cupped her gorgeous breasts and in the jeans that clung all too well to her great ass and legs.

“It’s easier to get the
Other
to come to us this way.” Or, rather, to her. The ones he was hunting, they’d love to get their hands on a morsel like her.

Deceptively innocent, with her wide eyes and nervous hands, she’d bring the bastards right to her.

“Aren’t they gonna sense you?” she asked. “Demons
can
sense each other, you said it yourself—”

“No one will sense me.” Not even a level-ten demon would be able to pick up his power trail. “Don’t forget, sweetheart, I’m not a full-blood demon.”

He thought he saw her shiver. “So everything I’ve ever heard about you—it’s true, isn’t it? Your kind—
cazadores
, born of witch and demon, you’re immortal.”

“Yes.” A blessing and a curse.

Everyone else died.
It was so hard to watch the people he loved slip away.

Easy to watch the assholes he stalked pass from this earth, but when it was the others, like his mother—

“How many of your kind are there, Luis?”

Too few. “Less than there were a hundred years ago.” Luis realized he hadn’t seen another of his kind in what—five, ten years?

Too busy killing.

And fighting to stay alive.

Just because a being had been graced with the ability to live forever, well, that didn’t mean some smart bastard couldn’t come along and figure out the secret to his death.

Everyone and everything could die
, but the real trick in this world was figuring out just
how
to kill the monsters.

“Is it true that you can’t be hurt by mortal weapons?”

He coughed. “That rule’s for level-ten demons.” And, since he was part demon, yeah, weapons forged by man couldn’t hurt him—but he didn’t make a habit of revealing that fact to anyone.

“So, what? You have to have your heart cut out? Get beheaded?”

The old immortal-killing standbys. Luis sighed. “It’s complicated—and I’m not going to explain it now. Wrong part of town for this talk, sweetheart.”

But his witch was on the right track.
If
his head was severed and
if
his heart was cut from his chest—
while it still beat
—and
if
his head and heart were burned to ashes, then, yeah, he’d finally die.

“Has anyone ever almost…killed you?” The question was softer than the others. Her gaze wasn’t on him. It was on the shadows on the opposite end of the street.

No monsters were there.

He’d sensed no threats on the street,
yet
, so he’d let Serena keep up her questions because he knew that she was afraid.

And he’d discovered that when she was nervous or afraid, his witch liked to talk.

A rather cute trait, and one that he’d allow for a few more moments.

Just until the demons came out.

“Yeah, sweetheart, I’ve almost been killed a few times.” Those panthers in South America had actually come pretty close to taking him out of this world. One had swiped at his chest with those razor sharp panther claws and another had gone for his neck, slicing right at his jugular.

He’d bled
too much,
gotten
too
weak, but still managed to rip through the pack.

Then he’d healed, as was his nature. And lived to fight and kill another day.

Or night.

Like tonight.

“Have you ever been afraid?” Her voice was even softer now, and, still, she didn’t glance his way. He was angled diagonally behind her, so he could just make out the faintest movement of her lips.

“Once or twice.” With her.

And that long ago day when he’d rushed to save his mother, only to arrive far too late.

Her head jerked toward him, “Luis, I—”

“
Quiet.”

Power was in the air, flickering.

They weren’t alone any longer.

His eyes narrowed as he watched Serena take in a deep breath. Her attention turned back to the dark street.

She wouldn’t see the one coming for her…

But Luis already had the demon in his sights.

D
amn, damn,
damn,
but this was a bad idea, one no smart witch should
ever
have agreed to go along with in the first place.

Serena hunched in front of the light post, because, yeah, standing underneath that freaking
beacon
was such a fine plan.

Every psycho in the area would be after her.

Just what Luis wanted.

The warmth had seeped from the city with the fall of night, the temperatures taking a serious nosedive from the warmer weather of previous days, and Serena shifted, rubbing her arms together as she tried to stave off the growing chill in the air.

A week ago, she wouldn’t have been afraid. She would have used her power to blast any idiot stupid enough to confront her all the way across the street and into that busted building that looked like an old pawnshop.

A week ago.

Now, she had to rely on Luis, and relying on someone else wasn’t exactly her strong suit.

But that’s why I summoned him—because I knew he could help me.

She just hadn’t realized he’d be doing the whole “bait” routine with her.

Immortal jerk.

And just
where
was the paranormal he’d sensed? She couldn’t see anyone, didn’t hear anything but the crackle of flames—and who had lit those fires anyway? No one was around but—

“Lost, witch?”

The voice came from her left. Whispered into her ear.

Blood of the goddess.

Serena swallowed. Straightened her shoulders.
The boogeyman’s got my back.
He’d better.

“I’m not the least bit lost,” she answered slowly, proud that her voice didn’t shake even a little. She turned her head toward him, lifted one brow. “Are you?”

One glance was more than enough to tell her that this guy—yeah, he was most definitely
lost.

His eyes were coal black. Every single bit of his eyes—a demon stare. Usually, demons cloaked their eyes with a glamour and made the color appear like a human’s. The true black color only appeared when their emotions and passions were high—like when Luis’s gaze had flashed black on her during their wild mating.

But this guy—he wasn’t bothering with glamour. No, he was letting his gleaming black eyes show to the world.

His face was long and angular. Too pale. Bloodless. His teeth were sharp, when they shouldn’t have been.
What the hell?
The guy’s teeth were all narrowed to points, like a vamp’s fangs.

Serena realized the demon before her had deliberately filed his teeth.

The better to kill?

She balled the hands that wanted to shake into even tighter fists.

Where’s my power when I need it?

The answer, of course, was
tied up in a warlock’s web.

“Seems I’ve just found the thing I was looking for tonight.” He smiled at her, showing off those wicked teeth. Then his gaze raked over her body.

Hell.

“I would have preferred a human. They scream so very loudly, you know.”

She wanted to scream right then. Scream for the demon to get the hell away from her.

No, not just away. Out. Out of the city. Out of the damn country.

Her skin crawled as she stared at him. He wore a long black coat, dark pants. His hair was slicked straight back from his forehead, and his fingers…bony, with long nails no man should have possessed.

Nails that, even in the bad light, she could see were stained red.

“You-you’re not from around here, are you?” She hated that the faintest tremble had entered her voice. OK, so every time the guy opened his mouth, she smelled death. No need to freak out about that fact.

Her bodyguard was just a few feet away.

And Luis had been right—the demon didn’t sense him,
at all.

Perhaps the guy was too focused on her to even see the danger that waited.

The demon laughed. “No, this is my first…trip…to your city.” He lifted a hand toward her, and Serena steeled herself. “I think I’m going to have so much fun here…”

At the last second, Serena stepped back so that she missed the touch of his gnarled fingers. “What makes you think I’m a witch?” she asked, her mind jumping back to the first words he’d spoken to her. Demons didn’t normally have the ability to recognize her kind and—

“’Cause you’re bound,” he muttered, and his nostrils flared. “I can smell the marks on you. Every demon and shifter in the city can.” Another chilling smile. “Poor witch. No magic, and all alone.”

“Not exactly,” she snapped and lifted her chin. If that guy tried to touch her again—

“Oh,
exactly.
You’re
exactly
what I want.” Not a smile any more. “Let’s hear you scream—” His claws came at her.

Serena jumped away.

Luis bounded from the shadows. “Let’s here
you
scream, demon.” He grabbed the demon, spun the asshole around.

“What the—
fuck!
”

“Hello, Jack.”

Jack?

Serena stumbled back a few more feet. If Luis knew the guy, the demon had to be trouble. The kind she didn’t want.

“What are you doin’ here?” the demon snapped. “Last I heard you were huntin’ in Mexico—”

“And that’s why you thought it was safe to come out of hiding, huh?” He moved then, in one of his too-fast-to-see whirls. When Serena blinked, she found him holding the demon up against the light post. Luis’s fingers were locked around the guy’s throat. “Mistake, Jack. Big mistake. It’s
never
safe for you to be on the streets. Not safe for the humans, the paranormals, and damn sure not safe for
you
.”

The demon’s eyes began to bulge.

“Luis…”

He didn’t glance her way. Not that she blamed him. Luis was dangling a bastard demon two feet up in the air and slowly choking the life from him. Kinda busy…but they had come out on these streets for a reason.

The terrorizing of this jerk needed to pause a bit.

“You’re weak, Jack. Only a level four.” Luis made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Is that why you go after the humans? Cause you feel powerful with them?”

Jack tried to gasp out a reply, but the wheezing wasn’t much of a response.

When his face started to purple, Serena stepped forward. “Luis, we’re not here for this. The warlock—”

Those bulging black eyes slanted toward her.

“Don’t fucking look at her!” His roar shook the street.

The demon’s eyes flew back to Luis.

Serena reached out, touched Luis’s back. Felt the rock-hard, battle-ready tension in him. “The warlock,” she repeated. She didn’t know what Luis’s past was with this guy, and, yeah, the demon creeped the shit out of her, but they had to find out about the bastard after her.

A shudder passed over Luis’s body. “You want to keep breathing,” he snarled at the demon, “you answer my questions—and you tell me the
truth
.” He rammed the guy’s head back into the light pole. Metal groaned. “Got it?”

The demon’s lips formed “Yes,” but no sound escaped him.

“Stay behind me, Serena,” Luis ordered.

Fine with her. She wasn’t interested in getting any closer to the demon. He knew that she was bound. Well, partially bound. Easy prey.

Slowly, Luis lowered the demon to the ground. Jack’s feet touched down with a soft sigh. Luis eased his hold, but didn’t completely move his fingers away from the demon’s throat. “I’m looking for a warlock.”

“L-lot of ’em h-here…” the demon said, voice hoarse.

“Blond. Blue-eyed. One that makes a habit of hanging out with charmers.”

Jack blinked. “D-don’t k-know h-him. J-just got in-into t-town…”

Luis laughed and the sound chilled Serena. She was glad that she couldn’t see his face.

But over Luis’s shoulder, she could see the demon’s face—and the fear that flashed over it.

Luis lifted his hand, and Serena saw claws spring from his fingertips—
What the hell? He wasn’t a shifter.

He slashed the demon’s face. Left side. Right. Long, jagged marks dripped blood as the demon howled.

“Wrong answer,” Luis murmured.

Jack whimpered.

“Now, let’s try again, Jack, and, remember, I can tell when you lie to me…”

He could tell when the demon lied
—oh, shit! The guy was a detector!

The demon started talking then, fast. “H-he’s in one of th-those big, white houses, w-with columns, f-fancy, in R-Roswell—”

The name clicked instantly in Serena’s mind.
Roswell.
The antebellum homes. Historic district.

“G-got a b-big, bl-black gate, iron. N-name’s Michael…something. D-didn’t know y-you…were af-after him—”

“But you knew he liked to hunt witches.”

“Y-yes…”

Luis shook his head. “You knew, but you didn’t care, did you, Jack? Because you had hunting of your own to do.”

Jack didn’t reply to that.

Serena figured that was probably answer enough.

“Turn away, Serena,” Luis said, and his voice was ice cold.

Jack’s lips trembled. “N-no, witch, d-don’t, he’ll—”

“
Turn away, Serena
.”

Her shoulders stiffened. “I’m not your pet bitch, Luis. Remember that when you talk to me.”

He finally shifted to stare at her, glancing back over his shoulder. His eyes were as black as Jack’s. “Please, Serena, don’t watch me do this.”

Voice low, but hard.

She spun on her heel.

The fast and desperate cries of the demon rang in her ears.

Almost helplessly, Serena glanced back—

Luis had freed the demon’s neck. Jack was shrinking back against the post. Luis lifted his hands, palms up. The flesh of his hands—it glowed and—

She jerked her gaze away when his fingers landed on the demon’s shoulders.

The scream that she heard had her choking back her own cry.

Don’t look.
The order was her own this time.

But she looked anyway. A witch’s curiosity was a dangerous thing, and a weakness most of her kind shared. So her eyes flickered back and she saw the darkness of the demon’s eyes fade to a stark white. Heard the last rasp of his breath leave his body. Then watched as Luis lifted his hands. The demon dropped to the ground.

“I told you not to watch.” Emotionless.

Her gaze jerked to him. “Luis…” His eyes were still black and a faint glow seemed to light his flesh from the inside out.

“Witches…always curious, just like the damn cats you all used to be so sickeningly fond of.” He spared a glance for the demon on the ground. “I hope you’re burning somewhere now, asshole.”

Then he turned his back on the demon and fully faced her.

Her heart hammered in her chest and Serena realized her palms were slick with sweat. Not cold any longer, she was burning hot.

Fear could do that to a woman.

He lifted his right hand and Serena jerked back.

His mouth tightened. “You knew what I was when you summoned me, Serena.”

Yes, yes, she’d known.

“And when you fucked me.”

It was hard not to flinch at that one.

His hand was still in the air between them. Regular nails now, thank the goddess, but…“I don’t understand.” She stopped. Cleared her throat because her voice sounded too weak—and she didn’t want to be weak. “How—how did your hands change?
Cazadores
don’t come from shifters and—”

His fingers balled into a fist. “I’ve killed shifters. Dozens of them. Demons. Djinn. The ones who stalked the earth, determined to torture and murder,
I
stopped them.” Slowly, he uncurled his fist and his fingers, as they extended, had what looked to be about four-inch long claws sprouting from their tips. “Most don’t understand. They think all I do is kill, but I’m a
soul-hunter.
I hunt, and I take the powers that lurk in the souls of the
Other
, so that when they leave this world, they go out as helplessly as humans.”

I take the powers that lurk in the souls.
Oh, shit.
Shit.
“You mean—all the beings you kill—”

“I get their power.” A shrug. The claws vanished in a blink. “Think of my touch as a binding spell, sweetheart. Instead of the three marks, it just takes the grasp of my hand, and any
Other
becomes helpless. When the powers drain away, the body dies.” His lips twisted. “And my job is done.”

No regret. No guilt. “You just…kill.” No, he drained powers first,
then
he killed. Her gaze darted to the fallen demon. She shuddered.

He killed.

Just like the warlock who was after her.

Her arms wrapped around her stomach. “Why did you kill him?” OK, yeah, the guy had scared the hell out of her, but other than making her heart jump into her throat, he hadn’t actually
done
anything to her and—

“Jack fancied himself a modern-day copy of the original.”

Serena shook her head and forced her gaze back to him.
Stop looking at the dead guy.
“I don’t know what you’re—”

“Jack the Ripper.”

She blinked.

“He liked to slash his victims apart just like the original Ripper, except he didn’t go after prostitutes—he went after humans, or weak paranormals. Then he had a good old time making them scream and slicing up their flesh.”

Let’s hear you scream.

Serena rocked back. “You-you knew who he was the moment you first sensed him, didn’t you?” He’d known, and he’d let her stand there and talk to a fucking sadistic killer.

One who wanted to make her scream.

A grim nod. “You were never in any danger. I would not have—”

“Asshole!” Maybe it was a
good
thing she didn’t have her full power right then—she would have tried to fry the jerk. “How many times do I have to tell you,
I’m not bait
?” Her hands were at her sides now, fisted, because she really, really wanted to slug him.

All powerful
cazador
or not.

“Serena—” He stepped forward, reaching for her.

She threw out a spell. Sent the air to swirling around her as a force field sealed her away from his touch.