The Demon Hunter (17 page)

“Yes, they’re gone.” She frowned. “At least I think so.”

He pulled away, settling back. Needing distance before he did something stupid.

“No.” She pressed her hands into the damp earth and struggled to sit up, her hair falling in waves down her back. “Don’t.” For one long moment, she merely stared at him, electricity pulsing between them. He couldn’t help but notice the flush to her cheeks, the way her pupils were dilated, and knew he looked much the same way. Need. Desire. Attraction.

“Don’t what?” he asked softly.

“Don’t pull away.” She swallowed hard. “You’re healed?” On her knees, she crawled the few feet to him, pausing close, so close he could feel the heat of her breath.

He nodded, wondering why she asked. “All healed.”

She leaned forward, her breasts brushing softly against his chest. Lust surged through is body, an all-consuming need he couldn’t control. Hell, he couldn’t do this. Couldn’t be this close to her. Couldn’t be with her day after day without having her completely.

“You’re sure?” She wrapped her arms around his waist and spread her hands across his back, resting the side of her face against his neck.

Why the hell was she torturing him? Devon closed his eyes, resisting the urge to groan. “I tend to heal more quickly than others. And I think somehow your powers helped.”

She gripped the hem of his t-shirt and slowly lifted the shredded material, pulling it over his head and tossing it aside. He didn’t dare protest her boldness. He wanted her too badly. She pressed her warm hands to his chest, her gaze locked to his, as if daring him to deny her. Like hell he would. Her touch sent him reeling and he was acutely reminded of their lips meeting. Her soft body sinking into his…

“You produced the storm?” she said, tilting her head back and staring directly into his eyes. “What else can you do?”

Damn, but it was hard to concentrate with her so close. “I can harness the power of nature.”

She quirked a brow. “Anything to do with nature?”

He nodded, his hands fisting at his sides as he resisted the urge to grab her and slam his pelvis to hers. “I suppose.”

“Make it snow.”

“What?” He tried to keep track of the conversation, but it was hard with her hands on his stomach.

“Snow. Make it snow.”

He paused for a moment, contemplating her odd request. For some reason, he had the insane thought that he would give her anything at the moment. Slowly, he lifted his hands and closed his eyes. He imagined the flakes twirling and spinning toward them, a white land of purity. Moments later, he felt the whisper of cold flakes hitting his skin, melting against his warm flesh. He wasn’t surprised, yet Ellie was.

“My God,” she whispered.

Devon opened his eyes. White snowflakes settled on her hair, contrasting against the dark strands. Tiny crystals clung to her lashes and made her seem like a fairy maiden from long ago. Ellie laughed, the sound like angels singing. When she looked at him, her gaze sparkling with surprise and mirth, he could no longer hold back. Devon grasped her upper arms and pulled her forward.

With the snow falling around them, pressing chill kisses to their skin, Devon molded his lips to hers. She didn’t stiffen in surprise, didn’t pull back in anger. God help her, Ellie sank into him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, her every curve molded to his body.

Warmth and electricity swept through his very being, making his skin tingle with a feeling he’d never experienced before. Devon was whole, grounded here on this earth for the first time in a long, long while. Her lips parted on a sigh, and taking advantage, he slid his tongue into her warm mouth.

But deepening the kiss only fueled his lust. Devon sank his fingers into her silky hair, cupping the back of her head. He couldn’t stop. Had to have more. She met his tongue thrust for thrust, pressing her lush breasts to him and urging him onward, but still it wasn’t enough.

What would she look like naked, with only the moonlight upon her body? How would those lush breasts feel in his palms? His cock thickened, throbbing almost painfully.

When he could take no more, when he wanted to shove her backward and thrust into her body, he finally pulled away. “Too much. You taste too sweet,” he whispered, dropping kisses to her jaw line, lower to the elegant column of her neck.

Lord, he couldn’t control himself. As the snow fell softly around them, whispers of comfort that drifted from the sky, she leaned backward falling to the soft moss. Devon stretched his body atop hers, pressing his lips to her sweet mouth for another devastating kiss. So many years. It had been so damn long without touching…feeling, another human being. Her hands roamed over his bare back, her fingers, warm, kneading the muscle and urging him onward.

The only sound was the soft pant of her breath as his lips moved from her neck to her collarbone, and the softer swoosh of snowflakes falling from the sky, melting upon his bare back, settling around them and peppering the moss with crystals that sparkled in the moonlight. Crystals that landed upon her clothing and hair and made her shine like the ethereal being she was.

Devon found the hem of her t-shirt, eager to see her… all of her. She arched her back, allowing him easy access to the garment. The shirt gone, he hesitated. Her chest was covered by an odd undergarment he wasn’t sure how to remove. Small cups that covered her breasts, hiding them from view, yet pushing them into soft mounds that begged to be touched.

His fingers hovered over the white straps. With a pitiful plea, he asked, “help me.”

She reached around her back, and unclicked a clasp. “There.”

His hands trembled as he slid his fingers under the white straps across her shoulders and slid the garment down her arms. She couldn’t be real. This must be a dream. Heat swept through his body, an aching need settling deep within his groin. She was perfect, a piece of art, proof that heaven existed.

Unable to wait a moment longer, he cupped her soft breasts, the mauve nipples puckered and hard under his palms. Snowflakes kissed her chest, melting against her skin leaving tiny droplets of water that he wanted to lick from her flesh. Devon leaned down and brushed a kiss to each soft breast. Ellie sucked in a breath, her fingers slipping into his hair, gripping the strands almost painfully.

“Do you want me, Ellie?” He took a hardened nipple between his lips and drew the puckered nub into his mouth. Ellie gasped, arching her back. “Tell me you want me.”

“I do,” she whispered. “Please, Devon.”

Her admittance sent his senses spinning and an odd need pulsed between them, a need to feel, to touch, to experience more in this world then pain and death. Did she feel it? The connection? He didn’t miss the way her hands trembled as they moved from his shoulders, down his biceps. Even as he knew his feelings were wrong, he prayed she felt the same way.

Devon found the waistband of her trousers. She didn’t push aside his hands like the virginal blushing maidens he’d known in his former life. Instead, Ellie lifted her hips as he pulled the trousers down her smooth thighs, uncovering a tiny undergarment that hid her femininity.

Lord, she smelled lovely, like lilacs and woman. He slid his finger underneath that small triangle and pulled the material to the side. He had to taste her. He pushed her thighs apart and settled his mouth against her mound.

Ellie gasped, calling out his name as his tongue swept between her damp folds. Euphoria. She tasted as sweet as she smelled. Desire jolted through him. He could no longer hold back. With a growl, he pulled down the thin underclothing and tossed the material aside so she was completely naked. No shame, no embarrassment, she only looked at him as if she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Tucking his feet underneath him, he surged upward, quickly tearing free his own clothing. His erection pulsed forward, long and hard. He would deny himself no longer. Naked, he stretched atop her, skin to skin, heat to heat.

“You’re so warm,” she whispered, nuzzling her face against his shoulder. Her body was damp from the snowflakes, chilled from the cold. He would make her hot, burning for his touch.

“How long it’s been since I’ve kissed another.” His mouth found hers, his tongue delving between her warm lips. He captured her with that kiss. When he nudged her thighs apart with his knee, she eagerly spread her legs. There was no hesitation on her part. His erection grew painful as it rested against the silky folds of her femininity. How he wanted to surge into her warmth, soak in her essence.

Devon moaned against her mouth. How much more must he endure? His right hand slid over her hip, down her thigh. He shifted, bringing his hand up her body toward those sweet folds. How many years had it been since he’d had a woman? Caught in a world of pain and torture. And now here… between her soft thighs… it was like heaven. His hand brushed over the soft curls, his fingers slipping between her damp folds. So ready. She was so damn ready for him.

He pulled his fingers free of her tight sheath. “Do you want this, Ellie?”

He shifted once more, pressing his erection between her folds. Although it was cold in the night, sweat dampened his skin. Surely she knew that this could change everything between them. With baited breath, he awaited her answer.

She boldly stared into his eyes. “Yes, I want you now.”

Her fingernails bit into his back, urging him forward. Her plea was more than he could bear. Devon lifted his hips and surged into her warmth. His entire body gave a delicious shudder as she tightened around him. For a moment, he didn’t move, merely savored the feel of being held close.

Ellie gasped and hooked her shapely legs over his thighs, taking him deeper still. Devon had never felt anything so wonderfully sweet. Bloody hell, he never wanted to leave her warmth. He never wanted to leave this woman. It felt as if he’d returned home, returned to where he belonged.

“Oh God, you feel so good,” she mumbled against his shoulder, lifting her hips to his.

“Slow down,” he whispered into her hair. “I beg of you.”

Even as he said the words, he couldn’t help but touch her. She was ripe for him. Devon slid his hands around her back, cupping her curvy arse. He felt mad with her touch, mad with the need for her. The fire coursing through his body was almost insatiable. His soul hummed for more. His body demanded satisfaction.

Devon lifted ever so slightly, then surged into her warmth again and again. He didn’t need to ask if she enjoyed their lovemaking, the evidence was clear in the husky gasp of her breath, in the lust-filled glaze of her eyes, in the way she lifted her hips, meeting him thrust for thrust. She was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. Beyond this earth, even beyond heavens. She was made of the stars.

“Devon,” her voice trembled.

Her sheath tightened around his shaft, her body clung to him. His groin ached with the need for release, but he would see her come before he did. He watched the way her face glowed, the way her body shivered. He didn’t want to miss a moment of her release. He lifted his hips, surging into her once more.

Ellie cried out, arching her back as her body trembled. Lord, he felt her all the way into his soul. Devon’s skin tingled, his body taut as his mind cried out to take her, all of her. Finally, he gave in.

Ellie clung to him with a desperate need that fed his soul. “Yes, Devon, please!”

He surged into her one last time, exploding into oblivion. At the same time, she cried out, clenching around him, squeezing him dry. Time stood still, the euphoria lingering on waves and waves of pleasure that pulsed between them. For one moment, he merely savored the feeling of being completely and utterly whole again.

But all too soon he floated back into reality, his body sated, his soul satisfied… for now. Not even his wife had aroused such desire within him. Was it their powers combined? The force of the dark arts?

Bemused, he rolled off her, his back hitting the damp moss as he stared up at the skeletal branches. The snow had stopped, the night quiet, but for their harsh breathing. What the hell had just happened? He swore they’d left this earthen plane. He swore she’d taken a piece of his soul. He pressed his hand to his chest, just to make sure his heart still beat.

He could feel the warmth of her body next to his, hear the soft pant of her breath, smell her scent… Already he missed being inside her. He could admit to himself that he had needed this… needed her. His body felt cleansed, replenished in some way by their lovemaking. Perhaps her energy had entered his body, perhaps they had combined in some inexplicable way.

Yet, a part of him felt guilty. That Victorian man deep down. He had no intentions of marrying her, and, in fact, would probably be sent to the afterlife once this was all over. Did she expect more, merely because they’d been intimate?

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice gruff.

She sat up, her startled gaze landing on him. “Why?”

Her question confused him, flustered him. No Victorian woman would ever ask such a thing. No, a Victorian woman would either be crying with shame, or planning her wedding by this point. She obviously didn’t feel bad, so why did he? “Because… we shouldn’t have.”

She smiled, but was it his imagination, or did her smile not quite reach her eyes? “Don’t be sorry. It was… nice.”

Annoyed, Devon sat upright and reached for his trousers.
Nice
? Not exactly the praise a man wanted after making a woman come. Besides, it was more than
nice
. It was bloody amazing and she knew it. Christ, his body still hummed. But he’d be damned if he’d argue the point. Instead, Devon stood and pulled on his short trousers, ignoring the way his body still trembled. Why was she acting as if their lovemaking didn’t matter?