Undaunted (5 page)

Jett glanced at Azrael, and Az wished he knew what the guy was thinking. He was still holding on to Addie. Was Jett jealous? He tried to tug his hands free. Addie squeezed his fingers and held on. But Jett surprised him even more.

“Az was the one who got us there,” he said. It was impossible to read the thoughts behind that enigmatic expression. “He said if it came down to Naburus wanting to trade you for Az, that he’d willingly go back to his demon master.”

“No!” Addie’s eyes flashed and she looked ready to take a swing at him.

“Don’t worry,” Locan said, and he was grinning as broadly as Jett. “We reminded him there’s always another way, but he was willing to die if it meant your safety. You know what that means, don’t you?”

Addie nodded. So did Jett. Az didn’t have a clue what was going on. “What’s it mean?”

Addie stood on her toes and kissed him. It was sweet and gentle and yet his body didn’t realize she wasn’t inviting him to her bed. He was hard and ready before her lips left his. “It means,” she said, “that you’re going to have to join us. Somehow we have to figure out how to make you part of our team.”

“Is that even possible?” He glanced from Jett to Locan and then settled on Addie, on the sparkle in her dark brown eyes, but he was afraid to hope. Afraid of the pain if it didn’t work.

She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I don’t see why not. As long as I can keep the three of you in balance, right?” She grinned at the guys, but she was squeezing Az’s fingers and he felt the first sense of hope, the feeling that maybe he’d finally found a home far, far from hell.

“How will we know?” He glanced once again at each of them, but Addie was the one who answered.

“We’ll know. When it’s time, and if it’s going to work, we’ll know. You just have to trust us on this.” She laughed. “You wouldn’t be interested in fixing lunch, would you? I’m starved.”

And while it seemed terribly anticlimactic, Az was relieved to be back in the kitchen, doing something familiar. Or at least something that had been familiar two millennia ago.

They’d finished their meal and Jett and Locan were clearing the table and rinsing dishes when Addie suddenly stopped talking and went very still. Az glanced at Jett and Locan, and both of them had paused—Jett grabbing the last plates off the table and Locan loading the dishwasher, which, as far as Azrael was concerned, was every bit as amazing as the refrigerator and gas range.

Then Addie turned and grinned at him. “We just got orders. A demon’s creating a disturbance in Golden Gate Park.”

“That’s in San Francisco,” Jett added. “But that’s not all of it.”

Locan shook his head and laughed. “Nope. Not by a long shot. Addie? Do you want to give Az the message?”

She threw her arms around him and kissed him full on the lips. It was all he could do not to hold her close and just keep right on kissing. Over two thousand years without a woman was a damned long dry spell, but she quickly broke the kiss and leaned back in his embrace, better to look him in the eye, he figured.

“We just got our directions to the next job, but this time it was totally different. Want to know how?”

He nodded. Of course he wanted to know!

“We got the coordinates, which is all we usually hear, but this time there was an added set of instructions. ‘Bring the hound.’” She kissed him again. “Can you still take your hellhound form?”

He nodded.

“Good. Grab your weapons, boys. I’ve got Az.”

He shifted, surprised at how easy it was to take his hellhound shape. Addie leapt on his back, Locan and Jett stood at either side and buried their fingers in his thick fur, and the cavern kitchen disappeared. He blinked just once, and they were standing in the dark woods of what appeared to be an urban park. He’d heard of San Francisco, had in fact gathered quite a few souls from the City by the Bay, but not this time. This time, he was here to hunt demons.

Chapter 5

Addie raised her head and sniffed the air. The stench of sulfur was strong, the sense of someone nearby even stronger. Someone who wasn’t a demon. Frowning, she glanced down from her perch on the huge hellhound, staring at the two powerful men standing behind her.

Locan and Jett were both grinning. “Don’t worry, Addie. They’re watching to see how we do. It’s sort of a field test, ya know?”

“Don’t worry, he says.” Addie tightened her thighs against his sides. “Az? You’ve got the best nose. Should I just tell you to fetch?”

That works.
Azrael spun to the left and raised his nose in the air.
Demon,
he said.
This way.

They raced toward bright lights and the sounds of many people. Addie clung to Az while the guys ran alongside. She knew they were fast, but honestly, she didn’t think she’d ever seen them put on a burst of speed like this.

They swept down over a low hill and kept to the shadows. Addie searched in all directions, opening her senses to the stench, the sound, the very essence of demon, but it was Az who spotted the beast first. He came to an abrupt halt behind some heavy shrubbery with the guys on either side.

Addie rose to her knees on her perch high atop Azrael’s furry back until she could see over the bushes. The demon wasn’t moving all that fast, but he was definitely heading in the direction of human activity, and right now he was out in the open, fully visible beneath the soft lights running along a stone pathway.

Addie leapt off Az’s back and marched boldly out of the shadows, into the light. “Hey, demon!” She struck a pose and cocked one hip. The huge beast slowly turned. Addie’s first thought was that this was the ugliest creature she’d ever seen. Then it screeched and attacked.

No, it was even faster than it was ugly, its arms longer than she’d expected. A meaty paw flashed out and she ducked. The creature’s claws brushed through her short hair, a fraction of an inch from her head. Rolling to miss its clawed feet, she drew her sword as she stood.

But Az and the guys were already in motion. Azrael went for the creature’s throat while Locan slashed across the backs of its thick legs with his long sword, and Jett ran his blade through what should have been its heart.

Obviously, it wasn’t, but Az’s superior size and strength took the demon down. He backed off, spitting out disgusting globs of black blood. Jett’s sword came free and he raised it over his head, slashing downward in one beautiful killing stroke.

The demon’s huge, horned head rolled away, the body simmered and steamed for a moment and then turned to a puddle of nasty black goo.

Jett and Locan wiped their swords off on the short grass, but Az was rubbing his mouth on the ground, obviously still trying to get rid of the foul taste.

“Shift, Az. It’ll all go away.”

Az shifted, and Addie almost swallowed her tongue. It was one thing to see him this morning in the kitchen, standing in front of the stove wearing a pair of Locan’s old sweats with an apron around his waist, sexy and domestic and sort of adorable. But now, his tall, sleek body aroused from the battle, muscles gleaming and cock standing high and proud, Azrael looked like a damned god, beautiful beyond belief. Addie swallowed deeply, clenching her hands into fists to keep from reaching out to touch. She didn’t look at Jett or Locan. She couldn’t. The only one she could see was Azrael. Her hellhound.

* * *

When he shifted, the taste was gone, but not the memory. Az rubbed his mouth against his forearm. “Yuck. I wish you’d told me that sooner. That tastes horrible.”

Addie sort of shook herself, then she patted him almost tentatively on the shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her waist. “How’d I do? Do you think that was okay?”

Blinking for a moment, as if she was still a bit shaken from the battle, Addie glanced toward Jett and Locan and the three of them burst out laughing. “You’re kidding, right? That was one of the cleanest kills we’ve ever had. You’re good, Az. And when you’re in hellhound mode, you’re definitely bigger and stronger than the three of us.” She glanced at him, and then she focused once again on Jett and Locan. “I think we make a great team. What about you guys?”

“I agree.” Jett shook his hand, but Locan said, “Me, too,” threw his arm around Az’s neck, and gave him a big kiss.

In retrospect, Az figured Locan meant to plant a big one on his cheek, but the demon hunter’s move startled him. Az turned at the last moment, and Locan kissed him full on the mouth.

His first reaction was shock. He’d never kissed a man. Never been kissed by a man, but his next reaction—coming a split second after the first—was to kiss Locan back.

Everything else sort of faded away. His entire world narrowed to the places where their bodies touched, to the sounds of their breathing, the rapid pounding of two hearts racing. Somehow his arm had slipped from Addie’s waist and now wrapped tightly about Locan’s back. His other hand was cupping the back of Locan’s skull, tangled in all that thick, silvery hair; he felt the rhythmic pressure of the man’s groin grinding against his, and the soft, mobile slide of lips and tongue, the bump of teeth.

Addie wrapped her arms around him on one side and Jett completed the link on the other. He and Locan were still kissing when they dematerialized in Golden Gate Park and reappeared on the edge of the underground pool deep within the cavern the demon hunters called home.

* * *

Addie could barely get her clothes off, her hands shook so badly, and she wasn’t sure if it was lust or fear that had her totally rattled. She’d barely gotten used to seeing Az as a human male, a man so big and beautiful she itched to touch him, to be touched by him. Yeah, she’d worried about how the guys would feel with a man as sexy as Az in their midst, but she’d been a damned fool, thinking her only worry was that they might prefer him to her.

Instead, she should be worried about her own reaction. She wanted him. Wanted him in so many ways she didn’t even limit herself by listing the options. He was absolutely beautiful, and watching him kiss Locan had just about sent her over the edge. The visual had made her so wet, her beautiful demon-leather pants were absolutely soaked through.

She cast them aside without another thought as she quickly stripped out of her clothes. Heart thudding erratically in her chest, it was almost impossible to draw enough air to keep from feeling lightheaded.

All she wanted was to touch him. Kiss him. Maybe just stand here for a moment and drink in the beautiful man she’d loved as a hellhound. The one she’d never imagined as a man.

And what a man!

Dark hair curled behind his ears and brushed his shoulders, a deep sable brown against golden skin. His eyes, shaded in thick black lashes, were green, a glorious emerald green that sparkled with humor and darkened with passion. His body was as perfect as a marble sculpture, and just as hard. He had the honed physique of a centurion, a gladiator of old with perfect proportions—the length and strength of the greatest of ancient warriors.

He was smart and funny, warm and caring . . . and damn, but the man could even cook. With that thought in mind, Addie glanced his way, grinning like an idiot, and he reached for her. Took her hand and led her into the steaming water of the bathing pool.

Jett and Locan threw off the last of their clothing and followed. The three men surrounded Addie, and she felt unusually petite, ringed in by so much masculinity. Three perfect men, each unique, each one beautiful in his own way.

And all of them focused solely on her. She flashed a grin from Locan to Jett, and finally settled on Azrael. Then she rubbed her hands together. “Well?” Still grinning because she just couldn’t stop, Addie shrugged and slowly shook her head. “Don’t forget, boys. It’s all about balance.”

* * *

Az wanted Addie. He had since the first time he saw her, trapped as he’d been in that dank cave by the sea. A hellhound, cursed to serve a demon forever until fate and an angry goddess had freed him from hell—only to imprison him once again, in even worse straits.

Addie had shown absolutely no fear when she’d approached him. When she’d given him fresh water and rubbed behind his ears and treated him with love. With respect. He’d forgotten what it felt like, to be treated as a living, breathing
, thinking
creature. One who mattered.

For that alone he would love her. For her fearlessness, her sweet smile and her honor, for her bravery and her love for her men. He wanted, more than anything, to be one of those men. One Addie loved.

He reached for her, took her hand, and swallowed back a cheer when she linked her fingers in his. Then he glanced at the men standing on either side of her, and risked everything. “I want to make love to Addie first, before you show me how to love you. I won’t deny I’m both curious and concerned, but Addie gives me strength.”

Locan nodded. Jett smiled and said, “Addie has made all of us stronger. That’s who she is. What she is. She is our strength and she keeps us in balance. Love her, Az. You’ll see exactly what we mean.”

Locan and Jett stepped aside. Obviously stunned by their words, Addie glanced at the men before she slipped her hands around Az’s neck. It had been so long. So many hundreds of years since his wife and child had died, and there’d been no other after their deaths.

But he remembered. His body remembered, and he pulled Addie close and kissed her. Jett and Locan were right there, but Addie was his focus. She was all that mattered. For now.

The warm water lapped about his waist and her lips were cool at first—cool and soft and so sweet, moving over his. Their lips warmed with the contact, with the depth of their kiss, and her tongue touched the sensitive spot just inside his lower lip, stroked gently until he met her, thrust for thrust.

Her hands slid up and down his sides. He cupped one full breast and groaned with the thrust of her nipple against his palm. His left hand slipped beneath the curve of her buttocks, fingers stroking smooth, firm skin as he lifted her against him. Her legs tightened about his hips and he broke their kiss, drawing a deep breath and lowering his head, taking that taut nipple in his mouth, sucking hard as she thrust against him, bowing her back, pressing her hot sex tight against his groin.