A Very Demon Christmas [Demon Hunters 1] (11 page)

The pity underlying her blunt words was a real ass chapper. He swallowed back a roar of frustration. This time he didn't hesitate. He ended the call and threw the phone toward the couch.

If Belinda was right, and the witch was uncannily accurate about demon biology as well as the arcane arts, then he might already be permanently bound to Holly.

If he stayed away from her, avoiding any more sex, then just maybe there was a chance the mating bond wouldn't take. There had to be some kind of warning before a male, especially a human-dominant latent was permanently tied to one female for the rest of his sorry life. Even if he was a lost cause, since she hadn't been fertile, there was still a chance for her.

He speared his fingers through his hair. They needed to talk.

The bathroom door wasn't locked, not that a lock would've stopped him or even slowed him much. Holly had just finished washing her hands. She reached for the stack of towels he kept handy. But what was handy for him was a bent-over-stretch-across-the-counter reach for her.

Her towel retrieval move put her very perfect, very full, and very naked ass right there, practically in his face.

He reached to stroke the soft, soft skin of her bottom. But when he moved closer, he grasped her hip, and his cock slid between her lush thighs, rubbing against the wet satin of her feminine folds. She hummed and tilted her butt to give him better access.

Tilting her fine ass might as well have been a flaming red cape waved at charging bull. He was only half human. His other half was horny air demon, and there was no way he was going to pull back when she was happy to see him and plainly willing to let his throbbing shaft into her hot, wet, and so-fucking-tight cunt.

His inner beast roared to the front, seized control, and plunged into her.

Colin's will was burned away in the flames. Resistance gone, he was swept along on the erotic ride. He loved every second he spent in her sweet body. Holding on to her luscious hips with both hands, he pumped into her in a lazy stroke that made him shudder at the unbearable pleasure of rubbing his achy rod in and out of her sizzling channel. He leaned over her smooth back and nipped the side of her pale neck, marking her with his teeth, his scent, and the slow burn of his cock.

"Can't get enough of you,” he growled against her cute little ear.

Holly whimpered. “More...I want more...Master."

The whimper, the words, her scent—everything about her did it for him. He craved her, which made him the real slave in their relationship. Not something he planned to share anytime soon. He drove deeper and rasped a command like he was in charge. “Come for me, baby."

She obeyed his order, eagerly yelling a scream of total satisfaction that amped his own excitement meter straight into the red zone. Fresh hot cream slathered over his iron shaft while the flutters from her aftershocks pulled the cum from his balls and tugged him into rapture.

Once they were both limp from pleasure and panting for breath, sanity and regret returned, punching him hard. What he'd done was unforgivable. He had to tell her what she was risking—had to make her understand the dangers of his world.
But how in the hell was he going to protect her from bonding if he couldn't resist her?

Still unable to stop touching her, he rubbed little circles on the soft skin of her belly, then cleared his throat. “We need to talk, baby."

Holly's soft, smooth body, so comfortable under him a second before, quivered with tension. His unrepentant cock stirred, thickening again. He forced himself to leave the ease of her sweet sex. He fisted his hands to keep from reaching for her again and moved a step away. Searching for the right words to reassure her, he glanced at her rigid back.

Between her delicate shoulders an intricate design was carefully etching. Each small green scale glowed briefly as it formed, then became part of her.

New guilt and regret squeezed his heart. He repeated, “We need to talk."

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Colin's frozen expression added more bad news to the ominous we-have-to-talk phrase. She was relatively inexperienced but not terminally stupid. She understood
we have to talk
was guy code for
someone better just came along.
She should have backed meekly out of his life, but for some reason, her usually mild temper riled, and she was in no mood to be either quiet or nice. “Fine, let's start with who was on the phone a moment ago."

The man—demon, whatever—stared at her with a strange mixture of sorrow and horror as if she'd just broken out in an ugly rash. She took a quick scan of what she could see of herself and noticed nothing wrong, except her usual ghost complexion and plump body. In view of his passionate lovemaking, it was little too late for him to act repulsed. She folded her arms under her breasts in a like-it-or-lump-it pose and prompted him. “A female you're mating was the main topic of conversation."

"You heard that?"

She mentally rolled her eyes. “If you want to keep your conversations private, then you might want to turn down the volume."

"The volume is set on one, and you're the female I'm mating—mated. Fuck."

"Thanks anyway. I'm not in the mood,” she snapped.

"Got that,” he said mildly and met her gaze with what looked like heat and maybe even something more. Tugging open a drawer, he pulled out a handheld mirror and offered it to her. “Better check out your back."

Still more than miffed, Holly accepted the mirror stiffly, turned, and lifted her arm high enough to examine her backside. She blinked. But the weird tattoo was still there. Tiny realistic-looking scales overlapped to form a huge elongated triangle. The top side stretched from one shoulder blade to the other; the other two sides narrowed to a point at her tailbone. She had no idea how Collin had managed to apply the body art, but she didn't think it was funny. “That better be a temporary transfer."

"Nope."

She ignored his certainty and helped herself to cotton balls and rubbing alcohol. Swabbing at the design over her tailbone didn't remove a single green scale, but it did send sparks of arousal shooting through every cell of her body. Both sets of her cheeks heated, and she grabbed a bath towel to cover her taut nipples. After wrapping her nakedness in terry, she sank onto the closed toilet seat. Discouraged and a little lost, she murmured, “The markings seem permanent."

"Looks like I'm not the only latent in the room.” His tone was even, but his expression defined grim.

"Hold on. That's a heck of big leap from weird marks on my back to I'm part monster."

Glints of pain flickered in Colin's dark eyes, and the fine muscles around his mouth tightened to white lines.

Holly absorbed his hurt feelings in a wave of empathy during the small flash of time before his face reverted to his default stone mask. Sensing his pain made her feel like she was a nasty, thoughtless monster. How many times had she been hurt, growing up—and even now—by strangers’ and friends’ thoughtless comments about her size? Unhelpful advice on how she needed to lose weight for the sake of her health, or her love life, or worse—backhanded compliments—
"You have such a pretty face, if only..."
“I'm so very sorry, I didn't mean that. You told me demons are just another type of humanoid, and I believe you."

Maybe, sort of, mostly, as long as I wasn't one of them.

"But I hadn't exactly planned on switching species,” she added ruefully.

The corners of Colin's mouth quirked. “Best laid plans..."

Holly tried to smile like a good sport, but tears pooled and splashed down her face. First, fantastic sex with the almost human guy of her dreams, then mating talk—which she certainly was not buying—and now he wanted her to believe that a previously unsuspected demon heritage had manifested.

Everything caught up with her, and she dissolved into a sobbing mess.

Folding her in tight against his hard body, he surrounded her with warmth and comfort. Even the erection lying against her belly offered her a friendly reminder that there were definite benefits to demon blood.

While keeping her in the shelter of his embrace, Colin used a corner of the bath towel to pat her tears dry. “You are exactly the same wonderful female you've always been. Your demon DNA isn't something that happened two minutes ago. Your genetics haven't changed, and they don't rule the kind of person you are."

His words made sense, and his deep voice soothed the sharpest edges off her fears. “What do the scales mean—aside from strongly suggesting a demon heritage? Is sharper hearing part of what's different? Will my other senses be affected? Will there be more changes? Why is this happening now?"

He hugged her and stroked her back, which felt way too good. “Slow down, baby. We're going to take this one thing at a time. The green scales, right?"

She nodded.

"They indicate you have some water demon blood. Makes sense. Water demons are natural healers and usually female. The sharper hearing comes along with better eyesight—especially night vision. Each sense is keener in a demon—not a bad thing.” He grinned, and that made her feel much better than a smile should.

Then he rambled on in the deep reassuring voice she loved so much. “How much keener varies. So does improvements in strength, speed, health, and life expectancy. I can't tell whether or not there will be more changes for you. There's very little that's for sure about mixed bloods. They're too rare. Same goes for why now—I don't know. But your demon sign is probably my fault—sex can be a powerful agent for change."

Although she'd always been fairly empathetic, now Holly felt Colin's guilt and regret with a startling new clarity. A big clue that the design on her back and sharper ears weren't the only things different. She was still scared and uncertain about the changes, but she wasn't going to let Colin blame himself for something he hadn't done. “This is not your fault. There was no way you could know I had demon ancestors. Not when I didn't even know."

She pulled back so she could see his gorgeous worried face. “I do have another question."

The concerned frown eased, and he cocked one eyebrow, which made him look a little more demonish but didn't make him even a tiny bit less deliciously sexy. For a few seconds, her question left her thoughts as she eyed his hard body with its beautiful muscles and no visible body fat, then she remembered what she'd wanted to ask. “Do demons burn more calories?"

A frown creased his forehead again. “Maybe. I'm not sure. Are you hungry?"

She shook her head. “No, not right this moment.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I was hoping I might slim down a little."

His frown deepened into a scowl and then softened when he molded her hips approvingly. “You have a typical water demon's body—the perfect heart-shaped ass, full thighs, round belly, and lush breasts—the ideal form to breed and nurture young."

He was serious. Sincerity practically rolled off him in waves. He actually liked the way she was shaped—more than liked. He found her shape sexy. She glanced down at the wide hips and thick legs she'd hated forever. “I'm glad I have what you like."

"I do know there's more to you.” He kissed her eyes closed.

Perhaps she'd learn to truly appreciate her full figure, since her shape made Colin happy.

Another kiss landed on the tip of her nose. Automatically she tilted her chin to give him better access to her mouth. But when his lips brushed hers, she remembered what she really wanted to know. “What all does mating entail?"

His lips parted, and she placed a finger against the amazing softness of his mouth's fine skin to keep him from answering. “I can sense your emotions clearly. Maybe it's not quite mind reading, but I can tell you intend to evade the question."

"You read my feelings?"

"Surprise. Perhaps shocked isn't too strong a word? Am I right?"

He nodded a grim agreement. “You nailed it. That sucks."

"I've always been empathetic. Maybe whatever is happening between us boosted my gift. I'm sorry you can't read my thoughts—well, a little sorry.” She grinned.

"Makes sense that I can't. Some female demons are like that—complete blanks.” He raked his fingers through his thick hair. “Mating bond affects males first. I'm bound, but you aren't."

"What exactly does bound mean?"

He swallowed hard and then cleared his throat before speaking. “I'm very protective of you, and I want to have sex a whole lot."

"There's more, isn't there?"

He nodded unhappily.

While she wanted to make him happy, she needed to understand what was happening even more. “Tell me, please."

"I want to be with you 24-7. It's physically hard for me to let you out of my sight. The longer we're apart, the harder it is for me to deal with the separation."

"What happens if we're apart for days?"

"I'm miserable."

She sensed his answer was honest but that there was more to this bonding process than he'd shared. “Tell me the rest."

This time he shook his head. Not a lie, just a refusal.

He would tell her everything she wanted to know eventually. She was certain of this, but she already had plenty to think about, and she wasn't going to push her stubborn Master to share every secret tonight. Not when there were far more interesting things for them to share.

The way he nipped the side of her neck sent searing heat through her, especially in the artery he was nibbling and the smaller vessels responsible for tightening her nipples harder than buttons, and the way-too-efficient blood supply soaking her pussy with arousal.

More questions could definitely wait.

Colin's hot breath teased her ear. “Do you care why I need you more than I need air? Do you have to understand why I need to keep you safe? Do you need the biology behind why I have to fuck you every possible way you can be fucked?"

"A little, but not enough to ask you to stop or even slow down,” she admitted too breathily.

His hand skimmed toward her breasts in an irritatingly poky pace. A groan, half regret and half excitement, escaped from her lips.