Demon Crossings (15 page)

He’d taken her like one, rutting like any wild creature—trying not to lose sight of his reasons and his strategies. None of that seemed to matter now. Not with Grace trembling in his arms, swallowing down tears. She cried without making a sound. He’d never seen anything like it.

She gasped in a deep breath and slowly, eased. “I’m sorry. That was good. It’s not…I think I needed to release the stress from these last few days.”

He brushed his lips against her temple. “It’s been a lot for you to take in. This has to be hard.”

He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a tissue, sliding it down his chest to press into her hands. “Maybe,” he said cautiously, “this wasn’t the best idea.”

She lifted her head, red-rimmed eyes fixed on his, so bright, lips tight. He’d bruised those lips. Even clamped together, they looked swollen, plump and glossy. He hadn’t been gentle.

“I…needed that.” Her lips twisted when she realized she was repeating back the same words he’d told her the other night. “I did. I don’t regret anything.”

He put his hands under her arms and dragged her soft warm body up and over his chest. He kissed her then, tenderly, as he should have done before he screwed her brains out.

But this time, she pulled away first, bracing herself on her arms, those luscious breasts swaying above him. He forced himself to look at her face and felt a tug deep inside at the small self-mocking smile there. She was already closing herself off. He might have touched her just for an instant when she’d shattered around his cock but it was over now. With her next breath, her walls were back up and she laughed, curls bouncing around her face. She dropped a kiss to his chin and sat up, twisting around to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. He tucked his hand behind his head and watched her go. The narrow line of her back, the sweetly extravagant swell of her hips. She hopped off the bed and tugged on her clothes, turning to look at him shyly when she was dressed.

“We were going to meet out at the lake this afternoon. You’ll be riding with Christian this time so I can grab Hallie. We’ve modified the saddles and want to try them out. We’ll see if you can get a better fix on her when you’re standing at the portal. Can you handle that?”

“Yes. When are we leaving?”

He glanced at the clock and swore under his breath. “An hour. Damn. I barely have time to get the horse saddled.”

No time for a shower then—the hounds would be able to smell him all over her. Fen had been strangely protective of their little psychic and this might push him over the edge when Aiden needed everyone’s focus on the task at hand. Stupid. He shouldn’t have touched her.

“I need to use the bathroom.”

He watched her go.

She was so beautiful and he was an idiot. He hadn’t been with anyone in five years. One woman about a year after Bea died when he was drunk and lonely and Bea’s parents had Hallie for the weekend. It had been so unsatisfying that he hadn’t bothered since. Then after Hallie was taken all of his energy was directed at finding out whether she was still alive and bringing her home.

He liked Grace, what he knew of her, which essentially amounted to the fact that she was willing to risk her life for Hallie’s sake and that she had the most magnificent pair of breasts God had ever created.

In other circumstances, it could grow into something more than just like, more than just desire. He was afraid that for him at least, it was already past that point. But this wasn’t about love for Grace either. She was lonely. He could see that in her. Something had made her almost painfully aloof. There was her gift and the past she wouldn’t share, that empty locket she wore around her neck. But she wanted the connection. He watched her eat up the friendship the others extended to her but he couldn’t afford to offer her anything more than this, an illusion of love if not the substance. He thought Grace knew it too but she was so starving that she didn’t care.

This place, the townspeople and his responsibilities, owned him. All they could do was pretend for a while—that he was free and that she really wanted him. That they would survive and bring Hallie back alive. That there might be a future. He could still keep his heart out of it. He could keep it all in perspective so he’d be able to risk her life to save Hallie. He’d be able to watch her walk away when the time came.

Aiden rolled to his feet, grabbed a clean shirt out of the closet and pulled it on, listening to the faucet run in the bathroom. God, he was an idiot.

The twins were aloft, circling above the lake. The sun hit the water through a gap in the trees, sparking orange and white off the wind-cast ripples. There weren’t any boats in the water. Fen had told her that this lake was surrounded by Æsir owned land. No campers. No hikers. Understandably, the people of Ragnarok took trespassing seriously. Not even the Æsir descendants came here often, considering the place cursed. You wouldn’t know it from here, standing on one of the cliffs that surrounded the lake. It was beautiful, serene, deceptive.

Aiden hadn’t spoken to her other than to suggest she wear jeans and the boots he’d produced, her size but already broken in. She wondered whose they were but one look at his face and she’d swallowed the question. Distant didn’t describe his expression and she didn’t really want to talk to him anyway. Not yet. Not until she had time to process what she’d done and her unexpected reaction to it.

She wasn’t a monk. She had sex, not a lot but enough to know this was different. This wasn’t simple lust. He’d broken open some secret place deep inside of her and instead of satisfaction, all she felt was more need, an aching desire to be held again. And she hated it, especially since he’d been so clear on his boundaries going in. Easy to accept then. She’d thought she could handle it but then she blubbered all over him like a baby. She didn’t know how to explain it, not even to herself. So she’d wrapped her arms around his waist and they’d ridden silently to the park.

Fen stood at the edge of a group of about five men, all tall, all dark-haired and broad-shouldered and all with that rough-edged kind of look to them. They would have been right at home in a biker bar. Out of place in the woods, unless it was to hide a body. She was feeling out of place herself and he was the only person other than Aiden she knew here so…

Fen inhaled sharply as she approached and actually did a double take. She looked down at herself then back at him. “What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. You okay?”

She scuffed at a buried rock with her toe. “Yeah.”

Fen studied her face with a focus that was disturbing—as if his hackles were raised—and she didn’t know why. Yesterday when he left, he’d been warm and friendly, teasing her about her hair. And while she didn’t think his hostility was directed at her exactly, it still made her uneasy.

She cast around for something to change the subject. “No motorcycle today?”

“We’ll turn here and leave the clothes for one of the hunters to grab. We generally hunt after a crossing and then run home.”

“Ah.”

“You still don’t quite believe it do you?”

“I do. In my head anyway. It’s a lot to process.”

His expression softened and he flung an arm around her shoulders. There was nothing sexual in it. She’d seen him do the same to Rane yesterday, right before he ruffled her hair and nudged her out the door. “You’re doing just fine, city girl. If it gets to be too much just let me know and I’ll run interference for you. Aiden can go too far sometimes.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.” He winced. “That is…unless you need to talk to someone about what’s going on with you and Aiden.”

She shook her head. “Nothing to talk about.”

Giving her a quick relieved grin, he tugged her forward. “Come on then. Let me introduce you around.”

He introduced her to Brian, then Rand, Hagan and Jake who all regarded her with an intent, unnerving interest. Hagan took her hand when she offered it but then didn’t release her right away. She had to tug back until, with a smile, he finally let her go. She hated when men played those kinds of games. She loved that Aiden always cut straight to the heart of things. No careless flirtation, no manipulation.

Jake cocked his head and gave her a short nod. To Fen, he said, “You should keep your hands off Aiden’s bitch.”

She jumped. Fen’s grin disappeared and he shot Jake the nastiest glare she’d ever seen. Jake’s amused expression collapsed. He dropped his eyes and then turned to her, muttering an abject apology before sliding away from the group. She was more shocked than offended and then, mostly by the dynamics between the two men. Fen had given him a brutal, silent set down but she hadn’t seen even a flash of resentment from Jake. She’d been braced for a fight. Her immediate reaction to that kind of posturing was to run and hide.

Fen guessed it too because he immediately returned his attention to her and rubbed her arm. Lowering his mouth to her ear, he said, “He actually didn’t mean that as an insult.”

She rolled her eyes. “Right.”

“If he’d
meant
to offend you, there would have been blood.”

She glanced at him sharply but he wasn’t looking at her anymore. Hagan, the youngest of the group, gave her a shy, engaging smile. “So is this your first time too?”

“On the hunt? Yes. Until this week, I didn’t know you existed.”

Rand’s eyebrows shot up. “How is that possible?”

“I wasn’t raised clan.”

Rand caught her hand and, open-mouthed, inhaled deeply right above her wrist. There was a puff of hot breath against her skin when he exhaled in surprise then released her. Fen let him do it and it happened so fast she didn’t have time to react. Other than to glare at him now.

“What the hell—”

“She’s clan,” Rand said, ignoring her.

Fen nodded. “But she’s telling the truth. She wasn’t raised clan, and you need to learn to keep your hands to yourself. Today is to see if she can get a fix on Hallie. Show her what to expect before we go in. It’s a test run so let’s try not to scare her too badly, okay?” His gaze swept across the remaining group. “I know you can all act normal if you try hard enough.”

Rand’s green eyes fixed on her. “She
should
be scared. Just not of us.”

If Rand thought that was going to scare her off, he was dead wrong. She was tired of the people here treating her like an idiot and a burden. She knew what she was getting herself into. It was dangerous and might get her killed but for her, there was no other choice. So she just held Rand’s gaze and let her smile widen, let him see a little bit of that reckless anger. His gaze flickered then dropped.

Fen squeezed her shoulder and dipped his head to say something in her ear but it was drowned out when Brian started to growl, actually growl from her other side. She took a step back, the sound resonating in some primal part of her brain that made her heart beat faster and told her to run.

Fen’s arm tightened around her shoulders. “Don’t.”

Rand elbowed Brian in the gut and the snarl cut off abruptly. Rand shook his head. “Man, you really need to get a grip.”

But Brian wasn’t listening. Grace followed his gaze over to a woman who sat on a log next to Christian laughing at something he’d said. She was about thirty with short blond hair and long legs.

Brian’s lip pulled back from his teeth. “She won’t even talk to me.”

“Do you blame her? Stop sleeping on her welcome mat and maybe she’d say hello every once in a while.”

“She’s doing this on purpose.” Brian stalked off and Hagan followed him. Rand rolled his eyes and turned back to the conversation he’d been having with Jacob.

Fen took Grace’s arm again and started walking with her toward where Aiden stood, staring out over the lake, arms crossed over his chest.

“What was that about? A bad breakup?”

Fen grimaced. “More complicated than that. A neat genetic quirk—sex mates us to our partner, the first time, for life.”

“Forever.”

“For the man anyway. The hounds only father male children. Æsir women don’t have that same…compulsion.” A shadow of his usual smile. “Or human either.”

Aiden? He’d given no sign that what they’d done… Fen was watching her reaction out of the corner of his eye, a smile tugging at his lips. She punched him in the gut. “Not funny.”

He laughed. “Not Aiden. His line are hunters not hounds. He could fuck any woman he wanted to and walk away.”

He wasn’t looking at her when he said it, so she decided not to read too much into it. Her mind was busy working out the ramifications for someone like Fen.

“That means…”

“Exactly what you think it means. It’s why I’m not having any kids even if I ever do find a mate, which I’m not holding my breath for.”

“I don’t blame you. Not if having sex means sticking your foot in a trap.”

He smiled faintly. “Not a foot exactly, but you’ve got the general idea.”

She didn’t know what to say. Testosterone off the charts. Aggressive. Only halfway tame and a virgin. No wonder they were all so…intense. She snuck a glance at Fen but he was looking away out over the water.

He shook his head. “How many people do you know that you’d give that kind of power over you?”

None. She’d never met anyone she trusted that much. “That sucks, Fen.”

“Yeah.” He tipped his head toward Brian who was staring at the blonde, half with longing, half with hatred. “But not as bad as that does.”

“Are your men ready?” Aiden asked Fen when they reached him.

Fen gave him a sharp-edged smile. “We’re all business all the time. You?”

Aiden’s gaze flickered to rest on Grace and her cheeks heated. She hadn’t told Fen a thing. “Five minutes.”

Fen nodded and walked away. He pulled his shirt over his head as he and his men moved into the woods. She was curious. She’d asked if she could watch him change yesterday and he’d accused her of being a pervert who only wanted a look at his cock.

“We won’t cross today,” Aiden told her. “We just want to be ready. Too many Æsir near the fault weakens it. Just see if you can sense her again. If there’s any sign of a flare, we’ll pull out. Okay?”

She didn’t entirely understand what he was talking about. The logistics of crossing between worlds, portals and lunar cycles. She hoped once she saw it in action, she’d have a better grasp on what seemed to be common knowledge to the people here. They’d grown up with this. She didn’t know how to reconcile it with everything she’d ever thought she knew about the world. Still, she nodded and then accepted his hand after he mounted so he could pull her up behind him.

“I thought I was riding with Christian.”

“Change of plans.”

He’d modified the saddle to provide a place for her to put her feet for stability and handholds so she wouldn’t restrict his movement, too much. Still not comfortable, but she felt safer and not quite as much in the way.

“I didn’t tell Fen anything.”

“I know.” A pause. “He would have smelled the sex on you. On us both. It’s impossible to hide anything in this town.”

Oh God.
Her hands had been resting on his hips and she reached behind her to grab the leather straps he’d attached just below her seat. The curious looks people cast her way seemed intrusive now, judgmental. A baying howl ripped out close by, and she swiveled as the hounds came loping out of the woods.

Except hound wasn’t a good name for them—enormous, black-haired, with yellow eyes and big mouths that gaped around razor-edged fangs. They were all thickly muscled with huge paws and curved claws. Snarling and snapping at each other playfully, coiling through the trees in a black mass. The sun had set below the treetops and she shivered, the shadows suddenly feeling deeper.

The largest hound darted toward them and she pulled back. She knew better. It took her a second to check that instinctive reaction. It had to be Fen. His yellow eyes, feral and intelligent were fixed on her. He moved faster than she would have credited, too fast for her even to flinch when he darted forward and nipped her booted heel. He was gentle. She had no doubt he could have pierced the worn leather if he wanted to, but he just caught her heel and shook it a bit.

Aiden moved forward and with a shout they were off, the hounds fanning out around them, the hunters at the center, Fen pacing beside her.

Aiden resisted the urge to kick Fen in the head. Only the knowledge that Fen was purposefully taunting him kept him from doing it. Fen had slung his arm around Grace’s shoulders, making her laugh as if they were best friends. Already closer to her in a way that Aiden hadn’t allowed himself to be. But Fen could offer Grace friendship. Aiden could only offer sex. No point in begrudging Fen what he could have. No point in wishing he could claim more.

She shifted her weight and briefly her breasts pressed against his back, bouncing with the movement of the horse, but then her thighs flexed and she pulled herself up straighter. She was trying to keep her distance too. He’d made her cry. She was placing her life at risk to help him find his daughter and he’d hurt her. Someone had messed her up good, made her hold herself warily apart. Hell, he imagined her gift alone would isolate her in the human world. But she wanted so badly to belong, to be loved that it was almost a palpable thing.

That locket. Who wore an empty locket? Didn’t have a single picture to put in there? He ached for her. And he was an asshole for taking advantage of her vulnerability even for Hallie’s sake. His hands tightened on the reins and Slep sidestepped nervously. Funny that Aiden felt so fiercely protective when he was the one using her. There was no one to protect her from him.

He led the way along the well-worn path to the portal. He’d have to send men out to obscure it. It would be too easy for a hiker to stumble onto this trail and follow it at the wrong time. They hadn’t lost anyone yet this year and he didn’t intend to. It occurred to him as it always did during busy years that it might be time to find somewhere more isolated. Most of those faults were already settled by his kind. But all of the clans were in the same situation, encroaching humans, dwindling numbers—every season there were fewer to ride with the hunt. He would be willing to step down, set this terrible burden aside and let another lead. Maybe Fen would take a mate if they merged with another clan. He pushed the thought aside. He had no business making plans for the future until Hallie was home.

The air changed first, it was how he knew they were nearly on the fault line. It was never in exactly the same spot, shifting within a quarter mile in any direction as if anchored deep below the earth and only floating on the currents of this world. Always, though, the air thickened, sound muffled, and you could feel a slight pressure against your inner ear. He slowed and the hunt slowed with him. They’d ridden together since they were children and moved as one unit. He would entrust any one of these men or women with his life. More than friends, more than family, they were an extension of himself.