Devil Take Me (6 page)

“Listen, I had a wonderful time last night, but I’m not in a place where I can make any kind of commitment right now—even one to go shopping together. I have a lot of things to sort through with moving Roger out and canceling the wedding, and—”

“I understand, we will talk about our possible future together later. Perhaps while we are on the road in your transport. They are called cars, are they not? I have not been to the surface for many years, but I have heard of—”

“It’s time for you to go,” Annie said, opening the door. She couldn’t handle any more crazy talk this morning. She had enough on her plate.

“Nonsense. I will not leave you here to the mercy of this Roger. He is a villain of the worst sort.”

“He’s a lawyer!” Annie laughed; she couldn’t help herself. The sound didn’t seem to please Namtar in the slightest.

“I care not what a lawyer is. He intends to punish you, to bend your will to his until there is nothing left of your soul. I read that truth in his aura, one of the blackest I have seen outside the demon realms.” A stormy look flared in his dark brown eyes that only made him even more attractive, more wickedly sensual and—

Dammit! Get your head on straight, Annie. He’s insane, and you have bigger things to deal with right now.

“It’s true, Roger isn’t a very nice person sometimes, especially when he’s angry. I’m sure he was furious when he saw you here, but—”

“He threatened my life, a mistake he soon saw the folly of when I readied to engage in battle.” Namtar drew himself up to his full height and Annie couldn’t help but think how out of place he looked.

Even with the vaulted ceilings in this part of the condo, he looked too tall, too wide, too immense to be contained by an average human dwelling. If there was ever a man she would believe was from another world, another planet, Namtar was her guy. It certainly would explain a lot about him and his confusion…

“That’s insane. If he were from another planet, he wouldn’t speak English, moron,” Annie said to herself, bringing her hands up to cover her eyes. She had to start thinking straight, which would be a hell of a lot easier if Namtar would leave already.

“You will not speak of me as if I am not in the room!” Namtar ordered in a booming voice. Annie jumped and her hands fluttered back to clutch at her housecoat.

“You will not yell at me like a drill sergeant!” she yelled back, not as surprised as she would have been by such behavior even a day ago. The new Annie didn’t take kindly to men shouting at her, ordering her about, or telling her what to do or where to go. “Now get out of my house!”

“I apologize, I didn’t mean to raise my voice.” Namtar sighed and crossed his arms across his broad chest, not looking like he was going anywhere. “I am simply afraid for your well-being. True, I would like to know you better, would like to make love to your body for weeks without end, to bring you with me to my world and make you a consort of great renown, but—”

“Please, you have to go,” Annie said softly, a thread of real fear working through her chest as Namtar’s words grew more and more outrageous.

This was what she was accustomed to, wonderful things turning sour, a stroke of good fortune turning into the worst sort of bad luck. Now was probably when Namtar would try to strangle her in the middle of her doorway. She could see the headline now, Woman recently suspected of trying to run down her neighbor murdered by one-night stand.

“Get out! Now!” Annie raised her voice, deciding she would start screaming if she had to. The woman two units over was a stay-at-home mom whose two small children napped around this time of day. Surely she would hear her and call the police.

“Please, ninani, I am simply worried for your safety.” His voice gentled, as if he were talking to a skittish horse—or an unstable person.

Great, now the crazy guy thought she was crazy. Maybe Roger had been right, maybe she did need a nice long vacation in a room with no doorknobs.

“The magic we shared last night has aroused my curiosity,” he continued, “but the passion we shared has aroused my concern. I…care for you, Annie, I will not see you harmed.”

“Thank you, that’s very sweet.” Annie sighed, unable to deny it felt good to have someone concerned for her welfare, even if it was an insane person who was worrying for no reason.

Yes, Roger had been angry last night, and would no doubt be even angrier after seeing Namtar in their condo, but he wouldn’t really hurt her. He was a lawyer for God’s sake, not some guy who would come smack around his ex because she said it was over and had sex with another man. After all, he was the one who had been unfaithful. She hadn’t even thought of being with another man while they were together.

No sooner had those very sane thoughts zipped through Annie’s mind, than something else zipped through the open doorway. Something that buzzed angrily through the air between she and Namtar, smashing the vase of flowers on the dining table before landing with a solid thunk in the opposite wall.

“What the—”

“Close the door!” Namtar yelled, grabbing the door from her and slamming it shut seconds before another loud thunk hit the door itself. Annie heard wood splinter outside. If she didn’t know better she’d think that someone was shooting at—

“To the ground!” Namtar pushed her to the ground, landing heavily upon her as the window next to the door shattered, sending glass raining down around them.

His conscience had pricked at him the night before, but after meeting the horrid man who had been her betrothed, he found it even more impossible to consider perpetrating any wrong upon this woman. She’d obviously endured enough torment from this “Roger”.

Annie was lovely, strong, kind and a siren of unparalleled proportions. She deserved a man who would treasure her, love her, fulfill every one of her mortal dreams of happiness, not a wicked man who would call her a whore to a stranger.

And not an ancient creature of the darkness who wanted her for all the wrong reasons.

Namtar needed her soul, was intrigued by her untapped magic, and craved her body—not the most noble intentions, not by any stretch of the imagination.

“Ohmygod, someone’s shooting at my house. Shooting, at my house.” Annie trembled beneath him, screaming as another bullet hit the door to the dwelling.

“Come, this way.” Namtar urged her onto her belly, hoping she would be safe from the wickedly fast darts which shattered all they touched if she stayed low to the ground. The darts did not seem able to penetrate walls, merely glass.

“Which way?”

“To the bedchamber, on your hands and knees. Hurry!”

She squealed again as another dart entered the shattered window and made contact with the lights hanging above the table, but nevertheless began scampering toward the room where they had slept. Namtar followed, a plan forming.

If they could make it to the cave and into her transport, they could hopefully escape before the villain grew bold enough to make his way into the dwelling. The bedroom’s floor was located directly above the cave, forming its roof. It would be a small matter for him to call a minor journeying spell to spirit him through to the other side. If he were lucky, if Annie was as gifted as he believed, he should be able to channel the spell into her body and take her with him.

A clear demonstration of his power would prove he was no mere mortal, and put to rest her concerns about his soundness of mind.

Of course, he should have known better than to assume she would know what he was. Even four hundred years past, when he had helped arrange the abduction of Antonia from her native Venice, the humans were beginning to forget the ancient gods, especially those not of their own culture.

Wherever in the world he was, it was far from the land where he had once walked the Earth. He had understood her language as soon as Annie spoke, a trick of the magic of his people, but it did not keep the words from sounding strange to his ear and odd to his tongue. It was English, but did not at all resemble the language he had heard in the British Isles in the days when the medieval kings had ruled, and this was certainly not an island nation. The air outside was broiling hot and dry, as if they were surrounded by desert despite the green trees around Annie’s dwelling.

“Close the door and lock it, I’m calling the police,” Annie said as she crawled across the room to one of the machines by her bed.

“You will summon no one. We can escape safely. I am sure of it. Gather any supplies you might need and find me the sweating pants. Quickly.”

“They’re sweatpants, and I’m not going anywhere with you. You have people after you, people who shoot guns, for God’s sake.” Annie’s hands were shaking as she picked up the white rectangle he guessed was the phone. “I’m calling the police. If you have some reason you don’t want to be found, you should get out of here before—”

“This person—or persons—are not pursuing me.” He crossed the room in three frustrated steps and took the phone from her hand. “It is your Roger who wishes your death. I seek to protect you, but I cannot if you call the mortal law. Now fetch me the sweating pants woman—”

“Sweatpants!”

“Sweatpants! So be it, simply fetch them. Now!” The muscles in his hand contracted around the phone, shattering the fragile device into several pieces, and causing Annie to gasp before running across the room to rummage in a chest of drawers.

“Here, take them,” she said, hurling a pair of grey pants at his chest. “Now get out of here. Leave, because I am calling the police. There’s another phone in the kitchen.”

Namtar didn’t bother responding, simply pulled on the sweating pants, which clung to his manhood quite lewdly, and began the words of the traveling spell. The door at the front of the dwelling was opening, he could hear the key turning in the lock. There was no more time for talk. He would do what he had to do to keep Annie safe and deal with the consequences when they were far away from any threat to her well being.

“What are you— No, don’t touch me, I—”

Her words faded into a low moan as he pulled her into his arms and they both began to dematerialize. Namtar could barely withhold a shout of triumph. He’d been correct. Annie’s magic was strong, stronger than any mortal he had known, save the Druids who once walked the shores of Britain. Perhaps she had some of that ancestry within her. He reminded himself to ask—as soon as they were safe.

Within a few seconds Namtar had guided them down, through the floor and into the darkened cave, only releasing Annie’s arms when they were both in their solid form once more.

“Holy. Fucking. Shit.” Her eyes were wide, staring at his chest with a mixture of fear and respect and what looked like…relief. “You really are from another planet.”

“Not quite, but I’m certainly not of your world.” He smiled and bent to kiss her, fast and thoroughly, unable to believe he had neglected her lips for so long after their waking. “Now, you will drive us someplace safe. The villain is in the bedroom, it will not be long before he makes his way down to the cave, I imagine.”

“Oh no! We’re so screwed.”

“Pardon me, I—”

“We’re in trouble. I don’t have my keys! They’re upstairs in the—“

“I will cause the machine to function, simply find a way to free us from the cave.”

“Right, get in the car,” Annie said, feeling her way up the side of the car to the door.

He’d forgotten she couldn’t see in the darkness. He was treating her as a being of his own world, when he should be acknowledging their great many differences. Unfortunately, there was no time to consider the consequences of his actions, he had a car to start.

As the portal to the cave began to roll open, Namtar entered the vehicle and forced his power into the key entry at the side of the wheel. It was a bit more taxing than he assumed, pushing his magic into every tiny notch where the key would have fit, but within a few moments his grip on the mechanism solidified. The machine roared to life, accompanied by another small squeal from Annie.

“Shit. Wow…shit.” She gripped the wheel with both hands, pulling in breaths so deep he feared she might pant herself into a dead faint.

“Annie, my dearest.” He brought his hand to her shoulder and urged a calming force over her skin.

“Yes?” She turned to him, eyes wide, looking even more lovely all disheveled in her bathrobe than she had the night before.

“Drive. Quickly.”

“Right, hold on.” Only after she had maneuvered the car out of the cave at a speed fast enough to slam his weight against his door did Namtar realize she’d meant the words literally.

The wheels on the vehicle squealed as she made haste from the dwelling. No further darts were fired, and Namtar could feel a slight relaxation in Annie as she guided the vehicle out a large metal gate and through a maze of streets, past a great number of startling modern structures. They were ugly buildings, in truth, with not a grain of architectural grace or beauty about them. He had expected better from the humans in the twenty-first century.

“Okay, okay. I don’t see anyone following us, but I’m going to take the long way to Target. Just to make sure.”

“Very well,” Namtar agreed, knowing better than to ask which target she spoke of. She seemed to have a destination in mind and they were safe. That was enough—for now.

But Namtar knew it was only a matter of time before Roger would find Annie again. Or before someone—or something—even more dangerous found him. Ereshkigal would not sit idly by and allow Namtar to roam the Earth’s surface seeking the power he would need to oust her from her throne. She would do her best to stop him.

Ereshkigal’s power did not allow her to perform the spell that would keep her in a solid form on the Earthly plane, it was not the nature of her magic. She could not move above ground, but there were those loyal to her who could. She would send her most vicious minions to assure Namtar did not gain a human soul sacrifice. He must be ready, at the height of his own power, before he was forced back beneath the ground for the inevitable battle with his queen. Namtar needed to bond with a human female and gain the willing gift of her most precious possession, her eternal soul, or there would be no hope for victory.

Unfortunately for him, he was becoming less and less inclined to woo the soul from the woman next to him, and equally loathe to leave her and seek out another suitable female. He was, how had Annie put it? So screwed.

“I still think I should call the police.” Annie chewed her lip as she guided them into a large black field of still cars.

“I would advise against it. I prefer to avoid engaging with humans.”

“Why? Do you get nervous or something? I have a friend who thought she had social anxiety disorder, but she’s found laying off the—”

“If I touch the skin of the average mortal I will cause a wasting disease to begin working through their flesh. They would perish within a few days.”

“What?” Annie turned to look at him with wide eyes, only directing her attention back to her driving when a loud honking noise filled the air. “Sorry! God, sorry.”

She moved her foot, forcing the car to a swift stop, while waving apologetically to a driver in another car. After a few minutes, the other car moved and Annie swung their vehicle in to fill the empty space it had left.

“What about my flesh?” The fear in her voice was clear, and cut him more deeply than he wanted to admit. “We’ve definitely…touched.”

“You are immune. There is magic in your blood, my power does not harm you.”

But you didn’t know that before you touched her, fucked her, put her life in mortal danger. You are a liar, a criminal of the worst—

“Annie, I—”

“We obviously need to have a talk,” Annie said, drawing a deep breath. “Could you stop the car?”

“Of course.” Namtar did as she asked, then sat quietly in the silence that followed, watching Annie’s thoughts fly across her face as she stared out through the front glass. He had to leave her, no matter that he worried for her safety if he did. Even if Roger succeeded in killing her, at least her soul would be spared, free to travel into the afterlife and find eternal bliss.

“But we need some clothes before we do anything. I can’t go around in a bathrobe and those pants are way too tight on you and you have no shoes and…” She trailed off, covering her face in her hands. For a moment, Namtar thought she might begin to weep, but the eyes she turned to him a few seconds later were clear and filled with strength and purpose. “I think I’ve got some dirty gym clothes and tennis shoes in my trunk. I’m going to go change in that store, buy us a few things, and I’ll be right back. Just…don’t touch anyone while I’m gone, I guess. Or do anything else to hurt anyone. Thank God I left my purse in the car last night or—”

“Do you want me to leave? To be gone from here before you return?” Namtar waited for her answer, his chest tight at the thought of leaving her.

She had bewitched him, this mortal woman, succeeded where the loveliest enchantresses of the Underworld had failed. Never had he longed to remain in a woman’s company so profoundly. It was a disturbing realization to say the least, and nearly enough to force his hand to the latch of the door without her urging. He needed power, strength, and magic, not further complications. Coming to care for Annie any more than he did already would surely weaken his focus to the damning point, ensuring his people remained enslaved by a madwoman for another few thousand seasons.

Or perhaps she will be your secret weapon, a human soul and the skill of a sorceress all wrapped up in one sultry, feminine package.

“No, I don’t want you to leave,” she said, a blush heating her cheeks. “I don’t know what’s going on, and I’m probably crazy but…I want you to stay with me. For now.”

“Then I will stay.” Namtar leaned across the car, closing the space between them on instinct, needing to touch her, hold her, and craving so much more.

The touch of their lips, the slide of their tongues against one another was as electric as it had been the night before, sending a wave of arousal surging down to his cock. The already strained fabric of the sweatpants was taxed even further as his shaft thickened, lengthened, eager to be inside his intoxicating Annie yet again. He had bedded her five or six times the night before, but his lust for her was apparently insatiable.

Even now, with his conscience at war with itself and both of their futures in danger, he wanted nothing more than to waste a few hours here in the boiling hot vehicle, tunneling his cock in and out of his Annie’s sweet pussy.