More Than Fiends (18 page)

“Confident, aren't we?” I asked.

“Very,” he said, and while I watched, he sheathed himself, then loomed over me.

He parted my thighs and skimmed one hand over my slick heat. I almost jumped off the couch at his touch, but quickly enough, that simple caress turned into something demanding, and I was all for it. His fingers were dipping and caressing and probing, and I was right there with him, feeling it all, wanting it all. Hell, wanting
more
.

My hips rocked into him, and I arched so high off the couch my butt wasn't even touching the cushions anymore. My eyes were glazed—I know because everything looked damn blurry—but nothing beyond his talented touch mattered. Not now.

“I want you,” he said tightly, “now.”

“You're getting me,” I managed to say though I don't know how I found the breath.

“Not enough,” he growled. I'm not exaggerating here: he actually
growled
.

Then he grabbed me, sat down on the couch and set me on his lap. I went up on my knees and looked down into dark eyes that were a shifting mass of shadows and light, drawing me in, urging me to take him. I really didn't need urging.

The fire snapped and hissed in the background. Outside, the wind howled in off the ocean and rattled the glass French doors. Softly flickering light filled the room, tossing dancing shadows across Devlin's face as he looked up at me.

I stared into his amazing eyes as I slowly lowered myself onto his thick, hard body. My own body stretched and slicked around him, easing his entry inch by delectable inch. He was right. We
did
fit. He filled me so completely, I could hardly draw a breath. So tight. So hard.

So…
good
.

I shifted on him, grinding my hips against him, flexing inner muscles to hold him, hissing in air at the tremendous sensations rattling through me. But apparently, I was going too slow for him. He gritted his teeth, clamped his hands on my hips and took over. Okay by me. I gave myself up to the glorious ride, tipping my head back, feeling his body shove into mine with a strength and power I'd never felt before. It was incredible. Overpowering.

“I love your body,” he whispered, hands digging into my hips, mouth a breath away from my nipple.

“I'm pretty fond of yours, too,” I managed to say around a moan as he thrust high and hard. He pushed himself so high inside, I was pretty sure I could feel the tip of him at the base of my throat.

And it still wasn't enough. I leaned into him and he buried his face between my breasts. I locked my fingers in his hair and tried to hold on to my mind. But it wasn't easy. The man's body was doing things to me I'd never felt before. His tongue traced damp patterns over my skin, and his breath felt like fire.

I couldn't believe another orgasm was coming. So quick. So incredibly huge. This one was making that first one feel like—well, a smaller one. I was almost there. My breath caught, my body tightened—

Suddenly, he flipped me over, landing me on my back on the sofa, without ever disentangling us. Then he held my knees apart, whispered, “Now,” and thrust even harder and deeper than before, once, twice, and then the world exploded.

I know because I went blind.

 

Not to brag or anything, but it was almost two hours later before we were finished, and that was only because I'd lost all feeling in my limbs.

Okay, so I don't mind bragging.

I hadn't felt so limber, so relaxed, so amazingly…
orgasmed
(and, yes, I know that's not a word) in forever. Getting dressed seemed a shame, but I had to get home. A kid was waiting there to punish me. Oh God. I had a hideous thought. Would Logan still be at my house? Would he take one look at me and
know
what I had been doing? And
why
was I suddenly feeling like a cheating wife, for God's sake?

Logan had kissed me exactly twice. It wasn't like we had anything going on between us. I didn't owe him anything. He shows up back in town after sixteen years and what? I'm supposed to drop everything and become that stupid, silly teenager again? I don't think so. If I want to go out and have sex with Devlin, I can. There was nobody stopping me. And if Logan thought he was going to be getting an explanation out of me, then he was really going to be disappointed, because I so wasn't telling him—

Aaack!!!

How did Logan get back into my head? Who invited him in? I closed my eyes, pushed him back out of my brain and admitted it was really time for me to go. Didn't want to have some bizarre mental breakdown in front of Devlin. And let's face it, time as a slut puppy had come to an end.

For now.

I was checking myself out in the mirror near the front door of the apartment—had to know if Thea would be able to tell by looking at me that I'd been a bad role model—when Devlin came up behind me.

His arms went around my waist and he bent his head to the crook of my neck. His teeth nibbled, his lips and tongue teased, and I felt a rush straight down to the hoo-hah that had been practically comatose a few minutes ago.

“That is so not fair,” I whispered, tilting my head to one side, to make sure he didn't miss a spot. “You know I've got to go.”

“I know,” he whispered, his breath sliding over my skin like a hot rush. “But you'll be back.”

I sighed as he straightened up and met my gaze in the mirror. Fumbling in my purse, I blindly pulled out my perfume, tugged off the lid and aimed the spray at my throat. “Yes, I'll be back. Soon, I hope.”

He smiled.

I sprayed the perfume.

It hit Devlin.

It
wasn't
my perfume.

He snarled and smoke lifted off the top of his head.

YIKES.

“Y
ou have
got
to be kidding me!” I screeched, giving him a shove that sent him staggering backward. Good. Demon Duster strength. That could come in handy in the next few minutes.

I couldn't believe it. I was worried about Jett's little demon fingers on Thea, and I'd just
ridden
a demon
ding-dong
? I did a wild eye roll. No wonder Devlin's penis was so damn big. He was a different damn
species
. Oh God. I was in serious danger of a hurl-a-thon.

“I can explain,” Devlin said, swiping his shirtsleeve across his face, trying to wipe away the demon mixture I'd inadvertently shot him with.

“Oh, I really don't think you
can,
” I snapped. Hurling would have to wait. At the moment, I had bigger things (no pun intended) to worry about. Holding the atomizer in front of me, pointed directly at him, I said, “You're a
demon
and you didn't
tell
me.”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts! There can't be a but. How can there be a but?” I shouted. “You're a demon. And we just—” I waved one hand at the couch, the floor, the antique table that he had bent me over so he could—
Oh God
. That hurly feeling came back with a sudden vengeance. “I had
sex
with a
demon
!”

“Yes,” he said, wrinkling his nose and blinking his eyes to clear away the last of the spray. “But
I
just had sex with a Duster. Look at it from my point of view for a minute.”

“Why the hell should I?” I demanded and took a deep breath. I was shaking, furious, embarrassed, and I still wanted him. How sick was
that
?

“Cassidy,” he said and sounded weary.

“Don't,” I told him and spritzed the air in front of him.

He leaped back out of the way. “Cut it out!”

“I should be ripping your heart out, you bastard. I can't believe you let me do all of that with you and didn't tell me who—
what
—you really are.”

“It's who, not what.”

“Oh.” I nodded grimly. “Thanks for clearing that up. I feel so much better now. You're not a what. You're a who. Well, peachy.”

“Damn it, Cassidy, if you'll let me explain—”

“What's to explain?” I shouted and heard my voice getting a little shrill, but I think
any
Demon Duster in my position would be just a tad annoyed by this point. “You took advantage of me. You put some weird sort of demon spell on me and convinced me that I wanted to be here with you and do—”

“No spell.”

“There
had
to be a spell,” I muttered. Otherwise, I wasn't just a slut puppy. I was a slut for demons and that could mean only one thing. “I'm soooooo going to Hell.”

He chuckled until I glared at him.

“Which one?” he asked.

“One what?”

“Hell.”

“The
Catholic
one, and what difference can that make now?” My finger tightened on the spray button, and he seemed to sense it, because his big body clenched like he was waiting for the impact of the acid.

But even as he readied for it, he held up both hands again and said softly, “I'm not your enemy.”

“Right. Bet you say that to all the Dusters.”

“Cassidy…” He sounded tired. And, hey, he probably was. The last couple of hours would have
killed
a lesser man, er, demon.

“You knew, didn't you?” I demanded, keeping the spritzer aimed at him and asking myself why I wasn't firing the damn thing then yanking out his black heart. “You
knew
who I was before you ever called me for the job. Before I came up here. Before we—”

“Yeah, I knew.”

“Bastard.”

“Undoubtedly.”

“And your agreeing is supposed to make me feel better?” I asked, more furious now than I had been before, and that was really saying something!

“Are you going to squirt me again?” he asked, slowly lowering his arms.

“I'm thinking about it.”

The edges of his shirt hung open, displaying his gorgeous chest, and I had a
tiny
urge to stroke it. Damn it. Had to be a spell.

“Just let me explain first.”

“Sure. Go ahead and try,” I said, reaching behind me for my purse and shooting a quick look at the door to my left. I wanted a clear path to get out of there when I had to.

“Despite what you think,” he said quickly, as if sensing my impatience, “not all demons are devoted to the destruction of humanity.”

Jasmine had said pretty much the same thing, but that had been about a teenage twerp. Not a gigantic, walking orgasm.

“On your birthday, when you came into your powers,” Devlin was saying, “the head demon in La Sombra assigned me to meet you. To keep you busy.”

I snorted. Had to give him full points for
that
at least. “So what?” I asked. “You're like Double O Demon now?”

One corner of his mouth lifted briefly. “That's not far from wrong. I was told to keep you occupied. To find out what you knew. How strong an opponent you would be. I didn't expect to like you.”

A stupid flutter of something that was probably pleasure rippled through me, then was gone again. “Gee, color me happy. A demon secret agent likes me.”

He stabbed his fingers through his hair and winced like he had the mother of all headaches. I have that effect on people.

“Damn right, I like you,” he said tightly. “And that's no small thing for me. Demons don't usually want to have sex with the woman who can kill them.”

I wasn't impressed. “Human men do it all the time. There's not a woman alive who hasn't daydreamed about slamming a baseball bat into some moron's head.”

“Granted,” he said with a tiny bow of his head. “But this situation is a little different.” He took a step closer, and I tightened my grip on the atomizer. “In siding with you, I put myself at risk.”

“And why would you do that?” I asked.

“Because you're…” He stopped, thought about it for a long moment, then said,
“Different.”

Different wasn't always
bad,
so I let that go. “And siding with me means what exactly?”

“It means that I'll help you. I'll do what I can to protect you. And your daughter.”

“Why?”

“Because you
need
it,” he snapped. “Take your car ‘accident.'”

Shock slapped me again. Images of the bartender who had slammed into my VW flashed into my already-churning brain. “The guy who hit me! You
know
him. He
works
for you.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah? That's all you've got to say? You send some guy out to wreck my car—and possibly me—and when it doesn't work…what? You bring me here to kill me during sex? That's the backup plan?”

Devlin's features tightened. “I didn't tell him to do it, and I could point out that you're
not
dead and
I'm
the one with acid on my face!”

“Good point.”

“He ran into you hoping to score some points with the top demon around here.”

Great. Trying to kill me earns demon brownie points. Excellent news. “Uh-huh. And the top demon's not you.”

“No,” he said tiredly, and shoved one hand through his hair. “Look, haven't you noticed that some damn weird things are going on around here?”

“Duh.”

“Have you been watching the news?” he asked, taking a step closer until I lifted my handy-dandy little demon spray a touch higher.

“No. Too depressing.”

He blew out a breath. “Fires are erupting, then blowing out again all over town. Pets are vanishing.”

“Pets?”
My heart twisted, and just how dumb was I? I'm standing in front of a demon warning me about all kinds of trouble and I'm worried about cats and dogs?

Clearly impatient himself now, Devlin said, “That threat aimed at Thea? That came from the judge. And he meant it.”

My eyes narrowed on him, and it was all I could do not to shriek and plunge my fist through his chest. But if I did, I wouldn't get any answers, and I really wanted some.

“The judge?”

“Harrison Jenks.”

I staggered. “Jenks is a
demon
?”

“The head demon around here. He's powerful. Nobody you should ignore.”

In a weird sort of way, that piece of information explained a
lot
. Judge Jenks was near legendary in La Sombra. Nobody in town liked him, and yet he somehow managed to keep getting elected. Now I knew how.

Hell, I'd been up in front of the mean old goat myself when I was eighteen. I had one teeny-tiny speeding violation, and the miserable demon had revoked my license and sentenced me to crossing-guard duty for six interminably long months.

“That old bastard is the one threatening Thea?”

“Like I said, he's powerful.”

“What kind of powers?” I asked. “X-ray vision? Spitting fire?”

“Not that kind of power,” he muttered. “The judge is connected to lots of highly placed, influential people. He can get away with almost anything.”

He gazed into my eyes with an intensity that made me want to look away. I didn't. “And he plans to hand Thea over as a sex slave to the demon community.”

I staggered. I know I did, because I backed up hard and fast and slapped my head against the wall. That sharp pain brought me up out of the shock numbing my system. In a way, I sort of wished the shock had stayed. When it was gone, I had a clear mental image of my baby girl being tossed from demon to demon to demon and—“Never gonna happen,” I said.

“It won't be easy to prevent. Since you came into your power, the entire demon community is on edge.”

“Community?” I echoed. “Demons have
communities
now?”

My arm dropped, suddenly feeling leaden. Something suspiciously like despair washed through me. How the hell could I protect my daughter from a “community” of demons? My fingers rubbed the small spritzer of demon spray as my gaze lifted to Devlin again.

If he'd been waiting for an opportunity to kill the Duster, I'd just handed it to him. But he didn't move. He only looked at me out of those dark, dark eyes.

“I'll help you protect her,” he said finally.

“Why would you do that?”

He shrugged. “I already answered that.”

True. He hadn't answered it well, but it
had
been an answer. I wasn't stupid enough to refuse help when I so clearly needed it. Still…“Fine,” I said. “I'll take your help. But,” I added, giving him the death stare, “you make me regret it just one time, and I'll rip your heart out and dump what's left of you into an ashtray at the Indian casino.”

 

Devlin was right.

I started paying attention to the news.

Reading the paper.

Over the next few days, I was stunned to see just how strange things were getting in La Sombra. Not only in my little corner of the world, either. The
strange
was spreading.

It wasn't just the mysterious fires or the disappearance of pets, either. There was actually a rain of
toads
. Seriously,
toads
. The news guys explained it away with some trumped-up story about a cyclone sweeping over a lake. But, hey, cyclones in California? Not so much.

“What's next,” I wondered. “Locusts?”

“What?”

I glanced up at Thea and felt a wash of maternal love so powerful that it nearly choked me. Morning sunlight spilled through the kitchen window and lit her up in gold. She had a spoonful of Lucky Charms halfway to her mouth and mascara smudged under her right eye. She was beautiful. And smart. And funny. There was no chance in Judge Jenks' hell that he'd succeed in hurting her.

“Are you still seeing Jett?” I asked, catching my darling daughter off guard. (The only way to get a straight answer out of a teenager is to surprise it out of them.)

“Yeah. Why?”

“You know why.”