Secret Worlds (337 page)

As trite as it sounded, lives were at stake and failing was not an option.

A project timeline put in jeopardy just seemed so ridiculously unimportant in comparison, but I didn’t want to burn any bridges.

A huff came over the line and I could just imagine him chewing on his lip while overlooking some concrete landscape out the window. He exhaled. “What can you give me?”

I closed my eyes and dropped my chin to my chest. Whatever I promised, I’d have to follow through on, no matter what, and right now that was a nearly impossible commitment. Instead of saying I couldn’t give him anything, I said, “I can commit to five hours a week for the next month.”

“An hour a day? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“It’s what I can commit to. If I find I can give you more, I will.”

“Does this have anything to do with the accident?”

My eyes opened and I met Naomi’s gaze. That was the excuse she gave when I was in a coma. A car accident. I wish it had been that instead of Lucifer playing tic-tac-toe on my chest with a razor, or beating me to a pulp with his fist. An accident would have been cleaner and easier to deal with. Instead, I had nightmares every night and now I had to face that bastard again.

“Damian?”

“Yes, there have been some complications that need to be addressed,” I answered and just left it at that.

“Are you... okay?” he asked in a voice softened with concern.

“I’m not dying if that’s what you’re worried about,” I said.

“Oh, okay, that’s good,” Kevin said, stumbling before he recovered his authoritative boom. “I guess we can work around your schedule,” he added.

“Thank you.”

“Can you take a look at the issue the testers found?”

“Yeah, I’ll take a look now and shoot over my findings in a few,” I said and disconnected the call. “Shit.” The last thing I wanted to do was work.

Naomi stretched out on the couch next to me, using my thigh as a pillow. She flipped on the television while I shuffled through the email chain.

After a few minutes, the irony of the situation hit me and I started to chuckle.

Naomi glanced up at me with her brow scrunched in her what-the-fuck look.

“For someone who’s supposed to save the world, being stuck troubleshooting code is completely fucked up.”

Dimples appeared even before her giggle and she rolled her eyes, settling back down on my lap to catch the rest of the show.

I had the problem figured out and fixed before the half-hour sitcom ended and sent a note to my boss. I folded the laptop, set it on the table, and stretched.

“Are we all set with that condo?” I asked and Naomi rolled onto her back, looking straight up at me.

“They weren’t there when I called and they haven’t called back yet.”

“If it doesn’t pan out, we can always stay at a hotel until we find something.” I cupped her cheek and ran my thumb over her lips, enjoying the silkiness of her skin.

“When are we leaving?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” I shifted and brushed her hair away from her face, tucking the stray hairs behind her ear. “It won’t be until after all the cars are on their way to Michigan and we may have to stay downstairs for a few days. Just until I think it’s clear to go.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Besides, I have to reprogram the access to the rooms downstairs. I need to make a failsafe that will freeze the lock if someone attempts to override the commands I put in place. I don’t want anyone getting in, or out of there after we go. I want to make it so they’d have to blast the door off with dynamite to gain access.”

“Why?”

“I’m not worried about Ted and Valerie using the place. I’m more concerned with someone finding their way in from the garage.” I shrugged, leaving the possibilities open and she slowly nodded. “Demon’s can’t get past the entry pipe—but anything else can.”

“If you lock it up...” she started and I raised my eyebrows at her, silently telling her to rethink the statement before she continued. Naomi inhaled and nodded, getting my point.

“I want to leave the garage open. That way they’ll know it’s empty and that we’ve left for good. But before we go, not only do I have to do the reprogramming magic, I also need to solder the door at the bottom of the stairs and do the same to the hatchway so nothing can get through. And, just for good measure, I’ll move the truck over the hatch to make it less obvious. Once we’re in Maine, I’ll make sure the ownership of both the property and the garage is transferred to Valerie and she can do whatever she wants with it.”

Leaving unnoticed wasn’t going to be easy, but if I could pull it off, it would give us time. How much time was the question, and I broke eye contact with Naomi, looking out at the dark settling over the back yard.

If I didn’t succeed at this, God only knew what hell we’d unleash.

Naomi yawned and stretched, pulling my attention away from the outside world and I smiled down at her. I wish I knew what she was thinking. I missed the mind reading abilities we shared as vampires and I sighed, running my fingertips over her sexy lips.

She grabbed my wrist and pulled my index finger into her mouth. Heat stirred inside me and I closed my eyes for a moment as she slowly released it. When she teased me like this, I could feel the fire between us burn bright. I opened my eyes and allowed the slow grin she adored to form.

It had the desired effect, she propped herself up to meet my hungry lips.

Her mouth tasted like caramel and she wrapped her arms around my neck, deepening the kiss. Her tongue danced slowly with mine, turning off logical thought, the animal in me reared up, carnal and wanting and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer.

A distant buzz cut through my lust and I pulled away from her sweet lips, meeting her gaze before transitioning my attention to the phone on the table. It could be Ted and I sighed, pushing her aside and picked up the phone.

Any heat she’d created turned to an icy fury at the caller ID and every muscle tensed into hard knots. I inhaled, closing my eyes before bringing the phone to my ear.

His malignant chuckle drifted over the line.

“What the fuck do you want?” I growled into the phone through clenched teeth. I opened my eyes meeting Naomi’s gaze.

“I want your wife and your unborn child.”

“Not on your life.”

“My plans have changed a bit since you seemed to have already created the first pure trinity. I’ll gladly trade your daughter’s soul for your wife’s. I can’t think of anything more perfect than deflowering a virgin trinity. If you deliver Naomi to me, I’ll let you live to watch your daughter grow and become my concubine,” he purred, pushing dangerous buttons.

“You must be pretty bad off to think I’d entertain the idea of a negotiation. Why don’t we make a deal, you leave us the fuck alone and I won’t kill you,” I said and Naomi shivered in my arms. Before he could interject some more horrifying images, I continued, “Did you know when an angel dies, they get locked in heaven? I wonder what happens when the devil dies?”

Naomi’s eyes widened and she shook her head.

In the back of my mind, I wondered why the hell I was poking a sleeping dragon, but for the first time, I seemed to be in control of the conversation and it gave me the audacity to taunt him.

“I am going to enjoy watching you die,” Lucifer growled, pulling a smile from within my anger.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before. At least three times, but it doesn’t seem to stick, now does it?” I asked and winked at Naomi, enjoying this more than I should.

A roar came over the line. “I’ll kill you both, you little shit!”

“You will never get the chance.”

“I will hunt you down and rip your heart out,” he growled.

“You’re such a sadistic bastard, you know that?” I laughed realizing somewhere along the way the tides had turned in my favor.

“You think you can hide in Greece?” he asked, his voice barely steady.

“It’s a big world, my friend, and who knows, maybe I’ll organize me a demonic hunting party. I really like killing those bastards and I’m sure sooner or later the path of dead assholes will lead me to you.”

“Damian,” Naomi whispered and I met her panicked gaze. I smiled and palmed her cheek.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to make love to my wife,” I said and cut the call, tossing the phone onto the table.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

I raised my eyebrow at her outburst. “What?”

“Do you really think pissing off Lucifer is a smart idea?”

“You know what? I’ve been walking on eggshells for twenty-five hundred years trying not to piss off the legion of angels, and what has it gotten me? I’m done. I’m not taking shit from any of them ever again.” I stood, pulling her to her feet and shutting off her argument with my lips.

Fired up was an understatement, and I focused all the built up frustration on her. I swept her up into my arms and turned off the lights, carrying her to our bedroom.

The icy fire in his eyes along with the determined set of his jaw jumpstarted my heart, spreading a flush over my skin and I shivered with anticipation. Even with the shitty day we’ve had and the insane call from Lucifer, one hungry gaze from Damian still sent me into the land of lust.

When he laid me out on the bed, I stared at him, taking in his hard form from head to toe as he stripped. Without clothing, the man screamed perfection and I caught the twinkle in his eyes as he crawled toward me.

Damian licked his lips and pushed my shirt up, finding my skin with his hot tongue. The magic in his fingertips sent me into orbit and he started unbuttoning my pants and then stripped away every stitch of fabric. A side of him I had never seen came out tonight.

Rough, demanding, in control and hotter than hell.

The things he did to me were far from the gentle, thoughtful lover I spent the last five years with. I think he even growled at one point, nipping and stroking with such abandon that I got lost between the pleasure and pain.

He claimed my body and soul with a vengeance that left me breathless, filling me with a need so palapable that our room filled with steam.

I don’t know how long we went at it, but when it was over, we lay side by side staring at the ceiling, both of us panting for breath. I turned my head and met his satiated gaze. He gave me that one dimple smile that warmed my form and I sent one back, still unable to speak.

My body felt supple and exhausted, exhilarated and thrilled all at the same time. My muscles trembled from exertion and I closed my eyes.

“Damn, boy,” I finally said on a breathless sigh.

He chuckled and rolled on his side, pulling me into him.

“I love you, Naomi,” he whispered in my ear with a voice as ragged as my own.

“I love you, too,” I said and turned so I could accept a kiss. As tired as I was, I couldn’t fall asleep, even when his breathing slowed into that soft cadence of sleep.

Being human had changed Damian in more ways than I think he knew. He still had a kind heart, but he now had command over his emotions, they no longer broadcast in his every expression. Most notably, the haunted look that had been in his eyes since I first met him was no longer there.

We’ve always had an active sex life, sometimes it got wild, and when we were both vampires, it included sinking our teeth in each other’s throat at the moment of orgasm. But even those wild nights paled in comparison to this.

Not once in our courtship had he ravaged me like he did tonight.

I shifted in his arms and his breathing hitched and then smoothed out. Gently, I moved his hand and rolled out of bed as a different need struck. I made my way into the bathroom, did my business and stopped at the sink. My hair looked like a birds nest and I took time to brush it before heading back to bed.

On my way through the bedroom, something in the dark caught my attention and I crossed to the window, squinting into the darkness. A small spark erupted at the closest point of the fence and I gasped at the face illuminated by a lighter. My arms crossed over my bare breasts and Lucifer took a long drag and blew a stream of smoke into the air, sending the most disturbing smile my way before the flame extinguished, leaving only the glow of the cigarette in the darkness.

I stepped farther into the shadows and swallowed the vile taste of fear.

Damian sat up in bed, staring at me, and our eyes locked. The smile on his face froze my heart in place. It was the same one Lucifer wore just before the lighter went out.

“What’s wrong, baby, you don’t like dancing with the devil?” he asked in a way that left me frigid. It was Damian’s voice, but it was
not
my husband.

***

A scream peeled from my throat, burning it raw with the force and the nightstand light switched on.

“Naomi?” his hand caressed my arm and I cranked my head in his direction.

I sat stalk straight in the bed, the covers knotted around me and his sleepy, worried gaze met mine. It took a full minute to get my breathing under control and I blinked in confusion at the nightmare. The bed trembled with the shakes racking my form and Damian wrapped his arms around me, kissing my temple.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked and I couldn’t help the hysterical laugh that came bubbling up.

Complete confusion overwhelmed me and I wondered if I had dreamt the entire night; but the ache in my hips and the pressure in my bladder told me otherwise. Still, I had to ask.

“Was... did...” I couldn’t articulate and I met Damian’s gaze. “Did we...”

He grinned and the blush heightened in his cheeks and then his smile faded, worry replacing it. “You thought that was part of your nightmare?”

My mouth opened to speak and then I closed it, wondering exactly what I was going to say.

“I... I’m sorry,” he whispered, coming to the wrong conclusion.

“Don’t apologize, you were...beyond fantastic, it’s just, you’ve never been like that before,” I started and saw the flare of hurt pass over his face. He shifted the covers and dropped his gaze.

“I dreamt Lucifer had somehow possessed you,” I said and his eyes snapped to mine. I offered a shrug in my defense. “And you were so... so different than you usually are that I thought...”