Wicked Demons 2 (2 page)

"It's okay, Mrs. Rebowsky!" Andi reassured
her.

"What was that? It scared me so bad, I almost
lost my wig." She fidgeted with the short salt-and-pepper wig atop
her head.

Mrs. Rebowsky was the beloved neighbor of the
entire block, if not for her sweet demeanor, then for the humor her
neighbors found in her absolute candor.

"Raccoons, Mrs. Rebowsky. Pesky, big ones! No
worries, though. I scared them away. Good night!"

The older woman began shuffling back into her
home. "They must have been the size of the boil on my late
husband's hump to make such a ruckus!" she noted, before closing
the door behind herself.

Andi was thrilled that Mrs. Rebowsky went
inside with very little prompting. It enabled her to turn her
attention back on Toryn. Spouting off anything that entered her
mind as she helped him limp to the back door, she said, "The next
time you finally decide to visit, don't bring unwanted witches
along. I don't know how you do it in your world... Actually, I do.
And that's not how we do it here in 'tender human-cabob land'."
Sparing an extra scowl for his benefit, she added, "We also don't
drop off the face of the planet, human or demon." As they
approached the back door, Andi stopped. "Do I need to officially
invite you in or chant something creepy before you cross the
threshold?"

Not stopping, Toryn broke free of her grip
and stumbled inside.

"Guess not," she whispered.

He turned to face her. "Woman, stop talking,"
he nearly begged.

Walking inside and locking the door behind
her, she confronted him. "Don't think that you can talk to me
like-"

Toryn seized her into his great arms, cutting
her threatening words short, and kissed her lips as if they were
the only silky flesh keeping him bound to this world. He once again
embraced the only being capable of lighting the wick of his soul,
and he would be damned if anyone was going to steal the only fire
that warmed him.

Being so close so suddenly created a euphoric
flutter from Andi's knees to her head. She pressed into his hard,
bare chest with abandon, not caring if she came across as desperate
or borderline manic from his touch. Even now, even like this
-beaten and bloody- Toryn rang every inner bell and answered every
silent prayer Andi had ever wished for in a man.

It seemed as if moons had risen and set many
times over before they dared break the arc between them. But to
their disdain, their lips separated long enough for Toryn to warn,
"You are being hunted."

"The witch hunters?" Andi asked, though she
knew her answer was correct.

He leaned forward, resting his forehead
against hers, brushing her hair through his fingers. "I did not
lead them to you. I came to warn you and found one already
lurking."

She pulled away and began silently counting
all of the odd bumps in the night she had experienced in the last
month. All of the times she felt watched, as if her walls had eyes.
The times she had checked and rechecked every lock in the house and
pulled down every shade in the windows to gain a sense of peace
that never came.

Toryn watched Andi tense and withdraw into
her head. It made him uneasy.

"They may come," he ventured to crack the
foundation of her panic, "but we will be ready. We will
prevail."

"How do you know?" She took a deep breath,
fighting to keep the lilt of anxiety in her voice manageable.
"You're the demon warrior from Hell, not me. I was born in Mebane.
I collected cat stickers and thought the worst thing I could do
growing up was eat Oreo's in bed."

He slammed his fist down on the island
cutting board. "There is no room for doubt!"

Andi froze, startled.

"You are a fire demon."

"No," she sighed, "I'm a confused woman being
hunted by things I don't understand."

"Do not act as if everything evil is conjured
from below. These hunters are from your world. They flourish under
human rule."

"I..." Andi was at a loss for words.

Toryn snatched the opportunity to wrap his
large hand around her wrist and pull her to him. "When they return,
we will be prepared. First, we must barricade all entrances." He
sounded almost as weary as he looked.

She shook her head. "First, we must shower
and rest." He began to protest until she shushed him with a finger
to his ungodly soft lips. "The doors are locked. I have one of the
most costly home security systems on the planet." She pointed to
the wood block that sheltered her kitchen knives. "And the knives
are sharpened. Calm down."

By the little she knew of Toryn, he was well
capable of war and not in the least able to take care of himself.
He would run through the fires of Hell barefoot before he'd take a
cat nap or clean a wound.

Andi intertwined her fingers through his and
led him upstairs. Toryn regarded the framed photographs lining the
stairway and shiny banister with quiet interest. He had obviously
never been inside a modern house and Andi took secret delight that
hers was the first.

Once they reached the master shower, she
turned the knob and water fell from the large, circular shower wand
like a steady spring rain. Toryn was so enthralled he barely
noticed Andi remove her pajamas before pulling the torn shroud
loose from his lower body.

"Have you never showered beneath a sky of
plaster and paint?" she asked playfully, clearly knowing the
answer.

Toryn actually hesitated before he allowed
her to pull him in, but would not let Andi clasp the glass door
completely shut. For the first time in his long life, he understood
the sensation of feeling trapped.

"Trust me," she whispered, taking a moment to
meet his eyes. Her hands grazed his cheeks until they rested just
below his jawline. "The world can wait to come to an end."

She gathered the soap in her hands and rubbed
it between her fingers until enough froth built to cover Toryn's
chest. God, he smelled of the earth after a fresh rain. How could
that be evil?

She took her time running her hands over the
peaks and dips of his muscular body, enjoying the upper hand. He
was in her world now, at least for the time being. And she knew her
world. Understood it. This was the ground she mentally needed. Both
with Toryn and with the hunters. Yes, if they spent their
upbringing in the human domain, as Toryn had explained, then Andi
could master their history and digest it easier than the beings
from Toryn's underworld.

And she could win.

Licking the water from his chest, she closed
the distance between them like a cat with its prey, allowing her
hard nipples to brush against his body ever so lightly. Her long
hair ran down her back, highlighting her curves, and there was
nothing innocent in her expression or the way her hips moved.

Spiritedly, she asked, "Is it really killing
you to
not
be killing right now?"

Toryn grabbed the smooth mounds creating
Andi's hips, caressing them with his large palms. "It would be more
than I deserve if I could forever hold onto this moment as I do
you. We do not have such tenderness where I am from."

She wanted to ask if he was referring to
Hell. Was that where he was born? Where did fully functional,
non-humanoid demons come from, exactly?

From the many dark recesses of the
underworld.

Andi flinched, having forgotten that Toryn
could sense her thoughts. In a bid to pull away, she began to
change the subject, but he moved forward immediately until she lost
her ground and her back was against the smooth, cold tile wall. His
hands rested on the tile to her left and right, his thumbs
caressing the tender skin on her sides.

"I am from a world blanketed with more
nightmares than there are stars. And you... You are a halfling,
able to walk between worlds, able to tame darkness with fire."

I'm not as special as you make me
sound
, she thought to herself as well as him.

Leaning his warm, hard body into hers, he
fought the need to possess her and, instead, closed his eyes,
allowing his sense of touch and smell to take over. She smelled of
softness and sunshine. He began kissing her skin.

"If your world is so vile, why aren't you?"
she wondered aloud.

Running his fingers through her dark tresses,
he halted the flurry of kisses up and down her neck and growled,
"What makes you think I am not? I kill. I destroy. I am ruin."

Andi swallowed audibly, staring at the abyss
of darkness swirling in his gaze, threatening to ensnare her. But
something in there, through the fury, past the desperation, a glint
of light, caused her to relax. "Because you're here." She chased
her words with a warm smile. "With me."

Their bodies fought to press every bare inch
to one another, as did their lips. Andi felt an overwhelming sense
of comfort and something like love. More so, however, she felt a
compelling -almost frantic- sense of need. Not just a need for
attention or touch. It far surpassed the need for flesh or release.
She could feel Toryn's need to be near her Without saying or
thinking a word, Andi knew that she was irreplaceable to this demon
warrior.

Was he irreplaceable to her, as well? He had
been gone for so many months, she almost began thinking of him as a
dream or hallucination. But here he was, hot and real. And he so
obviously had not forgotten or discarded her during their time
apart. He had come back to fight for her. So...was he irreplaceable
to her?

If I am not, treat me as you like, but never
cast me away.

Her eyes followed the small stress lines
mapping his face until she met his gaze. She opened her mouth to
speak, but he kissed her into submission. And there was no more
talking, no more thinking. Toryn grabbed her thighs and lifted her
up until she was able to wrap her legs around his waist. He
sheltered her from the water as it beat against his back.

Still holding Andi in his grasp, he bit at
the nape of her neck as he pressed her against the tile with more
and more pressure. She felt his tip play against the delicate skin
between her thighs. The sensation was driving her mad. As the
pleasure threatened to overtake her, he suddenly pressed with more
force, gently gliding inside her.

Andi gasped, causing Toryn to smile.

God, what a sight. She had never seen him
smile, had she? Not like this.

Fighting the intense urge to close her eyes
and give herself over to his touch only fed Toryn's urge to seduce
her body and mind. Working his hips in a smooth, circular motion,
he took exceptional pleasure in feeling her close tightly around
him as he drove deeper and deeper to her core.

She ran her hands over his firm, smooth
chest, resting them at the back of his neck, just below his
hairline. Feeling the carnal tension building between them, Andi
grabbed him by his neck, pulling him in for a long kiss. It acted
like gasoline to a flame because Toryn's hips worked faster and
harder. Every thrust made her hips and breasts quake.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Toryn
caught Andi's hands in one of his and pinned them to the wall above
her head. With his other hand, he grabbed her full breast. His
overdeveloped legs held the weight of Andi with ease as he pumped
furiously into her.

Andi heard that sound, the one that sent
shivers across her skin. Toryn's demon teeth had come out to play.
She felt the sharp teeth against her lips and quivered with
excitement.

Withdrawing from her kiss, he saw the eager
glint in her eyes. Grinding into her, he swiftly bent down and bit
into her chest where it met the mound of her fleshy breast.
Enraptured, Andi called out, her voice echoing through the small,
damp space. Her flesh grew hotter and hotter until a normal man
would have fried between her legs like a devilish rotisserie.
Toryn, however, basked in the heat, pulling it in, rolling it
about, allowing it to heal him.

The pressure swelled so great that it
threatened to destroy them from within. Her voice bordered on
ragged when Toryn thrust one last time, as hard and deep as
possible. Her body claimed his shaft, spasming and jerking beyond
her control. But every little movement felt like a brand new
experience, a brand new orgasm. It took them both a few minutes to
recover sufficiently for Toryn to set her down.

Andi had never experienced such a climax.

When she leaned into him and looked up, she
stared into his hard, dark eyes and grinned. "You should smile like
that more often," she said.

They spent a few more minutes in the shower,
a
ctually
showering this time. And then Toryn collapsed in a
bundle of comforters on the floor of her bedroom, having made no
excuses for not trusting her modern mattress and box spring. Had
they been stuffed with feathers or the heads of hell beasts, he
would have curled right in, feeling more at home, she supposed.

"Do you need anything?" she asked him as she
pulled her robe across her torso.

"Mmm," he grunted. Andi assumed that meant
no, as he gave no further indication of speaking.

Andi quietly turned the knob on the wall,
causing the gas logs to extinguish. Toryn had definitely chased
away the evening chill in the house. She could get used to this...
Could he? Knowing the intensity of his feelings, doubt still
abounded within. Could he live inside these walls and be
contented?

Toryn rolled over, resting his eyes on her
Aphrodite form in front of the fireplace. "Why do you do this?" he
asked in a low timbre.

Turning to face him, she crinkled her brow.
"Do what?"

"Why do you worry? So often, I look into your
eyes and see unease."

"Because someone is usually chasing us. That
doesn't bother you?"