“I believe that you’ve changed.” She stepped closer to him and put her hand on his chest and looked up at his tense face. “Because you have. I don’t know what you were really like before, but you’re not evil anymore. And the fact that you’d be willing to sacrifice yourself to save my pathetic little life is all the proof I need.”
He swore. “Fine. I’m going to have to call him myself.” “I’m not giving you Malcolm’s card.”
He smiled thinly at her. “You don’t have to. I memorized the number.”
He started dialing.
“I can stop you if I use your real name, can’t I?” she said.
He looked at her. “You can. But just remember I’ve killed all but one human who ever had that sort of power over me.”
“I already used your name earlier, remember?”
“You did.”
“So kill me.”
He jabbed his index finger at her. “You’re crazy. I think I get it now. You’ve gone completely nutty as a fruitcake. I’m surprised it took this long, actually. There have been humans who’ve seen my demon visage and gone insane with fear at my greatness.”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay, you’re obviously very full of yourself. It was impressive, sure. But let’s not get carried away.”
“Crazy.” He shook his head and started dialing again. “So are you going to use my real name to stop me?”
“No.”
“Then you’re going to let me do this?”
“No.”
“Then what are you—?”
She kissed him.
Darrak dropped the phone.
It had been the reaction she’d hoped for.
He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back from him, his expression filled with confusion at her strange behavior. “What the hell was that for?”
“I had to stop you from making a serious mistake.”
“A mistake?” he repeated, eyeing her warily. “Maybe I’ll drain you of the rest of your energy. That would be a mistake. For you.”
“I don’t think you will.”
“Then you’re very naïve. And you’re asking for trouble.”
She tried to touch him but he grabbed her wrists firmly, pushing her easily back up against the wall, effectively trapping her in place.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Eden,” he whispered in her ear. “Now that you know the truth about me. Now that you know what I’m capable of. Are you feeling reckless all of a sudden? The brush with death wasn’t enough for you?”
She inhaled sharply at the feel of his extremely warm body pressed against hers. It made it difficult to think straight.
This was the same demon who’d been seven feet of horns and fire only hours ago. The one who had, admittedly, nearly drained her of all of her energy. Sure, he might have changed somewhat since his archdemon days, he might be charming and handsome and easy to talk to in human form, but he was still dangerous. She knew it.
He could hurt her so easily if he wanted to.
But she truly believed he didn’t want to.
There was one way to find out for sure.
“Darrak…” Her mouth was only inches from his.
“Why did you have to start this?” His voice sounded strained. “I gave you the chance to end this. You really are crazy.”
She nodded. “Maybe you’re right.”
He’d released her, but hadn’t stepped back. She brought her hands up to his face and looked into his eyes.
Then, without another word, he kissed her hard enough to make her gasp against his lips. She slid her fingers into his dark hair, and his hands moved down to the small of her back and over the curve of her butt, pulling her even closer to him.
“Eden, please,” he managed after a moment. “This is a mistake. You shouldn’t be with me. You should be with your golden boy. He won’t hurt you.”
“He shot me.”
Darrak blinked. “Well, other than the near-fatal gunshot wound and his tendency to use violence to solve problems, he only wants what’s best for you. I see that now.”
She nodded. “You’re right. But there’s only one problem.”
“What?”
“I don’t want him. I want you.”
“You want me,” he repeated with disbelief. “But don’t you—”
She pulled his face down to meet hers again and kissed him. After a moment, he effortlessly picked her up without breaking the kiss for a moment.
The next thing she felt other than Darrak’s lips against hers was the softness of her mattress against her back. He’d taken her to her bedroom — all of fifteen feet away.
Okay, so her big plan of kissing him to get him to forget about calling Malcolm had worked.
Like, really well.
“Tell me to stop and I will,” Darrak said, looking down at her and bracing himself on his forearms.
Instead, she pulled the black T-shirt off, over his head, and ran her hands over the hard, muscled planes of his chest and abdomen before her hand drifted lower.