“Your buddy Lloyd rode in on his white horse. Blew up one of the Nightflyers. It was pretty cool. Brought us back to his place.”
“Lloyd,” he repeated, and he looked immediately calmer. “Good. You’ll be safe, then, for a while at least.”
He stared at her for a moment, then closed his eyes again.
Val stood up. “I’ll just let you rest a while.”
He moved his hand out to catch her wrist. “Don’t leave.”
“What did you say?”
He let go of her and looked away. “Nothing. Just mumbling incoherently. Ignore me.”
She sat next to him on the edge of the bed. “Why did you protect me out there, anyhow?”
“Because you commanded me to and I am temporarily bound to obey you. Remember?”
“Look at me.”
He didn’t move.
“Look at me,” she said again, stronger.
It took him a moment, but he finally did.
She crossed her arms. “If I didn’t have control over you like this, would you have left Reggie and me to die?”
His jaw tightened, but he didn’t answer her.
Why was she asking him this? Because she’d finally and completely gone off the deep end?
Maybe. She’d gone temporarily insane but she still wanted to know. She needed to know.
“Answer me, Nathaniel. You have to tell me the truth.” She swallowed hard and was furious with herself that her eyes were brimming with tears. Holy overemotional, Batman. “Would you have let them kill me?”
A tremor went through him and every muscle in his body tensed up before she heard him choke out, “No.”
“No what?”
His teeth were clenched. “No, I wouldn’t have let you die.”
“Lloyd told me what will happen if you fail on your assignment. If you don’t get me to agree to go to Hell. Is that why? Because you were afraid of losing me before you got another chance to tempt me?”
“Lloyd shouldn’t have told you a thing. It’s none of his damn business.”
“But he did. Now tell me. Is that why you saved me?”
“No.”
“Then why? Tell me!”
“Damn you, woman.”
She took a deep breath. The tears were still holding their own. None had escaped yet, but it was only a matter of time before one made a break for freedom.
“That’s not a very good answer. Why not?”
He stared at her for a long moment with an expression she’d never seen before. She didn’t even know how to explain it. Furious, panicked, afraid . . . all at the same time. Although, mostly the furious part.
“Because”—his eyes narrowed, and she felt the intensity of his gaze run through the length of her entire body—“I burn for you.”
Val frowned at him. “You burn for me? What does that mean?”
Flames danced behind his eyes before he turned his furious glare away from her again without another word.
“Nathaniel . . .” She was so confused, growing more so every moment she sat there. She shouldn’t have come in—shouldn’t have allowed herself to feel such growing concern for someone whose only goal was to use her for his own gain. She should never have asked him that stupid question. He burns for her?
He had turned his face away so she could only see the back of his head. He looked so human, so not evil or anything she ever would have imagined a demon to look like. She couldn’t help herself. She stroked his hair. Slid her fingers down his neck and across his broad shoulders.
To prove to herself that he was real and not just an illusion.
“Please do not touch me,” he said quietly, but he didn’t try to pull away.
He felt like silk beneath her fingers. Warm, taut silk, and she ran her hand over his chest and along his tight abs, all the places his injuries had been. The injuries he’d sustained from protecting her. Placing himself between her and the big, nasty monsters.
Because he burned for her.
“Thank you for saving me,” she murmured as her hand drifted lower.
He gasped, and he grabbed her arms, drawing her close to kiss her deeply, his tongue plunging between her lips. He pulled her down on top of him and rolled her slowly so he was on top, pressing her down into the mattress, his body a hard, hot line against her own.
“Valerie,” he murmured against her mouth. “My angel.”
She kissed him as if she were dying and this was all there was. Like his body was her lifeline and all that kept her from falling into the abyss. Overdramatic? Perhaps a tad, but that’s how she felt. He’d tempted her. He’d damn well succeeded. She couldn’t help it. She didn’t care what he was anymore, what she was—just that he was with her, on top of her, against her.
And he wanted her as she wanted him.
Their kiss grew even deeper, more urgent, and she moved her hands down to the back of his black pants. She’d only been human for two months, but she knew what she wanted. She wanted him. She slid her hands under his waistband and started to slide it over his hips, feeling the hot skin underneath.
He moaned, and broke off the kiss for a moment to stare down into her eyes.
“Don’t you see?” she said as she pulled his hard body closer to her own. “I burn for you, too.”
“Valerie, please . . . no.” He turned his face away.
She tried to kiss him again. “What?”