CHAPTER ELEVEN

Isabelle stared at Dalton, not sure what to say in response to his admission.

“I don’t understand.” She was being honest. She had no clue what he’d meant when he said he was afraid of going too far. Hadn’t they been headed as far as they could go last night?

“I’m no … angel,” he said.

“I never thought you were.”

He lifted his hands out of the water, dragged them through his hair. “I was trying to be noble, to give you time to heal, to figure out for yourself what was going on inside you. But I hadn’t counted on what I felt for you.”

Her breath caught and held, afraid of what he’d say, afraid he’d stop and not say it at all.

“And you kept pushing me, when you had those … demon moments, I’d guess you’d call them. But me stopping last night had nothing to do with you being part demon. Last night it was the human Isabelle I was with. And it’s when you’re human that you get to me, when I really want you. Because then it’s just you and me. And it’s a little too real.” His gaze was so direct, penetrating her defenses.

“Tell me, Dalton.”

“You light a fire inside me. Whenever I’m around you it burns high and hot. I backed away from you last night because I’m afraid of what will happen if I let it run wild. Sometimes it seems like there’s this darkness inside me, and that if I tap into it I’ll hurt you. I’m not afraid of you, Isabelle. I’m afraid of me.”

Stunned speechless, Isabelle was at a loss for how to respond. He wanted her. He wasn’t repulsed by her or her demon blood. Everything she’d thought had been wrong. To be able to see the passion in his eyes, to know it was for her, was astounding. She’d never felt that special to a man before.

She did now.

And he thought it would frighten her? Oh, hell no. If anything, his need for her, and his reluctance to give her everything, only strengthened her.

As soon as she wrapped her head around all that, she smiled at him.

“Dalton, I’m not at all afraid of you.”

He frowned. “You should be. You have no idea what I’m capable of doing.”

“You don’t know what I’m capable of doing, either. That makes us a pretty even match, don’t you think?”

His lips curled. “Maybe.”

“I’ve always wanted to feel close to someone but never allowed it. At first because of selfish reasons, and lately because of fear. Don’t you think I’m afraid of what I could do, what I could be?”

“You’re safe with me, Isabelle.”

“But are you safe with me?”

“I can take care of myself.”

She believed he could. If anyone could, it was Dalton. “I need to be close to someone, to feel alive, to feel … human. I need to feel as if someone cares for me. And if that caring is only sex, I can handle that.”

“I don’t know what I can offer you beyond this moment,” he said.

She nodded. “Nor do I. But I can tell you that I’m strong enough to handle you. And that I want you, no matter how out of control you think you’ll get.”

She’d never been so nakedly honest with anyone in her life. It was scary as hell and exhilarating at the same time. It left her shaky, her skin prickling with need.

Isabelle pushed off the side of the tub and stood, bubbles sliding down her skin. “I’m getting all pruny in here. How about we take this conversation somewhere else?”

The heat in his gaze seared her. He started at her knees, his gaze lifting upward, devouring her body with his hungry gaze. When he reached her face, she actually blushed. Dalton’s eyes went dark, his intent oh, so clear. He stood, and now it was her turn to look as he stepped out of the tub.

“We’ve done enough talking.” He scooped her up in his arms, lifted her out of the tub, and took her into his bedroom. He jerked the quilt and sheet to the end of the bed, then laid her in the middle of it, coming down on top of her.

Skin-to-skin contact. The shock and utter bonfire consumed her. But he didn’t give her time to even breathe before his lips covered hers in a demanding kiss that told her in no uncertain terms that she’d better be ready to accept what was going to happen between them, or let him know now, because this time there’d be no stopping.

She so didn’t want to stop. Not with the barely leashed passion that roared inside Dalton, ready to burst to the surface. She felt it in the tension of his muscles as she smoothed her hands over his shoulders, down his arms. She held on to him as he surged against her, letting her feel how much he wanted her. She arched upward, letting him know she wanted him as well, because she couldn’t speak—his mouth was doing delicious things to hers, capturing her, mesmerizing her, his tongue licking at hers, rasping its velvet softness in silent demand.

Whatever he wanted, she would give. She had so much to offer it was almost painful. It was frightening and exhilarating, this temptation to bare her soul to Dalton. Part of her wanted to hold back, but she had a hot man in her arms, a demanding man who would take no less than everything. That’s what she intended to give him.

He lifted his head, stared down at her, his gaze as demanding as his body moving against hers. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“How can you ask that? I’ve been trying to seduce you since the moment we got here.”

His lips curled, and he bent, kissing the pounding pulse point of her neck, then licked her until she shivered. “Be careful what you wish for, Isabelle,” he murmured against her ear before gently biting her earlobe. “You might just get it.”

She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled, forcing him to look at her. “So far you’ve been all talk, Dalton. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

He laughed, the rumbling sound full of promise. He grasped her wrists in his hands, spread her arms wide, then used his knee to kick her legs apart before climbing up to his knees, devouring her with his gaze. He lifted her arms above her head and held her wrists together with one hand, using his free hand to caress her hair, her cheek, her neck. She breathed through her mouth when his fingers went featherlight, teasing between her breasts, skiing up and down the valley between the two globes. His touch sent rivers of sensation between her breasts and straight down between her legs. She tried to squeeze her legs together, anything to intensify the feeling, but his body was in the way.

“Like that?” he asked.

“Yes. Touch me.”

He circled her nipples, then used the pad of his thumb to skim across each taut bud, lingering at the piercings there, sending her into shivers of delight as he gently tugged the silver rings. She let out a whimper of pleasured response, gritting her teeth when he cupped her breasts and squeezed oh, so tenderly, circling her nipple with his thumb. She gasped at the exquisite sensations, made even more so when he bent his head and captured her other nipple in his mouth, sucking it hard.

She nearly came off the bed, arching upward against him. How could something feel so good? How could he know just what she needed? He rolled his tongue over the piercings at each nipple, which shot pulses of ecstasy to her core until she was mindless with pleasure, all the while rocking against her sex with his shaft until she was drenched with need for him, already so close to completion her body throbbed with it.

Dalton shifted, dropping down beside her to claim her lips again in a potent kiss. She shuddered at the sensual power he had over her, like a drug that made everything hazy. Every nerve ending was alive, everywhere he touched sent her closer and closer to the edge. And when his hand drifted down her belly to cup her sex, slowly massaging the ache inside her that had built to a crescendo, she tensed and whimpered against his mouth.

He lifted his head, looked at her. “Let go, Isabelle.”

She did, gasping as she climaxed, letting him see everything, feel everything as she rocked against his hand. He gave her no time to come down from the high, just positioned himself over her while she was still in the throes of these amazing aftershocks, and slid inside her with a powerful thrust.

And oh, it was just what she craved—this possession, this demanding man giving her what she’d wanted from him for so long. He slid one hand underneath her buttocks, lifting her up so her pelvis met his, so he could drive deeper inside her.

Isabelle wrapped her legs around him and held tight, smoothing her hands over the sweat-slickened muscles of his back, memorizing every part of his skin she could touch as he rocked against her, inside her, one with her.

She felt power inside Dalton, and it matched the power inside herself—the part of herself she was afraid to set free.

“Let it out,” he said, lifting up on his arms to stare down at her face.

She gasped at the look of intensity, the darkness in his eyes, which almost seemed to glow with feral, animalist hunger. It should frighten her. Instead, it aroused her.

“Let it go, Isabelle. Let me have it.”

She knew what he asked for, the part of herself she’d tried to hide. The intensity, the emotion, the deepest part of herself that she’d held locked up. She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. “I can’t.”

He lifted against her and she could feel herself coming apart again.

“Trust me,” he whispered, bending down to brush his lips against hers. “I’ll never hurt you.”

She believed him. God help her, she believed him. And she would give him everything. Her heart, her soul, all that she was.

She swept her hand across his cheek.

“It’s yours,” she said. “Take it.”

With a low growl he thrust hard, retreated, powered forward again until she released all she’d held inside. She arched her back as the force of her climax crashed within her, dragged her nails down his arms as she came apart around him. His guttural cry told her that he gave her all he had, too, and it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

It was like a white light shone around him, nearly blinding her, yet she couldn’t close her eyes against such beauty, not when it catapulted her into a place she’d never been before, a place she never hoped to capture.

Shaken, spent, Dalton collapsed on top of her and she wrapped herself around him, wondering what she had just seen. Imaginings in the throes of passion, or something else? She was almost afraid to ask, didn’t want to do or say anything to disrupt this idyllic moment.

It had to have been a figment of her imagination. She probably just had way too many synapses firing.

A pleasure overload, that’s what it had been. She’d been so caught in the moment, the sensations, the intensity of everything she’d felt with him. Because there’s no way Dalton would have a white glow surrounding him. No way.

He rolled off her and pulled her against him so they faced each other. He swept her hair away from her face, his gaze penetrating.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She smiled, slid her hand along his beard-stubbled jaw. “I’m great.”

“Yeah, you sure were.”

She laughed. “Thanks. So were you. I can’t remember sex being quite so … intense.”

He arched a brow and swept his hand along her collarbone. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You do that.”

She nestled her head against his shoulder, utterly exhausted. But a part of her wanted to mention what she’d seen, and that kept her from falling immediately to sleep. Besides, sleep meant demons, anyway, and she was content to just lie here with Dalton for a while.

“You’re restless.”

She smiled in the dark. “Yes. I tend to avoid sleep.”

“Because of the nightmares?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to get up?”

She snuggled against him. “No. I’m fine here with you.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “I’ll keep the demons away.”

“I believe you could.” She yawned, trying to fight sleep, but failing. “Your white light could do that.”

“Huh?”

She was drifting, barely able to keep her eyelids open. “That white light I saw around you when we were making love. It was so … beautiful.”

Dalton listened to Isabelle’s rhythmic breathing. She was asleep, had passed out almost immediately after uttering the words that had sent him into a cold sweat.

White light surrounding him.

Shit.

He was afraid something like that would happen, but he hadn’t known for sure. Not until he’d given all of himself to Isabelle, something he hadn’t intended on doing, but couldn’t seem to control.

What happened between Isabelle and him was more than just physical. He hadn’t counted on his emotional reaction, the involvement of his soul in their joining. He knew he asked her for everything, but at the same time he gave her all he had, all he was.

Huge mistake. What was he thinking?

He wasn’t. That was his problem, what he was afraid would happen if he made love to Isabelle. He had suspected after the first time that being with Isabelle would bring out a flood of intense emotions.

But he hadn’t counted on this.

Maybe she’d forget what she saw, or chalk it up to some sexual out-of-body experience brought about by a great orgasm.

Yeah, right. He wasn’t that good. Which meant he’d better come up with a plausible explanation, because chances were she’d ask.

No, he sure hadn’t helped himself tonight. All he’d done was remind himself of the darkness inside him, always lurking, the mistakes he could make with her future by making the wrong decision.

Had this been the wrong decision? He might have caused irreparable damage—to both of them. Because he’d allowed himself to care about her, and he couldn’t do that.

Not with what was surely coming down the road.

The Realm staff had strapped the demon into a chair, making it sit upright. It was well bound, so no matter how strong it was, no way was it going to get free.

They were also going to try to talk to the demon in a freakin’ freezing room, which meant they were all geared up in parkas, gloves, and thermal underclothes.

Mandy couldn’t feel her toes and fingers. Her nose was as red as Rudolph’s and thank God for lip balm.

She paced, blowing into her gloved hands, watching a white trail of cold smoke filter out through her nearly frozen lips.

Yeah, plenty frigid in here. Demon dude wasn’t going to be able to dematerialize. Now all they had to do was wait for it to wake up. The scientists had injected it with just enough of the warming agent to bring about consciousness, but not enough to thaw it so it could turn into mist.

The demon—or should they refer to it as James?—was beginning to stir, eyelids twitching, mouth opening in a grimace.

Good. Mandy hoped it was in pain.

In an instant its eyes shot open, zooming in on her. She grinned and leaned in.

“Have a nice nap, James?”

It struggled against the restraints.

“There’s no point in fighting,” Michael said, moving alongside Mandy. “You’re secure.”

Fully awake and aware now, at first it feigned fear. “I don’t understand. Why are you holding me?”

“You can knock off the poor captured human act,” Mandy said. “We know what you are.”

And still, it continued the performance. “Where’s my wife? If you’ve hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

Mandy rolled her eyes. “They need to give you guys better acting lessons, because you suck at this.”

“We know you’re not human,” Michael said, “so knock off the bullshit. You’re not James McAdams, at least not the James McAdams you used to be.”

The fear left the demon’s face and it smirked. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

Mandy snorted. She couldn’t wait for the chance to go one-on-one with this piece of shit. Her silver-tipped dagger was nice and cold strapped to her thigh. She’d love to plunge it in this bastard’s excuse for a heart. But with it tied down like that there’d be no fun in stabbing it. She wanted it free and coming at her so the fight would be fair.

“Why don’t you tell us what we’re dealing with,” Michael said, his voice calm. He was even smiling.

“You think your cold room and these bindings can hold me?”

Michael crossed his arms. “Are you saying they can’t?”

James lifted its chin. “Of course not.”

“Then go ahead, dematerialize into mist or break the restraints.”

The demon shot Michael a look of pure malice. “You’re testing me, have me hooked up to wires or something. I’m not giving away my secrets.”

“You can’t get out of the freakin’ chair. Do you think we’re stupid?” Mandy smirked at the demon’s attempt at superiority.

“Yes, I think you’re stupid. All humans are.”

Mandy cupped the knife at her thigh. Michael’s hand covered hers and patted it gently.

She so couldn’t wait for this fight.

Michael cocked his head to the side. “You look human to me.”

“That’s the idea.”

“What’s the idea?”

James opened its mouth to speak, then shook its head. “I’ve got nothing to say.”

It wanted to brag. Mandy knew it. It wanted to show them how “advanced” it was to the rest of them.

Michael backed away, leaned against the frozen wall, looked bored, as if he didn’t care. “We can just leave you here until you rot.”

The demon said nothing.

“They won’t care whether you die or not. You’re only one of many to them. If they lose you, they’ll just make another.”

Mandy noticed Michael didn’t say who “they” were. But James knew. The Sons of Darkness.

“What did they offer you to give up your humanity?” Michael asked. “To give up your life?”

“Immortality, asshole. They want smart, good-looking humans. In return, we get to live forever, and we get all these cool skills.”

“Like shifting into mist, for example,” Michael offered.

The demon nodded. “Exactly.”

“Is that it?” Mandy asked, already picking up from Michael that they were playing the Good Cop, Bad Cop game. “That’s the best you’ve got? Shifting into mist? Because I’ve gotta tell you, that’s not much.”

“Better than what you’ve got, bitch.”

She didn’t rise to the bait this time. Oh, but it took a lot of effort. She’d really like to wipe that smart-ass smirk off the demon’s face.

“She has a point,” Michael said, keeping his voice low and even. “Disappearing is a nice act, but surely there has to be more benefit for what you’re asked to do.”

“Superhuman strength, immunity to all disease. No need to eat, or sleep, though we do need to feed.”

This guy was a wealth of information. The Sons of Darkness were going to have to work on the discretion thing. This demon was so full of itself it just had to brag.

“You said you didn’t need to eat, but you need to feed.” Michael made a show of studying his nails, as if he wasn’t really all that interested in the answer. “That seems rather … human to me.”

“Not food, you moron.”

“Then what?” Michael asked.

“Life force. Energy.”

“And how do you do that?” Michael asked.

“It’s so damn easy you wouldn’t believe it. Just press your fingers against a human’s neck, embed, and suck the life right out of them.”

Mandy’s gaze snapped to the demon’s. “How the hell does that work?”

The demon laughed. “Hell if I know. It just does. And oh, man, there’s nothing like the feeling of your victim wrestling for freedom underneath you. The power just pouring into you. It’s like you can feel their soul seeping out of them as they die. That’s some heady shit.”

She’d show it heady. How would it like to have its life force sucked right out of it? Mandy would bet she could figure a way to make that happen.

“That’s all you need to sustain your existence?” Michael asked.

The demon gave a short nod. “That’s it. We have no weaknesses.”

Everything had weaknesses. Everything could die.

“We will rule. You’ll find out soon enough.” The demon looked them over as if they were nothing but insects. “We are superior over humans and growing stronger every day. There are more and more of us coming on board, and the Masters are turning us at a rapid rate. Soon, we’ll take over and you’ll bow to us.”

“That’s pretty big talk coming from someone strapped in and held prisoner,” Mandy said.

The demon grinned. “Only a matter of time before I’m out of here.”

Mandy snorted.

“Don’t turn your back on me, bitch. You’ll be dead.”

“Knock the thing out,” Michael ordered the tech. An injection into its IV and the demon’s eyelids closed, but not before it sent Mandy a pale, blue-eyed look of utter hatred.

These demons had emotion. And egos. Too bad it was out cold. Mandy enjoyed the banter. And she really wanted to kill it, but not while it was strapped down like that. She wanted it free and going one-on-one with her.

She’d show it who was superior then. That demon had overconfidence written all over it. Which meant it was doomed.

Shivering from the subzero temperatures, Mandy stepped outside the room with Michael, peeling off the layers as she did. She rubbed her arms to get the circulation going again.

“Thinks a lot of itself, doesn’t it?” she remarked.

“You could say that. Obviously they assume they’re indestructible,” Michael said as they strolled down the sterile white hallway and into an office. “That could be a critical mistake.”

Mandy slid onto a well-worn leather sofa. “I can’t believe it gave us so much information.”

Michael pulled up a chair in front of the metal desk, turning the chair to face Mandy. “It doesn’t see us as a threat. So it felt safe in boasting about its talents. Obviously the Sons of Darkness haven’t taught their new recruits the better part of discretion.”

“So what do we do with all that information now?”

“Since we know it feeds on humans, the first thing I want to know is if there are victims, and if so, how spread out are they? I’m going to have the Realm run a search of hospital emergency rooms and morgues, also police records, see if there have been any suspicious attacks, injuries, or deaths in recent weeks. That should tell us how widespread these demons are.”

“I hope they’re contained.”

“I would bet they’re not. The Sons of Darkness want to wage their war worldwide. I imagine we’re going to see these types of injuries crop up internationally.”

Mandy grimaced. “That’s a nightmare in the making.”

“Yes and no. The fact that these creatures have to feed is a good thing. It means we can spot where they’ve been.”

“After the fact.”

“True enough,” Michael said. “Not ideal, but it gives us a way of identifying their locations.”

“And if they are everywhere?” she asked.

His gaze was direct, and she already knew she wasn’t going to like his answer. “Then we take them out one at a time, one location at a time. We’ll alert all the other Realm cells to know what to look for. We’ll figure out how to spot them.”

New demons to hunt. Great. But at least having them on human turf made them easier to battle. Sort of.

“How do we kill them? Have we actually been able to kill one yet?”

Michael smiled. “Not that I’m aware of. Ryder and Angelique battled one similar to this one, but it disappeared. We don’t know if it was destroyed or not.”

“So how are we going to figure out what kills them?”

Michael arched a brow. “We have a nice test subject in the lab.”

She smiled back. “We get to do battle with it?”

He leaned back in the chair, stretching out his long legs. “We’re not going to keep it around as a pet, Mandy”

She laughed. “I might have underestimated you in the beginning, Michael.”

He laced his fingers behind his head, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “Does that mean you’re starting to like me?”

“I wouldn’t go that far. I don’t like anybody.”

He cocked a brow. “I’ll get to you yet, Mandy. Just wait.”

“Famous last words. Many have tried. Most fail.”

“I’m not most.”

She snorted. “Speaking of boasting …”

“Just stating facts.”

“Maybe we should pit you against the demon. You could have an ego match, see who comes out the winner.”

“Still a smart-ass, I see.” He stood, went around to the desk, and picked up the phone, a smile still lifting the corners of his lips.

Not only did he have a wit equal to hers, he also had a really nice mouth. Full lower lip, the kind a woman could grab on to with her teeth.

Not that she would know anything about that kind of thing. Or even care. Especially about Michael. Where had that come from anyway? She didn’t think about him that way at all.

Though she just had, hadn’t she?

Gah. Where had her head gone? She shoved her hands in her lap and laced her fingers together, trying to look anywhere but at Michael, think about anything but his mouth. Her gaze ended up drifting back toward him. He was on the phone with someone about their demon, telling whoever it was everything they’d discovered.

He had full, midnight black brows that matched his hair. He needed a haircut, though she kind of liked it long and shaggy like he wore it. Lots of hair there for a woman to sift her fingers through during—

And there her mind wandered into very unfamiliar territory, setting off mental visuals that warmed her up considerably. Someone needed to turn the heat down. She shifted, turned on her side so she leaned against her hip, and laid her head against her hand, studying Michael as he turned his back to her.

He had a great ass. Narrow waist, muscular thighs, but not overly big like a lot of the guys she was used to. He was all lean muscle, really well built but not like a bodybuilder. She’d bet if she touched his body, he’d be solid.

Her gaze drifted up, and she realized he’d turned back around, was off the phone and staring at her, his expression that of bemused interest. Like he’d been checking her out the same way she’d been checking him out.

Oh, God. This was so embarrassing. Men as fellow demon hunters, fine. As her pseudo brothers, check. She had those relationships down pat. Men as … men, as sexual creatures, as potential partners … she had no clue how to handle that aspect of the male species.

“Mandy.”

His voice had gone all low and sexy. She jumped off the sofa and ran her sweaty palms down the front of her pants. “I think I’ll go check on our demon.”

She nearly ran down the hall, hoping the breeze it created would quell the heat flaming her body. As she reached the interrogation chamber, she looked at her coat, then grimaced. She probably wouldn’t even need it. The arctic temperatures inside the chamber were just what she needed to cool down her libido.

Bad time for her sex drive to decide to kick into high gear.

And with the wrong damn person. The absolutely wrong damn person.