Amorette lunged for him as he dropped to his hands and knees. Blood dripped onto the cold ground, the red too bright against the dead February grass. “Valentin!” Her ears cleared, registering her screams. He couldn’t die. She wouldn’t let him, but just as her fingers clutched his shoulders, a blur of motion caught her eye. A man raced across her parent’s yard, and with a painful twist in her gut, Amorette understood. They’d warnedher. Any attempt to escape Cavitto would end with her family’s murder, and if he got inside their house?
“I’m fine. Are you hurt?” Valentin groaned as she seized him, but when she didn’t answer, he twisted with an agonized grunt. He followed her line of sight, and with bloody fingers, he lunged for her. “Amorette, no!”
But she was already moving. Her athletic form carried her over the short yard, the massive arrow clutched in her fist. He would not kill her parents. Over her dead body would she let Doug’s selfish actions cause her mother pain. Her mom, with her blonde hair, flashed through her thoughts. She pictured her dad’s black locks, their colors mixing in her brunette curls. Her memory played every Christmas, every Sunday breakfast, every phone call. Amorette treasured the memories of her mom curled up on the couch with the cat while she made her taste each new chocolate recipe she was testing. She loved how her father came to the café anytime she needed help with something heavy. No, her parents wouldn’t die today.
With a scream, Amorette launched herself at the man just as he reached the back steps, her body plowing into his so hard, they both rolled to the cold ground. All anger and limbs, Amorette climbed on top of him and aimed the arrow at his throat, shoving the tip against his skin so forcibly it drew blood. The man froze when his eyes registered the weapon, and then he paled as his gaze flicked behind her. An intimidating shadow shifted to hover over them, and Amorette’s heart slowed in relief. He was alive and moving. She hadn’t lost him.
Blood-soaked and feral, Valentin reached down and yanked the man clean off the ground with one hand, catching Amorette with his other as the sudden movement knocked her off his chest. “Where’s Cavitto?” he growled.
“Go to hell,” the man spat, his expression not nearly as brave as his words.
“Where is Cavitto?” Valentin repeated, his voice so low and dangerous that Amorette’s heart stuttered in both fear and arousal.
“Fuck you.”
“I’ll find him whether or not you tell me.” Valentin pulled him closer with a threatening growl. “It will only end better for you if you help.”
“I’m not telling you shit!”
“Very well.” Valentin turned to Amorette. “It’s your choice what happens to him.”
“What?” she stammered, unprepared for that request.
“He’s transgressions are against you, and he was attempting to kill your parents, so you decide his fate. Do we hand him over to the cops, or do I break his neck?”
“Oh…” Amorette paused, staring at the man’s shocked face. For a split second, she contemplated letting Cupid have his vengeance, but then she shook her head. “Police station.” Valentin had already killed two men and would undoubtedly kill more before her life was no longer in danger, but she didn’t like the idea of murdering a captive.
“Your wish is my command.” Valentin pulled golden twine from his gear and bound the cursing man in unbreakable knots.
“Are you okay?” Amorette asked after they located the man’s car and shoved him into the back seat. She would drive it to the station while Valentin followed on his bike. The idea of being alone with this attempted murderer scared her, but Valentin swore that no mortal could escape Fae bonds. He also promised that he could shoot while riding a motorcycle. Even if Cavitto’s man broke free, he would be dead before the seatbelt unbuckled.
“I heal quickly.” Valentin peeled the tear in his black shirt open to reveal the bullet wound. The flesh was already knitting back together, and Amorette sighed in relief.
“Thank goodness.” Her arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a hug before she realized she was moving, but it felt natural to surrender to his gravity. “I was so scared. I didn’t want you to die, but he was going for my parents. I had to choose?—”
“Fuck the rules,” Valentin growled, cutting her off with a kiss. Amorette yelped in surprise as he caught her waist and hoisted her into the air, pinning her against the hood of the car. Her legs parted instinctively, urging him closer as he deepened the kiss. Her surprise evaporated as his lips claimed hers, and she moaned so obscenely loud, she worried the entire neighborhood heard her. His hold tightened, pulling her flush against his powerful chest, and she gasped when his hard length ground against her core. Electricity sparked between them. It was as if two bolts of lightning had struck at the same time, and Amorette feared she wouldn’t survive the intensity. It was too much. He was too much, and she gripped his hair and tugged him harder against her mouth, encouraging him to take control of her body. Valentin responded to her unspoken need as if this kiss was a well-choreographed dance. He anticipated her every desire and answered with unbearable pleasure. He was all domination and fire, an angel and a demon as he owned her mouth without mercy, and this kiss would destroy her. It was perfection. It would be her undoing.
Valentin’s tongue pushed against hers, coaxing another moan from her voice, and without thinking, Amorette ground herself against him. A haze of intoxicating lust clouded her brain, and all she could think about was his hands gripping her hips. They guided her movements, heightening the bliss dancing through her, and she gripped his hair harder. She needed more. She needed to feel every inch of this perfect man, and hooking her leg higher on his hip, she rolled teasingly against him.
Amorette froze against his length, biting his lip in shock, and it was his turn to moan obscenely. There was no way he was thatbig, yet as Valentin pressed between her thighs, there was no mistaking the size. The reality made her lightheaded. He would never fit inside her, but she wanted nothing more than to take every inch. Heavens, what would it feel like to be filled by this man? She shouldn’t be thinking about fucking him after he’d just been shot. The size of him should send her running, but she rolled her hips again, aching to take his thickness to the hilt.
“Fuck.” Valentin jerked back as if he suddenly realized where she sat and who was watching. Amorette mourned the absence of his lips, but the man in the car caught her eye, and she laughed with embarrassment. She wasn’t normally a fan of PDA, but this Cupid and his sinful mouth would turn her into an exhibitionist if she wasn’t careful.
“You shouldn’t have risked your life like that. I was just about to stand up and stop him.” Valentin tangled his fingers in her dark hair and yanked her head back softly. “But fuck, that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen a woman do.”
Fuck the rules.”
Those words played on repeat in his mind as Valentin claimed her mouth in a rough and primal kiss. Amorette gasped as he slammed her onto the hood of the car, but her legs opened, welcoming him closer as he took everything she gave him. His tongue slid against hers, coaxing a moan from her, and his brain almost short-circuited at the sound. Her voice was everything. Her kiss would be the death of him. His ever-increasing desire screamed for the universe to freeze this moment and let him live against her body. To allow him to spend eternity between her thighs as pleasure fell from her lips.
Valentin’s broad palms dwarfed her waist as he pulled her closer, letting her feel how aroused that stunt of hers made him. Seeing Amorette fly across the yard and tackle that man terrified him. For those endless seconds, he waited to watch the woman he couldn’t live without die at the hands of that monster, but with the grace of a trained warrior, she pinned him to the ground, one of Cupid’s arrows at his throat. Her bravery and ferocity made him instantly hard, and he tried to resist. Heavens did he try, but every word that fell from her full lips drew his attention to her mouth. The mouth he wanted to devour, to own, to worship. The lips he wanted to wrap around his cock until his legs gave out with his climax.
Amorette moaned again, fisting his hair, and if Valentin didn’t get control of himself, he would fuck her right here on the hood of this scumbag’s car for the entire neighborhood to observe.
“Fuck.” He yanked himself away at the thought. Her parents were inside that house and had undoubtedly heard the gunshot. He hoped they’d called 911 and hid instead of looking out the window to witness him almost take their daughter against the car. “You shouldn’t have risked your life like that. I was just about to stand up and stop him.” Valentin tangled his fingers in her dark hair and tugged her head back softly, enjoying the sensation of her locks finally choking his wrist, but her expression destroyed him. This was so much more than lust. He couldn’t say what, though, because the moment he uttered the word, it would kill him to let her go. He couldn’t keep her, even though she was everything he wanted. “But fuck, that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen a woman do.”
Amorette grinned; her legs still locked around his waist. “I think I might explode. I can’t believe I did that.” She laughed and then lay down on the hood of the car, her chest heaving as shecaught her breath, and Valentin could watch that sight for the rest of his life and never tire of it.
“My brain must have snapped from the stress,” she said, leaning up on her elbows to look at him, and he forced himself to focus on her words and not the way she was laying there. Heavens, it would be a dream come true to strip her bare and fuck her against this car… or better yet, his bike.
