She waited for the revulsion to kick in, but instead,something else happened.Something...hot.Hotter than the serial-killer inducedheat that was testing the limits of her deodorant, building quickly, as if theywere inside a pre-heating oven.Her breasts became achy, and between her legs,a honeyed rush of wetness bloomed.
There’s a serial killer outside.
The sudden thought came with a blast of memories, of Draygerwith the scalpel that made tiny, stinging cuts.Of him with theskinningknife that removed flesh with a wet sound you couldhear through your screams.Sharp things and his laughter and pain—
“Will it hurt?”she blurted.
“I’ll make it feel good, I promise.”A fresh blast of heatdrove up the number on the thermostat near the door to 103.“But we need tohurry.”
She nodded, and his emerald eyes darkened even more, holdinghergazeprisoner as he lowered his head toward hers.Gently, he tilted her face to the side and opened his mouth over her throat,and she shuddered with a mix of anticipation and trepidation.She’d only dateda handful of men in her thirty years, wasting most of them on her high schoolsweetheart, a human who had never known the truth about her.If he had, hemight not have cheated on her during their junior year in college.Then again,maybe he enjoyed the curse of flatulence she’d cast upon him, affecting himevery time he kissed a girl.
The other guys had come after the breakup, nothing serious,mostly rebound dates she’d used for sex.Wytches needed to discharge theirenergy often, either with sex or magic, and she’d gone through an extendedanti-magic phase for a while.But not one of those sexual partners had made hernervous the way Hawkyn did.
Granted, none of them had fangs.Nor had they beensupernatural beings, let alone angels.And none of them had looked like Hawkyn,with his six and a half foot, thickly muscled build, a cocky smile thatradiated confidence, and intelligent eyes that she doubted missed anything.
Hawkyn’s breath whispered over her skin, and she shivered asher anxiety became excitement.As his tongue flicked across her vein, she evenhad to hold back a moan of pleasure.When his fangs sank into her flesh, themild pinprick gave way to a shocking spear of ecstasy that went straight to hercore.
His arm slipped around her, bracing her body against his bigone as he disengaged his teeth and repositioned his mouth.She let herself go,let herself sink into him as he swept her up and then settled them both on thecouchso she was straddling his lap, her sex pressed firmlyagainst the impressive arousal behind the fly of his jeans.
He took slow, easy draws, one hand holding her head inplace, the other gripping her waist, settled tamely above her hipbone.Hispinky finger wedged between her waistband and her sweater, and consciously orsubconsciously he was stroking skin, his touch adding to the heat that wasbuilding inside and out.
Under the circumstances, was it bad that she wanted to rockagainst him to ease the maddening desire?But despite his erection, he made noindication that he wanted anything more than her blood, and she sensed he’dchosen this position not because of how they fit together, but because he couldkeep an eye on both entrances and most of the windows.
A drop of sweat trickled down her temple, and she glanced atthe thermometer.115 now.
Shifting slightly, Hawkyn let out a groan and swept histongue over the punctures in her throat.She felt no pain, only a pinch andtingle that told her the holes were sealing themselves.
“Are we done?”she whispered, making no move to climb offhim.She wasn’t even sure she could.Her bones felt like noodles and hermuscleslikewater.
She was still ragingly horny, though.So horny she’dforgotten to try drawing energy from him, even though her palms had beenpressed against his back, holding him close as he took long, deep pulls fromher vein.
“Yeah,” he said roughly, tucking her head into the crook ofhis neck and shoulder.“I just need a minute to clear the fog.”
“The fog?Outside?”
His chuckle made her bounce, and she almost gasped at theelectric sensation of her breasts rubbing against his chest.
“In my head.”He arched, just a little, andshedidgaspat how hiserectionrocked into her mound.“And my body.”
“I get that,” she murmured into his shoulder.“Because Ifeel like I drank a couple of Long Island Ice Teas spiked with some kind ofsuper-aphrodisiac.”Reluctantly, she pushed herself up, just in time foranother heatwave.
125.
“Come on,” he said, lifting her off him.“We’re goingsomeplace much cooler.”
“And where’s that?”
He grinned as he flipped the duffel into the air with hisfoot and caught it in his hand in one easy motion.
“Hell,” he said, taking her hand.“We’re going to Hell.”
ChapterEleven
Aurora didn’t have a chance to ask Hawkyn what hemeant by saying they were going to Hell.One moment they were baking likeoatmeal raisin cookies in her house, and the next they were standing on somesort of raised platform in a place that resembled part of an ancient Greekcity.
She looked down at the round stone pad beneath their feet.“How did you do this?”
“Angels can flash directly to or from this portal.Almosteveryone else arrives via a twin portal in the human realm.”
