“Not in this lifetime.”
“Starshine,” he drawled softly, finally giving in to the temptation and letting his mouth trail along her jaw. “I’m only too happy to oblige, seeing as I ruined yourfun.”
“Stop calling me that—” She bucked again, her frantic movements sliding her core along his dick. The damn friction wasn’t helping his hardening groin. “I don’t want you.”
“Little liar.” He nipped the fast beating pulse on her throat. “I can smell your arousal, and you can feel what it does to me, especially with all your wriggling.”
“I’ve done nothing—” She went deathly-still, those striking eyes widening in shock…and just as fast, she recovered, batting him with her paws. “Let me go!”
“Give me your name, your true name, first.”
“Then you’ll wait a freakin’ long time, you—”
Nik kissed that scandalous mouth then held still to see if she’d push him away or stick the dagger lying near them in his throat. She did neither but seemed to wait for him. Hell, it was all the encouragement he needed. Nik brushed her lips with his again and licked her lower one. A tiny gasp escaped her. He slicked his tongue between her parted lips, deepening the kiss. Then, her tongue tentatively touched his.
At her hesitant caress, Nik’s mind blurred, as if the world stopped on its axis, and the endless darkness and relentless thrashing of the vile souls within diminished. Desire, long dead, resurged with a vengeance as he kissed her. Her fingers dug into his nape as he claimed her mouth, seeking more, seeking it all…
“No—” She suddenly pushed at him. “Let me up!”
Hell. He didn’t want it to end, and tamping down his growing lust was fucking hard, but he did. He moved off her and sat with his back to the wall, resting an arm on his raised knee.
She sprung to her feet, chest heaving. “I hate you—”
“A wasted emotion, Starshine. This is all about needs. Not matters of the heart. Just so you know, I don’t possess one, but the former I can do. So, whenever you’re ready.”
If glares could kill, he’d be a pile of ash by now.
She stormed across the grimy floor, grabbed a change of clothes from the dented metal drawers, and marched into the makeshift bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
* * *
Aargh.Shadow tossed her clothes in the chipped, faded-white basin and sagged against the wooden door, squeezing her eyes shut. What was she thinking, attacking him?
Clearly, she wasn’t.
One minute she’d been ready to kill him, and the next, she was locking lips with him. She pressed her fingers to her swollen mouthandbit back a moan.God.She grabbed fistfuls of her hair and tugged as if the pain would diminish the heated imprint of Nik’s mouth on hers. Hard…yet soft, and tormentingly sensual. And that tongue piercing she didn’t know he had hiked her arousal further.
How could such a cold, hard man cause this inferno in her?
She’d never had such a profound reaction with any guy until him. As furious as she’d been, she only sought to taunt him, but he’d turned the tables on her. Now she wanted to dash back there, crawl up on him, and seek out whatever warmth he possessed until the emptiness in her faded.
How could he make her feel this way?
She didn’t even like the impossible immortal.
Because he made you feel alive.
Ugh, she shut out the thought and dragged off the black ribbed top she wore, her body still too jittery. Whether from their fight or the broken kiss, she had no idea. She only knew she had to stay away from him, stop provoking him. Or it wouldn’t end well, not for her.
Exhaling roughly, Shadow gently stroked the slight bumps of the three small nodes on her sore chest. Against her pale skin, they lined her sternum like dull ruby stones, but nothing could hide their otherworldliness when they glowed.
Sometimes she wished Nate had let her die instead of turning her into this aberrant.
She dropped her hands and clenched the basin. Nik had no clue as to why she’d sought out demons. He thought it was for sex. She would have laughed if it wasn’t so painful. As if she could ever reveal the truth.
Drawn as she was to the maddening man, he would certainly hurry on the Grim Reaper’s visit by keeping her a prisoner. That vile entity no doubt waited for her soul since she’d cheated him once.
Inhaling wearily, she managed to pull the rasping pain from her terminated feeding deep into her psyche. The life-sustaining energy she’d consumed from the demon should hold her for a few days. She hoped.
