She shrugged. “You tell me.”
He stared at her, his ego battling his conscience. “I’m not scared of anything.”
“My. Ass.” This decision should be a no-brainer, so why was hewaffling? She leaned in so close their noses nearly touched. “I know when you’re scar—”
He struck with the savage growl of a predator. His fangs penetrated her throat, and she gasped at the unexpected intensity of both the pain and the pleasure.
Her entire body tingled, and warmth spread through her breasts, then lower, until it pooled between her thighs. Unexpected sensations made her squirm, chasing the pleasure as it intensified all over her body, even as she tried to corral her scattered thoughts.
This was arousal, wasn’t it? After all this time, why now? And how could this feel so good…and at the same time, bad? Mace was her friend, and she shouldn’t be turned on by an act meant to help him. This was basically a clinical procedure. It meant nothing. It never would.
It couldn’t.
But as a low, rhythmic purr erupted from deep inside his chest, she lost her ability to contemplate her guilt. It was as if the very air around her became a mantle of desire, weighing her down until she melted against Mace’s body. She dug her fingers into his shoulders as she clung to him. Between her legs, the hard ridge of his erection pressed into her, and she had to summon every ounce of self-control not to rub against it.
Wow. She got it now. Got why Mace tried to resist feeding from her.
Thiswasdifferent. This…was playing with fire, and gods help her, she’d never learned to keep her fingers out of the flames.
They didn’t find any demons. Just blood from the single shot Jon had gotten in from his handheld crossbow before the thing outpaced them. The beast had left a trail for miles, but eventually, Blade decided it was no longer feasible to track it.
“We need to keep going.” Jon peered intently into a ravine, the winding trail to the bottom showing clear signs of recent use but no blood. Either the thing had stopped bleeding, or it had evaded them.
“You guys track it if you want to,” Blade said. “I’m not leaving myteammates alone. For all we know, this was a trap to lure us away, and they’re in trouble.”
Now that he’d voiced the possibility, anxiety flared in a sudden, hot rush. Scotty and Mace were both lethal warriors, but in his weakened condition, Mace wasn’t at full capacity. Hell, he’d lost so much blood, he’d probably be as capable in a fight as an untrained ten-year-old human boy. He needed to feed, and soon. Preferably from a human, but as non-demons, Jon and Skoll would make suitable donors if worse came to worst. Blade just wished his demon blood could help.
Then there was Scotty.
Not an option.
Skoll shot his buddy a look. “Blade’s right. Fight music is over anyway. My head’s full of shitty, reflective emo tunes. Let’s get to the cabin and plan our next move from there. We’re not prepared to deal with the wendigo yet.”
Blade swatted at a mosquito. Kynan was right; they were big bastards. “You don’t think what we were chasingwasa wendigo?”
Jon’s gaze scoured the landscape, his body still tensed for battle. Blade might not like the guy, but he could admit that the male appeared well-trained and competent.
“Wendigos are almost as allergic to daylight as vampires,” he said. “But they attract low-level demons like flies. Whatever we were chasing was probably a bottom feeder drawn to the wendigo’s evil.” He cast a forlorn glance into the ravine before shrugging in defeat.
Blade took the lead, fear for his teammates spurring him on as he jogged along worn animal trails and leaped over fallen logs. Forest critters scattered ahead of them, and birds yelled at them from the branches above.
Jon slowed, looking into the forest canopy. “The noise is a good sign. Animals know evil. They’d be silent if there was a demon nearby.”
Thanks, Captain Obvious. Blade picked up the pace, afraid for his friends, despite Jon’s assurances.Hurry, hurry…
He burst out of the brush and onto the main trail. Mace and Scotty should be right over ther—
He came to a stunned, breathless halt. Skoll crashed into Blade’s back, but he was too numb to care.
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
Mace and Scotty were locked in a writhing, moaning tangle of arms and legs. Mace’s face was buried in her neck, her long, thick ponytail wrapped in his fist. His other hand rested on her hip, his fingers digginginto her jeans.
As Blade watched, Scotty arched, her breasts thrusting upward and testing the fabric of her camo T-shirt, and Mace tugged her tighter against him.
They were fucking with their clothes on.
Hot, stinging envy drilled into Blade from the top of his skull to the bottom of his feet, pinning him to the ground. But his lust demon instincts warred with jealousy, gradually dulling the edges with the intoxicating warmth of arousal.
