Deal With the Devil

  My cheek tingled but that wasn’t the part of my body that consumed my attention now. I was liquid from the waist down, my legs trembling and my heart drumming against my ribs and all because he was close to me, touching me, tasting me. God, I wanted him!

  “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured and somehow his mouth found its way from my cheek to my lips and he was kissing me.

  I’m ashamed to admit I kissed him back. Everything I’d seen, everything I’d learned about him, was burned away like trash thrown into a fire. All I could see, all I could feel, was his big, hard body pressed against mine, his skin under my fingertips, his hands stroking up and down my sides, almost but not quite touching my breasts. The tips of his fangs grazed my tongue but despite the intensity of the kiss he didn’t draw blood. Not that I would have minded much at that point.

  At last he pulled away. “You’re healed,” he murmured, tracing my cheek, which still tingled faintly. “Not a mark on you.”

  “Th-thank you.” I could barely get the words out.

  “You’re welcome.” Jude pushed me against the wall and locked his gaze with mine, not letting me look away. “I want to taste you.” His voice was a low growl. “I want to lick you and suck you until you come for me.”

  I felt my breath catch in my throat. “I-I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “Fuck good ideas. I want you.”

  It was the first time I’d heard him really curse and for some reason the dirty word turned me on even more. I could barely breathe I wanted him so much.

  “All right but…but no biting.”

  “No biting,” he agreed. Then he knelt in front of me and started stripping away my jeans and underwear. It was the second time that night a man had done that and somewhere in my frazzled mind it occurred to me that this should make me upset—should cause some kind of a flashback. But the circumstances were so different—I wasn’t lying facedown on dirty concrete for one and for another, despite his urgency, Jude was being gentle.

  He got my jeans and panties pulled all the way down and I kicked them off along with the little white tennis shoes I’d been wearing all this time. Then, naked from the waist down, I watched as he nuzzled his face against my stomach.

  “So good…you smell so good, Luz.” The words were almost a groan. “You have no idea how much I want you. Spread yourself for me.”

  Trembling, I tried to do as he asked but Jude wasn’t satisfied with the results. He repositioned me with one leg over his broad shoulder, my back still flat against the wall for support. His big hands were under my buttocks, holding me in place as he pressed his face between my legs.

  I gasped out loud when his tongue parted the swollen folds of my pussy with one long, slow stroke from top to bottom.

  Jude looked up, his mouth already shiny with my juices. “Did I hurt you?”

  I shook my head. “No, I just…it feels so good.”

  His eyes were hooded. “I love to make you feel good.” He lowered his head and licked me again and then again. “You’re so wet and hot. I could come just from tasting you.”

  “God, oh, God!” I moaned as he covered my pussy with his mouth, sucking and licking and pressing his tongue inside me with hard, rhythmic thrusts. I had no idea how he kept from cutting me with his fangs—I could feel them pressing against the sensitive flesh on either side of my clit—but somehow he avoided bloodshed. But the two little sharp points of pain seemed to magnify my pleasure and suddenly, though it seemed he had barely begun, I was right on the edge.

  Jude seemed to sense it because he lifted my other leg and put it over his other shoulder. The he pressed me into the wall, his hands cradling and supporting me as he sucked my clit into his mouth and swirled it with his tongue, over and over teasing and tasting until I couldn’t stand it anymore.

  “God, Jude…please!” I buried my hands in his thick blond hair and pushed forward, grinding against his face shamelessly. It felt so good, so right. I couldn’t get enough of him, of the feel of his mouth on me. And then I was coming, shattering into a million pieces as he took me where I needed so badly to go.

  For the moment I was too sensitive to stand much more. Jude took the hint and pulled back when I twitched away from his seeking tongue. He lowered my legs from his shoulders and locked them around his waist instead. Then, lifting me easily, he carried me over to my worn green couch and settled onto it with me in his lap.

  “You’re all out of breath, Luz,” he murmured, smiling at me. “And I thought I was doing the hard work.”

  “Hard work, huh?” I grinned at him. “Are you saying I’m too heavy to lift?”

  He laughed. “You are as light as feather. And it’s work I would be happy to do every day.”

  “I don’t know about that. You’d wear me out.”

  Jude looked thoughtful. “I doubt it. But I would certainly have a long, pleasurable time trying to.” He stroked my hair and drew my face closer to his. “I would like to kiss you again. Do you mind?”

  I understood that he was asking if I minded him kissing me when his mouth was still wet with my juices. For some reason, the idea turned me on all over again and I shook my head, trying not to seem too eager. “No, it’s okay. I don’t mind.”

  “Good.” Jude cupped my cheek and leaned closer, pressing his lips lightly to mine. It was much the same way he’d kissed me earlier with one difference.

  “God.” I pulled back, looking at him. “I can taste myself on you.”

  He smiled. “Didn’t I tell you? You’re delicious.”

  This time when he leaned forward and took my mouth again, I pressed into the kiss, seeking my taste on his lips and tongue. It was sweet and salty and good and I couldn’t believe how deliciously erotic the flavor of my own juices were on his sensual mouth.

  By the time I had cleaned his lips and jaw thoroughly with my tongue, I could feel my desire building again. “More,” I whispered hungrily. “I want more.”

  “I’ll give you more.” One of his large hands disappeared between my legs and I looked down to see him stroking along the heated surface of my inner pussy, spreading my lips and diving deep to gather my juices. I moaned and Jude thrust into me briefly with two long, strong fingers before raising them to my face and painting my lips with my own honey.

  I moaned at the strangely erotic act and then he was kissing me once more, sharing the taste of me all over again, making me so hot I could barely breathe. God, could you come from kissing? I was beginning to wonder. And then Jude clamped down on my hips and pulled me lower until I felt the hard ridge of his cock under the faded jeans he wore. The thick length of him spread me, opening my pussy lips and grinding against my sensitive clit in just the right way.

  I was already right on the edge again and the gentle but urgent rocking rhythm he quickly established pushed me closer and closer. I moaned into his mouth, feeling myself build to a peak for second time that night.

  Jude never stopped kissing me. He just kept pressing up, rolling his hips in that wonderful rhythm and I knew if the worn jeans hadn’t been between us he would have been inside me, filling me completely.

  “Jude…Jude.” I couldn’t stop moaning his name and he swallowed my cries eagerly as he pumped against me. Then he stopped kissing me and pulled me close so that my forehead rested against his own.

  “Just like this,” he murmured hoarsely. “Look into my eyes when you come. I want to watch you come apart completely, Luz.”

  I looked into his eyes, which were pale green one minute and burning red the next. But I was too far gone to worry about that. I was falling over the brink of orgasm again, feeling a warm wave of pleasure envelop me as Jude held me close and pushed me over the edge at the same time until at last, I collapsed, panting in his arms.

  It took a while to catch my breath but when I did, I looked up to see Jude watching me with an unreadable expression on his face. When he saw me looking at him, he smiled.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “T
hat you’re too damn tempting,” I told him. “I should have kicked you out earlier.”

  “But then I would have missed the pleasure of making you come.”

  “And I would have missed the pleasure of coming.” I blushed when I said it. “Sorry, I guess I’m not used to, um, talking about it yet.”

  “But that’s half the fun—dirty talk, I mean. Like this.” Jude pulled me forward and whispered in my ear. “I loved tasting your sweet pussy, Luz. If you’d let me, I could go down on you for hours.”

  “You seem to be pretty good at it.” I pulled back from him, still blushing. “The dirty talk, I mean. But the other thing, too,” I added hastily as my cheeks got even hotter. “The, uh…oh, hell. I guess I should put my pants back on.”

  Jude arched an eyebrow. “Or take your shirt off. Either way you’d match.”

  “Ha-ha.” I started to slide off his lap and then realized that I had left a large, damp spot on his jeans. I was instantly mortified. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!”

  Jude’s gaze followed my own. “Don’t be. That isn’t all yours.”

  “Oh, you mean…”

  “Mm-hmm.” He nodded. “I’m afraid it wasn’t very restrained of me but when you were writhing all over my lap…”

  “I wasn’t writhing,” I objected. “I was just…rocking a little. You were the one pressing up against me.”

  “And it was my very great pleasure to do so. As you can see.” He nodded at his jeans again and I laughed. God, we’d just rubbed off against each other like a pair of horny teenagers! It was ridiculous and hot and ridiculously hot all at the same time.

  Jude laughed with me, a low rumble that came from deep in his chest and shook me as I sat in his lap. The shared laughter made me feel closer to him, even closer than the orgasms he’d given me. At that moment I knew he wasn’t a monster—he couldn’t be. No one with a laugh that warm and a touch that gentle could be anything but good.

  At last our laughter tapered off and I went looking for my jeans. I pulled them on self-consciously with my back to Jude. When I turned to face him, I saw that he was standing, apparently ready to go.

  “You’re leaving now?” I was surprised.

  He nodded. “Business to attend to. And I thought you needed space?”

  “I do…did, I guess. That was before. But I guess I thought…” I shrugged. “I guess I thought you’d want to do the blood exchange after all. I mean, after what we just did.”

  Jude looked at me seriously. “One intimacy doesn’t necessarily mean another is inevitable. You said you needed time to think before we exchanged blood again—I want to give you that time, Luz.”

  “That’s…very nice of you.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re being very patient with me. I don’t have much experience but most guys wouldn’t want to wait.”

  “Most ‘guys’, as you put it, are impatient fools. But don’t be deceived by my apparent goodness. Everything I do is done with a selfish reason.”

  I frowned. “Selfish how?”

  “I want you, Luz. All of you.” His voice dropped into a lower register. “And I’m selfish and patient enough not to do anything to jeopardize my chances of having you.”

  My breath caught in my throat. “Jude, I don’t know if we should talk about anything long term. I mean, you’re still a vamp and I’m still a were and I’m pretty sure my family—”

  “Your family is important to you,” he said and it wasn’t a question.

  “Well, yes and no. I don’t see them a whole lot because as a non-shifter I’m pretty much excluded from pack life. But still, my little brother…”

  He raised an eyebrow. “The one who warned you about me?”

  “Yes. But he only warned me because he worries about me. And because he doesn’t know you like I do.”

  Jude smiled and tilted my chin up for a soft, slow kiss that took my breath away. “No one knows me as you do, Luz,” he murmured. “And now I need to go. I must finish the business I started earlier.”

  With a start, I realized he was talking about the dead body in the parking garage. It kind of put a damper on our goodbye but I reminded myself that he had done it for me. As for the other things, the things Diego had warned me about, well, I would worry about them later.

  “All right.” I crossed my arms over my breasts protectively as a new thought occurred to me. “Do…do you think that whoever sent those two will send anyone else?” The thought made me cold to the bone but Jude only shook his head.

  “Don’t worry about that. I promise you that everything will be taken care of.”

  I didn’t like to think what his version of “taking care” of things might be. “You…you’re not really going to kill anyone or anything like that, are you?”

  His eyes glowed red briefly. “I will do whatever is necessary to assure your safety.”

  “Jude, please, I don’t want you doing any more violence for me—I don’t want it on my conscience.”

  “Then don’t ask me about it.” He sighed. “I promise I will try to spare life instead of taking it as much as possible. Does that make you happy?”

  “I guess so.” It seemed like the best deal I was going to get from him but I still felt like I was dating a hit man. But wait, were we even dating? I didn’t know what we were doing anymore, only that our business arrangement had somehow turned into the best (and only) sex of my life.

  “Goodbye, beautiful one. Call me when you’re ready to let me drink from you again. Or to drink from me.” Jude gave me one last smile that showed more than a hint of fang and then he was gone, moving too fast for me to see.

  Chapter Six

  “So I figure a week is long enough to stay mad at each other,” Diego began the minute I picked up the phone.

  “Hey, hermano,” I said, smiling. I was glad to hear from him but I have to confess, I’d been hoping it was Jude on the other end of the line. He’d been giving me space in the last week, just as he had promised. Only I found that the longer I stayed away from him the more I missed him. Still, I was determined not to rush into anything so I’d kept myself from calling even though my fingers itched to dial his number and set up another business meeting or date, whichever you wanted to call it.

  “I don’t like fighting with you and I’m worried about you, Luz.” Diego is always pretty direct—I guess you could call it a family trait since most weres don’t waste time beating around the bush.

  “You don’t have to be worried about me. I’m fine. Actually, I’m bored stiff,” I said, not quite truthfully. To be honest, I had been pretty damn jumpy since the attempted abduction the night after the Bar exam. The only thing that kept me from leaving town was that I trusted Jude to take care of things as he had promised—I just didn’t like to think how he was doing it.

  “Bored, huh?” Diego said, breaking my train of thought.

  “Yeah. I didn’t get a chance to tell you last time but I, ah, quit my job. To study, you know? So now that the Bar exam is over, I have nothing to do.” Nothing to do but think about Jude, that was, but I wasn’t going to go into that with Diego.

  “Hasn’t your bloodsucking boyfriend been keeping you busy?” He was half teasing, half angry, I could tell.

  “Nope. Haven’t seen him in a really long time,” I said, stretching the truth a little. “But I’d love to see you. How about lunch at JoTo?”

  “Oh man, that sounds great. Uh…” His voice dropped a little, letting me know he was probably hanging out with some of his tough pack mates from Los Lobos. “Can we get a hazelnut mocha gelato for dessert?”

  “Absolutely. On me.”

  “No way, Luz—you just told me you don’t have a job right now.”

  “I’m okay though. I saved up some money.” I felt guilty saying it—Diego and I had always been really truthful with each other in the past. But I just couldn’t face the argument we’d have if he learned the money I had “saved” was originally from Jude.

  “I’ll meet you at one then.” Dieg
o sounded like he was looking forward to it.

  “See you then. Hey, little brother—I love you.” When he hesitated I said, “Come on—say it.”

  “Aw, Luz—I’m with the guys here.” His voice dropped again. “I love you, okay? You happy now I look like a maricón in front of my boys?”

  “Very happy.” I laughed and blew a kiss into the phone. “See you at one. And you can tell the guys we’re going for a big, manly steak if it makes you feel better. Better not mention the gelato, though.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” He hung up laughing and I smiled, happy to be on good terms with him again, even if I’d had to lie a little to do it.

  JoTo is a swanky little sushi spot in South Tampa that I’d gotten hooked on in college. Since Diego always liked to tag along with me, I had gotten him hooked too and now his favorite food in the world was the JoTo geisha roll with extra pickled ginger and eel sauce—not that he would ever tell his über-masculine pack mates that.

  When I got there, he was already seated at a table but he hopped up to give me a big bear hug as soon as he saw me. Diego is short as guys go, only about five seven or so, but he makes up for it by being very muscular. When he hugged me, I made choking noises, pretending I couldn’t breathe.

  “Ugh,” I gasped, when he let me go. “For a minute there I felt like I was being smothered by a muscle blanket.”

  He laughed and flexed a biceps. “Yeah, get your tickets to the gun show here, baby.”

  I rolled my eyes and sat down beside him at the spindly little table. There was a delicate pink ornamental orchid growing in a little pot right beside the stack of tiny soy sauce bowls by his elbow. I couldn’t help reflecting that Diego, with his muscles and pack tattoos, looked completely out of place in the dainty setting. But he seemed oblivious and was already happily perusing the sushi menu, looking for a new roll to try along with his usual geisha.