Nick leveled a glare on Jess, whose eyes flickered with a look that said he did not like being the one under scrutiny. “I am not going to ask you where the Hunter is,” Nick ground out between his teeth. “He’s not here, so it means you have yet to succeed in his capture. In fact, you’ve failed." Jess started to speak and he held up a hand. “Save it. I know why you failed and it disgusts me. You’re scared shitless of the Firestarter.” He lifted his chin at Alexander. “Just like your counterpart.” He flicked his attention between the two of them. “And apparently you are both stupid, since the Hunter outsmarts you both every time.”
Nick lifted the lid on the suitcase and displayed an arsenal of guns. “Tranquilizers,” he explained. “You can’t get outsmarted while your enemy is asleep.” He grimaced at them both. “At least, I certainly hope not.” He lifted his chin. “Find them. All of them. The Firestarter. The Hunter. Cullen. Since the Hunter and this Firestarter are clearly chasing the ring, the three of them should not be hard to find fairly close together.” He ignored their gaping jaws. “And since neither of you have acted overly bright these past few weeks – need I remind you both, that the ring protects Cullen when he cannot protect himself. Move him to a secure location, yes. Touch the ring, no.”
It was time the true leader claimed his rightful role in this world – leader of the Pack. At least that was a good place to start. With Adrian’s favor, perhaps they could reclaim part of the Underworld as well.
Chapter Fifteen
Kresley stepped into the luxurious hotel room that Lucan had checked into, but she didn’t care about the splendor of the room. She cared about Lucan. It was killing her to see him like this, killing her to see him so . . . haunted. She didn’t know how else to describe the shadows in his eyes, the darkness to his expression, his demeanor. The violent way he’d seemed to enjoy killing that wolf. She should fear what she saw in him. She did not. She did not believe he would hurt her, or any innocent for that matter.
When she looked deeply into his beautifully blue eyes, she saw a kind soul. She saw the man Angels had seen when they’d recruited him into the Knights of White. If only he could see that man–the man he was. But the Demons that were controlling him didn’t want him to see that person. They wanted him to be lost – lost and under their command. Well, damn it, they couldn’t have him. She wouldn’t allow it.
Standing in the center of a combination office and living room area, she waited while he locked the door. Waited until he completed his task and turned to her. Their eyes collided, held. A warm, sizzling awareness slid through her body. They were alone. In a hotel room. Another time, she might be nervous. But not tonight. Tonight, she simply wanted to be with Lucan; she wanted to take care of him.
“The bedroom is all yours,” he said. “Your clothes are all still at the apartment. I didn’t risk toting bags while being followed. Especially, not with the wild goose chase I took the wolves following me on.I asked the hotel to pick out some things and have them waiting. Hopefully a few of them work.”
“Lucan,” she said. “Talk to me. What happened tonight?”
“I lost it,” he said, self-loathing in his voice. "Exactly why you need to go to the bedroom, lock the door, and stay the hell away from me until I pull my shit together.”
Refusal was instant. “I’m not afraid of you, Lucan.”
“I’m afraid of me, Kresley,” he said. “I’m dangerous.”
She suspected there might be truth to that. His eyes were not right. They were black, dilated, where they should be blue. But anything he endured had come from this hell he’d taken on to protect her. She was not going to hide from it. She was done hiding. If all she had left were two weeks, she was going to make them count.
She decided she needed to bring Lucan back to the man, back to himself, and drive away the Demons. That should work. She hoped. Because it was the only plan she had. “You can tell me what happened when you’re feeling better,” she said and dropped the envelope she still clutched on the coffee table. She sat down on the couch, snagged the room service menu and opened it, her stomach growling in demand. She glanced up to find Lucan staring at her like he was going to pick her up and carry her to the bedroom and lock her up. She pretended not to notice. “Any special requests?”
He didn’t answer. He walked to the window, stared out at the Manhattan skyline twinkling in the depths of a starless black sky. But she had a feeling he didn’t really see that sky. He saw Demons. The ones who lived inside him and wouldn’t let go.
She set the menu aside and walked to his side. Cautiously, she set her hand on his back. He reacted immediately, gently shackling her wrist and turning to face her. “What part of 'I’m dangerous' can you not get through that thick, beautiful head of yours?”
Beautiful. Her heart raced. That was a very human word. A word that set her heart on fire. She wanted him to think of her that way. “The dangerous part,” she whispered. “I don’t believe you’re dangerous.”
“I would have killed Cullen Moore tonight. I didn’t give a damn about that ring. I would have found a way past it and killed him.”
The conviction of those words, the primitive anger in his face, sent a shiver down her spine. They’d discussed the need for caution about removing the ring, about dealing with Cullen. “What happened today, Lucan?”
He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, his muscular frame consuming hers, their hips pressed tight. He was hard. Lord help her, she was hot.
“You want to know what happened?” he demanded, almost angry with her and she didn’t know why. He didn’t wait for her to answer, “I watched you make love to him all fucking day long. Listened to you beg him for more. Listened to his name on your lips when it should be mine.”
Oh God. No. Her blood ran cold at his words. He would have killed because of her? “It wasn’t real,” she promised. “You know it wasn’t real. The Guardians—"
His hand laced through her hair roughly, his tone low, his reply hissed. “It felt real. It looked real. It damn sure even tasted real. I lived every damn kiss, every touch of his mouth on your body.”
“It wasn’t real,” she promised. “It wasn’t. I . .. I have never been with any other man.” He pulled back, stared at her. She found herself blushing. “My fire. I couldn’t control my fire. I couldn’t risk . . ..” Her words trailed off, lost to the possessive, hot look on his face that melted her inside out.
Holding her stare, he reached around her, his hand firmly closing around her backside, and tugging her hips snug to his. She moaned and arched into him, felt the hard proof of his arousal press against her stomach. Molten fire slid through her veins, heating the coldness of moments before. She slid her hands up his chest, under his arms, pressed her chest to his. She wanted more. Wanted closer.
“It wasn’t real,” he murmured, as if he’d had another flash of her with Cullen.
She shook her head. “It wasn’t real,” she promised. “This right here, right now, is real. Us. You and me.” Her hand went to his face. “I want you, Lucan. I want you so much I can barely breathe.”
His mouth came down on hers, forceful, demanding, full of possessiveness. His tongue swept across hers with silky, seductive perfection, pleasure rushing through her body. He tasted her with desperateness to his kiss, desperateness that exploded within her as well, fed her hunger for him. More, her mind screamed – more.
As if he’d heard that silent plea, his hands slid to her hips, and in one fluid motion, he slid her skirt up her thighs and cupped her ass. She was lifted off the ground. Kresley wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms around his neck. He never stopped kissing her as they went down on the couch, him sitting, her straddling him. She slid her hands into his hair and tugged away the tie. God, how she had wanted to do that. How she had wanted this, wanted him.
His hand slid over her breast, a thumb stroking her nipple. She barely contained a gasp. “Lucan,” she cried out instead.
He stared up at her, primitive demand
in his dark eyes, stroked her nipple again and she arched into the touch. “Say my name again," he demanded.
She gladly complied. “Lucan,” she whispered.
He ripped her shirt open–buttons flying in the air, bouncing off the couch–and filled both palms with her breasts. “Again.”
“Lucan–” He covered her mouth with his, his hands working her bra, unhooking it, even as his tongue caressed hers with long, passionate, demanding strokes.
His hands closed around her bare breasts, his fingers tweaking her nipples. She was panting, her thighs aching with need. She arched her hips against him, rubbed herself against his erection. He shoved her shirt off her shoulders. Kresley shrugged out of it and flung her bra aside.
“You're beautiful,” he whispered.
She leaned into him, her mouth hungry for a kiss, her body hungry to feel him closer. He stopped her abruptly, and his hands closed around her upper arms. “We have to stop. I... Kresley. Before it’s too late.” Absolute torment tore across his face. “I . .. can’t control myself.”
“I don’t care,” she bit out, her lips trembling, emotion tight in her chest. “Not tonight. I need you tonight. We need each other.” She cast him a pleading look. “Forget about control. Mark me, Lucan. Save yourself now in case something happens to me. I came to save you. I want to save you.”
***
Something happened in that moment that had not happened to Lucan in too long to remember. Kresley reached inside him and touched the man. Not the beast. Not the Demons in his mind trying to control him. She found the man, and she touched him heart and soul as no other had in three hundred years.
Tenderness rushed through him as he gently pulled her into his arms. He was no longer out of control, no longer fearful of hurting her. “You aren’t going anywhere. I won’t let them have you.”
“You can’t let them have me,” she said, trembling in his arms. “I can’t become their weapon. Promise me, you won’t let that happen.”
It tore him up inside to hear her say that, because he knew what she was asking. She wanted to die rather than become a weapon. “You aren’t going anywhere,” he said vehemently, terrified by her bravery. He wanted her to fight to survive this, not accept that she could not. He stared into her eyes, brushed his knuckles over her cheek, self-awareness seeping through him with vivid clarity.
He wanted her to fight to survive, but he had not. He’d accepted that trading himself had been the only answer, because he’d been that ready to give up. God. He cupped her face. She was ready to give up. She was where he was a year ago, and he’d left her to become this.
“You are not going anywhere,” he repeated, a vow of absoluteness in his words. His chest tightened, burned with the acid of what he had done. It terrified him to think of what she suggested – terrified him to think that two weeks from now she could be lost forever. He brushed his lips over hers, inhaling her breath, assuring himself she was, indeed, still alive and well in every possible way. He could still save her. “I promise you, Kresley Ward. We will get through this, and we will do it together.”
She shook her head, trying to reject his words. “Lucan—"
He pressed a finger to her lips. He didn’t want to hear her tell him she couldn’t survive, because he was going to save them both. “Shhh,” he whispered. “Later we will talk. Right now,” he brushed hair from her eyes, “I want to make love to you. Me. Lucan. The man. No Demons. Just you and me, baby. A man and woman who need each other.”
Her eyes melted into his. “I thought you were afraid to touch me? I thought…the Demons were always with you.”
He shook his head. “You’re with me tonight. Just you.” His hand slid over her breast; his fingers caressed her sensitive nipples. She whimpered as he asked, “Do I seem like I’m afraid?”
“No,” she half moaned, as he continued his gentle teasing. “Not afraid. But,” she bit back another moan as he teased her nipple, “what changed?”
Lucan slid one hand down the curves of her slender waist, around her lower back. The other cradled her cheek. “The man was always stronger than the beast,” he whispered, trailing kisses on her delicate jaw line, the curve of her throat. “I just had to find a reason to let him live again, I had to find my human side again. But he’s alive again. I’m alive again.” He pressed his cheek to hers. “You made me want to live again, Kresley.” His lips slid to her ear. “You and only you.”
She leaned back and looked at him, her eyes overflowing with emotion. “Lucan.”
He slid his hand around the back of her neck, suddenly hungry for more. His lips brushed hers. They were soft, full – perfect. “That’s right, baby,” he whispered, his voice, his body, laden with desire.
“Lucan.”
Another brush of lips. “Keep saying it. Over and over again.”
He pulled her mouth to his and kissed her, deeply, passionately, with all his heart and soul. It was a long kiss, a tender kiss, despite the fiery attraction they shared, a kiss he never wanted to end. But somewhere along the way, minutes, seconds, hours later – he did not know - the tenderness shifted to something more demanding. Passion had turned wild, hot, hungry. Tongues tangling with desperate need.
“Hold on,” Lucan said, tugging her arms around his neck a moment before he cupped her ass and stood up, carrying her toward the bedroom. This was her first time to make love, and it wasn’t going to be on a hotel couch. It was going to be in a plush bed with silk and satin around. Because he was going to take his time and kiss her from head to toe. He was going to kiss every inch of her beautiful body and then do it again.
He crossed through the small bedroom and settled her on the mattress, intending to undress before he joined her. But she clung to him, her legs wrapping around his hips. The next thing he knew, he was on top of her, kissing her, lost in the moment.
Her hands were all over him, no shyness in his little virgin – she tugged at his shirt. “Take it off,” she ordered, panting. “Take it off. I need to know what it feels like to have you next to me.”
He yanked the shirt over his head and tossed it aside. His elbows dug into the mattress at the side of her head. It was dark and he couldn’t see her. He kissed her quickly and then, “I have no intentions of letting you hide in the dark.” He dislodged himself from her with effort. Her hands were all over him, each caress drugging him with arousal.
Standing at the end of the bed, Lucan removed his shoes and pants. He could hear the rustle of clothing, of Kresley undressing, see the sexy silhouette of her body as she removed her skirt.
He reached to the bedside light and flipped it on. A dim glow filtered into the room, and Kresley flung a little piece of silk in his direction. He snagged the pink panties in his hand, shocked at her action, aroused by the sight of her naked and waiting for him.
“I thought I’d remove them before you ripped them off again,” she said, casting him a sexy smile. She propped herself on her side, hair sweeping over her breasts – a water nymph with red hair, he thought. Gorgeous, sexy, innocent in a not-so-innocent way. But then why was that a surprise to him? He’d seen the brave, bold beauty in the depths of her eyes a year before. He’d known there was much to explore and excite in Kresley.
Her eyes swept his body, touching his erection where it jutted forward. Kresley’s tongue slid along her bottom lip, and he groaned with the elicit thoughts it provoked.
“You’re not the least bit nervous or shy, are you?” he asked.
Her attention snapped to his face. “I thought I would be,” she said. “But you … you make me feel safe.”
His heart squeezed with emotions. “You are safe with me. You always will be.”
The mood shifted in the room, darkened. Her lashes lowered–dark half moons on pale cheeks. “I don’t want to think beyond tonight.” Her eyes snapped open and fixed on his face. “All right?” It was a challenge. A demand. A desperate plea.
Lucan held his breath, debating, deciding against pressing her, thoug
h he wanted to, he wanted to in a bad way. “All right.”
Instantly, she relaxed, her mood shifting again, lightening the air in the room. Her gaze traveled his body and settled back on his cock, an apparent fascination he wasn’t about to complain about.
Lucan could feel the hunger in her reach across the room, and his balls tightened painfully. Her lashes fluttered, lifted. “Can I touch you?”
His cock jerked. Was she kidding? “Hell yeah, you can touch me.”
She uncurled her body and went to her hands and knees, her truly stellar ass in the air, her breasts swaying as she crawled toward him. A sexy, luscious she-cat. He'd died, and it wasn’t the Underworld he’d gone to after all. It was heaven.
Kresley stopped in front of him and Lucan sucked in a breath, not sure what to expect, but damn sure looking forward to whatever might follow. Her head tilted downward, silky mass of red hair framing her face, as she stared down at him. Without warning, she reached out and wrapped her hand around his erection. Lucan’s eyes shut with the pleasure of it, with the hope she would not let him go anytime soon. No Demon would bring him to his knees ever again, but this woman was another story.
As he held his breath, her fingers explored every inch of him, touching, caressing, taunting him with what might come next. Still, she did not look up at him, as if she were completely consumed by what she was doing. He damn sure was.
With one finger, she swirled the dampness on the tip of his cock, circling the head – pleasure rippled through his body. Her hand closed around the base of him and then, she leaned forward and ran her tongue along the tip, where her finger had been moments before.