In a jerky, slow movement, she turned. Nothing. She swayed in relief. There was nothing but empty space. But how could that be? She could still smell the demon’s breath lingering in the air.
She was losing it. Losing it badly. Maybe Stacey was right. Maybe she shouldn’t be alone right now.
She bolted the remaining distance to the truck, but when she was a few steps away, a shape emerged from the darkness. A demon.
Holy shit, it was a demon.
She glanced around in desperation. The barn and the house were equal distances away. Firearms in both. But the figure was coming up the drive between them.
Hands shaking, she lunged for the truck’s door handle.
“Jillian.”
Reseph. Oh, thank God. At that moment, Reseph’s voice was the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard. Relief sapped her strength, and she sagged against the truck. He materialized from out of the shadows, his huge body throwing a menacing silhouette, his incredible eyes glowing like lasers, the department store bag dangling from one hand.
Even the foul stench of demon breath fizzled away, leaving her to wonder if she’d imagined the whole thing.
“What…” She swallowed against her dry throat, her heart lurching spastically in her chest, her palms sweating. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”
“Some guy let me ride in the back of his pickup part of the way. I walked the last eight miles.”
She pushed away from the truck. “Why?”
He sauntered closer, his shoulders rolling, his gaze holding her frozen. “Because the demons aren’t gone, are they, Jillian?”
Her entire body jerked in shock. “You… you saw it?”
“Saw what?”
Great. He was going to think she was nuts. “Nothing. I… don’t know what demons you’re talking about.”
“Yeah,” he said, “you do.” When he got close and it was clear he wasn’t going to stop, she stepped backward until her spine slammed against the pickup cab. He dropped the bag at his feet. “And I’m not leaving you alone to deal with them by yourself.”
“I’ve been dealing with them just fine.” Until tonight.
One hand slapped down on the truck roof to her left.
Thump.
His other hand came down to her right.
Thump.
She was caged in by his arms and his body.
“I’m sure you have. But now you don’t have to do it by yourself. We both have demons, Jillian. I just don’t know what mine are yet.” He dipped his head a little, getting even closer, and her heart beat faster. “I’ll earn my keep while I work on finding out who I am. You won’t think of me as a stray, I promise.”
“I shouldn’t have said that,” she said, hating herself for the tremor in her voice. “I was upset.”
“And now? Are you upset that I’m here?”
She should be. She’d been so careful to carve out an independent life far away from the demons—both literal and figurative—of her past. She didn’t want to rely on anyone, didn’t want to need to rely on anyone. But the truth was that something had just frightened her out of her mind, and whether the demon was real or imagined, Reseph’s arrival had sent it scurrying.
“Well?” he prompted. “Are you upset that I’m here?”
“No,” she admitted, a little breathlessly.
His smile was pure male triumph. Arrogant. Cocky. Sexy as hell. “I didn’t think so.”
He brushed his lips over hers, and she didn’t even bother with a token protest. She was too glad to see him.
His mouth opened, and she met his kiss boldly, going up on her toes as she clung to his shoulders. He leaned in, pinning her against the vehicle. Her breasts rubbed against his hard chest, becoming suddenly sensitive. The temperature outside had to be below zero, but her body burned with need.
Inhaling a ragged breath, she slid her hands up to his neck, and when she scraped her nails over his skin, he let out a throaty, encouraging growl. His kiss became urgent, possessive. His tongue slipped inside her mouth to meet hers in a fierce, wet tangle.
She’d imagined him to be a playful lover, but right now, she could also picture him being raw and rough, the kind of man who lost all pretense of civility and higher thought as he tore clothes, popped buttons, and fucked his woman against a tree or into the ground.
Yes. She’d been that kind of woman once. Adventurous and intense. Hard-edged and a risk-taker. Something about Reseph made her body remember. Made it crave. Made it feel like it had been deprived of food and was starving.
She arched into him, and he hissed as her hips rolled against the ridge of his erection at the fly of his jeans. No underwear. He didn’t wear underwear.
“You are so damned beautiful,” he murmured against her lips. “I didn’t come here for this, but with every step closer to your house, I imagined kissing you again.”
She moaned as he dragged his lips along her jaw to her ear. His hot breath was a caress, his teeth instruments of pleasure as he nipped her earlobe.
“Yes,” she breathed, not caring if she sounded desperately horny. She hadn’t been with a man in more than a year, and Reseph was like no man she had ever been with.
Thinking this was crazy, she slid one hand down his throat, to his chest, intent on going lower… when she realized he’d gone deadly still. So still he didn’t even seem to be breathing.
“Reseph?”
“Shh,” he whispered into her ear. “Where’s your rifle?”
She blinked, her lust-soaked brain not understanding the question. “What?”
“Your rifle. Where is it?”
“In the barn. Why?”
“I want you to get inside the house.” His voice was calm, quiet, and so cold it chilled her to her marrow. “Right now. Something is watching us.”
Seven
A sense of pure evil vibrated inside Reseph like a tuning fork. Something was out there, lurking in the woods, and it wanted to kill.
Very slowly, he pulled back from Jillian. He expected to see fear, and yeah, that was there in her eyes, but he didn’t expect the fierce determination on her face.
“I’m going with you.”
“I won’t argue this with you, Jillian. Go in the house.”
Her smile was sweet as she bent over and picked up the bag of clothes. “Fine.”
She’d capitulated way too easily, and male instinct told him to be wary of that, but for now, she’d agreed and that was all that mattered. He eased them slowly toward the front door, and when they were a dozen feet away, he sent her inside as he walked, nonchalantly, to the barn.
He snared the rifle off the wall where it hung and by the light of the full moon, he jogged toward the trees in the direction he’d sensed the feeling of eyes on them. The sinister vibration was gone, but the air was still, the forest too quiet, as if nature was cowering in fear.
Reseph’s adrenaline surged as he crept through the snow, between trees, sticking to the shadows thrown by the moon’s silvery glow. On his arm, the horse tattoo tickled, as if it were moving beneath his shirt. He ignored it and pressed on.
Ahead, something dark was splashed on the snow, destroying the pristine white landscape. The coppery stench of blood was strong, but it wasn’t human.
It’s disturbing as shit that you know it’s not human blood.
He tamped down his inner voice and made a mental note to not revisit the fact that he could identify human blood by the scent.
Crouching, he crept closer. The scene was saturated with evil, and tracks tore up the snow… a battle had taken place here. It must have happened before he’d arrived though, or they would have heard it.
He studied the tracks. One set had been made by a big cat, a cougar most likely. The other… Jesus, what had made those? The prints were the size of a large human male’s feet, but the four toes were three times as long—and clawed. Whatever it was, it had won the battle and had either eaten the cougar or taken it somewhere. The cat tracks led to the site, but they didn’t leave.