Wasteland (16 page)

“When we kissed?” she asked.

My demon knocked my ribs, rumbling for release. For pleasure. For Beka. 

“Focus on that. That is what I want.” She stepped down, still holding my hand.

“No.” I tugged, but she remained steadfast.

A grumble rattled from my throat.

“You do not scare me, David. Even with your scowls.”

“You should be scared of me, Beka. I cannot be killed, yet I can kill very easily. Sometimes it is beyond my control.” And with Beka, I doubted my control.

“Your neck sparked when the blade hit it. Explain that to me.” She waggled our connected hands.

I finally took her into my sights. Standing on this ledge, I towered over her. Yet she didn’t seem small. Only beamed with hope and light.

“Bonds around my throat and wrists protect the vulnerable spots. Nothing can penetrate them. Not even my talons.”

“You’ve tried?”

I bit my cheek. Of course I’d tried. I’d never wanted a life such as this.

“Your claws.” Her thumb circled my forefinger knuckle. Peace rippled over my skin.

“My demon nails are lethal. One well-timed wave of my hand, I can send a head rolling, vanquishing any being.”

“And you have done this often.”

“Only two hundred and forty-five years of my four centuries have been spent in solitary, so yes, I have a long list of those I’ve killed or brought to Master.” I toed the ledge on which I stood. “Including Guardians.”

“Yes. I am aware.”

“Excuse me?”

“I am aware of Guardians lost to demons. I even lost family to them in battle.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve been around a while, too, David. Seen many things. Know even more.”

“You’ve lost family? You have other brothers than Russell?”

“He is not my brother.” She tugged again, but this time I allowed her strength to guide me down from the ledge. “We only call each other brother and sister to fit in better with the humans.”

“Who is he, then? And Abraham?”

“Guardians, like me. Only younger.”

She glided closer.

“Younger, so that’s why they follow your orders.”

“In part.” Her hand rested on my chest. “Abraham just arrived to help us protect Jessica.”

“Please, don’t.”

“You don’t want to touch me?” she asked.

“That is not the issue. It’s not right.”

“Why?”

“Besides the obvious reasons—I am demon, you are Guardian?”

“Yes. Besides the obvious.”

“Why would you want a demon to touch you?”

“Stop calling yourself demon. I hate it.”

“It’s reality.”

“No. You are a friend to the Guardians.” She yanked me to her. “I shouldn’t want to be with you like I do, but I do. I want to touch you. I can’t explain it. But I trust it.”

My heart cramped, squeezing the air from them with a sharp whistle. My mouth watered for her. One taste before I left. I could stop it before it went too far. Before I lost control.

Yes. Take her.
The demon swirled beneath the surface of my chest. Blood pulsed.

Her heartbeat stuttered with mine.

“I feel your struggle, David.” Her hand skimmed my neck as if working to feel the invisible bond.

My fingertips traced the scar marring the width of her neck. The red line had remained, despite being fully healed. I retracted from her.

“I can’t,” I whispered.

“I shouldn’t,” she said. “But it is you I belong with. No one else.” She pushed herself up, and her mouth latched onto my neck. Her tongue flicked. Her lips swept the width of my neck, as my fingers had done to hers. I grasped her shoulders, knowing I should push her away. Instead, I followed the contour to her elbows and pushed her arms so they wove around my neck, opening her to me.

Mine.

I traced her body until my hands found her breasts. Her chest heaved, her breaths coming in pants. Her head tilted back as I massaged her tempting body. I ached to feel her without the obstruction of clothing. To see all of her.

Mine.

I brought my mouth to her neck and nipped at her skin. Needles prickled my chest. The demon urged me on, wanting me to dive into her to complete my transformation. He’d live freely then. I pushed his taunts from my mind and kissed my way to her jaw line. Her fingers tangled in my hair, and I suckled her earlobe.

Lilac mingled with the heady scent of her arousal. Mine, too.

“David,” she whispered.

I trailed up the side of her face. Her smooth skin stung. It must be her purity torching the darkness within me, but I absorbed the feel. A pleasurable torture. My hands navigated from the softness of her chest and skimmed her neck until I held her cheeks. I swallowed the warmth bubbling in my chest.

“Kiss me,” she commanded.

Her shining lips called to me with an authority I couldn’t resist. Didn’t want to resist. She opened, allowing me entrance. Her moan drew me in. Arms coiled around my neck, elbows digging into my shoulders, pulling her taller, closer to me, and she deepened her kiss.

My body rippled with need, building an energy that threatened to burst through my chest. The demon thundered deep within me, urging me forward.
More.

I disconnected from her and gasped for breath. “Beka, wait.”

She nipped at my bottom lip. “It’s okay. I want this. Want you.” She filled my mouth with her tongue again. My hands gravitated from her face, down her neck, and cupped her firm breasts.

It wasn’t enough. I needed to feel her.

I found the hem of her shirt and shot my hands up the front. “Yes,” she breathed.

I pushed up her shirt just below her breasts. Logic stopped me, trying to lure my brain from lust’s haze.

“Don’t stop.” She raised her hands over her head. “I want you to see me in a way no man ever has.”

I slid the thin piece of cloth off and tossed it to the ground. She stood before me only wearing a brassiere. Her pale, smooth skin flushed beneath the raspberry rays of the setting sun. Flesh spilled over the fabric holding her breasts captive, hiding her beauty from me. A tiny, dark mole disappeared beneath the cloth straps, near her collarbone.

“It’s okay.” She guided my hand to her chest.

Our hearts thundered in unison as I stroked her. My other hand slid around her waist. I feasted on the sight of her, the feel of her satin skin, and the smell of her lilac perfume.

“Wait. Let me see you.” She placed a hand over mine.

Her lips shone with the essence of our last kiss. I licked mine and tasted her. I should stop, but couldn’t. I needed more. Never had I seen such elegance. She must be the daughter of gods.

Her hands slid beneath the hem of my shirt and fondled my stomach. Branding irons would have produced less anguish. The intensity nearly brought me to my knees. What power was this that she rendered me captive with her hands and her beauty?

“Lift your arms.”

I obeyed as if possessed, and she peeled off my shirt. Her mouth skimmed my chest. Teeth scraped my collarbone, nibbled up my neck and over my jaw. In the next breath, her mouth claimed mine.

I clutched her to me. Our skin met, and together we moaned. Tongues tangled, as our hands learned each other’s bodies. Hungry. Claiming.

Mine.

I traced her spine to the small of her back then gripped her backside. She opened herself and hooked her thighs around my waist. Such warmth. Peace. I wanted to lose myself in her body.

I wrenched my face from hers and gulped a breath. The edge of the cliff beckoned, and I was about to jump off. “Beka. I must stop—” My voice cracked. “I can’t—”

Teeth scored my neck, and she nipped. That drove me beyond the threshold, and I pulsed against her, taking her mouth with mine.

She tilted back, chest heaving with every breath, and I buried my face in her cleavage. Never had I tasted anything so sweet. She felt like silk against me. Her feminine core against my waist, the delicious friction her movement created. Her hand tangled in my hair, pulling me to her.

The smell of lilacs overwhelmed me as my hand moved into her hair.

“David, you will be my K—”

The door burst open. “Stop.”

Beka’s body tensed against mine. I pivoted, shielding her from Russell.

The beast emerged with such a force it made me stumble.

Russell drew his sword. “Step away, my lady.”

“Russell, go,” Beka said. She released her grip on me and slid behind me. I kept my eyes on the approaching Guardian.

“Step away from the demon. Has he hurt you?” He charged, but my feral roar stopped him.

“Do not come any closer.” I bared my elongated teeth and stabbed my talons into my palms, restraining the urge to pounce. “She is mine.”

Russell cocked his head, and his gaze went above my shoulder. “Rebeka?”

“Back away, Russell. You are not allowed to see me in this manner.”

Russell’s focus drifted to the ground, where our shirts lay in a heap. His gaze snapped to mine. “What have you done?” He advanced, swinging his sword.

The weapon clanked against my wrist. Russell twisted and poked. The icy metal pierced my chest, below the heart. Beka grunted.

Russell retracted his sword, and Beka slumped against my back. I reached behind me and turned slightly, keeping the attacker in sight. A circle of red below her collarbone beaded on her soft, pallid skin.

Fury raged like river rapids in my veins. I let the beast take hold and leapt at Russell like a lion. My teeth tore through his feeble skin. Metallic blood spurted into my mouth, bones snapped, tendons severed.

No one hurt what was mine.

I sank my nails into his chest, and we rolled.

Beka screamed. “David. Stop!”

I shoved Russell off me. The door dented beneath the impact of his body.

“You hurt that which is mine.” I paced the gravel before him.

He clasped his crimson stained throat. “She is not yours. She can never be yours. She is—”

A bellow, from the depths of my stomach rent the air. He was right, but still, I loved Beka. She was mine in every way but as a bedmate.

“She is—”

“Russell. Don’t,” Beka yelled.

Russell glared at me with flaming eyes. “She is betrothed.”

CHAPTER 24

Still in my demon form, I snatched my shirt and dove off the rooftop. I flipped mid-air and landed on my feet. My human form burst forth. I couldn’t let my demon stay out. He’d kill someone.

Violently.

I slid my thin shirt over my head and sprinted down the alley.

“David.” Beka’s voice echoed off the towering brick walls.

More voices murmured behind me, but I couldn’t decipher them, and I didn’t stay to figure them out. I burst out of the alley and dashed to the left. The brick buildings blurred into dull hues of red and brown.

I had no idea where I would go, but I needed something to destroy. My demon roiled, wanting release. Wanting to cause pain.

Beka betrothed?

The time we had kissed in the alley, she’d said it couldn’t happen again. Then, on the roof just now, she said she shouldn’t care for me as she does. I figured it was because of my demon. No Guardian, keepers of the Light, should care for a demon. Even one who was half-human.

I turned the corner of a gas station and bolted northward. I’d spotted some open desert near there while out exploring. I needed solitude and darkness to think.

A cluster of men, holding bottles, stood near an open trunk. Loud music poured out from the open car windows.

“Whoa, buddy, what’s your rush?” one said as I evaded their group.

My roar echoed off the wall as I ran. My heart stung. The blood pumping through my veins ached, throbbing with an electrical current.

The feeling reminded me of when I held Beka’s neck together. She said we were fused because of sharing our blood.

A black void ahead.
Open desert.
A blaring horn ripped me from my mental tirade. Bright lights rushed me, and I leapt. I toed the roof of an SUV and lurched forward, hurdling it. The cement met my head with a thud as I fell into a summersault. Gasps and sighs enveloped me, but I shook them off, hopped to my feet and took off again.

I must leave this town. Evade the demons sent to retrieve me until Master activated my contract. Then, I would go, serve my sentence. Darkness and the absence of senses would be better than the feeling ripping through my body at the moment.

My Beka is betrothed.
She and I could never wed, but still, the ache of the thought of her joining with another man. “No.” It felt like razors slid down my throat I yelled so loud.

Damn my mother for selling my soul before I was even born. I hopped the curb and burst through thigh-high shrubbery. Thorns snagged my jeans. Slashed my skin. But I went on, welcoming the pain. It didn’t compare to the agony constricting my chest.

I slid my tongue over my lips. Beka’s essence. My blood pulsed.

I traversed a ditch to the sandy ground, sending a plume of dust into the air. Chest heaving, I palmed my waist and gasped for air. Stale, floral-scented particles tickled my nose and throat. Save the moon and stars in the sky, darkness ruled. Exactly what I needed.

The moon beamed silvery rays over a fifteen-foot tall cactus before me.

I let my demon out and stomped to the massive plant. Its needles existed to protect the cactus, and they protruded at least two inches, promising utter misery should someone toy with them.

I fanned my hand and impaled my palm with the pointed tips. The pain scorched my red skin. My black nails clicked against the needles, but I pushed through. Needed more. A distraction.

A throbbing ache sprawled from the base of my neck.

Sweat trickled down my forehead, and stung my eyes with saltiness. Beka had ripped my heart out, promising possible redemption with Jessica. Teasing my resolve with her soft body and tender kisses. Never had I been so tempted to lay with a woman.

Her very essence, a beacon of light in my dark world, lured me to her. The first night I saw her at the club dancing. Confidence oozed off her as she swayed with the music. And when she pulled me through the Jezebels.

The tips of the needles poked through the back of my hand, having skewered my palm.