Sam could feel his heart thumping against her shoulder blade as she savored this moment and his heat. "No wonder you're a horn dog. You're really good at what you do."
He brushed her hair back from her cheek before he placed a tender kiss there. "Don't cheapen this moment, Samia. I've never done that with any woman. It's something we reserve for our mates."
"Then why did you do it with me?"
"Because, as stupid as it sounds, I care about you in a way I've never cared about anyone else. As a rule, I don't really like people much. I tolerate my family, but at the end of the day I much prefer to be left alone. You're the only woman I've ever sought out."
Did she dare believe that? It seemed impossible and yet...
She wanted it to be true because she understood it too. She felt the same way about him. "Why?"
He kissed her nose. "I have no idea. Aside from my little sister and nieces, you're the most infuriating woman I've ever met. All I can figure is that I'm either sick in the head or a total masochist."
She elbowed him in the stomach.
"Ow!" he groused at the same time his phone started ringing. "See what I mean? I have to be addicted to abuse to put up with you." He reached over her to the nightstand to grab his phone so that he could answer it. His hair fell over her as he gave her a look that managed to be both adorable and vicious. "Be nice to me, Amazon, or I'll touch you with my phone and give you visions."
"You probably would, too."
Smiling, he rolled away before he answered it.
Sam wrapped the sheet around herself as she realized that her powers were back and that the sheets weren't contaminating her....
What was going on? Why wasn't she picking up on other people?
"Are you sure about that?" Dev brushed his hair back and scratched his head as he listened to whomever was on the other line. "Yeah, okay. I trust you. We'll be watching and I'll let you know if something happens." He hung up the phone and looked at her. "According to Ash, that wasn't Nick who let the Daimons in."
"What?"
"He swears it was someone pretending to be him."
She wrinkled her nose as she flashed back to her conversation with the Gautier lookalike. "I don't know. The Nick we saw was pretty convincing."
"True, but Ash wouldn't lie to us. He might withhold things, but he wouldn't lie, especially about something like this."
That much was true. And as she sat there, she remembered the twinge she had that something about Nick hadn't been right. Had she picked up on the imposter? "So if it wasn't Nick, who was it?"
"That's the question no one has an answer to."
Sam leaned back against the brass headboard as she tumbled the thought around her head. "Why come to us as Nick? Were they trying to turn us against him?"
"It would make sense. Drive a wedge between him and the people who are on his protection detail."
"But why?" No matter how she sliced it, she couldn't come up with a reason for framing Gautier.
"Maybe it's as simple as they wanted to get close to you and Gautier was the only one they could impersonate."
That might work, and Dev was right. As suspicious as they were right now, it would be hard to get close to them. "But why not just attack?"
"It could be that they didn't want to take on my family. As Nick, our guy was able to get right into the room with you and open the portal. Less bloodshed than coming in the front door and battling their way to you."
Another valid point.
A knock sounded on the door.
Dev used his powers to manifest clothes on his body at the same time he tossed a thicker cover over her. "Come in."
Sam was impressed with his reaction time. The man was definitely skilled in many ways.
The door opened to show them a Charonte carrying a large tray of food. "Xedrix thought you might be hungry."
Sam smiled up at Dev. "I don't know about you, but I worked up quite an appetite."
Grinning, Dev got out of bed to take the tray. Just as he reached it, the Charonte flung the tray at him and used it to drive him back into the wall. Dev head-butted him, but it didn't faze the demon. He grabbed Dev by the hair and took a bite out of his neck so deep, it literally ripped him open.
Dev staggered back as blood poured down his shirt so fast, he knew he wouldn't have long before he bled out. Stumbling away, he manifested a towel and tried to seal the wound.
Even though she was still naked, Sam came off the bed and scissor-kicked the demon while Dev struggled to stay conscious. She wasn't about to let him get hurt any worse. Not if she could help it.
Dev used his powers to quickly dress her in a pair of jeans, boots, and a T-shirt. While he appreciated her being naked, he knew she wouldn't prefer it. Though he definitely appreciated her putting his life before her modesty.
Why the hell can't I get this wound to stop bleeding? It was like there was a spell on it to guarantee he wasn't going to survive it.
The Charonte lunged for her.