He stiffened, and a small sound of pain broke from his lips. “I—”
“Stop.” She grasped his face, used her thumb to trace the markings on the right side of his face. “Don’t ruin this for me.” She was being selfish, but she shoved aside the tiny bit of guilt she felt.
A shudder wracked his body, but he closed his eyes and nodded. He began a slow, grinding pump with his hips, and little sparks popped all over her skin. She raked her nails across his back, and though he hissed, he hissed, “Harder.”
Pleasure cascaded across her mind as he grew more aggressive, until he was hammering her into the mattress while whispering sexy, raw things into her ear. The things he wanted to do to her flipped like erotic pictures through her head, propelling her to a white-hot climax that wouldn’t end.
She cried out, calling his name. His real name.
“No.” He nipped at her lobe. “Call me Josh.”
“Yes… Josh!”
He roared in his own release, filling her with a hot splash that triggered another orgasm, and another. Her body felt out of control, a lightning strike of sensual energy that wrapped around them both and locked them into an electrifying series of climaxes.
Gradually, the storm of pleasure dissipated, and she’d never been so exhausted.
It was a long time before she had the strength to speak. When she did, her voice was raspy, her breathing wheezy. “On the train…” She had to pause, swallow, work some moisture into her mouth. “You said someone slipped an aphrodisiac into my drink. It wasn’t a stranger, was it?”
“No.” He rolled off her but kept his strong arms around her, gathering her close. His biceps bunched up hard, his skin was coated with a fine sheen of sweat. “It was my semen. I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
She wracked her brain to bring that night back to the surface of her hazy mind. She’d been crazed with lust, begging him to have sex with her. “You could have taken my virginity then, but you didn’t. Why not?”
“I couldn’t.” He buried his face in her neck and breathed deeply, and a soft purring noise rumbled up from deep in his chest. “That’s why I was leaving. I changed my mind about everything, Serena. Even though my decision would have killed my brothers, too… I couldn’t betray you like that.”
“Your… brothers?”
“They were dying too. My illness and theirs were connected.”
Time slowed as she digested what he’d just said. She knew how much he loved his brothers, and yet, when it came down to a choice between their lives and hers, he’d chosen hers.
He’d just turned everything she’d ever learned about demons—from the nuns she’d grown up with and from Val and his monstrous library of books—upside down and inside out.
He checked his watch. “I wish I could stay, but I don’t have much time. Byzamoth plans to start the war of wars in a few hours.” He smoothed her hair away from her face, his touch light and tender. “I’m going to get your necklace back. I’ll stop him, Serena. If it’s the last thing I do, I will stop him.”
“But… you’re a demon.”
“So why would I want to stop him?” At her nod, he lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Most demons living among humans like things the way they are. Imagine your worst apocalyptic scenario, multiply it by a hundred, add a lot of chaos, gore, disease, and demons, and you’ve got Sheoul. The idea that everything could become like that? Freaks a lot of us out. There are going to be a lot of demons fighting on the side of good in this battle.”
“And you’re fighting on the side of good.”
He flicked his tongue over a fang, one corner of his mouth turned up in just a hint of a cocky grin. “Well, historically, good can’t fight for shit. Really, they need me.”
Damn him for charming her and turning her on at the same time—while she was on her deathbed.
A commotion outside the door had Josh leaping out of the bed and yanking the covers up around her. The sounds of angry shouts, running footsteps, and flesh striking flesh came through the thin walls as if they were made of paper.
“Serena!”
“Val?”
Josh cursed as Val threw open the door, flanked by Eidolon. Shade was struggling with David and another man in the hallway, and if the more distant sounds were any indication, there was a battle going on elsewhere in the house.
“What the hell is going on?” Val looked between Serena and Josh, who was buttoning his pants. “Jesus effing Christ, Serena! He’s a demon!” He stalked into the room, glaring pure murder at Josh.
Serena sat up in bed, tugging the sheet up even though her top covered her. “Calm down, Val. I know he’s a demon—”
His hand clenched reflexively at his hip, and she wondered if he had a weapon concealed beneath his bulky shirt. “Do not tell me this is the bastard you gave your charm to.”
“Then don’t ask.”
He scrubbed his hand over his face. “Oh, Serena. How could you have been so stu—”