Hope knocked softly on the door to Paxton’s house, acutely aware of the disapproval emanating from the soldiers in the trees around her. It wasn’t easy being the only female vampire on earth, not to mention the demon king’s daughter and the vampire king’s great-niece. She was accustomed to people watching her. She was not used to the waves of disapproval.
Obviously, word had not yet gone out about what Paxton had done or that none of this was his fault. Still, she couldn’t help a tiny slice of hurt that he hadn’t somehow figured out a way to talk to her. Of course, he had been gone for the last few years, probably by design. The Defenders seemed to have known what they were doing.
The door opened, and he stood there, all six foot six of him, broad, muscled, and mean. If he was surprised to see her, he didn’t show it. Instead, his gaze rose to the trees across the icy street. “I feel Liam,” he murmured.
“Yeah, but Liam’s on your side,” she said. She’d at least managed to tell Liam what had been going on.
“There are several out there who aren’t.” He grasped her arm and drew her inside the warm home, putting his body between her and the trees. For several moments, he stood there, making himself a perfect target.
“Would you knock it off?” She punched him in the kidneys and stepped away.
He didn’t so much as twitch. “I thought I’d give them a good chance.”
Slowly he shut the door and turned back to face her, leaning against it. It struck her then how different he was from the boy she once knew. He’d had an entire life she knew nothing about, and the knowledge hurt. It was also intriguing. She’d loved him since she was a child. Loved him as her best friend, as her confidant, as her trusted protector.
This was different. This was something new and something she could not indulge. “I wanted to see if you were okay,” she said.
“I’m fine.” He leaned down to look into her eyes. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m good. I didn’t even know that thing was in my head,” she admitted. She’d taken more of the Advil, and that had helped as well. “I’m sorry you had to carry that fear for the last year.” She knew Paxton and understood he had always felt responsible for everybody around him. It must have killed him, knowing there was a bomb in her head. “I’m okay now, though.”
Heat rolled from him, warming the entire room. “I’m sorry, Hope.”
“Sorry for what?” She lifted her chin. “Sorry I got a bomb put in my head? Sorry you’ve been lying to me for years? Sorry you joined the Defenders, which is a group that apparently wants to kill all of my uncles?”
His silvery-blue eyes flashed to a sharp and sizzling green and then morphed back again. Vampires had tertiary colors, and his had always been green. It emerged only during high-intensity moments or extremely emotional ones. “I did what I had to do, and I never would have killed one of your uncles. Besides, only three of the Seven are your uncles.”
“They’re pretty much all my uncles,” she muttered. “Some of them are ancient and a million times removed, but I’m related to almost everybody on the Seven. You wanted to destroy them.”
He sighed, but he didn’t deny it. His phone buzzed, and he scooped it off the table near the door, reading the screen and then shooting off a couple of texts. “He can’t hide forever.” Pax tossed the phone away and zeroed his focus on her.
“You really believed everything you said the other day, didn’t you?” she asked quietly.
“About the final ritual being stopped? Yeah, I did. I have looked at this from every single angle there is, princess, and the only way it makes sense is that the Lock is there to balance the scales for Ulric’s death. You and I both know that any ritual, anything involving altering physics, demands a high price.”
She blinked.
His gaze narrowed. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“I suspected,” she said. “It doesn’t make any sense unless a sacrifice is made. I figured that was probably my life.” She expected him to commiserate with her or to vow that he’d figure something else out.
Instead, he pivoted suddenly, lifting her by the hips and slamming her against the door. “You will not accept such a fate. Do you understand me?” His voice was all the more frightening for the soft tone he used.
Heat traveled through her so quickly her ears rang, her heart thundered, and her thighs softened. What was happening? “Paxton, put me down.” Her voice emerged breathy, as if she’d been running for hours.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think people have been going along with what you want and what you think for far too long. If you were mine, there’s no way in hell you’d be wandering around demon territory right now.”
His? “Listen, Pax.” She shot both hands up to nail him beneath the jaw.
He didn’t step back. In fact, it didn’t even look like he’d felt the blow. Instead, his head lowered until his eyes were right above hers. His scent of leather and the forest wafted around them. “You’re a brat, Hope. I might adore you, but I won’t accept that.”
What did that mean? She opened her mouth to give it to him just as one of his broad hands tangled in her hair, twisted, and pulled her head back. Her breath caught in her throat, and she latched onto his shoulders for balance, feeling the muscles play beneath his shirt. Hard and fluid.
Then his firm lips were on hers.
Fire seared through her, zinging from her mouth to her breasts right to her core. Her abdomen heated, and butterflies winged in every direction. She moved into him, even though her brain told her to stop.
She moaned, and he pressed her jaw with his thumb, forcing her to open. For him. For Paxton Phoenix, who was much more dangerous than she’d ever imagined.
Then he dove in, all wildfire, all danger, his tongue taking control. The growl rumbling up from his chest and into her mouth, down her throat, to her every nerve was all demon. Primal and savage.
He easily held her aloft, his free hand flexing on her hip with barely restrained power.
She’d had no idea desire could be painful.
Gasping, she pulled back, her lungs needing air. For the first time in too long, she really looked at him. His handsome face and calm demeanor masked a deadly warrior. A true predator. And right now, she was in his sights. Her body did a full roll.
His smile was quick, gone as quickly as it had arrived. It was the smile of a male in control of his environment. One prepared for violence, and one who held her easily off the floor.
Watching her, those green eyes a chromatic warning, he tugged the button on her jeans free.
Her eyes widened...but she didn’t stop him.