Maybe even an angel?
If demons are real, then I guess angels have to be real, too. As a human, she had been completely blind to the real world around her. The paranormals were out there, all right. Most of them hid in plain sight. The weaker ones, anyway. The stronger ones…
They stayed away from humans. Mostly because when a powerful paranormal came into contact with a human, well, the human didn’t get a happy ending.
Case in point, look at my life.
“I’ve been told that, yes, he has others…and that dumbass who tried to take you just confirmed that to me, tonight.”
She climbed back onto the motorcycle. “Then what are we waiting for?” Her hands curled around him.
He stiffened. All of that wonderful muscle went rock hard beneath her touch. “Rose?”
“You said the Collector is at the dock. Let’s get our asses there, have some big showdown, and stop him.” She tried to sound a whole lot more confident than she actually felt. At most moments of peril, she was utterly terrified, but Rose knew you weren’t supposed to show fear in the paranormal world. Fear was a weakness.
The others preyed on the weak.
Evil—that was a strength. Don’t-Give-A-Damn attitude…that was something to be admired. She was trying to fake her way through the new world she lived in.
“If he has others trapped, we have to help them.” On this part, she was adamant. She’d been a prisoner, and she couldn’t stand the thought that others were trapped like she’d been. Collected. “Come on, let’s go.”
His head was turned so that their eyes met. He hadn’t started the bike yet. “You were trying to run from me a moment ago.”
“Yes, well,” she cleared her throat…You’re the biggest bad-ass I see right now. And the devil you know…he’s supposed to be a whole lot better than the other monsters hiding in the dark. At least, she hoped so. Rose pasted a bright smile on her face. “I figure the enemy of my enemy can be my temporary partner. So let’s haul ass and get this done. Then you won’t need to protect me any longer. I can go my own way. You can go yours.”
His face hardened. “And you never have to see me again.”
Her heart stuttered. “Right. Never. Never ever in the infinity that is left of my life.”
His teeth snapped together. “Hold the fuck on, got it? Because I’ll be going fast.”
She was a vamp. She was used to super speed now. And—
He revved that engine and they raced off into the night. She held onto him tightly, her body pressed to his, and her thighs around his. The motorcycle vibrated beneath her. Rose tried not to notice just how good Julian felt, how strong. She tried not to think about how good he’d tasted.
She failed.
Soon I’ll be away from him again. And soon my heart will stop hurting.
Soon…
“Drive faster,” she whispered. “I can handle it.” She could handle anything he threw at her.
He went even faster. She hugged him harder.
And she hated that they seemed to fit together so perfectly.
***
The sports yacht waited at the end of the pier. The waves were growing stronger in the distance, but the Pandora was tied securely and barely seemed to move in the water.
The Pandora was a forty-footer, one that appeared to have all of the latest bells and whistles. A faint light glowed from the yacht’s interior, and Julian sure as hell hoped that his prey waited inside.
His motorcycle was hidden a few yards away. Luke Thorne actually kept a building on the dock just to store their vehicles and bikes, so Julian had stashed his ride there. Julian and Rose stalked silently toward the boat, and he made sure she stayed behind him. He didn’t like the idea of her hunting with him, but he sure wasn’t going to leave her alone some place. Until the Collector was dead, he planned to keep Rose at his side. That had been the deal, after all. The deal he’d made with the source who’d tipped him off about Rose being the Collector’s next target.
“I don’t see anyone in there,” Rose whispered. Her fingers pressed to his side, and even that little touch turned him on. Did she get that? Did the woman have any fucking clue what she did to him? Probably not. Or if she did know, she didn’t give a shit.
When they’d been riding on that motorcycle, and her soft body had surrounded him, he’d wanted nothing more than to pull over, take her off that bike, and take her. It had been far, far too long since he’d had his Rose. And even back then…back in the day when she’d still looked at him like he was some kind of hero, he’d had to use care with her. Such gentle care. A shifter wasn’t supposed to take a human as a lover. Another rule he’d broken.
He’d never been good with rules.
Shifters were too rough, too wild, for human lovers. When their passions were roused, their beasts had a tendency to come out—and that meant claws. Fangs. Torn sheets. Primitive pleasure. But he’d always held tightly to his control with her. He’d held back, not wanting to so much as bruise her skin.
Because she’d been human.