“Pfft. They’re all boring, like you. Now get outta my way. I need to find another for gratification since you ruined my playtime.”
“Not on my watch, you won’t.”
Damn him. She exhaled heavily, clamping down on her frustration. “Fine, I’ll find a human,” she muttered, fighting not to rub the stabbing sensation in her chest with his cutting stare fixed on her like some dark, rabid wolf.
She pivoted for the club. He hauled her back, and she crashed into his rock-hard chest—damn man. Before she opened her mouth, the alley they stood in disappeared, her scream caught in her throat as he dematerialized them.
Moments later, they took form back in her underground lodging. Shadow shoved away from him. He’d ruined everything. “How dare you!”
“I dare because you don’t seem to have any regard for your life or safety,” he snapped, his tone matching his icy eyes.
“Let’s get one thing straight. You’re only here to find a way to get to those assholes you’re after. I let you stay because you blackmailed me!”
“Don’t care. My priority is to keep your stubborn ass safe while I’m here.”
Priority? Safe?
Poker-hot frustration jabbing at her, Shadow threw her hands into the air and stomped away. “Just leave me the hell alone. I didn’t ask you about the bimbo you had stuck to your side, so why the heck are you badgering my choices?”
“Bimbo?” She could almost feel him narrowing his eyes. “I know you can’t be jealous. We don’t know each other—”
“Exactly,” she cut him off. “My life, my damn biz. Now get outta my way.” She spun for the door.
“Walk out of here, and I’ll follow. This time I will kill the demon.”
Teeth gritted, Shadow grabbed the handle. His hand slapped on the door, holding it shut. Goddamn him! Snarling, she spun around and shoved him.
He stepped back. “Is that all you have, lígo machitís?” he taunted.
Anger overtaking her frustration, she lashed out a flying kick, realizing too late she was probably signing her death warrant attacking him. He grabbed her ankle and stumbled backward, taking her down with him to the cement floor. She landed atop his hard body, her breath escaping in a rush.
Adrenaline surging, she scrambled up, swiped her blade from her left boot, and pressed the deadly edge to his throat. “Don’t move.”
Chapter 6
Nik narrowed his eyes as Shadow straddled his chest, her blade pressed to his carotid.
She was damn fast for someone so small, but did she think the dagger would scare him? He’d had worse done to him, and death was no stranger. Besides, knife wounds were a mere irritation.
However, he understood her attempt to lash out. He wasn’t letting her fuck her way through the worst of the species while under his watch. Even though she appeared to hate his guts, deeper, something primal brewed between them. He had to find out what the hell it was. Why he reacted to her in this way when he never had with anyone else.
“Is that little blade supposed to scare me?” he drawled, watching her through hooded eyelids, keeping his hands on the floor near her booted feet. Her gaze skimmed over his face and lingered on his mouth.
“You have me pinned down and at knifepoint, now what?” he asked, tone low.
He half expected her to bolt when an evil smirk spread across her arresting face, tightening his gut. Then she startled the hell out of him, trailing the tip of her weapon along his jaw to caress his lip with the flat of her blade.
Oh, she had balls, he’d give her that.
“Starshine,” he drawled. “You want me, go ahead.”
She jerked back.
Not so spirited now. “I’m not one of your little demons,” he said softly. “So, scratch, bite, maim me with your nails, teeth, or your little knife…you won’t hurt me.”
She stared. Nik could almost feel her heart hammering like a drumroll, then she snorted.
“Yeah, no. You’re not my type.” Scoffing, she climbed off him.
Irritation flaring, he snagged her arm, hauling her back. She almost fell over him, her blade clattering to the floor.
“What the hell?” She hastily righted herself, back on his chest again, knees splayed. Her core closer to his face now. The seductiveness of her current seat didn’t escape him…or her, judging from the faint blush on her cheeks.
Before that sharp mind of hers rebooted, and she realized they were fighting, Nik wrapped her waist-length hair around his palm and dragged her lower, until only a scant inch separated their faces. This close, her irises did glow like a starburst of colors. Her ragged breaths became his air. “Don’t start what you can’t finish, Starshine,” he whispered. “When you play with fire, expect to get burned.”
“Burned?” She arched a challenging brow, back on track. “Oh, yes, I do like a man of fire. Not ice. And you, don’t do it for me—eeek!”
Nik flipped her on her back. Her eyes widened, not in alarm but in pure annoyance.
Did she even know what fear was or have an inkling of the sheer evil trapped within him? Even now, the dark souls thrashed, seeking escape. He tightened his psychic shields. No, he wasn’t letting those fucking shits destroy this unprecedented moment.
Wedged between her thighs, Nik shifted, and her pale face flushed a deeper pink when his cock hit her right against her beckoning heat. She blinked. Awareness stole through those striking eyes.
“Lígo machitís, I am no man—”
“Yeah-yeah, the almighty Guardian.” Growling like a trapped she-wolf, she bucked, trying to dislodge him. “Either kis—kill me or get the hell off me! It’s what Neanderthals like you do, use brute strength.”
“Neanderthals?” Nik lifted an eyebrow. “And too late trying to cover your error. If you want me to kiss you, just say so.”
“Not in this lifetime.”
“Starshine,” he drawled softly, finally giving in to the temptation and letting his mouth trail along her jaw. “I’m only too happy to oblige, seeing as I ruined your fun.”
“Stop calling me that—” She bucked again, her frantic movements sliding her core along his dick. The damn friction wasn’t helping his hardening groin. “I don’t want you.”
“Little liar.” He nipped the fast beating pulse on her throat. “I can smell your arousal, and you can feel what it does to me, especially with all your wriggling.”
“I’ve done nothing—” She went deathly-still, those striking eyes widening in shock…and just as fast, she recovered, batting him with her paws. “Let me go!”
“Give me your name, your true name, first.”
“Then you’ll wait a freakin’ long time, you—”
Nik kissed that scandalous mouth then held still to see if she’d push him away or stick the dagger lying near them in his throat. She did neither but seemed to wait for him. Hell, it was all the encouragement he needed. Nik brushed her lips with his again and licked her lower one. A tiny gasp escaped her. He slicked his tongue between her parted lips, deepening the kiss. Then, her tongue tentatively touched his.