Back From Hell (19 page)

“Did you really want to hang around that place?”

She thought back to it—oddly familiar—dark. Blood and fear had been heavy in the air and she whispered quietly, “No.” But what
was
that place?

A voice whispered into her mind,
Hell
.

Uncontrollable shivers wracked her body and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to get warm. Dimly, she watched as Ronan’s hand moved—everything seemed super acute, actions slowed down so that she could even see the fine hairs on the back of his hand moving ever so faintly. He twisted a knob on the console and a wave of heat drifted out, the sound unusually loud.

She felt almost drugged.

“Ronan…what’s been going on?”

In the silence of his hotel room, Ronan studied Jenai’s face for a long moment, trying to figure out exactly what he should tell her.

She didn’t remember.

None of it. Even The Dark was little more than a bare memory to her, vaguely familiar, but she didn’t even remember why she had gone there in the first place.

“Stop staring at me like that.”

A slow smile crooked his mouth and he asked, “Like what?”

A faint blush stained her cheeks and she averted her eyes. “Just tell me what’s been going on.”

“You were…lost,” he finally said. “Trapped someplace not of this world.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Lost
how
?”

Turning away, he stared out the window. “Stephanie felt you go missing, Jenai.” A frown crossed his face. “Just yesterday, I think.” It seemed like so much longer than that. Like weeks—years—but it would seem he’d only been in the demon realm a matter of seconds.

Maybe time just didn’t move the same way there. He didn’t know. Shoving the chaotic mess of his thoughts aside, he looked back to Jenai. “You’d gone to a club—that place we woke up in—and just…disappeared.”

“Disappeared? For a day? And then suddenly I was back?” she asked skeptically, her brow puckered with confusion.

“A little more complicated than that.” He sighed, reaching up and pressing his fingers to his eyes. He hadn’t expected her to not remember any of it. A mixed blessing, he suspected. Those memories, if they ever returned, would haunt her. God above knew he was haunted by the little bit he had grasped when he’d touched his mind to hers.

For now, he settled on a shortened version. He’d explain about Brunich, and her father, later. He was too fucking tired to explain it all just yet. Tired…and hungry.

“The club you went to—people there were worshipping demons. They gave you to them—threw you through the doorway and demons took you. I went after you.”

He turned back around, staring into her eyes, waiting for some sign that she remembered, but all he saw was a mask of confusion.

“How?” she whispered, her forehead creased with confusion, her eyes darkening to the color of pewter as fear tightened her body.

He reached up, tapping a finger to his head. “I’m psychic, love. I can see paths that other people can’t. As to how, the same way we’ve shared dreams for so long. I could feel you.”

Crossing to her, he touched his fingers to her lips and murmured, “There hasn’t been a day since you first came into my dreams that I haven’t thought of you.”

She swallowed. He heard the slight sound, watched as her throat worked with the motion. Her lips parted and a shaky breath escaped her. She forced a tight smile as she whispered, “I didn’t come into your dreams. You barged into mine.”

At that tiny spark of life, of humor, he grinned. Sliding his hand into hers, he said, “Maybe it was mutual. We belong together, Jenai. You know that, don’t you?”“

Lowering his head, he pressed his lips to hers and murmured, “The one woman in the world who was made for
me
. Just like I was made for you. I can feel you inside me. And that’s how I found you.”

* * * * *

None of what he was saying made sense.

None of it.

Except—she had thought of him all the time. Her heart had ached for him. And somewhere inside of her, she had known who he was too.

That much made sense.

What he had said about demons, an Under Realm—none of that connected in her mind and when she thought about it, part of her just wanted to cringe. Maybe she didn’t want to understand that part. Safer, saner.

She stared into his eyes, so close to her own. With a sigh, she pressed her mouth more firmly against his, parting her lips and reaching out to trail her tongue over the full lower curve of his lip. He stiffened and then his arms came around her. As he jerked her body into full, complete contact with his own, Jenai felt like she had
finally
come home.

Reaching up, she buried her fingers in the dark brown silk of his hair, gasping his name as he tore away her clothes. His mouth left hers for one moment as he pressed a stinging line of kisses to her ear where he bit down lightly on the fleshy lobe. Gruffly, he whispered, “If this isn’t what you want…tell me now.”

Jenai laughed, a soft, shaky sound. She felt lighter inside, like she’d been weighed down by pain and fear for a long time, and his touch made her feel safe. And needed. “Hell, Ronan—I’ve wanted nothing but this since the last time you touched me.”

A harsh breath left him and then he pulled back, staring down at her with hungry eyes. He reached out, touching his fingers to the neck of the black silk tank she wore, and then he jerked. The silk gave with a rip under his hands and she shivered under his intent stare as he studied her naked breasts. One golden hand came up and she watched as he cupped one breast in his palm, plumping it, teasing the nipple with his thumb.

His head dipped and then his mouth closed around her nipple, hard and wet, his teeth capturing it and tugging it lightly. “I love you. I loved you before I even met you,” he whispered.

Jenai’s head was spinning. Wasn’t that the sort of declaration a woman dreamed of? And he meant it. She could feel the intensity, the sincerity of his words as he lowered her back onto the bed, rolling his eyes to stare up at her over the length of her body as he curled his tongue around her nipple.

“Ronan…”

He moved up her body, covering her, his weight pressing her into the mattress. “Shhh… Just let me…” he crooned against her skin, raking his teeth down her neck. She cried out, digging her nails into the ridge of muscles at his shoulders, arching up against him.

Against her belly, she felt the hot, hard line of his cock and she trembled, desperate to feel that thick pillar of flesh inside her. She ached so badly—her pussy clenched and she could smell the scent of her own hunger in the air, mingling with the warm scent of his body. He smelled so good. She wanted to feel his skin against hers. She tugged at his shirt and when it didn’t give away, she simply tore at the cloth until she could feel his skin underneath—hot, smooth and hard—pressed against hers as bits and pieces of his shirt fell around them in shreds.

He chuckled, raising up long enough to stare down at his bare chest. Jenai grinned up at him. “You’re wearing too many clothes,” she said.

“Hmmm…well, in the name of preserving my clothes…” He pushed away from her, rising to his feet beside the bed and reaching for the heavy buckle at his waist. She watched as he tugged it open then reached for the button at the top of jeans. The rasp of his zipper sounded loud in the room. Sinking her teeth into her lower lip, she watched as he lowered the zipper.

His cock sprang free from the confining cloth of the denim, thick and erect. It pulsed against his body and Jenai felt an answering pulse low in her belly. He shucked the jeans and leaned back over her. Jenai slid her hand down his chest, but he caught her wrist, bringing her hand to his mouth and pressing a kiss against her palm before pressing it down to lie on the mattress beside her.

He caught the zipper at her hip, sliding it down, and then he pressed the flats of his palms against her, stroking them down, taking the flimsy fabric of the skirt from her. In seconds, she lay naked.

She frowned, and a brief thought passed through her mind. Why in the hell wasn’t she wearing any underwear? A bra? But the puzzle of that faded away as he came down over her, the hot feel of his skin branding itself on her memory as he mounted her, wedging his narrow hips between her thighs, pressing his cock against the soft mound of her sex. Jenai sucked in air, her lungs burning, head spinning.

Reaching up, she curled her fingers around his biceps, moaning as she felt the naked touch of his body against hers. His thick, mink brown hair spilled over one shoulder, the ends of it caressing her skin like silk as he took her mouth, thrusting his tongue inside and stealing away what little air she had.

Between her thighs, she could feel the heavy weight of his cock as he started to work it inside her—hard, thick and throbbing against the sensitive, slick folds of her pussy.

His tongue moved enticingly against her mouth. Jenai greedily bit down on him, just a little, and he stiffened against her, tearing his mouth away. Through a fringe of lashes, she stared up at him, a slow smile curving her lips at the intent, demanding look on his face.

“Now,” he muttered, crushing her against him and surging full length inside her. Jenai screamed out his name, feeling his heat cleaving through her, trembling as his balls swung forward to slap against the seam of her ass.

“Ronan…” she whispered weakly as he withdrew slowly, until just the head of his cock was lodged inside her.

“Bloody hell, I’ve missed you,” he growled, his voice a deep, rough rumble that sent shivers down her spine. “How in the hell did you get inside me so fast?”

She couldn’t speak, could barely breathe, as he moved higher on her body so that each inward thrust of his hips had him rubbing against the aching bud of her clit. She throbbed there, and the folds of her pussy, the depths of her womb felt tight and constricted.
More…need more…
As he pulled out, she lifted her hips, trying to keep him inside her.

Hands—hard and bruising—came up to cup her hips, pinning her to the bed. “Be still,” he muttered. “Let me… Fuck… You’re so damn tight.”

“I’m empty,” she whimpered, opening her eyes and staring up at him. “Ronan, please… I need… Ronan!”

One hard, sudden thrust had him buried inside her, and she gasped at the pleasure.

His weight came down on her again, pressing her into the mattress, her face buried against the crook of his neck. She opened her lips and trailed her tongue against the salty heat of his skin. The taste of him danced on her tongue, a hot sweet enticement. His hand came up, pressing her mouth more firmly against his neck, and Jenai raked her teeth against his skin. Her fangs slid free of their sheaths, and as blind hunger took control of her, she sank them into his skin, finding the vein unerringly.

As the taste of him tore through her system, she came, climaxing around him even as he started to pull out. He growled again, that low, animalistic sound, and started to fuck her with hard, short digs of his hips, over and over.

Replete, her mouth fell away from his neck and her head fell back, darkness swarming in on her vision.

Dimly, she heard a howl escape him, his fingers digging into her flesh, and then he buried himself to the hilt, his cock jerking inside her pussy as he spilled his seed into her.

They slept.

Briefly.

Jenai chased short, chaotic, senseless bits of a dream, unable to make sense of anything she saw. A dark place, so cold, a man with black eyes that she both wanted and feared, and then darkness—an icy darkness that left her trembling even in her sleep. And a voice, speaking to her out of the darkness,
Be strong…he’ll come.
The barest glimpse of a different man, and then the dream fell apart and reformed all over again.

Ronan awoke while the dream held her caught in its grip, and his heart wrenched at the soft whimper that left her throat. He was still buried inside her, his cock semi-erect but growing harder with every second. Pulling free, he moved to the side and snuggled her trembling body into the curve of his. She was cool once more, but not cold like she had been. Pressing his lips to her temple, he whispered, “Wake up, Jenai. Just a dream. Just a dream…”

Her body trembled and she awoke with a start, struggling in his arms, her eyes glowing, confusion stamped all over her lovely face. “Jenai, it’s me,” he murmured, pulling her tighter against him so that she could feel and scent of nothing but him. Slowly, her body relaxed and she sighed against him. “What did you dream of?”

She shook her head just a little. “I don’t know. Nothing made sense.” Slowly, she pulled back just a little, and Ronan loosened his arms to let her, staring down into her face. “I don’t remember.
Anything.
The last thing I remember was coming into Louisville, feeling like there was something I had to do. But I don’t remember what…where. Nothing.”

Reaching up, he combed his fingers through the flyaway platinum strands of her hair. For a moment, he just watched the pale strands slide through his fingers while his mind worked busily.

“Maybe that’s best,” he finally said, slowly meeting her gaze, shaking his head. “I don’t understand why some things happen, but sometimes, maybe they happen because that’s just how it’s meant to be.”

“And I’m not meant to remember anything that happened?”

A sad smile crooked his lips. “It wasn’t anything any person should have to remember. The mind does strange things to protect us.” He just wished he could forget.

Before another word could be said though, the door burst open. Jenai jerked up in shock, staring at the figure standing in shadow as the bright light of morning streamed in around her.

“Don’t bother knocking, Stephanie,” he said dryly.

Jenai tore free from his arms and he let her go, flopping onto his back and lacing his fingers behind his head, watching as the woman he loved dove for her sister and wrapped her arms tightly around the shorter woman.

Stephanie gave a watery laugh.

Another figure moved into the light, slipping past Jenai and Stephanie. Ronan met Beau’s eyes and gave the other man a slight nod before closing his eyes and sighing, feeling, for the first time in his life, complete and whole.