Demon Blood: A Demon Soul Prequel (The Caine Brothers) (3 page)

“I’ll take him.” The words burst out of her mouth before she could stop them. Horrified, Marie-Therese clapped her hands over her mouth. Jealousy had hit her straight in the gut. There was no way she’d let Gideon stay with Hannah, even if the woman did have a husband and kids.

The doctor nodded and his manner became brisk. “I’ve got drops for his eyes. He’ll need to have them put in every four hours, as a precaution to any side nasties that the demon may have passed to him through the slice on his arm. Make sure you get at least two drops in per eye. Is that understood?” He pressed the small bottle into her hand. “He needs to sleep a good twelve hours. If you do try to heal him, go slowly, and temper the power.”

She ignored Gideon’s snort and grabbed onto the doctor’s hand, desperation filling her. “You really think I can?”

The doctor patted her hand and looked at her kindly. “A better question to ask is, why do you think you can’t?”

A
ll the way
back to her apartment, fear rode her. Marie-Therese had tried to answer Gideon’s chatter with something coherent, but after a couple of attempts, she fell silent and so did he.

She pulled into her parking space and took a breath. He was just a man. Correction. A gorgeous, um, tribred. With demon blood in him. And he was blind for a few hours, and since he got hurt while he was with her, it was her honor to serve him. She sent him a nervous glance. At least his current state of blindness meant he couldn’t see how much he unnerved her.

She unbuckled her seatbelt. “We’re here.” Damn it.
Way to sound like an idiot.

“Good. Maybe now you won’t be so nervous.” He unbuckled his seatbelt, felt around for the handle, and opened the door. “Are you coming?”

At the sly innuendo in his voice, she bit her lip and got out of the car, slamming it shut a little more forcefully than usual. She took a step away from the car, realized he waited for her, and swallowed a sigh at her forgetfulness.

She went to his side and slipped an arm through his. “This way.” She pulled gently on his arm to steer him toward the pathway to her door. He gripped the plastic bag with his wet pants and weapons.

“Have you lived here long?” His husky voice made her think of hot sex and dark nights.

She shook her head to get the images out of it, dug her nails into her hand. “Two weeks. I’m not sure how long I need to be here, so I’m on a month-to-month lease.” She unlocked the door. “A small step up.”

They made it inside and she steered him to the couch. She turned on only one lamp at the far side of the room, which leant a warm glow to the otherwise sterile apartment. “So, eye drops. Then I’ll find a blanket and an extra pillow, and you can bunk here.”

“Not with you?”

His voice turned velvet, and a part of her melted. She cleared her throat. “I’ll just deal with your wet jeans.” She grabbed the plastic sack.

“A change of subject. Which wasn’t a no. Set my knives out, please. If your offer for a glass of wine still stands, I could use one.” His voice followed her into the bathroom where she rinsed the seawater off his jeans and hung them to dry.

She busied herself with the task, laying his weapons out on a clean towel in the kitchen before returning to him. “What kind of wine do you prefer? I have a superb white Bordeaux or an excellent California Zinfandel.”

“I’ll take whatever you have on offer.”

She studied him, seemingly relaxed on the couch, his head resting against the back. Was he talking about the wine, or her? “Eye drops first. Then wine.”

“Then your bed.” He sounded
way
too sure of himself. She found it
way
too attractive.

“How much demon are you?” She clapped her hand over her mouth, mortified that she’d blurted out the question.

“Like Hannah said, I’m not going to kill you. And I have no wish to spill your blood. That’s not how I run.” He put his hands behind his head and stretched out. “I think we’d have fun together. Trust me, I don’t want to eat you, except in purely a sexual sense.”

She twisted her hands together and paced in the small space between the couch and the bookshelf. “I won’t let simple lust distract me from my training goals. I can’t afford that.”

“Marie-Therese. There is nothing simple about lust. And there is definitely nothing simple about the lust between us. If you think otherwise, you’re wrong.”

He hadn’t shifted, hadn’t moved from his position of total relaxation, but the bulge in his borrowed scrubs had definitely grown larger.

Her body pulsed in response.

“It’s not like we can run out there right now and kick demon ass,” he added. “I can’t see, and you’re wounded. Tomorrow we can be big fighting ninjas, when we’re both healthy. Right now? Rest and sex is on the agenda. Not necessarily in that order.

Silly of her to think he’d hurt her. Stupid of her not to take advantage of his current sightless condition. She allowed herself a smile then and kicked off her shoes and socks. “Perhaps,” she purred, and pulled the bottle of eye drops out of her pocket. “So now, I am going to straddle you, and put the eye drops in.”

“If you straddle me, I can’t guarantee we’ll get to the wine.”

She remembered the doctor’s warning that the drops tended to sting. “We shall see,” she temporized, and moved to the couch where he sat. She put one knee up on it next to him, and his hands came to her hips to steady her as she settled on top of him.

His hands were big and strong, holding her hips not too tightly, but definitely firmly. She got the sense that if she wanted, he would let her go in a heartbeat. That thought gave her the courage to continue.

“Lean your head back and keep your eyes closed. I will remove the sleep mask, open one eye and put the drops in, and then do the same to the other eye. Do you understand?”

“I am yours to command. For now.”

The answer caused her to tremble, there was so much dark passion in it. She took a breath and removed the sleep mask. Opening the bottle, she leaned forward, her breasts brushing his chest as she settled her hand on his face, finger and thumb gently bracketing one eye.

“Here we go.” She pulled his eye open and squeezed the bottle. Let go, and he blinked hard, muttered curses under his breath. She repeated it with the other eye. Sitting back, she capped the bottle and put it aside before settling the sleep mask back over his eyes, and became aware of his hands on her hips, pressing her down against his erection. She raised her eyebrows even as she smiled and gripped his shoulders.

“So putting drops in your eyes gets you hard?”

“No,” he growled. “Having a sexy, witchy Fae pressing her breasts against me gets me hard. You have a problem with that?” He moved to pull the sleep mask off and she grabbed his hand.

“Damn it, you need to keep that mask in place, or...” her voice trailed off when he brought her hand to his mouth. Kissed each of her fingers before pressing a kiss to the center of her palm.

“Or what?” The words were said against her palm, and she shivered in response.

“Wine after, then,” she said, and grabbed the hem of his scrubs shirt and pulled straight up. He helped her by leaning forward and raising his arms. She flung the shirt to one side and spread her hands across his chest, greedy for the feel of him.

For the smell of him. She leaned forward, inhaled his scent before he caught her face in his hands and kissed her. Deeply. Thoroughly. Passionately.

Made her forget her name.

She held onto his broad shoulders as she returned his kisses, separating from him only when he lifted her shirt up, let out a hiss of pain as she raised her arms to allow him to take the shirt off her. Felt his gentle lips on her wounded shoulder as an apology.

“It’s a good thing that demon is dead.” His tongue skimmed lightly over the deep purple bruise and she wondered how he knew where she hurt.

Marie-Therese shivered. “You make it feel better.” She framed his face with her hands, wishing she could see his eyes, and kissed him. Excitement and fascination bubbled up in her, tempered with just a bit of fear.

He put his hand between their mouths. “Hold still. Let me heal you.”

Marie-Therese stiffened in shock. “You cannot.”

He tilted his head. “Oh, but I can.”

“But you can’t see.” Panic wormed its way through her and she moved back.

“Stop.” Command rang in his voice and she froze. “I will not hurt you, Marie-Therese. You have my word. Do I have your consent to heal you? Unless you prefer being in pain.”

Her heart pounded and she wrapped her arms around herself. “I…I guess you can try.”

“You’re scared. Why?” His voice gentled. “Don’t look at my hands, look at my eyes.”

“Your eyes are covered.”

“Put your hands on my waist, woman, and look at me. Come on, my warrior. You can do this.”

Marie-Therese unclenched her fists and settled her hands at his waist. Lifted her gaze to where the black satin sleep mask covered his eyes. “So.”

“Okay. Now talk to me. Anything. Whatever you’re thinking about, just let it out. Keep your gaze fixed on my face.”

The rumble of his voice, the warmth of his skin settled her. “I can talk about anything?”

“Anything,” he said.

She felt the ridge of his erection beneath her and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I don’t want to be mated. Not yet, not for years. There is so much of the world I want to see, and much more to do more with my life than merely fight demons. I have a witch heritage that I have neglected, with my father’s blessing, in order to add to the ranks of fighters in my country.”

She was aware of a gentle coolness stealing through her wounded shoulder, caught a glimpse of blue light out of the corner of her eye.

“Keep going.” Gideon’s voice softened. “What would you do with the time, were you to have it? If you weren’t a Warrior Fae.”

With effort, she refocused on her life-long dream. “I want to learn more about my heritage. Learn what the differences are between witches of the land, and the Fae. There are so many spells to learn. Think of all the ways I can use them to help people. Bring peace to the angry and courage to the weak. I would love to paint again. Take simple designs and infuse them with soothing magic. Maybe hang them in hospitals to calm those in need. I want to give, to help, to succor. I am good at spellcraft, but there is more for me to learn. Always.”

Her face saddened and she licked her lips before continuing. “I love fighting demons, killing demons, but it is grueling and I’d like to believe I am worth more than my killing abilities. And when the time is right and the thrill is gone, I want to pursue other avenues. Being mated would ruin everything.”

“You are a soul beyond price.” His hands smoothed up both her arms, over her shoulders, and down her back. He opened her bra and drew it off her.

Her desire came flooding back as he nuzzled her breasts, teased her nipples to hard, aching points.

“Gideon. Is this a part of healing?”

“Sex can heal a lot of things. Your shoulder will be fine, babe.”

She moaned and held him close when he bent his head to her and suckled. “You make me lose myself.”

His mouth left her breast. “I’ve got you. You’re right here, and you are safe.”

Capturing his lips, she kissed him with all the pent up longing for that other life she’d talked about. He was right, she felt safe with him.

“Here? Or your bedroom?” He kissed her cheek. “We’re both still dressed, sort of.”

“Here. And clothes can come off.” She lifted off him and stripped her pants and panties off as he did the same.

The sight of him, naked on her couch, made her mouth water. Gideon was gorgeous. All lean muscle, his brown skin stood out against the pale gray of the couch, and his cock rose up to tap his belly.

“I’ve been to the Faerie Plane. You would fit in there.” She climbed up on the couch and straddled him again. “You are brown and beautiful, as beautiful as any Fae male.”

“It’s not easy being black. African American.” His lips twisted. “I can’t change the color of my skin. And you know the world we live in.”

“Shh.” She put a finger over his lips. “This is not the time to talk about politics or race. I was paying you a compliment, letting you know how much I liked what I was seeing.”

“I understand.” His hands slowly skimmed her skin. She shuddered as she realized he was taking her measure. “Your skin is so soft. Your soul is so bright. I haven’t met anyone like you before.”

She leaned forward to kiss him. “Stop. Talking.”

With a quick move, he put her beneath him. “Action it is.”

Marie-Therese drifted into a sensual haze as he began touching, then kissing, every inch of her body. Every touch sent heat blazing through her veins. Whenever she tried to touch him back, he’d hold her off. The heat inside her grew, made her needy, and when he finally slipped his hand between her legs, stroked the wetness there, she let out a low moan. He circled her opening, then plunged his fingers into her.

She cried out and tightened around him.

Need had her lifting her hips against him, and his fingers settled into a rhythm between plunging in her and circling her clit while he kissed her soul-deep, leaving her head whirling with passion. He raised her knees to her chest, exposing her, and before she could beg, drove his cock into her waiting body.

Relief exploded through her every cell, and her legs naturally wrapped around him, her hips tilting. She clung to him, waiting for his cock to seat all the way inside her. Waited for him to fill her world with orgasms and mental satisfaction.

“I can’t see you. Are you okay?” His voice was ragged, as if he were holding onto his control.

Marie-Therese dragged his head down to her and kissed him with all the passion she had in her. “Never better.”

Gideon clutched her hips and drove his cock into her, deliberately slow. “Next time, you’re the one wearing the blindfold.”

At his words, her nipples drew up tight and her pussy grew even wetter. At his actions, she moaned. His every stroke rubbed that spot inside so long neglected. Tension built like a train picking up speed, and her heart raced, her body tightened and her back arched as she reached for a peak that eluded her.

Tangling her fingers in his hair, she directed him to her nipple and he suckled her, hard. A scream ripped from her throat as she tipped up and over into orgasm. Colors danced behind her closed eyelids as her muscles milked his cock. Gideon continued to plunge in and out of her pussy, sending more shockwaves through her body, making her shudder and clamp down harder on him.

Gideon’s back tensed, bowed. He thrust home, hard, and howled the release of his own climax.

Marie-Therese held him to her, her body still reacting to his, and gave herself up to the luxury of several aftershocks. They held each other while the last thrum of pleasure echoed through them. Finally, bodies and minds spent, they moved to spoon, Gideon’s big body behind her. Neither moved for a long while.

It had been far too long since she’d had sex, longer still since she’d had mind-blowing sex. She glowed, and sparks skipped across her skin, sending a sweet lethargy through her veins.