Flame Unleashed (Hell to Pay) (15 page)

He led the way past the grand foyer with its curved mahogany staircase. In the living room, leather and darker colors dominated the furniture and fixtures. Seeing the house through her eyes, it occurred to him that some lighter colors might improve the space. Maybe the house could benefit from a woman’s touch.

He had been a bachelor for far too many years.

After strolling through the country kitchen, they entered the formal dining room. Despite the pecan wood table that gleamed beneath the grand glass chandelier, this room always felt cold.

“Use this room much?” she asked.

“I was just thinking that it doesn’t get used at all. Too formal.”

“You can tell a lot about people from which living spaces they enjoy the most.”

He smiled. She had pegged him precisely, right in time to enter the library, the one area in which he found solace. Unfortunately, it also contained the computer that was running the genealogy program.

Odie’s heart sped up as he saw lists of primary source documents on the screen.

She inhaled. “Smells nice in here. Old books. Furniture polish. I love it.”

“It’s my favorite room. But I’ve modernized it.”

He gestured toward the carved wood light switches behind them to draw her attention, then flipped off the computer screen on the heavy oak desk.

“There’s a bathroom with a shower on this floor. I mostly stay downstairs, since I converted this bedroom into my office. Upstairs are actual accommodations if you want to rest. In a real bedroom. Like a real person.”

Her light chuckle lifted his soul like it had grown wings.

As they headed up the stairs, the view of her rounded derriere commanded his attention. The roll of her hips made his groin clench with desire. How he wanted to run his hands over those curves.
Mon dieu
, but he had been fighting the urge since the moment he had met the woman.

He pointed out the three bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor, all with fresh bedding and linens at the ready.

“For a guy who lives alone and doesn’t require sleep, you’ve certainly kept this house in guest-ready condition.”

“Somehow it makes me feel ... human, if that makes sense?”

“It makes perfect sense.”

“I even keep a few basic ingredients for cooking. You never know.” He opened his arm up. “Please pick whichever room you’d prefer. I’ll bring up the luggage.”

Her faraway stare finally locked on to him. “Right. From the hotel.”

“I’m not sure what’s in which suitcase. We threw everything in together so quickly.”

“Do I have to tip the valet?”

The moment those whiskey-gold and moss colored irises darkened with the double entendre was a piece of time Odie wanted to remember forever. This was the exact moment when he lost the ability to fight his desire. The exact moment when he no longer wanted her as a pawn or an accomplice. He wanted her as a desirable woman.

One taste and he would leave.

He closed the distance in one step and pulled her head forward to meet his lips in a crushing kiss so intense, his vision dimmed at the edges. Like fine ambrosia, she smelled delicious.

He tilted her face up to him, expecting her to pull back, to resist. The gods blessed him when she sighed and the corners of her lush mouth tilted upward. He rubbed his thumbs over her high cheekbones, her soft lips, and her porcelain neck.

Perhaps he could spare one more taste.

Unable to stop himself, he leaned forward again and brushed his lips over hers. The scent of his home with its wood paneling, the plaster walls and ceilings, the humid bayou air combined with lavender and her own exquisite fragrance.

Slanting his mouth, he roved over her lips, savoring them, nipping at them. When he plunged his hands into the silky fall of her dark auburn hair, he absorbed her answering groan with his mouth. He slid his hands down to settle at her waist. The heat where their bodies met could have burned the house down. An Indebted ran warm in general, hot when aroused, and Odie had no idea what happened if two aroused Indebted got together, but he was glad to have insurance against fire.

As he slid his tongue between her sweet lips, she yielded, sighing again as she opened to him. Desire clamped a vice around his ribs, and for a moment, he couldn’t inhale. He braced his legs wider and drew her to him. The contact of her full breasts against his chest unlocked his lungs, and he sucked in her scent like a man surfacing from underwater.

A growl escaped him as he explored her with his tongue, loving her soft inner cheek, her pillowy lips. Their tongues tangled together, breaths mingled.

No longer tense, she now melted into him, sliding her hands over his shoulders. Her fingertips stroking the nape of his neck propelled him into orbit.

“
Mon dieu
, Ruth, you are like a fine wine. Like liquid velvet. So addicting.”

Even though her strength matched his own, he easily walked her backward toward the nearest bed. He kissed her deeply, wanting to imprint her taste, the feel of her body against his, into his soul forever. Before he could reach for her, the buttons on his denim shirt all burst as she ripped open the clothing.

Her cheeks flared pink, but as she looked up at him from beneath her dark lashes, it was attraction, not embarrassment, that shone in those multicolored eyes. No, black eyes. Her irises had changed to the typical jet-black color of heightened emotion. Good.

“Oh, yes,
ma lionne
, my lioness, that’s perfect.”

She trailed her nails over his bare chest, and his hot rush of pleasure hardened him in a matter of seconds. Those sweet gasps near his ear didn’t help, either. His jeans had become much too uncomfortable, too tight, and he needed to rectify the situation, fast. And if her frenzied hands told the truth, the feeling was mutual.

“What do you need,
ma chère
?”

“To feel normal. Make me forget what I am, what I’ve been through. Make me
feel
.”

Flashes of his life—forced to spy on his own daughters because of the Indebted rules, hundreds of kills with the damned knife—flew through his mind. Normal. How many times had he wanted exactly what Ruth asked him?

“If that’s what you want, I’ll gladly provide it. And I’ll never let you forget how sexy and beautiful you are.”

“I need you. Now,” she panted. Her beautiful lips, swollen from their kisses, parted as her dark stare searched him.
Oui
, the feeling was most definitely mutual.

“As you command.”

When he gently pressed her against the side of the bed, she fell onto the mattress. With her arms spread out, she looked like an angel suspended in the clouds. He unclasped her black pants and slid them down with her panties, over the knife in the holster on her right leg.

The length of alabaster skin made his mouth water. The image of her half naked with her heels still on fired his desire. Raw need drove him like a horse being whipped into a galloping frenzy.

Now. He had to have her now.

He shoved his jeans and briefs down over his rock-hard erection without bothering to remove the clothing and pushed her knees up and outward. The view threatened his sanity, so temping was the pink skin revealed as she opened for him.

Standing at the edge of the bed, he tested her entrance, so moist and ready. As he teased her smooth nether lips, her little mewls of pleasure threatened to unravel his sanity. At the moment her fists began to rip the duvet fabric, he leaned back, a difficult task given that her strong legs urged him toward her.

Ah, yes, she was equally as unhuman as he. She had the same speed, the same strength. His match. But she was oh so feminine, so desirable. Unable to wait any longer, he drove his shaft into her softness, gritting his teeth as her inner muscles clenched around him.

Mon dieu
, who had neglected to tell him that all Indebted muscles were stronger than normal? That would have been good information to know for the past 250 years. His cock had never been squeezed like this before.

He lifted her ample hips higher, palming the curves as if he’d never get enough in his hands. Seating himself more deeply inside of her, he tried to hold still and relax, to prolong the pleasure, but she grabbed his ruined denim shirt and yanked him toward her.

Relaxation be damned.

“Holy hell,” she bit out.

That one phrase was all it took to obliterate his resolve to take things slowly. He pistoned hard into her heated sheath, wanting to be inside her body. Wanting to touch her soul. Odie had to brand her as his own, had to replace evil with pleasure, to moor her to this human world. He had to have her.

Not any woman.
This
woman.

His moans and her cries mixed in a crescendo of passion as he brought them to the peak together. He stroked her strong legs and thighs as his fast, pounding rhythm drove them both to the edge. They both came crashing down as her tight muscles held him while he spilled his sterile, Indebted seed inside of her. He rode her orgasm, teasing her to peak time and again as her pleasure continued. As he shifted, tiny aftershocks made her clench around him until he grew hard once more.

Drawing her legs over his shoulders, he leaned forward, pushed the hair off her face and kissed her deeply. Ready again, he moved his pelvis, seeking more release, and he shifted his stance to gain a better angle. The heels of her shoes bit into his back, sending him into orbit. With the indefatigable energy of his kind, Odie thrust into her again, this time with more deliberate intent. He rolled her hard nub with his thumb and finger as his erection slid in and out of her silky depths.

Against her lush body, he clung to what little control remained. He squeezed her buttocks, loving the voluptuous curves. Plunging deeper, he brought her to full fever again. She tossed her head back and bowed up to him as she ripped fabric from the duvet.

Snaking an arm beneath her, he kept her back arched and drove her further over the edge once more. She cried out, and he followed her over the precipice as their voices blended together.

Silence settled over their flushed bodies. Their breathing quickly returned to normal, another side effect of the unhuman state. She pushed her hair back off her forehead and smiled up at him. Having seen the satisfaction in her heavy-lidded, black gaze, he could now perish as a happy man.

Spent, he remained half crouched over her. Hell, his feet were still firmly planted on the floor. Unwilling to disrupt this perfect, crystalline moment, he held himself motionless, devouring the image of the sexy woman before him.

“Some valet service.” She giggled.

“Consider your tip adequate,
madame
.” He turned his head to one side and kissed a sleek calf.

She laughed again but watched him intently as he eased her legs to the bed and withdrew. Her inner muscles clenched, holding him inside. He groaned. How he wanted to stay here, like this, inside of this woman, loving her body.

She sighed and stretched, her full breasts straining against the dark wrap shirt she still wore. Bare from the waist down, her long legs splayed over the edge of the bed. Damn it, he should have done this differently, given her more than this centuries-starved half-clothed coupling. But he couldn’t have slowed down if he wanted to, not with her beautiful body before him.

“
C’est magnifique
,” he said as he fastened his jeans. He tugged the pieces of his shirt together then gave up and shrugged.

“Sorry about that. Hope it wasn’t your favorite shirt.” Her eyes had returned to the typical gold-flecked hazel, though they twinkled with mischief.

“It is now,
chère
.”

She blushed as he helped her back into her pants, smoothing his hand and the fabric back up those shapely legs. He then pulled her to stand before him, rubbing his thumb over her hand, unwilling to cease contact.

“Why don’t you relax, have a shower or bath if you’d like? I’ll bring up the luggage, in truth this time. When you’re finished, I’ll see what’s in the kitchen that might interest two unhumans.”

“Sounds wonderful,” she said, slowly withdrawing her hand.

Too wonderful. Too perfect. Damn this lovely interlude.

Cold lead settled in his gut. Soon, he’d have to convince her to join him, if they were going to destroy Jerahmeel.

Odie’s heavy footsteps paused outside of the bathroom. Ruth held her breath. Part of her hoped he would join her in the luxurious tub. Another part scolded her for the wonderful mistake it had been, having sex with him.

She sank to her chin in the steaming water in the clawfooted tub and blew out a full lungful of air. As she swiped the washcloth over her swollen skin, the rose-scented soap relaxed her while the rough fabric hit supercharged nerve endings. Blast it, she wanted him again. How was that possible?

Too bad they had zero future together. Just recognizing that truth cooled her desire faster than a bucket of ice cubes dumped into the bathwater.

Stark reality reared its ugly head. She could never put her trust in another man—not the way Odie probably wanted. Not the way Ruth needed. Until she could trust, she’d never consider any long-term relationship. What happened earlier this evening was simply a lapse in her otherwise solid, practical judgment.

What about their connection? They met on a level she’d never experienced before. That kind of intimacy couldn’t be faked. Maybe he cared for her but couldn’t commit. Maybe it had to do with his plan. God, had they made love as another of Odie’s ploys to sway her to help with his scheme?

Not understanding Odie’s true feelings created an emptiness inside her. Or was it her bleak future alone? She had no life, no purpose, outside of Barnaby. What could fill that hole? Or whom? She glanced at the closed bathroom door.

An eternity with a man like Odie?

Or even better, a mortal life with a man like Odie?

No. One roll in the bed did not an enduring relationship make.

God, what was wrong with her? Here she sat soaking in a tub, mooning over fabulous sex, while Barnaby languished in the hospital.

Barnaby. Her dear friend.