Passion Ignited (6 page)

“Oh, gods,” Nitro mumbled from the bar. She
gave Ash a glare just as he opened his mouth to speak. He quickly
shut it and poured their drinks.

“All on corn dogs? Jesus, Blaze, that’s
disgusting,” Raider said.

“No, it’s not,” he argued. “A boy’s gotta
eat—”

“Eighty dollars’ worth of corn dogs, though?
You’re going to get sick.”

Blaze said nothing more as he scooped up all
the corn dog sticks and dumped them in the garbage. Licking off his
fingers, he joined Raider on the couch just as the others sat down
with their drinks.

Thrash stalked into the library next, toting a
bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand. He glanced at Blaze, then at
the garbage can, then at Blaze again as he sat in one of the
chairs. “Lost again?”

The Valvo narrowed his eyes on his best
friend. “I always fucking lose. That damned CornDog King has rigged
it so I can’t win.”

Thrash shrugged and swigged back some of his
JD.

“Me too, I swear they’ve done something so
that I can’t win. I think they’ve blocked my IP or something. I
always draw the blue fucking crown,” Ash said.

Blaze turned toward the twin. “You too?” he
exclaimed.

“Yeah, I keep buying corn dogs, I keep
playing, and I keep losing,” Ash said. “Fucking blue crown.” He
shook his head in irritation and sucked back some Jager.

“Red is where it’s at,” Blaze said. “They give
you all you can eat dogs for a year.”

Raider gaped. “You’d put them out of
business.”

The Valvo just shrugged.

“No, purple is what you want,” Ash said. “They
let you drive the king’s chariot.”

Blaze’s mouth dropped wide open. “No way. The
hotdog car?”

Ash nodded.

“Godsdamn it! Why don’t I ever win?” Blaze
slammed his fist onto the coffee table, though not hard enough to
cause damage. “We should write a strongly worded letter. This is
complete bullshit.”

“This is going to go over well,” Raider
mumbled.

“Agreed,” Ash said, not hearing Raider. He was
too focused on the other Guardian.

Blaze stood up quickly and grabbed his laptop
before bringing it back to the couch. Raider’s eyes met Nitro’s
briefly and he noticed that she’d been staring at him. Her heated
gaze turned angry, and then she quickly looked away. Raider’s body
had responded to the few seconds of heat that had rolled off of her
within an instant, its response one which he couldn’t hide. If he
didn’t get out of there soon, he wouldn’t be able to stand up
without everyone knowing where his thoughts were. Not waiting to
find out what exactly the “strongly worded” letter was going to say
to the poor bastards at CornDog King corporate, he got up and said
goodnight to Nitro and the guys before heading to bed.

****

Raider lay awake in his bed, staring up at his
ceiling. Fighting tonight had been…okay. They’d dusted any demons
they’d happened upon, but he felt like there was something they
were missing. Not many demons had been out tonight. For a normal
person, that’d be a great day. Not for Raider, and not for the
Guardians. He knew for damn sure there were countless others out
there…but where were they? Once Garrick and Raider had met up with
Nitro and Ash, there hadn’t been a single demon to fight the rest
of the night, like they’d all gone into hiding or
something.

Raider had been lying in his bed for over an
hour and still hadn’t gotten any sleep. He couldn’t get over
Nitro’s bi-polar attitude. One minute she was hot. The next, she
was a different kind of hot…the kind that could burn a guy’s ass.
She’d been nothing but sarcastic about everything when there were
others around. But any time they were alone, her demeanor
completely changed. Right after he’d excused himself from the
library, she’d followed him from the room. She had stared at him
almost hungrily in the foyer, her eyes warming considerably.
Striding toward him, she’d stopped mere inches before him. Then she
stood there, her eyes locked on his eyes, and then on his lips.
He’d had the urge to kiss her, the tension between them too strong
to ignore. But as he’d bent down to touch his lips to hers, Gregory
had come into the foyer. She had looked at him with pure,
unadulterated hatred and bolted up the stairs.

Gah, she was infuriating. He couldn’t get a
bead on her thoughts, not with her blocking him out of her mind. It
was rare to find someone with as good of a mind block as she and
her twin were able to erect. And, he still didn’t have any clues as
to what they were. Neither had given any part of their Instinct
away as far as he could tell.

A soft tap at his door had him throwing on
some pants. He walked over to the door and pulled it open,
expecting one of his brothers. Instead, it was Nitro.

She looked left and right down the hallway
before returning her gaze to him. “Can I come in?”

Raider stepped back and allowed her entrance.
He looked down at what she was wearing, only to see that she was in
a different set of her fighting clothes. “You sleep like that?” he
asked, shutting the door.

“Either this or naked.” She
shrugged.

The mental image that slammed into his mind
had him groaning before he turned to face her. And when he did,
that sexy smile had spread across her face.

“I take it you like the thought of me
naked?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, his jaw clenched
and he gulped. No fucking way was he answering that.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said. “Which
leads me to why I’m here: I’ve come down here to offer an
exchange.” She’d started walking around his room, picking things up
to inspect them, only to set them back down and move on to
something else. “You find me attractive, I find you more or less
so. So I think we should fuck.”

All the air escaped him on a quick exhale. A
green alien wearing a bright pink tutu and go-go boots could have
punched him in the face and he wouldn’t have been more surprised.
“What?”

“I want to fuck you. You know, be physically
intimate—”

“I, uh…I heard you,” Raider
stammered.

“You have…done it before, haven’t you?” She
eyed him warily.

“Of course I have.”

“And you know your way around?”

Did he ever.

Pushing that thought from his mind, he focused
on her. “Listen, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, we work
together.”

“Oh, I think you like the idea a
lot
.”
She looked down at the bulge in his pants. “I have seen you
staring. I believe we would be a good fit sexually.”

No doubt about it
, Raider thought. The
female was fit. Finely muscled and toned, and yet still had
delectable curves he hadn’t been able to ignore since the moment
he’d met her.

Nitro set down a dagger that had been on his
nightstand. She slowly walked toward him, her hips swaying side to
side. Again, she stepped so close to them that their noses were
inches apart.

Her eyes met his and a small smile spread
across her face. “What do you say, Raid?” Her hands traveled up his
bare chest, settling on his shoulders. Her eyes were half-lidded as
she stared at his lips. “You wanted to kiss me earlier,” she
whispered. “I could see it as clearly as I can now. Do you want to
kiss me?”

Raider couldn’t speak. Different emotions
warred inside him. Of course he wanted her. There had been instant
attraction since the moment he’d laid his eyes on her. He truly
wanted nothing more than to sate his needs on the female before
him. But on the other hand, she was a warrior, a female that
Demetrius had sent to help them. What kind of bastard would he be
to bed a warrioress who’d been sent to assist them in this
war?

“I guess you aren’t interested,” Nitro said.
He sensed that she was hurt, her mind only allowing the briefest
glimpse before she shut it back down. Her hands dropped from his
shoulders and she stepped away from him. Walking to the door, she
said, “I’ll just go find the wolf.”

****

Nitro didn’t know Raider could move that fast,
but he was on her in an instant. One second she’d been walking
toward the door, the next, her back had slammed into it. His lips
were on hers the next, and she’d lost count after that. With his
arms wrapped around her, she couldn’t believe the warmth within
them. He was gentle, and yet unyielding as his tongue sought
entrance. She parted her lips and his tongue darted inside. Moaning
against him, she wrapped her arms around him as tightly as he held
her. Sliding her hand up to his head, she pulled him closer to her,
their mouths fusing together forcefully until there was no room to
breathe.

Raider was delicious, his tongue working
fluidly in her mouth. He was everywhere. His tongue, his hands,
even his hips pushed against hers in rhythm. As his hand found her
breast, he began kneading it, sending Nitro’s body into
hyper-drive. And even though she wanted to continue, she’d forced
herself to break free from his domineering kiss. “Raider,
stop.”

He set another kiss on her neck before pulling
away. “Why?”

“Because we aren’t doing anything tonight. I
came over only to offer a deal. There will be no fucking
tonight.”

He stepped away from her, obviously confused
by what she was saying. But she wasn’t about to get into it
tonight.

“That was quite a treat though.” She smiled.
“That will definitely get me through until next time.” She turned
around and opened the door. Looking over her shoulder, she said,
“Goodnight,” and stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door
behind her.

That had been far too difficult to stop, Nitro
thought. The vampire had much more appeal than any other she’d met,
but it had surprised her just how much power he wielded over her
body; it was as if her entire body came alive. Warmth spread
through her as hot as any flame she’d summoned to life, maybe more
so. Taking the stairs two at a time, she rushed up to the second
floor as the scene replayed in her mind. She reached her room and
locked herself inside before stripping herself bare and sliding
into her sheets.

It was going to be a difficult day’s rest. Her
mind kept wandering to the man who lay directly below her. She knew
the vamp was putty in her hands; she’d seen the longing in his eyes
the day they’d met. It was going to be only too easy to dominate
him, make him fulfill every wish she desired. That was her MO in
life. Men practically threw themselves at her feet for a mere
chance to be intimate with her. Raider was different, however, and
she’d
been forced to make the offer.

Now she’d find ways to make him beg to be with
her. Beg to touch her. Beg to fuck her. But even as she imagined
all the ways she could make him plead, her mind wandered back to
how he’d reacted. When he had heard that she was considering
another Guardian, his Instinct had gone apeshit. He’d been on her
before she realized what was happening, and that was unacceptable.
Nitro never allowed her sexual partner to have any control over the
situation, and Raider had had far too much control over her body.
But even as that angered her, she found herself wishing for only
one thing.

She wanted his mouth on her again.

****

It had taken Raider hours, but he’d finally
slept. He must have conked out pretty good since he hadn’t woken
until just after sundown. After a quick shower, he made his way
through the house, heading straight for the dining room. Based on
the scents wafting through the house, Gregory had made a delicious
meal, and he couldn’t wait to ease the hunger in his
stomach.

“Raider,” Gregory beamed. “It’s a pleasure to
see you this evening. Would you like something to eat?”

“That’d be great. Has everyone else already
eaten?”

“Yes, they have, although our newest guests
decided to go out for coffee. It seems I shall have to purchase a
‘coffee pot’ to accommodate their needs.”

Raider clapped the old man on the shoulder
gently. Gregory was old-fashioned. Tea was the beverage he’d grown
up with. Coffee had never been in his vocabulary until some of the
Guardians had come home with Starbucks cups. Raider knew Gregory
enough to know the old man felt as if he’d failed in serving them.
At seventy-six years old, he still believed that he should be able
to do any task any of them needed at any time. Every one of the
Guardians felt like the biggest piece of shit when they asked him
for anything. But if they didn’t, he felt useless. They made sure
he was paid substantially and kept him as healthy and happy as they
could. He’d refused to retire, insisting that his place was here,
serving them with their every need. As long as he’d been with them,
they couldn’t wipe his memory of his time spent with them, and they
didn’t have the heart to force him into retirement. He was every
bit a part of their family as any of the Guardians.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Raider replied.
“Maybe they just needed to get out of the mansion. They aren’t used
to being around so many people.”

“That is true.” He nodded. “They are an odd
bunch.”

“So are we.”