Seduced by Darkness (5 page)

Lillian clenched her hands into tight fists at her sides.
Varin’s gaze slid over her tightly-corded body, noticing that although her face
remained impassive, her arms shook. With remembered rage? Renewed anger? He
couldn’t tell.

“I recall opening my eyes.” She took a deep breath and blew
it out between pursed lips. “You were there, standing over me. Then there was a
flash of blue magic and --” Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth.
“You --you used me. I was a conduit.”

He nodded, a fresh surge of shame washing over him. “No
other Demon Guardian had ever considered transferring his power into a human
and letting her do the work. I’d watched you gather up more sexual energy in a
few minutes than I’d seen others summon in hours. I knew you could handle it.”

A rough wind rattled the windowpanes of the church. The few
windows that hadn’t been broken shook, and a gust of scorching heat drifted
inside through the gaps. The horde was close. Too close. Even now, they
probably stood outside the perimeter of the property, figuring out how best to
get their prey out without putting themselves at risk.

What had begun as nausea had intensified, blossoming into
something bordering torment. He’d always thought the Hallowed Ground myth had
been just that. A story made up by humans to keep demons away from their
worship locales. So much for that.

“So then you didn’t do anything? Nothing that could help us
now?” Heidi said, glancing at him through lowered lashes. Her lips were pursed,
and wrinkles had appeared over the bridge of her nose. Was that jealousy he saw
on her beautiful features?

The mere thought of it should have been absurd, but he
understood how she felt. Crossing the distance to her in three long strides, he
lifted her off the altar until she stood before him and tucked an ever-escaping
stray curl behind her ear.

“Listen to me. I did the only thing I knew how. I obeyed my
Master. I can spend the rest of eternity repenting, but that won’t help me. Or
--” The word caught in his throat, but he pushed past it and managed to get it
out anyway. She had to understand how dangerous this was. “Or you.”

Before she could reply, he cradled her head against his palm
and pressed her body to his. After a moment’s hesitation, she sank against him,
her breasts molding to his -- to
Luke’s
-- much larger frame.

“I need to go.” He couldn’t believe he’d uttered the words,
but there they were. Looking at Lillian, he implored her with his gaze. “You
have to send me back before Baal realizes I’m gone. Let Luke have his body,
then get as far away from here as you can.”

The hitch in Heidi’s voice sounded like a sob. It damn near
broke his heart to hear it. “Where would we go? They’ll find us.”

Fuck!
How could he feel as though he was protecting
her when he held her like this in his arms, all the while knowing he was
abandoning her and sending her right back out into danger? All of this --
everything they’d been through -- had been for naught.

Baal would catch Heidi and Luke, and they’d live out the
rest of eternity together, all right. Them and Varin and Baal. One big happy
family.

She felt so small and vulnerable pressed against him. Her
body awakened shivers of raw sensation that danced up and down his spine. She
was so damn stubborn, his Heidi. Just like Lillian before her.

Just like Luke.

It seemed he was damned to fall in love with people who
never did what he wanted them to do.

“I’ll do what I can to keep you safe,” Varin promised
between gritted teeth, knowing all his efforts on the other side would amount
to absolutely nothing. He couldn’t stop Baal. No one could. “Just… send me
back.”

Lillian held his gaze with a steely glare of her own. She
ran a hand through her blonde locks, and Varin watched as they slithered
through her fingers to fall in silky waves over her shoulders. He remembered
how innocent she’d been once. How pure.

He’d taken that from her the moment he’d brought her into
Hell, and he’d gladly pay for that mistake… and for the thousands of souls that
followed. After he’d returned to the Underworld with his prize, he’d delighted
in sharing his discovery with his fellow brethren. It had taken them some time
to master his technique, but once they had, there was no stopping them.

“Lie on the altar,” Lillian commanded, sarcasm dripping from
her voice. “You’ll be home in no time.”

Varin licked his suddenly dry lips. “Thank you.” The words
didn’t come easily. They never had.

Releasing Heidi and stepping away from her was the most
difficult thing Varin had done in his entire existence. He didn’t know how he’d
managed to rip himself from the sensual feel of her lush curves, but the next
thing he knew he was gripping the edge of the altar, trying to keep the wave of
dizziness from knocking him flat on his back on the floor instead.

The interior of the church only seemed to spin faster when
he finally managed to lie down on the altar. Balling his hands into fists at his
sides, he waited for the inevitable darkness to claim him and for the pain to
spike through his flesh.

Lillian began to chant, her silvery inflection high and
sure. But it was Heidi’s voice that sent a surge of adrenaline through his
veins.

“Wait!” she cried out, her excitement carrying clearly
through the air. She rushed to his side, her fingers digging into his upper
thigh. Her touch sent fire streaming into his groin, and his cock twitched at
the contact. “I think I have an idea.”

Chapter Five

Heidi chewed on her bottom lip. Her skin prickled with
restless anxiety as the temperature in the old church rose to barely-tolerable
levels. She didn’t need the heat to remind her of what was out there. The evil
menace slipped into her soul and taunted her with whispered promises of power
and evil deeds.

The more demons that assembled outside the church doors, the
harder resisting their call became. Her head throbbed mercilessly, making it
hard to focus. There were moments --
brief
moments, thankfully -- when
she wondered why she even bothered to fight Baal. It would be so much easier to
give in and let the Lord of the Underworld take care of her.

He might, too. If she aligned herself with him, he’d hand
her the world on a platter. Or string her by the soles of her feet and dip her
head in molten lava. With Baal, it would probably depend on his mood at the
time.

Thankfully, she had a way to anchor her sanity. And he lay
propped up on one elbow on the altar, staring at her as though she’d lost her mind.

“Well?” she asked when the silence had stretched on for far
too long. “What do you think?”

Both Varin and Lillian simply blinked, peering in her
direction like she’d struck them speechless by giving voice to her thoughts.

Sighing, Heidi plopped her butt down on a decaying pew. The
old wood groaned, threatening to topple over, but held. “I know what I’m
talking about. I’ve studied magic. If Varin could filter his potent demonic
energy through a human in order to thin the veil between worlds, then he could
do it again to reinforce it. Right?”

Nothing. For a moment, she considered getting up and doing a
naked cartwheel. It wouldn’t accomplish anything, but it might get some sort of
reaction out of them.

“Uhh… yeah, theoretically,” Varin said at last, choosing his
words carefully. “But I can’t use my powers from where I am. Baal stripped them
from me when he condemned me to an eternity of torture, remember?”

“Oh.” What little hope she’d gathered seemed to drain out of
her, leaving her deflated. She propped her chin on her outstretched hand. “I
didn’t think of that.”

He cleared his throat, looking run-down, wary and very much
like Varin. Even though he still inhabited Luke’s body, there was something
about the way he carried himself, a certain innate strength that told her
exactly who she was dealing with. And then there were the eyes…

She’d known the moment Luke’s soul had moved aside to make
room for Varin’s. The slate-gray orbs had grown shadowed almost instantly,
deepening to a midnight-black even darker than the pupils in the center of
Luke’s eyes.

A woman could get lost in eyes like those. No wonder she
found it hard to think. Between the constant rage clawing at her black, demonic
heart and Varin’s unnerving, sensual gaze, she was amazed she could still form
coherent sentences.

On the other side of the altar, Lillian looked like she had
no problem at all keeping her composure. Despite the fact that Varin had made
her into a demon-kin as well, and she had to be feeling the pull of the
creatures outside, she looked calm and unperturbed, not a perfect blonde hair
out of place.

Bitch
.

Heidi squeezed her eyelids shut. She hadn’t meant that. Not
really.

Had she?

Damn, it was impossible to know what part of her thoughts
were her own, and how much of them came from the dark genes traveling through
her system, tainting her blood. If she had this much difficulty keeping her
composure, she couldn’t even begin to understand how Varin could stand it. On a
full-fledged demon, the seductive pull of darkness had to be a thousand times
worse.

“I’m sorry,” Varin said, stretching out his hand in a
gesture of helpless surrender. “I really wish I could help. Unfortunately, you
need demon magic to affect the barrier between the Underworld and the mortal
realm and I can’t do anything in my current state.”

Heidi’s head shot up. She met Lillian’s gaze, who looked as
stunned as she felt.

“Do you mean to say that
any
demonic energy would
work?” Heidi asked, trying to keep a sudden jolt of enthusiasm under control.
“Not necessarily yours?”

Varin looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. “I think
so. It’s the same kind of energy the Demon Guardians use when they claim a soul
and bring it back through the veil.”

He must have seen something in her face that alarmed him,
because he shot upright. “Wait. If you’re thinking about convincing one of
them
--” He pointed to the front door, presumably indicating the skulking mass of
dark beasts out there.

“We’re not.” Lillian took a deep breath, shaking her head.
“We’re thinking that two half-demons make a whole.”

“Like two wrongs make a right,” Heidi agreed.

Understanding dawned on Varin’s --
Luke’s
-- face.
Goddess, would she ever be able to look at Luke again without seeing Varin
stare up at her from the depths of those eyes?

After a moment’s hesitation, the corners of his lips nudged
up into a reluctant half-smile. It was more than she’d thought she’d see.
Suddenly, the feeble hope of a remote possibility turned into actual optimism
and knocked the air from her lungs.

“So… we’ll do this?” she asked, her voice quivering with
barely contained excitement.

She hadn’t realized how much she’d needed this. A goal. A
real purpose, even one that had a snowball’s chance in Hell of succeeding. A
microscopic chance was still a chance, and she’d risk her life for the
possibility of success.

“Not without Luke’s permission.” Varin’s tone left no room
for debate, even if she’d been inclined to argue.

She wasn’t.

As the only remaining human of all of them, Luke would have
to risk his body… Hell, maybe even his soul for the remote chance this might
work. She wouldn’t make a move without his permission.

“Can you bring him back?” Heidi asked Lillian. “We’ll ask
him.”

“I think I can do better than that,” Lillian said. Her brows
drew down over the bridge of her delicate upturned nose. “When I pulled Varin
through, I felt Luke, dimly, in the background. He slipped out of the way,
allowing Varin to surface. I think I can keep them both around.” She fixed
Heidi with a stubborn glare. “But not for long. I don’t know what this will do
to either of them if we prolong it.”

Heidi nodded. Time was working against them in more ways
than one. The temperature in the room had to be a hundred degrees. She was
completely nude, yet sweat still trickled down her spine and between her
breasts. Luke’s damp hair stuck to his forehead, and damn it, Lillian should
have started to look at least a little wilted around the edges by now.

She didn’t. In fact, she hadn’t as much as bothered to wipe
a drop of sweat from her temples, yet she looked radiant. Ravishing, even.

Bitch, bitch, bitch
.

Pressing the heels of her palms against her brow bone, Heidi
grimaced. “Do it.”

* * *

“Yes.”

The word was out of Luke’s mouth even before he felt himself
fully return to the world of the living. Whatever had occurred when Varin made
love to Heidi had transcended the boundaries of space and time… and, he
assumed, lost souls.

The sensation of being united with his mate had filled the
darkness that surrounded him. It sent a shiver of longing through his
incorporeal body, one that was impossible to ignore.

He forced himself to listen, to feel, to focus on what was
happening outside his claustrophobic little world. If not for Heidi’s soft
moans and the way she milked Varin’s release out of Luke’s body, he thought
perhaps his soul might have never found its way back.

He’d never know, of course, but he figured this was just one
more item scrawled on an endless list of reasons to be grateful to Heidi and
Varin.

“You’re sure?” Lillian asked. “You understand what we’re
asking?”

He opened his mouth to reply, but Heidi was quicker. “There
are no guarantees. I don’t know what will happen when two half-demons try to
channel energy through you.”

“But you know as well as I do what will happen if you
don’t,” he pointed out reasonably.

She seemed to think about that for a moment, her head tilted
at an odd angle as she regarded him. Her gaze traveled over his chest, his
throat, then focused on his eyes as though trying to figure out if it was
really him in there.

As if I’d ever risk your life on your behalf
.

Luke grinned at Varin’s indignant tone. His voice had
resonated clearly through Luke’s mind, bringing with it that odd feeling of a
thought that was his… yet wasn’t.

Unnerving, to say the least. Yet comforting, too, in an odd
way… knowing he wasn’t alone.

Heidi had drifted toward the altar while she’d been fixated
on his eyes, so when she came near enough, he reached out and closed his
fingers around her wrist, pulling her to him. She gave a little grunt when her
hip nudged the side of the altar.

Luke’s hands roamed over the length of her body. God, he
couldn’t get enough of her. His fingertips skimmed her skin, dipping into the
perfect valleys and climbing the lush mounds of perfect, feminine curves.

“So what happens now?” he asked, drawing Heidi’s head down
until her lips were a mere inch away from his.

“Now the three of you do what you do best,” Lillian said.
“You give me more energy.”

Outside, the hot waft of hell-spawned air seemed to pick up
a notch. It traveled on the wind, rattling the stained glass windows in their
panes and making the temperature rise by a few more degrees.

“And hurry,” Lillian added unnecessarily. “Time’s running
out.”

He’d expected Heidi to make some wry remark about demons
being in a hurry to finish the job, but instead she simply bent down the
remainder of the way, and kissed him.

Luke opened his lips under hers. His palms trailed up the
side of her ribcage, cupping her full breasts, groaning into her mouth at the
feel of the lush mounds spilling out of his palms.

Without guidance, Heidi’s hands traveled to the juncture of
his thighs. She grabbed his erect cock --
has it been hard all this time?
-- and wrapped her fingers around the thick girth, stroking him.

Up, down. Up, down.

His hips pumped slightly with each completion of her
strokes, thrusting into her fist. She squeezed him, summoning another tortured
groan from the back of his throat.

“What part of hurry don’t you understand? I mean, get busy!
Now!”

Luke would have laughed if he hadn’t known Lillian’s absurd
order came from a desire to keep them safe. To end this threat once and for
all.

Why didn’t I ever notice how bossy she was?

Luke’s eyelids snapped open. He felt his gaze shift from
Heidi to Lillian, though he knew he hadn’t consciously made the decision to
look at the other woman.

Wouldn’t you have just liked her more if you had? I mean,
look at who you ultimately fell in love with
.

Varin snorted, as close to a laugh as Luke was likely to get
out of him. Grinning in response, Luke forced his gaze back to Heidi’s
beautiful face.

Heidi stroked his balls, tracing her fingers over the soft
skin at the base of his scrotum. His sac tightened, drawing up close to his
shaft.

Oh. Oh, that’s good. Tell her to do that again
.

Luke shook his head, leaving a stream of kisses along
Heidi’s cheek in the process. “Varin wants you to cup my balls again.”

She raised an eyebrow, her blue eyes sparkling with
mischief. “Varin wants that, huh?”

Luke lifted a shoulder in response. “Demons. Who can
understand their weird needs?”

Heidi rolled her eyes, but not before he caught a shadow of
a smile breaking over her features. He reveled in it, closing his eyes to
capture that sight behind his eyelids and imprint it there forever.

Tangling his fingers in Heidi’s hair, he held his breath
while she climbed up on the altar and positioned herself between his spread
legs. When her lips made contact with his sac, he nearly jumped out of his
skin.

No…
Varin
nearly jumped out of Luke’s skin. His cock
hardened to impossible proportions and he thrust up and down, needing the
friction of Heidi’s fist jerking his desperate rod.

A shudder broke out over Luke’s flesh, causing him to
tremble with desire. As though to torture them both even further, Heidi sucked
one tight ball into her mouth and held it on her tongue, toying with it gently
while she licked small, circular patterns over the underside of the puckered
skin.

“Good. More.” Lillian again. The woman was relentless.

Luke’s eyes popped open. “This will go faster if you join
us.”

Whoa. No. We didn’t talk about this. She… she can’t!

Ignoring Varin’s protests was easier than ignoring Heidi’s,
who saw fit to express her displeasure at the idea by pressing down with her
teeth on his very sensitive family jewel.

Fisting his hand in her hair, Luke pulled her head up. She
released his scrotum and glanced at him questioningly. “You’re sure?” she asked
for the second time since he’d repossessed his own body. Except this time, Luke
had a feeling she was no longer addressing him.

No
. Varin’s growl seemed to rumble through Luke’s
chest until he was sure Heidi must have heard him, too.

“It was Varin’s idea,” Luke said, trying hard to contain the
mirth that suddenly erupted in his chest. Or maybe that was Varin’s way of
punching him from the inside.

Hard to tell.

Lillian’s tongue swept out to moisten her lips. “If… if
you’re sure.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Heidi sighed. “Yeah. Luke’s
right about one thing… we’ll gather the energy we need much faster this way.”