The Demon's Forbidden Passion (3 page)

At first, he merely let the tip of his cock brush up and down the length of her, rubbing it a few times over her clit. The feel of him against her was exquisite. But when he shifted his weight forward and entered her, it was another feeling altogether—one that stole her breath away. His thickness filled her so completely she wasn’t sure her body would be able to accommodate the breadth of him. Ethan must’ve sensed this in her. He released her wrists. “You okay?”

Tina could barely speak, only nodding in response. She wrapped her arms around him, her fingertips trailing down the length of his back before settling on his ass. She pulled him closer, pushing him deeper inside of her. Ethan’s hips moved against her grasp as he pulled himself almost all the way out of her before surging in again. The feeling was so intense Tina had to shut her eyes with every pump. It seemed like every time he surged into her, she climaxed with every stroke. It was beyond belief, almost mystical.

“Is it all right if I go a little faster?” he asked.

“Oh, please, yes,” she begged.

Gradually, Ethan upped his speed, exploring her deeper and deeper. She screamed his name with every plunge, their bodies writhing in unison. Soon he was bucking into her with wild abandon, but her hips moved in rhythm with his, urging him on until they came together, a climax so powerful it seemed to rattle the walls.

Chapter Five

Tina was in a daze. More than that, she was stunned. It was the same reaction every woman he’d slept with before had, but he usually never felt any connection to it. But this time a swell of pride rose within him for pleasuring her so thoroughly. It felt good to see her happy.

Ethan fell back on a pillow, his arm folded behind his head. The deed was done, the demon part of him completely satiated. The next night he’d do the same, and the night after that, and the night after that. But as he looked over at Tina, her skin absolutely glowing, contentment practically shining through every cell of her, he found himself silently hoping that that wasn’t the case.

“That,” she said with a breath, “was unreal. You are—” She wheezed, taking another gulp of air. “Wow.” She curled up into the crook of his arm and sighed. One of her hands rested lightly on his torso, her long fingers lazily twirling the dusting of dark hair just above his belly button. He found himself absentmindedly rubbing the small of her back.

Ethan had never cuddled before, and the feel of a woman’s naked body against him in repose was a new sensation. It wasn’t turning him on—not to say that
she
wasn’t—it was just...different. It was surprisingly comfortable. And he was finding that he kind of liked it.

“You’re not winded,” Tina noticed.

“One of the perks of being a Lust,” he shrugged. But it didn’t outweigh the downfalls, he thought bitterly to himself.

“Does that mean we can go again?” she asked, her eyes filling with desire. When she looked at him like that, he wished they could just stay like that forever. But after ten years of this lifestyle, he knew what would come next. Having been forced to live like this for so long, he had been finding it was becoming easier and easier. Yet, as her green eyes bore into his, the part that was usually the easiest had suddenly become hard: leaving.

“I wish we could but, babe, you’re exhausted,” Ethan observed.

“No, I’m not! I’m just—” She stifled a yawn. “Okay, I’m a
little
exhausted. But I’ve had a long week. Trust me, if I could go again, I would.” She gave him a small smile that hit him to the core. “You’re incredible.”

And so are you
, he thought to himself.
But I have to get out of here.

“You’re allowed to be sleepy.” He looked over at the bedside clock. “It’s almost three.”

“Oh god, I have to be at work in two hours,” she groaned, covering her eyes with her hand.

“All the more reason for me to just let you sleep then,” Ethan said as he tried to smoothly shift his weight from under her. “I don’t want to bother you.”

Tina’s hand gently squeezed his shoulder. “You don’t have to leave. We can get some rest together.”

“I snore like a banshee,” he lied.

Tina laughed. “Then we don’t have to sleep. We can just relax right here.” The look she gave him stirred a wild desire within him. “I quite like having your arms around me.”

With that, he couldn’t say no to her. While it was against all of his better judgment, if she wanted him to stay, he was going to stay.
Just this once
, he told himself. He let arms drape over her once again.

“I like it, too,” he murmured, his lips grazing the top of her head.

She sighed against him and he shivered slightly as her exhalation tickled his bare chest. He looked down at the rumpled, pale blue bedspread, then lifted his head to survey the room around him. A small wooden nightstand on his left, one bookshelf with three toppled books, her modest collection of clothes peaking out from the large closet’s slightly ajar door. He realized that he had never taken the time to notice his surroundings during his past conquests. Tina’s bedroom, while fairly barren, was cozy.

“It’s a nice place you’ve got here,” he commented kindly.

“You don’t have to be polite,” she yawned against him. “I know it’s a little sparse.”

“But it
is
nice. A lot of room. I like it,” Ethan said earnestly. “I just noticed you don’t have a lot of decorations....” His gaze wandered to an empty row of picture frames sitting on the sill of her window.

“You mean I don’t own a lot of stuff,” Tina corrected.

That was exactly what he’d meant, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

“Well, growing up, I bounced around a bunch of...
modest
...homes. I learned to never carry a lot of things with me because I was so used to constantly packing up, never sure where I was going next. I’ve never lived in a place this big in my entire life,” she explained.

“Army brat?” Ethan guessed.

Tina yawned again and it her next words breathy and an octave higher. “Foster care. My mom died when I was born. Never knew my dad.”

A pang of sympathy made Ethan’s gut clench. He couldn’t imagine what that must’ve been like, but he knew exactly what it was like to be without parents. But he had at least known his for a little while before they were...gone.

“How long have you been on your own?” he asked quietly.

“You get kicked out of the program when you’re eighteen. Went to Kent Community while working a couple of jobs. Graduated last year and moved here.”

Ethan cleared his throat. “I’ve been on my own for a while, too.”

Tina tilted her head up to look at him. “Yeah?” There was a sense of tenderness in her gaze.

This whole talking afterwards thing felt weird to Ethan. But something told him he could confide in her. “You know that development we went to last night? I used to live there with my parents. Before the accident.”

Tina paused and Ethan knew she was wondering how to phrase the inevitable next question. “What, if you don’t mind me asking...”

“They were murdered. Someone set fire to our house.” Even after all this time, saying the words still triggered a dull ache in his chest. His parents, the two most wonderful people in the world, disappeared forever when he was just a teenager.

He felt her shudder against him. “I’m so sorry.”

Ethan remembered the house in all its glory: the exquisite stained glass windows on the second floor, the white wicker swinging chair on the porch, the brass knocker on the front door that resembled a stoic lion. Before tonight, it was the only house in Mezza Estates to ever burn down. He frowned.

“Did they ever catch who did it?” Tina asked.

“It was my father’s best friend, a Gluttony. After it happened, he was run out of town and no one saw him ever again. His actions shocked the demon community—they never thought he would go to that extreme.”

Tina looked at him with disbelief. “That’s terrible. Why would his friend do that?”

“Because my father was a demon and my mother was an angel.” Bile rose in his throat at the reminder of how close-minded demons used to be.

“An angel?” Tina wondered aloud. “They really exist? I thought they were just a myth.”

“Oh, they exist. But they are very rare. Most of them are healers. At birth, they are marked with a strip of platinum blonde hair near their temple so that people know they could go to them whenever they are in danger.”

Tina shook her head. “Why would his friend do that to him?”

Ethan sighed. “It seems ridiculous now, with demons, angels and humans living peacefully yet fairly separately among each other, but in my parents’ generation there was a hatred toward mixed marriages in the demon community. My father’s best friend spearheaded this movement, this discrimination. What would happen to the demon community if there were people with mixed blood out there? His platform was that we had to preserve the traditions and values we uphold.”

“And what are they?” Tina asked, genuinely interested. “The traditions.”

“Demons were stigmatized for so long, that the darkness we bring to the world is bad, is wrong. But we were created to balance the dark and light in the world, to provide a yin to the yang in life. Angel blood would lighten our darkness. Many demons take this role very seriously, but some took it too far, becoming corrupt, taking pleasure in the pain they bring humans. They ruined it for others, like me, who just try fulfill their duty, never taking advantage.”

“So your father’s best friend was one of the bad ones?”

“Yes. And at first my father agreed with his friend. But then he met my mother and fell hard for her, and his mind changed about mixed relationships. He knew he’d be ostracized by his clan, so he fled with her.”

“But he found them.”

“It took him eighteen years to track them down. When he found out I was their child, that a half demon, half angel existed, he was enraged.”

“You...were there when it happened?”

Ethan nodded.

“And you somehow escaped?”

No
,
he had a different punishment in mind for me.
“Yes,” Ethan lied. “The last time I saw them was in the basement of the hospital, the police forcing me to identify them, they were almost burned beyond recognition.” Ethan swallowed as the image of his parents’ charred bodies occupied his mind, their melted skin sticking to the white sheet laid over them.

“The morgue,” Tina said. Then she looked up at him, her eyes widened in understanding. “And that’s why you don’t like hospitals. That’s why you became a firefighter—to protect that development so no one would have to go through what you went through.”

Ethan didn’t say anything. Though Tina remained silent, he noticed a flurry of thoughts behind her eyes, that she was trying to work something out in her head. She bit her lip.

“You want to say something,” Ethan prompted.

“No, I—”

“You can say it, it’s okay.”

“I just remembered that I kind of promised my new favorite patient that I’d get you to come to the hospital with me if I could, but I don’t want to pressure you,” she confessed.

“Your new favorite patient?” he asked, confused.

“That little boy you saved tonight. Danny. He really looks up to you.” She averted his gaze. “But like I said, if you don’t want to go...”

Danny
. The mention of his name gave him chills. But as he looked at her, he knew in that moment she could ask him to do anything and he’d say yes. He was powerless against it.

“I’ll go,” he said. “If you promised him, I’ll go.”

She smiled. “Thank you. I know it’ll mean a lot to him.” Her body relaxed against him once again, her eyelids drooping. Before she drifted off into sleep, she said, “I’ll be there for moral support if that makes you feel any better.”

He smoothed her hair as he whispered, “It does.”

* * *

Ethan found himself so enraptured by watching Tina as she dreamed. She was more beautiful than ever, if that was even possible. She was still in his arms, her legs intertwined with his as her head lay across his chest. He smiled to himself when he felt her take a deep breath in and sigh contentedly in her sleep. He pointed and flexed his toes, happy to feel the sluggish ache that racked all the muscles in his abdomen, the back of his thighs, his buttocks—all from their passionate lovemaking. His brain felt foggy and sluggish, too, like he’d taken a drug that calmed all the senses.

He continued to watch the rise and fall of her chest as she slept. He tilted his head down slightly and breathed in the scent of her silky chestnut hair. It smelled fruity and tropical, like sand, coconuts, pineapple. It immediately made him think of a sun-drenched island. And that’s exactly how he felt when he was around her, like he was on vacation, like he didn’t have a care in the world.

But that was just it—he did have cares, big ones. The curse that raged within him never took a holiday. It forced him to lead the life of the perpetual bachelor—rescuing Danny reminded him of that. There was no way he’d be able to commit to a woman—any woman, including one as perfect as this one—without the curse making sure that she suffered. He knew the rules and had learned to live with them. But that was before he met Tina, the self-reliant, incredibly sexy, sweet, wonderful Tina.

She has to mean nothing to you
, he chastised himself.
Get out of here before it’s too late.

Careful not to wake her, he slowly bent his knees and twisted his torso until he could plant his feet on the hardwood floor of her bedroom. Then he wiggled his shoulder out from under her, carefully moving her head from his chest to the nearest pillow before he fully sat up. Sitting there on the edge of the bed, he stretched his arms above his head.

And then it hit him.

The welt on his shoulder. He couldn’t feel it. A pang of terror stabbed his stomach as frantically padded over to the full-length mirror that hung on the back of her closet door.

He stood with his back to the mirror and looked over his shoulder, frantically searching for the angry purple welt that had blossomed on his back the night before. When he saw it, he noticed it had faded considerably. And within the light yellow-green pigment of the now rapidly healing bruise were flesh-colored fingerprints. Her fingerprints.

His worst fear was becoming a reality. The faces of his mother and father—contorted in pain, their eyes widened in desperation as they clung to life—flashed through his head and he heard the laugh, the deep belly laughs of the man who had cursed him, the man who had murdered his parents out of ignorance and fear. Ethan doubled over, gnashing his teeth as waves of nausea washed over his body again and again.
Run
,
run
,
run
, his brain chanted. When he was finally able to stand, he gathered all his clothes and bolted out the door.