Demons Like It Hot (30 page)

“Is something wrong? Are you scared?”

Hell no, she wasn’t scared. Not in the least. She finally found her voice. “Can I touch you?” She flashed an attempt at a seductive smile. “There?” Her gaze roved over his hard length.

He reached out and snagged her wrist, wrapping her hand around him. She moved her hand up and down, enjoying the sensation of soft skin, veins, and hardness sliding in her hand. Then it throbbed. Her heart thudded. God, it felt so good.

“Serah,” he groaned. “I can’t hold back any longer, but I need to know if you’re ready.”

Ready? She was more than ready. She was ready to burst. “Trust me, I’m ready,” she said with a long stroke up and down.

His breath hitched. If she kept moving her hand like that, he wouldn’t last much longer. With as much willpower as he could muster, he pulled Serah’s hand from his member.

“You are going to be the death of me,” he growled, his hands stroking the smooth skin of her thighs. He shouldn’t be doing this, but she had him so worked up. So hot. He couldn’t resist.

“Please touch me,” she said, her tongue darting along her lips. “Like I did you.”

How could he refuse such a heartfelt request? He traced his fingertips across her inner thigh. With his other hand, he crept around, stroking and kneading her buttocks.

She inched her legs open, giving him full access to her most sensitive regions. There wasn’t a part of her that wasn’t beautiful. With slow, sweeping strokes, he traced his fingers through the soft curls crowning her mound. He moved lower, brushing a fingertip across her clit. She gasped, her body quivering against him. He circled again, pressing a little firmer into her mound.

She squeezed her eyes shut, her body thrusting upwards. “Oh God. Please.”

“What do you want?” he whispered, tracing his tongue along her earlobe.

“I need you inside me. Now.”

And there was no place he’d rather be, either. He nodded. With that, he pulled her legs up around him and pushed forward. Taking her lips with his, he thrust deep.

Serah groaned, latching her legs around him. He wanted her to savor this. He didn’t want it to be just sex. He wanted to make love. He thrust hard but pulled back slow. God, she was so tight. He thrust again, hard and slow. Her body pulsing against him, she moaned.

“Faster,” she breathed.

“I won’t be able to stop if I go any faster.”

“Who said anything about stopping?” She tightened her legs around him and thrust her body upward. “Please?”

With that, he completely lost control. He slammed in and out, faster and harder. Her walls tightened around him with each thrust. He looked into her eyes, astonished to see them open and glowing with lust. Her breath was ragged as she clung to his shoulders, her fingernails digging into his muscles.

Her tongue swirled around her lips. Matthias took her tongue in his mouth, the tempo meeting each thrust of their bodies. Serah clenched even tighter around him, moaning against his mouth. She threw her head back, her body rocking against his.

“Oh God, Matthias!” She shook against him, her body undulating wildly. He groaned, his own release imminent.

“Please,” she gasped. “You need this.”

Oh God, he did.

“Serah!” he roared through gritted teeth. His cock pulsed. He thrust one final time, to the hilt. And then he felt it, as spasm after spasm rocked through his body. A loud, guttural groan burst from his mouth. With that, he collapsed against her, his tongue still tracing along her lips.

“Wow,” she breathed, her fingers laced in his hair. “Four centuries, huh? Could have fooled me.”

What the hell had he just done? He pulled away. Curse his overactive libido. It would be the death of him, if it hadn’t been already.

“We shouldn’t have done that.” Matthias grabbed his pants and yanked them up. “I need to be honest with you, Serah.”

“Honest? It was just sex, not a marriage proposal.” She looked up at him, her gaze pleading. “Don’t worry about it.”

“There are things I haven’t told you. Now I’ve taken advantage of you.”

“I wanted it. I was taking advantage of you.”

Matthias shook his head. “You won’t want it anymore after I show you exactly what I’ve done. You’ll hate me in the end. But I need to show you. Trust me.”

“What the hell is your deal?”

“I didn’t want to do this. But it’s the only way.”

Damn it, the last time he said that she ended up locked in a changing room with only her watch for protection. “Do what?”

Matthias closed his eyes, put both hands on her shoulders and spoke some words in Latin.

The first image came like a lightning bolt. No, her mind screamed. He couldn’t be. But the images didn’t lie. And the memories came flooding back.

He was the one who had kidnapped her. He was the one who had her thrown in that dungeon. But why was he in the dungeon with her? Shaking her head, she pushed Matthias away from her.

More memories assaulted her. Matthias’s arms wrapped around her, comforting her. Kissing her, caressing her. With as much passion as he had shown her earlier. Matthias fighting the Infernati guards. Was he protecting her or not?

Then he did the same thing. Put his hands on her shoulders and spoke Latin. He’d deceived her. Tricked her. She always wondered why she couldn’t remember Belial’s goon kidnapping her and her first imp. Now she knew why. Matthias Ambrose was that goon. She gave herself to him? Her stomach roiled.

“It was you!”

“Serah, let me explain.” Matthias reached for her hand.

She snapped it away. “You tricked me.”

“I was trying to protect you.”

“Is that what delivering me to the leader of the Infernati is? Protection? You almost had me killed.”

“That was not what I was trying to do.”

“What the hell did you do to me?” She grabbed at her dress, pulling it closed. She scurried off the bed and yanked the ties of her dress closed.

“I removed your memories to ease your suffering.”

“Yeah, right.” He expected her to believe that crazy line? “You were trying to erase your evidence.”

“The moment I saw the mark on your hand, I knew what Belial planned. It started as a kidnapping.” He grabbed Serah and swung her to look at him. His onyx gaze blazed. “I swear by all that I have lost that in the end, I tried to rescue you. You are more valuable to the world alive than dead. Even someone like me knows that.

“He never told me you were a Pure-Blood. He said he needed something to bargain with.”

She flung out her leg and kicked him in the shin. “Try your pathetic story on someone else, Matthias.”

The sudden movement sent Matthias stumbling back. She ripped herself from his arms. She’d had sex with him! A heartless assassin. Someone who sells out to the highest bidder. The bile rose in her throat.

“There are other reasons. Reasons I can’t explain. Just know that I am sorry.”

“Sorry?” She yanked open the closet door and grabbed a new jacket. She buttoned it up and slipped on her shoes. “If you’re asking for forgiveness, you’ve come to the wrong woman.”

“I don’t expect forgiveness. I just wanted to come clean.” Matthias raked his fingers across the stubble on his chin. “The only way I knew how was to give you your memories back.”

“They weren’t yours to take.” Fumbling with the last two buttons, she sucked in a deep breath. “You seduced me on purpose, didn’t you?”

“No. I have feelings for you, Serah.”

“Yeah, right. If that was the case, you would’ve told me sooner.” She spun around, and narrowed her gaze. “You make me sick.”

“I don’t expect you to understand, Serah.” Matthias’s onyx gaze pleaded. “I wanted to ease your suffering. Sometimes forgetting is the only way.”

“You can ease my suffering by getting the hell out of my sight.”

She spun around and squeezed her eyes shut, the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. What the hell? Anger she could understand. Sadness, though?
Screw
him.
She balled her fists. Too bad she already had. Things were totally and thoroughly fucked up.

“I never meant—”

Shaking her head, she gave him a dismissive wave. “Just shut up and get out.”

He blew out an aggravated breath of air. “As you wish.”

The door swung open and without further word, he left.

At the click of the door shutting, Serah buried her head in her hands. If she was going to be sad, she might as well go down with a waterfall.

She crumpled at the foot of the bed and buried her head in the sheets.

Matthias didn’t blame her one bit. It was all on him—his fault. But it was for the best. Serah would be better off without him and his twisted set of morals.

He leaned against the door. It was for the best. They’d never have anything anyway. It was for Serah’s own good. No matter how hard he tried to reaffirm his decision, it still cut straight to his heart.

An assassin with a conscience? He snorted. A dangerous mix.

“You must be Matthias.”

The haunting voice carried across the kitchen and tickled his ears. Not a human voice. Not Infernati either, since no stench lingered.

Matthias spun around.

She smiled as she lounged against the buffet. A mop of hair of myriad colors fell around her face and down her shoulders. A crimson lace corset left little to the imagination about her womanly assets. There was no mistaking the demon side of her as she stood there clad in a leather skirt and fishnets. Tattoos of ivy and roses vined their way across her chest and down her arms. A leather thong was tied around her neck, and whatever was tied to the end of it nestled snugly in her cleavage. She blew a bubble and smacked her blood-red lips.

She fluttered her heavily mascaraed eyelashes. “Finished gawking already?

“Kalli, I presume?”

“Ding. Ding. Ding. We have a winner.” She bent down and picked up his shirt from the floor. “Had a little accident, did we?”

“Serah dropped the pot.”

“That’s not like Serah, even when she’s having an
episode
.” She shook out the shirt and tossed it to Matthias. “There, all fixed.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked, throwing the now-dry shirt on.

“Lucy told me to stop by and check on you two.”

“Serah is in her sleeping quarters.”

Kalli arched a brow. “She’s not the one for midday naps either. What the hell is going on?”

Kalli yanked at the leather strap, freeing the pendant from its confines. She placed her arms on her waist.

The pendant! Matthias’s blood turned cold. He’d never forget it. He’d bought it from a peddler in the village where he lived. He was courting Josephine at the time. She had fallen in love with the pendant instantly. He only had a few coins in his pocket, but the peddler could see how much they fancied each other and gave them a deal.

It was simple, yet elegant. A ring of pewter engraved with ivy vines. He’d recognize it anywhere. And now this woman wore it.

Was she the one who had killed Josephine and their unborn child? He clenched his fists. He never knew which side had done it, but signs always pointed toward the Paladins. They were angry at him for not aligning himself with them—at least that’s what Balthazar had said when he first took him under his wing.

“Is something the matter?”

Matthias lunged at Kalli and grabbed the necklace. “Where did you get this?”

“It’s just a plain ol’ pendant. Hardly worth anything.”

It might not be worth much to her, but it meant the world to him and he wanted it back. “If it’s not worth anything, why wear it?”

Kalli plucked the pendant from his hands and looked down at the pendant. She traced the carvings with a gentle fingertip. “I like simple things, Ambrose. Is that a crime?”

“Could have fooled me.”

“A medieval pendant goes perfectly with my Goth attire.”

“Still, I’d like to know where you obtained it.”

“If I said Sotheby’s, would that help ease your tension?”

This wasn’t the time for sarcasm, not when his mission only held on by a single thread. The moment Serah notified Rafael and Lucy of his involvement in her kidnapping, he would certainly be sent back to limbo and lose any chance to redeem himself with the Paladin.

“Someone I knew had a pendant like that.”

“And someone I knew gave me this one.”

“Who?”

Kalli reached up and traced a fingertip across the ivy designs. Taking a deep breath, she took a seat at the stool next to the buffet. “Well, this wasn’t how I expected this to go.”

“Expected what to go?” Matthias crossed his arms. “Just tell me you killed her quickly and that she didn’t suffer.”

Kalli balked, pulling her hand away from the necklace, surprising Matthias. “Seriously, you think I killed her?”

“How else do you explain the necklace? Josephine wouldn’t just give her most treasured piece of jewelry away.” Matthias’s jaw twitched as he fought back the memories. “I saw our home. A Paladin had been there. I sensed it.”