Demon Bound

thunderous. “I wasn’t thinking of you at all—only how flippin’ much I wanted to get my mouth on you!”
    Stunned, Alice stared at him. Jake looked away, ran his hand over his head. Regret filled his psychic scent.
    “You want to tell me it was stupid, go ahead. Or better yet, tell me something I don’t know. But, Jesus—why else would a man kiss a woman except that he wanted to?” He glanced at her face, and stilled. “Did someone kiss you to hurt you?”
    She couldn’t immediately respond. Her mind felt like it was in heavy, heavy water as she reinterpreted everything he’d said and done over the past few days. He’d wanted to kiss her? When had the change come? And why?
    But now there was rage gathering below his psychic scent, so she forced her lips to move. “No. I’ve never been hurt.”
    Her only complaint was that she’d been treated so very, very gently.
    He let out a breath. “Okay. And you have been kissed before.”
    “Of course. And there is procreation.” When his brow creased, she explained, “That’s another reason for kissing.”
    “Ah.” He rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “You know procreation isn’t really about kissing , right?”
    Her withering stare only seemed to entertain him, and the heaviness in her finally receded into puzzlement. “Why in heaven’s name would you want to kiss me?”
    He spread his hands. “Hell if I know.”
    That was reasonable, she supposed. She was the one woman he did not find physically attractive, yet he wanted to kiss her; she found many men physically attractive but did not want to kiss them. Only Jake.
    The odd symmetry of it amused her. And a kiss would likely be pleasant.
    “Very well, then. Close your eyes. It seems you are more apt to teleport if they are open.” And if she did not maintain her composure, then he would not witness it.
    His brows drew together, as if he doubted he’d heard correctly. Then he breathed, “Hot damn,” and complied.
    He seemed truly eager for her kiss. How bizarre he was.
    And how very warm. The tension in his shoulders should have softened with such heat, she thought, but it increased when her palms curved over them. She rose up to her toes and brushed her mouth across his. Perhaps all the softness had gone to his lips—so hard a moment before, yet now they yielded easily.
    Like petals, as written in so many sex manuals, but that did not seem masculine enough to describe Jake. A valve, perhaps, slowly opening.
    Oh, my—this was so very pleasant, wasn’t it?
    His strong hands cupped her face, and she quickly opened her eyes to be certain his were still closed.
    They were, thank goodness. He might feel her fingers tremble, but he would not see them. And she did not think pleasant should be making her shiver.
    Very well, that must stop. She stroked her hands from his shoulders to the back of his neck, and her fingers did not shake so much when they searched out new skin, when they were tempted by the proximity of his shaved hair.
    Jake angled his head, and licked deep into her mouth.
    She couldn’t halt the noise she made, couldn’t prevent herself from pressing her body full-length against him and licking him back. And again. Oh, dear God. The need curling through her was not like a rosebud unfurling or an easy release of pressure, but a corkscrew, digging deep, preparing to pull open something that she’d put a stopper in long ago.
    What was she supposed to do with this ? With him? And why now, when intimacy of any kind could only make whatever decision she made so much more painful?
    How softheaded she was. How foolish.
    She pulled away, feeling absolutely wretched. And what a coward she was to avoid his eyes, but she could not bear to expose herself now.
    “Jesus,” he said, his breathing ragged; he strode to the bathtub and back. “Truce, okay? For five minutes. We don’t talk about this, or why you just chickened out.”
    Only five? She would give him no choice but to allow more time than that. Stiffly, she nodded. “Very well. Come along, then,” she said, and struck out for the stairs. “Did Alejandro return to Caelum with you?”
    “Yeah, he did. But—”
    “Let us find him, and then Irena. She assures me they are friends, but I warn you that it might prove unpleasant.” And it would not make her shiver. “Yet necessary. How is your French? They speak nothing else to each other.”
    “Alice.”
    She blanked her expression, looked over her shoulder. “It is for a gift.