Demon Marked

her torso and trapping her thighs with his legs. As if he’d suddenly forgotten that she didn’t need to breathe—or recognized a weak spot in his hold.
    But she could have told him that there were no weak spots. Not a single inch of hard flesh against hers felt weak at all.
    “Ash?”
    “I’m thinking.”
    About Nicholas sliding her jeans down. About his thighs slipping between hers and pushing them wide. About him slamming forward, taking possession, filling her slick flesh with explosive pressure and heat.
    She closed her eyes. Oh, God. She tried to open her legs, let his weight settle in between—but she couldn’t. Her thighs pressed against his and if she moved him against his will, without permission, the Guardians would come and kill her.
    Frustration bit, sharp and deep. Though she was strong, she couldn’t move her hands. Though she was strong, she couldn’t lift him off her. Though she was strong, she was trapped here, because she couldn’t throw him off and she couldn’t touch him even though he could do any damn thing he pleased . . . even not touch her when she so desperately, desperately wanted it.
    Fuck this. And she knew exactly how to make him let go.
    She opened her eyes, and crimson light shined through the blond hairs curtained over her face, a glow against the wooden floor. “I want to have sex now.”
    Nicholas stiffened above her. His grip on her wrists tightened.
    “I don’t have sex with demons.”
    She knew. But suddenly, she also realized why she couldn’t feel him everywhere . He’d shifted his weight, adjusted his legs, braced his knees. Why had he lifted part of his weight off her? She didn’t need to breathe. But he liked to conceal information.
    “But you want to. Your cock’s as hard as steel right now, because you were up against me, and you liked it. And you started thinking about fucking me.”
    Only a guess, but the right one. He released her hands, let her up. Before she’d even gotten her feet under her, he’d stalked across the room. Putting distance between them.
    And it had worked. Her breath came out as a sudden laugh.
    He turned at the sound—and God yes, she’d been right about his erection, too. Confined behind denim, his penis might not have been monstrous, but that thick bulge looked exactly the right size to her.
    She glanced up. Nicholas was staring at her in surprise, but also a reluctant admiration.
    “So that was—”
    “A plot, yes.”
    And now there was something else sweeping across his expression. Disappointment?
    “But I do want to have sex,” she added.
    “Demon,” he said, before joining her in the middle of the room again. “That wouldn’t have worked against one. They wouldn’t have felt anything.”
    “I think you’re wrong about that.” Because she sure as hell felt something. Her nipples hadn’t just spontaneously hardened and she wasn’t wet through to her core for no reason at all.
    “Try it on a demon,” he offered. “We’ll see who’s right, and who is dead. Demons can make their dicks hard, too, you understand? But they don’t want it. And teasing them won’t scare them off.”
    Ash didn’t want a demon, anyway. “All right. Accepted. It won’t work against anyone but you.”
    His lips thinned, but at least he didn’t lie and say it wouldn’t work on him, either. He turned and walked away. To put space between them again? But no, just to shake off the frustration. By the time he circled the room, he had his serious face back on.
    “All right,” he said. “You weren’t ready for me to drop. So we’ll do the sweeps again, and this time you avoid having your feet knocked out from under you.”
    Avoid it? Maybe not if he got on top of her again. “And the Rules?”
    “Same as before. No injuries.”
    Well. She could just turn it around, then.
    Ash dropped, sweeping her leg around just as she’d seen him do. He went down, hard—but no injuries, because she caught him, cushioned his fall with a hand behind the back of his head.
    Before he could react, before his heart pumped another beat, she pinned his wrists, straddled his stomach. She lowered her face to his, and was looking into his eyes when she saw him realize what she’d done.
    “Goddammit. That was . . .” His gaze fell, fixed on her lips. His throat worked as he swallowed. “Nicely executed. Good job.”
    “Thank you.” Ash grinned, sliding her fingers down to grip his hands. She easily hauled him to his feet again. “Do you want