Demon Marked

he forgotten what she was, or stopped caring? Had this been her plan all along, to make him stop caring?
    Shaken, he slipped his fingers from inside her. He released her wrists. Ash trembled beneath him, then fell back to the floor, panting. A soft laugh erupted from her, and she looked up at his face. She stilled.
    “Nicholas?”
    “Well done. You got me to let you go,” he said.
    She blinked and half rose. Her head wobbled a little. Frowning, she reached up. Her mouth fell open when she touched the horns. She pulled her hand back, looked at her skin.
    “Oh,” she said softly. “I see. I found what disgusts you.”
    Disgust? Nicholas rose to his feet. Not disgust. His cock was still hard, aching. And he wanted her. He still wanted her. Even now, with all this on display, she was beautiful to him.
    No, the problem wasn’t that he was disgusted. It was that he wasn’t . . . but he should have been.
    He should have been.
    “Nicholas?”
    He shook his head. He couldn’t. Rounding the broken table, he headed for the door. He heard her get to her feet, but he couldn’t stop. Not until he got his head together again.
    A soft noise made him look back. She hadn’t come for him. She stared at herself in the small mirror over the sink, instead, her fingers tracing the reflection of the horns in the glass.
    “This is who I am?”
    His chest tightened. His heart told him to keep quiet, to figure this out, to work it through. He didn’t listen to it. Didn’t know if he could trust it.
    “Yes. As I’ve said.”
    “So you have,” she whispered. Her hand fell away from the mirror. “ Again and again. So you were right . . . and now you’ve fulfilled your part of your bargain. I know what I am now. A demon.”
    “No.” That wasn’t all she was. “We’re not done. We don’t know your name. We don’t know where you came from.”
    “The bargain was ‘Who I am’—and I’m a demon. Anyway, it’s not your choice. I’m releasing you.”
    God. She was right. He couldn’t do a damn thing about that. But he didn’t have to let her go. “You’re still bound to me.”
    She fixed those glowing eyes on him. “Only until I find your limit. Then you’ll release me.”
    No, he wouldn’t. Not with Madelyn still out there, posing a threat. Not as long as he drew breath.
    “I won’t.” He started across the room toward her—and she vanished.
    No, not vanished. He heard the door open, and turned just in time to see her leave.
    The tightness in his chest hardened to a deep ache. God, he’d fucked up. How many times had he seen her fangs, her glowing eyes? And only thirty minutes ago, her wings . But throw in the red skin and horns, and suddenly that mattered? Jesus. Yes, she was a demon. She was also the only woman who’d ever gotten to him like this . . . and he’d hurt her.
    Somehow, he had to pay for it, make it right. He’d get his head on straight, so that he wouldn’t hurt her again.
    But he wasn’t letting her go.

CHAPTER 13

    Ash came back to the cabin when she heard Nicholas start the bath. Finally washing her off, probably. She was only surprised he hadn’t done it earlier—and she wasn’t sure she blamed him.
    No, screw that. She blamed the hell out of him.
    But it was difficult to stay angry, though she tried to nurture the emotion. After she’d looked in the mirror, Ash hadn’t known what to think. She had horns . Heavy, shiny horns. The wings looked like a bat’s, but at least they were useful. But horns were just . . . she didn’t even know. For hours, she’d been trying to decide whether they changed anything, whether they mattered, or if they only bothered her because they’d bothered him.
    If so, it was too bad she’d begun caring about what Nicholas thought of her. Eventually, though, it would probably fade. So really, the horns didn’t matter at all, except that they’d finally driven home what Nicholas had been reminding himself about all along.
    She was a demon.
    Now, she planned to act like one. She was going to frustrate him, use him. And even though, judging by her experience, that sounded more like what Nicholas St. Croix would do than what any demon would do, it just made everything more fitting.
    A splash sounded as he got into the tub. Though it would be better if she could make the horns, wings, and fangs show themselves now, she didn’t need them. Appearing human, but feeling like a demon must, Ash opened the door to his room.
    The small clawfoot bathtub sat