True to his word, Nate took Jessie upstairs after Alexios’s departure. He sure as hell didn’t want her up here, but some part of him understood if he reneged on his promise, it would be hard to go back and regain her trust. So he’d have to worry about her in addition to figuring things out at the club and what was going on outside these walls.

Right now she was smiling and patting the back of one of the last remaining, disoriented clubbers they’d awoken twenty minutes ago after he and Dorian had woven temporary wards over them. They’d believed the earthquake story. And why wouldn’t they? The club was in shambles. So was the entire city. No electricity, no cell phone reception, no passable roads so any vehicles larger than a scooter were worthless.

At least the water’s running, Jessie had said with a bright smile as she stood behind what was left of her bar station.

But for how much longer? He’d almost said it aloud, but he didn’t. He’d had to lock his knees not to march her down to the sanctorum once more. Her optimism and warmth drew him. It also made him edgy. Was Jinx right? Was Jessie making him soft? He couldn’t afford any weakness.

Dorian punched him on the shoulder. “Stare much? Man, you got it bad for her. Way she was about to shut the club down last night, though, I can see why.”

“Toss off, blighter.”

Dorian crossed his arms over his belly, bending forward to laugh like a jackass who’d never been laid low by a female. Wretch.

“Sorry, man. Just never seen you turned inside out like this. Kinda funny.”

Nate wondered how much satisfaction he’d get out of seeing Dorian’s white teeth stained with blood. But Jessie chose that moment to glance over at them from where she was helping a girl in a devil’s costume to her feet. Nate forced his fists to relax. “The wards should last at least six hours, and now that it’s full daylight, the mortals should be able to get home without much demon meddling. Did you remember to warn them about staying inside at night?”

Dorian unzipped his leather jacket, pulled a slip of paper out of an inside pocket, and read it carefully. After a few moments, he looked at Nate. “Sure. I think I got all the steps right. And don’t worry. I told them after the sun sets tonight all bets were off.”

Nate rubbed his forehead. “You didn’t tell them the truth about the demons, I hope.”

“You think I’d do anything crazy like that? It’d scare them too much. Naw, it’s going to be hard enough to pick their way through the rubble to get home, much less worry about being attacked by demons. But I told’em, whatever they do, don’t throw in their lot with evil. That way, they’d keep their souls intact. See? Nothin’ to it.”

Nate stared at Dorian’s guileless expression and shook his head. With any luck, the clubbers who’d been under Dorian’s wing would write him off as half-baked because Nate had other things to worry about. Like how close the now-fully-awake Dante was standing next to Jessie. The drummer had a strong sense of the other side of the veil, but thankfully his sixth sense hadn’t been strong enough to resist the sleep wards like a few—mostly psychic—humans he’d met over the decades.

A muscle ticked in Dante’s cheek when Nate approached. “Hey man, I appreciate you not wiping my mind like every other sheep you put to sleep in this joint. Here’s the thing, though, if you fuck with Jess, I’ll find a way to hurt you no matter what you are.”

“If I were you, I’d have a care for that finger you’re pointing.” Nate’s Earth element sent a spear of heat up his spine, but could he really fault Dante for being protective of the woman he’d willingly sacrifice himself for? It made it easier knowing Dante and Jessie had never been involved. When Dante lowered his hand to his side, Nate tried to relax. “Have I ever demonstrated disrespect or unkindness towards her?”

Dante’s brows smoothed out slightly. “No, but I’ve only seen you two together in bits and pieces. I’ll tell you this much, if you wipe my memories, I won’t know, but it will be on your conscience every time you look at me…or Jess.”

Nate grabbed Dante by the shirt collar. “Not scared by much, eh?”

“Nate, let him go!” Jessie tugged at his arm. “This is a lot to take in. Before the Seam opened and you put him and the other clubbers to sleep, he saw the yellow eyes of the demons like I did. He saw a few other terrible things, too.”

Nate complied with Jessie’s request, but shoved Dante toward the exit. “Whether or not I wipe your mind will depend on how well you can keep secrets. Good luck, human.”

“Wait!” Jessie grabbed Dante’s hand, but glared at Nate. “You’re really just going to send him out there without protection?”

“He’s already layered with wards. As long as he keeps inside at night and watches his back during the day, he should be fine. The demons won’t be interested in him, in any case. Now, if you don’t stop touching him, I may have to remove said wards.”

Dante hugged Jessie, then set her carefully away from him. “I’ll be fine. I need to make sure my sister’s okay, okay?”

Jessie bit the inside of her cheek, still not looking convinced, but she let the drummer walk away. When Cruz closed and locked the door after Dante’s exit, Nate wondered if he’d done the right thing by not wiping Dante’s mind. But there was something about the fellow he respected. In all these decades as a Guardian, he hadn’t come across many humans he’d felt that way about, so he’d gone with his gut.

When Jessie’s hand squeezed his shoulder, he looked down into her soot-smudged face, his stomach tumbling like a school boy’s.

“Alright tough guy, it’s time you tell me everything.”

“Fine, but first, I want you to meet someone.” He led her down the hallway and upstairs to his office. He paused by the closed door. “I need to tell you one thing before we go inside.” She’d been remarkably cool about everything so far, so there was hope that she’d take this in stride, too. “As you know, Guardians have some special abilities that allow us to battle demons.”

“Like super strength and manipulating the ground.”

“Super strength, yes. We also have extra sensitive hearing and sight. Besides that, all Guardians have one element they can control. Earth Element Guardians like myself can manipulate the ground and its biological matter in all sorts of ways. I can also manipulate building structures if they have grounded footings that extend into the Earth.” He paused and took her cold hands into his own. Her eyes were wide. “Say something.”

She blew out a breath slowly. “Wow. Just…yeah. It’s hard to absorb.”

“I know. I never planned for you to be involved in any of my Guardian work.”

She looked at the door to his office. “What’s in there?”

His chest lightened, and he couldn’t resist kissing her. She kissed him back with an ardor that left him reeling, and pretty soon they were both breathless by the time she pushed him away.

“Now talk,” she ordered.

“You’re beautiful.”

“Nate—”

“I want you so bad I ache, Jess.”

She smiled weakly as she wrapped her arms around his trunk and laid her head on his chest. His heart thumped, his blood vessels seeming to expand. Make her forget everything but you. He could. With his body, he could enslave her. With his mind, he could break her. Make her dependent on his attentions like so many other women in his past.

You aren’t worthy of her.

He inwardly blanched, but the damned voice wouldn’t silence. He pressed one more kiss to her hair. “I brought you up here because you need to stay here…indefinitely.”

“What? You can’t—”

“Listen. When I realized what was going on with the Seam, I asked one of my partners to come when her club was secure. I wanted her help get this place ready for you. As an Air Element Guardian, Jinx can remodel spaces rather quickly.”

Jessie crossed her arms. “You won’t get me in there if there are bars on the windows.”

He knew that, which was why he’d rejected his first idea to have Jinx remodel the sanctorum even though that would be the safest place for Jessie. “No bars because there are no more windows. When the city dropped twenty feet, the windows shattered, so we replaced them with something better.” Plus, he didn’t want her looking out at the city’s devastation all day long. Especially at night when more demons were on the prowl for souls. He took a deep breath and sent a quick heads up to Jinx that they were coming in.

I’m already back home, Hellraiser. You should know by now, I’m much faster than you, she taunted.

When can you come back to clean up the rest of the club?

Go to Hell, Temple.

I’m half-way there. You can’t fault me for asking when you’re the best Air elemental out there.

She snorted. Flattery might save your ass, but don’t push your luck.

It’s what I do best, Jinx. You should know that by now.

She laughed in reply. Maybe it was for the best that she wasn’t here. Though tiny in stature, Jinx Tanaka was a whole hell of a lot to explain with her intricate tattoos, Weapons-R-Us get-up, and in-your-face-at-full-volume personality. He backed up and gestured for Jessie to take the lead. She opened the door and walked into the new candle-lit flat that Jinx had created complete with eating, living, and sleeping quarters. He’d told her of Jessie’s likes and dislikes—as many as he knew anyway—and the result was even cozier than he’d hoped. He watched Jessie’s face, trying to gauge her reaction.

“This is crazy.” She walked to the floor-to-ceiling aquarium that used to be the wall of windows overlooking the city streets. “No use having windows if all you see is rubble, right?” She laughed mirthlessly as brightly colored fish zipped in and around the coral in the clear water.

“This is only temporary until we’ve restored order.”

She pivoted a quarter turn to face him, the reflection of the water casting a luminous glow on her smooth skin. “Meaning I’m a prisoner here.”

“Of course not.”

“So, if I wanted to, I could walk out of this club like everyone else even though there’s a demon invasion going on? You wouldn’t stop me?”

Dammit. Of course he would stop her. “You don’t understand.”

She raised her hands and let them drop. “Then tell me. Explain why I’m more important than any other person who was in this nightclub last night. Why do I deserve special treatment and not them?”

Tell her or not? Fuck it. He was already in waaay over his head. He walked to the mini bar, poured two drinks, and held one out to her. She pursed her lips as she sashayed toward him, all swaying hips and jostling breasts. He’d bet money she wasn’t even aware she moved that way. Divinity in motion.

When she took the drink from his hands, he tossed his back and waited for her to do the same. She did, shivering violently afterwards. She slid the glass on the tabletop. “Ack, that tastes awful. Now spill it.”

The sooner he told her, the sooner they could get on with the bonding. “You saw the scar on my abdomen.” She nodded slowly, glancing at his t-shirt. “That was my death scar. A flying piece of scrap metal soared through the air as I was running to save a woman after a German Zeppelin dropped a bomb. The metal flew at such velocity it severed her head before it slammed into me.” Her lips parted in sympathy. He took the emotive expression in and wove it round the dark shadows in the cordoned off areas in his brain. “I died. When I re-awoke as a Guardian, all of my physical imperfections were gone except for the death scar.” He paused. She watched him silently, her silver blue eyes like turbulent seas.

He closed the distance between them and breathed in her scent. His pulse pounded madly in his neck. “Guardians retain their death scar until the first time they make love with a soul mate.”

There. He’d said it. All secrets were out in the open now. Well, not all of them, but the ones that would matter to her. Jessie blinked up at him, not immediately comprehending. Then…

“Oh. Oh. So you’re saying…I…it’s me?” Her voice cracked on the last word.

He nodded slowly. “I assume you recall my own surprised reaction.” Panicked was more like it.

“But…why me?”

“Why not you? You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met.”

Her shy, sexy smile revved his engine into high gear. “That doesn’t answer the question.”

“Can’t you simply accept it?” He pulled her toward him, plucking the top stays of the bustier that confined her peasant shirt. “Enough talking.”

She smacked at his fingers. “You promised you’d answer all my questions.”

He picked her up, walked to the bed, and tossed her upon it. “I lied.”

Before he could cover her with his body, she shot up with a hand on his chest. “I thought you’re supposed to make good choices.”

“That’s the theory.” He stripped off one of her shoes and began peeling down her white stocking.

He loved it when her face was so conflicted. “You’re sick,” she said.

He heartily agreed. “And yet, you still want to be with me.” She rolled to the edge of the bed, but he caught her around the waist before she could steal away. He rolled back on the bed, pulling her with him so she was laying on top of him, facing the ceiling. The back of her head nestled between his pecs, yet her feet were still a couple inches shy of his. “You’re fun-sized, you know that?”

She wriggled again, trying to get away, and all that squirming made her can-can skirt hike up around her waist. The whole raunchy episode instigated intriguing consequences for the lower half of his body. His arms pinned her to him as he shifted himself into the cleft of her arse, and just like that, she froze.

He smiled.

“What does sanctorum mean, and why is that room so special?”

He groaned. Her busy mind was going to kill them both. “Alright, how about one piece of clothing per question. When you’re out of clothing, you’re out of questions.”

He began working on the rest of the stays of her bustier, but she stopped his hands and flipped around to face him, her hair a silken curtain around them in the softly lit room. Her lips parted on a beguiling indrawn breath when she shifted her legs apart and her lower body settled around his erection. His hands slid down the gentle slope of her back.

“You’ve already taken off two pieces of my clothing, so get talking.”

His fingers trekked southward, pushing through the layers of the infernal skirt. “Sanctorum is short for sanctum sanctorum, which is Latin for holy of holies. In other words, the most holy place. And I’m not telling what’s special about it because it would put you in greater danger.”

She pursed her lips. “Because I’m a weak human female.”

“No, because you have my scent and that makes you more of a target. If the demons are able to get close enough, they’ll torture you for information. The less you know, the more likely they are to leave you alone because they have this uncanny knack of knowing when people are lying.” Which was true, but they’d still probably try to take her to lure him. And it would work. But she didn’t need to know that.

“You marked me?”

“It’s a side effect when we have sex with mortals. It usually goes away after a couple of days if we have no further contact with them, but we still shadow them to make sure they aren’t targeted until it wears off.”

“So this will go away in a few days.”

He pulled the satin ribbon out of her stays. “You should be naked by now with all these questions.”

Her eyes glinted, the slight rocking of her body making him start to sweat. “I think not. My last several responses were statements, not questions,” she said.

He had to laugh. “Okay, well you’d better get asking because I’m not going to be able to concentrate much longer.” His gaze was glued to her chest where her cleavage inspired fantasies involving lube. Lots of lube.

“Up here, Nate. Your scent goes away if we don’t have sex for a few days?”

His gaze shifted back to her face. “Normally, yes.”

“Elaborate.”

“A week isn’t going to be enough for me, Jess.”

“Well here’s a news flash, boss man, we signed an agreement.”

“This isn’t about the agreement anymore. Not when you healed my death scar.”

“Are you saying you aren’t going to honor it?”

“I’ll do everything I promised in the agreement.” I just won’t let you leave. “That’s at least two more pieces of clothing.” He rolled to the side, laid her down, scooted up to his knees, and removed her black bustier and single remaining shoe. Now, she was down to her peasant blouse, can-can skirt, thong, and one white stocking. “Still too many clothes. Ask another question.” His voice was gruff.

“You’re eying that stocking like it’s your next meal.” Her voice wasn’t exactly steady either. She cleared her throat. “If you’re able to leap tall buildings with a single bound—don’t tell me you can’t because José told me he saw two of your partners vanish into thin air—why do we have to stay here? Why can’t we go somewhere else? Somewhere safe from the demons—like another city?”

“I have to stay because I have a responsibility to the sanctorum.” Or more specifically, what it housed. “Moving it is impossible at this point because there are more powerful safeguards in place here than I could possibly set up with a horde of demons chasing me elsewhere. You’re staying because I don’t trust your safety to anyone else. The demons that your uncle let in are much more powerful than ones we usually tangle with.” He pushed her blouse up and rubbed his cheek against the smooth skin of her belly before pulling her arms up to slide the shirt over her head. A strapless bra clasp nestled between her breasts. He sprang it open and groaned as her full warmth filled his palms, then his mouth as he pushed her deep into the mattress.

She arched her back, tunneling her hands through his hair. The creamy deliciousness of her skin was perfection. Her pink nipples, puckered and tight. He breathed her in for long moments before he realized she was yanking on his hair, pulling him away.

And talking?

He lifted his head to try to focus because more questions meant less clothes.

He could still have her without the questions, though. That thong would be real easy to shove to the side. He grew wretchedly uncomfortable in his pants.

“W-why is it easier for the weaker demons to get to Earth than the more powerful ones? Why does it take such a big event to bring the archdemons?”

Her breaths were coming hard and fast. He had to feel those flushed breasts against his skin. He sat up and stripped off his shirt. The slight cooling sensation cleared his head somewhat. “The ancient demons are usually locked out because there is some justice in the Seam separating the realms.”

He slid down the bed, parked his mouth between her thighs, and licked until she quivered, then used his teeth to slowly peel her paper-thin white stocking down her leg.

Gooseflesh spread across her skin. “Meaning the big chess master in all this prevents the really Big Bads from preying on humans unless someone royally screws up, and then you guys are here for clean up duty?”

Nate smiled at her terminology, his fingers curling into the toned muscles of her thighs. That was two more questions. “Pretty much, but we’re always on clean up. Unfortunately, even the lesser demons can do some damage. If one of them preys on enough human souls, they can become almost as powerful as the much older demons.” He paused. “You ready to get naked, Jessica?”

She pulled the can-can skirt up over her belly button. “One more question and you can turn off the lights.”

Blood pounded in his ears, and he yanked the skirt down again. “Who was the bloody bastard who made you feel like you need to fuck in the dark?” He’d find the wanker, dismember him, and feed his parts to a demon.

“We aren’t talking about this right now!”

“The fuck, we aren’t!”

“Stop saying fuck.” She sat up, pulled a pillow across her chest, and glared at him.

He got so close their noses were nearly touching. “I’ll say whatever the fuck I want, whenever, and wherever I want. Especially when some limp dick butt badger’s made my woman feel so unjustifiably ashamed about her worship-worthy body! Fuck!”

Breathe. What a bloody bastard. He was yelling at her when all he wanted to do was make her see how beautiful she was. But she didn’t back away. Just blinked those big, silvery blue eyes at him, then cleared her throat.

“We shouldn’t even be messing around. The demons could come back at any time. I have to get to my grandparents and Scourge!” Her eyes grew wide and bright. That was really something because she hadn’t shown any such fright when he was screaming right in her face.

He shook his head and pushed down on her shoulders when she would have sprung out of bed. “Your grandparents are safe. Demons—even the ancient ones—rarely go out during the day. We have hours.”

“What are they, vampires?”

If only. “No, but they generally have only a fraction of their power during the day. Their strength and abilities resurge at nightfall.” Unless they were juiced up with a stolen relic, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.

“Generally? That means there’s room for exceptions. That’s not reassuring, Nate.”

“Trust me, we have plenty of time.”

“Then you should be using it to plan your defense. And how we’re going to protect everyone,” she said.

“You think you’re responsible for the three and a half million people in the metro area?”

“Well…there has to be something we can do.” She looked around the room. “Any chance you have a spare t-shirt and some sweats around here?”

He sat back down on the bed. “I will give you whatever you need to make you happy, Jessie. I will take care of your schooling expenses, your grandparents, hell, if your uncle Mason is still alive, I’ll even take responsibility for keeping the duffer out of trouble, but I won’t give you up.”

* * *

He won’t give me up. What did that even mean to someone who wasn’t a human? Jessie looked down at her hands pressing the pillow to her nakedness. “I don’t understand why there are beings like you.”

Nate scrubbed his hands across his stubbled chin. “Bottom line is, humans need protection, and we’re here for a second chance. We were people who made bad choices on purpose while we were alive. We lived selfishly, but at the moment of our deaths, we made the decision to save another life. Because of that one selfless act, we were given the option to become Guardians. If we succeed as Guardians, we’ll avoid the damnation we originally deserved, and instead, go on to paradise.”

Okay, now they were getting somewhere. “So basically, this is your Purgatory.”

That smile of his was dangerous long before she knew he was more than just the guy next door. “Yes, though our version of Purgatory is more than a cleansing, it’s an actual test.”

“How long’s the test?”

His hand came up to stroke her messy hair. She loved it when he got that soft look in his eyes. It made her body go all silky and elastic.

“Until the End Days,” he replied quietly.

“Which is when?” Did she really want to know?

“No one knows.”

She relaxed slightly. “So you may be in this for a long haul to redeem yourself.”

His eyes darkened as they held hers. “Hell is a very bad place, Jessie.”

How would he know? “Have you been there?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but paused. Finally he said, “Yes and no.”

“Wow, thanks for the non-answer.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”

And that right there was what she couldn’t understand. “I don’t know why this is happening with us.”

He brought her chin up, his eyes slightly hooded. “Because you healed me, Jess. Ever since I met you that first day when I chased down your school papers, you’ve brought vibrant color to my world. Literally. Before you, I saw colors, sure, but it’s like they were behind an opaque screen. Muted and pale. Now everything is bright and beautiful and loud.” His thumb brushed across her lip.

“So I’m your temporary girlfriend.” Come on, how many had he already had since the first World War? The thought kinda pissed her off.

“No, Jessie. Only a soul mate can heal a Guardian’s death scar.”

“The idea of a soul mate obliterates the whole free will thing.”

“No, it doesn’t because Guardians have more than one potential soul mate in the world. The choices we make take us down different paths. If we’re lucky, those decisions lead us toward unity with one of those soul mates. Stop and think. Or better yet, feel.” He took her hand and laid it on his chest. His heart beat slow and strong, the warmth of his skin making her fingers restless to explore more of him. “You can’t deny this. I know you feel drawn to me unlike any other attraction you’ve ever had.”

Yes. Unequivocally so. “Your arrogance knows no bounds.”

He blinked slowly, and she noticed the dark purple smudges under his eyes for the first time all night. “Isn’t it wonderful?”

It sort of was, but being naked with him in bed was not a good time to be having such a life-altering conversation. “This notion of a soul mate still doesn’t jive with free will. Maybe you put some kind of sex spell on me like Lachlan did.”

He smiled. “A Guardian doesn’t need to resort to an incubus’s tricks. Though, I must say, it’s nice to know you struggle to resist my sexual prowess.” His eyes closed briefly. “It only reinforces what I’ve been saying all along.”

Oh, but he was cocky! “Still no free will anywhere in sight.”

“The Guardians may have pre-destined compars, but the bonding itself is completely free will.”

“Nate!” She snapped a finger in his face. When his eyes opened, she prompted, “Bonding?”

He swayed slightly on the bed, then jerked upright, his eyes instantly scanning the room. “The ceremony that happens when each person accepts the other as his or her mate.”

“Sounds like a bunch of New Age, woo-woo business.” Wait. “Or…marriage.”

“Whatever name you want to give it—whatever helps you understand it—is fine. But Guardian bonding cannot be undone by an expensive lawyer and some papers crossing a judge’s desk.”

“Do you actually want this?” Do I? She held her breath waiting for his answer.

He yawned again, stretching his arms to the ceiling, his muscles rippling in his chest and arms. “I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it. But as this week has passed, I’ve experienced an intensifying, disorderly, inexplicable, almost violent need to bond with you….Jess…” He laid flat, perpendicular across the foot of the bed, and closed his eyes.

“You’re exhausted.” It surprised her. She’d seen him go over and beyond bulletproof. How could one such as him need something so human as sleep?

He cracked his eyes and gave her a wan smile. “Guardian energy eventually depletes. Especially when we’re wounded. We regenerate with food, sleep, meditation, and sex. Sex is like a power-shake for us.” He winked, then closed his eyes once more. “But since you’d rather yammer all bleeding day than let me slide between your honeyed thighs, I just…need…to…”

Jessie bent forward, setting her pillow aside. “Nate?”

Nothing. Didn’t even look like he was freaking breathing. God, please. She laid her head on his chest and the spasm of worry in her gut unwound to hear his heart beat strong, though extremely slow. She sprawled on her belly on the bed, coming up on her elbows to softly brush her fingers over the features that looked so much less dangerous in sleep than when he was full-on passion, mischief, and dominance.

She’d never seen him sleep, but several times she’d woken in the bed they’d shared to find him watching her. Most times he’d be lying beside her, looking into her eyes intently as she greeted the day. Once, he’d been draped across a chair, his hair falling carelessly across his forehead like a Greek god, his eyes riveted on her as he’d drained half a bottle of 1904 Vintage Armagnac.

He’d come out of the chair with an animal grace, stalked to the bed, then made love to her, over and over, with a desperation she didn’t understand but tried to match, until she couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Afterwards, he’d tenderly cleaned her body and sank down into a soothing bath with her in his arms.

Whole oceans rolled inside him.

He was a beautiful force of nature. Domineering. Witty. Unrelentingly confident—how she admired that!—protective, driven, sexy…

So sexy.

Her fingertips glided over his cheekbones, the black wings of his eyelashes so rich in contrast against the uncharacteristic paleness of his skin. How long would he need to sleep? It was a deep slumber. Like he’d sunk worlds away. Would he hear if she called to him?

Perhaps she’d been selfish with all her questions, but—

No.

She deserved to know what was going on.

Still, if he’d only told her he needed her.

Needed her.

Even if it was just her body for his healing…

She would have relented emphatically.

Instantly.

Her throat ached. She missed him already. An unfamiliar cocktail grenade of emotions under pressure, waiting for the right blend of circumstances to detonate inside her. What the hell was happening anyway? Nate had said this wasn’t the end of the world, but she’d seen the ruins of downtown Minneapolis as the clubbers had taken their leave. She’d stood trembling by the door, fighting off her need to tell them to be good.

Make good choices. Otherwise the evil would find them.

They thought it was only an earthquake.

She should call the dynamic pastor she’d met tailgating at the last Gophers home game. Maybe Nate would let him in on what had happened and together they could plan an epic Jesus-loves-you convention or something. Get the club cleaned up and hold the meetings here. Anything to keep people on the straight and narrow. Anything to keep them from being possessed.

Jessie pressed her lips to Nate’s, but he didn’t even move. She wouldn’t leave his side until he woke. Then she’d give him a power boost he’d never forget.

She kissed Nate’s neck, and it felt so good she eased down to caress, then kiss, his chest. His belly with the dark line of hair arrowing down into his pants that made her go all tight and gooey at the same time. She should stop touching him, let him power up in peace, but…could he really be hers? This wasn’t as simple as he seemed to think. She was a human while he was supposedly immortal.

That sucked. Especially for him. Unless he’d find his next soul mate when she died.

The thought painted jagged black and blue streaks across a picturesque postcard of her future.

She leaned away from Nate, coming up on her knees. She needed to get some emotional distance from all this. She was a logical thinker. Her mother had fallen headlong in and out of love so many times the rumor rags could have put her on the cover every other week.

Another side of her wanted to stay with him. Get on with this bonding thing, whatever that entailed, while the monsters crouched in back alley shadows, waiting for daylight to fade. She had one foot on the floor, her blouse clutched to her breasts when Nate’s eyes sprang open and two of the candles in the room extinguished in a rush of air. Her lips parted, but her mouth was too dry for words.

He sat up slowly and stretched a hand to her. “I felt you leaving.”

The purple smudges under his eyes hadn’t abated. She forced herself to stand when all she wanted to do was melt down into the warmth of him. “I…you need your rest, and I was disturbing you.”

He scooted to the edge of the bed and grasped her about the waist, pulling her forward until his chin pressed in the valley between her breasts. “Stay with me. Give me solace with your body.”

The need was stamped on his features. It pulled at her. Strings deep inside her, out of tune until the moment his fingertips played the right chords. She placed her hands on his cheeks and bent to kiss him, long, hungry, slow. Her tongue swept into his mouth, seeking his flavor, his heat and spice. Her fingers fisted in his hair, her heart rate soared. An energy swirled about him, tugging at the bindings of her inner restraint until they gave way.

She shoved him back on the bed, undid his slacks and slipped them from his body. She shivered. He watched her strip off her skirt and thong with a gaze that marked her.

“I assume you have protection?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I cannot get you pregnant, nor do Guardians carry human disease.”

He sat up when she placed one knee on the bed beside his hip, opening her legs to straddle his lap. He grasped her ass, fitting their groins together. The heat, the texture—the rightness of it—softened her muscles in a wave of yielding. She arched her neck toward his hot mouth. She slid along his thick length, shaking, sweating, panting.

His fingers dug into her ass, lifting her, tilting her pelvis to accept him. His pause, a question he hadn’t needed to ask, but the fact that he had…

Empowering.

His dark wild scent like an old forest after a storm filled her nostrils as she pressed her face into his neck. “Please, yes.”

He lowered her, sheathing himself deep in her body. His mouth opened, his head tilting back on a guttural groan. She stared at the stubbled expanse of his neck, driving herself up and down, willing him to make more of those exquisite sounds. Sounds that quenched her soul and fed her brazenness.

Small quavers shook her frame, a million minute eruptions. She wrapped her arms around his neck for anchor. Her moan slipped out, followed by another, and the look he leveled on her was the hottest, most erotic thing she’d ever seen.

“Bond with me.” His voice rumbled between them, an octave lower than usual.

He covered her mouth when she gasped. She felt a tickling at the base of her skull. A coercion?

Had to be. The man had superpowers. But did it matter if he was messing with her? If he could make her feel like this…

No.

But she was falling for him. Epically. Why deny what they both wanted?

Sweat rolled down the center of her spine and between her breasts. She closed her eyes. Pressed her forehead against his. He tilted his chin to fuse their lips. She opened to him, tears at the corners of her eyes.

She had to say no right now to the bonding. She couldn’t make a sound decision when she was about to come undone.

“Say yes,” he ground out.

“No.” It came out on a husky moan. The wet slide and fervid vocalizations of their sultry joining was impossibly carnal. She couldn’t think anymore. The whats didn’t matter. Nor the whys. She felt him. Felt him in every corner of every dark place inside her.

“Look at me, Jess.”

You already know everything. Her gaze locked with his. Here lie dragons. The thought would have made her lips curve had they not been open, sighing, gasping.

He stood fluidly, grasping her firmly under the ass and backed her against the wall. She grasped his flexing biceps, secure in his hold, her cheeks hot, her skin gliding gloriously against his.

“You. Are. Mine.” Each word punctuated with slow, deliberate thrusts.

On the last, she shattered.

At her wild cry, he stiffened, his muscles locking down, perfectly, beautifully chiseled beneath her fingertips. The back of her head shifted against the wall, tangling her hair, his breath hot and choppy against her neck as his orgasm fired through him. She opened her eyes when he lifted his head.

His gaze seared her. And the purple smudges beneath his eyes were gone.

Thank Heavens. Who knew what would happen after this little reprieve of theirs. They had a mega mess to clean up, not only downstairs but beyond these walls. The thought of demons loose on the Earth filled her with dread.

But she had Nate, and she trusted him like no other.

“You should rest now,” she murmured, running her fingers through his dark-as-cocoa hair pressed wetly against his temples.

He feathered a kiss to the corner of her lips, then carried her to the bed. “No, Angel. We’re just getting started.”