In this, they were even.
His right hand slid down her stomach and eased under the elastic edge of her panties.
Yes… Did she say it? Or just think it?
Either way, Niol heard.
He stroked through her curls and found the core of her body. He slid those broad fingers over the button that was the center of her need.
A moan burst from her lips.
One finger found her hot, wet opening. Pushed inside.
Not enough.
A second finger drove into her and his thumb pressed right over her clit.
Holly shot onto her toes.
Withdraw.
Thrust.
In and out his fingers moved in a maddening rhythm that didn't give relief, only made the fierce ache inside her grow even more desperate and consuming.
Her hands fisted at her sides. The nails dug into her palms.
"Do you want me?"
Oh, what, was the guy crazy? Hell, yeah, she wanted him-she was straining and twisting and moaning like a woman gone wild against him.
"Holly, tell me."
Withdraw.
Thrust.
She had to swallow twice before she could manage, "Yes."
"Brace your hands on the mirror."
Her hands slapped against the cool surface.
The hiss of a zipper.
The rustle of a wrapper-condom.
Holly kicked away the skirt. Stood in her high heels, panties, bra, and open shirt. She waited-
He tore her panties away.
Finally.
Her stance widened.
Niol positioned himself behind her, arching her hips back to him, and-
His c**k brushed against the plump folds of her sex.
His fingers trailed back down over the front of her body, finding that aching, quivering spot between her legs that she needed him to touch just as-
His shaft thrust into her sex, a hard, no-holding-back, balls-deep thrust.
"Watch."
Her gaze jerked up to the mirror. He was behind her, face set in tight lines of lust and hunger.
Driving deep, the muscles of his chest rippling. Plunging, again and again-
And stroking with those fingers. Right over her clit. So good. So. Damn. Good.
Her body coiled. Tension mounted. She gasped his name, as the pleasure spun so close-
She saw herself in the mirror. Twisting and moaning. Body flushed. Nipples tight. Straining toward the mirror.
A woman with wild red hair. Cheeks stained pink. Gleaming lips.
Thrust.
Green eyes so dark, so-
Too dark.
The pleasure crested, slamming into her as Holly's climax erupted in a fury.
And her green eyes faded to black.
Shit, shit, that was – Her sex spasmed.
Her body quivered.
So good.
"See what I see." The words rumbled against her as he kept driving into her. Again and again.
His eyes blazed at her, a perfect black to match her own.
Demon.
Woman.
Man.
His c**k swelled within her, filled every inch of her core. He shuddered. Then his hands dug into her hips and he jerked her up, higher, higher-
Withdraw.
Thrust.
"Beautiful…" He gasped out the word and came within her.
They made it to the bed. Somehow, someway. Holly didn't remember walking there, and she didn't remember him carrying her, either.
But the mattress felt good beneath her, and Niol's arms felt even better around her.
She inhaled the vanilla. The candles were burning down so quickly now. A wave of his hand would extinguish the light-hell, a stray thought probably would-she knew that, but Holly didn't want darkness, not yet.
"Tell me about your brother."
Not what she'd expected in the aftermath of that storm, and Holly stiffened. She'd blundered earlier when she'd spilled her painful secret about Peter. As a rule, she didn't talk about her brother, ever.
Niol's fingers trailed down the length of her arm. "Easy, love. I just want to know more about him…to understand you."
Her head turned, just a fraction, to meet his stare. "Is understanding me so important? I thought this-" Her hand fluttered between her sheet covered body and his naked chest. One fine chest. "I thought this was just about the pleasure."
His expression didn't alter. Niol, still using that mask that made her teeth grind together, even now. Surrounded by the scent of candles and sex, he hadn't let his guard down.
But then, neither had she.
My eyes flashed black. Holy Christ, she could still hardly believe that. Being told by Niol and Dr. Drake-that was one thing. Seeing it-
No more denial.
"It is about the pleasure," Niol told her in that voice that was seductive steel. "But I want to know you."
"You're already investigating me." A hunch, that, nothing more. Because she did know him.
She'd done her own research after the first night she'd seen him, and been unable to get the demon out of her head.
She understood the way he operated. Understood the guards he'd locked onto her and understood that her demon heritage would be a mystery for him, one that he'd solve at all costs.
Maybe that was a good thing. She wanted to know the truth, too. All her life, she'd thought she was a human. She'd been surrounded by her "normal" friends, gone to St. Mary's Church every Sunday, gone to college-led a regular life.
Until now.
Niol didn't deny the investigation, just kept drifting his fingers up and down her arm in a slow, tempting caress.
"What are you hiding?" He asked quietly.
Pain . The instant answer. A hell of a lot of pain. "Why do you want to know about Peter?"
His hand stilled. "Because I think he may have been like you. Like me."
Not Peter. "Peter died of a drug overdose, okay?" The words ripped from her. "He was a kid, in too deep, he-"
"Demons fall prey to addictions much faster than humans, love." Soft, almost gentle. "The drugs-they're a temptation some can't resist. They quiet the voices and the visions of blood and death that just won't stop."
Ice poured over her. "What?" She shot up in the bed, clamp ing the sheet tight to her chest.
"What voices? What visions of death? Peter didn't have-"
"Demons have different powers." He rose, too, but didn't bother pulling up the sheet to hide his body. "Some control the elements, almost like witches. Some can slip into a human's mind-"
Yes, she knew about that.
"Some have other, less…desirable powers." A pause. "Like your friend Sam."
Slashed to pieces. Holly licked her lips. "Wh-what do you know about Sam's power?" Sam had told her that he was a low-level demon, pretty average, pretty-
"Sam got the shit-end of the draw. He could read the thoughts of humans-across blocks, miles-