Hotter Than Hell

CHAPTER 1

HE VANISHED IN A WHIRL OF MIST, LEAVING BEHIND scents of sandalwood and sex on a hot summer’s night.

Ericka Roberts cried out and clenched her bedcovers in both fists as she woke. Perspiration coated her body and the sheets clung to her damp skin. Her breathing was harsh, her heart beating so hard it pounded inside her ears.

These dreams are killing me.

For the past week, since she’d arrived at the oceanside condo in San Diego, she’d woken sweating, body aching with need and frustration. In her dreams, her demon lover teased her with his tongue and tasted her until she was on the edge of a climax so powerful she knew it would rock her to her core.

The moment she reached that pinnacle, he would stop. He’d rise, spread her legs with his hips, a sensual expression on his strong features. He’d nudge his cock against her folds and she’d hold her breath in anticipation.

And he would vanish.

Goddamnit. He just disappears!

The dreams were so intense that each morning she woke up pleasantly sore from his rough attention.

How’s that for a vivid imagination? She groaned and flung her arm over her eyes. “I’ve entered another dimension, where sane people don’t exist.”

Ericka moved her arm from her eyes and turned onto her side, facing the window. Shadows from palm trees and the first hint of morning sunlight winked through the glass as she faced reality.

Not too far away, the rush and pound of the surf matched the rush of blood in her ears and the pounding of her heart. The scent of sandalwood shifted into salt and brine mixed with the vanilla of candles she’d placed on every available surface of the room.

She attempted to grasp the power of the dream, but it faded through her fingers like tendrils of mist.

Yet he was there, never leaving her thoughts.

Ericka blew a strand of red hair out of her eyes and chewed on one of her nails. She slumped in the deck chair, her shorts hiking up her thighs. Her mind was anywhere but on the page on her laptop. Another planet, maybe.

It was nearing sunset. For most of the day she’d been sitting on the porch, trying to work on her nonficfion book that included people describing visits by beings from Otherworldly realms.

“The freaking book,” she grumbled as images of her demon lover refused to leave her mind. “The damned dreams happen because you’re studying and writing about similar paranormal occurrences.” She glanced at the ocean. “Get a grip.”

This hidden stretch of beach outskirting San Diego was a perfect place to “channel” her writing. The water called to her, calmed her, let her slip into a state of mind where her body no longer existed.

Usually.

“Okay, that’s enough.” She punched a few keys and exited her doc and her web browser before closing her laptop. “You sure better have a productive day tomorrow.”

When she’d rented the condo in the past, her fingers always flew over the keys of her laptop as she wrote her nonfiction paranormal books. Everything about the supernatural attracted her, but she especially loved her current topic.

Hence the dreams.

The wind kicked up and pages of one open research book on mythology flipped one after another in a sudden cascade. She reached for the book as the pages stopped at the intro to Incubae and Succubae.

She drew the book closer and studied the picture she’d practically drooled over the first time she’d read the research book. A painting of the backside of a man. With her finger she traced his shoulder-length black hair, muscular back, and tight ass. Her imagination supplied the rest. No doubt he’d be as toned and fit everywhere if she could manage a peek at him from the front.

The corner of her mouth curved. When she first looked at the picture, she’d been intrigued by giving up one’s soul for one’s desires.

Ericka rolled her eyes. Between that fascination and the topic of her book, no wonder she’d been experiencing such intense nightly dreams. She’d been reading about Incubae and Succubae until her eyes damned near crossed, and now her imagination had brought a demon lover of her own.

She shook her head, snatched up her books and her laptop, and headed into the condo. After she put them away, she glanced at her cell phone. A tiny red light blinked, indicating she had a message.

Ericka checked the recent callers. Mom, Mom, and Mom. And oh, Mom. Being the youngest child of a huge Irish family, Ericka had to suffer through her mother’s constant worrying over nothing and everything.

She smiled when she saw that Julia, her sister and closest friend, had also called. No one in the world knew Ericka like Julia did.

For a moment, Ericka thought about calling her sister and talking about her dreams, but shook her head and set the phone aside. Despite Ericka being well known for her books on paranormal occurrences, Julia refused to believe in anything she couldn’t see for herself. A real skeptic.

Ericka slipped outside of the condo into the wavering sunlight and trotted barefoot down a rocky, sandy path. The cool ocean breeze lifted Ericka’s hair from her shoulders. She sucked in a deep lungful of salty air.

Ericka’s thoughts wandered as she looked out at the beauty of the ocean. The water was relatively calm, only making a deep sucking sound before the onrush of a wave. Sand squished between Ericka’s toes as she walked closer to the water.

“Could a dream man manifest himself as real?” she said out loud, then shook her head. Julia would be catching the next flight from Seattle before Ericka could blink if she started talking about a man coming into her condo at night—even if he was a dream man.

Ericka reached the firm wet sand just as a wave receded, and she wiggled her toes. Water rushed back and the small wave slapped her bare calves and ankles with a salty sting before drawing away again.

“You should be writing fiction, Ericka,” she mumbled. “He’s a freaking dream.”

Another small wave splashed against Ericka, this time high enough to reach the hems of her shorts. She looked out at the soft swells of the ocean and the reflection of the oranges and pinks of the sunset rippling on the waves.

Her heart rate kicked up a notch—it was almost dark. Anticipation fluttered in her belly.

Almost time for sleep.

And her dream lover.

Aedan studied the winking stars above his quarters. The constellations were so different in his realm than in Ericka’s.

Ericka.

Just the thought of her hardened his cock so that it tented his toga. His skin felt tight beneath the material, as if he were being stretched from his bedchamber to Ericka’s bedroom in the Earth Otherworld.

He took a deep breath before he lowered his gaze from the glittering sky to several pools of exotic fish he had collected from places he had visited over the centuries. His mother Belisma found it amusing that he, an Incubus, had a sort of hobby. He had to admit she was probably right.

Demons didn’t have hobbies. Demons had missions.

And I have friggin’ fish.

He sighed.

The swimming blurs of the colorful fish were likely proof that his mind—and demonic mission—was slowly unraveling.

His chamber was carved from rock and in one corner a waterfall rushed over stones into a bathing pond. Moisture dampened the walls, moss growing on the surfaces, and the floor was soft grass—his own private paradise. Every Incubae or Succubae had a different type of chamber, depending on whether they were of fire, earth, air, or water.

A water Incubus, Aedan was the offspring of the water goddess herself.

Which probably explained his fascination with fish.

Sort of.

His bed commanded the center of the chamber and had a mattress of soft leaves in a carved-out stone shell. He wondered what Ericka would think of his world, never mind the fish. What it would be like to bring her here. To take her in his bed.

He pressed his fingertips to his forehead.

First the fish, and now dangerous thoughts. Way past dangerous. Why after centuries of fulfilling women’s desires, was he thinking of such abominations?

That was never done—bringing the human through the veil. Only souls could travel with the Incubae or Succubae to where the souls were stored until the human’s shell died. Soul after soul he’d collected without a second thought.

But Ericka…Over the past month he had watched her as he prepared to go to her and work toward winning her soul. He had witnessed her strength, her beauty, her commitment to family and friends, her sense of fairness, her intelligence, as well as her love of writing. Which, ironically enough, involved researching his kind. Something he found both amusing and intriguing.

For some reason she made him feel more real, alive. Made him want things he had never wanted before. Made him look at who and what he was, and long for something different than he had always known.

Like wishing he was human so he could spend his life with her.

Aedan scowled. An idiotic thought. Why was the woman affecting him like this?

When a Succubus or an Incubus was sent to a human, the person had projected a powerful desire. Perhaps a wish for the fulfillment of a fantasy, or a longing that included the phrase, “I’d give anything for…” The human usually exchanged his or her soul in payment, often unaware of the magnitude of what they’d done.

And that was the key.

Unaware.

I will take her soul, and she might not even realize what she has surrendered—if I don’t tell her.

He pictured Ericka’s beautiful body as he prepared to take everything from her. He imagined the way she would look at him when he finally thrust into her core. She was already wild in his arms when he went to her—the way she whimpered and moaned, trying to seek the completion he denied her.

It was his job to drive her insane with need nightly until she reached the point she would tell him anything, anything he wanted to hear—including giving up her soul.

But…damnation. Something about Ericka made him feel as if he were a part of her and she a part of him. An irrational thought that had him grinding his teeth. The idea of taking Ericka’s soul tore at him like a piranha eating his gut.

Piranha.

Hmmm.

Maybe I should get a piranha for my collection.

Godsdamn, I’m losing my mind.

Centuries of fucking women, yet this one drove him to thoughts of piranha. He had to shake off his madness. It was time. No matter how he felt, he had to claim the woman’s soul.

It was either that, or he would face eternity in the fires of the Realm of the Dead.

Aedan ground his teeth and left his bedchamber. It was time to go to the woman.

His thoughts churned as he strode down the Hall of the Lost. When he reached the Chamber of Veils, he walked to the archway that would take him to Ericka. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched her through the veil for a long moment.

Her eyelids were closed, hiding her startling blue eyes. Her lips parted as she shifted in her sleep, the sheets rumpling beneath her naked body. Her red hair was a wild mass against the white of her pillowcase, her nipples high and puckered with arousal. Around the room, several candles burned within their holders and the soft light danced upon her skin.

Gods and goddesses, he could already smell her woman’s musk and her warm vanilla scent.

Yes, there was something about this one. Something innocent, yet wild at the same time.

Something…perfect.

His groin tightened, his cock aching. He wanted to be inside her. So many times he had come close to pushing her over the edge when she neared climax. The thought of pleasuring her for the sake of pleasuring her made his lust spiral and his erection harder.

His muscles tensed and he swallowed the feelings of rebellion rising within him. Feelings he shouldn’t be having—that contradicted everything an Incubus was.

Ericka was his last assignment before he made the Great Transition to Annwn, that special place in Underworld reserved for those who pleased the gods and goddesses. Aedan had been successful with every assignment and had earned his place, earned the right to live in such peace and beauty. He was looking forward to it. He had lost his taste for his work years ago. It was time for a change.

More importantly, he had earned his reprieve from the flaming depths of the Realm of the Dead, where most demons and the soulless were sent.

He rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefingers.

If he took Ericka’s soul, she would go to the Realm of the Dead when her human shell died.

The mere thought made him grind his teeth.

If he did not take Ericka’s soul…That was unthinkable for an Incubus or a Succubus. To fail in the last assignment, to be moments from salvation from the Realm of the Dead, then feel the fire’s hideous, terrible bite for all eternity. Sweat broke out on his skin at thoughts of the endless labor he would be forced to do as liquid heat splashed against his body.

Aedan returned his gaze to Ericka, to that beauty and innocence that called to his being like no other had before.

“You want her.” Jeff appeared at his side, bringing him out of his thoughts. The Succubus stroked his arm. “More than anyone you have taken in their dreams. This one is important to you.”

Aedan forced himself to tear his gaze from the erotic sight of Ericka Roberts. “She is naught but another human.”

“Hmmm…” The black-haired beauty at his side looked at him with her brilliant gold gaze. Her toga sparkled, the same color as her eyes. “This assignment is taking longer than normal.” She curled her fingers around his biceps that flexed beneath her touch. “Another Incubus, Kyne perhaps, should accompany you.”

A low rumble rose in Aedan’s chest. His jaw tightened at the thought of another Incubus touching Ericka.

That was irrational. Aedan had played out this drama with countless women over the centuries, fulfilling their needs and desires in exchange for their souls. What Incubae and Succubae performed had been twisted into something considered evil. When in fact what they did only served to pleasure men and women and bring their fantasies to life. So what did their souls matter if they could have every wish granted?

Jett gathered her long hair and pulled it over one of her shoulders. “Perhaps you have become too close to this human. Maybe you should have Kyne take your place completely, before you get into trouble.”

“No.” The word came out sharper than Aedan intended. “Ericka Roberts is my assignment and I shall deal with her.”

Aedan caressed Jett’s back at the base of her spine with his palm. Touching her in that location always served to distract her, and she released his biceps when he moved away.

As he watched Ericka his cock ached enough to drive him senseless. He hadn’t allowed himself an orgasm, just as he refused to let Ericka climax.

He vanished his toga with a thought as he prepared to walk through the veil.

Tonight…would Ericka be ready to offer up her soul?

Was he ready to take it?

CHAPTER 2

WHEN THE BED SANK BENEATH THE WEIGHT OF someone easing onto the mattress beside her, Ericka wasn’t surprised. She opened her eyes and smiled at her dark lover.

Shadows still hid his gaze from her, but because she had left several candles lit, this time she could make out his angular jaw, a cleft in his chin, and his straight nose. Dark hair skimmed his shoulders and his smile was so sensual it made her squirm.

His naked body was a work of art. If she wrote fiction, she couldn’t have created a character to rival him. Broad shoulders, carved biceps, a muscled chest, well-defined abs—definite hero material. And his cock—wow.

Ericka reached up to touch his face and he captured her hand in his. He held it to his heart and she felt his flesh, so warm and real against her palm.

“Who are you?” she asked as his mouth neared hers. “What are you?”

“Aedan.” His accent sounded old-world, as if he came from another time, another place. “I am here to fulfill your fantasies.”

“That doesn’t include leaving me hanging like you have been, right?” His breath teased her lips as she spoke. She should have been irritated, but somehow she wasn’t. “I certainly haven’t fantasized about that.”

Aedan stroked her naked body with his fingers as he kissed her. It was sweet, incredible, and she hungered for more. She grasped his cock and began stroking his erection as their tongues met and she tasted his unique flavor.

He hissed against her lips before drawing away. Moonlight spilled through her window and when he moved she saw his face clearly for the first time.

The man was gorgeous. And he had gold eyes. Not brown or amber or any shade in between. They were gold.

In a powerful sweep of his arms, he caught her in his embrace, forcing her to release his erection. She gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck as he stood.

She couldn’t tear her gaze from his golden eyes as he carried her to the braided rug and laid her on her back in front of the lifeless fireplace. Additional candles flickered to life around them and she widened her eyes in surprise. Yet at the same time it seemed as natural as the way he came to her every night.

Candlelight touched his features, casting dark shadows on the planes of his face. He settled beside her and she caught her breath as he trailed his finger over one of her nipples that tingled beneath his touch.

In her heart and soul, she knew it had been him all week. It had never been just a dream.

He was here, now, and real.

Hell, she did write about paranormal events. Anything could happen.

He started to lower his head to slip one of her nipples inside his warm mouth. It was all she could do to make herself stop him.

“Aedan.” She captured his face in her palms and it surprised her how smooth his skin was, no roughness from stubble. He paused and his golden eyes met hers and so many questions rose within her. She wanted to know more about the man who came to her each night.

He caught her wrists in one of his large hands, pulling her palms away from his cheeks. “What, sweet one?”

She squeezed her eyes shut then opened them to stare at him. “We need to talk.”

For a second he furrowed his brows and then his features relaxed. He gave her a dark, sexy look that made her want to forget about questions and answers and just melt into him. “I can think of much better things to do,” he said as he lowered his head and slipped her nipple into his warm mouth. At the same time he moved one of his thighs across hers and pressed his cock against her hip.

Something between a sigh and a moan escaped her before she tried to draw her wrists away from his grip. “I’m serious—” She cried out as he bit her nipple then whimpered when he moved his mouth to her other taut bud. “I can’t think—stop.”

Aedan raised his head and studied her. She felt his body heat, the firmness of his grip around her wrists, his thigh pinning hers. “What do you wish to discuss?”

She tugged her wrists and he released them. “You.”

Something dark flickered in his eyes and for a moment his sensual expression slipped away. But then he smiled again. He placed his hand on her belly, and his warmth seeped into her skin and spread throughout her.

Ericka took a deep breath. “How do you come here? How do you get into my condo?”

“You believe in the unbelievable, Ericka Roberts.” He traced her navel with his fingertip. “You tell me.”

She frowned. “That’s not an answer.”

With a casual shrug of one shoulder, he said, “I am who I am.”

This was going nowhere in a hurry. “Are you real?”

He pressed his erection tighter against her hip and brushed her brow with his lips as his scent of sandalwood and male swept over her. She wanted him to roll her onto her back and feel his body weighing hers down.

“Do you think I am real?” he murmured.

“Yes—I think so. Yes.” She tried to focus as he moved his mouth to her earlobe and gently nipped it. “But I need to know more.”

He bit her earlobe again before trailing his lips down her jawline. “And that would be?”

“Where you come from. Things about you.” She brought one of her hands up and placed her palm on his chest, forcing him to raise his head and meet her eyes. “Do you have any brothers or sisters? What about your mother, your father?”

Again that dark look flickered in his eyes, but vanished when he smiled. “I have many brothers and sisters. And my mother…she is different.”

He gave a low groan as she scraped her fingernails from his chest to his abs. “Different, how?”

“In ways I find difficult to explain.” He sighed. “She has much to attend to and I do not see her often.”

“Oh.” Her fingers neared his cock as she skimmed past his abs toward his groin. “At home in Seattle, my family is constantly around and my mother fusses over all of us. Sometimes I need to get away, you know?”

A soft look came over his features. “Yes.”

Her hand reached his erection and she wrapped her fingers around it, causing him to suck in his breath. Ericka smiled at the desire and strength rising within her. Power. She felt so much power over him and his desires. It was her turn to drive him crazy.

She pushed harder at his shoulder and he rolled onto his back at the same time he removed his thigh from where it had rested on hers.

Ericka moved off the braided rug and straddled him. “You will tell me more.” She gave him her naughtiest grin. “But not now.”

Before he could speak, she eased down his body so that she was between his thighs, her mouth brushing the soft skin of his erection.

Aedan groaned and tangled his fingers in her wavy hair. After all the teasing he had done, she was tempted to draw out his torture as long as possible. She ran her tongue along the length of his cock and cupped his balls with her free hand.

He gripped her hair tighter and raised his hips as she slipped her mouth over the head of his erection. He was so big and thick, and tasted salty and delicious.

Tenderness filled his voice when he said, “I want to see your beautiful eyes.”

Immediately she looked up and she wanted to melt right into that wonderful golden gaze.

Damnation, but the feel of Ericka’s mouth was incredible around him. She sucked as he raised his hips and slowly thrust in and out of her mouth. She gave just the right pressure that would please any man.

The thought enraged him. He clenched his fist tighter in her soft red hair and she whimpered. He wanted to be the only man to please her.

But then he realized once again that he wasn’t a man, that he would never be a human male. He was an Incubus, here to take this woman’s soul.

Only he found himself not wanting her soul—but her heart. Her innocence, her intelligence—everything that drew him to her again and again made him want her for so much more.

Gods, what am I thinking. Her heart?

His look must have been fierce because Ericka widened her eyes. He calmed his expression but gritted his teeth as he felt an orgasm rushing toward him with the power of an Underworld storm.

He thrust in and out a few more times and then jerked his cock out of her mouth just as he was about to reach orgasm. He held Ericka still, his hand fisted in her hair. Her lips were moist and his cock wet from her mouth.

He wanted to take her now, to fuck her hard and fast until they both reached climax.

But his nightly visits had been to prepare her for this moment.

Time to take her…and take her soul.

Aedan shifted beside Ericka on the braided rug as he drew her up from between his thighs so that she lay beside him. She sighed as he kissed her and slipped his tongue into her mouth. She tasted his wild male flavor, and his scent of sandalwood and sex filled her senses.

When he drew away he smiled and her heart nearly stopped beating. “Your beauty is beyond compare, Ericka Roberts.”

She started to return his smile but instead frowned as a thought occurred to her. “How do you know my name?”

“I know much about you, sweet one.” He brought one of his hands between them and drew a line from between her breasts to her belly button. “You have a large family whom you love very much. You write about Otherworldly realms and all that is paranormal.” Aedan pressed a kiss to her forehead before he moved his lips to her ear and whispered, “What less would you expect of your dream lover?”

He had her there.

Any other thoughts she might have had escaped her as he cupped her mound with one hand while skimming the curve of her neck with his lips and tongue. He slipped his finger into her slick folds and she whimpered.

Slowly, so slowly, he eased down her body, licking, tasting, sucking. His tongue left a wet path over her collarbone then up the rise of her breast to her nipple. When he latched onto the taut nub, Ericka cried out and arched her back. His long dark hair brushed her skin in a silken caress as he moved his mouth to her other nipple.

Ericka’s mind spun and she was beyond words as he thrust two fingers into her core and pumped them at the same time. She clenched her hands in his hair and squirmed as she rode his fingers while he pounded them in and out of her.

When he had eased himself down her body so that his head was between her thighs, Ericka could barely breathe. Blood rushed in her ears as his breath stirred the curls of her mound.

Ericka let out a cry as he swiped his tongue from the sensitive place between her anus and folds, all the way up. His hair felt silken between her thighs as he moved his head and drove his fingers in and out of her.

The intensity of his licking and sucking was almost too much to bear. So much, so much, so much! She had to climax. She was so close to orgasm she could almost scream.

She parted her lips with a louder moan while he continued to delve into her folds. Tingling sensations ran rampant in her body, and her mind spun with desire.

Just when she thought she was going to lose control, he stopped.

“Aedan!” she shouted and looked down at him. She felt dizzy, lightheaded, and had to have an orgasm so badly she was almost insane with it. “Don’t stop. Please.”

Tears stung the backs of her eyes from the incredible need to climax. Aedan raised his head at the same time she looked down and she saw a spark in his gold eyes. He was so good-looking, so masculine, so powerful, his muscles flexing with every movement he made. Her breathing grew harsher and her heart thundered as she stared at Aedan’s starkly handsome face. Her dark lover.

Always she’d thought of him as her demon lover, the way he came in the night and left her sweating and wanting. Was he going to leave her aching for fulfillment—even more so than before?

Not this time! Not this time. He can’t do it to me again.

Aedan smiled, an incredibly sexy smile that caused more tingling and wetness between her thighs.

He lowered his head and swiped her folds again with his tongue. She gasped as he began pounding his fingers in and out of her core again.

This time it seemed like her head was going to float away and only the heat and ache in her body kept her grounded. What he was doing to her was more than she could bear. Her body trembled. She was so close to losing total control.

She couldn’t think past what she was feeling. The edge of an orgasm so powerful rushed toward her—it was like she was burning in white-hot fire.

Oh, God, she needed to climax and climax now.

He stopped.

For a moment Ericka was disoriented, ripped away from the peak she had almost fallen over.

“Don’t stop,” she begged again. Perspiration coated her skin and her hair was damp against her scalp. She squirmed as he slipped his fingers out of her core. “Don’t do this to me.”

A predatory smile crept over his face. He rose up between her thighs and placed his cock at the opening of her core and nudged it enough to make her gasp. She held her breath, waiting for that moment of penetration that would bring her fulfillment. For days she’d prepared for this. He would finally be inside of her.

Aedan’s gaze caught hers and for a moment it was like he had cast a spell over her. Ericka’s body was still on fire but suddenly she felt suspended in time. Waiting. Wanting.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, then stopped. Again he started, then closed his mouth.

His expression changed to one of anger. “She’s not ready yet,” he growled, like he was talking to himself.

The spell fell away. “I’m ready!” Ericka squirmed, wondering what in the hell he meant.

He shook his head. “Not yet.” Ericka cried out as he moved away and rested on his haunches.

Tears flowed freely down her face. She rose so that she was sitting up and pounded her fists on his rock-hard chest. “You can’t do this to me!”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I am sorry.”

Frustration and fury tore through Ericka. “You bastard.” She slapped him as hard as she could.

Aedan’s head snapped to the side, and then he looked directly at her. She flinched when he put his fingers to her forehead.

Relaxation flowed through her, taking the edge off her need to climax. Not entirely, but enough that she didn’t think she was going to die if she didn’t have an orgasm.

Aedan drew Ericka into his embrace. She collapsed against his chest, her arms around his neck. And she cried. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak as Aedan rose to his feet and carried her toward her bed.

He laid her gently on the mattress and she stared up at him. The bedsprings creaked beneath his weight as he sat next to her. He stroked her hair from her face and he wore an odd expression. Regret? Sadness? Longing?

She didn’t care. This time she was pissed.

“Damn you.” She pushed herself up in her bed and shoved him away. “Why are you doing this to me?”

He shook his head. “It is difficult to explain.”

“What?” Ericka nearly smacked him again. “How can it be difficult for you to not give me a damn orgasm?”

“It is time for me to go.” He cupped her face and ran his thumb across her cheek. “I am sorry.”

She knocked his hands away and stared into his eyes. “Tell me who you really are. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing, sweet one.” He brushed his fingertips over her forehead and closed his eyes, the gold of them lost to her for a moment. “Be at ease.”

He opened his eyes and Ericka felt a little dizzy as he lowered her fully onto her back and drew a quilt to her shoulders. She needed to climax, she knew it. Yet the intensity she’d experienced moments ago faded a bit.

He kissed her cheek. “Sleep. I will return.”

Ericka’s eyelids drooped. She didn’t have the strength to fight off his kiss or tell him to go to hell. She was too limp, too exhausted.

She tumbled into a world of crazy, crazy dreams.

CHAPTER 3

AEDAN NARROWED HIS BROWS AS HE TURNED AWAY from Ericka, walked through the veil and the archway. What in the Underworlds had he been thinking? At that moment, when she’d been so close to orgasm, when he could have taken her, she would have given him anything. Even though she wouldn’t have realized what she was giving up, she would have said the words. He had sensed it, known it.

And he hadn’t asked her for her soul.

He half expected the guides to the Realm of the Dead to be waiting for him.

Instead, Kyne and Jett were.

“What the fuck was that about?” Kyne shouted, his gold eyes blazing. His muscles tightened as he clenched his fists at his sides. “You had her. She would have turned over her soul without thinking twice.”

“She wasn’t ready.” With a thought, Aedan dressed himself in a toga then tried to shoulder his way past Kyne and Jett, but both stepped in front of him.

“Are you out of your mind?” Jett was as loud as Kyne had been. She tossed her long black hair over her shoulder. “By all that crawls the Realm of the Dead, she was ready.”

“You are much too close to this one.” Kyne folded his arms across his chest, his look fierce. “Errol or I should finish it.”

“You hold no power over me.” Heat washed over Aedan and he scowled at Kyne. “This is my assignment and I will complete it. Neither you nor Errol will touch her.”

I will save her from you, whispered his mind. And from myself, too.

“You are coming with us.” Jett took him by his upper arm and tugged, her fingers pressing into his flesh.

He stood firm. “I am retiring to my quarters.”

“No,” Kyne said. “First we have something you must see.”

A low rumble rose within Aedan. “If it will get you to leave me in peace.”

Jett studied him. “That will be for you to decide.”

Aedan growled again, but walked between Jett and Kyne from the Chamber of Veils into the Hall of the Lost. The floor was cool and smooth beneath his bare feet, the silence thick and heavy between the three of them.

The vast hall stretched endlessly, yet it wasn’t long before they reached a chamber that Aedan had always avoided. It was the Chamber of Futures, and he had never desired to see what lay in store for him. His future would be whatever he made of it. He merely had to make the choice.

To pacify his companions, he allowed Kyne and Jett to shove him into the room. They could not enter, as only the being who wished to see his or her future was allowed.

His throat tightened as he walked into the darkened passageway of a cave. Rough rock walls surrounded him, sharp stones pricked his soles, and smells of dust and age filled his nostrils. It was akin to a holy place, had they not been demons.

He turned a corner and came to a stop in the doorway of a small, round chamber. The walls were white and as smooth as polished marble. On the floor at the center of the room was a circular mosaic depicting the gods and goddesses of the four elements—fire, wind, earth, water.

Four figures intertwined. The god of earth was at the top of the circle, north, and he bore a green seedling in his palms.

The goddess of wind was to the east, her red hair flowing in a breeze and a bird perched on her shoulder.

At the base of the circle, south, was the god of fire. He held both hands up to either side of him, a flame in each palm.

And then on the west side of the circle was the likeness of the goddess of water, who tipped her head back as rain fell upon her face. Belisma, his mother.

Aedan sucked in his breath and stepped into the center of the mosaic. Immediately, sensations of cool earth beneath his feet warred with sudden heat warming his legs. A breeze raised his hair from his shoulders and flattened his tunic to his body. It felt as if the welcome caress of water wrapped around him.

His skin tingled as he stared at the smooth, white wall. He forced himself to breathe as he waited for his future to be shown to him.

For a moment, nothing. Then the entire room vanished.

He stood on a sandy beach looking out at the ocean. Sunshine warmed his body—a strange sensation. He was an Incubus, never allowed in the sunlight, always relegated to the dark.

Annwn. I must be in the afterlife where my kind go if the gods and goddesses are pleased.

The tightness in his throat increased and his heart pounded in time with the waves against the sand. Of course he would be sent to a place near water. But this…he had not expected such beauty, such vastness.

A cry from a sea bird mingled with the roar of the ocean. The scent of salt was heavy enough that he even tasted it on his tongue. To either side of him grew thick green foliage that hugged the small cove.

For the first time in all his centuries of being, he felt alive and free. Free of the constraints of serving the gods and goddesses, and alive with possibilities.

In one moment, he felt joy.

In the next, terror.

Light and joy vanished.

Aedan shouted as he was enveloped in flame, the pain so deep and constant it was as if the flesh was charred from his bones. Bursts of fire lit the darkness while bubbling pools of lava lapped at his feet like the ocean waves had when he had stood on the shore.

With every splash of lava against his ankles and calves, Aedan wanted to cry out. But he ground his teeth and held it in as he searched for some way out of this version of the human hell—

The Realm of the Dead.

Sweat rolled down his face and arms but quickly dried in the searing heat. Shrieks, cries, and sobs of other beings in the realm echoed from sharp and sheer volcanic rock. He could make out figures now. Men, women. No doubt some he had sent here himself.

Dear gods and goddesses.

A wave of heat slammed into him, forcing him to drop to his knees in a lava pool. Aedan gave another shout.

Everything vanished.

He was in the Chamber of Futures again, but on his knees.

Aedan’s breathing came hard and fast and in his mind’s eye he could still see the flames and the tortured souls. His tunic was now damp with his sweat and clung to his body.

When the beating of his heart slowed and his breathing calmed, he stood and straightened to his full height.

His choices had been laid out before him.

Annwn, or the Realm of the Dead.

His choice.

Robbing Ericka Roberts of her soul was the key.

Aedan clenched his fists at his sides and strode from the chamber, nearly running into Jett and Kyne when he entered the Hall of the Lost.

Without speaking to either of them, he turned and headed away from the pair who remained silent.

He needed…he needed his quarters. The stone, the water. He needed to think.

When he reached his quarters, he slammed the door, raked his fingers through his hair again, and looked up at the starry sky. “Gods and goddesses, what is happening?”

A sigh and a breeze whirled through his chamber and he turned to face the direction it came from. Like the reflection of water on a pond, his mother, Belisma, appeared before him along with her scent of fresh water and moss. The goddess of water was as beautiful as a crystal waterfall tumbling into the River of Life.

Surprise sent a jolt down his spine that Belisma had answered his cry. He knelt before the blond, golden-eyed goddess, and kept his head lowered.

“Rise, Aedan of the Incubae.” Her voice even sounded like water trickling over rocks.

When his eyes met hers, the beautiful goddess did not smile. “This has never been a battle for the human’s soul, my son. It is a battle for yours.”

Aedan’s mouth wouldn’t open as he stared at the water goddess. Before he had a chance for her response to register and to ask her what in the Underworlds she meant, Belisma wavered like the ripples from a stone tossed in a pond, and then she was gone.

“What the fuck?” This time he scrubbed both hands through his hair. “What the fuck did she mean, my soul?”

He was Incubae. He was a creation of the gods and goddesses. He didn’t have a soul.

He had heard stories in childhood, of demons granted reprieve from their soulless state, usually at the whim of some god—but he had never known that to happen in modern times.

Aedan shook his head and stared around his room. It was no surprise Belisma had been the one to answer his cry since she was his mother. But why the cryptic message?

My soul?

He stalked from one end of his large chamber to the other. The sound of the waterfall in the corner made a rushing sound like the blood in his ears.

It was well past his time of resting before he could lie down and attempt sleep.

Utterly exhausted, Ericka rolled out of bed, got to her feet, and stretched. Cool morning air drifted from the window over her bare skin.

Vivid images flashed through Ericka’s mind and crashed down on her. Her knees gave out and the bedsprings creaked as she dropped onto the bed. She blinked and rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. The dream rushed toward her—only it didn’t feel like a dream.

It felt like a memory.

Everything tumbled through her at once. She sucked in a deep breath and gripped her sheets in her fists.

Aedan. His name was Aedan. With every fiber of her being she knew he was real, a dream lover brought to life. He’d truly been coming to her every night.

But he’d done it again. He’d brought her to the peak and hadn’t let her climax.

She ground her teeth and clenched her fists tighter.

Bastard.

Would he come back tonight? If he did, she’d give him a piece of her mind. And she’d let him have it with her fists, this time. Or a well-placed knee to the balls.

Until last night she hadn’t thought he was real. Not truly. Well, maybe. He’d been a phantom, there but not there.

But he’s oh-so-real.

Ericka rubbed her temples with the heels of her palms. He was real. Real. But where did he come from? What about the disappearing act? Was she going crazy?

She pushed to her feet even though her legs trembled. She headed for the shower and wondered how the hell she was going to get any writing done today.

With a sigh, Ericka plopped on the bright patchwork couch in her living room, a heavy book in her lap. The book contained extensive accounts of people who believed they had been visited by Incubae or Succubae.

It was twilight, so she flicked on the antique lamp on the end table beside the couch. As the day had passed, Ericka felt like she was caught in a dream. Everything was so surreal, as if she was experiencing life outside her body. No matter what she tried, her mind wouldn’t stray from last night, and every other night Aedan had come to her.

She’d finally given up trying to write and put away her laptop and research books, with the exception of the book spread open in her lap now.

Ericka crossed her legs on the couch as she began to read. At first, her focus wasn’t so hot, but as she read, she fell deeper into the stories of countless people.

Some were nothing like what she’d experienced. But when she ran across one by a woman in Idaho, her heart started pounding against her breastbone. A man visited me, the woman had said. He had a perfect, muscular body, long dark hair…and gold eyes.

A wash of heat flowed over Ericka at the thought of another woman being with Aedan. The rush of jealousy surprised her and made her grind her teeth.

It had to be him.

The sex. Dear God. The woman, Betty something, claimed the man denied her an orgasm each night and would vanish before she climaxed.

Finally, when she made the promise he demanded, he brought her to completion.

He never returned.

What had Betty promised?

Ericka’s hands shook as she held the book, her gaze slowly moving down to the end of the woman’s story. Her heart lodged in her throat.

My soul, Betty said in the interview. I promised him my soul.

Ericka’s heart dropped from her throat to the pit of her stomach and she almost doubled over, feeling as if she might throw up. Sweat broke out on her skin and her body went from hot to cold, hot to cold.

It took long moments, but the sickness in her belly finally eased and her heartbeat slowed. When she collected herself, she took a deep breath and straightened, resting her back against the couch.

Aedan truly was a demon. An Incubus who had come to take her soul.

What he said last night suddenly made sense.

She’s not ready yet.

But she would have done it. That sick feeling weighted her belly again. All he’d had to do was ask, and she would have said yes without realizing what she was doing.

Ericka closed the book and set it aside on the couch as she stared at the window across the living room. The sheer curtains stirred. It was already dark and soon it would be time to go to bed.

Did she dare? Or should she pack her belongings into her SUV and drive through the night back to Seattle?

She rubbed her sweaty palms on her shorts and swallowed hard. No, she wasn’t going to run. She was prepared, armed with the truth. She and Aedan had some unfinished business.

And no way in hell was he getting her soul.

Aedan stood at the veil between him and the Earth Otherworld. He watched Ericka pace as she glanced at her bed every now and then. Candlelight from the many candleholders around her room flickered and caused shadows to dance along the walls. A fat blue candle burned on her nightstand and he caught the scent of blueberries along with her vanilla scent.

She chewed on one of her nails while carrying a glass of red wine in her other. Every so often she would take a sip, before returning to pacing and chewing on her fingernail.

Instead of being naked, she wore a short, sheer gown. It didn’t hide a lot, but the meaning was clear. She was placing a barrier between them. No doubt because he had denied her again last night.

At the thought, his heart ached. He didn’t want anything between them.

It was well into the night when Ericka settled on her bed and put the now-empty wine glass on the nightstand. She remained sitting, her back propped against the pillows she’d stacked in front of the headboard. Her eyelids drooped despite her obvious efforts to keep her eyes wide open. She jerked awake a couple of times, then slid into an exhausted sleep.

Aedan almost hated to wake Ericka, but the need to be near her was so great he couldn’t stay away.

He wished away his tunic with his magic, then stepped through the veil.

CHAPTER 4

WALKING THROUGH THE VEIL WAS LIKE STEPPING inside gel, a sticky, gooey sensation. Aedan’s feet met the bedroom’s carpet and he was free of the veil. It was always behind him, but was not something a human could see.

When he reached Ericka, he watched her sleep. What did she have to do with Belisma’s baffling message about his soul? His body tightened with frustration. Then he forced himself to relax, to push thoughts of Belisma away, and concentrate on Ericka.

She took deep, even breaths but her forehead was crinkled as if concerned. As always, her red hair fell in a mass about her face, down to her slim shoulders.

The almost-sheer blue nightgown allowed him glimpses of her nipples and areolas. Seeing her nipples along with the hint of the patch of hair on her mound caused his cock to harden even more than it had while he watched her through the veil.

Aedan settled beside her on the bed, trying to ease down slowly enough that the springs didn’t whine. With the back of his hand, he brushed a curl from her cheek and she made a soft sound and turned her face toward his touch.

He slipped his fingers from her cheek into her hair as he lowered his mouth to hers. He heard her soft breathing and even the pounding of her heart.

Gods and goddesses, when his lips touched hers, fire raced through his body and straight toward his erection. She sighed and he slipped his tongue into her mouth and tasted her sweet womanly flavor along with the hint of the wine she’d been drinking.

Ericka moaned and returned his kiss. He didn’t know if she was awake yet, but her body responded to him. The scent of her musk grew stronger the deeper their kiss became.

Aedan placed his palm over one of her breasts, feeling the hard nipple poking through the fabric. He squeezed and she moaned louder then slipped her arms around his neck and nibbled at his bottom lip.

It was his turn to groan. He drew away to see her beautiful blue eyes open. Her lips were parted and moist, and she ran her tongue along her bottom lip.

“I knew you’d come.” Her voice was husky, yet had a slight edge to it. “But I didn’t know if I wanted you to.”

“Why not?” He began rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, and she groaned.

Ericka looked into his eyes. Something flickered in her gaze, but she said nothing. He tried not to frown at not being able to read her expression.

Instead, he let it pass, slid onto the bed, and she scooted over to let him recline beside her. She moved so that they were both lying down, facing one another. He traced the line of her body with his fingers, from her shoulder, to her waist, to her hip. Her warm vanilla scent and her woman’s musk filled his senses.

As an Incubus, he didn’t need light to see in darkness. But the candlelight touching her features made her seem softer and more vulnerable.

An Incubus. Why couldn’t he be a man? At this moment, more than anything he wished he could stay with her forever. To wake with her when the first rays of sunlight peeked through the windows, and to walk with her in the sunshine. By the gods and goddesses, if he did have a spirit-essence, he would offer it to her.

His gut twisted and ached as he thought about his vision of Annwn and the beach that would be his home, as long as he took Ericka’s soul.

The alternative—the constant feeling of being burned alive in the Realm of the Dead. If he didn’t take her soul that would be his future.

If he did take her soul, the Realm of the Dead would be Ericka’s fate.

Ericka didn’t pull away when Aedan touched her face with his hand. How could he make her feel this way, make her want him even more, when she knew exactly what he was?

This very moment she should push him away, tell him to not come back. Giving away her soul was not an option.

God, he was good. Playing the part so well that she could almost believe he cared. Becky, Betty, whoever she was, hadn’t mentioned that. Just the incredible sex, and then his vanishing act when she gave him what he wanted.

Her soul.

Ericka shivered as Aedan trailed his thumb over her lips and across her cheek. A thrill stirred in her belly and between her thighs, and her nipples pressed against the sheer nightgown. His eyes darkened to a deeper gold and his jaw tightened as he slipped his fingers into her hair and started to draw her to him at the same time he moved his lips toward hers.

What was wrong with playing along and getting what she wanted from him?

And wouldn’t this go over well in one of my books? My own experiences with an Incubus?

His lips brushed hers. She groaned and wrapped her arms around his neck. She couldn’t stop herself. His kiss was so exquisite she could think of nothing but him.

Aedan moved his lips from hers, licking a path to her ear. He nipped at her earlobe, causing her to squirm with desire. “What can I do for you, Ericka?”

Her face screwed in a frown. “I’m not having sex with you in any way if you’re going to leave before I climax.” She drew away and darkened her frown. “I mean it.”

He raised his head and grinned. “Perhaps I should tie you up and—”

Ericka slugged him in the shoulder. “You’re getting nothing unless I get an iron-clad promise from you. Sex with an orgasm to end all orgasms.”

He smiled, an almost sad, wistful smile.

With the aid of the candlelight, she studied his strong features and body. He was fit, not an ounce of fat on him. She loved his muscular thighs and tight ass, not to mention his good-sized erection—she wanted to push him on his back and straddle him. He was breathtaking with his long dark hair and golden gaze.

She reached between them and stroked his cock. “You have amazing eyes.”

He grasped the bottom of her nightgown. “All my people have eyes of gold or silver.”

Yeah. I know.

Any thoughts of further conversation vanished as he pushed up her sheer nightgown. It was the only one she had brought with her to the condo. She’d intended on refusing Aedan tonight. But she couldn’t refuse him. Anything.

Dear God, she was falling for an Incubus.

Am I losing my mind?

Ericka pushed away the thoughts and wriggled to help him pull the nightgown over her head and drop it on the floor.

Aedan hooked his thigh over her hip, and in a thoroughly possessive movement he brought her tight to him, flattening her breasts, and making her nipples ache more.

He rained kisses over her face. “I want to see you spread out wide for me. Only me.”

Ericka’s breath caught and her belly fluttered.

His gaze fixed on hers. “For this night you will have everything I can give you.”

A lump rose in her throat at the thought that he probably wouldn’t be back after she told him what she knew…and that he would never get her soul.

“What would you give me?” She swallowed back thoughts of him never returning. “Would you give me anything I asked of you?”

Aedan jerked back a little as if surprised at the way she’d turned the tables on him.

“Anything,” he said softly. “If you wanted my very soul, I would give it to you.”

“Your soul,” she repeated. But he was an Incubus. He didn’t have a soul, so his promise was empty. He stirred against her, the heat of his body making her mind spin with lust. She let her body take over her thought process again. “How about an orgasm instead?”

A slow, sensual smile curved the corners of his mouth. “I will make certain of it.”

She touched the side of his face and stroked his black hair. “Promise to let me climax this time.”

“You have my word.” He kissed the corner of her mouth and palmed one of her breasts. “You will have an orgasm like you’ve never had before.” He brushed his lips over hers and she sighed into his mouth.

“Yes,” she whispered, almost without thought. She craved him. Her body craved him. Everything about her needed him.

When he drew away his smile was devastating.

Ericka’s heart beat faster.

He trailed his fingertips over her breasts, and her nipples tightened and ached. “Do you know how beautiful you are?”

“You are.” She stared into his golden eyes. “No wonder women can’t refuse you.”

At first Aedan frowned, but then appeared to ignore what she’d said about other women. He moved and spread her thighs wide with his palms as he knelt between them. A yellow scarf appeared in his hand.

“Er, what do you intend to do with that?” She fixed her gaze on the scarf.

His grin was absolutely wicked.

He trailed the yellow scarf up one of her thighs and then through her folds. Intense sensations swirled through her. He continued to make his way up her body until he reached her face. She caught the scent of her musk on the scarf.

The bed dipped as he moved and he brushed his lips over her cheekbone. “Gods and goddesses you look so perfect,” he murmured.

He took the scarf and continued to trail it over her body in a feather-light caress. Goosebumps rose on her skin and she shivered.

Every caress made her want to shout out in ecstasy. In his unusual accent, he spoke softly in a language she didn’t understand, which made her hotter yet.

She needed him inside her so bad she wanted to scream.

“Soon, love,” he murmured, as if hearing her thoughts. “I will fuck you. Hard. Fast. Deep. The way you beg me for it.”

Aedan began licking her body, from her toes to the arch of her foot and the inside of her ankle. She trembled as he licked and sucked his way up her calf and made her shudder with desire when he flicked his tongue against the skin at the back of her knee. So damn slow, he made his path up to that sensitive spot between her folds and her thigh and she arched her back.

He blew his warm breath on her, then the bastard moved down to her opposite foot and began taking a lazy trail up that leg, just like he’d done with her other.

Ericka thought she’d die or go crazy. The man was driving her mad. She trembled, needing him to do something. Lick her or take her—right now she didn’t care. She just needed to climax.

When he reached her folds again, she held her breath. But no, he moved up her belly. He dipped his tongue into her navel and it sent shockwaves straight to her core. He continued higher until he reached the spot between her breasts. He had to feel how hard her heart was beating.

She made a combination sigh and groan when his mouth latched onto her nipple. It was still sensitive from last night when he’d pinched it, and that made his attention to it all the more erotic. He sucked her other nipple and the wetness of his tongue made her squirm.

“So anxious.” He moved so that his chest brushed her nipples. “Do you wish for me to take you now?”

“Yes!” Ericka nodded in fast, jerky movements. She was so wet. So ready. And she wanted him so bad.

Aedan groaned and he teased the entrance to her core with his erection. He brushed his lips across her cheek. “I do not think I can wait any longer either, my love.”

My love? repeated in Ericka’s mind a second before he slammed his cock inside her.

This time Ericka did scream. She tossed her head from side to side as he drove in and out of her like he’d promised. Hard. Fast. Deep.

His balls slapped against her, and his chest rubbed her nipples. Her whole body was alive. On fire. She was burning. His sweat-slicked skin moved against hers and she smelled sandalwood and sex.

The way he filled her—she couldn’t begin to describe it. He stretched her, reached deep inside her.

A climax built and built until it spiraled and spiraled, like she was spinning toward some distant peak in her mind.

If he left her hanging now, she’d kill him.

Could a person kill an Incubus?

She’d sure as hell find out if he left her hanging.

The thoughts vanished as he kept thrusting into her, taking her like she’d never been taken before.

Her body shook as his hips pistoned between her thighs. His chest rubbed her nipples even harder. She’d give anything to finally have an orgasm with Aedan.

Not her soul, though, not her soul.

He jerked and fell out of rhythm and paused, his breathing harsh.

Ericka cried out with anger and frustration.

Then he started driving into her harder than ever. Hard, hard, harder!

Oh, God, she was almost there, almost there, almost there—

“Come for me, Ericka,” was all Aedan said.

Behind her eyelids, Ericka saw pure white as if her world had just gone supernova.

She screamed.

She couldn’t think past what she was feeling. White-hot fire exploded from inside her. Aedan continued to slam into her. Tears rolled down her cheeks from the exquisite sensations.

Ericka soared to places she hadn’t been to, ever. He kept driving into her relentlessly.

His golden eyes glowed and the sight made her core clamp down on his cock even more.

“Aedan,” she cried. “Please. God, please.”

She didn’t even know what she was begging for. He’d given her the most powerful orgasm of her life. What did she want now?

His look was intense, sweat dripping down the side of his face.

Her spasms went on until they faded, then started to build up again. “Come, Ericka,” he said. “I want to see your eyes when you climax again.”

She hadn’t thought another orgasm could be even more intense than the last one. But it was. It was almost too intense. Her whole body shook and she cried his name over and over again.

A few more thrusts and he shouted as he climaxed. The throb of his cock inside her made her contractions continue on way past the point she was certain she couldn’t take anymore.

Apparently she could.

Aedan rolled her in his arms and held her tight. “I wish I never had to let you go,” he said, his voice shaking. “I never want to let you go.”

CHAPTER 5

THE PAIN IN AEDAN’S VOICE AND WHAT HE’D SAID sent Ericka’s mind reeling. She stiffened in his arms.

Something was wrong. Had he taken her soul without her permission? Her heart beat faster and her throat grew too dry to speak.

He lifted his head and fear rose in a heated rush when she saw his tortured expression. He pressed his lips to her forehead, then rolled onto his side so they faced each other and she was in his arms.

He didn’t. He couldn’t have stolen my soul.

Ericka forced herself to take a deep breath. Don’t panic. Don’t panic.

“Most likely you will hate me when I tell you the truth.” Aedan brushed her hair from her forehead as her heart pounded harder. “I am not what you think I am.” His golden gaze was so intense she couldn’t say anything. “I am Incubae, and I was sent to take your soul.”

More heat prickled her skin and a slight dizziness overcame her. She opened her mouth, but he placed two fingers over her lips, not allowing her to speak.

“However, I will not take anything from you.” His features relaxed and he gave her a sad smile. “Your soul is your own. I only wish I could share your life. That would be my greatest dream.”

Relief whooshed through her and she relaxed against her pillow. He hadn’t taken her soul.

Then she realized what he’d said about sharing his life with her and a strange feeling settled in her belly.

“Aedan,” she tried to say behind his fingers, but he pressed them harder to her lips. Smells of sandalwood and sex mingled with the vanilla-scented candles.

“I must go.” He sighed. “I cannot return.”

Ericka’s eyes widened. “What—you have to come back.”

He moved his fingers and pressed his lips to hers. “I hope you will remember and think well of me.”

He started to move away from her when she grabbed hold of his hand. “Wait.” She clenched his fingers tight. “I already figured out you’re an Incubus. I won’t give you my soul, but I don’t want you to stop coming.” An ache grew tighter in her chest. “Please.”

Aedan gave another melancholy smile. “It is not my choice. I answer to the gods and goddesses and I must face my destiny.”

“What is it?” Her hand started to tremble, but she didn’t let go of his. “Your destiny.”

He stared at her for a long time and she tried to imagine never looking into his golden eyes again. “The Realm of the Dead.”

Ericka caught her breath. In her research books that place was a version of Hell. Where one burned for eternity. “No.” She shook her head as she tried to unscramble her thoughts, attempting to remember more of her research. “Isn’t there another place, a good place? An—An—”

“Annwn.” He gently took her hand from his and eased off the bed as she sat and faced him. “But I have failed in my last mission and my fate does not lie there any longer.”

“Stay, Aedan.” Her whole body felt like she was going to shatter. “Stay with me.” She knew her words were crazy. He was a demon. A demon.

“I have grown to love you.” He stroked her cheek with his fingertips. “Thoughts of you will carry me through my destiny.”

Tears burned in her eyes and she felt like she had already started breaking apart. He moved away from her and she scrambled out of bed and tried to follow him. “Wait!” Panic laced her voice. “Isn’t there something we can do?”

Aedan gave her an intense look of longing before cupping her cheeks with his hands and brushing his lips over hers. He whispered, “I love you, Ericka.”

The unreality of it all made her mind spin. “Aedan, please!” She tried to grab his arm to stop him.

He vanished.

“No, no, no.” She held her palm over her mouth as tears burned her eyes and her body shook. “That can’t be it,” she said as she let her hand drop away. “I won’t let it!”

Ericka grabbed her robe that was draped over a chair. She wrapped herself in it before running to the living room straight for her mountain of research books. There had to be a way to save him.

Aedan knew the escorts would be waiting. Hideous demons wearing cloaks that rippled like fire. Aedan didn’t bother dressing himself with his thoughts. The clothing would simply burn away even though he would not.

Jett and Kyne stood to the side. Jett’s eyes were wide and fear was on her features. Kyne clenched his fist so tightly his muscles bunched. “Give him another chance.” Kyne’s voice had a rough edge to it as the guards took Aedan by his upper arms.

“I will miss you,” Aedan said to Jett and Kyne as the guards started to take him away. “May you find much happiness in Annwn when you should go.”

Jett choked back a sob. “Aedan, why? Why throw your life to the fires for a human?”

Aedan shook his head then stared forward as the guards escorted him from the Chamber of Veils.

During the long walk down the Hall of the Lost, Aedan’s heart grew heavier. He pushed aside his fear with thoughts of Ericka and smiled knowing she would be safe.

When they reached the doorway to the Realm of the Dead, heat blasted Aedan. He closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them before he and the demons stepped through the rock entryway and down steps leading to another archway. Flames singed his cheeks even before the guards pushed him into fire and lava.

Hours flew as Ericka flipped through pages of book after book after book that she had piled beside the couch. Something had to be here. Hadn’t she read or heard that an Incubus could be kept from facing such a horrible fate? Or was it merely her desperate desire to save him that made her imagine things that couldn’t be?

After Aedan left, she put on a pot of coffee and even had to brew another batch as she pored over the books. Her eyes burned, her vision swam, and she was so jittery she spilled a few drops of coffee onto her robe.

She set the cup down and picked up another book, held it in her palms, and stared at the worn cover. It was merely a book of very old tales of faeries, elves, demons, and other fables.

As she opened the book to the table of contents, she blinked the tiredness from her eyes. She glanced at the table of contents and noted the section on demon fables before rifling through the pages until she reached the first tale. Disappointment tore at her gut as she saw a picture of a stereotypical demon with a hideous face, horns, and a forked tail.

Ericka bit the inside of her cheek, trying for control. She didn’t have time for tears. She flipped the next page and the next. She came to an abrupt stop when a few words caught her eyes.

Annwn. Realm of the Dead.

Butterflies batted her belly and she forced herself to slow down and read the passages. Annwn a place of beauty, almost Heaven, but not quite. The Realm of the Dead—it was Hell.

The butterflies dropped like lead as she read descriptions of each place in the afterlife.

A section brought her to a complete stop.

Stolen souls are taken to the Realm of the Dead where they serve the god of Death.

Surprisingly, Incubae and Succubae do not face the fate of the Realm of the Dead unless they fail in the tasks set forth to them by the gods and goddesses.

The only known way for a demon to escape the Realm is for a human to voluntarily release half of his or her soul and offer it to the demon. By doing so, the human will bind himself or herself to the demon. Because the demon shares the human’s spiritual essence, the demon neither fails nor completes his assignment.

Ericka’s heart raced and she could barely breathe. Half of her soul. Was she willing to give that much to save Aedan?

She closed her eyes tight. Imagined all the times he’d come to her and the bond she’d felt between them. He had sacrificed his own future for hers.

Am I willing to do it for him?

Yes. Yes!

Ericka sucked in another breath and released it, her skin tingling from the magnitude of her decision. She slowed and read the ritual carefully. She no longer felt tired. Instead, her body buzzed with energy, and it wasn’t just the caffeine.

She’d need three white candles, a lock of her hair, and three flat, water-smoothed rocks. After she gathered all of her supplies, she’d need to make up some kind of rhyming chant that expressed her desire to share her soul with Aedan. That would be the hard part.

Still in her robe, she dashed out of the condo to the beach and combed the line of kelp for smooth rocks. The salty air was moist and humid and wind tugged at her robe as waves slapped the shore. Over and over in her mind she worked on the words for a chant.

The sun peeked over the horizon, the faint morning light just enough to see by. When she’d found the rocks, she hurried back into the condo and grabbed three candles from her bedroom, along with a black marker, a lighter, and a pair of scissors. Slightly out of breath from rushing, she knelt on the kitchen’s tiled floor as she snipped a lock of her hair, then lit the candles. She tossed the scissors aside, along with the lighter and they clattered across the floor.

She grabbed the marker. Her hand shook as she drew a circle on the kitchen tile, around herself and the items beside her.

Ericka eased onto her haunches and stared at the candles. The flames danced, almost mesmerizing her. She swallowed then picked up the lock of hair.

God, she hoped the chant would work.

As she draped a third of her hair over each flame, the strands hissed and curled as they caught fire. The smell of burning hair overpowered scents of the vanilla candles.

Her heart pounded in a harsh rhythm and she chanted as she placed the hair on the candle flames.

All my love and half my soul,

I give to Aedan the Incubae.

With that gift, I demand his return this day.

Free him now, to find his true fate.

Gods and goddesses, I claim him as my mate.

Forever halved, twins sharing a soul,

Heart to heart, we will both be whole.

Tears stung Ericka’s eyes as she placed the three smooth, flat stones, one at a time over each flame. She snuffed them with the rocks, pressing the wick into the melted wax and burned hair.

When she finished, a breeze immediately swept the room, lifting her hair from her shoulders. Goosebumps prickled her skin and butterflies skipped in her belly.

Everything around her wavered like she was looking through a window of water.

Ericka’s lips parted and her heart thundered as she got to her feet. A stone archway appeared and she couldn’t see the condo’s kitchen anymore. On the other side of the wavering air was an enormous room with lots of other archways.

She raised her hand. Instead of air, she touched a rubbery surface. She pushed—

And tumbled through the archway.

Ericka screamed when the sucking sensation grabbed hold of her and the condo vanished. The sensation of being engulfed in goo surrounded her before she stumbled out of it and dropped to her hands and knees on a polished marble floor.

If her heart didn’t stop beating so hard it was going to explode.

“What the hell?” she said as cool marble chilled her knees and hands.

She glanced up from the floor.

Someone was in front of her.

Ericka’s gaze slowly traveled up the blue-robed form until she met the golden eyes of a gorgeous blond woman. Her beauty was marred only by her hard expression.

“Rise.” The woman motioned with her hand for Ericka to stand. “I wish to see the woman who cost my son his future.”

Ericka’s cheeks burned as she got to her feet and stood eye-to-eye with the woman. “I never wanted Aedan to go to the Realm of the Dead.” She spoke so fast she stumbled over her words. “Don’t let him be taken. Please.” When she finished speaking she was clenching her hands so hard her nails dug into her palms.

“It is…too late.” The woman’s voice softened. “My son has been banished to the flames.”

“No.” Ericka shook her head as her mind began to reel. “No, he can’t be.” Heat flushed her as if she was in the fire as a vivid image of him burning alive seared her mind.

Something the woman had said clicked. “You’re Aedan’s mother?”

She inclined her head. “I am Belisma, the water goddess.”

“A-a goddess?” Ericka’s brain stuttered at Belisma’s statement. But she managed to grasp one obvious thread. “If you’re a goddess, can’t you save him?”

Belisma stepped closer to Ericka and raised her hand. The goddess’s fingertips were cool as she brushed them along Ericka’s cheek.

The goddess stared thoughtfully at Ericka as she stroked her fingers through Ericka’s wild red hair.

She wanted to scream and stomp her feet but instead she felt the power of the goddess’s hold and didn’t move.

Belisma let her hand fall away. “You have offered a great gift to my son. Perhaps only half your soul, but you have also given of your love.” The goddess nodded as if to herself.

She continued. “I believe my son has earned his peace and his reward. His choice to spare you and love you is a powerful thing. In the eyes of the universe he should be free of the Realm of the Dead by right and fairness.”

Ericka swallowed, hope welling up within her, but she said nothing.

The goddess now had a faraway look in her eyes. “I will call for a Council session.” Her gaze met Ericka’s again. “They may disagree. Nothing is certain. You both may be saved, or both condemned.”

“Condemned?” Ericka whispered.

“If the Council does not make this exception for Aedan, you could be forced to join him in the Realm of the Dead—if you indeed choose freely to give him half of your soul.” Belisma’s expression hardened again. “Are you willing to take that risk, as he was willing to send himself to the Realm to spare you such a fate?”

Ericka hesitated and closed her eyes. Would she choose an eternity of being burned alive and never seeing her family or friends again? Would she risk all of that to save Aedan?

The right and true answer came from deep within as she opened her eyes. “I will take that risk.”

The goddess inclined her head. “Wait in Aedan’s quarters while the Council makes its determination.”

“Thank you,” Ericka said just before her stomach dropped to her toes and the room spun.

She no longer stood on the marble floor.

Her feet touched down on grass. The dizziness vanished as she caught her balance and took in the chamber she’d been sent to. Aedan’s room.

The sense of the surreal accompanied her as she explored the chamber. A waterfall tumbled over stones in one corner of the room, adding the clean scent of water to the smells of grass and moss covering the rock walls.

She stepped past the large bed carved from rock that had a mattress in it.

Aedan sleeps here. This is where he comes when he leaves me.

No. Where he slept before…

She couldn’t even finish the thought. Only positive thoughts from here on out. The Council would rule in her and Aedan’s favor. She didn’t know what would happen next, but she wasn’t going to give up hope.

Ericka stopped in front of one of several pools around the room. Colorful fish glimmered in the water—some she was familiar with, like angelfish and Japanese koi. But others she didn’t remember seeing before. At the Rainforest Café, they had the coolest aquariums—

“I don’t believe it.” She tipped her head back to see a star-filled night sky above her. “Aedan’s burning alive right now, I’m in some strange Otherworld, and I’m thinking about fish.”

Ericka bit the inside of her cheek and glanced at the bed. Heart and soul heavy, she moved to the bed and perched on the edge of a straw-filled mattress. She stared at the wall across from her, tracing cracks in the stone with her gaze.

She’d made the right decision. No doubt about it. No matter what happened.

Right?

CHAPTER 6

AEDAN HAD NEVER KNOWN SUCH PAIN EXISTED. He could barely choke back screams from the never-ending sensation of his flesh burning away.

The demons had chained him to jagged volcanic rock. The iron manacles seared his flesh. He ground his teeth as boiling lava splashed his legs and blasts of flame singed his chest and face. Sweat immediately dried in the beyond-terrifying heat.

Screams, shrieks, and sobs echoed from every direction. His gut twisted at the thought that he was responsible for so many of the people who now spent an eternity here. Mafia bosses and gang leaders, murderers, psychopaths, rapists, thieves—those he didn’t regret as much as he did the innocents.

Had he ever been given a choice to do anything but take souls? No. He was what he was created to be, an Incubus who served the gods. Choice never entered his mind.

He had never given a second thought to what happened to the souls once he retrieved them—until Ericka.

Her name echoed in his mind and he tried to focus on her instead of the blistering pain. The fall of her red hair against her pillow, the intense blue of her eyes, the perfect feel of her thighs around his hips.

But more than that was all he had witnessed when he studied her before he began visiting her each night. Her love for her family, her dedication, her tenacity, her kindness, her joy.

Aedan couldn’t help fighting against his searing bonds, even though it did no good. Even the air he breathed burned his lungs as he kept his thoughts on Ericka.

He had never understood why he had been sent to her until now. It had been a test. A test he had failed.

Two demons appeared in front of Aedan. They unshackled him, grabbed him under his arms, and dragged him through great pools of lava. He couldn’t help a shout from the excruciating pain.

Surprise shot through him as the demons took him to the entrance to the Realm of the Dead and tossed him out of the flames and into the cool tunnel. His head struck rock and his mind spun, but relief from no longer being in the Realm was immediate. The memory of the pain still caused him to feel like his skin was burning, but it was slowly fading.

He stumbled as the demons took him under his arms again and forced him to his feet before prodding him to walk. “What—what is going on?”

No one ever left the Realm of the Dead.

The demons ignored Aedan and caught him when his legs gave out. They pulled him through the passageway and into the Hall of the Lost that now seemed chilly. He could barely focus as they dragged him along the cool marble floor.

His vision wavered and time lost meaning. Then the demons arrived at his chamber. More shock prickled his skin when the demons pushed open the door and shoved him into his quarters.

Aedan landed on his knees on the thick grass and rested his forehead in his palms. Trying to catch his breath as the demons slammed the door, he breathed in the sweet scent of grass and water and…vanilla?

“Aedan!”

He jerked his head up.

Ericka.

His mind could not process what he was seeing—Ericka rushing across the chamber to him. A hallucination, he thought until she reached him, dropped to her knees, and flung her arms around him.

He almost toppled from the force of her throwing herself against him, but he recovered enough to hold her tight.

“Oh, God.” Tears trickled down her cheeks and slid onto his chest. “Or gods or goddesses. Whoever brought you to me.”

Ericka’s words shocked him to his senses and he grabbed her by her upper arms. “What are you doing here?” he growled as he stared at her beautiful face. “Have they taken you? What have they done?”

“I’m okay.” She caressed his cheek as her blue eyes met his. “I came for you.”

“No.” He gripped her arms so tight she winced and he immediately relaxed his hold. “You will return. Where you will be safe.”

“I-I have something to tell you.” Ericka cleared her throat then words spilled from her lips. “I’ve told your gods and goddesses that I’m giving you half of my soul. And all my love.”

“Half of your soul?” Aedan’s whole body tensed. He could not have heard right. “Are you daft?”

“I realized you mean too much to me to let you go. And I couldn’t let you be sent there.” She hurried before he could say anything else. “Your Council…Belisma went to them to determine what will happen to both of us.”

“No. I will not allow you to suffer in any way.” He shook his head. “You will go home.”

Belisma appeared like the crest of a wave.

She spun into Aedan’s quarters with the grace and power of the rapids of a river.

Aedan refused to release Ericka to bow to the goddess.

“Rise, Aedan of the Incubae.” Belisma’s voice was surprisingly soft.

He eased to his feet, holding Ericka tight to him.

“The Council made its decision on your fate and Ericka’s,” Belisma said, no expression revealing whatever emotions she might have.

“Because a mortal has offered half of her soul to you, and because you have earned her unconditional love, you are spared the fate of the Realm of the Dead.” She smiled and added, “You will return to Ericka’s world and you will live as a mortal. You may walk in the daylight, take a wife, and reproduce.”

“He can come back with me?” Ericka’s voice was one of both disbelief and excitement.

“It is so.” Belisma’s gaze returned to meet Aedan’s. “You will be given what papers and human things you need to live in the mortal world. You will age and you will die and you will forget your life as an Incubus.

“Or,” Belisma continued, “you may go to Annwn and continue to live as an immortal. The choice is yours.”

Aedan had difficulty finding the right words as he looked at the beautiful woman still cradled against him. “If she will have me, I would choose to live a mortal’s life with Ericka.”

“What do you mean, if I’d have you?” Ericka turned and threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, Aedan. I’ll have you any way I can get you.”

She kissed him hard and hungry and he returned the kiss just as passionately. So much so that his thoughts spun and he heard only the pounding of their hearts.

Aedan jerked his eyes open and his head up when his feet no longer touched grass but smooth tile. It took a moment for him to realize they were in Ericka’s home. He almost laughed when he saw glass tanks now lining one wall—tanks filled with water and his collections of fish.

When he looked at Ericka, she was grinning and his smile widened.

“Your eyes are brown now, not gold.” Ericka stroked his cheek. “They’re beautiful.”

Aedan had nearly forgotten Belisma. He turned to see if she had accompanied them, but she hadn’t. Even the ever-present veil was gone.

For a moment he felt lightheaded and stumbled forward.

Ericka caught him by his shoulders, her expression concerned. “What’s wrong?”

He looked at her and this time he did laugh. “I think I’m feeling…human.”

“Wow,” she murmured. “My own demon lover.”

Aedan settled his hands on her hips. “Your human lover, you mean.”

Her expression grew serious. “I love you.”

Aedan took her face in his hands and kissed her hard. He separated his mouth from hers and whispered against her lips, “I love you, Ericka Roberts. For all of our years. I love you.”