Midnight's Master

Chapter 13

“ We’ve got a problem,” Colin announced as he stormed into McNeal’s office. “Our vic-uh, captain?”

Danny McNeal was standing close, too close, to Smith. And his hands were on her shoulders. And-

Sonofabitch. Had those two been making out? In the station?

Smith straightened her shoulders and pulled away from McNeal. “Right. That should be all you need to know about the Jamison case.”

The who?

McNeal nodded, the light gleaming on his completely bald head. “We’ll finish the briefing later.”

Aw, shit.

Did they think he was buying this crap?

Smith marched past him, held his gaze, and then gave him a quick wink.

His own eyes widened. Smith? Winking at him? For a very tense while there, the woman had all but ran whenever she saw him.

Maybe her visits with Emily were paying off .

Maybe she wasn’t so afraid of monsters anymore. Not that he blamed her, after the hell she’d lived through.

“Detective.”

Colin realized he was staring after Smith and that McNeal sounded pissed.

What else was new?

“Shut the door and tell me what the hell is goin’ on.”

Colin kicked the door closed with his heel. “Kim Went disappeared from her hospital room about twenty minutes ago.”

“Fuck.” McNeal dropped into his chair. “Willingly or-”

“Don’t know.” For her sake, he sure hoped the escape had been her idea.

The captain’s dark brows rose. “The press know?”

“Holly Storm was there when the cop on duty…ah…discovered Kim’s absence.”

“Of course she was.” A hard sigh. “Storm’s every-damn-where these days. If there’s a murder, her pretty face is right on the scene and she’s shoving a microphone at my cops.”

Yes, that was the general status quo for her.

“Get a team out. Start canvassing the area and get your ass over to Went’s house.”

A nod. Colin turned to go-

“Gyth, do me a favor.” McNeal’s voice. Quieter than he’d ever heard before.

Colin glanced back at him.

“Forget what you think you saw in this office, got me? Smith’s a lady, and I won’t have her being gossiped about by the cops in my division.”

The bastard cared about her. Colin wouldn’t have been more surprised if McNeal had shifted in front of him right then. “Ah, right captain.”

“I mean it, Gyth. Not one fuckin’ word. Or you-and your pretty-boy partner-will find your asses sitting desk duty for the next month.”

Colin rolled his shoulders. He really wasn’t the threat-taking type. “Smith’s not the kind of woman you can play around with.” No, Smith wasn’t about play. He knew because the lady reminded him a lot of his Doc. Same quick intelligence, same core of steel that had let both women survive nightmares.

“I’m not playin’.” Dead quiet. Deadly quiet. “Forget what you saw.”

“Don’t worry, captain. I’ve never been much for station gossip.” Not exactly big into fraternizing with the others. Brooks was close to him, but that was all. He couldn’t risk the other cops finding out his secret.

He reached for the doorknob.

“We both know Went won’t be at her house.”

Damn right, but checking was protocol.

“When you’re done, head over to Paradise. She’s one of Niol’s. He might have a lead on where you can find her.”

One of Niol’s? Now just how did the captain know that?

Colin wrenched the door open.

A low chuckle sounded behind him. “Storm’s not the only one with sources in this town.”

Niol met with three demons at Paradise. A woman with brown hair and gorgeous blond highlights, a man with tattoos over most of his body, and another guy in a perfectly pressed three-piece suit. Holly listened to Niol give them orders about Kim and she hoped they’d find the woman.

Alive.

When the demons cleared out, after sparing her more than a few curious glances, the silence in Paradise seemed deafening.

Alone with Niol.

If you knew the things I’d done, you wouldn’t let me touch you.

Holly figured they should probably talk. Try to clear the air more between them. There were too many secrets, on both sides. But as she stood there, her hands at her sides, her eyes on him, talking, well, that really wasn’t her priority.

“They’ll check back within the hour and let me know what they find.” He walked behind the bar. Poured a shot of whiskey.

He downed the liquid in one gulp. “Patience has an in with most of the demons in Atlanta. They all owe her or they want to fuck her. So if any of them know anything about your missing girl, they’ll tell her.”

They all owe her or they want to fuck her.

“Do you?” She asked quietly as her heels clicked across the floor. Being in Paradise now, it seemed surreal. No vampires. No witches.

Just them.

“Do I what?” His fingers were clenched tight around the glass.

“Want to fuck her?” That bitter taste in the back of her mouth was jealousy. Patience James was a looker. Could have passed for a succubus. Tall. Ballerina thin. Model pretty.

And a demon. A strong one, just like Niol.

“I already did.”

Her eyes narrowed. The glass in his hand shattered.

Niol blinked and looked down. “Damn, love, didn’t know you had that in you.”

Neither did she. Hell, had she really done that?

And how had she done it?

He shook his hand and shards of glass littered the bar top. “Guess this is the part where I say she meant nothing to me or some shit like that, huh?”

“Did she?”

A shrug. “I like Patience, always have. The woman’s cutthroat, but loyal.”

Not exactly a description of a one-night stand. “Then why aren’t you with her now?” Why are you with me?

He pressed his hands into the marble top, ignoring the broken glass. “Why aren’t you with that prick PhD?”

“Because the prick screwed around on me with some blonde looking for an easy A.” Her own hands fisted on her hips. “And while I’m not cutthroat, I am real big into loyalty.”

A grunt. “So you don’t want the asshole back?”

“No. No. I want-” Her lips pressed together. Maybe she’d better bite back that answer for the time being.

“What? What do you want?” He jumped over the counter. Jumped over it in one wild leap.

Okay. That was impressive.

Niol grabbed her arms and jerked her close. “What do you want?”

Too close. She could feel his breath brush over her face. Feel the hard edge of his flesh against her. The straining ridge of his arousal jutting against her hip.

And his eyes…she could see herself in those eyes. A desperate reflection.

But she wasn’t the only desperate one. She could see that in his eyes, too.

“Who do you want?”

“You.” Asshole. Demon. Niol.

The devil with the heart he fought to keep hidden. But she was learning the truth about him. One slow moment at a time.

“And I fucking want you.” He kissed her. With lips and tongue. With hands stroking and taking. With body pressing and yearning.

The same way she kissed him.

“Not Patience.” The words were growled against her mouth. “She isn’t you.”

Holly raised her lashes. She caught his jaw. “She better not be in your bed again, either, demon. I’m not into sharing.” Zack could tell him that. The jerk had actually looked afraid when she’d torn into him that morning so long ago. He’d stumbled away from her, eyes wide, sputtering an apology.

“Good. Because if you look at another man, if you touch him, you’ll find out just how dangerous I can be.”

“Idiot.” The word tumbled out. “Who would compare to you?”

He smiled at her. Smiled and nearly broke her heart because that curve of his lips-it was real.

I’m falling for him.

He caught her waist in his hands. Lifted her. Spun and set her on the edge of the bar.

The smile turned reckless. Wild.

Her Niol.

Not falling. She’d already fallen. Headfirst. For a man who she knew wasn’t looking for happily ever after. Niol would run screaming from a picket fence.

Holly swallowed. Now. Focus on now.

His fingers pushed under the edge of her skirt and the now, oh, yeah, it picked up a whole lot of importance.

“I want you. Right here. In my Paradise.”

A shiver had her tensing. Here? They were alone-she sure hoped they were, anyway. But a bar? Okay, she’d had her share of sexual encounters. Even made love on a beach once, but a bar…

“Trust me.” He leaned forward. Kissed her neck. Right under her left ear, in the spot that made her close her eyes and moan.

Yes.

“There’s no one here to see you come…but me.”

Trust.

He licked her neck. Niol eased his fingers up a bit higher, skimming the sensitive tops of her thighs. The bar’s edge cut into the back of her legs, but she didn’t care. Holly was too focused on Niol.

And his mouth and tongue.

Such a skilled mouth.

The edge of his teeth scored her flesh.

“Are you wet for me, love?”

Her panties were getting soaked.

“Because I’m hard for you. So hard and ready to feel the warm, creamy clasp of your sex all around me.”

Her hand slid between them. Found the long length of his cock through his jeans. Oh, yeah, he was ready.

And she was more than ready to have him inside.

His fingers brushed the crotch of her panties. A rumble sounded in his throat. “Just the way I like.”

He stroked his index finger along the crevice of her sex. A long, slow swipe that pushed the cotton against her flesh and made her want-

So much more.

Not nice and slow. Hell, no. Fast and wild.

In the bar.

This time, the thought sent a shudder through her. Not fear.

“You’re so wet.”

That finger was under her panties. Pushing between her folds and into her core.

And he was so-so damn . She fumbled with the snap of his jeans, hunching her shoulders so that she could reach him better. Holly managed to jerk down his zipper and she heard his hard hiss of breath.

Then the length of his cock spilled into her hands. Long and hard. Warm. Strong.

His touch on her sex, in her, wasn’t enough.

Her breasts ached. The nipples pebbled against her blouse.

The bar top felt cold against her, while he was burning hot. “Niol…”

He yanked the panties away.

Finally.

But this wasn’t going to work. She was a bit too high and-

Niol grabbed her and twisted, sitting her on top of the nearby bar stool and coming flush between her thighs.

This’ll work.

He guided his cock into her sex, one hard inch at a time.

No condom.

Flesh on flesh.

So good .

His teeth clenched and sweat beaded his brow. Hell. The man was trying to be easy with her.

When had she ever asked for easy?

Her legs wrapped around him, squeezed tight. If he wasn’t gonna take, then she sure would.

Her hips slammed forward and that thick wonderful flesh filled her, so deep and full and so-

Niol growled. Those black eyes shot with fire and he withdrew. Drove deep.

Not easy anymore.

She smiled and wondered if her own eyes reflected the same dark flames.

“Fucking beautiful…”

Then she just held on for the ride.

And what a ride it was.

The scent of passion filled the air. The stool chafed her thighs but she didn’t care. His fingers dug into her hips. Big deal.

His cock-oh, but he was so far inside her-

She rose toward him, balancing with her hands on his shoulders and the new position sent the length of his arousal sliding right over her straining clit with every fast thrust.

Holly realized she was calling his name and that she was all but tearing the flesh from his shoulders as her nails dug through the soft fabric of his shirt.

He was nearly fully dressed.

She was naked from the waist down.

Being bad could feel so good.

“Come for me.” A whisper of temptation right before his mouth took hers and his tongue thrust past her lips. Thrust just as his cock thrust into her sex.

Holly clamped her inner muscles around him. Come for me. The silent order was hers, to him.

Niol’s erection swelled within her and she kissed him with a frantic hunger. Loving his taste. The slam and drive of his body.

Loving-

She came with a firestorm of release, a passion that rocketed up her body and shot through every cell-and he was with her. The jet of his semen filled her and he trembled against her as he pumped into her body.

Pleasure. So much pleasure. Hers, his. Didn’t matter. It was so good.

Sex with a demon. The. Best. Ever.

She didn’t want the pleasure to end. No. Not now. Not ever.

His lips rose. His breath heaved out. Just like hers.

No barriers between them. As she stared up at him, Holly could see him. Not the mask. Not the dark image he portrayed. Him.

Niol.

I see you now.

She was in so much trouble.

Because he was already pulling back. The mask sliding into place. The fire in his eyes faded as he withdrew his flesh from her body.

Holly bit back her cry of protest and tensed at the slow glide of his cock retreating from her sex.

Then he stepped back and she pushed her legs closed. She had to push them with her hands because her thighs felt like jelly.

Her sex throbbed with remembered pleasure.

He jerked up his jeans. Zipped and fastened them with a blur of movement. Too quick. Don’t end it so fast. She wanted more.

Niol stared down at her and she waited, waited for something, something. She just wasn’t sure what -

“I thought I loved a woman once.”

What? Okay, that was sure as all fire damn not what she’d been waiting for.

The man had the most piss-poor timing in the world. Holly shot off the stool and her legs nearly gave way. Niol caught her, steadying her with a fierce grip. “Look at me.”

If she did, she might slug him. The guy needed some serious post-sex manners knocked into him. I loved a woman once.

Way to shatter her ego. “I-I don’t think now is the time for this-this conversation-” Oh, that sounded dignified. Nothing like the scream building inside her.

“She died.” His hand fell away from her.

The fire of their sensual encounter faded in an instant and goose bumps rose on her flesh.

“Didn’t just die,” he muttered. “She was murdered.”

Her breath caught. There was pain there, a lot of pain, enough to wrench her heart. Was this woman the succubus she’d heard others whisper about?

I loved a woman once.

“I did things when she became lost to me.” His lips thinned and Niol shook his head. “Until then, there was a line that I tried not to cross because I knew, I knew just how strong I was. And I knew my mother was right about the monster she saw in me.”

“Niol…” If you knew the things I’d done, you wouldn’t let me touch you. But she could still feel his imprint on every inch of her flesh.

“But when Nina passed, I lost control and I killed.” Flat. Cold. “It was so easy for me.” His hand fell away from her.

Yes, she could imagine that it had been. Holly swallowed. “You wanted revenge against her killer?”

“I got my revenge.” Same flat voice.

That voice scared her. So she lifted her chin and put her hand on his chest. Right over the heart that thundered in a mad rhythm that belied his sinister cool.

Niol jerked at her touch. “Don’t, Holly.”

“Don’t what? Don’t touch you? I want to touch you. I’m not going to back off.” Because there was more to him than darkness and death.

Once upon a time, she’d brought home every stray in the neighborhood and set up “Holly’s Home” for animals. Peter had shaken his head at her and told her she couldn’t save the world.

Her mom had only let her keep one cat. She’d cried for days when she’d lost the others.

And learned that she couldn’t save the world.

No, no, she hadn’t learned that. Because she went on the news every night, a secret part of her hoping to make a difference.

Just as she hoped to make a difference with Niol.

Not saving the world but maybe saving him.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.” Now his hands grasped her upper arms and he lifted her onto her toes, star ing down at her with an almost desperate rage. “Don’t make me-” He stopped, and a muscle flexed along the rock-hard length of his jaw. “Don’t make me care about you, Holly. Because if I did and if anything ever happened to you-”

She could see the promise of hell in his eyes.

“Whatever you do, don’t make me love you.” His eyes bored into hers. “I don’t love well, but I kill perfectly.”

Not the heartfelt confession every girl dreamed of hearing.

A threat she’d never hoped to get.

Her mouth had gone so dry her throat ached. She swallowed over the lump of dust and said, “Niol-”

His head jerked to the right. Toward the long line of windows on the far side of the building. Windows always covered by thick black curtains. “What the-”

Glass shattered as circles of fire-no, bottles with burning rags in them-shot through the curtains.

The bottles crashed into the floor, into the tables, into the bar, and flames exploded in a burst of white-hot heat all around them.

Holly opened her mouth to scream.

Niol roared and lifted his hands, and the flames died in an instant, with only the faint wisps of smoke drifting in the bar.

Her scream choked out in a gasp.

Niol ran for the door.

She grabbed her shoes. When had I lost them? She spared a brief glance for the scorched tables and bar, then she thundered after him.

He nearly ripped the front door from its hinges. Fast and strong. She knew that, but she’d never seen him quite like this.

The slam of car doors.

The screech of tires.

Holly’s gaze flew to the right. A black van shot down the street in a fog of exhaust and the stench of burnt rubber. Getting away . The bastards who had just tried to torch them were fleeing.

And they’d get away. They were too fast.

The tag. She could get the tag number and-

Another roar from Niol. One that seemed to shake the street itself. He lifted his hands up high and then slammed them down at his sides.

She watched, stunned, horrified, as the van flipped into the air, rolled, once, twice, then hit the black pavement and rolled again, finally stopping when it crashed into a wooden light post.

Wow.

“Niol…” She tried to grab his arm, but he was already storming down the road, heading for the broken van that swayed so slowly now, back and forth. Smoke or steam, Holly couldn’t tell which, rose from its exposed belly, spewing into the air.

The driver’s-side door flew off and crashed ten feet away.

That’s one pissed-off demon.

Not that she blamed him. Those assholes had just tried to kill them.

Screw the shoes. Running in heels wasn’t an option. So Holly kicked ’em off and took off after him.

The whine of a siren reached her ears just as she skidded to a halt next to Niol. He had the driver out. He was a young guy with coal-black hair, matted red near his forehead. Watery green eyes. Busted lip.

“Who the hell are you?” Niol’s fingers were white as he held up the kid. No, not really a kid. The guy had to be in his early twenties.

Holly bent down, craning her neck to see into the demolished vehicle. Two more guys. One starting to move in the backseat-very, very slowly. The blond in the front was out cold.

“J-Jon D-Douglas…” Blood dripped from the guy’s busted lip and stained his rounded chin.

“Do you know who I am?” Niol snarled. The guy’s booted feet dangled over the ground. “Do you know just what the fuck you’ve done?”

The wail of the approaching siren was silenced by the sudden rush of wind that shook the van.

Holly reached for Niol. “Find out why, Niol.” She knew Niol had enemies. She would have been an idiot not to have known that a demon as strong as Niol didn’t always play nice with the other paranormals in town.

But with all the twisted crap going on with the demon-hunter case…they needed to find out why.

“I-I don’t kn-know you, m-man…” Bleary eyes started to clear, a bit. “Y-you got th-this wrong. M-my friends-we’re h-hurt, n-need h-help…”

Niol’s lips peeled away from his teeth. “Do I look like I give a shit that you’re hurt? Asshole, if you don’t start talking, fast, you’ll be dead in the next five seconds.”

Jon choked. Niol dropped him and the guy retched on the ground.

“Human. ” Niol shook his head. “A human came after me? The idiot must want to die.”

A whimper from the backseat.

Holly’s palms were slick with sweat. The setup was wrong. Any paranormal in town would have known that using fire against Niol wasn’t exactly the smartest option. The guy could manipulate the elements pretty much at will.

Carefully, so as to avoid the, ahem, mess on the ground, Holly knelt beside the guy. He was shaking and rocking back and forth and the wind had quieted enough for Holly to hear the siren again.

The cops were closing in. Not much time.

She had to find out what was going on before Niol carried through with his rage. “Who sent you to Paradise Found?”

Jon looked up, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth. His eyes changed as he stared at her, she could see it. The bravado came back. Doesn’t think I’m a threat. She knew what the punk was going to say even before he snarled-

“F-fuck off, bitch, you-”

His words ended in a gasp and his face began to turn purple.

His hands clawed at his throat as he fought for breath.

“Don’t ever talk to her like that, asshole.”

Holly glanced up at Niol. Lines bracketed his mouth. Fury covered his face. “Give him a breath,” she ordered softly, her stomach so knotted she ached.

One black brow rose, but she heard Jon take a wrenching breath. “Good.” She held Niol’s stare a moment longer, then glanced back at the punk. “If you want to keep breathing, answer my questions.”

What was this? Holly wondered. Good demon, bad demon? Whatever worked. Time was running out.

A frantic nod.

“Let him keep breathing.” Her hands were clenched, her nails digging into her palms. The pavement bit into her knees as she knelt before Jon. “You don’t know what you’ve gotten into, do you?”

“H-how is-is h-he-” Jon broke off, shaking his head. “N-not p-possible-”

“Trust me, it’s possible.” Lambs to the slaughter. Niol was right. The odds were sure looking good that ol’ Jon was human and way out of his league. “Someone sent you to torch Paradise.” To rouse the beast. “Who.” Not a question, and if the guy truly wanted to draw another strong breath, he’d better answer.

Holly wasn’t particularly in the most caring mood. The guy had just tried to burn down the building she’d been inside. If Niol hadn’t been there-

No. Not going to think about that.

Sometimes it definitely paid to have the big, psychic badass as your lover.

And as your muscle-because Jon started talking, fast, the stutter all but leaving his voice as he said. “Woman. Found us at M-Myer’s.”

Myer’s. She knew that place. A run-down bar near MU. Frequented most often by freshmen with false IDs.

“Offered us a g-grand apiece, cash, to burn the bar-”

And the guys had what-jumped at the chance to become pyros? “You didn’t know who owned Paradise?” She had a suspicion but-

“Hell, no, why would that matter?”

Why, indeed?

“T-told us to go in the day, when no-no one was t-there.”

But she and Niol had been there. Chance?

Lust.

Such a deadly sin.

“Weren’t g-gonna hurt anybody.”

Just burn down the bar.

“Give me a name.” Niol’s voice was still thick with barely banked fury, but at least he was letting the guy breathe okay now. That was an improvement.

So the punks hadn’t meant to kill them. Just destroy Paradise.

Better, but not the most reassuring thing she’d ever heard.

“I-I didn’t get her name.” More blood shot from his mouth. Hmm…the guy might have lost a tooth somewhere. “Just her money.”

Great.

“Tell me exactly what the woman looked-”

The screech of tires. The slam of doors.

Holly didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know that the cops had arrived. The siren shrieking full-on in her ears told her that time had run out.