Chapter 11
Kohl gave her directions to his property.
Devon chatted the entire way about the different types of people she runs into working her delivery job and other inconsequential things.
It was a welcome distraction from his own thoughts, which, he suspected, was exactly what she was trying to accomplish.
He knew she was nervous, and just a little bit scared.
But mostly, he felt her excitement. Honestly, he had to admire her for her courage.
Not every woman would be willing to take on something like him.
Not knowingly. But she was convinced that even if he shifted, he wouldn’t hurt her.
He shifted his long legs, trying to get comfortable, and wishing he had her confidence. He should’ve asked to drive. He was too nervous and too fucking horny to just sit there beside her without having something else to concentrate on.
Every few seconds, he would check the side mirror.
Something was eating at him. Something that had nothing to do with taking Devon somewhere they could be alone.
He wasn’t sure what it was, but it made the tiny hairs on the back of his neck and arms stand up.
After checking the mirror a good ten times in as many minutes, Kohl decided he was just being paranoid. No one knew he was with her.
He glanced over at Devon, and he couldn’t help but smile as she laughed.
He had no idea what she was talking about, but man, he loved to hear her laugh.
She turned back to the road, and as he studied her delicate profile, he came back around to thinking maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
Every time he thought about being intimate with Devon, the beast stretched with pleasure, as eager as he was.
But he didn’t know if it was because it wanted to be with her, too, or if it just knew it would get a chance to come out and play if Kohl got riled enough.
Though anything that heightened his emotions was enough to entice his vampire nature, the beast was never this close to showing up without an invitation unless there was severe danger to himself or those he felt protective of.
Not since he’d learned to control his shifting, and that was a long time ago.
“What’s wrong?” Devon kept her eyes on the road, but her hands tightened their grip on the steering wheel.
“Nothing. I’m good.”
“No, you’re not. You keep looking at the side mirror and your entire body is tense. Is there something going on? I haven’t seen anyone behind us, but I keep thinking a bunch of guys with guns—or worse, sharpened fangs—are gonna drop out of the trees onto the roof of my car like in some movie.”
“No. I’m just feeling kinda…unsettled.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m probably just being paranoid because this isn’t supposed to be happening.”
“Driving to the lake?”
“No. Us. Seeing you like this. I was explicitly told to stay away from you.”
“I thought the coven Master wanted you to hang out with me. To find out what I know.”
“He does. I was told to get information about what you did at Parasupe. But this—” He pointed back and forth between the two of them. “Was never supposed to happen.”
She glanced at him for a few long seconds and then turned back to the road. “Kohl, I can’t lie and tell you I don’t want to be with you.”
Her heart pounded, pushing blood through her veins.
In such a small space, the sound was overly loud to his sensitive ears.
It also heightened her scent, distracting him from her words.
But then she reached for his hand, and the pressure of her touch cleared the haze.
He wrapped his fingers around hers as his focus cleared, squeezing her hand.
“I’m not sure what it is, but ever since the night of…
” She paused, and he felt, rather than saw, the myriad of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her as she remembered the night she’d first come to the club.
She cleared her throat, and he felt her agitation diminish as she shoved it away.
“Before we actually met, something kept drawing me back to that place. That night wasn’t the first time I’d come there, just the first time I’d come in.
At first I thought it was the secrecy of the club.
The lure of going someplace where I could lose myself in the darkness.
And then, I thought it was my mind trying to tell me it had been messed with after everything that happened.
But I don’t think it was either of those things.
I think it’s you. I think it’s you I keep coming back to.
And I don’t know how, or why, but this is happening.
This is happening with us.” She glanced over at him.
“Is that how it is with you, too?” She laughed, the high pitch giving away her nervousness. “Or am I just being a girl?”
Her confession threw him completely, and at the same time, he knew exactly what she was talking about. He’d felt this way since the first time he saw her on the news, only he hadn’t known how to put it into words. This woman was now home to him. “Your blood knows me,” he mused.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. Just something someone said to me. Turn left up here.” He pointed at the road ahead. “Yeah, right here.”
A few minutes later, she pulled her car up to the end of the road. The water glistened in the moonlight as it rippled along the surface. Devon put the car in park but left the engine running.
“Your battery is gonna go dead.”
She gave him a teasing grin. “Then you’ll just have to fly me home.”
Kohl touched her arm before she could get out of the car.
Her smile wavered when she saw he wasn’t sharing in her playfulness. “It’s okay, Kohl. I was just going to leave it on for a few minutes so we could play the radio. I wasn’t kidding about that dance. You owe me.”
He shook his head. “Devon, just…keep your keys in the ignition. If anything should happen, anything at all, you run. You get in your car and you get the fuck out of here as fast as you can. Go to the nearest secure building and get inside. Don’t leave your car running, though. It will see it and know where you are.”
“You,” she told him.
He frowned at her. “What?”
“You will know where I am. Not ‘it’. You.”
He exhaled heavily. “Fine. I will know.” He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Promise me you won’t take any chances. If I shift, don’t be stupid enough to think I’ll know who you are. Because I swear to you, I won’t.”
She lifted her chin, breaking his hold. “I am far from stupid, Kohl.”
He rubbed his forehead with his fingertips. “I didn’t mean…”
She released her breath on a loud exhale, the tension flowing from her body. “I know you didn’t.” Then she smiled. “Come on. You promised me a dance.”
“Devon.”
She rolled her eyes at his stern tone. “Kohl.”
He just looked at her, trying to think of what he could say that would convince her of how serious this was. How serious he was.
Reaching out, she took his face between her hands, rubbing his beard with her fingertips before she leaned forward and lightly touched her lips to his.
His cock stiffened instantly, and a helpless sound left his throat. No part of her touched him other than her hands and her lips, and his body was reacting like he’d never had a woman before.
He wanted this woman with a ferocity that terrified him.
She released his face and turned the keys, shutting off the engine.
Pulling out her phone, she swiped at the screen.
A moment later, music played from the small speaker.
Garth Brooks was singing about The Dance.
Kohl knew the song well. And he knew after this night, it would haunt him whenever he heard it, because he was getting too close.
This would be the last time he would see her.
It had to be. And if he were any kind of gentleman, he would take her home right now.
Take her home and never see her again. Tell the Master what he wanted to know, and carry on the way things were before he’d met Devon.
Apparently, however, he was no gentleman.
Kohl swallowed his frustration and fear and got out of the car, making it around to her side before she managed to get her door fully open.
She froze for a second when he was suddenly there, before taking his outstretched hand and allowing him to help her out.
She tossed her coat on the seat and shut the car door, bringing her phone.
He led her down to the lake, walking slowly to account for her lack of night vision, until the water lapping against the shoreline mixed with the country twang of Garth’s singing.
The air was colder than the previous night, but without a hint of moisture.
But he knew it wasn’t the cold that made her shiver when he pulled her into his arms and started to sway to the music in her hand.
Though she was tall, Devon’s curves were soft, and fit against him perfectly.
The loose curls on her head smelled sweetly of almonds and tickled his nose when he pressed his cheek against the top of her head.
Lifting her hand to his mouth, he kissed the soft skin on the back, breathing in the warmth of winter sunshine radiating from her skin.
The beast stretched restlessly. It missed the sunshine.
Her chest rose and fell with quick breaths, her hardened nipples grazing his sensitized skin beneath their clothes.
Her leg moved in and out from between his as they moved in time to the music, teasing him as his did her.
He wanted to hold her like this skin-to-skin, without clothing as a barrier between them, and dance naked under the stars.
Neither spoke, each too absorbed in the feel of the other.
He held her close, with just enough room between them so their bodies slowly teased each other with every step.
Devon let him set the pace, and even though a part of him wanted to be inside of her five fucking minutes ago, another part was thoroughly enjoying the subtle seduction of the dance.
Soon, the rising scent of Devon’s desire enveloped them, feeding Kohl’s lust. Cheek to cheek, her breath was heavy in his ear as her fingers tickled the back of his neck.
Kohl pulled her tighter against him, keeping her warm with his ever-increasing body heat.
Fangs bared, he slid one down her jaw, careful not to break the skin.
She shivered, tightening her arm around his neck and pressing closer to him.
Kohl wanted like hell to absorb her into his skin, make her a part of him, so he would have the feel of her, the scent of her, the life of her spirit, with him always.
And still, they danced.
When his blood was racing through his veins so hot and heavy his cock felt like it was about to burst from his pants, and Kohl was convinced he wouldn’t be able to breathe another breath without kissing her, he pressed his lips to the top of her head, then her temple, and then the corner of her brow.
Devon lifted her head from his chest and turned her face up to his. Her eyes were bright with desire, and he watched as the tip of her tongue wet her lips.
With a groan of surrender, he took her mouth with his.
He kissed her like he would never have the chance again, while trying to ignore the truth that he most likely never would.
He wanted to tell her how she affected him—what she meant to him—but for once, he found he had no words. So, he would have to show her.
Kohl tightened his arm around her hips and pulled her up into him, molding her against his hardness.
He moaned at the taste of her mouth, the feel of her body, the scent of her blood and her lust for him.
He knew if he touched her, she would be wet and ready for him, and once he thought it, he couldn’t remove the image from his head.
Sliding his hand down over her ass, he lifted the back of her sweater, exposing her bare skin to the cool night air and the heat of his palm.
He found her bra enclosure, and realized his hands were shaking so much he could barely get it unhooked.
Devon sighed with pleasure when he finally got it and rubbed the spots where the elastic had made indents in her back.
A low growl rose in his throat at the thought of anything marring that beautiful skin, even temporarily.
Bras were torture devices for women, but better than the contraptions they used to wear.
He let go of her hand, wrapping both arms around her as she hung on to his shoulders.
Lips, teeth, and tongues clashed as he filled one palm with her curvy ass, holding her hips against his to relieve the aching hardness of his cock, while the other palm skimmed her ribcage and made its way between their bodies.
He hefted the weight of her bare breast, rubbing the nipple with the pad of his thumb.
Fingers digging into his shoulders, Devon moaned and arched her body, the movement breaking off their kiss as she fought for breath. His fang scraped her bottom lip, drawing blood. Looking right at him with eyes heavy with desire, she licked it clean.
Kohl flashed his fangs at her. He wanted to taste her. He wanted it so badly that if someone tried to get between them right now, friend or foe, he would rip them limb from limb to get to her.
And still, they danced.