Elissa wasn’t sure what else she could say to make him believe her. His parents had turned on him for something that was beyond his control and not his fault. His mate had tried to force him to change and had then betrayed him by using his trust against him, trying to enslave him to her will by using his real name. Now, Elissa had made him embrace his incubus side and had brought him to the place where his grandfather lived, and gods only knew what he was going to do when he saw the man. She had the terrible feeling that he would kill him for what he had done to his family.
“Say something.” His voice was hoarse and his grey eyes both challenged and begged her at the same time.
Elissa still wasn’t sure what to say, so she craned her neck and kissed him. He was quick to respond, his lips dancing with hers, a desperate and hungry edge to his movements. He needed this more than he needed words. She would show him that he was wrong.
Payne slid his arm around her and pulled her on top of him. He held her there, his hands grasping her backside, as he kissed her. She allowed him to master her, his aggressive kisses sending a hot rush through her and making her head spin until she felt dizzy, drunk on his passion and his desire for her.
She didn’t think he was a monster.
His pained confession had only awoken dangerous feelings in her, ones that ran deeper than compassion. He had reached out and grabbed her heart, and now she wasn’t sure what to do, but there was one thing she knew.
She was falling for him, and it was already too late to save herself.
Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance by Jennifer Ashley, Alyssa Day, Felicity Heaton, Erin Kellison, Laurie London, Erin Quinn, Bonnie Vanak and Caris Roane
CHAPTER 12
Payne wasn’t sure how to act around Elissa. He strolled along the bare pale blue corridor, his boots heavy on the wooden floor, heading away from their room with her trailing along beside him. She hadn’t said much since he had bared all and let her see beyond the barrier, but the way she looked at him each time he chanced a glance at her reassured him that she honestly believed he wasn’t a monster. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and she smiled at him, silvery eyes warm with what might have been affection. He wanted to believe that it was. He needed to hold on to hope that Elissa might become the one great thing in his life, the reward he wanted her to be, not another person that would end up cutting him to the bone and leaving him alone in this world.
Her fingers stroked his left palm and he didn’t stop her. He let her slide her hand into his and then shifted his, linking their fingers to heighten the connection between them. He liked doing this with her. He had held hands with women before, but not this way, with fingers locked together. He had always tried to keep a distance, even from the woman he had thought was his true mate. He could see that now that he was with Elissa. With her, he wanted to be as close as he could get, joined in ways that felt permanent and secure. He had slept with her locked tightly in his embrace, held flush against him, constantly aware of her body pressing into his, all softness and warmth, her feminine scent filling his lungs and her steady heartbeat sounding in his ears, a rhythm that had soothed him and kept the nightmares at bay.
He had never been into the poetic or romantic shit, but he kept wondering whether the needs he felt around her, the constant pressing urge to touch her in some way and be linked to her, was because she was his true mate.
His little witch.
Both sides of him purred in approval.
Payne tugged his hand behind his back, forcing her to follow her arm and press against his side. He turned into her, wrapped his free arm around her waist, and dragged her closer. He lowered his mouth and claimed her lips, stealing her moist sweet breath with his kiss. She moaned and rather than pushing him away and chastising him for slowing them down, pulled him closer and ran her hand around the nape of his neck.
The feel of her fingers ploughing through his hair sent a shiver dancing over his nerve endings and lit up his hunger, igniting his need for her. He walked with her, his mouth dominating hers, tongues tangling and teasing, and pressed her into the wall. She moaned, the sound sweet in his ears, and clawed his scalp, ripping a groan from his throat.
“Witch,” he growled into her mouth and kissed her harder, claiming more of her, unable to control himself now that she had turned wicked. A hot bolt of lust struck him right to his soul and he shoved her harder against the wall. Elissa wriggled against him. Payne grabbed her bottom and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he rolled his eyes, groaning again as they locked around his backside.