“Chavez,” I whispered.
He slowed, staring down at me with such an intense, searching expression, warmth spread through my chest. Something had changed, but I wasn’t sure what.
“My name is Zac.”
“Zac,” I repeated.
At the sound of his name on my lips, he pulsed inside me, the force of his release inciting my own. The orgasm went on and on—him, me, us—there was nothing and no one else, just the way the world ought to be.
When it was over, we lay tangled together. He stroked my hip; I played with his hair. I didn’t want to let him go, and that was a very dangerous thing to want.
“Did the world move?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah.”
He lifted his head, kissed the tip of my nose. I got that weird feeling again—the sock in the gut, the warm, gushy swirl. My eyes burned.
“What’s the matter?”
I glanced at the window. Still night, but not for long.
“You think we can do it again?”
He rolled off me but grabbed my hand as he went, tangling our fingers together, then playing footsie, too. “We can, but not right this second.”
I drew one finger over his tattoo. “What does this mean?”
He stiffened. “You know what a crucifix is.”
“Yes. But the circle?”
“Eternity.”
“Your mother—”
I bit off the word, but he already knew.
“It told you about my mother?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. She did her best.”
“Hurting you was her best?”
“She didn’t know any better. I was possessed by a demon. What was she supposed to do?”
I wasn’t sure. What would I do if my son had a bit of Satan inside of him? I hoped I never had to find out.
He touched the tattoo with his fingernail. “She gave me the cross. I did the circle myself.”
I thought of the pain he must have endured—at his own hands and those of someone he trusted. I wanted to take that pain away, but it was too late, and I didn’t know how.
“Why did you do it?” I asked.
“So I’d never forget what I’d sworn to do. If it takes eternity, I will kill every demon on this earth.”
I shivered, knowing that meant he’d kill me, too.
“Cold?” He pulled me closer. “I’ll keep you warm while we sleep.”
Oh-oh, said a tiny panicked voice in my head. I was in serious trouble now.
I’d vowed not to have sex without love, but what was I going to do now that I’d fallen in love because of the sex?
Not love. No. I was just dazzled by the orgasm. Once he killed me, everything would be different.
I pulled away. I couldn’t sleep in his arms and wake up to a gun, a knife, or whatever he planned to use.
Getting out of bed, I yanked the sheet along with me and wrapped it around my chest. Chavez didn’t even try to cover up, merely stared at me with wary, confused eyes.
“When are you going to do it?” I demanded.
“You have to give the equipment a rest, Kit. I’m not seventeen.”
“Not it, it. When are you going to kill me?”
His brows drew together; his mouth turned down. He sat up slowly, and I took a step back at the violence in his expression.
“What do you think I am? A monster worse than the ones I hunt?” He climbed off the mattress and began to stalk me around the room. “You think I’d make love to you, then murder you?”
“You have to, Zac.”
“Don’t call me that!” His voice broke, anguish washed over his face. “You can’t call me by that name and think I’d hurt you.”
I let him get too close and he grabbed me, then gave me a good shake. “I wouldn’t kill you. Not for any reason.”
“You won’t need to,” said a strange voice from the door.
I yelped and spun around. No big shock to find another stranger in my house. This guy was nondescript—not too tall, not too short, average weight, dishwater hair, gray eyes. But there was something strange about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
“Does a person have to be dead to find some peace around here?” I muttered.
Of course being dead didn’t seem to mean what it once had. According to Satan, the dead would soon be dating all over the place.
Chavez shoved me behind him, facing the latest demon wearing nothing but a scowl. “What do you want?”
“To set the record straight. I guess you didn’t tell her.”
Chavez’s shoulders tensed and I got a bad feeling.
“Tell me what?” I asked quietly.
Average Joe grinned. “There’s more than one way to sacrifice a virgin.”
10
I put my hand on Chavez’s shoulder and spun him around. “You knew that sacrificing the virginity would work as well as sacrificing the virgin.”