Demon by My Side(22)

More. She had to have more.

Darcy hit his shoulders, sending him sprawling backward. But she didn’t let him go alone. Straddling his hips she leaned down to capture his mouth once more. As her hands roamed his hard chest, she wished she could rip off the material separating her skin from his. Never before had she ever felt this hot for a man. Literally or figuratively. Jared was in a class of his own.

The demon grabbed her hips and arched, rubbing the hardness of his erection against her. He caught her cry with his mouth as she shivered with need. Again, she wanted to command him but doing so would necessitate giving up his mouth and that was a sacrifice she was unwilling to make. Instead she rubbed her own body against his. Every inch of him was hard muscle. Nothing about the man beneath her was soft.

An attractive thought. Darcy had always been a fan of powerful lovers.

She slid her hands under the edge of his T-shirt. Palms flattened against his abdomen as she writhed on top of him.

When her fingers started their exploration, he released a guttural groan. Higher they climbed, pushing the material up with them. She traced every contour, wanting to repeat the process with her mouth.

When the shirt was high enough she tugged it over his head. The garment vanished over her shoulder and she looked down at what she’d uncovered. The sight robbed her of breath.

Jared was beautiful. He looked more like a Greek statue than a flesh-and-blood man. And for a little while he was hers. The proprietary instinct surprised her. After all, she’d never been the jealous type. But the thought of sharing Jared made her want to rend flesh.

The violent urge stilled her. Something was wrong.

“Jared,” she breathed. She was making out with a demon, which wasn’t new, at least not with this demon. But this went beyond what she’d felt the last time she was in his arms. Now she wasn’t fighting against the urge to do what was right. Instead, she was fighting to claim the man as her own. The thoughts in her head couldn’t be hers.

“What?” His voice was rough with lust. When he reached out for her she swatted his hands away.

“Something’s wrong.”

He stiffened under her, his expression going from carnal to serious. “Look at me,” he commanded, cupping her face.

She met his gaze and whatever he saw in his face had him swearing.

“What is it?” she demanded. Jared was always cool and collected. To see him with an actual emotional response worried her like nothing else could.

The demon glanced around before grabbing a metal clock from the side table.

“Look.” He raised the back of the clock as a makeshift mirror.

Her reflection was warped but the curve of the metal couldn’t hide her eyes.

Or the flames burning in them.

With a yelp, she scrambled off of him. “What did you do to me?”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Darcy tried not to notice how the movement caused the muscles in his chest to bunch and loosen.

“I got carried away.” He sounded disgusted with the revelation. Nice to know she wasn’t the only one swept away in their lust. “I gave you more of my energy than intended.”

She swallowed. “Will it hurt me?”

He snorted. “No. But it might hurt me.”

“What do you mean?”

He glanced at her, the lust completely erased from his expression. “You should feel completely healed. Perhaps even better than you’ve felt in months.”

Darcy rolled her shoulders experimentally. She did feel good. A quick check showed her wounds had vanished. Not only that, she felt refreshed. The constant tension in her shoulders was gone.

“Yeah, I do feel pretty decent.”

“Because you’ve taken immortal energy into a mortal body. As I said, the effects will wear off but until they do, you’ll be harder to hurt. You’ll move faster and heal quicker. I wouldn’t be surprised if you other senses improved too. And, of course, there is this.” He grabbed her hand and snapped his fingers. Fire rushed over her skin.

She jerked her hand back automatically, only to realize the flesh hadn’t been burned.

“Fireproof?” she whispered.

“You’re welcome.” Jared didn’t seem pleased with the development and she couldn’t blame him. It was far harder to intimidate her into things when she was immune to his tricks.

“Can I do the things you do?” she demanded, her mind already spinning with the possibilities.

“No, but you’ll have a resistance to many of my gifts.”

She smiled slowly. “I gotta say, demon, this is an unexpected perk.”

He darted forward like a snake, grabbing her by the arms. “Do not mistake an imperviousness to my abilities for complete safety. I’m more than my magic.”