He caught her stare. Trapped it, really, because once he made contact, there was no breaking free. She could feel the force of his masculinity surrounding her. He wasn’t even doing anything and she felt it.
His answer hung between them, an unspoken denial or confirmation…Lilly didn’t know. He lowered his lashes, hiding his thoughts away.
“Your skin is so soft,” he said, brushing the back of his knuckles against her jaw before he cupped it. His hands felt hot against her face.
Frustration filled Lilly. She didn’t want to allow this subtle conversation change, but this wasn’t something she could force. Only Alex could decide if he was willing to stay. Only Alex knew if he even wanted to try.
Only Alex could determine if the desire was worth the risk.
He started to say something else but changed his mind. His gaze dropped to her mouth and everything else got lost in his soft exhalation. He meant to kiss her and if he did, she knew she’d be lost. But did she move? Did she avert her eyes or turn away? Not even a little.
She met him in a kiss she craved to her soul. His lips were cold, his mouth hot. He tasted elemental. Copper, salt, lust…man. Her body didn’t care if he was from the Beyond or Kansas. Millions of years of evolution drove her to him. In some primitive, evolved way, he tasted of her future.
A distant, alien sound broke the silence that was filled with their breath and desire. Lilly lifted her head just as Alex did, too. His eyes closed as the strange baying…howling—Lilly wasn’t sure what it was—cut through the storm and settled around them. It brought a stroke of fear that traveled down her spine and heralded the reality Lilly didn’t want to face. Belle bounded from her bed beside hearth, barking loudly as she raced to the door. Lilly rested her head against Alex’s chest, took a deep breath, and prepared to face whatever came next.
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 8
Belle barked again, loud and insistent. Alex wanted to shout at the dog to stay quiet and he wanted to praise the intelligent creature for sounding the alarm that the other animals soon picked up. Still, it took strength to step away from the soft curves and seduction of Lilly Winslow and longer than it should have for Alex to convince himself he possessed the power to do it. She’d crumbled his defenses, leaving him exposed and out of his depths.
Who cared if others from the Beyond had hunted him down? Who cared if the whole fucking pack of hellhounds waited on the other side of the door?
Reluctantly, he acknowledged that he did.
He’d already killed once to protect Lilly. He’d do it again if he had to.
Another long bay echoed outside and Lilly’s dog pack rushed the door. All but the little one, Harley. The toy dog had been snoozing on the big chair and in his attempt to join the excitement, he got tangled in the blanket and fell to the floor with an indignant yelp that got lost in the clamor.
“What’s making that sound?” Lilly asked.
Alex’s eyes widened as he stared into her face. “You heard it?” He strode to the window and looked out, afraid of her answer. “Tell me what it sounded like.”
Lilly frowned. “A howl, but not like a wolf or coyote. Like something being tortured. What was it?”
“That was a hellhound, Lilly.”
Something she shouldn’t have been able to hear. She paled as she made the same realization.
His machete hung in its scabbard from a hook by the front door. Lilly’s rifle rested against the wall nearby. They armed themselves quickly. Silently. Not touching, not even glancing at one another. Alex knew he didn’t dare. It would only take one lingering look from her lovely eyes to distract him.
The dogs gathered in front of the door, unleashing an uproar, as if their combined voices might make it magically open. Harley danced between their legs. Lilly picked him up a moment before Belle stepped on him. Alex gave the big dog a disquieted glance. He hadn’t forgotten how Belle had charged the hellhound attackers and brought one of them back to the pack.
“I’m worried about your dog,” he said, pointing to the Great Dane.
“Belle?”
He nodded, lifting the edge of the curtain and peering out before he explained. Snow obliterated the sky, the earth, and the air in between. It fell in droves that drifted and whisked, banking against the cabin. It weighted tree branches and obscured the road they’d taken from down below. Lilly’s SUV looked like a white lump beside the porch. Even the footprints the dogs had left earlier had long since been filled in or blown away. He listened for more baying but now only disturbing silence settled in with the cold.