demons, feral fey, rogue interdimensional beings, warlocks, and various other nasties. You’re going to have to work for absolution just as Alec has been doing for centuries.”
“Centuries?” She was in lust with a man who was centuries old? Eve set her coffee down before she dropped it again. “He’s immortal?”
“Almost. Marks heal quickly, so it takes a lot to kill one. There’s no time limit on how long you have to prove your worth, and the whole ‘sevenfold vengeance’ protection has a way of scaring off most hazards to your health.”
“Sevenfold vengeance?”
“It’s mentioned in the book of Genesis. ‘And the Lord said unto him, therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.’ You’ve got the mark. You get the protection.”
“How bad is that? The sevenfold stuff.”
“Whatever the demon does to the Mark, they get the same in return. Seven times over.”
Eve’s brows rose. “That could be bad, I take it.”
“Usually so. As I said, it works as a deterrent most of the time. Only the most evil, wretched, and insane creatures don’t care.”
“Lovely.”
He stood and rounded the kitchen island. There was no mistaking the change in his focus.
She lifted her chin. He caged her in with the counter at her back. “In addition to learning how to kill and dealing with a fear of all things evil, you’ve got Alec to manage, and your feelings about what happened to you because of his lust.” He held up the half-eaten apple between them. “Then there are the apples.”
She arched a brow, hoping to hide how her body responded to his nearness. Her senses remembered him—his smell, the power and heat of his large frame, the near brutality of his passion. The orgasms he’d wrung from her body.
“The apples?” she asked softly, focusing on his lips as they curved into a feral smile.
Reed ran the bitten side of the apple from the hollow of her throat down to her cleavage. Shivering, Eve reached behind her and gripped the edge of the counter. He lowered his head slowly, watching her, giving her time to pull away. His tongue touched her skin and slid up the trail he’d made in a long, slow glide. His teeth nipped at her chin, then he moved to take her mouth. She turned her head away.
His warm chuckle filled the electrically charged air between them. Then he changed tactics, sliding his hand into her robe and cupping her breast. As his fingers found her nipple and pinched roughly, his tongue slid along the shell of her ear. “Apples, baby. Temptations. The exercising of your free will.”
Reed’s hips pressed against hers, his knees bending so that the hard ridge of his cock notched into the softness of her sex. He thrust gently, nudging her. She gasped, but kept her hands on the counter. Her body was so tightly strung the slightest provocation had her ready to tear of her clothes. Anytime. Anywhere.
“I wondered,” he breathed, his lips to her ear, “what you had that twisted Cain up in knots.” His other hand cupped her ass and urged her to rock into him as he tugged and rolled her nipple, sending shockwaves down to the aching flesh between her legs. “Now I know.”
“Back off.”
His tongue thrust into her ear and her knees buckled. “Hottest, tightest fuck I’ve ever had. Your slick pussy sucking on my cock. And those sounds you make . . . those little whimpers . . .” He growled. “I want to take you right now. Hard and deep. Pound my dick into you and watch you come until you can’t take any more.” His hand on her ass slid lower, lifting her leg to anchor it onto his hip. His thrusts grew bolder, more fervent, his chest rising and falling with his harsh breathing. “You’re a predator now, Eve. And predators like to fuck.”
“Back off!” Eve’s hands went to his shoulders and pushed. He flew across the room and landed in a heap on her living room rug.
“Oh my god,” she breathed. The damn mark seared her skin anew and made her dizzy.
Reed threw his head back and laughed, rising to his feet with an easy grace. “See? You’re beginning to catch on already.”
He reached down and adjusted himself, drawing her attention to the obvious wet spot on his pants where she’d been rubbing against him. “Watch out for the apples, babe.”
With a rakish wink, he disappeared—vanished—just as