the Grand Canyon.
“We didn’t get to the art showing.” His statement came from left field, jolting her and shoving aside some of the sexual arousal swamping her.
How had she forgotten about seeing her sister? Kayley needed to be her priority. That and figuring out how to save herself. Had her sister had lied to her?
Maybe it was pointless to see Kayley, but she needed the truth. Even more, she deserved it.
He waited silently for some kind of sign. She wasn’t sure what, but she wasn’t ready to walk away from what they had between them. The devil or an angel might have put them together, but the heat, the passion was all them.
She refused to believe otherwise.
The sexual attraction between them was a hum in the air, a magnetic pull that drew her, urged her to rub herself against him, to use him to ease the ache deep inside.
“Why did you stop?” She was curious. Even now, his pupils were dilated, his cock a hard bulge in his pants, and he was breathing heavily. Had he seen into her very being the same way she’d seen into his?
If so, what had he seen?
Had their lives always been meant to intersect, or was it nothing more than chance? She’d like to believe it was intentional. If so, there was a reason. And it wasn’t so they could lose their lives in whatever game Lucifer and Gabriel were playing.
Their connection was important. It was a certainty that rang true deep in her soul. Allowing a chasm to open between them wasn’t an option. It might seem to be the wiser course of action, but she trusted her gut.
If her sister had set her up and betrayed her, then maybe she couldn’t depend on her instincts. But she’d honed them to a razor’s edge this past decade, along with her fighting skills and her will to live. And right now, they were all she had.
Maccus still hadn’t answered her. He was so stoic. So alone. More like the man she’d first encountered. Maybe the difference in him had mostly been in her mind, but she didn’t think so.
“No matter what happens,” she told him as she ran her hands up his chest to rest on his shoulders, “I’ll never regret this.” Going up on her toes, she kissed his chin. “They can’t taint this if we don’t let them.”
His gaze narrowed, and his eyes flashed red before returning to their normal black, a man at war with himself, fighting to retain his soul. They were engaged in the same battle, combatants in the same war.
That he’d done it for thousands upon thousands of years left her in awe.
When he made no move to take things further, she took a step back and slid her coat off, letting it fall to the floor.
Got your attention now, don’t I?
With every item that followed, his breathing deepened, his chest expanding and contracting heavily.
Her nipples tightened, and arousal had her skin flushed, but she didn’t back down, didn’t back away.
It seemed to take forever for her to finally slip off the last piece of clothing. In reality, it only took seconds. Naked, she walked toward the bedroom, putting extra sway in her hips. “I’ll be in bed.”
Talk about making herself vulnerable.
She honestly had no idea if he’d join her but wouldn’t take it as rejection or failure if he didn’t. Something was going on inside him. Something she didn’t fully understand. Whatever it was, she was determined to defeat it.
There was no sound to announce his presence, but she knew when he fell into step behind her. Without warning, he picked her up, carried her the final few steps, and tossed her onto the giant bed. She bounced once and flipped over so she could see him.
He was already half naked. She drank in the sight of him, his broad shoulders, chiseled abs, and rippling biceps. When he stripped off his pants, she licked her lips in anticipation. His erection was hard and long and thick. Her core pulsed in anticipation.
A low