head tilted back, her teeth clenched together, and explosions rocked her body, shaking her to her core.
This was followed instantly by a heavy cloud of guilt. He continued working at her with his beautiful mouth and brilliant fingers, and she knew he was going to make it happen again.
“Stop,” she told him, but it was barely a whisper. With an effort, she put more force into it. “Stop. Stop!” She sat up and pushed away until her back was flush against the tall headboard. “We can’t do this.”
“Why not?” He caressed her bare leg, and it felt both terribly good and terribly wrong. “We’re meant for each other. We both know it. You make me larger and more powerful than I’ve ever been. Nothing in the world could stop us if we were together.”
“We can’t be together, Mr. Barrett.”
“My tongue was just inside you. I think you can call me by my first name.” He gave her a smile that weakened her defenses, but she held firm and didn’t smile back. “There’s no reason we can’t be together,” he said as his smile faded.
“There are lots of reasons. For one, you already have a wife and a son.”
“Both of whom would be much happier living apart from me,” he said. “I could get them a nice townhouse in Charleston. Or somewhere farther away. Savannah. New Orleans.”
“You would send your own son away?” She folded her legs under her, away from his hands, and pulled her dress down over her knees.
“I would do anything to be with you, Juliana. We were meant for each other. We can’t let a small thing like timing get in the way. The future we could have together...” He shook his head. “You give me so many dreams. So many visions of what I could do. The world will bow to us. If only I could make you see our fate, the way I see it.” He leaned closer, as if he meant to kiss her again, but she moved away and stood up beside the bed.
“You have to take us out of here,” she told him. “Sebastian and I both.”
“Don’t tell me you still love that clueless little boy,” Barrett sneered. “He’s not like us. You and I have demons inside us, the same kind of demons, eager to be together. That’s why we can touch.”
“I can touch him, too,” Juliana said.
“What can he do for you?” Barrett stood and glared down at her. She felt cornered. “I can give you everything, Juliana. More than you ever dreamed of. We can become what we’re meant to be. You would be a queen by my side. What can he offer?”
“I love him,” Juliana whispered.
“What did you say?” He leaned toward her, scowling. “Say it again.”
“I love him!” Juliana snapped. “I love him. And I’m having his baby. We have to be together, Mr. Barrett...Jonathan...and we need your help to get us out of here. Please understand.”
“You’re having his baby?” Barrett looked her over, confused. Then he looked angry, his jaw clenching repeatedly inside his cheek. He took a breath. “That’s not a problem, Juliana. I still want to be with you. The child...I’ll care for the child as if it were my own. I promise.”
“Your own? Like the son you just casually offered to abandon?”
“That’s not what I meant!”
“But it’s the truth. I saw how your family lives in fear of you. Why would I ever want that life for myself?” She crossed her arms. She felt powerless in his shadow, knowing he was immune to her demon plague. In fact, he seemed to thrive on it. Attacking him could actually make him more powerful...he clearly had something like her and Sebastian, a touch that made him “supernormal,” but he hadn’t said what it was.
“Juliana, I am talking about an entirely new beginning,” he said. “A new life for both of us.”
“Tell me you will take Sebastian and me out of here,” Juliana said. “If you love me, you will at least do that much.”
“If I love you? You don’t believe me? You are the only reason I came here.”
“Then help us.”
“Why?” Fury swelled in his eyes. “Help you, so you can leave me for him? You would leave me cold, wouldn’t you? That’s what you’re telling me.”
She took a deep breath. “If you still wish it...you can have your way. Just once, and only after you take us home, if you still want me then, if that is your price.”
“My price? You offer yourself as