Night Falls on the Wicked - By Sharie Kohler Page 0,48

he looked at her as if she were an unwanted child foisted upon him that he must babysit. He was all hard resolve. There would be no repeat kisses.

When this was all over and she reentered the land of the living, the first thing she needed to do was get herself a boyfriend to satisfy the itch that Niklas had roused in her.

Who says you need a boyfriend to do that? Who says you can’t push Niklas into relieving that itch himself? You have a month…

A wicked smile curved her mouth at such bold and totally uncharacteristic thinking. She wasn’t one to be aggressive—a lifetime of staying below the radar and what you got was someone good at being invisible.

Her hand drifted leisurely over her breast, her palm abrading the already stiff nipple. A rattling sigh escaped her lips, and a deep twist of liquid-hot wanting shot through her body.

She leaned her forehead against the tiled wall, her neck suddenly too weak to support her head, and took a deep breath, telling herself to calm down. She needed to pull it together before she saw him again.

She needed to remember who he was and who she was. Alike and yet different. Different in a way that she couldn’t easily forget. She never had. She never would.

FIFTEEN

Niklas walked a hard line through the narrow hall of the B&B, calling himself every name he could think of for agreeing to a scheme that his every instinct screamed at him to avoid. He was breaking every promise he’d ever made to himself.

He unlocked the door to his room and slammed inside. Tossing his bag on the bed, he started packing, muttering to himself. He should just forget about Darby and the girl and go, leave. He would find Cyprian and kill him. He could do that better without them tagging along. What was he thinking?

Ten years ago, he’d begun this journey. No distractions, no companions or friends. Barely a man, he’d set out alone, his mother forever gone from him, lost to her demon. But the memory of her, of all she’d sacrificed for him, spurred him on.

He’d vowed revenge against those who infected him, on the one who forced his mother into making such a sacrifice.

And now look at him. He had a kid and a woman for companions. No, even worse than that. He had an infected kid and a white witch. A white witch whose very scent drove him mad with lust.

The irony wasn’t lost on him that the first woman to get beneath his skin was a white witch. The very thing his mother was … the thing that she had been. Before she was taken from him.

He slung his bag over his shoulder and grabbed the gear he’d left scattered about the room. He’d need to stop and restock on ammo and supplies on the way out. He wondered if Darby even knew how to shoot. He’d probably have to give her some instruction on that. Which only irritated him more. The last thing he needed was to take time out for shooting lessons—and he definitely didn’t need proximity to her. Thoughts of touching her already consumed far too much of his mind.

HIS MOUTH KISSED A fiery path down her throat, teeth dragging and nipping at her skin. He buried both hands in her hair, pulling her head back for his ravaging mouth.

A deep ache tugged inside her belly, throbbing and squeezing for relief.

He settled his weight between her legs, his hardness prodding against the inside of her thigh. She opened herself wider for him and slowly slid her hand between their bodies, enjoying the sensation of him against the back of her hand, the belly that was ridged with muscle and satiny skin.

She seized the hard length of him in her hand and ran her thumb over the tip of him. He shuddered over her. His cock filled her palm, pulsing and warm. Hot breath fanned her cheek as she guided him toward her, easing him inside her just a fraction…

Bang, bang, bang!

Darby bolted upright with a gasp.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes with a fist before swinging her gaze all around her bedroom, fighting the drugging influence of her dream … or vision.

Hell. Horror washed over her, dousing the heat brought on by her arousal. She didn’t quite know.

For the first time in her life she couldn’t distinguish between dream and vision. The realization left her stunned, shaken and furious with herself. For once in her