Addict (Hunter #2)(91)

He changed quickly, his muscles flowing from human to demon forms with the grace and ease of someone who had done it a thousand times, though I knew damn well Gray hadn’t. This easy shift was another gift of his royal DNA, and it made me wonder what Gray had to do to constantly stay in his human form.

He seemed to change in mass, his body growing larger. The snow around him melted as his spine lengthened, shoulders growing broader. His skin shifted to a shiny red, the companion of my right arm, though even here he was more masculine. Where my scales were seemingly delicate, his formed a rough exterior it looked like nothing could tear through.

When he was done, his clothes were in tatters and I almost didn’t recognize him. I fell to the grass that was now at my feet. The heat of his transition had given us a few feet where the cold couldn’t touch us, and I sighed as I felt the vampire blood in my body begin to heal the frostbite. I hadn’t realized I’d been in so much pain. The absence was almost a weird pleasure and so was looking at Gray.

He stood over me, a dark god. His horns were curved, his body sharper than it had been before. This was Gray, the demon, and surprise, surprise—he was f*cking hot as hell. Every muscle of his body was perfectly defined, every inch of him a testament to dark beauty.

His clawed hand reached down and touched my head. I could see the possessiveness in his ebony eyes as he rubbed his palm over my hair. “Mine.”

I decided it was best to agree with him until we got out of the situation. “Yep. Totally yours. And they’re trying to kill me. You should do something about that.”

He snarled. Even that was kind of hot. I can be a little perverted at times.

He looked around at the monsters circling us and his fangs lengthened. “Stay.”

His demon wasn’t big on multisyllabic words. I was cool with that as long as he was big on killing the bad guys.

I felt my arm shift and I was back to normal. Maybe that wasn’t the smartest thing in the world, but my subconscious apparently trusted the big guy to take care of us. The wind had picked up again, but the ground beneath me was still warm. Well, warmer than the snow, and it appeared to have formed some sort of no-fly zone for the creatures.

The minute one attempted to come into my circle, they melted. After two lost limbs, the rest backed off.

Gray had to go after them. He left the circle with a roar and then that snow was his killing field.

I watched as he took them all on. Even at his size, he was smaller than the frost giants. He punched out, clawing at his attackers.

I lost track of him, his body covered by more of the creatures than I could count. I struggled with my instinct to go and help him, but right before I would have joined him, he punched his way through, sending snow and ice flying all around.

He was a magnificent killing machine.

All at once, the creatures vanished, disintegrating in the wind.

“Don’t you dare change.” I shook a finger at the massive demon who had taken down Winter’s army. Despite the relative warmth of my circle, the wind was still frigid and my teeth chattered. “You have zero idea when they’ll come back, mister, and I don’t want to go through that whole transition thing again.”

His eyes narrowed on me and he took a step forward, looming over me.

I’m sure to most people he would have been a completely terrifying monster that would haunt their dreams and shit, but I saw Gray behind those demonic eyes and he didn’t scare me. “Don’t you growl at me. You know I’m right.”

He growled anyway.

I growled back. “Pick me up and get me out of here, Gray. You’re going to be faster since you’re at least a foot taller than normal, and it doesn’t look like the weather is bothering you now. And stop the whole self-pity thing. Have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately? You are the hottest demon I’ve ever seen, and you’re all muscly, and I have to admit the fangs do something for me.”

I swear that demon preened. He also reached down and picked me up. He brought me high against his chest. Despite the razor-sharp claws, I was cradled as tenderly as he would any baby.

Though I don’t recommend handing a baby over to a demon. Many demons find babies quite the tasty treat. That’s my point. Even in his full-on demonic form, Gray was still able to care, able to be kind, able to love.

He was so warm in this form. I sighed and cuddled close, feeling his body heat begin to sink into my bones. So warm.

“Love you,” he said through his fangs. “Take you back to Marcus now.”

And he was able to sacrifice. No one could convince me Grayson Sloane was a true demon. He turned toward the giant gate we’d driven through.

That was when I saw Jamie walking across the yard. My brother. I smiled. He would have loved to watch Gray take out a hundred snow monsters. I was simply happy he wasn’t freaking out at the sight of me in a demon’s arms.

Gray took a step back.

“Hey, it’s all right,” I said, trying to soothe him. “It’s Jamie. It’s fine. We can all get out of here now.”

He shook his head and clutched me close. “Not Jamie.” He changed, his body flowing from demon to human again. I felt it as I seemed to drop about a foot, and then Gray’s human arms were holding me tight. “That’s not Jamie, Kelsey.”

“Oh, but it is, brother.” Jamie’s body moved toward me, but it wasn’t his voice. A British accent flowed from my brother’s mouth. “It is very much his body. How about that, Hunter? Did I find one you won’t kill?”