Angel Betrayed (The Fallen #2)(30)

The swamp surrounded him again. Twisting trees, heavy heat.

She immediately pulled away and jumped off the bike. Jaw clenching, he followed her.

Seline put a good five feet between them. “You . . . you . . .” Her hand gestured in the air, and she seemed to struggle for words. He didn’t help her. He just watched and waited while the anger grew inside of him.

Afraid to touch me.

“It’s true,” she finally said, a faint furrow between her brows. “You can really—”

“You’re a succubus. You use your body as a lure to drain power from men.” He made the words deliberately harsh, and she flinched.

“Dammit, that’s not—”

“You work for a punisher who spends his days doling out vengeance. You knew I was a Fallen.” He stalked toward her. She backed up a step.

His eyes narrowed. Was she trying to piss him off even more? “Everything you know, everything you’ve seen . . .” he grated. “And what? You thought I was lying?”

She swallowed and shook her head slowly. “N-no.” The sun spilled behind her, lighting her hair, making her skin shine and making her look even more gorgeous. “I’ve never seen . . .” Her voice was husky and stroked right over his groin. “You killed him with just a touch.”

And he knew demons who were strong enough to kill with a thought. Evolution had made the Other stronger, and for some, too hard to kill. Death could be a challenge some days.

Her chin rose. “Why haven’t you killed me?”

He lunged forward, knowing the move would look like a blur to her eyes. A handy Fallen side effect—near super speed. Not that it made up for having his wings burned away as he plummeted, but . . .

Sam caught her arm and pulled her close. Tension held her body taut. More fear. He hated fear in a woman’s eyes. “I didn’t fall yesterday.” No, so many centuries before. “I’ve learned how to”—he brought his face close to hers—“control myself,” Sam finished with his lips inches from hers.

The Fall had been brutal. He’d woken, naked, broken with his mind torn open. It had taken weeks for him to remember who—what—he was.

No control. Not then. At first, he’d been like a wounded animal. More than ready to turn on anyone or anything who came too close.

But he’d learned to focus his powers. Slowly, painfully. “I can bring death with my touch.” His lips brushed over hers. She didn’t flinch. He took that as a sign of progress. “Or I can bring pleasure.” It was all a matter of what he wanted.

With her, he wanted pleasure.

“Still scared of me, Seline?” he asked, even as his fingers sank into her hair. He tipped her head back.

“Yes.” He knew she spoke the stark truth. He could see it reflected in her eyes. “How do I know”—she licked her lips and he wanted that tongue licking him—“that you won’t turn on me?”

Now there was an interesting question. “And how do I know that the next time we f*ck, you won’t try to kill me?” Because there would be a next time. He’d found something he wanted, and he wasn’t planning to let her get away.

He caught the faint flash of black in her eyes. Yes, he was rubbing his body against hers, letting his fingers play with the sensitive spot he’d found just on the back of her neck. A succubus’s strength was her passion, but that passion could be used against her.

If her lover knew what he was doing.

I know, sweetheart. He wasn’t above manipulation.

“You need to trust me,” he said.

She exhaled on a soft breath. “And you’ll trust me?”

Not yet. Maybe one day.

“Rogziel will come after you,” Sam stated flatly, but didn’t let her go. “Do you think you’ll be strong enough to stop him?”

“Will you?” she fired right back.

The calculation in her eyes reached him and gave Sam a moment’s pause. Well, well. “Is that what you wanted from the beginning?” When she’d been so eager to serve up his brother and abandon her allegiance to Rogziel?

“I want my freedom. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

But he held her trapped against him then.

“I’ve always known that Rogziel would never just let me walk away.” Her lips twisted into a humorless smile. “He thinks I’m too dangerous to be loose.”

Her curves pressed against him. Her plump lips tempted his mouth. So he said, with certainty, “You are.”

Seline gave a hard shake of her head. “No, when it comes to the power scale, I’m nothing like you.”

His little succubus didn’t understand. There were all kinds of power in this world. Some were subtle, but still damn dangerous.

“When you’re free of Rogziel,” and she’d only be free when that guy was dead, “what are you going to do?”

“Disappear,” she said with soft longing. “I’ll leave this city. Go somewhere with a white sand beach and crystal blue water. I won’t think about death or monsters . . . or anything, but life.”

She didn’t get it. When you were an Other, you didn’t get to close your eyes and pretend that the monsters weren’t real. Not when the humans in the world thought you were the monster. But he didn’t shatter her little dream, not yet.