Angel of Darkness (The Fallen #1)(21)

He put a stranglehold on the beast that was growing inside of him. A beast he hadn’t even known about until her.

Lust.

“You’re not special,” he managed to grit from between his teeth.

She blinked at him. “Uh, I—”

“You’re just like every other human out there.” If he said it enough, it would be true.

“Wrong answer, hotshot. I’m not exactly human.” And she let her claws scratch his flesh. A light, painful sting.

It shouldn’t have made his cock twitch.

It did.

He sucked in a breath and tasted her. His eyes squeezed shut. But now ... now he could feel her. Supple thighs. Slender, soft body. Control. “You ... you were just like the others.” His words came out as a growl. “Going to work. Teaching at that school. Work. Home. Over and over.”

He caught the hitch of her breath. “What school?”

His eyes opened. “St. Mary’s. Down in the Quarter. You’d stay late with the kids, then hurry home, change and meet—who was it? Donna—for drinks at the bar on—”

“How do you know this?”

“You never went home with any of the men.” Not while he’d been watching. “You flirted. You drank. Wore skirts a bit shorter than the ones you used to wear at St. Mary’s—”

A shiver skated down her body—the shiver trembled over him like a silken touch.

“You weren’t any different from a hundred other women in the city. Work, job, friends ...” No different. No different from the thousands of other charges he’d taken, but when he’d looked into her eyes ...

He’d lost everything.

The rage hit him then, a hard fire that burned with the lust. Keenan lunged up, spun them, and pushed her onto the ground.

“I’m not a human you can jerk around,” he told her, bringing his face in close to hers. “Your strength isn’t going to work on me. Your bite isn’t going to make me weak.” Right then, he was the one wanting to take a bite. And why couldn’t he? Why couldn’t he take what he wanted from her?

He’d burned for her.

“That’s bullshit!” She tried to shove away from him. When would she realize he wasn’t letting her go anywhere? “A vamp can drain a demon, a vamp can kill—”

He stared into her eyes. No, she wasn’t the same woman she’d been. In her stare, he now saw the secrets, the pain, the fury. A fury that matched his own because he wasn’t the same, either. “Sweet, I don’t remember saying I was a demon. Just that the bastard had seen through my glamour.”

Her lips parted.

And he took.

His mouth crashed onto hers, a deep, hard kiss. This need, this consuming hunger—it was what had led the humans into temptation.

Sin.

Oh, yes, he wanted to sin with her.

She didn’t wrench her head away from him. Didn’t bite him with those too-sharp teeth.

But she didn’t kiss him back.

He wanted her to kiss him back.

“Nicole ...” His hold gentled on her wrists. Her breasts were tight. Her hips pressing up against him. Keenan knew the signs of a woman’s arousal but he didn’t know how to get her to give in to her need.

His hands freed hers. He kept his lips on hers and managed to soften the kiss. His tongue swept inside her mouth. Yes. That rich taste that was pure Nicole tormented him. He wanted more. Wanted everything.

And her hands were on him now. In his hair. Not pushing away. Pulling closer.

Her tongue met his. She gave a little moan in her throat, a hungry, hot sound that had all the blood in his body rushing right to his erection.

Lust.

Men had killed for this. Died.

He could understand. Finally.

His hands pushed between their bodies and found the snap of her jeans. Touch.

He had to know what she felt like. Had to see if she was wet. Hot. Would she taste as sweet there?

Her zipper hissed down. His fingers pushed inside and found the soft cotton of her underwear. Her hips arched against him, and her tongue licked across his lips.

And a car’s engine growled in the distance. Coming closer. Closer.

No.

His head snapped up. His breath heaved out, and he couldn’t look away from her. On the ground. Lips red from his mouth. Her arms around him, her claws digging into his skin.

His gaze trekked down her body. His stare lingered on the pebbled nipples that thrust against her borrowed shirt. Slowly, slowly, his gaze dropped down to the jeans that were unsnapped, revealing the pale skin of her abdomen, the dark black of her panties.

More.

The car’s engine idled closer. A siren blared on, a slow, droning wail.

“A cop ...” Her husky voice was like a stroke right over his flesh. “If he sees the truck, he’ll think we’re hurt. He’s not going to leave ...”

No. “This isn’t over.” His thumb brushed over her lips. Her eyes widened and then her tongue snaked out, licking him.

His heart shoved into his ribs. “Nicole, don’t run from me again.”

The cop was getting closer. Keenan could hear the tread and roll of the tires.

Her head moved in the slightest of nods. “After we get rid of him, you tell me everything, okay? Because if you’re not a demon, then what are you?”