A Midsummer Night's Demon(5)

Lyn.

He had detected a slight accent, present in the lilt of her voice when she had told him her name. Her name. That was all he knew about her. That one syllable. Well that, and he knew she belonged to him, he recognized it deep within his very soul. He’d felt an instant connection when he’d tasted her blood. He had no doubt the fates created her for him.

Unfortunately, she happened to be a demon. Not only did her kind think vampires mythological creatures, but her natural inclination would be to shun him once she discovered what he was. He would have to play this carefully—be sure not to scare her away. It would not be easy.

Everything within called for him to take his mate. Love her. Make her his in the most primal way. His need already rode him hard, and he had spent less than twenty-four hours in her presence. Ky moved forward through the palmettos, putting more distance between him and his temptation.

The stroll helped to ease the physical symptoms of his desire, but his mind refused to give him respite. It continued to torment him with visions of her, playing them over and over like a record skipping on a turntable. The first time he saw her beautiful face. The image of her slumped in the parking garage. The way she looked up at him with trust in her eyes before she whispered her name.

He inhaled a deep breath and forced his attention out to the river to distract himself. People rarely cruised the river at night, which made things usually still and peaceful.

Tonight was no different. All seemed quiet, but with a mate to protect, he didn’t want to take any chances. He sent his senses flowing through the palms and pines, out over the water, in search of any sign of trouble. Finding only the energy of his mate, the occasional splash of an alligator and call of a bird, he turned back to his home.

To her.

His shoeless feet sank into the sandy soil, the grains crept between his toes with each step back to his home. The house, small by most standards, contained a living room, kitchen, a couple of baths, and two bedrooms. More like a bungalow. It suited him. A quick swipe of his feet on the door mat, he pushed through the front door.

The relaxing combination of chamomile and jasmine hit him once inside and comforted him. His nostrils flared taking Lyn’s scent deep within his lungs, letting it brand on the inside.

Ky made his way through the house, stopping to hit the remote that opened the shutters to allow the light of the moon into the home. The shutters were ingenious really. Marketed as hurricane shutters, they had been invented by a vampire, not only to protect against hurricanes, but against the deadly rays of the sun as well.

Ky padded down the hall toward his mate. Pushing open the door to her room, the sight greeting him made his heart pound in his chest. Lyn lay on his bed, her dark hair fanned out over the pillows, with the full moon casting its silvery light over her. One delicate hand lay palm up on her forehead, the other rested upon her stomach, moving slightly with each breath. The sheet had pulled to the side, exposing her lean leg. She still wore the dress from the previous night, but the material had pulled down giving him an unobstructed view of the side of one breast. Her ruby lips pursed in a small pout. Long black lashes lay still on her bronze cheeks. With her potent sexuality and demure curves, she resembled a Mayan goddess.

After turning on the light switch by the door, he crossed to her in three long, powerful strides to take a stray stand of her hair in his hand. He savored the feel of its silky glide over the pads of his fingers as he tucked it behind her ear. Lyn stirred, turning into his touch. Ky froze, his breath hitching in his lungs as her soft lips touched his hand.

Those lips.

A man could get lost in those lips, in her kiss. They were the devil’s temptation. The image of them wrapped around his flesh, giving him immeasurable pleasure, flooded his mind, and sent a rush of desire to heat his blood.

He shook his head to stop the direction of his thoughts before they drove his inner beast over the edge. He barely had control around her as it was.

The usually unflappable agent pulled his hand away as if her lips had burned him. Ky straightened the sheet, covering the sinful temptation of her flesh, to help give him some semblance of control.

“Lyn,” he breathed, so softly she did not stir. He cleared his throat. Taking a deep fortifying breath, he tried again. Louder this time. “Lyn, honey. You need to wake up.”

****

Lyn struggled through the sleepy haze. An unnatural lethargy weighed on her limbs. Someone had said something. Wanted something. Her mind struggled through the thick mental fog trying to remember what the voice commanded. Wake up. Someone wanted her to wake up.