Wicked Edge (Realm Enforcers, #2)(19)
“Think whatever you want, baby, but at some point in the very near future, you’re going to be spread out in front of me, all of that glorious skin revealed, and I’m gonna take my time.”
A shiver trembled through her that had nothing to do with the cold. The very idea of spending a night with Daire Dunne, enjoying his obvious attention to detail, heated her in places she hadn’t used in far too long. Yet his arrogance grated. “Here I thought we were becoming friends.”
His bark of laughter moved his chest. “No. We may be enemies, and we may try to be allies, but I don’t f*ck my friends until they whimper my name.”
Whimper? Seriously. Whimper. She tried to catch hold of anger or even indignation, but her energy had been depleted. Her mind fuzzed, but she needed a decent comeback. Something that would put him in his place. Unfortunately, her brain refused to kick into gear. “I don’t f*ck.”
“Good thing I do.”
She fell asleep as his amusement wandered around them.
Colors, crazy and bright, filled her dreams, but she slept in contentment, protected after so long. The arms around her were temporary, but the sense of safety seduced her into a deep sleep.
A few hours later, her eyelids jerked open. Wind whistled a pissed-off sound around the building, sliding through cracks in the far wall. The fire had died down to a soft crackle, and rolling thunder moved the earth. Her heart rate picked up, instinct kicking in. What had awakened her?
Daire’s arms tightened, and he set her away. “There’s somebody outside.”
Chapter 7
Daire crouched low on the frozen kitchen floor and concentrated on the vibrations outside. The storm had died down a little bit but still competed with other energy sources. He could detect energy waves better than most witches, and he knew those signatures. Demons. At least two—maybe more. Either way, they waited outside in the swirling snow.
“Stay here and be ready to run out the front. A half mile to the north is an old gas station. I hid the snowmobile behind it,” he said to Cee Cee. “They’re out back.” He hadn’t heard any sort of vehicle, so they’d walked. He pointed to the jacket she’d sat on. “Put that back on.”
Cee Cee stood, her eyes wide, her hair wild around her face. “They’re here for me, not you.”
Yeah. He got that.
“You don’t even have a shirt, Daire.” She visibly steeled her shoulders and tried to move toward the back door.
He planted a hand in the center of her chest, halting her easily. “I don’t need a shirt, and you’re not at full power yet. No way could you be after healing your body like that last night.” Plus, he was a f*cking enforcer, and nobody was going to harm her on his watch. “They might not know you’re here, so just stay out of the way until I figure out who’s out there.”
She glanced down at the hand at her chest, and a flush worked over her cheekbones. “I told you I don’t need a protector.”
That was too bad. He leaned down and yanked up the jacket to shove over her shoulders. “Zip it up.”
He waited until she’d complied, pure defiance on her face. She could wear any damn expression she wanted so long as she did what he said. He turned away and opened the door to find two demons to the left? and two to the right against a crumbling building of old apartments. “You all about to square-dance?” he called through the lightly falling snow.
One man stepped forward. Curly blond hair, dark eyes, firm but young jaw. Ivan Bychkov looked like a handsome teenage heartthrob and hadn’t seemed to age in the years Daire had read security updates on the Consortia leader. “Bychkov,” Daire said.
Ivan blinked and settled his stance. “Daire Dunne. What is a Nine enforcer doing on my island?”
Daire lifted an eyebrow and kept his stance loose. The odds sucked, especially if the soldiers were as well trained as they appeared at first glance. “I own two of the mines on this island, as you know.”
“Yet I own the actual island as well as two of the working mines.” Ivan smiled, youthful and charming. The soldier next to him was Vadim Deeks, one of the deadliest assassins around, and rumored to be completely loyal to Bychkov. They seemed to have a peaceful alliance with the main demon nation, which was currently being led by Zane Kyllwood, Logan’s older brother. If Daire killed Bychkov, there might be a problem with Kyllwood.
Daire didn’t recognize the other two soldiers. “Well, this has been nice. Go away.”
Bychkov sighed. “Where is she?”
“She?” Daire asked. Instead of letting the exhausted woman sleep all over him, he should’ve demanded answers. Right now, he didn’t know shit, and that was not a good place to be.
Vadim lifted a green gun and pointed it at Daire. A laser gun that turned into bullets as it hit flesh. Immortal flesh.
Daire responded by allowing fire to dance down his arms and morph into plasma weapons in his hands.
“Enough,” Cee Cee said from behind him, crossing to his side.
Bychkov sucked in air. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Anger, female and strong, cascaded off her slim form. “I hadn’t planned to meet up so quickly.”
“Yet here you are,” Bychkov drawled.
She chuckled, the sound low and hoarse. “I’m here to check out Dunne’s mine. Not yours.”