Wicked Edge (Realm Enforcers, #2)(30)

But he liked an orderly life, and he liked peaceful women. Felicity, on her own, was a barrel of crazy schemes and too much energy. Plus, she came with three grown sons and tight ties to the demon nation, which might create even more problems for him as an enforcer.

She was smart enough to drug him, and she was brave enough to face down powerful enemies half the world away from safety.

Just thinking about her made his pants too tight.

He crossed into the living room where she sat on the leather sofa, firelight caressing her skin. Her hair, long, shimmering, and blond, had dried down her back. No curls, no wave. Just delicate femininity. Dark yoga pants covered her toned legs, and a red T-shirt, a good one, her top. Freshly scrubbed with no makeup, the woman looked about twenty years old. Her feet were bare.

“I forgot to borrow socks from Simone,” he rumbled, leaning against the door frame.

Felicity jumped, her dark eyes flashing to him. “The fire is warm and so are my feet.”

She had cute feet. Small, pale, fragile. Yet she’d kicked that polar bear with enough force to break its nose.

“I usually know exactly what I’m doing and what I need to do next,” he said, his arms crossed over his bare chest.

She smiled. “That must be nice.”

“I don’t know what to do with you.”

A very pretty pink fluttered beneath her skin. Well, at least they were on the same wavelength. Yet she arched one fine brow. “I’m not yours to do anything with.”

From any other woman, the statement would’ve been a challenge. Yet with her regal tone of voice, her bearing, the woman actually believed every word.

He smiled. “Why are you damaged?”

Her head jerked.

Hadn’t been expecting that one, now had she?

Her chin lifted. “I’m not damaged.”

All right. Enough. “Nobody has ever called me patient, lady, and I have to say, I’ve showed more patience with you than anybody else in my entire life.” He hadn’t even dealt with the fact that she’d drugged him and ransacked his office yet.

“So?” She met his gaze full on.

Heat flushed through him. “So? I’m done. Either you start talking, or I strip you naked, f*ck you senseless, and then you start talking.” In fact, that was a damn good idea. He pushed off from the wall.

She choked and held up a hand. “Wait a minute.”

“Talk.”

Her hands fluttered in her lap, and she cut a discreet glance at the clock on the mantel. What in holy hell was she up to now? She cleared her throat. “Fine. Not many people know this, but I, ah, I am unable to perpetrate a demon mind attack.”

Perpetrate? Jesus. He’d rather have her screaming at him than using that monotone of a voice. “So?”

She blinked. “I’m damaged. Handicapped. Half a demon.”

That was f*cking crazy. “Says who?”

She shook her head, surprise glittering in her eyes. “Everyone.”

“Can you teleport?”

Her shoulders slumped. “No.”

He could just rip the head off everyone who’d ever made her feel like less. And by the hurt in her eyes, they’d done a number on her. In fact, until Zane Kyllwood had killed his uncle and taken over the demon nation, the world hadn’t known Zane was half demon or that Felicity existed. “Your family hid you?” he asked.

She shrugged. “My parents were protective, but they died, and then Suri took over.”

Suri was her older brother, the former demon leader, and a real bastard. “Willa was your sister?”

“Yes.”

Willa was a demonness who was a torturing bitch. Both Suri and Willa were dead now.

“All right.” Daire’s brain sorted facts. “So Suri betrothed you to Bychkov in order to secure a treaty between his nation and Bychkov’s people.”

“Yes, but I’d met Dane Kyllwood, and we ran away together. Had the boys and lived a nice life in Africa until he died.” Sadness twisted her lip.

Daire leaned back, narrowing her gaze. “How exactly did you meet Kyllwood?”

She shrugged, her gaze sliding away. “You know. At a bar downtown.”

“Felicity.”

The pink turned to red, and not with embarrassment but shame. “Dane lived with a small coalition of vampires, and the demons had attacked them for land, so he infiltrated Suri’s headquarters to assassinate him. Instead, Dane found me, and I was injured, so he, ah, got me to safety.”

Everything inside Daire stilled. “How were you injured?”

She lifted a shoulder and sighed. “Suri and I didn’t get along well.”

“He beat you?” Daire growled.

Her gaze met his. “I hit him, too.”

Jesus. “So you got away, gave birth to three sons at a very young age, and then Dane died, leaving you alone in the world.”

“Yes.”

The only question remaining, he figured he could answer himself. Every move she’d made in the last week had been focused specifically on one target. Yet he wanted confirmation. “Bychkov killed your mate.”

Her eyes flashed and she stood. “Yes. It’s Bychkov’s time to suffer before I kill him.”





Chapter 11


Felicity settled her stance. The enforcer stood, legs braced, torso bare. Man, he was ripped. Dark hair curled at his nape, and he’d shaved in the shower, revealing the razor sharp cut of his jaw. A slight shadow already darkened his skin, all masculine.