Fallen Gods II: Jaded Prey Page 4

  Merco stepped around her, opening the car door. Her caution spawned yet another unfamiliar emotion that hardened his insides and rushed rabidly through his tortured system. She studied the purring machine only for a moment, and then her gaze darted to him, scanning him quickly before looking at the car again.

  “Material possessions don’t impress me,” she told him, her adorable nose going up in the air while she gave him a haughty stare.

  “I’ll remember that,” he told her, noticing how the cold had hardened her nipples into tiny beacons. They pressed against the material of her shirt, which already stretched over her full round breasts.

  Naomi’s cheeks flushed a delightful red, bringing out the blue in her eyes. She ran her tongue over her lips before sucking in a breath. Her shirt stretched even more over her breasts, sending a rush of heat straight to Merco’s cock. Suddenly his human body no longer felt the cold. Instead fire burned through him. The urge to throw her over his shoulder and disappear to a much more intimate setting overwhelming him.

  This playing human was a pain in the ass. All this pretense. He wanted one thing—to see her spread beneath him, her body arched with pleasure while she screamed through her orgasm. He wanted to fuck her silly.

  “Good.” She moved quickly, bending over and sliding into the passenger seat.

  Oh, hell, yeah. What he wouldn’t do to spread that ass wide open, devour her. And it would all be so easy if he just used his powers. Playing this game of being human was starting to be hard work.

  When he climbed in on the other side, she didn’t look at him, but wrapped her arms around her chest, as if she were still cold. The warm interior of the car made it hard to see out of the windows. Looking down, he took in the complex console and the many buttons and levers. Pushing his foot on the long pedal, the engine revved, but the car didn’t move. Maybe he should just make it drive itself. That would be a lot easier. He didn’t have a clue how to drive the thing.

  “The brake is on,” she said without looking at him.

  Her small fingers tapped an extended lever in between them that stuck out like his cock would if it weren’t confined in his pants.

  The last thing he would do would be to embarrass himself in front of this sexy woman. He had her so close, willing to go with him, and he wouldn’t ruin it by frightening her with his lack of earthly knowledge.

  “Engines like this are very delicate. They need to be prepared.” Immediately he sensed amusement fill the small confines of the car. This wasn’t going the way he wanted it to. Once again he thought of simply taking her away somewhere, dipping into her fruits and feasting until he was full.

  He could make her want him. Altering her perception of him just a bit would have her begging him to do whatever he wanted. It would take such little effort.

  But he would see this challenge through, damn it. Too many centuries had passed since he’d allowed any woman in his presence free will. His own creations, his own sluts, begged to do anything he wished to them. Tasting Naomi, once she offered herself to him without fight, would be worth all the minor embarrassments he might have to endure to get there.

  Releasing the brake didn’t do anything. The car sat there, humming quietly, its soft vibrations underneath them doing nothing to help him understand its mechanism. Maybe if he’d taken time to do more driving, partake in the activities of the mortals scattered across the planets, this machine would make sense to him. Most of their contraptions seemed to be similar regardless of the planet. After all, they all stemmed from the same seeds.

  He would have to wing it. Gripping the handle next to the wheel in front of him, he pulled on it, there not being anything else on the console in front of him to grab. Instantly the car rolled forward. Easy enough. He pushed the pedal with his foot, and the thing roared to life. Immediately other cars around him began honking.

  “When’s the last time you drove this thing?” Naomi grabbed the handle next to her with one hand and braced herself against the dash with the other.

  He looked at her. Her eyes were wide with fright. Blood pumped through her veins at an accelerated rate, her heart pounding too hard in her chest. She was a fragile creature, so delicate, yet determined to act so strong. For a moment, he couldn’t look away, but simply feasted on her beauty, those full red lips, her creamy white skin, and that gorgeous red hair that really needed to be set free, allowed to stream around her without constraint. She was more perfect than any woman he’d ever created.

  “Usually I don’t drive.” There was no need to offer further explanation. Better to be a mystery, than for her to know the truth.

  In time, after he’d fucked her, and if she proved worth keeping around for a while, he would let her know of his powers. But until then, it was best to keep her in the dark.

  “I can tell.” She sounded disgusted. Her amused attitude was gone.

  Merco frowned, an uncomfortable emotion washing through him that he wasn’t accustomed to feeling. The thought that she wouldn’t like him had never crossed his mind. And he didn’t like the idea now. Gripping the steering wheel, he focused on the road in front of them, trying to make sure the car did what he wanted it to. “Tell me how to get to your home.”

  Letting her know he’d already been to her apartment building would be a fool’s mission. Once he had her trust, fucking her would be no problem.

  “The first thing you need to do is turn around. You’re going in the wrong direction.” She had reached to pull a strap around her, fastening it next to her hip.

  She wasn’t amused, hesitation ringing in her voice. He was losing points by the second. Fucking sluts of his own creation was a hell of a lot easier than trying to get someone to like him first—and without using any powers. He wondered for a second if this was worth it. His cock burned with a fire more intense than he’d known for centuries. Blood rushed through his human body, burning him with a dangerous craving.

  “Okay. We’ll turn around.” He forced himself to focus on the street around him, which was full of cars. Concentrating on anything other than those soft curves, those delicate hands, the way she licked her lips when she was nervous, hurt his brain.

  He’d made a deal with himself not to use magic on her. Allowing her time to want him, to beg for him to appease the craving he knew burned wildly inside her would be worth his own torment. However that didn’t mean he couldn’t alter the world around him.

  With a thought, the cars on the road disappeared, making it easy to turn the car around.

  “What in the hell are you doing?” she shrieked, grabbing his arm with a strength he didn’t realize she had.

  Straightening the car out so that he was now going in the opposite direction, he gave her his attention. Her mouth hung open, perfectly shaped for his cock. Her eyes were wide, a fiery blue that enticed him. Such energy. Such spirit.

  “Let me out of this car, right-fucking-now!” she screamed at him, and at the same time grabbed the door handle.

  “You’re not going to leave me.” It was a simple fact. He would see this to the end. And he would say when that was, not Naomi. She would see that making demands of him, especially ridiculous demands, weren’t to her advantage. “Are you in that big of a rush to get home so that demon can haunt you some more?”

  All color washed from her face. She stared at him for a moment, not blinking, but fear wrapped around her like a thick blanket. He watched her lips start to tremble.

  “I want out of the car now. Please.” Her voice cracked as she spoke.

  “Naomi.” He kept his voice calm, reassuring. What mattered now was that she calm down. His gut turned at the thought that he could fail with her before he’d had a chance to even get started. “There are things about me that you don’t know. Many things. But what you do need to know is that you can trust me. I will never hurt you.”

  Her expression didn’t change. “Well, there is something that I know about you. You don’t know how to drive. Now pull over before you get us both killed.” />
  He brought the car to the side of the road and put his foot on the pedal that stopped the car. The thing jerked to a stop.

  “Ow!” she cried out again, her body smashing forward against the strap that restrained her. “Maybe you wouldn’t intentionally hurt me. But trust you? Not as far as I could throw you.”

  She jumped out of the car, and marched down the sidewalk, her braids swaying against her back.

  “Damn.” Merco jumped out as well, waving his hand at the car so that it disappeared.

  The fool woman was determined to walk home. She wouldn’t walk away from him though. Picking up pace, he stayed behind her, the smooth sway of her hips so tantalizing his mouth watered.

  She would be his. Just the thought of capturing her passion, pinning down her lust so that no man would satisfy her other than him, made his cock swell while his heart beat too fast.

  Her legs were shorter than his, but keeping up with her was physically painful when he ached with a fiery passion throughout his entire body. When her apartment complex was in sight across the street she slowed, looking over her shoulder.

  “Why are you following me?” she asked, turning to glance both ways carefully before entering the street.

  He fell into stride next to her. “I’m not letting you walk home alone.”

  “I don’t need a bodyguard.” She brushed her braid over her shoulder, walking around the parked cars in her parking lot as she headed toward the glass doors of her complex.

  “You need more than a bodyguard.” He grabbed her when she reached the entrance of her complex. There was no way he would let her go that easily.

  He took her arm and she turned on him quickly. Her free hand raised, as if she would slap him, and he grabbed it. Pinning her hands behind her back, he crushed her to him.

  There was no hesitation. The need in him had grown too strong. He kissed her.

  And the fire from her mouth almost made him melt. Her body was stiff, not fighting him, but not relaxing. But she didn’t move. She didn’t pull away from him.

  He ran his tongue over her lips, felt their softness, their fullness, tasted her.

  When a moment passed and she did nothing to make him stop, he tightened his grip around her, running his hand up the narrow curve of her back and tangling his fingers in her hair.

  Arching her head back, he pressed his tongue through her slightly parted lips. She opened them further on a gasp. She wanted him. She craved him with the same intensity that he craved her, and that pushed him forward. A growl escaped him when he entered her mouth. Her heat, her own unique taste, her hesitant submission, was a drug that coursed through his body, attacking his system and making him want her more than he remembered ever wanting another woman.

  She turned her head slightly, forcing their mouths away.

  “Please,” she gasped, her body relaxing against his while she struggled for breath.

  “Yes?” he whispered against her cheek, while applying moist kisses against her soft skin.

  He worked his way to her ear then sucked the soft flesh into his mouth. “Tell me what you want.”

  He wanted to hear her voice her thoughts, confess that she yearned for him to be buried deep inside her.

  A soft tap on his shoulder grabbed his attention. Someone tried to steal his thoughts with a finger poking his shoulder. He didn’t bother to stop what he was doing. There was no reason to turn and see who might be standing behind him. Already he knew there was no one there. The soft tap was a reminder. A gentle way of letting him know that he wasn’t pleasing someone.

  “I want…” Naomi sucked in a breath, pressing her hands against his chest and giving a slight push. “I need to go inside.”

  He let her move to arm’s reach but kept her in his embrace, looking down at her. Naomi didn’t look up but apparently focused on her hands. He caressed her arms, enjoying the soft touch of her. Her fingers spread across his chest, covering his heart, soaking him with her warm touch.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen such incredible natural beauty. Usually he preferred his women with lots of makeup, bright red lipstick, long thick lashes. But Naomi didn’t need any of it. The way loose strands waved around her face, refusing to stay bound, the soft cream color of her skin, her full lips, the gleam of hesitation warring in her expression. He knew beyond a doubt that no one would keep her from him.

  “You need to be with me.” And he knew by the way she stayed in his arms that she wanted to be with him. He didn’t even need to read her thoughts to know that much.

  But then she pushed harder against his chest, taking a step back. He let go of her but didn’t move, the space between them a burning inferno of lust. Sparks burst inside him, his need rupturing while the ache became almost unbearable.

  “Why do you say that? You don’t even know me.” She crossed her arms over her chest, looking over her shoulder as if she wanted to turn to go inside but her own desires prevented her from moving.

  Her body language spoke volumes. This woman craved him possibly more than any woman had ever wanted him.

  “I know you are searching, that what you live with right now isn’t acceptable.” He caught her chin in his hand, lifting her face to his. The soft glow of her blue eyes was like a pool that he could swim in forever. “You do need me.”

  “I’ve got to go,” she whispered, her lips trembling until she sucked them in, running her tongue over them.

  “All you have to do is think about me, and I’ll be there.” He took a step back, hating to do so, knowing he would suffer incredibly until he saw her again.

  Chapter Six

  Naomi was surprised to see Bridget standing just inside the foyer when she entered the dimly lit complex. The familiar damp smell of what had been her home now for several years welcomed her, along with Bridget’s concerned look.

  “Are you okay?” Bridget looked past her toward the doors, then focused on Naomi’s flushed expression.

  She was sure her friend saw straight through her, to the burning desire that still smoldered inside her from Merco’s kiss.

  “I’m fine. What are you doing down here?” Naomi asked, hoping she sounded relaxed and assuring.

  Her heart beat a mile a minute, and she swore it was warmer in the building than usual.

  “Just checking mail.” Bridget smiled and turned for the stairwell, her concern turning amiable. “So what did you do tonight?”

  “I went downtown.” They climbed the stairs side by side.

  Naomi had a feeling that her friend wanted more details, but she just didn’t feel like sharing anything about Merco. She didn’t understand the man herself. How could she explain him to Bridget?

  They stopped in front of Naomi’s apartment. Bridget’s was just down the hall, the door slightly ajar with a dim light glowing from inside.

  “Naomi. There is something I need to say.” Bridget put her hand on Naomi’s arm, a friendly gesture but for some reason it sent nervous prickles down Naomi’s spine. Bridget smiled reassuringly. “The man you were with outside, Merco. He isn’t right for you.”

  “You know Merco?” Naomi might actually get some answers about the mysterious man. Immediately she had hundreds of questions she wanted to ask Bridget about him. “Is he married?” she began, asking the big one first.

  Bridget shook her head. “Merco isn’t marrying material,” she said, her expression turning serious. “Naomi. You are my friend, my dear friend. And I would cry if anyone ever hurt you. Please promise me. Stay away from him.”

  Naomi hadn’t decided if she wanted to see him again or not. But being told not to didn’t sit well with her. If anyone other than Bridget had said that to her, she would have told them to fuck off.

  “Is there something wrong with him?” she asked, fearing the worse.

  Wouldn’t it just be her luck for the most gorgeous man in town to be pursuing her, and he had some fatal disease.

  Bridget shook her head. “Nothing like that. It’s just that, well,
Merco has a very unique sex drive…to say the least,” she added under her breath. “Just promise me you will stay away from him. I don’t want you hurt.”

  Naomi didn’t know what to say. Of course her best friend would know that she wasn’t very sexually active. Hell, she hadn’t been with a man in ages. But it wasn’t because she didn’t like sex. She loved sex. There just weren’t that many men out there who didn’t turn out to be real jerks after the first date.

  She mumbled something that she was sure was incoherent and turned toward her door, entering her dark empty apartment. There was no reason to turn on the lights. She was numb as she walked through her living room into her bedroom and reached for the small lamp next to her bed. She plopped down on the edge of the bed. There was no way she would be able to fall asleep now.

  It turned out falling asleep wasn’t the problem. The dreams that haunted her were worse than if she hadn’t been able to sleep. Naomi kicked her blankets off of her, unable to wake up as the voices tormented her, the visions in front of her terrifying her.

  “Come to me, you little slut.” The grotesque creature moved with lazy confidence, his grayish-green eyes too moist while he ogled her. “You will never escape me, never be free of me. You are mine to enjoy for eternity. No one will stop me when I exist in your mind.”

  She tried to cry out, to scream, to move her hands so that she could strike him, or prevent him from touching her. For some reason she couldn’t move. She couldn’t speak.

  Heat burned through her as if flames danced around her, torturing her. Everything around her was dark. The dampness in the air saturated her clothing, giving her a chill even though she sweltered from the suffocating heat.

  If only she could tell him no, tell him to go away, to get his bony fingers off of her.

  The stench of the creature surrounded her, his heavy breathing showing how excited he was. Moisture clung to her skin where he touched her, his clammy hands giving her nasty chills even though she sweated from overwhelming heat and humidity.

  “You can’t fight me. You don’t have the strength.” His hissing laughter as he groped at her, fondled her breasts, tugged at her clothes, made her want to puke.