He read his message, then his eyes lifted to pin her to the wall with their intensity. “He says your name is Rose. I didn’t know Saint had cousins.”
She lifted her chin. “Your shifting friend, Thomas Lyons has cousins. I’m sure you must have had them when you were alive. Did you think because Saint’s a demon that he doesn’t—that he can’t have family?”
“Not at all.” He lifted one dark auburn brow. “I never asked, and he never offered. Most of the time we focus on in-the-moment issues. What he’s done to drive me crazy this time, or why he left dirty dishes in the sink, that sort of thing.”
Oh. He was looking at her so strangely. What else had Saint told him in that text message? “Well, life is full of surprises. I didn’t know you owned a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Or that you could sing.” Or that you’d smell so good I’d want to beg you to fuck me.
“I’m adapting to life on the run,” he responded with a quirk on his lush, beautiful lips for an instant before his grim expression returned. He moved closer to her, towering over her and making her tremble. “And you can sing as well. I suppose you’re the siren’s call that sailors are warned about. Tell me when the rest of The Devil’s Garden is arriving, hunter. How do you mean to bring me in and who are you supposed to report to?”
The Devil’s Garden. It was what the vampires had long ago taken to calling her and her sisters: Magnolia, Pansy, Daisy, Gardenia, Ivy and Rose. Saint must have told him, knowing Mac would recognize the name. There weren’t many of his kind that hadn’t heard stories about them.
Damn i
t, Saint. She wanted to kiss him, and her cousin had practically put up a “no trespassing” sign by mentioning her sisters. Rose supposed there was no harm in telling him the truth. To a point. Just to ease his mind. “We’ve spread out to search for you since you dropped off the grid. New York, Florida, Scotland… I don’t have to check in with them again until the day after tomorrow unless I get a lead. Which they won’t expect because I never do.”
His fingers reached up to trace the roped necklace that rested against her skin. “Never? And you didn’t call them before you started arousing my audience and distracting me with all that sexual energy? Interesting. Bored, demon? Or just hungry? If the latter, I’ve heard of a nearby diner filled with cruel and thoughtless people ready for you to seduce. Leave this group alone and go entice them with your particular charms.”
She was hungry, but he was the only meal she required. Rose lifted her hands to place them on his chest, her thighs tightening at the hardness of him. The strength beneath her hands. She scraped her nails across his nipples and down to his stomach without taking her eyes off of him.
His gaze narrowed, his thick lashes concealing those crystalline gems. “Is this how you hunt, demon Rose? Are you the siren and the bait—with your short skirt, perfect curves and dark, innocent eyes—meant to distract me until they can spring the trap?”
“We know I’m not innocent, but am I really a distraction, vampire?” she whispered, leaning forward until her breath grazed his lips. “That kind of thing is usually Magnolia’s job. She’s had men like you tied up and on their knees…and they were smiling when they were finally taken away.” She chuckled softly. “I’m not bait, I’m just the scout who wasn’t expecting our target to be so damn sexy.”
Mac growled and lifted Rose into the air and pressed her against the wall with his large, chiseled body. “You underestimate your skills.”
“No I don’t. Sadly, everyone else does.”
When his lips covered hers, Rose melted against him. Yes. Rough and wild, as though he couldn’t restrain his desire. As though he would take her right here, right now, against the wall.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and rocked her hips against his. It wasn’t enough. Without lifting her lips from his she reached out blindly for his hand, tugging it down between their bodies and under her skirt, showing him what she wanted.
He moaned, pressing his forehead against hers as he tugged the fragile fabric of her underwear aside and caressed her wet sex with his fingers in a way that drove her mad. “You are a tempting woman, aren’t you? You used your wiles to make me forget where we are. Who you are. Used how you can make them feel to try to seduce me.”
She bit his lower lip hard enough to get his attention. “Demon. Half-demon,” she corrected. “And you know how demons are when they want someone.”
Or did he? The way he stilled made her wonder.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never been with one of us before, vampire.”
His expression surprised her again. She breathed out a laugh. “Oh, you poor thing. You have no idea what you’ve been missing.”
His finger slipped deep inside her and she gasped in delight when he groaned, “Show me.”
Yes. Rose hadn’t been with a vampire in decades, hadn’t wanted to, but this one was different. She could already feel his passion reaching out to her, feeding her and fueling her desire.
Her blood started to burn and she knew her eyes were glowing red with arousal. She would show him. “We’re shameless, you know. Demons? Without shame. There’s no point in being ashamed of your desires. No point in denying them or fighting them. We live to give in to them. No matter how debauched. No matter how depraved. We deny ourselves nothing. Not like you.”
Her words hummed against his beard and she closed her teeth on the flesh of his neck, nipping his skin. “You deny your thirst, I hear. Deny your nature. You wouldn’t have to with me. My blood is human as well—you could have as much as you wanted without fear of hurting me. As long as you give me what I want in return, that’s a price I’d be willing to pay.”
Mac set her down and stepped away so abruptly she almost tipped over. “No.”
What was happening? She must have misunderstood him. “What?”
His cheeks were flushed, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he regained his control. “I don’t make deals with demons, Rose. Not even one as enticing as that. As you. Go back and tell your clients they will have to deal with me themselves. I won’t be as generous with the next demon who hunts me.”
“You—but you…” He wanted her. She knew he did.
His laugh was harsh. “Saint tells me I can trust you, but I believe his is wishful thinking. You are one luscious flower in a deadly garden, but there’s too much at stake. He should know that.”