The pressure of his groin against her told her that he felt the same way.
“This is crazy,” she muttered.
“Well,” he said softly, “Do you like crazy?”
“More than I care to admit.”
“Then say no more.”
Chapter 9 - Axle
The phone on the table pulled them away from the kiss, and Natalie jerked backward.
Axle stared at her for a moment as the phone rang in the background. He saw her cheeks were flushed, and could hear her heartbeat racing in her chest. He found it insane to believe that this woman was his mate, but somehow it made perfect sense. She had been drawn into the world of the supernatural, no matter how he had tried to keep her out, and now she was going to be a part of it, no matter what.
“Are you going to get that?” she asked, running a hand through her hair before she turned and headed toward the kitchen.
Axle remembered that the phone was ringing, and reached out to pick it up. By the time he did, the call had dropped. He checked and saw that it was Bingwen, and called the man back.
Bingwen picked up instantly, and even before the man was done with his first sentence, Axle was already irked by the man’s demeanor.
“Leave you alone for a minute, and you can’t pick up a damn phone?” Bingwen asked, snorting. “What’s going on?”
“I’m trying to deal with some burns I got from the bracelet, how about you? How is it holding in the cave?”
Bingwen chuckled. “I left the cave, I’m heading to a heritage site out of town, need to find some answers. I thought I’d check in, see how things are…”
Axle blanked out, no longer listening to the call. He focused instead on the tiniest rattling sound which came from the wall in front of him. He paused for a moment, and then realized that there was something behind it. Before he could speak, a hand shot through the wall.
Axle tried moving back at the last second, but he didn’t react fast enough. He took the blow to the jaw, knocking him off the chair and over the bed. He quickly got to his feet to see a single demon breaking through the wall as though it was made of cardboard. Axle knew it was a really powerful demon, but nothing he couldn’t take on.
“You know, that wall is going to cost you,” Axle muttered under his breath, before he recalled that Natalie was in the room as well. “Nat! Stay in there! Lock the door!”
“What is it?” she asked.
But before Axle could respond, the demon rushed at him.
Axle grabbed the demon’s arm, locking his own across the dark skin of the creature. It let out a low-pitched growl that shook Axle’s body, but he held firm, not letting the creature loose. He drew his head back, landing a headbutt that rocked the demon. Just like him, it didn’t have claws, but packed a set of sharp serrated teeth, and a very powerful punch.
“Demon!” Axle yelled as he struggled to keep the head of the creature away from his face.
It threw an elbow backward, knocking the wind out of Axle, and forcing him to take a few steps back. It swung around with another blow, going for his face, but Axle reacted in time, grabbing the demon’s arm and pulling it toward him, breaking it at the elbow. It let out another scream, and Axle watched as two weaker demons crawled in through the hole in the wall.
Axle watched as they rushed toward the bathroom, where he had just asked Natalie to lock herself inside. “Nat! Get out of there!”
“What?” she yelled, the fear evident in her voice.
The demons grabbed at the door and began hacking through it with their clawed arms. Axle ducked under another swing and grabbed the jaws of the demon he fought, pushing it back. He drove a fist into its gut, before driving his fingers into the eyes of the demon. As it staggered, he followed up with a knee, pushing it further back and out of the hole where it had come in.
Axle grabbed a chair and slammed it into the side of one of the demons, knocking it away as the chair shattered to splinters. He pulled open the door, breaking the lock as he reached for Natalie. He grabbed the demon’s head and slammed it into the wall, burying it deep inside.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“Get you upstairs, and to safety!” Axle replied, looking back to see the demon going through the wall again.
He grunted, frowning at the fact that the demon was taking its time to break his house. He turned to Natalie. “That door is reinforced, as long as it’s the little ones that come, you’ll be fine. Just stay behind the door and get cover. I’ll deal with this.”
She ran into the room and shut the door. Axle turned around to face the demons, bringing his fists up. “Alright come on!”