Midnight's Master (Midnight #3)

He smiled at her. Smiled and nearly broke her heart because that curve of his lips-it was real.

I'm falling for him.

He caught her waist in his hands. Lifted her. Spun and set her on the edge of the bar.

The smile turned reckless. Wild.

Her Niol.

Not falling. She'd already fallen. Headfirst. For a man who she knew wasn't looking for happily ever after. Niol would run screaming from a picket fence.

Holly swallowed. Now. Focus on now.

His fingers pushed under the edge of her skirt and the now, oh, yeah, it picked up a whole lot of importance.

"I want you. Right here. In my Paradise."

A shiver had her tensing. Here? They were alone-she sure hoped they were, anyway. But a bar?

Okay, she'd had her share of sexual encounters. Even made love on a beach once, but a bar…

"Trust me." He leaned forward. Kissed her neck. Right under her left ear, in the spot that made her close her eyes and moan.

Yes.

"There's no one here to see you come…but me."

Trust.

He licked her neck. Niol eased his fingers up a bit higher, skimming the sensitive tops of her thighs. The bar's edge cut into the back of her legs, but she didn't care. Holly was too focused on Niol.

And his mouth and tongue.

Such a skilled mouth.

The edge of his teeth scored her flesh.

"Are you wet for me, love?"

Her panties were getting soaked.

"Because I'm hard for you. So hard and ready to feel the warm, creamy clasp of your sex all around me."

Her hand slid between them. Found the long length of his cock through his jeans. Oh, yeah, he was ready.

And she was more than ready to have him inside.

His fingers brushed the crotch of her panties. A rumble sounded in his throat. "Just the way I like."

He stroked his index finger along the crevice of her sex. A long, slow swipe that pushed the cotton against her flesh and made her want-

So much more.

Not nice and slow. Hell, no. Fast and wild.

In the bar.

This time, the thought sent a shudder through her. Not fear.

"You're so wet."

That finger was under her panties. Pushing between her folds and into her core.

And he was so-so damn . She fumbled with the snap of his jeans, hunching her shoulders so that she could reach him better. Holly managed to jerk down his zipper and she heard his hard hiss of breath.

Then the length of his cock spilled into her hands. Long and hard. Warm. Strong.

His touch on her sex, in her, wasn't enough.

Her breasts ached. The nipples pebbled against her blouse.

The bar top felt cold against her, while he was burning hot. "Niol…"

He yanked the panties away.

Finally.

But this wasn't going to work. She was a bit too high and-

Niol grabbed her and twisted, sitting her on top of the nearby bar stool and coming flush between her thighs.

This'll work.

He guided his cock into her sex, one hard inch at a time.

No condom.

Flesh on flesh.

So good .

His teeth clenched and sweat beaded his brow. Hell. The man was trying to be easy with her.

When had she ever asked for easy?

Her legs wrapped around him, squeezed tight. If he wasn't gonna take, then she sure would.

Her hips slammed forward and that thick wonderful flesh filled her, so deep and full and so-

Niol growled. Those black eyes shot with fire and he withdrew. Drove deep.

Not easy anymore.

She smiled and wondered if her own eyes reflected the same dark flames.

"Fucking beautiful…"

Then she just held on for the ride.

And what a ride it was.

The scent of passion filled the air. The stool chafed her thighs but she didn't care. His fingers dug into her hips. Big deal.

His cock-oh, but he was so far inside her-

She rose toward him, balancing with her hands on his shoulders and the new position sent the length of his arousal sliding right over her straining clit with every fast thrust.

Holly realized she was calling his name and that she was all but tearing the flesh from his shoulders as her nails dug through the soft fabric of his shirt.

He was nearly fully dressed.

She was naked from the waist down.

Being bad could feel so good.

"Come for me." A whisper of temptation right before his mouth took hers and his tongue thrust past her lips. Thrust just as his cock thrust into her sex.

Holly clamped her inner muscles around him. Come for me. The silent order was hers, to him.

Niol's erection swelled within her and she kissed him with a frantic hunger. Loving his taste.

The slam and drive of his body.

Loving-

She came with a firestorm of release, a passion that rocketed up her body and shot through every cell-and he was with her. The jet of his semen filled her and he trembled against her as he pumped into her body.

Pleasure. So much pleasure. Hers, his. Didn't matter. It was so good.

Sex with a demon. The. Best. Ever.

She didn't want the pleasure to end. No. Not now. Not ever.

His lips rose. His breath heaved out. Just like hers.

No barriers between them. As she stared up at him, Holly could see him. Not the mask. Not the dark image he portrayed. Him.

Niol.

I see you now.

She was in so much trouble.

Because he was already pulling back. The mask sliding into place. The fire in his eyes faded as he withdrew his flesh from her body.

Holly bit back her cry of protest and tensed at the slow glide of his cock retreating from her sex.

Then he stepped back and she pushed her legs closed. She had to push them with her hands because her thighs felt like jelly.

Her sex throbbed with remembered pleasure.

He jerked up his jeans. Zipped and fastened them with a blur of movement. Too quick. Don't end it so fast. She wanted more.

Niol stared down at her and she waited, waited for something, something. She just wasn't sure what – "I thought I loved a woman once."

What? Okay, that was sure as all fire damn not what she'd been waiting for.

The man had the most piss-poor timing in the world. Holly shot off the stool and her legs nearly gave way. Niol caught her, steadying her with a fierce grip. "Look at me."

If she did, she might slug him. The guy needed some serious post-sex manners knocked into him.

I loved a woman once.

Way to shatter her ego. "I-I don't think now is the time for this-this conversation-" Oh, that sounded dignified. Nothing like the scream building inside her.

"She died." His hand fell away from her.

The fire of their sensual encounter faded in an instant and goose bumps rose on her flesh.

"Didn't just die," he muttered. "She was murdered."

Her breath caught. There was pain there, a lot of pain, enough to wrench her heart. Was this woman the succubus she'd heard others whisper about?

I loved a woman once.

"I did things when she became lost to me." His lips thinned and Niol shook his head. "Until then, there was a line that I tried not to cross because I knew, I knew just how strong I was. And I knew my mother was right about the monster she saw in me."

"Niol…" If you knew the things I'd done, you wouldn't let me touch you. But she could still feel his imprint on every inch of her flesh.

"But when Nina passed, I lost control and I killed." Flat. Cold. "It was so easy for me." His hand fell away from her.

Yes, she could imagine that it had been. Holly swallowed. "You wanted revenge against her killer?"

"I got my revenge." Same flat voice.

That voice scared her. So she lifted her chin and put her hand on his chest. Right over the heart that thundered in a mad rhythm that belied his sinister cool.

Niol jerked at her touch. "Don't, Holly."

"Don't what? Don't touch you? I want to touch you. I'm not going to back off." Because there was more to him than darkness and death.

Once upon a time, she'd brought home every stray in the neighborhood and set up "Holly's Home" for animals. Peter had shaken his head at her and told her she couldn't save the world.

Her mom had only let her keep one cat. She'd cried for days when she'd lost the others.

And learned that she couldn't save the world.

No, no, she hadn't learned that. Because she went on the news every night, a secret part of her hoping to make a difference.

Just as she hoped to make a difference with Niol.

Not saving the world but maybe saving him.

"You don't know what you're doing." Now his hands grasped her upper arms and he lifted her onto her toes, star ing down at her with an almost desperate rage. "Don't make me-" He stopped, and a muscle flexed along the rock-hard length of his jaw. "Don't make me care about you, Holly.

Because if I did and if anything ever happened to you-"

She could see the promise of hell in his eyes.

"Whatever you do, don't make me love you." His eyes bored into hers. "I don't love well, but I kill perfectly."

Not the heartfelt confession every girl dreamed of hearing.

A threat she'd never hoped to get.

Her mouth had gone so dry her throat ached. She swallowed over the lump of dust and said, "Niol-"

His head jerked to the right. Toward the long line of windows on the far side of the building.

Windows always covered by thick black curtains. "What the-"

Glass shattered as circles of fire-no, bottles with burning rags in them-shot through the curtains.

The bottles crashed into the floor, into the tables, into the bar, and flames exploded in a burst of white-hot heat all around them.

Holly opened her mouth to scream.

Niol roared and lifted his hands, and the flames died in an instant, with only the faint wisps of smoke drifting in the bar.

Her scream choked out in a gasp.

Niol ran for the door.

She grabbed her shoes. When had I lost them? She spared a brief glance for the scorched tables and bar, then she thundered after him.

He nearly ripped the front door from its hinges. Fast and strong. She knew that, but she'd never seen him quite like this.

The slam of car doors.

The screech of tires.

Holly's gaze flew to the right. A black van shot down the street in a fog of exhaust and the stench of burnt rubber. Getting away . The bastards who had just tried to torch them were fleeing.

And they'd get away. They were too fast.

The tag. She could get the tag number and-

Another roar from Niol. One that seemed to shake the street itself. He lifted his hands up high and then slammed them down at his sides.

She watched, stunned, horrified, as the van flipped into the air, rolled, once, twice, then hit the black pavement and rolled again, finally stopping when it crashed into a wooden light post.

Wow.

"Niol…" She tried to grab his arm, but he was already storming down the road, heading for the broken van that swayed so slowly now, back and forth. Smoke or steam, Holly couldn't tell which, rose from its exposed belly, spewing into the air.

The driver's-side door flew off and crashed ten feet away.

That's one pissed-off demon.

Not that she blamed him. Those assholes had just tried to kill them.

Screw the shoes. Running in heels wasn't an option. So Holly kicked 'em off and took off after him.

The whine of a siren reached her ears just as she skidded to a halt next to Niol. He had the driver out. He was a young guy with coal-black hair, matted red near his forehead. Watery green eyes.

Busted lip.

"Who the hell are you?" Niol's fingers were white as he held up the kid. No, not really a kid. The guy had to be in his early twenties.

Holly bent down, craning her neck to see into the demolished vehicle. Two more guys. One starting to move in the backseat-very, very slowly. The blond in the front was out cold.

"J-Jon D-Douglas…" Blood dripped from the guy's busted lip and stained his rounded chin.

"Do you know who I am?" Niol snarled. The guy's booted feet dangled over the ground. "Do you know just what the fuck you've done?"

The wail of the approaching siren was silenced by the sudden rush of wind that shook the van.

Holly reached for Niol. "Find out why, Niol." She knew Niol had enemies. She would have been an idiot not to have known that a demon as strong as Niol didn't always play nice with the other paranormals in town.

But with all the twisted crap going on with the demon-hunter case…they needed to find out why.

"I-I don't kn-know you, m-man…" Bleary eyes started to clear, a bit. "Y-you got th-this wrong.

M-my friends-we're h-hurt, n-need h-help…"

Niol's lips peeled away from his teeth. "Do I look like I give a shit that you're hurt? Asshole, if you don't start talking, fast, you'll be dead in the next five seconds."

Jon choked. Niol dropped him and the guy retched on the ground.

"Human. " Niol shook his head. "A human came after me? The idiot must want to die."

A whimper from the backseat.

Holly's palms were slick with sweat. The setup was wrong. Any paranormal in town would have known that using fire against Niol wasn't exactly the smartest option. The guy could manipulate the elements pretty much at will.

Carefully, so as to avoid the, ahem, mess on the ground, Holly knelt beside the guy. He was shaking and rocking back and forth and the wind had quieted enough for Holly to hear the siren again.

The cops were closing in. Not much time.

She had to find out what was going on before Niol carried through with his rage. "Who sent you to Paradise Found?"