devil 02 - tween a devil and his hard place Read Free Page A

the scorched air that we were creating. Against my will my body was reacting to his and I had to force myself not to pull his long, hard body closer to mine.
    “I have immunity to all of them.” His lips found mine and I was suddenly way too close to his velvet gaze. For the first time I saw that they were not regular, black eyes. They pulsed and swirled with red and silver streams that formed patterns and whirlpools in the center of the eyes. I closed my eyes as I realized the swirls were making me dizzy and weak but the feeling didn’t disperse.
    Almost simultaneously I felt his hand on my breast and his teeth on my throat. Then, before I knew what was happening, my daemon hickey started throbbing and it sparked, causing the randy king to jerk back from my neck with a startled cry.
    I used the sudden breathing space to pull rational thought back into my fuzzy head and quickly gathered my power together before he could settle himself back at my neck. Raising my hands toward him I shot every ounce of power in my core toward him and he flew backward into the air. In fact he flew so far I heard him hit the wall with a thud and a curse.
    I didn’t wait around for his reaction. Dialle, get me the Hades out of here!
    And just like that I was back out in the hall and the three of us were running like the last circle of Hell was closing in on us. Dialle dragged me down the long hallway by the hand and Gerch followed, constantly looking over his shoulder and reeking of stark terror.
    As we turned the first corner we heard something that sounded like an explosion, followed by screams of pain and frantic shouting. The last sound we heard before my Dialle whisked us out of there was the king’s voice pounding down the hall like a physical presence, vibrating the building with unrestrained rage. “This isn’t over, Dialle!”
    My Dialle looked at me and shook his dark head. “I see you’ve managed to put yourself into a pickle again, Astra.”
    “I didn’t put myself into a pickle, Dialle, I’m in one.”
    “What’s the difference?”
    I opened my mouth to explain and then realized it was a moot point. “I didn’t put myself into that pickle, Dialle, that pickle put itself into me.” As soon as I realized what I’d said my face turned deep red and he laughed. Then he pulled me into a kiss that made my socks smoke and the world stopped moving as he transported us away from a literal Hell on Earth.
     

Chapter Two
    Phantom Love
     
    A phantom rides upon her thighs and leads her thoughts astray
    But learning who the culprit is, must wait another day.
     
    The Viper settled into its usual parking space with a whisper and hovered silently above the ground. “Exiting,” I said and the driver’s side door opened upward on a whoosh of air. I climbed out and headed for the flash elevator in the center of the parking structure. The gray metal doors swung open as I approached and I entered the dimly lit car.
    “Thirteenth floor,” I said distractedly as a tidal wave of sensual warmth rolled over me. The heat felt like thousands of tiny touches caressing my body, leaving behind row after row of goose bumps that made me shiver and tighten my thighs.
    I closed my eyes, clenching my teeth and rode the wave as the car sped upward, toward my office. The unexpected attacks had been happening all morning and I was starting to get worried. I couldn’t seem to control them and they came with no warning at all. I was like a bitch gargoyle in mating heat.
    As I neared my floor the wave started to dwindle. Just when I thought I was going to survive another one, my eyes jerked open and I gasped as I felt the first ghostly touch to the heated spot where I throbbed and ached the most.
    A jolt of pleasure shot through me, robbing me of breath and thought and I almost went over the edge from just that one touch. My knees buckled, dropping me to the floor in a boneless sprawl.
    I cried out as invisible fingers slid into my wetness and touched