“How
do you know what I look like?”
“I tracked you from the morgue.”
“The morgue,” she repeated, a slight tremor riding her words. “Right.” She crossed the room until she stood so close he could touch her. When she looked up at him the sorrow that lay in her eyes punched him in the gut. “I’m dead. So, back there,” she blew out a shuddering breath, “back there I’m nothing and after we go back, what are my chances? Am I going to make it?”
The air thickened. Logan was hot and irritated.
Her scent washed over him, the purity of it, and the warmth that was woven into her signature left him tight. His gut churned as he stared down into her dark eyes.
Damn, but he should have tapped that blonde at the bar before Bill had shown. He rolled his shoulders. It had been too long. Now was not the time to be thinking of his dick.
“I’m not going to lie,” he said carefully. “I’ve never brought anyone back from the gray realm, and if we’re successful in navigating this portal together,” he shrugged, “I have no clue what condition your body is in. Time moves differently here. What seems like a few hours to us might be days in the human realm—or seconds.” He shook his head. “It’s a total fucking crapshoot.”
“I could end up dead, forever dead.”
The window was open and the breeze that flew in carried the stink of demon. In the distance the mad barking dog broke through the silence and Logan knew their time was up. The trojans weren’t far behind.
“Little Dove, you’re already dead. If you stay here you’ll end up much worse.” He nodded outside. “Whatever is out there will end you, understand? You will cease to exist. At least if we return, you have some kind of chance.”
He tried to ignore the big dark eyes that stared up at him, full of worry and anger and something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
He ran his fingers through his damp hair that curled around his neck. Shit, it was hot in here. Logan turned toward the closet. “We gotta roll.”
Yet her hand at his back stopped him cold. “Wait.”
His skin sizzled where she touched him. Right through his damn shirt. Logan kept his mouth shut as she moved in front of him. He wanted to tell her to back off—to take her hand off him—but he remained silent. Logan Winters wasn’t about to lose his cool because a little slip of a human had managed to get under his skin.
Finally she let go and stared up at him, chest heaving and shoulders squared. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides and the knuckles strained white.
“I won’t do this until I know . . .” Her voice trailed off and he arched a brow, a muscle working its way across his cheek as the mad barking grew closer. Was he going to have to toss her ass inside?
“Know what?”
She shook her head. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.” Something in her eyes changed—it wasn’t just the slight softening of color from dark chocolate into caramel. It was the emotion behind them, and suddenly he was nervous.
Him. Logan Winters. Hellhound from the fucking land of the damned.
“I’ve never been kissed before.”
Shit, no. We’re not going there. And yet his body hardened instantly as if her words plucked him like a cellist pulling her bow.
“I’ve never made love to anyone.” Shadows crept into her face. “He . . . Mergerone raped me.” Tears filled the corners of her eyes and she trembled, a sob caught in her throat. “Many times.” She whispered. “That’s my experience. That’s all I’ve known.”
His eyes narrowed and beneath his chest the beast shifted. This Mergerone had touched her. Blind rage colored everything until only a palette of red remained. He would pulverize the bastard. Torture and maim and then kill. Kira was his.
Logan growled. She was his.
A roaring echoed in his ears and for a moment reality slid away, leaving only the woman standing before him. Her soul glimmered, surrounding her in a beautiful rainbow of gold. It called to him.
With a savage snarl, Logan shook the image from his head. This was crazy. What the hell was he thinking?
Outside he heard the thunderous boom of feet pounding into the grass and the screeching of birds—and the incessant barking grew louder. It was in the room with them, surrounding them both, and yet it couldn’t pierce the wall of emotion Kira had just put out there.
Her gaze was focused on his mouth. He felt her touch as surely as if she was imprinted on his flesh. “If I don’t make it, I just want one—”
Logan’s groin tightened painfully and he clenched his teeth in order to eat the groan that sat in the back of his throat. Kira needed to shut the hell up and follow him through the portal.