Midnight's Master (Midnight 3)

The guy turned on his heel, marched back into the thicket of bushes, and vanished.

She exhaled.

Niol climbed in beside her. Didn't speak.

Neither did she.

He gunned the motor and they got the hell out of there.

Fuck.

Niol braked in front of the television station. Holly sat next to him, stiff as a statue. She hadn't looked at him, not once, since they'd left the house on Sycamore.

"I didn't hurt him." Not physically. Sure, he'd slammed his power straight into the old man's mind and stolen his will-okay, that probably counted as mental hurt, but there hadn't been a choice.

He'd been f**king furious when he realized the shotgun was aimed at Holly. Instinct had taken over and he hadn't hesitated to use his power.

Hell, before her, he'd never hesitated. "We couldn't let him just leave, not after he'd seen us-"

He'd heard the guy's footfalls. A neighbor, coming to check on the house. Probably nervous because he'd caught sight of Niol's SUV. He'd tried to get out of there before the guy saw 'em, but…

Too late.

"I know." Hollow. Her fingers wrapped around the door handle.

Dammit. He could practically feel the ice in the air. "There wasn't a choice."

"I know."

Again with the voice that could have belonged to a ghost. Not to Holly. Not to in-your-face, tough-as-nails Holly. His knuckles whitened around the steering wheel. "I'm not like that bastard."

The bastard who'd shoved into her mind and turned her body against her. The sick f**k who'd tried to kill her while Niol watched.

"You don't know what it's like." Finally, finally, she looked at him. "When someone else takes control…"

No, because no one else was strong enough to get inside his head.

She has.

The whisper came from deep within-and Niol ignored it. He wanted to grab her and force her to-

Trust him.

Not gonna happen. "You want out?" And he wasn't talking about the vehicle. If the lady was going to turn tail and run when things started to get a bit rough, she didn't need to be partnering with him.

His life was generally always rough.

Maybe she wasn't as tough as he'd thought.

Her eyes narrowed. The fear began to fade as the anger sparked.

Nice.

"You know what I want."

Justice, for the two demons she'd known and lost.

"And you know how I have to play the game," he said. If she wanted to play by human rules, she could go hook up with the cop, Brooks.

Her teeth snapped together. "This isn't a game, Niol! We're talking about lives, here, okay?

Sorry that I'm not cold and unfeeling like-" She broke off, choking back her words.

But he knew what she'd been going to say.

You.

Holly shook her head. "People matter to me." Spoken fiercely. "I'm gonna get emotional. I'm gonna get pissed. And, yeah, I'm even gonna get scared." She unhooked her seat belt and leaned toward him. "But be clear on this. What I'm not gonna do is give up. Got me?"

Not yet. But, hopefully, very, very soon.

She was f**king beautiful with her eyes blazing, her cheeks stained crimson, and her breath heaving.

A woman of strength. Because he'd learned as a child that the ones in this world who were really strong, they knew how to fear-and how to keep going even when that fear rose like a howling beast inside.

Slowly, he unfurled his fingers from the steering wheel. She was close to him, the confines of his SUV and the darkness around them shielding the two of them in intimacy.

The back of his hand brushed over her cheek. Felt the heat beneath her skin.

She didn't flinch, but her pupils flared, just a bit.

Not fear.

Time for the woman to know just what waited for her. "Before this is done, I will have you, love." Wild and naked in his bed. Flesh touching. Pleasure ripping them apart.

He waited for her denial. She'd told him people didn't always get what they wanted. Screw that.

He wasn't most people, and he wanted her with a driving lust that he hadn't felt before.

Not even for the succubus who'd nearly taken his heart years before.

And he'd killed for her.

There wasn't anything easy, good, or noble about him.

Holly knew that-she'd seen the hell he could bring.

But she'd chosen to stay with him and if she kept coming so close, kept putting that sweet flesh near him and tempting him-

His control would shatter.

"Maybe." And she crept even closer, as if not sensing the danger when he knew the air was pulsing with power barely held in check.

Her fingers moved to his thigh. Her palm pressed against his jean clad leg.

His c**k surged to the ready and more-than-willing position.

She licked her lips. A quick swipe of her pink tongue. "And maybe, I'll have you."

Blood pounded in his ears. Too much temptation. She should know that demons-they weren't so good on that whole temptation-resisting bit. That part of history was right.

His arms locked around her and he took her mouth. Those soft lips. That sexy tongue of hers.

He kissed her like he was desperate, like he was wild-because he was.

And she met him head-on.

Holly was the one to scramble over him, breaking her lips from his to swear softly when her leg hit the gearshift. Then she crouched over him. Legs beside his, back above the steering wheel and the crotch of her pants rubbing right over his swollen cock.

Sex in a car, not his style-but he wasn't about to complain. With her, he'd take what he could get. His fingers pushed under the edge of her shirt, then rose to smooth over the silken flesh of her back.

He loved her skin. So silky and soft-and that light scent of lavender covered her.

He loved touching her flesh. And he wanted to feel more of it. More of her.

His tongue thrust into her mouth. Taking and seducing even as his fingers trailed around her sides and pressed against the lacy edge of her bra.

He wanted the bra off.

Wanted the shirt off.

Her hips rocked against his.

Niol shuddered. So close to paradise.

Her head lifted, mouth leaving his, dammit.

"Niol…"

When a woman said a man's name like that, with need and hunger and lust-all coming out in a husky murmur that was more moan than anything else-she could break him.

Break him.

He cupped her br**sts through the thin material of her bra. The tight ni**les stabbed into his palms. He wanted her br**sts in his mouth. Needed them there. Needed to taste her. To suck her and make her moan his name again.

And again.

Her head tipped back, exposing the pale line of her throat. He had to taste her there. His tongue laved her flesh. Her pulse jerked when his mouth pressed against her. The edge of his teeth scored her, and his fingertips slipped under that scrap of lace-