My hands unfurled on reflex as I reached down, clasping his arm. I fully intended to force him to let me go, but the skin-to-skin contact was jarring, like a static charge passing between us, shorting out my senses. The sense of familiarity, of many moving pieces finally clicking into place as the warmth in my chest beat in tandem with my heart, taking over. My grip on his arm loosened, and my fingers seemed to have a mind of their own. They trailed down his granite-like skin to the tips of his claws.
I focused on that, on the feeling of him, as I took short, shallow breaths. I needed to get ahold of myself. Had to gather up those files and shove them back away. And I did just that, picturing myself running through the alley, snatching up files of memories and emotions. I gathered them to my chest and then forced them back into that cabinet in the recesses of my soul.
“Trin?” Concern rasped in his voice.
“I’m okay.” I struggled to catch my breath. “I’m fine. I’m all right.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yes.” I nodded for extra emphasis.
“If I put you down, will you make me a promise?” Zayne turned us away from the Raver, his large wings stirring the air around us. “You won’t run back and start hitting the demon like it’s your own personal punching bag?”
“I promise.” I wriggled against his hold and immediately felt a burn that spiked in my chest, right next to my heart. That burn dropped lower...and simmered below my navel. I stilled as my senses tried to sort out what I was feeling. It was like razor-sharp frustration that tasted of dark chocolate. A mix of desperation and indulgence.
Desire.
Forbidden desire, to be exact.
And I was pretty sure those potent sensations weren’t originating only from me.
Surprise rippled through me as I sucked in a heady breath. I hadn’t picked up on this through the bond before. My fingers pressed into Zayne’s hard skin as my eyes drifted shut. Even though we were pretending the night we’d kissed had never happened, the memory consumed my thoughts at record speed.
The ZAYNE drawer rattled insistently, cracking open the sliver I’d left before into a tiny fissure, and my heart went full throttle with it.
There was no stopping it.
I let myself feel.
8
The tumultuous thunder of emotions sent my heart racing and thoughts scattering. Anticipation and yearning took root, spreading through me like a flower seeking sun, and the feeling of this is right beat back the tiny bursts of fear.
What would Zayne do if I turned in his embrace, stretched up and wrapped my arms around his neck? Would he resist me? Or would he meet me halfway? Lower his mouth to mine and kiss me, no matter that it was forbidden? Right here, right now, with a dying Raver a few feet from us, while we stood in a stinky alley surrounded by piles of garbage.
Super romantic.
But a tremor still curled its way down my spine, causing my breath to hitch. I was hot. So incredibly hot, and suddenly the world around us didn’t matter. Nothing mattered beyond the heat and the pounding of my heart.
Zayne’s arm tightened around my waist, drawing me impossibly close, until there was no space between us. I felt him move behind me, the soft edges of his hair tickling the side of my neck, and then the impossible featherlight graze of his lips just below my ear. Every muscle in my body tightened almost painfully in want.
It was the wake-up call I needed for a multitude of reasons. If this consuming, unspent desire really was coming from him, it was just a by-product of mutual attraction. Obviously, that existed between us, but it wasn’t—it couldn’t—be anything more than skin-deep.
It took more than a moment to calm that stupid organ of mine, to pump the brakes on this train wreck of desires...but I did it.
I did it.
I opened my eyes and tapped on his arm. “Are you going to put me down or do you plan on carrying me around the rest of the night like an overstuffed handbag?”
“Do you promise to not start beating the Raver again?” He cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, the thickness was absent. “Because you haven’t agreed.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just to make sure we’re on the same page—you’re saying I’m not supposed to be chasing after puppy-eating demons?”
“You can chase them, as long as you promise to kill them the moment you catch them.”
“I honestly don’t know what the big deal is.”
“Seriously?” He dipped his head again, and this time, those soft strands of hair glided over my cheek. “What you were doing was a little aggressive.”
“Hunting demons requires aggression.”
“Not like that. Not that kind of violence.”
Zayne was being logical, and that was annoying. “Put me down.”
His sigh rattled through me once again. “Stay put.”
My head whipped in his direction as my brows lifted, but before I could address the whole stay put thing, he deposited me ever so gently on my feet.
Zayne slid his arm away from my waist, leaving a series of shivers in its wake. I jolted as I felt the barest brush of his palm along my hip.
He lifted his hand, revealing he’d snatched one of my daggers.
Sneaky Warden.
Tucking in his wings, he stalked to the Raver. Surprisingly, the thing was still alive—moaning, but breathing.
Not for long.
One quick downward stab later, and the demon was nothing but a pile of glowing crimson ashes that faded quickly.
When Zayne rose, he was facing me, and I could see the glow of his pale blue eyes. “That’s what you should’ve done the moment you got the Raver cornered and down.”
I figured it wouldn’t be in my favor to mention that I’d jumped on the Raver’s back like a rabid cat. “Thanks for the fighting lesson I didn’t need.”
“Apparently you do need it.”
I extended my hand and wiggled my fingers. A few seconds passed, and I exhaled heavily. “Dagger.”
He approached me slowly, shifting into his human form as he did so. The black shirt he wore had ripped along the back and shoulders when he’d shifted and now looked like it had seen better days.
Wardens sure went through a lot of shirts.
His wings folded into the backs of his shoulders, tucking into thin slits that wouldn’t be visible to human eyes, as his horns retracted so fast it was like they’d never parted his shoulder-length blond hair.
God, he was gorgeous.
And that annoyed me—him and his...pretty hair and eyes...and mouth and whatever.
Ugh.
I wiggled my fingers again.
He stopped in front of me, still holding my dagger. “I know you’re not used to patrolling, Trin, so I’m not going to stand here and lecture you.”
“You’re not?” I asked. “It sure sounds like you’re gearing up for a lecture.”
Zayne apparently had selective hearing. “One of the reasons we dispatch demons quickly is so they’re not seen by humans.”
I looked around, seeing nothing but the dark shapes of dumpsters and the lumpy shadows of garbage bags. “No one saw.”
“Someone could have, Trin. We’re near the street. Anyone could’ve come back here.”
“This really sounds like a lecture,” I pointed out, swallowing a groan.
“You need to be careful.” He placed the dagger handle down in my palm. “We need to be careful.”
“Yeah, I know.” I sheathed the dagger, making sure it was hidden once again under the hem of my shirt. “I was being übercareful.”
“You were being übercareful while you were pummeling the Raver into oblivion?”
I nodded as my phone vibrated against my thigh. When I pulled it from the pocket of my jeans, Jada’s face smiled from the screen. My stomach turned over as I quickly slid the phone back into my pocket. For once, I actually had a reason to not answer, because I seriously doubted Zayne would appreciate it if I took a call in the middle of his nonlecture lecture.
Zayne’s head was cocked when I looked back at him again. “Not to point out the obvious—”
“But you’re going to.”
“There is no way in holy Hell you would’ve seen a human walk down this alley. I don’t think you would’ve heard Godzilla coming down the alley.”
My lips thinned with annoyance, partly because the first thing he’d said was true while the second part was ridiculous, but mostly because this seriously was a lecture.
“Besides the risk of exposure, we also kill quickly because it’s the humane thing to do,” he continued. “It’s the decent thing, Trin.”
A muscle tensed along my jaw as I averted my gaze. He was right. Killing quickly was decent and humane. Considering all the angel blood coursing through my veins, being decent and humane should be second nature to me. Hell, first nature to me.
Apparently the violent, destructive human side of me was in control.
“You can’t get caught up in the whys of the hunt. Even if the demon wanted to snack on a puppy,” he said, and my gaze flew back to his. “Doing so leaves you distracted and vulnerable, more prone to mistakes and open to attack. What if it wasn’t me who came up behind you? What if it was an Upper Level demon?”
“I would have sensed it and punched it, too,” I snapped. “And then you would’ve been pulling me off that one.”
He stepped forward. “You might be as badass as they come, but if an Upper Level demon comes up behind you and you’re unprepared, you’re in for a world of hurt.”
Annoyance gave way to anger as I stared at him. “You’re my Protector, Zayne, but you sound like you’re my keeper. You’re not my father.”
“Thank God for that,” he retorted, sounding disturbed.
Heat crept into my cheeks, and I snapped my mouth shut.
“I know you didn’t have any official training, not like I and other Wardens, but I know you understand the basics of what to do when you come across demons. You’ve proven that.”