Burning Midnight Read online

  Knox rolled his eyes as if she were being unreasonable. “What’s wrong with a few helping hands? They’d get off the couch for maybe an hour or two. It’d be good for them.”

  “So help me,” Gwen began, walking straight into him until she had to crane her neck to keep her glare on him. “If you ever possess anyone in my name, I will skin you alive. With a blessed kitchen knife.” He honestly looked like he wanted to laugh by the time she was done and it only aggravated her more. “Don’t think I don’t mean it.”

  The edges of his lips tipped up and he said, “Oh, I can tell you mean it.” He leaned forward, unexpectedly bringing their faces far too close together. The minute his warm breath tickled her skin, she felt something shiver that had no business shivering right now. “It’s just that you have no idea how sexy you are when you’re all riled up like that.”

  Gwen swallowed, her eyes wide, as the memory of his kisses overwhelmed her logic. It was bad enough she could hardly look at the man without the taste of him on her lips resurfacing. Now this? The heat in his eyes at that moment was igniting something in her blood she’d rather not admit to.

  His strong, warm arm wrapped around her waist then and Knox sealed his lips over hers without another word. It seemed her chance to respond was lost. And with it her resistance. Gwen leaned into the kiss immediately, her own arms reaching up to wrap around his shoulders as their tongues slid together. He tugged her up against his body, his other hand curving around and tangling in her hair. She moaned involuntarily as he sucked on her tongue, her body burning, and pressed herself as tight against him as she could. His hand was strong and hot over her spine. Between his hold and his powerful, open-mouthed kisses, he completely enveloped her. And she couldn’t get enough.

  Gwen threaded her fingers through his thick, brown hair and arched enough to deliberately rock her hips over his erection. He growled into the kiss, nipped at her lips, took hold of her ass, and lifted her entirely off the floor. Gwen gasped, reflexively wrapping her legs around his hips, and offered no complaint as her back met with a wall. She clung to his neck and the curve of his shoulders as Knox broke from her lips and began licking and sucking his way down her throat. He’d removed one hand from her body to balance them against the wall, while the other remained on her butt. He gave the cheek in his hand a squeeze when she moaned again, and one of them rolled into the other, resulting in a torturous grinding of his clothed erection over her clothed center.

  “Fuck,” Knox said on a thick groan after stroking his tongue over the pulse point on the side of her neck. The hand over her ass moved, quickly sliding up and beneath the hem of her shirt. His direct touch was definitely hotter than it’d been through layers of fabric and Gwen let her head fall back. He nipped at her collarbone before reversing course and climbing his way back up, slowly, all the while his hand smoothed over her stomach and abdomen until it found the underside of her bra. He cupped her breast as his lips and tongue met with her jawline again.

  Gwen opened her mouth, and she knew it wouldn’t be to tell him to stop. Not completely, and not without regret, anyway. “Knox,” she said breathlessly, “tell me you have … condoms.” She wanted him, way more than she should, but not enough to risk whatever demons could catch. No matter how good he was proving to be with his tongue.

  He flicked said appendage over her ear, drawing a low moan from her, and whispered, “Demons can’t get humans pregnant.” He dragged his teeth over her earlobe and she nearly forgot the actual reason she’d asked—he didn’t know she was proactive on birth control.

  “There are other things,” she managed, despite the delicious torture of his lips on the sensitive skin beneath her ear. God, she wanted him naked. She wanted him to get her naked. Did they really have to stop?

  Knox’s chest vibrated with a nearly-silent chuckle as he slid the hand beneath her shirt around to her back, never breaking skin contact. “Oh,” he murmured, “we don’t get those. Ironically, I’m clean.”

  Gwen sighed and arched into him somehow more, slipping her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. “Then get naked,” she instructed, “and show me some sin.”

  The hand over her spine pulled her closer, pressing his erection so firmly against her they both groaned. “Be careful what you ask for,” he whispered into her ear, his tone thick with lust. She could barely even hold her eyes open, let alone bring herself to wonder whether or not the subsequent swirling darkness was his or not. By the time it obscured her vision, Knox had reclaimed her lips in a hungry kiss. She felt a little disoriented as his tongue danced with hers, but before she could build up any real concern, the sensation was already over.

  His second hand, previously balanced on the wall, joined the first beneath her shirt and both slid around to the backside of her bra. In moments, it came unclasped, Knox broke the kiss, and her shirt and bra left her body in what seemed like a single gesture. Before she could gather herself enough to reach for his own shirt and reciprocate, however, they landed on a mattress. A mattress that was definitely not made of air. Confusion dampened her desire for a moment as she focused her gaze on Knox’s, but he was peeling off his shirt. And she hadn’t realized how well sculpted he was until all that rippling muscle was leaning over her in offering.

  He smirked at her, either recognizing the look on her face or merely enjoying his own view, and leaned down. But he didn’t kiss her. He went lower and locked his mouth around one of her breasts. One hand reached over and cupped the other. The dual sensations had her immediately gasping and ceasing to care about wherever he’d taken them. She tightened her legs around his hips as his thumb rubbed her areola, his fingers kneading with just the perfect amount of pressure. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as he pressed his tongue over her peaked nipple, her body lost to his ministrations.

  Gwen gasped and moaned as he molded one breast in perfect rhythm with the suckling and licking over the other. It was the first time she’d ever been this delirious with pleasure before her panties were even off. She was so worked up she thought she might come the moment he touched her clit. She bit back a deep groan as Knox released her breasts with a final sensual stroke of his tongue. He bowed his head and left her no choice but to loosen her hold on him as he lowered himself down her torso with his face and hands. Wet kisses and lingering touches fell down her skin until he’d reached the hem of her abrasive denim shorts.

  He dipped his fingers just slightly beneath the waistline, teasing her untouched skin, and lifted his molten brown gaze to hers. “If you don’t want me to destroy these, you’ll have to let me take them off.”

  It was only then that Gwen realized her legs were technically still wrapped around him. She’d loosened her grip so he could slide down her body and now her calves rested over his mid-back. Which was actually sexy as hell. She licked her lips, thinking about her options for longer than she probably should have, before relenting and letting her legs drop.

  Knox let both hands land on her knees, his touch hot and full of promise, and as he pulled his arms back up her legs, toward her waist, he met her gaze again. “I’ll make it up to you.”

  Gwen swore she felt herself pulse just from those words—and that look in his eyes. Like he intended to lay claim to every inch of her until she was too sated to breathe.

  His hands made it back to the waistline of her shorts and he sat up enough to easily discard them. He wasn’t looking her in the eye now, but she saw his expression darken with desire as he laid eyes on her panties. They weren’t particularly fancy, but the way he lightly trailed his index and middle fingers over the top edge of the fabric—teasing her skin and overheating her core—made her feel like a goddess. She watched him swallow hard before he swept the panties off, too. Just like that.

  His attention never left her body, her last article of clothing tossed somewhere off in the distance. He studied her for a moment, blatant desire burning in his eyes, and with a lick of his lips, one of the hands at her waist slid around and cupped her. Gwen
gasped sharply, her head rolling back. He was still teasing her but, God, was it good. She needed him to really touch her. To fuck her with that large, hot hand. To devour her with his talented tongue.

  As if reading her mind—or perhaps her body—Knox grabbed her again by the hips and Gwen found herself at the edge of the bed. Her legs hanging off, splayed, thighs on the outside of Knox’s shoulders. “I’m gonna feast on you,” he said with a deep, delicious rumble. “I won’t stop until you cry out my name.”

  A shiver of anticipation stole down her spine and Gwen propped herself up on her elbows. The breath rushed from her lungs from the sight of him there, poised between her legs, her hips in his hands. “Please,” she pleaded before could stop herself. “Don’t be all talk.”

  He flashed her a wicked grin, took hold of her thighs, and pressed his face fearlessly into her most private place. She swore she felt him draw a deep breath before his tongue slid over her folds without preamble, and Gwen moaned long and loud. One of his hands came in to assist his mouth, spreading her for his probing tongue, and she gasped, her hips jerking. Knox trailed his tongue and hot kisses along the full length of her opening, swirled it briefly around her clit, and then plunged his tongue into her center. Meanwhile, his hand took over, rubbing and grinding until it found the previously teased clit. He got her going with his tongue and kept her at the edge with his touch, never quite bringing her over.

  Without warning, his tongue withdrew, replaced by two fingers thrusting hard inside her more-than-ready center. Gwen cried out and arched, grinding her hips into his face. His hand immediately took up a hard and fast rhythm, fucking her mercilessly, and just as she managed to catch onto it, his mouth sealed over her clit. With a hard lick and a deep suck, her body exploded.

  She may or may not have shouted his name, she had no idea. All she knew was the burst of white ecstasy and burning, blinding need. She’d never come so readily from oral play. More than that, she’d definitely never been simultaneously mid-orgasm and desperate for more. So, so much more. She needed every inch of this man inside her immediately. Deeper than might be possible.

  “Knox,” she said on a gasp, reaching down blindly. “Damn. Wow. Get up here and fuck me right.” She found his hair somewhere during her blabbering instruction and tugged, reminding herself that he was still between her legs. He’d been leisurely licking up her release. Stretching out her delirium, rekindling her desire. As if her body needed the encouragement.

  He lifted his face from her center, his tongue still withdrawing, and she moaned at the mere sight of the look he gave her. “Oh,” he said, his voice thick and promising. “I intend to.”

  Somehow, she landed on the center of the bed, Knox’s pants disappeared, and she had a beautiful view as he crawled back into place between her legs. Except this time when he dipped his head, he paused only long enough for a deep, erotic breath. He lingered for a moment on her breasts, to make sure her blood fire level was somewhere in the vicinity of lava, and continued his climb up to her lips.

  Their mouths crashed together and Gwen found herself desperate to kiss the breath from his lungs. She wound her arms around his shoulders, one over and one under, her nails digging just a bit into the skin. Their tongues danced from mouth to mouth, both groaning sporadically. She spread her legs wider, one leg lifting to curl over his hip, and Knox finally surged into her core.

  Gwen gasped into the kiss as Knox’s thick cock sank fully inside her. It felt so good. She held him tighter and arched her back, encouraging him to go deeper. To completely dominate their lovemaking. He required no additional prompting, proceeding to growl against her lips and set up a pounding, primal rhythm that left her gasping when the kiss broke.

  Knox held her impossibly close with an arm around her waist as he drove himself into her body repeatedly. She clung to his shoulders, unaware of the exact sounds escaping her now, as she met him thrust for thrust. He wasn’t treating her like she was fragile and she loved it. The feel of his hips grinding into hers as his dick filled her. The tautness of his hard, muscular chest against her softer one. It couldn’t have been long since her first orgasm but she knew she was on the brink already.

  Not wanting to spoil it for him, Gwen looped her other leg back around his hip, locked her ankles, and arched her hips higher than usual as Knox sank back into her. The new angle took him deeper and both made audible sounds of appreciation.

  Breathless, Knox met her gaze and teased, “Desperate already?” As if he didn’t know.

  Gwen leaned up, reciprocating his earlier teasing of her ear. “Yes.”

  That did it.

  Knox growled incoherently, pinned Gwen’s arms above her head with one hand, and latched his lips over one of her breasts. With his free hand, he grabbed hold of her hip and Gwen cried out as his thrusting came in harder and faster. The goal was release now and she curled her fingers around his hand, needing to hold on to something as her body came ever closer to bliss. He sucked on her hardened nipple, his cock buried impossibly deep in her core, and his name tore from her throat as Gwen’s orgasm finally crashed over her.

  Her body shuddered and all she could do was go along for the glorious ride.

  Knox released her breast, and her hands, and took hold of both hips as he drove himself home with three more sharp lunges. Deep, deeper, and deeper still, until he cried out above her with his own release. The sensation caused Gwen to moan loudly as her body responded, her inner walls clenching around him and briefly redoubling her own pleasure. As the sensation faded, slowly, her legs finally lost the strength to defy gravity and slid down Knox’s sides. Knox was still inside her, rocking slowly as his own orgasm eased, his head on her shoulder.

  Gwen drew a shaky breath, thinking to say something, but her body was still far too sated for the effort. And the more she relaxed, the faster her eyelids started to droop.

  ****

  Knox actually dozed off for nearly an hour after withdrawing from Gwen. She’d fallen asleep pretty quickly, still semi-sprawled out and nude on the hotel bed. Fucking gorgeous. He’d stayed awake long enough to get a towel from the bathroom, clean them off, and tuck her beneath the covers. But since he wasn’t planning to leave her vulnerable—let alone stranded—he’d climbed in behind her, equally naked, and ended up taking a nap of his own. Something he didn’t do very often. It wasn’t like demons got tired easily.

  When he woke up, Gwen still sleeping to his right, Knox propped himself up on an elbow and studied her. She had rolled onto her side, facing him, and her hair was partially in her face. She looked … cute. Not in the same amusingly-adorable way he found her when they bickered, but in a much more domestic, eerily heartwarming way. At least, he suspected those were the right descriptions. They were fairly foreign to him and not a little disconcerting.

  His first instinct was to get as far away as possible. Immediately.

  Attachments—feelings—were like a plague in his world. If there was even a chance this could turn into that … it would be in his best interest to cut his losses and bail out. Even if it put him in a bad spot with the angels.

  Gwen moaned faintly in her sleep, shifting and managing to push the quilt down a couple of inches as she flopped onto her back. Exposing most of the top of her breasts.

  Knox swallowed heavily even as his cock twitched. His demonic libido was more than ready to go again and clearly he hadn’t gotten her out of his system. Remembering how she’d responded to the things he’d done earlier, he found himself going over alternative options for ways he could wake her up that would have her already wet and aching for him. Just the thought of indulging again had him hard. He leaned over, slipping his hand beneath the cover again, and his fingers were brushing the skin of her abdomen when he realized what he was doing.

  Cursing under his breath, Knox pulled away and rolled to his feet. Fuck. Had he really almost helped himself to the body of a woman who’d only technically given her consent to a one-time thing? He dragged a hand through his hair,
took a moment to extend his senses around the room to verify it was at least momentarily safe, and dragged himself to the shower.

  He’d already decided to stay and help her with her demon problem. He didn’t need to add to it. So he’d just have to work on his self-control.

  This wasn’t a problem he was used to having.

  Chapter Six

  Gwen peeled her eyes open at the sudden flare of artificial light around her. Her body was tired, but not unmanageably so, and she rolled onto her back as she attempted to squint into the yellow light. It came from across the room, but also from beside her on the other side, and the brief blindness served to distract her from her surroundings until she heard Knox’s familiar, lightly teasing voice just outside her line of sight.

  “It’s about time you woke up. I picked you up some coffee.”

  Coffee definitely sounded good. Gwen blinked once more, her vision finally cleared of the fog of sleep and the blurry dots of sudden bright lights, and was mid-way through sitting up when she realized she was naked beneath the comforter. Which had just pooled around her stomach. Oh. God. She’d actually done it. She’d actually given in and had sex with Knox. The memory came flooding back to her, warming her body even as her mind hesitated. Had she just re-condemned her soul? Surely sex with a demon counted for that. Especially when she’d enjoyed it so damn much. And there was no way she could deny she had.

  She’d given way to more than a few of her inhibitions in the previous few years of her life, it was true. But this took the cake. In more ways than one. Gwen swallowed heavily and lifted the blanket up to cover herself. “Coffee,” she said, reaching for the promised and familiar white and green Starbucks cup.

  He handed it over with a grin. “Modesty is cute,” he said. “But you’re past the ‘need to be self-conscious’ stage, I think. So don’t cover up on my account.”