Page 13 of Demon Touched (The Demon Syndicate #2)
Nova
T he way his eyes snapped open should have warned her. They glowed in the darkness and she licked her lips, knowing how dangerous this could be.
But Nova couldn’t wait anymore. She needed him in a way she’d only ever experienced after a rough fight.
This time was different though. She didn’t just need a good fuck to take the edge off, she needed to feel safe and cared for, and Nova had never craved that before in her life.
“I would never punish you,” Dex told her, the deep growl in his voice doing things to her she couldn’t even begin to describe. “Not unless you asked me to.”
“Then what makes you think I won’t like it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
The urge to beg him for this was almost overwhelming, but she knew he wouldn’t – not when he was still freaked out about not being able to heal her.
It was impressive how he’d kept his hands to himself during the shower other than what was required. That’s how she’d known she’d pissed him off. It was clear in the way he clenched his jaw – how his scent was still just this side of furious and volatile.
Somehow, she always managed to test his control.
Except for this.
Nova didn’t understand why he was babying her. She’d honestly had worse wounds and the potion was already helping with the pain.
“You won’t like it, because I’m not going to give you what you want.” Dex rested his hands on her thighs and she tightened her grip just in case he tried to push her away. “One last time, Nova. Are you sure you want to push me right now?”
Nova studied the hellfire in one eye and the divine flames in the other.
Yes. She desperately wanted to push him and the way his eyes seemed to turn molten told her he’d picked up on that thought, but he waited patiently for her answer.
“What’s the alternative?” she asked, ignoring just how husky her voice was.
Dex did things to her she just didn’t understand.
“I hold you until you fall asleep,” he said, letting his hands fall to his sides. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
His confession made her heart ache and she blinked back tears.
Why did he always make her feel so fucking much?
Carefully, she released her grip on his silky hair and fought the self-destructive urge to push him into a place he didn’t want to go.
If she hurt him , she wouldn’t be able to live with herself.
Nova held his face as softly as she could, hands shaking as she yanked back on the instinct to fuck or fight. It never ceased to surprise her how strong and irresistible it could be after a near-death experience.
They needed to get one thing straight though, because she wasn’t going to set a precedent before they’d even really established their relationship.
“What do you think would have happened if you hadn’t come for me?”
“I don’t want to think about it,” Dex growled.
Nova studied his beautiful eyes and she couldn’t decide if she was infatuated with them because of their uniqueness or because they were a mirror to her own.
“I’ve been hunting with my father since I was fourteen,” she murmured, running her fingers down his neck and over his bare shoulders. “I’ve been training since I could walk. Do you even know what they teach hunters to withstand?”
“I have no idea.” Dex was taller than her, even on his knees, and he studied her just as intently as she studied him. “The hunters I’ve met couldn’t survive long enough to tell me.”
“Not all of them are trained the way my family is.” Nova ran her hands up his bare chest, sliding them over his nipple piercings before wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I was taught that capture meant death and I was trained how to take my own life if I needed to – without hesitation. My grandfather was the one who showed me how to withstand torture if I couldn’t end my life in time. There’s only one way to do that.”
Did he know what that meant?
“After nearly beating me to death, he took all of my fingernails, and then cut me to ribbons. Every time I broke, he started over. When I finally made it through without telling him anything and everything he wanted to know, he taught me how to escape.”
Nova stood and stretched, knowing that her skin looked flawless thanks to her mother. Otherwise she’d look just as fucked up as her dad and grandfather.
“If you open that wound again…” Dex trailed off and gritted his teeth when she smiled.
“Just because I couldn’t take you , doesn’t mean I couldn’t have escaped on my own.” Nova kissed his cheek and grabbed one of her waters from her nightstand. “It would have just been…messier.”
The heat of him behind her was delicious, but she didn’t give him the satisfaction of turning around, not yet.
His arms went around her waist and Nova sighed as the sensation eased some of the rawness of her nerves.
She turned around then and looked up at him, wondering if he thought she was just some damsel in distress or if he saw her as a partner. “I don’t need you to save me, Dex.”
“I wouldn’t be here if I thought you couldn’t take care of yourself,” Dex finally said.
He bent ever so slightly, and his hands wrapped around her thighs. Before she could react, he’d lifted her up and her legs automatically wrapped around his waist.
“Is that right?” Nova kissed him then, keeping it as chaste and sweet as she could.
“My life is dangerous.” His lips moved to her neck and she held him tight. “If I thought you needed to be saved, I wouldn’t have even bothered with you.”
“Even though you tried to save my life that first night?”
He growled in annoyance. “I wasn’t trying to save your life.”
Dex climbed up on the bed and then sat so he was leaning against the headboard.
“I was stalking you, Nova. A witch with purple hair walked into my bar and I was instantly obsessed. I even helped you get rid of a body. Are you telling me you really had no idea that I was into you from the very beginning?”
Nova rested her head on his shoulder and breathed him in, feeling the butterflies bouncing around in her stomach as she absorbed his words. “I really didn’t know.”
Dex chuckled and tipped up her chin, kissing her again. It was perfect and sweet and made her entire body tremble.
She wanted so much more, but Nova wasn’t going to push him, not tonight at least. He needed comfort more than anything else and to some degree she understood that.
“You make me feel for the first time in so long,” he said softly. “And you make me question everything.”
“Like what?”
Dex held her close and she tucked her head under his chin, slowly starting to relax. “I’ve never dated anyone before.”
“I haven’t either,” she admitted.
Dex gave her a look like he didn’t believe her. “How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know, you tell me.”
“Agmos didn’t let me date,” Dex said, eyes flashing. “You?”
Nova felt weird all of a sudden. She tried to slide out of his arms, but he was having none of it. “I don’t know, I just didn’t.”
“Why?”
This was so embarrassing.
“I was homeschooled and when I went to the university I just…didn’t want to date anyone.”
Dex grinned down at her which was honestly the last thing she’d expected. “So, I’m the only one you’ve ever wanted to be with?”
“You’re so full of yourself.”
But she was laughing and blushing, because he wasn’t wrong. Dex really was the only person she’d felt this way about. Nova had no idea why, and she didn’t really get it.
Why him? Why now?
“I tried to deny my feelings for you,” she confessed as she played with his hair. “But every time I saw you I just couldn’t pretend they didn’t exist. I didn’t know how.”
He sighed. “Even knowing that being with you was going to put your life in danger…I didn’t know how to stop myself either,” Dex admitted.
Nova shook her head. “You can’t scare me away anymore.”
He rolled so she was laying on her side and tucked the blanket around her. “If I thought that was going to work, I would have done it a long time ago.”
“Liar.” She was starting to get sleepy, and the potion was kicking her ass. “Are you planning to leave?”
Dex was quiet for a long time and she was nearly asleep when he finally responded. “No, I can work from here. Get some rest. I’ll take you home tomorrow.”
Laying her head on his chest, she timed her breathing to his and instantly fell asleep.