“Yannah . . .” she started to soothe, no more anxious than Uriel to step through a hole in space.
A pity she wasn’t given a choice.
Studying the gaping hole in what might be the very fabric of the space/time continuum, Kata missed Yannah creeping behind her. It wasn’t until she felt the demon’s tiny hands on her ass that she belatedly realized her danger.
She gave a choked shout of alarm at the same time that Yannah shoved her forward.
Chapter 6
Uriel was rarely caught off guard.
A complacent vampire was a dead vampire.
But distracted by the lurking promise of an escape route, he hadn’t realized the tiny demon’s intention until too late.
Swearing as he watched Kata being pushed into the portal, Uriel didn’t hesitate. Knocking aside Yannah, Uriel charged forward, managing to wrap his arms around Kata’s waist as they both plunged through the shimmering mist.
There was the sense of freefalling through a tunnel of black nothingness and Uriel instinctively tugged Kata closer to his body. At the moment, she was the only real thing in the whirling darkness.
Wrapped in her sweet scent of tiger lilies and the tantalizing warmth of her lush body, Uriel was struck by a piercing desire to keep falling. Anything just so he could keep this woman in his arms.
Insanity, of course.
He was a vampire.
They didn’t do “happily ever afters.” Or even “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
At least not until they found their mate.
And this woman couldn’t be his mate.
Could she?
Before he could actually consider the disturbing question, their freefall came to an abrupt end.
Tumbling through the other side of the portal, Uriel hurriedly turned to keep Kata protected as they emerged into a heavily-wooded forest.
His back smacked painfully onto the moss covered ground as his feet tangled in the undergrowth. Not that he noticed the rock poking into his shoulder or the overhead cry of angry birds disturbed from their nests.
Instead he hissed in fear as a light breeze stirred the thick canopy of leaves and the dappled sunlight brushed over his skin.
It had been centuries since his last glimpse of the sun. With good cause.
Vampires plus daylight equaled instant death.
Something he’d tried to avoid over the years.
Now he braced himself for the searing pain.
A pain that never came.
Astonishment slowly gave way to the recognition that this place was nothing more than an illusion. There could be no other explanation.
Yannah had somehow created this bubble of paradise in the midst of the underworld.
But how? And more importantly, why?
Distracted by the possibility of spontaneous combustion, Uriel nearly forgot the bundle of lush woman he held in his arms. At least until she squirmed out of his grasp and darted away.
“Kata.”
Forcing himself to ignore the unnerving sunlight, Uriel hurriedly followed behind her, nearly running her down when she came to an abrupt halt at the edge of a large glade.
Sensing her tension, he studied the meadow dotted with wildflowers and the shallow stream that wound a lazy path through the grass. So far as he could tell they were alone in the strange vision, but that didn’t mean there weren’t dangers lurking among the surrounding trees or the distant hills that were silhouetted against the horizon.
Even paradise had its serpent.
At his side, Kata gave a slow shake of her head, her beautiful eyes wide with disbelief.
“No . . .” she breathed, “it can’t be.”
“Do you sense something?”
She shook her head, cautiously taking a step forward. “I know this place.”
Even knowing it was an illusion, Uriel had to battle his instinctive reluctance to step from the shade of the trees into the sundrenched glade.
“Careful, Kata.”
She tilted her head to meet his worried gaze, her skin brushed with golden sunlight and her dark curls spilling down her back in a glorious tangle.
“What is it?”
For a moment he was speechless. She was so . . . exquisite. But it wasn’t her beauty that held him captivated. Or at least, not entirely.
He’d known some of the most stunning women in the world over the years. Imps, fairies, humans, and vampires. But none of them stirred his hunger as this woman did.
Was it her earthy curves on full display beneath the nearly transparent nightgown? Or the passionate life that smoldered in the dark eyes? Or the fierce spirit that Marika and the damned mage hadn’t been able to crush despite their best efforts?
Whatever the cause, it was all he could do not to yank her against him and take her in a storm of raw need.
He clenched his hands. Bloody hell, this place was obviously screwing with his head.
And his body, he ruefully acknowledged, his erection pressing painfully against his jeans.
“We haven’t left the underworld,” he said, grimly battling back his attack of lust. “This is all an illusion.”
“How can you know . . .” Her confused expression abruptly cleared as she glanced up at the sun that was blazing from a clear blue sky. “Oh.”
“Exactly.”
She frowned, her gaze returning to the picturesque view. “It seems so real. It even smells as I remember.”
“This place has some special meaning to you?”
Her expression softened. “As a child my family traveled with our tribe through the lands that are now called Hungary. My father was an elder and my mother was a healer.”
“They had positions of power,” Uriel murmured, not surprised. Kata had been trapped in a nightmare for centuries, but she’d not only survived, she’d managed to protect her beloved daughter.
It took incredible strength that she’d obviously inherited from her parents.
“Yes, which meant they shouldered heavy duties,” she said, a wistful smile curving her lips. “When they felt the need to escape their responsibilities they would bring my sister and I here. I cherished those days. It was the only time we could be alone as a family.”
There was no mistaking her emotional connection to the image spread before them.
“I don’t like this,” he rasped.
“You don’t like what?”
“Was Yannah a part of your childhood?”
“Of course not.” She blinked in puzzlement at his abrupt question. “We knew nothing of demons before Marika came to us as a vampire.”
“Then how did she know to create this particular illusion?”
He watched Kata’s pleasure in her surroundings briefly falter at his question.
“Perhaps she can read my mind,” she at last suggested.
“Perhaps.” Uriel shrugged. It was a rare talent, but not unheard of. “Then the next question is why,” he persisted. “She must have some purpose in bringing us here.”
“You think she’s responsible for opening the gateway to hell?”
Did he?
The tiny demon certainly had the power.
And God knew she was erratic enough to offer help one minute and then trap them both in hell the next.
But he wasn’t going to leap to conclusions.
“I think we would be fools not to suspect she has her own agenda,” he compromised.
Her lips twisted into a bitter smile. “Who doesn’t?”
He bristled at her accusation. “I’m at least honest about my purpose in following you,” he said, even knowing the words were a lie.
Oh, his purpose had been clear enough in the beginning.
Victor commanded him to locate and retrieve the gypsy.
Simple and straightforward.
It was only after he’d crashed into Kata’s prison that his unwanted duty had become something else.
Something dangerous.
Thankfully unaware of his tangled thoughts, Kata gave
a restless lift of her shoulder.
“Maybe Yannah created a place to keep us safe until she could get us out of here,” she suggested, clearly wanting to assume the best.
He snorted. “Do you believe that?”
Her dark eyes flashed with annoyance. “I don’t know what I believe, and right now I don’t care. For the moment there’s no scalding lava, no bottomless pits, and no creepy ghouls trying to suck my soul. I intend to enjoy a few minutes of peace.”
With a flounce (yes, it was an unmistakable flounce) Kata crossed to the meandering stream and settled on the sloping bank. Then, with a sigh of pleasure she allowed her bare feet to dangle in the crystal clear water.
Uriel swore as he leashed his instinctive urge to snatch her back into his arms until he could be certain there weren’t any lurking dangers.
Maybe she was right.
They would know soon enough if this was a trap. Why not take a few moments to appreciate the peace?
Not that it was the peace he was appreciating as he moved to settle on the mossy ground next to her. Stretching out his legs, Uriel leaned back on his hands and allowed himself the rare luxury of savoring the sight of Kata drenched in sunlight.
His fangs lengthened, his ready hunger returning with a vengeance as the bright light revealed the dusky temptation of her nipples and the feminine shadow at the apex of her thighs. Bloody hell. A low growl trickled from his throat as a cool breeze stirred the satin strands of her hair, teasing at the tender curve of her neck.
Abruptly she turned her head to meet his heated gaze.
“You’re staring at me,” she murmured.
Unable to resist temptation, he reached out to run his fingers through the thick satin of her hair.
“You look too young and innocent to have a child.”
Her brows lifted. “Was that a compliment?”
“A statement of fact.”
“Ah.” She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose that’s the upside of playing Sleeping Beauty.” She blinked, as if hit by a sudden thought. “Of course, with Marika dead and Sergei missing, I suppose the spell to keep me from aging is gone.”
A strange pang of unease clutched his heart at the mere thought of Kata growing old . . . dying.
“There are means for humans to stay young.”
She shrugged. “That’s actually at the very bottom of my Worry List.”
“What’s at the top?”
“Laylah.” She said it without hesitation, her first thought for her daughter despite the fact that she was currently trapped in hell with no certain means of escape. “I’ve always been able to sense her, but now there’s some sort of interference between us.” She bit her full bottom lip, her expression troubled. “She could be hurt and I wouldn’t even know it.”
His hand cupped the back of her head, his chest tightening with the oddest urge to . . . what?
Offer her comfort?
Impossible. That’s what humans did, not demons.
But there was no halting the need to lower his head and brush his lips softly over her mouth.
“Marika’s dead,” he found himself saying softly. “That has to be a good sign.”
She gave a hesitant nod, her heart picking up speed at his light caress.
“Yes.”
His gaze drifted downward, lingering on the swell of her breasts that spilled over the neckline of her nightgown. He swallowed a groan as he hardened with astonishing speed.
“Not to mention that Laylah’s in the protection of one of the most powerful and ruthless vampires in the world,” he continued, his voice thickening. “There are few things that could hurt her.”
“That isn’t entirely comforting,” she said dryly.
He jerked his head up, a frown marring his brow. “You have a prejudice against vampires?”
Her magnificent eyes narrowed, her expression revealing just what she thought of his hint of outrage.
“Can you blame me?” she demanded. “I was tortured for the past four centuries by a vampire. It didn’t inspire a lot of warm fuzzies for your people.”
Uriel considered being annoyed.
He was the one who was supposed to be heroically overcoming his aversion to a woman with intimate ties to a Jinn while she was supposed to be melting in gratitude at his daring bravery.
Instead, he threaded his fingers through her hair, his other hand lifting to cup her cheek.
“She hurt you.”
Her eyes darkened with unwelcomed memories. “She enjoyed causing pain.”
“Not all vampires are like her.”
She shivered, but Uriel sensed it was not entirely due to her thoughts of Marika.
“I hope not, for Laylah’s sake,” she said, her breath catching as Uriel skimmed his hand down the curve of her cheek.
“And for your own?”
Her lips parted in unconscious invitation, a tiny pulse fluttering at the base of her throat.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she husked.
He leaned forward, absorbing her sweet scent as he allowed his lips to explore the tender slope of her shoulder.
“I can sense your . . . need.”
Kata stiffened at his blunt words, even as she knew the scent of her stirring arousal was no doubt blatantly obvious to Uriel. If she’d learned nothing else during her captivity, it was there was no hiding anything from a damn vampire.
Just one of the countless reasons they were so annoying.
“What you sense is a woman forced to be alone in a cramped cell for the past two centuries,” she futilely tried to bluff.
He lifted his head to flash an arrogant smile. “No, you desire me.”
“After two centuries of celibacy I would desire a filthy, rotting zombie . . .”
“Me,” he growled, moving with a liquid speed to pin her against the mossy ground. She made a sound of surprise, but before she could react he was blatantly rubbing his fully erect cock against her lower stomach. Oh . . . yes. Sheer pleasure jolted through her. His smile widened at her soft moan of approval. “You want me deep inside you.”
Blessed mother, she did.
Could anything be more insane?
He was a vampire. They were trapped in hell. And he was precisely the sort of arrogant bastard that set her teeth on edge.
She should be punching him in the nose, not smoothing her hands over the sculpted perfection of his chest. But damn...
Even with her hatred of vampires she couldn’t ignore the impact of his astonishing beauty, or the knowledge that he’d risked his life more than once to protect her.
And then there was that burning, aching, ruthless need.
It wasn’t just the loneliness that plagued her, no matter what she claimed. Or the random lust of a woman who’d been without sex for a very, very long time.
No, this gnawing desire had started the moment she’d first laid eyes on Uriel. And as much as it pissed her off to admit it, he was the only one who could ease her torment.
Dismissing the countless reasons this was “the worst idea ever,” Kata skimmed her hands upward to frame his beautiful face, drowning in the velvet heat of his gaze.
“Uriel,” she breathed.
Stark hunger flared through his eyes. He lowered his head and nuzzled a path of destruction down the curve of her throat. Kata quivered, squeezing her eyes shut at the erotic feel of his fangs scraping against her tender flesh.
Oh . . . goddess.
She should be terrified by the threat of those enormous weapons so close to her veins, but instead she lifted her hips to rub against the hard thrust of his cock.
Uriel groaned, his fingers easily tugging down the straps of her gown and stripping it from her willing body. Then with the same swift efficiency he shed his own clothes, tossing them aside before cupping her breasts in his hands, his thumbs teasing her nipples to tight beads.
Kata kept her eyes tightly closed, basking in the sensation of the warm sunlight that spilled over their entwined bodies and the soft mos
s beneath her back. Illusion or not, she’d been trapped in that dark, spartan cell for centuries. The sense of being free and returned to her beloved homeland was nearly as heady as the feel of Uriel’s gentle touch.
She sucked in a sharp breath as his lips traced the line of her collarbone and then over the curve of her breasts, swiftly revising her thoughts.
The sun and illusion of freedom were delightful, but Uriel’s touch . . .
It was magic.
The cool, clever fingers that skimmed down her body with a heart-melting skill. The seeking lips that closed over the tip of her aching breast. The press of his erection against the precise point of her pleasure.
She threaded her fingers through thick curls, her back arching in silent encouragement.
Uriel growled in appreciation, his tongue flicking over the sensitive tip of her breast as his hand explored the generous curve of her hip. Slowly his hand skimmed downward until he could tug her legs further apart, his fingers running a lazy path up and down her inner thigh. Kata forgot to breathe as she restlessly stirred beneath him, her body trembling with need.
“Please,” she moaned.
He nibbled a path to her other breast. “Say it,” he husked.
“Say what?”
“That you want me.”
She didn’t even hesitate. What would be the point? Even if he weren’t a vampire he would know that she was desperate to ease her burning lust.
“I want you.”
A smug smile curved his lips. “Mine.”
Kata stilled. She wasn’t disturbed by his claim of possession. It sounded unnervingly right, even if she wasn’t ready to admit it. But, she’d be damned if he thought he could make her go up in flames without feeling a few sparks himself.
Lifting her heavy lids her stomach clenched in anticipation at the need blazing in his dark eyes. Deliberately she shifted her hands to trace the smooth planes of his back. Beneath her fingers she could feel his muscles flex at her touch, his fangs flashing in the sunlight as his lips parted in pleasure.
“Kata.”
“Do you like?” she teased.
He growled low in his throat. “I like.”
She chuckled, her fingers skimming over the curve of his ribs and then discovered the hard ridges of his stomach. She savored the feel of his muscles clenching beneath her exploration before lowering her hand to the thick jut of his erection. Just for a moment she hesitated, a strange voice in the back of her mind warning that making love with Uriel was one of those life changing decisions.