CHAPTER 1
River
“River, River wake up.”
I stretched leisurely, a small sigh escapingme as I instinctively turned toward the strong fingers caressing mycheek. My eyes fluttered open, and my heart leapt as I took inKobal looking back at me. It was hard to believe I’d ever found hisobsidian eyes, without their whites, a little disturbing. Now, theywarmed me and made my toes curl as heat pooled between mythighs.
My gaze searched his chiseled face, notingthe angles of his strong jaw, pointed chin, aquiline nose, andhigh, broad cheekbones. The deep brown strands in his dark hairwere highlighted by the dim glow of the lantern on the bedsidetable. His hair was longer than when I’d first met him; it now fellin waves next to his eyes. Somehow, the longer hair made him lookmore enticing and dangerous, if that were possible.
My gaze lingered on his full mouth as Irecalled the scorch of his kiss. Recalled the way his tonguetangled with mine in such a way that it was impossible to thinkwhen tasting him. He made it impossible to do anything other thanlose myself to the overwhelming sensations and emotions he soeffortlessly evoked within me.
My heart swelled with love.Mine.
And I was his. He’d claimed me as his Chosen.In response to his nearness, his bites on my skin tingled. Bitesmeant to mark me for all humans to see, and for every demon to knowto whom I belonged, even if the marks faded away.
I had marked him also. My eyes slid to hisneck and the faint hint of my teeth marring his bronzed skin. Oneof my bites was just above the tips of the intricate flames markinghis body. I’d made those bites without fully understanding at thetime what had driven me to do so, but since then, I’d come torealize it had been the demon part of me seeking to stake my claimon my Chosen also.
I didn’t like how faded my marks had become;I needed to remedy that right now.
His breath froze and his fingers on my cheekstilled when I smiled at him. I went to open my arms to him when Isuddenly recalled what had happened last week. A startled cryescaped me. Gripping the blanket, I pulled it against my chest andscrambled up in his bed.
I may be sleeping in his bed, but he hadn’tshared it with me since he’d ripped the head off the woman who hadbeen trying to kill me and I’d told him to get out. I knew he’ddone it to protect me, that when he’d seen Eileen attacking me he’dlost control, and when Kobal lost control, his demon instincts roseto the forefront.
Yes, Eileen had been trying to kill me, butno one deserved to die the way she had. Her death had been brutal,and Kobal hadn’t shown any remorse about it. He didn’t understandwhy I was upset about what he’d done to her.
We were too different from each other to everpossibly work out. A pang stabbed my heart at the thought.You can say those things to him, but don’t lieto yourself, River.
And it was a lie. I hadn’t distanced myselffrom him because of what he’d done, or how different we were, I’ddone it because I was petrified. I’d done it because I hadconnected with my ancestor, Lucifer, in a dream.
In that dream, Lucifer had promised to use meas a weapon to destroy Kobal. The memory of it caused my blood torun cold; I could still feel the evil emanating from him andbeating against my skin. Lucifer had prophesied that I would becomeevil like him. Kobal believed I could never become like Lucifer,but I wasn’t so sure. Whereas I considered Lucifer a distantancestor, all of the demons, including Kobal and Lucifer himself,considered him to be my father. Some people had black sheep intheir family; I shared DNA with the Devil himself, and theknowledge terrified me.
I wasn’t so foolish or so deep in denial thatI couldn’t admit my fear over Lucifer’s words was abigpart of the reason I’d taken a step back fromKobal. I couldn’t be the catalyst for his destruction when I lovedhim so much, and when he’d been the only one of his kind to surviveLucifer for any length of time.
Kobal had never claimed to love me; I knew hecared for me and I was bound to him for as long as my mortal lifewould allow us to be together, but it was best if we kept ourdistance from each other. At least that was what I’d told myself athousand times a day since we’d stopped sleeping together, and forthe most part, stopped speaking to each other.
So now, I tore myself to shreds to keep mydistance from him. At one time, I’d connected with Kobal throughhis dreams. There, I’d seen his fantasies of me, fantasies that hadeventually come to life, but since I’d pulled Lucifer into mydream, I had somehow shut down my ability to connect with Kobal, oranyone else while dreaming.
Before Lucifer, I never would have thoughtthat I could control my ability in such a way. However, I had afeeling the subconscious part of me that had originally reached outto Kobal and Lucifer, was trying to keep my heart and mindprotected by making sure I didn’t connect with them now. Or maybethere was nothing subconscious about any of it and my ability tocontrol what I did in my dreams was growing as my powers grew.
Some nights I contemplated trying to connectwith Kobal’s dreams again, but what I might see there worried me.Would he be dreaming of other women? Would he be dreaming ofmestill? I didn’t think I couldcontinue to keep my distance from him if I saw his body moving overand within mine again, not when I craved his touch every second ofthe day. If he dreamed of someone else, my already battered heartwould never be able to take it.
My eyes were drawn to the hellhounds on hisleft arm when he shifted his weight. They were so realistic lookingwith their razor-like fangs and curved claws that I could almostfeel their breath on my face. Flames twisted around them as theylooked ready to leap from his arm.
On his other arm, more flames swirled overhis flesh. Within the flames were intricate markings he'd onceexplained were from his ancient language. The black markings onboth of his arms started on the back of his hands and traveled upto his shoulders. The tips of the flames licked the base of hisneck before traveling down to his chest.
I couldn’t see them now, but I knew each ofhis pectoral muscles had a circular pattern of flames around them,as was the same with his shoulder blades on his back. The rest ofhis finely honed body was bare of any markings.
I knew his body almost as well as my own. Iknew what it felt like to have him buried deep within me, knewevery dip and hollow of his etched muscles, and I clearly recalledthe taste of his skin. I’d spent hours locked in his arms.
I shivered at the memory of those moments andpulled the blanket closer against me; he lifted his eyebrow beforerising to his full height. A foot taller than my five foot nineframe, he was the most massive man I’d ever seen with his broadchest, thighs the size of logs, and arms the size of largebranches. And I had let him go.
You’re anidiot.Yep, wasn’t going to argue with that, but I woulddo everything I could to try to protect him, even if it meanthurting us both.
“What are you doing here?” I inquired, proudmy voice came out stable when all I wanted was to trace themarkings running over his skin as I molded my body against his,holding him and blocking the world out for just a few hours.
“I came to get you,” he replied dryly. Hisdetached coldness rattled me as he surveyed me; I despised it evenwhile knowing I’d caused it. “Get dressed.”
“We’re leaving already?” I blurted, my eyesdarting to the wind-up clock on the stand beside the lantern.
