Page 15 of Heat Lightning

Eyes flashing, the demon knelt and lazily wiped his leather-gloved hands off on the shirt of the alpha who’d drugged me. Then he cleaned the blade until it shone on the sleeve of the other.

Was he preparing it especially for me?

Wide-eyed and terrified, I watched as he straightened to his full height and slowly prowled closer to stand over me. He lifted the knife, and I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the blow.

It never came.

Fabric rustled. Unable to help myself, I peeked just in time to see him sheath the blade at his hip rather than plunge it through my heart. He knelt next to me, and the air stilled, quiet except for my shallow, tight breaths and the echoing music.

“Hello, sweetheart.”

My breath caught. His voice was a low rumble, reaching deeper inside me than even the pumping bass that shook the whole building. I moaned at the sound, embarrassed and full of shame but unable to control myself.

And his scent. This close, it was all-consuming; the most powerful force of nature I’d ever known. Winter gales paled in comparison to the strength with which he called to me.

The fact that I couldn’t move was the only thing that kept me from rolling over and presenting for this alpha of alphas—this demon who’d established his dominance in the most savage and primal way possible.

It was disgusting. I was disgusting, and I hated myself for it.

And yet, I still wanted him to hold me down and feed me his cock until I wasn’t empty anymore. I wanted to be his; I longed for him to publicly claim me for all to see like I was some kind of sacrificial offering, so that no one else would touch me ever again.

I opened my mouth to say so, or maybe to scream, but all that came out was a pathetic whimper.

“Shh, it’s going to be alright,” he cooed. A deep, soothing calm washed over me, different from the chemically forced arousal of the heat stimulants.

Alpha pheromones, I thought dazedly. He’s trying to keep me calm.

What stalker-turned-killer worried about their prey’s feelings?

His eyes searched mine, a slight frown forming between them. “Here,” he said, picking up my glasses. Gently, so gently, he slid them back onto my face. Blood leftover on his glove smeared across my cheek, and he cursed, wiping it away with his sleeve.

The heat of his touch was intoxicating. I nuzzled my face into his forearm, curling into that electric feeling zipping between us.

We’re safe now with alpha, my omega sighed. He’ll take us somewhere and fill us up.

I whimpered again, delirious, touch-starved, desperate, and completely out of control of my own body and mind. Slick trickled out of my needy hole, and I ached to feel the weight of him deep inside.

It was so confusing and upsetting. I’d just watched him slash a man’s throat in cold blood—why did I think he’d treat me any differently? Why did my body crave him so much?

But instead of reinforcing my shame or fulfilling those fears, he spoke as if I had control over what happened next. “Would you like to sit up?” he asked quietly, brushing the sweat-damp hair off my forehead.

I gave the barest nod and tried to speak again, but all that came out was a choked sigh.

The leather of his gloves chilled my overheated skin when he slid his hands beneath me to lift my upper body until I was sitting upright, propped against his chest. I blinked as he fully came into focus, face so close to mine I could feel his warmth, and realized he wasn’t actually a demon at all.

Which, duh. Of course he wasn’t. He was just a man, wearing a balaclava-style mask that covered everything but his eyes. The canine teeth were actually the bottom half of a snarling skull printed onto the knit material.

But just because he was a man and not a paranormal beast, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t harm me, or take advantage of my vulnerable state.

Was that why he’d come? Had he killed them to take me as his own?

My stomach fluttered at the thought. Somewhere along this night from hell, my wires had crossed, and that actually sounded romantic instead of psychotic and criminal and deeply fucked up.

My head dropped forward against his shoulder, thoughts fuzzy from inhaling more of his overwhelming scent. It only added to the calm, satisfied knowing that I was with my alpha. My eyelids grew heavy, and I slipped further and further away from myself and into that deep omega headspace.

Alpha was here, and I was safe.

“Hey, we need to…”