Читать книгу Demon Hunting in Dixie - Lexi George - Страница 7

Chapter Three

Brand closed his eyes and recited the creed engraved on the walls of the Hall of Warriors. We are the Dalvahni. We seek the djegrali through space and time. We do not tire. We do not fail. We hunt.

He faltered, the familiar words wiped from his mind by a soft rustling movement across the room. No matter how hard he concentrated, he could not ignore the woman in the bed. Once she’d fallen asleep, he turned out the light, thinking the darkness would be his ally. Wrong. Her scent filled the air. He heard each breath she took. The whisper of her smooth skin against the sheets, her gentle sighs in her sleep played like a siren’s song upon his tortured nerves, luring him to his doom. Again and again his unwilling feet carried him to the bed. He stood over her and watched her sleep, trembling with need. Each time, sanity returned, and he retreated to the far side of the room. No battle he ever fought had left him so exhausted. He had been in a fever of lust for hours, imagining his limbs tangled with hers, his tongue laving her pebbled nipples, his hardness thrusting into her silken heat. The heated images left him sweaty and shaken, filled with longing for a dawn that would not come. Never had he imagined such agony.

Never had he felt so alive.

He rose and strode to the window to look out. Not long until dawn. The knot in his belly eased. The longest night of his very long existence was almost over. At daybreak he would resume the hunt. He would find the djegrali, slay it, and depart this place. He would repair to the Hall of Warriors and slake his desire upon a thrall. He glanced down at the bulge in his leather breeches. Two thralls, maybe three. He would not think of the human female again. He would forget the uncomfortable emotions she evoked, return to the familiar emptiness. He would avoid Earth for a few hundred cycles. He would forget.

He was Dalvahni . . . He would forget.

With a muffled grunt of impatience, Addy rolled over. Brand froze at the window, his back to the bed. The soft swoosh of the blankets told him she’d thrown off the covers. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He would not look. Sweat beaded on his forehead with the effort not to turn his head. His neck muscles moved of their own accord. He opened his eyes and saw her. She lay on her side, her long legs bared to his perusal, the gray garment bunched around her waist. His gaze roamed up the firm curves of her calves and thighs and stopped. The ridiculous snippet of cloth she wore over her heart-shaped ass had ridden up on one side, exposing the bottom half of a lusciously rounded buttock. All the blood drained from his head and went straight to his groin. With a groan of defeat, he moved toward the bed.

The mattress dipped. Addy stirred and opened her eyes.

“You.” She gave the man lying beside her on the bed a sleepy smile. “I thought I told you to beat it.”

“So, you did. I came back.”

His voice was a deep sexy rumble. Hot damn, this was going to be good.

She scooted closer. “So, what are you waiting for? Get on with it.” “Get on with what?” he said, looking confused. He was a looker, and no doubt, this figment of her imagination, but not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

“The sex,” Addy said with a trace of impatience. Good grief, was this stuff as hard for other people? “Wish fulfillment. That’s what sex dreams are about, right? Let’s get on with it.”

“Very well,” he said and reached for her.

His hands were warm and callused. Strong hands, a warrior’s hands. They caressed Addy’s thighs and slid inside her panties to stroke and knead her bottom.

“Now this is more like it,” she said with a contented sigh.

“Indeed?” he murmured against her ear. “It gives you pleasure, little one?”

“Oh, yeah.” Addy pulled her T-shirt over her head and tossed it aside, leaving her naked but for her panties. “And Mama wants more. A lot more.”

“Mama?” he said, quirking a brow.

“Just go with it.” Waving her hands, she indicated her scantily clad form. “Unless you want to spoil the mood?” “I, most decidedly, do not.”

Bending his head, he licked the tip of one breast and then the other. Yassss, Addy wanted to shout, shivering in delight as cool air drifted across the wet buds. Could she dream or what? She stretched, eagerly seeking more. His hot, wet mouth fastened on one nipple and then the other, suckling. She closed her eyes, heat flaring in her belly and between her legs. This was wonderful, sinful. Did she have an imagination or what?

She opened her eyes. No, truthfully, she did not. Her imagination was nowhere near this good. Not even in the ballpark, which meant . . .

This was not a dream. Shock washed over her.

“Son-of-a-bitch,” she said, smacking him upside the head with all her strength. Her arm slammed into solid, unyielding flesh. “Ouch.” Glaring at him, she rubbed her arm. “That hurt.”

“You have harmed yourself?” He reached for her with a frown. “This I cannot allow.”

Addy scrambled off the bed, her arms crossed over her naked breasts. “Allow? I’ll tell you what’s not allowed. You’re not allowed in my house! I told you to get out. How the hell did you get back in here?”

“Through the door of this domicile in the usual manner of your species.” He rose and stalked her around the room. “I found it pitifully easy to breach your defenses.”

In more ways than one, Addy thought, her cheeks growing hot at the thought of her wanton behavior. She’d acted like a floozy.

“Oh, yeah?” she said, glowering at him. “I don’t remember asking you to protect me.”

He backed her against a wall. “It is my duty, in case the djegrali returns.”

“Are you telling me you’ve been here all night?”

“All. Night.” He placed his fingertips against her jaw and gently tilted her chin. “I watched you sleep, counted your every breath.” Startled, she lifted her gaze to his. His green eyes were troubled. “In the lonely darkness I sat, listening to the silken whisper of your hair across the pillow whenever you stirred.” His thumb grazed her lower lip. “I ached for you throughout the endless hours of the night, imagining your touch, the sweet delight of your lips upon my flesh.” He lowered his head, his lips grazing hers. “I have burned for you, Adara Jean. I burn for you still. I beg you, do not leave me in the cold dark alone.”

“You should have heeded my advice and availed yourself of a thrall, my brother,” a low, disapproving voice said. “Such strong emotion is not advisable in a warrior.”

Brand jerked Addy beneath him, covering her nakedness with his body. “Ansgar.” His voice was without inflection. “What is your purpose here?”

The blond warrior shrugged. “What else, but the hunt? I tracked the djegrali into the village near here and lost him. I thought, perchance, we might join forces. But you pursue game of a different sort, I see.”

“How came you past the safeguards I set in place?”

“You timed your spells to end at sunrise.” There was a hint of mockery in Ansgar’s cool tone. “The sun is up, my brother, and you have yet to continue the chase. Or is that the djegrali you grapple with, cleverly disguised as a wanton?”

“Let me up.” Addy was mortified beyond belief. God, she was such a skank, a hoochie mama, a slut of biblical proportions. What was the matter with her? She’d come within an inch of . . . well, within an inch of coming and letting this guy do her.

Brand’s cold gaze flicked over her and back to the other warrior. “No. You are unclothed. He will see you. This I cannot allow.”

“Cannot allow? Cannot allow? That’s it. I’ve had enough of this macho crap.” Addy shoved against Brand’s broad shoulders, but he did not budge. “Get off of me, you big ape.”

“Not while you are unclad.”

“Then tell that blond horse’s ass to get out of my room.” Addy decided to take refuge in fury. “Better yet, tell him to get out of my house And you, too, while you’re at it.” Her head whipped around at a sudden thought. “Wait a minute, where’s Dooley?”

“Do not distress yourself. The animal is unharmed.” Ansgar sounded bored. “She chases a stag through the smallish wood situated at the edge of this demesne.”

“Stag? You mean a deer? This is a gated community. There aren’t any deer here.” Addy’s blood pressure rose. “You’ve done something to my dog. Again. That tears it. Out. Both of you. Out of my house. NOW!”

One moment, the heavy weight of Brand’s muscular body pressed down upon her, warm and hard and unbelievably sexy, and the next instant he was gone. Addy sat up and looked around. Ansgar had disappeared, too.

“Good riddance,” she mumbled. She wiped her stinging eyes with the back of her hand. Tears of humiliation and outrage, that’s what they were. No way was she crying because that big jerk got her all hot and bothered and turned into Icicle Man once his buddy showed up. She stomped over to the closet and pulled on a pair of shorts and a clean T-shirt. Shoving her feet into a pair of flip flops, she stormed out the back door in search of Dooley.

Brand landed on a wide stretch of mown grass beside a paved road, his senses still spinning with Addy’s intoxicating warmth and scent. He looked around. To his left, the wind sang through a forest of pines. On his right, an immense field of freshly tilled earth stretched like a fallen red clay giant in the early morning sun. It was a peaceful scene, at odds with the firestorm of lust and frustration raging within him. He was rock hard and aching with lust. He wanted Addy. Wanted to lose himself in her sweetness and warmth until the devil’s brew of desire and emotion she aroused in him was spent.

Barring that, he wanted to slam his fist in Ansgar’s smug face for interfering.

As if summoned by his thoughts, the air shimmered and Ansgar appeared.

Brand schooled his face into an expressionless mask. “You have a purpose for bringing us to this place, I assume?”

Ansgar raised his brows. “I? I thought this was your doing.”

“No.”

“How . . . unsettling. I hoped you had perchance come to your senses and abandoned the wench.”

“In good time,” Brand said through his teeth. “But first I will use her to trap the djegrali.”

“Very clever of you. I suppose it was necessary to disrobe the human in order to—er—bait the trap?”

Something dark and unfamiliar clawed its way from the deepest recesses of Brand’s soul. The sensation was strange and disquieting, and it was a moment before he recognized it. Jealous; by the sword, he was jealous. Ansgar had seen Addy in all her unclad glory, her exquisite body bare but for an inconsequential wisp of fabric that hugged her delectable backside. The other warrior’s eyes had roamed the graceful curves of her back and long, smooth legs. Perhaps he even caught a glimpse of Addy’s luscious breasts before Brand pulled her beneath him. The knowledge made Brand want to kill Ansgar with his bare hands, to wipe the memory of Addy’s body from the other man’s mind. With an effort, he tamped down his anger. Such emotion was undesirable in a warrior. He was a demon slayer, he reminded himself. In a race of disciplined fighters, he was renowned for his self-control. He would not lose his temper. “She is amusing, I will admit.” He shrugged. “But the Dalvahni are immune to human wiles, as you well know.”

“So I thought, but she is a most distracting female, is she not?” Ansgar’s cool voice held a thread of amusement. “Such spirit and fire contained in a delicious package. Small wonder if you were distracted, brother. It makes me want to—er—check her snare myself.”

The demon of jealousy burst forth. Brand slammed his fist into Ansgar’s face and knocked him to the ground. He stood over the other warrior, fists clenched. “You will keep your distance, brother,” he snarled. “If you value your life.”

Ansgar climbed to his feet, his expression one of stunned disbelief. “You hit me. You hit me over a woman, Brand. Such unbridled spleen is unsuitable in a warrior. I should report you.”

“But you will not. Because that would mean abandoning the hunt, and that you will not do.”

“No, I will not relinquish my prey. But that is not all that keeps me here.” Ansgar rubbed his bruised jaw and gazed at the smudge of trees on the far side of the plowed field. “Strange forces stir in this place. The djegrali gather here, but to what purpose? And then there is your behavior. Most uncharacteristic. In the eons I have served beside you, you have always been a model of restraint. But no more, it would seem. Why, I ask myself? My curiosity is aroused, as well as my hunter’s instincts. I have questions, and I mean to find the answers.” He turned to Brand, his silver-gray eyes sharp. “For instance, if you did not transport us to this place, and I did not, then who did? This, at least, is a mystery I think you can answer. How came we here, brother?”

Brand tightened his jaw and measured his words with care. What he was about to admit was unprecedented. “In thinking the matter over, it is perhaps possible that Adara—uh—I mean, the female may be responsible.”

Ansgar gazed at him without blinking. “She is a sorceress, then?”

“No. As I told you last night, she was harmed during the fight with the djegrali.”

“Harmed in what manner?”

“An ice dagger. The creature stabbed her in the chest as it fled. ’Twas a mortal injury. I repaired it.”

For the first time in Brand’s memory, Ansgar’s perpetual air of imperious complacence wavered.

“A mortal wound and you repaired it? Such a thing is not permitted. If she is responsible for transporting us here, then that means . . .” Ansgar’s eyes widened. “It means you gave a human a portion of your essence! It is forbidden.”

“She came to my aid and in doing so was injured. Healing a human comrade wounded in battle is not unknown, although I will admit it is unusual and generally discouraged. As for the other, where is it written? I do not recall such a prohibition.”

It was Ansgar’s turn to clench his teeth, a circumstance that gave Brand some small measure of satisfaction. “You do not recall it because it has never been done,” Ansgar ground out. “We are immortal. The consequences of what you have done could be disastrous.”

“Don’t you think I know that? That is why I mean to keep a close eye on the human.”

“It wasn’t your eyes I noticed on the female, Brand.”

Brand ignored him and strode up the road. “I take full responsibility for my actions, including the consequences. I bid you good hunting. I must return to my charge, lest the djegrali find and harm her in my absence.”

Ansgar trotted after him. “I will accompany you. The demon I seek will no doubt be drawn to its fellow creature.”

“As you wish.”

They rounded a curve in the road and saw a number of buildings in the distance.

Ansgar stopped in front of a faded metal sign on the side of the road. “Brand.”

Anxious as he was to get back to Adara, something in the other warrior’s voice gave Brand pause. He retraced his steps.

“What is it?” Ansgar stood unmoving before the sign, a peculiar expression on his face. Swallowing his annoyance, Brand joined Ansgar. “What troubles you, Ansgar?”

Ansgar raised his hand and pointed. With growing impatience, Brand turned and looked at the strange squiggles painted on the worn metal marker. The Dalvahni were blessed with the gift of languages, a necessary talent in their travels between worlds. After a moment’s concentration, the unfamiliar marks shifted and blurred into something recognizable.

“It is a sign proclaiming the name of this hamlet. What of it?”

“Look at it again, Brand. And this time, speak the words out loud.”

“Han-nah-a-lah.” Brand read the strange script aloud. Startled, he stepped back. “By the sword, it cannot be.”

Ansgar nodded. “Han-nah-a-lah. How many times have you heard those words? The Dalvahni shall be bound to the hunt until Han-nah-a-lah, or so the old saying goes. We always assumed Han-nah-a-lah meant until the end of time. The end of time, it would seem, is upon us.”

“Dooo-ley.” Addy trotted down the paved path in the park, slowing when she saw the clump of trees ahead. Even in daylight the shadows in the wood seemed menacing. She did not wish to go back into those trees. She cupped her hands to her mouth and called the dog again. “Dooley Anne Corwin, you come here. Don’t make me come after you.” She heard the Lab’s excited barking from the belly of the woods and decided to try bribery. “Be a good girl and come here, and Addy will give you a piece of cheese.”

“Lost your dog?” a voice drawled.

She spun around. She relaxed when she recognized Darryl Wilson, the strapping security guard hired by the home owner’s association to keep an eye on things. Darryl finished high school a few years ahead of her and was harmless enough. There were six Wilson brothers. All but one played football at Hannah High. Like most of his brothers, Darryl worked hard and played harder, which around here meant hunting, drinking, and running around raising hell in his pickup truck. The gig as security guard, he once confided to Addy, was, he hoped, a stepping stone to the local police force.

“Oh, hey, Darryl, you startled me.” She flung him a distracted smile, her thoughts on her dog. “Yeah, Dooley got out, and I’m trying to round her back up. How you doing?”

Darryl did not answer. Addy glanced back and found him staring at her chest, mouth ajar. Her face grew hot. She’d rushed out of the house without putting on a bra, and her nipples were on high alert, pushing against the thin fabric of her T-shirt. Her first instinct was to cross her arms and slink away. Nice girls did not go out of the house without a bra. From the look on Darryl’s face, you’d think he’d never seen a pair of undomesticated casabas, which Addy knew for a fact wasn’t true. Darryl’s girlfriend, Raeleene, was rough as a cob and a threat to get drunk and hang out the window of Darryl’s truck, her bare boobs flapping in the breeze. Addy straightened her shoulders. Well, Darryl could get over it, ’cause these puppies weren’t going back in the crate until she found Dooley. She hoped Mama didn’t find out she’d been running around without proper undergarments. Sheesh, the thought of the bear jawing she’d get made her wince.

“Yoo hoo, Darryl.” She waved her hand at him.

“Huh?” He dragged his eyes off her breasts. “Say, Addy, your hair looks different. Kinda crazy sexy, if you know what I mean.” His gaze moved to her bare legs and stuck there. He swallowed like he had a potato stuck in his throat. “Y-you wanna go out sometime? I got my own truck.”

Lord love a redneck, Addy thought with a mental eye roll. “Thanks, but I don’t think Raeleene would like it.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about her.” He looked alarmed for a moment and then wistful. “Would she have to know?”

“It’s a small town, Darryl.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t want to carpet it.”

Oh, brother, a comedian. She really did not need this.

“Aren’t you the funniest thing?” Addy gave him a bright smile and edged down the path. “Well, nice to see you, Darryl. Tell your mama I said hi. I’d best go look for Dooley.”

A deep bay from the stand of trees drew her up short.

“That your dog, Addy? He sounds hepped up. Maybe he’s treed him a cat or something.”

“She,” Addy said absently, her gaze on the woods. Dooley was chasing something, and she sounded excited about it. “You seen any deer around here, Darryl?”

“In River Bend? Not unless you count them ornamental ones Miz Hiebert has on her lawn. She dresses them thangs up for holidays. Puts bunny ears on ’em for Easter and gives ’em fangs for Halloween. It’s wrong.” He spat. “I can’t wait until I get me a real police job. It’s deadsville working in a retirement community. Bunch of blue-haired little old ladies mostly. You still house-sitting for your great aunt?”

“Yeah, I’m staying in River Bend while Aunt Muddy does the world tour thing.”

“That Muddy’s whatcha might call a gen-u-ine character, ain’t she?” He was staring at her chest again with that deer-in-the-headlights look. Her headlights. The poor guy practically drooled. “Why, I ’member one time when I was a boy, she—”

A loud snort interrupted him. An enormous white deer with silver antlers trotted out of the grove. Dooley bounced behind the gigantic animal barking like mad. The buck ignored the yapping canine with magnificent disdain and danced across the park, his hooves skimming the surface of the grass.

“Holy shit.” Darryl’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Take a look at the rack on that buck. I ain’t never seen a spread that wide. Where’s my gun?”

He dashed off in the direction of the gatehouse and his truck.

“Typical guy,” Addy muttered. “Always going for the bigger rack.”

The stag cantered past her and cleared the eight-foot wrought-iron fence that encircled the subdivision with room to spare. Dooley tore after the gigantic ruminant and threw herself against the fence with a last emphatic woof as if to say, There, and don’t come back. Tongue lolling, she turned and galloped up to Addy for approval.

“Bad dog,” Addy scolded. “What would you do with that thing if you caught it?” Dooley hung her head and whined. “I cannot believe you went back into those woods. Didn’t you learn anything last night?” Hands on hips, Addy glared down at the dog. “Well, young lady, what have you got to say for yourself?”

The Lab rolled over and showed her belly. “Sorry, Addy. Sorry.” Dooley looked up at Addy with soulful eyes and sprang to her feet. “Ooh, Addy, Addy! Can Dooley have cheese?”