Chapter 5

      Jade was lying curled in his arms, molded to his body, her long red curls tumbling over the blue cover; and Nias didn’t want to be anywhere else. Knowing he brought her to peak gave him more pleasure than he knew possible. Could a human woman be making him feel this way? Not possible, he insisted. He was merely having a deep, intense lust for her, which in and of itself was a pretty unusual feeling for him to have toward a human. He deeply enjoyed sex with human women, even more so with Daemon, but this was stronger than that, like somehow she fit with him. There was a force which propelled him toward her, and held him there. He lay watching her in her languor; beautiful pink lips, the high, soft bone structure, her high-arched brows the only physical manifestation of her incredulous defenses toward the world. She was a fiery one; the flames of her hair suited her perfectly. And even though he normally would have had his own way with her, then cast her aside, a good hour passed while he placed kiss after kiss on her.

      “You are amazingly beautiful,” Nias said, placing his head on his hand and leaning on one arm. He watched her lie against the pillows and accept his kisses, her eyes only half open from the pleasure he had given her.

      “I’m not sure what you are, but I or, um, my body, seems to really like it.” She smiled a wide grin at him.

      She reached up, taking a piece of his shiny dark hair in her fingers and began to twirl the end, something he had seen her do to her own hair and it made him feel a touch vulnerable. Letting someone give him contentment was something he rarely allowed, especially a human woman. Typically he would cast her aside, but instead, he felt the need to reach for her. Trying to end the overly intimate contact, he took her hand in his and kissed it.

      He watched her fade to sleep, listening to her breath. Despite her mild protesting he could see she felt safe with him, and he was delighted. He finally fell asleep with this human curled in his arms, hesitant about how much her safety comforted him. He was so pleased by what she had done, such a tiny act and enormous at the same time.

      And that was what scared him to death.

      When she woke she was a little hazy and still completely enveloped in him. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was, and then it flooded back to her: met hottest man she’d ever seen; kidnapped; out cold, maybe; fought with hottest man she’d ever seen; kidnapped AGAIN; tortured and nearly gutted; definitely out cold; miraculously healed; got obscene with the hottest man she’d ever seen; drowsy, sleepy, safe, out cold; NO kidnap; and wake up still snuggled tightly to hottest man she’d ever seen, still covered in their blood. Yep, that about covered it.

      Leaving her eyes closed, she felt the soft sheets beneath her bare body, and heard only the near silence of the early-morning breeze. But she could also feel his body against her, his powerful presence and masculine smell permeated her very being. She shifted involuntarily against him as her hand went to his hips (still clothed!) and sighed deeply.

      She looked up, realizing he was already awake and gazing at her. She had a sudden vision of their encounter and was struck with self-consciousness. The reality of her situation invaded the fantasy, and she blushed beet red, looking away. Deviant sexual behavior is so not like me. But that sure as hell didn’t feel deviant! She shook her head. What the hell had she been thinking? She barely knew this man. And yet she lay there cozied up and secure in his body. He was sex on a stick; it oozed out of him, the way his massive arms unavoidably flexed whenever he shifted. It was only one of the highlights of his impeccable body. The arrogant smile he gave, which always accompanied the soft, dark, sexually charged laugh, raised her ire.

      “What is it, Kitten?” She jumped slightly; his deep, seductive voice startled her.

      She could have screamed. She could have lashed out at him. She could have gotten up, demanded some clothes and gotten the hell out of there. Maybe she should have done any one of those things. But after everything that had happened … “I was reflecting on the absurdity of the situation. I could be crippled by fear, ashamed at myself, or throw my hands in the air and confess I’m just not in Kansas anymore. I guess that’s what I’ve decided to do.” Again she chuckled at her own humor.

      “I don’t understand, what does this day have to do with a Middle American state?”

      God, has he never even seen “Wizard of Oz”? Where was he from, anyway? “Never mind, I have a really strange habit of making myself laugh when things are too … overwhelming.”

      “I understand you feel undone. But, I believe I have discovered a way to calm you a little. Shall I apply my findings again?” He flashed another wicked grin.

      “No!” God no, she thought, even though her protest came a little more sharply than she intended. “Please keep your findings to yourself for a while. I have never done anything like that before. I am a little humiliated with my actions. What I’m trying to say is I should have stopped that from happening and I didn’t and I’m not sure why. Okay, I am going to shut up now.” And her face turned bright red again as she managed to dam up the words tumbling out of her mouth faster than she could think about them. He continued smiling wickedly at her. “What, why are you grinning at me like a cat with a mouse trapped under its paw?”

      “You do realize, my Kitten, you said, ‘for a while’ don’t you? You asked that I keep my so-called ‘findings’ to myself ‘for a while’,” he stated with a big sardonic grin.

      “Oh, well that’s not what I meant,” she choked out, as if she didn’t even believe it herself. Weak, Jade, truly weak. “Anyway, now that I’m not being ripped apart by monsters, or smeared with blood – which reminds me I would really like a shower – or molested, I have a whole lot of questions for you.”

      “First of all, ‘molested’ implies you did not consent and I’m pretty sure I remember every stroke, moan and wiggle, and Kitten, you heartily consented; and second, we can take a shower any time you wish.”

      “Okay,