Devoured by Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #7)(2)
Author: Alexandra Ivy

The honey eyes darkened with a dangerous hunger. Laylah wasn’t sure if it was for blood or sex.

Probably both.

“A beautiful angel,” he husked, his arms wrapping around her to yank her hard against the strength of his body. “And I have waited too long to have a taste.”

Unable to halt her panic any longer, Laylah’s unpredictable powers lashed out, the electrical charge that filled the air enough to make the vampire leap back in wary surprise.

“I said, leave me alone,” she hissed, wrapping her arms around her waist.

A dark brow arched. “Well, well. You like to play rough?”

“I don’t like to play at all,” she snapped. “What do you want from me?”

“My first intent was to capture you so you could be brought before the Commission.”

She jerked at the threat, her powers abruptly faltering. She’d been hiding from the official leaders of the demon world for two centuries. To be taken to the Oracles that made up the Commission was nothing less than a death-sentence.

“I’ve done nothing to earn such a punishment,” she attempted to bluff.

“Your very existence is worthy of punishment.” The vampire smoothly countered. “Half-breed Jinns have been forbidden.”

Laylah squashed the familiar anger at the sheer injustice. Now was not the time to debate whether or not she should be exterminated for the sins of her parents.

“You said that was your first intent,” she said, her voice thick. “Have you changed your mind?”

A dangerous smile curved the vampire’s lips as he reached to trace the plunging neckline of her shirt, his touch searing a path of pure pleasure.

“Let us say I’m willing to postpone our journey with the proper incentive.”

“Incentive?”

“Do you need me to demonstrate?” he murmured, his lips softly brushing over her mouth.

“No …” she choked, attempting to deny the piercing need that lashed through her.

Gods. She had been alone for so long.

So very long.

“Tell me your name,” he whispered against her lips. “Tell me.” “Laylah.”

“Laylah.” He said her name slowly, as if testing it on his tongue. Pulling back he studied her pale features, his hands skimming down her sides to grasp her hips and boldly press her against the hard evidence of his arousal. “Exquisite.”

Laylah clenched her teeth, ignoring the sizzle of excitement racing through her blood.

“I assume you have a name as well?”

There was a brief pause. Not surprising. A name in the hands of a magic user could give them power over a person. Then he shrugged.

“Tane.”

It suited him. Ruthless. Powerful. Stunningly male.

“Great.” Placing her hands against the steely hardness of his chest, she arched back to meet the honey heat of his gaze. “Let me make this perfectly clear, Tane. I don’t use sex as a bargaining chip. Not. Ever.”

Expecting him to be angered by her blunt rejection, Laylah was unnerved when his lips curled in a smile of pure anticipation. Hauling her tightly against him, he spoke directly into her ear.

“Now let me make this perfectly clear, Laylah,” he whispered. “When we have sex it will only be after you have begged me to take you.”

It was the explosion of awareness that jolted through her lower stomach as much as his arrogance that pissed her off. After all, vamps were flaming narcissists. He would naturally assume she was frantic to jump his bones.

No, it was the fact he was right that made her want to punch him.

“Never going to happen, bloodsucker.”

He smiled with wicked promise. “Want to bet, mongrel?”

She shoved him away, wrapping arms around her waist in a protective motion. “If it isn’t sex, then what do you want from me?” “The truth.”

Damn. Were they back to that already? He was supposed to be distracted. Well, she could easily correct that. No matter what the sacrifice.

“Could you be a little more vague?” she deliberately taunted.

“Most lesser demons have the sense to show respect when in the presence of a vampire.”

“You’ve already let the cat out of the bag that you intend to haul me to the Commission to be put down like a rabid dog, so what the hell?” She shrugged. “I might as well have a bit of fun before I go out.”

His slender fingers stroked the hilt of his knife. His big-enough-to-slice-off-her-head knife.

“I can promise you that trying to provoke me is not the sort of fun you want.”

She curled her lips in what she hoped was a sneer, but might very well have been a grimace of terror.

“True, the sort of fun I want involves a piece of wood with a very pointy end decorating the center of your chest, but for the moment I’ll take what I can get.”

Braced for his punishment, Laylah swore when he did precisely what she didn’t want.

Instead of striking out in fury, he stilled, his expression intent. Just like a predator about to pounce.

“Intriguing,” he murmured.

“What?”

“Your desperation to keep me from discovering your secret.” He reached to trace a finger down the line of her stubborn jaw. “I should warn you that your games only make me more determined to find out what you’re hiding.”

Laylah spun away from his piercing gaze. What the hell did she have to do to get this vampire off her back?

“There’s nothing.”

There was an icy chill as he moved to stand directly behind her.

“Let’s start at the beginning. Why did you kill Duncan?”

“I …” She licked her lips, her hands pressing to her stomach at the familiar sickness that rolled through her. She didn’t want to remember Caine leading her through the secret tunnel and into the small cabin next to the Mississippi River. They’d expected to find Duncan hidden there. The cur, after all, was intending to save his own hide by selling out Caine to the King of Weres. But neither had expected the less dominant cur to try and attack. Or for Laylah’s powers to strike out with such force. It was yet another regret, in a very long line of regrets, that Laylah would have to live with. “That was an accident.”

“You fried a cur,” Tane pointed out dryly, “which doesn’t make my heart bleed, but those little accidents are exactly why mongrel Jinn have been banned.”

She shuddered. Did he think that she didn’t try and control her powers? That she wouldn’t give anything to stop another senseless death staining her conscience?