Eternal Flame

He kissed her. She expected a hard kiss, a blaze of passion and anger and fire.

Instead, she got … gentleness.

Jana tensed and her hands lifted. Her nails dug into his arms. No, no, that wasn’t—

His lips caressed hers. Softly. So soft, and his tongue whispered into her mouth.

She used her hold and tried to pull him closer. She didn’t want soft. She didn’t want slow. She wanted—

Zane’s head lifted. He stared down at her, his eyes darkening. “It’s not gonna be fast this time.” The words sounded like a threat. He picked her up and held her easily in his arms. Control. He had it in spades at that moment. She could feel his strength, reined in, all around her.

Zane carried her back to the bed and lowered her onto the mattress. His hands skated down her body and caught the edge of her panties. “Not fast…” he rasped again, and slid her panties down her legs.

His fingers were rough, with calluses on his hands, but his touch was easy as he stroked her skin.

“You’re so damn beautiful,” he whispered.

Her breath caught.

“I think we need to pick up where we left off.” His jaw tightened. “Before you ran out on me.”

Hit. “You don’t want the problems I have to knock at your door.” His hands were movng up the inside of her thighs and talking was a bit hard right then. “You don’t … ah, I’m just a bounty, remember?”

“I don’t fuck my bounties.”

But he was about to fuck her.

“You stopped being a bounty the minute the cuffs hit the floor.” He eased her thighs apart and opened her wide to his gaze.

“What am I?” Because she needed to know. Not a freak, not a weapon, not—

“The woman I want.” His fingers touched the folds of her sex. “And right now, you’re mine.”

He was hers. Right then, hers.

Zane shifted his body, and his breath blew over her exposed sex, sending a shiver through her. “Let’s see just how hot you burn,” he said.

Zane put his mouth on her.

Jana nearly jerked off the bed. “Zane!”

His lips feathered over her sex. Then she felt the wet lick of his tongue, a slow swipe right over the center of her need.

Her heels dug into the bed and her hands grabbed onto his shoulders. Not to push him away-oh, no-to jerk him closer.

His fingers brushed against her, then one long finger pushed inside her straining core. In, out, that finger plunged in maddeningly gentle thrusts. Not enough. And his mouth kept caressing, that tongue stroking, and Zane tried to drive her out of her mind.

Her nails bit into him.

“Easy, baby. I’m going to enjoy you.” No, he was going to make her crazy. His finger pulled out of her. Her body tensed. No, she wanted—

His tongue pushed into her sex just as his thumb pressed against her clit. Jana’s breath choked out and her body went bow tight.

He growled against her, the vibration shaking through her sensitive flesh and that tongue-the demon knew how to use his tongue.

She arched her hips against him. Wanting more, needing …

His mouth left her. “Open your eyes, Jana.”

Her eyelashes flew open, and she found his black stare trained on her. The lamp on the nightstand threw weak light on the bed.

“You’re not coming, not yet.”

Oh, but she’d been close. She wet her lips. “This some kind of … torture?”

“No. Pleasure. Only pleasure.” His gaze was heavy lidded. “You said you wanted pleasure, remember?”

She’d also said she wanted him. “Take off your jeans.” She wanted them flesh to flesh.

He yanked his wallet out of a back pocket.

What—

And he pulled out a condom.

He’d planned his seduction. Why did that make her hesitate? So he’d known they’d sleep together again. Big deal, right? She’d wanted to sleep with him.

“Doubting, baby?” His fingers went to the buckle of his jeans.

She shook her head, refusing to admit the doubt, even to herself. Her fingers slid between them, and she took the condom from him. “My turn.” Because she didn’t like that fine edge of control he held.

Jana wanted to see the control shatter. No, she wanted him to shatter right before her eyes.

He unzipped his jeans with a slow hiss of sound. She reached for his cock and found it thick, hard, and swollen with need. She stroked him once with her left hand, a long, slow pump from root to tip. Because she could play the game slowly, too.

She stared into his eyes. So dark, her demon’s eyes. But fire could burn in the dark. She’d seen it happen plenty of times. “Do I get a taste?” she asked.

A muscle flexed along his jaw and he eased away, sliding back onto the bed. She rose, following him, and stretched her body so that when he lay back, she was over him, right over that cock that reached for her.

His flesh was warm beneath her hand, heated with his need and lust. When she touched the tip of his erection, a drop of moisture appeared. My taste. Jana leaned forward and licked that drop, tasting the wild blend of man and sex. Her tongue licked over the head of his cock, then slid just under that broad tip.

His hips jerked, just a bit.

Control.

The demon had it tonight.

She opened her mouth. Jana let her breath blow on his flesh, then she took his cock inside, parting her lips around him. She sucked his flesh, moving her head in an easy rhythm, but then going faster, taking more as his taste filled her mouth. Wanting more, wanting—

“Not yet,” he rasped and she found herself on her back again, with him over her. Jana blinked, not even remembering how she’d moved. Her hands were on either side of her head, and her legs were spread open. He rolled the condom over his cock and pushed his shaft against her.

His fingers eased beneath her back, and he unsnapped her bra. When the material fell away, he took her left breast into his mouth. Sucking. Licking. Letting her feel the light score of his teeth.

She twisted beneath him as the ache between her thighs made her shudder. This wasn’t her style. Fast, hard, she needed—

His cock slipped inside her. One inch. Two. Her sex clamped around him.

“You’re so slick. …” His head lifted. “And fucking tight.” Another inch.

“Everything,” she whispered, demanded. “I want—”

He drove balls-deep into her. Jana came at once, a hot blast of pleasure that fired through every cell in her body. She arched beneath him as a moan broke from her lips. Zane started to thrust, fast and deep-thank you, finally!-and the orgasm spiraled longer, wilder, hotter.

His cock stretched her, filled her sex to bursting, and the deep thrusts slid his shaft right over her clit.

Aftershocks of pleasure hummed through her body. Her eyes were open, on Zane, locked on the darkness of his stare. Brutal lines of lust etched his face, but he kept his hold easy, and he kept driving into her with those long, hard thrusts.

The second orgasm rocked through her.

“Fuck!” His control broke. He slammed into her, plunging again and again, and the scent of sex filled the air.

He froze, then a long shudder worked his body. The darkness of his eyes heated, and Zane called her name.

Jana wrapped her arms around him, held him tight, and realized she’d never felt better.

Never felt better … and never been in more danger. Because if the demon holding her so tenderly, kissing her shoulder so sweetly-if he found out about all the things she’d done in New Orleans, he’d be the one handing her over to the FBI and putting her up for extermination.

Dawn was coming. Jana lay in bed, her demon’s arms around her, and watched the trickling rays of light break through the blinds. She hadn’t slept after the sex. Neither had Zane. Guess he’d learned from his mistake before.

They’d lain in bed. He’d held her. It had felt … nice.

Weak. You’re letting yourself get weak with him.

She cleared her throat and forced herself to speak. “So what’s the plan?” She glanced at him and found his gaze already on her. “You’re not going on the run with me.” “You’re not running.”

Her breath expelled. “Well, since I’m not planning on dying, I don’t see a lot of choices here.” Not like she could just stay there and wait for the FBI to come and pick her up. Not ready to die, thank you.

His fingers feathered down her arm. “There are always choices.”

Easy for him to say. He hadn’t spent five years locked up in hell. She’d gotten out at eighteen, but then she’d just traded one prison for another.

“I need to know …” His eyes narrowed. “I need to know about the people you’ve killed.”

“Why?” She tugged away from him and rose from the bed.

“Because you’re not the cold-blooded killer you pretend to be.”

Her lips pressed together. Not that he could see the tremble anyway. She had her back to him. “Wow, aren’t you the sweet-talker.”

“Tell me about the first fire.”

Screams. Pain. Flames that burned so fast. “They say you never forget your first,” she murmured. She’d tried, but had never forgotten the sound of Greg’s screams … or the smell of his burning flesh.

“I’ve heard there’s no control with an Ignitor’s first fire.”

She jerked on her panties and heaved up her jeans. “You’ve heard right.” A bitter laugh slipped from her lips. “I didn’t even know what was happening.” Jana hooked her bra and tugged on her shirt. “I was so scared. My skin felt like it was on fire.” Her hand dropped to her stomach and pressed hard. “My gut was churning. I thought I’d explode.”

And she had.

No, he had.

Jana turned back to face Zane. She lifted her chin. He had sat up in bed, and the covers pooled around his waist. “I thought I was normal. Just like everybody else, and then the fire came.” She shook her head, remembering the taste of fear. It tasted a lot like ash.

“An Ignitor’s power hits at puberty.”

The man sounded so damn clinical, but he was right. She nodded.

“And it’s usually spurred on by an extreme emotional upset,” he said quietly.

Give the guy a freaking cookie. So he’d done his homework on Ignitors.

I killed the last Ignitor who crossed my path.

He climbed out of bed. Naked, strong. He grabbed his pair of jeans and pulled them on, then he stalked toward her. “Were you upset, Jana? When that first fire broke free, were you angry?”

Her back teeth clenched. “Yes,” she gritted out. She’d been angry and so scared. Because her mother had been gone. She’d been in that house, just her and—

“Your stepfather died in that fire.”

She didn’t speak.

“Did you want him to die or did the fire get out of control? It would have been so easy to burn out of control….”

Jana laughed. Zane didn’t get it. Was he really trying to give her a way out? “I wanted the bastard to die. I stared at him, and I thought, over and over, that I wanted him to die.” She swallowed. “And then flames raced across his skin and he started screaming for me to help him.” Bitch, fucking help me! Help me!

Zane stared down at her, and his gaze seemed too intense.

“I wasn’t going to let him touch me.” Her voice sounded hollow. “I wasn’t going to let him punch me again, and I told him—” She cleared her throat. “I told him if he tried to hit me once more, I’d kill him.” So many bruises. So many broken bones. Her mother had always been there with excuses when anyone asked what happened. She fell down the stairs. Jana’s a clumsy girl. You’d think a thirteen-year-old would know how to ride a bike better, wouldn’t you?

Her fingers brushed across her jaw. It had been wired shut for weeks after the fire. “I warned him,” she said. “It was his fault,” she’d told herself this over and over, “that he didn’t listen.”

Zane’s lips parted. “Jana …”

Her hand flew up and hung in the air between them. “Don’t.” Anger fired the word. But he shook his head. “I can’t—”

“I don’t need your pity.” She knew pity when she heard it. “I’m not some damaged kid who needs you to hold her and make everything better.” Not anymore, dammit.

“I know that.”

“Greg Burgess deserved what he got.” Because if she hadn’t killed him, he would have killed her, and she knew it. “I didn’t expect the fire, and afterwards, hell, no one believed me. They thought I’d set everything up … staged the scene and lured him to his death.” Bastards. The DA had said her jaw had been broken from the force of the blast. He’d said she was too close when she ignited the accelerants and that she’d been thrown across the room.

What accelerants? She’d burned Greg with her power.

But Greg, the bastard, had always kept plenty of booze around. And they’d been in the garage when the fire started. With the oil and gas and …

You’re lying, girl. You set the fire. You burned that man alive. The DA’s voice was so clear in her mind, even after all these years. Did he beg you for help?

Yes, he had.

“You were protecting yourself.” Zane’s voice was a low rumble and she glanced back at him. His hands were clenched into powerful fists, and the faint lines near his eyes looked deeper than before.

“I was,” she said, and it was true. Greg’s ghost didn’t haunt her anymore. Jana took a long, deep breath, and then she let her lips curl. Because she wasn’t a victim, and Zane needed to see that. She wasn’t some damsel he needed to rescue.