Hotter After Midnight

She felt his power in the air then. Weak, low-level power, maybe a two or three on the demon scale.

“If there’s anything I can do for you, Doctor, or if you decide that you want to talk to News Flash Five, give me a call.” He handed her his card.

“Jake!”

Sighing, he glanced back over his shoulder. Darla stood beside the van, arms crossed, eyes glittering.

“Well, guess I’ll talk to you both another time.” With a little salute, he hoisted the camera and hurried toward the van.

“Looks like the vultures have already started circling.” Colin shook his head and marched down the sidewalk.

She followed on his heels. “Gyth, did you know they were going to be here?”

He jerked open her door, narrowing his eyes. “No.” Then comprehension lit his face. “What, you think I brought you here as some kind of setup?”

Well, the thought had crossed her mind. “You said I’d be on the six o’clock news soon. Looks like you were right.”

His fingers tightened around the metal door. “I said you’d be on the news because the DA is going to hold a press conference about the case in the next few days. You’ll be at the conference.”

Emily climbed into the Jeep. “So, for the record, you didn’t know Darla was going to be here?”

He slammed the door. “No, I sure as hell didn’t.”

She blew out a hard breath as he circled the Jeep and jumped into the driver’s seat.

“And just so you know, Doc, you aren’t to talk to reporters alone, ever.” He slanted her a simmering glare. “So you might as well just throw away the card that slick passed you.”

“I think I’ll just hold on to it.” It wasn’t the first time that one of the Other had passed a card to her as a signal that he wanted something.

“Fine.” He cranked the engine, sending the vehicle roaring to life.

Emily glanced down at the card in her hands. JAKE DONNELLEY, CAMERAMAN, NEWS FLASH FIVE. His contact information was in clear, bold letters at the bottom.

She flipped the card over.

Have information on the case. Meet me at Paradise Found. 10 P.M.

“Ah, Gyth?”

“What?” He braked at a traffic light and glanced her way.

“I don’t think that guy wants to ask me questions.” Holding up the card, she showed him the note.

His brows snapped together. “What in the hell?”

A horn blared behind them. Colin swore and stomped on the gas.

No, Jake doesn’t want to ask her questions. But it sure looks like he might have a few things to tell her.

Colin turned into the parking lot of an old convenience store, braked, and spun to confront her. “Let me see that card.”

This time, she handed it over.

He whistled soundlessly. “Sonofabitch.” His gaze rose to capture hers. “Why’d he give this to you?” Suspicion laced his words.

She glanced away, shrugged.

“Emily…”

She jerked. He’d never called her Emily before. Usually, he just called her Doc in that slightly mocking drawl of his. Hearing her name on his lips now seemed strangely intimate.

“Why’d the guy give you the card instead of me?”

Her lips parted—

“Shit.” His fist rapped against the steering wheel. “The guy’s Other, isn’t he?”

“Yes.” There didn’t seem to be much point in denying it.

“So what is he? Shifter? Warlock? Psychic?”

“He’s a demon.” Most people didn’t really understand demons. They thought demons were servants of the devil—evil, winged creatures with tails and talons. But the truth was that demons were a whole other race of humans, possibly descended from the original Fallen. On the outside, demons looked just like humans, except for one small detail: the eyes. All demons had completely black eyes. Cornea, lens, retina—everything was black.

But although the demons looked like humans, they were incredibly different. Most demons had psychic powers. Some were amazingly strong, while others were barely gifted. But even those with the light touch of the gift were able to cloak their eye color so humans would not see them for what they really were.

Emily’s extrasensory power let her see past the glamour, let her see past the magic to the true nature of the creatures. She usually kept her mental shields up around them, though, because she’d once made the mistake of going up against a level-nine demon. The guy had nearly blasted her into a coma.

Before she’d passed out and slammed face-first into the floor, she’d managed to fight back and burn out the guy’s magic.

Turnabout could be a real bitch…as the demon had learned.

“A demon,” Colin repeated softly. “Like that guy you mentioned, Niol?”

No, she didn’t think Jake was like Niol at all. She hadn’t sensed any evil in Jake.

Like people, some demons were good and some were evil. The demons who were good, well, they tended to keep to themselves.

But the ones who were evil—those were the bad-asses people knew from history, the ones who’d first made folks think they were servants of the devil.

A demon who had incredible power and no conscience, well, he was truly a being to fear.

“I don’t think he’s like Niol,” she told him softly.

Colin tucked the card into his pocket. His eyes remained locked on hers. “And how do you know that?”

Time to lay her cards on the table. “Because I’d feel it if he were.” Sure, she hadn’t gone shieldless with the guy to get a full mind probe, but she also hadn’t sensed any of the dark, seething black power in the air that usually signaled a dangerous demon.

He seemed to stiffen before her. “Feel it? How?”

“I’m an empath, Colin. My gift is that I sense things. I sense the Other. I can sense their feelings, their thoughts.”

Yeah, he’d definitely tensed up on her. “You’re telling me that you can read my thoughts?”

The temperature seemed to drop about ten degrees. “I’m telling you that sometimes I can tell the thoughts of supernaturals.” She’d known he wouldn’t be thrilled by this news; that was why she hadn’t told him the full truth the other night. But now that they were working together, now that her talent was coming into play, well, she figured he had the right to know.

Colin grabbed her arms, jerked her forward against his chest. “So this whole time, you’ve been playing with me.”

The sharp edge of his canines gleamed behind his lips. “No, Colin, it’s not like that—”

“You’ve been looking into my head and seeing how much I want you?”

“Colin, no, I—” Seeing how much I want you. Had he really just said that?

His cheeks flushed. “While I tried to play the dumb-ass gentleman.”

Since when?

“Well, screw that.” His lips were right over hers, his fingers tight on her arms. “If you’ve been in my head, then you know what I want to do to you.”

Uh, no, she didn’t. Her shields had been firmly in place with him all day. Her heart was pounding so fast now, the dull drumming filled her ears. She licked her lips, tried once more to tell him the truth. “It’s not like that—”

Too late. His mouth claimed hers, swallowing her words and igniting the hungry desire she’d been trying so hard to fight.

Chapter 4

Damn, but the doc tasted good. Colin thrust his tongue past her soft lips, loving the feel of her mouth against his.

His cock was hard for her, arousal pumping heavily through his body. Her scent surrounded him, and the warm weight of her body pushed against him.

His fingers tangled in her hair, tangled in that bun that had been driving him crazy, and he pulled the silken strands free. And he kept kissing her, kept tasting her, thrusting his tongue deep.

The beast within him began to roar as his hunger built. Higher, higher…

Colin shifted, trying to get closer to her. His knee rammed into the gearshift, but he truly didn’t give a fuck. Her breasts pressed against his chest, the nipples tight. She wanted him.

Good, because he was going crazy wanting her.

And she knew it. She’d been in his head, stealing his thoughts, seeing how badly he wanted her.

Christ, what was it about her? Every time he was near her, his body went into overdrive, and he needed—he needed—

Her.

The lust he felt mixed with the anger simmering in his veins. His lips grew rougher on hers. A faint moan trembled in her throat, but she didn’t fight him. Her small hands lifted, wrapped around his shoulders.

Elation surged through him. His right hand lowered, slid down her body, and pressed against the curve of her breast. His fingers stroked her, cupped the warm weight of her flesh.

Emily shuddered against him, and the rich scent of her arousal filled the air.

Colin realized he was seconds away from taking her, there, in the car, with an abandoned store behind them and a road full of cars in front of them.

What in the hell was wrong with him?

Slowly, he lifted his head. Emily’s breath was panting out, her bow lips reddened and wet from his mouth. He licked his lips, and he still tasted her.

Shit. He was in trouble. Serious trouble.

Her hair had fallen around her shoulders. Dark as night. Straight and silky. Her glasses were tilted slightly on her nose, and she looked so sexy it took all of his control not to kiss her again.

Down, boy. Now wasn’t the time. Later he’d get the doc alone, and he’d get his fill of her.

His kind were notoriously sexual. He’d never found a partner to match his needs, but the doc, well, maybe she’d prove to be the exception. Course, he’d have to break her in easy, get her used to him, then he could let his full hunger reign.

“So what am I thinking now, Doc?” That I can’t wait to get you naked. To have you beneath me, screaming my name as you climax.

Emily blinked, took a deep breath, and seemed to realize that she was still clutching his shoulders. She dropped her hands, then jerked back against her seat. “Th-that shouldn’t have—”

“It happened.” He stared at her. Watched as she tried to finger-brush her hair. “And it’s gonna happen again.” He’d gotten his second taste of her, and he was even hungrier now. No way was he going to walk away from her.

But she was shaking her head. “We’re going to work together, we can’t—”

“Yeah, we can.” His fingers lifted, brushed back a lock of her hair. He didn’t care about the dumb-ass rule of mixing business and pleasure. So they were working together on the case. Big damn deal. Just made it easier for him to see her.

Emily stiffened.

“So tell me, Doc, what am I thinking now?” His voice was a whisper and his stare dropped to her shirtfront. Her nipples were pushing against the fabric. He wanted them in his mouth.

“I-I don’t know.” Her hands were tight fists in her lap. “I tried to tell you earlier, I don’t usually jump in someone’s head without permission.”

Ah, so the lady had a no-peeking policy, huh? Some of the tension within him began to ease, and with an effort, he managed to lift his gaze back to her face. “You’re telling me you’ve never used your gift on me?” That would make things so much easier.

Emily looked away.

Ah, shit. “Doc?”

“Once, okay?” Her head snapped toward him and her green eyes glittered. “When you came to my house that night. But it wasn’t deliberate. You were projecting, blasting me with your memories. I jerked up my shields as soon as I could.”

Blasting me with your memories. “What memories?” His back teeth clenched as he gritted, “Just what did you see?”

For a moment, she was silent. Then, “You. You were shot, bleeding.”

His right shoulder ached at the memory of the pain. “What else?” Cause he knew there was something else. The doc still wasn’t looking him in the eyes.

“A fire.”

He tensed. “What about the fire?”

“Look, I just saw a house on fire, okay? You were there, looking up at this big, white house that was being eaten by flames.”

The flames had burned so brightly that night. Orange flames. Hotter than hell. And so hungry. They’d destroyed the house and everything inside.

“You don’t have to worry,” Emily muttered, pushing back her glasses. “I’m not going to deliberately look into your head.”

Well, that was reassuring. But…“Why not, Doc? Did you try that before on someone and find out more than you bargained for?”

Had she probed a lover’s mind only to discover the man wasn’t as she’d thought?

“You could say that.” Her lips turned down. “The guy nearly put me in a coma.”

What?

“I was eighteen, hanging in the wrong place with the wrong guy. I thought I knew him, that I could trust him. So I lowered my guard, and I found out that I’d been dead wrong about him from the beginning.” She exhaled. “After that, I decided it’d be a hell of a lot safer for me to make absolutely certain that my shields were in place. I probe the thoughts of my patients—and only my patients.”

When he opened his mouth to question her, she said, “They give me their permission. I never touch thoughts without permission.”

Her mouth tightened and she said, “Unless somebody’s projecting so loudly I can’t shut them out.”

Like he’d been doing. He huffed out a hard breath. Good thing there weren’t any other folks like the doc running around Atlanta.