Page 60 of Guardian Demon
He was radiating tension and she didn’t understand why. The thick scent of lust in the club clouded her thoughts and made it impossible to think about anything other than that kiss.
The minute they were outside, the haze she’d been trapped in vanished on the stale breeze, and she could think clearly again.
That didn’t mean she felt differently about what she’d just done. That didn’t mean she regretted it.
“Slowdown,” Sunshine hissed as her companion strode across the courtyard so rapidly, he’d already made it halfway across before she’d finished collecting herself. She half jogged to catch up while trying to make sure her cloak remained covering her. “I can’t run and keep myself hidden.”
Raum stopped so abruptly she crashed into his back before righting herself. He spun around. Even beneath his hood, she could see those golden eyes boring into her, scowl drawing a line between his brows.
“We need to get out of here now.” Though he rarely smiled, he also never lost his temper, but right now, she could tell he was furious.
“What was that comment about Belial?” Sunshine asked. “How—”
“She knows.”
“Knows what?”
“She knows who I am or she wouldn’t have said that. I don’t think she knows who you are, or we wouldn’t have been able to walk out of there. But I don’t know what her endgame is, and it’s a big fucking problem if she decides to tell anyone I was here. So we need to go.”
Sunshine nodded mutely. Raum was here because of her. This whole situation was because of her. If anything happened to him, it would be her fault.
“Let’s go then,” she said. “I’ll keep up.”
He kept staring at her, and it was impossible not to think about the kiss. His claws gripping her neck, his lips pressed so firmly into hers, prying them open for his tongue to invade… How she wished she could have seen his face properly.
She was so conflicted, it made her head spin.
She had always thought she didn’t understand the hypocrisy of Grigori, falling from heaven yet still considering themselves heavenly protectors, but she’d just been kissed—for the second time—and all she could think about was doing it again. Taking more. Going further.
At least Grigori only mated with humans. Sunshine was lusting for ademon. And not just any demon. An outlaw who’d escaped Hell.
Raum’s gaze flicked to her lips, and she knew he was thinking about the kiss too. The awareness sent a bolt of desire straight down her spine, and this time she couldn’t blame it on Naiamah’s lair.
He tore his gaze away and shook his head as if to clear it. Without another word, he turned and started forward again down the narrow lane. She wanted him to take her hand to keep them from being separated again, but he didn’t.
Somehow, they made it through the winding alleys to the hellgate pavilion, though she didn’t know how he’d found their way and didn’t want to break the heavy silence to ask him. She could feel the anger rolling off him in waves.
With shocking ferocity, he shoved through the crowds of demons, tossing people left and right until he found an empty hellgate. Unfortunately, Sunshine couldn’t use the same tactics, since she needed to keep her arms covered, and without holding Raum’s hand, there was nothing to keep them from being separated.
Within seconds, she was swallowed in the crowd, pushing and shoving. Panic seized her. Thanks to the terms of their bargain, he couldn’t leave her behind on purpose. But what if he thought she was with him and left her by accident?
She wanted to shout for him, but she didn’t dare call out the name of a notorious fugitive into this crowd. One hand holding her hood down, she used the other to force her way through the tight press of bodies, praying her sleeve didn’t get shoved up.
Someone’s horn jabbed her in the head, inches from her eye, and she cried out. She was surrounded by creatures who would bleed her dry if they knew what she was. She knew that very well. She’d survived it once already.Fight the fear, fight the fear.
“Sunshine!”
She heard Raum’s voice over the chaos, and her heart pumped with determination. Giving a particularly violent shove to the demon in front of her, she cleared space enough to move forward a few steps.
She caught sight of a familiar hooded figure and lunged toward him. Bodies parted. He reached for her. She caught his hand. He tugged her forward to the hellgate.
Someone grabbed her from behind, trying to toss her out of the way. Drawn forward by Raum’s grip on her hand, their fingers only closed around the fabric of her cloak. Just as Raum pulled forward, they pulled backward.
With a sharp tug, her cloak tore off.
She stumbled into Raum as a hush fell over the crowd, somehow louder than the shouting. She glanced at herself and saw her sparkling skin, realizing that every demon saw what she did.
And then Raum’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her against his body. He stepped back into the hellgate, and they disappeared.
