Stranger at the Hell Gate by Ash Krafton Read Free Book Online

smiled. "You can't."
    "How do you know?" Still holding her a mere breath away, Jagger tilted his head, brushing his lips against her cheek, inhaling her scent. "I burn things, I destroy them. I'm not—tender. I don't know if I can hold back."
    Sonya whispered close to his ear. "You don't have to."
    Jagger slid his grip down her arms to her sides, squeezing her waist. His response was low, guttural, and he bent down to bury his face in her neck. Hot breath poured against her shoulder a moment before she felt his mouth leave a trail of kisses along her throat.
    Sonya let her head drop back, opening up to his exploration. She indulged him for several long moments, enjoying the sensual press of his full mouth, allowing his touch to enflame her in a way she'd never known. She cradled his head, plunging her fingers into his hair, pulling him closer. "In fact…"
    She slid out of his embrace, enjoying the hungry look so naked upon his face. She toyed with her mouth, running her finger along her lower lip. His intense desire for her made her acutely aware of her own body, turning her legs to liquid. Backing away, a step at a time, she moved closer to the bed and extended her hand. "I'm really hoping you won't."
    His lips parted in a ravenous smile, he plunged toward her, tumbling her onto the bed. They landed in a breathless heap, arms and legs a sudden tangle. He paused a moment, reaching up to tenderly push her golden hair out of her eyes, wearing a lopsided smile. "What kind of angel are you?"
    Sonya's voice was little more than breath. "Yours."
    He leaned and kissed her, those full lips pressed against hers for a lingering, chaste moment. Breaking the kiss, Jagger inhaled, drawing her breath in. He kissed her again, this time with a silky slip of tongue when he tasted her.
    The intimacy of his kiss made her gasp, his heat pouring into her, pooling in her secret places. She dug her fingertips into his back.
    Jagger smiled.
    When he let the fire take over, she welcomed him, welcomed all of him. She knew there was more than one way to heal a man, and she was eager to counter his fire with a cool touch of her own.
    Their longing could be denied no longer. Together, angel-born and demon-born found their common ground and, together, they burned.

DEMONS
    "You think you could stay a while?" He stretched alongside her, watching the lazy turns of the ceiling fan and the slow sway of the curtains. They were faded but he could see they had been blue once, with tiny stitched flowers along the bottom. It made him wonder what kind of people had lived here and what had happened to them.
    He never cared before. Being with her made him curious, if not exactly caring.
    "Why?" Her voice muffled by the pillow, Sonya lay on her stomach, her back sloping in a creamy curve of bare flesh, disappearing under the sheets bunched around her waist.
    Jagger never lay on his stomach. He was too cautious. But looking at her laying that way made him respect her more for it. She was braver than she looked.
    It also meant she trusted him. Nobody ever trusted him like that before.
    "I dunno," he said at last. It was hard to put such strange feelings into words. "I just don't seem as pissed off when you're around."
    "Small wonder." Her hair flopped over one eye as she pushed up on her elbows to look at him. He wanted to seize her and kiss her all over again, just for looking like that. "I must be getting your rotten moods in exchange. I feel like—shooting something."
    "What!" Jagger rolled over and pinned her, seeking the soft skin between her ear and shoulder and nipping.
    "Heh. I'm just teasing—ow! You're squashing me!"
    He pushed up on his arms to look down at her. "It's called tough love, baby."
    "More love, less tough. You're ruffling my feathers."
    "I can handle it if you can." And he grinned, realizing he meant a lot of things when he uttered those few words.
    "Tell me." She rolled under him onto her back and placed her hand over the scar above his heart.