Free Embrace of the Damned by Anya Bast

away from his eyes.
     
    He nestled his nose in the curve of her neck and thrust his fingers in and out of her, drawing it out, wringing asmuch pleasure from her as he could possibly force from her body. She shuddered with waves of pleasure, the muscles of her sex pulsing and contracting.
     
    When her climax had finally passed, Broder reached down and unbuttoned his jeans, pushing her thighs apart. He meant to take her right here, right now. She barely knew this man. Oh, she wanted him … but this was not right. Her desire for him had blinded her in the beginning, but now that the reality was here she knew she couldn’t do this.
     
    Panic shot through her. She didn’t know this man. They had no condom.
     
    This could not happen.
     
    “You said you wouldn’t hurt me,” she whispered, now genuinely afraid. “You said you wouldn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do.”
     
    He went still. After a moment he rolled away from her, sitting on the side of the bed with his head cradled in his hands.
     
    She sat up slowly, feeling lethargic, drained from the powerful climax he’d given her.
     
    Now that the heat of the moment had passed, she felt exposed. This wasn’t her gig, having intimate relations with men she didn’t know. It just wasn’t her.
     
    “Look, I’m sorry. Normally I’m not a tease. I didn’t mean to be one today. It just happened.” She pushed a hand through her hair and pulled the sheet up to cover herself. “You touched me and lust took over. I couldn’t say no once you started touching me. I
should’ve
… I just couldn’t. Please forgive me.”
     
    Catching the edge of the quilt, she rolled herself up into it. Broder didn’t move, didn’t say a word. After a moment, he simply stood up and left the room.
     
    She stared at the closed door for a long time, trying to gain a handle on the moment. It seemed like she’d been doing that a lot lately.
     
    She’d teased him and she’d teased him
bad
, by the looks of it. She wished she could say it was all his fault and she hadn’t had a choice in the matter. Of course that wasn’t true. He’d been the one to get aggressive, but she’d given him permission to touch her and had known full well what he’dwanted from her. The lust had been mutual, but she just hadn’t been able to consummate it.
     
    Pushing up from the bed and taking the quilt with her, she entered the bathroom. It was a huge room, much bigger than she’d presumed. There was an enormous shower and a huge corner tub, plus a sink with two basins. Plush brown and gold rugs covered the floor and a small dresser with towels graced one corner. She could live in here.
     
    Apparently if one was stabbed in the soul with a demon sliver and damned to live for an eternity, at least one did it in style.
     
    After securely locking the door, she dropped the quilt, and started the shower. She loved the water. It calmed her in the most stressful of circumstances. Today, she took her time, washing as much of the tension down the drain as she could. Broder had made it clear that she shouldn’t leave the house, so she guessed she needed to make herself at home.
     
    The shower was divine, a large walk-in affair with multiple spigots. She washed her body thoroughly, then did it a second time. The filth from her encounter with the demon from the parking garage still clung to her. She shook her head under the water, trying to absorb that truth.
     
    She’d been attacked by a demon. Twice.
     
    Skin polished to a soft pink, and feeling refreshed, she toweled off and wrapped herself in the huge bathrobe that hung on the back of the door. Then she exited the bathroom, still drying her hair.
     
    Her clothes were still lying scattered where Broder had thrown them and there was no sign that the man had ever returned. Sighing, she began cleaning up.
     
    Broder’s bike shot out of the mouth of the garage and sped down the long driveway leading to the main street. The trees that lined