Chapter Four

Binx crept into the kitchen while I was steeping the tea.

“Hey, baby,” I said gently. “Are you all right?”

He jumped up on a chair and stared balefully at the steaming pot of tea. I stroked his head, and he started to purr.

“Oh, yeah. You're fine. Good boy.” I went to the pantry and got out a box of shortbread cookies.

Binx meowed.

“No, you can't have a cookie.” I arranged a few on a plate, then set them on the table. “Here.” I grabbed a cat treat out of Binx's jar and set it on the table before him.

He turned his head and licked up the treat.

Meanwhile, I went back to gathering the tea supplies. I'd gone with peppermint because the smell calmed me. I set out the sugar and some spoons. By the time I was done, I heard the sound of Dominic coming down the stairs.

Binx straightened, his head swinging toward the doorway.

“Easy now, Binx,” I said. “We have a guest. He's clean now.”

He started growling before Dominic appeared.

Dominic must have heard him because he stopped in the doorway.

Both Binx and I gaped at him.

Had I said something about his beautiful chest? It was better than I thought. Yes, better than a god sculpture. It was the most perfect chest I'd ever seen. Not a single hair on it, just smooth, hard flesh crowned by dusky pink nipples. An errant water drop rolled down from his nipple to a tight abdomen and got lost in his belly button. Over those rippling muscles was a tattoo of a double-headed spear, the two lengths bordering his belly button. The detail of the tattoo was magnificent, the artist obviously talented, and the placement was a tease.

The spear was maybe five or six inches long and half of it was the head with those double points. The shaft was shortened and ended at another point—a deadly tip that pointed down. That's right. The tattoo pointed the way to another shaft like a goody trail. Or a warning. Don't venture below unless you're ready to have your world rocked.

All Dominic had on was a towel. Thank God it was fluffy enough to hide the bulge of that other spear. But it only covered him to his mid-thigh, leaving a good portion of corded legs revealed. And then there were his arms. Oh, how I love muscular arms. One look at Dominic's biceps, and I was fantasizing about how they'd look set to either side of my head as he held himself above me.

As I got lost in sexy thoughts, Dominic soothed Binx. I caught the end of it.

“—you're okay, little one. I'm not a threat to you.”

Binx jumped off the chair and backed up.

Dominic crouched, the towel bunching, and held out a hand. “I know. I must smell scary. But I won't hurt you.”

“It's okay, Binx.” I finally got with the program and bent to stroke the cat. “He's okay.” I went over and laid a hand on Dominic's shoulder. His bare shoulder.

Dominic's muscles twitched under my hand, along with his expression. I watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, then his head swung as he stared up at me.

I couldn't breathe. My legs nearly gave way. I had an instant urge to drop to my knees and kiss him. Pull off that towel. Defy that weapon. Find out for myself how deeply the one below would pierce me.

As he held my stare, Dominic slid a hand around my calf. It felt natural, as if we stood that way all the time. But then he slid his hand up, under my long skirt and over the curve of my muscle to rest on the back of my knee.

My heart sped up.

“Amélie,” Dominic whispered. “You feel it too, don't you?”

“Feel what?” I whispered back.

“You know what.” He turned on his knees, moving in front of me. His free hand went to my left ankle and slid up to the level of his other hand. His eyes gleamed like a cat's. “Tell me to stop.” His hands went higher.

I stared at him. How long had it been? It seemed like forever. And this man was gorgeous. I could see it all now. No blood or even clothes to hide him. Just that towel. How I hated that towel. It would be so easy to let Dominic lift my skirt. I could already picture him pulling down my panties and burying his face between my thighs.

“Amélie,” Dominic said again, making my name into a prayer.

Binx meowed.

Dominic and I jerked apart, then stared at each other. I was shocked to see that he was shocked too. His lips were parted, his eyes wide, and his hands were still up, fingers splayed as if they still held me.

Slowly, he looked over his shoulder at the cat. “Binx,” he called, then crouched lower, practically lying on the tile floor.

I nearly groaned to see the towel ride up and give me a glimpse of the bottom of his, well, bottom.

But then Binx was warily walking up to Dominic. He sniffed the air around the hand Dominic held out. Got closer. Dominic didn't move. I held my breath. This cat was my world and if he didn't get along with Dominic . . . wait. What? So what if he didn't get along with Dominic? He wasn't moving in. I didn't even know who or what he was. But inside my chest, a feeling was growing—a sense that this man had been meant to run into my arms. Into my life. This was destiny. Fate.

The word shivered through me.

And then Binx head-butted Dominic's hand.

“Oh, thank you, buddy,” Dominic said, keeping his hand still. He waited a bit for Binx to knock into him again and then carefully stroked the cat's head.

Binx leaned into it.

Dominic pet him.

Binx purred.

“Nicely done,” I said and crouched beside them. “Yeah, Binxy? He's okay, right?”

“You're a sweet boy,” Dominic said as he slowly sat up. He stroked a hand down Binx's back. “Two angels in one house.”

Binx rubbed up against Dominic's knee, then set his forepaws on it. He lifted his head to look at Dominic. Man stared at cat and something passed between them. And that cinched it. Dominic wasn't a normal man.

As if his rapid healing hadn't been enough to convince me.

“All right. You said you'd tell me everything,” I reminded Dominic.

Dominic slid his stare my way as he continued to pet Binx. “I'm a shapeshifter. That's why Binx was scared of me. I can transform into a hound.”

I blinked. “That was not what I was expecting.”

He chuckled, but it was a low, almost serious sound. “How much do you truly want to know, Amélie? If I tell you, your life might change. You'll see things differently.”

I stared at him. My legs still tingled from his touch. Things were tightening in the sexy region. I wanted him. Badly. And before I could have him, I had to know who he was. I had to know everything.

“Tell me,” I said.

Dominic briefly closed his eyes. It was as if he were savoring the moment or maybe preparing himself. He smiled when he opened them. “I'm part of a Cerberus team. Do you know what that is?”

“Cerberus? As in the three-headed dog that guards the Greek Underworld?”

“Yes. But we're not just dogs and there's more than one of us.”

“Three dogs,” I whispered. “Three shapeshifters. One for each head.”

His grin returned and this time it was brilliant. “Gods, you're smart. Beautiful, magical, and smart. You're the perfect woman.”

“Focus,” I said. “So, you're in a team of three shapeshifters that's called a Cerberus?”

“Yes. Hades made us.” He tapped his belly right over the tattoo.

I looked at it again. “Hades?” Something tingled in my memories. “Is that his symbol?”

“Yup. It's a bident. It's also his mark. He marked each of us when he made us. The mark connects us to him and grants us a little of his magic.”

“That's the mark of a god?”

“It is.”

“All right.” I absently stroked Binx when he lost interest in Dominic and wandered over to me. “But if you're a Cerberus team, why are you here? Shouldn't you be guarding the Underworld?”

Dominic grinned and shook his head. “You're taking this really well. I expected to have to shift for you.”

“I saw you heal bullet wounds in seconds,” I said. “I believe you. But maybe you can shift for me later. When Binx isn't around.”

His grin turned wicked. “I'd be happy to.”

“You didn't answer my question, Dominic.”

“Which one?” Dominic was staring at me again, and it made me feel like the most beautiful woman on the planet.

How was he doing that?

I cleared my throat and asked, “Why aren't you in the Underworld?”

“Ah. Right.” He bit his lip, then said, “There was only one team initially. Then a few souls escaped. After a while, Hades realized that he needed teams on Earth too.”

“How many teams are there?”

“Hundreds.” Dominic shrugged. “I think. We've got them in all the major cities and scattered through less populated regions too. Each team has a territory to guard. We cover the entire planet.”

“So, you watch for escaped souls?”

“That and lost souls. The ones who haven't moved on. We deal with hauntings, poltergeists, and everything related. Recently, we've been dealing with an escaped soul who has found a way to jump bodies.”

“What do you mean? He possessed someone?”

“Yes. That's how escaped souls stay on Earth. They know more than the incorporeal spirits who linger. They want more. They want to live again. So, they possess people.” Dominic crossed his legs and casually shifted the towel to cover himself. “But once a soul possesses a body, it can't leave. We have to remove it.”

“You remove it?”

“Yes. Our hound bodies can become incorporeal, and when we're in that form, we can grab souls. We basically jump through a body, bite the invading soul, and tear it out of its host. Then we take it back to the Underworld.”

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

“Yeah, it's a pretty cool gig.” He winked at me. “But this dickhead of a soul has learned how to leave a body on his own. He jumps before we can catch him. He's already evaded two other Cerberus teams.”

“What?”

Dominic nodded. “He's moved from Oregon up here. He was just in Seattle, but he's here in Spokane now. And it gets worse.”

“Worse how?”

“He's gathering minions. He tells people that he's an angel and we're demons.”

“What? Why?”

“To protect himself.” Dominic snorted. “Those poor people think they're doing holy work. God's work. Fighting demons and shit. They've attacked the other teams, and those teams had to defend themselves.”

“You mean, kill them. Those teams had to kill the people this soul tricked into fighting for him.”

“Actually, we aren't allowed to kill humans.”

“Why not?”

“Something about fate.” He shrugged again.

Fate. Even hearing him say the word affected me.

“Amélie?”

I looked up. “Huh?”

“I asked if you were all right. You look a little lost. Is this too much?”

“No, I'm just processing. Go on.”

“So, we can't kill humans, but if they accidentally die or someone else kills them, it's all right,” he said. “Generally, we try to get Michael's followers arrested or otherwise locked up.”

“Like in the loony bin?”

He snorted a laugh. “Yes, like in the loony bin.”

“The soul's name is Michael?”

“That's what he calls himself.” Dominic shrugged again. “You know, the whole angel thing. And he calls his minions the Host.”

“The Heavenly Host.” I shook my head. “I get it.” Then I blinked. “That's who moved in next door to me? That body-jumping soul and his insane acolytes?”

“Yup.”

“And you were there trying to get to him?”

Dominic winced.

“What?”

“Okay, don't think poorly of me.”

“What did you do, Dominic?”

“There you go, sounding like my packmates again.”

“Dominic!”

“I was seduced, okay? This woman came onto me, and I went home with her. Except her home was full of the Host. They were waiting for me with automatic weapons.”

“What?” I whispered.

“Yeah. They know how fast we heal. So they try to injure us enough to keep us down long enough to behead us. We're immortal, but there's no healing the loss of a head. I mean, unless you're a hydra.”

I blinked. “A hydra? Those are real too?”

“Oh, yeah. All the Greek monsters are real.”

“What about the other monsters?”

“You mean like vampires and werewolves?”

“Yes.”

“I suppose we're the Greek version of werewolves and there are some blood-drinking races, but if you mean exact versions of those stories, then no. Or at least, not that I know of.”

“At least there's that,” I muttered.

Binx wandered off and as he did, Dominic took my hand. “I was a stranger. I stumbled onto your property covered in blood, and you helped me anyway.”

“I couldn't let you die.”

“Amélie,” he whispered and leaned forward.

“I'll make a deal with you, Dominic.”

He paused. “What?”

“I won't judge you on getting seduced if you don't judge me for it.”

Dominic went still. Then he said, “Deal.”

The word was like the starting call of a race. It launched us both forward. I slammed into that hard chest and wound up on his lap. Dominic settled me there, his hands roaming my thighs, the palms hot. Meanwhile, our lips met, and there was a feeling as if I'd been waiting forever for that touch. I groaned into Dominic's mouth.

Dominic didn't groan. He growled. He grunted. He went savage. His hot tongue lashed at mine as his hands yanked at my skirt, trying to gather all the material and get it the fuck out of his way. I slid my hands down his solid arms and off them to grab my skirt and pull it over my head.

Dominic made a wounded but pleased sound and yanked at the towel. I went still as it parted and fell to either side of him. It was just as I imagined—his mark pointed right at his cock. And his shaft was thick, long, and hard, pointing at me. I licked my lips.

“Don't do it, angel,” Dominic said in a warning tone. “Your mouth around me would send me over in a second. And I need to make love to you.”

I shivered. Make love? We didn't know each other. We wouldn't be doing that. And what kind of man says that shit the first time he's with a woman?

But all those thoughts disintegrated under Dominic's level stare. He meant those words. And he hadn't said them before. I knew it in my bones.

Holding Dominic's stare, I stood up. His hands went with me, gripping my hips, and his stare remained on my face, reverent. I put his hands on the sides of my panties and pushed. Licking his lips, he took the hint and slid them down my legs. As he did that, I pulled off my blouse and then my bra. I needed to be naked with this man. Now.

“Great Gods,” Dominic whispered as he stared up at me. “You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.” And then, holding my stare, he leaned forward and kissed me. There.

With a groan, my hands went to Dominic's head, and I angled one leg out. He grabbed that leg and hooked it over his shoulder.

“Oh, fuck,” I cried.

Hot flicking-tongue bliss. Long laps that sent shivers through me. Strong sucking. And then he slid his tongue into me. I angled my hips and rolled against his face. Dominic growled and worried at my flesh, shaking his head as he tongued me.

“Fuck!” I screamed and burst into stars. Thousands of stars.

My knees gave out, but Dominic caught me. He caught me as he stood.

“Where's your bedroom?” he asked.

“Just take me here.”

“The fuck I will,” Dominic growled. “It's our first time together. We're doing this right, angel.”

“Upstairs. Go!”

Dominic carried me upstairs, and I pointed the way to my bedroom. He barely glanced around the room when we entered. Just found the bed and headed for it. It was a simple queen-sized bed with an antique metal frame. The linens were white cotton, covered in an old quilt. Dominic laid me down on the quilt and kissed me, bringing his body over mine.

When he eased back, I looked to my left and saw the vision I'd fantasized about—that thick arm propping him up. It was glorious.

“Do you have condoms?” Dominic asked.

“Oh. Uh.”

“I can't give you an STD, but I might be able to get you pregnant. I don't know for sure.”

“Oh.” I chewed at my lip. “I don't have any condoms.”

“Fuck,” he hissed.

“I don't care if you don't.”

He went still. “Are you sure?”

“Just pull out.”

Dominic nodded. “All right.”

And then he was kissing me again, his body moving against mine, working my legs further apart to get to my center. He reached between us and angled his shaft against me. Rubbed it through me. Got slick.

I jerked away from his mouth to say, “Now, Dom.”

“Amélie,” Dominic groaned as he slid into me.

“Dominic!” I yanked at his shoulders and lifted my hips to meet him. “More!”

“Oh, fuck, angel.” He pumped deeper. “Take it all.” He nuzzled into my neck. “I need you to take it all.”

“Mine!” I snarled, suddenly feeling something I'd never felt before—possessive. I didn't recognize myself as I clawed him closer.

“Yes, angel,” Dominic said. “Fuck, yes.”

He bent to suck at my breasts, but I needed more. It had been so long. And the last man I'd been with hadn't been half as incredible as Dominic.

“Dominic,” I groaned.

“I got you, angel.” He rose onto his forearms and started thrusting faster. “Tell me what you need.”

“I need . . .”

“Yes?”

“I need . . .”

“Tell me.”

“I need to fuck you!” I shoved at his chest and rolled him onto his back.

Dominic stared up at me with that same look of awe I'd seen earlier. I slammed down on his cock and then rose onto my knees. Down again. I braced my hands on his hard chest and closed my eyes, losing myself to the feeling of fullness. Completeness. Destiny.

“You're so deep,” I panted. “So thick.”

“Oh, fuck,” Dominic moaned, his hands going to my breasts. “Look at you. You fucking goddess. My angel. Ride me, baby. Take that cock. It's yours. You fucking own me.”

His words sent thrills through me and stirred that possessive beast inside me. I dug my nails into his pectorals and slammed down on him again and again.

“Angel,” Dominic said. “Tell me you're mine too.”

I opened my eyes and met Dominic's stare. I saw worry there. This gorgeous man, this supernatural being, was anxious that I might reject him. Well, didn't that just make a girl feel special?

I grabbed his hands and squeezed them so that he squeezed my breasts harder. “I'm yours. For however long this lasts, I'm all yours, Dom.”

“I'm holding you to that, angel,” Dominic growled and rolled us.

I yipped as he hooked his arms under my knees and pushed me back into a pose meant for serious fucking. With an eager grin, I reached between my thighs and grabbed his hips to pull him deeper. Then I grabbed his ass and squeezed.

“Fuck!” Dominic roared and started slamming wildly into me.

Then words vanished, taken from both of us. We were nothing more than a couple of animals mating. Instinctively fucking. And yet, when the time came, he still remembered to pull out.

With a deep grunt, Dominic thrust forward, his wet, glorious cock bobbing over my belly to spurt a stream of cum on my chest. I shivered and groaned, nearly there. But he wasn't done.

As soon as he finished coming, his hips jerking forward with each release, Dominic shoved my legs back further and dove for my sex. It took three seconds of his tongue lashing at me to send me over, but he didn't stop licking and sucking until I begged him to.

Only then, when the screams were done, and I was shivering through the after-bliss, did Dominic lay down beside me and pull me in against his chest.

He tucked in around me, kissed my cheek, and whispered in my ear, “This is going to last forever, angel. You're the one.”

I fell asleep wondering where I'd heard that before.