Page 1 of Run Like the Devil

Chapter One

It doesn’t matter how deep you bury the past—it’ll always climb back out.

And with some fancy-ass wings, no less.

My brain struggled to make sense of the sight before me. Part of me wanted to sag in relief at the sight of Gorrin there, alive and well—or as alive as anyone in the Chasm was.

The other part wanted to drive that dagger into him another time because of all the lies he must have told me. Those flashy wings sure as fuck said he’d kept things from me.

And yet another part wanted to wrap my arms around him to convince myself that he was real. Or let him stab me in a way we both would enjoy…

Before I had a chance to pick any of those, however, Gorrin caught my arm and the world disappeared around me, plunging me into darkness so the only thing I could see was Gorrin, as if I couldn’t bear to lose sight of him for even a moment.

When everything came back into view around me, I tried to glance around, to figure out where I was. As soon as I did, warmth pressed against my lips.

No, not pressed. That implied a sweet kiss, something lovers did for the first time when testing out chemistry and whether or not the man would get slapped for his attempt. That was nothing like this. Instead, the kiss was ravenous, angry and desperate. He delved past my lips with his tongue, devouring me, while his hands grasped my arms so tightly I’d no doubt sport bruises by the end.

And the idiot I was returned his kiss with every bit of that same need. I took my conflicted feelings out on him, letting him bear all the pain I’d suffered while mourning him.

When he held me tightly enough that I couldn’t touch him back, I used my new strength and powers to knock his arms away from me, to free myself.

His wide golden eyes said he hadn’t thought me capable of that, but I didn’t care about impressing him. I pounced at him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders, clinging to him, my legs tight around his waist as I reclaimed his lips.

I swallowed down a deep, masculine groan from him, letting it soothe and excite me all at once.

I tilted my head to deepen the kiss, and grasped his face with my thumb at his jaw and my palm against his cheek. It was far from a gentle touch. Instead, it was controlling, tilting his head to let me deeper, to give me more.

Something hard hit my back, knocking the breath from my lungs, but I didn’t give a fuck. Who cared about petty things like breathing at a moment like this? I lived off Gorrin, could subsist solely on his touch and his heat. Fuck, I could breathe the air from his lungs and that would suit me fine.

He pulled his body back just enough to reach between us, and the loud rip told me what he felt about my clothes. Any other time it would have pissed me off—ruining my shit was not the way to my heart—but for now it was in my way, too.

My shirt was gone, and quickly my pants followed. Gorrin didn’t take even a moment to check out my underwear, didn’t pull back to marvel at how lovely I looked in my black lace, and that was fine with me. He paused when his fingers found the front of my bra, as if sense had suddenly returned to him and he feared my reaction at ruining that.

Bras were off the fucking table normally—no woman enjoyed the headache of finding ones that actually fit—but now was far from normal. To make that point clear, I took his hands and used my own strength to tear the front of the bra, the rip loud even over our combined panting.

He let out a low sound so close to a growl that I shivered, then broke the kiss to pull my panties down my legs.

Of course, that left me naked and him totally dressed, which was one-hundred-percent not okay. He wore the same clothes as always, that stupid blue jacket so familiar that my eyes stung at seeing it again.

But I pushed that ugly feeling away and shoved at the fabric.

Gorrin rose up, which made me realize we were on the floor, though I didn’t recognize where.

The room was dark, but not like the Chasm. A breath in told me we were on Earth, that familiar freshness I’d recognize, but beyond that?

I didn’t know and I didn’t care.

We could have been on a football field at halftime and I’d still be taking Gorrin’s pants off. What was an audience compared with what I wanted right now?

Gorrin tossed his jacket aside, the action surprising me. He was generally so careful, but it seemed he didn’t give a fuck about things like wrinkling his jacket right now. Buttons popped off his shirt as he yanked it, the discarded items flying around before the shirt joined the jacket as he straddled me. He toed his boots off, then unfastened his pants as he raked his gaze over me.

And I’d never seen a look like that on his face before. I’d seen him angry, annoyed, even mildly amused, but never had this sort of heat rested there. Had he hidden it all this time? Locked it away somewhere deep inside him so I couldn’t even glimpse it?

If so, why?

Would things have been different if he hadn’t? If he’d shown this to me? Would we have been different? Would I not have—

Before that thought could fully form, he grasped my thighs in his large hot hands. “I don’t want you thinking, little fish, not right now.” He tugged, the action scraping my back against the hard floor, tiny stings implying it left small wounds, but the desire in his eyes drugged me enough that I didn’t care.