Demon Crossings by Eleri Stone Page B

no move to step away. She badly wanted to be held, tucked into someone’s arms like a child, and told everything was going to be okay. Instead, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath of clean air and tried to collect herself. She could handle this.
    Without warning, Aiden lifted her into his arms and started carrying her toward the house. “Hey—” She glared up at his set face but he was watching where he was going.
    “Shush. You’re white as snow and about as cold.”
    “Put me down.”
    He swung her to her feet when he reached for the door but slipped his arm around her waist to keep her close while he opened it. Her shirt shifted and his rough fingers brushed the skin above her waistband. She froze but when he bent to lift her again, she jerked back. “I can walk.”
    “Why not let me help you?” His frown eased into a wry smile and he touched her cheek. “Honey, you smell like puke and look like you’re going to pass out. You’re falling apart right now. This is not me making a move.” He nudged her chin up until she met his heated gaze. “If I do, you’ll know.”
    Her knees chose that moment to buckle. He grinned but didn’t try to pick her up again. His arm tightened around her to keep her from falling and then he led her inside the cool, quiet house. It felt safe and that should have made her relax but instead she started shaking and couldn’t seem to stop. She didn’t even trust herself to say anything. She hadn’t thought he was making a pass; she just didn’t like people touching her.
    Except for now, because when he pulled her over to the couch and sank into the soft leather, sliding her onto his lap and tucking her head beneath his chin, nothing had ever felt better. He murmured something against her hair and a shudder ripped through her body. She could feel the muscles in his arms flex instinctively to help ward off the next one, not as big this time. His hand stroked her bare arm, slow and steady, up and then down in sync with his even breath. He was warm, hot everywhere her body was pressed to his. He smelled like the soap from his shower that morning, clean and masculine. Even with everything that had happened, she was still attracted to him, still eating up his kindness. It was a trap for her, especially now when she knew he wasn’t exactly what he seemed.
    She pulled back and he let her go, reaching to grab a tissue to hand to her. She swiped at her face then stared at him for a second. There was a watchfulness to him, a sense of bound power and absolute control, but it wasn’t a hard look he was giving her. Not at all. If she didn’t know better, she’d say it was closer to sympathy. Wordlessly, she disentangled herself and crossed to the chair under the big window. She kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet under her.
    Hooking one arm over the back of the couch, Aiden stretched out his longs legs. Afternoon light slashed through a gap in the curtains and touched his hair, picking up glints of gold and copper. “We can talk now or you can take a shower and wait for everyone to get here.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “That bad, huh?”
    “They won’t care what you look like. We’ve all faced our share of fire demons and no one will fault your reaction. If you need time to regroup, you have it.”
    “ That’s your explanation?” She searched his face for some sign that he was joking, but he just stared back, deadly serious. Her eyebrows shot up. “Demons?”
    A bare shadow of a smile touched his lips. “That’s generally what we call them but you’ll hear other names too. Sons of Muspel. Fire demons. The old gods of death and chaos.”
    “Gods,” she repeated flatly.
    “No more than we are,” he said, choosing each word carefully. “But then, we’re not entirely human either.”
    Uh-huh. “And who exactly is we?”
    “Me, Fen, all the residents of Ragnarok and, I strongly suspect, you.”
    “I’m not…whatever the hell you think you are.”
    He studied her