Awaiting Fate by J. L. Sheppard

mortals.
    “Cain, please…just…calm down.” She paused, watching him attempt to control his temper and helpless with no idea what to do.
    He was failing and fast. His face was now fully flamed, a tone darker, as it was when he turned, and his eyes brightened to a deeper crimson.
    She panicked and did the only thing she could think of. Placing her hands on each side of his face, she forced him to meet her eyes. “Nothing happened, I’m fine,” she reminded him.
    His hands went to her hips, his fingers clutching her, digging into her skin. “Stop…I don’t want to hurt—”
    Shaking her head, she said, “You can’t hurt me, Cain, even if you wanted to. It’s not in you to hurt a woman.” She swallowed suddenly aware she was millimeters from his lips.
    He closed his eyes firmly then opened them. The next minute, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her pelvis toward his.
    His lengthening shaft throbbed against her stomach. She gasped, her heart palpitating wildly ready to break free of her chest.
    He wants me ,she thought, her mind swirling. It doesn’t mean anything ,she chanted in her head. A man could be attracted to a woman. It didn’t mean he wanted a relationship with her. It didn’t mean she was his.
    Oh crap, I’m in so much trouble. He’ll never fit me. Her last thought startled her. Was she considering bedding him? Would she have sex, her first time, with a demon she loved but could never keep?
    No, she couldn’t; it would break her.
    He leaned in, burying his face in the crook of her neck, then he ran his tongue along the sensitive flesh below her earlobe.
    Her eyes closed, her breathing hitched as a soft moan escaped her lips. Heat engulfed every inch of her stirring desire. She couldn’t fight it. Her fingers clutching his face, her body molded to his, melting against him.
    He then feathered a light kiss under her ear, and held her for several moments until her breaths slowed.
    “Meae deliciae, meus sodalis,” he whispered against that same spot, his breath heating the skin on her neck.
    Ignorant of the meaning, and too enthralled in the moment to ask or to push him away, she didn’t, instead she fought a tremor and failed.
    He pulled away slightly, only enough to meet her eyes. “Darling, we should go.”
    Darling? She nodded.
    Still, he didn’t release her. He held her for several more moments staring into her eyes as if no other woman existed.
    Her heart clenching in her chest, her mind whispered, I love you . She so desperately wanted to force the words out, tell him the truth.
    Just when she parted her lips to speak, he released her hips, wrapping one arm around her shoulders, and led her out of the bar into the night.

Chapter 10
    The scent of the ocean and the familiar scent of the peach candles she burned inside her home told her they’d arrived. Quickly and regretfully, she pulled away from Cain’s embrace and hurried inside. Rushing into her room, she closed the door behind her then slumped against it in relief, catching her breath, futilely attempting to dispel the emotions running through her.
    After several moments she turned, intent on taking a cold shower and nearly collided with the man she hoped to escape.
    “Oh!” She gasped, clutching her chest, her scare forgotten the moment her gaze climbed to his.
    She wasn’t an empath, but the forlorn drawn expression marring his face made his emotions clear. Her stomach knotted as the need to comfort him gnawed her raw.
    “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just…I’m sorry for—”
    “Stop apologizing to me. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
    His face hardening, he said, “I held you in an alley and demanded answers from you. I almost lost it again at the bar then I licked…”
    She felt herself flush.
    His face aghast, he asked, “You’re ashamed?”
    “No,” she said instantly wondering why in the world he’d think that. “I’m not ashamed. I’m…” Her words fell away, feeling heat climb down