The Hunter by Theresa Meyers Page A

kiss him in the heat of the moment had been damn near the hottest thing that had ever happened to him with all his clothes on, but it was still a mistake. And if he didn’t watch himself, next time it could likely be a soul-stealing mistake. He’d forget himself. Forget who he was and why he shouldn’t want her. Next thing you know he’d be thinking about nights by a warm fire and a cozy bed. Home-cooked meals and how it’d feel to be welcomed into her arms each night. Things a Hunter had no business thinking about. He had to be careful from here on out if he wanted to find Pa’s piece of the Book and forgo a one-way train ticket straight to Hell.
    “There should be a second large chamber up past this stretch of the shaft.” He stalked past her, deliberately not looking back to even see if she followed. He could tell by the soft, lingering feminine scent that overpowered the dank, damp, swampy smell of wet earth and the stench of sulfur in the mine that she was still right on his heels.
    “So this door. What’s it supposed to look like?”
    Winn hadn’t known. He’d never seen it, merely repeated word for word what Pa had told him. Leave it to Pa to leave out the waterfall, unless that had come later. Who knew? Things underground could have changed in the last twenty years. But one thing would never change. They were closer to Hell than he’d ever been before, which made him damned uncomfortable.
    “Not sure. All I was told was that we’d know it when we saw it.”
    The coil illuminator didn’t like being wet. Clack. Clack. Clack. It refused to work, so Colt shook it harder. Clack ClackClackClack .
    “Let me.” She held out her hand, and in it materialized an oil lamp. She lifted the glass on the lamp and blew on the wick, making it light.
    Colt had realized her kisses were hot, he just hadn’t realized she could actually create flame with them! “Well, aren’t you handy?”
    She gave him a sly grin. “On occasion.” She started walking and he took a moment to admire the sway of her hips beneath the damp calico still clinging to her. She paused, glancing back over her shoulder at him. “Are you coming?”
    “Not yet, but give me time,” Colt muttered under his breath. How he could find a demon so damn captivating, when he’d spent years destroying anything from the Darkin realm, was beyond him. What was it about this one demon that had him tied into knots like some green boy fresh off the farm?
    He should be planning how he was going to send her back to Hell, not admiring the way her creamy skin glowed in the lamp’s light. They might be united for the moment in their search, but he hadn’t a single doubt in his mind that Miss Arliss would turn on him the moment she’d gotten what she really wanted.
    Water dripped off the cavern ceiling, plunking in the damp rocks at their feet as Colt tried to analyze the situation, discover where his weakness lay. True, she was an incredible combination of unusual beauty and sensual appeal, but certainly it had to be more than that. He wasn’t that easily led astray, was he?
    ’Course, he’d never been up against a succubus before. Vampires, certainly. Shape-shifters, demons, chupacabras, even a fire wraith, and now Scoria soldiers, but never a succubus. It was a bit unnerving to realize that perhaps he did have a weakness. Well, if it was a weakness, best to find out how to challenge it and reinforce his defenses. He had a duty to humanity that outstripped any of his own personal interests.
    He caught up to her side in a few fast, long-legged strides. The damp, swamp-like smell of the mine shaft was replaced by Lilly’s distinctive floral-and-spice scent that tugged at his gut. Colt did his level best to ignore it. Maybe if he just inhaled deep enough he’d get used to it and wouldn’t be able to smell it any longer. He inhaled as deeply as he could. The scent dug deeper into his soul, causing an eddy of need to wash through him. Damn. That wasn’t