“Is it a Daemon?” she asked, words coming so fast she was surprised he could understand her.
“Yes. And I think there might be more nearby,” he told her, exiting the car. “Stay put,” he commanded as he closed his door.
Isis felt immediate, sweet relief wash over her. “Thank God,” she said then anger replaced her panic. “That motherfucker just destroyed my car,” she yelled in agitation.
She tried the ignition—the car sputtered a few times but the engine wouldn’t turn over.
5She tried again. And again. She decided to let the car sit for a few moments to see if that might help.
A bright explosion of light behind her drew her attention and she turned around in her seat to watch Flare set the battered body of the Daemon aflame. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a dark form running unbelievably fast toward Flare.
Not caring about her own safety, she opened her car door and got out as fast as she could manage. “Flare, look out,” she screamed. But she needn’t have done so—Flare had already turned and he immediately set the racing Daemon aflame. The beast screamed and continued to run toward Flare, intent only on its evil purpose. They met in the middle of the road and Flare instantly plunged his hands into the burning monster’s rib cage, wrenching the heart out with one efficient tug. The monster fell and shuddered. When Flare set the heart in his hand aflame, the monster abruptly lay still as if a switch had turned it off.
Isis approached Flare, careful to skirt around the pile of ash in the middle of the road. “Is it dead?” she asked, watching it burn.
Flare turned to her and his eyes were alight with anger. “I told you to stay in the car,” he said in a stony voice. Isis was shocked—but then she should have expected it from him. He took his mission of protecting her very seriously. She supposed his iron will was what made him such a formidable warrior.
Two more Daemons appeared, roaring and charging at Flare an instant after they arrived. Isis scrambled backward then ran back to the car as the battle made its way toward her. She jumped—thinking to crawl up on the trunk of the vehicle and climb her way over the top to scramble into her car.
But her jump took her much farther. With just the power of her legs she managed to launch herself several feet into the air. She came down, hard, onto the asphalt in front of her car, but she landed on her feet. Isis was in a state of shock. She had cleared the
entire
vehicle with just one jump.
Isis quickly recovered and ran to her car door. She climbed into the mangled vehicle and tried to crank it. Three tries later the engine sputtered once, twice, then turned over and the car roared to life as she gave it some gas to help it along.
The glow behind her intensified, lighting up the night sky. Isis knew he had disposed of the last two Daemons as quickly as he had the first two. Seconds later Flare opened the passenger door and got into the car once more.
“Are you okay?” she asked, worried.
“I am not happy with you,” he growled low. “Drive.”
“
What
? I was trying to save your hide, you ungrateful brute,” she yelled back, automatically putting the car in drive and pulling away from the battle scene.
“Besides,” she lowered her voice, “I’m not one of your soldiers. You can’t expect me to do everything you tell me to.”
“I can and I do expect just that. Any orders I give you are given for good reason.
You put yourself in danger by getting out of the car and coming out into the open.” He 5gritted his teeth audibly, as if he was fighting the urge to shout. “You are never to endanger yourself like that again. Not even for me.
Especially
not for me.”
“But I lo—” Isis broke off with a shocked choke of air. She couldn’t believe what she had almost just said to him.
Had he noticed her slip? God she hoped not.
Did she love him already? No. It was way too soon for that, she told herself, ignoring the pang in her heart that came with the thought. She tried to cover up her near admission of something she’d never admitted to
anyone
but her mother with her next words. “I care about you, Flare,” she said. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
“It is my sacred duty to protect you,” he said somberly. “What happens to me is my concern, not yours. Your only concern is to keep yourself as far away from the Daemons as possible. As far out of harm’s reach as you can manage.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” she said mutinously.
“I can and I will. You
will
obey me, Isis. I will have it no other way,” he said arrogantly. The temperature within the confines of the car rose several degrees.
It was true that he had been displeased to see her get out of the car when he’d told her to stay put. But what Flare didn’t tell her was that his heart had nearly given out when he’d seen her jump over the car. She’d done it so effortlessly, so gracefully—never had he witnessed anything like it. He’d been more afraid that she’d land roughly and hurt herself than he had been about the Daemons he was fighting. He’d been amazed when she’d landed flat on her feet. But the lingering fear she’d inspired in him had not yet waned.
He knew that he was being a brute. But Isis was so hardheaded—she needed a strong arm to guide her through this dangerous time. She didn’t need his tenderness so much now—she needed his discipline and, yes, even his ire. It was the only way he knew how to get through to her, how best to protect her.
Studying her reaction to his words, he noted how tightly she gripped the steering wheel—her knuckles were bone white. He could hear the grinding of her teeth and her deliciously full lips were pursed tightly. Yet she held her silence, though he sensed she wanted to scream and rail at him. Isis wasn’t happy with him right now, but Flare was sure she’d be more careful in the future.
Isis too was giving thought to her amazing feat of jumping the length of her car. A bit of a plan was beginning to form in her mind—it was still rough around the edges, but she was sure, once Flare got used to it, that things would work out in the end. The real question was how to broach the subject with him.
She wanted to be a warrior. Just like those other human women he’d told her about.
It was scary—the thought of fighting the monsters on a regular basis—but it was also tantalizing to know she’d be keeping humankind safe from a great evil. Isis liked that idea very much.
5It was likely that Flare would have a conniption fit once she told him of her intent, but she was stubborn enough to know that eventually she could wear him down if she tried hard enough. He took protecting her very seriously—that was more than obvious now—but she knew he was also very mindful of wanting to please her and keep her happy. Once he saw how much she wanted this, perhaps he would relent and let her do it.
Isis knew she was physically strong enough to do it. She’d exhibited that more than once in the last couple days. But was she mentally capable of handling such a responsibility after so many years of being alone and apathetic? That was the real quandary. She just didn’t know.
The rest of the drive was silent and it was a test of her will not to say anything to Flare about her idea, but she knew he was having a hard time getting control of himself so soon after the battle. He seemed to need the silence and she let him have it. Besides, she was more than used to being quiet. Well, most of the time.
5
Chapter Eight
When the crippled car rattled into the parking space outside their hotel room, Flare retrieved her bags from the car before she could even think to. He entered the room first and checked every corner to ensure there was no threat. Isis had to admire his thoroughness. He was determined to honor his duty.
“I do not like this place,” he told her at last. “It is too open for attack and your car parked just outside is an obvious giveaway to our location. Look—the door is even weak.” He went over and jiggled the handle of the flimsy wooden door at the entrance.
“I could easily break in, and if I can, then so could a Daemon.”
“Well, it’s the best I could do on short notice,” she told him with a huff.
“I want you to stay at a better lit hotel. One where the rooms are on the inside. One where there are more people—staying in a public place might keep you safer from the threat hanging over your head.”
“I’ve already paid in full for the night,” she explained.
“It does not matter. I have plenty of money. Let’s leave,” he urged.
Isis shook her head. “I don’t need your money. Look, let’s just stay here for tonight and I’ll find a better hotel tomorrow, okay? Promise.”
The room heated up and it was more than apparent that Flare wanted to argue with her further. He started to, but Isis gave him her back and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her with a soft click of the lock as she pushed in the tiny knob on the door handle.
It didn’t matter. Flare pushed the door open easily, breaking the frame and splintering the wood. “Do
not
walk away from me when I am talking to you,” he growled. Heat baked off him in strong waves.
“I thought we were finished,” she said lightly, putting her hair up in a ponytail with the use of the mirror above the bathroom sink. God but it was hot in here!
“You knew we were not finished,” he said pointedly, gaze smoldering.
“Look, Flare, I don’t want to argue anymore. I’m staying here tonight. If the Daemons find us we’ll leave. But for now this is as good a place as any—I don’t even know where a decent hotel is around here anyway.”
Flare glared at her. “You won’t listen to reason. Perhaps you will listen to this.” He jerked her to him and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. Then he lifted her off her feet and carted her back out of the bathroom. He tossed her roughly on the bed and the springs groaned their protest so loudly that for a moment Isis feared the bed would collapse.
5What she expected next from Flare did not happen. There were no more kisses. No more caresses. Instead, Flare flipped her onto her stomach and yanked her jeans down around her ankles without any difficulty. Isis wasn’t stupid—she now knew what Flare intended.
The sound of the first slap on her bottom was drowned out by her scream of pure rage. She struggled beneath him, bucking wildly and kicking out with her legs. Flare spanked her again, making her ass cheeks grow hot.
It wasn’t that he hit her hard. He didn’t—though his hand was scorching hot when it connected with her sensitive skin. It was that he would humiliate her so that enraged her.
With another roar she managed to kick him hard in the shin, forcing him back a little. Bucking wildly, she took the opportunity and rolled away from him, kicking off her jeans to free up her legs. She was now nude from the waist down but she didn’t even care. Before he could stop her, she jumped off the bed and came at him, punching him squarely in the cheek. Isis knew her blow had to hurt—the imprint of her knuckles was already stained on his cheek and her hand stung fiercely. But Flare never flinched.
Nor did he do what she feared he might do—force her back into submission.
They stood there, face-to-face like longtime enemies, breathing heavily.
“Don’t ever do that,” Isis told him in her hardest tone, anger making her shake uncontrollably. “I mean it.”
“I just want you to know how important it is that you let me take care of you. If the Daemons were to get you, our entire race would be in danger, as well as yours. Not to mention that it would kill me if you were hurt or captured,” he explained passionately.
“But you can be so stubborn and thickheaded—it makes me so frustrated! You refuse to listen to reason. I don’t know how else to reach you.”
“Spanking me will only result in you getting hurt,” she told him from behind clenched teeth. “So. You don’t want to stay here tonight? Fine. Get out.” Isis pointed toward the door, looking away.
Suddenly she was in his arms again, and the passion with which he kissed her made her toes curl despite her anger. He lifted her again, more gently this time, and laid her back down on the bed, coming down over her. “I am sorry,” he told her, dotting her face with kisses, turning the heat of her anger into another kind of heat entirely. She could see that he meant the apology, even if her senses were swamped by being held half naked beneath him. “But I must stay in control of this situation. Surely you understand that, Isis?”
Isis wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I’ve had far worse things done to me than this. I forgive you. Just don’t ever do it again—I hate it. It makes me feel helpless. Powerless.
All sorts of bad things. I won’t forgive you again.” She wasn’t sure if that was true or not. She was used to being beaten—she had been dealt with violently her whole childhood in one way or another, but she didn’t want to associate Flare with that kind of violence. Not in any way.
5“I just want to keep you safe,” he murmured, kissing her forehead gently.
“You
are
keeping me safe.” she said. “I don’t have any fears or worries when you’re near me and that is more wonderful than you’ll ever know.” It was hard for her to admit that, even to herself, but it was the truth. “I know you won’t let anything happen to me. But I need to rest. I’ve had a really hard day. I don’t want to drive anymore tonight, wandering through the boonies, looking for another place to stay.”
“All right,” he told her. “But tomorrow you’ll find a safer place to stay.”
“I will,” she promised, more than agreeable. “Now kiss me some more, you brute.”
She smiled shyly up at him.
Flare didn’t need to be told twice. He covered her mouth with his own, his tongue seeking out and finding hers immediately. It stunned her how fast the anger was replaced by passion. Isis kissed him back hungrily, her fingers tangling in the silky soft hair that fell down his back.
It was amazing how quickly she’d become addicted to his touch. His hands roved all over her, lingering on her naked skin then moving to pull off her shirt. Her bra was clasped in the back, making it difficult for Flare to remove it. He growled after a few tries and then moved his hand back around to her front. A tiny blade-looking thing shot out of his fingertip. It was glowing red-hot. And when he traced his finger over the delicate material of her bra—careful not to touch her skin—it fell away, freeing her breasts to his gaze and touch.