Midnight's Master Read Online Free PDF Page A

still locked. “Holly Storm,” he whispered, “you want me.”
    She flinched, but made no move to back away.
    His cock pushed hard against the back of his zipper. Her fragrance, perfume, woman, that lavender scent he was coming to crave, had his nostrils flaring.
    “You want me,” he continued, voice lowering, “but you’re scared as hell of me.”
    He waited for another lie. Waited to hear it fall from her lips.
    Instead, she smiled at him. Flashed a dimple in her right cheek, and had his heart thumping into his chest. “Course I’m scared, Niol.” With a snap, her slender fingers unhooked her seatbelt. But she didn’t try to leave the car. Instead, she closed the distance between them, until only an inch separated their mouths. “Knowing what you are, I’d be a fool if I wasn’t ‘scared as hell.’”
    Her lips trembled as she spoke the words, but her voice was steady.
    Of course, she feared him. She’d seen him kil . Destroy. She’d seen—
    Her hand rose. Touched his cheek.
    His cock jerked.
    “And I do want you.” Her lips brushed over his, just the faintest of touches.
    Dammit. Not nearly enough. Not—

    She pulled away from him, fumbled with the door handle. “But wanting isn’t enough for me.” The door opened with a squeak, sending the chilled night air flooding the interior of the vehicle. Holly pushed to her feet, flashing thigh, fucking gorgeous thigh, right at him.
    Oh, he wanted a bite. A very, very big bite of her.
    Growling, he nearly ripped open his door as he fought to get out of the SUV. By the time he rounded the front of the vehicle, Holly was hurrying up her sidewalk.
    “Holly.”
    She froze. The wind lifted her hair.
    “You came to me.” A reminder she shouldn’t need.
    Her head turned. Her gaze met his. “Not for sex.”
    A damn disappointment.
    Holly’s chin lifted. Stubborn. “You know why I came to Paradise.”
    Niol’s hands fisted. “You need to stay out of Other business.” Before she got herself hurt.
    Killed.
    The rest of the demons out there wouldn’t play as nicely with her as he had.
    And the vamps wouldn’t hesitate to bite.
    Then he’d have to stake the bastards.
    “I’m not the only kil er in the darkness, love. You need to watch your step.” A fair warning.
    She swallowed. “Tell me, did you…know him?”
    The kid. The fool demon who’d been too soft. Niol didn’t answer. “You did,” he said instead and wondered just how close Holly had come to her source.
    Her shoulders squared. “Carl was a good man—”
    “Demon.”
    “—he didn’t deserve to die that way.”
    “Most folks don’t deserve the way they die.” Simple fact. He’d seen rapists die gently in their sleep. Seen kindly grandmothers get shot down in the streets. Life wasn’t fair and neither was death.
    “I’m not going to forget about him.” Shadows were all around her. Darkness waiting.

    “Then don’t.” Blunt. Hard. “Report his death. Talk about what a good man he was, remember him when you’re curled up at night and trying not to think about just what is out there on the streets.” He exhaled on sigh. “But don’t, don’t go digging into his murder.”
    Her head tilted to the left. The streetlight shot over her cheekbone, leaving a hollow of shadow. “Sounds like an order.”
    Because it had been.
    “But I’m not one of your little bar minions. I don’t take orders from you.”
    That was going to be a problem.
    “I could make you, you know.” The words slipped out, but they were true. It would take only a minute’s concentration. He could slip into her mind, force her compliance, and—
    “Been there, done that.” Rage shook her words, trembled her body. “If you want to try that method on me, then go ahead. But I think you’ll find I’m not such easy prey—this time.”
    The memory of her, the memory of the night an incubus had trapped her mind and tried to steal her life, flashed between them.
    Niol knew he was a bastard. He’d never