Love and Brimstone

Chapter One

“What kind of asshole sells automatic weapons to a demon anyway?” Rafael dropped the carry-on tote on his cousin’s desk and plopped down in one of the chairs facing him.

“Is that it?”

Rafael nodded. “And we need to speed this up. I’ve got a date at seven.” He leaned back, propping his feet on the desk and crossing his legs at the ankles.

“You always have a date.” Matthias unzipped the tote and removed a sealed plastic bag containing a large severed head. Semi-lupine in shape, vicious teeth jutted from the lower jaw. “Any problems?”

“Naw, customs was easy. Homeland Security my ass. And one less ‘chupacabra’ to terrify the locals.” Rafael used finger quotes around the word to show his disdain. “Friggin’ jerk. He had a whole warehouse full of guns. Oh, Matts, you should have seen the stewardess on the plane.”

“I thought you were going to take the corporate jet from Mexico City?” Matthias had left Rafael behind to finish the cleanup operation.

He shook his head. “Met this cute little coed from a cruise ship in Veracruz. You should’ve seen her—”

“I’m sure.” Matthias rolled his eyes and put the severed head back in the bag. “And your date tonight?”

Rafe shrugged. “I can’t help it if the customs agent was a cutie.”

“What did she see in your bag?”

“Bowling ball.”

Matthias shook his head and laughed as he sat. “I’ll have Albert send it to the lab for testing and an ID workup. It bothers me that one of them was hooking up with a daemon pulverem.”

“Bothers you?” Rafe flexed his left arm. “Screw that! You aren’t the one who got shot, big guy.”

“How is it, anyway?”

“I’ve been better, but it’s nearly healed. Still stiff.” He unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt to show the pink scar where the slug had entered his shoulder two days prior. “What the hell did you eat, anyway? You tasted, no offense, cuz, weird.”

“No weirder than the time I got sliced open in Dublin and you’d been out drinking that afternoon. I had a hangover for three damn days, thanks to you.”

“Ah, but you were alive to suffer.” Rafe grinned.

Matthias smiled. “And so are you. I told you we shouldn’t have eaten at that place for lunch. You insisted.”

“Oh, yeah.” He looked at Matthias’ desk and sat up. “What’s that?” He pointed to a picture.

Matthias slid it across the desk. Rafe picked it up, a low whistle escaping him. “Wow,” he said, his voice dropping. “That’s her?”

Matthias sat back and templed his fingers. “That’s her.”

Rafe studied the picture for a long moment. “I know you said…but she’s…wow.”

Matthias took the picture back. “And now you understand.”

Rafael looked stunned. “Yeah. Congratulations.”

“That’s a little premature. We haven’t even brought her in yet.”

“When?”

He shrugged. “When Tim tells me the time is right. I’ve waited this many years for her. I can wait a little longer. Maybe next month. Even then, who knows? There’s no guarantee she’ll even want to know me, much less have a relationship with me. This could have been an exercise in futility on my part.”

Rafe studied his hands. “On second thought, maybe I’ll fly home tonight. Take the corporate jet back to Atlanta.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I am pretty tired.”

Matthias studied Rafe for a long moment before speaking. When he did, his voice sounded soft, kind. “Rafe, she’s been dead for—”

Rafe held up a hand and smiled. “Don’t want to go there tonight, Matts. Sorry. I don’t feel like revisiting the past. You dealt with Sarah in your way, and I’ll deal with my shit in mine, okay?”

Matthias nodded. “All right.” He stepped around the desk and hugged Rafe. “See you next weekend at the Florida house?”

Rafe patted Matthias on the back before stepping away. “Yeah, I’ll be down. You’re going to drive me to the dealership, right?”

“It’s in?”

Rafael’s face broke into a huge grin. “You should see it! The salesman e-mailed me a picture. It’s a sweet ride. I test-drove one like it last month, but they didn’t have the color I wanted.”

“I’ll take your word for it. I prefer the original Mustangs myself.”

“It’s a Shelby Mustang GT500, man. The most powerful production model Mustang ever. It’s not ‘just’ a Mustang, Matts.” He stepped to the door as his face clouded again. “I’ll see you later then.”

Matthias nodded, and when he was alone, he returned to his desk and stared at her picture. He’d never shown it to Rafael before and wasn’t sure why he did tonight. He sighed and returned it to his desk. From the moment he first saw her picture when she turned twenty-five, he knew she was the one for him.

All he had to do was try to win her heart when he finally got to meet her in person.

Ten long years. It won’t kill me to wait a few weeks longer.

It wasn’t until Rafe was settled into one of the plush, leather seats on the corporate jet that he closed his eyes and let his mind wander, something he seemed to do a lot of lately. The flight crew knew enough not to bother him, that if he wanted something, he’d ask for it.

He enjoyed the relative solitude. This time, his memories drifted back to the first time he ever laid eyes on Cassandra. So many lifetimes ago…

He stared through the brush at the wonder before him. Gorgeous, simply breathtaking. Long, red hair and stunning green eyes, milky skin and a beautiful, curvy body he would love to hold. She had piled her clothes on the rocks by the bank while she skinny-dipped in the cool creek.

Unable to resist, he walked down the trail and sat next to her clothes and waited. When she finally turned and saw him there, she let out a startled eek! and sank into the water. The glimpse he’d gotten of her front was just as lovely as he imagined.

“I beg your pardon, sir, but you need to leave.”

He smiled, his blue eyes twinkling. “Why should I? I love the view.”

She studied him for a moment. He saw more than wariness in her green eyes.

There was recognition.

“If you’re going to stare, you might as well tell me your name,” she said.

He grinned. “Rafael Collins. And you?”

“Cassandra Croyton.” She stood there, only her flesh from the chin up visible. “Are you going to stare at me all day, or will you let me get out and get my clothes?”

“Oh, don’t let me stop you from coming out.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

He felt more than a familiar throbbing start between his legs. He felt something blossom within his soul. “I’d love it, my sweet lady.”

She cautiously watched him. “I’ve never seen you around here before.”

“I don’t usually travel this far north. I needed to check on a landholding for my cousin. Perhaps you know him? Matthias Hawthorne.”

Her face changed. Something flashed through her eyes, and she stepped farther back in the water. “You’re one, too, aren’t you?”

What warmth he’d sensed from her was gone in a flash. As hot as the June day was, he felt a decided chill settle around her. “One what?”

She shook her head. “I’m not one to speak it.”

He stood. “Sorry I disturbed your bathing, m’lady.” He turned to go.

“Wait.”

Something in her voice stopped him. He turned.

“But…you’re here, and it’s the middle of the day. The sun’s out,” she said.

He nodded. “So I see. Do you have a specific reason for that observation?”

She studied him. As her green eyes traveled his body, he felt himself harden. He wanted her. He wouldn’t force her, and he wouldn’t overtake her.

But he wanted her. In a way he’d never wanted a woman in his entire life.

He wanted her for life.

Cassandra finally spoke again. “Do you have a place to stay for the night? There are highway men between here and your destination. It’s not safe.”

From the tone of her voice, he knew it was a lie. “You aren’t worried about me. And if anyone should worry, it would be them, believe me.”

She’d moved a little closer to the bank, but she still crouched deep within the water, concealing the most beautiful parts of her body from his appraising gaze. Finally, “No,” she whispered.

He stepped down to the water’s edge and watched her. “What do you think I am?” he quietly asked.

“What do you think I am?” she whispered in reply.

He smiled, sending out a probe. He watched her eyes, noticed she jumped as she felt his careful mental caress. “I think you’re a very talented, beautiful woman,” he said. “Very powerful. And with a beautiful heart.”

“You probably have women all over.”

He shook his head. “No. I have not married yet, not for lack of some wenches trying their best.”

That coaxed a smile from her lovely, full lips. “Are you calling me a wench, sir?”

“That would be the last thing I’d call someone as beautiful as you.”

They stared at each other for another long moment before she stood and stepped from the water. He fought the urge to take her into his arms and lick the drops of water from every inch of her flesh.

“We all have secrets, don’t we, Rafael?”

He nodded. “We do.”

She put her arms around him, kissing him. He carefully folded her against him, his hands skimming down her smooth, damp back to gently cup her cheeks.

“I’m willing to hold your secrets,” she said, “if you’re willing to hold mine—and me.”