Blood Rain

Lacey slowly turned her head to look at one of his hands and noticed it was aligned with the bloody handprint on the other side of the glass. A hairline crack formed in the window where he was touching it and started a zigzagged path toward her. She felt fear wash across her when one of the shadows slammed against the window with a thump. She swallowed knowing shadows really shouldn’t make a sound or be able to vibrate the glass like that.

Not wanting the only thing between her and the demons to break, Lacey jerked her frightened gaze back up to Ren. She needed to calm him down before it was too late and did the first thing that came to mind.

Grabbing his shoulder with one hand, Lacey surged upwards pressing her lips hard against his, while her other hand slid down across the crotch of his pants. She quickly found proof that he was not only out of control but obviously turned on. She wrapped her hand over the huge bulge and gripped him, as she aggressively licked and sucked at his bottom lip.

Ren closed his eyes and growled, as his world tried to narrow down with the need to be so far inside Lacey that she would never again want to be in the arms of another man.

When the first thing Ren did was growl ominously, Lacey started to push away from him with all intentions of running like hell but his arm quickly wrapped around her and lifted her up against him. She blinked when his thigh forced its way between her legs and quickly found herself straddling it, making her dress ride up high on her hips.

The arousal she’d been feeling slammed back into her without mercy… but this time the overwhelming sensation wasn't coming from the couple downstairs. It was coming from the dangerous man that now had her in his grasp.

Ren gripped the back of her hair and tilted her face upwards as he took the control of the kiss away from her.

*****

Vincent growled in frustration when his scenery changed and his arms were suddenly missing the female he’d had such a protective hold on a mere second ago. Looking for Lacey, he turned full circle and gritted his teeth when he realized he was in a completely different place… some kind of huge office from the looks of it.

“Bloody hell,” he ranted, now totally confused.

“Welcome to PIT,” Storm said from his seat behind the desk. He had been looking forward to this and tried hard not to smile.

“PIT,” Vincent asked, swinging around to locate the voice. “I’ve heard of you blokes, never thought I’d get a chance to meet any of you though.”

“You’ll meet more than a few of us… with Ren being the first,” Storm informed him.

Vincent stiffened at Ren’s name. “No wonder the big jerkoff is so bloody confident. He damn near has an army to back him up.”

Storm suppressed his smirk. “Ren doesn’t need an army but that’s not the reason I brought you here.”

“Then what is the reason,” Vincent inquired, actually feeling impatient. He needed to get back to Lacey and make sure she was safe.

“If you are finished pretending to be a slave for the demons… I want you to join PIT,” Storm said, getting to the root of the matter. “Your abilities make you a perfect match for PIT and your slight addiction can be dealt with.”

Vincent sent a glare at the other man. “What addiction would that be mate?”

“The one where you’re hooked on getting yourself killed,” Storm answered with a steady gaze. “I assure you, going up against the demons with us… there is a good possibility you’ll still get your fix.”

“That’s all fine and dandy but I think I’ll pass. The only reason I’m in this bloody city is for Lacey and leaving her alone with that silver eyed demon is not on my agenda,” Vincent said becoming agitated.

“Ren is a human at heart, which means he bleeds just as red as you do,” Storm corrected. “You two actually have a lot in common since you both have rare powers. Where you have the ability to revive from any injury including death, Ren has the ability to siphon the power from any type of supernatural being that’s within his siphoning range. The animosity you hold for Ren is unfounded… he is not of the Fallen race,” he explained.

Vincent’s glare darkened, “What do you know about the Fallen?”

“I know enough,” Storm said cryptically.

So… his kidnapper was a fan of big, moody, and broody… awesome. In his opinion, that only made this man a bloody idiot.

“If Ren can siphon power from those around him, then he’s on overload right now since that little magic shop they’re in happens to be surrounded by demons at the moment,” Vincent pointed out. “The man didn’t seem very stable when you jerked me out of there… and I do believe he had every intention of timing me on how long it took me to revive from a broken neck.”

“It would have taken twenty-five minutes and thirteen seconds to revive,” Storm smirked when Vincent’s face lost all expression. He shrugged, “It had to have already happened for me to know the right moment to show up. You do seem to know what buttons to press in order to tick Ren off. As for Lacey, she’s perfectly safe in his presence.”

“Sorry if I’m having trouble believing you mate,” Vincent nearly growled not wanting to waste any more time with this nonsense. He’d met his share of powerful entities and to his knowledge none of them were capable of reversing time.

“It’s completely up to you what you choose to believe,” Storm shrugged his shoulders knowing what was coming. “If you agree to join PIT then you will have the opportunity to see for yourself.”

Vincent shook his head, “Not a chance in hell. You can damn well put me right back where you kidnapped me from.”

Storm's expression was haunted and he paid no attention to the quick rejection. “Just because you have been hiding among the demons doesn’t erase your true nature. You were once a Knight for one of the most powerful kingdoms in history and have saved many lives. You protected the weak from their oppressors and, even at the time of your true death, you still went down fighting a demon you knew you couldn’t beat… all because you thought that you were protecting a small defenseless child.”

“How in the hell would you know about that,” Vincent whispered, as the vivid memory flashed in his mind’s eye.

“Maybe you would better understand if I introduced myself properly,” Storm said, just before vanishing.

Vincent flinched when Storm was suddenly standing right beside him gripping his arm and his scenery had once again changed. To his confusion, they were back in the museum hidden in a shadowed alcove. He swung his gaze around the main room seeing the demons were still getting ready for the auction that obviously hadn’t taken place yet.

He instinctively sank deeper into the darkness when David came into the room followed by the same demons that had tortured him… he could even see his blood still fresh on their hands.

The museum vanished and the office was suddenly surrounding them again. “My name is Storm and I am a Time Walker. In order to do a thorough background check on someone, I simply go see the truth for myself.”

Vincent’s lips thinned… caught between the need to be amazed and the need to check on Lacey. A Time Walker… PIT… this city just got a hell of a lot more interesting.

“You do realize that you are still striving to protect someone weaker than you… it’s just your true nature to do so. Let’s make a deal,” Storm offered, feeling no remorse for breaking his own rule about making deals, since neither one of them were demons. “I will go retrieve Lacey right now if you agree to join us. After all… she is already a member of PIT and belongs here with us.”

Vincent didn’t even bother thinking it over. Honestly… at this point, what did he have to lose?

Chapter 2

Ren palmed the small of Lacey's back and pulled her closer, making her heat slide deliciously the rest of the way up his thigh. He ground his erection against her stroking hand and deepened the kiss with a harsh growl, moving in an erotic rhythm that she was willingly matching. Most of the demons had moved on, allowing him to slowly come down off the paranormal power surge but he was unwilling to let her in on that little secret just yet, due to the new high he was caught up in.

Lacey stilled when she realized she was no longer feeling the creepy sensation down her spine that had been caused by the demons outside the window. Remembering the demons had a domino effect on her… reminding her of the fact that only a few moments ago, Vincent’s arms had mysteriously disappeared from around her. The scene flashed in her mind making her flinch.

The second she stopped riding his thigh and returning the kiss with such abandon, Ren released her lips and pulled back enough to stare down into her eyes. Seeing the startled look on her face, he lowered his leg, letting her slide down his body until she was standing there trembling, forcing her to hold onto his shoulders for balance.

“I was just trying to calm you down,” Lacey said breathlessly. She silently wished for her own chill pill now that her thighs were once again going up in flames. Trying to distract herself, she peeked around Ren to where Vincent would have been, if he hadn’t vanished. “Where did Vincent go?”

Ren ran a hand through his bangs when it dawned on him that she’d only kissed him to keep him distracted. He sighed, attempting to block out the fact that Nick and Gypsy were still below them… going at it like bunnies. His lips thinned figuring it was the power of PIT members he was still feeding off of, since the demons seemed to have scattered.

“Storm took him,” Ren informed her, as if he couldn’t care less.

He refused to move back from her, causing her to have to slide out from between him and the window. He stared at the bloody handprint on the window then moved his gaze from the glass to follow her movements around him.

“Took him where,” Lacey whispered, now that she had her back to him. She felt an almost imperceptible shiver when he stalked up behind her.

Ren dipped his lips close to the shell of her ear and returned the whisper in a husky voice, “I hear Hades is nice this time of the year. Maybe Storm teleported him there for a nice long vacation.”

“He probably just took him to the castle,” Lacey corrected a little too loudly as she spun around to face him rather than let him do that again. Damn, that had about made her knees buckle. “He could have given us a teleport too,” she mumbled, feeling her cheeks flame as she wondered if Storm had seen her sexual assault on Ren and decided not to interrupt.

“What’s your rush,” Ren asked, not ready to reunite her with her dead lover just yet. He did a bad job of hiding his smirk knowing he could turn that fictional thought into reality as many times as he wanted considering the jerk would be dumb enough to revive every time.