Holidays Are Hell Esther Egg Hunt (4 page)

When he woke her, Esther gave him a sleepy smile and stretched slender arms over her head. The action tightened her sexy little T-shirt over a nicely rounded set of perfect breasts, and his cock jerked with interest. Luc realized in that moment that he had more than one ache to cure. And the antidote for the second one wasn’t quite so simple.

* * *

“So how far are we from your cabin?”

Luc looked up from dumping salt on his eggs. “A few miles, I think. I’m afraid we’ll have to go on foot from here on out. No more protective circles.”

She nodded. “I want to get one of those hunting knives we saw in the gift shop. If we get attacked again, I need something to protect myself with. I can’t always count on you to save me.”

Luc couldn’t tear his gaze away from her mouth as she ate. He could almost taste the sweetness of her lips against his. “I agree. A knife makes sense.” Though he cringed at the idea of Esther fighting a demon -- or worse -- with a small knife. That type of fighting was just a little too close for comfort.

“So you never told me about the salt.”

He took a bite of his eggs. “Salt blocks demonic magic. Ingested, it works like a barrier against the assembly’s control over me. The more salt I have in my system, the less they can control me.”

She grinned. “I’m guessing that means you’re not prone to bloating?”

Luc laughed. He liked the way her eyes crinkled at the corners when she smiled. “Human diseases don’t affect me.”

Her smile slipped away, and her golden-brown eyes darkened with intensity. “Or human weakness? Like emotions?”

Luc reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “Emotions are strongly discouraged for perdition delivery professionals.”

She frowned briefly and pulled her hand away.

“But that doesn’t mean we don’t have them.”

Esther’s gaze lifted back to his, and her frown smoothed away. A shadow fell over the table where they sat, and Luc’s gaze snapped toward the windows. The sky outside had turned black, and it roiled with clouds. Jagged bolts of lightning split the sky, making the hair on his neck stand up. He stood. “We need to get out of here.”

Esther’s eyes widened but she didn’t argue. She threw a bill on the table and let Luc grab her hand. They ran from the restaurant, through the gift shop, stopping just long enough for Esther to grab the biggest knife she could find, and then hurried out the door as the clerk screamed at them to stop.

By the time they got outside, the wind was whipping through the area. Debris swirled and lashed past, crashing into the glass front of the truck stop building. Metal screeched as it was pulled from its moorings.

Luc yanked her into his arms and turned to shield her as a long, deadly sliver of metal speared the air where she’d been. He grunted as the metal slammed into his shoulder, and Esther cried out, knowing he’d taken the wound for her. She struggled to get loose so she could see the damage.

Luc released her, shouting, “We need to get moving!” His words were whipped away on the wind as he started running, pulling her along with him.

The overhang by the gas pumps ripped loose from its moorings and flew toward them, slamming into the wall just as Luc dragged Esther into a sheltered nook and threw her to the ground. Glass shattered, and the sounds of terrified screaming throbbed beneath the roaring wind.

Luc grasped Esther’s hand and pulled her to her feet. She expected him to start running. Instead he yanked her into his arms and captured her lips in a heated kiss. Esther gasped as his arms tightened, his kiss turning ravenous. Around them wind whipped and tore at everything in its path.

In the distance, sirens announced the imminent arrival of rescue personnel. In their small, sheltered nook heat rose between them and started a raging fire that Esther didn’t think could easily be extinguished. She moaned against Luc’s lips, her hands dragging at his shirt to pull him closer, and her body melded tightly to his.

The storm receded behind the wall of lust they were building, the rasp of their passionate breath supplanting the grumble of the wind. Her body became a living receptacle for the heat and scent and taste that was Luc.

Her hands left his hair and skimmed over his chest, feeling the hard buds of his nipples beneath the soft flannel. His big hand cupped her ass and pulled her against the long, hard ridge beneath his jeans. She sucked in a delighted breath as he ground against her.

He pressed her against the warm brick and grasped her thighs, lifting her so that she twined her legs around his waist. The pressure of his cock against her throbbing clit made her moan, sending her higher and closer to release with every thrust of his hips.

She broke their kiss, her hands slipping through his silky hair. “Luc. God, I want you so badly.”

He nuzzled her throat with his lips, favoring the tender skin with gentle nibbles. “We need to move.”

Esther sighed, nodding, and he stepped away, obviously reluctant to let the moment slip away. Luc cupped her chin in one big hand. “But we’re picking up where we left off as soon as we get to the cabin.”

Esther nodded, unable to speak. Her body thrummed with frustrated lust; her pussy ached with it. Her lungs were tight, and her belly was a knot of unquenched need.

The hurricane-like winds and deluge had died to a soft rain by the time they stepped away from their hidey-hole and started running. Luc led her away from the highway toward a green-topped ridge in the distance. It felt good to run. After a few minutes, her body no longer screamed with painful sexual cravings. But she planned to get it there again as soon as possible.

They kept moving until Esther was stumbling from fatigue and the sun was dipping behind the distant ridge. Then Luc found a protected spot where they could rest for a while.

She sat on a large rock, shivering, as he gathered wood for a fire and set it aflame. Esther’s stomach rumbled but she was too tired to dig for food in her pack. Noticing that Luc kept looking skyward as he worked, she dragged herself from her exhausted stupor to ask, “You think more demons are coming?”

He shrugged. “The assembly won’t rest until you’re back under their control. I don’t expect we’ll have a quiet night tonight.”

Esther shuddered. “I didn’t think they’d be so tenacious.” She realized she should have. It was stupid not to understand what she’d be up against when she ran.

“They’re nothing if not determined. And they have nearly endless resources.”

A long, mournful howl sounded in the distance, and Esther’s head shot up. Wolves. “You might want to make that fire bigger.” As several howls lifted into the air in response to the first she added, “Lots bigger.”

Luc chuckled. “Wolves would be a party. The things I’m worried about aren’t so easily defeated.”

Esther’s stomach twisted and tears filled her eyes. Weariness and hunger were taking their toll on her.

Luc had been placing rocks around them in a large circle but he stopped suddenly, his gaze lifting to her face. Without a word, he straightened and walked over, grasping her hand and pulling her to her feet. “We’ll be okay, Esther Egg. I can handle whatever they send after us.”

She blinked, sniffling, and looked into his eyes. “Esther Egg?”

He grinned. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. You like it?”

She dragged a hand over her wet cheeks. “What’s not to like? It’s such a sexy nickname.”

Luc ran a lightly calloused thumb over her lips, his eyes darkening with emotion. “A sexy name for a very sexy woman.” He lowered his head and touched her lips in a tender kiss.

Esther rested her hands on his hips. His kiss expelled all thoughts of the assembly and dangerous things stalking them in the night. All she thought about in that moment was how big and safe he felt standing in front of her. And how delicious he smelled.

Luc wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and deepened the kiss, his hot tongue sliding between her lips to tease her senses. Esther’s body quivered beneath his touch as his hands slipped down her arms and found her hips, pulling her closer to heaven.

She inhaled, pulling his sandalwood and smoke scent deep into her lungs and savoring its richness. Before she realized what she was doing, her hands had tugged the flannel shirt free and were sliding beneath it, her fingertips tingling against the smooth warmth of his sculpted chest.

He groaned softly as she tweaked a small, hard nipple. His hands skimmed beneath her shirt, sliding upward. Esther held her breath as his strong fingers found her lacy bra, covering the aching mounds of her breasts in firm heat. She broke the kiss to murmur his name.

“I want to make love to you, Esther. I’ve wanted that since the first time I laid eyes on you.”

“Why haven’t you? Why didn’t you come to me on Perdigo? I wanted you to.”

His tongue swiped the stinging spot he’d made on her lip. “I couldn’t. It’s complicated.”

Esther shook her head and rose onto her toes to suck his bottom lip. “It’s no more complicated than this. I want you and you want me. Simple. I don’t want to waste any more time, Luc.”

He captured her mouth in a searing kiss and lifted her, crushing her against his length. Esther moaned, wrapping her legs around his waist and sliding her fingers through his hair as the kiss turned steamy and her mind turned to mush.

Under the influence of that kiss, she forgot how tired she was. She lost track of the wildlife sounds beyond the secure circle of their encampment. She forgot about the assembly and their dangerous dominion. Even the sharp, smoky crackle of the fire drifted away under the sensual web Luc was creating.

Her body came alive under his touch, every inch of her skin bursting with sensual awareness and her sexual core throbbing with expectation. The soft breeze touching her skin was a velvet caress. The drone of crickets a hypnotic entity. She was on a tiny island of pure sensation inhabited only by Luc’s touch, his scent, and the sound of his fervent moans as she slipped her hand over his belly and down, to breach the restrictive waistband of his jeans.

Luc broke the kiss and his head snapped up. Esther panicked. Had she moved too fast? Gone too far? “Luc, I…”

“Shhh. Something’s out there.” He pulled her behind him and stepped closer to the fire. “Hand me your backpack.”

Esther slipped the pack off her shoulders and unzipped it, giving it to Luc. His gaze swept the blackness beyond the fire as he felt around in the canvas bag. Esther knew the moment he found what he was looking for in the night. He stilled, and his shoulders stiffened. She followed the line of his sight and saw something glowing in the darkness. Eyes. Dread twisted her gut as several more glowing sets of eyes stared back at them. “What are those?”

Luc handed her the knife she’d grabbed at the truck stop and stuck his hand back inside the pack.

Had the eyes moved? Were they closer? “Luc?”

He pulled a dark blue, cylindrical container from her bag and handed the backpack to her. “Hellhounds. This is gonna get ugly. I want you to use that knife. Give me your hand.”

Esther slipped her bag over her shoulders before offering her hand to Luc. He turned it over and pushed her fingers into a cupped shape, pouring a mound of white granules into it. “This is salt. It will keep them from flaming up and slow them down. Throw it into their eyes and then use the knife. I’ll kill as many of them as I can, but there are too many of them for me to get them all.”

“But the circle you made…”

“I didn’t finish it.” He didn’t look at her -- didn’t have any judgment in his voice -- but Esther realized why he hadn’t finished it. She’d been crying. He’d come over to comfort her. She didn’t want to die. She especially didn’t want to be torn into tiny bits by hounds from Hell. But she pressed her lips together and didn’t say a word. It was her fault they were in their current predicament. She wouldn’t add to Luc’s burden by wailing like a baby about it. “Okay. I’ll kill a couple of them and you get the rest, okay.” Despite her best intentions, her voice wobbled a bit on the jest.

Luc turned and gave her a soft smile. “Don’t worry, Esther Egg. I won’t let them crack you.”

“Ha, ha.” Despite her fear, his little joke did make her feel better. If he was joking things couldn’t be all that bad… right?

The first hound stepped into the wavering light thrown by the fire, and Esther nearly peed herself. “Oh, shit.” She’d been wrong. Things were definitely that bad.

“Stay close,” Luc instructed.

Esther was shaking so hard she had to grit her teeth to keep them from clanking together. “No problem. Can I climb on your back?”

Standing on four legs, the Hellhound was nearly as tall as Esther. Its shoulders looked to be four feet across, and its feet were as wide as her head. The thing actually had a pretty face; smooth, black fur covered a wide nose and broad head. But its ears stood upright on either side of its head like a Doberman’s and were outlined in fire.

The hound’s eyes blazed red and orange, swirling with the color of flame. It had a body like a panther, though much thicker, and its slender tail had a ball on the end like a lion. The ball was encompassed in flame, too. Its gaze was fixed on her, never wavering as Luc stepped forward.

Three more of the things stepped into the light around the circle, surrounding them.

Cold dread twisted in her belly. Esther’s fingers tightened around the knife in her hand, her palms sweating so badly she was afraid the salt in the other hand would dissolve. “Luc, I don’t think we can fight these things.”

He reached for her hand. “You’re right. There are too many. I’ll have to risk a shift…”

The first hound sprang, hitting Luc on the chest and taking him down to the ground. Esther screamed, flinging her salt at the thing in desperation. It bellowed, howling in obvious pain, and Luc shoved it away. “The knife!”

Horrified, Esther was backing away when the second hound hit Luc. A low growl sounded behind her. She spun around and panicked, flinging the knife at the monster. It hit him wrong and bounced off, skidding across the ground.

Luc bellowed in pain, and she whipped her gaze in his direction. Three of the things were on top of him, jaws snapping and spit flying. His fists, bloodied and torn, flailed at the heads of the monsters but didn’t seem to be having much effect.