Realms of Fantasy

  HUNTER AND THE PREY

  Chapter One

  “Is that him?”

  Lev nodded, giving only a noncommittal sound in response. He had been tracking this one for nearly four years, and every time he came close to striking, the foul creature would flash a dark smile his way then disappear without a trace. This time, Lev was determined to succeed. This game of cat-and-mouse was getting old.

  “Is it time?” the younger one beside him asked, almost under his breath. Lev couldn’t blame him, really. He’d been nervous on his first mission, too.

  “Not yet.” Just a bit longer, Lev neglected to add.

  Despite his annoyance with this game, Lev found himself seeking this demon out…for his own purposes. Ebony hair that shimmered blue in the moonlight drew a straight line for Lev’s eyes to follow, down the exquisite form of a male body. Dark eyes laughed at him, mirroring the devilish smile, every time they crossed paths. This time was no different, but once again Lev found himself too mesmerized to act when his chance came. Before he could even blink, the creature disappeared in a cloud of blue-black smoke.

  “Wow.”

  The exclamation from the young one beside him told Lev he understood. He stood from where he’d been crouching and stretched his arms over his head. The silver of his wings shimmered in the scant light of a streetlamp, and his gaze lingered where the creature had been.

  “Are they all…”

  Lev glanced down at the young angel still hunched near his feet. The young one’s lack of words conveyed much. “No. They are not all created as the picture of beauty.”

  The young angel looked back at the empty space, where only moments before the most beautiful creature of Hell had stood. “But he was.”

  Lev nodded. “Yes. He most certainly was.”

  Heaven above, what was he thinking? Four years ago, Lev had been sent to hunt this one down, a rogue minion straight from the bowels of Hell, freed by a foolish dabbler in arcane arts and left to wander the Earth. Four years ago, Lev had told many of them they were crazy. They had tried to warn him, tried to tell him of the creature’s beauty, but he had not believed them. Until he saw Alael for himself.

  Now, he was growing tired of the games. Four years was a long time to harbor a deep-seated ache for something one should never want to begin with.

  He waited for the young angel at his side—Simael, his name was. As Simael stood, Lev pushed stray thoughts of Alael from his mind. This was a training mission, and the last thing he needed was his mind on things other than teaching Simael the fine art of demon-hunting.

  “Come.” The one word was a clear command, and Lev gave Simael only the slightest glance before lifting into the air.

  As they moved unseen above the city, Lev watched the young angel carefully, looking for signs of quick learning. Then Simael dipped, and Lev followed. He sensed the lesser taint and hoped Simael did as well. He smiled as the angel did not disappoint. They landed in the middle of a thickly wooded park. Lev let Simael lead the way, knowing the young one needed to learn to trust his senses. A lesser imp lay in wait in the blackness of an alley, hoping for a hapless soul to wander by, one who would be weak enough to entice. At the sight of the two angels, the imp cowered then jumped, leaping up to the top of the four-story building beside him.

  Lev sighed and nodded, waving his hand in the direction the imp had taken. “After you,” he said with a wry grin.

  For two hours, they chased the imp—a sleek, red-skinned creature with tiny, almost useless wings and razor sharp teeth. No taller than a four-year-old child, the imp was relatively harmless, but he was a menace nonetheless. When they finally cornered him, Lev stood back, letting Simael lead the fight. It was a short one and, with a bolt from Simael’s palm and a high-pitched shriek from the imp, the little demon disappeared in sparkles of light. Lev smiled.

  “Very good!” He clapped his hand on Simael’s back and nodded toward the portal opening before them. “Return now to the Order, and take your rest. We will continue your training next week. I have a good amount to catch up on down here.”

  “Thank you,” Simael said before stepping through the portal.

  As the doorway closed behind Simael, Lev sighed. He didn’t mind teaching, but his own work went neglected when he did. The Order of Harmony maintained a balance in the physical realms and part of Lev’s job was to train the younger angels.

  He turned and started for home, which, for the time being, was nothing more than an oversized loft apartment in a renovated warehouse. On loan from the Diocese of Washington, it was better than most places, especially when one couldn’t land a normal job for lack of sufficient—and believable—identification.

  As he neared the warehouse, Lev’s mind wandered back to the one place he knew it should not venture. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he always thought of Alael, the sinfully graceful devil who had captured his imagination…in more ways than one. If the Higher-Ups knew what was going on in his head, Lev would never hear the end of it. While it wasn’t an issue that was entirely forbidden, it was certainly frowned upon. Lev knew the rumors would run rampant if word got out that he fantasized regularly about a demon.

  He had just started down the sidewalk that led to the main entry of the building when he felt an all-too-familiar presence. He stopped walking and closed his eyes, all the while trying desperately to reign in his insanely beating heart. This time was different. He could feel it. He was now the hunted.

  Turning in a slow circle, he looked around the deserted parking lot. Aside from the few cars belonging to church officials, he saw nothing. Yet the feeling of being watched remained, and Lev knew he had a choice. Alael was giving him a choice: destroy him, or give in. And that was the question that loomed in Lev’s mind, as his head told him to destroy the demon once and for all, but his heart? Now that was a whole different story.

  “Funny how the hunter can easily become the hunted.”

  Lev spun around, knowing that voice well. Its rich tone had haunted him for four years, speaking to him in the dead of night, when his fantasies drove him to the brink of madness. Now he stood, once more face to face with the very demon he had vowed to destroy, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to move a single muscle.

  Alael stepped out of the darkness near a corner of the building, his black feathery wings settled against his back as he approached Lev. Stalked was a better word, really, as the demon’s movements were sleek and graceful like a cat’s. Lev knew, if he were to give into his darkest fantasies, the demon would purr…and growl. Both sounds echoed in Lev’s mind every time he climaxed at his own hand.

  “I could destroy you easily,” Lev said, exuding a calm he certainly did not feel.

  “Ah,” the demon said with a soft, silky purr. “But you won’t.” He stopped close to Lev; too close. When he reached out, Lev stepped back. Alael’s forked tongue slid across his lips as the dark depths of his eyes reflected what Lev had always fought to control.

  “And what makes you think that?” Lev continued to back away, unaware of how much room he had left to move. Before he was ready for it, he backed right up against the cold brick wall of the warehouse.

  Alael closed in on him until their bodies were an inch apart. Lev’s breath caught in his throat as Alael smiled. With a speed that left him dizzy, Lev found himself pinned tightly to the wall, with a demon’s tongue darting down his throat. A momentary lapse of reason and he tangled his fingers in Alael’s hair, holding it in a painful grip as he deepened their kiss. Every inch of him, from the inside out, flamed with an unholy fire, and only when Alael’s hands left the wall to slide across his wings, did Lev come to his senses. He shoved the demon away and took off, darting around the corner.

  Alael’s laughter followed h
im all the way up to his third-floor apartment, and Lev slammed the door shut, falling against it in a breathless heap. After several minutes of trying to collect his wits, he pushed away from the door.

  A shower; that’s what he needed. Perhaps it would wash away the lingering scent of Alael, that sharp, soul-consuming smell of earth and fire and lust. As he walked to the bedroom, Lev stripped out of his clothes, tossing his pants and shirt into the laundry basket in front of the washing machine as he walked by it.

  Once in the bathroom, he started the water, needing it hot and steaming, enough to chase away any thoughts of wanting the fiendish Alael. He stepped into the shower and slid the curtain closed. As the near-scalding water beat down on his body, Lev was finally able to breathe normally again. For the first time since Alael cornered him, he started to think clearly.

  It had not been the first advance the demon had made, but it had been the first one Lev gave in to. And how could he not? Alael was built like the angels of Heaven, created in perfect beauty, but for an unholy purpose. Still, he was male. He had the same anatomy as a human male, of which Lev knew more than his share. Loving those of the same gender was not a crime, and it was a pastime that Lev indulged in whenever he could. But to lust after a demon? Now that was something much more.

  Lev placed his palms against the shower wall as he hung his head down under the spray. He watched the water swirl down the drain, hoping some of the heat within him would do the same. Heat. Heaven above, Alael had nearly incinerated him. Lev shivered as he remembered the lick of the flames that had surrounded them. With every stroke of Alael’s tongue, the flames flared until no part of Lev’s body went untouched by the demon’s fire.

  Lev closed his eyes as his body remembered that blazing touch, the searing kiss he should have never given in to. But, oh, how he had wanted it! Every damning second of it, caught between the demon’s body and the cold brick, Lev had wanted more. With a groan, he reached down and ran his fingertips down the length of his cock, now harder than it had ever been. As he stroked himself, he imagined the demon’s tongue—that forked length of pure muscle—licking every inch of his body, leaving no bit of flesh untasted.

  He rested his head against the wall as his strokes increased. The water, as hot as Alael’s touch, pounded his body, bringing to mind images and sensations of Alael’s body pounding against his, the demon’s cock driving deeper inside him. With a throaty cry, Lev came, releasing his seed into the swirling water. He dropped to his knees then, struggling to bring his breathing under control once more. He couldn’t keep on like this. Not if he valued his sanity.

  He’d been watching—and waiting. Alael loved toying with this one. Time had passed, but the demon no longer kept track. He could still taste the sharp, divine sweetness of the angel’s breath on his tongue, his fire doing nothing to diminish that pure flavor. And he knew; he knew what Lev did in the privacy of his shower, knew the angel wanted him so much it burned.

  Crouching just on the ledge of a building overlooking the bustling street below, Alael waited, tongue sliding across his lips as his gaze followed the angel’s movements. To mortals, Lev was a man—albeit one of immense beauty, but to Alael? To Alael, Lev was a drug, one he craved more than the tainted souls he fed on.

  Lev kept quiet watch over the surrounding crowd as he moved silently among the humans. For now, nothing disturbed the placid lake of mortal activity, and Lev’s duty was to keep it that way. The souls around him went about their business completely unaware of the angel and demon in their midst. Pausing beside an open doorway, Lev looked in before entering the nightclub.

  Dropping to the ground, Alael stepped out into the crowd, more focused on the angel’s whereabouts than on toying with the mortals around him. Any other time, he would have played with the humans; now he wanted one creature.

  As Alael slipped into the bar, he closed his eyes, drinking in the thundering music, the throb of need assaulting him. He could feel the rhythms thrumming through his soul—blood rushing through drugged veins, come splashing, cries of need and completion ringing out. And there, in the midst of it all was the angel he sought.

  Lev motioned to the bartender. As he felt an arm slide around his shoulder, he grinned over at his friend Cameron.

  “I’m buying the first round then I’ll let you buy the next five.” Chuckling, Cameron rested against Lev.

  “That doesn’t sound like a bargain.” Lev dug into his pocket for the money to pay for the drinks as Cameron ordered two whiskeys.

  A hand reached across Cameron and plucked demandingly at Lev’s shirt. “Girlfriend, get rid of the knit sweater. It’s so last year. When are you going to let me dress you?”

  “When hell freezes over, Esmie. And I can personally assure you it never will.” Lev eyed the gorgeous drag queen and laughed. From the top of her coiffed auburn hair to the tip of her Prada-shod toes, Esmie was an original fashion plate all her own.

  A growl started low in Alael’s chest as he stared at the arm draped over the angel’s shoulder. Lev was his—his! To see someone else touching the angel made the fiery blood in Alael’s veins boil. Crossing the room quickly, he made a point to be seen, a shotglass of whiskey appearing before him moments later. The bartender went about his business, the money-wrapped pills passing from Alael to the man’s hand in the blink of a mortal eye. As he raised the shotglass to his lips, Alael focused on Lev from across the corner of the bar.

  “Move over, bitch.” With a nudge of her hip, Esmie pushed Cameron out of the way. “Let me talk to my boy here.”

  Cameron laughingly gave way and stood on the other side of Lev. Esmie reached back, laying a well manicured hand on Lev’s ass. “Damn, babe, something that tight deserves a hell of a lot better than what you’re wearing.”

  With a raised brow, Esmie caught sight of Alael before Lev did. “Oh my, baby boy, don’t look now, but somebody else has designs on that fine ass of yours.”

  Looking up at her words, Lev saw Alael glaring at him. Dragging his gaze away, he muttered, “You two might want to go do something else.”

  Smirking, Esmie backed off as Cameron looked over at Alael then grinned at Lev. “Make sure he leaves some for me.”

  Alael stared unblinking at the angel. It took considerable effort on his part to keep from shattering the glass in his hand as another unwelcome hand touched what was his. His dark gaze slid from one unfortunate soul to another then back to focus sharply on Lev’s eyes.

  After finishing off the last of his whiskey, he all but slammed the shotglass onto the black-lacquered bar and stood abruptly. Without a word, jaw clenched tightly, he walked around the bar and grabbed Lev’s arm, tugging him out onto the dance floor with a growl.

  Surprise echoed in the angel’s expression. Lev tried to resist, but it proved useless, and he glared back at Alael. The demon knew the angel couldn’t react as he normally would without causing one massive scene in the club, and Alael knew Lev wanted to avoid that at all costs.

  Instead Lev growled out in annoyance, “What is your problem?”

  Sliding his arm around the angel’s waist in a clearly possessive gesture, Alael jerked Lev hard against his body. “They were touching you,” he snarled under his breath, hips beginning to move, grinding against Lev’s in time to the steady pulse of the music.

  The struggle to not give in to the bruising feel of the demon’s body became apparent in Lev’s eyes. “Have you lost your wits, Alael?”

  Lev fully intended to push the demon away, but he dug his fingers into Alael’s arms instead. Echoes of arousal pulsed through Lev with the grinding hardness against him.

  Alael tangled his fingers in the angel’s hair. Tilting back Lev’s head, Alael licked and bit at the hollow of his throat. “You cannot deny this.” He breathed the words across Lev’s skin and sharp heat flowed over the smooth flesh.

  Lev very well could and would. He opened his mouth to refute Alael, but the only sound escaping him became a soft moan as he felt the heat of the demon’
s tongue against his skin. His fingers tightened on the material of Alael’s shirt, and he closed his eyes. The line of his body pressed tighter to Alael. He slid his hands up into the dark hair and tugged Alael down to kiss him hard. He craved the dark taste, and it had started with their first kiss.

  Heedless of the other dancers, Alael backed them off the dance floor until he had Lev pinned between him and the wall. As he thrust his tongue deep into Lev’s mouth, the demon rocked forward, pressing their bodies together in time to the music surrounding them. Alael sucked and bit at Lev’s tongue, snarls and growls filling the angel’s mouth as the kiss turned hungry, almost dangerous.

  The demon’s fire seared Lev with its heat, threatening to consume him as he tasted it again. All rational thought was obliterated.

  Esmie's whistle of appreciation disrupted the forbidden concentration and brought Lev back to himself. With a hard push, Lev got Alael off of him and broke for the door to get outside, as far away from the demon as possible.

  Knowing the demon wouldn’t follow him, Lev leaned against the outside wall of the back parking lot of the club, his breath ragged as he tried to calm the inner turmoil. The ache in his body wasn’t easy to ignore, and his pants were damn uncomfortable. Lifting his hands, he rubbed at his eyes.

  “Lev?” A hand touched Lev’s shoulder, massaging the tense muscles. “What the fuck happened?” Cameron asked.

  Lev lowered his hands. Forcing a smile he didn't quite feel, he said with a shrug, “Just somebody I knew from a long time ago.”

  Cam lifted an eyebrow. “Must have been one hell of a somebody. You needin’, baby?” He moved closer, standing in front of Lev as he slid his fingers down the front of Lev’s shirt.

  All Lev could do was groan. He slid his arms around the young man's waist to draw Cam against him. “When have you known me not to need? It’ll wait ’til you’re done at the club, though. Just stop by my apartment before you head home, all right?”

  “When have you ever known me to turn you down when you’re needin’? We took Esmie’s car. Let’s go.” Before he moved, however, Cam leaned in, sliding his tongue into Lev’s mouth, kissing him deep and easy.