It had sounded pretty gruesome. As far as Lore could tell, Zaw had been eaten by a werewolf.

Nasty.

Lore much preferred a clean, bloodless kill. He might be an assassin, but only because he was good at it. And because he couldn’t do anything else. The demon world didn’t want him, and neither did the human one. As a half-breed, he was trash in either place.

Oh, and because he was owned by a demon who pimped Lore’s services out and demanded a cut of the money. Or else.

He looked down at his hand, covered by a leather glove to protect people from an accidental touch. He could kill even through the leather if he tried, but he didn’t have his kill skill turned on right now, so no one here was in danger. No one but the brothers he was after.

Something screamed, and simultaneously, blood sprayed in a fine mist, catching him in the face. He wiped his eyes with the back of his gloved hand and turned to the Harrowgate.

“Lore!” Gem’s voice rang out over the chaos. The smoking fine Goth chick jogged toward him, her stethoscope bouncing against her ample breasts.

What a stroke of luck it had been to run into her in the parking lot the other night. He’d stopped her to ask a few questions, but there’d been a spark there, a tangible one he hadn’t felt with a female in a long time.

Mainly, because he avoided them. Accidentally killing a partner he liked during sex wasn’t something he cared to repeat. Killing one during sex that he’d been paid to eliminate… that was a little different.

But Gem had fascinated him, and besides, she knew a lot about the hospital—and about his targets. He’d had a prime opportunity to kill two demons with one stone; he’d gotten to hang out with the sexiest female he’d been around in a long time, and he’d gotten good intel.

Last night he’d gone to her apartment, but she’d been upset, obviously by the aggressive human at the elevator, and she hadn’t wanted to talk.

Apparently, she hadn’t done much talking with the human male, either, because they’d both smelled of sex, which had gotten Lore worked up and, at the same time, pissed off. He wanted Gem for himself, no matter how bad an idea that might be.

Hey, baby, yeah, that’s right… we can get down to it, but never mind that I have to stay covered up and keep my glove on. Oh, and I can’t touch you at all with my right hand because when I come, I kill whoever I’m touching even through the glove. But yeah, just keep doing that thing with your mouth and I’ll try not to put you in your grave…

“Gem,” he said, pulling her out of the way of a thrown chair. “You didn’t mention your hospital is a war zone.”

She blew out an exasperated breath. “It normally isn’t. This is—” She broke off to yell at a horned demon in scrubs who was trading blows with a vampire in a hospital gown. “This is insane.”

“Good to know this isn’t the normal state of operations.”

“Not at all.” She frowned. “I need to go, see if I can help get the Haven spell back up.”

“I’ll see you later, then.”

She didn’t answer, was distracted by a leopard shifter who was stalking an imp near a bathroom. This was one of the strangest scenes he’d ever witnessed, and he’d been around for over a hundred years, so he knew strange.

Speaking of which… the human from last night was standing near the ambulance bay doors, his gaze full of murder. So it was with great pleasure that Lore grasped Gem by her upper arm, pulled her around, and kissed her.

With tongue.

He kept his gaze locked on the human, and as he stepped back from Gem, he flipped the guy off. Cold rage burned in the male’s eyes, as well as an unspoken threat that promised pain.

Too bad he couldn’t compete with what Lore promised.

Death. And the human male’s was going to be on the house.

Gem stood, stunned, as Lore wheeled around and disappeared into the Harrowgate. Her lips tingled from his kiss, and her mind reeled. He was fiendishly handsome, and had she met him even a few days earlier, she might have taken that kiss and run with it all the way to bed

But no, Kynan had to show up and stir the pot.

“Gem.”

Speak of the human. Heart pounding, because it seemed to think she’d just been caught doing something wrong, she turned to him. And drew a surprised breath. His expression was dark, his gaze seething as he stared at the Harrowgate Lore had disappeared into.

“Okay, stop the jealousy horseshit,” she snapped, even though a part of her was secretly pleased. “You should be sucking up, not acting like a cave devil in a mating rut. And right now, there’s more to worry about than my love life.”

A viper ghoul, a nasty, man-sized cobra-ish thing that looked like it had been dead for a month, slid from behind the triage desk, and before Gem could shout a warning it had wrapped itself around Kynan. Its fangs dripped venom from its open mouth, and its eyes focused on his throat.

Gem punched the thing as Ky struggled in its grip. His face turned red and his breath grew labored as the snake squeezed.

Helplessly she pounded the snake’s face, but the viper barely flinched. It was going to make a meal of Kynan.

Tears of frustration burned her eyes. She had no choice. Like it or not, she shifted into her hybrid Soulshredder form. Her bones popped and contorted, her skin stretched and split, and in seconds she was twice as large, winged, and had nasty, serrated claws. The snake hissed.

She raked her claws down its side, and it struck at her, its fangs scraping her cheek. She swiped at it again, catching it in the eye. It screamed a god-awful noise and uncoiled its body from around Kynan. Ky leaped away from it… and from her.

Instantly, she shifted back, but the wariness still lingered in Kynan’s eyes. It hurt more than she’d care to admit.

“What the hell is that thing doing in the hospital?” He panted, trying to catch the breath that had been squeezed from his lungs. “Shouldn’t it be at a vet’s?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice gravelly from the shift. At least her scrubs were intact. “Must be someone’s pet. E really needs to get this fixed.” She waved her hand at the battling demons, but before Kynan could reply, shrieks of agony replaced the sounds of fighting. Several patients and staff members grabbed their heads, and others fell to the floor, writhing in pain. The Haven spell had kicked back in.

“It’s about time.” Kynan rubbed his sternum. “And thanks for saving me.”

“Big demon hunter like you? You’d have gotten out of it.”

He looked a little skeptical, but he didn’t argue. He helped patch people up, along with all available medical personnel. When they were done, he took her hand, and though she knew she should resist, she didn’t. She was too curious about what he was doing, leading her to one of the patient rooms.

Kynan opened the door. Inside, candles burned, and on the floor was a blanket laden with food, wine glasses, and a bucket of ice containing a bottle of what looked like sparkling grape juice. Around the blanket were IV poles, and from them hung saline bags full of something that glowed with green fluorescence.

“What… what is this?”

He smiled, that killer one that always made her heart do somersaults. “It was partly Tayla’s idea. I wanted to do something romantic, but she said your idea of romance was stitching up wounds…”

“Clever how you combined the two,” Gem murmured.

“Sometimes a guy has to play dirty.” He gestured to the blanket. “Sit.”

This was stupid, and she knew it. She didn’t have the willpower to resist him, and she had no doubt this picnic would end up on the bed he’d rolled to the back wall. Not that getting na**d with him would be a bad thing, but her battered heart was tapping out warnings in Morse code against her rib cage.

“I’m not sure,” she said, still unable to erase from her memory the look of disgust on Kynan’s face when he’d seen her in demon form. “This is nice, but…”

“But what?”

“Honestly?” She tapped her tongue piercing against her teeth as she summoned the words she didn’t want to admit. “I’m scared.”

Kynan closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they’d gone dark with regret. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Gem. I want to make it up to you. I know this won’t do it, but it’s a start.” He patted the blanket. “Please.”

Her mind screamed that this was a mistake, but still, she sank down on the blanket next to him and kicked off her Crocs. God, she was easy.

He poured two glasses of sparkling juice and handed one to her. “I don’t want you kissing that guy.”

“That isn’t your call.” She sipped from the glass, her tongue piercing making a little clink against the edge.

“I know.” Kynan pulled a tin from inside the basket. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to use every trick in the book to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He opened the tin, and she grinned.

“Chocolate-covered oranges. My favorite. How did you know?”

“Tayla.” He removed one from its gold foil cup and held it to Gem’s lips. “Bite.”

She did, nearly letting out a moan at the exquisite sweetness. He watched her, a slow smile curving his lips, his eyes darkening dangerously.

“That’s good,” he murmured. “Enjoy it.” He used the bitten end to trace her lips, the wet, cool stroke of the fruit a strangely erotic sensation over her suddenly hot flesh. “Lick the juice.”

He drew the orange slice away and watched as she used her tongue to swipe the liquid from her lips. His gaze was focused, half-lidded, and blazing with heat. Wow. This was power. He might be giving the orders, but she was working him up too, and they hadn’t even touched.

“Another bite,” he said, his voice lower and rougher than it had been a moment before.

Holding his gaze, she sank her teeth into the orange, noted the slight hitch in his breath as she sucked on the juicy bite. She chewed, swallowed, but didn’t have time to lick her lips because his mouth was on hers and he was doing it for her.

Sighing, she opened up for him and hooked her hand around the back of his neck. His tongue penetrated, meeting hers, and just like that, the sensual teasing turned to erotic, demanding play.

As her body sparked to life, she dug her nails into his skin, drawing a hiss from him. “You kill me, Gem,” he said against her lips. “You have since that night.…”

She knew the night. It was burned into her memory, because he’d given her the first orgasm she’d ever had with a guy. And then he’d pretty much kicked her out of his apartment.

“You didn’t want to be with me.”

“I didn’t want to be with anyone. Not after what Lori did to me.” He gripped her h*ps and hauled her up against him. “I was an idiot.”

“I won’t argue that.” She scored his neck with her nails and enjoyed the way he bared his teeth. “Now, make it up to me.”

He had her flat on her back in an instant, his thigh between hers, his mouth doing wicked things to the sensitive skin of her throat. “You’re so soft, Gem.” He slid his hands beneath her scrub top and up her rib cage. “So gorgeous.”

Arching her back, she spread her legs to cradle him between them until she felt the hard ridge of his erection against her core. She nearly panted at the sensation, especially when he began a slow grind that caught her in exactly the right place. She could come like this, knew it for a fact, because the night he’d mentioned had been much like this, and she’d flown apart while he watched.

Shoving aside the bittersweet memory, she ran her hands down his back, reveling in the flex and roll of the muscles under her palms. His hands played lightly on her ribs and belly, but they didn’t stray, remaining tamely centered. Totally rated PG when she wanted R. Or triple X.

A low, rumbling noise came from deep in his chest, the purr of a male in need, and her body responded instinctively, going utterly wet between her legs.

“Christ, you make me hot. So hot I can’t think.” He shifted his weight and took her face in his hands, pressed his forehead to hers. “I want to make love to you.”

Her breath left in a rush. “I… oh, God, I want that, too.”

“But not here. Not now.”

She blinked. “Say again?”

“I want to do it slow and right. With a bed, and I want to spend all night doing it.” He kissed her, just a light brush of the lips, and she wondered where he got his self-control, because she was ready to strip them both of their clothes and ride him hard. “All the other times, I was drunk or angry or jealous. I don’t want it to be like that again.”

It was the best, sweetest thing he could have said. But her body was too worked up, strung tight and aching. “I’m on fire, Kynan,” she whispered, angling her pelvis to rub against him. “I don’t want to wait.”

His tongue was an erotic stroke over her bottom lip. “I’ll give you an orgasm, if you want. Hell, I want that. I want to taste you everywhere,” he said, and she nearly came from his words alone. “But I’m not going to f**k you. This is a date, something we haven’t had. We’re working backward, and when we’re done with the date, and you’re done with your shift, we’re going to your place and I’m making love to you until dawn. Got it?”

Oh, yeah, she got it. Got it so well that when he dropped his hand between her legs and began to stroke, she shouted with an explosive release so hot she expected flames to erupt from her skin.

She clung to him, knowing that the world outside had gone insane and soon she’d be back to worrying about the future. But for this brief moment, she’d finally found happiness.