A Despair of Demons (Travelers, Book 1) (28 page)

Nathan didn’t respond.

Liv gave them a tired smile as Jordan flopped down next to her. They were
both still breathing hard.

“I sure hope there’s no one still in the building,” Liv said as the SM took
off.

“We didn’t find anyone, and we searched every floor.” Gin said from a captain’s
chair in the front of the passenger bay.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nathan panted. “I sent my employees home hours ago.”

“Then why didn’t they sign out?”

“There was a fire alarm.”

“Couldn’t have any witnesses, right, Blank?” Jordan said.

Nathan just sat and wheezed.

A sudden rumble distracted Liv. She jerked her head toward the window just
in time to see the Innerstellar headquarters shudder. Then the top floors
simply sank into billows of dust, presumably all the way to the ground.

“Now I really hope nobody was still in there,” Liv said.

“Or on the street,” Gin added.

Nathan stared at his knees.

Jordan said, “I’m sure they got everybody back. They would have seen the
tremors while you were waiting for us, right?”

Gin nodded, clearly not convinced.

“Well,” Connor said, “looks like you’re finished.”

Nathan shrugged. “It’s inconvenient, I’ll grant you. But we’ll rebuild. We
don’t have to Travel anymore for research. Maybe we’ll relocate to Hawaii.”

“What are you talking about?” Trent asked.

“He’s got himself a nice setup,” Connor said. “Apparently, he’s got this
neat little device that changes the orientation of an object to a different
world, so it can be brought along. He and his scientists have been stealing
everything from weapons to astronomy equipment and storing it in Hell.”

“And in the building we chased him to,” Liv added. “I just wish we’d had
time to look around a little more. I’d love to get my hands on that device.”

Jordan held up what Liv at first thought was a common cell phone, but the
screen and buttons along the side weren’t quite right. And the two prominent
metal prongs on the other side were definitely not standard phone design. “You
mean this device?”

Nathan gave a startled yip. “That’s mine! Where did you get it?”

Jordan smiled. “I just happened to look around your little lab, and there it
was.” He spread his hands. “Since you’re so tolerant to stealing, I didn’t
think you’d mind if I borrowed it for safekeeping.”

“You’ll give that back.”

“We’ll see.”

Liv glared at Nathan. “We’ll confiscate it all eventually. You’ll lose
everything.”

His answering smile was cold. “We’ll see.”

Liv shook her head in disgust. “What do you think the official explanation
for tonight is going to be? The government is going to want a scapegoat, and
here you are, the actual perpetrator.”

“Not to mention you’ve been stealing from them,” Connor added.

Nathan repeated, “We’ll see.”

They got back to base just before one o’clock Saturday morning. Despite the
late hour, General Mace was waiting for them.

He detailed T47, another exploration Travel team, to watch Nathan Blank
overnight. After the members of T47 heard his crimes, they promised they
wouldn’t give him more than an inch of personal space.

Even with only a brief overview, it took them two hours to go over all
they’d done and all they’d discovered.

Had Liv been less exhausted, she would have been interested to learn that
while she and Jordan had been traipsing through Hell with Connor and chasing
Nathan in…wherever they had been, Trent’s group had searched the whole
Innerstellar building and found evidence that he’d been tampering with human
and demon DNA.

“For what possible reason?” Gin asked.

Trent stared grimly, or maybe just tiredly; it was hard to tell. “I’m no
geneticist. But it looked like he was trying to hybridize the two.”

Jordan fell deep in thought. Apparently, he didn’t need sleep. “He said as
much to us in Hell. He wanted an army.”

Connor’s lip curled. “Because he can.”

“How?” Ben asked.

“We’ll be sure to ask him,” General Mace said. “I trust you’ll want to be
there for the interrogation?”

“Oh yes,” Connor said. The others agreed.

The general turned back to Connor. “Finish your report.”

“Jordan and Liv disappeared, and I went back to Home World.”

Jordan took over and told the rest of their story.

Connor added, “That’s pretty much it. We took off and the building fell
down.”

“Was anyone injured in the collapse?” Jordan asked.

“As far as I know,” General Mace said, “the SWAT team got everyone back. They
were preparing to assault the building when it came down.”

Gin said, “We should probably be grateful. It would be difficult to explain
burning demon bodies in the elevator.”

“Did the wildfyre snuff out?” Connor asked.

Trent said, “I’m not entirely sure wildfyre needs oxygen to burn.”

General Mace sighed. “I’ll get R & D to figure out a way to stop it from
going China Syndrome.”

“I’ll help.” Trent started to get up from the table.

“You absolutely will not, Petty Officer Nagano.”

Trent sat back down.

“I’ll take that device, Dr. Jameson, and you are all cleared for a full
twenty-four hours off. You will go home and get some sleep. We’ll interrogate
Blank Monday.”

Trent muttered, “Yes, sir.”

Liv sleepwalked next to Jordan to the entrance hall, following the others. She
was too tired to even lift her head as she usually did to look at the
stories-tall ceiling, lit to throw mysterious shadows into the spaces between
the huge marble buttresses. They clomped across the overpolished marble floor,
signed out at the guard station, and took the shuttle tram to the Ranch.

Liv contemplated just sleeping on the train, but after some consultation
with her body, and a bit of cajoling—
think
of your nice, soft, clean bed. You can do this. Just get up—
she
hauled herself to her feet and followed the others to the parking lot.

“Thank God,” Gin said. “I’m ready to fall asleep on my feet. See you guys
tomorrow.”

“Night,” Ben said. “Tomorrow night. I’m sleeping till six at least.”

“Sleep, that sounds amazing,” Trent said.

Connor got into his F-150 with a wave, and Ben’s Jeep was already pulling
out, following Gin’s motorcycle.

Lucky. The air would probably keep her awake until she got home.

Liv stared at her own car, a
burgundy cherry ’77 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Normally, she loved driving, but
now, she just wondered how she’d make it home without crashing her car.

Then she and Jordan were alone in
the parking lot.

She turned and he wrapped her in his arms. She breathed him in as her arms
went around him. Faint citrus-y cologne was overpowered by demon smoke and red
dirt, but she didn’t care. “You almost died, like, three times tonight,” she
said, feeling like she was underwater, swimming through syrupy exhaustion.

“So did you.” Jordan squeezed her tighter, then pulled back so he could look
her in the eyes. He smiled. “But we’re fine. If not for your boyfriend, we’d
have had smooth sailing.”

Liv was too tired for this. She looked into his eyes, trying to see what he
was thinking. On the surface he was joking, but she realized he really wanted
to know how she felt about Nathan now. She put her disgust into her voice.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Oh good,” Jordan said lightly, but she heard his relief. “Then can I be?”

“Okay.” She pulled him close again, wishing they could just stay like this
all night.

He sighed in contentment. “Come home with me tonight.”

She pulled back again. “What? We haven’t even had a first date.”

He laughed. “I know, we’re going backwards, but it’s kind of late for that,
isn’t it? Come on. I just want to hold you all night, but I don’t think I can
stand out here much longer.”

“Yeah,” Liv said. She tried to think, but she was definitely too tired for
this.

“I’ll be good, I promise,” Jordan said, pulling away to look her in the
eyes. “I just want you with me.”

She couldn’t think of a single reason not to. Hadn’t she just been wishing
she could stay like this all night?

“Okay.”

He smiled and kissed her, tender and slow. Her feeling of being underwater
intensified. It was almost like drifting on small waves. Jordan led her to his
car and the next thing she knew, he was shaking her awake in his driveway. He
took her straight to his bedroom, and she stared longingly at the mountain of
white sheets and blankets.

“Jordan, I’m filthy. We can’t just get into bed.”

“Sure we can. But I’m up for wet and naked if you want a shower.”

Her mouth twitched. She looked down at herself, then at the beckoning piles
of pillows and sheets. “I can’t do it. I have to clean up.”

Jordan laughed at the longing in her voice. “I said I’d be good, but I’d
really like if I could clean up with you.”

He gave her a puppy dog expression that made her laugh too. “I guess that
wouldn’t be so terrible.”

They got into the shower, and Jordan grabbed the shampoo before she could
reach for it. “Let me.”

He lathered her hair, making her sigh sleepily as he massaged her scalp, and
pulled her back against him to rinse. The hard length of him pressed against
her, and she wiggled against him sensuously.

“Hey, I’m being good. Help me out a little here.”

She laughed. He soaped her body, starting at her neck and shoulders,
massaging as he went, working down her back and then around to her breasts,
where his hands rubbed and slid smoothly over her nipples. It was all so slow
and dreamy that it was like she was already asleep, even as nerve endings sizzled
awake under his hands. Those hands circled lower, sliding over her belly,
making it flutter. The feeling intensified when he slid his hands down her hips
to the outside of her thighs.

She thought he’d go straight between her legs, but he slid his hands all the
way down to her ankles before slowly working his way back up. She had never
appreciated how sensual an ankle massage could be. By the time he passed her
knees, she was panting. He stood up and pressed himself to her back and his
cock throbbed against her. She felt an answering clench from her lower belly.

He kissed and nibbled her neck as his hands slid slowly toward the sensitive
crease at the tops of her thighs, and then worked inward, reaching the wet
folds between her legs and rubbing over her clit. She gave an involuntary cry
as he finally ended her anticipation. He let the hot water pour over her, and
his busy fingers played until her knees were weak and she was gasping. The
first orgasm crashed through her and left her breathless.

“Wait,” she said as a flicker of consciousness broke through. “What about
you?”

She grabbed the shampoo off of the shelf and gave him a wicked grin as she
switched their positions, pushing him out of the water and pulling him around
to face her.

She gave him the same treatment, massaging his scalp and body with the help
of water and soap. She had to press herself against him to reach around his
broad back, taking the opportunity to kiss his nipple, and suckle first one and
then the other. She looked up to find his eyes on hers and felt a thrill at the
naked need on his face.

She continued soaping, teasingly sweeping her hands lower and lower on his
belly. When she reached his cock, she soaped gently and then grabbed firmly,
eliciting a groan. She pulled him under the water and began stroking, able to
get a better grip as the soap rinsed away, until he grabbed her wrist. “Liv,
I’m not sure what kind of Superman you think I am, but I’m hanging on by my
fingernails here.”

“Oh good.” She knelt down and took him in her mouth. He groaned again, and
she teased him with her tongue until he was panting harshly. His hands fisted
at his sides, and cords stood out in his neck as he gritted his teeth. His
reaction to her made her quiver in anticipation.

When he said again, “Liv…” she reached out of the shower. His look of
bafflement changed to a look of surprise as she opened the foil wrapper.

“Well aren’t you prepared.”

“Aren’t you glad?”

She rolled the condom on slowly, rubbing the head of his cock teasingly with
her thumb, and his, “Yes, definitely,” came out strangled.

She stood and kissed his lips, hard, and felt him throb against her belly. He
picked her off her feet and braced her back against the wall.

She wrapped her legs around him as he entered her in the same motion. She
swallowed his moan and made some sound of her own as he buried himself in her.
Jordan held her easily in his hands, keeping her still while he moved within
her, and she was driven up and up by his long silken movements.

“Faster,” she managed to gasp.

He obliged. He shifted her, changing the angle slightly, and she thought she
would die with pleasure. He kissed her frantically, her neck, her face, her
mouth, and she opened her eyes to see his go dark and far away as he went over.
As he swelled within her, she followed, and their cries mingled together with
the falling water.

They stood for an indeterminate time, holding each other. Finally, he said,
“Clean enough?”

“Mm hmm.”

He shut off the water, picked her up, and carried her to his bed.

“Jordan, we’re still soaking!”

He shrugged with her in his arms. “So we’ll stay cool while we sleep.”

He tipped her onto the bed and crawled in behind her, pulling her against
him. “I said I’d be good. Sorry I couldn’t stay true to my word.”

She laughed. “No, you did. You were very good.”

She felt safe in his arms, his strength and support at her back. He always
had her back, she reflected, and remembered her revelation on the stairwell of
Innerstellar.

Jordan buried his face in her hair, inhaled deeply, and turned her to face
him. He tipped her face up with a finger under her chin and kissed her gently. Then
he trapped her in those flame blue eyes. “I love you, Liv. I always have. I’ve
wanted to tell you a hundred times.”

She smiled. “I love you, Jordan. I always have, too.”

His slow smile lit her up inside. “Really?”

“Really. I realized something tonight.”

“What’s that?”

“I always knew who Nathan was. I always knew I couldn’t trust him, and I
always knew he would disappoint me, but I loved him and I ignored those
feelings.”

“This isn’t making me feel very loved.”

Liv tapped him on the nose. “Just wait. So when Nathan turned into this
power-hungry egotistical bastard and basically told me to keep up or get out of
his way, I wasn’t surprised. So then, I figured I couldn’t trust my feelings
anymore, and I stopped listening to myself.

“And then I met you. You were everything I would have looked for in a man if
I had been looking. And I loved you, almost from the first week we started
working together. But I didn’t trust that, so I buried it. Until tonight.”

“When I almost died.”

She wanted to squirm, but she forced herself to look him in the eye. “Well,
yeah, but not only that. I figured out a while ago that I loved you, but
tonight I finally realized that I could have you, so I’d better not waste any
more time. But I also realized that I know you, just like I knew Nathan, and
I’ve never once thought you’d let me down. And you never once have.”

Jordan kissed her, a soft brush of lips. “I’ll try to make sure I never do.”

“I know. That’s why I’m not worried.” She burrowed in under his chin, and
Jordan rolled onto his back and pulled her against him. He kissed the top of
her head, and she felt him smile as he pulled her more snugly against him.
Seconds later, she was asleep.