"He was going to hurt her." Her voice trembled, undermining the determination that flashed in her eyes.

"If I had been any later he would have hurt you."

"I had to do something."

"Like throw a broken bottle at his head?" he snapped. What if that had only provoked the demon into going after her? Delayed panic gripped his stomach and wrenched hard.

"Drew?" She took a nervous step backwards.

He countered with a step forward, losing what little hold he had on his anger. "It was stupid."

Blair lifted her chin. "It was the right thing to do."

"You barely know what you're up against."

"Neither did you once."

He backed her up against the wall. "Next time you damn well do what I say."

"Not if it's the wrong call."

If he wasn't so furious he might have respected the courage it took to stand up to the hostile. "Do you know what your brother would do to me if I let anything else happen to you?"

"I'm in one piece, aren't I?"

"This time," he roared. "You can't be so fucking reckless."

"Reckless? One of them almost killed me. Facing them is not reckless, not when it's doing the right thing." Her voice cracked and she threw her arms around him, holding on.

"Stupid fool," he growled, then slanted his mouth across hers, tasting her fear, her relief, her need for him.

His need for her.

Her lips parted beneath his, her tongue sweeping along the seam of his mouth. He locked one arm around her lower back, tightening his grip on her. She moaned softly, a shudder wracking her body.

Drew was done asking himself what it was about her that drove him right to the edge. Dissecting it did nothing to make him stop wanting her. No amount of reasoning or good intentions held up against the brutal need that being with her, being in her arms, dragged to the surface.

He tipped her head back and deepened the kiss, plundering the sheer, wet warmth of her mouth until his whole body shook from the force of his frustration, anger-lust. He left her lips, trailing down her neck. Her body arched impatiently against his and he ventured lower, smoothing his mouth over the cleavage that pressed up the neckline of her shirt.

"Drew," she murmured.

The mist thickened once more, but the rain did nothing to cool the fire rushing through his veins. He unsnapped her pants, desperate to touch her. Just for a second. He jerked at the edge of her panties and slipped two fingers beneath to find her warm and damp. A groan jammed in his throat.

Blair rocked up on her heels, rubbing against his hand. He'd long ago memorized the smell of her skin, the way she tasted on his tongue, the thump of her heart as it picked up speed. And every bit of that worked against him now, tearing at his restraint.