A Demon's Desire (Demon Brothers' Trilogy Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

rat’s ass why you were dragging them back to hell.
    “Who put out the contract?” He stepped closer, catching the taller one, and apparent leader, by the throat. He lifted his arm until the man barely balanced on his tiptoes.
    The troll clutched at Rafe’s hand trying to ease his grip. Rafe tightened his hold until the male’s eyes bulged in their sockets.
    “Rafe.” The soft whisper of Julie’s voice and the light touch of her hand on his arm, made him loosen his hold a fraction.
    “Luke. Luke put out the contract.”
    “Dead or alive?” Rafe’s entire body trembled with his rage.
    “Alive. Definitely alive.” The troll threw a glance Julie’s way. “He said we weren’t supposed to touch her and if she were injured, we’d pay for it with a piece of flesh.”
    “Who’s Luke?” Julie asked.
    Rafe spared her a glance, noting the glow of the streetlight added dark golden highlights to her hair, making her look almost angelic. Damn, she was pretty even with the dark circles under her eyes. If tonight were any indication, she was working too damn hard. That thought only reinforced the fact that he needed to take care of her.
    “An old family friend.”
    “The Prince of Hell.”
    Rafe and the troll spoke at the same time and Julie gasped. The Prince of Hell had a contract out on her? Why?
    She touched her stomach protectively. There could only be one reason – it was because she was carrying a demon’s child.
     
    Julie’s small, two-bedroom house wasn’t much but it was all hers. Tonight she was simply grateful for the roof over her head and a place to call home. After Rafe had sent the trolls on their way, covered in bruises, he’d insisted on driving. She hadn’t put up much of a fight since the night had started to take its toll on her.
    Feeling the warm press of his body behind her as she unlocked the door, she sighed. She was tired. So very tired. Too tired to deal with a demon or the flood of desire he was causing inside her. She’d planned on coming home, opening a can of soap and settling down in front of the television to watch her favorite sit-com. Tonight, her mind was in turmoil. Why had Rafe come back into her life? Why now? Although it was probably better now than say in three more months when it would be obvious to anyone that she was pregnant
    Pregnant. With a demon’s child. That should have freaked her out more than it did. When she’d finally figured out the slight queasiness she’d started feeling hadn’t been a stomach virus, she’d thought someone was playing a joke on her. Her first step into the wild side and she’d gotten pregnant?
    She turned as he closed the door behind them, laying her purse and keys on the small table in the tight entryway. When she started to take off her coat, he was there, slipping it from her shoulders and hanging it neatly on one of the metal hooks by the door. Self-consciously, her hand went to her hair. She knew she looked messy and unkempt, she always did after a long shift. She remembered she hadn’t looked her best that night either. The night she’d met him.
    She closed her eyes, thinking back on that day when she’d taken the order of a dark-haired stranger just passing through and changed her life forever.
    “You look beat, baby. Why don’t you go take a shower and I’ll fix you something to eat.”
    “You have no right to boss me around. In fact, you need to leave.”
    “I don’t like the scent of those two men on you.”
    Her eyes widened as a terrible thought crossed her mind. “Umm, are you part shifter by any chance?” Maybe she could keep her secret to herself for a little while longer. Or, at least long enough for him to leave.
    “No. Part demon, part angel.”
    She eyed him in disbelief, the fear that he might accidently discover her secret forgotten. There was nothing, and she meant absolutely nothing angelic about Rafe. “No way.”
    A grin flipped up one side of his mouth and she returned it automatically. “Yes,