Page 57 of Demons & Damnation

Balthazar deepened the kiss, his hungry desire for her surging through him as he quickened the slow waltz of their tongues to a spicy tango. Sam took her hands from his face and wound her arms around his neck, pushing the palm of one hand against the back of his head, keeping him locked in place against her mouth.

When Balthazar let out a groan, he stilled for a second, then pulled back, moving his hands down to Sam’s hips and keeping her at arms length. His chest rising and falling with short breaths, he looked at the beautiful woman before him and reminded himself that control was the key.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked, frowning. “Was it not good?”

Balthazar shook his head. “No. I mean, yes, of course it was good. I mean that’s not the issue. I just need to stop before I get carried away.”

Sam licked her lips. “Maybe I want you to.”

“No,” he said, dropping his hands and shaking his head. “No, you don’t.”

“You’re holding back,” Sam said. “What are you afraid of?”

Balthazar looked down at the floor, his mind racing with possible answers but all of them would be a lie except one. And that one was the one sentence he never wanted to utter. Ever.

“Balthazar?” Sam said, reaching out and tugging at his t-shirt. “Look, I’m sorry if I overstepped the mark. I just...if there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years it’s that as Betty Everett once said, it’s in his kiss.” She touched her index finger to her lips. “And boy, can I tell a lot from yours.”

“I really like you, Sam,” he said, his voice almost a whisper. He lifted his gaze back to hers. “And there are lots of complications to us being together, but I don’t want to face them yet until you’re sure about me.”

“What complications? How could anything be more complicated than you being a demon and me being a werewolf?”

Balthazar let a small smile play out over his lips. “Believe me, that’s the least of our problems.”

Sam let out a sigh and dropped her hand from his t-shirt. “Maybe we don’t think of the bigger picture right now. Maybe we think of one step at a time.”

“What are you suggesting?”

Sam shrugged her shoulders. “That just for now we get to know each other and spend time together. It can’t get any more simple than that right? Then if we want to bite off a bigger chunk, we move onto the first problem.”

Balthazar gave her a smile, trying his best to hide his doubts. How would this woman still want him when she learned the wicked truth?

“Hey,” Sam said. “I can see you wandering off into your thoughts there. Don’t do that. Unless you’re a child killer or a paedophile then you don’t have much to worry about.”

“I’m definitely neither of those,” Balthazar said.

“Good,” Sam said, clapping her hands together. “Then we’re all good.” She held her hand out, waiting for him to take it. “Now take me back to the car and take me for a milkshake.”

Balthazar gladly took her hand, gently brushing his thumb over the back of her hand. He knew these moments were precious. If she eventually rejected him, at least he would have had these moments and would have a small selection of memories to comfort him for the rest of his eternity.

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