Daniel Taylor Between Two Worlds by Monica Davis

dreams, she experienced these same emotions — not only for Mike, but also for James, the man Marla abhorred.
    Marla didn’t want to think about Carpenter or the underworlders, nor about the mission she had to complete. Right then, she only wanted to find peace in Mike’s arms.
    He pulled her to him, and Marla could feel the contours of his muscular body. Usually, physical closeness was difficult for her, but with Mike, she didn’t feel afraid. For one thing, she knew that she was stronger than him, thanks to her powers; and for another, she sensed that he would never hurt her.
    Finally, she took the initiative and stuck a hand under Mike’s shirt to caress the smooth, warm skin of his back. It felt good to be so close to someone who she … liked.
    Her body tingled, and her heart raced so fast that she began to feel dizzy.
    “Do you want to come up?” Mike asked. “Just so we don’t get cited for public indecency.”
    She managed a nod, although the ramifications of the decision made her long to open a portal to escape. Mike pulled her to the main door and up the steps to the first floor. His hands were shaking so much that he could scarcely unlock his door, and Marla was tempted to help him by magical means.
    Finally he succeeded, and they quickly landed on his big, circular bed, not even bothering to turn on the light.
    Marla could see perfectly well in the dark, so she knew that little had changed in Mike’s bedroom since she had been there the last time: The walls were still painted bright red — at least, Marla assumed they were from their shade of grey, since she couldn’t recognize colors in the dark — but now the sheets were white satin instead of black.
    White … white stood for innocence.
    Marla was anything but innocent with regard to sexual experience.
    She was a demon, after all! Corrupted, evil to the core … but had she ever truly felt that way?
    Mike had completely shattered her worldview, broken it into tiny pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. Marla would never be able to put it back together, she knew that already. Was Mike an angel freeing her from Hell? Had James been an angel who had saved her mother? Was there any such thing as salvation for a demon?
    These thoughts were banished as Mike gripped her sweater to pull it off. She hesitantly did the same to him. It was easier than she thought to take off another person’s clothes — another thing that was new for her.
    So many new and confusing things, all at once … Mike, what are you doing to me?
    He gently pushed her onto the bed and kissed her throat. Her lace bra suddenly seemed to constrict her chest, and she was glad when Mike unfastened it. How dexterously he did so … He was clearly a man with some experience. And so gentle … Marla felt safe with him.
    Her hands ran over his perfect torso, over his slightly pronounced pectoral muscles and his flat stomach. Marla stroked his narrow hips and then slid her hands across his back. His skin was crazily soft — as silky as the satin sheets she was lying on.
    After Mike had stripped off her bra — chosen with Vanessa’s help — he lay down on top of her. Marla thought she might swoon from the sensation of skin against skin. The pressure of his body and his passionate kisses almost made her lose her mind.
    Their tongues did a wild dance as their bodies rubbed and pressed against each other. Was it always this way between a man and a woman, a human and a demon?
    Now Marla understood why her mother had left the underworld. There was no question, she would give up her old life for these feelings … if she weren’t Metistakles’ slave. She was bound to the high lord by her father’s oath. Only he — or the death of Metistakles — could annul it. Marla would never be free to be with Mike unless she killed James.
    Damn it, what kind of thoughts were these? But she suddenly had an overwhelming desire to belong to Mike, body and corrupted soul. She knew she’d kill for it, even though she