Rhyan is an angel on the edge. Sent earthside to serve penance for her carnal lusts, she has been charged with gathering information on a fallen angel—while resisting the temptation to fall into his arms herself.

Working as a bouncer at Desire, the hottest nightclub in Atlanta, nephilim Dominic has no trouble hooking up with a new partner every night. Until he sets his sights on Rhyan, and suddenly, one night will never be enough.

But with Dominic’s heavenly face and body made for sin, Rhyan can no longer deny her passions. And now she will be forced to choose: a lifetime of love or an eternity alone....

Pure Desire

Denise Tompkins

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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Dear Reader,

Please accept my thanks for picking up Pure Desire, the second novella in my Desire trilogy. These books are very special to me, and I’m honored to share them with you.

Dominic and Rhyan are the second couple to find their way to each other in this series. Dominic is so much more than he seems, while Rhyan has so much more to offer than even she knows. Nephilim and angel, they’ve waited for each other for far too long. (Fun note: the scene with Dominic in the parking garage? The dialogue between the characters came to me right off “the bat” and sounded like Dominic’s voice in my head. So cool to know how he sounds!)

I hope you have half as much fun reading how these two dynamic characters end up falling in love as I had writing their love story.

Happy reading,

Denise

Dedication

To the woman most likely to be voted Best Cheering Section, the most amazing critique partner ever and the only reason I’m standing here today. Thank you, Tibby Armstrong—fellow author, best friend, owner of acreage in my heart.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

About the Author

Copyright

Chapter One

Dominic strolled down the sidewalk, face to the sky yet hyperaware of his surroundings. He knew this path, from parking garage to the club’s rear entrance. He’d walked it more than a thousand times. No doubt it would have been faster, maybe safer, to take the garage’s elevator, but he needed to see the stars. They served as a reminder of what his life had been—just as the vacuum where his wings had been did. Together the reminders kept him grounded.

He snorted. “Grounded. Prime word choice.”

A homeless guy crouched by the back door to Desire—Atlanta’s hottest nightclub. He looked up at Dominic and smiled, his mouth missing more teeth than it retained.

“Hey, Pistol Pete. How’s it hangin’?” Digging through his pockets, Dominic pulled out a twenty and tossed it into the guy’s grungy plastic cup. “Tuck that away. I’ll order a pizza and have it delivered out here, cool?”

The man mumbled his thanks and a generic blessing.

Dominic waved him off. Thanks he could handle. Blessings got a little sticky, though. He rolled his shoulders, drew in a deep breath and blew it out through pursed lips. Time to put on his public persona.

Pasting a congenial smile on his face, he shoved through the doors to the nightclub.

His gig as head of security was pretty tight. Griff, the owner and an incubus, and Seth, the general manager and a rare type of djinn called an ifrit, were awesome to work for. They’d even become friends over the years.

“An incubus, djinn and nephilim walk into a bar,” Dominic called through the silent club.

Seth stepped out from behind the bar, wiping his hands on a towel. “The djinn is clearly superior and would never serve as the butt of a fallen angel’s moronic joke. Since the incubus is currently upstairs getting laid, he can be the fall guy.” They met on the empty dance floor and gripped hands, thumping each other on the back.

Breaking away, Dominic pushed his hair off his face. “So Griff’s upstairs with Bailey, huh?” He was glad the two had—finally—hooked up. It seemed like they’d found the real deal. The happy-crappy stuff could choke him a little at times, but he’d suck it up for Griff’s sake. Bailey’s, too, for that matter. That he was a little—or a lot—jealous of what they seem to have found so easily wasn’t anyone’s business but his own.

“We still on for poker at your place Sunday?”

“Yeah. And Griff’ll be there if I have to roll his naked ass up in a sheet and drag him out of that apartment.” Seth considered him, his stare a mask of collected calm. “As for you? No cheating this week, asshole.” Without warning, he cracked Dominic’s thigh with the bar towel.

Dominic danced backward, rubbing the stinging spot. “Ow! That hurt, bitch.”

The djinn chuckled as he turned to the bar. “For such a big guy, you’re a complete wuss. Sometimes I have to wonder if you really were a battle angel. You could have been a gardener for all I know.”

“And for a genie, your servitude button’s broken. Whoever rubbed your bottle must have been pissed at the payback.”

Seth glanced over his shoulder as he slid behind the slick mahogany counter. “I don’t serve anyone but myself, my friend.”

“Whatevs.” Pulling out his cell, Dominic hit speed dial for the pizza joint around the corner as he walked into his office. “Mike, it’s Dom. I need an extra-large supreme, and load it up.” He shuffled papers on his desk. “Charge it to my card on file and deliver it to the guy outside the back door. Oh, and throw in an order of those cheesy breadstick things. And a Coke.” Dominic shook his head and chuckled at Mike’s smart-ass reply. “You should know better than to insult a guy who’s six-nine and bench presses Volkswagens—plural. One of these days I’m gonna go Hulk on your ass.” He let the guy ramble for a second. The portly old man talked shit he could never back up, but he was a good guy. Dom finally interrupted. “Keep this between us and add your regular thirty percent tip. ’Night.”

The way his chair creaked when he dropped into it sounded ominous, like the rickety thing was simply biding its time before dumping him on his ass. Might be. Everyone teased him about the need to replace the decrepit piece of junk. They might have had a point. Its wheels constantly fell off and the arms were held on by duct tape. He couldn’t do it, though. The chair meant something to him, represented his time at Desire. It had been new when he was new, both at the club and on this plane. “And here I am getting sentimental over a piece of office equipment. I need professional help.”

Dominic glanced at his watch. Fifteen minutes to opening. The crowds would have already built, the line to the entrance trailing down the block. He shoved out of the chair, his shaft semierect behind professionally faded denim, and headed for the main entrance. “Let’s fight the good fight, my man, and see what we take home tonight.”

* * *

Rhyan’s days were numbered. If she wanted to regain her place in the Realm of Angels, she had to make a choice, commit to one of two paths. She could hide in her barren apartment and pray that the Caste relieved her of her charge, but the governing body of seven high angels wasn’t known for their compassion. Besides, groveling and pleading had never been her style. Second option? She could suck it up and do what the Caste had persuaded her to do—gather intel on the only nephilim to defy cosmic law and retain many of his angelic powers after falling.

There could be a variety of reasons, she supposed, from deals with the League—Hell’s own ruling body—to some aspect of the Divine’s plan. Whatever the explanation, she had no doubt the Caste intended to destroy him as soon as they understood him.

Striking the deathblow wouldn’t be her responsibility. That had been the only concession she’d been able to garner from Ramiel, the Caste’s leader. Token relief at best. To save herself, all she had to do was glean the truth from the nephilim and report her findings. Then the Caste would act according to Realm law. But since no fallen angel had ever managed what this one had, Rhyan was sure no law existed. That cleared the way for the Caste to deem him a threat and execute him.

Technically, though, that wasn’t all. They had also demanded she deny temptation while she was here. It sounded good in theory, but there was one fatal flaw. She had a history of reveling in temptation and giving in. Each time. Every time.

And isn’t that the very reason you find yourself here, settled unwillingly in the path of an unknown immortal while acting at the behest of a governing body you despise?

Her conscience, a nearly sentient thing, sucked ass.

Language.

“Screw you. He’s not unknown.” Not really, anyway. Stories had been circulating for more than three centuries about a fallen angel who looked like sin and moved like wind. She’d given in to temptation’s siren call and sought him out, watching him from between planes of existence. The rumors hadn’t done him justice. Wanting him had proven easy. Staying away? Impossible. Returning to watch him had become a compulsion she couldn’t ignore, her craving for him illogical yet unstoppable. He represented everything she craved, from strength to freedom.

“Shakespeare had one thing right,” she muttered. “This way madness lies. Tally ho.”

Stalking down the sidewalk like it was a Milan runway during Fashion Week, she disregarded the humans’ undisguised fascination with her.

Music cut through the raucous sounds of Saturday night traffic and pedestrian partiers. A stranger paused and offered to buy her a drink. She passed with a shake of her head. Gripping her clutch tighter, she stepped into the street and looked around. Anxiety strangled her guilt. Anticipation drowned her trepidation.

There.

Blue neon lights blazed, wrapping around the corner of the building in a vivid nebula. She could see a line of people weaving back and forth as the patrons shifted from foot to foot, awaiting entrance. Women wore heels as high as hers and dresses even shorter. Men sported everything from jeans to dress slacks, sneakers to Ferragamos.

Desire. The fallen’s dance club. Music pumped through the open door. The throbbing bass made her heart beat faster before settling between her legs. Her nipples tightened to aching points. Her clothes scraped against nerves gone raw with wanting. Her hips swiveled. Her long hair slithered across exposed skin.

In the five weeks, two days, thirteen hours and forty-seven minutes she’d spent in this city, she’d been here again and again. And before that, when she’d watched the nephilim of her own accord? A sharp shake of her head. No time to think about that right now.

She moved toward the door. Every caress of the senses, every stranger’s accidental touch, every sound of riotous pleasure that wove through the crowd fueled her need. Their lust smelled like frankincense—that familiar pine and lemon scent hovering over undertones of something woody and earthen.

A shroud of undiluted sensuality settled around her, tempting her with dark promises of physical contact, sweat-slicked skin and primal sex. Her lids slid to half-mast. The tip of her tongue traced her lips’ full contours. Temptation had a taste—rich yet delicate, effervescent yet colossal. Those who argued had simply never tasted it. And those who had? They always hungered for more.

Someone plowed into her back, knocking her out of the madness that rode her. She stumbled forward and nearly fell. Unfamiliar hands caught and righted her.

“You guys watch your shit back there or you’re blacklisted. We clear?” that deep voice shouted. “Desire’s policy on the treatment of women inside the club extends to everyone waiting in line, too.” A few grumbles made their way forward. The man turned on the crowd, a lone but powerful voice in a sea of desperation. “You don’t like it? Leave.”

She straightened her dress. “You could incite a riot—” the first thing that registered was the length of his legs “—if you insist on making them conform to rules—” then there was the V of his narrow waist and the breadth of his chest, broad shoulders, thick arms, a veritable mane of blond hair “—before they ever make it inside—” and, may the Divine save her, that face “—Desire.”

Chapter Two

Dominic took her in, one hungry visual gulp at a time. She wore vermillion, patent leather stilettos yet moved with controlled, fluid grace. No teetering. Her bare legs were a deep golden brown, perfectly smooth and impossibly long. A slim yet well-rounded ass was hidden by her slip dress. Her backless slip dress. He swallowed hard. The nip of her waist over the flare of her hips made his fingers curl in on his palms as he fought the urge to settle his hands just there. Thick, ebony hair so wavy it would curl irrepressibly if shorn, spilled down her back. Breasts... Dear heavens, her full, full breasts. His mouth was suddenly drier than desert sand during a drought. Eyes the color of pale spring skies were ringed in sooty lashes and stared at him expectantly.

“Hell’s bells and a marching band, too. You’re a five-alarm blaze that’ll burn a man to the ground before help arrives.” He whipped his hands away and stepped back, plowing through the VIP ropes. His eyes never left her face. Considering her, and his reaction to her, he wanted to run headlong into the stone wall. Only verifiable brain damage could excuse his behavior. What the hell is wrong with you? She’s clearly a woman, a species over which you have admitted influence and considerable charm, so charm her.

Dominic straightened, ignoring the mangled ropes as he moved back into her gravitational pull. “I owe you an apology. I normally wait until after our guests have paid their cover to act like an ass.”

A genuine, genuinely wicked smile spread across her face.

He forced himself to wink. “Look at me like that, sweetheart, and I’m putty in your hands.” Great. Fabulous. As wide as his eyes had been, he probably looked like an owl with an ocular abnormality. “Let me buy you a drink.”

Her lips twitched. “I don’t drink.”

“Sit with me while I drink then, because I need to rinse away the grit that accompanied the act of sticking my foot so far down my throat.” He gestured her through the club’s open doors with a sweep of one arm.

“What about my cover?” She unsnapped her clutch and plucked out a twenty, holding it lightly between her first two fingers.

“You’ve already been abused, sweets. Charging you twice for the privilege would be nothing less than highway robbery. I’ve been many things in life, but never a thief.” The chime of her laughter, so ebullient and sincere, left him hungry to hear it again. “Club’s non-smoking. That a problem?” He settled a hand beneath the swing of her hair and across the bare skin of her lower back under the guise of threading her through the crowd.

“I don’t smoke,” she called back, sparing him a brief, clearly amused glance.

“You don’t drink, you don’t smoke. Let me guess, you don’t eat, either.” She didn’t answer him, but her muscles tightened beneath his fingertips. “Not a problem since we only stock pretzels and self-serve peanuts.”

She looked over her shoulder, confused. “What are self-serve peanuts?”

One edge of his mouth kicked up. “We cull ’em, you hull ’em.” Things low in his body tightened at her indelicate snort. He’d never left a shift early to bed his take. Tonight might be a first.

Moving deeper into the dark blues and steel grays of the club’s interior, more people seemed inclined to speak to him. More male people. He leaned in close to keep from shouting at her. “Grab that table right there—” he gestured to a semi-circular booth in the VIP section “—and let me make some arrangements.”

She moved away without hesitation, weaving through the crowd as if she were totally oblivious to the crowd’s awareness of her.

Seth moved up next to him, casting her an appreciative stare. “What’s tonight’s flavor?”

Dominic glanced at the annoyingly exotic-looking djinn before turning back to watch her settle into the booth, her short dress riding explicitly high. “No idea, and frankly? I don’t care. You can just call me Baskin-Robbins.”

Seth spared him a glance. “Baskin-Robbins? As in ice cream?”

“Hell, yes.” He casually crossed his arms. “I’ve got all thirty-one flavors covered, my friend. There’s no combination she can throw at me tonight that’s going to stop me from getting every serving of dairy on my food pyramid for the next six months.”

The other man’s deep, rolling laugh drew curious, though covert, looks. Seth would never be voted Mr. Congeniality, but if someone ever came up with a Rico Suave-Mediterranean Style award, the guy was a shoe in. He was free with his smiles, but they rarely met his eyes. Even with friends. He talked the talk, walked the walk and kept a safe distance between him and everyone around him. He claimed it piqued women’s curiosity. There must have been some truth to that because he had a rumored black book full of names, but he was nothing if not discreet.

Dominic jerked his head back, considering. “Look, man. I’m not gonna front. I’m standing here trying to figure out if you’re prettier than I am, or a flat-out better lay. What the hell kind of cologne do you wear?”

Seth turned to look at him with wide, expressionless eyes and slowly shook his head. “I’m telling you the same thing I told Griff. If you guys don’t stop flirting and pushing my boundaries, I’m going to have to try one of you on for size.”

Dom threw his hands up in a stop-motion gesture. “She’s yours. I get it.”

He dipped his chin with a jerk. “Glad we had this talk.”

Seth clapped him on the back. “Take the rest of the night to drink, dance and blow off a little steam.”

The irreverent thought crossed Dom’s mind unbidden.

Hopefully, if anything’s getting blown tonight, it’s me...

* * *

Rhyan watched the curious exchange between the two ridiculously gorgeous men, one light, one dark, both sensually inviting. It was the nephilim she was here for. Even if she hadn’t been compelled, she would have been attracted to him. Had been attracted to him. Everything about the man matched her physical preferences according to the nameless profile she’d created on the dating site www.meatmen.net. Of course, she didn’t really think the site focused on intellectual qualifications so much as...as... Crap. She was blushing, and she never blushed. Though she considered herself one of the more liberal angels, that site had taught her a few things she wished she could un-know.

Refocusing, she realized the fallen angel had started toward her. The idea of a drink suddenly sounded good. She needed something to do with her hands, something other than reach for the most virile man she’d ever encountered. Gabriel had to have known she’d be forced to court temptation. Had he wanted her to fail? If so, why?

Her companion hooked a passing barmaid by the belt loop and placed an order, his casual flirting and easygoing manner worn like a second skin. Understanding happened with a clarity she’d lacked until now. Confidence. That was one of the things she found so wildly attractive about him. And that’s what the silly website had been missing. Men could package their testosterone-filled, cock-wagging, ball-dragging, alpha male profiles a hundred different ways, but what it came down to was the very thing this blond Adonis had in abundance.

He started toward her again, eyes warming as he looked at her.

Rhyan smiled before dipping her head and tucking her hands in her lap. She was well aware she walked the finest of lines between managing her assignment and giving in to her favorite brand of temptation. His.

Dread cartwheeled down her spine without warning, coming to rest at the small of her back. Her scalp prickled. She lifted her eyes and let her gaze roam around the club. Someone was watching her. The more stares she met, the more she realized it would be impossible to tell who had made her uncomfortable. No doubt the Caste had positioned at least one Watcher on her to report her progress. The idea pissed her off. She’d have to do her very best to give them something worthy of reporting. Simple as that.

If it’s so simple, why are you sweating?

Her lips thinned. She rubbed her damp palms against the negligent fabric of her dress. “Shut. Up.”

The blond stopped in front of her, forehead wrinkling. “Everything okay?”

Deep breaths accompanied the hidden, nervous tapping of her fingers against the outside of her thigh and fed the illusion that all was right in her world. Punctuating the facade with a bright smile rounded out the deception.

“Care to dance?”

“Dance?” Cold sweat prickled in her hairline.

One corner of his mouth curled up. “You know. Dance. Get your groove on. Shake your moneymaker. Bump and grind.” He looked at the sound booth and gave a finite nod. “Or, as the case may be, simply define the rhythm between two bodies moving toward a common goal.”

The song that started up was a direct departure from the heavy rock of moments before. A techno beat by Clint Mansell replaced the franticness, slowed the writhing mass of humanity until they moved together in an oddly symbiotic interpretive dance. The problem? Everything they interpreted in front of her was spoken in the language of uninhibited bodies. Consequences were measured, weighed and discarded, hands freed to caress skin, tongues to trace lips, bodies to move with sinuous pleasure. Two bodies moving toward a common goal.

She shot him a wide-eyed stare. Her unfettered breasts heaved beneath the draped halter of her dress. Looking down would have only drawn attention to her peaked nipples. She stood.

He stepped in close. In spite of her heels, he still managed to look down at her. “Name’s Dominic.”

“I... Rhyan.”

“Nice name.”

“Nice ass.”

His lips quirked and revealed twin dimples. “Song’ll be over before we get out there if you don’t light a fire under it, Rhyan.”

“And that would be a bad thing.” The words hung somewhere between a statement and a question.

Dominic moved closer. “I’d hate like hell to miss such an irresistible opportunity.” He held out a hand, inadvertently brushing her bare thigh with his fingers.

“Irresistible?” She slid her hand into his.

His fingers curled around hers, solid, warm and calloused. “Without a doubt.” He backed toward the dance floor without looking behind him, his size a catalyst that encouraged people to move out of the way. The weighted knowledge of his gaze said he knew exactly what he was playing at.

Well, so did she. And the heavens either smiled down or Hell peered up in the way of music. The opening guitar cords for Saving Abel’s “The Sex is Good” began. She blinked slowly, once, twice—her hips began to swivel—three times. Her arms snaked over her head. Turning away from Dominic, she gave herself over to the music, let it weave through the fiber of her being and turn her body into a sinuous column of perpetual motion.

Broad hands settled lightly on her hips at the same time that huge, capable body slid in behind her. He pulled her close. The way his hair fell forward over her bare shoulder and traced the upper swell of her breast encouraged her to reach behind her, grasp his head and pull him closer.

Thoughts ricocheted through her mind with a mental rat-a-tat-tat rhythm. She had a job to do. He smelled crisp and hot and clean. She needed to resist the urge to fall into his arms. He held her in his hands with care. She had to figure out who he’d bargained with to retain his angelic powers. He had no wings. She hungered for his touch. He touched her now, brushing one hand up her bare arm and moving her hair aside to touch his lips to the hollow beneath her ear. She had craved him from the first moment she’d seen him. He wanted her now. She couldn’t go much longer without knowing what he tasted like. His tongue traced a line between neck and shoulder.

The effect was electrifying. Rhyan let him turn her chin toward him.

He didn’t lower his lips to hers, despite her silent plea that he take the choice from her. That he make this about following his lead to get where she needed to go instead of choosing her own path. Instead, he let possibility weave an invisible spell around them. Lust’s gossamer threads pulled taught. Proved unbreakable. Panted breaths collided in that finite space between her lips and his. He smelled of rum, expensive cologne and burgeoning sexual appetite.

Blue eyes blazed, roaming over her in a proprietary way. It was the look a man gave a car he intended to test drive but had no intention of bringing home.

Understanding blazed through her, burning off her desire while the truth lashed her pride. All she’d wanted was to belong somewhere, to someone, and she’d foolishly let herself believe Dominic could be her heart’s moor. In truth, she didn’t belong here. She didn’t belong to this man. She didn’t belong in the Realm. No matter where she went, she ended up a pawn.

The Caste thought to use her to bring Dominic down. Dominic thought to use her for a night of pleasure. The League would pounce on her the moment an opportunity presented itself. Wasn’t it about time she took a little something for herself? The Caste would get their precious information, but she’d glean it her way. And Dominic would have his lusts slaked, because she was going to seduce him. The League could kiss her ass. The players needed to learn she wasn’t disposable. Her lovely dance partner would be her first pupil.

Someone hand me an apple, she thought, because I’m about to take the nephilim to school.

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