Her lips parted in surprise. “What?”

“They’re dead, or they know that if they don’t want to be dead, they’ll stay away from you.” He brushed back her hair. “When you fell, I didn’t want one of them finding you first, so I made sure that word spread—you’re protected. Always.” His lips twisted. “Besides, that was the deal, right?”

The deal. She remembered another night. Same club. Different fear.

“I keep my deals,” he told her as his gaze searched hers.

Yes, she knew he did, no matter how deadly those deals were.

“You helped me to find my brother, and now, if you want your freedom, I won’t stop you.”

Seline shook her head. “Do you think I went to all the trouble of falling . . . of having my wings burned off . . . just so that I could walk away from you?”

He blinked. Then his hands smoothed up her back. Through her blouse, she could feel the light pressure of his fingertips on her scars. Pleasure whispered over her.

Oh, wow.

Seline licked her lips. “I figure you owe me, Fallen.”

His mouth kicked up in just the faintest smile, and she was sure his eyes lightened. “Seems you told me that before.”

“Well, yeah, I did. Because every time I turn around, you’re owing me.” She tried to sound cocky and assured, but Seline suspected he saw right through her act.

“I’ll give you anything.”

“That’s sure a different tune now.” She’d had to fight her way to get his agreement before.

“I’m different. You made me that way.” His fingers were still tracing her scars, and little shivers skirted over her body. “Say it, and it’s yours. Tell me what you want.”

Okay. Screw the speech she’d planned. Seline decided to just tell him what was in her heart. “I want you.” Not for a day or a few weeks. “I want to stay with you forever.”

His breath expelled in a rush. “You’ve got me.” His mouth took hers, and the desire whipped through her blood. “Sweetheart, you had me from the moment you came into my dreams and stopped the nightmares.”

Ah, what? She pulled back and frowned at him. “You—you thought I was trying to kill you then.”

“Yes.” He smiled at her. A real smile, one that made her heart feel funny.

She shook her head, still a little confused. “You thought I wanted to kill you, and you still—”

“Thought you were sexy as all sin.”

He would know about sin.

A growl rumbled at the door, and then something hit the wood—hit it hard enough to send a long crack racing along the frame.

Seline tensed. That growl, oh, crap, not again . . . She knew that deep rumble that sounded like thunder from hell.

Hell.

“He’s probably waited as long as he can,” Sam said as he lifted her off his lap.

“He?” He could not mean—

The door was shaking now, because something was hitting it very, very hard.

“Um, yes, you got yourself a male hound.” Showing no fear, Sam strolled away. “When you went back upstairs, you left me a present.”

No, she hadn’t. Not deliberately, anyway.

Sam opened the door.

A giant mass of black fur raced inside the room. The hellhound hurried toward her, growling and—jeez, was that some kind of really scary hellhound smile? The beast’s tongue—long and black—hung out, and the hound sure seemed to be grinning at her.

Seline held out her hand. The hound bent his head and rubbed against her fingers. No attack. Just . . . warmth. Welcome. “How is he still here?”

Sam smiled at her again. Oh, damn, but that man was gorgeous. “You told him to protect me. You didn’t send him back.”

No, but—

“So he’s been here, with me, waiting for you.” Sam came closer and gave the massive hellhound a scratch behind his ears. “He’s really not so bad, not once you get to know him.”

Seline stared down at the beast. He looked back up at her with his blood-red eyes.

Pain. Blood. Death.

The hound whined and butted her lightly with his head.

“He doesn’t want you to be afraid,” Sam said quietly. “And neither do I.” He squared his shoulders. “You said you loved me.”

The hound lay down on the floor and stared up at them.

“I love you more than anything or anyone on this earth—or beyond it,” Sam told her.

Okay, that sweet-talk was exactly what she wanted to hear. Seline eased over the hound and put her arms around Sam’s shoulders. “Good . . . because that’s the same way I feel about you.”