Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“I did. Sort of.”
A hotly sexual gleam in his eyes, he slid onto the cushioned bench opposite her. “How’d the job go?” The question was so casual and light, totally at contrast to the intense I am going to fuck the holy hell out of you look he pinned her with.
Her belly fluttered. “Smoothly.”
He slowly leaned forward—the simple move making an effervescent tension tauten the air—and braced his lower arms on the table. “Tell me about it,” he urged, his voice low and deep and intimate as it brushed over her skin.
She wasn’t sure how he did that. Maybe it was that his power bled into his voice, making it seem tangible. But sometimes, when he spoke to her a certain way, she honestly felt like his voice touched her. Stroked her. Teased her. As if it had vocal fingertips.
“A human thought that Bloody Mary was on his ass. Turns out it was his ex—a demon, though he didn’t know that—using a glamor spell to fake her appearance.”
His mouth quirked. “I take it you’ve put a stop to the problem.” Not a question. A confident statement.
“I have.” She tipped her chin at her box of fries in invitation.
A little warmth leaked into his gaze, mingling with the sexual promise there. He took a fry and shoved it into his mouth.
As she bit into her own, his eyes drifted down to her lips. Stared. Heated. Darted back up to meet her gaze. “You get jobs like that a lot?” he asked.
She might have told him to stop with the small talk, except … this wasn’t mere chit-chat. His interest was genuine. He was also enjoying letting the tension simmer. She had to admit, it was ratcheting up her nerves.
“I’ve consulted with people who think either they, or someone around them, has been cursed in some way. But Bloody Mary? That was a new element.” She cocked her head. “How did the club stuff go?”
“My night was pretty boring until I got your text.” He hummed. “I should have guessed you’d show up here so I’d have to meet you halfway.”
“Why should you have guessed? You don’t know me.”
“I’m good at reading people.” He dipped his head toward hers. “You should come with me.” It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a lure, plain and simple.
There was something so deeply compelling about his tone. She could almost think magick was at work. But there was no spell, no manipulation. Just a combination of his natural magnetism and the weight of sexual chemistry pressing down on her.
“Where would we go?”
The corner of his mouth tipped up. “Somewhere I can fuck you blind.”
She touched her lower lip with her tongue, her insides doing a happy jig; her demon smirking its approval.
“You on board with that?”
“If you’ll make it worth my while.”
“That I can do.”
“I’m quite sure you can, since you’ve done it before.”
At her capitulation, waves of relief, triumph, and pure male satisfaction rushed through Viper. His entity grinned, smug as a motherfucker. It wanted to take her to the bar’s office and bend her over the desk there. Viper had other plans.
Raised voices rang through the air, and he quickly realized two demons were raring to start a fight. Wanting Ella away from the trouble, he slid out of the booth and took a single step toward her. “Come,” he bid, holding out his hand.
Standing, she took it easily. The lack of hesitation on her part pleased Viper. It wasn’t quite an indication of trust, but it illustrated that she felt comfortable with him; that she was completely sure of her decision to give herself to him.
As he tugged her a little closer, the scent of her magick wrapped around him like perfume—heady, feminine, spiced with power. The urge to dip his head into the crook of her neck and drag that scent all the way into his lungs near took him over.
Instead, he led her behind the bar and away from prying eyes, not wanting others to see as he teleported them out of there—he didn’t broadcast his abilities. When they abruptly appeared in his bedroom, she jerked slightly as their surroundings changed.
“You can teleport. This explains how you got to the bar so fast.” She scanned their new surroundings, her gaze brushing over the bare white walls and basic oak furnishings. “Are we at your clubhouse?”
Viper didn’t move his eyes from her as he shed his jacket. “Yes.” He tossed it on the armchair.
She flicked a look at the large bed. “This is your room?”
“It is.”
“You’re surprisingly neat.”
Viper noticed her pulse beating fast in her throat. He found that little show of nerves delicious. It made his dick—already full and aching—throb in the confines of his jeans; made the predatory streak in his entity come to life.
“I’m gonna take a guess at something,” he said. “You’re used to taking the lead in the bedroom.”