Page 36 of Craving Demons
I blinked. That was an oddly specific — and very large — amount.
“It would take me a few days to liquidize some holdings, but I could get that sum,” I said. “What do you need it for?”
“Ah… n-nothing… I was just…” she replied. “Would you really do that? For me?”
I shrugged, fighting the urge to nod and grin like an idiot because there was a possibility that I could give something to her. “Yeah. It’s not an insignificant amount, but I’m worth far more than that.”
“But you hardly know me.”
I raised a hand, tentatively, knowing I’d already seriously overstepped this evening. I moved it slowly to her face and when she didn’t flinch away, softly cupped her cheek and chin.
That thing inside me, the strange emotions—joy and fulfillment—sang with pleasure at the contact.
“You’re right,” I told her. “But sometimes the heart knows well before the mind does. My heart is telling me I can trust you.” I stroked a wayward lock of that silvery-blond hair back over her ear. “I’d also like to spend more time with you. Real time. Not just time to keep the façade going.”
Her breath picked up, her pupils dilating with desire.
“I’d like that too,” she said softly, offering me a warm smile. “I think you’re going to need to fire your HR team after this.”
“Technically it’s Harmonia who runs the club, even though I own it,” I said with a chuckle. “Hiring and firing are her decisions, so I think we’re safe.”
She licked her lips and the movement of her tongue across those full, plump lips made my heart twinge and my body shiver.
“I… look forward to it,” she said and our gazes locked for a long moment.
I wasn’t sure what she wanted. Did she want me to trample over her no man vow and take control or not? I certainly knewIwanted to kiss those soft lips. But with Harmonia’s rules firmly in place, I wouldn’t. I’d wait. Besides, she wasn’t just some conquest. She was something more. And I sure as Hades wasn’t going to fuck it up by behaving like a caveman. It was bad enough I’d just spilled my heart to her.
“Thank you,” she said. Then she slipped out of the car in a rush and hurried up the steps to the door of her brownstone.
With a groan, I dropped my head on the back of the seat. I desperately needed to hold someone or, since she was gone and currently off bounds, something. It would be a far cry from Ana, but I knew my pup, Kerberos, would be happy to see me.
“Home,” I said to the chauffeur, that thing in my stomach rising into my chest and starting to ache.
Is this what love feels like?
ANAIS
I was too flusteredto sleep and couldn’t stop tossing and turning in bed.
Grey had asked me out for real, and what he’d said… well, he’d said everything short of, “I love you, Ana.” He’d seemed so desperately curious when he’d asked:If I was a potential suitor, assuming you weren’t off men, what would you think of me?
It was clear he’d been serious, especially given everything he’d said to me, and I’d been a flustered mess with no clue how to respond.
God, he hadn’t even batted an eye when I’d asked for a quarter of a billion dollars.
It would take me a few days to liquidize some holdings.A few days! Like he just had to search under the couch cushions or something.
I bit back a hysterical laugh. People like me didnotknow people like him.
I was supposed to be off men then along comes this gorgeous — and very powerful — man who was practically throwing himself at me.
The entire time I was with him, my heart had been a rampaging mess of flirty highs and what-the-fuck red flags, and my pussy hadn’t been able to decide whether it was a bank vault or a slip-and-slide.
Also, demons!
Daemons, I could practically hear Harmonia’s voice correcting me.
They were daemons.