Page 40 of Craving Demons
I knew part of that was her aspect, but I was certain even without all the lust and desire raging around me, I’d find her hot.
Today she had her hair up in a rough ponytail and even without makeup on she was beautiful. She wore tight jeans, riding low on her full hips, and a T-shirt that didn’t quite reach low enough, revealing a sliver of her toned belly. And there, on her pale skin, peeking through between the bits of clothes, was a tattoo: a rose. It was just the top, the rest hiding under her jeans.
Fuck, that was hot. The tattoo, the sliver of skin. All of it.
Now if only I could appreciate her beauty without this raging hard-on that made me want to tear off her clothes and do her up against that wall.
“What do you want?” she asked, sounding vaguely annoyed.
Aaaand that was the problem with her power.
As much as it made me fucking hot for her, it didn’t make her hot for me, so I was just an annoyance.
I had a lot of ground to cover if I wanted to win her over and pry her away from Grey and Fen. Fen had charisma and the ladies loved him. Grey was a moron when it came to women, but he had that tall, dark, and brooding vibe that made women fall for him, even while he remained oblivious. As for me? I was just a brute.
“I’m here to set up our date.”
“Date?” she said, a cute little line forming between her brows. Then she sighed and rolled her eyes. “Right, we need to be seen together.” As if that was going to be a chore.
Fuck me. I tried not to let my pent-up frustration — from dealing with her uncle, and from the sex I wasn’t going to be getting even though my body was demanding it — affect me, and could only pray my smile came across as genuine.
“Yeah. I figured we could have a nice dinner, then, just to be sure we’re seen by other Empyreans, there’s a place we can go. But I’d like to keep it a surprise.” I hoped she liked surprises.
“Dinner sounds good,” she said. “As for surprises, it better be a good one.”
And suddenly I was doubting that she’d like my sort of surprise. I’d hoped to take her to one of the underground Empyrean fights, which was one of the few outlets for my strife.
“And what’s an Em-peer-ee-an?” She was sounding out the word. “Is that like a daemon?”
I nodded. “Yeah, since daemon sounds so much like demon and that has a negative connotation these days, some of the younger generation decided to give us a new name. It’s a term which encompasses gods and daemons alike.”
“Ah.” She still seemed a bit standoffish about anything to do with daemons, as if she were afraid of what she was. But I could understand that. A lot of humans didn’t react well to knowing we were out there. It had to be even more difficult learning she was one of us.
“Is that it?” she asked. “If so, just text me when and where for dinner and I’ll be there.”
“I’ll pick you up,” I said.
“Do you have a chauffeur like Grey?” she asked with one raised brow.
“No, I drive my own car.” I liked to be in control, feeling the power of the engine and knowing I commanded over three thousand pounds of racing metal.
“I bet it’s some muscled-up Ferrari that you can’t even really drive in the city.”
Fuck. I bit back a groan. She could see right through me. “It’s a Lamborghini.”
She nodded as if that confirmed all her worst suspicions of me.
Double fuck.
She sighed. “Fine, should I dress up?” she said eyeing my suit.
Perhaps I could win this one. “No, casual is fine, I wear this for work, but I’m a simple guy most of the time.”
“Simple… yeah,” she scoffed.
I’d walked into that one.
Well, that had been an utter failure, time to make a calculated retreat — as Grey would put it — and plan for the next encounter. I was about to grab the doorknob to leave when a knock sounded on the door.