Heart of the Incubus

by Rosalie Lario

  When he walked toward the windows and pulled the curtain back to look outside, Genevieve followed. She stopped right beside him, prepared to wait him out. His fingers trembled slightly against the fabric.

  Wait, hadn’t they done that at dinner? And yesterday, too.

  Her brain finally processed what her eyes had been observing all along. She snatched his hand into hers without thinking about it. “When’s the last time you fed?”

  The quiver in his hand increased and splotches of pink colored his cheeks. He took a step back, trying to break free of her grip, but she didn’t let go.

  “How long, Cresso?”

  His body went stiff. “Three weeks, two days, four and a half hours.”

  Genevieve’s mouth dropped open. “Three weeks?”

  No. That couldn’t be possible.

  “But…I thought a month was the longest a sex demon could go without sustenance.”

  Cresso shrugged and succeeded in tugging his hand away. “Give or take a few days.”

  She didn’t even know how to process what he’d just said. It seemed inconceivable. “Why are you starving yourself?”

  He fidgeted and diverted his gaze. “Because it no longer holds the appeal it once did.”

  “What, staying alive?”

  A spark of temper colored his voice. “Casual sex.”

  “I don’t believe this.” She shook her head. “Your pool of potential partners has grown exponentially now that you developed a vaccine. I figured you would’ve slept your way through half of London by now. Wasn’t that why you wanted the vaccine to begin with?”

  His mouth dropped open and he gave her an incredulous glare. “You thought I…” He seemed to realize he’d raised his voice and broke off, stalking back into the center of the room. After clearing his throat, he faced her once again. “I wanted the vaccine because I promised my mother I’d find a cure.”

  “Your mother?”

  “My father left us when I was young. A few years later, my mother met another demon, a non-incubus. She fell in love with him. He was a really great guy. Like a dad to me, when I needed one the most.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Their relationship was difficult. They couldn’t consummate their love, no matter how desperately they wanted to, but they bonded with each other anyway—the demon equivalent of marriage. They went on for years like that, even though it killed him that she had to feed off other men to survive. But they loved each other enough to try to make it work. Until, one day, she just couldn’t control herself with him.”

  Oh, no. Genevieve’s hand crept to her mouth. “She killed him?”

  He gave her a curt nod. “It devastated her. She lost the will to live. I promised her on her deathbed that I’d find a cure, so that our kind are no longer monsters.”

  Monsters? Holy hell, all this time she’d never realized it. His desire for a cure wasn’t prompted by some playboy desire to sleep with every woman on Earth but by disgust over something he had no control of. He thought he was a monster. “Oh my God, Cresso.”

  “Now we have a vaccine, but I won’t stop until I find a permanent cure.”

  “Yet you’re starving yourself. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Shit.” He let out a bitter laugh and headed for the chest. When he leaned his hands against it, the muscles in his back flexed under the fabric of his shirt. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

  “No.” She crept forward until she stood beside him.

  After an agonizingly long moment, he broke the silence. “Do you remember the holiday party?”

  His unexpected words made her blink. “Yes?”

  “There was a moment when I saw you by the tree. The light caught you just right, and I saw you for what you truly are.”

  A thousand skinned animals couldn’t have torn her from his side right now. “What am I?”

  Cresso met her gaze for the first time since turning away. The intense look in his eyes seared her body with heat. “Stunning.”

  Her heart thumped hard against her ribs. “I…what?”

  “Something changed in me that day, Genevieve. You changed me.”

  Never in her wildest dreams would she have expected words like that to come out of his mouth. “I…I don’t understand.”

  A rueful expression crossed his face. “I’m not surprised.”

  Slivers of awareness trailed down her body. Not his allure, though she could feel that hanging in the air surrounding her, almost as if he were trying but failing to hold it in. But no, this emotion was all her own. Everything she’d held back within her since the first moment she’d seen him.

  Could he possibly feel the same way? Was she more to him than just another convenient food source?

  “Wh-what are you saying?” she stammered.

  Something flashed in his eyes. “I’m saying I want you.”

  Her heart lurched and an army of butterflies took flight in her stomach. When he straightened, the front of his shirt fell open, revealing his chest. Her gaze was drawn to it against her will. Hard, smooth, and muscular.

  God, she wanted him. More than she would’ve thought likely. And how could she help herself? The man was perfection. When she’d kept him at arm’s length, it had been possible to ignore. But now that she knew more about him, now that he’d bent over backward to help her? Shown her the decency that lay within the striking outer package?

  She didn’t stand a chance.

  He’ll break your heart.

  That went without saying. She had to do something, before it was too late.

  “You and I could never happen. For so many reasons.”

  His smile was a bitter one. “I thought you’d say that.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too.”

  When he dropped his gaze, a stray strand of hair fell to cover his face. He really should cut it, though she had to admit she’d miss it if he did.

  Genevieve lifted her hand without thinking, but when she tried to brush the lock from his face, her finger made contact with his skin. Sparks of electricity flowed up her arm. She snatched her hand back with a gasp, but the sound was drowned out by the growl he made deep in his throat.

  Before she could even process it, he closed the short distance between them. Eyes flashing, he snatched her into his arms, then ravaged her lips with his. She lifted her arms to fight him off, but they tangled in his hair instead. So soft and silky. She moaned into his mouth, and the sound seemed to excite him. He staggered forward until her back hit the wall.

  When he broke away, she let out an involuntary whimper of protest. But then his lips trailed down her throat, his mouth nipping and laving at the tender flesh there. Waves of allure buffeted her, making her wet beyond belief, and the heat coursing off his body fogged up her glasses. She forgot about her earlier protest, forgot that he was no good for her. Nothing mattered right now but the electrifying way he made her feel.

  “You taste so good,” he murmured into her neck.

  She tugged at his shirt until she heard the buttons pop, then yanked it off him. Her hands slid over the velvety skin of his shoulders. Warmer and more muscular than she’d imagined. The man was a masterpiece. Her nails dug into his flesh. “I want you so much.”

  He pulled back to throw her a look of surprise. “You do?”

  “Yes.” Much as she wanted to fight it. For the first time in so long, she felt beautiful. Special. All because of him.

  “I want you, too. More than you know, Gen. I can’t stop thinking of you. Dreaming of this.”

  He lowered his gaze to her chest, and one by one, he popped open the buttons of her silk pajama top. She bit her lip, knowing she should protest. But his fingers felt so good. She didn’t want to stop.

  “You’ve invaded my dreams. My thoughts. My whole world,” he murmured. “And you never even seemed to realize it.”

  No, she hadn’t. In fact, his words were blowing her mind.

  When he pulled her shirt open, the cool air caressed her
bare flesh, tightening her already stiff nipples even further. But then he bent and closed his mouth around one. Her body jerked and she cried out, winding her fingers through his hair. A pulse thrummed between her thighs and her muscles tensed with the beginnings of an orgasm.

  His mouth moved to her other breast, inflicting the same torture on it. Unbelievable.

  She yanked on his hair, holding him close to her. “Please don’t stop.”

  He let out a hoarse laugh. When he lifted her into his arms, she automatically wound her legs around his waist. Seemed like the thing to do. He groaned and moved them toward the couch.

  Lord, he was so hot and hard against her. The man did uncontrollable things to her system. Made her forget about everything but how much she wanted him, no matter the consequences. She wanted… She didn’t know what she wanted.

  No, that wasn’t true. She did know. She wanted more.

  He lowered her onto the couch and hovered over her. Her shaky fingers closed onto his belt before she even realized it. She undid it, then the top button of his slacks. But when she tried to pull the zipper down, he placed his hands over hers. “Gen.”

  She glanced at him. His pupils were dark and dilated, and his chest heaved with every breath. He was gorgeous, and from the hardness resting against her hand, extremely turned on. She didn’t want to stop. “What is it?”

  His chest trembled. “The vaccine. I brought some with me.”

  The vaccine? His words brought reality crashing down around her.

  She was about to have sex with an incubus. A man who needed sex to feed. Yes, he’d admitted to desiring her, but that wasn’t really any great sort of admission, was it? Of course he desired her—she was the equivalent of a good meal. His sweet words were nothing more than an extension of his incubus allure.

  He knew this was going to happen. Hell, she was probably the only clueless sucker who’d thought she could fight it. And if she had sex with him tonight, what would happen tomorrow? Surely once the novelty of sleeping with her wore off, he’d be anxious to resume his orgies with his other partners, and to find some new ones, too. What man in his right mind would give that up for dumpy old her?

  The memory of walking in on Jeffrey resurfaced. She’d always known he wasn’t the perfect man. He was self-involved and worked too much. But she’d never considered he might cheat on her, not until she’d seen it with her own two eyes. If she couldn’t keep him from straying, what chance did she have with a man like Cresso?

  None whatsoever.

  Cresso frowned and something soft and vulnerable crept into his eyes. “Gen?”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t.” She pushed him away. For a moment he resisted, but then he stepped back and straightened.

  “Why not?”

  What could she say? That he was a beautiful, vibrant being while she was a boring, stodgy human with at least ten pounds to lose and absolutely nothing to keep him interested in the bedroom?

  She pulled her top closed. “Be-because you’re an incubus.”

  He reeled as if he’d been slapped, and the hurt in his eyes made her long to take back the words. She bit her lip instead. It was better this way.

  “You’re right.” Cresso turned away from her. “I am an incubus. That will never change.”

  Genevieve swallowed back a sob. “I-I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too.”

  She rose and fled into her bedroom before she could disgrace herself any further. Throwing herself onto the bed, she buried her face in the covers to stifle the sounds escaping her throat. How could she have made the horrible mistake of allowing Cresso to touch her? Not just physically, but emotionally.

  Jeffrey was one thing. His betrayal had stung deep, but she’d picked herself up off the floor and moved on with her life. If she gave Cresso her heart and he crushed it, as he would inevitably do…

  She wouldn’t survive it.

  …

  Close to an hour later, Genevieve’s muffled cries finally subsided. Cresso listened in from where he lay on the bed in the connecting room. She probably hadn’t registered that he’d be able to hear her from this distance, especially with her door closed, but demons had far more acute hearing than humans did. Sometimes he forgot how new she was to his world.

  Her occasional hiccup told him she’d fallen asleep at last, so he rubbed his face and tried to figure out how the hell he’d turned into such an asshole.

  No wonder Genevieve had cried herself to sleep. She had to be feeling beyond vulnerable with a stalker on her heels. And what had he gone and done? He’d wrapped his allure around her like the incubus version of a date-rape drug and taken advantage of her in her weakened state.

  He deserved to be gutted. Beheaded.

  This was the lowest he’d ever sunk, and he’d had some major lows before.

  Why did you have to go and touch her? You knew better.

  The simple answer was he just couldn’t help himself. Even knowing she was too good for him, he hadn’t been able to resist. The memory of her aroused scent curled around him like a fist, making his stomach clench and his dick go hard. The damn thing would never allow him to fall sleep.

  He couldn’t do this to Gen anymore, or to himself. What if he couldn’t control himself next time they were alone? He might force her. Not physically. His incubus allure would wear her down far before it came to that. But she wouldn’t really want it. And that would be tantamount to rape.

  No getting around it—he had to feed…even if his heart rebelled at the thought.

  Chapter Eight

  When the hotel phoned in its wake-up call early the next morning, it took Genevieve a second to remember where she was. Then it hit her. Last night. The skinned raccoon. The hotel.

  Making out with Cresso.

  “Oh, God.” She buried her head under the pillow. Maybe if she closed her eyes and went back to sleep, she’d forget all about it.

  No good. That just made her recall the crazy dreams she’d had last night. Suffice it to say, in her sleep, she hadn’t turned him down.

  How was she going to face him today? Much as she’d like to pretend it had never happened, something had to be said about what they’d almost done last night. She couldn’t really tell him the truth; it would reveal too much. If only she didn’t want him so badly. But she did, and that meant she couldn’t give him the chance to break her heart.

  Dread clogged her throat as she dressed for work and smoothed her hair into a loose ponytail. Getting a tooth pulled would be more pleasant than facing Cresso right now, but she couldn’t very well hide in here all day.

  “Suck it up,” she whispered. Taking a deep breath, she flung the door open.

  Cresso stood on the other side, in front of the breakfast table. A flicker of emotion lined his face at the sight of her, but it was gone before she could identify it. He paused in the process of buttoning his dress shirt and motioned to the tray of croissants and coffee that had been set up on top of the table. “Morning. I noticed you’re not much of a breakfast eater, so I only ordered a few things.”

  There he went, being sweet again. “Thank you. I’ll grab some stuff to go.”

  They walked in tense silence to the car. Lord, what he must think of her. Leading him on like that and then pulling away. Maybe he thought she’d done it on purpose, to torture him.

  By the time they pulled out into traffic, she couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m sorry,” she said at the same time he said, “I want to apologize.”

  Cresso glanced at her. “Just hear me out, okay?”

  Now that she’d gotten up the nerve to speak, she wanted to get it out, but he looked like he needed to go first. “All right.”

  “Last night…what I did was unforgiveable.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  His fingers drummed on the wheel, and he stared straight ahead. “I took advantage of you when you were vulnerable. There’s no excuse for it.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “No, you didn’t.” When he s
hot her a glance that said he clearly didn’t believe her, she added, “I’m an adult. I knew what I was getting into. If anyone should be sorry, it’s me for leading you on.”

  Cresso wearily rubbed at the back of his neck. “My allure drew you in. It wasn’t intentional on my part, I swear. But there wasn’t any way you could resist, and it’s getting harder and harder for me to contain it.” He let out a dry chuckle. “Like I said, monster.”

  Ah, so that’s what this was about. He thought he’d forced her to do something she didn’t really want to do. How could she make him understand?

  She reached across the space and grasped his hand. “I don’t know what my feelings toward you would be if you weren’t an incubus, but your allure is just one of the small things about you. It has nothing to do with your brilliance or your kindness. You’re a good man, and that more than anything is what calls to me.”

  He met her gaze with a searing look. “But you still don’t think I’d be able to remain faithful. To you.”

  Whoa, he was really laying all the cards on the table. She tugged her hand out of his and licked her lips nervously. Her stomach gave an anxious flop, and she pressed down on it. “I don’t know if that’s in your nature, but I know I don’t have it in me to find out.”

  Cresso was quiet for a long time before he finally responded. “Gen, I’m not him. I’m not the man who hurt you. I know there’s nothing I can say or do to convince you of that right now, but I wouldn’t do the things he did to you.”

  “I…” Wait, had she ever mentioned her ex to him? “How do you know all this? How do you know about Jeffrey?”

  He stiffened, his fingers tightening on the wheel.

  “What?” She sat forward in her seat and stared at him intently. “What is it?”

  “Demons have the ability to telepathically communicate with humans. It’s called dreamscaping. I…” He fidgeted. “I may have accidentally stumbled into your dreams once or twice.”

  Stumbled into my dreams? “How do I not know this? How do the other scientists not know?”

  “Telepathic communication between different species hasn’t been thoroughly studied. Taeg’s father learned about this ability some time ago, but he never shared his discovery. And all my focus has been on this vaccine, so…”