by Mia Downing
“It’s Saturday.”
His brows furrowed in frustration. “So?”
“Most people don’t work on Saturdays. They sleep in. I’ll eat later when I get up.”
“Well, I work every day, and I want breakfast before I go.” He blinked while the rest of his face remained like angered stone. “Samuel works, too.”
“No, he doesn’t. Not all day. He and my mother usually do something together. Today, he’s taking my mother out on a boat.” My mother had been quite excited about the adventure despite not really liking boats. I chalked that off to the black magic, too.
“Yes.” He adjusted his cufflink with a sneer. “That’s work.”
Yeah, remind me again, jerk. “Well, staying home should be your work if you want Samuel to succeed in his work. My mother doesn’t want me involved with a workaholic.” I rolled over, pissed. “And fix your own flipping breakfast.”
“I don’t cook.”
“Figure it out, Einstein.”
Demonic mumbling followed as he stomped down the hall. The door to the apartment slammed. I rolled again to peer at the clock. Five after eight.
“Good riddance.” I rolled back over.
I deserved to sleep in. After yesterday’s encounter with David, I’d spent the afternoon dress shopping—again—with my mother, finding the perfect maid of honor dress in a beautiful cranberry color. Then I’d cooked a roast chicken dinner that had gotten rave reviews from the picky demon, followed by chocolate cake and a game of poker.
I should have known better than to play poker with a demon. Of course, he’d won every hand because I had a “tell” that he saw right through. But the reward was more dirty shower sex, so I guess we both won.
But after a perfect, humanizing day, I didn’t need to wake to this crap. I fluffed my pillows and rolled over, trying to sleep.
Thirty seconds later, the apartment door opened again, slammed, and Leo burst into my bedroom. “Olivia. The magic won’t take me to work,” he said with a note of panic.
Well, well…
“See?” I rolled to face him and sat up, leaning against the headboard. “Even the magic agrees with me about working on Saturday.”
“What am I supposed to do?” He yanked the covers from my naked body. “Get up and make it take me.”
“What do you want me to do?” I yanked the covers away from him, and that gesture turned into a tug-o-war struggle over my duvet that Leo won and left me breathless.
“Tell it to take me,” he demanded.
“Fine.” I blew bangs out of my face. “Dear good luck, let the magic come and take Leo so he can go to work and steal more souls.”
“There’s no need to be nasty.”
“You stole mine,” I pointed out.
“Loopholes.” He spun on his toe and left the apartment, only to return about ten seconds later. “It didn’t work.”
I shrugged, stuffing down the victorious streak at the thought of saving a few souls. “Well, come back to bed.”
His glower could have melted my sheets. “I’m too angry for sex.”
“I don’t want sex.” I calmly piled the blankets back on my bed. “Come back and sleep.”
“Look.” He yanked the covers away and leaned over me so his face was inches from mine. “I don’t want to eat, sleep, or do whatever you hairless monkeys do on Saturday. I want to go out there and do my job.”
I gritted my teeth as anger boiled through my blood. The “hairless monkey” comment had sealed his fate. I squared my shoulders and pointed toward the door. “I’m done with you. You can go to your own room to sulk while I go back to bed.”
“Fine.” He stormed out. The door to “his” room slammed, and through the thin walls came more demonic swears and oaths.
I rolled over, crammed the pillow over my head, and tried to close my eyes. I was tired, damn it. Decadent sex at all hours of the night had made me weary. Leo would wake horny, or I would wake horny, and it’d be a frantic joining of bodies that ended in rapture. I hoped the contract ink would dull by the time I went back to work Monday, or I’d have to put some boundaries on the whole sex thing. I was a solid eight hours of sleep a night girl and couldn’t exist on a few hours a night.
I must have dozed, because the next thing I knew, the smoke alarm blared. I leapt from the bed, grabbing my robe and tugging it over my naked body as I ran down the hall. I skidded to a halt in the kitchen.
Leo stood with his hands over his ears, wearing only a pair of sweats slung low on his hips. Smoke rolled from my favorite frying pan, the charred remains of breakfast burned to a crisp. Egg shells were scattered on the counter.
“Move.” I shoved him aside, grabbed a pot holder, and moved the pan off the heat. I snapped the dial to off and waved the oven mitt in the direction of the smoke detector. “What are you doing?” I shouted over the mechanical shrieking.
“Making breakfast. I didn’t think it would be that hard. Humans do it all the time.”
I gave up fanning and disconnected the fire alarm, tossing the battery on the kitchen table. I turned, fuming. “Tell me you didn’t just say that, Mr. I Don’t Know How To Pee.”
He scowled.
“Let’s get one thing straight, buster.” I poked him in his hard chest. Once. Twice. “You are more cunning, deceitful, and sly, but you are not smarter than me.” I poked him one last time despite it hurting my finger.
He winced, and his glare dissolved into an expression I’d never seen before. Those shoulders heaved in a huge sigh, and then slumped. “You’re right.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I said you’re right.” He ran a hand through his spiked hair, the motion only accentuating the ripple of muscles up through his arms and down his chest and abs. “I haven’t felt out of my element in centuries. And here I am, hungry, without magic, and…helpless. Cut a guy a break.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in a seductive way. “Please.”
All the anger fled. I stared at that bare chest, my chin titling upward so I could gaze into brown eyes that came as close to sorrowful pleading as Leo would probably get. I sighed. “Okay.”
“Thank you.”
I set the crispy frying pan in the sink and pulled out another. “Get eggs.”
“Are you going to cook me breakfast?” Hope tugged the corners of his lips into that gorgeous smile.
“No.”
The smile fell.
I went to the fridge, got the carton of eggs, and handed them to him. “I’m going to teach you how to cook. So you can be as skilled as a hairless monkey.”
****
It’s weird having a full-grown demon in the house, underfoot, and having no clue how to do anything. I showed Leo how to cook breakfast and then made him cook his own while I ate. I did take some perverse pleasure in watching him burn his fingers a time or two, but the look of pride on his face as he slid perfectly cooked eggs onto his plate made my tummy do flip-flops.
But that pride didn’t last long. After he ate and learned how to wash dishes, he prowled the apartment as I tried to read a book.
“Come read a book.” I pointed to the selection in the bookcase.
The look he gave me and the bookcase was filled with disdain. “I can’t read a book when Samuel is going to be angry.”
That I could understand. Besides the contract, fear of Samuel’s wrath was probably the only thing Leo and I had in common. “Okay, so let’s come up with a plan.”
“A plan.”
“Yes. We need to make sure he sees this is work. My mother is a hopeless romantic. She wants nothing more than to see us together.”
“I can work and fuck you senseless. I did it all week.” That dirty grin as his gaze inspected the gap in my robe sent fresh quivers straight to my nether bits.
I tugged my robe together, concealing my cleavage as I clamped my legs on the ache between them. “In polite society, one does not inform their mother they’re being fucked senseless all night. Mothers like to think
of their daughters as virginal.”
Leo snorted.
“Mothers also like their daughters to be wooed with quality time.” He opened his mouth, and I cut him off with a wave of my hand. “Again, fucking is not quality time.”
“Of course it is. I can last longer than a hairless monkey.” A smolder of lust made his chocolate gaze darker. “I could give you ten orgasms and not come. I can make your pussy sing, Liv. It’s a demon gift.”
Gah. “Okay, let’s forget the sex for a moment.”
Leo heaved a sigh. “If we must.”
“My mother wants to hear we did things, because for humans, doing things together solidifies a relationship. A movie, a walk in the park, a drive to the country. Just like Samuel is suffering on a boat somewhere to woo my mother, she wants to hear you have suffered just as much.”
The cloudy expression returned. “That bitch.”
“Watch what you call my mother.”
“Demons don’t want to spend time with humans unless it revolves around sex and souls.”
“Well, she thinks you’re human, and if you want her to think we’re in a relationship, she’ll want to hear we did stuff.” I thought for a moment. “Which means we text her and Samuel, and we tell them we’re spending a quiet weekend together. We’ll see them Monday.”
“Monday.” A quiver of fear tugged at his lips, and his hand trembled as he placed it on my arm. “I’ve never…that’s two days. Samuel is going to spontaneously combust.”
“Better him than one of us.” I skimmed my finger along his chest, circling a bare nipple. “When he sees how excited Muriel is about this news, it will be worth it. Trust me.” I crossed the fingers on my other hand behind my back, hoping to hell the luck would see eye-to-eye with me on this.
“I don’t have a good feeling.” He pursed his lips, but I could see the wheels of his devious mind whirling behind his eyes. “But at least the lying will tarnish your pure soul. Samuel will like that.”
I was willing to put up with a little tarnishing if it meant my mother’s soul would be saved at the end. I had no clue what I’d do with Leo all weekend, but I had to make it good to get some humanizing going. God only knew how long Samuel would allow quiet weekends alone to last. “I promise you lots of sex. And food.”
“You could at least flash me when you promise that.”
I untied the robe slowly and tugged it open, enjoying the way his eyes lit and smoldered as I revealed one breast and part of my belly.
“Fine.” He stepped closer, and I inhaled that masculine scent that was all Leo, citrus and woods. His hand went straight for my sex, his fingers parting the folds to delve into the wetness that gushed at his touch. I moaned, and as his other hand cupped my bare breast, tweaking the tight nipple, I leaned into his touch, panting.
He nipped my ear. “But I’m fucking you first.”
****
After a satisfying, multi-orgasmic romp that put both of us in a very good mood, I burst Leo’s demonic happy bubble by giving him the entire domestic tour. How to run the microwave, do laundry, how to run the vacuum, how to make a sandwich since sex had made him hungry again. How to clean up after he missed the toilet. That made him glower.
I also gave him a quick tour of the remote control and left him with the television for a bit while I ran to the bank.
I had expected to return to him watching porn or some sport. The howling from the living room bespoke of unearthly porn.
I peeked in and found a pack of malamutes keening to a full moon on my television. My brows rose in surprise. “What are you watching?”
“The Travel Channel is featuring Alaska.” Leo crunched a handful of popcorn he’d made in the microwave. “This is about the Iditarod. The last half hour was about Orca whales.”
“Have you been to Alaska?”
He cocked his head, pausing mid-toss of a handful of kernels. “I don’t believe so.” He resumed stuffing his face.
“You must travel all over the world.”
He shook his head, his gaze glued to the screen. “We have territories.”
“I see.” Someone hitched the dogs to the sled, and off they ran, across the screen. “Leo.”
“Shh.”
I picked up the remote and turned the television off.
“Olivia,” Leo admonished. “That was cruel. I have no idea who will win now, thanks to you.”
“We can look it up.” I wanted to laugh. Seriously. Most guys would say “What the fuck” or something…guy-like. Leo was Leo, though. “I see I’m going to have to limit your television exposure.”
I’d never seen Leo look thoughtful before, at least in a non-devious way. “I didn’t think I’d find it fascinating, but I have to admit, even the advertisements were captivating at times. I even learned a few things about marketing myself.” He gestured to the blank screen. “You could have waited until the program was over.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry. Do you want me to turn it back on?”
“No.” He contemplated me with a dirty grin. “Get naked, and I’ll eat popcorn off your belly. I can make a trail down to your—”
“That’s enough.” I tamped back lusty thoughts at the thought of where the trail would end. “How do you know to combine food and sex?”
“I like food, and I like your pussy. It seemed advantageous to combine the two.”
“Enough of that,” I warned when his eyes started to take on a predatory glint as his gaze slid down my body. “We’ve got to plan our weekend.”
Those glinty eyes rolled. “I’m fine staying here. Turn the TV back on.”
“We can watch a movie later.” I’d already picked up a copy of Caddy Shack from the library. He’d enjoy that. “How about I teach you to drive?”
I’d planned it all out. A driving lesson somewhere quiet, then a trip to the ice cream parlor, maybe a pizza and a movie. I wouldn’t have to talk too much to him, seeing we didn’t have much common ground. Hell, I didn’t even know enough about Alaska to carry on a conversation.
“Drive what?” Suspicion had him clenching his jaw, and he studied me as if I were laying a trap of sorts.
“A car, silly.”
“Why?”
“Guys like to drive. It’s a masculine, testosterone thing.” I blew my bangs from my vision as my plans went up in smoke. “Aren’t you itching to take out one of Samuel’s luxury sports cars?” He owned several, including a vintage Bugatti I was dying to sit in.
He shook his head. “I’ve never driven anything.”
“Not even a carriage?”
He snorted. “Only the rich had carriages. I’ve ridden in them, especially toward the end when I had more prestige. But before that, I walked. I think I rode a horse once.”
“Okay.” Hope fizzled out, the spark dying. “What would you like to do besides watch TV?”
He huffed in a way that told me if he had change in his pockets, he’d be jingling angrily. As I waited patiently, Leo’s expression softened as he became thoughtful. The clock ticked loudly, marking the passage of time.
Leo cocked his head. “Walk.”
“Excuse me?”
“The musing about carriages brought a…memory of sorts. Of me walking. As a human.”
“Oh?” That surprised me. “Did you enjoy walking?”
It must have surprised him, too, because his brows arched over wide eyes. “I believe I did. I enjoyed it the other night when I left.”
“Okay then.” I wasn’t much of a walker, but I needed exercise. “Where would you like to walk? Along the beach?”
He wrinkled his nose and shook his head.
“Okay.” Picky. “Maybe in the woods?”
He didn’t wrinkle his nose, but he didn’t seem enthusiastic, either.
“I know of a nice hiking trail that will take us through the woods to a lake. We could bring a picnic of sorts and sit by the water.”
He rubbed his chin, and that handsome face spread with the beginnings of a smile. “I think
I’d like that. Food first, and a blanket would be comfortable for when I—”
“No sex!” The blood drained from my cheeks. “I don’t want a game warden or whatever to give us a ticket for indecent exposure. That’s my luck.”
“That was your luck,” Leo corrected. “The magic allows for decadent things. Have you forgotten our tryst in the coat room already? I’ll conceal us from prying eyes as we—”
“No.” I swallowed at the memory of his lesson. I had to remember he was a demon and not my prospective boyfriend…or else. “The magic isn’t working.”
“Fine.” He huffed again and squared his shoulders at the reminder. “Take me to this lake for a picnic.”
Chapter Seventeen
I don’t know what I expected, hiking in the Connecticut woods with a demon laden with a backpack full of munchies. He’d asked to walk, but I didn’t expect him to enjoy it. I expected him to shoot me glares as his magically adapted legs faltered or stumbled without his conjuring crutch. I expected him to peer at the forest with his usual misguided suspicion.
Following Leo through the forest had me stumbling while he nimbly jumped from rock to path and over roots like a mountain goat. Though I liked the view of his ass and muscular thighs in his jeans, I didn’t like gasping for breath and sweating profusely, pausing to wipe my brow often while he remained perspiration-free.
“How are you in such good shape?” I panted when we finally reached the lake used as a reservoir and a recreation area.
“Shh.” He surveyed the sparkling waters with a knowledgeable gaze, his head cocked as if listening. “There.” He pointed skyward. “A hawk.”
I shaded my eyes against the sun. A large bird soared overhead, circling the patch of lake that butted against a farm. It tilted its wings, dipping one toward the field. Then it dove, disappearing behind the trees.
Leo nodded with satisfaction. “He caught it.”
“How can you tell?”
“My hearing is better than yours.”
Well that was good to know. “Would you like to have refreshments now?”
With a shrug, he removed the backpack and held it out. “I’m hungry, and this is a beautiful visage. Why not?”