Twisted Luck Read online

  “You don’t have a life. You’re a demon.”

  “Thanks for the reminder.”

  Glum never looked sexier. His dimpled chin settled in his hand, elbow on the table as he stared at my pie crust. His melancholy air also made him look less demon and more human. Definitely more approachable, less scary. I hated that I wanted to kiss along his jaw and nibble at his lips to make him smile again. I guessed that was part of his magical allure.

  My phone dinged, and I checked it.

  Annie: Don’t forget an item.

  I had forgotten. I might as well take advantage of the urge to kiss him to secure…what? I had no clue.

  I mulled this over as I retrieved the cherry pie filling I’d made earlier. It wasn’t quite as red as the canned stuff, but it smelled divine, just like cherry pie should. I quickly scooped the mixture into the shell and covered it with the top crust. Leo watched with a little more interest.

  “Have you ever baked anything?” I made the little dent thingies in the sides of the crust, sealing the pie together.

  “No.”

  Something odd in his voice made me look up from my work. His brows furrowed in a different way, his gaze a little distant.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I remember pie. My mother made them.” The vee between his eyes deepened. “I can smell them—made of meat, not fruit. I remember my mouth watering as I waited for her to take them from the oven.” His eyes closed, as if savoring the lost moment.

  I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I hid my surprise behind the task of cutting vents in the top of the crust. “You had a mother?”

  “Well, yes, all humans do.” The faraway glaze of expression cleared, and he focused on me, perturbed. “Not all demons are fallen angels.” He shook his head. “I don’t understand. I haven’t remembered in centuries. Why now?”

  Why, indeed? I found this fascinating up until the point he narrowed his eyes at me in suspicion.

  I shook my head. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t do anything.”

  “No…but it has to do with you. The magic is altered here.” He waved a hand, indicating the apartment. “I can feel it. It’s not as strong, and the flow is off. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t materialize here earlier.”

  I didn’t like where this was going. An assessment of magical faults made me uneasy. I needed a possession, not a reminder that I wasn’t a model client. I grabbed the empty bowl of cherry filling and got an idea.

  I stuck my finger in the still-warm residue and held it in front of Leo’s face. “Taste.”

  His expression clouded as he stared at my finger, dripping with red liquid. “What’s that?”

  “Cherry pie filling. Taste it.”

  “What? No.” Sitting taller in his chair, he shook his head, his eyes narrow with suspicion.

  I had to laugh. “It’s not poison.”

  “I’m not poisonable.” But his lips tightened as if I offered arsenic-laced goods.

  Summoning all of my bravado, I leaned in and gently smeared the juices across his firm but full bottom lip. “Open up.”

  He shook his head, the seam of his lips a tightly drawn line. However, something devilish quirked at the corners of that fine mouth, hinting he found this slightly amusing. The flick of his gaze downward had me suspicious, so I glanced down.

  Bending over allowed the vee neckline of my shirt to gape, giving him full view of my cleavage and the pretty, lacy bra I’d chosen with him in mind. My nipples always seemed to be hard in his presence, and he probably ogled those, too.

  Something in his heated gaze hinted that, at this moment, I owned his dick as much as he owned my lady bits. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, but it benefited the mission at hand.

  I dipped my finger again, the warm juice coating the tip as I held it up. “You’re going to give up a chance to lick my fingers clean?” Something husky and dark settled in my voice. The terror, guilt, fear, and confusion eased into something else, something more liquid and warm. Something…sinful.

  Leo licked his lips clean as his eyes widened, pupils dilating with pure lust.

  “Well?”

  Those dark eyes hooded with lust as he took my hand in his. His lips parted, and he took my finger into the heat of his mouth, his tongue and lips sucking the liquid from my skin. That part of me he “owned” reacted with a pulse of heat that made me suck in my breath.

  He hummed his approval.

  “Good boy.” Ignoring how damned spicy and male he smelled, I slid my finger from his mouth, ignoring his groan as I crossed the kitchen to wash my hands. I got the pie, and walking gingerly, I went to the oven. “Get the oven door, Leo.”

  He surprised me by rising from his chair and doing as I asked. I slid the pie onto the center rack, and he closed the door.

  An awkward silence bridged between us as he stared down at me with confusion. “You confound me, Olivia.”

  “Maybe pure souls are difficult. How many pure souls have you reaped?” The idea made me shudder internally.

  “Just yours.”

  “Well, then. Consider it new territory.” I set the timer and turned to him, my bare feet putting my eyes level with his dimpled chin.

  The swirl of lust resurfaced as I glanced down and took in his broad chest, his tie rising and falling over those muscles. I didn’t like wanting him, and that was new territory for me. What I’d felt for David paled in carnal comparison. David had been a mere firecracker to Leo’s finale rack of fireworks laced with crack. I craved him, and it made me uneasy.

  He ran a hand along my jaw, up my cheek, and pushed aside a stray lock of hair. His warm fingers wiped something from my cheek—probably a smudge of flour. A dull sparkle caught my eye, drawing my gaze to the cufflink at his wrist.

  Bingo.

  Those cufflinks would work as a personal possession. Embracing the longing, I loosened the knot of his tie. “We have forty minutes.”

  “For?”

  I drew him closer by his tie and allowed myself to indulge a long sniff of his cologne, spicy and masculine with a hint of citrus. As if guided by some invisible force, my lips pressed kisses to his stubbled jaw as my fingers finally won the battle of the knot. “You have to ask?”

  I expected him to scoop me up, bend me back into a passionate, steamy kiss, or tug me down to his lap in a chair… Instead, he took a step back.

  “I don’t like this.” He swallowed loudly.

  That surprised me. And left me feeling slighted. Hands on my hips, I ground out, “You’re a guy. A demon. You own my soul and naughty bits, and you’re telling me you don’t like this?”

  “I am, and I have no clue why.” He shook his head and jingled his change in short bursts. “My head is on the chopping block, you’re difficult, and you’re the last human I should be trusting with any personal information. And now, you’re seducing me. I don’t like any of this.”

  It was nice to know his back was against the wall, too. Despite the attraction, I didn’t want to like the guy. But that admission tugged at something deep inside the soul he owned.

  The cufflinks glittered at his wrists, taunting me. I shrugged with feigned indifference. “You make me horny. You’ve told me to indulge. Don’t you want me?”

  “I do want you.” He reached out, his warm hand cradling my cheek, that glow of lust spreading all over my body.

  “Okay. So we call a truce. For thirty-nine minutes.” I unbuttoned a button on his shirt, then another, revealing smooth skin peppered in just the right amount of hair. I kissed my way down that faint trail of hair to his belt buckle, his stomach muscles contracting with each peck.

  “When that buzzer rings, I’m checking my pie. So you can get busy or suffer when that timer goes off.” To seal the deal, I cupped the swell of his dick.

  His face contorted in pleasure, the distrust gone. “I wouldn’t want to suffer…”

  “Well then. Let’s get this shirt off.”

  With trembling hands, I reached for his wrist. I u
ndid the first cufflink, and he held the second wrist out for me to undo. I kissed his palm and undid the second. The metal, warm from his skin, heated my palm.

  Before he could ask for them, I cupped his erection and stood on bare tiptoes to capture his lips in a heated kiss.

  He groaned and slid his tongue along the seam of my mouth, parting my lips, his tongue stroking mine. Flames of lust burst through my veins, my core pulsing with that familiar, desperate need he seemed to ignite.

  Through this haze of desire, I found the wits to slide my hand into my pants pocket, dropping the cufflinks inside while my other hand stroked his steel length through his slacks. He moaned into my mouth, arching so his length pulsed against my hand.

  Breaking the kiss, I yanked off his shirt, letting it trail to the floor behind me as I started down the hall. I called over my shoulder, “The timer is ticking…”

  His steps fell behind mine in a second.

  ****

  I didn’t want to get used to having a naked demon in my bed, but damn, did he look good against my white sheets, accentuating all of his dark, dangerous glory.

  I had just taken the pie out of the oven and stood in the doorway wearing nothing but his dress shirt, enjoying his perfection.

  He’d propped himself against a pile of pillows, an arm under his head, his long legs sprawled out, covering most of the queen-sized mattress. He didn’t bother to hide his growing arousal, and he shot me a lascivious smirk when my gaze finally met his as his cock lengthened.

  “Pie done?” Leo asked with a long, hungry glance that had nothing to do with pie. “Take my shirt off. I want to admire what’s mine.”

  “Yes, it’s is done.” I ignored his request. I’d tossed on his dress shirt to check the pie, feeling uncomfortable being totally naked despite the hot sex we’d just had.

  A blush crept up, coating my cheeks with an unwelcome flush. My skin heated all over, skin that he knew intimately after kissing every inch of it before he screwed me into a screaming orgasm well before the timer ended.

  To be ogled like that by such sinful perfection created a small war between my ego and humility. I wasn’t fit, tanned, or toned, nor would I win any modeling contracts. Yet he looked at me like I was cream a panther wanted to devour.

  Some would be surprised I’d even contemplate this, given he was a demon. I didn’t care. In for a penny, in for a pound.

  “You going to stand there all night, or…” That erection grew harder, and he fisted it, giving long, slow strokes that echoed the pulsing in my core.

  I fidgeted as his gaze caressed what he could see of my breasts. “Don’t you have better things to do?”

  “I do have to work.” The heat of those dark eyes scanned lower to the gape in material at the juncture of my thighs. “Though I’d rather spend the night right here.”

  “Don’t you sleep?”

  “Rarely. The magic takes care of all of that. The sleeping. The eating. Wounds and imperfections. But it doesn’t take care of this.” His empty hand gestured to his full one as his thumb traced the tip of his cock.

  I fidgeted again, my hands clasping at the too-long cuffs. Growing horror eclipsed my lust as I fingered the empty hole where his cufflinks would be secured. He’d need to get dressed soon, and he’d want the cufflinks…and I’d have no possession to offer Babu. Shit, shit, shit.

  “So…” I inched closer, stepping over his shoes and pants he’d strewn across the floor. I put one knee on the bed near his hip, awkwardly uncrossing my arms to create a gap in the shirt opening. I licked my lips, wanting to touch him, afraid to be that bold. “If you don’t sleep, what do you do all night?”

  “Work.” As if he knew the battle that warred, he grabbed my hand and wrapped it around his length at the base. “I’d love to say fuck, but basically, I work. My life is not the orgy of delights one would expect.”

  Hot steel pulsed under soft skin as I gently squeezed and stroked his length under his very watchful gaze. The blush crept up my cheeks, the fresh flush of shame mixing with the zing of desire. The porn flicks I’d seen in college had always made it look so easy. Stroll in, grab a dick, away you go. And now I could do just that…

  Leo arched under my hand, his shaft eager for adventure. Amusement quirked at the corners of his mouth. “Never jacked off a guy as he watched?”

  “Um, no. I mean, I’ve done this before…just not this boldly.” My cheeks burned as I recalled the heavy petting sessions with David.

  The few sexual encounters with Leo had made me think perhaps I wasn’t as into David and vice versa. I’d wanted sex. I’d wanted a marriage. I wanted the security I’d lacked my entire early childhood. David was attractive, he didn’t drink much, and he didn’t hit me. At that point, he’d been good enough. And now, that made me feel stupid.

  “What’s wrong?” Leo asked.

  I hadn’t realized my hand had stopped stroking. I yanked it away as I glanced up.

  Leo’s brow furrowed, his head tipped in question. “No woman has ever stopped during foreplay. Of course my cock is perfection; I’m a demon. But at this point, you should be licking and sucking me eagerly, not staring off into space as if you’ve…” He shrugged. “I have no words.”

  “As if I’ve lost my fiancé?”

  “Ah.” He nodded. “Again, I have no words except you are most peculiar.”

  I didn’t want to be peculiar. “You could say you’re sorry for my loss.”

  “But I’m not. Demons don’t have compassion.” He shrugged again, obviously uncomfortable with the situation. “But I can tell you this…”

  He reached forward and tugged me onto his chest in an awkward heap. “You have an allure I can’t escape for some reason. I’m sure it’s the contract. It’s probably the deviation of magic. But…” His shoulder shrugged, his firm chest flexing with the motion. “It’s all peculiar, and I shouldn’t probably be admitting it.”

  No, he probably shouldn’t, and I had no clue what to do with this information but store it away.

  I inhaled his scent, oddly soothed by his words. That soothing quickly turned to guilt as I plotted a way to keep the cufflinks. “Can I keep the shirt? Or will that mean you leave here naked.”

  He grunted. “The magic will provide another.”

  Crap. What if the magic provided another dress shirt that needed cufflinks? I ran a finger down his chest, tracing a path around his nipple. “What about other clothes?”

  “Meaning?”

  “You had implied that we’d be an ‘item’ until my mother’s wedding.” I tried not to shudder as I drew in a deep breath. “You can’t show up wearing suits all the time. Humans wear other things. Like jeans. And T-shirts. If my nosy neighbor only sees you leaving here in a suit every night, she’s going to start making weird opinions.”

  “I suppose I can vary my attire.”

  I craned my neck to look up at him. “If demons aren’t compassionate, then what are you doing, hugging me and all of that?”

  “Since Samuel wants me to play your boyfriend, I have to act the role. I consider this practice.” Shifting, he added, “And you had your hand on my cock. I could pound a few nails with it now.”

  My breath shuddered as the arousal that had ebbed flared to life. “Shall I advise my apartment manager? He’s been looking for a handyman.”

  “I have a job.” His gaze blazed into mine with an intensity that sent zings along every nerve ending. The pad of his thumb stroked my bottom lip. “And I’d rather you suck it.”

  Those words ignited my core into a throbbing inferno. I couldn’t resist opening my mouth and taking his thumb in, sucking gently, imagining how he’d react if I bent and sucked his dick for real.

  “Mmm. I can almost see what you imagine, Olivia, though you’ve shielded some. You’d love to suck the tip of my cock.” I swirled my tongue around his digit, and he groaned. “Just. Like. That.”

  He popped free from my lips. Long, warm fingers inched into the opening of my shirt, blazing
a path to pluck at my nipple. “Or wrap your gorgeous tits around it.” His other hand slid between my thighs and along my wet slit. “Or sink me into your sweet pussy and ride me hard.”

  Two fingers speared into my core, and I gasped against his chest.

  “Now, now,” he chided. “No need to feel any of that humanly shame or sadness, Olivia. Use my body for the sin it offers.”

  “I was a lot braver with tequila in me, huh.” The sexual pull, the need for wild abandon, had been stronger the first night and the coat room for some reason. I wanted him badly, but it wasn’t a craving that demanded satiation immediately.

  Maybe the magic was altered here.

  “You can be brave again. As I said, you’re a beautiful woman.” He hesitated, his fingers pausing on my breast and deep inside my sex. “I don’t have sex with many humans, Olivia. Demons tend to stick to their own kind. When we came here after the bar, I had no intention. It wasn’t at all what had been planned.”

  Samuel had hinted at that, but I never thought Leo would admit it. Stunned, I gaped up at him. “Then why did you?”

  He shook his head in bewilderment. “I don’t know.”

  Something in me sensed he knew damned well, and it had to do with more than just taking my soul.

  ****

  I woke later to find Leo draped over my body like an expensive throw, his arm over my chest, his leg over both of mine. Only his dick seemed sort of awake, semi-hard against my thigh.

  And yeah, he snored. I’d wanted to find a blemish in his male perfection—any physical flaw—to make him more human. I would have preferred a bump in his nose or a mole on his ass, not snoring.

  After Leo’s attempt at compassion, we’d indulged in dirty sex, his pep talk giving me some shreds of bravado to seize the opportunity to explore every inch of his hard body. That’s how I knew he didn’t have a mole on his ass or anywhere else.

  He stirred, his long lashes fluttering, brushing his cheek. The artist in me wanted to paint his profile, capturing the slope of his nose, the dark stubble that shadowed his jawline. I had no clue how old he was supposed to be though I guessed mid-thirties. Sleep made his angles softer and took his dangerous edge away. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he was a gorgeous, innocent man, resting after I’d screwed him silly.