Page 11 of The Devil and His Sparrow

Dante slung an arm around Nahla’s shoulder and said, “Why don’t we get you two girls some drinks?”

“I’d love one!” Nahla waved for Iyla to follow as Dante guided her away.

Iyla nibbled on her lip as she watched her friend go before glancing my way again. The blood rushing in my body heated instantly. I couldn’t wait to claim that mouth and make it spew profanities.

I nodded in the direction of her friend. “After you.”

She quickly followed behind them, and I walked beside her as we made it to the bar. Dante and Nahla were quick to fix their drinks and move on, seemingly already knowing what they wanted, and they shuffled away so that Iyla and I stood there alone. Already, people were dispersing to mingle, get their fan questions and comments out of the way, and eventually, get what we all really wanted.

“What will it be?” I asked, waving my hand at the wide array of drinks.

Her doe eyes scanned the various bottles of liquor. Something wild briefly flashed in her eyes, and if I’d been paying more attention to reading her instead of thinking about what I wanted to do to her later, I might’ve been able to pick up on whatever it was. Seeing as how I wasn’t though, the look was expelled before I figured it out.

She stood on her tiptoes to try to peer over the other edge of the bar. “Is there any water back there?”

I snickered. “Water? Why not have something a bit better than that? There’s no need to hold back since no one has to worry about driving. That’s what the limo is for.”

Her brow furrowed. “First of all, I’m only twenty. I can’t drink. Secondly, I don’t know anyone here, except Nahla. I’m not impairing my judgment in a house full of strangers.”

The sudden push back from her sent a sharp dart of electricity straight down my spine and right to my groin. She was fighting me, and I fucking loved it. I wanted it. I wanted her to push back. I wanted her to keep telling me no. I wanted her to make me work for my dinner, because it was going to make it a thousand times better when she finally said yes.

Offering an understanding nod, I said, “Smart.” I reached my hand over the bar where bottles of water were stashed. I offered one to her and poured myself a glass of whiskey. “I guess that means you have no interest in the ecstasy, then?”

Her eyes doubled in size. “Absolutely not!”

I laughed under my breath. She shifted on her feet and drank some water. I followed her lead and downed some of my whiskey. Her nervous hesitation was a refreshing change from the normal reaction I typically received, and I waited to see what else she’d do.

Her eyes found mine. “So …” She paused, then said, “You sing.”

The statement caught me off guard, considering it was both random and obvious. A short laugh broke past my lips before I could stop it. “Yeah,” I replied, clearing the mirth from my throat. “Yeah. I sing.”

She fiddled with the cap on the bottle, and a pink hue dusted her cheeks. “You have a really beautiful voice. I’m sure you hear that a lot, though.”

A smile tugged my lips higher, and I shrugged. “I get compliments on it, though beautiful isn’t typically how it’s described.”

“It should be. Your voice is …” She hesitated and seemed to search my face for an answer. “It’s deep yet has this sort of soft and haunting sound to it. It’s nice.”

The compliment threw me. My fans definitely loved my singing, but that was never what they wanted to talk about when they had the chance to be around me in this setting. And when they did compliment me, it was typically on how hot I was, how good I was in bed, or how sexy I sounded. Never beautiful. Never nice.

She’s an odd one.

“Thank you,” I finally said. “I appreciate it.”

She took another nervous sip of water before saying, “The concert was really fun, too.”

“Yeah. You looked like you were having a good time.”

Her lips parted in surprise, and I had to really focus on her words and not on how fucking hot she looked with her mouth like that. “Y-You saw me?”

I rested my elbow on the bar and leaned in closer to her. “Of course I did. How could I not notice someone as gorgeous as you?”

She stared at me in bewilderment before ducking her head to stare at her feet. The compliment seemed foreign to her, which was a shame. A human as lovely as her should be showered in praise, but I had to admit that her sheepishness made the beast inside me pace, eager to claim and ruin her with my filth. It made the fire in my veins burn hotter with the need to seduce and feed off this little bird.

“Yo, Zagan.”

I had to force my eyes away from her to look over my shoulder at Perseus, who stood in the center of all our guests with his arm slung around the shoulders of the girl with the bob. “Would you two like to join us for the tour?”

My gaze found Iyla’s again. I raised a brow to let her know it was her choice. She looked all too eager to join her friend’s side. Nahla pulled her in for a quick peck on the cheek before focusing on Dante and the story he was telling. Everyone began filing through the hallway to check out the different rooms—or more likely, noting the ones that offered the best scene for tonight. Nahla leaned into Iyla’s side to whisper something in her ear, and after a moment, Iyla slowly fell into step beside me.

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