Page 34 of The Secret Life of a Witch

The sexy demon splays his fingers across my cheek and angles my head back toward him. “Don’t worry about him. He won’t say a word; I’ll make sure of it.”

Every single part of me screams not to make this bargain, that making a deal with a demon is by far the worst decision I could ever make. But so would allowing Ryleigh to remain a demon prisoner, used for trafficking and who knows what other purposes.

“All right, I’ll keep my mouth shut and stay out of The Illuminating Horror House of Truth.”For now, anyway.If I find out he’s lying, though, all deals are off. I also don’t bother mentioning that Hunter and Evan already know, since they overheard the other demon talking to me. If he knew that, he might not have made the deal.

“Good.” He removes his hand from my cheek as he gracefully leaps to his feet. “Now, all we have to do is kiss on it.”

I blink up at him stupidly. “Heck to the no way am I kissing you!”

His eyes glimmer mischievously. “One little kiss on the lips to seal the deal, or no deal at all.”

“You’re a sick, twisted, demon, perv freak!”

“And you’re about to kiss me, so what does that make you?” His brow pops up, his lips tugging upward into a cocky grin.

“I’m not that great of a kisser,” I continue to protest. Which is sort of the truth, I guess. I mean, I’ve never kissed anyone, so I don’t really know …

My gaze roams over toward Hunter, who’s distracted by the ugly demon sticking his tongue out at him. Relief washes over me that he’s not listening to this embarrassing and kind of disgusting conversation going down.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” The sexy demon kneels in front of me. “So, do we have a deal? Or, should I take off and let your sister continue to rot in the underground tunnels?”

Grr … Curse all demons and their evil tricks!

“Fine. One peck on the cheek.” I fold my arms and cross my legs, refusing to act as if I’m enjoying it.

“Nope.” He shakes his head. “It has to be on the lips.”

“Says who?”

“Says the person you’re making the deal with.”

My hands once again ball into fists. “Fine.” Then, to make things really unpleasant, I pucker my lips like a fish.

Amusement glitters in his eyes as he dips his head toward mine. “If you think that’s going to take my fun away from this, you’re completely and utterly wrong.” Then his lips are on mine.

They are surprisingly warm and soft, and for the weirdest moment, I feel sort of content, calm, at peace with myself. Then his hand finds my waist, and he lets out a growl as his tongue slips out to part my lips.

Holy shit, that might feel too good!

Putting my hand against his chest, I gently push him back.

“There. The deal is sealed.” When my voice comes out even and composed, I give myself a mental high-five. The last thing I want is for a demon to think his kisses made me melt a little.

His nostrils flare as he takes deep breaths and searches my eyes. “That’s it?”

I nod, ignoring the fluttering in my heart. “Yep.”

“Fine.” The one word comes out clipped. Then he springs to his feet, draws the hood of his cloak over his head, and looks down at me. For the briefest moment, he looks baffled, but then a haughty grin spreads across his face as he throws me a wink. “Until we meet again, my little rainbow trout.” He puckers his lips. “Just be ready for me.”

I start to shake my head, but then I remember …

“Wait. How am I supposed to know when you’ve gotten my sister back?” I ask, jumping to my feet. The blood rushes from my head, and I nearly collapse, but somehow, I maintain my balance. “I don’t even know how to contact you.”

“You don’t need to. I know where to find you.” Then, like at the park, he vaporizes in a swirly haze of smoke.

I spin around to where the troll demon was, but he’s vanished, as well.

And just like that, I’m left standing in a cage, alone, with nothing more than the hope that the demon will give me back my sister.

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