Page 20 of Beauty's Monstrous Demons

Standing, I decide to burn off some of this nervous energy. I don’t have time to hit the gym, but if I get the food ready and into the oven, I’ll be able to feel some sense of accomplishment.The truth is, I’m nervous. I have a tendency to piss Lorelei off because I’m pretty heavy handed.

I’m also not as sneaky about it as Samael is, the creepy fucker. Opening the photo he sent me of our girl sleeping, I smirk, admitting that I’m just as bad as he is. I just don’t have the same abilities as he does.

I wonder if he’d be willing to install video cameras in her apartment.That’s a conversation for when I’m alone with Samael to talk though. She wasn’t wrong to say that we often discuss things much the way women gossip, the difference is that all of our conversations are more likely to revolve around her now.

Putting my phone away, I head into the kitchen to preheat the oven and begin cooking. I want to make her something she’ll enjoy. If she’s been trying to avoid her roommates, it’s possible she’s been making things that are quick and easy to make.

Pulling out potatoes, I begin to slice them thinly, putting together a rosemary scalloped potato dish. Next, I make a chicken dish that will have crispy skin and tender meat. Sliding the last dish into the oven, I check the time and decide to take a shower. I’ll have just enough time to get ready and pull out the hot dishes when they arrive.

While I’m nervous, I know how to impress, even if I haven’t done this in years. Even then, it was for staff when we were working late or while entertaining a dean on the faculty. I haven’t been on a date in a very long time. I stopped when I decided I’d rather wait for my scent match, even if it meant never finding her.

My lips curl in satisfaction because I was right to wait. No one will ever measure up to her.

LORELEI

I’m walking back to Phenex’s apartment now, and it’s odd to do it alone. Samael and I exchanged numbers before I went into class, and he texted me as I was getting out that he had been delayed by a long winded teacher. I can only imagine him texting as he listened to this person, and I huff out a laugh under my breath.

My scent matches give very few fucks about other people’s feelings.

“Excuse me, may I ask what you’re doing here?” a woman with red skin, horns, and very high heels stands in front of me, her tail tapping the marble floor impatiently. She’s wearing a dress and appears to be on her way out. Unfortunately, if I had walked in a little later, she would have missed me.

“I was invited to dinner by a professor in this building,” I say carefully. I should have changed after class, and I’m feeling severely undressed while standing in front of her.

My dorm is on the other side of campus and I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to get back in time. So, a t-shirt, shorts, and combat boots it is.

“Are you certain of that?” she asks. “The professors here don’t have time for you to bother them, and they’re certainly not going to be interested in you whoring yourself out in exchange for a better grade.”

“It’s a good thing I do have an invitation and my grades aren’t an issue, isn’t it?” I ask. “Classes just started, I’m a wonderful student, and you are forcing your prejudicial beliefs on me when you don’t know anything about me.”

“Do we have a problem here?” Samael asks coldly from behind me.

Thank fuck.

“Just removing an interloping wayward student from the premises, sir,” the teacher explains.

The way she preens at him is gross. Damn, I need to tone down the need to scratch her face off right now.

A hand on my back helps me relax, and I’ve noticed that he feels warmer than he has before. Earlier today, his skin felt cold against mine.

“There’s no need for that because I was coming to find Miss Rose,” Samael says. “Dinner is ready and since she’s a new student, we wanted to give her a warm welcome. Are you done detaining her?”

“I, well. But why are you doing that?” the woman asks, confused.

I get the feeling that Phenex and Samael are both curmudgeons without the reputation for being philanthropic.

“I’m capable of altruistic behavior,” Samael purrs.

Fuck, he may as well have told me to bend over for him, that’s how much his voice affects me. His hand glides down to the small of my back somehow, sliding under the waistband of my shorts. Glancing over at him, I see both of his hands are stuffed in his pockets, and I’m confused by what is happening.

How is he still touching me?

“I never said you weren’t,” the professor says quickly, backtracking. “I simply caught her skulking around and was curious.”

“I don’t think I was skulking,” I mutter, annoyed. I was walking quickly because I’m unsure of my presence in the apartments, but her thought process is severely skewed.

“Your backpack makes you hunch over,” Samael grunts. “Give it here before you end up crooked forever.”

Deciding this isn’t a fight I want to have in front of a stranger, I take it off, handing it to him. He towers over me as he easily pulls it over one of his shoulders, somehow still managing to touch me.

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