Page 4 of The Devil After Dark
I finally sat up in bed and pulled off Cassio’s shirt. I usually slept naked and I felt silly that I had thought it was a good idea to sleep in his shirt. I had been sleeping in it every night, but tonight I just could not get comfortable. I tossed the shirt on the bed next to me before lying back down. It had been a long time since I had been with a man. Close to four years now. Sure I could reach outto a match maker or go out to a club and find somebody to sleep with, but the risk just wasn’t worth it.
Everyone I knew who was dating just kept telling me what a nightmare it was. And now here I was in the middle of the night, completely exhausted and only thinking about the tattooed biker. Fuck he was gorgeous. I slid my hand down my stomach and between my legs. I just needed a release and maybe I would be able to sleep. My fingers expertly teased between my legs and rubbed my clit—only the way someone pleasuring themself knew how to do it. I was imagining Cassio’s hands on me. Imagining what it would feel like to have him completely destroy me. To tease me and fuck me until I came for him. My orgasm washed through my body and my hand drew it out, elongating the pleasure and electric tingles that flushed through every inch of me.
Damn. That had been quick. My breathing was heavy as I allowed myself to come down from my orgasm, heat soaking my chest, neck, and cheeks. My pussy had been soaking—apparently my imagination running wild with thoughts of Cassio really did it for me. How fucked up was I that I witnessed his friends get shot and all I could think about was him between my legs? Ugh. Rolling to my side I let myself drift off to sleep again.
I woke up with an ache between my legs. A needy ache for more pleasure. Instead of giving in, I simply threw off my covers and groaned as I pulled myself from bed. As I walked to the bathroom, I let my fingers trail over Cassio’s shirt draped over the chair near my closet. Maybe I would have to have a date with my vibrating dildo tonight. Unfortunately, I was planning to go to the office today andneeded to get ready.
CASSIO
Warm dim light cast shadows on the rich mahogany chairs and tables in my private club. I strode purposefully towards the back room, ignoring the other patrons sipping expensive liquors and smoking cigars. The cigar smoke lingered in the air and cast a haze throughout the place. I spent too many nights drinking liquor and smoking cigars in this place. It came as a requirement with my profession. Dark and criminal deals required private and expensive conversations—or back alley meetings with glocks and masks. I was adept at both.
The doorman for the back room simply dipped his chin and pulled open the wooden door for me to enter the council’s meeting chambers. The room was as cliché as it could get. A round table with a chair for every council member. There were hidden doors in the walls for servers to bring in libations—or for quick exits if needed. The entourage of each council member stood with their hands ready to draw weapons and their backs to the mahogany bookshelves that lined the room. Some of them sat at small tables tucked off to the side or in corners.
“Which one of you fuckers shot at me,” I asked in greeting as I approached the table and the six other council members.
“I am offended you think it was one of us,” Thorn responded. Thorn ran the province in the north and had run it for nearly forty years at this point. He was the longest standing council member of the group.
I pulled back a leather chair and took my seat, leaning back and running my eyes along each council member. “Well we sure as shit know none of the lesser humans have the balls to do it. So which one of you is upset with how much money I am making you?” My drug empire brought in millions for each of them. Some of them trafficked people. Some provided raw materials at slave-labor-low costs. Some, like me, dealt in drugs. All of us had legitimate businesses as well, but it was hard to stay out of the crime business when it wasjust so lucrative. Over the centuries, the magic wielders had put in place laws to keep the lesser humans out of these more unsavory types of businesses and we bought off the lawmakers and enforcers just so we could corner the market. It was really a brilliant arrangement for all of us.
Lazarus chuckled and threw back his drink before slamming the empty glass on the table. Lazarus Delacourt ran the province to the east of me. Frost cracked across the table under the glass. All of us magic wielders have different types of power. Most have basic abilities, such as moving objects, or heating and cooling a space. But some of us have stronger abilities—ice in the case of Lazarus. He could freeze an entire person if they pissed him off enough. Like Lazarus, many of the council seat families have elemental powers—ice, wind, water, fire. “It is always a pleasure to see you, Cassio. Sorry to hear about your man being killed. As you know, all of us are experiencing a heightened occurrence of death in our ranks. Some more than others. It seems your group has finally been touched by the devil as well,” Lazarus said with a slight frown.
I let a sly smile cross my lips. I was the devil that was killing their men. The Delacourt family was the only council seat holding family I was intent on crumbling, but I was cleaning out the filth from the other families as well. It was possible one of them had discovered what I was up to and arranged a hit on me, but it was unlikely. The council families did war occasionally, that was how my father and kid brother were killed—by the Delacourts. Most of the time we saw eye to eye just enough to continue to make each other rich and to stay in our respective territories. The other magic wielders were content to let us keep the lesser humans in their place and provide an empire for them to live lavishly in. “It appears the Devil spares no one,” I responded coolly.
I had called this meeting so the council seat members had come to me. My intention was to look each and every one of them in the eye and determine who had put out a hit on my life. To mydisappointment, the culprit wasn’t obvious. “You called the meeting Cassio, what do you want?” Thorn asked.
A scantily clad waitress placed a glass of golden liquor on the table in front of me and I took my time admiring it and enjoying a sip before I responded, “I invited all of you here to discuss increasing our drug production.” The others settled back in their seats. Money. The topic was always a distraction for them.
My penthouse looked out over the two rivers that bisected the city. Party barges were still lit this time of night and the streetlights illuminated the streets in a dim glow. It was a beautiful view and one I did not get to enjoy often. Usually I was still working at this hour. Tonight I had been distracted enough thinking about the woman from the night of the shooting that I left my other obligations and opted for alcohol and my view of the city. I already knew I would jerk off to the thought of her later. Even that wouldn’t be enough to erase her from my dreams. I also knew I would be hard as steel in the morning as well. Nothing I had tried would erase her from my mind—and I had tried quite a few things already. A few of those things I wasn’t necessarily proud of, but I had tried them.
six
LIANA
I wokeup with the covers completely off me and panting like I had been having some great sex. Okay, in my dream I had been having some really great sex—at least some great foreplay. The star of my dream had of course been Cassio. Why could I not get this man out of my head? I grumbled as I pulled the covers back up. Then I slid my hand between my legs again.
Gods damn I was aching like I had really been touched. And of course my pussy was unreasonably wet for it being just a dream. It had been one of those dreams I could not wake myself up from and everything in my body had felt so incredibly real. I pulled a tissue from the box next to the bed to wipe myself up with.
I really needed to stop dreaming about this man. Instead of going back to bed I pulled on my sweats and slipped Cassio’s shirt over my head. Then I pulled my laptop from my bag and settled on the couch to do some quality stalking in the digital archives of the man who was haunting my dreams—and my pussy.
There was infuriatingly little about Cassio Padovano in the archives. It had been easy to find him and difficult to learn anything of substance. I guess when you were part of the magic wielding class you might actually have some power to control what was recorded about you. I was not sure if I was surprised or not to find out he was a magic wielder. I should have guessed it by the private car, but there were some of us lesser humans who had made enough money and wealth to live that way too. I was only able to find the basics. Cassio was a businessman with various businesses throughout the city. He was regarded as one of the richest, if not the richest, men in the city as well. Not many of his businesses were even listed and it was said that most of his businesses were run under holding companies for anonymity.
I slowly closed my laptop. I needed to get over him. I could be weird and message Zac, his driver, but it was clear that if Cassio wanted me to have a way to contact him directly he would have provided it. I was also sure I did not want to be involved with a magic wielder even though I could not get him out of my head. Some women sought them out. My guess was those women were mostly chasing the money and the hope that their own children would be set for life. Maybe that assumption made me a judgmental bitch. Who was I to think poorly of what someone else wanted? Maybe it was my way to talk myself out of any fantasy I might have involving a future with a man I had met once. I still held onto the hope of finding love … even though I was stubbornly avoiding looking for it.
The next morning I searched my nightstand and then the floor surrounding it for the tissue I was sure I had tossed there last night. I was seriously starting to lose my mind with how little I was sleeping.I must have just thrown it away when I had gotten up to try to learn more about the original owner of my new favorite shirt. I sat on the edge of my bed and rubbed my eyes. I had avoided all men for years now with no problem or regrets and suddenly all of my desires were rushing back to me. And he was a magic wielder. He was out of my league and I needed to stay away.
seven
LIANA
The buzzerfor my door went off and I nearly jumped. I was not expecting anyone and no one I knew came to my condo uninvited. I extracted myself from my blankets and the couch, tossing my book on the end table, and walked over to the box on my wall that would allow me to see and hear whoever it was. “Yes?” I asked as I pressed the speaker button.
I watched the man turn towards the camera, then he held up a police badge. “Ms. Sutton? It’s officer Rome Hawthorne. I spoke with you the other night after the shooting. Could I come up? There are a few more things we need to discuss.” Rome. He looked familiar, then he held his badge closer to the camera. The camera was not clear enough to really make out what it said.
“Sure, I will buzz you up,” I responded and pressed the button that would let him into the front gate and then my building.
I sprinted to my room and grabbed a bra, slipping it on under my oversized sweater. Before I even had my shirt pulled back into place there was a knock on my door. I carefully looked through thepeephole and realized I did recognize him. He gave me a disarming smile as I cracked the door. “Ms. Sutton?—”
“You can just call me Liana,” I interrupted him.
