Page 32 of Demon Sworn
He looks surprised for half a second, as it bounces off of him and rolls onto the desk.
But only for a second, because then he stands, slowly, in the creepy way men do when they’re about to kick serious ass. His black eyes on me burn in a way I recognize. Akor sometimes gets the same look.
“Aw, fuck, we’re going to have to fight now, aren’t we?” Zolroth complains. “I just bought this suit.”
I shoot him a disbelieving look. Shouldn’t he want to fight? To defend Adam and—
“Baby girl, he didn’t do it,” Raz whispers to me.
“What?”
Zolroth clears his throat, holding up his hands, one towards me and the other towards the demon who’s eyeing me like I’m a dog turd.
“Peroth here is a greed demon who’s been stealing from us, skimming off our checking account because I relieved him of the Dresden Green a century or so back.”
I face Zolroth as the little monkey inside who’s operating my primal brain hits the panic button. Emergency lights and sirens blare inside my head as I ask, “What the hell isthat?”
“A green diamond,” he responds with a casual shrug.
“I still can’t believe we didn’t notice,” Van mutters.
“It’s because Zolroth’s shoe addiction makes it impossible to keep track of the damn account. He buys a million things a month!” Akor jabs. “On the plus side, it means nobody complains when I buy boxes of brass knuckles to spread around in bar bathrooms like condoms.”
“Ugh.” Raz rubs his forehead. “Shut up!”
Ohhhhh. Oh shit.
My jaw drops, and my stomach twists and spins like one of those little propeller seeds that’s just fallen from a tree.
Fucking crap. I just beaned an innocent demon.
Yes, that’s an oxymoron. And I’m a plain moron.
“OhmygodImsosorry!” I say in a rush as I feel my cheeks flare up. “I thought you—”
“She thought you killed her parents,” Zolroth says, interrupting me as he lowers his hands. “She’s been out for revenge, and we’ve been helping her look. You know, Kas and his vengeance gig.”
There’s a long tense moment where I’m pretty certain I’m about to die. Peroth is not going to accept my idiotic attack for what it was, and he’s going to fly across that desk and snap my neck before my guys can stop him.
He inhales, and every single one of my demons tenses up, ready for the fight.
Then Peroth smooths his hands down his jacket and sits back down. “Ah, I understand. Encouraging that free will is all part of the job. Now, if you’re done harassing me, I’d like to get back to mine. I’ve got a couple of stockbrokers coming in, and I’d like to see if they’re interested in embezzlement.”
Akor blows a raspberry at the other demon as Raz turns him towards the door, and we all tromp out into the hall.
“I didn’t even get to punish him for stealing from us!” Akor whines. “Not even break a finger!”
“Shouldn’t you be happier that Trina busted in there, looking hot and furious?” Van replies as his eyes skate down my figure with heat. “I am.” His hand comes to my shoulder and drags sensuously down my back, and suddenly, the hallway feels hot and steamy.
Or maybe that’s just the heat between my legs that forms when Van grabs me and pushes me up against the wall before he kisses me fiercely, shoving his leg between my thighs and pressing his bulge into me.
I don’t know if it’s his lust magic or just me, but just as my other inhibitions have burned away, my inhibitions against public displays of affection have gone up in smoke too. I lean into Van’s kiss and grind against his thigh. I revel in the feel of his eyelashes brushing softly against my cheek as he changes the angle of our kiss, his teeth scuffing over my lips.
Anticipation coils in my chest, and Van slowly winds me up tighter and tighter when his hands slide down my waist.
He feels so damn good that all I can think is that I want more. Depression and fear have had such a hold on me since the Adam fiasco that I haven’t had any release since then. And I’ve just realized how much I need it. My fingers dig into his shoulders, and my entire body curves towards him, trying to rub every bit of me against every bit of him.
Van’s hands clamp down on my hips to restrict my movement as his tongue takes me into a wild, mindless headspace full of only one thing—need.
