Page 58 of Devil Bound
“Get the fuck out of my hair, Lucy.”
Trony had put the butt plug set in the nightstand that also held several fresh bottles of lube, some flavored, some not.Trony being Trony, she had thrown out all the other toys I’d had in there.Hell forbid I stuff my boyfriend with anything that had been…elsewhere.
The butt plugs ranged from light pink to fuchsia, to violet to purple, increasing in size as they changed color.The bases were molded into heart shapes, with the points and tops of the heart elongated so they were safe to use.Next time I went out to do the Dragon Mother’s bidding, I could just put one in Nelly to make sure he knew what to expect when I came back.
Of course, I had to find the stubborn human first.
After the shower, I styled my hair quickly and dressed in tailored jeans and a T-shirt with a deep V-neck.I knew Nelly liked stealing glances at me, and this outfit would help.I’d always enjoyed tracking where his golden gaze roamed.
I passed Trony and Soul on my way out but was pointedly ignored by both.With a spring in my step, I walked to the crossroads.Tiamat’s splashing about in the lake echoed toward me.She was in her dragon form then, much larger and even more impressive than normal.
From the crossroads, it was easy to teleport to right outside of Nelly’s apartment.I wondered whether he was even there.Maybe he was near some grave, resurrecting something and getting oozed on.I’d never seen a necromancer who got oozed on quite as much as Nelly.In fact, it might have been harder to get that amount of fluids on oneself than not as a necromancer, and more than once had I wondered how he managed it.
Getting ready to sling him over my shoulder, I knocked.After some thirty seconds, I knocked again.No one opened the door, and a magical skim of the apartment let me know he really wasn’t there, rather than him just trying to get me to bring him something to make up for my long absence all day.
I looked at his battered door while I smoothed my hair.I could have tracked the debt he owed me, but that would be boring and too fast.
I could also track his distinctive necromantic magic, which would be a little more difficult, a little less accurate.It would show more effort on my part though, so I did that, even if Nelly with his human magic wouldn’t be able to really appreciate it.
One of the stores on the corner was a flower shop, and as I walked past them right as they were closing up for the day, I handed the girl carrying the flowers in a hundred bucks and took a single long-stemmed rose from the bucket in her arms.
“Thanks!”she called after me when she had recovered from being startled by the bill and my dazzling looks.“And good luck!”
“Thank you, but I don’t need it.”I winked at her, and she blushed.It was a perfectly normal reaction.
With the rose in my hand, I traced the slightly sour bite of Nelly’s necromantic magic across the river to a restaurant calledThe Angry Dragon.The name and the wannabe Chinese music all seemed like fun.
That was odd.Not only did Nelly not strike me as someone who had a good handle on the concept of fun, he also shouldn’t be having any without me, given he was my boyfriend now.There was a lot I’d have to teach him.
I ran a hand through my hair to make sure it looked right.Several people turned to devour me with their eyes, so the hair and outfit were fine.I twirled the rose in my fingers and sniffed the air for the heady scent of death magic.A thorn tried to bite into my skin, but something so simple as a rose couldn’t hurt me, the Devil, seducer of stubborn necromancers.
I smiled at the night and the neon lights above the restaurant.The taming could begin.
32
Lionel
Tonightwasgoingtobe my night.Well, mine and Mitch’s.
As I waited for him outside the restaurant, I decided it was a good night that was only going to get better.I had a date, he was hot, and going by the fact that I had seen a couple go inside arm in arm, Mitch had chosenThe Angry Dragonwith a purpose.
I heard soft music and the sound of people enjoying good food and company from inside and couldn’t wait to join them.The place had a big neon dragon head above the door, its nostrils fuming, its eyes bulging.
I stood by a window and watched one of those golden plastic kittens with the waving arms while I did my best to resist the urge to pull out my phone and check for a text from Mitch.Had I been stood up in the past?Well yeah, but everyone had.And Mitch was working on an active case that I wasn’t allowed to get close to, so if he was late, I could be sure it wasn’t his fault.Plus, he had askedmeout.
But Mitch, perfect in his sexiness, wasn’t late.A smile lit up his face as he walked toward me, one hand raised in greeting.He still wore his work clothes, though he’d left his jacket behind, and the two top buttons of his shirt were open, which I took to be a good sign.
“Hey.You been waiting long?”he asked when he stood in front of me, closer than he had at the scene or at work.Obviously.I could smell his cologne.He’d refreshed it since earlier.Had he taken a shower too?Likely after the beach.
I shook my head, doing my best to project confidence.“Just a couple of minutes.”
Mitch rolled his shoulders.“I’m glad.Ready to go inside?I could use a drink.”
I nodded, glad he and I were on the same wavelength.
Inside, it was dark and cozy, fake, bedazzled, and just the right amount of kitschy to make me not think about burning things every other minute.
After the first excellent tequila cocktail, Mitch rolled up his shirtsleeves, and I found myself drawn to the corded muscle of his forearms, forgetting all about the gaudy, Shanghai-in-the-’20s decor with all the neon dragons.Did his arms look like that all the way up to those shoulders?
