Page 5 of All the Devils are Here

So suddenly I had no job and nothing to look forward to. The loneliness was easy to bear when I could throw myself into work. Without it…

Shaking my head, I jumped off the short wall I’d been resting on.

I’d taken work here in Paris in between seasons, so there was a chance I could find something just to hold me over. But it felt like a lifeline when I called Christine and she suggested we meet here. I hadn’t told her about the company yet—I didn’t know how.

But no, it was safe to say I wasn’t okay. I felt empty. Gutted. And though a club wasn’t really the way I wanted to spend my night, it felt normal and safe in comparison to anything else. When I’d had everything, I was the life of the party. The girl everyone wanted around and to be with. I would pretend to be that girl for a night and see if I could recapture the magic.

Any kind of magic. Here by myself, I could admit how badly I wanted to be a part of the world that wasn’t human. Because learning that it existed was like learning that Santa Claus was real. It wasexhilarating. All those books Christine and I read were real, and it was so much better than ordinary life. Especially now that it felt like I didn’t have anything left.

The sun was setting early, the way it did in the winter. It wasn’t cold for February, and there wasn’t snow, but it was still nicely brisk with the cooling breeze off the river.

Nerves jangled in my stomach as I walked back to Laurent’s house. I didn’t want things to be weird. Hell, I wanted them to be a lot more than what they were. But he seemed bound and determined that there would be nothing between us.

But him being so close in the kitchen, with his chest showing… all I could do was remember now, and wish it had gone differently.

The siren outside the windows dragged me from sleep, my heart pounding. I was on my feet, looking around for the danger, despite being entirely safe in Laurent’s guest bedroom. I shouldn’t be panicked about this. The fire was over and had been over for days. But my brain was still going back to the crazed moments outside the opera house when there was nothing but chaos and I was looking for Christine, thinking she was dead.

I needed something to calm me down. There wasn’t any chance I could get back in that bed and sleep. It was nearly midnight, so I didn’t bother putting on more clothes. Just the nightgown I had on. Laurent was asleep.

Creeping down to the kitchen, I decided getting a glass of water would be what I needed. The act of normalcy. Even if it wasn’t enough, it would be a start.

The light of the refrigerator was bright in the dim kitchen, but faded again to nothing but the glow from the streetlamp outside when I closed the door.

“Meg?”Laurent’s gentle French accent had me gasping, nearly dropping the glass and spilling water all over myself.

“I thought you were asleep.”

“I heard you wake. I did not mean to frighten you.”

He was nothing but a silhouette in the darkness, and he had scared me. But I wasn’t afraid ofhim.

“It’s all right.”

Coming closer, I saw he wasn’t wearing a shirt, but I couldn’t see much more in the gathered darkness. “You cannot sleep?”

I swallowed. “Bad dreams. It was the siren that woke me, and I needed to do something.”

He was so close, and my entire body was on edge—now, in a good way. It wasn’t a secret that I found him attractive. I was the one who asked Christine if her mates had friends, and Laurent was incredible. I just didn’t know how to do this with a monster.

I wanted every part of him, monster included, but as brave as I pretended to be, I wasn’t. Not when it came to things like this.

“You are safe,” he said softly, accent lilting over the words. “I promise.”

“I know I am. I wish my mind understood that.”

I thought I saw the ghost of a smile. “Maybe I can help with bad dreams.”

Laurent’s hand curled behind my neck, and suddenly I was in his arms before he kissed me. There wasn’t an inch of him that wasn’t made of incredible strength. His scent wrapped around me along with his body, cool and sharp like peppermint.

His mouth moved on mine, drawing me deeper, and my heart still beat wildly. But now it was for him and not from fear. One of his legs slipped between mine, and he pressed me back against the counter so I could feel all of him. Every hard inch that felt like stone even though he wasn’t in that form.

One hand stroked down my spine and I wrapped both of my arms around his neck to pull him closer.

This was what I wanted. I wantedheatand safety and company in the darkness. His kiss was driving away every fear I had, and it was safe to say I’d never been kissed like this. Every cell felt alive, zinging with energy, and if this was even close to what Christine felt with her mates, I would never be the same.

Laurent pulled back and pressed his forehead to mine, briefly. “I am sorry.”

“Why?” I tried to guide his lips back to mine. “Don’t be sorry.”

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