Page 24 of The Monster's Desire

“Thanks,” I say as my knees wobble and threaten to give out.

“It was my pleasure, little witch,” he rumbles, smirking down at me. How the hell does he manage to call me that without it sounding insulting? I’ve had men call me that before, and it always sounded patronizing from their lips. Not that it doesn’t from him, but it’s lined in just enough raw sexual desire that it’s really hard to convince my system it’s time to get back to the hotel.

“See ya around.” I give an awkward little wave and head off toward my car.

The low rumbling laugh sends a damn shiver down my spine.

“Wrong way,again.” Those massive paws wrap around my shoulders in human form, and I’m guided...a completely different way than I expected.

My headlights finally come into view, and I blow out a relieved breath.

“I’ll be seeing you very soon. Safe travels,” he whispers against my throat. His warmth disappears from my back an instant later, and the sound of his paws hitting the dirt fills the air.

Some freaking introduction to North Falls.

ChapterNine

Nadia

My eyes flick up to the dilapidated building and back down to the piece of paper I haphazardly scribbled the address on when I talked to Octavia this morning. She assured me I didn’t need to keep my hotel room, because the council would be putting me up somewhere in North Falls.

This is where I’m supposed to be. Unless I wrote it down incorrectly, which I don’t think I did. Something about this place is sending my hackles up.

My magic immediately perks up, taking notice. The ward around North Falls is so thin, it’s nearly undetectable, but even then, I should be in and out in less than a month.

The front door opens, and a man stumbles outside, still righting his shirt. Okay, so it’s a hotel or possibly apartments. Which is good. This place is entirely too massive to have all to myself.

You know what I’m not expecting to find as I saunter through the front door?

A sex club.

Four women immediately swarm me. It’s much different from the atmosphere back home at The Den, but it is familiar enough to make me smile.

“I’m not a customer.” I stifle a laugh. They’re quite friendly with their touches. All except one back away with a huff.

“Are you Nadia?” the petite blonde asks. She’s wearing a thong and a corset and not much else. She’s got on a killer pair of heels strapped up her ankles, and she’s still not as tall as I am. I’m fairly certain she’s a nymph.

“That’s me,” I agree. “So, this is where I’m supposed to be?” My job back in Haven isn’t a secret, but I almost wonder if it’s a dig at my employment preferences. Like, maybe they know I’m a sex worker, so they put me up at the local sex club? That’s kind of insulting, since it’s clearly not the job I was contracted to do.

“Yeah, I’m Scarlett. It’s great to meet you. Come on, I’ll show you where you’re staying.” She starts down the long hallway, and my eyes have trouble not glancing into every room we pass.

The sex in the air feeds my magic. Not to the level blood would, but it provides a nice little buzz of energy.

There’s a massive orgy happening in a room to the left, and a large glass picture window opens into what can only be described as a torture chamber.

Holy shit. That monster knows just how to land the leather flogger he wields with god-like precision. I’m a little jealous of the female he’s punishing. She’s dancing around on her tiptoes, and it’s clear she’s loving and hating every second of it.

It makes my heart twinge as I think of Sam. We were supposed to have an appointment tonight.

It’ll be the first one I’ve missed.

I follow Scarlett through the hallways until she opens a door that leads to a flight of stairs that head down. Okay, that’s a smidgen creepy. I’ve only ever seen stairs like this leading to a basement.

“This is one way into the apartment,” she says, grimacing a little. “It’s not necessarily the door you’re likely to use, but I did want to show you that it exists.”

“Thanks.”

“Okay, so, follow me again.” Scarlett leads us out onto a large patio and out the door with zero concern about her state of undress. There’s a pool with random people milling about and doing other things. It’s like ten in the morning... I’ll bet, similar to The Den, this place never sleeps. She follows a small gravel path to a door and nods at it before handing me a small keyring. “You can use this key to get in through here. Or you can come in the front. We’re open all the time.” The gravel path dead ends at the parking lot that must be at the rear of the building. “You can park down there, and it’ll be much closer for you to bring in your stuff.”

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