Page 27 of Legacy of Temptation

He spotted her in a private corner near the window, her laptop on the table in front of her, a glass of red wine near her right hand. She’d changed into a green and black silk top that matched her skirt and emphasized her full breasts. Her long hair fell across her face, hiding her eyes, but he found himself hypnotized by the feminine silhouette of her nose and full lips backlit by flickering candle sconces on the wall.

She looked up as he approached, her sable lashes lifting in surprise. “Logan. Hi.”

“Hey.” He held out her tablet. “Kynan sent me to drop this off. You left it.”You left it. Could he sound any lamer?

Frowning, she took it. “Wow, I can’t believe I did that. My brain must have gotten rattled during your beatdown in the gym.”

He forced an expression of contrition. “Sorry about that.”

“He said, not sounding sorry at all.” She narrowed her eyes at him, but her smile was teasing. “It’s okay. I had to run back to the hotel for a new shirt, and it was only total humiliation in front of my colleagues. Nothing I can’t ever live down or anything.”

“Nah, I humiliated them too.”

Laughing, she gestured to the seat across from her. “If you want to make it up to me, I wear a size ten in blouses and drink merlot.Goodmerlot.”

He gestured to a nearby server. “I’d like a bottle of whatever she’s got in the glass.” He’d get his cousin Leilani to buy a new shirt. Limos’s daughter lived for shopping and keeping up on fashion trends.

“Yes, sir,” the guy said, scurrying off.

Logan sank into the plush black-and-gold chair as Eva held up her glass. “You should know that this is four hundred dollars a bottle.”

“Then I’m definitely staying to drink it with you.”

One shapely eyebrow arched. “You weren’t before?”

“I didn’t want to intrude. But I’m intrigued by the wine now.” Though not as much as he was by her. “And I’m curious about how your day went.”

“It was interesting.” She closed her laptop and sat back in her seat with her glass of wine. Her long, shapely legs crossed at the ankles, she settled in for a chat. “Not what I expected. Runadefinitelyisn’t what I expected.”

“What did you expect? Fangs and a taste for raw flesh? She’s more human than she is werewolf.”

“I don’t know.” Eva toyed with the rim of her glass, one slender finger doing lazy laps. “I didn’t expect her to be so down to earth and nice. And so in love with her husband. Oh, sorry.Mate.”

“Why would she not be in love with her mate?”

She crossed her toned legs at her thighs now, and her skirt hiked up, revealing enough creamy skin to intrigue him even more. “He’s a demon.”

Disappointment filtered through him. Her response wasn’t unusual for a human, but he’d hoped for something different from her, despite her allegiance to The Aegis. Which made him a fool because he knew firsthand that human females could rip out a heart as efficiently as any demon when they learned he wasn’t one hundred percent purebred Homo sapiens.

“And?”

There were a couple of heartbeats of hesitation, and he wondered if she was choosing her words carefully. “I guess I didn’t think they were capable of love. Not like we are, anyway.”

He was so sick of this shit. Sure, demons were mostly depraved fiends. But even the worst of them lovedsomething, even if it was only themselves.

“Why would you assume they couldn’t love? Humans and animals feel love and pain and sorrow and joy. Why not demons? What about people who are half-human? Do you think they can’t feel love?”

She sipped her wine, her expression contemplative. “I suppose I never really thought about it. But from what Runa said, her demon mate treats her like a queen.”

“As Shade should,” he said, mildly surprised by her response. At this point, humans usually started arguing that underworlders had no redeeming qualities. “Runa is awesome. She’s always bringing cupcakes to work. You might have seen her sons around. Blade works on the Special Forces team, and Rade is an interrogator. You can’t miss them. They’re Seminus demons, so all females notice.”

“Incubi.” She shook her head as if unable to comprehend the existence of demons that needed sex as much as they needed air. “I’ve never seen one in person. I’ll keep an eye out for Runa’s sons tomorrow. The time I spent with her this afternoon was eye-opening.” Her gaze turned inward, maybe a little troubled as she looked into her wineglass. Did it bother her to discover that not all supernaturals were monsters? “So, I’m guessing you heard about the Boston incident.”

“I’m familiar with it,” he said vaguely, unsure what, exactly, she’d heard.

The server appeared with the bottle and another glass, so they tabled the conversation until he’d presented the wine, poured it, and left.

“Sounds like it was a bit of a cluster.” Eva swirled the wine in her glass, studying him, probably taking note of every blink, breath, and sentence.

---