This was wrong, this was wrong, this was—
He broke the kiss to trail his tongue down my lips, my chin, my neck, down to the valley between my breasts. My breathing quickened as he cupped one full mound with his right hand, then slowly lapped his tongue over the curve of flesh.
It was wrong, but it felt so right.
His other hand released my back and slid between my legs. I groaned again, a mewling sound caught between a protest and a cheer. Daun took my swollen nipple into his mouth, encased it in wetness before he gave suck. And then his fingers slid between my labia, found my clit. Pressed.
I threw back my head and let out a cry of pure joy as my blood caught fire. He stroked me, relentless, insistent, and the blaze erupted into an inferno. Clutching his hair, I rocked my hips against him, faster, faster, my body moving with the force of the firestorm threatening to consume me. Cold air hit my nipple as he broke suction, but I was on fire, I was the fire, and cold air only coaxed me to burn hotter. Yes—oh, sweet Sin, yes…
Sizzling kisses, on my chest, my shoulder, my jaw. Nearly lost in my building climax, I almost didn’t hear Daun whisper in my ear: “Call my name.”
Ice water couldn’t have been more effective at shocking me out of my lustopia.
My senses on hyperdrive, I pulled away from him, even as my body sang a lament for its stillborn orgasm. Shaking, I grabbed the towel from the floor and moved backward, my eyes locked on Daun’s as if he were a snake poised to strike.
“Bastard,” I panted. “Couldn’t leave well enough alone?”
He shrugged, a bemused smile playing on his face. “I’m an incubus. What do you really expect?”
Wrapping the towel over myself until I was covered from armpit to knee, I said, “I expect you not to try to seduce me and steal my soul.”
“Oh, but babes,” he said, his eyes laughing, “do you know how rare it is for a succubus to actually have a soul?”
My teeth clenched, I said, “I’m not a succubus anymore.”
“No?” He lifted his fingers, which glistened with my juices. He slowly licked them, his heated gaze on mine. “You still taste like a succubus.”
I hugged myself, but I couldn’t stop shivering. “Go away, Daun.”
“What’s the matter, Jezzie? Oh, sorry. Jesse.” He flashed me a toothy smile. “I thought you needed my help. Remember?”
“I needed George. Not you.”
Still grinning, he spread his arms wide. “But I am George.”
“I said go away.”
“Fine. Be that way. Don’t ask for my help with the floor.” He paused. “Or with the Erinyes.”
My voice tight, I said, “What do you know about that?”
“Me? Why, I don’t know anything. You don’t need my help, remember?”
I closed my eyes, counted to ten. “You weren’t such a schmuck when I was a demon.”
He chuckled. “Actually, babes, I’ve always been this way. Once you got a soul, you lost your sense of humor. To say nothing of your sense of adventure. Or your sense of taste.”
I opened my eyes to find him right on top of me, one hand to my left, propped against the wall unit behind me, the other stroking my cheek.
Still rimmed with red, George’s brown eyes searched my face as if seeking answers. “You really love that flesh puppet with the big shoulders?”
Ignoring the husky male scent wafting from him, I said, “Yes.”
Daun smiled, but there was no humor in it. “Like I said, no accounting for taste. I have no idea why your former Queen’s still interested in you. You’ve gotten positively boring.”
Maybe my heart didn’t actually stop, but for a moment it was a close thing. The last time I’d seen Queen Lillith, she tried to kill me. If a cop hadn’t taken down her host body, she probably would have succeeded. “She’s back?”
“And badder than before. Completely healed too. Word is she’s looking for payback.”
All sorts of nasty images danced before my eyes like leprous ballerinas. “What’s she planning?”
“Now that would be telling.”
For a moment, I said nothing as I pictured shoving Daun into a ditch filled with starving pit bulls. “You really suck.”
His smile spread into a feral grin. “I know. I’m good at it. You certainly weren’t complaining. Wonder how your man would feel, knowing that his sexpot will always get wet for me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I said coldly. “I’m with Paul.”
He shrugged, his grin still in place. “For now. But there will come a day when you won’t push me away, babes. And you’ll call my name willingly.” For a moment, red blazed in those brown eyes, a look that would have sent angels screaming for God to protect them. “And then you’ll be mine. Body and soul.”
Fuck.
“You’re so cute when you’re scared speechless,” he said. “Later, babes.”
The red in his eyes winked out, and George collapsed on top of me, knocking me to the floor. I grunted as I hit, and again as two hundred fifty pounds of dead weight landed on me.
Struggling to get George off of me, I cursed and screamed and kicked. None of that helped. He was out cold—side effect of a demon suddenly leaving its host body. With a snarl, I shoved him as hard as I could…and, to my surprise, he rolled off of me.
That’s when I saw Paul standing over me, arching an eyebrow.
I smiled as sheepishly as possible. “This really isn’t what it looks like.”
Cinching the knot on my bathrobe, I walked back into the living room. Paul stood by the front door, where he was showing out a very confused superintendent. The poor man had woken up completely dazed, his eyes glassy and fearful, not knowing where he was. Stitched onto George’s face had been a breathy combination of horror, embarrassment, and anxiety. I’d caught myself licking my lips, imagining what that fear would taste like on my tongue.
That’s when I’d excused myself to go throw on a robe. Screw me on Salvation Day, when would I stop thinking like a succubus? I didn’t want Hell in my life anymore. All I wanted was to be human, to spend my life with Paul, and to get a pair of killer shoes that cost less than Paul’s monthly rent. Was that really so much to ask?
Daun’s laughter echoed in my mind. You still taste like a succubus.
Shivering, I hugged my arms. Go away, Daun. I didn’t know if we still shared the psychic connection between all creatures of Lust; maybe I was only talking to a phantom voice in my head. But just in case there still was something linking us, I said it again: Just go away.
And maybe it was only my memory that answered me: You’ll be mine. Body and soul.
In your dreams, incubus.
No reply. Maybe I was only losing my mind. I could live with that.
I darted a look at the living room floor. The smoke and sulfuric fumes had dissipated, but the symbol of the Erinyes was still branded into the wood. Paul hadn’t mentioned it yet; I assumed he was waiting until we were alone before he applied the