Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Naomi sighed. “I’ve heard that before,” she mumbled.
“From him, or from others?”
“Others, so it doesn’t surprise me that he’d make the same claim.” She could understand why they would choose denial. Who wanted to believe that they weren’t fully in control of their thoughts and feelings? “You told him to leave me be?”
“I made it clear that he is to stay out of your life—as did Belial, which gives him further incentive to do as ordered. Nobody likes fucking with Belial.”
No, they didn’t. Even her lair swerved getting on the entity’s bad side, especially since . . . “It has a habit of beheading imps.”
“Only when they break my club rules. Though Belial actually got bored of decapitating them. It likes variety in its murderous diet.”
What else could she say to that but, “Good to know.” Her pulse started to skip as he walked toward her. And then he was right there, leaving mere inches between their bodies. He smelled good. She didn’t know what cologne he wore, but it was smoky and rich.
“If Iain attempts to make contact with you again, I want you to telepath me straight away. I realize that, as a siren, you won’t be at all weak and can likely handle yourself. But this isn’t about whether you need protection or intervention. It’s about managing the situation. The fact is that any interactions with you will please him, whether they be positive or negative. We don’t want him to feel rewarded by reaching out to you.”
Huh. Good point. And since she had zero interest in dealing with more of Iain’s crap . . . “All right.”
“Good,” he said, his gaze so damn intent, so unshakably focused in a way that was plain unnerving.
She’d heard some refer to Luka as a proverbial snake. But as he looked at her right then—his gaze searching, probing, studying her with a burning intensity—he made her think of a wolf circling its prey. Which loudly rang her hormones’ bells, and now tension was snapping and popping in the air.
Naomi cleared her throat. “Thank you for dealing with Iain and taking the time to relay your conversation with him.” She glanced at the front door. “Well, if that’s all . . .”
“You don’t want me here,” he sensed, a hint of mirth in his gaze.
“It isn’t something you should take personally. I don’t like having most people here.” Pure truth.
“There are some exceptions?”
“Yes. I don’t know you well enough for you to be one of them.”
“You will.”
She double-blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You don’t strike me as the type to miss much, so you’ll know that you’ve captured my interest. I only recently exited an arrangement, and I don’t jump from one bed to another. I intended to give it time before approaching you. I’ve decided that time is now up.”
Naomi stilled, hit by mixed reactions. Her feminine parts all but swooned while her mind recoiled slightly in unease. Was it really a good idea to get involved with someone who was so damn perceptive he might well figure out what she strived so hard to hide?
If all he wanted was a one-night stand, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. But she didn’t get the sense that that was what he had in mind. And still she didn’t find herself blurting out a hard no.
She should. She really should. It was a matter of self-preservation. And yet the words just didn’t—
“Naomi?”
She mentally fumbled as his voice severed her line of thought. Blinking at him, she asked, “Hmm?”
His gaze bored into hers. “You back with me?”
“I never left.”
After a long moment, he cocked his head. “Do you know why I stick to arrangements?”
“No, why?”
“Relationships are difficult for my kind. Each of my inner entities has its own personality, needs, wants, desires, likes, dislikes—it goes on and on. They’re separate individuals, and it isn’t always the case that they agree on things. Even when they do, it may be that I’m not in agreement with them. In other words, the four of us aren’t always in sync.
“Belial, in particular, tends to have an opposing opinion. It is deliberately contrary, though mostly due to boredom. Few things snag its attention—people included. And it does not at all like for me to ignore its wants. So, for instance, I might like a particular piece of art. Belial, however, may not. Annoyed that I nonetheless purchased it, the entity might well destroy it out of spite if in a mood over something.”
“Wow.” She could see how a legion might become as arbitrarily stubborn and darkly dominant as Luka was rumored to be. From an early age, you’d have to learn how to hold your own against three inner entities all craving and angling for control. “It’s got to be weird having three demons.”
“It’s all I’ve ever known. The point I’m making is that short, shallow arrangements are easier. Anything more would require myself and my entities to all feel very strongly for a woman—the same woman, more to the point. We never have, and it would be a lie to say we lament that. We are content as we are.”