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)
Doing her best to quash said butterflies, she strode down the narrow hallway. On reaching the dark wooden door that led to the dimly lit main eating area, she pushed it open. Immediately, the scents of spices, tomatoes, cheese, peppers, and garlic swirled around her.
The place was full, but not rowdy. Its color palette of taupe, yellow, and burgundy complemented the informal Italian feel to the place. The murmuring of voices, sizzling of food, and scraping of cutlery on plates overlaid the soft background music.
She gave a quick wave to her stepfather, Alfie, who was prepping food in the open kitchen along with several other chefs. Waiters went back and forth carrying trays or electronic notepads. Some patrons sat at the ornate tables. Others were tucked into booths or stood at the bar.
Weaving her way through the tables, Naomi plucked a bit of lint from her black dress. It was elegant, but enhanced “the girls”, clung to her curves, and stopped just above her knees.
Arriving at the hostess station, she smiled at the petite red-headed waitress there. “Thanks for covering for me.”
“No problem,” said Donna absently, her attention on the window – or whatever lay beyond it.
Naomi tracked her gaze . . . and saw a veritable sexual cocktail of supreme masculinity striding toward the pizzeria. Luka moved with the fluid, powerful grace of a tiger, carrying an unmistakable air of nobility; of a person who was to be obeyed, served, and feared. Like he owned the freaking world.
Donna swiftly scarpered. Unsurprising. By virtue of being a legion—a rare breed of demon that hosted three inner entities—he naturally unnerved people. What amped up their fear was that the guy radiated an unchecked danger that seeped out like ooze, touching even those at a fair distance from him.
One of his bodyguards shoved open the door, briefly scanned the venue, and then nodded at Luka. The Prime breezed inside, his default stony expression firmly in place. Naomi’s inner demon went ahead and eye-banged him.
Who wouldn’t?
Naomi was average height, but Luka was so tall that he made her feel petite. He was also lean and broad-shouldered. His piercing eyes—a striking velvety black—were as dark as his short hair and layer of stubble.
In his tailored suit, not a wrinkle in sight or a hair out of place, he looked groomed, elegant, and—despite his distinct reptilian coldness—oh so very fuckable.
There was something almost scandalizing about possessing such staggeringly lethal sex appeal. It was indecent. An outrage. Totally unfair. It crawled over your defenses and seeped into any fracture it could find.
Luka’s gaze fixed on Naomi, and yeah, her pulse lost its shit. He prowled toward her, his focus holding a rapacious edge. The faintest shimmer of power steamed the air around him—a drugging thing for her demon.
The first time they’d come face to face, her primitive hindbrain had woken up and warned, Careful. Nonetheless, her hormones had become ridiculously light-headed. They were doing the same thing right now.
Luka came to a stop in front of her station, his eyes still locked on her face. A very familiar static awareness laced with sexual chemistry buzzed to life and pricked at her skin like blunt needles.
How annoying. She flashed him her courteous hostess smile. “Mr. Belinsky,” she greeted. “Welcome back to Sizzle and Slice Pizzeria.”
“Luka,” he corrected with the bare hint of a Russian accent. “I’m scheduled to meet Jolene here.” There was a distinct sexy roughness to his voice, as though his vocal cords had once been damaged.
“She let me know you’d be coming.” Naomi flicked a look at his guards—two identical rough-looking muscle-bound brothers with buzz cuts and sharp gray gazes. “Will all three of you be eating?”
“No. Just myself.”
She nabbed two menus. “Follow me, I’ll take you to Jolene. She’s waiting for you in the private dining room.”
Luka trailed behind the waitress, still recovering from a brutal punch of need to his gut. Each time he laid eyes on the creature in front of him, sheer want ripped through him. A visceral reaction he had no way of fighting. Partly because she was a siren, but also because she was a fucking vision.
Long, thick lashes framed her hooded gray-green eyes. Blonde streaks ran through the silky cinnamon-brown hair she’d loosely curled at the ends. She was slender but curvy. Her breasts were high and round, her legs long and shapely. She smelled like pure sexual heaven, and her voice—all smoke and sin—was an enticement all on its own.
Sensuality seemed woven into her very being. It could be seen in her eyes, her smile, the sinuous way she moved.
She hadn’t only snagged Luka’s interest, she’d snagged that of his entities. The trio were as conscienceless, remorseless, and malevolent as all inner demons. That said, they were each different in their own way and had named themselves when Luka was an infant.