Page 14

As she closed the breakroom door behind her and Iain, she telepathically reached out to Luka. Sorry to interrupt whatever you’re doing, but Iain’s here at the pizzeria.

“You look good.” Iain swallowed hard. “Beautiful. Always do. God, I’ve missed you so much. It’s been hard to stay away.”

A male mind stroked over hers, vibrating with anger. I’ll be with you very soon , Luka told her. He probably meant to have someone teleport him to the pizzeria, then.

You can teleport to the private dining room you used before. It’s empty right now. We’re in the breakroom – it’s just a few doors down from there. Noticing Iain edging toward her, she slammed up a hand. “No.”

His brow furrowed in confusion, but he halted.

“Iain, a week wasn’t going to be enough for my song to wear off. You needed to stay away for at least two. Now you’ll have to start all over again.”

He shook his head. “What? No. No, I don’t need longer.”

God, she hated this. Hated seeing what her very nature did to people. Hated having to say things that hurt them in an effort to get through to them. It sucked every time. “You shouldn’t have come here, you should have—”

“I need to be where you are.”

“No, you need to listen to the people around you. You need to take their advice for your own sake.”

His jaw clenched. “I am sick and tired of people telling me how I feel. I know how I feel. They can’t possibly have any clue what’s going on inside me.”

“You’re feverish, Iain. The kind of feverish that comes with being under the influence of a siren song.”

“That doesn’t mean my feelings are false!” he shouted, spittle flying from his mouth. “I would know if they were!”

Evidently not. She shot him a hard look, her entity baring its teeth in anger. “Do not yell at me.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just maddening having people question your state of mind and insist that you’re delusional. I know the difference between love and obsession.”

“How could you love me when you barely know me? Seriously, think about it. Consider how crazy it is that you’d feel so deeply for someone you weren’t around for very long.”

“It’s not crazy, it’s—”

The door slammed open and hit the wall with a bang. Luka prowled inside, his bodyguards and an additional demon hot on his heels. He was an absolute vision of rage—eyes cold, jaw tight, neck corded, skin mottled, body stiff.

The flesh on the side of his face stretched and undulated, looking as if a snake writhed underneath it. The same happened to his throat and hand, and she knew it was his inner demons.

Her breath caught, unease gliding up her spine. Her entity tensed, though in fascination, not fear.

The three demons behind Luka, however, stilled nervously. Iain paled, snapped his mouth shut, and took two steps back.

Luka raked his icy gaze over Naomi, as if to be sure that she hadn’t been harmed. He then cut it to Iain, his glare now gleaming with malice. “What in the unholy fuck made you think it would be a wise idea to come here?”

Luka couldn’t quite believe that the bastard had dared do it. Iain was a lot of things, but he wasn’t stupid. And he fucking knew that Luka didn’t bluff. The guy had been well aware that a world of pain would await him if he went against Luka’s order. And yet here he was.

Worse, he didn’t look the slightest bit fucking remorseful.

Displeased at having been caught disobeying orders, yes. Terrified of what would now happen to him, yes. But not at all sorry. As if he had the right to be wherever Naomi was.

Fury heated Luka’s blood, making him clench his teeth so hard his jaw ached. Equally enraged, his entities kept pushing against his skin; he felt it ripple as they slithered beneath it. Not even the terror plastered over Iain’s face mollified them.

Flexing his fingers, Luka stalked toward him. “You’ve developed a masochistic streak, have you? Is that it?”

Backing up so fast he staggered, Iain lifted a staying hand. “No. No, I just had to see her.”

“And you did.” Towering over the psi-demon, Luka cocked his head. “Was it worth what you know will happen to you next?”

Fear a dancing flame in his eyes, Iain hunched his shoulders. “I just wanted to—”

“I didn’t ask what you wanted,” Luka bit off. “Because what you want from Naomi means not one thing when it happens to be something that she doesn’t want.” Not even Abraxas, who basked in female attention and felt entitled to it, would push itself on a woman who wasn’t interested.

“But that’s the thing, she wouldn’t ask me to stay away if she knew I truly did love her. I’m trying to make her see that she’s mistaken. If she’d only listen—”

“The person who’s not listening is you . You’re choosing to cling to your delusions rather than face reality. The fact is that Naomi has not one wish to have you in her life—no matter what you feel for, about, or toward her.”

“Luka—”

“We had a conversation at my home in which I made it perfectly clear that you were to stay away from her. Naomi has also made that clear. Jolene, too, has made it clear. Belial did as well, and it warned you what would happen if you disobeyed us on this.”

“I didn’t ignore your orders. I kept my distance from Naomi like you asked. But my feelings for her never dimmed.”

Impatience fairly rattled Luka’s bones. “You only kept your distance for seven days . Of course they haven’t dimmed. And you’re not stupid enough to think they should have. You just decided to ignore the facts because it suited you to do so.”

Iain looked away, his eyes seeking out Naomi. “I—”

“No,” Luka snapped, drawing the psi-demon’s attention back to him. “Don’t talk to her. Don’t even fucking look at her.”

Iain opened his mouth to argue . . . and Belial had officially had enough. The entity rose to the surface abruptly, taking control, relishing how Iain’s face turned even whiter.

“Daniil is going to take you now,” it told him. “I will join you shortly. We are going to have some fun, you and I. Well . . . it will not be fun for you. But I will certainly enjoy every moment.”

Regaining supremacy over the entity, Luka spared Daniil a look. “You know where to put him.”

The tall blond demon crossed to a spluttering Iain, snatched his arm, and teleported him away.

Luka turned to Naomi, who stood very still, her expression unreadable. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied simply.

Luka squinted, unsure he believed that. Dagon, to its supreme annoyance, couldn’t tell if she’d lied or not. Its irritation would no doubt have tickled both Abraxas and Belial if it weren’t for their black mood.

Luka looked at his guards. “Give us a minute.”

The twins obligingly left the room.

He switched his attention back to Naomi, walking toward her. “Did the fucker touch you?”

“No, he just desperately tried convincing me that his feelings were genuine. He was beyond the point of being reasoned with.” She grimaced.

“It always creeps me out when someone fixates on me so intensely. It’s like they lose who they are little by little,” she added, guilt threaded through each word.

Luka frowned, inching closer to her. Her scent swirled around him; beckoned him, enticed him, urged him to reach out and touch her. An urge he didn’t fight. “Don’t feel guilty, Naomi,” he said, palming her nape. “He isn’t in that state because of you.”

“My song—”

“Snared him, yes, but it hasn’t taken his choices from him.

As you yourself once pointed out to me, he’s still responsible for his words and actions.

If he’d done as you asked and left you alone, he would have recovered months ago.

But he didn’t do that. He hasn’t respected your wishes at any point.

He’s all about himself. That isn’t on you.

” He squeezed the back of her neck. “It’s a reflection of his basic personality. ”

She licked her lips. A simple sight, and yet brutal lust bit at him.

A lust that shot straight to his dick and fed the sexual tension that was always present when they were close.

He should be used to it after a week in her bed.

Should have developed some sort of immunity to her song.

No such luck. It sang to his system even now.

The sex between them wasn’t merely good, it was fucking phenomenal. Memories of it—of the softness of her skin, of her nails digging into his back, of how she arched into his every thrust—played through his mind constantly.

“I know,” she said, her voice thick in a way that told him she wasn’t immune to the tension. “I still don’t like seeing him that way.” She thrust a hand through her hair. “I didn’t expect him to show up here. I thought he’d listen to you.”

“So did I, but I was having him monitored just to be sure. He must have known, because he made every effort to give his watcher the slip.” And the bastard had been successful—something Luka wouldn’t have foreseen.

He’d underestimated just how determined Iain would be to have contact with her, and she’d essentially paid for that. Luka wouldn’t make that mistake again. “On the day I release him, I will assign you a guard.”

Surprise rippled over her face, and her brow knitted. “That’s not necessary.”

“Oh, but it is. He should never have gotten near you tonight. I will not allow it to happen again.”

“He isn’t a danger to me.”

“At present, no. But you said yourself that things might get ugly. Men have threatened you in the past when in his state. They’ve even tried to harm you.” Which made Luka want to fucking kill them.

“But—”

He reached up with his free hand and loosely cupped the side of her jaw.

“No, Naomi, I’m not budging on this.” He brushed his thumb over her lower lip.

“I will not risk him harming you. As you already know, you’re mine for the foreseeable future.

That places you under my protection, which I take very seriously.

It’s as simple as that.” His eyes dipped to her mouth of their own accord.

“Now, I need to go deal with Iain. But I want a taste of you first.”

He stole a kiss that was slow, teasing, and deep, feeling the tension gradually leach from her muscles.

Pulling back, he hummed. “If I wasn’t wound so tight with fury that I could trust I wouldn’t be far too rough with you, I’d take you here and now.

It will regretfully have to wait.” Releasing her, he let his arms fall back to his sides.

“I’m going to be . . . busy tonight.” Busy dealing with Iain. “But I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She gave a curt nod. “Tomorrow.”