Page 46 of Paramour of Sin

After washing up, I stripped out of my sleep shorts and tank, leaving the fabric in a pile on the bathroom floor. I usually slept without clothes, and nudity was sort of a sex demon staple, which made me pretty confident in my body.

And I wasn’t going to let him kick me out of my own damn bed.

So I tossed my long dark hair over my shoulder like a queen and sauntered back into the bedroom.

Naked.

Two can play this game.

A lazy smile spread across Zane’s face as his gaze trailed over me. “If you think that’s going to scare me out of your bed, then you have another think coming, sweetheart.”

Rolling my eyes, I slipped beneath the covers, then reached over to turn off the light. “Contrary to what you think, I sleep naked. And I didn’t ask for you to be here, so I’m damn sure not making concessions for your arrogance.”

“Oh, Guinevere. You wound me,” he teased.

The sexy demon didn’t mean a word he said, so I couldn’t even take him seriously. He oozed that incubus personality like it was all he had to work with. All the charm and flirtation in the world couldn’t change the fact that I one hundred percent wanted nothing to do with him.

Liar, my subconscious hissed.

I burrowed down into my pillow and muttered, “Good night, Zane.”

I closed my eyes to try to sleep, but after a few interminable moments, my lids popped open again. The room was dark, quiet except for the hush of our breaths mingling on the air.

I focused on the plain white wall of my bedroom and pictured TDH. His asshole arrogance. Cocky grin. Crude persona.

He glared back at me, accusation darkening his gaze. I knew it wasn’t real, that this was just my mind’s cruel way of punishing me. But I couldn’t dismiss the sensation of beingjudged.

An accidental death while feeding felt strangely different from this situation.

And it was eating at my conscience.

Tension hummed through me like a discordant song, and I clenched the blankets in both my fists.Stop it, Gwen,I told myself.Stop this right—

A strong, warm arm snaked around my waist.

My breath caught in my throat as Zane tugged me across the space between us, pulling my back flush against his chest. He tightened his hold around me, his breath tickling my ear as he nuzzled my neck.

“Zane,” I whispered. “What—”

“Shh, just let me hold you,” he murmured against my ear. “It wasn’t your fault, sweet girl. You chose him, but all of us failed him. And we certainly didn’t kill him. Someone else did that, someone who also likely wants you to feel like this. Don’t let the culprit win, Guinevere. Don’t grant that person another thought.”

I inhaled deeply, fighting off the immediate fight-or-flight feeling that surged through me at his touch and words. This was a deadly game, one that I wouldn’t come out of intact.

But… the tenderness with which he held me seemed real.

Honest, at least, like he truly did want me to relax. To forgive myself. To focus on him and not what I’d done.

His spicy scent surrounded me, calming my nerves, because this was Zane. My friend. My mentor. Even if he didn’t love me, he cared about me. Right?

His warm masculinity was a blanket I hadn’t realized I needed. I relaxed into him, allowing him to provide me comfort. “Sleep,” he hummed against my ear, a soft tune following that lulled me into a soothing state.

He’s like a siren, I mused, yawning.Coaxing me into bed with his sweet, soft, song…

I almost laughed, except his method worked. He erased all the tension from my limbs, refocused my thoughts on him instead of this evening’s affairs, and quieted my mind. My body resembled liquid, my soul his to soothe, and my heart—

My eyes flew open as a presence entered my room.

A darker, harsher, more powerful presence.