She curled around the firm body next to her, sliding her hands over a muscled male chest and broad shoulders as she slowly woke with a contented sigh.
Her lashes fluttered as she opened her eyes.
“Good morning.” Darrak smiled at her, his face only an inch away from hers.
Her eyes widened.
She’d woken in the arms of the demon. He’d taken form again. Full and — by the looks of the rapidly slipping lavender sheets as she scrambled to move away from his embrace — completely
Darrak didn’t seem to have a problem with his current state of undress. He reclined against an overstuffed pillow, casually put his arms behind his head, and raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”
Eden fell right off the side of the bed, but quickly jolted back up to her feet.
She cleared her throat and averted her eyes, then pointed in his general direction. “Don’t you have any clothes?”
“Quite honestly, no I don’t.”
“Cover yourself up!”
“Fine.” There was a rustling sound. “Okay, I’m covered. I had no idea you were such a prude.”
“I’m not a prude.” She glared at him to see he’d pulled the covers up to his waist.
“Sure you are. It’s obvious.”
“Yeah, well. You’re an exhibitionist.”
“Your point?”
She swallowed hard. “You — you were dressed yesterday.”
“True. I’m currently very weak, but I had enough power to conjure those less than adequate clothes.”
“Then conjure some more.”
He studied her for a moment with amusement. “For the last half hour you didn’t seem to be having much of a problem with my current form.”
Her cheeks began to blaze with heat. “You’ve been groping me for a half an hour?”
“More like the other way around. But don’t worry, I didn’t mind.” He gave her a wicked grin.
She turned away from him and went into the bathroom, slammed the door, and locked it. Then she put her back up against it and tried to calm down.
This wasn’t working. Not in any way, shape, or form. Maybe she hadn’t been 100 percent perfect for the nearly thirty years of her life, but what had she done to deserve this?
She hated to sound whiny, but come on! Why her?
Luckily, Darrak didn’t bother her or knock on the door. She decided to take the brief, precious moment of privacy to have a quick shower and wash and blow-dry her hair. When she cracked open the door and peered out, there was no sign of Darrak in bed or elsewhere in her bedroom. She breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed out to get dressed as quickly as possible in black pants, a form-fitting but practical khaki tank top, and a black jacket.
She picked up the framed picture of her mother from her bookcase and looked down at the beautiful, smiling blond woman.
“This isn’t funny,” she told it firmly. Her mother would have been very amused by this situation. She’d always thought Eden was too uptight for her own good.
Men had fallen at Caroline Riley’s feet all her life. Eden hadn’t inherited her easy, breezy way with men at all. Even Andy had been head over heels in love with her mother. That was probably what had made it so easy for her to take him for half his business in the poker game.
She put the thoughts of her mother out of her head and left the bedroom. Her rented apartment was very small, and her bedroom was only a few steps away from the living room. The kitchenette was open concept and looked out at the living room over a breakfast bar.
Darrak, now clad in the same simple, magically conjured black outfit he’d had on yesterday, was peering into the fridge.
She felt a fresh swell of stress at the sight of him. However, she was happy he wasn’t naked anymore.
“Coffee?” he asked.
She crossed her arms tightly and glanced at the coffeemaker. “You know how to make coffee?”
“I’ve been a keen observer of all things human.”
Yesterday, she’d been way too freaked out to take a really good look at him, but today, in the daylight of her apartment, she’d never guess at first glance that he was a demon made of black smoke. Or second glance, for that matter. He just looked like a man. A tall, attractive one. Drinking coffee out of her favorite Snoopy mug.
Anxiety flowed over her. Coffee wasn’t going to help the situation at all. The cat who’d conned her into letting it stay for the night rubbed against her leg.
Darrak nodded at it. “You don’t seem to have any litter so I shredded some newspaper and put it in a shoe box. I’m very industrious.”
She rubbed her temples. Cats and demons and makeshift litter boxes. Maybe she was still asleep and having a nightmare.
The toaster popped. Darrak grabbed the piece of toast and spread a thick layer of chunky peanut butter on it before taking a large bite.
“Do you know, this is the first thing I’ve tasted in three hundred years?” he asked. “It’s fantastic.”
“I hate peanut butter.”
“Then why do you have it?”
She shrugged. “Because it’s something people are supposed to have in their cupboards.”
“Peanut butter is total ambrosia.”
She grabbed the edge of her counter and squeezed. “Demons can eat?”
“Obviously.”
“Learn something new every day.” Her voice was tight. She glanced around the kitchenette to see the complete mess the demon had made in his quest for breakfast and grimaced.
Despite her questionable decor choices, she was a neat freak.
This was going to be yet another problem.
“We don’t have to eat, but we can,” he said and smiled at her. A glob of peanut butter fell off his piece of toast and splatted onto the floor. “Just like other things, it’s more for pleasure than necessity.”
Her cheeks burned again. “Just to make things perfectly clear between us, you can have my peanut butter, but my bed is off-limits.”
He shrugged. “Sorry. I took form at sunrise and you grabbed on to me immediately. I didn’t want to disturb your sleep or I would have moved.”
She was about to debate the sheer unlikeliness of that when the cat rubbed against her leg again.
“So that’s two unwanted guests I have to deal with,” she said. “Great.”
Darrak leaned back against the counter and took a sip from the coffee mug. “Other than the litter situation, I also fed your furry friend already and put down some water for her. You’re welcome.”
“Come on, kitty,” Eden said, leaning over to grab the cat. “This hotel is officially overbooked. You’re out of here.”
The cat hissed at her, slipped out of her grip, and ran into the bedroom.
“Terrific.” She sighed with frustration and looked at the clock. Her eyes bugged. “Is that really the time?”
She hadn’t noticed it was nearly nine o’clock. Was she that distracted?
Well, yes, she was. Most definitely.
“No time for coffee?”
“My job is right next to a coffee bar. I think I’ll manage.”
“Come on, Eden. Turn that frown upside down. There’s no reason for bad moods. It’s a beautiful new day full of possibilities.”
“Maybe for you.” Eden turned toward the door. She grabbed her light coat from the closet and left the apartment. Before she could fit her key into the door to lock it, Darrak opened it and was at her side.
“Don’t forget, I have to come with you.”
For a moment she
