Dark Desire After Dark

Once she'd looped the strap of the case over her shoulder, he placed his big hand on her lower back. She gave him a pointed glare, which he ignored, whisking her inside. In the ladies' department, he even held up jeans to her hips, eyeing them for size. Highhanded male!

Through gritted teeth, she asked, 'Exactly how do you expect me to try on jeans without underwear?'

He patted his pocket. 'You want them back? We might be able to work something out.' He shoved a few pairs of jeans into her arms, snagged some cashmere turtlenecks, then marched her to the dressing room.

She'd thought he'd wait in the sitting area outside. No such luck. 'Cadeon!' she snapped when he followed her in, shutting the door. 'You can't come in here!'

He planted a hand on the wall behind her and leaned in. 'I need to be in here. Because you're about to kiss me.'

'Is that so?' She'd tried for an arch tone, yet only sounded intrigued.

'Uh-huh. If you want your panties back for tonight.'

'Fine. I'll go without jeans.'

'Going to get chilly running around in skirts with nothing on but thigh-highs.'

She exhaled impatiently. It was nippy. 'I'll kiss you, but only if I'm freed completely from the bet. Not just for tonight.'

'Then you have to French kiss me. Not a peck on the cheek.'

There went that plan.

'Very well. But I don't exactly know how to begin.' Would he be inwardly laughing at her inexperience? Comparing her to Imatra?

Holly wished she were a better kisser than that demoness.

'You won't be needing this,' he said, tugging her bag off her shoulder to set it on the bench behind him. 'Now, you're going to have to go on tiptoe to reach me.'

'You won't meet me halfway?'

'You are kissing me, remember?'

She placed her hands on his shoulders for balance, then rose up on her toes.

'Even on tiptoe, you'll need to pull my head down to yours. Cup the back of my head.'

When she accidentally touched the tip of his horn, he groaned. She quickly moved her hand higher, but he said, 'It feels good when you touch them.'

'You really can feel with them?' she asked, recalling what he'd said about her behavior in the bar.

'Of course. Male demons love to have their horns stroked.'

She filed that away for later.

'Next you're going to put your opened lips against mine, then lick my tongue. And once you've gotten to that point, you just do whatever feels good for you.'

She swallowed, unable to tell if she was giddy or nervous or both. Then on her toes, she drew him down, putting her lips to his.

As if to encourage her, he gave one flick of his tongue to hers. Then he let her take over, never rushing her as she began to explore him with tentative licks. Finally, he met her tongue again, but allowed her to control the pace, slowly tangling it with hers.

The kiss was languid, but unmistakably carnal. She couldn't seem to stop herself from deepening it—

Girls' giggles sounded in the dressing room next door.

Holly broke away with a gasp, trying to quiet her panting breaths and gather her wits. But then her brows drew together as she gazed at Cadeon's face.

His eyes had gone black, and his horns had straightened and thickened. Just like each time they'd been intimate.

Yet she'd seen none of these reactions when he'd kissed Imatra.

Was it because he'd already been satisfied? Or not at all?

'There.' She ducked out from under his arm. 'I've done it.'

His voice hoarse, he said, 'That you did. Glad I brought this.' He donned his hat. That weather-beaten, leather one that made her heart thud. Once his eyes had cleared, he said, 'I'll sneak out now. To go and sit like the other perplexed males who don't know how they got here.'

'Wait!' She pointed at his pocket.

He chose to misunderstand her. 'It's at—your—service, m'love.'

She rolled her eyes and mouthed, 'My panties.'

He handed them over with a shameless grin. At last, she had the dressing room to herself. Yet as she zipped up a pair of three-hundred-dollar jeans, she stilled. I can hear the whispers from the girls next door.

Holly could tell they were whispering right at each other's ears, likely with a cupped hand, but she could clearly distinguish their words: 'He's frigging hawt. Like the hawtest ever. Go act like you're getting me another size and see for yourself.'

And Holly could hear their hearts clamoring each time they returned from walking past him.

Which meant he could hear them as well. No wonder he knew he was gorgeous.

'Come out so I can see,' he called.

She checked herself out in the mirror and hardly recognized her reflection. She hadn't worn jeans since she was in her early teens. Because her chignon kept falling down as she tried on the turtleneck sweaters, she'd ended up plaiting her hair in two braids that would cover her ears. She wore no glasses, because she didn't need them. Her cheeks were pink, her skin seeming to glow—like Nïx's had.

She pursed her lips, hating to admit that there were advantages to being a Valkyrie.

'Come on, then.'

'Just a minute!'

And then he was just outside her door. 'Getting greedy to see you, pet.'

At that, one of the girls in the next room sighed.

'The jeans don't fit.' Though the waist was gaping, the back was too tight. She turned in the mirror, frowning over her shoulder. She'd never really noticed how big her backside was. No wonder Cadeon was always riveted to it!

'Then I'll get another size,' he said.

'No, they're too big and too small.'

'Let me be the judge of that.'

'Fine.' She opened the door.

His lips parted. 'Turn around.' Once she made a self-conscious circle, he said, 'Well, then. I'd thought your ass in one of your skirts was earth-shattering, but your ass in jeans tops even that.'

When the girls next door giggled anew, she glared. Undaunted, he reached past her for her computer case, then started dragging her out. 'What are you doing?'

'We're done.'

'But they don't fit,' she insisted.

'We'll get you a belt.'

'Wait, this is only one outfit!'

'None doing. We're getting you five pairs of these earth-shattering jeans, and that sweater in every color, and then we're finished, yeah?' Out in the store, he said, 'Damn, that was close. I got you out of there just in time.'

'What are you talking about?'

'You were about to claw out the girls' eyes for their interest in your demon. It was imminent—lives held in the balance.'

'You're not my demon.'

'No? You sure kissed me like I was.'

'Ooh!' she muttered under her breath.

He snagged a black leather belt, coiled on a display table. 'Try this.' He looped it around her waist, taking his time with his arms around her, lingering. Ten to one odds said he was smelling her hair.

'It's fine,' she said, so he got her a few more, then set about collecting all the jeans and sweaters.