turned her head to give him better access to her ear, which he nipped.
“That’s only a tease. Just a little taste. Come with me,” he said, pulling away and extending his hand. “No lasting harm will come to you, I promise. I’ll be gentle. I can be rough. Whatever you desire.”
Staring at his face, she could see how perfect a predator this handsome creature really was. She shook her head. “So you can leave me weak? Ready to turn over to your master?”
His eyelids flickered.
“Will you come with me or not?”
“Why are you even offering me a choice? Isn’t it your MO to simply take?”
“Like I said, I don’t want you left a wizened husk. I could drink you down for a lifetime and never get my fill,” he said, his expression filled with yearning. “You’re so much more than simply human. An elixir to someone like me. Come along, Cait.”
She squeezed her thighs together.
“That’s Eddie?” Syl stood beside her.
“Uh-huh,” Cait said, working up the gumption to drag away her hand.
“I liked him much better when he looked like Antonio. But that’s how he talks. All that talk about drinkin’. Thought he was talkin’ about somet’ing a whole lot sexier.”
“Sylvia, not now.”
His gaze sharpened and scanned the elevator car. “My little
Sylvia erupted in a blistering string of Spanish curses.
“She’s, um, disappointed you don’t look like Antonio Banderas.”
He
Sylvia’s fingers curled into talons and she struck out, her hand passing right through him. “Joo… joo lyin’ sack o’ sheet.”
“She’s not feelin’ it, Eddie.”
The lights flickered above them. The elevator jerked.
Eddie’s head turned to the side.
“What’s happening?” Cait asked.
“It’s him,” he said, his expression tightening. “We have to get out of here.”
He flicked the switch again. The elevator dropped, skidding down at frightening speed, then it jerked again, stopped, and hurtled upward. Back at the third floor, the doors retracted, too fast for the proper mechanism to be controlling them.
Hand braced against the wall, Cait glanced over Eddie’s shoulder, and her eyes widened. Behind him, the foiled paisley wallpaper gleamed. “What the fuck, Eddie?”
He glanced over his shoulder and then stepped back. “Looks like I’ll be seeing you again much later, sweetheart.”
The doors popped closed and the elevator resumed its downward descent, only this time accompanied by its usual hum and at a pace that didn’t drop her stomach to the floor. When the digital readout read “1,” the doors parted. The shitty foyer was in front of her, and she leapt out.
“Cait!”
The stairwell door slammed behind Sam as he ran toward her.
Her knees weakened, but he reached her, pulling her against his chest. “What the hell were you doing with that bastard?”
13
Cait burrowed her face against his chest, her hands clutching his shirt until the shivering stopped.
He didn’t say a single word more while he rocked her inside his arms.
“I see why joo love him.”
Sylvia’s envious tone made her smile. “He’s a brick, isn’t he?”
Sam grunted, his chest bumping against hers.
She tightened her fingers on his chest. “Christ, for a second, I thought I was back there. In the eighties. That the next time I saw you, I’d be too old for you to hold me like this without my brittle bones breaking.”
“Not gonna ask,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Not until I can catch my breath. Saw you in the elevator—for just a second before it closed again. Saw him… Ran down the stairs while Jason ran up. We checked every floor.”
“Jason? I left him here… in the dining room.”
“He ran up, nearly bust a gut to tell me Eddie had you and some shit about you chatting him up.” His arms tightened, growing rigid around her.
She burrowed deeper. “Me chatting up a guy?” She pressed her lips together, tensing. “Must have read the situation wrong.”
“Dammit,” he cussed softly. At last, his arms eased their crushing hold, just enough so he could lean away.
She felt a hole burning into the top of her head and slowly raised her gaze.
Sam’s face was red, his eyes narrow, angry slits. “Were you trying to seduce a damn incubus into coming up to the third floor?”
She winced. Stated like that, her plan sounded stupid. “Almost worked. Except for the part that he didn’t buy a minute of it.”
Sam shook his head. “And what were you gonna do if you did get him up there?”
“I figured you could sit on him until he told us who his accomplice was. Rough him up a bit.” She lifted a shoulder. “It’s not like we have to Mirandize a demon.”
Sam’s breath left in a slow exhale. “That was a shit plan, O’Connell.”
“Yeah, I figured that out the moment he asked me if I thought he was stupid. Funny thing was, he didn’t seem all that threatening.”
Sylvia huffed beside her. “That asshole fed me to the wall. Joo t’ink he’s not dangerous?”
Thank goodness Sam couldn’t hear the ghost. He’d be nodding right along.
Sam swallowed. His jaw was clenched so hard he could have pounded concrete. “So, where’d he go?”
“Back to 1980. I imagine his boss is kicking his ass, given Eddie wanted me for himself.”
Sam’s arms dropped, and his hand manacled her wrist. His face was tight and nearly purple, with a tic pulsing beside his eye. “We’re going now. Problem’s not isolated to the third floor. He has control of the elevators too. The whole damn place might be his feeding ground.”
Cait’s feet scuffed behind him, not able to keep up with his fast pace. Inside thirty seconds, they were outside the hotel, and he hit the automatic door lock of his car.
He slammed open the passenger door, pushed her inside, then knelt beside her seat. “Don’t budge,” he said, wagging a finger in her face. “Don’t talk to anyone. Keep the fucking door closed. I’m going back in to clear out the team until I have a chance to sort this out.”
At her scowl, he gave her nose a firm tap. “I’m serious, Cait. You move a damn muscle and your ass is mine.”
“That supposed to do anything but thrill me?” she muttered.
Only he didn’t smile at her quip. He looked ready to chew metal.
The door slammed shut, and Cait stayed right where he’d put her. Besides, Eddie and the demon in the walls had scared the crap out of her. She’d play humble, maybe shed a tear or two, and by morning, everything would be copacetic.
Fifteen minutes later, they were pulling up in front of her apartment. Sam hadn’t said a word since he’d come stomping out of the hotel doors.
