It was like staring at the face of your sweetest nightmares and begging to never wake up.
“She’s done,” he repeated while moving his hand to pull me up from my seat.
My heel wobbled, and I pitched sideways, but he swiftly turned me to his chest, where my palms braced against him to catch my fall. My webs spread like cords of frost along his suit, and he arched a brow at the display.
Unlike how my spider had tucked tail and tried to hide away from Belvini, right now, she was practically purring in this demon’s presence. I had to force her back into the recesses of my mind to avoid more claiming silk from tumbling out across his chest. He didn’t bother to wipe it away.
“She’s not done. We made a deal,” blondie frat boy said while pounding his chest in a purely caveman move that had me rolling my eyes and pitying him. Didn’t he realize that he stood no chance against this man? Couldn’t he feel the waves of dark power?
Ignoring him, the demon trailed his gaze slowly over my face. I could feel his attention like licking flames of fire. He was going to make me burn. I just didn’t know if the fire was going to be punishment or pleasure.
“Shall I get rid of your competitors? They seem to be arguing with me,” he said quietly, though his tone was clear with warning. “I dislike being argued with.”
“No. I will,” I answered quickly.
I knew that the three men at the table could be destroyed in a blink of this demon’s eye if I didn’t handle it—and quickly. They were skeevy, sure, but I had set them up after all. I couldn’t leave their fates on my conscience.
I turned to the collegiate duo. “Sorry, boys. Seems my husband is here to re-claim me, and he’s deathly jealous,” I said with an ominous warning. Reaching across the table, I pushed my chips toward them. “Consider this my recompense.”
Three burly security guards walked up just as I turned to leave. The demon cut them off. “No need for an escort,” he told them before placing his hand on my lower back and leading me away.
It took everything in me to walk evenly at his side as he led me through the casino. As we passed people by, both men and women turned to look before quickly getting out of our way. My heart was slamming against my ribs, my fear bruising me from the inside out. Was Spector watching this right now? I had to get him alone—and fast. I knew my limits. I could only fake this for so long before my façade began to crumble.
“If you wanted to see me, Black Widow, all you had to do was call,” the demon said at my side. The heat of his hand was practically burning through the lace of my dress. The heat felt amazing against my spine, but I didn’t miss what he’d said. He recognized my spider. “Possession is beneath you, beautiful. Though this could be fun,” he added, while trailing a thumb down my arm and making chills scatter over my skin.
I shook my head, trying to control my body’s response to him. I couldn’t decipher between my spider’s fondness of this demon and my own attraction.
“Well, this possession wasn’t consensual for either of us,” I admitted, apparently forgetting that I was supposed to be a seductive machine luring him into Spector’s clutches. For some reason, the fact that he knew my spider from...hell...made me feel this odd sense of hope. I wasn’t prepared to do a trust fall off a building or anything, but a little prodding for information couldn’t hurt.
“Is that so? Interesting,” he replied.
We were getting closer to the exit, and I knew I was running out of time. Looking around, I noticed a hallway that led to the elevators for the hotel portion of the building. I quickly grabbed his arm and walked in that direction, gently leading him. To my surprise, he didn’t try to redirect me. Slowly, I started to let some of my lure power seep from my skin. I knew I needed to be careful. It wasn’t like I had the element of surprise or mystery. He already knew what and who I was.
I was spinning a proverbial web, straddling a thin strand where I wanted to trap him, while also gain whatever answers I could. The strings were precarious, but I had no choice but to weave them.
The closer we got to the hallway, the more lure I put out. When we reached it, I pressed a shaky finger to the button, calling for an elevator. One dinged immediately, and when I walked in, the demon followed.
I backed up, pressing my body against the mirrored wall of the elevator, watching him silently as he stood in front of me, and the doors snicked shut behind him. I had him alone. And it was both thrilling and terrifying at the same time.
For a moment, we just stared at each other. The elevator didn’t move at first, and neither did we. I pushed more lure out, hoping it would daze him enough for me to get my questions answered. “How did you know my demon?” I asked, my voice sultrier than I anticipated.
“We go way back,” he replied dryly, like I was somehow supposed to know the answer. “Now, why don’t you stop using your lure on me so we can have a conversation without the sexual tension, hmm?”
My mouth dropped open in surprise, and then embarrassing naivety filled me up with shame. Of course he would see through my seductive attempts. His cocky smile greeted me, so I pumped out even more pheromones. Maybe I hadn’t used enough?
“Fuck,” he croaked while shaking his head and sending me a dark,
