“My aunt thinks she can construct a charm to help us not feel…this,” I said, ripping my gaze off the lacing running down the back of his vest. Tight and precise, the pattern of crisscrossing silk cords accentuated the V from his shoulders and waist.
“Given the circumstances, I think that would be extremely prudent.” His gaze hungrily followed my fingertips as I licked at the spicy sauce. The restaurant hadn’t provided serving utensils and I was forced to pick up the ribs with my fingers.
“She thinks it’ll only last for a day or so, though.”
“I’ll do whatever she asks to get as much time as I can to be free of this…obsession.” The demon practically spat out his words.
I swallowed hard, walked away from the table, and forced myself to cross the room to sit near my aunt and her beloved. I couldn’t fault Laszlo for speaking his truth, but his admission stung. A lot. Though I could see the absurdity of me feeling bad about a man I wasn’t sure I wanted to be with being unsure that he wanted to be with me.
“It’s all rather convoluted and confusing, isn’t it?” asked Bas. “Your heart and your body are feeling things, and you don’t know if it’s the magic or the person who you feel the attraction to or if what you’re feeling was there, lying dormant, for that person all along.”
I picked at my food. I had to work at swallowing past the lump in my throat. The relentless rain hitting the street-facing windows and the overhead skylight created a sound loop. I was beginning to find it more annoying than soothing. “The sooner my aunt can make the charms, the happier Laszlo will be. Me too.”
Ribs, garlicky mashed potatoes, and a fresh salad were the fuel I didn’t know I needed until I’d halfway cleaned my plate. There were no leftovers. And no dessert, which I discovered when I attempted to soothe the tension in the room with a joke about splitting the six-pack of applesauce I’d found in Mom’s ground-floor office. Sloughing off my discomfort, I headed to the bathroom to wash my hands.
Laszlo followed. I ignored him.
Until I stepped into the darkened shop space and couldn’t ignore him any longer. “I’m not happy about this either,” I said, spinning to face him, “but at least I’m not tossing insults at you and—”
The demon cupped my jaw in both hands and brought his face close enough to mine I could see the differences in his eyes’ colors in the ambient street light. I found myself backing up until I hit one of the cutting tables. The bulky, protective feel of the jumpsuit encasing my entire body felt too heavy, too hot, and way too restrictive. I fumbled for buttons, snaps, a zipper, anything to release me from its confines only to realize my aunt had sewed me into the garment.
Crap.
Laz brushed his mouth across mine, licking at my lips like I was covered in some heavenly topping. I opened my mouth to his exploration and added my tongue. He lifted me and rolled us onto the table. Grabbing his horns, I writhed against him until we were a tangled, bare-skin-seeking mass.
Everything on him that could get hard was hard. And everything in me that could get juicy was soaking and wet. The Demesne had us in its grip and it wasn’t letting go.
13
“Laszlo, we have to stop.” Pressing his forehead against mine, the demon reluctantly curled up to sitting and wrapped my legs around his waist. I hooked my ankles and circled his neck with my arms. “Don’t you dare say anything stupid,” I said. “Because—”
“Clementine, I’ve spent much of my adult life being groomed for a position in my mother’s court. I am intimately familiar with the challenge of accepting one’s destiny. I will try my best to not say anything stupid, and I want you to know that I will not run from you. I can’t.”
“I know you can’t. The stupid curse says—”
“Either the stupid curse had nothing to do with the fact that you just wrangled my inner beast into submission, or the stupid curse is exactly the cure for what’s ailed me since—” He shook his head and buried his nose in my neck, a gesture I was beginning to enjoy.
Except when it was interrupted by Kostya’s deliberately loud cough. “Brother, you two are wanted upstairs. There’s been a development.”
“Give us two minutes.”
I stroked Laz’s horns, then slid his thick braid between my hands. He pulled me closer and cupped my face. “I owe you an apology, Clementine.”
When I tried to say something—I was going to tell him I understood, not that he didn’t owe me, because he totally did—he pressed a finger to my lips and shook his head. “I should never have taken out the frustration I have with my own family on you. I am very sorry. Can you forgive me?”
“Yes,” I whispered, delighting in the way my lower lip caught on his finger. Laszlo took that as an invitation to kiss the corners of my mouth.
“And will you allow me to do whatever I can to help you and your sisters with your current situation?”
“Yes.”
“And once the situation has been sorted would you be willing to travel with me to my realm and meet the rest of my family?”
“Uh, Laz? This is the twenty-first century, and I’m a thoroughly modern witch who—”
“Who happens to be afflicted by an ancient family curse and—”
“Who happens to be the beneficiary of an ancient family blessing and who happens to be terrified of your mother.”
“We all are,” he said, catching my mouth with his and kissing the breath out of me. When he withdrew, he amended his words. “Once this task of yours
