Jenna Black - The Devil's Due

I was still in my office at four o’clock that afternoon when Brian called. I hadn’t exactly gotten much done, and the ring tone I’d assigned to Brian jerked me out of a reverie that had been on the verge of becoming a doze. I cursed myself roundly, knowing that it would only take a few short minutes for Lugh to use my body to make the phone call I didn’t want him to make.

On some level, I knew I was being needlessly stubborn about this. After all, I couldn’t go without sleep indefinitely. But so little of my life was under my control these days, I’d take any excuse I could find to hold on to the reins, even if just for a little while.

I should have expected Brian’s call. He’d given me the requisite two days to think about what had happened between us, and now he was going to start pushing. It was an MO with which I was intimately familiar. I’d have liked to ignore the ringing phone and let him stew awhile, but I figured wrangling with him was sure to keep me awake. With a sigh of resignation, I dug my phone out of my purse and answered.

“Hey,” I said, a neutral greeting.

“You sound tired.”

On cue, I yawned. “You could tell that from one word?”

“I can read you like a book, remember?”

I shook my head, refusing the second yawn that tried to bubble up. “Especially when Lugh’s given you the CliffsNotes?”

There was a moment of silence. “Was it that obvious?”

I scrubbed at my gritty eyes. “Yeah.” I didn’t elaborate.

Another silence, longer this time. “Aren’t you going to tell me what you think of me?” he finally asked.

“No. I already reamed Lugh out about it. I’ll let you off with a warning: don’t do that again.”

“Do what?” I made a snarling noise, and Brian hastened to clarify. “Talk to Lugh, or—”

“Either!” I snapped. Of course, my treacherous mind called up the intoxicating sensations he’d awakened in my body when I’d surrendered to him, and my pulse kicked up. Damn it, it had felt so good! And here I was telling him never to do it again. Not that my words were likely to have much of an effect.

“Maybe this is something we should discuss in person,” Brian suggested, and I could almost see the suggestive waggle of his brows.

As usual, my first instinct was to push back. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him no, but then I considered my alternatives. I could sit here in the office for another hour or two, getting little to nothing done and struggling against sleep. Or I could go home by myself and face the same struggle. Or I could meet up with Brian. At least if I was with Brian, I’d be facing a struggle that would keep me awake.

“You’re right, it is,” I said, smiling as I imagined the look of shock that his face must have been wearing at the moment. “If you want to talk, meet me at my apartment at six-thirty. And bring food.” I hung up before he could answer, but there was no doubt in my mind that he would come.

I hoped he’d had fun with his little dominance game. Because tonight, I was going to make him pay for it.

Feeling decidedly more awake than I had all day, I shut down my computer and stuffed my unfinished paperwork into my desk.

My mood sank a bit when I got home and listened to my messages. Adam had called and asked me to call back. I didn’t much want to talk to him, but if he’d managed to get anything out of Tommy last night, I had to know. I started a pot of coffee, then dialed his number.

“Tell me you have some good news for me,” I demanded when Adam answered, though I knew if he’d had really good news, Tommy wouldn’t have stopped by this afternoon.

“Afraid I can’t do that, love,” he confirmed. “However, I did find out something interesting.”

I raised an eyebrow, even though he couldn’t see me. “Oh?”

“I went back to the club after we talked last night. Tommy’d just gotten there and I assumed he was trolling the place. I approached him, hoping I could get him to spend a little time in Hell with me. . and he turned me down.”

I swallowed a laugh. “Wow, that’s just amazing! To think that there’s a person on this earth who might turn down the incredible Adam White.” I put a hand to my chest and groaned dramatically. “What is this world coming to?”

“You’re just a laugh a minute,” Adam said, but though he was striving for an air of nonchalance, I heard the simmering anger beneath it. The bruises on my back flared to life, reminding me what Adam could be like when he was pissed off. Not that he could do anything to me over the phone, but still. .

“Sorry,” I said, but I don’t think I sounded too sincere. “I couldn’t resist.”

“It isn’t the fact that he turned me down that’s interesting. It’s the why.”

“Okay, I’ll bite—why did he turn you down?”

“I hung around the club for a couple hours afterward, and I saw a very definite pattern. Apparently, he’s only interested in women.”

I blinked a couple of times. “And this is interesting because. .?”

“Because it’s highly unusual for a demon to have a strong sexual preference when on the Mortal Plain. Sex for us here has nothing to do with reproduction and everything to do with physical sensation.”

I’d always suspected that Adam swung both ways, but up until now I hadn’t been completely sure. I’d never felt safe with Adam, but a part of me had taken comfort in the idea that he was gay and therefore not a sexual threat. I’d have preferred to keep that illusion.

“What do you think it means?” I asked, hoping my voice sounded absolutely normal.

He gave a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know. But my instincts say it’s important. I’m going to go to the club again tonight and keep an eye on him, see if I can figure out what he’s up to.”

“Have you told Dom yet?” I blurted, and the guilty silence on the other end of the line was answer enough. “You know that the more time you spend at the club, the more likely it is Dom will find out.”

Adam didn’t answer, but I knew he heard the truth in my words.

“I know you’re about as eager to take advice from me as I am to take it from you,” I continued, “but I’ll say this anyway. Don’t go to the club tonight. You probably wouldn’t learn anything anyway.” I then told him about Tommy’s visit to my office this afternoon. “Obviously,” I concluded, “he’s on high alert right now. If you start staking out the club, he’s going to figure out something is up.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

I frowned. “I’m working on it. I know you think I should let the professionals handle this, but I’m just not convinced there’s anything you can do right now.”

“You’re probably right. But if anyone’s going to risk their neck going after Tommy, it had better not be you. Much though I hate to admit it, you’re too important to risk.”

That made me wince, though I was immediately pissed at myself. There was no reason in hell for me to care if Adam liked me or not. Especially considering how little I liked him. But every time he hinted at what he thought of me, it brought a little stab of pain. Pathetic! You’d think I’d have gotten over the fruitless quest for approval by now.

“I’ve got other concerns anyway,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t betray the hurt. Then, because I knew if I said anything more I wouldn’t be able to hide how I felt, I hung up.

I’d downed half my pot of coffee by the time Brian arrived, and my nerves were stretched taut by caffeine while my eyelids still tried to droop. There’s nothing like that special feeling of being sleepy and jittery at the same time to put a girl in a warm fuzzy mood.