Page 43 of The Devil's Embrace

“You have to pick.”

“It’s really fine. I like both options.”

“Pick, Cal.” There was a firmness to his voice despite his friendly expression never wavering, and Calix felt a zap of something hot and primal shoot down his spine.

He slid the plate with the beef over to himself, dipping his head in the hopes he could hide the way his cheeks were heating. Something about the doctor had a tendency to do this to him, get this type of reaction with very little prompting.

Ever since that night when the two of them had made out and he’d felt how possessive and in control the doctor’s touches could be, Cal had been unable to shake himself out of this stupor.

“Should we talk about the party?” The doctor asked suddenly.

He choked, accepted the can of soda Aodhan offered him, and downed half the contents in a few swallows. “What?”

“The party? You said you wanted to talk about it, remember?” Aodhan gave him a funny look but then shrugged. “I figured we might as well get the business portion of the evening out of the way first, don’t you think? It’s disappointing you weren’t able to get anything while you were there.”

“I’m sorry I left you,” he blurted, internally scolding himself for coming off like a guilty child. “I mean…”

“I told you to go,” Aodhan reminded, brow furrowing slightly. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. I am curious, though, why haven’t you told Bruce anything? I was expecting him to show up at my door the next morning, demanding to know what I’ve gotten myself involved in, so imagine my surprise when days have passed and still nothing.”

“If he knows about the sort of shit that goes on in his city, right under his nose, he’ll be obsessed with figuring out how to put a stop to it, and I need him to remain focused on this case,” Calix said. It wasn’t entirely false. That was part of the reason he’d kept it all to himself.

But not the major reason.

“Really?” It was hard to tell if the doctor believed him, but he didn’t push the issue. “I ended up hearing something later on that night. A woman was laughing with some other people, bragging about how many heads she’s gotten. It could be nothing—you saw it yourself, everyone there is crazy—but it could be worth looking into. The problem is I didn’t get her name and I couldn’t see her face with the mask on.”

Cal frowned. “Basically, there’s no way to find her even if she is who I’m after.”

“I’ll keep my ears peeled,” he told him. “There’s another party happening at the end of the month. Who knows, maybe she’ll be there. If she is, I’ll recognize her voice for sure.”

“You heard her that well?”

“Loud and clear.”

At least that was something, even if it was a small, mostly useless something.

“Have you been feeling guilty, Detective? Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

“I haven’t. I’ve just been busy.”

“There’s no reason for you to feel bad about going. I’m glad you didn’t stick around,” Aodhan said. “Things got intense for a while there. A potent aphrodisiac was released. They didn’t even clean the showroom before Act Two began.”

“Act Two?” Cal assumed the showroom was the glass box.

“Yeah, there was a live sex performance. You recall the woman who was sitting next to you that night? She found someone who was interested. A man in a black mask fucked her on the floor in the merman’s blood. I doubt that’s your sort of thing, so—”

“Why would you think that?” Calix interrupted, and that internal voice of his cursed him yet again for not keeping his big mouth shut.

Aodhan laughed, then seemed to realize he wasn’t joking. “Come on, seriously?”

“Are you not into that sort of thing?”

“I am,” he replied without hesitation. “What? Did you think I’d beat around the bush? Why should I? We’re both adults, and neither of us is a virgin.”

“I’ve never told you I’ve had sex before.”

“You have,” Aodhan said confidently. “No virgin would be able to allude to being into blood play as straight-faced as you just did. You surprise me, Detective. In a good way. Maybeyou’re sad you missed Act Two after all.” His gaze roamed down his chest, and he licked his lips suggestively. “You know, I could always tell you about it.”

“Are you…hitting on me?” Calix blinked.

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