Page 76 of Demons and Debts
‘What do you suggest we do?’ he hisses. ‘We’re in the middle of the fucking club. There are supes all over the place just looking for weakness to exploit.’
‘Finish your discussion with Maddox,’ I say. ‘I'll make sure she doesn’t lose it here.’
Vic swears loudly but concedes. ‘Find us when she's feeling better.’
I give him a nod and he shuts the door to the supply closet we're standing in.
‘Jane, are you ok?’
She looks at me, nodding her head faintly and it’s not reassuring at all. I need to hold her. I don’t examine that thought too carefully as I pick her up, wondering if she's going to fight me. But she doesn't. She just curls into me, burying her face in my neck, inhaling my scent, and something in me gives way.
She’s nothing like any of the other humans I’ve known.
Remembering how she said before that music helps, I carry her out into the hallway and towards the dance floor. I roll my eyes as I see Paris back in his spot, moving between two shifter girls like he doesn't have a care in the fucking world. Ignoring everyone else, I let her down in the middle of everything, close to the speakers to drown out any other noise. I catch Paris’ eye and he makes his way over to me. At least with him here too, we can keep the crush of bodies away from her.
Her eyes are closed and she's standing in front of me. I take hold of her hips and get her to start swaying with the music. Paris is behind her, looking at her warily and I find myself hoping that she didn't hear what he called her earlier. We're definitely going to be having a reckoning about that.
I see the moment she starts to relax, to feel better, and I know the music is helping.
Maybe the movements are as well. I sway with her in time with the beat, Paris at her back doing the same. And then Paris’ hands settle around her waist, but she doesn't startle. If anything, she stretches into his touch and he steps closer, crowding her against me.
When I next look down at her, her chest is pressed against mine and we move in unison with her sandwiched between us.
It feels like the rightest thing in the world and it’s as if her body was made for this. I notice Vic, Sie, and Korban watching from the sidelines, staring at us, their eyes hungry. I'll have to make sure they know that she'll need respite when we get home. There'll be no playing with our newest on-call girl tonight.
I glance up at the VIP room window. Maddox and his clan are all staring down as well, their expressions the same as my brothers. They want her as well, I realize. Vic brought her as a distraction, but it looks to me like it’s worked too well. What does Maddox want with her? They have their own house girls and while Maddox is always interested in what we have, he’s never so blatant about it.
Vic sees where I’m looking and nods. He's seen it too. There’s something weird going on. I'm only hoping that what I found in Maddox’s office while he was playing host will be enough to figure out what the hell is going on, who's moving against us. I find myself kind of hoping it's not Maddox and his guys. If any incubi clans could truly be called friends, it would be us and them, but we'll still fucking gut them if they turn on us and they’d do the same to us. That's just the way the supe world works. There's no room for weakness.
But as I look down at the woman in front of me, I think that maybe now I have one … maybe our whole clan does, they just don’t know it yet.
15
PARIS
When we leave the club it's the early hours of the morning and even I’m ready to hit the hay. The limo is waiting for us out front and the busy street from earlier is practically deserted now except for a few late-night stragglers swaying along with their buddies.
Theo’s walking with the new girl and I smirk. She looks tired now, but she’ll know what exhaustion really is once Vic’s done with her tonight. I look at our Pres pretending not to notice her, but I know he's itching to be first. Looks like Theo might already have dibs though. I get into the car. I don’t care if I don’t get her tonight. I won't need to feed for a couple more days anyway and there's always one of the other girls. I'm not picky. Food is food where the humans are concerned. That’s what I’ve always said anyway, but as my eyes find Jane again, I wonder if that's still the truth.
The way she moved between me and Theo … my dick is still hard. I could have fucked her there and then on the dance floor, and I would have if I thought Theo’d have let me.
I sit closest to the privacy screen, tapping on it when everyone's in and the door closes. We start to move. Jane is between Theo and Vic again, and I notice she leans heavily on Theo. I shake my head. He's already got her wrapped around his finger. She has no idea. But she will. Within about 30 seconds, she's asleep and I let out a laugh.
‘I guess she should get the nap in now, huh?’
Theo looks at Vic and sits up straighter, opening his mouth to speak, but Vic gets there first.
‘No one's to touch her tonight.’
My mouth falls open. Vic doesn’t have a reputation for being patient and he's certainly not known for his mercy. I mean the males in his family are literally nicknamed ‘Vicious’ for fuck’s sake.
Theo relaxes back into the dark leather of the car, and I realize that that was what he was about to say too.
‘Did you get what we needed?’ I ask Theo.
What I really want to say is ‘what the fuck is going on with you guys?’, but I don’t.
‘I was able to get into the office. I photographed a bunch of files, but you know Maddox. He's old school. There weren’t any hard drives or anything like that, just paper and cryptographs,’ Theo snorts. ‘I half-expected a microfilm. Fucking English bastard.’
