Page 22 of House of Pain
Blaze hummed a tune under his breath, another cigarette already resting between his lips as he tucked himself back in. His gaze followed Val to the door, turning back to the window only when she silently slipped through.
He had long lost any ideas of anyone staying after, spreading comfortably on his bed for long, lazy conversations.
It’s not as if he ever gave anyone a chance anyway.
9
Alecto had three lectures on Wednesday, but because of the large gaps between them, she ended up getting back home well after eight in the evening.
When Alecto entered the brownstone, she bumped into someone’s hard chest.
When she lifted her eyes, opening her mouth to apologize, it was Rogue glaring down on her.
“Excuse you,” he said, cocking a brow.
“Yeah, excuse you.”
Rogue didn’t move. He stood there in the narrow corridor, blocking her path to the stairs.
“You have something to say?” she asked.
A smirk appeared on his brown face, and Alecto’s stomach flipped at the way those sensuous lips curled.
“You seem to not like me,” he said. She blinked. “I just can’t figure out why.”
“I don’t dislike you,” Alecto assured him. “I barely fucking know you. And excuse me if I don’t go drooling after you, knowing that you’re a literaldemonfrom Hel.”
Alecto was drooling over Rogue, just like all the other witches. How could she not? He was handsome with his dimple, intense eyes, and muscles straining hard against all of his shirts.
But Alecto would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that.
Rogue huffed a low laugh, shaking his head, and his short curls bounced playfully.
“You seem to be the only one bothered by the fact that I’m a demon,” he observed. “I won’t hurt you. Nothing to be afraid of.”
Alecto smirked, pushing past him to climb the stairs to her bedroom.
The last thing she was interested in was bonding with their personal demon errand boy. Alecto might have agreed to use him for their own gain in this year’s Game, but it didn’t mean she liked it.
The Inner Circle were surprised when she was with Val on it. And that pleased Alecto. It meant that she was on the right track.
When Alecto opened the door to her room, she almost jumped out of her skin. Blaze was spread out on her bed on his back, casually playing with something in his hands.
Thatsomethingbeing her silver bullet vibrator.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Alecto rushed towards him. “And what the fuck are you doing going through my drawers?”
She climbed on the bed, reaching for the vibrator, but Blaze was faster, jumping off the bed with a satisfied smirk.
“I was just looking for a lighter because mine was dead,” Blaze replied, shrugging. He glanced at the silver bullet resting between his fingers, glittering in the dim light of her bedroom. “That’s something you only find in a mortal world. How fascinating.”
Alecto scrambled off the bed, anger mixed with embarrassment heating her cheeks. She grabbed for Blaze’s hand, but he lifted it over his head.
“Give it back, you asshole,” she growled.
Blaze only laughed, wild and untamed. Alecto didn’t think she had seen him as amused as he was right now. At least not with her.
“Oh, you naughty little witch,” he teased. There was a challenge in his eyes. “Come and take it from me.”
