Page 15 of The Devil She Knows
Sam turned her head, letting Daphne’s fingers fall, not about to let herself be deterred by a pretty face or the promise of—she swallowed hard—pleasure. “Do I need to remind you the reason I’m considering any of this in the first place?”
For a long minute, Daphne studied her, expression giving nothing away. Utterly, infuriatingly inscrutable. “You’re really gone on this girl, aren’t you?”
What gave it away? The ring box in Sam’s coat pocket? The attempted proposal? Or maybe, just maybe, that she was sitting in an elevator with a deranged demon on her lap, seriously considering risking her soul for the chance to be with, to beworthyof, Hannah?
Sam refused to dignify such a remarkably daft question with an answer. “What if I don’t make all six wishes? What happens then?”
“In the event you don’t cash in all your wishes, your soul remains yours and yours alone. Executory consideration, remember?”
If Sam played her cards right, all she’d need was one wish. One wish to set everything in her life to rightsandkeep her soul. Whatever it was worth.
As far as risks went, it was rather tame. She couldn’t see how the odds weren’t in her favor. “Where do I sign?”
Daphne’s brows rose. “Sign?”
She mimed scribbling her signature as best she could with a lapful of demon keeping her pinned in place. “You know, sign. Ink. Endorse. Where do I put my John Hancock so we can get this show on the road?”
And she could get her girlfriend back and wash her hands of this nightmare of a night.
“Keep your shirt on, sweetheart,” Daphne chided, tsking softly. Awfully hypocritical considering she was trembling, her eyes big and bright, flickering back-and-forth dizzyingly fast between blue and black like she couldn’t contain her excitement. “Are you taking the deal?”
“Six wishes, anything I want.” Sam sucked in a great big breath and nodded. “Yes, I—I’m saying yes. So, where do I sign?”
“No signing necessary.” Daphne placed her palms flat against the wall, boxing Sam in. “I seal my deals a little differently than other demons.”
“Oh joy,” she muttered, stomach sinking. Another surprise. “Let me guess, you want me to slice my palm open and make a blood pact? Drink from a chalice full of both our blood?”
“You aresodramatic.”
She had a half a mind to tell Daphne just how rich that was coming from her, except then Daphne was leaning in, the distance between their faces dwindling, dwindling, disappearing, her body a solid line of heat pressed against Sam’s curves. The retort died a swift death on her tongue.
“Nothing so grisly as any of that,” Daphne whispered, one hand dropping to cradle the side of Sam’s face, thumb stroking the hinge of her jaw. “I promise.”
Without warning, her mouth crashed against Sam’s in a kiss as brief as it was bruising, the pillowy plushness of Daphne’s lips a stark contrast to the searing heat she left behind, lingering like a brand when she drew back, a devilish smile on her face.
“It’s going to be a pleasure doing business with you, Samantha.”
5
FOR THE LAST twenty-odd years, Sam had believed that halo of twittering birds that circled the heads of the recently concussed was the stuff of cartoons.Wrongfullybelieved. In her haste to get away from the hellion acting like her lap was a chair, she slammed her head against the wall, and for a moment, as her vision spotted, she’d have sworn she heard actual chirping.
“Ooh.” Daphne winced. “You should really be more careful, Samantha.”
“Well, excuse me for being a little taken aback by youkissingme.” Sam prodded at the back of her head with her fingers, hissing as she grazed the egg already forming under her hair. “Speaking of—what the hell was that about? Pretty sure we just went over this. I have a girlfriend.”
A girlfriend she’d sold her soul to get back.
“Hada girlfriend.”
Sam scowled.
Daphne rolled her eyes as she climbed off Sam’s lap.“Keep your pants on, sweetheart. That kiss wasn’t personal. It was strictly business. It’s how I seal my deals.”
Sam stood, brushing off the back of her coat. “You got a bad habit of losing pens or something?”
“Or something.” Daphne shrugged. “You can tell a lot about a person by how they kiss, you know?”
Sam scoffed. “Some kisses don’t mean anything. Like the one you just laid on me, for example.”
