Page 30 of To Crave Darkly
“Not always.”
“Are you ever going to give me a straight answer?”
His fingers stilled in my hair and his eyes gleamed. “And spoil the fun? No, I couldn’t do that.”
A deep sigh burst from my lips. “Why am I here, Orion?”
He smiled wickedly at me. “Your subconscious clearly wanted a face-to-face with me, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
I frowned. “So, if I didn’t want you here does that mean you couldn’t enter my dream?”
His fingers moved to my jaw line, softly stroking the skin there before brushing his thumb over my bottom lip. Desire lanced through me, sharp and sudden. I couldn’t deny my attraction to him. He was gorgeous, but I also couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow he was manipulating me. He was a demon after all. Maybe lust and seduction were part of his powers?
“You have to be tempted to see me. Your desire does call to me but it’s deeper than that. We’re connected, you and I. Together we could do great things.”
That sounded rather ominous. Especially since he said that with some seriously malicious intent. I needed to put some distance between us. I couldn’t think straight while being so close to him. It was like his touch addled my brain and made my thoughts fuzzy.
“What do you mean?” I asked as I sat up next to him.
He just cocked his eyebrow and grinned. “Spoilers.”
Great. He wasn’t going to tell me anything either. What a surprise. The demon was keeping secrets. As I watched the flames dance, my thoughts drifted to how I could wake up. Clearly, I was in a deep sleep somewhere in reality but how could I get myself to wake up? Did I need to die? Like when you’re falling in a dream, but you always wake up before you hit the ground. I scanned the room but there wasn’t anything sharp or pointy I could use, and I couldn’t see any windows to jump out of. Knowing my luck, I’d be on the ground floor anyway.
My gaze slid over to Orion. Perhaps I could entice him to wake me up. It didn’t seem like an awful idea and it was certainly the only thing I’d come up with that might help me shake this nightmare.
Was it really a nightmare? I was sat comfortably ensconced with a seriously hot guy in a dream. Surely I could have a bit of fun? Wait, were they my thoughts or was Orion somehow tempting me? His blonde locks fell forward over his brow in a dishevelled array of curls. From this distance I could see the shadows accentuating his sharp cheekbones. He was enticing and I had to press my legs together to stem the flow of my traitorous thoughts.
As if he could sense my arousal his gaze snapped to mine. A knowing smirk spread across his full lips and I suddenly felt ashamed of how I’d reacted to him. I looked back to the fire. The fire was safe. It didn’t make me feel weak at the knees or cause my heart to beat rapidly in my chest.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What are you really doing here?”
His lazy smile was back. “I told you, you-,”
“Yeah, yeah,” I cut in. “I wanted to see you.” His eyes narrowed at my interruption. “But I don’t get why? Why would anybody want to see you?”
His hand flew to his chest in mock indignation. “Ouch.” He chuckled. “I don’t grant many people visitations. You’re one of the few who have ever seen my true face.”
Well, that was surprising and now I was even more curious about him. “So, what exactly do you do to people if they don’t see you? You said you aren’t a collector of souls, so what exactly is your purpose?”
“What do you think I do?”
I raked my gaze over him. De Santis had said his eyes meant he was a powerful demon, but I didn’t know enough about demons to understand what that meant. I could, however, tell he held himself with confidence. His speech and movements were delivered with grace. Every gesture and phrase was calculated to elicit a certain response. He was smart, manipulative and dangerous and I had no doubt that there was serious power running through his veins. He just oozed predatory menace. I certainly didn’t want to see what would happen if he was angry.
“I think you work for the Devil. I think you might even be his number two.”
“How do you know I’m not the Devil?”
I laughed. I didn’t believe that for a second. He didn’t seem depraved enough for that. “You’re too charming.”
He grinned. “You have no idea.” His gaze dropped to my lips and my heart thudded in my chest. A flush crept up my neck under the intensity of his gaze and I looked away, unable to squash the sudden desire to press my lips against his.
“I guess you could say I deal in persuasion,” he said huskily. My core clenched at the sound of his voice. I bet he could persuade anyone to do anything with that voice.
“How does that work?”
He raised one of his shapely eyebrows into a condescending arch. “Humanity is fickle. Most of the time they do not really need any persuasion to do wicked deeds. They manage very well all by themselves, but on the rare occasion that I do intervene, I merely ask them to tell me their deepest, darkest secret. Then all I need to do is give them a little push.” He drained his glass and then turned those eerily beautiful eyes directly on me. His gaze burned into mine and I couldn’t look away. “So, tell me Lori, what’s your deepest, darkest desire?”
His voice was slow, sensual. Its pleasurable lilt captured my attention and something inside me burst. Suddenly, my entire world revolved around him and nothing else mattered. Without thinking, I moved closer. I had to be nearer. My body had a mind of its own and it was like my consciousness was locked in a box screaming, but I didn’t care. My desire for him was all I could think of. I craved him, yearned for his touch. My inhibition vanished, and I was taking what I wanted.
