Authors: Violet Walker
Cole pulled out the first book and leafed through it carefully. “Do you know what we’re looking for?” he asked.
“No. I don’t know which book it’s in. Just flip through them until you start to find the demon rituals.”
He and Damien carefully searched the old books silently until Cole found what they were looking for. The drawings were explicit, and he felt his blood chill. “I think I have it Damien. But I don’t think you’re going to like what I’ve found.”
Damien leaned over his shoulder, and they both stared.
A human heart. It took the same to send a demon back as it did to resurrect a demon.
“I don’t suppose you have one of those on hand,” he said softly.
“No,” Damien said with a sigh. “I’m fresh out of human hearts.”
“Well. I guess we could always pick one up at the hospital.”
“Rock, paper, scissors?”
“
N
ot happening,” Cole growled.
Lana rolled her eyes. “I have to go to work. You’re welcome to join me, but I’ve got to go. I’ve got bills to pay.”
“You want to go back to the place where you know this demon is feeding and in front of a crowd where anyone could be watching you. I can’t protect you unless I’m standing on stage with you,” he muttered. “Please just don’t go. I’ll pay whatever you make there.” He wasn’t lying. He was loaded. He only worked with the police department to help out the brotherhood.
“I don’t need your money,” she hissed. “I can make my own.”
“Well, what do you want me to do?”
She frowned and looked at him. “You can be part of the act.”
His eyes widened. “I am not stripping in front of a crowd.”
“And neither am I,” she said huffily. “Wear a pair of jeans and no shirt. You’ll just sit on stage, and I’ll include you. Trust me, the spotlight won’t be on your face.”
He sighed. “Fine. But I’m not happy about it.”
“And I’m not happy that I have to change my routine, but we all are making sacrifices.” She frowned as she removed the bandaged her arm. “The wrapping is not very sexy. How does it look?”
He hissed his breath when he saw the angry red slash that ran down her arm. He put his finger out and stroked her arm, and she shivered. “Does it hurt?” he said
“Not anymore,” she said softly as she pulled away. She longed for his touch, but when he did touch her, it became too much. She couldn’t handle it.
“Okay. You won’t be allowed in the dressing room with other girls, but you can hang backstage,” she muttered.
He nodded his head, and she finished packing her bag. She didn’t love the situation, but her safety was important.
The girls oohed and aahed over him, and she explained to the manager that she was adding him to her routine. They didn’t love it, but when he flashed his badge, they stepped in line. The girls hit the stage, and he checked out the dressing room before allowed her to go in. “No judgments,” she warned him.
He captured her chin, and she shivered at the intimacy. “Never,” he whispered.
She slid her sparkly bikini on hidden under the veils of material that she’d planned on later dispensing. After applying the heavy make-up and her wig, she grabbed a bottle of body oil and stepped out of the room.
“Christ,” he muttered when he saw her. “You don’t even look like the same person.”
“That’s the idea,” she answered. “Take off your shirt.”
“Now?”
She nodded. “If you’re going to be a part of my show, you’re going to have to be good. I won’t have tonight tarnishing my reputation.”
She swallowed hard when he showed his washboard abs and poured a little bit of oil on her hand. Rubbing it over his muscles, she did her best to avoid what she knew would be his intense gaze.
“If you wanted to touch me,” he whispered as he rippled under her, “all you had to do was ask.” She could tell he was enjoying her touch.
“I hope it takes more than this to turn you on, because I’m about to do a lot worse to you on stage,” she said as she tried to gather her wits. “Come on. My entrance is in a few minutes.”
She directed him behind the curtain. “When the lights go out, I need you to walk this chair about six feet to the other side of the pole. I want you on stage, but I still need room to work. Sit in it and don’t move. That’s all you have to do.” She looked at him uncertainly. “It’s going to be dark. Just hold your hand out until you feel the pole and count six paces.”
“Lana.” He captured her hand. “I can see in the dark. I’ll be fine.”
“You can see in the dark?”
“One of my many talents,” he whispered. The lights went down, and he leaned over to capture her lips. “Break a leg.”
He kept the kiss light, but he couldn’t help but take a few quick licks with his tongue. She gasped, and he slipped away. He needed a bit of revenge after having to endure those soft hands running up and down his abdomen.
Not sure what to expect, he sat in his chair and waited. Soon, the music came pumping through the speakers and a spotlight cut through the darkness. He watched one slender leg reach out.
Click. Click. Click. Click
“Ladies and gentlemen.”
Click. Click. Click.
“Tonight I have a special treat for you.”
Click. Click.
“He makes me breathless.”
Click.
He held his breath as her voice wrapped around him. Fuck. She could sing. He leaned back and slumped in the seat. The spotlight barely touched his face as she stepped into view. Turning, she positioned herself between his legs and dipped low.
“He makes my blood sing.”
She came up, and he held his breath. Double fuck. He was not expecting a lap dance. The siren turned and straddled him. He did his best not to moan as she settled on top of him.
“He does everything right.”
She grabbed his hand and ran it over her breast. As she leaned back, he naturally moved with her and stopped as her legs came up around his head and settled on his shoulder.
“But it’s just a one. Night. Fling.” She pushed her stiletto heel gently on his chest and pushed him back. He brought her up and released her as she ground her hips one last time, planted a kiss on his lips, and pushed herself away.
She stepped back to the pole, and he let out his breath. Dear God, the way that woman moved was beyond unnatural. It seemed almost effortless as she swung herself around the pole and released one of the gauzy pieces of cloth over her bikini. The crowd whistled, and he realized now what she was talking about.
This wasn’t some tawdry show meant for leave a man hard and unsatisfied. This was a seduction meant to bring them back again and again.
“You wanted me to promise you forever, but all I’ve got for you in tonight. I’ll give you all my love, but come the morning light, I’m just a ghost in your bed. I’ll haunt you till you’re dead. But baby, I know, you’ll remember me, and I’m the best you’ll ever have.”
She came back and twisted around him a few times, and when the song was coming to an end, she pulled at his hand, and dropped to the floor.
Naturally, we went down with her, and as she arched her hips, he dipped his head low. That tantalizing neck was calling him, and he trailed a tongue over it. He heard a hitch in her voice, and so did the audience. They were going wild, and she tipped his head up.
“Tonight’s all you got, so you better impress. Make me believe that you’re the best. I’m. Ever. Gonna. Have.”
He wrapped a hand around her waist and brought her hips up as he trailed a tongue down her naked abs. The lights dimmed, and under the cover of darkness, he couldn’t help himself.
He pushed the material aside and gave her slit a quick lick.
Her moan echoed in the speakers, and she pushed him away. The audience loved it. She quickly got to her feet, pulled off her heels, and slipped off the stage.
The girls squealed at the side stage. “That was amazing. Who is he? Can I have him?”
She laughed and pushed them away. The lights came up, and they went on to their finale.
Alone, he spun her around and pushed her up against the wall. “Wait,” she cried out. “Not here. Please.”
He saw the longing in her eye, but he wouldn’t take her if she wasn’t ready. He released her, and she ducked in the room.
He had a raging hard-on, and he did nothing to hide it. After a few minutes, she came out looking like her normal self in sweats. She tossed a cloth at him. “Here. You can wipe the oil off before you put the shirt on.”
Gone was the seductress. Standing in front of him was the exhausted dancer who had another life to live.
And he still wanted her.
W
hat was she thinking? She’d crossed the line with the dance, and he’d crossed it even more with that stunt at the end. Neither could deny that the other was more than ready to complete the job. She’d felt the bulge in his pants as soon as she’d straddled his lap, and he’d tasted her.
The crowd, of course, had loved it.
He sat stoically silent in the driver’s seat, and she tapped her finger on her leg nervously. What in the world could he be thinking?
“You’ve got a nice voice,” he said finally.
“Thanks,” she said in a high-pitched voice. Embarrassed, she cleared it. “I’ve been singing since I was a kid.”
“I can see why you don’t call yourself a stripper.”
“I...uh...came up with the routine when I was strapped for cash. I presented it to a few strip clubs around, but this was the only one that would allow me to do it without actually stripping. They said if I brought in a crowd within a month, I could be a regular. After they saw the results, they told me I could forgo the lap dances as well. It was a great gig, and the other girls love it. So, it worked out for everyone.”
“I’ve never been in front of so many people in my life,” he muttered.
“You certainly didn’t have performance anxiety,” she said without thinking, and he laughed hoarsely.
They fell silent until he pulled up the apartment.
She barely made it inside before he grabbed her hand and pushed her up against the wall. “If you don’t want this, tell me now,” he said as he ran his hands up under her sweatshirt.
She hesitated for a split second. She did want it, but she knew nothing about him except that he wasn’t one hundred percent human. Did she really want to cross this line?
“I want you,” she whispered, and she reached up to wrap her fingers in his hair as his mouth captured hers.
Everything inside her melted as his tongue slipped inside. She’d gotten a taste of the passion inside him, but nothing compared to the real thing. A low moan escaped her as his fingers edged under her bikini top and slipped around her nipple.
“Cole,” she sighed.
“You drove me crazy on that stage. You’re lucky I didn’t take you right then and there,” he muttered as he lifted her shirt to get better access. She reached for his shirt and undid the buttons. Finally, her hands could roam his abdomen, and she explored eagerly.
“I didn’t intend for it to go that far,” she admitted as he traced his lips down her neck. “But once I started, I couldn’t stop.”
He pulled down her sweatpants, and as he cupped her ass, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. Rubbing herself on him, she did what she wasn’t allowed to do on stage.
Moan and twist herself around for better access.
“I’m so ready. Please,” she begged as she tried to put pressure on her clit. There were still too many clothes in the way.
“If I’ve only got tonight, I want to make it good,” he panted as he struggled to hold her still.
“Baby, you can have every night if you give me what I want right now,” she said and blushed. She never spoken like that.
He pushed them off the wall and carried her into the bedroom. She clung tightly to him and ran her tongue along his salty skin. He grunted before dropping her on the bed. She watched as he hurriedly dispensed of his pants and crawled on top of her.
She took a moment to stare into his eyes. She’d get lost in that intense gaze if she gave herself enough time. Reaching up, she stroked his jaw. “I don’t usually do this. I know that because of my job, you might think…” her voice trailed off.
He kissed her. “The only thing that I think about you is that you’re smart, talented, brave, beautiful, and that you criticize yourself way too much. If you want me to stop, I’ll stop. Otherwise, lie back and enjoy yourself.”
She clamped her mouth shut, and he reached down and touched his lips to the hollow of her throat before moving lower to each nipple. She shuddered as his tongue swirled around it. Again, he slid even lower to dip into her belly button. And finally, he was slipped her bikini bottom down.
“I just got a taste,” he murmured.
She curled her toes in anticipation. “Please.”
He smiled and leaned down to lick her slit. “So sweet. Did you like it then?”
“Yes,” she moaned.
“Do you want more?”
“Yes, please,” and he buried his face in her. She shrieked when he slid a finger and then two inside her. In and out and occasionally his tongue joined them, but when he’d slipped his tongue over her hard and aching nub, her hips arched off the bed.
“Cole,” she gasped, but he didn’t let up. Over and over again until she couldn’t take any more. Gripping the sheets, she could only cry out as her body convulsed, and she fell apart.
He nuzzled her tenderly until her body settled, and then he moved up to her mouth. “Perfect,” he whispered.
He stared down at her before leaning down to taste her. She’d been everything he’d fantasized and more. Even before he entered her, he knew that she was meant to be his. Nothing else would have pulled them together so quickly. Nothing else would have him spilling his own blood to save her, and nothing else would have made them fit quite so perfectly.
But when he slid inside her, he knew. He naturally hit that spot that made her eyes fly open and gasp. They moved together in a perfect rhythm, and she squeezed her muscles to an imaginary beat that surrounded them. It was a song his soul knew well.
He cradled her head as he moved inside her, and they both knew this was more than a one-night stand. She gripped his skin in desperation, as if she were afraid he’d somehow disappear, but he couldn’t leave her now if he tried.
Over and over again, he pumped inside her, and finally her breathy moans and those wet folds were too much for him. As she came and screamed his name, he gripped her hips and anchored himself to the hilt.
“Lana,” he cried out as he emptied himself.
He collapsed on top of her, and rather than try to ruin the moment with a conversation, they both fell into a heavy sleep.