Carnal (Her Dark Desires #1) (8 page)

I
looked around as we walked, taking in more details of my surroundings. The
halls were lit by iron sconces and elegant silver candelabra. The effect was
pretty on the white marble floor, making it light up in rainbow colors. “Did
this used to be someone’s house?” I asked.

“Yes,”
Hector said. “It used to belong to Alistair Hex before he donated it to the Order
for our exclusive use.”

I
knew a little about Elias’s eldest brother and leader of Clan Hex, mostly that
they were all very powerful and immensely wealthy men. “How generous,” I said
without much enthusiasm.

Hector
gave me a wry smile. “You don’t sound like a fan of the Hexes.”

“Whatever
gave that away?”

“Well,
I don’t know,” he said, stopping at the elevator and pressing the up button.
“Maybe it was the way you were shooting daggers at Elias the other day at the
restaurant.”

I
felt my face heat as the doors chimed open, and we stepped inside. Seeing as
Hector was Elias’s friend, I chose my next words carefully. “I didn’t realize
my reactions were so readable.”

Hector
regarded me with a sad, wistful smile. “You’re like me. You wear your heart on
your sleeve.”

“Is
that a bad thing?”

He
shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

I
got his implied meaning, and my chest tightened. Incubi and succubi were
masters of seduction, a feeling tied so intimately to romance, yet we weren’t
allowed to love. I wondered if whoever had come up with that rule realized what
a hypocrite he or she sounded like.

Heavy
silence followed as we were shuttled up to the second story.

The
decorations were much the same, though this level seemed less crowded. It made
sense, since it mainly housed teachers’ offices.

Hector
stopped before a large oak door carved with a Celtic design, then twisted his
key in the iron lock. The bolt groaned, and Hector opened the door for me.

The
interior was decorated much like Elias’s office, with Hector’s having warmer
tones of red and gold versus the cooler blue and gray of Elias’s office. The
smell of cinnamon and sugar instantly hit me, and I inhaled deep. “Now I know
why you always smell so good,” I said. Curiously enough, I didn’t see any
candles or air fresheners.

Hector
chuckled as the door clicked shut, and he walked over to the large cherry wood
desk at the opposite end of the room. “And what do I smell like to you?” he
said, sitting down in his plush, burgundy leather chair and motioning for me to
do the same.

I
sat opposite him, suddenly self-conscious of my appearance. “Like happiness,” I
said. “My mother used to make snickerdoodles for me as a child. That smell has
always been my favorite.”

He
smiled, leaning forward so his elbows were resting on his desk. He steepled his
fingers together and rested his chin on top of them, peering at me with a sexy
glint to his eyes. “You want to know what you smell like to me? Jasmine.”

I
blinked. “Jasmine?” I wasn’t even sure I knew what that smelled like.

He
nodded. “And cherry blossoms and roses and other wildflowers. You smell…
sweet.”

I
hadn’t thought “sweet” would be a word used to describe how I smelled, given
the musky tang of my perfume. I blinked, realizing why his scent was so
alluring and feeling like a fool for not figuring it out sooner.

It’s
because I was attracted to him. That’s why his scent was the same every time. When
I was near him, I was remembering my favorite smell.

“Why
wildflowers?” I asked.

He
shrugged. “I used to live in the countryside, near a wildflower meadow. I guess
you can say I like the smell of flowers because it reminds me of my freedom.
And my innocence,” he added more quietly. Clearing his throat, he changed the
subject. “One of the things a Master does when they turn over a charge to us is
debrief us over both the strong qualities of their Child and those that need
some work.” His lips quirked up in a lopsided smile. “‘Dirty talk’ was under
the ‘needs work’ column.”

I
gulped. “I’m not that bad at it.”

He
raised a brow, as if asking me to elaborate.

I
dropped my gaze to my hands, where I fiddled with the end of my tunic. “I’m not
good with people,” I said quietly. “I always get tongue-tied and flustered
around strangers. I don’t know what to say.”

Hector
ran a hand over the light stubble along his jawline, studying me. “Perhaps it’s
not your shyness that’s the problem. Maybe it’s your fear of making a fool of
yourself that’s standing in your way.”

“That’s
not-” I stopped. Was that the reason I had such a hard time talking to people?
I was terrible at making conversations. I wasn’t so bad around Monique and
Raoul, but that was because I knew them.

“This
is what we’re going to do,” Hector said. “I’m a potential client of yours.
Notice I said ‘potential.’ We’ve met at a bar, and you’ve decided you want to
try to take me home. It’s your job to get me in the mood, or rather, to turn me
on with words and a few casual touches.”

My
heart started pounding harder as my palms began to sweat.

Hector
smiled, leaning toward me expectantly.

When
he didn’t say anything, I figured out he was waiting on me to lead. “Um,” I
said, wringing my dress, “you, uh, come here often?”

“All
the time,” he replied smoothly. “I like to savor the sights and sounds of the
night.” He stroked my arm with his index finger, a slow, smooth gesture that
sent shivers flying over my skin.

I
cleared my throat as I struggled to come up with something to say.

Hector
reached up and grabbed a loose curl, twirling it around his finger. “You look
nervous.”

“I’m
not nervous,” I said breathlessly. My body went rigid as his knuckles grazed my
cheek.

“Good.”
He leaned in until his lips were beside my ear. “Because I’m going to strip you
down naked and lick your cunt until you cry out my name.”

My
jaw dropped, and I knew from the sudden rise in temperature, my face was
beet-red too.

Hector
let his hand fall to his lap as he leaned back in his chair. “Ms. Sanders, I do
believe you are blushing.”

“I…
I don’t know why,” I lied. “It’s not like I haven’t heard all this stuff
before.”
Just never from someone I was actually interested in.

He
smiled softly. “Something tells me you’d blush anyway.”

“Meaning?”
I said a little more sharply than I meant to.

“Just
that I was right about you,” he murmured. “You’re the most pure-hearted
succubus I’ve ever met.”

I
sighed, my shoulders slumping. “Fantastic. That would be great if I were an
angel or even a White Witch, but I’m neither.”

“Don’t
worry.” He smiled and reached into his desk drawer. “I meant it as a
compliment.”

I
brightened up as he set a CD case down on his desk. “Here,” he said, pushing it
toward me. “Your first homework assignment. I can see we have a lot of ground
to cover, and I don’t like wasting time. I want you to listen to this when you
get back to your room, making note of the phrases, tone, and rhythm of the
exchanges. We’ll reconvene after dinner to go over your findings and try
again.”

“What
is it?” I asked, flipping it over. There wasn’t a description as to what the
blank case contained. It looked homemade.

A
wicked grin lit up his face. “Phone sex, the dirtiest of the dirty talk,
courtesy of yours truly.”

My
eyes snapped to his. “You mean, these are
your
recordings?”

He
crossed his hands behind his head and rested his boots on the desk, lounging.
“Yep. Back from when I was still working the phones, before I got sent on field
jobs.”

“I…
I never got put on the phones.”

Hector
frowned. “Why not?”

Because
Elias hates me.

“I
don’t know,” I said. “Elias never told me why, exactly.” Actually, he had, but
it was too embarrassing to admit to my crush that the reason his friend hadn’t
put me on the phones was because I flubbed that up. Tongue-tied didn’t begin to
describe it. Soon as my clientele started talking that way to me, I freaked out
and got all flustered. Dubbed as a “disaster waiting to happen,” Elias had
thought putting me in the field would be better, where I could actually see
whom I was talking to. If anything, it was worse, and to this day, I hadn’t
understood his logic.

“Huh,”
Hector said. “I see.” He rose and went to open the door, signaling our session
was done. “Listen to the tape. It’ll give you a good place to start. I think
you’re shy because you haven’t heard that much dirty talk.” That boyish smirk
returned. “And because your head isn’t in the gutter, like the rest of us
miscreants.”

Again,
that chipped away at my self-confidence. It felt like he was talking to me as
if I were a child, but I didn’t want Hector to see me that way. I wanted him to
see me as a woman, someone who could handle what he had to dish out.

“Thank
you, sir,” I said, standing and walking toward the door. “I’ll get on it right
away.”

“Hector,”
he said, reaching out and touching my arm. “Please, call me Hector.”

I
gasped at the tingle of warmth that wriggled into my skin at his contact. His
breath caught, and our eyes met for a split second before he blinked a few
times and looked away. “Well, then, see you after dinner,” he said roughly.

“Um,
yeah. See you.”

Once
the door was closed, I buried my face in my hands.
Way to dazzle him with
your wit, Sally.

Telling
my inner Ms. Snark to shove it, I squared my shoulders, took a deep breath, and
set off toward the elevator. After a few wrong turns, I managed to find the
exit, and started across the lush, green grounds. Grecian statues covered by
vines, lilac trees, and weeping willows littered the lawn. I wandered around
for a moment, taking everything in, before heading up to the cobblestone path
to find where I was staying.

There
were four buildings on campus; a boy’s dorm, a girl’s dorm, the main building where
the faculty’s offices were, as well as the dining hall and auditorium, and a
smaller building that was reserved for special occasions, like banquets. Finding
the girls’ dormitory wasn’t that hard. In an adjacent building, it was similarly
decorated and nearly as big as the main building where all the faculty stayed,
but that didn’t make it any less resplendent. It was just as posh as the first
building.

After
getting turned around once, I managed to find my room on the third floor. The
hallways were so crowded that it made it difficult to move around. It reminded
me of what move-in day at college must be like. A pang of longing went through
me. Though I loved to learn, I had no idea what I wanted to major in. But then
the whole succubus thing happened and kind of shot those plans to hell.

Students
milled about everywhere, making it hard to move around. After some nudging and
several muttered “excuse me’s,” I stopped before my door. Locked. Plugging the
key in, I opened the door to a room outfitted in two queen-sized beds, two
bathrooms, two walk-in closets, a modest kitchen, and a living room with a big
flatscreen TV. All the furniture was sleek and black, with dark purple
trimmings and silver accent decorations, like throw pillows and candles. The
air smelled like lavender and vanilla, thanks to the many lit candles
throughout the place.

The
bedrooms had dark purple silk comforters, with several fluffy black and silver
pillows and black furniture that matched the rest of the apartment.

Hell,
could I just move in? This stuff was way nicer than my crappy hand-me-down
furniture and electronics at home.

Thinking
of home sent a bolt of melancholy through me that stung my eyes. I needed to
find a time to call Monique, but it would have to wait until after dinner. Now,
I was sleepy and in need of a shower.

There
were “get to know you” activities planned the rest of the day, as a way for the
students to mingle. Being so pooped, I just wanted to curl up on the bed and
fall into a coma. Then I also had my assignment. I wondered if the other
students had already met with their mentors and been assigned homework, or if
it was just me.

I
shook my head. I was worrying over nothing, and comparing apples to oranges
never did anyone any good. I had a kickass mentor. So what if I had homework
the first day? No big deal. I was willing to do whatever it took to become
awesome at this succubus thing.

With
renewed energy, I opted to ride out my fatigue and listen to the tape. After
peering into one of the bedrooms and determining it was occupied, thanks to the
clothes littering the floor, I parked all my stuff in the other room, right
across the hall. I had just unzipped my suitcase when a low growl behind me
made me whirl.

My
eyes went wide.

Two
golden eyes stared back at me as the sleek, black jaguar hissed and slashed at
the air from its perch on the bed in my absent roommate’s room.