Jedd shrugged, replaced the bottle and glasses then dropped onto the coach. He clasped his hands in his lap and lowered his head so she couldn’t see his face. In fact, he looked like a little boy caught in a misdemeanor, about to be chastised.
Mina sighed. She really didn’t want to do this. Jedd struck her as a proud man. This had to be chipping away at his ego, his sense of self. She grimaced. It had to be done, not only to fulfill his contractual obligations with Lucifer, but also for his own health. If he didn’t get enough energy, he’d slowly become weaker and weaker until he faded away. For the most part, full demons were immortal, but only if they followed the rules.
“Jedd, did you read anything on that disk I left you?”
He shook his head but still refused to look at her.
“Look, I don’t profess to be an expert, but I’m a woman. I at least know what will turn us off, and asking a woman if she wants to fuck you is so not going to cut it. How would you feel if I walked up to you and asked if you
wanna fuck
?”
Jedd groaned, then coughed, before grabbing a cushion and covering his lap with it. She could have sworn she’d seen the beginnings of a substantial erection tenting the front of his trousers.
Okay, maybe not the best thing to ask an incubus.
She backtracked. “Instead of hitting on every woman in sight, you need to choose one woman who appeals to you and focus on her. Make eye contact before you even approach her. If she’s interested, she’ll more than likely give you a smile.”
“Then what?” he muttered.
“Introduce yourself. Engage her in conversation. Show her that you’re interested in her. And instead of thinking you’re going to take her home that night and have a quick tumble, just see if you can get her phone number. Even better, ask for her email address. Women seem to feel easier about handing that off than their phone number. I mean, if an email comes in, they don’t have to answer it if they don’t want to.”
“But I don’t want a relationship. I just need a woman to have an orgasm so I can feed.”
“Aghhh.” Mina silently counted to ten so she wouldn’t lose her temper. It didn’t help much. “If you just want a quick screw, go pay a prostitute.”
He finally lifted his head. The horrified look on his face was almost Mina’s undoing.
“
I
don’t pay for it,” he spluttered.
“You just—”
She shut her mouth, afraid if she said anything right at that moment, it would be the wrong thing. Instead, she turned on her heel and headed toward the bedroom and on into the bathroom. She ran the tap and held her hands under the cold water, hoping it would help her to calm down.
What the hell was wrong with Jedd? He’d never had a problem getting women in the past. What had happened to change things? Aunt Luce had said nothing about amnesia or any brain injury, so how come he couldn’t remember the rules of attraction? Something about this whole thing just didn’t stack up.
She turned the tap off and braced her hands on the edge of the vanity, turning everything over in her mind. If she didn’t know better, she’d say this was a setup, but for what reason, she had no idea. And Jedd wouldn’t be a party to something like that. Would he? But then why…
And what about Aunt Luce?
Before she could bend her mind to the idea that she might have been had, a burst of light filled the bathroom, followed quickly by the gagging stench of sulfur. Mina squawked as something started to materialize behind her.
Her mouth dropped open as Brel-ez appeared, still dressed in his colorful nightclub attire. She was about to order him back to hell when something occurred to her.
Lucifer…
Jedd…
And Lucifer’s herald…
Hmm, just the person I need.
Not giving him time to say a word, she swooped on the imp and grabbed him under the arms. Then she lifted him up and sat him on the edge of the vanity, pointing a finger at him when he opened his mouth to speak.
“Nuh-uh, you don’t say anything until I tell you that you can speak.” She glared at him and planted her hands on her hips, striving to look tough. “You know who I am?”
He pretended to lock his lips and just nodded.
“I don’t mean Araminta Tempest, great-great-niece to Her Evilness.”
Brel-ez shook his head.
Mina gave the little devil a grin full of teeth. “No, I mean Lucifer’s Heir Apparent. The next Satan-in-Waiting.”
“Demon’s balls and brimstone biscuits!” Brel-ez slapped a hand over his mouth. “Oops, sorry, Mistress, I didn’t mean to speak.”
“Oh, I give you permission now,” Mina said, “because I have some questions for you. And you’d better give me the right answers.”
Eyes wide, he nodded again.
“How did you hear about me giving Jedd lessons in how to pull a woman, as you call it? And don’t tell me you haven’t heard anything. Your being here is enough to tell me you know something. Now spill!”
The imp squirmed on the vanity counter as if he had ants in his pants.
“
Brel-ez.
”
“I kind of might have overheard Her Evilness talking to Jedd.”
“To Jedd? Are you sure?”
Oh no, this is definitely looking like a setup
.
“Her Evilness had me collect Jedd and deliver him to her presence. She thinks you’re turning into an old maid and she wanted Jedd to give you a shake-up.”
“So all this time, Jedd—”
“Yep, he’s been pretending. If I were you, I’d go out there and kick him in the balls. Or I could do it for you, if you want.” He jumped down from the vanity and started toward the door of the bathroom.
Mina snagged the back of his tank top and hauled him back. “Oh, no, you don’t. I’ll deal with Jedd myself. You get yourself out of here and you will keep your mouth shut about this. You understand?”
He hung his head. “Um, I might have already shared with some of the other demons that you’re the person to go to if they want to score with the women.”
A groan surfaced, but Mina swallowed it and gave the little imp a shake. “Well, no more. You hear me? Now get out of here.”
A puff of smoke and the nauseating stink of brimstone and Brel-ez disappeared. Mina stared into the mirror, surprised smoke wasn’t coming out of her ears. She was so darn angry it bubbled up inside and threatened to choke her. How dare Aunt Luce do this to her?
And Jedd? Why had he agreed to do it?
She wanted to go out there and rant at him, tear a strip off him and shove it down his throat. Hell, she’d like to rip off his balls and feed them to him.
She’d taken the first few steps toward the door then stopped. Hah, maybe there was a better way to handle this—a way to get back at both Aunt Luce
and
Jedd for humiliating her this way. Make them both suffer a little bit. And she’d start with Jedd.
He’d shown her he wasn’t totally immune to her charms. Now it was time to turn up the heat and see how he liked that. Then she’d rip him a new one when she rejected him, hopefully publicly, like he’d done to her when she was just a teenager.
Small-minded much, Mina?
Too bad, so sad. She was riding on anger right now and that was all she cared about.
Mina sauntered back into the living room. “I think we’ll call it quits for the time being and get together tomorrow night. There’s no point rehashing this right now. But I want you to go over those notes I left you before we meet again. Okay?”
He stood, still holding the cushion in front of him. “Um, you sure? We could… I don’t know, maybe set up a new game plan for tomorrow.”
She strutted across the room until she stood in front of him, so close her breasts brushed against his chest. It was all she could do to control her laughter when she saw him gulp in reaction.
Gotcha.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. I’ve already come up with a new plan. I’m going to be your dating decoy. Your wing man, so to speak.”
She reached up, snaked one hand around his neck and pulled his head down so she could drop a soft kiss on his lips. He tried to deepen the kiss, but she broke away, leaving him standing there with his mouth open.
“Meet me outside Club Royale at eight o’clock and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Then she turned and walked away, let herself out of the apartment then quietly closed the door behind her.
Payback time.
Bring it on, baby.
Chapter Four
Mina growled as she glanced at her watch. Jedd was late. She’d been leaning against this darn piece of wall no more than eight feet from the entrance to the nightclub for the past fifteen minutes. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be much longer.
She went over the plan in her mind. She was about to make Jedd squirm. He wanted to meet women? Well, she’d make certain that would happen. And if he once asked a woman if she wanted a quick fuck, she’d crown him one. She’d give him a few more minutes and ring to see if he’d left home. If he’d chickened out, she’d go over there and confront him. No way was she letting him off. He deserved to suffer for making that deal with Aunt Luce.
Okay, time to make that call. Before she could retrieve her phone from her shoulder bag, she heard a shuffling beside her. A hand snaked out and wrapped around her waist, tugging at her. Her balance off, she stumbled while trying to pull away from that persistent hold.
“What are you doing? Get your effing hands off me,” she demanded.
The guy holding her just laughed and tugged harder. “Aww, come on, baby. You know you want to spend some time with me.”
Mina frowned as she stared at the man. For a moment, she had a feeling she knew him, had seen him around somewhere. But surely she would have remembered his male-model looks and sexy smile if she’d met him before?
She stepped back, away from his hold. “I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not interested. I’m waiting for someone.”
“Maybe me, babycakes?”
The new voice came from her left. She spun about to confront another good-looking guy. And behind him were at least another four men, all grinning at her in a lascivious way. Hands reached out to her, pulling at her dress. Trying to grab her arm. Crowding her in until she had trouble seeing over their bulk.
One of them fastened onto her arm, tugging her away from the wall into the circle of men. Panic surged, lodging deep in Mina’s gut. Her stomach rolled over and her breathing accelerated until she found herself gasping. The realization came that this was more than a group of men coming on to a woman. Something was wrong. She glanced over at the entrance where the bouncer should have been, but a wall of male flesh blocked her vision.
The men crowded closer, slowly but inexorably moving her away from the front of the nightclub. Now the smiles had disappeared from their faces to be replaced with grim determination. They pushed and shoved and despite Mina digging in her heels, they herded her closer and closer to the alley that ran down the side of the club.
A smell, almost like a physical taste, caught in the back of her throat and made her gag.
Pheromones.
A heavy cloud that threatened to choke her.
They were all incubi!
“Why are you doing this?” she managed to croak.
“Someone wants to see you,” the first assailant said.
She had no idea what was going on, but she wasn’t about to go quietly. She opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could. Then the panic turned into rage—rage that burst into a conflagration in her gut and drove a burst of adrenaline throughout her system. She lashed out. Her hands might be restrained but not her feet.
Using all the power she could muster, she brought the stiletto heel of her shoe down on the closest foot. The guy yelped and stumbled, releasing her arm at the same time. She aimed a punch at the next man and followed up with a heavy kick to his shin. At the same time, she dragged in a deep breath and released it in a loud shriek for help.
Suddenly, the men went flying. One by one, someone grabbed them by the back of shirt and tossed them away from her. Jedd, his face dark and savage, cut through the melee until he stood in front of her. The bouncer from the club did his part and took care of his share of assailants.
Jedd took one look at the man who still held tight to Mina’s arm, balled up his fist and let fly. The blow hit the guy in the jaw. He grunted and let go. Not taking his eyes off Jedd, he backed away, hand to his face, before turning and racing off, his cohorts following him. Both Jedd and the bouncer made a move to chase them, but Mina called them back. No way could she explain to the human bouncer that the men were demons. Better they disappeared.
What Mina had to do now was work out if this had anything to do with Lucifer’s plan. She couldn’t believe her aunt would have done this. Yes, she was a tyrant at times, but she’d never put Mina at risk.
“Are you all right, miss?”
She gave the bouncer a shaky smile. “Yes, I’m okay. Thank you for your help.”
“I’ll call the cops,” he said, turning toward the club.
Mina detained him with a hand on his arm. “No, it’s okay. I’m not hurt. They were just a little too forceful in their request that I spend some time with them.”
“Your funeral, miss.” He shrugged before disappearing inside the club.
Mina sagged against the wall of the building. Now the danger was over, she started to shake. Her legs threatened to give way under her and she was grateful when Jedd wrapped one arm about her waist. She rested her forehead on his chest and struggled to get her breathing under control.
“You sure you’re okay?” At her nod, he continued, “Why the hell didn’t you want us to go after them? You want them to get away?”
“Use your head. They’re incubi. Can you imagine if the authorities found out that demons do actually exist? Besides the fact, Aunt Luce would have a fit. That’s the number one rule we all learn when she gives us permission to live in the human world. Don’t tell the natives.”
Jedd jerked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the alley. “Yeah, well, those guys sure skipped that lesson. And maybe that’s something Lucifer
should
know.”
Mina gave up the surprising security of Jedd’s broad chest and stood on her own two feet, smoothing down the front of her dress. Then she addressed her hair, brushing it back from her face. In the process, she realized she’d lost an earring. Well, she wasn’t about to start searching for it in the dim light. Instead, she slipped the other one from her lobe and tucked it into the pocket of Jedd’s shirt.