Dating for Demons (4 page)

Hmm, the lady is nervous as hell.
One thing for certain, she was definitely aware of him. Her nipples had peaked again and he could see the outline of them on the fabric of her blouse.

He wanted to strip that blouse off her and expose her breasts to his gaze. He wanted to taste her without the material in the way. He wanted to hear her scream out his name when he moved from her nipples to her pussy. He wanted to—

He cut the thoughts off while he could still think rationally. “Hang on a moment,” he muttered in a gravelly voice before backtracking to the bedroom to grab her jacket.

By the time he returned, she had the front door open and was digging around in the side pocket of her briefcase. She pulled out a small book and handed it over. Jedd glanced down at it then did a double take. He flicked through the color plates inside and about swallowed his tongue. Holy hell, he didn’t even know
that
was possible.

“You’re kidding me,” he managed. “The Kama Sutra for Demons? Where on earth did you get this?”

He picked out a paragraph of text and read it aloud. “If a demon has prominent horns, please do take care when going down on a woman. Humans are so much more fragile than demons, particularly their genitalia.
”

She wouldn’t look at him, but he could see the bright red flush on her cheek. “Um, it’s just something I picked up for research. Now, I have to go. So eight o’clock tonight, okay?”

He nodded, a grin curving his lips. “One last thing…”

Not giving her time to react, he slid one hand around her waist and dragged her close—so close her breasts touched his chest. Then he swooped, trailed the tip of his tongue along the seam of her mouth. She gasped and he grabbed the opportunity to seal her mouth with his.

He started with a light pressure, brushing his mouth along the length of hers. Then he nipped at her lower lip before laving the gentle bite with the tip of his tongue. She groaned and he swallowed the sound, his pulse speeding up when Mina increased the pressure and took the kiss to the next level.

He angled his head to gain better access and thrust his tongue into the warmth of her mouth. Heat hit him. Dark, carnal thoughts filled his head. Thoughts of what he’d like to do with her—have her do to him. Hunger rode his veins, filling his blood with an ever-increasing tension that drove through his body and thickened his cock until he thought it would punch through the front of his trousers.

Mina jumped into the game, now a fully participating member in the eroticism of the kiss. She flicked her tongue at his. Over. Under. Advanced and retreated. Then came back and curled her tongue around his, sucking him deeper. His heart thundered as he had an instant picture of her doing the same to his cock. His hips jerked and he rubbed against her, relishing the friction on his stone-hard erection.

He sucked in a breath through his nose and fought to hang on to that part of him that was in danger of sliding over the edge into a lust-filled haze where he took what his kind needed to sustain them. Somehow, he’d lost control of the situation. Now Mina held the reins. Much more of this and he’d end up dragging her to the floor and fucking her senseless, not caring whether anyone saw them or not.

That was not how he wanted his first time with Mina to play out. And, oh yes, there would be a first time, despite Lucifer warning him off. He’d lusted after Mina when she was seventeen, even though he’d known she was too young back then. Now, he wanted the time to get to know the woman she’d become. Hungered to see where this could go. All he had to do was convince her.

He silently cursed Lucifer for putting him in this position. At the same time, he was grateful she’d furnished him with an excuse to get close to Mina. Yes, he was obeying orders, but he felt like a total arsehole. Mina deserved better than this. And God—or the devil—help him when she found out she’d been set up.

With those thoughts dragging through his brain, he broke off the kiss, giving her damp lips one last flick with the tip of his tongue. He eased his arms from around her and stepped back a pace, leaving her standing in the open doorway.

A shell-shocked look settled on her face for a moment. Then he could almost see her gathering her wits about her as she straightened and smoothed the front of her blouse. The tip of her tongue came out and slid across her bottom lip and it was all Jedd could do not to bend forward and capture it with his mouth.

“What was that all about?” Her voice was little more than a husky whisper.

“Just practicing, my dear, so you won’t be disappointed by my performance tonight.”

Oh, Jedd, you are such a bastard.

Chapter Three

“Hi, Jedd. Are you ready?”

Jedd’s jaw dropped at the vision hovering in the open doorway of his apartment.
Holy snapping demons!

He’d expected Mina to turn up in one of those god-awful spinsterish suits she seemed to favor. Instead, she—

Ah hell, he couldn’t even get his head around it. He’d fancied her before in her business suits, but this just blew his mind.

She wore a figure-hugging, black sheath dress with thin shoulder straps and a hemline that ended mid-thigh. The dress glittered and it took him a moment to realize it was covered in shiny black square sequins, each one overlapping the previous so it almost looked like armor plating. As they reached the hip line the layers thinned out so by the time they hit the hem, there was only a few scattered here and there.

Her fiery red hair swung loose about her shoulders, giving a glimpse as she moved her head of the deep red stones in her earlobes. Makeup enhanced her eyes and the scarlet lipstick outlining her mouth made him drool. He’d always had a thing for pouty red lips. Then he allowed his gaze to skim down her legs to the high heels she had on.

Bright red. Impossibly high. And with thin straps circling her ankles.

Hellfire and demon balls… Fuck-me shoes.

Jedd reined in the pheromones he knew he was probably exuding, told his twitching cock to stand down, and reversed his gaze. The half-smile on her lips and the raised eyebrows told him she knew darn well what he’d been thinking.

He cleared his throat. “Mina, you look…ravishing.”

Her smile widened. “What? You expected me to turn up for a night at the club in just any old thing?”

She tossed her head and turned her back on him, crooking one finger over her shoulder. “Let’s move it, my friend. Car’s waiting.”

Talk about a chameleon. So who
was
the real Araminta Tempest? The no-nonsense auditor who’d turned up here earlier? Or this sexy siren who radiated sex appeal and turned his insides to mush? No, scrap that. She’d turned him on quicker than a light switch, even when she’d been masquerading as an old maid. This was just another facet of Mina, one that tempted and teased the daylights out of him.

With no time to dwell any longer on the puzzle that was Mina, he sat quietly beside her in the car she had waiting. In fact, he was struck dumb, didn’t know what to say. How on earth could he keep up the pretense of being a loser when it came to women? Damn Lucifer!

Mina ushered him out of the vehicle when they reached the club. Before he could enter, she drew him off to one side.

“Now, just remember, I’m not here to criticize, just to evaluate your performance so we can see where you’re going wrong.”

He nodded.
Damn Lucifer.

As he turned toward the entrance to the club, Mina laid her hand on his arm. “One other thing. You were the best of the best.”

Damn it, I still am!

“Just because you’re getting older, doesn’t mean you can’t perform to the best of your ability. Now when we get in there, just pretend you don’t know me and do what you normally do.”

Old?
Just how old did she think he was?

Jedd gritted his teeth so he wouldn’t open his mouth and spill Lucifer’s plan. What a hell of a situation to be in, particularly when he was so freakin’ attracted to Mina. Lucifer had told him she didn’t want him making love to Mina. But what if
he
wanted to? How would Her Evilness react if he actually courted her great—however many greats it was—niece?

And now, he had to go inside and pretend he couldn’t cut it with women? He shook his head. Mina really would think he was a total loser…

He dragged his scattered thoughts to a halt.
Hang on a moment
. If Mina thought he
was
a loser, she was more likely to figure he needed help—more likely to spend time with him. His lips twitched with the beginning of a grin before he pressed them together in a no-nonsense, firm line.

Oh yeah, now there’s a plan.

* * * *

Mina wanted to bang her head on the polished timber surface of the bar. What the hell was wrong with Jedd? She’d sat here for the last hour, watching him approach one female after another. Sometimes they entered into a conversation with him, only to turn away after the first ten minutes or so. Other times, the person rejected him out of hand.

They’d exhausted the talents of the first club and had been forced to move on to this one when the women present took note of the guy who’d gone from one to the other in the hope of scoring. Unfortunately, Jedd wasn’t faring much better here.

A dejected look on his face, he dropped down onto the stool beside her, signaling to the bartender to bring him a drink. Mina waited until the man moved away to serve another customer then turned to Jedd.

“Okay, what happened this time?”

“She wasn’t interested.” Jedd shrugged. He picked up the glass of beer in front of him and took a mouthful.

“I just don’t understand. Even if a woman doesn’t want to have sex with you, you shouldn’t get this instant rejection when you try to talk to her. I mean, you’re good looking, personable, you don’t have body odor or bad breath—”

“Gee, thanks,” he muttered.

Mina slapped him on the arm. “Get serious, Jedd. We have to figure out what’s going on.”

“I told you, it’s not working. I need help,” he said in a whiny tone.

Mina wanted to tell him to snap out of it and stop feeling sorry for himself. Instead, she sucked in a deep breath and released it on a loud sigh. “All right. Let’s start again. That last woman. What did you say to her when you approached her?”

He finished off his beer and gestured for another. “I introduced myself.”

She shook her head. “No, I want to hear exactly what you said.”

He rolled his eyes. “Hi, my name is Jedd. Do you come here often?”

Now it was Mina’s time to roll her eyes. “What else?”

“Then I asked her… I kind of just said it. Figured I didn’t have anything to lose.”

“What. Did. You. Say?” Mina struggled to hold her annoyance in check but it was difficult.

“You wanna fuck?”

“Wha…?”
Did he just ask her if she—?
She shook her head.
Nah, he couldn’t have
.

“That’s what I asked her. Did she wanna fuck.”

Okay, this was definitely a head-bang moment. If there hadn’t been smudgy, damp glass-rings on the bar, she may well have done just that. As it was, all she could do was growl at Jedd.

“You’ve used every corny pick-up line I’ve ever heard. The last woman? You asked her if she wanted to park her shoes under your bed for the night. No wonder the women won’t give you the time of day. I would have smacked you one if you’d tried them on me.” She threw her hands up and slid off the barstool. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. This is useless.”

Jedd trailed her as she headed toward the entrance. The bouncer opened the door, but before she could step through, a small whirlwind blew in and plastered itself to her right leg. She rocked on her heels, grateful for the added support that Jedd offered when he braced his hand on her upper back.

Mina looked down to find a little person with his arms wrapped around her thigh and his face hidden in her crotch. Had he just sniffed her?
Eeew!

Then his hips started to move in the most suggestive manner. Bloody hell, he was dry-humping her leg.

She tapped her knuckles on the top of his head. “Stop that this instant.”

Jedd pushed forward, staring down as the individual lifted his head to Mina.

“Brel-ez, what the hell are you doing here?” Jedd snapped. “Get off Mina.”

Brel-ez?
What on earth was Lucifer’s imp doing at a nightclub? Dressed in gold lurex trousers and a bright green tank top, he didn’t look anything like he normally did in his official uniform. Mind you, it didn’t help that he had a gold turban on his head, obviously to hide his horns.

“Brel-ez, do you have a message from Aunt Luce?” She tried to shake her leg to dislodge the little imp. Useless. In fact his hands—um, claws?—were creeping farther up her thigh, his hips gyrating. “Brel-ez, you horny little devil, stand to attention,” Mina snapped, giving the command an extra growl to make the imp obey.

“So sorry, Mistress.” Brel-ez loosed his hold and stepped back. “No message, Mistress. I’m on my own time.”

Mina frowned. “I still don’t understand why you were trying to climb up my leg. I think you should go back home before Lucifer misses you.”

“But, Mistress,” he whined.

His voice cut through the headache that Mina was fast developing. Would this night ever end?

“What is it, Brel-ez?” she said, working on her patience.

“I want you to teach me how to pull a woman. A human woman.” Brel-ez bared his pointy teeth in a lascivious grin. “The gossip around Hell is you’re da man—er, woman.”

Mina glared at the imp. “Go. Home.”

She shoved past Lucifer’s herald and headed outside. Luck smiled on her and a taxi pulled up to disgorge its passengers just as Mina hit the edge of the pavement. She jumped in, Jedd following close behind.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said, as she snapped on the seatbelt.

She didn’t say anything else until they’d reached Jedd’s building. Then she followed him upstairs and into his apartment. When Jedd headed toward the sideboard and grabbed a bottle of brandy and two glasses, she shook her head. “No alcohol. We need clear heads to sort this out.”