Lucifer’s golden eyes gleamed from the shadows, and stripes of red light swathed his face. An involuntary shiver skittered down my back, and I instinctively took a step away from him. How could I be so repelled by a man and so attracted to him all at once? It was like my two halves having opposite opinions of him.
Because he’s not a man, he something else… Something dangerous.
Lucifer took a step forward while I took another step in retreat until I was cornered, with my back against the bar. He leaned forward, placing a hand on either side of the counter, locking me in. The club was filled with people. I could scream. I could call for help, but the moment I considered it, I realized I didn’t want to call for help. The fact that our bodies were so close that they were nearly touching stained my flesh red and sent my heartbeat into an erratic hammer against my ribcage.
By the curve of his lips, he noticed.
God, I already hated him. He was so smug, so cocky, sodamnsexy. His lips spread wider. “Your friend did not tell me your name, Jessica. Nor did she tell me about your father. So please do not be angry with her. I’d hate to be the source of a spat amongst dear friends.”
I blinked several times. He had to be lying. There was no other way he would have known unless he could—
“Read minds? Yes, I can. Well, not perfectly. Yours has been a bit fuzzy. Kind of like the static between radio stations. You’ve got a strong will. That or a thick skull. Or both.”
My heart crystallized in my chest, and my entire body went cold.
When someone tells you they can read minds, any sane person would brush them off as either crazy or a liar. Maybe someone who claimed they read minds would be the exact same sort of person who claimed to be the devil.
It’s all fun and games until the bastard finishes a fucking sentence that had only been in your head.
“Ah, so you believe me now, Jessica?” The bastard laughed like this was all funny instead of disturbing. He leaned in so close, his lips brushed against my ear, causing my heart to lurch in my chest. His voice dropped to a gravelly purr that sunk straight down into my core and curled up between my thighs, a forbidden caress as the final notes of “Sympathy for the Devil” faded away over the speakers with perfect timing.
“I shouldn’t have come here.”
“Oh, but I’m ever so glad you did. Don’t fret, Kitten. I won’t hurt you. You’re a strong, fiery woman who loves a little bit of thrill, don’t you? What better thrill than to play with the devil?”
I couldn’t speak. I could barely think. I’d been flirting with— A fist-sized lump lodged itself in my throat. I could barely even think it.
“The devil. Go ahead and say it, darling. It’s not such a terrifying thing when it’s not used by Paradise as a method to scare humans into submission. I’ve been their proverbial ‘boogeyman’ for eons.”
“I–I—”
His lips softened, his brow’s furrowed deep into an expression that bled sensuality and arrogance. He starred at me for several more moments, as if rooting around in my head for clues on what to say to me next.
Finally, he stepped back, giving me some space. I gasped, gulping down air as if I could finally breathe now that he wasn’t directly in my orbit. My lungs cried out in relief, but the rest of me seemed to grow cold in the absence of the heat he invoked inside me.
“You’re overwhelmed, Kitten. Why don’t you go home? Allow yourself to come to terms with who I am. Sleep on the offer I’ve presented you. I think you’ll find it’s a good one. You can give me your answer tomorrow.”
He held the contract out to me. I looked at it in a whole new light now, knowing it wasn’t just a job offer from some rich asshole.
The devil existed. And he wanted to make a deal withme.
I knew now, the contract wasn’t for a job. That was a big fat lie if I ever heard one.
Regardless of what he was or what he wanted, if he could save my father, could I really refuse?
* * *
Melanie had been right.
Lucifer Morningstar, billionaire playboy and king of Seattle’s supernatural underworld, was, in fact, the devil.
The freaking devil!
I had flirted with Satan all night. And what had I got for my troubles? A proposition from the devil.
I was accustomed to crazy Friday nights out, but this was the first contract I’d ever been presented. I didn’t have to read it to know that if I signed it, I would be agreeing to something wicked.
The devil was in the details, as the saying goes. And I would be reading every last word of this contract. Not that I was actually considering signing it. No way. Sure, I was a thrill-seeker. But that meant driving over the speed limit, trying psychedelics, auditioning for the Seattle Theatre Club totally stoned. Not making deals with dark lords!
