My mind went to those smutty demon romance books. One cover had stood out in particular. It featured a demon with his claws around a human woman’s throat. Demons weren’t the same thing as devils. Devils were basically demons that were once mortal. If Lorelei had any idea about the kind of violence and carnage my kind were capable of, she wouldn’t be reading smutty books about us.
Part of me wanted to show her more of myself so she could see exactly what I was.
Any normal person would be scared shitless, then leave town. Which was exactly what I wanted…what Imostlywanted. There was another part of me that wished to show her my true form. All of it. I wanted to see if she’d squirm and flush the same way she had when she’d glimpsed my tongue.
I had to be careful with this girl. I needed to fuck with her enough to get her to leave Bishop, but not so much that I got too attached to her…Like my father had with my mother. He’d become so attached to his offering to his stupid “god” that he’d decided to keep her as a plaything for himself.
I’d watched him torture my mother until she was nothing. Then he gave the last of her to a devil that didn’t give two fucks about any of us. The torture I’d inflict on Lorelei would be of a different nature. I would never allow the Jersey Devil to sink his claws into her soul.
I’d keep it for myself.
I hardened at the thought.Fuck. I rolled over onto my back where I laid in bed, gripping my shaft painfully hard, as if trying to reason with it. The mere thought of taking her soul for myself had the devil inside me pacing madly.
This wasn’t good. I needed her gone so that I could get back to my plan of humiliating my father in front of his cult. She was going to be a very big distraction. Not to mention, everyone was expecting her and her mother to go to the Ritual at the full moon. That was in a few days.
Since I’d partially shifted just enough to show her my devil tongue, she must have been laying wide awake in bed, scared shitless. Her mind had to be going wild, trying to make sense of her new stepbrother and the danger she was in being one door down from me.
Or maybe I’d already scared her off. My heart ached at the notion, and that pissed me off. I shouldn’t want anything to do with this woman. I’d teased her, and had gotten painfully close to her—to the point where I could taste her rapid heartbeat pounding in my mouth. But that was so she would see a glimpse of the Hell that awaited her should she stay in Bishop a minute longer.
I tossed and turned for another hour, then rolled out of bed with an irritated snarl. I didn’t bother getting dressed before entering the hall and striding to her bedroom door in nothing but my boxers.
The faint sounds of my dad screwing his new offering from their bedroom downstairs carried up the stairs. Would Lorelei have left without her mother? They didn’t appear to be close. So, maybe. When I saw she had left her door open, a sharp feeling lanced my chest, making me suck in a breath.
If she was still here, she would not only have shut her door, she would have locked it. So, she must have left…right?
Wrong.
I pushed open the door to see her laying there, soundlessly asleep.
When my gaze found her slender form laying on top of the comforter, wearing nothing but panties. My gaze found her slender form laying on top of the comforter, wearing nothing but panties.
Moonlight poured in through the window blinds, painting her soft flesh in strips of silver and shadow. What in the fuck was she doing, sleeping at all? Let alone with her door open while topless?
It’s like she wasn’t scared at all.
She must have been having a restless sleep, based on the way she squirmed. She was so pale, save for the hue of pink staining her cheeks. It matched the pretty, rosy shade of her pert little nipples. I would give anything to rip off the little scrap of fabric concealing her pussy. I wondered if she shaved, then found myself hoping she didn’t. There was something about a woman’s pubic hair that I found appealing. The coarse patch of hair, almost made for petting. What I wouldn’t do to rake my nails through it. Wind it around my fingers and tug to see her lashes flutter and her lips part on a soft cry.
Lore had a slim waist, but her thighs had some extra plump that had my mouth watering. Something to sink my fingers into as I slid into her heat.
Catching where my mind had strayed, I forced myself to turn around and leave her in peace.
I got as far as her door when she expelled a moan and tossed in her bed, mattress springs creaking. She was dreaming. Maybe a nightmare. I glanced back at her over my shoulder.
Her chest heaved with her shallow, frantic breaths, and beads of sweat peppered her brow.
Definitely a nightmare.
“Titus…”
Every muscle in my body tensed. My dick was so hard it fucking ached. And my devil—I couldn’t hold it back anymore. There was a flash of pain, then it was over as soon as it started. The sight of my horns’ shadows falling over pretty little tits was almost enough to make me come in my boxers.
Unable to hold myself back a second longer, I approached the side of her bed and looked down at her sleeping form. I’d sell every soul in Bishop to Lucifer himself—mine included—to know what she was dreaming about.
Me. I knew that much. But what was I doing to her in her dream? Hurting her, probably. Terrorizing her. That made the most sense. From the moment I saw her, I was cruel to her.
Poor little human. She didn’t deserve my bullshit. She didn’t deserve any of this.
No human who found themselves in Bishop did, but especially not Lorelei. There was something about her that made a part of me ache—a part I thought had died when the Jersey Devil claimed my mother.
