He slumped back onto the bed in defeat, making the mattress dip under his weight.
"Blast," he barked, dragging a hand over his face. "This thing is locked up tighter than a —"
"My power," I interrupted sharply, still reeling from the abrupt loss of our connection. I felt strangely bereft without it, unmoored and aching for something I couldn't name. "You still have it. Give it back."
His eyes widened fractionally, as if he'd forgotten, before a ghost of a smirk tugged at his lips. "What's the matter, Halo? Don't trust me to take good care of it for you?"
I shot him a withering glare. "About as far as I could throw you,daemon. Now give it back before I take it back."
He raised his hands in mock surrender, but I didn't miss the way his fingers trembled slightly as he returned my power to my own body. The rush of it flooding my veins was both a relief and a disappointment. The absence of our essences mixing was an odd emptiness.
I smacked that thought down. What the hell was wrong with me? This was Luce, for gods' sake, an arrogant, untrustworthy pain in my butt. I couldn't afford to let myself get sucked into a romantic game, even if we weren’t trapped in the bottle together.
Luce's deep voice was almost a physical caress. "There it is, Halo. No worse for wear, I hope."
I huffed out a tired breath, flopping back to join him reclining. "Just peachy. Remind me never to share my essence with a daemon again. That was weird."
"You wound me." Confident amusement laced his words. "Here I thought we established a real connection."
I eyed him sideways. "In your dreams, maybe."
"Mmm, undoubtedly." His tone dripped with insinuation, making my cheeks flush. Damn, he got me with that one.
Desperate to change the subject, I sat back up and stretched, grimacing as my back popped. "Well, I don't know about you, but I could use a drink after all that."
Luce propped himself up on one elbow, arching a brow at me, face winsome and hopeful. "Halo, are you propositioning me?"
"Ha, you wish." I rolled my eyes, suppressing laughter. "I mean a nightcap, lord daemon. You know, to take the edge off before we attempt to get some shut-eye in this gods-forsaken bottle."
His teeth flashed in a grin, eyes glinting with something I couldn't quite decipher. "I think that can be arranged. One nightcap, coming right up."
As he rolled off the bed and sauntered over to the mini bar, I flopped back against the pillows with a sigh. This whole situation was testing the limits of my sanity. Trapped in close quarters with an attractive daemon with an actual sense of humor...it was a recipe for disaster.
Luce opened the mini bar and glanced over his shoulder at me with a smirk. "Looks like we have the makings for just about anything here. What's your poison?"
I pursed my lips, considering. I could go for something simple, like a whiskey neat or a vodka tonic. But where was the fun in that? Make him work for it. We’d see just how skilled Mr. Tall, snarky and Daemonic was at mixology.
"A mudslide," I said. "Think you can handle that?"
Luce's smirk widened into a full-blown grin, eyes glinting with mischief and an unspoken challenge. "Oh, I can handle it. One mudslide, coming right up."
He turned back to the mini bar, hands moving with practiced ease as he pulled out bottles of Kahlúa, vodka, and Irish cream. I watched, fascinated despite myself, as he filled a shaker with ice and measured out generous portions of each liquor.
Luce moved with a fluid grace that was almost mesmerizing, his broad shoulders flexing beneath his shirt as he shook the concoction vigorously. The sound of ice rattling against metal filled the room, blending with the low, rich timbre of his humming.
I tore my gaze away. Calm down, woman. The last thing you need is to start ogling the daemon like you want to take him for a ride.
But I couldn't quite suppress the little shiver that raced down my spine as Luce poured the creamy mixture into a glass, topping it off with a sprinkle of grated chocolate. He turned toward me, holding out the drink with a flourish and a wicked glint in his gaze that set my pulse racing.
"As you desired, kitten," he purred, his fingertips brushing mine as I reached out to take the glass. "I hope it meets your...expectations."
Luce set the mudslide in front of me with a smirk. I took a sip, the creamy chocolate and liquor blending perfectly on my tongue. Damn, it was delicious.
"Not bad," I allowed, trying to keep my expression neutral. “And don’t call me kitten.”
Luce poured himself a snifter of cognac. "High praise, coming from you, Halo."
We settled to relax before going to bed, Luce chatting and starting a surprisingly easy back-and-forth. The topic drifted as the liquid level in our glasses lowered, settling on pet peeves.
