Abanging jolted me from sleep. My head pounded as I climbed off Az’s body, rubbed my eyes, and blearily glanced around. The pounding was coming from the door.
My stomach flipped.
Grunting, Az climbed to his feet and wrapped his torn shirt around his waist. He padded over to the door and cracked it open. Caim rushed inside, followed closely by Phenex.
I let out a little cry of alarm and tugged the robe over my chest.
Phenex stumbled to a stop and glanced around. “Oh.”
Caim grinned. “Oh.”
“Stop gawking and get the hell on with it,” Az growled, stepping between me and the guys so they could no longer get an eyeful of my very obvious nakedness. “You’re banging on my door in the middle of the night. What did you find?”
“Nothing. I’m sorry Mia,” Caim said as the grin slid from his face. “There’s no sign of Serena anywhere.”
24
Az paced as I tiptoed into the bedroom to find some clothes. I was not about to have a naked chat about my best friend’s life with a bunch of demons. Serena was out there, in danger. And I was rolling around on a dining table with a Prince of Hell.Idiot!
I shook my head and grimaced as another wave of nausea pounded through me. What had I been thinking?Not much, I grimly thought as I found a comfy t-shirt in my bag. The five or six gin and tonics had gone straight to my head. And my vagina, too, apparently.
How stupid could I possibly be? It clearly hadn’t meant anything, and now we had to survive the next week, save Serena, stop a human sacrifice, and who knew what else. All while knowing that we had seen each other naked. Who was I kidding? We’d done far more than justlook.
Of course, I couldn’t help but wonder…had it really been a mistake? He’d opened up to me, and I’d done the same to him. Az understood me in a way I’d never expected. Hell, he was one of the only people in the world to give me a chance. We’d been tiptoeing closer to each other ever since I’d moved in. Maybe…maybe there was something there.
After I tugged on a pair of pajama bottoms, I eased toward the cracked bedroom door. Voices drifted in from the living room.
“Well,thatcertainly escalated quickly,” Phenex said as he elbowed Az in the ribs.
Az’s jaw rippled as he clenched his teeth. “She’s upset about her friend, and we had a few drinks. One thing led to another, that’s all.”
I paused, heart thumping. Really, I shouldn’t stand here eavesdropping on their conversation, but I couldn’t help myself. They were talking about me and what we’d clearly just done. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell we’d had sex.
“So, it was just a drunken hook-up?” Caim asked with arched brows. “Come on, Az. We’ve all seen the way you look at her.”
“Of course that was all it was.” Az collected the empty glasses from the table and carried them into the kitchen. “She’s a human. I’m a demon. Our worlds can never intertwine. I was having a little fun, and there is nothing more to it than that. Now, can we please move on?”
“Yeah, alright, boss,” Phenex said, shrugging. “If that’s what you want.”
“We have a couple of ideas on how to tackle this ransom note situation,” Caim said, nodding as Az handed him a drink.
With a deep breath, I slithered back into Az’s dark bedroom. My heart pounded, and an unwelcome burning sensation filled my eyes. It was just as I’d thought. A fling. A random hook-up. Something to pass the time. A little fun. Nothing more.
And that wasfine.
It wasn’t like I wanted anything more than that from him.
Most of the time, Az annoyed me. I didn’t like him. Hell, I barely tolerated him. And, you know,he’s a demon.
Nodding to myself, I squared my shoulders and pushed out into the living room. The three demons fell silent as soon as I stepped in front of them. “Hi.”
Phenex cleared his throat. “Hi, Mia. I see you, ah…cute pajamas.”
“They have pigeons on them,” Caim said with an amused grin.
“I like pigeons.” I strode across the room and eyeballed them both. “What are you going to do about finding Serena?”
Phenex ran his fingers through his blazing hair. “We have an idea, but I don’t think you’re going to like it very much.”
