“Be careful what you wish for,” Perfidious rasped. “I’m feeling a tadmeanthese days.”
“Mmm.” Her scalp tingled with thoughts of Perfidious’s hands pulling her hair. Unlike the human, the demon had no problems asserting his dominance over her.
“Are you thinking about me? About all the dirty things I’m going to do to you?” he asked, his voice deeper than before.
“Just let me know when and where, my lord.”
“Soon, my pet. Very, very soon.”
The last thing Seraphina heard before she disconnected the call was a promising growl.
The first thing Penelope did when she got home was go next door to Janice’s and feed Bill, the fat, fluffy gray cat her neighbor fancied.
“Good news is, your mommy’ll be home later today,” she said aloud, though she knew Bill wasn’t listening.
The feline didn’t care much for people, so even when she called out to him, he remained in hiding. She’d learned the first day that it wasn’t worth sticking around to see if he’d make an appearance, so Penelope rinsed out his water and food bowls, refilled them before locking up and going home.
With energy to burn, she made a quick yet thorough pass through her apartment, cleaning from the baseboards to the ceiling fans and everything in between, finishing up with a pass of the vacuum cleaner. The effort relaxed her, though it did nothing to shut off her brain. More specifically, the delicious thoughts of Obsidian. She could still smell his rich, exotic scent, hear his deep, rumbling voice. For the first time in her life, she was completely enthralled by a man.
Those lingering thoughts were what drove her to make a cup of coffee and settle into the thick, velvet-soft cushions of her sofa. It was her favorite piece of furniture in her apartment. The deep red with white pipe trimming the cushions made her happy.
Penelope stared around the room, her thoughts drifting back to Obsidian. He’d certainly piqued her interest in the short amount of time she’d spent with him. She hadn’t meant to rush out of there so quickly, but she’d had no choice. Not only because she really did have to feed her neighbor’s cat, but also because she wasn’t sure she trusted herself in his presence.
Never had she met a man she’d considered sleeping with on the first date. Not before Obsidian. Yet the entire time she’d been with him, she’d imagined his hands on her body, the two of them falling into his bed, tangled in a heap as they moved together. Even before he’d kissed her in the elevator, Penelope had wondered what his lips would feel like. Now she could think of little else.
Part of her wished she’d gotten his phone number. She would’ve loved to hear his voice right then. A giddy feeling trickled through her at the thought of having breakfast with him Thursday morning. Though only two sleeps away, it felt like an eternity from now.
With the urge to tell someone about what had happened, Penelope grabbed her phone and dialed Winnie, the one and only friend she had back in California. She was a bartender, so Winnie’s schedule aligned with hers almost perfectly.
“Hey, chickadee,” Winnie greeted with a laugh. “I was just about to call you. Make sure you’re alive after that cryptic text. I take it this isn’t a forced call seeking a ransom?”
Chuckling at her friend’s odd sense of humor, Penelope assured her she was safe and sound.
“Always a good thing,” Winnie said.
Penelope settled into her sofa, stared at the television. “What are you doing?”
“WatchingSupernatural. Hold on, let me see which episode this is.” There was a brief pause. “Season nine, episode eight.”
She grabbed her remote, clicked on the television, and hit the Netflix app, then searched forSupernatural. “Is it just starting?”
“Yeppers.”
It only took a second to pull up the episode Winnie was referring to and she smiled. “Start it over. We’ll watch it together.”
“Done.”
Back in California, she and Winnie would hang out on the weekends, binge-watching shows likeThe OriginalsandSupernaturalas well as others they’d come to know and love over the years. When they weren’t watching television, they were devouring paranormal romance like it was going out of style.
For a few minutes, they watched Sam and Dean gearing up to tackle another monster while Winnie went on and on about how hot Sam was. Penelope was more of a Dean fan, personally.
“I think I’m in love,” Penelope blurted, a silly giggle following. It was their code for meeting a man who might possibly involve a second date.
“Pause the show!” Winnie squealed.
She hit the pause button. “Why?”
“Because this requires my undivided attention. The guy from tonight? Some rich out-of-towner?”
