The shower cut off, ending her musings, and Adonis stepped out in a towel.
Don’t drool. Don’t pant. Just stay still.
Dark, wet strands of hair curled around his head in wild disarray, much different than earlier. Droplets of water hung from the crescent of his eyelashes and dripped down the dip into his neck before continuing across his stomach.
Okay, so she might have watched the drip until it was sucked into his towel, but no one noticed.
Right?
“We’ll head out in a few for the meet with my security squad. Are you sure–”
His phone buzzing with a rock song cut off whatever he was about to say, and he lifted it in front of him as he answered the video call.
“Darvin, my favorite incubus.”
Darvin, with multi-hued blue and purple hair, rolled his eyes. “I’m your only incubus.”
If she didn’t know he was one by Adonis’s answer, she’d know by the skin. Darvin had pale, nearly white skin with a fine dusting of silver, like moonlight trapped in his cells. They were the only race with that particular effect, and he got downright pissed about glitter-covered vampires giving his kind a bad rap.
He wasn’t exactly covered in glitter, but the sheen of silver was visible in the light.
“Have you found the artifact?”
Darvin sighed. “Not yet. The trail leads here, but nothing new just yet. I’m going to be in the underground tonight to see what I can call up.”
Adonis frowned. “Be careful with that.”
“I know, I know. I’m recovering, but it’s the only way to get the truth. I’ll sip lightly.”
Recovering is how many succubae and incubi referred to themselves when they no longer fed on human life essence in their sleep until they died. Instead, they worked in bars or clubs that specialized in the fantasy worlds they could produce. Clients went home happy and the demons were fed. Win-win. They were regularly monitored, however, to make sure they wouldn’t slip.
Doing the work outside of those designated clubs was risky.
“You come home if you need to recharge, do you understand me?”
“Sure thing, Boss. As much as I love to see naked flesh, yours is not on the menu.”
Adonis laughed. “That’s why I’m safe. So if you need to, come home.”
Darvin swallowed. “Yeah. I promise.”
Adonis disconnected the call before reaching into his closet for another pair of slacks and shirt to put on.
“You have an incubus in your employ?”
“I have a lot of paranorms at my command.”
“And the artifact?”
“Something I’m not willing to share until I’m sure. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.”
Fabiana cocked her head to the side. “It could help with the war.”
“Maybe,” he commented before putting on briefs and the rest of his clothes. “Let’s go.”
He waited for her to take his hand before he pulled her from the room. She was almost sad that she hadn’t looked further than the black-and-red bedspread and black walls. Oddly, it didn’t feel dark and dangerous, but instead like a decadent slice of warmth hidden in the back of the house.
When they exited the room, she realized they were at the end of a long hall, where doors on either side opened and closed as wolves paired off, some behind Adonis and Fabiana, and others to the front. They moved as one toward the tall wolf who’d driven the car.
