He shifted on the desk chair as his pants grew tighter, flashes of memories from his dreams flickered alive.
Remi refocused on the moment—to Skye smirking at him as if she knew exactly what he was feeling.
Fuck, could she?Could she get into his head?She’d gotten into his dreams.
“I don’t have unlimited access to enough devil magic to make you the king of the world or some shit, alright?So I’ll give you the stadium tour,” Skye said.“But no sell-out guarantees.A record contract with Sprites Records.No one in the industry gets complete creative control unless you own the label.No Grammy.No billboard guarantees.”
Remi worked his jaw.“You want me to sell my soul for no guarantees?”
While he didn’t think spending his afterlife as a trophy for the Devil sounded all that appealing, it wasn’t the loss of his soul that concerned him.He’d become numb to the risk of eternal damnation from his mother’s threats as a child.Apologize, Remington, or you’ll burn in Hell for this.
He figured his soul was just like anything else—something that could be threatened and exploited by some outer authority (parents, preachers, society’s moral police) or a resource he could use to his advantage if he handled this negotiation right.
Skye got off the bed with fluid grace.Remi stood too, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned against the desk, hoping to project indifference.
She closed the distance between them.Even in her heeled boots, Skye was still shorter than him, but just barely, and any leverage he might have gotten from that extra height didn’t seem to be doing him any good.
Skye reached out and ran a finger down his neck, along the tattoo of a snake that swirled from his collarbone and down the column of his throat.To his abject horror, he tilted his head to expose his neck to her touch.
“If you truly believed in your band’s abilities, you wouldn’t need those guarantees,” Skye said.“Are you doubting your bandmates or yourself?”
Remi snatched her wrist, squeezing the delicate bones.He wrapped his hand around her little wrist, his fingers and thumb overlapping.“Tilted Haze was offered one record contract,” he said.“I know we’re good enough to make it big.”
“Hmm.”She cupped Remi’s cheek with her free hand and jutted out her bottom lip.“Do you think getting a couple number ones, a couple of Grammys, will quiet the voice in the back of your head that reminds you that you’re worthless and untalented?That you weren’t good enough to make your dad stick around, for your mommy to love you.Even your own twin hated you.Why would the world feel any different?”
Remi’s nostrils flared.“How do you know about any of that?My dad?My brother?”
Skye smirked.She pulled her wrist free from Remi’s loosened grip and pressed her palms to his abs.His stomach quivered at her touch.She traced up his chest, fingers curling around the back of his neck as her lips brushed against his ear.
“I’ve been in your dreams,” she whispered.“I know your fears.I know your deepest desires.Every moment you’re most ashamed of.You’re an open book for me, Remi, and I’ve read every page.”
His chest caved in as her words landed their mark.The humiliation only grew as she shifted and pressed her hips against his, grinding against his growing erection.Fuck.Why was he hard?In some twisted way, he liked this, wanted his vulnerable underbelly torn open, her fingers combing through his entrails and laughing at his misery.
He was so fucked up.
He didn’t want to like it.Didn’t want his body to react this way.He wanted to crawl away and hide—or lash out—anything but this.This.This standing here pinned to the desk by a devil woman who knew exactly how to get under his skin.
“I know how much you want me.How much you need me,” she said, echoing his thoughts and making him feel unsafe even in his mind.
Remi clenched his jaw.He needed to get control back, to wrestle it from her if he had to.She was right.He didn’t have much leverage, but he did have something to use against her.
He grabbed her hips, spun her around, and lifted her onto the desk.Her legs spread, making room for him between her knees, her skirt riding up.
He didn’t care anymore that she knew how much he wanted to fuck her.For all he knew, she was using her magic to get him aroused.
His hand swooped under her hair, and his fingers twisted around the strands at the nape of her neck.He yanked her head back so she was looking up at him.Her hands rested on his forearms and then rubbed up his biceps in a way that seemed unconscious.
“That goes both ways, Skye,” he said, disgust in his tone.“Maybe I can’t rummage around in your head like you did mine, but I know more about you than you think.I know you need me.My soul is valuable to you.You told me you’ve spent more time with me than any other, so there is something about my soul that is worth all the bullshit you’ve put me through.”
“I…I did not.I never said that.”
“You did,” he said.It was his turn to smirk.“You don’t remember?You don’t remember all the promises you made me before you got to your knees and sucked me off?”Her smile faltered just a bit.“Like how you’d give me whatever I wanted.That you’d make me feel so good.Where’s that Skye?She was slutty and easy.”
Skye rolled her eyes.“It was just a seduction, Remi.I don’t need to seduce you anymore.You’re right where I want you.Desperate.Needy.Pathetic.”
Those words stirred something inside him.Remi’s eyes narrowed as he realized just how true it was.Today had been the perfect disaster to put him exactly where she wanted him to be.“You did this.”
She blinked innocently.“Did what?”Her hand had gone from his biceps down his chest.One of her fingers curled into the waistband of his underwear and skimmed along the top.His dick twitched.
