Nothing like the seven emotions that demons experienced.Anger had a cause.Lust and gluttony had an objective.Jealousy and greed provided a focus.Pride and sloth were simple motivations.Manageable.Understandable.Most importantly, within her immediate control.
“You’re really a demon?”Remi asked, his eyebrows raised high on his forehead.
Skye nodded and sauntered over to her bookshelf, adding an extra swing to her step in order to activate the part of his subconscious that she’d indoctrinated in his dreams to react to her body with lust.Reason retired when humans slept, making it the perfect state for them to be susceptible to suggestion.
She plucked her crystal ball from the top shelf of her bookcase and turned.Remi’s eyes darted up to her face from where they’d been lingering on her backside.It could have been her tail that drew his attention, or her ass.
Most likely both.
Good.
She walked toward him.Remi backed up with robotic steps until the backs of his knees hit her bed, and he tumbled into a seated position.
Skye tracked the way his heartbeat quickened with her demon hearing.
“My name is Skye Monroe,” she said.“And yes, I’m a demon.This is Hell.You aren’t dreaming.”She pinched his arm.
“Ouch.”His brows furrowed as he rubbed his arm.The shock that had widened his eyes moments before morphed into confusion as he narrowed his gaze at her.
“Now that that’s out of the way.Let’s get to the fun part, yes?”She flourished the crystal ball in front of him, but he didn’t look at it, keeping his steady gaze on her face.
“What do you want?”Remi asked with far too much suspicion for Skye’s liking.
“I told you.I’m going to make you a rock star,” she purred, leaning into her hip.
His gaze finally dropped to the crystal ball in her hands.
“Would you like to see what I can do for you?”She waved her hand over the crystal ball to move the magic inside, but he shook his head.
“No.”He got up and pushed past her to stand in the center of the room.“I don’t want to see anything.I want to know what you want.You’re not going to give me something for nothing, are you?So skip the car salesman routine and name the price.”
Skye bit back her irritated sigh.She’d spent so much time gathering intel and weaving herself into his dreams to lower his defenses.Typical humans were like soft clay, moldable to her demon magic, but Remi’s onyx encasement around his soul must extend to his prey instincts too.She’d need to work around his own protective logic.
She sat down on the bed and put the crystal ball on her nightstand.She couldn’t get too discouraged.His soul was too powerful to walk away from.
“You’ve surely heard the stories, Remi,” she said, modulating her voice into a deep, seductive caress.“What price do rock stars typically pay to get devil magic to make them rich and famous?”
He crossed his arms over his chest.“You want my soul?”
Skye put her arms out behind her on the bed, lounging back and thrusting her chest forward just a bit to make an appealing line of her body.“Yes.”
She blinked and shifted to using her demon vision.The onyx of his soul glimmered even brighter in Hell.It called to her, singing its tempting lullaby.
A soul had never been so enthralling.She gave him a little smile and fluttered her eyelashes.She curled a finger and beckoned him closer.
Remi licked his lips, following her unspoken instruction, his eyes wandering over her body, his tension loosening as he was pulled into her snare.
“I want you to sell your soul to me,” she said, slow enough to imbue her words with demon magic.The bargain wouldn’t take if she used compulsion.A soul had to be given freely.But a sprinkle of her demon magic to make her words sound better, sound less threatening, more enticing.Well, that never hurt anyone.
Remi drew closer, and she hooked her finger around the chain on his neck, pulling him in.“And in exchange, I’ll make your wildest dreams come true.”
She ran a hand up his chest, and his eyes fluttered shut.His muscles gave out as she tugged him down to sit beside her on the bed.“Don’t you want that?”She hovered her lips near his ear.“Don’t you want what I can do for you?”
He swallowed, his body softening into her temptation.She was close to getting him to give in.She could feel it.Her soul lust almost blinded her.The scent of leather and the faint earthiness of the cigarette they’d shared was intoxicating.He was going to give in.She was close.Close.So close—
Remi snapped into a rigid posture.He pushed away from her and stepped back, leveling her with a glare that made her smile falter.
“Can you bring Emerson back to life?”he asked.
