Page 28 of Prince of Wrath

“Are you free later?” I asked.

Seere turned immediately and gave Semper a single command. “Out.” He pointed toward the stage then hopped to the ground next to her. He was over a foot taller, but she didn’t give any sign of being intimidated by the prince of Hell.

Semper chuckled before she blew me a kiss then joined the rest of the dancers, who were watching us. One of them eyed me longer than the rest. She looked from me to Seere several times before one of the other dancers called her attention away.

When I slung my gaze back to Seere, he’d spread his hands out on the bar to brace himself. His hungry eyes followed me while I took the seat across from him.

“You have a lot of beautiful women here.” I threw a glance back over to the stage.

“I only see one.”

The connotation of that statement liquified my insides. I crossed my legs, trying to dull the ache between them. The husky tone of his voice reminded me of everything he’d said when he was fucking me last night. How I had been made for him. In his world, that was probably true. My human body had been made to be his, and he was the only man who made me feel . . . anything.

Even the way he was standing before me was possessive. He could have turned the two feet of thick bartop between us into splinters if he decided it was too much distance. Or it could become the next surface where he took what he needed from me. Because, as he reminded me often, he needed me.

“What did you find out about Ben?” I did my best to sound like I wasn’t reliving the moments when I’d been on my knees before him.

His lips twisted into that crooked smile. “He’s working with demons.”

Lust turned to ash on my tongue. “He’s what?”

“I’ve slaughtered the source.” He was a serial killer who appreciated his work far too much.

“So, you fixed the problem?”

“Possibly.” His shoulders rose then fell in a flippant shrug. “To be safe, I should sleep between your legs until we know the outcome.”

“Not a chance.” I smirked.

“All right, but you’re taking an awfully big risk sleeping alone.” He leaned forward on his forearms and grinned at me.

“The solution to one monster is not another in my bed.”

He raked a hand through his hair, letting the dark strands fall over his face in a curtain that only made his blue eyes shine brighter. His roguish smile made something clamp around my lungs and squeeze. The way he made my insides both melt and freeze up was a magic all its own. Even when I was at my wit’s end with him, he had a way of pulling the right strings to make me smile.

“What about my bed, then? He won’t find you there.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not falling for that again.”

“Are you sure?”

Memories of spending three days locked away in his bedroom while I missed client calls, emails, and all other responsibilities surfaced. We hardly slept or ate. What had felt like hours had actually been days of delusional, intense sex.

“Seere.” I gave him a warning that he was starting to push too far. In reality, we both knew that I was only trying to convince myself.

“We’ll talk about it tonight.”

“No. We won’t.”

“Oh right. You have plans.” He ran his knuckle over my clasped hands, a soft and delicate touch that held too many meanings.

“Yes, I do.” I pulled my hands into my lap.

“You’ll call me when you get bored of all those stuffy intellectuals?” One of his brows rose in expectation.

“You have several doctoral degrees in six countries and have read thousands of books.”

He stood up straight, looking as if I’d slandered him. “I am a despicable Hell monster.” He panned his hand down his body then waved his arm over his head “I own a strip club.”