Lucifer’s Daughter(23)

“No. And how did you guess the bar was mine?”

“Please,” he said, rolling his eyes. “The way the staff defer to you, the office out back, the fact you open it and lock up each night. And let"s not forget the biggest clue, the fact you"re a walking no-magic field. Doesn"t take a genius to figure it out.”

“Oh.” I added observant to his list of qualities. “Yeah, well, given the nature of my clientele, I couldn"t disallow portals or demons inside. They"re great tippers when they get drunk. Of course, you have to make sure they don"t steal the waitresses, but other than that, they"re actually well behaved, especially compared to some other species.”

“I get the impression the bar is your baby. I take it Daddy,” Auric almost choked when he called Satan „Daddy," which made me smile, “didn"t have a hand in it?”

“Nope, the Nexus is all mine; and by this time next year, I hope to have a flat screen and a karaoke machine.”

“Karaoke?” Auric laughed.

I tapped my foot and glared. “What"s so funny about having karaoke? I happen to love it.”

“Sorry,” said Auric, trying to stifle his chuckles. “It"s just the thought of some of your patrons singing, well, let"s just say I"d almost pay to see it.”

I wanted to scowl some more, but he had a point. Didn"t matter. I wanted karaoke in my bar, and dammit, I"d get it.

Auric moved closer to me, and it occurred to me we were alone again--and that made the kisses from earlier flare up in my mind, making me flush. I had to get away from him before I did something foolish–or erotically interesting. “I"ll get some blankets and a pillow for you and setup the couch,” I said turning to escape.

Auric chuckled behind me. A sound that sent shivers down my spine, the good kind. “Muriel, I can"t protect you if I"m not in the same room as you.”

I whirled around and found myself facing his very broad chest–a chest I was tempted to touch. I looked up and saw him smiling at me crookedly, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“I told you, we"re safe here,” I said, backing up a bit and licking lips that suddenly went dry.



“Says you,” said Auric stubbornly, crowding close to me again. “What if you"re wrong, and something gets through? The time it takes for me to get to you could be deadly. Nope, I sleep where you sleep.”

I wanted to stamp my foot in frustration. “We are not sharing a bed. I told you before, I am not giving up my virginity „til I find true love.”

“Who said anything about sex?” he said, widening his eyes in innocence. “I just said I needed to be in the same room as you.”

“I–.Um.” I shut up. Stupid man. He"d flustered me again. Hey, didn"t he want to have sex with me? “Wait a second. You don"t find me attractive?”

“Muriel, Muriel, Muriel,” he said, chiding me before tilting my chin up. He kissed me lightly.

Just one brief, butterfly touch before he moved away. “I want you. But I"ll respect your wishes. I won"t have intercourse with you. Unless you ask me to,” he said teasingly, before stepping back out of reach.

Smart man, because my fist had already begun to swing. He grabbed my clenched hand with a chuckle, and pulled me up against his hard body. My body flushed with heat, especially when I remembered some of the fantasies I"d masturbated to the night before. I now knew first-hand my imagination hadn"t done justice to what it would feel to be pressed up against the length of his solid body. The erotic pleasure that engulfed me at this simple touch frightened me–but even more, it excited me.

His arm curled around my waist and lifted me up so our lips were even. “You know,” he whispered, his warm breath making me shiver with desire. “There are things we could do that would still leave you a virgin.”

Surely the moan I heard wasn"t me. My mind and body were intrigued at his words. True, he had a point; but the thing I feared was in the heat of the moment, I"d forgo my vow and indulge in pleasure for the sake of lust. And would that be so bad? wondered my horny inner voice.

I would have loved to retort, both to him and myself, but my nose suddenly twitched with a familiar smell as something pounded at my door.

“Demon,” I said unnecessarily, for Auric had already let go of me and turned, placing his body in front of mine as a shield. A second later, he unsheathed his sword--not the one I"d felt pressing against my lower belly, unfortunately.

I found his protectiveness cute, but he seemed to have missed one key point. “Um, Auric, he"s not in the apartment.”