Page 48 of Devils Don’t Deal

“Both.”

“I intend to have a marvelous time. You taste amazing, you know.”

His eyes flickered like orange-red sparks. “I’m going to focus on the energy while you perform all physical contact.”

Perform all physical contact? He made it sound so clinical. I leaned forward and stared into his eyes while our noses brushed. “That’s asking for trouble. I might climb into your lap and use tongue.”

Again with the sparks. “As I said, unpleasant for both of us.”

I rolled my eyes then closed them and leaned closer, resting my hands on his chest until I made first contact. His lips were unyielding beneath mine. No melting. I guess managing energy took a lot of concentration.

I sat on his knee, looped my arms around his shoulders, and traced his bottom lip with mine. So soft, even when he was being hard. Like the rabbit. So soft. So sweet. And caramel. His inner lip was lined with the most delicious forbidden nectar, and I might’ve accidentally used my teeth on him. And tongue. My hands slid through his hair, tangling while I tasted him. Did he say this was supposed to be unpleasant? No idea why because… A sliver of his strength and energy flowed into me, but instead of a shock like electricity, it was maple syrup and waffles. So delicious. So incredibly perfect.

I sighed against his mouth until the energy cut off, leaving me more languid, less buzzing, like I’d just had an incredibly satisfying nap. Which I had, but he was better.

His hand came around the back of my head, cupping my skull then he tilted my head and sealed our breaths together. And then his tongue was burning against mine. Spicy caramel, cinnamon and sugar, almost too much, but at the same time, absolutely perfect. All it needed was a swirl of chocolate for it to be the best thing I’d never made. But I would. Tomorrow, first thing, I was making cinnamon caramels rolls so I could eat them and taste him. Because that sounded healthy, but who cared when…

His teeth scraped my lip and then it was war. Vicious teeth, and tongues, and hands, and claws, until with a thud, I landed on top of him, off the back of the bench. I stared down at him, dizzy with pleasure and life and other delicious things while he stared up at me.

“You shouldn’t bite me,” I gasped, breathless, heart beating faster than that time he’d electrocuted me, but that wasn’t what this was from.

His eyes flickered with those dark orange-red sparks, and he smiled, showing the teeth he’d used on my bottom lip. “I shouldn’t? You started it.”

“Super unpleasant, like you said. Like, wow, such unpleasantness should be illegal. Seriously, though, you shouldn’t have kissed me after you stopped feeding me your energy.”

“And you shouldn’t have realized I was doing that. You’re too connected to me, to the rabbit, to my world.” His frown was troubled.

And now I wanted to kiss his frown. I had him pinned to the ground. I could take advantage of him. It would be incredibly stupid but…

I rolled off him and brushed off my very short dress. “How do I look? Can we go to dinner with me looking like this or do I need to do some makeup?”

He got to his feet and studied me, eyes on my mouth. “Your fairy skin is tougher than it seems. There’s no trace that you ever kissed a devil.”

“Good. Because I’m meeting a fairy boy in a club later.”

“That’s what you said. Are you going to make out with him, too?”

“None of your business.”

“It’s literally my club, ergo my business.”

He had me there. Also, I wanted him to help me scare the fairy into paying for the stuff he’d eaten today. I mean, I’d made vegan sweetbreads for him, and then he’d just bailed without paying.

“No. I want you to be my backup. He stole from me.”

He raised a brow while a slow, dangerous smile spread over his lips. “Excellent.”

I squinted at him. “Now you look like trouble.”

“I always look like trouble. It’s the forked tail. Do you know that I can stab a person with it then drag them around like a fish on a hook?”

I leaned away from him. “Like the blood sword chick. Sounds pretty unhygienic. Also, don’t do that to the fairy boy. I want his money, not his blood. If you gave the impression that we were dating so he didn’t hit on me again, that would be a bonus.”

His smile was glimmering danger and deadliness. “That can be arranged. Also evisceration. After he’s paid you, of course.”

“So bloodthirsty. Don’t you like to keep your club tidy?”

“No.”