Page 85 of The Devil and His Ghost

I ran.

“I hate this,” I muttered into my knees with my eyes tightly shut.

“Good. That makes me feel less alone.”

I gasped and looked up to find Xander casually lounged back in a chair in the corner of my room. One ankle rested on the opposite knee, and both toned arms were draped along the back of the chair. His human guise was still in place, so his smoldering obsidian gaze was fixed firmly on me.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, though the biting tone came out shakier than I’d intended.

“Oh, you know,” he shrugged. “Just taking a stroll through every room on this floor.”

“Why?”

He gave me a pointed look. “Obviously, to find you.”

The demon had shadow-walked the whole floor to find which room I was staying in? I wanted to shake my head, but I wasn’t surprised. It was exactly because he was like this that I had to leave the note so that he wouldn’t try to find me.

You were a mistake, and I regret it all.

Don’t look for me, because I won’t be looking for you.

Gritting my teeth, I turned away. “I’m not sure why you’d want to find me. It seems you had plenty to keep you entertained.”

I realized too late how jealous that sounded.

“Oh, don’t worry about them. I called in Zagan as reinforcements, so they aren’t too put out by my sudden lack of interest and absence. He’ll take care of them.”

The calm in which he spoke was almost unnerving. Even as his expression and his tone stayed level, I sensed a budding explosion of something dangerous building beneath that placid surface.

“You should take care of them.”

“Like Alex took care of you?” The carefully constructed facade splintered, and for a moment, Xander looked more demon than human. “You into that fucking loser now? Hmm? All fine with touch after I showed you how to be?”

I laughed spitefully and notched my chin as I met his furious gaze. My words were barbed lies solely meant to hurt, but I didn’t care. I had to push him away. I had to keep him back before I ruined us both.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Xander,” I cooed haughtily with a rake of my eyes over his seated body. “Your little lesson was nothing compared to his. I’d hardly even call what we did a precursor.”

Fiery malice settled over Xander. He shot to his feet, making me swallow hard. Like an agitated predator, he stalked toward the foot of the bed while I let go of my bent knees to inch backward. My heart raced, but it wasn’t fear that fired through me. No. It was something hotter and sinful and much more dangerous than that.

“What are you doing?” I asked low and breathlessly.

“Me?” he questioned in mocking innocence. He scoffed and curled his lip while peeling his shirt off. “You’re a smart girl. You know so much now.”

When the shirt passed over his head, his human features disappeared and were replaced by his fangs, golden eyes, and horns. He got onto his knees on the edge of the bed. I shifted back more as he closed in on me until my back hit the headboard. He didn’t stop until his body was nearly between my knees and arms braced on either side of my torso.

His demonic eyes narrowed, and they bounced between my parted lips and eyes. “I’m going to fuck you like I wanted to back then. I’m going to fuck you until the only goddamn body you crave is mine.”

His mouth crushed my own in a searing, claiming kiss. I gasped into his parted lips just as his tongue swooped in to tangle with mine. Dizzying sparks flared to life behind my shut eyes and shot through my body. Not a day had gone by that I didn’t miss his kiss, and as he sucked and bit my lips before shoving his tongue back in, I wondered how I’d ever managed to deny us this.

That thought quickly reminded me of why I’d done just that.

My eyes shot open, and I quickly placed my hands on his bare chest to push him away. The demon didn’t budge. Instead, he grabbed my hands and pinned them on either side of me against the headboard while resting his lower half right between my open legs. His massive body had me pinned in place, subject to his every whim. While that should’ve scared me, I couldn’t feel anything past the high of his touch, his body, and his very being.

“You’re not leaving this time,” he growled. His tongue ran up the length of my throat, and he bit down right where my pulse danced wildly.

“Fuck you,” I hissed in an attempt at fighting him.

He flashed me a cocky grin. “Oh, don’t worry, Ghost. I’ll gladly let you.”