Phoenix Broken (14 page)

"Your goddamn mouth makes me nuts, Des.
You
make me …fucking
nuts.
" Those wild green eyes blinked as what he was saying seemed to register.

He shook his head once, like a man who's been slapped. He pulled farther away, leaving a chill in his wake. Des shivered.

The lust drained from his eyes, replaced quickly by bewilderment, then rage.

He staggered to his feet.

“I
warned
you not to use that shit on me again. Goddamn it! Get out.
Now.
Just take your demon fuck mojo and
go.”

She obeyed, getting to her feet, swaying slightly. Her limbs were tingling and numb, her heart pounding, her body unable to shift gears as quickly as his. Des put out a trembling hand and took a step toward him.

“Johnny. Please. I
didn’t—“

Scott closed the distance between them so fast she couldn't help but cry out.

Swiftly, he backed her across the room until her shoulder blades hit the wall. Taut with frustration and rage, his powerful body was a living cage around her, his expression murderous as he covered her mouth with hard fingers.

“Don’t speak to me. Not a fucking word, you treacherous bitch. Just. Get. The. Hell.
Out!”

Scott’s words roared through the room, cutting over the music and the fan, cutting deeper than she'd thought words could reach. Tears blurred her eyes. He lifted his hand from her mouth and Des ran.

She didn’t dare turn back, even when she got lost within minutes.

Shaking, sinking to the cold, black tiled floor of some deserted hallway, letting her head fall into her hands, Des thought she was going to be sick. Her eyes were hot, her heart pounding. No matter what Scott thought, what had happened in there hadn't been because of her demon half. Not even close.

Succubae in seduce mode, in feed mode—they
never
lost control. They felt lust, true enough. But they
wielded
it, like a favored weapon. It never consumed them. Scott had consumed her. Completely.

It was supposed to be
prey that lost control; prey that surrendered, prey that became weak, prey that went helpless with desire.

Never the predator.

In that gym, with Scott, Desdemona had most definitely become prey.

"So are we having oodles of fun pretending to be fuck buddies with Davidson?"

Des snorted as she walked into the bungalow's bright chartreuse kitchen. Even sore, sad and pissed off, Mags' words lightened her mood. "It's a veritable laugh riot."

It'd been two days since that disastrous session in the gym. Today was to be the last of that particular bit of torture, as Scott seemed satisfied he knew her limits. Tomorrow they were going out.

As a couple.

To
Centaries.
She had to get Guido to allow him back in the club, and to allow for this meeting Scott apparently had with that female vampire they were all so interested in. Not that anyone would tell her
why.

She accepted the margarita on the rocks Mags handed her and drained half of it in one swallow.

Mags raised an eyebrow. "Shall I leave you and the bottle of tequila alone?"

Des wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "Please don't. In my present mood, I'd eat the worm."

"Patron doesn’t have a worm, darling, but I take your meaning. You take a bite of anything else tasty today?"

With a smile, Des sat down at the table, watching Mags put the ice away. Mags knew exactly how Scott affected her. "You do realize he despises me."

"No, sweetie, he despises his reaction to you. Which all things considered, I can understand, even if I don't agree with the attitude."

Des frowned. Mags shook her head as she put the tequila away. "You still don't want me to tell you what happened to him, do you?"

"No. It feels like…spying. Going behind his back." Exactly what Scott thought she was doing to Guido. An opinion he'd rubbed in at every opportunity over the last few days. It drove Des apeshit, but she knew he wouldn't believe a word she said, even if she
had
tried to explain that Miles had mislead him. So she didn't try. It shouldn't matter what he thought anyway.

Except it
did
matter. A lot.

"You know he won't admit it's his reaction, he blames it on me being a succubus."

"And you
are
absolutely sure you're not using any of that on him?" Mags waved a hand as Des finally sat.

They'd been talking, her and Mags. In just these few short days, Des had learned a ton about her new roomie. Tops being that Mags was incredibly curious. Make that fucking
nosy.

It seemed odd, when given her talents, she could know pretty much everything about you instantaneously. Then Des had realized since Mags heard so much private shit anyway; asking and prying was her way of legitimizing her knowledge. It didn't seem quite so invasive if she got people to tell her the secrets she already heard without meaning to. And the telepath knew Des had doubts about her powers where Scott was concerned. Doubts because the
para
affected her so strongly it was beginning to frighten her.

Des shook her head stubbornly. "Pretty darn."

She'd explained to Mags several times in depth how succubus feeding worked. At least for
her
. Pure demons were much more vicious and self-serving in nature.

In the Saandon, succubae and incubae were considered high-caste demons, second only to the old ruling class; the warriors, like the Calimentes. Violence, sex and—above all—deception were favored weapons; demon society revolved around weapons. It was all about refining and honing them to a razor's edge. Had she been true born, Desdemona would've been taught multiple ways to drain a human of sexual energy the way vamps drained them of blood.

As it was, her father had been the only one of her caste she'd had more than passing contact with. Both of them found discussing her talents…awkward.

Des suspected Augustine had a hand in the things her mother had instructed her on, things a human—even one married to an incubus—could have little knowledge of. Still, it'd been mostly left to Des to learn to temper the feeding urges and decide how she chose to employ her powers.

She'd decided long ago to seek out men who needed release for more than purely physical need. Basic lust was shallow, easily served by masturbation. The energy was also easily drained and burned through. Des sought a deeper, more potent well.
Emotional
release. It allowed her to take sustenance less often and made her feel less like a leech when she did feed.

Not that she felt guilty about what she was. Despite her problems within demon society, Des
loved
being a succubae and she adored sex. To her, it was about the most beautiful thing in the world.

All races; particularly humans, shifters and demons,
needed
sex to be healthy. Many repressed that need due to various traumas; physical, mental or emotional. They became unable to cope with making that connection. Des found helping them do that served her urge perfectly.

As Mags had put it so bluntly after hearing this, Desdemona was kind of a fuck-away-the-blues therapist. Except she was free.

"I've never
unconsciously
fed, Mags. It's always a choice, and they're always
already
into me before I let it loose. The power just kicks that desire up a notch, to override inhibitions and increase pleasure. Though he is—" Des caught herself. She hadn't told Mags
exactly
how unusual her reaction to Scott was, or what she had begun to suspect about him.

"He is
what?"
Mags leaned forward, her blue eyes intent. "I already know he makes you slicker than the jello shots at Charleston's—we're going again next Thursday, by the way. But besides that? What is he, Des?"

Des put down her empty glass. You couldn't lie to a telepath, but you could evade.

"When he's not insulting me or accusing me of nefarious bullshit, he's pretty damn hot. But… I've been around plenty of hot guys, Mags, and they don't affect me like him. It's weird is all." She frowned and twirled her empty drink, "and it bugs me."

"You know what bugs me? That I haven't met the
other
hot guy in your life. You left your phone home again, Guido's texted you like three times today. Aren't you supposed to be meeting him?"

"Shit! Guido! I've got to shower!" Des jumped up, having forgot about their lunch date. Where she was supposed to tell him about her new man. She rolled her eyes at the thought of that conversation.

They were supposed to be meeting downtown in less than an hour. Maybe she could discuss some of this with him. He would know if her worries were justifiable or not. She didn't dare be too honest, though, not even with Guido. She frowned, trying to think this through as she left the kitchen.

Before she'd gotten more than a few steps Des stopped, turning to Mags with a sheepish smile. "I don't suppose you could—"

"Yeah. I'll drive you." The telepath rolled her eyes with a smile.

Des was a terrible driver, and absolutely hopeless at navigating in the city. In her defense, she'd grown up on a tiny island less than 150 miles long at its widest point, where the largest city in the whole country hadn't yet hit one million in population.

"I'd make you owe me for it, but I want to see the tasty demon."

"Why are you so sure Guido's tasty?"

Mags licked her lips with a wink. "Just by the way you talk about him."

Des shook her head, ducking out of the kitchen, then ducking back in again, just as quickly.

"Tasty or not, why'd
you
care?" Des kicked off her shoes and yanked the band from her ponytail as she eyed Mags curiously. "I have yet to see you look at a guy twice."

Mags gave her a small, secretive smile. "He sounds…interesting, is all."

Des gave up with a shrug and dashed for the shower. It wasn't as if she gave a damn if Mags wanted to hook up with Guido.
Omno
knew he'd had more than one of her friends in the past. Only the human ones, of course. Des had never had a demon friend, other than Guido himself.

Twenty minutes later, she and Mags were en route downtown. It was a bright fall day, the kind where the colors are so clear they hurt the eyes. The skyline seemed to slice into the blue sky.

Over the ever present metallic smell of the city, the crisp scent of autumn was rising. Des inhaled deeply. She missed the ocean and the colors of home, but Chicago had a certain dangerous appeal. Rather like some men.

"You're quiet today, demon spawn."

Des stared out the window, blinking in the hard October sunshine. "It's been a weird week."

Understatement of the year.

After that first session, Scott had gone as cold as ice. Not cruel, not
really.
Just…extremely controlled. Brittle almost.

Their training now consisted of minimal contact. Every time she did get too close, this look would come over his face. A look that said clearly
, hands off
.

She hated that look. Nobody was going to believe they were lovers if he kept that up in public. Fooling a demon required a certain finesse, one that she wasn't sure Scott possessed. At least when it came to her.

"You sure I'm good to leave you alone with him? You'll be safe?" Mags was taking her role as co-bodyguard very seriously. Which was cool, but it made Des feel paranoid. There'd been no attacks since she'd gotten to Chicago. Absolutely zip. Either Miles' protection was working better than her father's ever had, or something weird was up.

Still Des had to chuckle at hew new roomies' concerns. "You're tough, Mags. But you're not
Guido.
Trust me when I say, as long as he's around, I'll be just fine."

And there was the man himself.

Des shook her head with a smirk as Mags slowed to a stop, her mouth falling open. He did make it kinda hard not to stare.

Guido approached the car with quick, powerful strides. Clad in unrelenting, hand-tailored black; his thick hair ruffled, smoky shades covering his eyes, a touch of five o' clock shadow dark on his chiseled jaw and a scowl on his full mouth, the demon was the very
definition
of man-candy.

"Oh my, so
that's Guido?" Mags lifted her own sunglasses, peering over them. Her blue eyes were unmistakably appreciative as she scanned his Armani-clad body from head to toe. "Me
likey."

Des shook her head. "Catholic girl, are you drooling over a demon?"

Mags shrugged as Guido reached for the Charger's passenger door. "I never said I minded a little sin in my life. Especially if it comes dressed like that."

She sent Guido a stunning smile, only to receive a semi-polite, stiff nod in return. Des frowned as she took his proffered arm and let him pull her from the car.

Okay, so what the hell?

Guido had always been…

Well,
man whore
would be too kind.

Mags was a veritable knockout. Not to mention
exactly
his type. Tall, willowy, elegant. Where was the lethal charmer that'd seduced half the women she knew, and made the other half cry to be seduced?

Come to think of it, Des hadn't seen Guido with a woman since she'd come to Chicago.

Frowning slightly, she waved a hand between them. "Magdalena Foley, Guido Calimente. And vice versus." There was no reason to use Guido's alias. Phoenix already knew his real name.

"Nice to meet you in person at last. I've heard so much about you."

Guido's mouth tightened at Mags' words. He perused the
para
once before taking her hand with obvious reluctance. Surreptitiously, Des pinched him.
Hard.
He didn't flinch or glance at her, but his jaw ticked. He forced a smile.

"A pleasure, Magdalena." The words were flat, devoid of his usual charisma.

Mags wasn't one to push for attention. There was a hitch of her pretty pale shoulders as she released Guido somewhat reluctantly, then tipped an imaginary hat at Des.

"See ya later, demon spawn."

Guido's eyes blazed at the light farewell. He watched Mags drive off with a scowl, before spinning Des around to face the building façade. "You let her call you such things?"

"Oh honestly, Guido! Get the stick out of your ass. I seem to remember being called a lot worse names back home."

"Exactly. It seems unfair. In the Saandon, they always called you names because of your human side. Here, the humans mock your demon side."

She elbowed him as they entered the restaurant, but couldn't help but smile. Guido was
that
friend; the one who could be so blunt they damn near brought you to tears, but woe betide anyone else tease you.

A delicious smell, redolent of fresh warm bread, garlic and sauce, did wonders for her mood as they stepped to the desk. Italian was her weakness. "Lighten up. She was only kidding. Mags is my
friend,
Guido. A very beautiful one, or hadn't you noticed?"