Signed in Incubus: A Paranormal Monster Romance (Possessive Monsters Book 6)

Chapter 27

Prax

I leaned back on the leather couch as the music thumped through me. A selection of the hottest women and men danced around us in our VIP lounge. Julian sat on a couch across from me with a woman on each arm. Gina was here too, but she was on the mini dance floor next to the couches, grinding up a storm.

There was expensive whiskey in my glass and neat little lines of white powder on mirrors on the table. I was pleasantly buzzed, and Julian had explained that everyone here knew exactly what we were and would willingly feed our need for carnal energy.

I wasn’t interested.

What was wrong with me? It was an incubus’s paradise here. But something was missing.

I dug out my phone again and stared at the number labeled DO NOT CALL. My finger itched to call it, just to see if it was her.

I didn’t remember who exactly she was, but I knew that she existed. I had the photos to prove it.

I had no recollection of taking the photos, but just the thought of deleting them made my heart ache for some reason. There were three of them: one of her in a beautiful glittering black dress, her hair half-up and half-down, two blue streaks framing her face. We were at some fancy dinner, and she was grinning from ear to ear.

Another was of her sleeping. The soft sheen of the moonlight illuminated her face. I had clearly taken the photo so I’d remember the moment forever.

And the last one was a selfie of the two of us together, her sitting in my lap on a couch I didn’t recognize. There were moving boxes all around us, and I was looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

She was. None of the men and women here could hold a candle to her.

There was a chunk of about two weeks of my life missing, and I was surprised to find out that the dinner and auction had already come and gone. I didn’t remember going to them.

I’d been worried at first about my selective amnesia until I found a note I’d written to myself, telling me that this would happen and that I shouldn’t worry about it. The note had also said not to call the number but to pick up immediately if it ever showed up on my Caller ID.

It had been two weeks, and that number still hadn’t called.

When I looked up from my phone, Julian was waving me over. I got up and went to him, hoping he wasn’t trying to offload one of his women on me again.

Delerium was open every Thursday through Saturday, and I’d been here almost every night that its doors were open since I woke up that day in my room at Desmon’s place with a chunk of my memory missing. Julian had already noticed I didn’t show any interest in the men and women here and had asked if something was wrong.

Not knowing quite how to explain that I was pining for a woman I didn’t remember, I just told him none of them was the right one. He’d nodded sagely, like he understood. I vaguely remembered being here with someone before, and I wondered if he’d ever met her.

Luckily, he wasn’t trying to throw one of his conquests at me tonight.

“A couple of your friends are here to see you,” he said.

I eyed him inquiringly. “Who?”

“A certain demon and his wizard.”

“Oh. Seth and Liam.” I went back to my seat.

They had tried to convince me to go out to the Howling Wolf with them tonight, but I’d come here instead. It really seemed like everyone knew what was going on except me, and none of them would tell me anything. I also suspected they were doing this precisely because I’d told them to, and I’d simply forgotten. It was beyond frustrating.

Minutes later, Liam sauntered in, looking ready to party. He caught the eyes of several women in the lounge, but Seth made it abundantly clear that this demon was taken. They were so possessive of each other that it was disgusting. Disgustingly sweet, that is.

“There he is! Prax, my man.” Liam came over and plopped down next to me, draping his arm around my shoulder.

I expected Seth to direct his jealousy at me instantly, but instead, he plopped down on the other side and leaned into my shoulder. What the hell was going on?

“Julian said you aren’t enjoying yourself here, so we’re here to take you to the Howling Wolf instead.”

I gritted my teeth. “I don’t want to go.”

“Oh, trust me, you do.”

The phone in my hand buzzed, and I glanced at it to see a message from Julian, even though he was less than ten feet away.

Julian: Yes, trust me, you do.

Me: Did you call them here?

Julian: Yup.

Me: Why?

Julian: Just go with them. Thank me later.

I sighed. “All right, fine.”

I downed the rest of my drink, then let the other two guide me out of the club.

The walk over to the bar was pretty short, just a few short city blocks. But we were almost immediately accosted by a woman I’d made the mistake of talking to last weekend outside Delirium. There’d been something about the woman that had drawn me to her, but after spending time with her, whatever initial attraction I’d thought I’d felt had disappeared.

“Shit, It’s Dee.”

“Who?”

“Some woman who’s been following me around ever since I made the mistake of taking her out to dinner last week.”

The two males stopped in their tracks.

“You took that woman out to dinner?” Seth asked. “Did anything happen between the two of you?”

“What? You mean did I taste her sexual energy? No. She wasn’t the right one.” That had been the same excuse I’d used for every woman I’d met.

“Good,” Liam said.

I shook my head, not understanding. I knew these two were not interested in me, so why would they care if I spent time with another woman?

“Let’s just keep walking,” Seth said, moving faster.

Great. Because I didn’t want to deal with Dee either.

As we stepped into the Howling Wolf, I got a sense that something very important was about to happen, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint what. They led me to a sizable group of people taking up a large booth and a table pushed up against it at the back of the bar.

I recognized the Redrock brothers and their mates. There were also two women that I swear I had met before but couldn’t quite place. No. Not two. Three. The third was trying to hide behind the other two. But then her friend moved, and I saw her face.

My entire world came to a standstill, and the ground beneath my feet felt like it had dropped away.

It was her. The woman from the photos. The woman who had been haunting my days and nights. She looked at me with panic in her eyes, then tried unsuccessfully to hide her face behind her purse.

The people around us were moving and shuffling around to make room for me to get into the space next to her. But I couldn’t move. It was like I’d lost control of my feet, and all I could do was stand there and stare at the ghost before me.

It was her loudly proclaiming, “You guys set me up!” that jolted me from the spell. There were tears forming in her eyes, and all I wanted to do was throw myself at her and beg her not to cry. I finally had control of my legs again, and I was just starting to make my way to her when a hand landed on my arm, jerking me back.

“Prax! There you are! I’ve been calling you for two blocks, but you never heard me,” said an annoying, syrupy voice.

“Deanna!” said three voices simultaneously from the table.

Dee looked over at Her. “Oh, hi Penny, fancy seeing you here.”

Penny? I knew that name.

“Why the hell is Deanna holding on to you like you guys are a thing?” asked the woman next to Penny with red hair.

“And we’d better like your answer, or else,” said Penny’s other friend. She held a butter knife in her hand and looked like she was ready to gut me with it.

“Stop it.” Penny’s voice was soft. She clearly only wanted her friends to hear, but I heard her loud and clear. “I told you guys: leave it. He wants his freedom. Let him have it.”

My freedom? I didn’t realize I’d ever lost it.

By now, Penny was making her way out of her seat, and she looked angry. She wasn’t looking at me but at Dee. Dee released my arm and took a step back. As Penny brushed past me, we touched. It was the smallest contact, just her hand on my forearm as she pushed me out of the way to get to the other woman, but it was all I needed.

All the memories came crashing back like they’d been held back by a wall much too small to contain them. All it took was the tiniest crack, and the dam broke. The spell. The attacks. The motel. Moving in together. Sleeping with her in my arms. Waking up. Making her breakfast. Writing the letter. Forcing myself to stay away until I forgot everything.

And one realization, the most important one of all, left me speechless.

I loved this woman!