Chapter 9
9
The sun was filling the sky with the purples and blues of dawn by the time we reached the little goblin settlement near the gates.
My brooding escort aimed his dark eyes at me. “Don’t feed them any more candy. It entices them to accost our guests.”
I hoisted my returned messenger bag with Ringo inside a little more securely. I was starving from the long walk, and anxious to be on my way, but, “Do you really get many guests?”
He glowered. “I imagine you can make it the rest of the way on your own.” He turned away.
“Thank you for the scintillating conversation!” I called after him. I looked down at the little goblin in my bag. “Do you live around here?”
Ringo retreated into my bag until I could only see his ears and eyes. “I live deeper in the forest.”
I glanced back in the direction my escort had gone. I had absolutely no desire to return that way. Why hadn’t he spoken up sooner? I had just assumed he lived in one of the tiny homes. “Do you want me to take you back there…”
He blinked his big round eyes at me. “The trolls are still out there.”
My stomach growled. “Well what do you want me to do?”
He looked up at me pleadingly.
“Oh no, the city is no place for a little guy like you.”
His expression turned even more pathetic.
“I have a werewolf roommate,” I warned. “He might eat you.”
“Trolls will most certainly eat me.”
I looked toward the distant gate, desperately wanting to get the hells out of the Bogs. And I could admit, I had grown attached to the little guy. “Fine, but just for a while. And Mistral better not get mad about this.”
Before I could think better of it, I started walking. Once we reached the gates, I shifted to go through. I walked down a winding path until we hit the street beyond, then I frowned. With my watch still dead, I couldn’t call Braxton, or a ride.
I briefly considered Sebastian’s calling card, then shook my head. “There’s a diner near here,” I said to the now closed flap of my messenger bag. “Maybe they’ll let me use their phone.”
At least I had some cash in my wallet. It had mostly dried out from our dunk in the pond. Food first, then Braxton, then I’d deal with the devil. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to be satisfied with the scant information I’d acquired.
But let him be pissed. I was more curious why he had sent me all the way to the Citadel to begin with.
The diner had not been interested in me using their phone, though they had been happy to sell me a burger and fries. Most of the fries went into my bag for Ringo, but the burger had made me feel a little bit better. And I managed to hail a cab to take me home. Maybe my luck was changing.
But probably not.
I kicked off my boots just inside my apartment door, leaving little clods of drying mud all over the linoleum. With Ringo still in my messenger bag, we made a beeline for my bedroom. After all the walking—and running away from trolls—I was ready for a nap. I made a little bed on my bookshelf for Ringo, took off my jeans, slid on an oversized shirt, then flopped onto my mattress.
I studied my ceiling for a few minutes, letting the full reality of the freak show my life had become settle in, then I was out.
It didn’t feel like I had been asleep long, but when I woke, there was darkness at the edge of my blackout curtains. I rubbed my eyes, then sat up straight, realizing there was someone in the room with me. I blinked against the near darkness until the devil’s face came into view.
“Can’t you just call like a normal person?” I groaned.
He crossed his arms. He was far too close to my bed for my liking, though I didn’t imagine he was about to try anything. He just wanted to know what I had learned. “Why were you gone so long?”
“I’ve been sleeping here most of the day.” Realizing that my bare legs were showing, I snatched up my blankets and covered them.
“What did you learn?”
What to say… I guessed there was only one thing I could say. “Celeste isn’t anywhere in this realm, so you’re out of luck if you want to collect your debt.”
“Then you will simply have to find out which realm she’s in. What else did you learn? Why were you gone all night?”
“None of your business. I already told you what I learned. And you’re the one that sent me in there to find a high goblin on my own. Of course it took as long as it took.”
He stepped closer to my bed, making my pulse kick up a notch. He hadn’t offered me any violence, but he was a devil alone with me in my bedroom. And I wasn’t wearing any pants. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked up at him.
There was a flash of fire in his eyes, emphasized by the dark room.
My pulse kicked up another notch. “If that will be all…”
“You’re hiding something.”
“I’m not.” I definitely couldn’t let him know about my new deal with Mistral. Or could I? It wasn’t like the goblins were any more trustworthy than devils, and keeping it a secret hadn’t been part of the bargain. “I did your job. Now will that be all?”
He knelt before me, gripping my knees through my blankets and looking straight into my eyes. His intensity should have been frightening, but all I could suddenly focus on was the feel of his hands on my legs. I sensed the pull of his magic clamping down, compelling me to tell him the truth. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to admit everything. My heart raced and I started to sweat.
Calm, Eva. Just remain calm . I leaned back, then shifted slightly, breaking his mental hold on me.
He tilted his head with his hands still on my legs. “How do you do that?”
I blinked at him. “You mean, you don’t know?”
His hands slid a little further up. “It’s quite intriguing. ”
I knew it was about time for me to tell him to get the hells out, but my heart was still racing, and it wasn’t just from fear.
His hands slid a little higher. “I wonder what other tricks you have.”
“None so wicked as yours.” My voice came out more breathy than intended.
His hands slid higher still. “No? For some reason, I don’t believe that’s true.” His hands reached my waist and the edge of my blanket.
“What are you doing?”
“If I can’t learn your secrets through compulsion, there’s only one other way I know.” The suggestion in his tone let me know exactly what that way was.
“Oh,” I breathed. My mind was screaming at me that this was a very bad idea, but my body had other notions.
One of his fingers hooked the edge of my blanket, pulling it down to reveal my underwear and bare legs. He lifted an eyebrow at me, like he might actually care for my permission.
“I really did—” My words cut off as he slid one hand up my bare leg and pulled down the edge of my underwear with the other.
When I didn’t protest, he took the hand from my leg and pushed gently against my abdomen until I laid back on the bed. My underwear was gone before I knew it.
Holy hell, what was I—
His mouth found me, and I pressed my head back against my mattress. I briefly wondered if he somehow knew about my deal with Mistral and was trying to win me over to his side, then his tongue licked a delicate line and every thought I’d ever had left my brain. Both of his hands slid beneath me, cupping my butt and lifting me toward his mouth.
I wrapped my legs around him, giving in to a very bad idea as a groan escaped my lips. The blankets beneath me bunched up in my fingers as his tongue darted inside of me, making me see stars.
I could feel a hint of his magic working its way across me, more subtle than the earlier compulsion. I panicked for a moment, then that heavy magic cupped my breasts beneath my shirt and I let out a groan instead of a protest.
Pressure built in my core with every movement of his mouth, and every magical stroke across my bare flesh. He moaned against me, bringing me to the edge.
I was about to shout out all my secrets when something shifted. Something was off. I blinked my eyes and sat bolt upright in bed, clutching a hand to my chest as I tried to catch my breath. A hint of daylight still rimmed my curtains.
A dream. Gods, it had been a dream. One hell of a dream.
As I tried to catch my breath, I realized I once again was not alone. My eyes darted toward my closed door where Sebastian was standing with his arms crossed. Wait, had it been a dream ?
I glanced at my closed curtains and the light visible there. It wasn’t actually dark just moments before. A dream, definitely a dream. Of course, that didn’t stop my heart from thundering and sure didn’t quiet the throbbing sensation between my legs.
I looked at the devil and his bored expression.
“What did you learn?”
I flopped back against my pillows, letting out a huff of breath. “Celeste isn’t in this realm. That’s all he knows.” Talk about déjà vu.
Suddenly he was standing over me in my bed, all too reminiscent of my dream. My body tightened in response.
“What did you trade for the information?”
I rolled my eyes, hoping the casual gesture would distract from my burning cheeks.“How do you know he didn’t just tell me out of the goodness of his heart?”
He gave me a look like I was being very silly, then his eyes lifted to the sleeping goblin on my bookshelf. The corner of his mouth quirked up, but he didn’t say anything else. He looked back down at me. “I will contact you when I have another lead.”
I frowned. “No way, man. I did your job. Our contract is done.”
“Our contract is done once my debt is collected.” His eyes drifted downward to what was visible of my bare lap. I quickly pulled the covers in place, blushing as I remembered the feel of his face between my legs. There was something in his eyes that made me wonder if he knew exactly what I had been dreaming about.
A knock on my door broke the spell. In the second I looked away, Sebastian disappeared, and I was left in my bed frustrated, confused, and honestly still pretty pissed.