I remembered the flat above the club. Even with the haze of alcohol and lust blazing hot through my body, I remembered it with startling detail. It came back to me as I took it all in. The wine-colored sheets. How the hard floor felt under my feet. Not incredibly large, but it told me more about Asmodeus than anything else ever could.The flat lacked a kitchen, but I suppose they didn't need to eat anyways. Bookcases packed with old books. Artwork adorning the walls. Different than I expected. He seemed to favor greenery by the plants hanging in the window.Still a mystery, but pieces were starting to fit together again. Who Asmodeus was. How he ticked. The energy was rampant between us. I could feel how his body thrummed, wanting desperately to touch me and feed himself. But he wouldn't. Not now. There was something he needed to say. I ached for him. Wanting to take as much as I give, but not before I know what he wants. Not until he tells me how bad he wants me."You k
"Only after I taste you," I demanded, a grin on my lips.Without hesitation, he cupped the back of my neck and slanted his lips against mine. His hot breath puffed against my face as he devoured my mouth. His body tensed with eagerness, hovering over mine.He poured himself into that kiss. The way his tongue danced with mine. I could taste everything. The sultry sweetness of power.The unique tang of experience. The spicy heat of his passion. The bitterness of pain. Eons of anguish. Darkness under the surface. Decadent and savory. Smooth like butter. As enticing as the rest of him. The vengefulness tasted even sweeter than his power.I gave him back everything he gave me. Hoping he could taste everything I hid under the surface like I could taste him. He moaned against my mouth, drinking me in. He wedged himself between my legs and I could feel his heavy cock pressing hard against me, teasing me through my clothes. I arched upwards, desperate to grind against him. A
I had chosen violence.Darkness. The path of indulgence. My body thrummed with power, excitement coating my bones. The uncertainty of my future appealed to me. The archangels arrived at the beach a few days ago, right in the spot I invoked Asmodeus, declaring myself in allegiance with him. A bright missile of light only we could see collided in the sand. Asmodeus knew the path they would follow. First the beach and the decimated book, then my apartment where proof of my rage was all over the sidewalk. Then to Maxine's where they'd find evidence of Asmodeus. Bill's violent death could only be the product of a demon's vengefulness. Oddly enough, it wasn't the archangels who found the club, it was the archdemons. Lilith's children. She could feel them miles away, giving us time to leave before they arrived.We didn't have much longer in Los Angeles. But I wasn't done here yet.The angels have tormented Asmodeus since the rebellion, and if they wanted him to go quietly
Nine Lives was a strip club on the edge of 107th and hell, and that was me being generous about the location. It was also the place I'd been calling my second home for the past three years."This bitch must think I'm all kinds of stupid!"Bianca Quinn—self-proclaimed queen of Nine Lives—tossed her faux diamond earrings onto her vanity with a toss of her manicured hand, the lights flickering in the wake of her anger. Sirens had a hard time keeping their electromagnetic fields in check during times of high stress, and Bianca wasn't an exception just because she was half. She flipped her head back, locks shifting from blood-red ringlets to her more natural blue-black straightness.The other girls scattered to the wings of the Ready Room, trying to avoid her bad mood. They knew what would happen if Bianca locked electric blue eyes on them. Instead, the other strippers preoccupied themselves with either swapping outfits or counting money to give to Mrs. Banks, the personal assistan
In the back of Nine Lives—past the Ready Room, the small kitchen, coat check, and the bathroom—are four VIP Rooms for specific clientele who request a private dance. They're organized from worst to best, with the most premium of the rooms—The Rose Continental—only given to clients who had Hermès originals or could afford them.To put it bluntly, Jévon and I were not the types of people who usually frequented its rose marble splendor. Well, scratch that, I knew I wasn't."This is…" Jévon picked up a faceted crystal goblet reminiscent of those old-school Tiffany's perfumes from the '30s. An amber liquid too thick to be scotch swirled in its depths, almost metallic in its sheen. "Do you have any idea what this even is?""No, why? Should I?"It came out sharper than I'd meant to, bitterness creeping up and replacing any charm I'd mustered.I was already feeling…less than stellar being in the opulent decadence of this room. Satin champagne drapes with buttery smooth
He'd flipped our positions somehow, and I bounced on the thousand-dollar springs of the bed. He'd folded me neatly in half, knees touching either side of my head, pussy exposed to his gaze with only a lace strip of red and hose preventing me from being fully naked. Jévon put his whole weight on my legs, looming over me enough that I lost details of his face in the shadow of him.All except those odd bright aqua eyes."Hold them," he growled, and it didn't take a genius to understand what Jévon was implying, "Or, I'll solve that for you."Jévon had never frightened me, and he didn't scare me now even with myself completely at his mercy.But, Jévon did sound…dangerous…and in a way, I'd only heard once before.It was a tone that meant he was serious and I wasn't to argue. Commanding.My pussy clenched around nothing as I thought of how that might translate to taking me. He'd be rough when I expected him to be tender, and the thought of his mild-mannered nature givi
I woke up to the dulcet tones of Earth, Wind, and Fire asking if I wanted to groove tonight.And to an empty bed."Jévon?"I opened my eyes, confused by the figures of Snoopy and Woodstock dancing around the sheets. A heavily worn and dog-eared copy of an old Agatha Christie novel lay to my left instead of the six-foot-four juggernaut of a man next to me. I lifted the sheet, expecting him to be underneath like a common bugbear. The disappointment to follow felt almost too childish to have.I laid back on my bed, wearing my hammy-down Bugs Bunny T-shirt and the ratty basketball shorts I'd stolen from a college roommate.Okay, what the actual fuck?Ignoring the possibility that maybe the stressors of life had finally made me crack, I was pretty damn sure I wasn't the type of girl to hallucinate.I didn't drink any of the offers men had tried to give me before my last set, and I was laying off smoking Irrwurz because it was just too expensive a habit of kee
"Did you hear about the Midnight Cowboy!?""I heard that he—""—my cousin Delores said—""—he's SO dreamy, like—""—I heard he kills people—""—pero, better than—" "Veronica…Veronica…? HEY Ronnie!""I'm awake!"My eyes are blurry, tracking the streaming neon lights of Nines.I must have fallen asleep after my shift at Open Palms Retirement Home.Half of the reason why Nana Bet could stay was based on my continuing employment there, it helped to clear away a good portion of her housing cost. However, good was still "too much" with my student loans, my apartment, and any debt my parents still had. Which was…a lot.I wasn't treading water so much, as I was trying to fight the currents so I wouldn't drown. I yawned, stretching to crack my back, dressed in my own pair of scrubs shaded a nice berry magenta, my favorite color. Shit, I was never going to make it through my sets for tonight if I kept nodding off."Sorry," I covered my mouth in fear