Page 16 of Legion
“There are some exceptions?”
“Yes.I don’t know you well enough for you to be one of them.”
“You will.”
She double-blinked.“Excuse me?”
“You don’t strike me as the type to miss much, so you’ll know that you’ve captured my interest.I only recently exited an arrangement, and I don’t jump from one bed to another.I intended to give it time before approaching you.I’ve decided that time is now up.”
Naomi stilled, hit by mixed reactions.Her feminine parts all but swooned while her mind recoiled slightly in unease.Was it really a good idea to get involved with someone who was so damn perceptive he might well figure out what she strived so hard to hide?
If all he wanted was a one-night stand, it wouldn’t be such a big deal.But she didn’t get the sense that that was what he had in mind.And still she didn’t find herself blurting out a hard no.
She should.She really should.It was a matter of self-preservation.And yet the words just didn’t—
“Naomi?”
She mentally fumbled as his voice severed her line of thought.Blinking at him, she asked, “Hmm?”
His gaze bored into hers.“You back with me?”
“I never left.”
After a long moment, he cocked his head.“Do you know why I stick to arrangements?”
“No, why?”
“Relationships are difficult for my kind.Each of my inner entities has its own personality, needs, wants, desires, likes, dislikes—it goes on and on.They’re separate individuals, and it isn’t always the case that they agree on things.Even when they do, it may be that I’m not in agreement with them.In other words, the four of us aren’t always in sync.
“Belial, in particular, tends to have an opposing opinion.It is deliberately contrary, though mostly due to boredom.Few things snag its attention—people included.And it does not at all like for me to ignore its wants.So, for instance, I might like a particular piece of art.Belial, however, may not.Annoyed that I nonetheless purchased it, the entity might well destroy it out of spite if in a mood over something.”
“Wow.”She could see how a legion might become as arbitrarily stubborn and darkly dominant as Luka was rumored to be.From an early age, you’d have to learn how to hold your own against three inner entities all craving and angling for control.“It’s got to be weird having three demons.”
“It’s all I’ve ever known.The point I’m making is that short, shallow arrangements are easier.Anything more would require myself and my entities to all feel very strongly for a woman—the same woman, more to the point.We never have, and it would be a lie to say we lament that.We are content as we are.”
That he was clearly such a solitary person was kind of sad—for him, at least.Not so much for Naomi in this context, though.Because as potential bed partners went, he’d be safe.This was a person who didn’t let people close.It meant that he would keep a distance between them.He wouldn’t poke into her life and uncover secrets that needed to remain in few metaphorical hands.
“We don’t even always want the same woman in our bed, but my entities won’t fight me when it comes to you.”His gaze slid over her face.“You hold an appeal for all four of us.They each intend to fuck you raw, which isnothingcompared to what I’ll do with you.”
Her belly fluttered at that.The dude had a way with words.
His eyes darkened with warning.“Let it be known that there will be no other men for you while you’re in my bed.”
She raised a brow at his audacity.
“Before you ask, yes, that exclusivity goes both ways.”
“You’re barreling forward like you’re certain I’ll be along for this ride.”
He raised a brow right back at her.“If you had any objections, you would have voiced them already.”
True.As she wasn’t into playing hard to get, she didn’t bother with denials.“Do you really think this would be a wise idea?I’m trying to keep Iain out of my life.You’re his Prime.If you and I started something, shallow fling or not, it would make matters worse.”
A line dented Luka’s brow.“How he would feel about it means nothing to me.Does it mean something to you?”
“No.I’d just prefer not to do anything that could exacerbate an already precarious situation.”
“Iain won’t put another foot into your life – I made that clear already.”
