Page 14 of Demon’s Temptation

But then, he didn’t really know who was underneath it all anymore.

Who would surface if he let it all go.

He played the game well, had everyone around him convinced, almost had himself convinced there for a while, but then those memories would rear back up and he’d lose his balance all over again.

Leaving his apartment, he went down to the club and straight to his office. Some of his staff had already arrived, but he wasn’t ready to see anyone yet. Taking a seat at his desk, he fired up his laptop. A stack of mail sat beside it and he flicked through. The documentation for his new purchase was there, delivered this morning while he was still asleep. He entered the password on his computer then unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk and shoved the envelope inside with the others. All the other bites he’d taken in the hope that the bastard would eventually bite back. Since that hadn’t happened yet, he’d decided to make it easy on the fucker by putting himself right under Garrett’s nose.

There was a light knock on his office door. He knew who it was instantly and slammed the drawer shut. “Come in.”

The door opened and Chaya stepped inside. She’d called in sick the night before and he knew it was because of him, because of the way he’d hurt her. He waited for the onslaught of emotion to wash over him, but nothing happened. She’d locked herself away, something she’d never done around him before, not like this, and for once he had no sense of what was going on in her head, how she was feeling. He hated it.

Her gaze skimmed over his then focused on something over his shoulder. “You got a minute?”

“Of course.”

“Do you mind if I leave early tonight…and tomorrow as well? I called Jasmine; she’ll cover for me so you won’t be short.”

Chaya never took extra time off, had never asked for it in the eighteen months she’d worked for him. “Why?”

Her gaze shot to his. “I don’t really think that’s any of your business, do you?”

He shrugged, heart racing a little faster. “I guess that depends on what you’re doing.”

He was pushing her, pushing for something more than the cool indifference she was giving him. He couldn’t have her, but he couldn’t bear there to be this wall between them. That’s why he’d tried to put things right after he’d hurt her, tried to make her understand. Instead he’d made everything a whole lot worse. Still, here he was again, wishing, hoping, pushing for something that would never, could never happen. Fool.

She crossed her arms, drawing attention to the way her top plunged low, giving him a fantastic view down the front, a teasing look at her beautiful body.

“Are you serious? You said the other night you wanted us to be friends. Well, pulling this shit isn’t doing you any favors, just FYI.”

“Are we? Are we friends, Chaya?” All he could think about was how she’d looked in that cage, how sexy, how badly he still wanted her. His fantasy of what he wished had happened instead.

He stood and moved toward her before he realized what he was doing. The incubus in him was pissed she was hiding from him and wanted a taste of her heady emotions. Wanted to feast, to get closer, to nuzzle into the warmth of her skin and breathe in her scent. The human he’d once been knew how fucked up that was.

She was wearing another little pleated leather skirt, this one deep purple. Her shapely legs were covered in black fishnets and her favorite spike-heeled knee-high boots. His gaze traveled over her and back up to that top, the way it hugged her breasts.

She licked her lips. “You tell me.”

He put the brakes on before he reached her, before he did all the things he knew he shouldn’t. Moving to the front of his desk, he rested on the edge and crossed his arms. “I’d like nothing more.”

She flinched, and he realized how his choice of words might sound to her.

Shit.

“Right. Well, since that’s sorted, I should get to work.” She turned to leave.

“Chay.” She stilled in front of the door but didn’t turn to face him. “I care about you. You know that. A great deal. Hurting you is the last thing I want.”

Her hand that had been resting on the door handle dropped, and she spun to face him. “What is your problem, Brent? Really?” She moved in then, full of confidence and fire. Came right up until she stood between his splayed thighs, challenging him. The incubus, the sub rejoiced, desperate to accept.

His stomach clenched at the same time his cock hardened. Her gaze dropped, landed on his rapidly growing erection, and her eyes flared before lifting back to his.

“Chaya,” he said, trying to project a warning in his tone.

She took another step closer so her hips brushed his inner thighs, and he froze. “Are you going to deny that as well?”

Different emotions fought for dominance inside him and he struggled to speak. Finally, he got it together enough to shake his head. “I’m a sex demon, an incubus, Chaya. I am sex.” The words flowed easily from his mouth, words that only one person had ever said to him. A person who had used him when he was at his most vulnerable, when he’d had no control over the new demon side of his nature.

She leaned in. “Bullshit.”