Chapter Eleven
Kurtis found me in my room later that day, after the jury had turned in its unanimous vote. He simply appeared out of nowhere. I was lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling while on TV, Oprah gave away a car to someone in need.
“I can’t wait to go home,” I told him nastily. “At least then I’ll get some privacy. No one seems to respect it around here.”
He leaned against the desk and tossed his messy hair out of his face. “That’s why I brought you these.” He reached into his pocket and produced a set of keys. He threw them over, and I caught them. The keychain’s tag had an address on it.
“What are these?” I asked.
“Condo by the beach,” he said. “I snagged it for you. Figured you’d want someplace nicer than this for your big night tonight.”
I closed my eyes and groaned. “No. I don’t want it.”
“You earned it. I keep my promises.”
I remembered what Clyde had said about Monaco. “Not all of them. You promise things you can’t deliver on.”
He frowned. “No. I keep my promises. All of them.”
I shook my head. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I don’t want your blood money.”
“You might as well get something for selling out your principles,” he said cheerfully.
“Besides, you’re never going to get this chance again. And you can save your crumbling romance at the same time.”
“It’s not crumbling. Seth told me—er, her, that he couldn’t do anything that made him feel guilty about us. We don’t need to have sex for me to keep him around.” But oh, good God, did I want to have sex. It was hard to lie there and tell Kurtis I was throwing his gift back in his face.
“I don’t believe it. If that waitress offered—if he was in a position where he really could do it with her—he’d do it. That is, he’d do it if he still wasn’t getting any from you.”
“He doesn’t believe in cheap sex. Staying faithful to me is part of his morals, and unlike everyone else around here, there are still some people in the universe who hold to their beliefs and actually have a sense of right and wrong.”
Kurtis straightened up. “Sweetheart, everyone sells themselves out in the end. Keep the keys. The reward’s still yours, whether you waste it or not. But—be warned. The clock’s ticking, Cinderella. Offer expires at midnight. Of course, then you’ll be just in time to see the show.”
Ack. There was going to be a public display back at the hotel of Clyde and Starla’s first round of punishment. I had no idea what exactly that would be, but it was going to be horrible and disgusting. After that, they’d be sent off to somewhere in Hell for the remainder of the sentence. The spectacle tonight would satisfy the sadistic and sensationalist natures of those who had journeyed to the trial. The perfect encore. I had absolutely no interest in going.
Thinking of that horrific display—as well as Kurtis’s smug condescension—suddenly made something inside me snap. It made me sick that he could do this, sick that he could bribe and flatter others into getting whatever he wanted. I jerked myself upright from my defeatist sprawl.
“You don’t think he could do that? Resist? Well, here’s a deal for you. What if I can prove you’re wrong? What if I can prove that Seth really does hold to his standards in the face of temptation?”
He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
“You see?” I said, attempting the same smugness he managed so well. “You aren’t sure. You’re not the great judge of human nature you claim to be.”
Those laughing eyes suddenly hardened. It was never a good idea to mock a demon.
“Careful, little succubus. You don’t want to go down this road. Take your boon, fuck your guy, and leave it at that.”
I lay back against the pillows. “Okay. I get it.”
“Get what?”
“That you’re all talk. You really don’t know for sure that Seth would succumb.”
“In the face of that woman half-naked and going after him? Yes, darling. He’d succumb.”
“Then let’s bet on it.”
“What do you want?” he asked warily.
“The truth. I want the truth from you about whether you really killed Anthony.”
He shook his head. “I’ve told you a hundred times I didn’t.”
“Yeah, and you promised Julius a house in Monaco.” Kurtis blinked. “I don’t believe anything you tell me. When I say I want the truth, I want the truth. You know what I’m talking about. I want to see inside you.”
“What’s that going to accomplish? Even if you found out I’d done it—and I didn’t—it wouldn’t hold as evidence.”
“I know. But I just want to know, once and for all, the truth about just one thing in this whole tangled mess. Let me look inside. Just to be certain about something.”
He stared, actually caught off guard. As I’ve noted before, to look inside another immortal was no small thing. It was traumatic, for both parties. Powerful. I honestly didn’t know the full extent of what I was asking, but I liked the shock on his face, and honestly, after days of deceit, I just wanted something real.
“I’m not letting a succubus look inside me.”
“Doesn’t matter if the whole thing is a moot point.”
He glowered. “What do I get if you’re wrong about him?”
“What do you want?”
He considered, then a slow smile swept over his face. “I want you to fuck him.”
“I—what?” My growing confidence promptly withered into confusion. I jingled the keys.
“Isn’t that what I’m already supposed to do?”
“No. I mean, fuck him after the gift expires. In all your power. Break that kindly naive notion you have of sparing his life and soul.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. Sex with Seth? With no protective promise? No. No way could I do it. I’d promised myself that the instant this relationship started. I couldn’t steal his energy for my own gain, couldn’t shave off part of his life to feed my immortality. The thought made me queasy, and Kurtis could see that.
“Guess you’re not so confident about him after all,” he chuckled.
My heart hardened. I was angry about this trial, furious about what I’d been forced to do. And I was pissed as hell at Kurtis and his high-handed, arrogant attitude. Just once, I wanted to make some demon uncomfortable.
“It’s a deal,” I said.
“Really?”
I sat up. “Yup. Let’s work out the details.”
You couldn’t ever make an open-ended or vague deal with a demon. Otherwise, they’d find any loophole possible to wiggle out of their end. So, Kurtis and I hashed out exactly what would be required to win the bet, what I’d have to do, and how each of us would have to pay up. By the time I was done, I felt like I’d done a pretty good job at covering all the contingencies. Probably not as good as if I’d had an imp present…but I felt certain it would suffice.
When we finished, Kurtis and I shook hands. Power crackled around us, sealing the deal. He vanished.
I climbed out of bed then and glanced at the clock to see how much longer I had succubus freedom.
It was time to go seduce my boyfriend.
The cold insanity of what I was going to do hit me a little while later. I was a total hypocrite. I’d made all these claims about the honesty and goodness between Seth and me, yet here I was about to entangle him up in a web of trickery which involved me deceiving him in order to test his fidelity—fidelity, by the way, which he wasn’t even really forced to adhere to.
But I’d made my deal with Kurtis, and now I was in. So, I tried not to dwell on my guilt and instead attempted to focus in on how I would win this bet. After all, if I did, almost everything else would become irrelevant. Seth would prove faithful, I wouldn’t have to sleep with him (how wrong did that sound?), and Kurtis would have to suck it up and do something he didn’t want.
Still, I felt kind of bad blowing off Seth for the night. To make matters worse, I even did it a little coldly. I wasn’t mean or anything, but I was definitely brusque with him in the hopes that my attitude would make him accept another Beth invitation.
It did. Of course, who could say? Maybe he still would have accepted if I’d been perfectly nice. Regardless, after “Georgina” took off for another party, “Beth” called Seth with an offer to come watch a movie we’d talked about at the carnival.
“Look,” I said on the phone, “if it’s too weird…I understand. I mean, I got what you were saying last night, and really…I don’t want to cause trouble for you or anything. I mean you and your girlfriend probably already have plans, but I thought I’d check since my roommate actually just rented it…”
There was a long pause, and I could perfectly picture the look on Seth’s face. “I don’t have any plans…” More silence. I held my breath. “Okay. What’s the address?”
I gave it to him, rented the movie, and got to the condo ten minutes before he did. That turned out to be a good thing because it took me about that long to recover from the shock of the place. Maybe Kurtis hadn’t been bullshitting. When he delivered on his promises, he delivered. The condo had two floors and sat right on the edge of a stretch of gorgeous, private beach. Wood floors and leather furniture gave the place a swanky, sexy feel, and a fully stocked bar completed the image of a pimped-out bachelor pad—or in my case, bachelorette pad.
Of course, I realized the problem right as I let Seth inside. He stared around at the luxurious accommodations, at the six-figure sculptures and teak end tables.
“I thought you were short on money?” he asked in amazement.
“Er, I am,” I replied. “This is my roommate’s…place. Her family pays for it, and I rent a room from her.” I didn’t add that that room would technically have to be the bathroom since there was only one bedroom in the place. I had checked it out in my initial examination. The room had a round bed and mirrors on the ceiling. Honestly, Kurtis might have been trying too hard.
Seth looked a little skeptical, but I distracted him by asking about the cut on his face. Later, I found popcorn and tea in the fully stocked kitchen, and we settled down on one of the sleek black sofas to watch the movie. It was an independent film I’d seen several years ago and thought was amazing. I’d wanted him to see it for a while now; I never thought it’d be under these circumstances.
As we watched, I covertly maneuvered myself nearer and nearer to him. I used reaching for the popcorn as my excuse and pulled off the moves like a pro—because, well, I was a pro. Eyes on the screen, he didn’t even realize what I’d done until the lights came up and we were sitting thigh to thigh and arm to arm. We weren’t exactly groping, but we’d clearly moved past something platonic.
Seth noticed then, and he shifted himself away a little—but not too far away.
“What’d you think?” I asked.
He leaned his head back against the couch. Those long-lashed, amber-brown eyes stared off thoughtfully as he processed his opinions. In some ways, it wasn’t hard playing Beth. Seth made both of us melt.
“Pretentious,” he finally said. “But it had some good points.”
“Pretentious?” I exclaimed.
We launched off into a critical analysis of the movie, very much like the ones we usually got into. I became so consumed that I didn’t even notice the time passing until my eyes ran over the clock on the DVD player. Ten-twenty-seven.
The clock’s ticking, Cinderella. Offer expires at midnight.
I hastily wrapped up the movie discussion, even conceding a few points to him. Moving on to the next stage, I brought us into personal matters.
“I’m really glad you could come over tonight,” I told him, leaning against the couch in a way that made the space between us more intimate. “I was really afraid to call after last night…I mean, not that it was bad…but well…”
“Yeah, I know. But I’m glad you did call. Nothing else was going on.”
Seth’s eyes studied me in an appraising way. Then, as though realizing what he was doing, he averted them in a way common to him.
“You keep saying you’ve got a girlfriend,” I teased, “but I’m starting to wonder if that’s just a line to keep me away. You always seem to be free.”
He flinched, undoubtedly reminded of the way I’d abandoned him tonight.
“Oh, she’s real…mostly. She’s just been really, um, busy.”
“Is she, like, working tonight?”
His brow furrowed slightly. “She might very well be,” he muttered in a dry tone.
“What’s she do?” I asked innocently.
“Um…she’s in…customer service…”
“Wow. I didn’t know jobs like that ran so late.”
“Well, it’s a conference kind of thing…”
“Oh, yeah. That’s right. So, she’s, like, schmoozing. Like…working the room?”
“Something like that.”
“Why aren’t you with her? Seems like you could go to parties with her, even at a work function.”
“I’m not much of a party type,” he said. “Especially these parties.”
I tilted my head and met his eyes with a knowing look. “Is that really the truth?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. With the way you keep seeing me…and the way you talk. It just kind of sounds like you’re avoiding her.”
“Er, no, no,” he said. “It’s not that…”
“But you said you have kinks. Maybe you’re avoiding her and don’t realize you’re avoiding her.”
“No, I don’t think so…”
“Oh? Well, then, what are these kinks? You guys have trouble talking to each other? Not much in common?”
“Nothing like that,” he assured me. “We have lots in common.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Sex?”
His mouth opened to form a protest, but he stumbled on it.
“Ah,” I said sagely. “I see.”
“No,” he said firmly. “It’s not what you think…”
I studied him—face and body—and made it very obvious that I was doing so. I nodded with appreciation, liking what I saw.
“Well,” I finally said. “It must be on her end. Nothing wrong with you. And here I’d had this image of this slim, gorgeous model with great genes.”
“She is gorgeous,” said Seth. I was happy to see him come to my defense.
I frowned. “Then…wait. Do you, like, have problems…”
The faintest flush showed in Seth’s cheeks. It was a rare phenomenon, one I would have found adorable under other conditions.
“No,” he said. “No problems like that.”
“Then…will she not…?”
Again, he took too long to answer.
“Oh,” I said.
Silence fell. I could hear the ticking of a shiny, silver-rimmed clock on the wall. Elevenoh-seven.
At last, I spoke. “I don’t want to be harsh here or overstep my limits…but well, she’s an idiot.”
He shook his head. “It’s complicated.”
“Is it? I mean, you say you guys have stuff in common. You’re gorgeous. She allegedly is. You want to do it…I mean, if she’s got some hang-up…”
“It’s not that, not exactly.”
I sighed. “Look, I won’t lie. I like you. I really like you. But even if I wasn’t interested in you like this, I’d still be telling you you’re crazy. You shouldn’t waste your life on someone like that, shouldn’t waste your sex life…”
Again, he shook his head. “It’s about more than sex.”
I shifted closer and put my hand on his bare arm, trailing my fingers along his skin. He jumped but didn’t stop me.
“When was the last time?” I asked.
“The last time what?”
“You know.”
No answer.
“Seth,” I said in exasperation, still touching him. “This is crazy. Do you hear yourself?
You make it sound like you can go without sex for the rest of your life. Can you? Can you go without being kissed? Can you go without having someone’s hands slide up your chest? Can you go without touching a woman? Can you go without throwing her down and peeling her clothes off? Can you go without being wrapped up with— in—another person? Having that union? That passion?”
Seth was staring at me like he had no clue who I was. That was reasonable since I was pretty sure I’d slipped out of Beth’s personality and into my own. At the same time, I think my words and the lust in my voice had kindled something in him. I could see it in his face—a doubt over what he’d been trying so hard to believe all this time and a yearning for what he’d wanted.
That was all I needed to see. I made my move.
Pushing myself over him, so a leg draped over his lap, I kissed him. In the fraction of a second before our lips touched, I realized it was fully possible Kurtis had screwed with me this whole time and that I was about to suck away part of Seth’s life.
But I didn’t.
There was no rush of power, no flow of his thoughts or energy into me. It was just a kiss, an ordinary kiss like any two mortals might have. Well…except that it wasn’t ordinary. Not for me at least. It was Seth. Me kissing Seth. And so help me, he was kissing me—Beth—back. His lips were as warm and soft as they’d been every other time we’d had our brief kisses, but this time we didn’t pull back. It was…amazing. And that was when I learned that whatever shyness Seth might show in conversation did not translate to physical actions.
He returned the kiss with intensity, lips and tongue caressing my own, filled with an untamed energy that just barely managed to keep control. I pulled myself completely onto his lap, straddling him, and wrapped my arms around his neck. His own arms encircled my waist.
“How long?” I asked between kisses, my voice breathy. “How long since anyone’s kissed you like this? Been on you like this?”
He didn’t answer, but the hands on the small of my back caught the edge of my shirt and lifted it over my head. I’d dressed casual tonight—plain black T-shirt—but the bra underneath was red, and the hourglass figure made it look great.
I yanked his own shirt off and felt the heat in my own body increase as I took in the smooth, lightly tanned skin of his chest. I’d seen it many times, of course, but now—being able to kiss it and really touch it—I looked at in a totally different way. I leaned in and kissed him harder, pressing my breasts up to his chest. His hands were on my back again, but when they didn’t unfasten my bra, I did the honors.
I saw his gaze travel from my face to my breasts, instinctual male desire filling his face. Pushing him over, I forced him to lie back as I crawled on top and continued straddling him. My hands found the edge of his jeans and unbuttoned them. Then, I took a hold of his hands and placed them on my stomach.
“Don’t you want me?” I asked. “Don’t you want to touch me?”
I didn’t know who exactly I was speaking for anymore, Beth or Georgina, but it didn’t matter. I’d forgotten the whole reason for this. All I knew was that we were going to do it. Seth and I were going to have sex. I had about forty-five minutes—forty-five precious, golden minutes—in which we could do anything we wanted with no consequences.
And what I wanted right now was for Seth to run his hands over me. He wasn’t, though I could still see the longing all over him. And when I laid down on top of him and ground our hips together, I could feel the longing. I kissed him again, furiously, and then pulled my mouth back just a breath so that I could speak.
“We’re going to do this…and it’s going to be good. Very good. You…inside me. Good, so very—what?”
Seth suddenly struggled up, pushing me—not harshly—off of him. Once he was free, he stood up and backed away from the couch. He ran a hand over his eyes.
“Oh, God. I can’t believe this is happening.”
“It’s happening,” I told him, practically panting. “Come back—”
“No.” He shook his head. “I can’t.”
“But you—you started to—”
“I know, I know,” he groaned. He buttoned his pants. “I got caught up.”
“You wanted me,” I growled. “You still do.” I stood up too and wriggled out of the jeans I wore, pulling my panties off in the process. Standing before him naked, I fixed him with a challenging glare. “Tell me you don’t. Tell me you don’t want to have sex with me.”
Those serious brown eyes swept the length of me, of all my curves and smooth skin. The desire was still written all over him, but a hard glint in the depths of his eyes showed he was fighting it. The flesh was willing, but the spirit was weak—or rather, the spirit was strong.
“I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for his shirt. “You’re very beautiful. Very beautiful. And hanging out with you is fun. There’s something about you—it’s almost like—well.” He shrugged the thought away, though I had a good feeling what it had been. “But I can’t. I can’t do this. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here tonight.”
“But…” My lower lip trembled as I attempted confusion while still looking sexy. “She won’t…she won’t give you what you want…”
“I want her. I want to be with her.”
“You can still have her,” I argued. “And tonight you can have me. Then you can go back, and she’ll never know. She probably wouldn’t even mind.”
“I would know,” he said. He pulled the T-shirt on and smoothed it. “That’s what matters.”
“I don’t…I don’t understand…there are no strings attached…”
“I love her,” he told me, moving toward the door. “I can’t explain it any better than that. I’m sorry.” He turned away. The door opened, then closed.
I stood there in the living room, naked, staring at where he’d last been. Kurtis materialized beside me.
“Well, well,” he said, following my gaze to the door.
“Was I convincing enough?” I asked. Part of the conditions had been that I couldn’t do a half-ass seduction job.
“Very,” he said wryly. “So much so that I’m guessing there wasn’t actually a lot of acting going on.”
I tore my gaze from the door and looked at the demon. Clothing and my Georgina shape materialized onto me. “But he did it. He resisted and held to his beliefs.”
Kurtis smiled. “Disappointed?”
I thought about it, thought how it had felt—however briefly—to have complete access to Seth. The possibility of actually having sex was tantalizing and bittersweet. Of course, if we’d done it, it wouldn’t have really been me and Seth. It would have been him and…an illusion. That wasn’t how I wanted sex to be with us.
“A little,” I answered. “But not enough.” I sighed. “This was stupid of me. Testing him like that. I never doubted him…not really. I don’t know why I had to prove it.”
“People do stupid things for love,” he told me. I’d said the exact same thing to Starla.
“They do stupider things when they’re jealous.”
“What are you, a shrink?”
“Just an observer of humankind.”
I sighed again. “I wasted a once-in-a-lifetime chance tonight.”
He cut me a look, and I noticed then how agitated he appeared. “Maybe not.”
I glanced back. “What do you mean?”
“I told you, I always keep my promises.” With a resigned sigh, he extended his hand.
“Ready to look inside?”