Demon King (Claimed By Lucifer #1) - Elizabeth Briggs Page 0,62

few days. Please.”

“Very well, I’ll allow you to choose tonight’s activities.” He sounded skeptical, and I sensed it was because it was hard for him to give up control after many lifetimes of being king.

I lifted on my toes and gave him a quick kiss. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll both be naked by the end of the night.”

I was rewarded with a sensual grin. “Now that sounds more like it.”

20

Lucifer

“Here we are,” Hannah said, as a bell jingled above our heads.

I guessed she’d pushed a door open, but I couldn’t see because she’d instructed me to keep my eyes closed, in a voice that said she meant it.

“You can open your eyes now.”

She nudged my arm, but… Fuck, did I have to? I was deliberately keeping my eyes shut against the fear they might fall out once I opened them and saw wherever she’d brought me. If the stench of stale beer and too much cheap cooking grease—not to mention the undertones of puke and piss—were anything to go by, I definitely wanted to keep my eyes closed. Very firmly closed. Perhaps with a padlock.

I tried to grin, but it came out more like a grimace. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?”

“Yep, this is it.”

I took a deep breath, even though the alcohol in the air was so strong just inhaling it burned my throat, and opened my eyes. I looked around in apprehension. We were in some sort of seedy dive bar, the sort of place I would never visit on my own. The interior had neon lights that flickered and blinked, although due to short circuit rather than design. Far too many pool tables took up valuable seating space and an entire side wall was devoted to old slot machines, many with dark, cracked screens. Ripped vinyl seating seemed to be the order of the day along with dated plastic tables where the top coating was lifting and scorched.

An enormous man in dirty jeans and a leather vest—and nothing else—stumbled past us, and I glanced down at my Armani suit, feeling rather overdressed for the locale.

This was where she’d brought me? And they said I was a torturer.

“Is this truly what you chose for lust?” I couldn’t hold the question in any longer as I tried not to look as horrified as I felt. Of all the places in Las Vegas we could have gone to, she’d picked this dingy old bar?

Hannah laughed, and seeing her eyes sparkle with mischief was almost enough to make up for this wretched place. “Come on, let’s go order some food and drinks.”

She led me to the bar, and I admired her in those tight black jeans and that draping top, both of which came from her new wardrobe, though she didn’t stand out in this place like I did. I wouldn’t have chosen to spend any moment of my immortal life with these other human specimens, but if this made Hannah happy, so be it.

She hopped onto one of the red barstools, and I took the one beside her. I nearly rested my elbow on the bar and barely contained my yelp as I yanked away from the surface. More than one layer of dirt and grease graced the dark wood. Enough that my jacket sleeve might have never recovered from such close contact.

“What are we doing in here when you don’t even drink?” I asked Hannah.

“I found this place on one of those lists of ‘best food in Vegas off The Strip.’” She shrugged as she flipped open a laminated menu with peeling edges. “I thought it’d be fun to do something different. Take you out of your element for a change and see what happened.”

A crusty old bartender ambled over, acknowledging people left and right as he approached us. He made a pretense of wiping the bar with a stained rag. “What’ll it be?”

“Four chili dogs with everything on them. Fries and onion rings.” She paused and I stared at her in horror as she described six different ways to cause a heart attack. Not that I could have one, of course, but I worried about her own mortality. “And a root beer.”

“What’ll you have to drink?” The bartender tapped his fingers on the bar while I considered which wine would taste best with fried foods.

“Malbec?”

He stared at me, his face blank.

“You don’t have wine, do you?” Instead of horror, I only felt resignation. I glanced behind him at the various bottles and waved a hand.