head at Shivaun. “You are not attracted to that boy.”
There was no way to be sure if that was a question or a command, but the level of intensity behind the words was pleasing to Shy. With a coy smile, she said, “Of course ‘no. I can only be seriously interested in one charmin’ devil at a time.”
“Did you say seriously?”
“By that I meant exclusive.”
“I will accept that answer.”
“So what will we do tonight while Doo Darby sleeps a little and frets a lot?”
“You think that’s what will happen.”
“Certainly.” She said it with the confidence of a clairvoyant. Not the carnival kind. The real thing.
He believed her, but was curious. “How do you know?”
“Has no’ been so long since I was human. I’ve no’ forgot. And he was sheddin’ signals all over the place.”
“Hmmm.”
“So back to what we’ll be doin’ with the free time? If you’re busy, I will go on back to the Abbey.”
“If you think I’d willingly give up time with you, you’re crazier than most Irish.”
She surrendered to a full body giggle.
He smiled with a wickedness that might send some running, but never failed to get a reaction from Shivaun’s nether regions. Sexual inexperience was behind her reluctance to be initiated into the circle of carnal knowledge. But that didn’t mean she was impervious to his seductive ways. Or that her trepidation wasn’t weakening with every hour they spent together.
“As to what we might do with the time,” he continued smoothly, “I have ideas.”
“Do ye now? Let’s see if they match with mine. I was thinkin’ we might see more of this glorious city after hours.”
Lyric put his hands in jeans pockets, which drew her eyes down to the perfect fit of denim surrounding powerful thighs.
“If I can’t interest you in sharing a few hours in twisted sheets with no clothing separating the two of us.” Lyric saw Shivaun’s pupils dilate slightly and decided to press the point further. “Or making sweet love hovering above endless fields of Holland tulips in full bloom. Or intense fucking hovering above the ocean in a lightning storm.”
Her pupils dilated a little more. “Are you makin’ these things up?”
“What things?”
“Hovering? Above the ocean? In a lightning storm?”
“Happy to prove it. Just say the word. Or nod. Or blink. Or sniff.”
“I’m curious if ‘tis true or imagination, but I’m no’ noddin’ or blinkin’ or sniffin’ assent to any of that.”
The demon feigned a dramatic sigh. “I suppose San Francisco at night is a distant, but okay, second choice.”
“Good!” She practically leaped up and put her hands together. “Where are ye takin’ me?”
“Well, let’s see. It’s hard to top the west tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.”
“’Tis true. ‘Twas a marvelous awesome sight.”
“’Twas,” he mimicked in playful tone, imitating her archaic phraseology. “Let’s go walk around Golden Gate Park and hope some ne’er-do-well humans are stupid enough to try to mug us.”
She laughed. “I’m thinkin’ that, if ‘twas the sort of thing demons do for fun, there’d be no crime and lots of whispers about creatures in the park.”
Lyric waggled his head. “It’s true. We usually have a hands-off policy and don’t interfere. But you are my exception to every rule.”
Without revealing how much it pleased her to hear such things, and not being sure he was certifiably sincere, she pursed her lips pretending to consider. With a sudden grin, she said, “Sounds fun. Let’s do it!”
Lyric felt a sense of aliveness surging forward. Shivaun’s excitement in experiencing new things was contagious. Even things that had long ago lost all appeal for him.
With the advantage of being able to see in the dark as well as cats, the pair of demons might as well have been enjoying an overcast afternoon in the park. After seeing the sights at superspeed, they decided to sit on the steps of the Music Concourse to wait for mischief-makers up to no good.
“I have no’ yet entirely made up my mind whether I think ‘tis a good thing you’re doin’ with Doo Darby. Seems to me much could go wrong.”
“Yes. But wouldn’t humans say that’s true of every minute of every day. It’s like a curse. That species. So short-lived and fragile.”
“You think demons are superior to humans,” she said matter-of-factly.
He barked out a laugh. “Because we are.”
“’Tis true that demons are hard to kill and live a long time. And there are many abilities that seem truly magical, almost godlike.” She shivered slightly at saying that. “I do no’ think that necessarily makes us superior.”