Soulless The Girl in the Box - By Robert J. Crane Page 0,47
the attention of those geezers, but you’re the knockout in this bar.”
“James.” I said his name with a certain amusement that was probably fueled by the drinks that I was starting to feel the effects of. A little tinkle of suspicion was present too, far back in my mind. I think I might have let slip the barest hint of a smile as I looked back at him again.
“Sienna.” He dazzled me with his in return. It started slow, but got pretty powerful pretty quick. I ignored the flutter in my stomach. “Mind if I sit with you?”
I waved a hand vaguely at the stool. “Yesterday you’re in Owatonna, today you’re in Eau Claire. Are you following me?”
“Can I be honest?” He took off his suit jacket and hung it on the back of the seat before sitting down next to me.
“I’d prefer it, actually. What kind of a girl says, ‘No, please lie to me’?” The suspicious part of me was gaining traction.
“A surprising number, actually,” he said, keeping it cool. “Though usually not in so many words. Anyway, I’m here because of you.”
“Oh?” I took a sip, a very small one, and kept my hand ready in case I had to reach for a weapon. “I have a stalker?”
The bartender set a beer in front of him and he took a long pull. “Nah. I told you I was a recruiter, didn’t I?”
“Hmmm.” I thought about it. He probably had, but all I remembered was his lips. “I believe you did. So you’re here to recruit me?”
“If I can.” He had stopped paying attention to the beer.
“You recruit a lot of people away from the FBI?” I turned on my stool to face him, letting my arm rest on the side of the bar.
“No,” he said. “But I’ve recruited a few people away from the Directorate.” He kept his body facing toward the bar, but his eyes were on me.
I felt a chill, a little one, and I knew my eyes widened. “How did you find me here?”
He looked away. “Not the hardest thing to do. Go to a town where an Omega safehouse gets hit in the morning, go to all the hotel bars and look for the prettiest succubus around.” He looked back at me, and was smiling again.
“You are quite the charmer,” I said, vacillating between confusion and feeling flattered. “What will you do if I do say no to your offer?” My hand clenched tighter around my drink, and my breath caught in my chest.
“You haven’t heard it yet.” His smile took on an otherworldly quality, getting brighter. Or was that the alcohol? “Listen, this is just like Red Rover as a kid. You picked the wrong side and I’m just asking if Sienna can come over.”
I looked at him and cocked my head. “Red what?”
“Never mind,” he said with a shake of the head. “To answer your question: if you say no, I’ll learn to live with my deep, bitter disappointment and hope that you’ll still be okay with me trying to seduce you.” His smile grew wider, and I found for a flash that I wanted to slap it off him. But just for a second, because damn...he said it with a hell of a lot of charm.
I let go of the breath I had been holding and turned back to the bar, allowing myself just a sip of the whiskey. “You might not be glad if I go along with that. Don’t you know what a succubus does to a person?”
He chuckled dryly. “I do. I’m very familiar with it, in fact.”
I reached down and pulled off my gloves, slowly, as he watched, then took my drink in my hand and felt the perspiration of the glass mingle with my own and slide down my fingers as I pressed it to my lips and took another swig. “Then are you really sure you want to try that?” I set the glass back on the bar.
He moved fast, faster than I would have given him credit for, probably because I could feel the second whiskey already taking effect. His hand slid across and grabbed one of mine and I felt his skin against mine, slightly warm, mine a little sticky from the light layer of sweat that came from always wearing a glove. I didn’t pull away and he cradled my hand in his, bringing his other around, holding it.
“Please,” I said after a moment. I started to tug my hand away,