not convinced it actually belongs to me.
I find the suspicion in his tone odd, since he doesn’t know me and shouldn’t automatically question the name I’ve given him.
“Not much to tell, really,” I start. “I’m here for a girls’ night out with a couple friends. We’re just lettin’ off some steam at the end of a very long week,” I tell him politely.
He nods his head but doesn’t follow the social protocol of now tellin’ me about himself.
“And you?” I encourage after an uncomfortable extended silence where I try to think through how I can get my hand back without causin’ an issue.
He smiles again. “I’m here for you,” he tells me, his tone a deep purr, and I chuckle at his answer. His cheesy lines are too much.
“You go, girl!” I hear AnnaMae yell over the steady beat of the music. I look over to see her and Kiara givin’ me a thumbs up as they take me and my demon visitor in.
I wonder for a moment what they must see when they look at him, because there’s no way they’re observin’ the snake-eyed version that I’m starin’ at. I shoot them a forced smile, but then movement catches my eye, and when my gaze returns back to Morax, I see that one of his dreads is movin’. Wait, no. Not a dreadlock. I stumble back in shock.
Holy shit.
A yellow-eyed snake moves up Morax’s arm, and I realize that his hair is not black dreadlocks like I initially thought, but black snakes. I watch the reptile move like it’s slightly agitated, and all I can do is gape at it. On the plus side, I finally freed my hand, so there’s that. But now that I’m really lookin’ at him, I see that what I first dismissed as shadows from the dim lightin’ in the club, are actually a pair of dark brown wings hangin’ off his back.
Yeah, Mr. Winged Snake Hair is way too much for me at this point.
“I should go dance with my friends,” I announce, takin’ a step back, but Morax sidesteps me, blockin’ the exit I was about to make so the table is at my back and he’s poised purposely at my front.
“What’s the rush? They look like they’re doing just fine,” he tells me, and I look over to see that both Kiara and AnnaMae are grindin’ against a couple of guys, lookin’ mighty preoccupied.
Well, crap, there goes that polite out.
I press a hand to Morax’s chest, not to seduce, but to keep him from steppin’ any closer. I’m not likin’ the invasion of my personal space. I don’t know the rules and ways of bein’ a demon, but he’s just a little too pushy. There’s almost an undertone of desperation in his every move, and I’m not feelin’ it at all.
“You’re too close,” I tell him.
He watches me squirm, and I see the distinct glint of excitement in his serpentine eyes, and that’s when I drop all my previous worries about stayin’ polite.
“Back up. Now,” I say with steel in my tone.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he says smoothly, and alarm wells up in my chest like a swarm of bees when he grabs my wrist again.
This time, there’s no teasin’ hints of flirtation in the sweep of his thumb over my skin, or any hint of a friendly smile on his face. He’s gone cold. Taken off his mask to show me his true intentions.
He doesn’t want to woo me.
He wants to hurt me.
10
I realize with sudden horror that I just played right into this guy’s hands by bein’ so naive and complacent, worryin’ more about my Southern manners than trustin’ my instincts and gettin’ the hell away from him.
Fear and terror wash through me as I try to wrench my arm away in a blind panic, makin’ my elbows smack against the table at my back, but Morax doesn’t let go. Instead, he just squeezes harder.
“You will calm down.”
I blink, and my struggle immediately stops and the fight that was just ragin’ inside of me leaks out like I’m a deflatin’ balloon. His voice brushes over me and that calm he just ordered seems to shove under my skin and toss aside my fear.
Suddenly relaxed, my arms hang at my sides, and Morax smiles. “Good girl,” he coos. “Now we’re going to walk out of here, so wave goodbye to your friends, smile, and behave yourself.”
“I’ll behave,” I hear myself sayin’ as I lift a hand and wave