Seducing the Devil

by Savannah Hill

“A little.” He didn’t make eye contact as he nodded at the couch against the wall, his new bed.

  The urge to cry overwhelmed her, but she forced her emotions to settle. “You’ve fucked me in my office before, I can’t see why yours is different.”

  Something snapped behind his gaze and Damian pointed toward the door. “I’m working on something here. You need to leave.”

  Her stomach tensed and she took a breath. “What?”

  “Go.”

  Struck silent, she couldn’t move. His thoughts seemed closed off, shadowed by blinding anger.

  “Stay the fuck out of my head, Haley.”

  His venomous growl made her jolt, and the tears she’d held back surfaced, blurring her vision.

  “Is…is it because of Marybelle?”

  He slammed his fist on the desk, and she jumped.

  “If you already fucking knew, why did you ask?”

  The pure hatred in his voice stabbed into her and Haley clutched her chest. “What do you mean?” She gripped the collar of her jacket.

  “You thought if you played naïve long enough I’d tell you what she did?” He buried his face in his hands. “Fuck.”

  Chills ran under her skin, seeping through her body. Her voice came out cold and shaky. “What did she do?”

  Damian looked up, leaning on his elbows. “You said you knew?”

  Murderous thoughts raced through her mind, and she forced herself to breathe. “What happened?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing.”

  His dark expression tugged at her heart. Stay calm, stay calm. Whatever it was could remain hidden. She touched her fingertips to his face, grazing his overgrown facial hair. “It’s OK if you don’t want to tell me.”

  Damian shifted in his chair, staring down at his hands. “She just got into my head a little bit.” He rolled his shoulders as he sat back. “About us.”

  Panic flickered in her chest, and she held her arms around herself. “Our love is too strong for her to break.” She met his gaze, uncomfortably fragile. “Right?”

  He hesitated for a torturous second, then moved his hands to her knees. “Yeah.” He sighed as his muscles loosened. “I’ve been a prick.”

  “I should have come to you sooner. I knew something was different with us.”

  “It’s not your fault.” His hands crept under her coat. “You deserve so much fucking better than me.”

  “She really did climb into your head, didn’t she,” Haley mumbled as he grasped her naked hips.

  Damian lowered his gaze with a trace of a smile. “She has your handprint on her face.”

  Haley caught her bottom lip between her teeth. His handsome expression melted her. “Well, she had it…” She rolled her eyes. “Now she doesn’t really have a face.”

  He drew his brows together. “What did you say?”

  “You know, because…” She faltered. “Because Emily killed her yesterday. I thought… You didn’t know that?”

  His gaze wandered over her lap. “I heard they were rescued. I haven’t read the file yet.” He palmed his jawline. “Is she really fucking dead?”

  “Yes.” A smile broke across her lips. “Emily destroyed her.”

  He cleared his throat, thoughtful, then wrapped his arms around her. Enfolding her with raw power, he pressed his face between her breasts.

  She rested her lips on his head. “She won’t ever hurt you again.”

  Damian tightened his grip, and she relaxed in his suffocating hold. He clung to her a minute longer before he let go.

  He kissed along her breast and nudged his nose against her nipple. “You still love me? Even though I fucking bailed on you this week?”

  She tilted her head. “I am so in love with you.”

  He sat back. “You been sleeping OK without me there?”

  She gave a little shrug. Frantic thoughts had plagued her mind since her cousins had been abducted. Sleep had not been much of a priority.

  His jaw clenched. “I should have come home.”

  “You were going through something, too.”

  He folded his massive arms and glared at the desk. “I’ve been focused. We’re taking down Raden and his army by the end of next week.”

  Mention of Raden always sent a cold shock of fear through her. She set her emotions aside, her man had made it his personal mission to keep her safe.

  “What about Lucifer?”

  He took her hand and glided his thumb over each of her glossy nails. “He’s next. After I murder Raden.”

  His absent tone seemed slightly forced. Haley closed her fingers around his. “Are you sure you want to kill your father?”

  Damian shook his head. “He hasn’t left me a choice. I can’t let him live if he’s going to hurt you.”

  She lifted his hand and held it to her chest. Lowering her face, she kissed his rough knuckles. “You are a good man.”

  “No.” He took his hand away and dropped it in his lap. “I’m not.” His mind flashed a shadowy glimpse of Marybelle’s scarred face, and he abruptly changed his course of thought.

  A simmering wrath boiled inside her that she couldn’t ignore. She pursed her lips. “Did she touch you?”

  He kept his gaze trained on his desk with a stone expression.

  “No, never mind.” Haley pushed her hand into her hair. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

  “I didn’t fuck her.”

  She gripped her chest, and a breath rushed out of her. “OK.”

  Damian stood, and she raised her gaze as he towered over her.

  “It could have been a lot worse.” He tipped her chin upward. “I feel like shit about it because I hate being a helpless motherfucker.”

  She wiped away the tear falling down her cheek and hopped off the desk. Grasping his firm shoulders, she nestled her forehead against his throat. “You’re a warrior.”

  He gently circled her in his arms.

  She stood on her toes and caressed her lips across his ear. “I’m so lucky to be with you.”

  Damian grunted. His muscles flexed as he squeezed her tighter, increasing his grip until she could hardly breathe. He groaned deeply.

  Haley closed her eyes, bathed in dreamy emotions. “Are you coming home to me tonight?”

  “Yes.”

  Her heart came alive at his response. “Do you think you can come home right now?”

  Damian loosened his hold and pulled back from her. “I still gotta take care of a few things. Won’t take more than a couple hours, though.”

  She drew in the corner of her mouth with a nod. “I’ll have dinner ready when you get home.”

  He studied her features. “I’m sorry, angel.”

  “I understand.” Haley looked down and cinched her belt. “You really didn’t like my jacket?”

  “I was an asshole about it.” He played with the strip of black fabric around her waist. “But no, I don’t like that you’re wearing this in public.”

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  “Fuck-me shoes and a coat.” He sat down in his chair. “You gave a hard-on to every guy you passed in this fucking place.”

  She giggled. “You’re the only one who knows I’m not wearing anything under it.”

  He snatched his papers from the desk, silent.

  Haley rolled her eyes. He’d never turned her down before, and it stung, but it seemed as if he needed time to get his head straight after encountering the dark witch. “I’ll see you at home.”

  Damian paused his work and jerked her lapels closed. He fastened each button and tugged her belt tighter. “Go directly to your car.”

  She scoffed. “Seriously?”

  “The guys around here are desperate, chauvinist dicks.”

  “OK, baby.” She smiled and leaned forward. “I love you.” She’d meant to just give him a light kiss, but his lips felt so good. Opening her mouth, she ventured into his with her tongue and instantly ran wet between her legs. With a little groan, she backed off.

  “I lov
e you, too.” His voice had gone soft, and it sent a thrill of confidence through her.

  She missed his kinky games. Her thighs pressed together on their own as she straightened and she tried not to bite her lip, tasting it instead. “Hurry home.”

  He nodded. “Drive safe.”

  Oversexed and frustrated, Haley headed for the door. Fucking Marybelle was still antagonizing her from the grave.

  As she approached the elevator, a familiar voice shouted around the corner.

  “This is ridiculous.” Emily threw her hands up and walked away from the guard’s desk, her light blue eyes glistening with tears.

  Haley touched her arm. “Hey, what’s going on?”

  She sniffled. “They just took him away. It’s like Guantanamo in here.”

  “Took who away?”

  Emily looked toward the elevator. “He isn’t a monster.” She pulled her dark red locks over her shoulder, glancing down. “He doesn’t belong in there.”

  “You’re talking about…the bloodling who kidnapped you?”

  Emily frowned with a downward gaze and shrugged a shoulder. “I know how it looks, but he isn’t like his family.” She cleaned the tears from her cheeks. “I can’t just leave him there. They won’t even let me talk to him.”

  Hopefully she wasn’t suffering from Stockholm syndrome, but her cousin was a smart girl, and Haley had her own experience with a seductive captor.

  “Where is he exactly?”

  “The prison cells. But the elevator won’t let you go down there unless you have clearance.”

  “What about the stairs?”

  Emily’s gaze drifted toward the stairwell door. “I’m sure it’s guarded.”

  “Let’s give it a try.”

  “Really?” Emily clasped her chest. “Oh, thank you, Haley. I just need to make sure he’s OK.”

  When they reached the bottom of the staircase, they approached a metal door labeled Restricted Area. The guard’s station beside it appeared empty. A security camera hovered in the corner of the ceiling.

  Emily peered into a dark office behind the desk. “There’s no one here.” With shaking hands, she tried the door handle, but it didn’t budge. She tapped the scanner built into the wall. “We need an ID badge.”

  Haley checked her surroundings and breezed around the desk. Rifling through the drawers, she snagged a set of keys with a thick white card attached. Her heart pounded in her chest as she pressed the card to the scanner.

  The door buzzed, and heavy bolts rattled along the seam. Emily flashed her a wide-eyed look and wrenched the giant door open.

  Haley followed her through and closed the door. The locks slid back into place, and she held tightly to the keys. With unsure steps, they proceeded down the dark hall, illuminated by a single yellow light bulb at one end.

  As they rounded a corner, shrieking voices grew louder. Thick steel doors lined the walls.

  “It’s hard to focus on his energy with all these others around.” Emily shuddered as a growling voice blared a high-pitched sound behind a nearby door. “What are they doing to them?”

  Though Haley tried to silence them, the prisoners’ thoughts penetrated her mind, a jumble of emotions brought on by excruciating pain. Screams echoed all around, and she held her arms around herself as she walked. “Let’s keep moving.”

  Farther into the dungeon, the sparse lighting flickered.

  “He’s close,” Emily whispered. “I can feel him.” She changed course and headed down a cement staircase.

  “Hey!” A man in a guard’s uniform jogged in her direction and Haley slipped the keys into her pocket.

  “Ma’am, this is a restricted area.”

  “Oh.” She moved away from the staircase as Emily disappeared into the shadows. “Yes, I know. I’m Adam Hawthorne’s sister. He asked me to come down here.”

  “Nice try, kitten. Let’s go.” He caught her arm and yanked her beside him.

  Shit, shit, shit… She couldn’t abandon Emily in that horrible place.

  “I’m supposed to be here.” Haley made eye contact with him. “My name is Haley Hawthorne. Adam wanted me to check on one of the prisoners.”

  He scowled. “You want me to call him and check out that story of yours?”

  “Um…”

  “That’s what I thought.” He glanced from her breasts to her face. “Tell you what. How about if you let me see those big tits, I can forget you were here.”

  She stood openmouthed for a beat. “Uh, OK.”

  “Yeah?” He fingered her collar, shifting closer to her. “Let’s see ’em.”

  “Mm-hmm.” She searched her brain for a way out.

  “Come on, what you got under this?”

  “Donaldson.”

  Haley gasped at the male voice. The guard holding her looked toward the other man, and she inched backward.

  The other guard approached, focused on his blood-soaked hands as he wiped them with a dirty rag. “Pierce wants a shift change. I’m heading upstairs to take over for Nichols. Why aren’t you at your post?”

  She sneaked around the corner and rushed down the cement stairs.

  “What the fuck? Where’d she go?” Donaldson shouted.

  Slipping off her heels, she dashed to the other side of the corridor and ducked into the shadows. Beyond the screams of torment, she singled out Emily’s thoughts. She was in a cell nearby, speaking to a prisoner.

  “I’m calling the fuckin’ boss, bitch,” the guard hollered down the hall. “We’ll find your ass.”

  As he moseyed closer, she backed against the cold wall, hidden in the dark. Something wet grazed across her hand, and she jerked it away. She touched the sticky substance on her knuckles.

  “I don’t know, sir, she said her name was Haley Hawthorne.” The guard was on his phone. “That girl was all over me. Even offered to flash me her titties so I wouldn’t call you.”

  Oh, come on. Her brother didn’t need to hear that. Adam would be pissed at her, but at least they had accomplished what they’d gone there to do.

  The guard wandered down a separate hallway, and Haley held her stomach, sick from the rush of adrenaline. She drifted sideways along the wall and slippery fingers closed around her wrist.

  Covering her shriek, she stumbled away. Panic welled up inside as she squinted toward the darkness. Someone stared back at her with wild eyes. Iron shackles held his wrists and ankles against the wall and streaks of blood ran down his emaciated body.

  Haley rubbed her jittering hand on her jacket and the man’s blood smeared across her skin. She crept deeper into the hall, holding her shoes with a white-knuckle grip.

  Blocking out the awful noises, Haley focused on her cousin’s energy and headed toward it. She slowly opened a solid metal door that had been left ajar. A man, stripped naked, stood in front of Emily, his wrists bound by chains that hung from the ceiling. Fresh bruises and welts covered his scarred body.

  Haley slid her shoes onto her feet. “Emily? I’m sorry, we have to go.”

  Emily gave a little nod. Her hand moved to her throat as she swallowed. Shivering, she swayed toward the doorway with a vacant expression.

  Haley gently clasped her shoulder and led her out of the cell.

  “Get on the ground!” The perverted guard clenched a nightstick in his hand and pointed it in their direction as he advanced.

  The other guard joined him an instant later. “Jesus, Donaldson, there’s two of them.”

  “Shut up, I left the desk for one goddamn minute.” He glowered at Haley. “I said get on your fucking knees!”

  Emily began to lower herself to the ground, and Haley seized her wrist.

  “He told me to show him my tits earlier, I don’t think we should get on our knees.”

  “He’s gonna beat us to death with that thing.”

  The guard clamped onto Haley’s shoulder and worked to shove her down.

  Emily jumped forward and grabbed his collar. Golden light burst from her hands as she pushed h
im, and he wobbled backward.

  His confused look turned to violent rage, and he raised the baton.

  The other guard rushed in front of him. “Boss is here.”

  Damian walked up to them, and Haley’s heart lurched in her chest.

  “This one has powers, sir.” The guard jutted his finger toward Emily. “That must be how they got in here.”

  “Get back to work.”

  With a nod, the guard proceeded down the hall, and the other followed him.

  Emily stepped back and gripped Haley’s arm. “She was helping me.”

  Silent, Damian kept his jaw tightly closed.

  Emily shrank behind her. “It’s my fault.”

  Haley touched Emily’s fingers around her arm. “I thought that guard was on the phone with Adam.”

  Damian narrowed his eyes, lit with intensity. “Adam is in the medical wing because he was bitten by a prisoner.” He gestured toward the open cell door. “That prisoner.”

  Emily lowered her forehead to Haley’s shoulder. “Is Adam OK?”

  Crossing his arms, Damian nodded and glared at Haley.

  “Emily needed me.”

  “We’ll talk about it at home.”

  His venomous tone sent a shudder through her. She drifted after him as he headed toward the exit. Emily let go of her arm and walked beside her, clutching her hands together.

  They walked by the steel torture chambers, and Haley darted her gaze away from the splattered blood on the cement floor. A desperate scream tore through the air, rattling her core.

  “Why are they torturing them?”

  Damian didn’t answer and turned down the quieter hallway.

  She hurried forward and groped his abdomen, tugging on his shirt. “Why are they doing that?”

  “Not your concern, Haley.” Damian pulled his keys from his pocket as they approached the door. “How did you get in here?”

  Haley handed him the stolen keys. “Is it for information? Don’t you have mind readers?”

  He halted and gritted his teeth. “They’re monsters.”

  “They have feelings.”

  A hint of a smile lingered on his lips, and he scanned his card over the panel. “These ones are immune to mind readers.” He dropped the keys onto the guard’s desk as he passed.

  Donaldson looked up. “Thank you, sir.”

  Haley huddled closer to Damian, keeping pace with him. “And what about Emily’s man? Did you give him that beating?”