Just like that, Cresso snapped out of sleep. He blinked until his darkened room came into focus, then sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Damn it. Shit.”
He couldn’t believe that had happened. He’d dreamscaped with Genevieve. Not just that, but now he knew her treatment of him masked a far deeper issue than simple dislike of him. In fact, she liked him far more than she cared to.
No bones about it, she’d been through a lot. He’d never had a serious relationship, but now that he’d fallen for Genevieve, he could only imagine how painful it would be to witness a loved one’s infidelity. In a way she was right to be cautious, but if she didn’t ever give anyone a chance, she’d end up alone. That would be a travesty.
Maybe if he could somehow convince her he’d be true to her—that he’d never stray—he might actually stand a chance.
Chapter Five
When the alarm clock beside Genevieve’s borrowed bed went off at 6:30 a.m., she rolled over and smacked it until it quieted. Even though she’d slept six hours, she didn’t feel rested at all.
Damn that sexy incubus. It’s all his fault.
She grumpily thumped at the feather pillow her head rested on. Even though she’d expected to have nightmares about her stalker, the majority of her dreams had been about Cresso instead. The first dream had been the strangest. Somehow he’d ended up smack-dab in the middle of her recurring nightmare about Jeffrey the Asshole Ex. Normally she would have passed it off as the natural result of being forced to spend a night here, with Cresso’s luxurious, spicy scent surrounding her. But the fact that he’d been trying to convince her of his fidelity was beyond strange.
As if she would ever buy that.
At least the remainder of her dreams had been of the old-fashioned down-and-dirty variety. Man, if Cresso could make love half as good in real life as he did in her dreams, she’d be one happy girl.
Not that she’d ever find out, of course.
I wonder if he snuck those two sluts into his room after I went to bed last night?
Well, that thought was enough to ruin her day. She crawled out of bed and hopped into the shower. When she was done, she dressed and twisted her hair into a tight bun and dressed in a blouse and conservative pair of slacks. There. Now, with the addition of her glasses, she looked about as unsexy as could be. Perfect for letting Cresso know she wasn’t romantically interested in him. But moments later, when she found him in the kitchen, his heated look left her with the uncomfortable feeling he knew exactly what she’d dreamt of last night.
Impossible.
“Mornin’. You look nice.”
Damn it, why did he have to say that, when she’d gone to such an effort to not look nice? And he was breathtaking this morning, dressed in charcoal gray slacks and a striped dress shirt. She couldn’t help but recall some of the naughty things she’d envisioned in her dreams. Her cheeks flared with heat.
Cresso’s gaze lingered on her while he lifted his cup of coffee for a sip.
Genevieve realized she hadn’t responded, so she gave him a noncommittal grunt and headed to the coffee pot. She poured some into the cup that rested next to the coffeemaker and took a sip of the bitter black brew. “Whew, this is strong.”
“I usually need a kick start in the morning.”
Yeah, she’d bet. More often than not, he was probably exhausted from the prior night’s bed play with his countless lovers. In fact, that might even be the case this morning. “Must be hard having to pleasure more than one woman at a time.”
Oh God, had she actually said that out loud?
The shuttered look he gave her made her squirm. “I’m not really as bad as all that.”
Well, she’d started it. Might as well go all out. “Right. Next you’re going to tell me you never slept with those two succubi who dropped by last night.”
When his mouth pressed into a tight line and he glanced away, she had her answer. She inwardly cursed when her stomach dropped. Why the hell was she so disappointed? She’d known for a fact the answer was yes. As a matter of fact, Jeffrey could probably take lessons in sluttishness from Cresso. That was why the things she dreamt about between her and Cresso were never going to happen. When it came to men like him, that old adage “Once bitten, twice shy” most definitely applied.
Genevieve took a seat across from Cresso at the small table and made a show of examining the kitchen. Anything to avoid looking at his heart-stopping face. The room was long and narrow, with cabinets made of polished espresso wood. Behind the flat ceramic stove was a stainless steel backsplash. Both were as clean and sterile as her laboratory. But then, of course, the man didn’t need to eat. “Nice kitchen.”
“How much do you know about sex demons?”
His quiet tone startled her into meeting his gaze. “Um…what do you mean?”
Cresso set down his coffee cup and toyed with the rim. “Did you know that succubi vastly outnumber incubi?”
The sudden change of topic was confusing, but she had to admit she’d been curious about his species. “I heard that, but I never learned why.”
“When a succubus gives birth, if her child is female she is born a full-blooded succubus. But if the mother bears a male, he takes on his father’s characteristics. Historically incubi have only been able to produce offspring with succubi, so the only incubi born are the male byproducts of a succubus-incubus union.”
Interesting. But why was he sharing this now?
His meaning suddenly hit her. “You’re telling me that it’s natural for incubi to have multiple lovers, because there are so many more succubi than incubi?”
His cheeks reddened but he didn’t glance away. “I’m merely explaining to you how the species works. Until recently, sex demons could only safely mate with one another. Which meant that, if you wanted to avoid unnecessary deaths, there was bound to be disparity.”
She plunked her coffee cup on the table. “Thank God for you, then. If it weren’t for the power of your mighty wang, a lot of innocent men might have died, huh?”
Some unidentifiable emotion darkened his eyes. He stood abruptly. “It’s getting late. We should go.”
Only once he’d gone did it hit her how harsh she’d been. She laid her elbows on the table and lifted her glasses so she could rub her eyes. The truth was, everything he’d told her had made sense. If there were that many more succubi than incubi, and since they needed sex to feed, then doubling up—or tripling, or quadrupling—made the most practical sense. She’d let her stupid anger over the past color her emotions, and that was unfair to Cresso. While he certainly wasn’t boyfriend material, he seemed like a decent-enough man.
And he’s helping you, letting you sleep in his house for God’s sake, when he’d very well be justified in throwing you out and leaving you to fend for yourself.
She shouldn’t forget that.
Cresso waited for her at the door, briefcase in hand. He wore a cool, detached expression, and she couldn’t blame him.
They walked down to his car in tense silence. Only when they were on the road did she work up the courage to apologize. “Listen, what I said back there—”
“Forget it.”
“No.” She glanced at him. “That was totally unfair of me, and I have to be honest, a lot of it had nothing to do with you. I’ve… Someone’s burned me in the past, and I took it out on you, when you’ve only been kind and helpful to me. I’m sorry.”
The tightness in his jaw eased. He took his left hand off the steering wheel and closed it over hers, squeezing briefly. “Apology accepted.”
When he made no move to draw his hand away, she didn’t protest. Honestly, it felt nice, and she’d gone far too long without genuine contact.
She snuck a peek in his direction. Maybe this stalker thing wasn’t all bad.
…
Everyone was a suspect. From Will to the maintenance man to every single scientist in this damned building. Cresso looked at them all differently today. Even Dr. Andrews, the man who headed the labora
tory, broke out into a silly grin whenever he saw Genevieve. He’d bet his left nut the doctor had a thing for her.
Or maybe he was projecting his feelings onto every other male here. Hell, he couldn’t even tell anymore.
Instead of working, Cresso dropped Genevieve off at her lab with instructions to have him paged if she needed him, and then went down to the third floor to question Dr. Benedict. The man’s elderly appearance might fool some people into believing he was harmless, but Cresso knew better. He was a shifter. Fast. Strong. Potentially very dangerous.
Dr. Benedict wasn’t in his office, and Cresso didn’t know enough about the man’s work habits to know whether that was normal or not. So he headed across the hall to Dr. Summers’s office and knocked on her door.
“Come in.” She looked up as he entered, and the harried expression cleared off her face. She simpered at him, absently playing with the buttons on her lab coat. “Oh, Dr. Taylor. What a pleasant surprise.”
He’d almost forgotten that Dr. Summers had a bit of a crush on him. She was certainly attractive enough. Though she appeared to be in her midforties and her hair was a mousy brown, it was sprinkled with pretty golden highlights that matched the threads of gold in her eyes, and her smile lit up the room. Before he’d invented the sex-demon vaccine, he’d indulged in a fantasy or two about her.
But she was no Genevieve. He always came back to that.
“Dr. Summers, do you know what time Dr. Benedict usually arrives?”
“It varies. Sometimes he doesn’t come in until the afternoon, and then he’ll end up staying half the night.” She frowned. “An odd one, that man.”
Yes, but how odd? Strange enough to terrorize an innocent woman? He was going to find out.
“Thank you.”
He turned to leave.
“Wait.” When he paused, she twirled a lock of hair between her fingers and gave him an inviting smile. “I thought you might want to take a look at my latest study. I’m recreating the—”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m afraid I’m in a bit of a rush.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “Another time, maybe.”
Cresso fought back his guilt at her crestfallen expression. Perhaps he should have told her in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t interested, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so he just left. He took the lift to the fifth floor and paused in front of the window looking into Genevieve’s lab. She was standing at her counter, mixing chemicals into several beakers. Her nose wrinkled in concentration when she paused to jot down some notes on her pad. Damn, he loved it when she looked like that.
When the muscles in his face contracted into a smile, he didn’t fight it. After he’d fallen back asleep last night, he’d ended up dreamscaping with Genevieve again. But that time she hadn’t fought him, or hell, even spoken. She’d merely pulled him to her and given him a passionate kiss that fired off all his nerve endings. Just thinking about it now, and about the other things they’d done in their dreams, made him grow hard. His stomach rumbled at the thought of feeding on her essence. The woman would be like a wildfire, burning hot and bright for him.
After last night, he now knew one thing. Genevieve might profess to dislike him, but there was no mistaking her attraction. She wanted him, even though she didn’t like it.
He could work with that.
If only he could confess that ever since the holiday party, he’d been going through the motions. That he’d fallen in love with her. That he’d gladly give up all other women forever if he could have her instead. But he knew to not even bother. She would never believe him.
He’d have to find a way to show her instead.
And then what? You’re still not good enough for her. Never will be, that tiny voice inside his head told him. It was true. He’d killed before, however unwittingly. He was still a byproduct of his genes—a death-dealer.
Genevieve was pure, fresh, while he…was not.
Maybe he’d be better off just leaving her the hell alone, especially considering his pressing need to feed. Trying to romance Genevieve while feeding off other women would only prove to her that he was exactly like her ex-fiancé.
If only he had another option, but he didn’t. He needed sex to live.
“Dr. Taylor, just the man I was looking for.”
The sound of Dr. Andrews’s voice startled him out of his quiet reflection. He crossed his shaky hands in front of him, trying to mask his all-too-obvious hard-on as he faced the tall, gaunt doctor who somewhat resembled a scarecrow. “Morning, Dr. Andrews.”
“I need to speak with you about a few matters.” Dr. Andrews motioned down the hall. “Why don’t we step into your office?”
Cresso frowned and glanced back into Genevieve’s lab. “Could this possibly wait? I’m working on a pressing matter.”
Dr. Andrews gave him a sympathetic shake of the head. “I’m afraid not, but I’ll take up as little of your time as possible.”
Shit. It would do no good to protest. The man wasn’t head scientist for nothing. He could be very insistent when he wanted to. At least Cresso could use this opportunity to probe Dr. Andrews. Cresso doubted he was the stalker, but it would be wise to examine all possibilities.
Cresso took a resigned breath. “Lead the way.”
…
By some miracle, Genevieve managed to lose herself in her research. When she heard the knock on her door, she assumed it was Cresso. “Come in.”
The door opened and footsteps sounded along the floor.
“I think I’m really close with this batch,” she said when the figure stopped right beside her.
“That’s excellent news.”
The nasally voice with a slight lisp most definitely did not belong to Cresso. Her heart banged against her rib cage. Genevieve shot up and pedaled backward. “Dr. Benedict!”
He gave her a predatory smile and smoothed back his thinning gray hair. “Didn’t mean to startle you, my dear. Just dropping by with that research I wanted you to see.”
When he set his clipboard on the counter, Genevieve took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She couldn’t lose her cool every time she had to deal with someone, even if she did fear he might be her stalker. “Th-thank you. Maybe I can take a look later?”
“Of course.” Dr. Benedict made a show of examining her face. “Are you sure you’re okay, dear? Your skin still looks rather flushed.”
His words made her flesh prickle with foreboding. “My…skin?”
“Yes. I do hope you’re not coming down with something.”
He moved a few inches closer, and his tongue flicked against his lips. The overhead lighting caught his eyes, causing his pupils to dilate into little slits. At that moment, he very much resembled the snake he could shift into.
And snakes shed their skin.
Maybe her stalker showered her with skinned animals because he was accustomed to molting his own.
Her heart pumped with painful intensity as she shrank farther away. Where the hell was Cresso? Somehow she’d expected him to be hanging out by her door, ready to rush to her rescue.
If only she had a scalpel or syringe somewhere within reach, but there was nothing. Of course, if she could get to the microscope, she could always use it to bash him over the head.
“Perhaps it’s a winter chill.” He shook his head with a grin. “That would be a shame.”
“I…I’m sure I’m fine.”
“No, that wouldn’t do,” he continued on as if he hadn’t heard her. “Could cause you to miss out on work. Here. I have something for you.”
When he reached into the pocket of his long lab coat, Genevieve’s breath came out in harsh gasps. Hell, she was dangerously close to hyperventilating. Maybe it was a knife, or something even worse.
He removed the object just as the door swung open. Cresso flew in with a hoarse yell that made both Dr. Benedict and her jump. The thing in Dr. Benedict’s hand fell to the ground.
“Get the hell away from her!”
Cresso rushed at Dr. Benedict and grabbed him by the lapels of his lab coat.
Dr. Benedict gave a surprised hiss. “What is going on here?”
Cresso swung Dr. Benedict around and shoved him up against the wall. It was then that Genevieve got a good look at what he’d been about to hand her.
“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” Cresso muttered in a deep voice that sent shivers up her spine. “What did you think you were going to do, huh? Did you—”
“Wait!”
Cresso frowned and took his eyes off the terrified-looking Dr. Benedict long enough to bark, “What?”
She bit the inside of her cheek to hold back the laugh that threatened to bubble out. Bending down, she picked up the packet and held it up so Cresso could see. “Dr. Benedict thought I might be getting sick. He was about to offer me a packet of herbal tea.”
Cresso didn’t move for a long moment. Then the look of rage on his face receded and was replaced with obvious embarrassment. He let go of Dr. Benedict. “Oh. Sorry about that.”
“Yes, well…” Dr. Benedict stepped back toward the door on shaky legs. “You keep that, dear.” He turned and fled, muttering something about crazy kids.
Once he’d gone, Genevieve covered her mouth with her hand and let the laughter loose. “Poor Dr. Benedict. Almost killed for offering me tea.”
His mouth tight, Cresso glanced toward the door. “Don’t be so quick to dismiss him. Just because he didn’t intend to cause you harm at this very moment doesn’t mean that he’s harmless. Don’t forget—he’s a shifter. He could crush you with a single blow.”
Cresso was right. Not only that, but Dr. Benedict had mentioned her skin yet again. He seemed strangely fixated on it…just like her stalker. She’d be wise to remember that.
Genevieve dropped her hands to her sides, feeling suddenly shy. “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”
Cresso cleared his throat. “I would’ve been here sooner, but Dr. Andrews cornered me in my offi—”
The building’s speaker system came on, cutting him off in midsentence. “Paging Dr. Taylor,” Will’s voice said. “Please contact the security desk. Dr. Taylor, please contact security.”
Heart of the Incubus Page 6
