Rylie Cruz 3 - How to Date a Demon (2 page)

After a couple seconds, she stuffed
the paperback under her arm, flipped her auburn hair with her free
hand and waltzed back toward her new fiancé’s apartment—Phil, the
creepiest neighbor I’d ever had, by the way. I still hadn’t figured
out what type of paranormal creature he was. Although people
considered him human if seen walking down the street, I knew he
wasn’t. Nothing that vile could be human.

Lily and Phil were the perfect couple.
I’d missed my mark when I hadn’t fixed those two up right away. I
expected to see a little Lily and Phil any month. The thought made
my stomach hurt. The worst part was I’d been suckered into being
Lily’s maid of honor at her upcoming wedding. I really needed to
learn how to say no. I could only imagine what kind of hideous
dress she’d stick me in.

Lily disappeared into the apartment as
I stood studying the surroundings. My apartment was in the middle
of the French Quarter and I saw all the action. Most of the time,
it was more than I wanted to see, but tonight all was quiet after
Jennifer’s scene—almost eerily silent. I couldn’t believe Stephen
had left so easily, but I was glad that he had. Police or not, I
wouldn’t let him harm my friend. He’d played with her heart
enough.

As I stared out the window, a knock
sounded against the front door. I jumped and clutched my chest. My
nerves were in a constant state of edginess as of late. Things had
settled down somewhat, but as usual, I waited for the paranormal
ball to drop. I moved away from the window and leaned my back
against the wall.

I wasn’t expecting anyone and somehow
I doubted it was a Jehovah’s Witness or Girl Scout. Jack was out
with some of his new vampire buddies, so I wasn’t looking for him
either. A big lifestyle change for him, but he was adjusting. When
I’d met Jack, he had been just a shy psychiatrist. Maybe that
sounded nerdy, but he was far from it.

My uncle Ernie had caused a lot of
problems for me recently, but he had returned the vampire leader’s
valuables, so I expected the vampires to leave us alone now. Had
Uncle Ernie done something else? I hoped not. He’d gone on a
vacation to Fort Lauderdale. He said he liked the way the moon
shone on the water. It added to the werewolf experience, he said.
Whatever… as long as he was out of my hair.

I needed a weapon. Sure, my teeth and
claws were weapons, but I really didn’t want to get all furry
tonight. My heart rate increased as I moved toward the door. The
last thing I needed was a fight.

As I stepped to the side, my back met
with the fireplace mantel. I looked down, spotted the poker and
grabbed it. The cold metal in my hand made the adrenaline pump
through my veins even harder. The dirtbag at my door would get a
whack to the balls if he tried any funny business. I held the poker
high above my head, then eased over to the door and leaned in
close. I took in a deep breath, then released it, steadying myself
for a fight.

“
Who’s there?” I demanded in
my best badass voice.

“
Open up. It’s your favorite
vampire.”

Maybe it was my imagination, but Jack
seemed bolder since becoming a paranormal. In the past, he’d had a
shy quality. Not that I cared, it was just different and took
getting used to. Maybe the difference was from hanging out with his
new friends. Heck, perhaps his new vampire status really gave him
the character boost.

I unlocked the door and opened it.
“What are you doing here?” I lowered the poker.

Jack stood in front of me, looking as
gorgeous as ever. His blond tousled hair made me want to reach out
and run my fingers through it right there. I’d have loved to mess
it up even more. He wore a crisp white shirt with the sleeves
rolled up, exposing his muscular forearms, and khaki pants that
stretched across his thighs perfectly. His blue eyes sparkled under
the hall light.

“
Is that any way to greet
me?” He grinned and looked at the poker still clutched in my
hand.

“
I thought you might be an
intruder.” I propped the iron stick against the wall. Jack, of all
people, knew I had to keep my guard up at all times.

“
Looks like I almost got
whacked with that.”

A tingle spread through me the moment
he smiled. Perfect white teeth and dimples were a lethal
combination as far as I was concerned. Jack lived across the hall
from me, which made it easy to make unannounced visits. But I
wasn’t complaining. What girl would complain with a piece of yummy
like him standing in front of her?

Jack and I had only recently taken our
relationship to the next level. I’d been surprised when he stuck
with me after I got him turned into a vampire. That could be a real
relationship killer. It sucked—pun intended. He’d been fighting off
vampires for me when one sank his fangs into Jack’s neck. At first
he had been what they called a ‘living vampire.’ He was kind of
stuck in between the human world and vampire world. But after
another battle, he had been turned into a full-fledged vampire.
See, I was constantly getting him into trouble.

We were an odd couple, to say the
least. A werewolf and a vampire—a match made in heaven? At least we
knew what we wanted for dinner on our dates—meat, meat, and more
meat. His always rare, of course. We’d just gotten over the hurdle
of Jack accepting my werewolf status, then the living dead fiasco
hit.

“
I’m sorry.” I smiled. “I
just thought you’d be out late.”

“
I’d rather see you, so I
left early.” He flashed his wide grin again. “A bunch of guys
sitting around watching sports while chugging cheap blood or
spending time with my gorgeous girlfriend. Not a tough
decision.”

“
And they didn’t give you a
hard time about that decision?” I quirked an eyebrow.

“
Doesn’t matter.” He reached
forward and grabbed me by the waist, then scooped me up and
deposited me into the hall. He closed my apartment door with one
fluid motion.

“
What are you doing?” I
giggled.

Typically, I wasn’t the giggling type,
but he brought that out in me.

“
Kidnapping you.” He wiggled
his eyebrows.

I looked down at my pink sweatpants
and white T-shirt. Not the best outfit for a romantic rendezvous.
Jack grabbed me again and carried me toward his front
door.

“
What about locking the
door? Jennifer’s in there sleeping.” I adjusted my grip around
Jack’s neck. I felt like Scarlett O’Hara. Well, if there was a
paranormal version of Gone with the Wind.

“
We’ll lock it in a minute.
She’ll be okay. I can hear everything anyway. If someone goes near
that door, I’ll hear it and be over there in a flash. Remember my
new supersonic hearing?” He smiled.

Yeah. How could I forget? He
practically read my thoughts now. Something I wasn’t happy about,
but he seemed really pleased with his new talents.

Jack kicked open his door, closed it
with his foot, and then whisked me across the threshold toward his
bedroom. His apartment was set up just like mine, but reversed.
Like a mirror image. The living room was to our right, dining room
and kitchen to the left, then hallway that led to the bedrooms. The
lights were off, but lit candles flickered across the apartment,
guiding our way. It looked as if he’d planned this little meeting.
He kicked open the bedroom door and carried me across the room.
When we neared his bed, he lowered me and my feet hit the floor. I
wanted to ask what he’d been drinking, but I didn’t. I’d just enjoy
the spontaneous moment, no matter how anxious it made me
feel.

Jack stood in front of me and ran his
finger along my cheek. “You look beautiful. Your eyes. Your skin.
Your hair. Your body,” he whispered.

His touch sucked the air right out of
my lungs. I didn’t utter a word. Instead, I gazed into his gorgeous
blue eyes. It wasn’t often I was left speechless, but Jack did it
to me often.

Jack caressed my arms and traced the
outline of my stomach and hips with his fingertips until he came
back to a stop at my waist. He lifted the hem of my T-shirt and
slipped it over my head. My gaze was fixed on his as I followed his
lead and unbuttoned his shirt, then tossed it across the floor. He
chuckled, then pulled me closer and continued to run his hands down
my bare skin—starting at my cheeks and stopping at my butt, only to
bring his hands back up to my chest. My heart thumped wildly. Jack
caressed my breasts and I longed to have his mouth on
mine.

My hands rested in his hair as he
teased my nipple with his thumb. I inhaled his spicy scent and
closed my eyes to savor each delicious moment. He pressed his open
mouth to my lips and I welcomed his tongue with mine. My hands
moved to his hard chest and I traced his nipples with my fingers.
The urge to lick his chest and outline his six-pack with my tongue
overwhelmed me. I opened my eyes and looked at him, then hesitated
with my fingertips on his hard abs. All of this was still new to
me—all of this, meaning his body. Plus, it had been a long time
since I’d been with anyone until I’d met Jack. It took a while for
me to accept that all of this was real. In the back of my mind I
was waiting for the curse to return... for it to take Jack away
from me. The voice in my head told me not to get too involved.
Apparently, I wasn’t listening to that voice.

Jack pressed his hips harder against
mine and I let out a soft moan. My boyfriend the vampire. Who’d a
thunk it? Heck, I couldn’t believe I had a boyfriend, much less
that I was having sex with him. Jack slid his hands down to my
pants and eased them to the floor. Then he slipped my panties off
and tossed them across the floor somewhere near his shirt. Clothing
littered the floor—for a brief moment my obsessive compulsive
disorder took over and I wanted to pick them up. Yeah, I had a few
minor issues. But then Jack’s hands touching my skin made me
mentally say to heck with the clothing.

Jack lifted me up and I wrapped my
legs around his waist. My heavy breathing increased as he carried
me to the bed and eased me down. The sheets were soft and felt cool
against my hot skin. Jack’s touch made my skin sizzle.

Jack climbed onto the bed and the soft
light from the window shone across his face, highlighting his
chiseled features. I ran my hands through his thick hair again. My
gaze was now fixed on his full lips. I needed another kiss and
wanted to feel him pressed close to me.

“
I have to say, this was
unexpected. You surprised me,” I said.

“
I wanted to show you I can
be spontaneous.” He planted several feathery kisses on my
neck.

I smiled. “You succeeded.”

“
Are you disappointed?” He
stroked my hair.

“
No. No. I’m far from
disappointed.” I shook my head.

“
I was hoping you’d say
that.”

Jack eased closer to me. Then a scream
rang out. Not just any scream, but a blood-curdling scream. One
that I recognized… it was Jennifer.

How to Date a Demon, Rule
#3

Always tell your date how
hot they look.

I grabbed my pants and shirt from the
floor and jumped into them as I made my way down the hall. Why did
the emergencies always happen when I had not a stitch of clothing
on my body? Wasn’t that the way it always worked?

Jack and I ran back to my apartment.
The door was wide open. I knew I should have insisted that we lock
it. My heart thumped in my chest and I feared the worst. Who had
broken in this time? The vampires, the werewolves or something even
worse? Jack made it to Jennifer’s bedroom door in record time and I
wasn’t far behind him.

“
Get away from her,” Jack
said as he stormed into the room.

Stephen stood beside Jennifer’s bed.
She had the covers pulled up close to her as if that would fend him
off. Jack moved toward Stephen, closing the distance in one giant
step. But before anything drastic could happen, I ran behind him
and grabbed his arm. Stephen exposed his fangs. So he was the big
bad vampire now trying to scare people with his fangs? Well, Jack
had them too and I had claws, so I was sure we could handle his
little baby teeth. Stephen hissed as if the sound effects made him
scarier. I knew I hadn’t liked that guy from the
beginning.

The three of us stood in a showdown
until Stephen shifted his gaze and said, “I’m not here to harm her
in any way. I just want to talk with Jennifer. She has to listen to
me.”

“
I don’t have to do
anything,” Jennifer said.

I gave Stephen a mocking smile. “You
heard her. Now I think it’s time you take your bullying vampire
butt and get the heck out of here before we have to show you out
the hard way.”

Stephen glared at me as if he was
willing me to disappear. Clearly, he wasn’t thrilled with my
statement. Well, that was just tough. I wasn’t happy with the fact
that he was harassing my best friend. Technically, I guessed I
should be a little nicer to him considering I was the reason he was
a vampire in the first place, but I couldn’t excuse the fact that
he had been playing games with Jennifer. I felt sorry for his wife.
Did she know Stephen was a vampire now? There was no way that he
would be able to hide it. I wondered how he’d explained his being
turned to her.