DemonicPersuasion by Kim Knox Read Free Book Online Page A

her back and urged her forward. “I
sort out this mess.”
    “How?”
    A panel scanned him and a door opened in the blankness of
the wall. He pushed her through and she found herself in a corridor leading to
a wide room. A vast window looked down onto the city, the weaving traffic a
flow of brilliant light against the living blocks and jagged crystal peaks.
    With the filtered air of his apartment and shielding
deadening the noise of the outside world, Fade could forget for a moment why
she was in his space.
    Foster shrugged off his coat and threw it over the back of
the nearest chair. In the low light, the shine of the weapon strapped to his
body tightened her nerves. She wasn’t in his home because he wanted her there.
She was hiding out.
    “The bathroom’s through there.” He pointed down a corridor.
“Wash.”
    “I just—”
    “Wash.” His dark gaze narrowed on her and she shivered. His
anger was almost palpable. “Now.”
    Fade pressed her lips together, turned and headed down the
narrow corridor. She didn’t look back. No doubt Foster would be cursing her.
The door opened before her to a brightly lit, stone-lined room and closed just
as softly behind her. She fell back against the door and scrubbed her face with
both hands. What little fantasy she could have about Foster had been crushed.
    She pushed out a hot breath and tugged at her jacket. She
stripped the rest of her clothes quickly, hanging them on hooks. Her image
caught in a mirror and Fade stared at a stranger with tangled hair and bruises
and bites staining pale skin. Her fingers skimmed the bite on her shoulder and
she hissed against the pain.
    The memory of what she had done, what Athanasios had shared
with her chased the pain through her skin with heat. What did the creature want
with her? Her and Foster?
    She stepped into the wide square and waved her hand. Warm
water splashed across her body and she gasped, her fingers rubbing against her
skin to form lather. Mint and eucalyptus surrounded her. She breathed them in,
the scents pure Foster, and her eyes burned. She fought back the sudden tears,
her throat and chest tight. She’d screwed everything up. Everything.
    Waving off the water, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it
around her body. Nerves cramped her gut. She didn’t want to face Foster. He’d
caught her with two men, watched her come…and told her to wash it all off her
body.
    A rough laugh broke from her. Had she imagined his interest?
Had it been something she’d constructed, something to hang on to as her life
went completely to shit?
    Fade gripped the sink she stood before, the mirror
reflecting the flush to her skin. At least Athanasios had left her alone whilst
she showered. She could imagine Foster’s disgust at hearing her moans of
pleasure.
    Fade closed her eyes and denied more tears. A sob almost
escaped as a hot mouth kissed her shoulder. “ Athanasios… ” A warm, male
body surrounded her, his arms against hers, his chest hard to her spine. “ I
don’t think… ” Her thoughts trailed away. It wasn’t the feel of bare skin,
but smooth, warm fabric and the scent surrounding her was still pure mint and
eucalyptus. Not a hint of coal.
    Her eyes shot open and she stared in the mirror at the man
behind her. “Foster?”
    He didn’t smile, offered her no warmth, but the dark heat in
his eyes caught her breath. “You belong to me. Not them. Not… it .” He
licked a droplet of water from the line of her shoulder. “Me.”
    He tugged her towel free and let it fall to the floor, his
fingers trailing down her spine. His bare fingers. Fade’s eyes flickered shut
at the illicit sensation of his fingertips on her skin.
    “Eyes open.” His words were a low growl against the shell of
her ear. “You want this? You watch.”
    Fade had to obey and met his gaze in the mirror. The
darkness she found there was something from her fantasies and she bit her lip as
he grazed the bite on her shoulder.
    “Did you enjoy