Demonized by Naomi Clark Read Free Book Online Page B

this.”
    “Normally that’s true,” Moss agreed. “The incubi and succubi guard the portals to the human realm against other demons in exchange for regular access to feed. The Lich Lords would rather have the odd sex demon up here than a whole hoard of malebranches.”
    “So what’s your deal?” I persisted, curious.
    “This town has no Lich Lord. It’s too small. No portals, very few ghosts or other Pale World creatures. So there’s nobody to send me home again.” Moss sounded very pleased with himself. “I can feed as often as I want without killing, drawing no attention to myself from other demons or undead creatures. It’s the perfect set-up.”
    “Or it was, until your girls started showing up dead,” I finished for him.
    “One girl,” he corrected.
    “You know much about Rhian? Talk to her at all?”
    He ran his hands over the arms of the chair, staring into space. I realized he was about to lie to me. “No.”
    “No, you didn’t know her?”
    “Exactly.”
    “Did you fuck her?”
    He started at that, looking guilty. That surprised me. He was an incubus, for fuck’s sake. Of course he slept with his girls. “Did you fuck her while she was still with her fiancé?” I pushed. “Lure her away from him with a few sweet words and sexy smiles?”
    “She came to me willingly. I am not a rapist, Banning,” he said stiffly.
    “I never said you were. You don’t need to be, do you?” I pointed out. “What girl is going to say no to you, if you set your sights on her?”
    He stood and moved back to his own seat, putting the desk between us like a defensive barrier. Why was he so uncomfortable all of a sudden? He’d just pretty much given me his life story. Why clam up now ?
    “Why don’t you tell me how you met Rhian?” I asked. I had a theory about Moss and his girls, and why a good girl like Rhian would give up everything to come wrap herself around his pole. No pun intended. “Tell me why a classy woman like that decided to come be a stripper.”
    “We met through mutual friends, actually. Her obnoxious fiancé’s bank was holding their Christmas party at a restaurant I frequent.” Moss drummed his fingers on the desk, eyes gleaming as he reminisced. “She was a pretty little thing. She wore this white dress…” He made a few gestures to convey how well the dress had fitted her. “Innocent, but dying to be corrupted. Her fiancé kept her on a short leash.”
    I could imagine that. “So you took it upon yourself to corrupt her?”
    He shrugged. “Not immediately. But our paths crossed again, and it became clear that Rhian was unhappy with her current situation.”
    “She tell you that?” I tried to imagine her confiding in Moss over coffee and cake and failed to make the picture work.
    He nodded. “Familiarity breeds contempt. She’d been with Baxter too long, but didn’t know how to escape.”
    “And you said, what? Come and strip for me? Try being a hooker and get your kicks that way?”
    He frowned, shaking his head. “I never encourage any of my girls to prostitute themselves.”
    No, but I bet most of them did . I bet most of them, after their one night with Moss, would try anything and go anywhere, to try and recreate the thrill of sleeping with a sex demon. If my theory was right, I figured I had nothing to lose by asking him. “So here’s how I think it went. Poor, little Rhian’s bored with Baxter, so she sleeps with you. You being an incubus, the sex is pretty special, so then she gets obsessed, right? Baxter’s not good enough anymore, so she comes to you begging for one more night. You say, sure, if she’s willing to work in the club. Then you don’t sleep with her again, so she turns to hooking out of desperation. Am I wrong?”
    He sighed, steepling his fingers and peering at me over the tips. “Close enough. We did sleep together and she did become obsessed.” He shrugged. “And yes, I offered her a job here when she came begging. Obsession is as good