AMatterofLust by Lisa Fox Page A

laughed. He liked this woman. “I think I might be in
love with you,” he said, beginning the game. It was a line that had worked many
times before—the humans always seemed enchanted and amused by the concept, but
it was a hollow sentiment, something meant to elicit a grin and nothing more.
But as the words left his mouth, they felt different this time, almost as if
they had…weight.
    “Are you sure it’s love you feel?” she asked, a smile
dancing along the corners of her mouth. Her eyes flicked down to his crotch. “Or
something else entirely?”
    “Now I know I’m in love,” he replied, the lust coursing
through his veins. She was perfect. Fun. Bold. Smoking hot. And she was going
to be his. All night long. He reached out and traced the curve of her cheek
with his index finger. Her skin was flawless, warm and silky. “What’s your
name?”
    She paused and an odd little smile formed on her lips. “Does
it matter?”
    Normally it wouldn’t matter—in fact, there was no reason why
it should matter, but for some reason it did matter. It mattered a lot. “Yes.”
    Her smile changed, softened, and Trask was awestruck by just
how simply beautiful she was. “Rena. My name is Rena.”
    “Rena.” He liked the way it rolled off his tongue.
    “And what about you?” she asked, leaning closer to him. He
looked straight down into her very ample cleavage and took his time enjoying
that magnificent view. His fingers itched to caress that soft skin, to feel the
weight of her full, round breasts in his hands. “Do you have a name? Or should
I just call you the sexy Darkman of my dreams?”
    “I do like the sound of that.” He wondered if his presence
was affecting her, making her more daring than she’d normally be or if this was
just her nature. He had the power to inspire humans to say and do outrageous
things simply by standing beside them. His gaze touched on her flamboyant red
hair and he thought—hoped—that it was her and not a consequence of his
influence. “But Trask is so much shorter and to the point.”
    “Trask,” she said, and he had to admit, he liked the way his
name sounded on her lips. He couldn’t wait to hear her scream it. Her eyes
trailed over him, her gaze a provocative caress that sent hot, tingling ripples
down his spine. “So, now that you’ve declared your love, what happens next?”
    “Oh, you know, the usual.” He caught hold of a loose strand
of her hair and twined it around his fingers. The tension between them rocketed
up a few notches and he inhaled the essence of her arousal, breathing it deep
into his body, relishing the flavor of her. “A whirlwind romance, storybook
marriage, honeymoon in Paris.”
    “Followed swiftly by a quickie divorce in Mexico, right?”
    Her voice was tinged with unmistakable venom and the
bitterness sliced through the hazy, plush cloud of their lust. Startled by the
mental slap in the face, Trask dropped his hand back to his side. Darkness
deepened around him as anger settled in. He did not like this turn of events at
all. “What makes you think I’d do anything quick with you?”
    “I see,” she said, and he watched her features soften as her
mood shifted. Humans were so extraordinarily complex. He didn’t think he’d ever
understand their ability to feel so much, so quickly and thoroughly, even when
those emotions were completely contradictory. Demons were defined by their
desires, embodiments of the thing they hungered after. There was never a reason
for a demon to feel anything more than his driving need. Everything else just
got in the way of the goal.
    Her bitterness ebbed away, gone almost as quickly as it had
come, and she favored him with a dazzling, flirtatious smile. “You’re a
slow-and-steady kind of guy then?”
    “Oh yes,” he said, returning her grin. “And I always win in
the end.”
    She laughed, a lovely, musical sound that tugged at his
insides. She leaned into him, a whisper of space between them and he could