Dance with the Devil Read online

  "Yes," the devil said with another swipe of tongue on teeth. "I know. But only by a few, and only for a little while."

  20

  There was a balloon arch.

  A fucking arch. Made of balloons. They had her stand beneath and take pictures with the booksellers and bloggers, and they ran off the prints immediately so she could sign them.

  This was her life, all the devil's doing, and it made Kathleen want to die.

  She'd sent in the book. Her editor had turned it around in two weeks, revisions so minor they'd be taken care of in the final galley stage. The praise had been overwhelming.

  "It is, quite simply, the best book I have ever read," her editor had said on the phone. She'd sounded stunned. Reverent. "There's nothing for me to do to this book except clean up a typo here or there, Kathleen. It was so worth the wait."

  There were advanced reader copies of it on all the tables, rushed to print for the party, and now a line for her to sign them. Her hand cramped. Jake rubbed it for her while the adoring fans laughed and ogled him and waited patiently for her to continue. It took her an hour or so because she always tried to find something nice to say for each person's book, rather than simply scrawling her name.

  She was indeed the only author there. Her face plastered on the hanging banners. The covers of her books all over the place, including the cupcakes for dessert.

  The party went on into the night. People took off their shoes to dance, but Kathleen didn't dare. She could barely walk a few feet without being stopped and gushed over. Phones flashed in her direction every time she turned. Her social media feeds were blowing up with all the mentions. The last thing she wanted was a hundred photos of her boogying down to start showing up all over the place.

  "I have to go to the bathroom," she told Jake. "You have chocolate on your mouth."

  He grinned and leaned so he could kiss her. Flash, flash, flash. Her phone went ping ping seconds later. She didn't bother to check what people were posting about her.

  "I'll walk you," he said.

  The bathroom was outside the giant ballroom and past the much smaller one where another party was going on. No balloon arch in that one, and the atmosphere was decidedly less luxurious, she noticed as they passed. And no wonder, she discovered as she sank onto the toilet with relief to be behind the closed bathroom stall doors and alone, at least for a few minutes. That party was for everyone else who'd been denied access to the grand Kathleen Murphy extravaganza.

  The bathroom had been empty when she entered, but now the whoosh of the door opening and clatter of heels on the floor alerted her to company.

  "I'm not saying she's not a good writer," someone was saying. "And good for her for having business sense and all that, I mean, we all look out for number one. Of course."

  "Yeah," said another voice, this one a little slurred. "But fuck her for being a total cunt about it."

  "It was just a party, I don't get it. Like any of us were going to take her shine?"

  The second voice laughed, the sound echoing and distorted. "What a bitch. I hope she's happy with all that money, because it's a long fucking way down from the top. That's all I have to say."

  That's all anyone could say, Kathleen thought as she waited in bitter, aching silence for them to leave so she could escape without being seen. At the sink, she washed her shaking hands and looked at her reflection, trying to see herself as anything but exactly what those anonymous voices had called her, but all she saw was her own face, eyes wide and still incapable of crying.

  21

  "Let's go away somewhere." Kathleen whispered this in the dark as they settled into bed. "Someplace with sand and fruity drinks with umbrellas."

  "Bathing suit optional?" Jake turned to place a hand flat on her bare belly.

  She laughed, but it came out sounding a little strangled. She put her hand over his, linking the fingers. "Think of the sunburn."

  "I'll make sure you're adequately covered with sunblock. Don't worry. I'll apply it all myself. All...over." His fingers drifted upward, taking her hand with it. She stopped him with a little pressure.

  "I'll call my travel agent tomorrow. Will taking time away from work be a problem for you?"

  Jake rolled to kiss her bare shoulder. "No."

  She was quiet for another moment or so, her brain twisting and turning. In the two weeks since the party, she'd been trying to stay offline as much as possible, wanting to ignore the fallout. It wasn't going to go away totally, but so long as she didn't comment on it and kept her head down, didn't flaunt herself around, she thought she'd end up coming out of this all right. There'd always be people who thought she was a superdouche for the party thing, but there'd be plenty who would never even hear the story. The devil had been right about that, anyway.

  Rolling, she straddled Jake, pinning his wrists above his head. He made a low noise. She bent to kiss him, letting it linger. She nibbled lightly at his jaw. His throat. Lower, she moved, letting her teeth and tongue map the way between his legs where she found him already hard for her.

  As always at that first taste of him, Kathleen sighed. She took him deep, her nose brushing the wiry dark hairs on his belly before she slid up again, sucking gently. Her hand found his shaft and she stroked and sucked in time, never allowing him to be without her touch.

  When he tried to tug her hair and pull him away, she murmured her disapproval. Jake fell back onto the pillows with a groan. His hips thrust. He gave up to her, and she teased him for a long, long time, until both of them reached that place where only pleasure mattered. When she could think of nothing but the sound of her name muttered in his raspy voice and the grip of his fingers in her hair as he urged her faster, faster. When everything became the smell and touch and taste and sound of him, nothing else but Jake.

  He spooned her when it was over, his kiss at the back of her neck and his hand slipping between her legs, but she stopped his hand. "I'm okay."

  "But I want..."

  She laughed, a little embarrassed. A little proud. "No, it's all right. I got mine. During."

  He was quiet for a second at that. Then, "Really?"

  "Yes, really. Like magic," she teased, wiggling her butt against him. Then, more seriously, "It's always like magic with you."

  22

  Humming, Kathleen laid out an assortment of outfits on the bed. She'd packed light. Gauzy dresses and bikinis. God, was she really going to wear a bikini out on the beach? In front of strangers? Shit, in front of Jake? Yes, she thought with a critical look at the full-length mirror. She thought she was.

  She'd booked them both on a two-week trip to a tiny little island off the coast of Cambodia, where the cabins had clear bottoms so you could sleep above the placid turquoise waters of the bay. No phones, no internet, nothing but sun and sand and sleep and sex. No writing. No work. She hadn't even brought a pen or paper.

  Just them.

  Tonight, though, they were in this high-rise hotel until tomorrow when they would be boated over to their bungalow. She'd made dinner reservations at the fancy place downstairs, though ordering room service had been more appealing. Feeding each other finger foods on the balcony overlooking the ocean? Drinking champagne? That was her idea of how to enjoy a vacation.

  "Nice bathing suit."

  She didn't even turn, but kept sorting and rejecting different combinations of clothing from her suitcase. "Thanks."

  "Make sure to cover up. You'd hate to get scorched."

  She glanced over her shoulder and stopped, stunned. Today the Morningstar lived up to the name, God's Favorite Fallen. Glossy ebony wings and a face so beautiful she had to put up a hand to shield herself from the glory of it. It sent her to her knees in front of him with a sobbing breath, her heart aching with adoration.

  "There, now." His hand caressed her hair. "No need for that."

  She could not speak or move, nor did she want to. This was her place, here at this angel's feet. She believed she’d chosen to serve him, but now she saw ther