24

"What do you mean?" she cried.

"Jail, the big house, the two-legged zoo—"

"I know that! But why am I going there?"

Cade answered, "Your eyes are silver. And that demon brew gels in your blood for days. As soon as the cops break down the door, and see you amidst this destruction, you're off to roll call, baby."

"Oh, God, oh, God! I've never even had a speeding ticket!" Biting her claws, she said, "This is all your fault! You started it!" Her panicked gaze darted around the room. "Quick! Help me clean up—"

More banging.

"No time, Holly. But you know, I could probably fix this."

"How?"

"You let me worry about that."

He'd lived nine hundred years—surely he'd learned what to do in situations like this. Yes, Cadeon will take care of this. She gave him a grateful look.

"But you have to do something for me as well."

Her face fell. "It figures that you'd put a condition on this. What do you want?"

"You have to watch TV with me, a movie of my choice."

Where was the harm in that? She loved…"Oh! You mean one of those movies!" He'd told her he would get her to watch one before the trip was over. "Never, Cadeon. Not in a million years."

"Even when I can make this all go away?"

From outside, the policeman said, "Open up! We've been getting noise complaints."

"Oh, God!" she whispered. "One scene. I'll watch just one scene. If you can take care of this."

"Deal." He turned for his room, collecting his hat and an envelope from his duffle bag. At the doorway between their rooms, he said, "Try not to break the law again before I get back," then shut the door.

When she heard him exiting from his front door, she realized he was going to act as if he were merely a neighbor. Clever demon…

But what if something went wrong? What if they still demanded to see the room? She surveyed the debris in abject fear.

How can I get rid of the evidence?

Hitting on an idea, she began dismantling the remains of the table, breaking off legs and stuffing the pieces under the bed. Broken lamps and sliced pillows joined the collection.

Thirty nerve-shattering minutes passed before Cadeon returned. "What happened? Tell me!"

"Everything's taken care of."

She frowned. "You smell like beer."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah, Holly, like me and the cop were downing a beer together."

Of course, he and the cop had completely been downing a beer together.

They'd sat in a booth in the motel's lounge as Cade spun tales that the man didn't hear because he was too busy staring at the stack of cash Cade offered him. The small town cop seemed an honest enough guy, but he had five kids and Christmas was coming. What was he supposed to do?

"No one's going to want to come in?" Holly asked.

He shook his head. "Not unless you start back up again. The room looks great, by the way." It was cleaner than when they'd first come—except now it had less furniture. "So, I did my part, Holls. Looks like it's showtime."

"I can't believe you are going to make me watch something I'm opposed to."

"You put it down, but you've never viewed it? The bra-burner's a tad hypocritical, no?"

"Though I've not yet tried drinking acid, I still put it down. And don't call me a bra-burner! There's no need to make fun of my feminism."

"First of all, I'm not making fun—I'm poking fun. And second of all, I'm doing it to your face."

"What does that mean?"

"If we bandy the subject, at least you know where I stand and you get a chance to persuade me to your way of thinking. Can you say the same about the other men in your life? The yes men?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Meaning Tim."

"He's not as perfect as you like to think." Naturally, Cade despised him with a deep and virulent hatred. But Cade had also gotten the feeling that Tim wasn't the lapdog he appeared to be.

"No, maybe he's not perfect," she said. "But I bet he doesn't consider women to be tarts, who should be in a man's bed twenty-four hours a day."

"I was jesting about that. Mainly. Almost totally."

She glared.

"For the record, male Lorekind have higher opinions of females than human males do. The playing field's more equal in our world."

"Ha! I find it hard to believe that men who've lived for centuries—and might even be medieval—believe in equality more than a human male raised in the Madonna era."

"The Lore is home of the Valkyrie, Furiae, Witches, and Sirenae. You underestimate females, and you find your balls nailed to the wall."

As she digested that information, he said, "You're not going to distract me from this. We had a deal."

"Made under duress. Did you ever think that I might be morally opposed to watching pornography?"

He snorted. "You're not the good girl you used to be. You get drunk and carouse with demons, sitting on their laps and giving them horn jobs in front of an audience. You went rock star on this poor mom-and-pop motel room. And just last night, you got me to show you my goods, though I was vulnerable and weak from a bullet wound." He shook his head sadly. "Face it, Holly, you're a bad girl."

Her lips parted. Though his version of events was utterly skewed, the fact remained that all that had taken place to some degree.

He patted the bed so arrogantly. "I believe we had a date. Come on, this is just porn lite. If it costs six-ninety-nine, it's lite. Ah, the things I could teach you, halfling."

She gritted her teeth and sat on the bed as far away from him as possible. With her hands in her lap, she said, "Fine. I owe you one scene…."

It started innocently enough. An attractive couple began undressing each other while kissing. I can handle this.

But her face flamed when they were naked and stroking each other between the legs. Her brows drew together at how hard they touched. Surely that would have to be painful….

By the time the man entered the woman, Holly's mouth was dry, her claws were curled, and she couldn't seem to get enough air.

Her scrambled brain was screaming Turn away! Turn away now! Just when she forced herself to close her eyes, the demon said, "Ah-ah, Holly."

She quickly faced him, and frowned. Cadeon hadn't been watching the movie.

His gaze was rapt on her.

"You're not even looking at it!"

"I'm a male—I'm going to watch whatever turns me on the most…." As they stared at each other, moans, groans, and then finally yells sounded as the couple finished.

Once the scene had ended at last, Holly was wondering how she would ever be the same, but she refused to let him know how this had affected her.

"Well, that certainly was enlightening." Feigning a yawn, she stood, heading for her room.

"You sure you don't want to stay? Buxom Babes: Volume Eight is on after this."

"I'm going to have to pass." She closed and locked her door behind her, knowing that wouldn't keep him out if he wanted in.

And right now, if the demon wanted in, would she truly want to keep him out?

She flattened herself against the wall, digging her curling claws into the wallpaper.

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