Addict (Hunter #2)(35)

I nodded. I knew exactly what he wanted. I was capable of keeping my mouth shut when the occasion called for it. I’d been in the business long enough to know that listening was way more important than talking.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, gorgeous.” His hands slid along the curve of my hip. “I missed you, Kelsey mine.” He tensed, and I knew he was aware we were no longer alone. “Come along, sweetheart.”

Gray turned with my hand in his. He acted surprised to see the tall, thin man standing behind him. I had a glimpse of what I could only call a walking cadaver. His cheeks were hollow, his arms bony. The dude could stand to eat a cheeseburger. Or four.

Gray pulled me to his side and bowed his head. “Your Grace, I apologize for the interruption. My brother brought me a gift. I was…excited at the prospect.”

I felt my fingers tighten around Gray’s and he responded with a reassuring squeeze. He knew exactly what had me freaked. There’s a hierarchy in the demon world. Marcus had given me many lessons on how the demon world worked. Much like the feudal system, there were serfs and nobles. Gray’s father was a bigwig in that world, so he and his brother were referred to as “My Lord” by lesser demons. The fact that Gray had called this demon “Your Grace” meant he was even higher than Gray’s father. This demon was a duke. He probably got called into meetings with the big cheese himself. He was not someone I wanted to mess with at this stage of my career. I hadn’t come up against even one baby demon, much less a duke.

The duke gave me an appraising look. I could practically feel his gaze crawling over me like a spider with icy cold limbs making his way across my flesh. “Well, Lord Sloane, I can certainly see where she would catch your interest. She’s very pretty, but to me she looks a bit like all the rest. You must widen your repertoire. Some people are saying you’ve gone a bit soft. You were involved with someone last year?”

Gray tensed but his voice was slightly rueful. “Yes, I was. She was a werewolf.”

So they didn’t know who I was. That was a point in my favor and Gray’s. It would probably look bad for him to have been involved with the king’s Nex Apparatus. People are wary once they realize you have a nickname that translates to death machine. It doesn’t have the same appeal as Cuddles or Snooki Bear.

The duke laughed lightly. “You do like a challenge. You’ll have to tell me the story some time. I can see it has not had a happy ending or you wouldn’t be in here with a different brunette every night.” The duke reached out to touch me. Though it went against every instinct I possessed, I stood still and compliant. The touch of a single finger chilled me. I shivered despite the warmth of the room. “Perhaps you can help our Lord Sloane. He plays with the girls every night, but has yet to f*ck a single one. I rather think he needs a good f*ck.”

“Don’t we all, Your Grace.” Gray gestured to the couch he had formerly occupied. “Could we continue our discussion? I find myself anxious to get business out of the way.”

The duke smiled. It was creepy. It was one of those smiles people get right before they slit your throat. His hair was long and completely white. It wasn’t so much a color in and of itself. It was more like the complete absence of color. It appeared soft, like if I touched it, it would dissolve. Those ethereal strands brushed the middle of his back. I’d only needed the briefest glance to see that his eyes were an icy blue. He held out his hand and I found myself following Gray back to the couch. I knew what I was supposed to do and began to sink down around his ankles.

“No,” Gray said sternly. He indicated his lap and pulled me close when I hesitated. “When I give an order, you follow it, sweetheart. Unless you would prefer I redden that pretty ass of yours in front of the room.”

I wanted to slap him silly. Only like one percent of me was curious about the spanking part…but in private, of course. I nodded my assent, not wanting the duke to even hear my voice. The less he remembered about me, the better. I was already thinking about how I would cover this whole thing up. I didn’t like to think of the lecture I would get from Donovan if he found out I spent the evening in the presence of a duke of Hell while wearing a thong and thigh highs, being publicly petted by a man he’d warned me to stay away from. I was fairly certain it wasn’t the image the king wanted his law enforcement head to portray. In the end, I decided it was best to do what I always tended to do with the king. I would lie through my teeth.

“You’ll get used to the lieutenant. He’s got a thing about discipline,” the duke laughed. He took a long drink of what looked like Scotch or whiskey. “I have a feeling about this one, Sloane. She’s different.”

Gray shrugged. He was playing it cool, but his hands slid across my skin as though they couldn’t help themselves. He pressed his nose against my throat, breathing in deeply. His senses weren’t a wolf’s, but they were at least as good as a vampire’s. I had no doubt he’d caught a scent he didn’t like. As Marcus had spent the better part of an hour wrapped around me not too long ago, I could bet what I smelled like to Gray. His hand tightened on my leg. “I don’t know about that, Your Grace. In the end they’re all the same—just little girls with daddy issues.”

Yep. I was going to beat the shit out of him when I got out of this.

“Perhaps.” The duke sighed as a half-naked servant pressed a cigar into his hand. He lit the stub and the demon breathed in the aroma deeply. “Now, let’s dispense with all the boring courtesies. Please call me Julius, and I’ll call you Sloane.”