Demons Prefer Blondes (Demons Unleashed #1)(44)

“I don’t recognize your name, Mr. Bell.” It was best to keep things formal. After all, it appeared to be a business call and she still wasn’t sure of this man. Besides that, he was too hot for his own good. And in her experience, sometimes the hottest guys were the most trouble. She took cautious steps toward the golden god wannabe.

Mr. Bell smiled, stuck his hand in his designer suit, and flipped out a card. With a flourish, he handed it to her. Wow, he was smooth. Too smooth. “Here’s my card.”

Glancing down at the ornate script, she scratched her head. “Jonathan Bell, River City Herald.” A newspaper reporter? “You want to write an article about us?”

Mr. Bell flashed that expert smile again. He was a man who got what he wanted. She had news for him. He never met Lucia Anne Gregory.

“I want to write a feature on local beauty spas and their offerings. Yours came highly recommended.” He brushed his golden waves from his cheek. “I was in the area and decided to introduce myself.” He drew out each of his words on a wispy breath and extended his hand to her.

He smiled, his paler than pale blue eyes swirling. Unnatural and creepy. Then her head buzzed. Tingles filled her body. She felt this way earlier. When Kalli demonstrated enrapturement. Alertness zinged inside. Demon!

Another demon? And from the creepy vibes he gave off, he wasn’t one of the good guys. So much for protection. She should have gone to get the foils. So that’s why Kalli wanted to go! She couldn’t believe it!

Her brain kicked into overdrive. “So, Mr. Bell, would you like a tour? Perhaps a demonstration?” she took extra care to pronounce the word correctly. Couldn’t have this fiend too cautious.

“Demonstration?”

She picked up the new silver sheers and twirled them in her fingers, a huge grin on her lips. “You know, a haircut?” She pointed to the plaque hanging at her station. “I’m a master stylist.”

Mr. Bell scratched his hairless chin, his pale eyes intense. “I happen to like my hair, Lucy. You don’t mind me calling you Lucy, do you?”

“Are you my friend, Mr. Bell?” He irritated her more as each minute ticked by. At the shake of his head, she snorted. “Then I mind.”

He leaned in, his breath hot against her skin. The pungent spice mingling with rotten eggs wreaked havoc on her nose. Her stomach roiled. “I hoped we could become more than friends.” A long fingertip scraped along her cheek. Her body shuddered, revulsion gurgling through her veins. Who in the hell did he think he was? She had to act—and fast!

Gripping the shiny new scissors behind her back, she raised her chin. “You’ve overstayed your invitation, Mr. Bell.” Hah! Beat that, demon boy! Now he had to leave.

“Invitation?” The demon roared with laughter. “Those silly rules don’t work with true demons, Lucia.” The hiss of his words stung her ear. He yanked her against him, his pale blue eyes swirling into dark pools. His fingernails elongated, digging into her back. “Don’t trust the Paladins. They’re your enemy.”

The demonic douche bag lashed out his forked tongue and traced it along her cheek as his clawed fingertips traced against her ass. Seduction wasn’t his forte. Her stomach roiled and heaved.

“Let me go!” Still maintaining a tight grip on the shears, she wrenched her arm from his grasp. She raised her arm and arced down, slicing his chest. A circle of bright red marred his pristine shirt.

“We’ll be so good together. You and I.” He grabbed her wrist and squeezed, plucking the scissors from her entrapped hand. Examining the weapon, he clucked his tongue. “Silver. How very creative. You’ll need a bigger pair of scissors to incapacitate me, my dear Lucy.”

So this freak offered her a challenge? Lucy wasn’t one to refuse. “There’s more where that came from, a-hole.” She probably wouldn’t win points for snazzy comebacks with that one, but considering the circumstances it still was pretty good.

“Oh, really?”

“Yes really.” She jumped high in the air, higher than humanly possible. A-freaking-mazing. Spinning in a complete three-sixty, she kicked her leg high and roundhoused the offending demon in the chest. The force of the blow sent him staggering back. She grabbed the sharpened curling iron, gripping it like a wooden stake in a cheesy vampire movie. Alertness flooded her entire body.

In a flash, he righted himself and grabbed her hair, jerking her toward him. “Do not fight me, Lucy. I want to help you.”

Help her? Yeah right. “What a nice way of helping,” she said, curling iron at the ready.

Jon, if that was even his real name, snaked his arm tighter around her, his hot, moist breath creeping along her ear. If he thought he knew how to woo a woman, he was wrong.

“Put the curling iron down, Lucy.” He fisted her hair, yanking her head up to meet his soulless gaze. Arrogant bastard. And here she thought Rafe was an *. He was an angel compared to this jackass.

He sneered, sharp fangs poking from his mouth. With a hiss, he angled her head to bare her neck. She had no choice but lower the curling iron. She loosened her grip, the iron hitting the floor with a loud clang.

“I wanted to help you, Lucy, but you’ve left me no choice.” He inched his mouth down to her neck.

She shivered with utter revulsion. So this was where her life had taken her? She would die at the hands of a demon not twenty-four hours after learning she was a succubus? Not what she wanted in life. Then the proverbial anvil hit. She wanted to live. She wanted to prove herself. She wanted to save the world.