Demons Prefer Blondes (Demons Unleashed #1)(67)

Ha! He was hiding something, and she just caught him. “I thought you couldn’t poof where you haven’t been.”

“I’ve been to Serah’s.” Rafe grabbed a strange book off the coffee table and had a seat on the futon from hell. What a strange book. It was obviously old, with green binding, and it looked two times bigger than the Oxford dictionary. Rafe flipped open the book and took extra care with the pages as he turned them. “Ahh, Squeaky. You’re much better than I thought.”

It was about time he realized the little guy’s potential. “What is it?” she asked, taking a seat next to him.

Turning the page, Rafe scanned the fancy script. “The Liber Palatinorum, the Paladin’s manual.”

“Please tell me I don’t have to read the entire book.” Not that there was anything wrong with reading, but most of her reading choices didn’t exceed the seven-hundred-page limit. From the looks of this tome, it was well over a thousand.

“Only those parts deemed important enough by the Fore-Demons.” He pointed to some of the Old Latin script and set the heavy book on her lap, taking extra care not to drop it. “Can you read this?”

Squinting, she perused the ornate script. The crazy skill she had in high school came back to haunt her. Luckily, the nuns weren’t there. “Uhh… yeah.” She drew her finger over each word. “It says, ‘To prevent another demon from invading your thoughts, close your eyes, surround yourself with warm white energy, and fill your heart with confidence.’”

“Close your eyes and try.”

“Huh?” Didn’t he say he couldn’t read her thoughts?

Rafe’s lips curved into a sly yet sexy grin. “Read this.”

“‘To catch a glimpse of someone’s thoughts, concentrate on the subject you wish to explore, surround yourself with white light and meditate, freeing your mind of any negative energy.’”

Bloody hell, how many of her thoughts had he already read? “Gee, thanks for warning me.”

“I can only catch a glimpse here or there, but if you allow me, I can read more.”

Hell no, she didn’t want him knowing how bad she lusted after him. That would scare him off. Then again, he didn’t fight when she threw herself at him. “Uhh.”

“Only for a minute or two, until you learn how to put up the block.”

“Fine. Go ahead, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

With a nod, Rafe closed his eyes and put his hands to his temples.

An incessant buzzing filled her brain, similar to the sensation when Kalli and Belial had tried to enrapture her. She shot out the strangest thought she could muster. In a flash, she followed the book’s instructions. And just as quickly, the buzz faded.

“What is a bologna pony?”

With a shrug, she slipped her hands into her jeans pockets and averted his gaze, her lips curving into her best attempt at a sheepish grin. This was easier than she thought. “Nothing, just some nonsense I thought up.” Luckily he didn’t hear the rest. “So that’s it?”

Rafe nodded “I’m impressed.” Admiration sparked in his gaze and he scooted closer. He flipped to another page. “How about this?” he asked in a whisper, his breath sending tingles against her skin.

“‘To control your demonic powers, close your eyes, and take five deep and even breaths. Count to ten and surround yourself with cool blue energy.’” What the heck? Would she have to spin around while rubbing her belly and patting her head? Or was it patting her belly while rubbing her head? Whatever it was, it seemed hard. Too bad it didn’t include illustrated instructions. Those damned demons. Couldn’t make anything easy.

“Well?”

She gnashed her teeth. Her gaze remained on the book as she re-read the instructions. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, sounding like a whiney kid. “This can’t be for real.”

Leaning in, Rafe took her hand in his, electricity sparking between them. “Do you want to control your succubus charm or not? It isn’t that hard.”

Enough with these sparks. She wanted that inferno—bad. Too bad she had a ten-ton book on her lap. That and she had to learn how to control those overactive pheromones. Otherwise, she’d be dealing with more than just a legion of Infernati. Her mind wandered back to the events from earlier that morning. She didn’t know what would be worse: fighting off a legion of Infernati or dealing with two sex-crazed Santa Clauses.

Recalling the jiggling ass full of jelly, she picked the latter. “Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

She closed her eyes. With slow, even breaths, she visualized herself submersed in a cool blue pool, swimming back and forth. It took all the willpower within her to resist the urge to imagine Rafe swimming with her. After a few minutes and confident with her visualization, she nodded.

“So how do I like test this out?” Shutting the book, she angled him a glance. His gaze smoldered, sending her hormones rushing. Please God, don’t let it work on him. And how would she know for sure if it did work on mortals? Mortals? It was like she’d been injected into one of those cheesy vampire movies that looked like it’d been recorded on a college kid’s camcorder.

“Do you feel anything?”

Bemusement flooded her face. “Huh?”