The Devil In Disguise (Bad Things #1)(7)

The same words he’d given her before. She didn’t speak, mostly because she didn’t trust herself to lie right then. She did manage a stumbling nod.

He moved away from her, circling around her body, putting himself in just the position that she’d wanted.

Now she stood between him and the cell door. So close…

His hands went to the buttons on his shirt. Staring at her, he slowly began to unbutton them.

She took a step back.

More golden skin was revealed. Strong muscles. That definite twelve pack she’d suspected. Her mouth got very, very dry.

The shirt hit the floor.

And his hands went to his pants.

“Keep going.” The order was for him and for herself. Because this was her chance. His head tilted down as he started to unhook his belt.

She bolted for the cell door.

“Mina?” Her name was a question.

She slammed the door shut. The key was still in the lock—she’d seen that when she first walked into the cell. A shiny new key and lock on a cell that shouldn’t have even been there. But it was—it was a prison in a modern-day paradise and she was going to use that cell to her advantage. Cell. Cage. Same thing right now.

“Mina!” Now her name was a roar—an infuriated bellow. He ran for the door.

She yanked the key to the side, locking the cell and she jerked that key back, tumbling away even as his hand shot through the bars. He came inches away from grabbing her shirt-front. She fell, landing hard on her ass as she stared up at him.

Rage poured from his eyes. Hot and scorching. “Unlock the cell.”

She shook her head, honestly too terrified to speak in that moment. Power seemed to crackle in the air around him.

His hand slid back through the bars. He stared at her, his rage just deepening.

“Sweetheart,” the word was a growl, not an endearment. “You don’t want me for an enemy.”

Too late, she was pretty sure he already was her enemy. She backed away from him, moving like a crab until she hit the wall. Then she started hauling herself up, hoping her trembling knees would straighten up. Her hand slammed into some kind of—of button on the wall. A button she hadn’t even seen but she felt the depression beneath her fingers.

A slow stream of gas spread into the cell that caged Luke. He looked up at the gas. “Fucking hell.”

Uh, oh. She started to choke on the gas. It was burning her eyes, her mouth, her—

“Get out, sweetheart. Get the f*ck out now,” he ordered her. His eyes still gleamed. “When I wake up…I’m coming for you.”

She stumbled toward the heavy door, that gas was still burning her, and when she looked back at him—

Luke had sunk to his knees in that cell. “Get out,” he gritted at her.

She frowned. He was…protecting her? No, no, that didn’t make any sense. She covered her mouth and ran to the doorway. She entered that little tunnel and felt the rush of cool air around her body. Air was being pumped into the tunnel—she could feel it. Not stale air, not any longer. Fresh and clear. She gulped it greedily.

Then she thought about Luke.

And she wondered just what she’d done to him. Careful now, Mina tip-toed back into the area that held all of those cells. She didn’t hear the hiss of the gas any longer. But her eyes started to burn and…

Luke was in his cell. On the floor. Not moving.

Did I just kill the Lord of the Dark?

She raced toward him, only realizing right then that her left hand still clutched the key to his cell. She shoved the key in the lock, she started to open that cell.

And his body began to jerk.

Mina froze.





Chapter Three


“Are you okay?” The voice floated to Luke. Worried, scared.

Most people were scared when they talked to him. If they were sane, anyway.

He wasn’t so sure she was sane.

“Please don’t be dead. I mean, I know you’re not dead, I can see your body moving but…don’t die. That’s what I meant. Please don’t die on me. I need you.”

Did she? How very interesting. He put his hands down on the stone floor. Hands that still belonged to a man, not a beast. For the moment.

“You’re moving again,” she said, relief thickening the words. “That’s good.”

Good for him. Not so good for her. Luke opened his eyes and stared at her through the bars. He was on his hands and knees, crouched like an animal. And she stood there, so dangerously close to the cell, her eyes wide and worried. Her face was still as beautiful as before, a face made for seduction, and her body was the best f*cking temptation he’d seen in ages but… “Your voice is different.”

She blinked at him. Her eyes weren’t shining with power right then. Because I’d been unconscious? Because she hadn’t needed to work her magic on me when I was out f*cking cold?

Her lips parted. She was about to speak—and he strongly suspected the woman was about to try and control him again. Sorry, sweetheart. Not happening.

In an instant, he’d sprung across the cell. She cried out in surprise—the only sound she was able to make—before his hands shot through the cell. One hand locked around her waist. That’s what happens when you stand too close. And the other slapped over her mouth, smothering her cries.