City of Thorns (The Demon Queen Trials #1)(22)

“Right.”

The door opened, and I turned to see Morgan striding into the room with bulging bags of clothes. He looked between the two of us nervously and dropped the loot. “Everything you need is in here. I have to run, I’m afraid.” He backed away, staring at me. “Please be careful with her, sir, would you? No offense, darling,” he added, glancing at me, “but I don’t want you twisting his mind all up.”

No one had ever been scared of me before. Was it…was it bad that I liked it? He saw me as fearsome.

I dropped the grip on my bathrobe and glared at him, then flashed a smug smile—the kind Orion had been giving me since I’d met him. “I’ll try to be gentle with him, Morgan, but I make no promises.” My voice sounded icy, cruel.

His face paled, and he pointed at me as if to say, I’m watching you. With that, he backed out the door, then let it slam behind him.

I turned to see Orion staring at me, his eyes a pale, heavenly blue. “That was disturbingly convincing. It was like I was watching the real Mortana come to life before me.”

The thing was, it was easy to act in the ways that were expected of you. When people thought I was crazy during my presentation, I became flustered and desperate—I started to act crazy. When I was treated like an outcast at Osborn High, I couldn’t help acting weird.

And if people thought I was terrifying—maybe I could rise to the occasion.

But instead of explaining all that, I just shrugged and said, “I contain multitudes.”

His gaze pierced me, and he waited for me to give a better explanation.

I sighed, and my mind started turning academic, as it often did when I was unnerved. “In the world of social psychology, there’s something called a self-fulfilling prophecy, or a behavioral confirmation. It means that people’s behavior changes depending on what’s expected of them. A person’s expectations actually elicit certain behaviors.”

“Right…” He ran his finger over his lower lip, studying me. “You’re a bit of a nerd, you know that?”

I nodded. “Oh, believe me, I’m aware.”

“Does this mean that if I treat you as if you’re seductive, you’ll suddenly be able to act like a succubus?”

I swallowed hard. “Well, we can certainly try.”





Chapter 13





I lay naked on the bed in Orion’s guest room. While I was supposed to be practicing not being self-conscious, even alone, I felt deeply uncomfortable as the breeze rushed over my bare skin. The fact that it was dark outside and I was lying beneath a ceiling fixture that glowed like a spotlight wasn’t helping my mood.

I’d be staying here for another week, in a guest room overlooking the sea. While the place was gorgeous, between a floor-to-ceiling window and the missing wall beside it—shielded from rain by a balcony, but still a nasty spot to trip—the room seemed to lack a certain degree of privacy. I didn’t see anyone out in the ocean, but I still felt like I was naked in front of the world.

Plus, I couldn’t help but wonder if Orion was thinking of me naked in here. We’d spent the day trying to work on my seduction skills—the walk, the flirt, the eyes that flicked down and up again, the dirty jokes.

I was shit at all of it. Problem was, Orion was hot as hell. If I let myself fall under his seductive spell, I’d burn up. When his fingers had brushed against mine at breakfast as we’d reached for the cream, I’d felt an indecent jolt of excitement. Unfortunately, I was a blusher, and as succubi did not blush, Orion had come to the conclusion that I was uptight and uncomfortable in my body. Hence, I was lying here, trying to get comfortable.

And it was true that I was uptight, but my unease was far worse around him. He was as dangerous as a forest fire.

When I closed my eyes, I could see his sensual, curved lips.

I glanced at the sea in the moonlight and pulled the blanket over myself, wondering if I could actually pose as a succubus.

With a deep breath, I surveyed the room, trying to ground myself. I needed to get out of my own head.

The decorations in here were simple—a white bed, a bare hardwood floor. The beauty of the place wasn’t in the decor, but rather in the blue of the sea and sky, or the glittering of the stars. A warm, briny breeze rushed over the room. Feeling slightly less self-conscious with the beauty of nature all around me, I dropped the blanket and rose to my knees.

Except I could hear Orion’s deep, seductive words playing in my mind. You said I’m the only man you’d ever suspected was up to the task. And I do think you’re right about that, Rowan.

My eyes snapped open again, and I ran to the light switch. Darkness fell, and I crawled into bed and pulled the covers over myself.

Maybe I couldn’t lie around in the nude, but I could sleep naked.





“How did you sleep?” Orion asked me over coffee.

He had a book spread out before him, and his eyes were on the pages.

I cleared my throat. I didn’t want to tell him about the filthy dream I’d had in which he’d kept me as his prisoner, tied to his bed. “Fine. I slept fine.”

His gaze darted up to meet mine. “Why did you say it like that?”

“Like what?”

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Like you wanted to climb over the table and throttle me.”