Heart of the Incubus (8 page)

Now she thought he’d tried to take advantage of her, and Samantha and Vanessa hadn’t helped matters by showing up like that. Genevieve probably thought he’d tried to use her just because she was here, and there wouldn’t be anything he could do to convince her otherwise. Not when he needed sex to live.

I’m not interested in you. I could never be.

Her cold words made him long to destroy all the furniture in the room, especially since he knew she was right. She was strong and intelligent and innocent, while he was nothing more than a killing machine. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t overcome that part of his genetic makeup. His mother had tried, and in the end she’d failed. Spectacularly. The best he could do was treat the disease sex demons carried and hope to find a cure someday. Even so, he didn’t hold out any hope he’d ever prove himself worthy of a woman like her.

No two ways about it. When it came to his feelings for Genevieve, he was totally fucked.

Naked, he stomped to the bed and tossed back the covers. When he lay down and pulled the sheet over him, the fabric tented over the stiff arousal he’d probably be sporting until he fed again.

Stupid dick
. It only wanted Genevieve. Even now, his body was consumed with hunger at the memory of her jasmine scent, the feel of her soft lips touching his in a butterfly kiss.

A hunger cramp knotted his stomach. Part of him longed to close his fist over his cock and alleviate the ache, but it would do nothing to calm his body’s cravings. Only sex could do it. That was the curse sex demons faced. Many people thought it was all fun and games to derive one’s sustenance off sex instead of food. Maybe he’d thought that once, too. But it wasn’t.

Not if he couldn’t have the one person he wanted.

“Go to sleep.”

Agonizing over this no-win situation would solve nothing. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to relax.

Cresso didn’t know how much time passed before his eyes reopened, but when they did, he was in an unfamiliar place. A long, narrow hallway with a foreboding, sterile feel to it. Though it was dark, there was enough light to see that white terrazzo floors gave way to off-white walls.

He was in a hospital.

When he saw the figure in front of him, his heart dropped to the vicinity of his stomach. It was Genevieve, walking down the hall away from him. Since this couldn’t be happening for real, that must mean he was dreamscaping.

Demons had an ability to communicate telepathically with humans through their dreams, something most demons didn’t actually know about. Cresso had never done it before, and he could only imagine that Genevieve’s physical proximity had acted as some sort of trigger for it tonight. Based on what his friend Taeg had told him about dreamscaping, he was in for one hell of a ride. Being in the dream realm liberated one’s emotions, and he desired Genevieve while she clearly did
not
feel the same for him. He might end up professing his love for her while she let off steam by kicking his ass.

Cresso glanced down at his body, relieved to see he was no longer naked. If he were going to get beat up by the woman he loved, at least he’d be fully clothed.

Genevieve, who wore one of her conservative suits, stopped in front of an open door about fifty feet away from him and stared inside with an expression of horror on her face. Curiosity overwhelmed caution. He strode after her and came to a stop right beside her. When he peeked inside the room, his mouth dropped open. He didn’t know what he’d expected to see, but it most certainly wasn’t this. A stranger in hospital scrubs lay on a cot, getting a joy ride from two young nurses.

Cresso’s shoulder brushed Genevieve’s and she stiffened, tearing her gaze from the scene before her. When she saw it was him, she let out a groan. “Great. As if this weren’t bad enough, now I get to have you around to witness it.”

He glanced at her. “You know you’re dreaming?”

She nodded. “I hate this dream.”

“You have it often?”

“Often enough.” Her forehead wrinkled. “First time you’ve been in it, though. Guess I’m stooping to new lows.”

Cresso fought back the agony her words elicited. Wow, she really did hate him. He turned his gaze to the figures in the room before he could embarrass himself by asking why. The plain fact was she was too good for him. He’d always known it. “Who is he?”

“My fiancé.
Asshole.
”

Oh, hell. “You caught him in the act?”

“Five days before the wedding.”

Shit
. “I’m sorry.”

“Me, too,” she said softly. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize him for what he was. I’ll never make that mistake again.”

Something in her tone made him freeze. Sudden comprehension smacked him in the face with all the force of a WWE wrestler. “You think I’m like your ex-fiancé.”

Her laugh was bitter. “I
know
you are. Worse. You’re way sexier than he ever was.”

Cresso sucked in his breath at the overwhelming sensations her admission caused. He turned to face her head-on. When her eyes grew wary and she tried to step backward, he placed his hand on the doorjamb to block her retreat. He couldn’t believe this. “You
want
me?”

Genevieve backed into his forearm and stiffened. “I also want ice cream, even though I know it makes my thighs fat.”

He leaned toward her, brushing his lips against the inner shell of her ear. The simple contact made his knees go weak and his body inflame with lust. She smelled so fucking
good.

“Is that why you treat me like shit? Because you think I’m bad for you?”

Her hand crept up his chest and she pushed him away. A brief flare of anger sparked in her beautiful green eyes, and she pointedly turned back to the scene in the room. “At least
he
tried to hide his true colors. He pretended to be a devoted lover. With you, I know exactly what I’d get, and it’s not anything I could ever settle for.”

“No.” Cresso brought his hand to her chin and forced her to look at him. “It’s not true. You don’t know anything about me. Your ex, he was clearly an asshole. He should have known what an amazing woman he had. If it were me, I would be faithful to you. More than that, I would treasure you.”

She made a soft sound, a cross between a laugh and a sigh. Slowly, her fingers closed around his hand and tugged it to her side. With her free hand, she traced the curves of his face, down to the small indentation at his chin. “You’re telling me you would give up every other woman for me?”

Her touch and her words made his heart flutter inside his chest like a butterfly on steroids. Maybe she was starting to believe him, to see him as something other than a carbon copy of her ex. “Yes.”

A sad smile twisted her lips. “Now I
know
I’m dreaming.”

Genevieve’s words startled him into taking a step back. “No. I swear I wou—”

Just like that, Cresso snapped out of sleep. He blinked until his darkened room came into focus, then sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Damn it.
Shit.
”

He couldn’t believe that had happened. He’d dreamscaped with Genevieve. Not just that, but now he knew her treatment of him masked a far deeper issue than simple dislike of him. In fact, she liked him far
more
than she cared to.

No bones about it, she’d been through a lot. He’d never had a serious relationship, but now that he’d fallen for Genevieve, he could only imagine how painful it would be to witness a loved one’s infidelity. In a way she was right to be cautious, but if she didn’t ever give anyone a chance, she’d end up alone. That would be a travesty.

Maybe if he could somehow convince her he’d be true to her—that he’d never stray—he might actually stand a chance.

Chapter Five

When the alarm clock beside Genevieve’s borrowed bed went off at 6:30 a.m., she rolled over and smacked it until it quieted. Even though she’d slept six hours, she didn’t feel rested at all.

Damn that sexy incubus. It’s all his fault.

She grumpily thumped at the feather pillow her head rested on. Even though she’d expected to have nightmares about her stalker, the majority of her dreams had been about Cresso instead. The first dream had been the strangest. Somehow he’d ended up smack-dab in the middle of her recurring nightmare about Jeffrey the Asshole Ex. Normally she would have passed it off as the natural result of being forced to spend a night here, with Cresso’s luxurious, spicy scent surrounding her. But the fact that he’d been trying to convince her of his fidelity was beyond strange.

As if she would ever buy that.

At least the remainder of her dreams had been of the old-fashioned down-and-dirty variety. Man, if Cresso could make love half as good in real life as he did in her dreams, she’d be one happy girl.

Not that she’d ever find out, of course.

I wonder if he snuck those two sluts into his room after I went to bed last night?

Well, that thought was enough to ruin her day. She crawled out of bed and hopped into the shower. When she was done, she dressed and twisted her hair into a tight bun and dressed in a blouse and conservative pair of slacks. There. Now, with the addition of her glasses, she looked about as unsexy as could be. Perfect for letting Cresso know she wasn’t romantically interested in him. But moments later, when she found him in the kitchen, his heated look left her with the uncomfortable feeling he knew exactly what she’d dreamt of last night.

Impossible.

“Mornin’. You look nice.”

Damn it, why did he have to say that, when she’d gone to such an effort to
not
look nice? And he was breathtaking this morning, dressed in charcoal gray slacks and a striped dress shirt. She couldn’t help but recall some of the naughty things she’d envisioned in her dreams. Her cheeks flared with heat.

Cresso’s gaze lingered on her while he lifted his cup of coffee for a sip.

Genevieve realized she hadn’t responded, so she gave him a noncommittal grunt and headed to the coffee pot. She poured some into the cup that rested next to the coffeemaker and took a sip of the bitter black brew. “Whew, this is strong.”

“I usually need a kick start in the morning.”

Yeah, she’d bet. More often than not, he was probably exhausted from the prior night’s bed play with his countless lovers. In fact, that might even be the case this morning. “Must be hard having to pleasure more than one woman at a time.”

Oh God, had she actually said that out loud?

The shuttered look he gave her made her squirm. “I’m not really as bad as all that.”

Well, she’d started it. Might as well go all out. “Right. Next you’re going to tell me you never slept with those two succubi who dropped by last night.”

When his mouth pressed into a tight line and he glanced away, she had her answer. She inwardly cursed when her stomach dropped. Why the hell was she so disappointed? She’d known for a fact the answer was yes. As a matter of fact, Jeffrey could probably take lessons in sluttishness from Cresso. That was why the things she dreamt about between her and Cresso were never going to happen. When it came to men like him, that old adage “Once bitten, twice shy” most definitely applied.

Genevieve took a seat across from Cresso at the small table and made a show of examining the kitchen. Anything to avoid looking at his heart-stopping face. The room was long and narrow, with cabinets made of polished espresso wood. Behind the flat ceramic stove was a stainless steel backsplash. Both were as clean and sterile as her laboratory. But then, of course, the man didn’t need to eat. “Nice kitchen.”

“How much do you know about sex demons?”

His quiet tone startled her into meeting his gaze. “Um…what do you mean?”

Cresso set down his coffee cup and toyed with the rim. “Did you know that succubi vastly outnumber incubi?”

The sudden change of topic was confusing, but she had to admit she’d been curious about his species. “I heard that, but I never learned why.”