The Demon King and I (15 page)

Mira slipped on a coffee-colored dress that was nothing less than stunning. “Holy cow. Who made that one? You wouldn’t even have to have it altered.”

“It’s Zac Posen. I swear he designs with my body in mind.”

Probably didn’t hurt that she had the body of a goddess. While we were all relatively thin, Mira had curves in all the right places.

“So are you going to tell us what happened on Maunra? Bailey said you were in on the council meeting, too.”

“Oh, yeah, life’s been a laugh a minute the last few days.” I took a deep breath and then relayed the most important bits, including that Alex and Ginjin seemed to have found a tentative truce.

“You can’t be serious. They hate each other,” Claire said as she pulled on a short little black and white polka-dot dress with a deep red sash around the waist.

“I know. She said she’d explain later but it had something to do with saving his life. Though I have to admit, he didn’t seem very grateful.”

Mira put on a flowing sea green gown that was cut so low on her back that she wouldn’t be bending over during the evening’s events. She turned to look at herself in the mirror. “Oh, this is a disaster waiting to happen. You know what a klutz I can be. One wrong move and I’m mooning the glitterati.”

I belly-laughed for the first time in ages, so hard I could barely catch my breath. “God, I needed this. Things have been so intense the last week or so.”

Claire nodded. “It’s only going to get worse. I say we enjoy life while we can.” She winked.

“Oh, my God, you are so in love.” Mira wagged a finger at her.

Claire giggled.

Mira slid off the last dress and threw on her T-shirt and jeans. “Spill it, Tiny.” At five four, Claire’s always been the shortest in the bunch. With her long blonde hair, she really does look like a miniature surfer girl.

“It’s too new. I don’t want to jinx anything.” Claire slid on her shorts and blouse.

“Since when do you not spill a secret?” Mira chided.

“Fine. It’s my new cameraman. The guy the Save the Tiger Sharks charity sent out to help me with the documentary. It’s nothing yet; we just had kind of a moment today.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m hoping we have a longer moment very soon. I’m supposed to meet him for breakfast in an hour at this little place on the beach.” She held up the dresses. “I can’t decide which one I like better. I’m sort of leaning toward the pink, but it seems a weird color to wear in November.”

For chicks who save the world, it was kind of funny that we couldn’t make up our mind about a couple of dresses.

“I’ll see you guys later. I’ve got to pop back for my little date.” She winked as she walked out the door.

Mira left not long after, and I decided to check in with Kyle.

“I don’t have anything yet,” he said. “I’m in New York following up on a lead. Jake said you guys were having some big-time otherworldly trouble.”

The universe has gone to hell, but other than that everything is great.
“Nothing we can’t handle. Did you find some kind of connection between Markie and Emilio?”

“No. I still don’t know where that rumor came from. I asked the reporter point-blank, and I got the ‘I never reveal my sources’ crap.”

“It’s ludicrous. We run in the same circles, so if someone had seen them together they would have called.”

“True. Your crowd loves the gossip. Listen, I’m here at my meet. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

After hanging up I was anxious. I felt like calling Emilio and asking him if he had also been screwing one of my best friends, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

I ran down to the gym and put on some gloves. An hour later I felt much better, though our latest punching bag had seen better days. That was my fourth one this month. One of the disadvantages of being superstrong was I wore out a lot of exercise equipment. I had to stop running on treadmills because even on the fastest speed they couldn’t keep up and I burned out the motors.

After another shower, I decided to sleep for a couple of hours before catching up on work. It wasn’t long before I found myself in the middle of another dream. No murders in this one. My toes curled in the warm sand as I watched the waves roll in. The sun lowered and dipped down into the horizon, giving everything a soft glow.

My back tingled and I knew someone stood behind me. I turned to see Arath there. All he wore were those button-fly jeans. His bronzed muscles rippled as he walked, and I had a hard time swallowing.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I finally managed.

Giving me a wicked smile, he reached out and took my hand. “It’s your dream, Gillian.”

“True.” I loved the way he said my name with that British accent. “Still. I don’t think it’s appropriate.”

“You may have noticed I don’t care much for rules,” he whispered as he pulled me closer. His tongue began doing crazy things to my right ear, sending warmth through my entire body. It was almost as if my body called to him. I tried to pull back. The beach, the body-calling crap, it was all a huge cliché, and yet I couldn’t stop it.

I lost the tenuous control I had and my arms wrapped around his neck.
You shouldn’t do this. It isn’t right.
There was still part of my brain hanging on to sanity.

“Let go,” he whispered.

“It’s only a dream.” I took a deep breath and let it out. So what was the harm in letting go? No one would ever know but me.

I looked around and saw that we were alone on the beach.

“I want you,” he growled. The sound sent zinging sensations through me and made my body hum with need.

I couldn’t think of anything sexy to say as he was now nibbling the sensitive parts of my neck, making me gasp with pleasure. His tongue slid down between my breasts and I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to stand.

The second I thought it, we suddenly tumbled to the ground and I landed on top of him. His hardness swelled beneath me and it gave me power.
He wants me.

“Yes.” His hands tangled in my hair, he brought my face to his and kissed me. Not a tentative getting-to-know-you thing, but a kiss with hard-core passion.

I melted. I couldn’t keep my hips from writhing against him. My thong was no barrier and I felt his heat. As I moved against him, he brought his thumb up and began teasing the most sensitive part of my body. I needed release and he matched my motions. In seconds I climaxed. “Arath,” I whispered into his mouth, feeling as though I’d just experienced some kind of incredible connection.

Music played and it became louder and louder. “What is that?”

“I believe you call it Fall Out Boy.” Arath smiled. “Time to go, Guardian. Enjoy your day.”

“No!” I screamed in frustration. “I don’t want the dream to end.”

“Who says it is a dream? I can live in all realities.” His voice and his image faded away, leaving me on my knees in the sand.

I sat straight up in bed expecting to see him, but he wasn’t there. The phone rang. Reaching out a hand, I picked it up. “This better be good.” The song by Fall Out Boy was the music I’d designated on my phone for Claire.

“Hmmm. Hello, Miss Cranky Pants. I must have interrupted a really great dream.” Claire laughed on the other end.

My skin was still hot from the encounter. “You know that sleep isn’t easy for me to get these days. What’s up?”

“I haven’t heard from Bailey. He was going to come to Fiji after the charity ball. We’re having some trouble with one of the cameras.”

“Okay, and this is my problem because ...?” Sleep still clouded my brain. “Sorry, that came out testier than I meant.”

“It’s okay. You’re never very nice when we wake you up. I can’t get ahold of Alex or Mira. They are both doing Guardian stuff. I’ve got to go underwater in a bit and I just needed to talk to Bailey about the camera. I’ve been trying to find him since last night. He was at the house, but I missed him when I went for the fitting. He’d already taken a plane to Houston to see some friends of his. He’s not answering his phone.”

“Claire, I’m not Bailey’s keeper. You know that. Besides, if he’s in Houston there’s a really good chance he’s passed out on someone’s couch. Those NASA guys know how to party. Remember the last time. He threw up for four days after their tequila
Star Wars
marathon.” I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. I had two hours before I had to get ready to do a local morning talk show. It was one of the many ways we were promoting the ball.

I didn’t mind television; we’d been in front of cameras most of our lives. We’d talk about what kind of champagne and food would be served. Who would show up on the red carpet and what I might wear. Silly and necessary, I only hoped they didn’t bring up the stupid rumors about Emilio.

“I’ll get Jake to check into it, and I’ll make sure he calls you today. Be careful on your dive, and I’m sorry for being so grumpy this morning. I need a big cup of coffee.”

She laughed. “That’s the truth. I’ll see you tonight, and don’t worry. It will be a beautiful event. It always is.”

To be honest, I hadn’t obsessed over the ball like I usually did, probably because the whole destruction of the universe played a heavier role right now. As soon as I hung up the phone it rang again. This time it was Georgia.

“I know you’ve been busy with, um, stuff. Kathy Tracy at the ABC affiliate called and wanted to know if you’d be there this morning.”

“Call her back and tell her I’ll be there in about an hour. Is Jax meeting me there to do makeup?”

“Yep. And I’m not supposed to tell you this, but she says she has some heavy-duty concealer just in case. Last time your dark circles took half a pound of makeup.”

I laughed hard at that. That time, I’d been on a three-day demon-killing binge when I had to make a sudden appearance on the red carpet at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. It was Oscar night and one of Claire’s documentaries had been nominated. She didn’t win, but we all wanted to be there for her.

I had sat down in the makeup chair in a suite at the Renaissance Hotel next door to the theater, and Jax had actually gasped. I told her if she could make me look decent there was an extra five hundred in it for her. She told me to keep my money. If she could make me look good, she would consider it her greatest masterpiece. Even I couldn’t believe the face in the mirror when she’d finished. It had been that good. We’d been friends ever since and anytime I had a big event I flew her out to wherever I was.

“She’s already there. Says the coffee’s crap so bring her something decent.”

“Okay. I’ll call when we’re done. I promise I’ll do my best to make it in. I know the paperwork is piling up.”

“Eh. It’s been worse.” Georgia laughed before she hung up.

Jax wasn’t any better than me without a decent cup of coffee. I decided I better fill a thermos for the both of us.

 
 
“There.” Jax put the finishing touches on my makeup.
“You look like the diva you are.” She was short, maybe five feet if that, and one of the most beautiful women I’d ever met. Her heritage was a mix of Asian and Irish, and the result was an extraordinary beauty.

“Hey, what did you do to your knees? Maybe I should put some cover-up on those.” She reached for a bigger brush and I looked down to see that both of my knees had rug burns. No, not a rug—sand burns.

My hand flew to my mouth, but I caught myself before I gasped. “No telling with me. Must have done something during my workout last night. I was so tired this morning I didn’t even notice.”

It can’t be. It was a dream.

Kristen Crane stuck her head in just as I stood up. “I’m so glad you could make it in this morning. We always have fun.” She shook my hand. “I just want you to know that I talked to Kathy. We aren’t going to throw you any curveballs today. I saw what happened the other day at the press conference and was appalled. Markie was a friend of mine, too, and I won’t let anyone drag her name in the mud.”

“Thank you.” I smiled. “I wouldn’t expect you to pull any punches, but I appreciate you letting me know beforehand. I still get a little teary-eyed when someone mentions her, and I really don’t want to take away from our kids. She wouldn’t want that either.”

Kristen nodded. She was the opposite of Jax, a blonde Amazon. “Agreed. But I warn you: I will be drilling you on what you’re going to wear tonight. That seems to be the big buzz this morning. Did you see the poll on
E!
? Their website shows that sixty percent of the people think you’re going to show up in a black dress.”

I laughed. It was crazy the things people were interested in when it came to “celebrities.” “You can drill me about the dress all you want, but I still haven’t made up my mind which one I’m going to wear tonight.”

“Well, then we’ll talk about that. See you out there.”

 
 
As the interview ended, Kristen gave it one last
try. “Please, our viewers want to know which dress you picked.” She leaned forward expectantly. When she shifted her position, I noticed someone in the shadows behind her.

Arath.

Until that moment, the interview had gone off without a hitch.

I gave a slight cough and took a sip from the glass of water beside me. I gave her my best smile. “You and the viewers will find out tonight, and don’t forget to make those donations on the 800 number.”

Kristen gave the number again and signed off.

“You were terrific, as always.” Taking my hands, she kissed my cheek. “I’ll see you this evening.”

After saying a quick good-bye to Jax, I motioned for Arath to follow me out to the car. I tried to keep my patience, but it was difficult. He climbed into the passenger seat and I started the car.

“Guardian, what are you doing?”

“I’m driving,
King Arath.
I thought you were going to message ahead from now on.”

It wasn’t hard to notice how he had trouble fitting into the seat. The Mercedes was lux, but it wasn’t built for a man his size. “You need to put your seat belt on.”

He stared blankly. “The restraints?” I pointed to the belt. “You bring it around your chest and fasten it there.” I pointed down to the buckle.