“For someone who isn’t offended, you sure do look pissed off.” She wiped off a pair of bloody tweezers that Noah realized she’d been using to pick out bits of glass from his skin.
He loosened his grip on the sheet, but left his hand in place to weigh the material down as he scrubbed his other hand over his face. “I’m sorry. I barely know you and I wake up to find myself naked and wounded in a strange motel with you talking about my body parts as if I were a prize stallion you were evaluating for breeding.”
She nodded once as if his hurried words explained everything. “I apologize again. I’m not used to spending time with people I’m not trying to have sex with.”
Noah’s pride prickled and he stiffened again.
What was wrong with him that she didn’t want to have sex with him? Hadn’t she just said he had a nice cock?
He pinched the bridge of his nose as he sternly reminded himself she was a succubus, and he had no interest in having sex with her. Which meant her opinion of him in that regard shouldn’t matter anyway.
Liar!
his subconscious accused as vivid memories of how Jezebeth had felt in his arms when he’d kissed her surfaced as if they’d happened only seconds ago.
For some reason, his ego still stung even after that rationalization, so he remained silent, unsure of what to say next.
Jez smiled, but her expression remained guarded. “I guess my small-talk skills need a bit of work too.” She kept her gaze down as if studying his injured hip. “Can you turn onto your side so I can get these last few large pieces of glass out? I can cover your ass if that makes you feel better.”
He scowled at her and held the sheet tight to his belly to cover his raging erection as he rolled to his side, exposing his bare ass for her view. “No need,” he bit out, as pain lanced down his side, twined with irritation with himself when curiosity burned through him to know what she thought of his ass. Given that he’d just scolded her for such blatant observations, he doubted he’d find out unless he asked. But he’d be damned if he allowed that question to pass his lips, so he tried to relax and stare at the stained flower wallpaper and the open door to the tiny bathroom.
When Jezebeth’s cool touch landed on his ass, near the painful area on his hip, he jerked as arousal shot through him like a geyser. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
“I’ll try not to hurt you, but we need to make sure all this glass is out. Especially since it’s my fault you got peppered with it.”
Noah breathed a silent sigh of relief that she thought she’d hurt him, rather than driving him crazy with lust. He smiled as he remembered Jezebeth in her ridiculous club-hopping form with her huge breasts spilling out of the tight bustier as she chucked bottle bombs over the bar. “That was pretty quick thinking, by the way, with the bottle bombs. I haven’t had much of a chance to tell you, but I was impressed.”
Her hands stilled on his skin for a quick second as if he’d surprised her, before she began to move again. “Thanks.”
An awkward silence fell between them punctuated by sharp slices of pain as she removed more glass from his hip, and even sharper curses from Noah that had less to do with the pain and more to do with her innocuous, cool touch. Not to mention the fact that he was mostly naked and his cock so hard it could drive nails.
Which reminded him that he still didn’t know how they’d gotten here. “How long have we been here?”
The bed moved and he glanced back to see the last movements of Jezebeth’s shrug. “A few hours.”
He pushed up on his elbow and laid his head in his palm, turning his head so he could watch Jezebeth work. She leaned over him, her face so close to his hip, he could feel her warm breath feathering over his skin as she pulled his skin taut with one hand and gently pulled out chunks of glass with the other. Her movements were quick and efficient and, for some odd reason he couldn’t quite fathom, made him want to roll her beneath him on the bed and peel her out of the conservative sweater and jeans she wore, to unwrap the girl next door beneath.
She’s a succubus!
He ground his teeth at the tiny voice inside his head. She was definitely a succubus, but she fascinated him, and he couldn’t pinpoint why. “So how does your succubus glamour work?”
She glanced up, confusion swimming in her hazel gaze. “I’m not sure what you mean by succubus glamour.”
“You know, the supernatural ability that allows you to tempt humans.”
She glanced back down at her work. “It’s different for all of us. My ability is shape-shifting. I can change into the form that person desires most.”
“And those you hunt are supernaturally drawn to it? Like an aphrodisiac in the air, or something like that?”
She frowned. “It’s different for everyone. But mine is purely the change in form. There’s no compulsion for them beyond that. It’s up to them to give into the temptation or not.”
Noah looked away as the meaning of her words hit him square in the chest like an accusation. In other words, his reaction to her wasn’t chemically or supernaturally induced, it was his own damned reaction! He ground his teeth and forced himself to adopt a casual tone. “So, give me an example. What form would I desire most?”
She shrugged, never looking up from her work on his side. “Since you’re wearing Lilith’s ring, my ability wouldn’t work on you. But I’d leave it on; extended time spent with a succubus, even in a nonsexual manner, can drain your energy, and the ring keeps you immune.”
He filed that information away for later, not sure if he was disappointed or intrigued, considering her present form drove him crazy as it was. But it wasn’t just her form. She was easy to talk to, and she was a writer’s dream—information and research all wrapped up in an easy-on-the-eyes package. “So how does the changing form thing work? Is there an incantation or something?”
She poured more peroxide over his wounds and he winced. “The wounds in your arm are all small, but I’m going to have to stitch the longer gash in your side. All I have for pain meds are some aspirin and a bottle of Jim Beam.” Jezebeth dabbed at his wounds with a towel and Noah peered down to see a long, jagged gash refilling with blood. It definitely needed stitches, and he hadn’t thought to pack anything beyond basic first aid items.
“A little of both would be great.” He glanced away from the wound, willing himself to man up for the pain to come. In all honesty he was scared of needles and would’ve taken all offered pain relief had they been in a hospital. But his male pride refused to let him show fear or weakness in front of Jezebeth, so he swallowed hard and chased back two aspirin with a few long swigs of Jim Beam while Jezebeth ran the needle through a flame to sterilize it.
The whiskey burned its way down his throat and a few long seconds later, sent a warm flowing sensation along every nerve ending. He waited for the soothing heat to soften his cock, but with Jezebeth’s continued close proximity, apparently his body refused to let down its guard.
Damn.
“Ready?” Jezebeth gently prodded the wound and Noah winced.
“Do it.” Noah took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on anything except what it would feel like to have a needle pierce his skin repeatedly.
The first sharp stab of pain caught Noah by surprise and he clenched his fists and clamped his teeth together to keep from wincing away.
“I just concentrate on someone and my body changes.”
Noah opened his eyes and glanced back at Jezebeth just as the needle bit into his skin a second time and the slow drag of the thread sent shooting pain through his side. “What?” he gritted out.
“You asked me how changing forms worked.” She flashed a quick smile before returning to her work. She was trying to distract him to help him get through the stitches.
He turned away again before he gave in to the temptation to look at how far she still had to sew and instead turned back to his view of the yellowed wallpaper. “Can you give me an example?” His last word nearly ended on a very unmanly squeak when the needle bit deep again, followed by the long drag of the thread through his skin.
“To get us a room here, I concentrated on the male clerk to see what form he would be most receptive to.”
“And?” he asked on a long exhale as sweat began to bead on his brow and bile began to inch up his throat from his body’s reaction to the pain.
“And, I found myself in the form of Kate Beckinsale.”
Shock slapped at Noah and he glanced at Jezebeth to gauge if she was serious. When her features showed she was, a laugh bounded through him. “Seriously? As in the hottie who was in
Pearl Harbor
and was Selene in
Underworld
?
That
Kate Beckinsale?” His last words came out weak and he blinked slowly as a sensation of light-headedness swam through his brain.
She smiled. “That’s the one.”
“Too bad I missed it,” he slurred.
She studied him critically and then stood and crossed the room to rummage inside a duffel he recognized as one of those he’d packed in the back of the truck. When she returned, she held up a purple Tootsie Pop. “Here, eat this. The sugar will help with the pain endorphins. Not sure why it works, but it does.”
Noah had never heard of painkiller by lollypop, but since he had nothing to lose, he unwrapped the treat and popped it inside his mouth. Rich, grape flavor burst over his tongue and a few long moments later, the clammy skin, the dizziness, and even the roiling inside his stomach receded. “Thanks,” he said as he saluted her with the Tootsie Pop. “How did you know that would work?”
She shrugged as she settled beside him again. “I’ve seen a lot of beings get tattoos, and that’s something they’ve done to keep the side effects of the pain at bay. Has something to do with blood sugar, I think. Figured it couldn’t hurt.” She picked up the needle again, and Noah quickly turned away as the now-familiar sharp stab of pain lanced through his side.
“So what happened?”
“With Kate Beckinsale?” she asked on a laugh.
“Yes. You can’t leave me hanging after a story intro like that. I’m a writer, remember?”
She laughed again. “I do remember hearing that somewhere.” Jezebeth continued to work, and although Noah was peripherally aware of it, he focused his attention on the story.
“I told him you were my brother and we were traveling together. I didn’t think it was a good idea for us to have a Kate Beckinsale sighting when we are trying to stay under the radar, so I changed some of my features just enough so I would resemble her, but not look like her, if that makes sense.”
“I assume it worked?”
“I guess so, although he did say I reminded him of her.” She tugged against the thread and he concentrated on the grape flavor inside his mouth and the sound of her voice.
“Since I didn’t have any ID, I had to do some finagling, and here we are.”
“What?” Noah sat up, ignoring the sharp protest of pain from his injured side as he turned to face Jezebeth, who still held the needle between her fingers. “While I was out cold in the car you were having sex with the hotel clerk in Kate Beckinsale’s body?” As the words tumbled from Noah’s lips, they sounded insane, but he shook his head as he tried to wrap his mind around them.
Shock followed by anger flashed across Jezebeth’s features. “Technically it was my body with a slight resemblance to Kate Beckinsale, and it’s none of your business who I have sex with or not.” She met his gaze calmly.
“Is the clerk all right?” A vivid image flashed through his mind of the two men in the truck back at the parking lot of the club.
“He’s
more
than all right. Which means you and I have a room until checkout time at eleven tomorrow.” Her words dripped with venom, and he thought he detected a note of hurt underneath, which didn’t make sense at all.
“But I don’t understand . . .” Noah trailed off as he realized he couldn’t even begin to put what he was feeling into words. It just seemed wrong somehow to trade sex for a room. Jez wasn’t a prostitute.
But she is a succubus,
he reminded himself and then winced.
Anger and impatience flashed across Jezebeth’s features as she glared at Noah. “If you’re asking for clarification, that’s fine, but if you’re asking me to defend my actions, you can go to Hell.” She grabbed the thread still attached to Noah’s body and held it tight long enough to pull the needle free and gather up the other first aid supplies off the bed.
Noah bit back the words that threatened to bubble up his throat. Why was he so surprised that she’d traded sex for what they’d needed? She
was
a succubus, and he
had
been injured and out cold in the truck. Would he really have preferred she take his definition of the moral high road? That would’ve left him injured or eventually bleeding out in the truck, or worse, in police custody when they couldn’t explain to the hospital staff how he’d been injured. The details of the altercation at the club were probably all the buzz on police scanners right now.
He scrubbed his hand over his face before dropping it to his lap, where it bumped against his finally softening erection. “Look, Jezebeth . . .” He trailed off as he searched for the right thing to say. “I’m sorry. You did what you had to do. You took care of me when I was injured, and I really do appreciate it. I have no right to judge you or your actions.”
“You’re right. You don’t.” She laid the needle and other medical supplies she’d used on him on the chest of drawers and whirled to face him. “I’ll let you handle room arrangements next time. I’m going to take a shower.” She turned away and stopped with her back to him. “For the record, I didn’t sleep with him. I flirted and agreed to have a drink with him. That was all.”
The door to the bathroom snicked closed behind her, and Noah sat dumbfounded as he realized what a total and utter ass he’d been over the last few minutes. She never said. He’d just assumed.