rasp jarred her out of her sexual haze. “Eight hundred. As a bonus for my crew.”
Zel slid his fingers lower, then twisted his hand to clasp hers in a firm grip. “Done.”
She had to swallow to speak. “I’ll have Cache send you the most up-to-date files I have.”
“Thank you. Have her send us your fuel requirements too.”
He hadn’t released her yet. “I can discuss that with your second when I meet with her, can’t I?”
“Yes.” Letting go of her hand, he took a hasty step back. “Yes, of course. Hailey can arrange everything.”
“Good.” Devi rubbed her wrist. “In the meantime, are we under lockdown?”
That wiped the soft look from his eyes. He straightened and nodded curtly. “It’s better this way, for now. Better for everyone. You have run of the guest quarters, and if you need anything, the guard posted at the entrance can get it for you.”
Better for everyone. If he truly believed the words, it meant he had people who wouldn’t hesitate to pick a fight with her crew—or worse.
Chapter Six
Connecting to… Rochester\Blackhole
Message from @root rip: Next person I catch sneaking onto the secure server to access XXX clubs is losing their entertainment privileges for a month. Untraceable access is for OFFICIAL BUSINESS. Jerk off on your own time.
Rerouting to <
> on GlobalNetwork\Southeast
< >
Authentication confirmed. Prepare to unleash your darkest fantasies.
REMINDER: Solicitation is strictly prohibited on the main floors. Those interested in operating as a for-hire escort must obtain a licensing application from administration. Violators will be permanently banned.
In retrospect, his second mistake was letting the woman blow him.
The first was coming to the club early, but his mind raced and his skin itched and he still had two damn hours until his assigned meeting with his contact. If he couldn’t get outside, at least he could get out of his skin, but the stinging, grating discomfort from the Global’s anti-demon signal had honed his already sharp temper to a vicious edge.
There was only one respite in the Global—or only one he knew of. Net-hackers had been building secret, underground communities in deserted corners of the network for years, but this club was his favorite. Whoever ran it had done a dangerous thing, tinkering with the anti-demon signal until it evidenced itself in throbbing heat instead of pulsing irritation. Not exactly arousing, but far less distracting and a lot more comfortable.
Especially if you were standing in a club full of halfblood demons and the humans who got off on the danger of fucking them.
Of course, it was all but impossible to tell which was which. Tradition held that humans dressed in black and demonbloods in red, but Zel always arrived in black. Habit, because he didn’t want to risk someone knowing what he was if he encountered them elsewhere. Better to have a reputation as a man with a demon fetish.
The woman on her knees in front of him was as human as they came, a sleepy-eyed nymphet with black hair, alabaster skin and a blood red dress that meant she was trying to pass herself off as demonic. Probably hoping to find human men who were into the idea of doing the nasty with a woman who had a little evil in her.
The layers of lies and deception were tedious.
So was the blowjob, which meant the entire fucking thing was a huge, dumb mistake. Or maybe his only mistake had been seeking out a woman who looked nothing like Devi, as if he could drive her bronzed skin and tawny hair from his mind by overwriting it with something different.
Idiot.
She might have been a liar, just like him, but the woman wasn’t stupid, a fact she proved when she lifted her head with a sigh. “You’re not into this.” Still trying to salvage the encounter, but a thread of exasperation had crept into her sultry tone.
He wasn’t, but retreating wasn’t in him. Nor was losing. Maybe this was more