Page 19
By evening, I head back into the city. Sava pulls up outside Velvet Blush, an elegant black building on the outside, very naughty on the inside. It’s the best brothel in the city. Velvet Blush has everything a thirsty person would need. Private rooms, a champagne bar, and the best girls and boys in town. I get to the door and immediately see him leaning against the frame like he owns it.
Max. The manager.
“I’ve missed you,” he says.
“I’ve been busy.”
He keeps one hand braced against the doorframe, blocking my way. He looks annoyingly good, as always. Tanned skin, sun-bleached hair, that lazy surfer-boy beauty that makes it hard to look away. Max is a succubus. Well, technically an incubus, but most of them are female around here, so nobody bothers with the distinction. They desire, they seduce, they fuck.
“I feel hurt,” he says, not moving. His hazel eyes hold mine with that warm, hungry focus succubi use when they want you to forget all your plans. “You don’t like me anymore?”
“Max. There’s a lot going on.”
He ignores that completely and steps closer. His mouth brushes my temple first, then my ear, then the side of my neck. His hand slides to my waist, fingers pressing through the fabric of my dress. I try to stand there like I don’t feel it, like my body doesn’t remember exactly what he can do to me in ten minutes in a locked room. His lips hover near mine, waiting, patient in the most unfair way.
I break embarrassingly fast.
The kiss starts soft, almost sweet, because he likes an invitation. I part my lips, and he slides his tongue into my mouth, one hand flattening against my lower back to pull me closer. Heat moves through me despite the amount of stardust I took. Okay. Maybe I missed him too. But I have things to do, and if I let Max distract me I will need a shower and a nap, and I don’t have time for that.
I pull back first. Our lips separate, but his hands stay on me.
“Is Meg in her office?”
His expression turns wounded again, this time with even more fake drama. “So you came just for her. Am I just a toy for you?”
“A very handsome toy.”
He leans in for another kiss, but I put a hand against his chest before he can trap me again. Succubi really do think about just one thing and pretend it’s a full personality.
“Are you working late?” I ask.
“All night.”
“Maybe something can be done about that.” I slip out of his arms before he can respond and walk inside.
Max and I are just fun. Nothing serious. Nothing complicated. That’s the whole point.
Velvet Blush smells like expensive perfume, sex, warm skin, and money. Low music hums through hidden speakers, soft enough not to interrupt private conversations but deep enough to settle in the body. I pass a pair of vampires lounging near the bar with twin human girls draped over them like accessories, then head straight for the office at the back.
Megara sits behind her desk, vaping like a disappointed goddess.
Her brown hair falls in perfect curls around her face. She’s the sexiest woman I know, and I don’t mean pretty. Plenty of people are pretty. Meg is something else. Curves, full mouth, dark eyes, female energy. If you could imagine a perfect succubus, it would always be her. She owns Velvet Blush now and doesn’t need to work anymore, but some men still beg to pay for her attention.
I sit across from her.
“You look like you need some sunlight,” she says, looking at me. “You look like death.”
“My dermatologist says I shouldn’t tan.”
“Since when do you listen to doctors?”
She gives me a pitying look, and I laugh despite myself. I place the stardust on her desk.
“Oh, beautiful.” Meg’s face lights up as she reaches for the bags. “My purple magic.”
She takes the product like I’ve brought her candy and counts money from the safe. I watch her hands move, elegant and steady, red nails tapping softly against the bills.
“Why do you even use it?” I ask. “I wouldn’t think your gift bothers you that much.”
