Possession (8 page)

***

Oh, God, oh-god-oh-god-oh-god…

Catherine sidled away from her make-out
partner and started walking to the stairs.

“Pet…”

“Don’t. It was just a fluke. I’m going to
straighten up, and I’ll meet you at the car.”

She ran the rest of the way down toward the
bathroom by the kitchen.

Julian punched the wall, leaving a dent in
the wood paneling.

What a cock-up this is…

***

Why did I let him kiss me? Why did he let me
almost stake him? This place is stealing my sanity…

After making herself presentable, Catherine
walked to the foyer to join the other girls. One of them handed her
the purse and coat she’d dropped when Julian tossed her over his
shoulder. The driver was standing by the passenger door. Julian was
waiting on the other side of the limo, at the front. There were six
girls plus Alana to sit in the back. She was glad he wasn’t among
them.

***

Alana gave her a sideways glance as she took
her seat, but didn’t comment. It wasn’t anyone’s business what
she’d seen upstairs. Frankly, the half-demon wasn’t surprised
something like this happened. Julian had been storing up sexual
tension for quite a while. And the teen virgin? That was a powder
keg of sexual energy just
waiting
to explode. She just
wondered which one made the first move.

***

Catherine sat primly while the demon girls
chattered and speculated on which club they might be going to. It
was oddly comforting and disturbing that they sounded just like the
college girls she’d been surrounded by just a few weeks ago. They
wanted to go where it was “cool” and meet hot males. They’d primped
their scales or feathers or whatever to perfection and put on their
most alluring clothes. The couple she knew had been nice enough,
though they clearly didn’t understand the “weird human girl”.

Maybe she could stick with Alana all
night.

In front of a building with a red door and
small neon sign on a dark street, Julian gave his rules to the
demon girls before letting them inside.

“Remember, while you’re completing your
course with us, there will be no going home with any males you
meet, and if you’re hung-over tomorrow you still have to be in
class. Practice your skills, dance, and have a good time.”

Catherine followed Alana inside and to the
bar.

“You can’t hide from him forever,” the
half-demon said, waiting for the bartender.

“I can try. I really don’t want to talk about
it.”

“Well, you can’t follow me around all night
like a limpet. I have people to talk to, and you’ll only cramp my
style.”

“Please, Alana? I won’t say anything!”

“Fine… I don’t think you have to worry,
though. Julian’s already busy over there.”

Catherine turned to see where Alana pointed,
and saw Julian whispering into the ear of some blonde chick. She
smiled at him, and they disappeared further into the club. She
should have been relieved, but for some reason the
sight…burned.

“I can sense that,” Alana stated, sipping
from something pink with an umbrella in the glass.

“Huh?”

“And, it’s fading…come on, before I get
bored.”

At least Julian hadn’t taken them to some
dive. It actually looked like one of the nicer places in L.A., and
the clientele were behaving themselves, dancing or huddled in
booths for a drink.

He’d been right about seeing all kinds of
demons in the flesh. It was one thing to read about them or see a
tiny drawing, quite another to see them in real living color, and
smell.

Catherine was acutely aware she seemed to be
the only human in the place.

They passed into a different section, with
tables and billiard games.

She hung back and let Alana do her thing,
leaning against the wall and watching the scenery. It took a while
to notice that the cute guy across the room was trying to catch her
eye.

Me?
she mouthed, pointing to herself.
He nodded and crooked his finger, indicating she should come over.
She glanced at Alana, then pushed off the wall and made her way
across the room.

Chapter 8

“Alone tonight?” he asked.

Ooo, nice accent
.

“With friends,” Catherine said.

He glanced at the table where Alana and the
demon were engrossed in conversation. “She didn’t seem to be
including you.”

“She’s working,” she replied. “You know how
it is.”

“Dangerous friend you have. How does an
American girl come by such a companion?”

“
Long
story.”

“I’ve got some time, Miss…”

“Catherine.”

He smiled. “Pretty name. So, Catherine, what
brings you to England?”

“School. A little learning abroad. It’s my
first real night out.”

And now I’m flirting?

“My lucky night, then. Care to dance, before
you get back to the books?”

She took his offered hand. “I’d love to,
Mr.….”

“Ian.”

Catherine followed his lead to the dance
floor. Ian was just her type, dark-haired and broad-shouldered.
Pretty hazel-green eyes. His hand was warm, so at least he wasn’t a
vampire. She wasn’t ruling out some kind of demon, since many could
appear as humans, and they
were
in a demon bar.

Spotting Julian chatting up a girl out of the
corner of her eye, she made a show of wrapping her arms around her
partner’s neck and smiling up at him. Just in case someone was
watching. Had to put this makeover to use somehow, right?

“So, how long do you plan to stay here?” Ian
asked.

“Not sure. Maybe a couple more weeks. I do
miss home.”

“And where’s that?”

“California. I miss the
sun
.”

He chuckled. “It is a rare thing to see,
especially this time of year. I bet you look beautiful in
sunlight.”

She sighed. “Too bad we can’t find out…but I
bet you say that to all the girls.”

“I only compliment those worthy of it.”

She smiled, shaking her head. “Good
answer.”

The song shifted to a fast techno beat. The
old Catherine wouldn’t have tried staying out on the floor; the new
her put her new skills to work and kept the boy’s attention.

***

Julian watched Catherine moving with abandon
on the dance floor with some pretty-boy ponce, and went to find
Alana. He pulled her out of a booth in the back, mid-sentence.

“Hey! Hands off the merchandise!”

“Explain to me why Miss Mitchell is teasing
the dick of some pillock on the dance floor. She was supposed to
stay with you!”

“She’s an adult, Julian. She can handle a
dance or two. I’m in the middle of something!”

“Not in a room full of
demons
!” he
hissed. “In here, she’s just bait.”

“Then, if you’re so worried,
you
go
tell her she can’t dance with the hot incubus.” Alana started to
walk back to her client.

Julian grabbed her arm and yanked her back.
“You
let
her go off with an
incubus?
”

She rolled her eyes. “Your bumpies are
showing.” She walked back to her table. They only had to worry if
the incubus was looking to mate.

He shook off his fangs and stomped off into
the crowd, searching for Catherine. They were here a friggin’
minute ago…

He was going to kill her if she left the
building. He searched all of the common areas and came up
empty.

“Are there any private areas in the
building?” Julian demanded of the bartender.

“What’s it to you?”

He slammed a hundred note on the counter.
“Private. Rooms. Where are they?”

“Door at the end of the hall by the loo.
Leads upstairs.”

It took pounding down five doors before he
found her.

“God, what is your damage, Julian? Knock,
much?” Catherine exclaimed.

He looked her over in a second, before
yelling, “Do you have any idea what he is?”

She rolled her eyes. “We were just talking.
It was loud down there.”

Ian held up his hands. “Hey, no hard
feelings, mate. Didn’t realize she was taken.”

“I’m not,” Catherine stated. “He’s
my…chaperone,” she explained, then turned to Julian. “Go away!”

“Oh, gee, since you asked so
nicely…
no
. He’s an incubus.”

She blinked. “So?”

“So, they seduce women, show them a good
time, and then you’re having demon spawn burst out of your innards
four weeks later like one of those things from the ‘Alien’ movies,”
he explained.

“A chest-buster? You are seriously deranged,
Julian.” To Ian, she said, “I’m so sorry. He’s still not
housebroken.”

“You…two…seem to have some things to work
out…” Ian replied, and made a hasty retreat out of the room.

Catherine threw her hands up in disgust. “Oh,
that’s
great
! The one guy who’ll talk to me in this place
and you chase him away.
Thank you
, Julian! This night has
been so fun.” She grabbed her purse and jacket in a huff and made
for the door, only to be yanked back by the arm. “Let. Go. Of.
Me.”

“
No.
” Julian slammed the door shut.
“We need to talk.”

“No, we don’t! I have nothing to say I
haven’t already said.”

“We
kissed
, Catherine.”

“
You
kissed me.”

“You kissed me
back.
Or did I just
imagine you wrapped around me with all four limbs, making all those
delicious little sounds.”

“A lapse in judgment,” she coldly replied.
“It won’t be repeated.”

Julian stalked forward, stopping boot tip to
boot tip. “So, just the heat of the argument, then? A bit of cold
comfort?”

“
You
kissed
me
when I had a
stake at your heart. Question your own motives before you start in
on mine.”

Catherine pushed past him and yanked the door
open, her feet clomping loudly on the stairs a minute later.

He stood the picture of tension, flexing his
hands open and closed, grinding his teeth.

She’s drivin’ you bug-shaggin’ insane. Just
let her go.

It was nearing midnight when Julian came
downstairs. He rounded up the girls and said they were leaving,
much to their dismay. Catherine was over with Alana, but he ignored
her. The atmosphere between them couldn’t have been any colder
during the drive back.

***

Alana followed Catherine up to her room,
inside, and shut the door.

“Can I help you?” she asked the
half-demon.

“Is this…whatever…between you and Julian
going to screw up business around here?” Alana asked.

“Not as far as I’m concerned. I don’t care
what he does.”

“Uh-huh… I’m guessing he screwed up, since
he’s
male
, so what are you going to do now?”

“Do?”

“Curse him, ignore him, chop his man parts
off…you know, the usual.”

Catherine sighed and sat on the bed. “Nothing
so drastic. I don’t even know how this all happened. It’s insane! I
shouldn’t even know he exists, or you exist. I was happy minding my
own business in my little college life… I wish everything could go
back to the way it was. I just want to go home.”

“So go home.”

“I can’t, yet.”

My allowance won’t be in the bank until the
first.

Alana shrugged. “Suit yourself. But you’re
going to have to find some way to get by until you
are
ready, because he won’t hide from you in his own home.”

“I know.”

Catherine thanked her lucky stars most of her
routine could be conducted before Julian was awake and out and
about. He typically got up at sundown, spent time in the office,
and then joined them for dinner. It was Saturday, so that meant it
was movie night in the TV room instead of class time. She could
avoid him tomorrow, too, since Sunday was her day off from
self-defense training.

On Monday, he came to find her before
dinner.

“Look, we’re both adults, so there’s no
reason we can’t be professional during the remainder of your stay,
right?” He stood stiffly, his voice neutral.

“I’m agreeable to that,” she said.

“Good. I’ll see you in the gym after supper,
then.” Julian nodded curtly, then walked off.

Her stomach fluttered nervously through
dinner at the prospect of sparring with him, being in close
contact. You couldn’t practice a full-contact sport without
touching the other person.

Stupid hormones.

Her head wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, and
her heart wanted to go home, but her body kept responding to the
one attractive male she was around for the past month. It made
sense from a biological standpoint, except you couldn’t reproduce
with a vampire. But her body didn’t care about details. It only
recognized that he was pleasantly shaped.

She needn’t have worried.

Julian brought in one of the other girls to
do the actual sparring. He just gave instructions. It was the least
fun she’d had in class since she started.

***

Engrossed in the literature on his desk,
Julian didn’t notice Alana coming in to his office.

“She’s going to be gone soon,” she stated
without preamble.

“Who?” he asked, looking up.

“You know
who
. Catherine! The one you
want as an orgasm friend.”

“Alana…”

“Well, it’s true. Even the help have
noticed.”

“Beg pardon?”

“Okay, they’ve noticed you’re distracted and
easily agitated. You should have gotten laid last night.”

It was the general idea.

“What are you blathering on about?”

She rolled her eyes. “If you don’t tell the
girl what you want soon, you’re going to miss your chance.”

“What I want.”

“Yes, whatever the hell it is. I don’t know!
None of
my
business…”

“Then, you’re butting in because bloody
why?”