Things Forbidden (5 page)

“Y
ou look lost,” he said, a thin smile on his lips.
 

“I…um,” Zoe searched her mind for an answer.  She had momentarily forgotten why she had come in her
e in the first place.  His presence was overwhelming.  It reminded her of the demon. 
“I’m looking for someone, actually.
 
A customer maybe.
”

“Is that
so?” the man, dressed in a crisp
white suit, said.  His smile broadened, making Zoe even more uncomfortable.  “What is this person’s name?”

“Well, I don’t actually know,” Zoe said, her cheeks heating in embarrassment as she realized how silly she must look to this person.  She just knew he was judging her.  It was obvious she couldn’t afford to be in this store, and it was unlikely she actually knew someone that could. 

“Paris,” the man said, gaining a very confused look from the girl.

“Tall, da
rk, and handsome
?”
he continued, his brows
raised
in assumed
correctness. 
“Very sneaky?”

“That’s
sounds like him
,”
Zoe said.

“I see this a lot,” the man said, turning away from her.  He walked to the check counter, grabbing a business
card
from behind the desk
.  “I should apologize for my associate’
s lack of manners
.
  He can be rather elusive.
”

“
Your associate?”
Zoe said cautiously.  Could this person be a demon as well?  He didn’t look l
ike one, but then again, she only had
one
example
to judge by.

“
Partner, to be more precise
,” the man said, gesturing to the store.  He held the card out for Zoe to take.  “You can find him at this address.”

“Thank you,
” she said as she took the card. 
This was perfect, just what she needed.  A business card should qualify as something belonging to him. 
She turned to leave the store
, happy to get out of there.

“I should warn you though,” the man called after her, “he is rather busy, what with his new fiancé and all.”

It was hard for Paris to decide if he was happy or not when he felt her summon
ing
him.  On the one hand he was thoroughly intrigued that she had figured this one out so quickly.  It also gave him an excuse to get away from the barnacle that had attached herself to
him.  But it was also extremely risky
.  If Salem decided to get curious it could cause some serious problems for him.
  Regardless, he was being summoned, and there was no way for him to get around it. 

“My dear,” he
said, cutting Salem’s
rambling.  He forced himself to
act disappointed
.  “I’m
afraid
business calls.”

“No,” she said, puffing her already fat lips in a pout that did nothing for her.  “I want to talk more about our mating plans.  There is so much to do.  And I want to pick a cake today. 
I want to buy
a new dress
for the engagement party
too…”

“My princess,” he said, forcing back his utter irritation, “you know I cannot ignore the call.”

“Fine,” she said with a heavy sigh.  “Go.  But come back quickly.”

“As fast as I can,” Paris said, flashing a handsome smirk before disappearing.

#

“Why isn’t this working?” Zoe said as she waved the bundle of burning herbs in the air.  “I followed the directions.”

She stuck her nose in the small book that she had found the ritual in.  She scanned the pages of instructions, confirming that she hadn’
t forgotten anything.  A scowl formed on her face.  She had followed it word for word. 

“Damn it,” she huffed, dropping the book on the table.  Her eyes fell upon the rather amused looking demon that had haunted her thoughts of late. 

“You have to give it
a moment,” Paris said
with a playful smirk
.  “
After all, I was on the other side of the city
.”

She noticed something was different about him. 
A subtle difference.
  His ears were no longer gently pointed, but rounded instead. 
His canines were no longer elongated. 
He looked hu
man.  She was so busy gawking at him in surprise that she almost forgot to finish the ritual
.  She quickly scooped the book back up,
and began
reading as best as she could
from
the Latin that was written on the page. 

Paris watched her rather pathetic attempt with his arms crossed over his chest.  He
was debating on whether to have fun with her or
just
go ahead and
itemize all the things she had done incorrectly
here
.  She was attempting a spell to change the terms of the contract. 
Even an experienced darks arts practitioner would have difficulty pulling this one off. 
It was completely illegal, and probably the stupidest thing she had done thus far, but he had to give her a measure of credit for trying.  Had she actually done it correctly, he woul
d be in a fair amount of hot water
.

“You really are an intriguing little thing,” he said, interrupting her mid-sentence of what sounded like a chicken garbling.  She shrugged off his comment and tried to continue, her face set with determination.

“Accurate pronunciation is vital,” he said, cutting
once again into her misguided attempts.  “You have already failed.”

“The contract is in Spanish,” Zoe said
with a huff
,
giving up on the ritual and
narrowing her eyes at
him.  “You are not playing
fair.”

“I never said I was going to, Zoe,” he said, the sound of her name dripping so seductively of
f his lips made
her heart flutter.

“I have a right to read it,” she said, trying to gather her thoughts.  It was so hard to concentrate around him when suddenly all she could remember was the way his lips felt against hers.  Hot and firm, demanding her compliance.  “It’s all in Spanish.”

“
Oops,” Paris said with a shrug of his shoulders.  “I write those t
hings in so many languages, it’s sometimes hard to keep them straight
.”

“You did that on purpose,” Zoe said,
shaking a
manicured index finger
at him
.  “That’s not fair.”

“Fair?” Paris
said,
his shapely brow arching
.  He stepped closer to her, enjoying the way her heart rate increased as he drew closer. 
He could hear it pounding against her ribcage as she tried to be strong before him. 
“Shall we discuss what it is you are doing here?”

“I’m…” she stumbled over her words, realizing that he had her stuck, again. 

“I see you found that little book,” Paris said.  The smirk that
spread across his handsome jaw let her know
he had something to do with it.

“You!” she shrieked, balling her fist up and striking out at him.  He easily dodged her with a chuckle echoing in his chest. 
He appeared directly behind her.

“Zoe,” he said, and again she could feel herself getting hot with just her name spoken.  “I’ve been doing this a very long time.”

His nose twitched as he picked up the faint but unmistakable musk of her arousal. 
His ego inf
lated to momentous proportions wi
t
h the fact that
speaking her name was enough to make her want
him.  He moved, appearing just before
her, leaving barely a space between them.  She sucked in a sharp breath
as his rapid movements
. 
Her eyes searched his face with apprehension, waiting for his next move.

Paris hesitated for a moment, his eyes locked on the delicious little mounds of flesh he so badly wanted to assault.  He
lifted a hand, running
the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip, reveling in the softness of it, as he leaned in towards her.

“You are engaged,” she said abruptly, snapping them both out of the haze of their attraction.  He dropped his hand to his side, pulling back slightly disappointed. 

“What is this?” a nasally whine echoed behind Zoe, and she whirled around to see who it was.  She cringed
reflexively
as she caught a glimpse of Salem.  “Is this the business you had to attend to?”

This was bad.  He had underestimated Salem’s impatience.
The girl was in serious trouble now, thanks to this
ill-timed
little stunt
of hers
.  It was perfectly alright for a human to summon a demon.  But trying to break a contract
with means such as this
was a serious offense.  And because
so many
tried to do it, there were clauses built into
the
contracts to rectify such unfavorable behavior.  Paris had only
thought to have fun with the girl, to make her squirm a little.  But now Salem
was
involved.  The girl was about to face rather severe consequences.  He couldn’t figure out exactly why that bothered him so much, but it did. 
He had to do something about this, and fast.

“My dear,” he said, his demeanor suddenly shifting
to his most charming façade
.  “This is my newest client.  I was just telling her about you.”

Chapter Ten

“It looks like she is trying to break her contract,” Salem said,
seeing the room filled with the ritual elements
.  The putrid smell that poured from her mouth
as she spoke
made Zoe want to puke.

“This is your fiancé?” she
asked, slapping
a hand o
ver her mouth, not wanting to taste
the
stench.  There was disbelief in her eyes
as she looked back and forth between
the handsome demon,
Paris, and
Salem.  It just didn’t make any sense.  If she didn’t have the strong sense of being in danger
she
probably would have laughed at the irony of it.

“How dare you insult me,” Salem said
, her tiny eyes popping with rage
.  She stomped her fat foot against the carpeted floor
, looking at Paris
w
ith
a finger pointing at Zoe.  “Take her.  She has
breached the contract and I want her to pay
.”

“Darling,” Paris said, tucking a crispy lock of brown hai
r behind Salem’s
rather large ear. 
He was hoping
to
pursued
her without drawing too much suspicion.
 
“
She is
a very lucrative contract for me.  It would not be wise to do such a thing.”

“Not wise?” Salem hissed
,
her thick eyebrows pulled down in anger.  “
Consequences for a breach of contract are eternal servitude
.  How could that not
be of more
benefit
to
us
than a basic contract?
”

“Hey,” Zoe said, crossin
g her arms.  She was absolutely fed up with all this demon bu
siness.  “I am no one’s slave
.  And as soon as his…”

“S
hut up,
human,” Paris snapped
, for once the mirth was
completely
absent from his expression.  He had never been more serious in his life.
  He could see the immediate hurt in
Zoe’s
eyes, but he had to be forceful.  She was about to bring a world of difficulties to them if she said anything more.  This entire situation was getting rapidly out of hand.  Paris had to take her, if only to shut Salem up.  He would figure out a way to release her later.  For now he just needed to keep Salem quiet.  If Paris actually had to turn in Zoe’s contract,
there would be more questions.  The whole agreement was made on rather shaky ground and if anyone dug deep enough they would find that he didn’t actually have
authority to make the deal in the first place.  First-timers were reserved for special agents.  And Zoe was definitely a first-timer.