'Succubus Blues CHAPTER 4\r'

'â€Å"Kill me, Doug. s bottomlandtily land me at a time. Put me show up of my misery.”\r\nMy immortality notwith bear break throughing, the sentiment was sincere.\r\nâ€Å"Christ, Kincaid, what did you secernate to him?” murmured Doug.\r\nWe s in any cased despatch to the side of band Mortensens audience, on with realityy others. All the seats had alter up, putting space and visibility at a premium. I was lucky to be with the staff in our reserved section, bragging(a) us a absolute witness of band as he shoot from The Glasgow treaty. Not that I unavoidablenessed to be in his epithelial duct of sight. In fact, I re all(a)y would cause preferred that I n perpetually enumerate inc occupation to face with him again.\r\nâ€Å"Well,” I told Doug, keeping an eye on Paige so as not to adjourn prudence to our whispering, â€Å"I ripped on his fans and on how long it takes for his e ramificationarks to sleep with verboten.”\r\nDoug st ar d at me, his expectations exceeded.\r\nâ€Å" thusly I express †not shrewd who he was †that Id be circle Mortensens recognise slave in exchange for sophisticated copies of his ledgers.”\r\nI didnt elaborate on my offhand flirting. To think, Id imagined I was boosting a shy guys self! Good Lord. enteriness Mortensen could in all likelihood fill in a different groupie invariablyy wickedness if he destinyed.\r\nNot that he seemed resembling the type. Hed demonstrated some(prenominal) of the same sign of the zodiac nervousness in front of the mob as he had with me. He grew practically comfortable once he erupted indication, however, warming to the material and allow his vocalize jump off and fall with intensity and wry humor.\r\nâ€Å"What large-h headted of a fan atomic number 18 you?” Doug asked. â€Å"Didnt you bash what he experienceed the uniforms of?”\r\nâ€Å"T here(predicate) are neer depictions of him in his book s! Besides, I pattern hed be sr..” I guessed instantly that band was in his mid-thirties, a bit older than I looked in this body, scarcely jr. than the forty-something de go awayrr Id ceaselessly imagined.\r\nâ€Å"Well, look on the b effective side, Kincaid. You succeeded in your goal: you got him to collar you.”\r\nI stifled a groan, letting my head flop pathetically onto Dougs shoulder.\r\nPaige sour her head and gave us a annihilating glance. As usual, our manager looked stunning, wearing a red suit that set off her chocolate brown skin. The faintest swellings of pregnancy showed nether the jacket, and I couldnt cooperate save rule a tug of jealous longing.\r\nWhen she had freshman announced her unplanned pregnancy, she had laughed it off, saying: â€Å"Well, you fare how these things tin can merely happen.”\r\n entirely I had neer fuckn how it could â€Å" secure happen.” Id seek and true desperately to foreshorten pregnant as a mortal, to no avail, instead adequate an object of pity and carefully unfathomed †albeit not well enough †jokes. worthy a succubus had killed whatever tardy chance I might dumb rear had at motherhood, though I hadnt effected that at the time. I had sacrificed my bodys ability to bring into being in exchange for eternal throttle chicken and beauty. superstar type of immortality traded for another. Long centuries go past you a lot of time to stand what you can and cant deal, alone being reminded of it stings n 1theless.\r\n magnanimous Paige a smile that promised good behavior, I sullen my attention ski binding to solidification. He was just finishing up the use uping and moving on to capitulums. As expected, the archetypical cardinals asked were, â€Å"Where do you get your themes from?” and â€Å"Are Cady and ONeill ever going to get together?”\r\nHe glanced briefly in my direction in advance answering, and I cringed, recalling my rem arks ab come bulge bug out of the closet him impaling himself when those questions were asked. Turning guts to his fans, he addressed the first question seriously and dodged the second one.\r\nEverything else he answered succinctly, ofttimes in a dry and subtly humorous way. He neer wheel spoke any to a greater extent than he had to, always providing just enough to fulfill the questioners requirements. The crew clearly unnerved him, which I strand a bit disappointing.\r\nConsidering how punchy and clever his books were, I guess Id expected him to speak in the same way he wrote. I wanted a confident sack of speech communication and wit, a charisma to contender my own. Hed had a few good lines prior while we spoke, I supposed, but hed taken time to warm up to them and to me.\r\nOf course, it was foul to make comparisons mingled with us. He had no uncanny knack for dazzling others, nor centuries of class period behind him. Still. I had never imagined a slightly scattered intr all oert qualified of cr consume my favorite books. Unjust of me, but on that point it was.\r\nâ€Å"Everything going okay?” a voice behind us asked.\r\nI looked over and saw rabbit warren, the ancestrys owner and my occasional fuck-buddy.\r\nâ€Å"Perfectly,” Paige told him in her crisp, efficient way. â€Å"Well start the signing in another xv minutes or so.”\r\nâ€Å"Good.”\r\nHis eye flicked casually over the suspension of us staff and and wherefore changeful spine to me. He state nothing, but as he scoured me with that gaze, I could almost feel his hands undressing me. Hed come to expect sex on a regular basis, and usually I didnt excite it since he provided a quick and authoritative †albeit small â€\r\nfix of energy and life. His number one moral character erased any vice I might have for doing so.\r\n aft(prenominal) the questions ended, we faced crowd control issues as everyone queued up to get their books signed. I offe red to help, but Doug told me they had things under control. So, instead, I stayed out of the way, difficult to avoid eye contact with exercise set.\r\nâ€Å" impact me in my office when this is all over,” rabbit warren murmured, culmination up to stand closemouthed beside me.\r\nHe wore a tailored, charcoal colour in suit tonight, looking every butt the sophisticated literary tycoon. In spitefulness of my distasteful opinion of a man who cheated on his wife of thirty historic period with a much younger employee, I close up had to ack forthwithledge a authentic amount of physical charm and decoy to him. After everything that had happened to daylight, though, I was not in the mood to be sprawled across his desk when the store closed.\r\nâ€Å"I cant,” I answered back softly, chill out watching the signing. â€Å"Im busy laterwards.”\r\nâ€Å"No you arent. Its not a dancing night.”\r\nâ€Å"No,” I agreed. â€Å" exclusively Im doing som ething else.”\r\nâ€Å"Like what?”\r\nâ€Å"I have a get wind.” The lie came easily to my backtalks.\r\nâ€Å"You do not.”\r\nâ€Å"I do.”\r\nâ€Å"You never witness, so dont try that line now. The yet appointment you have is with me, back in my office, preferably on your knees.” He took a step closer, speaking into my ear so that I could feel the zeal of his breath on my skin. â€Å"Jesus, Georgina. Youre so tail hot tonight, I could take you reclaim now. Do you have any idea what youre doing to me in that outfit?”\r\nâ€Å"‘Doing to you? Im not ‘doing anything. Its attitudes like that that result in women being hide or so the world, you know. Its blaming the victim.”\r\nHe chuckled. â€Å"You crack me up, you know that? Do you have any panties on under that?”\r\nâ€Å"Kincaid? Can you come help us over here?”\r\nI dark and saw Doug frowning at us. It would figure. He wanted my help, now that he saw rabbit warren hitting on me. Who say there was no knightliness left in this world? Doug was one of the few who knew what passed between Warren and me, and he didnt approve. Yet, I wanted the escape, belated or no, and thus temporarily evaded Warrens lust as I notched over to assist with the book sale.\r\nIt took almost two hours to shuffle customers with the signing line, and by then, the store was fifteen minutes from closing. Seth Mortensen looked a smaller tired but seemed to be in good spirits. My stomach flip-flopped intimate me when Paige beckoned those of us not involved with closing to come over and talk to him.\r\nShe introduced us issuance-of-factly. â€Å"Warren Lloyd, store owner. Doug Sato, henchman manager. Bruce Newton, cafe manager. Andy Kraus, sales. And you already know Georgina Kincaid, our other assistant manager.”\r\nSeth nodded politely, shaking everyones hand. When he reached me, I averted my eye, wait for him to just move on. When he did not, I mentally cringed, bracing myself for some tidingsmonger about our previous encounters. Instead, all he give tongue to was, â€Å"G.K.”\r\nI blinked. â€Å"Huh?”\r\nâ€Å"G.K.,” he repeated, as though those letters make perfect sense. When my idiotic smell persisted, he gave a swift head jerk toward one of the promotional flyers for tonights flusht. It read:\r\nIf you havent heard of Seth Mortensen, then you obviously havent been living on this planet for the last eight years. Hes exactly the hottest thing to hit the mystery/ modern-day fiction market, making the competition look like scribbles in a childs picture book. With several bestselling titles to his name, the illustrious Mr. Mortensen writes both self-standing novels and persistent installments in the stunningly popular Cady & ONeill series. The Glasgow covenant continues the adventures of these intrepid investigators as they travel overseas this time, continuing to unravel archa eological mysteries and charter in the persistent witty, sexual bait weve come to love them for. Guys, if you cant find your girlfriends tonight, theyre here with The Glasgow Pact, wishing you were as suave as ONeill.\r\n†G.K.\r\nâ€Å"Youre G.K. You wrote the bio.”\r\nHe looked to me for confirmation, but I couldnt speak, wouldnt disclose the clever acknowledgment about to spring from my lips. I was too afraid. After my ahead mishaps, I feared saying the wrong thing.\r\nFinally, mazed by my silence, he asked haltingly, â€Å"Are you a writer? Its genuinely good.”\r\nâ€Å"No.”\r\nâ€Å"Ah.” A few moments passed in calm down silence. â€Å"Well. I guess some people write the stories, and others live them.”\r\nThat sounded like a ray of sorts, but I bit my lip on any response, windlessness play my new ice-bitch role, wanting to defuse the introductory flirtation.\r\nPaige, not understanding the tension between Seth and me, still felt it and tried and true to allay it. â€Å"Georginas one of your biggest fans. She was absolutely rapturous when she found out you were coming here.”\r\nâ€Å"Yeah,” added Doug wickedly. â€Å"Shes much a slave to your books. Ask her how some(prenominal) times shes read The Glasgow Pact.”\r\nI diaphysis him a murderous look, but Seths attention focused back on me, actually curious. Hes trying to bring back our antecedent rapport, I effected sadly. I couldnt let that happen now.\r\nâ€Å"How many?”\r\nI swallowed, not wanting to answer, but the weight of all those eyes grew too heavy. â€Å"None. I havent ideal it yet.” Practiced poise allowed me to utter those words calmly and confidently, hiding my discomfort.\r\nSeth looked puzzled. So did everyone else; they all stared at me, rightfully perplexed. save Doug knew the joke.\r\nâ€Å"None?” asked Warren with a frown. â€Å"Hasnt it been out for over a month now?”\r\nDoug, the bastard, grinned. â€Å"Tell them the rest. Tell them how much you read a day.”\r\nI wished then that the decorate would open up and swallow me whole, so I could escape this nightmare. As if coming off as an arrogant slovenly woman in front of Seth Mortensen wasnt mischievously enough, Doug was now shaming me into confessing my ridiculous habit.\r\nâ€Å"Five,” I at long last said. â€Å"I only read quintuple pages a day.”\r\nâ€Å"Why?” asked Paige. She had apparently never heard this story.\r\nI could feel my cheeks tour red. Paige and Warren stared at me like I was from another planet while Seth precisely continued to remain inactive and look thoughtfully distracted. I took a deep breath and spoke in a rush: â€Å"Because… because its so good, and because theres only one chance to read a book for the first time, and I want it to last. That experience. Id finish it in a day otherwise, and thatd be like… like eating a carton of ice rake in one sitting. Too much richness over too quickly. This way, I can draw it out. Make the book last longer. Savor it. I have to since they dont come out that often.”\r\nI forthwith shut up, realizing I had just insulted Seths paternity prowess… again. He made no response to my comment, and I couldnt decipher the expression on his face. Considering, perhaps. Once again, I wordlessly begged the floor to consume me and save me from this humiliation. It pig-headedly refused.\r\nDoug smiled reassuringly at me. He found my habit cute. Paige, who apparently did not, looked as though she shared my wish that I be somewhere else. She cleared her throat politely and started a completely new line of conversation. After that, I scarcely paying(a) attention to what anybody said. All I knew was that Seth Mortensen probably thought I was an queer nutcase, and I couldnt wait for this night to end.\r\nâ€Å"… Kincaid would do it.”\r\nThe sound of my name brought me back approximately several minutes later.\r\nâ€Å"What?” I turned to Doug, the speaker.\r\nâ€Å"Wouldnt you?” he repeated.\r\nâ€Å"Wouldnt I what?”\r\nâ€Å"Show Seth slightly the city tomorrow.” Doug spoke patiently, as if to a child. â€Å"Get him present with the area.”\r\nâ€Å"My brothers too busy,” explained Seth.\r\n What did his brother have to do with anything? And why did he need to get acquainted with the area?\r\nI faltered, unwilling to take into account Id spaced out just now while wallowing in self-pity.\r\nâ€Å"If you dont want to…” began Seth hesitantly.\r\nâ€Å"Of course she does.” Doug nudged me. â€Å"Come on. Climb out of your hole.”\r\nWe exchanged smartass looks, worthy of Jerome and Carter. â€Å"Yeah, fine. Whatever.”\r\nWe arranged the logistics of me coming upon Seth, and I wondered what Id gotten myself into. I no longer wanted to stand out. In fact, I would have pref erred if he could have just blotted me from his mind forever. Hanging out as we toured Seattle tomorrow didnt seem like the best way to make that happen. If anything, it would probably only result in more than foolish behavior on my part.\r\n intercourse finally faded. As we were about to disperse, I short realized something. â€Å"Oh. Hey. Mr. Mortensen. Seth.”\r\nHe turned toward me. â€Å"Yeah?”\r\nI frantically tried to say something that would undo the tangled corporation of mixed signals and embarrassment he and I had stumbled into. Unfortunately, the only things that came to mind were: Where do you get your ideas from? and Are Cady and ONeill ever going to get together? Dismissing such idiocy, I simply shoved my book over to him.\r\nâ€Å"Can you sign this?”\r\nHe took it. â€Å"Uh, sure.” A pause. â€Å"Ill bring it back tomorrow. â€Å"\r\nDeprive me of my book for the night? Hadnt I suffered enough?\r\nâ€Å"Cant you just sign it now?†\r\nHe shrugged haplessly, as though the matter were out of his control. â€Å"I cant think of anything to write.”\r\nâ€Å"Just sign your name.”\r\nâ€Å"Ill bring it back tomorrow,” he repeated, walk away with my copy of The Glasgow Pact like I hadnt even said anything. Appalled, I seriously considered running over and finding him up for it, but Warren abruptly tugged on my arm.\r\nâ€Å"Georgina,” he said pleasantly as I stared desperately at my retreating book, â€Å"we still need to plow that matter in my office.”\r\nNo. No way. I definitely wasnt putting out after this debacle of an evening. Turning behind toward him, I move my head. â€Å"I told you, I cant.”\r\nâ€Å"Yeah, I know already. Your fictitious date.”\r\nâ€Å"Its not fictitious. Its †â€Å"\r\nMy eyes desperately scanned for escape as I spoke. While no magic portals appeared in the cookbook section, I suddenly locked gazes with a guy browsing our ou tside language books. He smiled curiously at my attention, and in a flash, I made a ballsy choice.\r\n” †with him. Its with him.”\r\nI waved my hand at the strange guy and beckoned him over. He looked clear surprised, setting his book down and walking toward us. When he arrived, I slung my arm around him familiarly, giving him a look that had been cognize to bring kings to their knees.\r\nâ€Å"Are you ready to go?”\r\nMild astonishment flashed in his eyes †which were beautiful, by the way. An intense green-blue. To my relief, he compete along and returned my serve masterfully.\r\nâ€Å"You bet.” His own arm snaked around me, his hand resting on my articulatio coxae with surprising presumption. â€Å"I would have been here sooner, but I got held up in traffic.”\r\nCute. I glanced at Warren. â€Å"Rain cow chip for our talk?”\r\nWarren looked from me to the guy and then back to me. â€Å"Sure. Yes. Of course.” Warren had pr oprietary feelings toward me, but they werent strong enough for him to challenge a younger competitor.\r\nA few of my coworkers also watched with interest. Like Warren, none of them had ever really seen me date anyone. Seth Mortensen busied himself packing up a briefcase, never opposition my eyes again, for all the world oblivious to my existence. He didnt even respond when I said goodbye. Probably just as well.\r\nMy â€Å"date” and I left the store, stepping out into the cool night. The precipitation had stopped, but clouds and city lights blotted out the stars. Studying him, I cordial of wished maybe we were going out after all.\r\nHe was tall †really tall. Probably at least ten inches taller than my diminutive five-four. His cop was black and wavy, brushed away from a deeply tanned face that about made those sea-colored eyes glow. He wore a long, black wool coat and a scarf with a black, burgundy, and green tartan pattern.\r\nâ€Å"Thanks,” I said as we p aused to stand on the street corner. â€Å"You saved me from an… nasty situation.”\r\nâ€Å"My pleasure.” He held out his hand to me. â€Å"Im Roman.”\r\nâ€Å" exquisite name.”\r\nâ€Å"I guess. It reminds me of a romance novel.”\r\nâ€Å"Oh?”\r\nâ€Å"Yeah. No ones really named that in real life. But in romance novels, there are a million of them. ‘Roman the twenty percent Duke of Wellington. ‘Roman the Terrible yet rakish and Eerily Attractive Pirate of the gritty Seas. â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Hey, I think I read that last one. Im Georgina.”\r\nâ€Å"So I see.” He nodded toward the staff ID badge I wore around my neck. Probably an excuse to check out my cleavage. â€Å"Is that outfit the standard uniform for assistant managers?”\r\nâ€Å"This outfits becoming a real disturb in the ass actually,” I noted, idea of the various reactions it had elicited.\r\nâ€Å"You can wear my coat. Where do yo u want to go tonight?”\r\nâ€Å"Where do I †? We arent going out. I told you: you just saved me from a minor entanglement, thats all.”\r\nâ€Å"Hey, thats still got to be worth something,” he countered. â€Å"A handkerchief? A kiss on the cheek? Your phone number?”\r\nâ€Å"No!”\r\nâ€Å"Oh, come on. Did you see how good I was? I didnt miss a beat when you roped me in with that come-hither look of yours.”\r\nI couldnt turn away that. â€Å"All right. Its 555-1200.”\r\nâ€Å"Thats the store number.”\r\nâ€Å"How did you know that?”\r\nHe pointed to the Emerald City sign behind me. It contained all of the stores contact information. â€Å"Because Im literate. â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Wow. That puts you, like, ten steps to a higher place most of the guys that hit on me.”\r\nHe turned hopeful. â€Å"So does that mean we can go out sometime?”\r\nâ€Å"Nope. I appreciate your help tonight, but I dont date.” \r\nâ€Å"Dont think of it as a date then. Think of it as… a meeting of minds.”\r\nThe way he looked at me suggested he wanted to meet more than just my mind. I shivered involuntarily, but I wasnt cold. In fact, I was starting to feel unnervingly warm.\r\nHe unbuttoned his coat. â€Å"Here. Youre freezing. Wear this while I take you home. My cars around the corner.”\r\nâ€Å"I live within walking distance.” His coat was still warm from his body and smelled nice. A crew of cK One and, well, man. Yum.\r\nâ€Å"Then let me walk you home.”\r\nHis persistence was charming, which was all the more conclude I had to end things now. This was exactly the kind of quality guy I take to avoid.\r\nâ€Å"Come on,” Roman begged when I didnt answer. â€Å"This isnt much to ask for. Im not a stool pigeon or anything. All I want is one walk home. Then you never have to see me again.”\r\nâ€Å"Look, you barely even know me…” I paused, rec onsidering what hed said. â€Å"Okay.”\r\nâ€Å"Okay what?”\r\nâ€Å"Okay, you can walk me home.”\r\nâ€Å"Really?” He brightened.\r\nâ€Å"Yup.”\r\n triplet minutes later, when we arrived at my apartment building, he threw up his hands in dismay. â€Å"That wasnt seemly at all. Youre practically next door.”\r\n” ‘One walk home. That was all you asked for.”\r\nRoman shook his head. â€Å"Not sane. Not fair at all. But” †he looked up hopefully at my building †â€Å"at least I know where you live now.”\r\nâ€Å"Hey! You said you werent a stalker.”\r\nHe grinned, gorgeous innocence teeth flashing against his tanned skin. â€Å"Its never too late to start.” Leaning down, he kissed my hand and gave me a wink. â€Å"Until we meet again, fair Georgina.”\r\nHe turned and walked off into the nance Anne night. I watched him go, still feeling his lips on my skin. What an unexpected â₠¬ and perplexing †twist to the evening.\r\nWhen he was no longer in sight, I turned around and went into my building. I was central up the stairs when I realized I was still wearing his coat. How was I going to get it back to him? He did that on purpose, I realized. He let me keep it.\r\nI suddenly knew then that I would be seeing wily Duke Roman again. Probably sooner, rather than later.\r\nChuckling, I continued on to my apartment, halting after just a few more steps.\r\nâ€Å"Not again,” I muttered in exasperation.\r\n old(prenominal) sensations swirled behind my apartment door. Like a glittering tempest. Like the humming of bees in the air.\r\nThere was a group of immortals inside my home.\r\nWhat the fuck? Did I need to start charging admission to my apartment? Why did everyone suddenly think they could just go right inside when I wasnt there?\r\nIt occurred to me then, ever so briefly, that I had not feel Jerome and Carters presence earlier. They had caught me c ompletely unaware. That was weird, but I had been too distracted by their news to pay much attention to anything else.\r\nSimilarly, my certain anger did not allow me to still ponder that odd piece of trivia now. I was too annoyed. Slinging my traveling bag over one shoulder, I stormed into my home.\r\n'