Failing that, it made sense he’d split them up, sending Lilim into a Triad and trying to throw Maron into one of her own. It behooved her boss to try to get the most out of his people, so she understood, even if she didn’t want to get on board with his plans for her.
Plans that included her new—temporary—partners. Kobal and Raum. Who she was supposed to get to know today before she had to work with them again. Her body hummed with remembered passion, and the lace on her bra chafed as her nipples beaded. Her sex clenched in longing, and her skin heated where she recalled the feel of their hands upon it. She wouldn’t mind experiencing that again, if it didn’t have all kinds of strings attached. But a bond would put her right back where she was with Shax. Vulnerable, dependent, needy. Weak.
No. Going back to that again was not an option. She shook her head, pushing away her ricocheting thoughts as she stepped out onto her floor.
And froze. They were there. In her apartment. She could sense them as surely as she had when they were tracking her earlier. That her awareness of them was so gut-level and fundamental was not a good sign.
She tightened her jaw and let her body dissipate until she could step through the wall and into her living room. No need to use the door and give them notice that she was coming in. Crossing her arms over her chest as she solidified, she hid her hardened nipples when the sheer physicality of them struck her again. Both were muscular, but chasing down evil didn’t allow for flabbiness. They were tall, and attractive in their own ways. Raum’s green gaze focused on her, the intensity almost magnetic, drawing her in when she wanted to resist. His pale gaze contrasted with his tanned skin and dark hair. His features were a little too sharp to be handsome, his jaw a little too square, but the combined effect made her want to take a second look. Or third. Kobal, however, was stunning. His face had an unholy beauty to it, nothing short of perfection. His hair was wheat blond, his eyes the pure cerulean of a cloudless sky. Energy seemed to pour from him, giving the impression of constant movement even when he was still.
Compared to them, her own dark hair and eyes were remarkably unremarkable. She pushed away that foolish thought and arched her eyebrows at the two demons sprawled across her couch. “I didn’t invite you into my home, did I?”
“We’re your partners.” As if that answered the question. Kobal gave her a cheeky grin that made her want to smile back and smack him all at the same time. “You’d look a lot happier if Samael had given you what you wanted. That means we’re still a team.”
“For now.” She knocked his feet off of her coffee table. “Samael says I only have to work with you for one more assignment. If I don’t want to keep you, I don’t have to.”
Raum’s brows drew together in a deep frown, and a flash of disquiet crossed Kobal’s features before he smoothed his expression. “Well, I think you know which one we’d like you to choose.”
“I don’t partner with men.” She slid her hands into her pockets and shrugged, trying not to dwell on the fact that their hands had been in her pants not a half an hour before. “It’s not personal, and I’m sorry if that means you’ll be disappointed when we go our separate ways.”
Raum straightened where he sat, his sharp gaze locking on her, nailing her in place, but she refused to squirm. “You’re that sure you’ll drop us?”
“Yes.” She made the word firm, uncompromising. There was no reason to lead them on. She had nothing against them, and it wasn’t their fault she kept men as far from her work as possible.
Nope, that one lay solely on Shax’s doorstep, not that he would care. Her lips formed a bitter twist. Then again, he was lucky she hadn’t seen him in a century, or she might kick the demonic bastard in the balls.
Kobal stood, capturing her attention as he paced in a tight circle around her. His shoulder brushed against her, and even that slight touch was enough to send goose bumps erupting down her skin. The chemistry was undeniable, and under different circumstances she would want to explore it. But Shax had taught her the danger of mixing business with sex. Kobal stopped beside her, and she fought the need to step back. She held her ground, even as the closeness set off reactions in her body that she wanted to quash. His gaze slid over her, stopping on her lips, her breasts, and the notch between her thighs that he’d touched so recently. His voice dropped to a silky challenge. “Samael wants you to spend some time with us today, right? Those were his orders?”
There was the slightest of emphasis on orders, reminding her that she answered to Samael, whether she liked it or not.
She stiffened and gritted her teeth, struggling with the need to kiss him. Or light him up with a flame ball. Not that it would do much to hurt him, but it’d make her feel better.
“Leave her alone, Kobal.” Raum cast his partner a quelling glance, and to her surprise, he subsided. Then the green-eyed man looked at her. “Let’s have dinner together. Minimal commitment on your part, and you give Samael what he wants in good faith.”
There was no demand in his voice, which made it easier to relent. In the end, it was a sensible compromise. It was not because she wanted to spend time with them. She sniffed. “Yeah, okay. I can do that. We’ll need to order in, because I don’t have anything here.”
Kobal’s face contorted in an expression akin to disgust. “We can’t eat here. This place sucks. I’ve seen cheap motels that were better than this.”
Raum groaned and dropped his face into his hand. “Kobal.”
“What? It’s true.”
Blinking, she looked around at her apartment. It sported the furniture that had been installed when Samael had the high-rise constructed. Maybe it was a little run down, a little…bleak. There wasn’t a single picture or memento anywhere, and she’d been topside for a hundred plus years, so she’d had time to collect some. And she didn’t remember the last time she’d gone shopping for food. The natural form of demons was ghostly—one of the qualifications for serving on earth was the ability to maintain corporeal form for long periods of time. As long as they stayed corporeal, they had to fuel themselves as humans did. She usually just grabbed something from the cafeteria Samael had had installed in the building, and when she was feeling really ambitious, she got Chinese take out from the place around the corner.
“I don’t spend a lot of time here.” Which was pretty damn obvious now that she looked around. This place was no more personal to her than one of the motels she might stay at on a longer hunt. Her apartment was…pathetically lonely. Like the rest of her existence since she’d become obsessed with being the best hunter of all time. Since Shax had nearly destroyed her. She tried not to wince at the accurate description. “Um. Okay, we can go out. Or go to the cafeteria.”
“No, we’re eating at our place.” Kobal’s jaw set in a stubborn line, his arms crossing over his muscular chest. “If we only get dinner with you, we’re not spending the time with a bunch of other demons watching. Or, worse, in public with mortals hanging around. Plus, by human time, it’s breakfast, and I don’t want that.”
Raum shrugged. “I’m a fair cook. What do you like?”
“Food.” She hated to agree with anything they said, but she didn’t want breakfast either. It was the end of her day, dinnertime. But like most of the evil creeps they hunted down, demons had to keep night hours. Plus, mortals tended to dismiss the strange things they saw in the dark as figments of their imagination, which helped demons catch their prey. “Nothing sweet. Just regular food.”