Wicked Game (4 page)

             
The demon smiled subtly, seeming to approve of the name she had granted him. He would have to be satisfied with that, because that was all she was going to give him.

             
“And does Kaden often walk around shirtless in other people's homes?” Mom teased, winking playfully at the demon.

             
And so it begins
, Hazelle thought, exasperated.

             
Kaden's face was impassive, his eyes hooded and inscrutable. Whether he was attracted to her mother or not Hazelle couldn't tell. It was true mom looked far younger than her years suggested, with few wrinkles and no hint of grey in her hair. Maybe physical attributes didn't matter much to incubi. Maybe all that mattered was that she was female and still fertile.

             
“I spilt wine on his shirt. We had to throw it out and I couldn't find another one in his size,”Hazelle lied.

             
“I think she did it on purpose,” Kaden remarked light-heartedly, gesturing to the contours of his chest and abs. Hazelle watch her mother's eyes drink in every hard, golden line, every protruding muscle, especially the one between his legs, emphasised by the tight leather pants.

             
“She is a smart girl,” Mom gushed, “She gets it from her mother.”             

             
Hazelle rolled her eyes and shook her head, disgusted by the display. Mom didn't even notice, so captivated was she by the deadly, handsome, half-naked demon in her kitchen.

             
“Eat your breakfast and let me see what I can find. I might have one of Roger's old shirts somewhere.”

             
She dished up the eggs and bacon, giving Kaden her share, before going in search of clothing for him. Hazelle poured herself a cup of coffee and drank it quickly, desperately needing it this morning. She gestured towards Kaden's mug with the pot. He put his hand over the mug and shook his head.

             
“I don't need any extra stimulation,” he bragged, and then flashed her one of his lady killer smiles.

             
She pursed her lips, unamused.

             
“Lucky you,” she said sarcastically, pouring herself another cup.

             
Hazelle picked up her fork and began to eat, keeping her eyes on her plate and trying to ignore Kaden. He was so alluring, so unlike anything else in her ordinary world where magic and demons were never supposed to exist, or meet her mother. Kaden found nothing to criticise about the food, he ate slowly, luxuriously, as if savouring every bite, every move he made seemingly effortless but designed to captivate her, to tempt her, to send her over the edge. Was everything he did a ploy to try and seduce her? Was it all part of his wicked game?

             
Mom returned presently with a blue plaid shirt.

             
“It isn't the most fashionable thing in the world but it will do until you get home...where do you live?”

             
Kaden stood up and took the shirt, slipping it on. “Here. I'm new in town. Hazelle's a friend of mine from college and I couldn't help looking her up. She graciously invited me to stay.”

             
“Oh.”

             
Mom glanced at Hazelle, a polite smile on her lips when she looked back at Kaden, though she made no comment. That would come later.

             
Hazelle groaned, lowering her head. Now her mother's questions would be even more unbearable and unanswerable. She'd never brought anyone home before, not even a female friend or a work colleague, and she didn't get asked to go out on dates or have any gossip to share with mom like most women her age did. Hazelle's love life was very much like her mother's self-discipline and restraint...non-existent.

             
“Where are your clothes then?” Mom asked suspiciously. Not even a handsome, half-naked man could distract her from that problem. She was a shrewd woman, if not cautious.

             
“The airport lost my bags. I have nothing to rely on but my charms,” Kaden explained, giving her one of his most charming smiles as demonstration.

             
This time, to Hazelle's astonishment, her mom did blush.

             
“Well, you seem harmless enough and if you're an old college friend of Hazelle's...”

             
She glanced at Hazelle, as if surprised her daughter should have any friends. Hazelle kept her face emotionless, not letting her see the fear she had of Kaden, not letting her see past the lie.

             
“You can stay in the spare room until you find a place to rent. I'm sure Hazelle wouldn't mind helping you out on the clothing situation.”

             
Mom winked at her. As it was Hazelle
did
mind. She decided to drown her sorrows in another cup of coffee.

             
The phone rang from the hallway and mom went to answer it. Kaden finished his breakfast in silence, the shirt left undone, perhaps knowing already how far he could push Hazelle before she snapped. She had never been a patient woman and was even less so when tormented and teased by a six-foot-six demon with a body to die for.

             
Mom hung up the phone and walked back into the kitchen.

             
“That was work. Someone called in sick and I have to cover,” she sighed, “Will you kids be alright?”

             
“I can think of a few things to keep us preoccupied,” Kaden said mischievously, glancing at Hazelle, his eyes darkening with desire. She blushed from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes. Luckily mom was too busy rooting through her purse to catch Kaden's underlying implication.

             
“I'll take him shopping and buy him so clothes,” Hazelle said, “He can pay me back later.”

             
She didn't know how exactly he would pay her back though. Did demons have credit cards? Stocks and shares? Gold doubloons? He wasn't a pirate either. Maybe he leeched off the women that summoned him, paying them back in sexual favours. Well, he would just have to find some other way to pay her back.

             
She didn't bother to inform her mother that Kaden had no money. Apparently it wasn't customary for a demon to carry a wallet when hopping between dimensions.

             
“Okay sweetie, have fun. See you later. Bye Kaden.”

             
“Goodbye, Miss Bryce.”

             
When the front door was shut and Hazelle heard her mother starting the car she whirled round, turning on Kaden, horrified.

             
“I never told you my last name.”

             
“I know much more than you might think,” he hinted in a vague voice, and then he gave her that annoying striking smile that made her want to slap him for his insolence. A part of her that she never knew existed before, a defensive, violent streak wanted to hit him, to bruise that flawless golden flesh, to make him suffer the way he was making her suffer now.

             
But she knew better than to assault a demon. She didn't have a death wish. At least, not yet.

             
“Can you read my mind?” Hazelle asked curiously, in a hushed voice. It wasn't the first time she had wondered this.

             
He shook his head.

             
“No, but I
can
read.”

             
He gestured apathetically to a stack of letters on the breakfast bar, bills and credit card statements mostly addressed to her mom. She realised then that there wasn't a supernatural solution to everything, that she had lived absolutely unaware of magic for the last twenty-three years and managed to survive, somehow. Magic had brought Kaden into her life, but was it the answer to getting rid of him?

             
“Come on, let's go,” she sighed unenthusiastically, collecting the dirty dishes and putting them in the sink to soak.

             
“I'd rather wear less clothing, not more,” he complained, pouting like a naughty child.

             
She marched right up to him, so close she could feel the heat emanating from his skin, and then she stared straight up into his black eyes, unflinchingly, as she reached out to button his shirt.

             
“This is non-negotiable. If you have to stay here until I figure out what to do with you then you will need clothes. You can't be walking around naked. I wouldn't want to give my mom a stroke.”

             
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. Boring.”

             
But he didn't stop her buttoning up his shirt. He drew in a sharp breath when her fingers accidentally brushed his skin, ever so lightly, enough to make him tense, in more ways than one. She left the last two buttons undone, showing some of that scrumptious golden skin that made her hormones burn.

             
“That's not the first time I've been called that.”

             
They drove to the mall in silence. Kaden didn't even look at her, staring out his window instead at the passing cars and people. How long had it been since he had last been on earth? Had much changed? Could he function in the modern-day human world?

             
Whatever. She was just glad he kept his smart-ass comments to himself for the time being, though she knew it couldn't last long. He seemed to exist explicitly to bug her. There was something awfully frustrating about him, and yet at the same time she was more intrigued by him than she had ever been any other man, by his origins, by his powers and by his past.

             
She parked the car and paid the meter, trying to ignore the obese female ticket inspector who was gawping at Kaden as if she had never seen a man before. She wasn't the only one. Hazelle knew he was a prime example of masculinity, with his Adonis-like-abs and Greek god good looks, though she would never admit to him that she found him attractive and further inflate his already engorged ego.

             
They visited several clothes stores, Hazelle taking direction with Kaden in tow, following her almost obediently. She had little to no experience shopping for men and Kaden was more of a hindrance than a help, with women everywhere they went ogling him, young mothers with squawking toddlers, old women with canes, college sorority students, married women, eyes of all colours and creeds admiring him from afar. Even the stares of openly gay and effeminate men didn't seem to bother Kaden. He oozed sex appeal, thriving on attention of all kinds, any kind, despite the fact he had told her that he was there for her, and her alone. She mentally repeated that to herself as the shop assistant blatantly flirted with him, pushing out her breasts and batting her false eyelashes.

             
“What size underwear?” she asked, her voice much too breathy as she indicated a tray of boxer shorts on display. Kaden would have put any of those models on the posters to shame. Calvin Kline, eat your heart out.

             
“I have no idea,” Hazelle muttered, “Large.”

             
“You look like an extra-large to me,” the woman winked at Kaden and walked seductively, as if forgetting that Hazelle existed. She could have been his girlfriend, or heck even his wife for all this hussy knew, but then again what would a man like him be doing with a woman like her? They were from completely opposite ends of the spectrum, with no middle ground, nothing in common. They weren't even the same species. He belonged on the arm of an actress or a porn star, or another blond bimbo like this assistant.

             
Kaden flashed a dazzling smile.

             
“We'll go with the large,” said Hazelle dully, unimpressed.

             
By the time they were finished Hazelle had spent over two hundred dollars on him, money she knew she was never going to get back. Did the devil cover his damages? Who did she write to for compensation? And who knew how long Kaden would be around for? As far as she was concerned it was a waste of money and of an afternoon, and he didn't seem to disagree. She could see the boredom on his face and knew he would have preferred to do something much more exotic and exhilarating than shopping.

             
She made one last stop at the bookstore from which she'd purchased the spell book that had brought him into her life, scanning the shelves for similar texts that could give her an insight into what she had conjured, and hopefully give her a way to unconjure him. Kaden lounged in the comfy armchair behind her, stretching his long legs out leisurely, grunting dismissively when she showed him a big, heavy book of black magic. She flicked through other books desperately until closing time. Disappointed and disillusioned she left the store empty handed, Kaden following her loyally, holding his tongue.