DEMON SENSE (Book One of the Outer Demons Series)

Updated: 06/24/11

                                                                     DEMON SENSE

                                                                         Chapter 2

I stirred awake, feeling warm light from the morning sun dance across my face. My lungs took in a fresh breath of air. I buried my face in my pillow and pulled the comforter over my head to hide from the light. With a second breath, I stiffened. Since when was my bed so comfortable? Usually I had too many springs digging into my ribs to enjoy waking up. My pillow didn’t smell right either. This pillow smelled like pine and fresh linen, and not like the lavender I was used to.

My eyes flew open and all I could see was the black comforter. My bedding was grey, making it clear I wasn’t back in my own apartment. I’d left with…well, not quite a stranger. But I knew virtually nothing about him. Yes, he’d saved my life, but that hardly made us BFFs. In good faith—and left without many options—I’d gone off with this guy. Of course, I wasn’t chained up in some mystery basement, so I took that as a good first sign.

I rolled onto my back, a dull throbbing pain starting at the back of my head. I sighed, pulling down the comforter a little to stare at the smooth white ceiling.

“About time you woke up. I was beginning to consider you might have actually suffered a concussion.”

I hadn’t noticed anyone was in the room. My head snapped to the right, where I found Nathan sitting on a black leather chair directly across from me. It wasn’t until I saw him that I noticed the soft electrical hum that was his signature.

I was fully dressed in the shorts and polo shirt I’d been wearing last night, but I pulled the sheets into me. I wasn’t exactly afraid of Nathan, but I was wary of him. Yet, at the very same time, I wanted him to reach out and touch me. Disturbingly enough, I found myself craving that inexplicable sensation that had ruptured my frantic thoughts last night. Even more terrifying was my need to experience that again.

“What are you doing in here?”

A mischievous smile pulled at the corners of his lips. “This is my home.”

I gave him a look that said, obviously. I’d actually meant here as in this room with me, and I knew he knew that.

I took a quick look around. There was a built-in mini bar on the back wall, with black granite countertops. Glass shelves were secured directly above a chrome wet bar, showcasing crystal glasses that glinted in the morning light. To my left, directly across from the bedroom door, were French glass doors that appeared to lead to a veranda. Everything was white, black, chrome and glass. In one word, this room was chic, but it lacked anything personal.

“Your…interior decorator has fine taste,” I said, sitting up against the bed’s black leather headboard, admiring it as well.

He smiled knowingly and I instantly regretted my words. I realized my question had sounded a little like there’d been a certain underlying question. I shuddered. No, I most definitely was not trying to ask subtly if he had a girlfriend. That would be flirting, and I sure as hell wasn’t flirting. I didn’t flirt with bad boys in black that may or may not be human. I didn’t have a death wish.

He nodded. “Thank you.”

At my perplexed expression, he added,“Did you think, just because I am not a woman, I would not have good taste?”