Maya Banks - Sweet Seduction

"So, you're on her side," Nathan huffed.

She rolled her eyes. "Men are such babies."

"Would you quit with the name-calling? Jesus, Faith, what's crawled up your ass?"

"Why are you here, Nathan?" she asked impatiently.

He gaped at her. His blood pressure was going through the roof. He'd be lucky if he didn't stroke out in her office. He reached for his hair but then remembered he didn't have any.

"Why the hell do you think I'm here?" he roared.

She looked unfazed by the fact he was losing his mind.

"I'm here because that hellcat seduced me and then ran the fuck away. She's avoiding me, and when I went in for my massage, another fucking woman showed up to give me one. And you think I'm a chickenshit?"

"No, you're a dumbass," she pointed out in a bored tone.

He threw up his hands and slumped down in the chair behind him. "Okay, Faith, I'm a dumbass. Now tell me why I'm such a dumbass, because obviously I'm too much of a dumbass to see!"

She sat down in her chair with a smirk. "Nice sarcasm, Nathan. And I thought that was Micah's job."

"I heard that," Micah called from the hall.

"Not to mention eavesdropping," Nathan growled. "Micah, I'm going to kick your fucking ass if you don't get the hell away from Faith's door."

He got up and stalked over to look down the hall. To his supreme irritation, Micah stood there with Connor and Gray Montgomery and they all wore shit-eating grins that told him they'd overheard every word of his argument with Faith.

"Assholes," Nathan swore. "The lot of you.".

"You raise your voice to Faith again and I’ll kick your ass," Gray said mildly.

"Oh, like I’d do anything to her even if I'm tempted to strangle her," Nathan said in irritation. "She's being a royal pain in my ass."

"I heard that," Faith called.

Nathan threw up his hands. "Get lost, okay guys? If I wanted the greater Houston area to know what I was talking about, I'd take out an ad."

"That's not a bad idea," Connor said thoughtfully. "We could rent a billboard. Tm sorry, Julie. I'm a blind, deaf and dumb moron who doesn't know what to do with his dick,'" he mimicked.

Nathan sucked in a deep breath, walked back into Faith's office and slammed the door as hard as he could.

"You break my door and you're going to fix it," Faith said.

"Faith, look at me," Nathan said as he walked back to her desk. He leaned over until their faces were a few inches apart. "Cut the crap for a minute and help me, okay?"

Her expression softened. "I can't help you, Nathan. You fucked this up. I'd tell you to fix it but it's really too late. Julie . . . she's hard. Girl holds a grudge forever. She's decided to give up on you and move on. Once she's decided on something, getting her to change her mind is like getting a pit bull to give up a prime steak."

"So her giving me the best blow job of my life during a massage was her kissing me good-bye?" Nathan asked dryly.

Faith's cheeks turned pink, and he felt bad for speaking so bluntly in front of her.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Faith sighed. "I think that was supposed to be showing you what you're missing out on and what you've given up by not noticing her before."

Nathan's eyes narrowed. "So you knew what she was going to do?"

Faith raised one eyebrow. "I knew she was planning something. Just not what, exactly."

"Vengeful heifer," Nathan muttered.

Faith grinned. "That she is."

"Well screw that," Nathan said as he shoved away from her desk again. "She can't just take those kinds of liberties with my body and walk away."

Faith burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks. "You sound like an outraged maiden," she gasped.

He grinned. "Who says I'm not? I was innocent before she corrupted me. If she thinks she can use me and then discard me, she's mistaken."

Faith wiped at her tears and laughed harder. "Innocent, my ass. Dear Lord, I was feeling sorry for you, but now I think my sympathies have shifted to Julie. I'm not entirely sure she realizes what she's gotten herself into."

"No," Nathan said silkily. "She has no clue what she's started. But she will. Very soon."

Julie hopped out of her sporty two-seater and walked up to Damon Roche's front door. He and Serena were both at home, according to Serena anyway, and supposedly Serena had warmed him up for Julie's request.

Of course Serena might still be mad over Julie and Faith kidnapping her a while back, so Julie couldn't be totally sure that Damon would have a clue why she was here.

She knocked on the door and blinked when a large man wearing shades answered. She squinted for a few seconds as she stared at him.

"Dude, you look straight out of the Mafia," Julie blurted. "I tried to tell Serena that Damon was probably a drug dealer."

To her surprise, Big Dude broke into a grin. "You must be Miss Stanford. Miss James is expecting you."

"And not Mr. Roche?" Damn Serena.

"Mr. Roche is expecting you as well," he returned smoothly. "They're in the living room."

She followed him inside the gorgeously furnished house. No wonder Serena had agreed to move in. Compared to Serena's tiny apartment, this was a freaking palace.

They walked into the living room, where Julie was surprised to see a fire burning in the hearth. Damon sat on the couch and Serena was beside him, her head in his lap as he stroked her hair.

"Miss Stanford is here."

Damon turned, and Serena scrambled up, her long black hair falling over her shoulders in disarray.

"Thank you, Sam," Damon said. "Would you have Carol bring refreshment for our guest? Julie, would you care for some wine?"

She grimaced. "Beer, if you have it."

Damon smiled. "Of course. Sam, have Carol bring Julie a beer. Serena and I will take wine."

Serena got up and hurried over to Julie. Julie found herself in a hug as Serena squeezed fiercely.

"You have to tell me how it went with Nathan," Serena murmured.

Julie grinned. "Just like I planned. And now I'm here for part two of the plan."

Serena rolled her eyes as she backed away.

"You did tell Damon why I wanted to see him, right?" Julie asked anxiously.

"She did," Damon said with amusement. "Sort of. She said she'd leave the actual details for you to explain but that you were interested in using my facilities for a little fantasy fulfillment."

"Yeah," Julie said wistfully. "I'm totally down for some great sex."

Damon laughed, and that's why Julie liked him. He didn't have an uptight, judgmental bone in his body. Plus, he loved Serena to pieces, and what woman wouldn't want that kind of guy for her friend?

"Come sit, Julie. You can fill me in on these fantasies of yours while we wait for your beer."

"Hell, I might need a few beers before I can tell you about them," she muttered.

Serena snorted and took Julie's arm to guide her toward the couch. "Like you've ever been shy. Come sit down and tell Damon what it is you want. As long as it doesn't involve him personally, I'm cool with it."

Julie sent Serena a sly glance as the two settled onto the couch. "You're sounding possessive, girlfriend. Dare I ask whether or not Damon has persuaded you to accept his proposal yet?"

"Julie, shut up," Serena hissed.

"Not yet," Damon said calmly. "But I will." He winked at Julie, and she smiled back.

"I don't know why you don't just put the guy out of his misery," Julie muttered under her breath to Serena. "It's obvious he's over the moon mad about you."

Julie liked to give Serena shit when it came to Damon, but she was hugely relieved that Serena was taking her time deciding, even if Julie did think Damon was pretty terrific. Julie liked him a lot, but she wasn't convinced he was right for Serena long term, or maybe that Serena wasn't right for him long term.

"You're here to talk about you," Serena said sweetly. "Don't make me throw you out of my house before you get to plead your case."

Julie threw back her head and laughed. "Alrighty then." She looked over at Damon. "Faith told me she came to you when she wanted some help in the fantasy fulfillment area."

Damon sat down in the armchair catty-corner to the sofa and propped one long leg over his knee. "Not exactly. Faith wasn't looking for a fantasy. She was looking for something very real." He smiled and looked over at Serena. "Serena was the one looking for a fantasy."

"They both ended up with the real deal. Yeah, I know," Julie said impatiently. "I'm not after reality here. I don't want a permanent fixture. I want hot sex with two gorgeous specimens, and I want it.. . anonymously."

She held her breath while she waited for Damon to react. Serena was quicker. While Damon didn't look overly disturbed by her announcement, Serena turned sharply.

"Have you lost your mind, Julie? Anonymous? And you thought I was the crazy one."

"No, I've got it all figured out," Julie said patiently. "I don't want messy entanglements. Been there, done that, can certainly live without it. I wanted hot sex with Nathan, and clearly that didn't work out. So I'm thinking the best way to go about this is to set up a situation where I have no idea who my hot guys are. We all get great sex out of it and go our merry way afterward."

"How anonymous are you wanting, exactly?" Damon asked.

She looked at him gratefully, relieved that he was at least taking her request seriously. "So anonymous that I don't know who they are or what they look like ... at any part of it," she said cheerfully.