Free Lucifer's Daughter by Eve Langlais Page A

“Remember how I told you I"d been forbidden to see you?”
    “Yes,” said Auric. Then I laughed again, as his face went slack with understanding. “Damn,” he muttered.
    Charon just shook his head, and got up. “Kids. Anyway, I"ve passed on the message, and you seem to be in good hands. I"ll be off now. I"m sure my son"s managed to do something stupid to the boat by now, and I have a feeling it"s going to be busy at the river in the next little bit. Good luck, Muriel.”
    “Bye, Charon,” I waved as he opened a dimensional portal and stepped through it.
    “Well, I can certainly say there"s never a dull moment around you,” mused Auric.
    “It"s all part of my charm,” I said with a bright smile.
    “So Satan warned you about me did he?” asked Auric warily.
    “I assume he meant you, since he never actually used your name. Just „that man." He told me to stay away from you, or else.”
    “Or else what?” asked Auric frowning.
    “Oh, please. I am not a little girl anymore, and my dad can"t tell me who I can date or not. So if you"re worried about it, don"t be. And if by chance he should show up and threaten you, let me know?” I said darkly. King of Hell or not, I would not allow my father to ruin this for me. I could do that all on my own.
    “Speaking of showing up, shouldn"t we be preparing this place a bit more, in case demons come calling?”
    “My place is safe. No demons in or out unless I invite them through that door. Well, except for Dad; you can"t keep him out from anywhere,” I grumbled.
    “Why all the hardware, then?” he asked, his eyes taking in my shiny new accessories.
    “Just in case I need to leave quickly. Speaking of leaving, are you still determined to stay?”

    “I"m not going anywhere, Muriel,” he said looking at me steadily. His words gave me an erotic thrill; sure, I knew he meant tonight, but for a moment I allowed myself to fantasize that he meant forever. “So, does your bar have the same magical shield as this place?”
    “No. And how did you guess the bar was mine?”
    “Please,” he said, rolling his eyes. “The way the staff defer to you, the office out back, the fact you open it and lock up each night. And let"s not forget the biggest clue, the fact you"re a walking no-magic field. Doesn"t take a genius to figure it out.”
    “Oh.” I added observant to his list of qualities. “Yeah, well, given the nature of my clientele, I couldn"t disallow portals or demons inside. They"re great tippers when they get drunk. Of course, you have to make sure they don"t steal the waitresses, but other than that, they"re actually well behaved, especially compared to some other species.”
    “I get the impression the bar is your baby. I take it Daddy,” Auric almost choked when he called Satan „Daddy," which made me smile, “didn"t have a hand in it?”
    “Nope, the Nexus is all mine; and by this time next year, I hope to have a flat screen and a karaoke machine.”
    “Karaoke?” Auric laughed.
    I tapped my foot and glared. “What"s so funny about having karaoke? I happen to love it.”
    “Sorry,” said Auric, trying to stifle his chuckles. “It"s just the thought of some of your patrons singing, well, let"s just say I"d almost pay to see it.”
    I wanted to scowl some more, but he had a point. Didn"t matter. I wanted karaoke in my bar, and dammit, I"d get it.
    Auric moved closer to me, and it occurred to me we were alone again--and that made the kisses from earlier flare up in my mind, making me flush. I had to get away from him before I did something foolish–or erotically interesting. “I"ll get some blankets and a pillow for you and setup the couch,” I said turning to escape.
    Auric chuckled behind me. A sound that sent shivers down my spine, the good kind. “Muriel, I can"t protect you if I"m not in the same room as you.”
    I whirled around and found myself facing his very broad chest–a chest I was tempted to touch. I looked up and saw him smiling at me