Cupcakes, Curves and Don't Forget Demons

Chapter 8

"Lila, pick up your damn phone. Where the hell are you? Call me back asap." I ended the call and sighed. My best friend was probably off with some guy like usual, but worry still gripped me. I had been trying to call for nearly two days now with no reply and no call back. I needed to know what the insurance company had said. And I missed my blonde best friend.

            Glancing over at the shirtless demon hunter seated at my kitchen island drinking a cup of coffee, I savored the way his chest and torso were deliciously toned and muscled. I had a yearning to run my tongue along his abs. Shaking my head, I cleared those thoughts. Dominic raised his eyebrows at me, smirking.

            "I am going to go check on her today. Her not getting back to me is really weird." I told him, taking a seat next to him and tending to my own mug of steaming coffee. His was pure black, mine full of sugar and cream, just the way I liked it.

            "I will not be able to go with you. I need to head out and start hunting down the bastard sending these demons after you." He said, finishing the last bit of coffee from his cup before standing up and placing the dirtied mug in the sink.

            "Oh yay. I get a break from you." I teased, sipping at my coffee, smiling as I did.

            He came around the island and wrapped his thick arms about my waist, pulling me against him. His head dipped down as his lips to the side of my neck, instantly sending shivers down my spine.

            "You'll miss me." He whispered against my neck, "And you'll be begging for me to come back once I leave."

            Pulling away from him, I planted a kiss on his cheek, "You wish demon boy."

            He growled softly at me before straightening and heading towards the doorway to the living room. I admired his ass in the pajama pants he wore as he walked away, that now familiar tingle starting up within me. Mmmm, I thought, turning back to my coffee.

***

            God damn it, I hate stairs, I thought as I huffed and puffed up the three sets of stairs to Lila's apartment. The stupid elevator was out of order. I did not like exercise and exercise definitely did not like me. I felt like I was going to die by the time I reached her floor. I leaned against the wall to catch my breath for a moment before heading down the hall to her front door.

            Raising my fist, I pounded against the cheaply compressed wood. "Lila!" I called after waiting a couple minutes. Pounding a couple more times, I pulled my cell phone out to try to call hers again.

            From inside the apartment, I could hear the pop song that she had set as her ringtone for me, go off. Slowly lowering my phone, I ended the call as a sick feeling filled my stomach. Wrapping my fingers around the doorknob, I turned it. The door opened easily. She never just left her front door unlocked. Not with the neighborhood her apartment was situated in.

            Pushing open the door, I stepped into the front entry way and closed the front door behind me. The place was completely silent.

            "Lila?" I called out again, slowly walking down the hall, past the kitchen and the dining nook and into her living room. The door to her bedroom was wide open and as far as I could see, it was empty too. Where the hell was she?

            Turning, I saw her cell phone sitting on the side table next to her Laz-E-Boy, a light on it flashing to notify her that she had messages. She never left home without her beloved cell phone. The sick feeling in my stomach got worse.