I Dated a Legal Devil Read online

  A bachelorette party brings Drin to the attention of the boss of the nightclub, Hell. Her problem is that he’s a long-standing crush and patron, and he knows it.

  Drin has a miserable life. She is constantly scrounging for money, fighting for respect, and hiding her activation. As far as she knows, she is a muse. She gives her targets inspiration and intellect, but her body pays the price. A metabolic active uses their body to power their manifestation, and Drin spends her life hungry as her body burns power to survive in public.

  She is asked to sing in public to help a bachelorette gain a win in a live singing competition, but she ends up going against the city’s most popular male singer. They sing a duet, and her opponent is so thrilled that he grabs her and kisses her. She drops him with her knee, and the club goes silent.

  The devil emerges and walks toward her. She sees him coming and is shocked to see her best friend’s brother approaching her, and she’s stunned when he kisses her in front of several hundred partiers. He sweeps her to his lair, and they have a short conversation involving her work for the Blind Date Corporation as his escort.

  A day later and she’s being arrested for breaking a restraining order. Her best friend’s family has blocked her, but now, she is hauled to lock-up for talking to Vikor. Things can only get better from there, right?

  When the devil arrives to defend her, her case is won, and her heart is lost.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  I Dated a Legal Devil

  Copyright © 2022 by Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-990635-15-1

  ©Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.

  Published by Viola Grace

  Look for me online at violagrace.com and other e-book sellers.

  I Dated a Legal Devil

  Blind Date Corp Book 10

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  “Dr. Litha, you have an appointment this evening,” Drin spoke into the doorway.

  “Oh, right. Thanks for the reminder, Drin. What is your evening shaping up to be?”

  Drin grinned. “Finishing up some paperwork, a drop-in at my brother’s fiancé’s hen night. They are going to Hell, so I have been asked to pay the toll for the family.”

  Litha laughed. “Is that the place where you have to sing a duet with another patron?”

  “Uh, let’s call them an attendee. I don’t want to confuse them with actual patrons. Yeah, I have to sing a duet with a random dude.”

  Her boss laughed. “Good point. Well, I am off for a fun evening of ballet and wine and cheese. Enjoy the hen night. What are you wearing?”

  Drin widened her eyes. “Oh, shit. Right. I can’t just go to wardrobe and have what my patron picked.”

  Litha cocked her head. “No, but you could just get authorization to use one of your date outfits.”

  “Can I?”

  “Sure, if you bring it back. Send the request to management, and let’s go get changed.”

  Drin locked up the offices and headed to the floor of the BDC above the labs and research facilities. She sent a message on her com and was immediately granted access to her wardrobe for the night.

  She grinned and selected something that no patron would ask for. Jeans. She wore jeans, high-heeled boots, and a baby-doll top that swung when she moved and didn’t quite show her belly when she raised her arms. She unpinned her hair and let it curl around her shoulders. A quick run through the makeup, and she checked the time. “Damnit!”

  A message popped up, and she groaned. She grabbed the garment bag that presented itself with the mask inside. She had a date beginning at eleven. It was last minute, but her patron was an energy consumer, and she could really put out if she had a warning. She would just have to load up while she was in the club.

  She stabbed the confirmation button on her app and verified that she had the mask and clothing she would need later. She had hoped to spend the evening with high-calorie drinks and deep-fried snacks. She would have to settle for high-calorie soda and salad with a lot of creamy dressing and croutons. Her patron could taste the difference in her power signature and preferred her to taste clean and healthy. She wouldn’t be able to grab a shower, but that had been cleared with him. He authorized her to arrive as if she had just left work.

  Drin grabbed her bag and work clothes and headed to her vehicle. She would have to work on hiding her car. She didn’t usually drive herself around on dates, but an overnight parkade should do the trick.

  She drove to Hell and found a parkade half a block down. Her vehicle would wait for her until her patron was done with his two-hour session. He wanted to eat, so she would get back to the dispatch area in the early hours, and from there, she would change and head home. She could collect her car in the morning.

  She left her car at the parkade and walked down a few levels to be disgorged onto the street. Drin headed for the bar and waited in line. She checked her com and saw the message from her soon-to-be sister-in-law.

  Jeanie, I am in line for entry, and there are fourteen people ahead of me.

  It took three minutes, but an outraged bride-to-be stalked out of the club, found her in line, and grabbed her by the wrist, hauling her to the front of the line, and Jeanie glared at the bouncer. “This is the missing member of our party. She’s our singer.”

  He grinned at the woman in her halo and wings with the Bride sash. “Then, you had better get her in. I hear the challenge is starting soon.”

  Her hand was stamped with a UV flame, and she was hauled into the bar to pay the tithe. If she did a good job, the drinks were free for the bridal party. Drin liked her chances.

  She was given a headset when she got in. Hugged by Jeanie’s friends and then shoved to meet her opponent, she found herself facing one of the most well-known male popstars in Aksalla.

  She grimaced. Her chances had just taken a nosedive. He grinned and walked toward her, taking her hand and kissing it. “Such an interesting opponent. So bright and strong.”

  She nodded. “Pleased to meet you.”

  He leaned in. “Ready to rock the house?”

  She leaned back. “No, but I can entertain the masses.”

  They were being watched by a bar full of people—actives and regular humans.

  The band started, the guy started up, and she sang her soul out.

  * * * *

  On the monitors, Vikor watched the song contest, smiled as Ekron sang, and then, the curvy brunette fired up, and everyone was rapt with attention toward her.

  She sang, she danced, her hips swayed enticingly, and even Ekron was staring. He nearly missed his cue, but he shook himself out of her thrall and began the rapid-fire portion of the duet. The male and female voices duelled and then blended. The crowd went wild.

  He looked at the woman, and his finger traced her body on the screen. He wasn’t a fan of jeans, but hers hugged her faithfully. She wore them well.

  The song was over, and the woman stepped back, peeling the headset off.

  The vote would be held when all the teams had sung and been judged.

  Ekron lunged for her, and he kissed her savagely. She shoved him back, and when that didn’t work, she brought her knee up with enough force to lift him off his feet.

  The gasps and astonishment in the bar got Vikor on his feet. He didn’t want a riot, and the
young woman had just smashed the most beloved testicles in that part of the city.

  He headed into the bar with his horns and red skin on display. The wide-legged trousers flared and ruffled gracefully as he walked. He made an impression, and his appearance suited the name of his club.

  The crowd parted, and he walked to the stage in silence as Ekron slowly got to his feet. The young woman had her hand over her face, and when he stood next to her, she slowly lowered it. Recognition flickered in her eyes.

  He looked into the starry blue eyes under waves of dark brown curls and smiled. “Drinella. How nice to see you. I would like to kiss you and distract the crowd. May I?”

  She nodded. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her, bending her backward and lifting her at the same time. She went deliciously limp in his arms. She tasted like mint and coffee.

  There was a wave of understanding in the club. It was just what he had gone for. They would assume that she was his. That would explain her rejection of one of the most beloved faces in Aksalla. No average woman would turn Ekron down.

  Vikor slowly lowered her, and she looked at him in surprise. “You picked me up?”

  He smiled. “It seemed the thing to do. The mood of the crowd has changed. Ekron, stop groping ladies that you consider attractive.”

  She flinched at that. “You can let me go, Vikor. You don’t have to pretend. I can just leave the bar.”

  “I am looking forward to catching up with you, Drinella. Come with me.”

  He kept his arm around her narrow waist and guided her off the stage, and they walked through the crowd.

  She was tense under his touch. “Uh, I really can just leave.”

  “Drinella, it has been years. I want to know what you have been up to.”

  “You really don’t.”

  He chuckled. “I really do.”

  He swept her into the private space behind the bar and into his office. He had an oasis with the monitors and a cozy office behind that.

  The urge to get Drinella as deep into his territory as possible was undeniable. He really wanted to know what she had been doing for the last six years since his brother’s funeral, and he wanted to compliment her on her lush body. Vikor chuckled. He had a feeling that he might be treated to the same manoeuvre as Ekron if he tried it.

  * * * *

  There was a thick desk, a couch, and an electric fireplace that all looked almost real. Vikor. Her best friend’s brother. He still looked as red, handsome, and dangerous as he had the first time she had met him after his activation. The attraction to him was the same. It was a pheromone pull that she resisted as best she could. Vaka had always made fun of her for the secret crush while admiring her ability to ignore her own feelings. He hadn’t known that she didn’t ignore them; she just put them aside.

  Vikor steered her to the couch, and she sat in a far corner while he took up a lot more space. “So, Drinella, how have you been keeping?”

  “Fine. I should really get back to the hen party.” She remained very still.

  “You have some time to catch up with an old friend.” He reached and stroked her cheek with a finger.

  “We were never friends, Vikor. I was Vaka’s friend. When he died, you made very sure to let me know that all contact was severed.”

  “You did insist on championing that little creature.”

  “Right. I did. I still do. I should go.” She got up, and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back against him with a thud. Being on his lap was a whole different exercise in control. Contact with his skin was nearly as bad as catching his scent. Her BDC training didn’t let her down. She could choose to react or not, and she was choosing not.

  “Always have to be stubborn, Drinella.”

  “No one calls me that anymore. It’s Drin,” she mumbled, sitting like a stiff puppet.

  She remained tense, and he sighed. “You never were susceptible to me, were you? It was always Vaka.”

  “Vaka and I were friends since we were eight. We were not romantic, not even once. I was not his type before or after activation, and he was not mine.” She swallowed. “That is why it hurt so much when I went to your family after the funeral. You wouldn’t even let Shisha be there. She needed to be there.”

  Vikor growled. “She was nothing. She barely knew him. They had been seeing each other for a few months. She was a suit groupie.”

  Drin sat up and elbowed him in the sternum. She stood, turned, and slapped him hard across the face. “Vaka was never meant to be on an agent team, never meant to be a hero, but your family pushed him into it, so he went. He died because he wasn’t allowed to see me before he left. Your father wanted to see him launch directly. Wanted to see his boy take off dramatically. He got what he wanted, and he lost everything. And I lost my best friend.”

  She stalked to the door for an exit, but the electric lock clicked and held her in.

  She whirled and looked at him. “Let me out.”

  He sauntered up to her, rubbing his chest. “That hurt.”

  “It was meant to cause discomfort. You are keeping me here against my will.” Her stomach roared, and he cocked his head while his eyes widened.

  “That is some noise.”

  “I am hungry.”

  “We can get you something here.”

  She tensed and decided to be honest. “I need a garden salad with chicken and a lemon soda. And a huge bowl of fresh fruit. Can this place do that?”

  He snorted. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

  “It’s a job requirement. I have to leave in half an hour for a contract. It requires that I eat first.”

  Vikor stared. “You are an escort.” Understanding filled his eyes, and he had a predatory smile.

  She jolted. “What?”

  “With the BDC. You are Aksalla-three. I am your patron.”

  She flinched and was slammed against the wall. She looked up at him and murmured, “Not anymore.”

  He paused. “What?”

  “You figured out who I am. That takes me off your roster. You will have to find another escort who meets your needs.”

  “So, it has been you this whole time? Were you getting ready for me?”

  “Yes, but I am running out of time, and I don’t have any extra energy. Since I can’t replenish myself, I can’t fulfill the booking, and while it means I will incur a penalty, I believe it’s only fair that I cancel the date.”

  He surrounded her with his palms on the door. “I will get you what you need. You are really a metabolic active?”

  She nodded. “Always have been. I boosted Vaka before every mission except the last one.”

  His rich blue eyes widened. “When my father insisted he fly directly to the ship so that the press could take photos.”

  She gritted her jaw. “Vaka and I were symbiotic. He drained me, and I boosted him. We were the best of friends, but that was as far as it went. I wasn’t family, and he couldn’t tell your father that the power he used daily wasn’t all his.”

  He frowned. “Wait. You gave Vaka power?”

  “Yes. I tried to tell your father about it after the funeral, but he told me to go and not look back. If he saw me again, he would have me arrested for stalking. So, I left.”

  “I don’t understand. You gave Vaka power?”

  “He had a strong talent but not enough energy to use it for more than a few minutes. I was investigated by the government and blocked from using my energy for any other agents or team members. So, it started to burn me. I was given outlets, but they were never enough until the BDC opened a branch in Aksalla. Now I can energize anyone and everyone who dates me.”

  She swallowed and looked away. She tapped a few keys on her com, and his lit up.

  “Date is cancelled. You are blocked as a patron because I know you in normal life.”

  His claws pressed into the wood. “But I need you.”

  “You survived without me, and your father was very spe
cific. Neither myself nor the groupie was to come near you again. I have held to that, and I will hold to that.” She looked at him. “Now, Vikor. Step away.”

  “You are much more submissive with your mask.”

  Drin chuckled. “Occasionally, it is nice to give up control. You have been very careful with that control. Please, pass that along to the next escort.”

  “What makes you think I will let you go?”

  She looked at him and sighed. This was going to cost her. She held her hands flat and gave him an energy pulse that knocked him backward. She did it again and again until he sat heavily, and then, she left by pulling sharply at the door with a burst of energy. The lock shorted out. She had given him enough power to last a week. That should be enough to last him until he found another person with a compatible energy signature.

  She left the bar where activities were in full swing. Looks like the ladies had won the night.

  She didn’t run; she moved through the crowd and fought her way to the exit. When she was out, she gasped for the night air. Drin headed to the parkade and called management, leaving a message explaining the reason for the banning of Vikor from her roster.

  She drove out of the parkade and stopped before getting onto the street. She took a deep breath and drove back to the office. She had to return her gown and mask.

  After that, it was greasy food all the way.

  Chapter Two

  Drin sat in her apartment with the four takeout bags empty and hollow around her. She leaned back and sighed. She should have been stuffed, but her body was already turning the food into energy she could pass along. She had used up five pounds just to get out of Vikor’s lair, and she would have to get a four-meat pizza just to put that back on again.

  There was a knock at her door, and she went to look through the display. “Arcady?”