Next-Door Incubus(Becoming Lust Book1)

Chapter 1

I swayed my hips from side to side, humming to music as it played through my AirPods. Mom’s necklace, a small rose-gold pendant in the shape of a v, glided across my chest and swung to the beat.

vThe morning sun flooded into my room through my sheer white curtains, and rays of light shined almost too conveniently on the pile of dirty clothes littered on my floor from last night. I stepped out of my shorts and tossed them into the hamper along with the rest of my clothes, then walked down the hall to the laundry room, eyes closed in utter bliss.

My housemate Maria was out with her friends today which meant that I had the whole apartment to myself. What was better than being able to walk around half-naked, stuff my face without being judged, and hold a concert for one in the living room on a Sunday morning? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

“Dani!”

My eyes snapped open. Maria, two of her friends, and three insanely attractive guys sat on our leather couches in the living room. The girls were clinging on to two of the guys, their fingers curling around the guys’ biceps, heads resting in the crooks of their necks. When they saw me, everyone stared with wide, shocked eyes. Except one.

He stared at me with a smirk on his lips and sin in his eyes. Brown tousled hair, a grey Henley shirt that hugged his shoulders, and the scent of cinnamon and apples, he looked too perfect to be real.

Over the hum of my music, I heard the girls explode in a fit of laughter. The basket of clothes slipped out of my sweaty palms and tumbled onto the floor. All of my underwear, my latex mini skirt that I wore for Trevon last night, and my dignity laid at their feet. I swallowed hard and pulled down the bottom of my shirt, trying to cover myself.

I quickly backed into the hallway, and once I was out of sight, I sprinted into my room, slammed my door, and leaned my back against it.

Oh, my God.

Maria said she’d be out today. For the whole damn day. Why was she back here with… with whoever they were?!

I pulled out my earbuds, drew Mom’s necklace between my fingers, and rested my head against the door. Although ridged at the top, the broken piece of the pendant felt cold and smooth against my thumb.

Breathe, Dani. I’m sure none of them saw anything anyway.

My gaze drifted down to my bare legs and black lacy panties. “Damn-it.”

Someone banged on my door. “Dani, it’s me. Open up!” Maria said. I tugged on some shorts, opened the door, and narrowed my eyes at Maria. She handed me my now-full laundry basket, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Her dirty-blonde hair was pulled back into a messy bun. “Well, that was a very impressive introduction to our new neighbors.”

“Neighbors? Those guys are our neighbors?!”

Great, I’ve embarrassed myself in front of men I would see almost every day. Unless… I don’t leave my apartment or room ever again. I could become a hermit and live my days in my room, curled up in my plush white sheets with a vanilla candle flickering deep into the night from my bedside table. Never have to be horrifically embarrassed ever again. Never have to face that man with the tempting green eyes.

“Dani! Hello?” Maria waved a hand in front of my face. “Are you even listening to me?”

No, I’m trying to get myself out of this mess.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed my wrist. “Since you’re all dressed now, let’s go introduce you to them!” She turned on her heel and started toward the door.

“Maria, are you crazy?” I dug my heels into the hardwood. “I’m not going to go see them. Not after that!”

“Well, you were the one who decided not to wear pants when we had company.”

“You told me you would be out all day!”

“Yeah, well, there was a slight change of plans as soon as we saw how hot they were. But, that’s besides the point! Come on”—she continued to drag me—“there’s one that I think you’ll like!”

“No, no, no, no, no, no…” I tried peeling her hand off of me, yet she continued down the hall. “Maria! Stop! I don’t want to mee—”

“Hey guys! This is my roommate, Dani.”

The guys gave me a half-smile, then turned back to Maria’s friends who were desperately vying for their attention, eyes glazed over in a haze, breasts pressed against their chests—not something I’d expect from women who had been going to church religiously since I’d known them. I fingered my necklace, not daring to look over at him.

him.But, when his sweet scent drifted over to me, I couldn’t stop myself from looking up. He sat on the loveseat by himself, his arms—covered with black tattoos—stretched across the backrest. Inch by inch, his gaze traveled up my body. The seconds passed so slowly. I shifted. And, when his dark gaze pierced through mine, a sudden rush of pleasure coursed throughout my body.

He stood and stepped closer to me. “Dani…” His name rolled off his lips effortlessly. “I’m Eros.”

I stuck out my hand for him to shake, wanting to keep a distance between us. Something was screaming at me to stay away. To run. Now. But, when he grabbed my hand, I froze.

Instead of shaking it, he brought it to his lips. They were soft and lingered for more than a moment. He was more gentleman-like than I ever expected.

After taking a deep breath, he gazed down at me with dark—black—eyes, and I gasped. “You had quite the entrance there,” he said, his scent becoming overwhelming. My cheeks flushed, and I looked down. Great, Dani, just great. He grazed his finger against the bottom of my chin and lifted it until my eyes were gazing into his. “Don’t be embarrassed.” He leaned over slightly, his lips grazing against my ear. “I should be the one embarrassed.”

Cinnamon. That’s all I smelt.

“What do you mean?” I asked, tingled running down my arms. My breath caught in the back of my throat, and Mom’s necklace chilled my skin as soon as Eros dropped his hand and brushed his knuckles against it.

He stared at the pendant with soft eyes, as if it was a relic that had been lost for centuries, as if it was the only thing that ever mattered. But, then, he looked at me. “It’s not every day I find a woman like you.” And I felt like I was the only one that ever mattered.

He took me in so steadily, gaze shifting from eye to eye, drifting down my face, thumb brushing against my cheek. And I just stood there, staring back, unable to speak, unable to think, unable to get myself to push him away.

“It’s not every day a woman in her underwear runs away from me.” He stepped back and blessed me a smirk that would destroy me if I wasn’t careful. “And it’s not every day that I want to follow that woman back into her bedroom and take her right then and there.”

My eyes widened and nervously darted around the room to see if anyone else had heard what he just said to me. Maria had her arm around one of the men, her head falling into the crook of his neck, eyes closed, looking like she was in Heaven. The other three girls weren’t better off. Even Maria’s shyest friend—Hallie—was resting her cheek against one of their shoulders, eyes cloudy and distant.

I parted my lips and pressed them back together. My head felt foggy, like I was in a daze, in a trance, in something, because who in their right mind would say something like that to someone that they just met. And his eyes flashing black? Those couldn’t be real. But what if they were? What if I wasn’t imagining it?

I needed to get away, yet I couldn’t peel my eyes off of him. I wanted to feel his nose running up the side of my neck, his teeth dipping into my flesh, his hands pinning mine against my leather headboard, refusing to let me go. I pushed my knees together.

Sinful words from a sinful man that made me think sinful thoughts. Mom always told me that the devil disguised himself as our deepest desire.

When I looked back at Eros, he chuckled. I tugged on Mom’s pendant. “I… uh…”

“You want me,” he said. But his lips didn’t move, not even a little.

“You want me,” Okay, I was definitely just hearing things. God, I was really going crazy.

He brushed his fingers against my hip and stepped closer. Black specs reappeared in his eyes. His breath warmed my neck. Cinnamon. “Tell me you want me, Dani, and I’ll enact all those fantasies running through that dirty little mind of yours. Every. Last. One of them,” he murmured.

My tongue ran over my bottom lip. “… erm…”

The tips of his fingers snuck under the hem of my shirt and grazed against my stomach. I let out a shaky breath, not being able to distinguish the real from the fake. “I… uh… gotta go.”

Without hesitating, I stepped away from him, staggered back, and sprinted into my room.

Fuck. f**k. f**k. f**k. f**k. f**k. f**k.

Every time I closed my eyes, I could feel his fingertips gliding against my skin, burning into my flesh. They were tormenting me already in places he hadn’t even touched yet.

I cocooned myself in my plush pink throw blanket, trying to put as much space between Eros and me as possible. If this was how I felt after five minutes of meeting him, how would I feel seeing him every single day? How would I feel when Maria brought them over again?

There was only one thing that I could do now.

Let Project Hermit begin.