Rob the Daemon (Chronicles of Rob the Daemon Book 1)

When Sol meets Rob Sabat at the ski resort, it’s magic…literally. But their hot sexy romance could be short-lived, because Rob is really Barbatos, immortal daemon, cursed by an evil magician to spend the eight months of Daylight Savings Time buried underground. So now it’s up to Sol, descendant of King Solomon, the original daemon wrangler, to break the curse on his beloved. And to do that, he’ll have to become a sorcerer himself, maybe the greatest sorcerer ever. He’ll need Rob’s help, of course, as well as that of his faithful sidekick Celia – who just happens to be the descendant of the Queen of Sheba –and his dog Gary, once Sol understands Dogspeak. But daemons are a dangerous lot, and Sol’s experiments with the power may unleash and unlock more things under the earth than just Rob…

EXCERPT:

I followed his finger to where it pointed to the crack where light, and a trickle of water, was coming through. I leaned in over his arm to see it, and felt his body heat radiating like a stove.
And the scent of him... Rob smelled wonderful. Intoxicating. Like cinnamon, or a good Bordeaux that’s had time to breatheor…so many things. My head spun.
He caught me. His grip was like iron, his skin was like silk. I held on to his forearm to keep from falling. “Easy now.” He helped me up the stairs to the couch.
“Some tea, I think,” he said and busied himself in the kitchen.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Rough day. I guess I thought I could just shine it off, being…” Having my privacy, my security, shattered by some unknown entity.
“Not so easily shined off,” he said. Next thing I knew, there he was with a steaming cup of brew. So I must have passed out for a second again, I thought.
“Here. Careful, it’s hot.”
“Mmm. Wow. That is delicious!” I nearly shouted. It tasted like my ginger peach tea but…better. I felt like a new man. What was that smell? I tried to identify it. Like allspice, or nutmeg, something with a rough undertone to it, almost sulfurous…
“Easy now. A little at a time.”
I nodded, taking a greedier sip anyway. Rob was crouched on the floor next to me. He was so handsome. So gorgeous. So kind…
I sneezed, spilling the tea. “Ow, shit!”
Rob took the cup. “That’s enough for now. I’m going downstairs to take care of your little problem.”
“Do you need any tools?”
He tapped his forehead. “Got what I need right here.”
“Okay, mister handyman. If you say so.”
I heard rattling around, a hiss like water boiling, a pounding sound like something being forced into place. Then Rob came up with a smile on his face.
“All done. Your intruder came through that window.”
“I would have sworn that was sealed shut.”
“Not quite. But it is now.”
“Thank you.” I felt this wave of affection for him wash over me, of gratitude, of…
Lust. Let’s face it. A man rescues you, fixes your broken needs-a-man-to-fix-it stuff, and makes you a cup of tea. And looks so good doing it.
“So what did you mean, when you said I need only command you?”
His eyes darkened, his face got serious. “It’s…complicated.”
I pulled my legs up. “Sit down.” Somehow this was all seeming less weird to me. Or weird was starting to be my new normal.
He sat down, stared straight ahead. “I told you I had a relationship with…someone like you, long ago. I made a promise then. I can’t really explain it to you now, not yet.”
“Okay. So what can you tell me?”
He turned to me. “That I burn for you,” he whispered, and for a moment he literally did. There was a glint of red in his eyes, like photo red eye, there and gone in a second.
I reached out and took his big warm hand in mine. “I’m glad to hear it,” I said.
And he reached for me.