Risky Business

by J B Trepagnier

  “Of course I want you too. Get over here, you big sexy demon.”

  “That mouth, Roman,” Amduscias said, stroking his back.

  Roman pressed into me even deeper when Amduscias slid into him. That was what I loved so much about this. It was like I got more of Roman with Amduscias’s additional weight. They both started moving. Roman was a little more restrained this time, but he was still wild. Roman fucked like a jackhammer, but sometimes, a girl needed a jackhammer in the bedroom if the guy knew how to do it right.

  And Roman knew how to do it perfectly.

  I arched my back and raked my nails down his arms. There was one thing I could say about fucking Roman. It was always passionate and fucking hot. Especially with Amduscias behind him fucking his ass. Every time Roman would thrust into me, Amduscias would thrust into him, and it was like this double-tap. We were sharing Roman, but it was like making love to both of them at the same time.

  It never took long with Roman. With the pace he kept, I’d have to be numb from the waist down not to have an orgasm screaming at me shortly after he got started. When it hit, it was so intense, and I bit him this time. Roman’s red eyes met mine.

  “Yes, bite me, my love.”

  “Only if you bite me too,” I gasped.

  Roman buried his face in my neck, but he didn’t bite me. When he bit me, I would come again. I already knew that. How hard it depended on how much he worked me up again.

  And worked me up he did. Between Amduscias and Roman, I think we all went a little feral. Roman wasn’t the only one snarling and hissing. All three of us were. Amduscias gave Roman’s ass a hard spanking.

  “You have permission now.”

  Was that what Roman was waiting for? I’d forgotten all about that. I forgot all about thinking about it, too, when Roman buried his fangs in my neck. My nails drew blood as they raked down his back. I nearly bucked hard enough to make both of them fly across the room. Pleasure surged through me, and all I could do was claw Roman and ride it out.

  It never seemed to end. My body was shaking, and every time I thought it was over, another wave of pleasure would hit me. When it was finally over, we pulled ourselves to the top of the bed and collapsed.

  Fergus and Skoll joined us. Skoll always held me when we slept, and Amduscias and Roman took turns. Skoll knew he would have to share now that Fergus was real, but he also knew how much Fergus being real meant to me. He let Fergus climb in first with no argument.

  Fergus pulled me to his chest while Amduscias spooned my back.

  “Are you happy, my Ena?” Fergus asked.

  “Yeah, I am. But we are getting our moment when this is over. And it will be an all-day thing. Start planning what you want to do.”

  “I want to try a cheeseburger. They don’t have them in the Fae realm, and I know you like them. I didn’t need to eat when I was a guardian.”

  Okay, then it was settled. My day with Fergus would involve eating and fucking.

  Chapter 38

  Serafina

  I

  don’t think I’d ever slept that well in my entire life. I felt safe and whole, and I knew exactly why. I had them all there with me now. Fergus was real now, and I slept in his arms. We were all snuggled into Amduscias’s enormous bed, and I was finally home. I didn’t care that Skoll snored, or Roman threatened to kill people in his sleep. When that happened, I just settled and went right back to sleep. If it had been anyone else, I would have hightailed it out of the bed so fast. With Skoll and Roman, I just found it fucking adorable. I found myself smiling every time Roman would get a little twitch and threaten to rip someone’s head off in his sleep.

  I stretched when I woke up. I pretty much never wanted to leave this bed. My head was resting on Fergus’s chest, and Amduscias was spooning my back with his face buried in my neck. A girl could get used to this. I didn’t even want to get out of bed to go murder a bunch of witches, and I was always up for killing some bad guys. What the fuck was wrong with me?

  As much as I didn’t want to move, every single man in my bed jumped up as soon as my stomach growled. Of course, my stomach would betray me. I’d gone hungry plenty of times on the street and learned to ignore it. It didn’t bother me. But my men? Now that they knew I spent a lot of time hungry growing up, if they so much as suspected I was hungry, they would throw food at me until I ate. Not that there was anything wrong with four passionate guys feeding you. That was sexy as fuck.

  “What do you want for breakfast?” Amduscias asked.

  What did I want to eat? I had so many options now. After I got a job and an apartment, breakfast was coffee and what I could put in the toaster. I had a feeling Amduscias and his chef would take offense at Pop-Tarts. Hell, I got offended by Pop-Tarts, but I ate them anyway because they were quick and cheap. I ate them because I liked to sleep in more than I hated Pop-Tarts.

  “Um, I’ve got no idea. I always ate shitty, processed food for breakfast. The oatmeal at the convent was just as bad as the oatmeal at Scorchwood. Can you pick something?”

  “Ah. Then we will have a house specialty. Cashew and Saffron Donuts, Chestnut Infused Venison, and I’ll have him make some of his praline bonbons. Sound good?”

  Did that sound good? It seemed a million times better than shitty oatmeal or Pop-Tarts. My bed was now empty, and I was hungry. Starving actually, but then again, I was always hungry.

  “I’m going to get a gigantic ass living here.”

  “Highly doubtful, my Ena. You’ve always been able to eat whatever you wanted, and even then, you’ve always been too skinny.”

  I swatted his arm.

  “Are you saying you don’t like my body?”

  “I’m saying if Amduscias is going to be spanking you too, I’d like a little more padding there. You’re perfect as you are.”

  “I don’t want to step on any toes, but we have a mission to take down those witches. Eiltan, Charley, and Finn all want to come. We should invite them to breakfast so we can all talk strategy before we leave.”

  “Of course. I’m not going to get upset if you invite him. He proved he wasn’t a total shit in the end. He wasn’t the one who framed me and experimented on me anyway. He’s already told me if he knew they had framed me, he would have gotten me out of there, and he had his own people looking into my conviction.”

  I pulled Skoll, Roman, and Fergus back to bed while Amduscias got busy on his phone making calls. You can’t blame a bitch for wanting more snuggles. I didn’t snuggle with pretty much any of the guys I got up with topside, but I could already tell you all my men snuggled better than any man in any realm.

  Amduscias hung his phone up and flung himself in bed with us.

  “If we didn’t have shit to do, I would so say breakfast in bed. I never ate in bed before Serafina introduced me to takeout and movies.”

  “I want to watch the other movies with the little green man,” Roman said.

  Roman had really latched onto Yoda. He thought the way Yoda talked was hilarious. When Roman wasn’t saying totally Roman things or threatening to kill someone, he liked to pretend to speak like Yoda. I may utterly lose my shit if he started threatening to kill people while talking like Yoda. Seriously, there would be no way for me to keep a straight face.

  “There are three prequels, and they’ve made a few movies after, but they don’t have the same characters.”

  “But is the little green man in it?”

  I sighed. I would have to show them those prequels, and I swear, if Roman latched onto Jar Jar Binks and started talking like him, I may scream. Then again, if we could get it down here, Roman would lose his shit over Baby Yoda.

  “I liked the movies too, Serafina. I wouldn’t mind watching the other movies,” Skoll said.

  “It’s a date then. After we murder all the witches, we can have a feast in bed and have a Star Wars marathon.”

  This was my new life, and I loved every minute of it—sex, snuggles, and teaching these guys about the modern world. I wanted mo
re of it. As much as I loved being Elemental Batwoman, maybe it was good that she had to retire. I’d found an outlet for that that didn’t hurt anyone.

  That didn’t mean I wasn’t looking forward to killing those witches. It was their fault I ended up in Scorchwood and Rathmore experimented on me. All so they could get me pregnant and get more power. They hadn’t even perfected their technique yet. Skinner had stolen power, but she couldn’t use it. I wasn’t a scientist, and I wasn’t some power-hungry witch, but if I were, I would have tried to get my own shit straight before I upped my experiments on other people. I would have figured out how to unlock my stolen power before I raised my framing game.

  There was a knock on the door. Alozan came in. I liked her. She never reacted or judged when she came in, and we were all in bed in various states of undress. And we were all totally ass naked right now.

  “Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes. I’ve alerted your guests. The Fae will be portalling in, and the witches borrowed a car. They are already on their way.”

  “Thank you, Alozan,” Amduscias said.

  We all started getting dressed, and I was still amazed at the clothes down here. There were fancy clothes for going out, comfortable clothes for lounging around the house, and I even found the perfect murder clothes for when we went to kill the witches. I’d managed to perfect my murder outfits when I was topside, but the ones in Hell were even better.

  We arrived downstairs just as Charley and Finn came in. Eiltan portalled in shortly after. I was wondering about that. My father could open portals because he was Fae. Fergus hadn’t taught me that, but could I do it too?

  “Can I open portals like that?”

  “I think so,” Fergus said. “I never taught you because I didn’t want you to know you were more Fae than the other elementals.”

  “I’m almost certain you can. I can teach you if you like. You probably have a lot more gifts you haven’t tapped into yet. Fergus wouldn’t have been able to teach you and keep you safe. If I had known about you, I would have taught you once I knew you could keep it a secret.”

  I knew why I hadn’t been taught all my Fae powers, but it was pretty fucking cool I would learn. Fergus and my father could teach me together. I could get to know my father on neutral territory. We wouldn’t be talking about our feelings or the past. He would teach me about my heritage without all the past hurt. I couldn’t be mad at him for not being there for me growing up when he didn’t know my mother ran away to a convent. I was sure those evil nuns made it super hard to find her since they thought she was having some demonic pregnancy.

  “I’d like that, but won’t you be busy in the Fae realm?”

  I guess maybe I was still looking for reasons to be mad at him. He had no way of knowing my mother was pregnant in a convent, but I spent decades pretty furious at him. It was almost like it was a part of me. I needed to let go of that shit. I took a massive leap with Skoll, Roman, and Amduscias and look where that got me. I was happy, and I had a home.

  “I messed up and missed a lot of your life, Serafina. I don’t intend to make that mistake again if you let me be a part of your life.”

  That was so the right thing to say. And I wanted that. The whole time I was in prison and hated him, I still wanted him to come to me and say that. Now that I heard it, it was like some of my broken pieces were starting to heal.

  “I’d like that a lot.”

  “I’d like to see you in action with these witches. You’d make quite the Fae queen if you wanted the title. I think you’ve done more in a few weeks than my family has in a few generations.”

  “And now I’d just like a nice, boring life where I’m not getting framed and stopping naughty royalty.”

  Eiltan looked at all my men with this look on my face.

  “I hope you all realize she’s a princess back in the Fae realm and treat her as such.”

  I groaned. Did he just go all dad on me and have a dad talk with my men? I hoped some sex talk wasn’t forthcoming. I knew he didn’t have a chance to threaten my boyfriends when I was younger, but I wasn’t a teenager anymore.

  Amduscias just lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckle.

  “She’s still royalty here in Hell. Eventually, she will be a Duchess.”

  We all filed into Amduscias’s dining hall. I was still processing eventually becoming a Duchess of Hell. That was just all kinds of fucked up. Who in their right mind wanted me in charge of anything? I couldn’t even keep a houseplant alive. Now, both the Fae and the demons were ready to put a crown on my head and call me royalty. I would fuck that up somehow, even if I didn’t end up killing someone.

  “Bael gave me intel on these witches while we were working in the lab for the remedy on the Fae. A few shadow demons have been spying on them. They are in a castle in a remote area of Romania, but the castle is heavily fortified and warded. They will know when we arrive on their territory, and they’ve laid magical traps all over the property.”

  Charley just tipped her juice in a salute.

  “That’s why you bring two witches with you. Between the two of us, we can disarm them. You just need to kill them before they start flinging curses.”

  My father just gave this evil grin.

  “Between my daughter, Fergus, and myself, we’ve got enough firepower to torch the entire castle.”

  Was my father offering to murder some witches with me? That was so sweet. This was the kind of father-daughter bonding I could get behind. A family that murders together stay together, right?

  “Unless you don’t want me to?” he asked. “That coven was responsible for the mess in Scorchwood, and they hurt you. I want revenge just as much as you do.”

  “Are you kidding? It’s pretty cool that you will burn some evil witches with me.”

  “Bael said this is the last time in Hell, right? I can bring you in on the Fae justice system if you really like punishing the wicked. We don’t have a lot of crime, but people do still act up.”

  “No, I think it’s time to put this part of my life behind me. It was good while it lasted, but I think I’ve found something to replace it.”

  “I’m glad. A forest surrounds the castle. Bael thinks it would be best to portal in near the front, but outside of the range of the traps. A witch could clear a path from a distance, giving us a way to get close and start a fire.”

  “When can we leave?” I asked.

  “As soon as you finish your breakfast, young lady,” Eiltan said.

  I couldn’t decide if it was fucking adorable he was trying to dad me right before we went to murder people, or I wanted to punch him in the face for trying to tell me what to do.

  Chapter 39

  Serafina

  A

  pparently, we weren’t going evil witch-hunting right off. Three people in our hunting party could open a portal to Romania and get us there, but they all wanted me to do it. I was good at killing people and setting shit on fire, but how did they know I would not open a portal in the middle of the ocean, and we would all drown. I had questions. They were all working against me too. No one had my back that one of the Fae or a demon should open this portal, and they could teach me afterward.

  “You can do this, my Ena. You tapped into your Fae magic to open that secret door in Scorchwood. Don’t you want to learn more about your gifts?”

  Yeah, I did, but not in front of everyone. I thought these would be private lessons with Eiltan and Fergus. I was being a fucking baby. No one would judge me if I fucked up, and Fergus had always been an excellent teacher. I would not open a portal to the top of the Statue of Liberty with him teaching me. It was like everything else Fergus tried to teach me. I needed to concentrate and get my shit together.

  I shook out my hands and squared my shoulders.

  “Okay, let’s do this. How do I open a portal?”

  “It starts in your gut,” Eiltan said.

  “He’s right,” Fergus said. “Your magic is based on fire, and you already know how to
use it. Let it pool in your belly, but don’t let it out to set anything on fire. Tell the fire to do your bidding and become pure magic. You’ll feel it when it changes. It will go from being warm to cool. It’s then you’ll be able to do things with it that don’t hurt anything. Imagine the witches. Tell the magic you feel that you want to go to the witch and send it out. The portal will open, and you’ll be right where you want to be.”

  Eiltan was nodding.

  “My lessons on portalling were much harsher, but that’s how you do it. In time, it will become second nature, and you can open the portal in an instant.”

  This would not happen unless I tried, and I always tried everything at least once, even if it was stupid and got me in trouble. Amduscias and Eiltan made portalling look so easy, but I felt like I had this big, ugly vein popping out in my forehead that would burst and cause a mess.

  This was just like everything else. I’d have to practice. Neither Fergus nor Eiltan knew if this was something a halfling could do, but I wasn’t stopping until I knew for sure it wasn’t. If the door to the Fae realm was being reopened, there would possibly be a lot more halflings in the world, and I was now their ambassador. I’d never been important anywhere I went before, and I didn’t really want to be now, but better me be a guinea pig than a bunch of halflings come into this world not knowing what they could and couldn’t do. I had a prince and a guardian to teach me. I’m sure Eiltan had all the best tutors growing up, and Fergus was a guardian for a reason.

  How did you tell fire to behave and turn itself into magic? That was the one thing about my element. Sure, I could unleash it and control it to a point, but if you let your control slip for even just a moment, the fire would become bigger than you and burn anything that got in its way.

  That was the key. How did I control the flames when they wanted to rage out of control? It was always sheer will and a firm command. This was my fire, and it had to do what I said. I always spoke sweet words to my fire when I was giving it commands. I thought it just behaved better that way.