Deadly Desires

by Jennifer Salaiz

  Marcella listened to his words. Although she knew she had lived that past life, it was hard for her to imagine that the woman’s memories she shared were actually hers.

  “Let me love you now, Marcella. Let’s start over and you can have your men, and you can have me. I’ll share you. I’ll continue to live in my own quarters and you can come to me whenever you wish. I won’t pressure you, or even show my face if you don’t want me to. Just let me stay. Try to love me again. That’s all I ask.”

  “Why should I? Everything you’ve told me so far has been a lie. I didn’t ask to come back. That was your doing. You’ve pretty much condemned me and my men all over again.”

  Samael shook his head, and she watched as his long hair framed his face. His beauty twisted her heart. All she’d ever wanted was to love him. Yet, he had a way of always hurting her.

  “Marcella, I brought you back, but not your men. Something happened when I opened that door that I can’t explain. If you ask me, you had something planned all along. You knew you would be reborn. You had to have known. The events that have gone down aren’t my doing. They have to be yours.”

  Something clicked at his words. He was right. Somehow she knew he’d bring her back. Marcella mindlessly scanned the room, searching her mind. Her eyes came to rest on Samael. Marcianna’s message from weeks ago repeated in her head. Her former self had said the men were not what they seemed, and one of them held the key. It was Samael. He was her key to not failing this time.

  “I accept your terms.” She pushed him off and materialized clothes to cover her body. “But we’re doing this my way. When I want you, you’ll know. And what I say goes. Deal?”

  He looked at her skeptically. “And if I decline?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Then you leave, and I continue to collect followers. If you want to tell your father, then that’s up to you. But I will never see you again. I can’t. It would hurt too much.”

  He bit his lip. “Deal.”

  “Good.” She walked to the door that met the balcony and opened it. “Be downstairs in fifteen minutes. We have an announcement to make.”

  Chapter 3

  Samael pushed his head back in the pillow and covered his eyes. What the fuck had just happened? He groaned as he went over their conversation. An announcement? He was almost afraid to know what she meant by that. His heart raced as he sat up. Damn, this wasn’t good. He could feel it in his gut.

  The flavor of Marcella’s pussy still filled his senses. His cock ached from lack of release. He’d done it now. Before, it was her eyes and her body that tortured his fantasies. Now it was going to be her taste. Did he have time to get himself off? He groaned. Probably not. Samael made a fresh suit appear on his wide frame and he reluctantly walked to the balcony.

  Jason stood a few feet away with Ambrose. They were whispering. He shut his door behind him and tried to ignore them. He’d focus on the city in the distance and try to get through this as painlessly as possible. How were they going to take the news? Was Marcella even going to tell them?

  “Hey, Samael.” Jason waved him over.

  A groan came from his mouth and he shoved his hands in his pants pockets while he casually strolled over. If Marcella hadn’t told them anything, he sure as hell wasn’t going to speak a word of what he knew. “What’s up, boys?”

  “Ambrose and I have a bet going on.” Jason looked at the vampire leaning over the balcony. “Dominic is due to walk out the front door in about fifteen seconds. What do you think would make him angrier, a water balloon on his head, or an egg?” Jason laughed. “I say egg, but Ambrose over there thinks it’ll be the water balloon.”

  Samael rolled his eyes. “Are you two serious? Kind of childish, don’t you think?”

  “Man, you’re no fun.” Jason waved him off and moved up next to Ambrose. Samael peered over the edge.

  “Why don’t you do both?” The men turned to him and smiled. Jason made a carton of eggs and a bucket of water balloons appear, and Samael watched as Dom appeared in their view. He bit his lip so he wouldn’t laugh as the men began unloading on the demon.

  “What the fuck!” Egg dripped down from Dominic’s blond curls, and as he opened his mouth to speak a balloon busted against his shirt. “You guys are so fucking dead!”

  Marcella rushed out just as Dom materialized on the balcony. Her crown glistened in the sun as her eyes darted around. “What’s going on?” One look at her demon mate, and her gaze jerked in Jason’s direction. “You guys! Come on,” she snapped. “Meeting. Hello!” Dominic’s eyes glowed red as he looked at her other half. Jason was a part of Marcella. The only other collector alive. She’d made him shortly after becoming one, herself.

  “What?” Jason threw up his hands innocently. “We were just having fun. Dominic can clean himself up with the snap of his fingers.”

  “Regardless, lover boy, you’re so going to get it after our meeting. I’m not even playing.” Dominic waved his hand down his body and the egg and water vanished. He looked at Samael and shook his head in disgust.

  “What the hell did I do? I just got here.”

  “Nothing.” Dominic went inside and Marcella glared at her two other men. They quickly went inside and disappeared from view.

  “What is this announcement you mentioned?” Samael glanced at her door and tried to keep his voice lowered.

  The wind picked up and Marcella’s dark green dress blew wildly around her legs. Pink traced across her lips as she licked them. Samael felt himself get hard all over again. Now that he had a taste of her, he wanted more. So much more.

  Slowly, she advanced and he stepped back until they were halfway down the balcony. A sparkling smile lit her face and it nearly took his breath away. It also scared the hell out of him. What was she up to?

  “How much do you want to be with me, Samael?”

  The question was laughable. Did she really have to ask? “You’re lucky what side I’m on. If I was good, I wouldn’t be for long. Marcella, you have all of me. Bringing you back was treason. That sin is the deadliest when it comes to my father. Every time I face my family I withhold the information. That alone is punishment, on top of my broken law. But you know what?”

  Her gaze burned into his. “What?”

  “If I have to sin a million times in order to be with you, then I’m going to commit every single one it would require to keep us together. You’re my wife. Mine.” He swept her into his arms and pinned her against the wall. His leg pushed between hers, separating them. The sweetness of her tongue swept into his mouth and Samael grabbed her thighs, pulling her further up. She moved her pussy against him and moaned into his mouth.

  “That…was not what I was expecting to hear.” At Jason’s voice Samael broke their kiss and took in all four of her men. They all looked shocked to shit.

  “Wife?” Donavon shook his head. “Your wife? Did any of you know this?”

  “I sure as shit didn’t.” Jason looked to Ambrose and then to Dominic and his brother. “We’re talking from the past, right? I mean, you just didn’t vanish to Vegas and elope, did you?”

  “Of course we didn’t,” Marcella snapped. “I only just found out, myself.”

  “He’s lying,” Dominic boomed. “He told me this morning, but I know he’s not telling the truth.”

  Marcella wiggled down, and Samael was hesitant to let her go. “You mean you knew and you didn’t tell me?”

  “He’s full of shit, Marcy. You know he constantly lies. You can’t trust him. I just brushed it off.” Dominic crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Well he didn’t tell me, Dom. I saw it for myself. I have most of my memory back. His father created me to be his mate.” She paused. “His wife. What he says is the truth.”

  Dominic shook his head violently. “Then why are we here? Why are you mated me? To Donavon? We were all together in the past. He wasn’t even involved!”

  The hurt he felt from Marcella had him pulling her closer. “I was stupid. My father pus
hed her on me, and I was defiant. I didn’t want to love. I pushed her away, and told her to find someone else. She did.” Samael swallowed hard. “Little did I know she would find all of you.”

  Dominic grabbed on to the balcony and growled. “What makes you think you deserve her now? You don’t, you know.”

  “I never did,” Samael spat. “You fool. If you all took a deep look into her, you’d know you didn’t either. Cut me some slack. I fucked up. But also look at it this way. If I never stepped aside, things wouldn’t have played out the same. You all would have never existed in her life. Not like you do now. So if I were you, I’d be thanking me and gladly shutting the fuck up with your whining. As long as Marcella will have me in her life, I’m here to stay.”

  Silence filled the air. Marcella walked to the edge of the balcony and leaned against it, taking them all in. “So much for my announcement. I see we all know where everything stands. I guess the question is, where does that put all of us? Before you knew, you were all willing to let Samael into our lives. Are you still?”

  Jason looked over at him. “I don’t think the question lies with us, babe. Maybe you should be asking your husband where he stands with us.”

  “He’s already agreed to keep things the same, Jason. Nothing will change.” She looked over at him. “He may have been my husband in my past life, but in this one we haven’t taken any vows. He was married to Marcianna. Not me.”

  It felt like a knife stabbed through Samael’s heart, but she was right. In this life they weren’t married. And he couldn’t forget that Marcella always spoke about Marcianna in third person. She had a hard time thinking of them as the same individual.

  “So it’s settled.” Dominic nodded. “She’s not your wife, anymore. Just your lover, like the rest of us.”

  Samael knew better than to argue. Even though he wanted to. It wasn’t that he disagreed. It was just that getting Dominic riled up gave him a pleasure he could bask in. “Just my lover. I’ll take it.”

  “Good. If any of you have anything to say do it now. We won’t speak of this again.” She looked at him. “Samael is not my husband and will not be referred to as such. Nothing’s changed. We stick with the plan and continue on our mission.”

  After no one spoke up, Samael raised his hand. “Just saying, if she was still my wife…” He paused. “I know how much she loves you all. I wouldn’t take that away from her. You never have to worry about feeling uncomfortable around me. I’ve watched you all together up until this point. I’m just happy that she’s bringing me into your little circle.”

  “Good man.” Jason smiled. “I like you. But you’re not her husband anymore. You’re not, Samael. Everyone knows the vows. Till death do we part. She died, dude.”

  “Jason!” Marcella cut her gaze to him. “We all know that, okay. Drop it. Now, I think we all have plans to go over. Dom, Samael, and I leave in a few days. We have to prepare for our journey.” Marcella looked at the sky. “I’m starving and it’s close enough to lunchtime. Let’s get a bite to eat and then we’ll head into headquarters.”

  “Right on.” Jason wrapped his arm around her and paused. “Hey, Samael. Come here.”

  He walked forward and looked down at Marcella and the man he’d hated for so long. Jason was Marcella’s first lover. Her first creation as a soul collector. He’d watched the two of them bond together as children in this life and become lovers all over again. And now here they were. Jason was her first creation, yet again, and they were just as close as they had always been. It was meant to be this way. It had to be. They were inseparable, no matter what life her soul went through. It was something Samael had come to accept in the last few weeks.

  “Why don’t you take her other side?” Jason gave him a small grin. The action was huge. Marcella always walked with two of her men. It was customary for her. Either it was Jason and Ambrose, or Dominic and Donavon. Never him.

  Samael turned to look at Ambrose. “Go for it.” The vampire smiled big and motioned for him to take their queen’s side.

  Pressure gripped around his hip and he looked down at Marcella. She winked and they were suddenly standing on the stairs. He looked at Jason’s arm around her shoulder and he took the other customary position. His arm locked around her waist and she nodded her approval. “Shall we?”

  “Abso-fucking-lutely,” Jason said, in his usual, goofy attitude.

  They began heading down the stairs, and the mass of people in the great hall came to a standstill at their approach.

  “Continue,” Marcella urged. “We’re just getting a bite to eat.” The large table at the far end could easily sit up to a hundred people. The far end was cluttered with wolves, but everyone knew there was one section not to sit, and that was the queen’s table.

  Samael headed in that direction and ignored the other people around. He’d never been a very social person, and time sure hadn’t changed that. It never would.

  Dominic, Donavon, and Ambrose appeared right before them. They took their regular seats and Samael realized that he wasn’t sure where to sit. He’d never eaten with them. Not once. Marcella must have realized it at the same time. She paused and looked at him. A chair magically appeared right next to hers at the head of the table.

  As the men stood outside of their chairs, they all took in where Marcella had positioned him.

  “Any objections?” The tone she used to ask the question was challenging. “I find it fitting, given the past circumstances. Don’t you?”

  A laugh came from Jason. “I guess so. I mean, we technically go by rank anyway. If you look at it that way, Samael is pretty much your equal in a way, Marcy.”

  “Not at all.” She took him in and tilted her head. “No. He outranks even me.”

  Jason’s mouth fell open in shock. “How so? I can’t see how that’s possible. He’s a dark angel, but you’re still over them, aren’t you?”

  Marcella sat down and they all followed. Samael took his seat next to his queen. It was time he took over from here. “It depends, Jason. Sure, any regular dark angel, yes. But you see, I’m special. I’m also a very powerful demon master.”

  “And…” Jason was still confused.

  Dominic grabbed a glass and looked at Jason dryly. “He’s the Devil’s son, Jason.”

  Golden eyes grew big as Jason turned to Samael. “No fucking way. How’d I miss that part?”

  Marcella groaned. “It was in the details, Jason. Now, enough of this. People could be listening. We’ll all talk about this later. This isn’t the time or the place.” She grabbed a sandwich from a large platter sitting in the middle of the table. Samael couldn’t help but watch her place the bread between her lips. God, he could feel himself getting hard all over again. He quickly looked down and tried to breathe. He sure hoped she came to him soon. If not, it was going to be a very long wait.

  * * * *

  Dominic ate in silence. No matter how mad he wanted to be at his demon master, he felt his pain. He couldn’t fault him for loving Marcella. Hell, everyone did. What he couldn’t understand was how long the man had postponed giving into his feelings. It was hard to process. Samael had waited hundreds of years, and the restraint that took demanded respect. Even if it was in a weird way. Yes, the dark angel was stubborn, but he’d seen the love on his master’s face when Marcianna died. His feelings were undeniable.

  Everyone at their table was pretty much finished. Their next step was going over the plans. It had been done a dozen times in the last week alone, but Marcella was persistent with getting everything just right. As if on cue, she stood.

  “It’s time.” A serious expression crossed her face and Samael and Jason came to her sides. As they made their way into the large room known as their headquarters, Dominic and her other men followed behind. Maps littered the walls, each with detailed plans sketched out beside them. Arrows were pointed to different areas within the locations and he was sure there wasn’t a spot on any of the places they’d missed.

  Marcella took
her spot at the head of the large oak table, but they all remained standing. “Jason, I was going to go over your plan first, but I’m having second thoughts.” She turned to Samael. “There’s something I need to ask you, and I need your honest opinion.”

  “You’ll get it. What is it, my queen?” Her eyes nervously went to Jason and then back to the dark angel.

  “Should we be making more soul collectors? Maybe I should be having Jason do that instead.”

  Samael stiffened.

  “Think about it,” she rushed in. “They’re the strongest supernatural being there is. They have the ability to turn into every creature known to exist.”

  Jason laughed. “You want me to go out and just start pumping my blood into people? Have you lost it, Marcella? I can’t do that.”

  Her lips pressed together. “You can if I tell you to.” Her attention went back to Samael, but at Dominic’s gasp she froze. “What is it, my mate? You’re on to something. I can sense it.”

  Why hadn’t he thought of it before? Could it work? “What would happen if you were to try to turn one of us? A supernatural?”

  Samael began waving his hands. “Whoa, now. That’s asking for a disaster. We have no idea what we’re fucking with. You’re talking about a para-alchemy. Who knows what the fuck we’ll get. Are any of you willing to risk that? Think about it. It’s way too dangerous.”

  “Maybe not.” Ambrose cleared his throat. “All my diet consists of is Marcella’s blood. I’m about as pure as a transition as you can get, minus the multiple creatures she changes into. Since I’ve met her, my powers have increased a hundredfold. You wouldn’t believe what I’m capable of.”

  Samael narrowed his eyes. “What are you speaking of? What do you mean a hundredfold? Explain.”

  Ambrose looked over at Dom. Suddenly words that weren’t his poured into his mind. I’m going to put Jason and your brother out. Get ready. Shock filled the demon’s face as he stared into Ambrose’s gaze. “No fucking way…” He turned to the right and caught Jason as he began to fall backwards. Suddenly, Donavon’s eyes rolled back and he hit the ground.