He snatched my offending finger and kissed the tip. “You were worried?” A shy smile tugged at his lips. No fair.
I yanked my hand out of his grasp. “Of course I was. It’s not like I have suitors waiting in line.” My excuse for worrying sounded thin but I didn’t want to give John the wrong impression. Caring about my suitors was dangerous and falling in love against the rules. Emotional detachment had to be maintained to protect my fragile heart and to ensure my relationship with Val would work. For an incubus, he was oddly very possessive.
“You could have anyone you wanted. You just don’t—”
“Want to.” I finished the old argument between us.
“So.” He stared at his shoes. “You met my brother.”
“Yeah, I did. He wants to suck my soul out of my body like a juice box.” I set my hands on my hips and gazed out at my parent’s wooded property. Val was wandering out there under the bare branches. Somewhere.
“Sounds like Amel.” He twisted and followed my gaze. “Did he come looking for me here?”
“No, I used the locket you gave me last Winter Solstice.” I scowled and leaned closer so he couldn’t escape my glare. “You didn’t tell me that wasn’t your name.” When pressed the locket would say something and it turned out to be his brother’s name.
His shy smile became a grin. “I didn’t say it was either.” The dumbass’ smile faded. “Wait. You tried to summon me using that name?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh…”
“Yeah.” Instead of my sweet John appearing in the pentagram, his pissed off big bro showed up and let’s just say he wasn’t happy about it.
“The city is still intact. Did your father defeat him?”
My eyebrows shot up. Dad? Beat a Mazzikim demon? “No.” John feared my father like no one else. That he stood on our doorstep showed how much he wanted my forgiveness. But Dad wasn’t a warrior. Zur-Sin, my vampire suitor and co-ruler of Lake City, however was not only a warrior he also practiced black magic.
“How exactly are you still alive?” His whispered question took me by surprise.
“Sin blood bound him.”
The blood drained from John’s face.
Reflexively, I reached out and steadied him. “John, where have you been?”
“Yes, John, where have you been?” Val strolled around the corner of the house, hands in pockets, and looking quite warm in just a suit. Incubus powers?
I jumped at his voice, an undeserved wave of guilt crashing over me as I released my hold of John’s elbow. Our people didn’t practice love. They saw the emotion as a weakness and I could see their point. Falling in love with a human had almost killed me a few years ago. Sex equaled food for my people and fidelity couldn’t be part of the equation.
My parents managed to have a beautiful four-way loving relationship. Well, until now, with a fourth wife on the horizon. After being raised in such an environment why wouldn’t I crave to have the same? I smiled at Val and held out my hand.
He was willing to give me everything, even his heart, but unlike me he’d been raised in a cold, sterile traditional succubus household. He wanted to love me, he just didn’t know how.
When our hands touched, I half expected to see sparks of desire dance between our fingers. I met his pale blue stare and my stomach fluttered. Would he ever stop affecting me this way? “John, this is Val, my fiancé.” Valerio Hunan had recently moved to Lake City. After a whirlwind courtship over a few days, I agreed to an engagement. My stomach rolled as I recalled why he’d dragged me here today. He wanted my mothers to force me to pick a date so we could publically announce our families uniting.
We had only been living together for a few weeks. In a hotel room no less. His wives hated me. What was the rush?
“Fiancé? I thought you didn’t want to ever get married, Pia.” John’s gaze traveled from Val to me and back again.
“I’m beginning to believe the same thing.” Val murmured under his breath.
I could kick John where the sun didn’t shine. “Shut up. A lot’s changed since you left me high and dry on my day three. So why don’t you answer my question before I ask Val to drag your scrawny ass to your big brother.”
John stepped back from us and dug something out from inside his sweater.
Val shoved me behind him and snatched John by the collar, giving him a hard shake. “Slowly remove your hand and show me what’s inside.”
John had gone limp in Val’s grip. “Take it easy.” He pulled out a medallion hanging on a gold chain around his neck. “I left because I got wind that big bro was coming to drag me home.” His gaze settled on Val’s hands still holding him close. “You can let go now. See, no weapon.”
Sneering, Val let him drop.
“If you think your family is pushy, Pia, you haven’t met mine. They don’t understand why I like living on the human plane so my mother arranged a binding for me.” He wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Val nodded his head as if he knew what John was talking about. A binding? Sounded like something Adele would enjoy.
“I ran.” He set his hand over his heart. “And I am really sorry about that. I know how hard days three can be but I thought Sin or Cooper would cover me. They did, didn’t they?”
I grimaced at the memory. “Sin took your place.” And he had charged me. Not that I truly regretted the encounter. It was how I met Val but it also showed me how very little anyone outside my family cared about me. Dumped and starved in the same day. No wonder I fell for Val so fast.
He really seemed like he wanted to protect me from John. I mean, I was his favorite meal after all. Inside, I cringed. That wasn’t fair. He hadn’t fed from me since I moved in. Val could technically kill me since I hadn’t a way to replenish my energy. We walked a fine line.
“Well, with you in Lake City, looks like my suitor numbers are back to three.” I gave Val a playful wink. “You can snack after all.”
He eyed John with a touch of mistrust. “His contract is null and void since he didn’t feed you on his allotted day.”
“What?” John echoed me. “My life was in danger.” John gestured to the amulet on his chest.
“Come on, you’ve been after me to find more suitors for weeks.” I spoke at the same time as John so it was a miracle if Val understood either of us.
He chuckled. “I wasn’t saying no. I was stating a fact.” He kissed my cheek. “I’ll call your father so he can draw up another contract.” He held my hand as he leaned over and kissed John as well. “You can come over tonight at the Roxy hotel to sign it.”
John’s eyes went wide. “I—I…”
“He’ll be there.” I narrowed my gaze at John. After turning my life inside out, the least he could do was help me feed Val. “Call Cooper. He can give you the gritty details on how we’ll do things.”
Cooper was my shy wolf shifter suitor. I had once shared my feed off him with Val. Sort of main-lining my incubus to the sexual energy Cooper and I made. My poor shifter passed out afterward, but we’d left him quite satisfied. John was made of sterner stuff being immortal and all. It would be an interesting evening.
Val led me off the balcony toward his silver sports car parked by the house, chuckling all the way. I hadn’t seen him in such a good mood in weeks.
I waved good-bye to John, who still hadn’t moved.
Chapter Three
“Are you always going to flirt with my suitors?” I tossed my purse on the counter in our hotel suite and faced Val.
“Jealous?”
“I’m not sure but I think Cooper is more excited to see you than me lately.” The last time we visited him at his cabin in the garden district, I could swear he wagged a non-existent tail when Val stepped out of my VW Bug. A girl could get a complex if her fiancé stole all her lovers.
“I never flirt with Zur-Sin.”
“I’m pretty sure Sin considers the amount of fighting you both do as foreplay.”
Val pulled a handkerchief o
ut of his suit pocket and mopped his forehead. He had grown up in a different age and still had some old fashion habits. He appeared pale and his hands shook.
I went to him but he withdrew from me. “What’s wrong?” I called out to Val’s live-in assistant, Hoel, who should be home. He’d worked for Val for over fifty years.
The fallen angel didn’t answer.
I tried to support Val’s elbow but he sidestepped out of my reach.
“Pia, stop trying to touch me.” Val leaned against the counter. “I’m very hungry.”
My hands fluttered to my sides. “Oh.” I’d never seen him look so flustered. “You shouldn’t let yourself go so long between feeds.”
“I’ll go check the mail. My wives’ package should have arrived today.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
“No. Just stay here.” Val left me standing opened mouth in the middle of the suite. The boom of the door echoed. He almost sounded afraid. Even when faced with a crazed demon, Val hadn’t shown any fear. I gazed down at my petite body. Had I grown horns?
I hurried to our bedroom and changed into more comfortable clothes. Maybe I should call John and have him come over early. Screw the contract for one night.
Cooper and John dealt directly with me when it came to our contracts. In exchange for feeding me, they had exclusive rights to my body for that evening. Zur-Sin had a special deal with my father concerning my being fed. Let’s just say I couldn’t break any of the terms or my father would lose his soul. I’d made a big mistake and my dad had paid for it.
Something savage snarled outside our suite door and I jumped. With a racing heart, I peeked out of the bedroom half expecting to see Amel, John’s badass brother. Nothing. My cell phone was in my purse on the counter and this seemed like a good time to call for help. Not that 9-1-1 responded to demon attacks but at least they could clean up my body parts. I tiptoed toward the kitchen and froze mid step.
Pale with a thin sheen of sweat covering his skin, Val halted just over the threshold of our suite. His piercing blue gaze pinned me to the spot. Shadows carved the features of his face and he appeared…
Starved.
Primal heat of desire blasted through my body as he strode around me, staring as if he could see right through my yoga pants and t-shirt. I twisted to follow his path. “Val?” My voice shook and I was surprised to hear it was from fear, not anticipation. My sweetie knew how to turn on the smolder but this type of intensity bordered on supernatural to the power of ten.
He undid his tie and slid it free, wrapping the ends around each hand as if wanting to strangle someone. Me? I knew I did some things that drove him crazy like squeezing the tooth paste tube from the middle, but that didn’t deserve capital punishment.
I swallowed with a throat gone dry and searched the room. “Where’s Hoel?” The fallen angel assistant-slash-shadow was never far.
“He’s occupied.” Val’s voice caressed my flesh. Incubi were born with enough sexual magnetism to draw the most resistant of succubi to them. Evolution, only the strong surviving, and all that jazz made Val almost crackle with come-hither. Their need to feed upon us gave them the skills to melt the panties off any succubus within their vicinity.
With all that power focused directly at me, I caught my hands already inching inside my pants. Something was seriously wrong. My clothes felt too tight like I couldn’t bear their touch. Every inch of my flesh tingled and my nipples popped in aching readiness.
I’d never seen Val this hungry. An incubus of his power and influence couldn’t afford to lose control. Incubi could only feed off succubi and if his wives couldn’t provide what he needed then he’d be forced to go hunt. Last time I checked raping and pillaging were considered bad.
Normally, as his prospective bride I’d feed him but I couldn’t afford to feed another mouth. Hadn’t Val gone to check the mail for a package containing more vials from his wives? The responsibility to keep him well fed was theirs, not mine. Not yet.
For a succubus, I was considered picky when it came to my lovers. One night stands might be good for my body but they did terrible things to my soul. I needed a few bad boys that irked me enough not to fall in love yet dependable to be around when I needed them.
Yeah, I know, but I was allowed to dream big.
“Take off your clothes.” It didn’t sound like a request.
“That’s a terrible idea.” My body produced enough energy to last me three days and this was the second in my cycle. If Val took it I’d be on empty, which would send me straight into day three mode. That meant I’d be horny as hell and ready to grope anything with a functioning cock. Val not included since he ate the energy, not created it. “Cooper can’t handle two visits in a row from me and Sin hates it when I drop in uninvited.” My lifestyle put a strain on all of us.
Val hissed at the vampire’s name. There was no love lost between them. His skin gave off a faint glow and it captivated my attention like a beacon drawing me closer.
Breathing grew more difficult, as if he sucked all the oxygen from the room and replaced it with his spicy musk scent. Oh god, I pulled my shirt from my over sensitive skin. “B—but John will be here later tonight. Can’t you wait?” I yanked at my waist band and barely kept from stripping as I stumbled to the kitchen cabinet where he sometimes stored the vials of energy his wives sent him.
“Pia.” His Creole accent grew thicker.
I yanked open the cabinet doors one after another and stared at all the empty vials. “Oh no. You drank them all?” The words came out in a whisper. I didn’t monitor Val’s intake so how could I know how much he needed and none of his wives lived in Lake City. They sent him energy held within these vials and in return he gave them security and money. It was how he’d been feeding for years until he met me.
Picking up one of the containers, I pivoted to face him. “What’s this?”
“An empty bottle.” He took it from my hand and tossed it over his shoulder. “You’re still dressed.” Yanking his tie tight between his hands, he made the material snap.
I jumped at the sharp noise and pressed my back against the counter. “Where are the full ones?”
His eyebrows furrowed as if deep in thought and cast his eyes into more shadow. A growl rolled in his throat, something unnatural, more akin to our latent demonic heritage. “They’re all empty.”
The bottom of my world dropped from under my feet. “Oh.” Well shit, I couldn’t imagine a worse situation.
“I’m hungry, Pia.”
Muscles in my lower abdomen clenched as his voice and scent attacked my senses. Val’s incubus hunger was in control of him and he wouldn’t stop until he’d fed but I wasn’t an all-you-can-eat buffet. There were limits to what a succubus could safely give. Depending on his hunger, he could kill me. I’d been this desperate once and a jerk-off vampire had saved me. Only his incredible strength and age had saved him.
I wasn’t anywhere nearly as strong as Zur-Sin. Panting, I clutched the counter’s edge, assessing the distance from here to the door. Could I beat him to it?
Val had five wives to feed him and had lured me into an engagement. I couldn’t imagine the amount of energy needed to sustain him if he needed six succubi. My father only had three wives and he ruled Lake City.
Shoving past Val, I raced out of the kitchen. Run first, ask questions later, and live another day. The race didn’t last long though. Val was stronger and faster.
With quick, sure moves, he wrapped his tie around one of my wrists while guiding my arms together behind my back as I cleared the kitchen into the dining room.
My stomach hit the edge of our solid oak table and I bent forward across it with the force of the impact.
Silk slid over my skin as he weaved his tie around and over my arms tying them so I couldn’t even bend my elbows. His expertise evident with how easily he’d captured me. How many other succubi had he caught in this manner over his life span?
Spun around to face him, my head conti
nued to swirl. Val leaned me against the table and released his hold.
I blinked and struggled against the restraints. “I thought you weren’t into toys.” Damn, he was good. The silk didn’t bite into my skin yet I couldn’t budge an inch. I gave another jerk at the knots. “What are you an Eagle Scout?”
He gave me a small smirk, his eyes twinkling. Good, it meant something of the Val I knew and loved was still inside. One at a time, he undid the buttons of his dress shirt. Businessman by day, sex god by night. Oh mama.
My gaze followed the path of exposed flesh, trailing along his six-pack abs, and landing upon the thin trail of hair vanishing under his waist band. He popped open the top button and I held my breath, unable to tear my gaze away, but he didn’t continue.
A moan of disappointment escaped my lips. It was in my nature. I fucked hence I lived. Even with my life in danger.
His shirt fluttered to the floor.
I finally pulled my gaze away to meet his stare.
He ran both hands through his thick, black hair. He’d just had it trimmed so it barely curled around his ears. “Pia…”
The ache in his voice woke me from the trance I’d fallen into. My heart broke. He knew he was going to hurt me and couldn’t stop it. Tears burned behind my eyelids but I ignored them as I stepped into his arms and braced my stance. Without a second thought, I cranked my knee hard just like my daddy taught me and tried to relocate Val’s balls closer to his tonsils.
My shot contacted something but it wasn’t the soft pocket of testicles. I glanced to find his hand blocking the way.
The demonic snarl he let loose put the earlier one to shame. It curled my toes. He glowed like soft moonlight. Had my skin done the same years ago when I had seduced that poor mailman? Grabbing the neckline of my t-shirt, Val tore the front off.
I wasn’t wearing a bra. Of all the days I choose to let the girls loose, I picked Val-on-a-sex-rampage day. At least the sight of my bare breasts quieted the inhuman noises he made.
Sinful Cravings: Erotic Paranormal Romance (Lake City Stories Book 2) Page 2