by Lexi Blake
I laid the envelope on his desk.
He looked at it with disdain, sliding it back to me. “I don’t want your money, Zoey.”
I picked it back up and tucked the envelope in my purse. I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Daniel was gone, and Dev didn’t want me anymore. I had what I deserved. I was alone.
“What was the second thing?” It couldn’t hurt to ask. He would answer or he wouldn’t. He raised one eyebrow. “Daniel was going to have you take me to the faery mounds. But you said you would do the first but not the second. What was the second thing?”
If anything his face became even blanker. “If I couldn’t make it to the sithein, I was to give you to someone named Marcus Vorenus. I believe he’s a vampire. Daniel was playing fast and loose with vampire laws. He was hoping that because he was still alive, his ownership of you could transfer at his will. I looked into it since then. Only a vampire can own a companion.”
I tried not to show my surprise. I suspected Daniel thought Marcus would be better than some random vampire, but I had my doubts. Dev watched me but made no move to speak further.
I hated this feeling. I had no idea how to ask for what I wanted. I could face down a demon and fight off a giant snake, but I felt so vulnerable in that moment that my only option was retreat.
I smiled too brightly. “Well, all right, then. It was good to see you.”
I wouldn’t see him again.
Before I got to the door, he was pulling my hand, turning me to face him. His jaw was set, and his words came out in a harsh grind. “You didn’t come here tonight to pay me off, Zoey. Why are you here?”
“I don’t know,” I lied.
“Yes, you do. You didn’t put on those fuck-me heels to pay me off.” Suddenly my back was against the door, and he was taking up all the available space. “Ask me, Zoey.”
I didn’t bother to pretend to misunderstand. I just couldn’t force the words from my mouth.
Dev came in close, so close I could smell the mint on his breath, and I suddenly knew that his casualness was an act. He’d prepared himself for me. He’d seen me on some monitor and talked to Albert and then rushed to make sure he was ready.
“I need to know.” His mouth was so close to mine that all I had to do was lean forward. His green eyes stared down, catching me and pinning me there. “Do you still love him?”
“I don’t know if it’s love anymore,” I admitted.
“So you want to experiment on me.” He kissed my forehead. My every nerve ending went on red alert as he leaned in, pressing his body to mine. He was so beautiful and so close, I could almost taste him.
“I want to know if I can love someone else.”
“Then ask me, Zoey.” He breathed the words against my skin.
For a moment, I thought it was a trap. He was going to say no and walk away, and I would be left standing there looking like the idiot I was. It made some perverse sense. I’d done the same thing to him, though I hadn’t been trying to hurt him. For a moment, I considered walking away before he could reject me. But I hadn’t come this far to not take a chance.
“Dev, will you please make love to me?” I asked as simply and honestly as I could.
He smiled that bright, open smile that made my heart ache just a little. He smiled, and then his hands cupped my rear and pulled me into his body where I felt his answer immediately.
“Zoey, you know this is a bad idea, right?” But he leaned forward and kissed me anyway, his lips soft against mine.
For the first time in weeks, some little part of me felt alive. I let my hands drift to his waist, exploring the muscles there. I cuddled closer to him. “I have those from time to time.”
But I needed this. It was a horrible idea, but I couldn’t help myself. I wasn’t trying to punish Daniel. I was trying to find myself.
“He’s going to come back, Zoey.” I loved the way he said my name, like a long slow cajoling. He could draw out those two syllables in a way that made my heart rate triple. “He has a claim on you that I can never have.”
Yes. That was the problem. “I can’t live like that.”
He started to lift the bottom of my dress toward my waist, his fingers sliding against my skin, making me shiver. He kissed me again, his tongue sliding deep this time. My leg drifted up, tangling around his body. All of my problems seemed to drift away. I wasn’t thinking about Daniel or the Council or the fact that I glowed. Dev couldn’t see my glow. He didn’t give a shit about my blood. He just wanted me.
He untied the back of my dress and let it slip to the floor. A sigh escaped his chest as he looked down at the tops of my breasts. Long fingers traced the curves of both mounds. “This won’t be a one-night stand for me, Zoey. I want to be with you. If you’re using me for a single night of sex, you should know it won’t work. I intend to make you want to stay with me, to crave me, to never leave me.”
“Dev, I want to try.” I pulled at his shirt, wanting to feel his skin. “Not just for a night.”
His hands wrapped around and twisted the clasp of my bra in a single, easy movement. He slid it off and tossed it away. His hands slid up to my breasts, cupping them, flicking at my nipples. “That’s a good thing, baby, because once I get inside, I don’t think I’ll want to leave.”
He leaned over and kissed me softly before he picked me up. He walked to his desk and with one hand shoved everything off and down to the floor. He laid me out on the desktop, and before I knew what was happening, he had my panties off, sliding them down my legs.
I relaxed, every muscle softening for the first time in weeks. This was a good place to be. I wasn’t worried. I was happy. And Dev proved what an amazingly dirty boy he was. He shoved my knees apart and sank to the floor.
“It’s a crime, you know.” He smiled, a ridiculously decadent grin on his face.
I held my head up. I was naked on his desk, and it felt right. I should have been self-conscious but I just felt lovely. Dev and I didn’t have a past. There was nothing between us but pure desire, and he could have anyone he wanted.
But he was here with me. It made my ego surge and someplace deep inside went calm and happy. Something in Dev called to me, but it was a simple thing. “Crime? What do you mean?”
He grinned just before he leaned down and ran that ridiculously talented tongue over my pussy. “You’re married to a vampire. It’s a serious thing in our world.”
My eyes practically rolled back in my head. He sucked on my clit. Dear god, I could barely think. Every goddamn cell in my body was standing at attention. “I still don’t understand the crime part.”
Dev sucked my clit into his mouth. I nearly screamed. Every cell in my body lit up at the pleasure coursing through my system. His tongue dragged against me and there was a deep moan as though he thought I tasted like heaven.
His eyes were heavy as he looked up my body. “I assure you the Council will see it as a crime. And I don’t care. I’ll risk it to be with you. I’m crazy about you, Zoey. I’ve worked for years building these businesses but now all I want is to be inside you, baby.”
He licked me again, causing me to shake and shiver. “What does it mean? The law thing?”
He rubbed his nose in my pussy. “It means Daniel has the right to kill me.”
I nearly came off the desk. “What?”
He pushed me back down, flattening my body to the desk. His weight anchored me. “Stop. You’re mine until the minute you tell me you’re not. I’ll handle the fallout. Baby, I want you so bad. I’ll risk anything. I don’t care what their rules are. We can make our own.”
It was a mistake. I knew it. And I couldn’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth.
“Yes, Dev.” It was just what I needed to hear. That he would risk for me. That he would let me risk for him. Tears of pure joy pricked my eyes. No past weighed us down. But a possible future had just opened up in front of me.
“I like the sound of that. You keep that up. Yes, Dev.” He unbuckled his belt
and slipped his pants off, kicking them to the side before reaching out to his desk drawer. He held a condom in his hand. “Touch me.”
His cock stood out. It was huge. I looked at it, studied it, really. I totally believed that his grandfather had been a Green Man because that cock was superlative. It was thick and long and stood up against his belly, almost reaching his navel. I reached out and wrapped my hand around him, loving the way his eyes closed in pleasure the moment we came in contact. I pumped his cock in my hand, memorizing the feel of it. Soft skin covered a rigid hardness that made my heart pound.
He shook his head. “Stop, baby. I don’t want to come in your hand.”
I pulled my hand away, but not before brushing against him one last time.
He slipped the condom over his dick.
He was willing to fight. He was willing to go against the rules to get inside me, so I wrapped my legs around him and let him in. He thrust, forcing himself in inch by inch. He reached down and played with my breasts, pinching my nipples as he forced himself inside.
I let him, reveling in the close contact. I had only wanted—really wanted—two men in my whole life, and the second one pushed his cock inside and touched my womb. He let himself go, thrusting in and out and lighting up my flesh. My legs wound around his waist and held on for dear life. He was in control. He played my body like a fine instrument. In and out. In and out. Over and over again.
His hand came in between us and found my clit, rubbing insistently as he thrust his cock up, finding that special place that sent me soaring.
I called out his name when I came. Dev. Dev. Dev.
His gorgeous face contorted, and he held himself against me as his orgasm overtook him.
He fell down, covering my body with his. He was smiling as he kissed me, his cock still deep inside. I could already feel him getting hard again. “I’m crazy about you, Zoey.”
I kissed him back, my whole soul satisfied. “Back at you.”
“And don’t think I’m done with you,” he said. “I’m going to take my time now.”
I held on to him as he kissed me again, this time a long slow grind against my mouth. I relaxed and gave over to his unique magic.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was safe and happy.
He picked me up and carried me to the bedroom, and I was ready to start a whole new life.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Hello, Z,” Daniel said from my front porch. My heart fluttered at the sound of his voice.
He’d been gone almost four months when he showed up on my doorstep. I was told that whatever was happening with Daniel’s trial would be over quickly. Unfortunately, quickly means different things when you’re immortal. Four months passed and no news. The only way I knew Daniel was still alive was the fact that the Council-approved nurse came out once a week to collect my little bag of blood. She chatted throughout the process and tried to make it as quick as possible. She was my only link to the vampire world, and she was much more interested in talking about reality television than vampire politics.
I’d done a lot in the four months since Daniel had been carried away from me in chains and a coffin. I started a relationship with Dev, and I moved. I took my part of the money and bought a small house outside the city. It was quiet, and I was left alone for the most part. It sat on an acre of land and it was, to put it mildly, a fixer upper. That was what happened when you quartered a million dollars. I split the money into four parts because Dev wouldn’t take his. Danny had his part, and Neil and Sarah had theirs. I held out hope that Sarah would need it one day. Thieves had a code, and I followed it.
I swallowed twice before I could answer. He looked so different. His hair was long and slightly unkempt. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt with Captain America on the front. The expensive boots he’d worn were gone. He wore a new pair of Converse instead. He looked like my Daniel coming home from calculus class.
“Hello,” I managed.
He smiled, slightly sad as he looked around the porch with its peeling paint. “It’s a nice place.”
“It’s a dump,” I admitted. “But I paid cash.”
He ran his hands along the railing. “It has good bones. A little paint, a lot of sweat, and it’ll be beautiful.”
We stood there staring at each other, not quite knowing what to say. He’d lied to me and left me behind, not caring if I ever learned the truth. Dev was different. He didn’t know everything, but he tried to find people who could answer my questions. He spent months traveling the country with me, asking questions, holding my hand.
“Zoey, I’m sorry. I did what I thought I had to,” he said.
“I’m seeing someone,” I blurted out at the same time.
He stopped for a moment and ran a hand through his thick hair. “Is it Dev?”
“Well, you did sell me to him,” I pointed out. But I would have found my way back anyway. I had an odd connection to the faery. I was comfortable with him. I could breathe with Dev.
“I won’t make that mistake again.” Daniel looked down at his shoes. “I guess that means I can keep the two million, then.”
“Two million?” I choked out. Dev hadn’t mentioned that little number.
“He didn’t tell you?”
“No, I guess it slipped his mind,” I sputtered. “You are so giving that back to him.”
“All right.” Daniel smiled sadly. “Is he making you happy, Z?”
I nodded because Dev was trying. I don’t know if I would call it happy, but I was certainly satisfied. What I had with Dev was simple. We enjoyed each other. We had fun. We had a lot of really amazing sex. Content. I was peaceful with Dev. I didn’t mention that last part to Daniel. Dev was what I needed right now. Being with Dev didn’t consume my whole life.
Daniel nodded as though he’d come to a decision. “Then that’s good. I just want you to be happy. I know it doesn’t matter now, but everything I did I did because I love you. I might have been wrong, but I thought I was doing the right thing.”
We were quiet for a moment, all of our history hanging there between us, filling the night air with an oppressive sadness.
“Do you want me to go?” Daniel asked.
“Where would you go, Danny?” I needed to know.
“Probably back to Europe. There are a few loose ends I could take care of before I get down to business.”
That was said in his badass-vampire voice, and it didn’t make me feel secure. “What business is that?”
I thought for a moment he was going to ignore the question. He took his time, but he slowly turned toward the full moon and answered me. “I’m going to kill Halfer. I haven’t figured out just how to do it yet, but I will. I’m going to make him pay.” He turned back to me and grinned. “Or I could stay here and hang out with you.”
I remembered Marcus’s words, and they suddenly made sense. Daniel would never allow what Halfer had done to pass. If there was a second war between vampires and demons, it would be fought on the Earth plane and humans would be collateral damage. I could stop that simply by allowing him to stay. Still, if he was going to hang around, we needed to set some ground rules.
“And how is that going to work, Danny? Are you and Dev going to share?” I knew the answer to that question.
Daniel’s eyes heated at the thought, but I watched as he let it go. His voice was even as he pointed out the obvious. “You know, we were friends at one time, Z. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
And he was mine, but I didn’t say it. I didn’t have to. “You think ‘friends’ is going to work?”
“I think I want to try,” Daniel said. “I love you, Zoey. I don’t have to sleep with you to love you. I just know I need to be around you.”
“And you won’t eviscerate my boyfriend?” That was one rule we were definitely making clear.
“No matter how much I want to,” he said as though the thought was extremely pleasant. “You’ll be happy to know the Council is forcing me to see a psychiatrist. I
apparently have anger issues. It’s a part of my parole.”
“Parole?”
“Yeah, almost signing away my life to a demon is some sort of crime,” he said. “Who knew?”
“You sound so different.” I shook my head and studied him. The change was astounding. He was more relaxed than I’d seen him in years. He was laughing and joking.
“It’s your blood, Zoey,” he admitted quietly. “I can think more clearly. I was trained to think a certain way and act a certain way. I was taught, rather forcefully, to believe certain things. When I started taking your blood on a regular basis, I just stopped believing. I fully realize that I drank the vampire Kool-Aid. It’s hard to explain, but I think your blood brings out the human side of me.”
I pointed to the T-shirt. “I think it brings out the nerd side of you.”
Daniel shrugged and smiled. It was a gesture I remembered from long ago, and it brought back so many memories. “Speaking of the nerd in me, I’ve been in a cell in underground Paris for four months. Can we watch some TV?”
I laughed, knowing that letting him in was probably a mistake. I also knew I would never be able to shut him out. I opened the door for him.
“Come on, Neil,” he shouted at the darkness. “We’re in.”
“Thank god.” Neil huffed as he carried a huge trunk up the steps. “I thought the two of you were going to leave me out there all night while you worked out your issues. Please tell me you TiVoed my shows. Oh, I got evicted while I was in Paris, but I bought you the sweetest Louis Vuitton bag. Which room is mine? Can we order pizza?”
“Take the last room on the left.” I knew better than to argue. It would be nice to have a roommate. Besides, Neil was a pretty awesome cook.
“So.” Daniel gave me a knowing grin. He looked so right standing there in my rundown house. “When do we go?”
“Go where?”
“To get Sarah, of course.”
My mouth hung open in surprise for a moment. I’d spent the last two of our months apart planning to do just that. I’d been putting out some feelers to people who could make things like this happen. It was tricky, but I managed to keep it from Dev. It wouldn’t be easy to get into Hell and steal a person out from under a demon’s nose, but hey, I like a challenge. And there was no way I was leaving her there.