Mortal Seductions

by Allyson James

  Remy hunched over a table, staring at a map. Occasionally he’d look away and make a note, then he’d go back to glaring at the map. “We went that way, I know we did. Why isn’t it there?”

  “Remy?”

  Remy jumped a foot and swung around, pencil clamped between his fingers. “What? Oh, it’s you. Come here and look at this.”

  He turned his back, registering nothing more than her standing in the doorway. Swallowing frustration, Felicia crossed to the table.

  Remy didn’t even look up. “Have you been out here?” He pointed with the pencil’s eraser to a remote wadi off to the north and west of the Valley of Kings.

  “I don’t think so. Remy, I’d like to ask you something.”

  Remy’s eyes sparkled as he looked up, but he obviously wasn’t seeing her. “We need to go out there.”

  Felicia’s heart beat faster. The scenario she’d gone over since standing in the shop and viewing her new clothes went as follows: Remy would look up from whatever archaeological fascination held his attention, look her over in astonishment and growing delight, then abandon what he was doing and smile at her. At her, not through her. He’d realize she was a woman, not just a colleague. He’d ask her out to dinner, ideally at one of the nice hotels in Luxor. Then they’d decide it was too late to cross the river back to the dig house. They’d stay the night in the hotel.

  They’d start with kisses when he said good night to her, then end up in bed, where they’d slowly and thoroughly make love. In the morning, Remy would tell her he couldn’t believe he’d never noticed that he loved her. They’d have breakfast in bed and maybe make love again before heading back to the dig and resuming their work. They’d still be partners and friends, but they’d let themselves fall more deeply in love. They’d be partners for life.

  Stupid, romantic ideas. Felicia chided herself. I let Val make me think I could be beautiful. What a waste of time.

  Beyond the hurt in her pounding heart, she focused on what Remy had just said: We need to go out there.

  “Why?”

  Remy’s face lit up in near rapture. “Felicia, I might have discovered a tomb.” He whispered it, his voice trembling.

  His words were like a cold slap through her uncertainty. “A tomb? Are you sure?”

  “I don’t know. I’d like a better look.”

  Felicia peered at the map again. “Are you sure this was the place? It’s a long way from the river.”

  “Very sure. There was an outcropping and a series of wadis. This map isn’t detailed enough, but I can find it again.”

  “What were you doing out there? That’s miles away.”

  “I was with my brother. We were, um, hiking.” He waved that away. “It doesn’t matter. There might be an entrance. I need to see. Come with me.”

  Felicia nodded automatically. Of course she’d come. She’d follow him to hell and back. “Have you told anyone?”

  “No. Just you. It might be nothing.”

  Remy was holding his excitement in check with great effort. Felicia knew as well as he did that he might have stumbled upon nothing. The odds weren’t in their favor. But then again, there was the story of KV 5. Everyone had thought it a minor tomb of only a few rooms. Then the excavators cleared a small doorway and discovered it led to a maze of corridors and the largest tomb ever discovered in the Valley of Kings. It had lain hidden from some of the best archaeologists in the world because no one had bothered to open one door.

  Felicia tried without success to stifle her eagerness. “We should check it out, just in case.”

  Remy grabbed a flashlight. “Exactly.” He looked her up and down and frowned. “You might want to change clothes, though. You’ll ruin those.”

  LEON reached the hotel and knocked on the door of the suite. Demitri opened the door just wide enough to grab Leon and drag him inside.

  Val lay on the couch, worry on her face, but other than that, Leon saw nothing wrong.

  “Hey,” he said to both of them. “Why’d you need me?”

  “Take off your clothes,” Demitri said.

  “It’s nice to see you, too. My brother and I had a good talk this evening, cleared up some stuff. What have y’all been up to?”

  “You need to let Val make love to you, without Valenarian taking over,” Demitri said, ignoring him. “We need to teach her that sex can be slow and sweet. Loving.”

  “So why aren’t you at it?”

  Val answered, her voice soft with fear. “Because I can’t control her with Demitri. She remembers and wants him.”

  “So I get to be the sex slave?”

  “We don’t have much choice,” Demitri said. “Valenarian loves her sexual power. Being celibate, Valerie never had the chance to make sex not about power. My idea is that we teach her about feeling rather than control, surrender instead of domination.”

  Leon drew in a breath, his blood warming. “I’m willing to give it a try.”

  “Do you know how to give massages?” Demitri asked him.

  Leon fixed his gaze on Val, her beautiful face pleading. “I’ll learn.”

  “Good,” Demitri said. “Now, take your clothes off.”

  Leon skimmed his T-shirt off over his head. “What are you going to do?”

  “Teach, watch, and enjoy.”

  Demitri’s dark eyes were filled with anticipation. He was hard, Leon could tell, the shifter in Leon sensing the high pheromone concentration in the room.

  Valerie’s gaze was just as intense as Leon unzipped his jeans and shoved them down, then pulled off his socks as he stood in his tight briefs.

  “Stop,” Demitri said. “Val, touch him.”

  Val nodded and stood up. Unlike when Demitri had told Valenarian to touch Leon the other night, she looked more like a woman about to attempt a dangerous surveillance than one about to touch a ready and willing man. Valenarian then had been eager and unable to hold back. Valerie now looked afraid to let go.

  Leon held his breath as Val stopped in front of him. She lifted her hands and spread her fingers, then very gently touched his chest.

  Fire ran from her fingertips to heat his body. Leon stood still, arms at his sides. Val skimmed her fingertips across the curled hair on his chest and lightly traced his nipples. Leon sucked in his breath but remained still.

  He was aware of Demitri standing a few feet behind Val, still clothed, his dark eyes fixed on the two of them.

  He’s loving this, Leon thought. He’s getting off on watching the woman he loves touch the man he wants to screw.

  And I don’t hate it.

  Val flicked her nail over his nipple again, a fine, tingling sensation. Then she drew her touch down to his abdomen, tracing the outline of his navel. She studied the skin as she touched it, trailing fire all the way.

  She brushed his lower abdomen, dipping her fingers a fraction of an inch into the waistband.

  “No.” Demitri’s command was sharp. “Not yet.”

  Val hesitated, as though she wanted to tell Demitri to fuck off, then she nodded, and continued her touching on Leon’s back.

  “You have scars,” she murmured, tracing them. Irregular scars crisscrossed and puckered his right shoulder blade.

  “From a few years ago. A bomb went off, and I got cut by debris.”

  “Oh dear. I’m sorry.”

  Leon didn’t mind the scars. He’d gotten off lightly. If he’d been standing three feet closer to the car, he’d have died.

  “I’m glad you survived,” Demitri said.

  “You and me both.”

  Val traced the scars again, and then he felt her tongue on them. He closed his eyes, his cock so stiff it ached.

  Val kept her touch light and undemanding. She pressed harder with the pads of her fingers, but it was nothing like the erotic grappling she’d engaged in the night she’d jumped into Leon’s bed.

  She drew her fingers down to the small of his back, then knelt to touch the backs of his thighs and his legs. She touched everything but hi
s underwear, even skimming her fingertips over his toes.

  “You’re doing well,” Demitri said. “Keep it controlled, and take off his underwear.”

  Val obediently hooked her fingers in the elastic waistband and pulled down Leon’s briefs.

  “Who’s going to keep me controlled?” Leon said.

  “Me,” Demitri answered. “Stand still and take it.”

  In the army, Leon had been in situations where he’d had to stand at attention no matter what was going on. Rain, a captain yelling at him, a bird shitting on him. Didn’t matter, attention was attention.

  He’d never had to do it while a beautiful woman relieved him of his underwear and ran her fingers all over his body. And never while a man he’d kissed watched intently, calling the shots.

  None of my friends would believe it. And I’m never going to tell them.

  Val was still on her knees behind him, and she cupped her palms over his ass. Fingers spread his cheeks, sinking in a little as she felt him.

  Leon dragged in a breath as she traced the path with her tongue. Fingers moved between his ass, and her tongue followed.

  “Son of a bitch,” he murmured.

  Demitri’s eyes burned black. Leon looked at him, and found the man gazing at him with naked hunger.

  Val, still kneeling behind him, slid her hand between his legs and touched his balls. Damn, he was going to die of this. Leon’s heart pumped, and he spread his feet apart so she could reach whatever she wanted.

  Leon felt Val press her cheek into his ass, resting there while she moved her hands around his hips and closed her fist on his cock.

  It felt good. Not as fantastic as her mouth, or himself inside her pussy, but Leon was so wound up, her touch was like fire.

  Val the celibate might not have had sex in a long time, but she had technique. She stroked his cock with talented fingers, running her touch around his tip, tickling the underside, pulling it through her closed hand.

  Demitri’s breath came faster as he watched, his body utterly still. Leon was going to come. He felt it build, and he wanted it to. He wanted to come all over Val’s beautiful fingers, and he wanted Demitri to see him do it.

  “Val,” Demitri said softly. “Stop.”

  “Oh, you gotta be kidding me,” Leon rasped.

  “Val.”

  Val made a soft sound of disappointment, but she let go of Leon’s cock. Cool air touched it, making his immediate need fade a little, but leaving him frustrated and needing release.

  “You’re a bastard,” Leon told Demitri.

  “This is to help Val.”

  “It’s not like I’m enjoying it or anything,” Leon countered.

  Val remained on the floor, kneeling, waiting for Demitri to tell her what to do. Leon wondered how she could be so calm. He held himself back, not wanting to screw this up, but wanting to scream at Demitri to let him fuck her.

  Demitri turned away to retrieve something from the table. Leon wasn’t sure what it was—he saw leather straps and buckles. Some kind of harness, Leon decided.

  “You going to make her wear that?” Leon asked. He wasn’t sure how that made him feel. He wasn’t into Dom/sub stuff, but at the same time, thinking of Val wrapped in leather, kneeling for his pleasure, made him even more excited.

  “No,” Demitri said. “It’s for you.”

  “What?”

  “Demitri,” Val said. She knelt next to Leon, her hands clenching and unclenching. “How can you be so cruel to me?”

  “Cruel to you? He wants me to strap on a harness.”

  “He wants me to control myself. To control Valenarian.”

  “And this will help?”

  Demitri laced the harness around Leon’s torso and began buckling it. The straps were thin, not meant to hide anything. Demitri’s closeness made Leon growl low in his throat and wonder anew what was happening to him.

  The harness looped around Leon’s thighs, leaving a large gap for his cock. Another strap went around his throat, and Demitri clipped a leash to it.

  Demitri started to hand the leash to Val, hesitated, then pulled Leon forward with it and kissed him on the mouth. Val made a noise of longing.

  Leon could barely breathe. He felt his muscles constricting with excitement, his body ready to go over the top. Demitri stepped back and handed the leather strap to Val.

  “Make him do what you want,” he said.

  Leon’s toes curled into the carpet as Val looked up at him, a smile on her face. She tugged the leash and towed Leon a few inches until the end of his cock bumped her mouth. She kissed it.

  Sorry, Remy, I can’t make it back to the dig tomorrow. I’m tied up with my new girlfriend. And her boyfriend.

  No, he’d never be able to explain that.

  Val ran her tongue around his tip. Leon flinched, sucked in his breath. She played with him a little like that, pushing him with her tongue, nipping and licking.

  When she started to suckle, Leon squeezed his eyes shut, his hands balling into fists. He felt a tug of the leash, and he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He threw back his head and gritted his teeth as his come shot out of him and into Val’s mouth. Her hands gripped his thighs hard as she drank him, her mouth working him.

  “Damn,” he whispered, his hips rocking. “Damn, damn, damn.”

  When he finally opened his eyes, panting and sweating, Val had knelt back, a smile on her face. She licked her lips.

  “I liked that,” she said, sounding surprised.

  “Valenarian does,” Demitri said.

  “I’m not Valenarian.”

  Leon hauled Val to her feet. He kissed her, not minding his own taste on her lips. She wound her arms around his neck, still holding the leash.

  Demitri came up behind her. He put his arms around her, turned her head from Leon and kissed her, then gently moved her aside. “Take off your clothes and wait on the sofa.”

  Val smiled at him and glided away. Leon started to follow, but Demitri held him back with the leash. “Not yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “I want her to take her own time getting ready.” He looked Leon up and down. “Now, about what we said on the phone.”

  Val looked up eagerly. “What did you say on the phone? Tell me, please.”

  “Patience.”

  Val finished unbuttoning her tunic and let it fall, then unhooked her bra. Leon’s spent cock stiffened quickly. Her breasts were beautiful, firm like apples, the tips dark. What he’d talked about with Demitri had been raw and primal; Val was the softer side of their triangle.

  “How long do I have to wait?” she asked, sliding out of her pants. She stood in nothing but her black lace panties, hands on her hips.

  “As long as I say, my love,” Demitri said. “We’re doing this to teach you to control yourself.”

  “It’s not fair for you two to have fun without me.”

  “We’d never do that,” Demitri said, his voice low. “It’s the three of us together.”

  “You had phone sex,” she said accusingly, one hip curved in her sexy stance.

  “Not so. We simply talked about what we wanted to do when next we all met.”

  “It was the weirdest thing I ever did,” Leon said.

  “But it felt good.” Demitri turned his full attention on Leon. “It felt good to say what you really wanted to say, to be as wild as you wanted to be.”

  “Yeah, it did.” Leon paused. “I think I wanted to say even more.”

  “You will grow used to it.”

  “Maybe.”

  “You will.” Demitri gave him a long look, then nodded once and turned back to Val. Leon realized Demitri had brought him here not only to help teach Val, but to teach him, Leon.

  He’s teaching me to let go of my taboos. That there’s so much more to the world than what I know.

  Demitri looked pointedly at Val’s underwear. “Off.”

  She smiled, her look so sly, Leon for a moment feared that Valenarian had emerged. But Val’s
eyes remained a serene light blue as she turned away. Sliding her hips back and forth like a belly dancer, she slid the panties down and off.

  “Lie facedown on the sofa.”

  Val walked to it and eased herself down without question, arranging a pillow under her head. Demitri tugged on Leon’s tether. “I want you to massage her. Rub her back and shoulders, nothing more.”

  Leon wanted to lower himself on top of her, kiss her, enter her, ride her. He made himself walk to the sofa, every muscle tense, and rest one hand on her back.

  “I have oil.” Demitri picked up a bottle and drizzled over Leon’s hand oil that smelled of spices.

  “Mmm,” Val said. “Nice.”

  It smelled expensive to Leon, but then, Demitri was a bazillionaire. He owned a hotel, had a private jet, could afford suites, meals, clothes, and jewelry for Val. Could help strays like Leon, and never blink an eye. To Leon, who’d grown up in near-poverty Demitri seemed to come from a dream world.

  The fact that such an untouchable man—demigod, whatever—would care about a demon woman like Val and a simple shifter like Leon also seemed unbelievable. But Leon was a realist. If Demitri wanted to make sure Leon had the best sexual experience of his life, Leon wasn’t going to argue. If they failed to help Val against the gods, Leon might die. If they succeeded, he doubted either Val or Demitri would want Leon in their lives much longer. Leon would grow old and die; they wouldn’t.

  He shoved such thoughts away and rubbed his hands together, coating them in oil. He laid them on Val’s back, and she hummed and turned her head, eyes closing in delight.

  Leon glided his palms over her shoulders, kneading and rubbing, then trailed his hand down her back to her ass. Demitri poured oil on his own hands and joined in.

  15

  VAL thought she’d go crazy with delight. Four hands, two beautiful men, lovely scented oil on her body.

  She could tell which hands belonged to which man, even with her eyes closed. Leon’s hands were callused, his touch unpracticed but enthusiastic. Demitri’s hands were well kept but strong. He knew how to massage, how to find and loosen the muscles in Val’s body.