Havoc & Hell: A Dragon's Prize: Ethereal Foes, Book 3

by Marie Harte

Of course she did. Wait. I’m actually buying this “our female” business? He wanted to argue, but that demonic part of him knew Teban spoke the truth. Still, James had no intention of following orders. Especially not from his scaly green lover. “You aren’t the boss of me.”

  He felt like a five-year-old saying it, especially when Kihra grinned and said, “True. I am.”

  “Christ on a crutch.” Talk about being annoyed. He’d used the C word—in public.

  Teban chuckled. “Come off it, James. You know there’s something special about the three of us together.”

  “It was just that one time.” Twice, actually, unless he counted their sex on the altar. Then thrice.

  “I think we all bonded when she had us give our first ‘sacrifice’.”

  “It was just great sex.” James wanted to argue more but knew deep inside something within him had shifted.

  “It was an alignment in energy. We’re stronger together. Can’t you sense it when we’re apart?”

  Come to think of it, James could. He equated it with an itch he couldn’t scratch. But still… “Demons don’t mate, Teban. We have purpose. We possess the living, sever loyalties, sway souls.”

  “Yes, yes. I know. But dragons do mate.”

  “Havoc too.” Kihra nodded, following their conversation closely. “Never me, not before. Kihra the Keeper, always alone.”

  Damn, but he felt sorry for her. He exchanged a glance with Teban, who hugged her tighter.

  “But I did my duty. I protected Kingu and gave due sacrifice.” She smiled at the pair of them. “And so my creator has rewarded me. I think I would like more of your purpose, James.” She tapped a dainty finger on the scarred tabletop. “I am…bored…at home. I have been giving it much thought.”

  “While arguing incessantly,” Teban muttered.

  “I think I would like to live with the dragons. Maybe even the demons.” She nodded to James.

  “Ah, okay.” His heart sped at the thought, which was crazy. Those involved in the balance didn’t worry about ties to others. He ignored the fact his twin and his sister had fallen sucker to the idea of love. So they’d made stupid choices. James had too much partying and work to do to settle down. Imagine me, mated. He laughed at the idea, yet he couldn’t look away from the pair staring at him.

  Kihra continued. “We havoc have been apart in the lower realm for too long. We are wasting away and losing touch with the other realms.” She glanced around her. “Never have we seen such glory as this.”

  She thought Joe’s Bolt Hole was glorious? The poor thing.

  “You say you like to fight.” Teban took a sip of ale. “We dragons could use better sparring partners than the angels. They’re terrible.”

  “What about us?” James asked.

  “You lot are okay, but you’re a bit predictable. Fire and brimstone. What else have you got?”

  “Well, ah… Hell if I know. I sway souls. I don’t make war on lesser beings.” He ignored the finger Teban gave him.

  “Since we crushed the angels a few weeks ago, there’s no one worthy of us to fight,” the dragon complained. “The blood elves refuse to directly engage, so they’re no fun. And the havoc were thought to be unapproachable. Now the dragons are getting soft.” Teban watched Kihra with an appraising eye. “You know, if the rest of you fight as well as you say you do, you havoc might be able to hire out. Think about becoming lower realm mercenaries. Some of the blood elves do it. Why not you?”

  “Not a bad idea.” James liked the thought of having an inside ticket to making some serious cash. Imagine being able to corrupt the havoc. Getting them to sin, to gamble, to lust until their souls cried out for hell. It was a whole new area of Undecided souls to tap into.

  “I think our chieftain will not like this idea, but I will ask.” Kihra’s shoulders slumped. “My brother does not like change.”

  James prodded. “You haven’t talked about your family much.”

  “Myfere, my brother, rules us all. There are not many havoc. We do not breed well, for Kingu made us so strong we live a long time. Too many havoc would tear the lower realm apart.”

  “Why?”

  Teban answered. “From what I gather, they’re pretty territorial.” Kihra nodded, and he added, “You’re seriously lucky to be alive, James. The girl, Naya, could have rightfully killed you had she ignored her aunt’s claim to that particular territory.”

  “Naya is a good girl.”

  She was a monster, but James nodded to agree with her. “Kihra, I don’t understand, exactly.” He didn’t know her well, this woman who claimed to now own him. “You seemed happy when I met you. But you’re saying you’re tired of living apart from the rest of us?”

  “Yes. I need…more. I have begged Kingu for guidance, and then he sent you. And you,” she said to Teban. “You both made a sacrifice, for which my creator has given me leave to keep you. We bonded. That is how I know.”

  Teban frowned. “So you’ve made other sacrifices?”

  “Yes. Not the same as sex.” Obviously she meant kills. “A sacrifice is given to Kingu—who accepted you both with open arms.” She smiled.

  James felt a little ill. If this Kingu really existed, and the—deity? supreme power?—thing now felt it had a claim on him, would that interfere with his ability to sway souls?

  “I need to check something.” He stood, and Teban stood with him. “For fuck’s sake, I’m not going to bolt. I need to sway somebody, just in case this Kingu is tampering with my Decision making.”

  “We’ll come with you. Besides, you can show off that admirable skill to your new owner.” Teban nodded toward Kihra, who smiled with pleasure.

  “Yes, I am your owner. This swaying you should do, so I can best care for you.”

  “Her pet,” Teban said with a snicker.

  “Asshole.” James glared at them both, chugged down the rest of the beer Kihra had ignored, and, followed by the pair, stalked down the dingy hallway of the place toward the back room, where the owners kept the harder stuff: the drugs they sold in addition to the alcohol out front.

  James listened to that inner chime only he could hear. Ah, yes, Joey’s time was near. “Go easy,” he warned them. “Sometimes they have guns.” Could the havoc inhabit other bodies? Did Kihra bleed like normal citizens of the lower realm? Or would she die here if attacked so far away from the magical lower realm? All questions he should have asked before bringing her up here. His twin had it right—he was a dumbass.

  Teban must have read his worry, because he said in a firm voice, “I have her. She’ll be safe.”

  “Okay.” Nothing could penetrate Teban’s scales if he shifted before danger came.

  With Kihra’s safety accounted for, James knocked on the door to the back room.

  “Password.”

  “Fuck a duck.”

  A dark chuckle, and then the door opened to reveal James’s favorite addict. “Jamie boy. Been a while.” A six-foot-four bear of a man wrapped James in a hug, then shoved him back, pointing a gun to his forehead.

  Used to the display, James sighed and put his arms up. “I’m not packing, Joey.”

  “Gotta check. Too many motherfuckers want to grab my stash.”

  What the guy wasn’t shoving up his nose, anyway. James waited while Joey frisked him and two more men behind him kept watch.

  “Who’s your friend? And hel-lo, I want to meet her.”

  Annoyed at Joey’s sudden interest, James did his best to ignore it and introduced Teban and Kihra. “She’s mine,” he said before Joey could ask, and watched Joey’s large friends pat down the pair.

  “What about him?” one of the guys behind Joey asked with a suggestive leer. “Because your boy is seriously packing.” He motioned to Teban’s crotch.

  “He’s with me too,” James added, aware he didn’t like the thought o
f anyone looking too hard at his mates—lovers. Demons don’t mate, genius. And they sure don’t get jealous because their dragon friend got felt up by a soft-brained thug.

  “Knew you had it in you, James.” Joey grinned. “You’re like us. Try-sexuals.” The guys laughed, and the atmosphere in the small room calmed. “Now what did you want to buy?” He waved a hand at a table full of drug paraphernalia, pills and powder.

  Everyone moved inside the room. One of Joey’s boys shut the door behind them.

  “I need something stronger.” James pulled Joey closer and looked into his eyes. The connection snapped into place, and he saw Joey walking the tight line of Decision. He’d tried to do right so many times but inevitably fell back, both into his addiction and the brutality he visited upon his family for all manner of things. Had the addiction been more a cause of his rages, perhaps the man might have been swayed toward heaven. But James knew Joey had a selfish streak. His fury had nothing to do with drugs and everything to do with a sense of entitlement.

  With a slight push, James sent the man on his way. Hell would welcome Joey Flintano in another five months and four days.

  “Oh, I felt that.” Kihra whispered. “I wish I could see it.”

  James took her hand in his and mentally shared with her the link he’d forged.

  “Beautiful.” She kissed him on the cheek and continued to hold his hand.

  “Hey, I want to see too,” Teban complained.

  With a grin, James grabbed hold of Teban. “You never seemed interested before.”

  “I thought it was a secret thing. I didn’t know you could actually show me. Especially since I’m not a dem—ah, like you.” He subtly glanced to the men frowning at them and let go of James.

  Joey wasn’t moving. His breathing had grown shallow, and his soul swam in circles, out of sorts at having made a Decision. It took a moment or two for the newly swayed to settle down, and James hoped the guys would think Joey just a little more drugged up than usual.

  “I’m not supposed to show you,” he murmured to Teban, “but I don’t always follow the rules.”

  “Show him what?” one of Joey’s large friends asked. “What the hell are you doin’ to Joey?” The guy withdrew a .45 from the back of his jeans.

  “No problem here, guys. Sorry for holding on to you, Joey.” James subtly let go of Teban and leaned closer to Joey’s men. “My girl’s a little high, so we pretty much just agree with whatever she has to say. She ‘sees’ all kinds of things, you know?”

  The others relaxed.

  Joey came back to himself and chuckled. “Right, man. I get you.” He shook his head. “Fuck. I feel a little stoned myself.”

  James felt better than good. Proud that he’d done his job, and that he’d shown his lovers just what he could do. They left the guys in the back room behind with promises of information on a new drug, and James knew a measure of relief that whatever was going on between the three of them and Kingu, it hadn’t affected his ability to do his job.

  “You okay?” Teban asked. “You look preoccupied.”

  “Let’s head to my place.”

  Kihra said nothing, watching them both with an intense look. Not fear, not joy, but something else that made him a little nervous.

  They took a cab downtown and entered a discreet, upscale brownstone. After James had shown them around the place, taking in the modern décor and loaded refrigerator that his housekeeper kept fully stocked, he planted his ass on his comfortable sectional sofa, big enough to seat eight, and kicked off his shoes and socks.

  “Oh, yeah. That feels good.” He dug his toes into the thick carpeting, glad for the unseasonably warm, early fall weather. When he glanced up, he saw Teban and Kihra watching him.

  “What?”

  Teban leaned close to Kihra and whispered something.

  “Hey. No secrets.”

  Kihra pulled back from the dragon, nodded, then left them alone, wandering down the hall, presumably toward the bathroom, because he heard the door shut and what sounded like the shower turn on.

  “Well?” he asked Teban.

  “We need to talk.”

  Teban hadn’t needed much persuading to realize his connection to Kihra and James was meant to be. He didn’t bother asking permission to mate. He was the dragon prince, and fuck anyone who didn’t like his choices.

  But he didn’t like the cautious look on James’s face. Teban had accepted the mating with two non-dragons, just as Kihra welcomed the thought of taking two mates, despite neither of them being havoc.

  But James… He’d be the tricky one to manage. Demons were cagey creatures. That Eve and Duncan had both taken to monogamy indicated they took after their human mother more than their fallen father. James, though, seemed to take after Asael in more ways than one.

  Beautiful, deadly, conniving. So vibrant with that body and mind. Teban had wanted James for a long time. Now how to convince the demon to be his and Kihra’s—forever?

  “Well? I’m waiting.” James crossed one leg over the other, a subtle challenge on his face.

  Teban had to handle him the right way. Never let it be said dragons couldn’t be just as devious as demons. James’s weakness was easy enough to determine. While James had been avoiding them in the catacombs, Teban and Kihra had done more than argue about ownership rights. They’d been making plans to handle their demon. Teban had convinced Kihra to give him the first shot.

  And sex was his way in.

  He knelt between James’s knees and pushed them apart, the startled look on the demon’s face almost amusing.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  A rich musk of need wafted from the blue-eyed charmer, and Teban took a good hard whiff. Then he stared at the growing bulge between James’s legs.

  “I can’t help it,” James snapped, clearly uncomfortable. “It just does that.”

  “Around me, I know.”

  James threw his head back and groaned. “I’m sorry. But I—”

  “Don’t be. I’ve wanted you for a long time.”

  James whipped his head down and stared. “You have?”

  “Of course. We dragons find pleasure in sex with partners of all kinds. I’m surprised you never tried men before.”

  “I would have but I wasn’t attracted. I mean, I thought about it, just because it used to be so taboo. Now that it’s more accepted and everyone keeps spouting about love and marriage and shit, it’s not as dirty.” James flushed, because Teban was running his hands from James’s knees up his thighs. “A-and guys don’t turn me on.”

  Teban studied him. “I do.”

  “So? I turn you on too.”

  “Yes.” Teban needed to prove a point. “Now no other will do. We are one. The three of us. And it starts with me.”

  Chapter Seven

  Teban stared into James’s eyes, maintaining a link between them that went far beyond the physical. He unsnapped James’s pants, then slid the edges apart and pulled out the demon’s thick erection. “Mmm. Pretty.”

  “Fuck. Teban.” James reached out and palmed his head.

  “What do you want?” Teban licked his lips, and James flushed.

  “Do it.”

  Teban feathered his fingers over that hot flesh, pleased when James jerked at the contact. “Do what?”

  “Suck me off. Come on. Do me and I’ll do you. I swear.”

  “What of Kihra?” Teban leaned closer, wanting to feel James inside him in any and all ways.

  “She can play too,” James whispered, his breaths coming in labored puffs until Teban closed his mouth around that thick cock. “Fuck, yes. Eat me up, dragon. Fucking suck me.”

  Teban bobbed over his mate, lingering with pleasure. Behind him, he felt Kihra watching, sensed her hunger and her need.

  But he took his time with James, needing the demon t
o know there was no refusing their connection. Before James could come, Teban backed away. “Now you,” he said to the luscious havoc, naked and wet from her shower. She eagerly complied, taking his place between James’s legs.

  “Oh, Kihra. Baby, that’s so good,” James crooned, his gaze shuttered while he watched her pleasure him.

  Teban wasn’t done. He prodded Kihra onto her hands and knees, widening her stance so he could better access her body. He caressed her breasts, her belly, her ass. He toyed with her sex until she was rocking into James with a frustration all her own.

  “Take her, Teban. Please,” James begged, knowing exactly what Teban did—that their physical connection bridged their spiritual one. It shouldn’t have been possible, but a dragon, a demon and a havoc had truly mated.

  Teban could wait no longer. He lowered his slacks, mounted the female from behind and inched into her.

  She moaned and scraped her teeth against James. Teban could feel it, sensed James’s shock and ecstasy as the demon spent into her mouth.

  “Yes, devil take you,” James moaned as he finished. “Now, Teban.”

  Teban surged the rest of the way inside their female and reached a hand between her legs, more than gratified by her slick, plump flesh. She didn’t take long before she seized, spurring his own climax.

  The three of them basked in bliss, away from their problems, lost in their own little world.

  James suggested they all clean up, and they continued to carouse in the shower, in the bedroom, and in the kitchen. Kihra ended up wearing what they ate for dessert, a mess of chocolate sauce and honey over all her pretty parts.

  Sometime later, after another trip to the shower, they lay in James’s bed, Kihra asleep between them.

  Teban had never felt such contentment. “You know we’re mated, right?”

  “I do.” The demon sighed.

  Teban smiled. “Don’t sound so glum.”

  “I’m not, I’m just… Hell. What will we do now? Where do we go from here? And damn, but what will my father say?”

  “Asael concerns me, I admit. So does Kihra’s brother.” Talk about taking a big step without clearing it with some very important beings, like the ruler of the Abyss and chieftain of the havoc. “But, hey, at least the dragons are taken care of. Jentaron won’t care what we do.” He was pretty sure, at least.