Nate snorted. “We will. But only if you take it out of the room. It’s been too long for me, and I sure as hell don’t want to watch.”
Dani just laughed. “Go get busy so we can talk over whatever the information is that you found. Lily will be able to think better once she’s got her honey pot satisfied.”
I snorted. “Nice mouth there.”
“You should know. You’ve kissed it before.” And with a wave, she turned back to the table.
Feeling awkward but so hungry that I could have fucked Archer right there on the kitchen floor, I led him toward the stairs. “We’ll be back in a while. Be careful and don’t open the door for anybody. If anything happens, feel free to interrupt us but don’t worry about any loud thumps or shrieks.”
As we headed upstairs, I hesitated. I hadn’t allowed any of my clients to enter my private bedroom. My friends had been there, but only to look at clothes or smell perfume. Clients were entertained in the salon. So it felt new…allowing Archer in.
As we entered the room, I paused. “Listen. I don’t think the Souljacker can get in now, but keep your guard up as much as possible.”
“I hope to keep more than that up, girl,” he said with a lazy smile. “But set your mind at ease. I brought a ward with me that will secure the house for the next four hours. I’m not about to get involved with this case unless I’m also protected. I may not be on the hit list, but neither am I interested in being collateral damage. And before you ask, you inferred right. There is a hit list, and it is the Souljacker after you and your friends.”
He pulled a small talisman out of his pocket. I immediately sensed something fill the room—a force that seemed to engulf and shroud the walls. The energy raced along like an electrical streak. As I closed my eyes, I could sense it surround my entire home.
“I want one of those. Permanently.”
“That would cost you a king’s fortune.” Archer turned to me. “So…” He reached out slowly, taking my hand. “You need to feed.” His voice was low, and a roiling heat crackled off his body.
“I’m so hungry, I’m almost sick from it.”
His proximity made my stomach lurch. He was even more handsome close up and every nerve on my body began to jangle as my breath grew short. His lips, his wonderfully full lips, were close to mine. His gaze slinked over my body, starting at my feet and working their way up to my breasts and then my face.
“Do you like what you see?”
“Yes, I do, but I think I’ll like what I feel even better.” He laughed, slow and rich, and the sound of his voice rippled through me.
I dropped my head back, moaning softly as he drew me in, anchoring my waist with one hand as he backed me against the nearest wall. He crushed my mouth with his, lips warm and full against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, drawing energy from his breath as the chi passed through my lips like a warm gust of summer heat. The strength of his life force was immense and it shook me to the core.
I hadn’t been lying when I told him I had never had a chaos demon before. Behind the brute force lurked a dark, cavernous passion. He was brilliant, with a magnetism so strong I wouldn’t have been able to stop if the earth opened up and swallowed my house. As the kiss went on, my body began to burn, his lips on mine stoking the fire. My body ached—I needed him. Needed more than his kiss, more than his hands firmly holding my waist.
Archer let go of me, pulling back, a predatory look on his face. He let out a low growl, his eyes lighting up. “Undress. I want to see you naked.”
Feeling as crazed as the satyrs in the blind grip of their rut, I slithered out of my shirt, my breasts bouncing free as I unhooked my bra. Archer yanked off his jacket. Another minute and I had managed to strip off my jeans and panties, kicking them over beside the bed. Archer tossed his shirt on the floor as I reached for his belt buckle. But he got there first, whipping the belt out from the loops. With another quick move, he unzipped and, as his cock sprang into view, fully erect and throbbing, I moved to the bed.
As he shed his jeans and approached me, I reached out to draw him down, rolling him onto his back as I straddled his body, positioning myself to slide down his deliciously thick shaft. He stretched me wide as I eased down, inch by inch, growing wetter with every move. And then he was fully inside me, and I leaned over so he could reach my breasts. He cupped one, bringing it to his lips where he worked the nipple with his tongue. With his other hand, his fingers slid down to cup my ass. I groaned, moving a little, but that only made him bring both hands to my waist, where he held me still with a firm grip.
“Don’t move,” he whispered. “Don’t move, don’t squirm, just be still.” His voice had an authority in it that I couldn’t ignore. Demons were powerful; they could mesmerize with their commands. I found myself wanting to obey him.
I shuddered, forcing myself to stop. I couldn’t focus on anything other than the feel of him so thick inside of me that it felt like there was no room left. The sensation of his hands on my skin and his tongue on my breast was driving me crazy. I wanted to ride him so that it was almost an ache, but he gave me a single shake of the head when I started to squirm, and I stopped.
“Now, first, I’m going to stroke you and you will remain perfectly still.” His words were slow, calm, and deliberate. He slid one hand down to between my legs where I was straddling him, and began to circle my clit, tweaking it so that I let out a soft cry—whether it was pleasure or pain, I wasn’t sure. I shuddered, trying to control my need to ride his hand, to ride his cock, to go leaping over the edge into orgasm.
“Next, lean down and kiss me. And draw all the chi you need.”
I obeyed, leaning down to press my lips against his. As I began to siphon the energy, drawing it from between his lips, he began to thrust upward. I met his movements with my own as the chi flowed into my lungs, satiating me. As he bucked beneath me, I ground my pelvis against him, sliding up and down his shaft, meeting him thrust for parry. We fucked hard and fast as the chi filled my body, bolstering me back to full strength.
And then, so full I couldn’t take in another breath, I broke off the kiss. My breasts were slick with sweat as they skated over his chest. I panted, driving him on, grinding against him as fast as I could. His eyes shifted to a brilliant, beautiful ruby color as I rode him like a wild stallion, and the rush from his energy catapulted me higher than I had ever been.
We were a blur of sound, a tangle of motion and then—suddenly—I dropped my head back and let out a low moan as the orgasm ricocheted through me, hard and fast. Archer came only seconds later, arching hard against me, holding me so tight I almost couldn’t breathe. He let out a loud moan and then—slowly—I folded down to nestle into his arms, tight against him, clammy and vibrating like a live wire.
I slowly shook my head, rolling over to sprawl on the bed beside him. “That…was…”
“Wow.” Archer propped himself up on his elbows and gave me a rueful grin. “I had no idea. Thank you.”
His smile was infectious. I rested my hands on my belly as I stared at his face. He was a pretty boy, yes, but now I was beginning to see the faint lines on his brow, the worry wrinkle beneath one eye. What I didn’t expect to see was the laughter bubbling below the surface.
“You’re welcome…but I should be the one thanking you. The drive to feed was becoming so strong that I was getting scared. And it’s rather awkward to take a bodyguard with you when you’re on the prowl for chi. Dani would have offered herself, but as I told you, I avoid feeding on friends when I’m this hungry. She can offer me a snack now and then, but this was…”
“A full-fledged three-course dinner,” he finished for me. “She’s a witch, and she can handle a lot, but this… I’m guessing she would have been weak for days after this. So, does that make me an enemy, since you won’t feed on friends?”
I pushed myself up, crossing my legs into the lotus position. I was a yoga aficionado—it made my clients happy that I was so flexible. “No�
�I don’t know what you are, to be honest. I’ve never dealt much with demons.”
“I’ll bet you the witch has.”
I shook my head. “Trust Dani. If she says she doesn’t summon demons, she’s telling the truth.”
Archer’s smile faded, a look of concern taking its place. “I feel for her—her husband taken and turned. I can tell how deeply it wounded her.”
I stared at him for a moment. “Yeah, it sliced so deep I know it will never heal.” Then, I added. “So, a chaos demon, huh?”
“We’re not so bad,” he said with a congenial grin.
It was true. Chaos demons weren’t the worst of the demonic realm. Far from it. They were among the least volatile. As a whole, they were appealing. But their curse was that they attracted chaos wherever they went.
“I can’t help that I’m trouble.” He rolled up to a sitting position, shifting so that he was facing me. “Lily…I really…this was…”
I caught my breath. Once again, a wave of hunger rolled over me, though it wasn’t the urge to feed for nourishment. I held his gaze, then slowly reached for him. He leaned me back without a word, sliding between my legs. As he softly entered me again, this time without the frenzy but with a passion so deliberate it almost scared me, I closed my eyes, rising softly to meet him, and once again, lost myself in the sex-colored haze that blotted out the rest of the world.
Chapter Nine
Dani and Nate had left plenty of food, although I noticed the chicken drumsticks were all gone, as well as half the pie.
“All better?” Dani wiggled her eyebrows as she held out plates to Archer and me.
“Yes, you voyeuristic perv.” I filled the plate with chicken and chow mein and a few other goodies that had somehow found their way into the spread. “Where did the pot stickers come from? They’re fresh.”
“I ordered them. Can’t have takeout without them, in my opinion.” Nate leaned back, stretching out in his chair. He nodded to Archer. “So you’re a private investigator?”
“One of the best in the city,” Archer said. He piled his plate high and scooted in next to Nate. Somehow, in the space of an hour, he had lost his aloofness and was looking incredibly comfortable. “I have a long list of clients, and there’s never a lull in business. That’s either a very good thing, or a very bad thing, depending on which way you look at it. For me? It’s a continuous source of fascination.”
“Dani said that you donated Club Z back to the city. That’s…a big donation.” Nate mopped up the last of the sauce with a piece of cheese bread that had managed to join the party on the table. “My company held a retreat there last year.”
“I don’t have to make a living. I renovated the Space Needle, reopened the club after refurbishing it, and then…I was bored. Call it a creative project. So I decided that, since I didn’t need to sell it, and since I don’t like a few wealthy businessmen owning the entire city, I’d give it back to the people.” Archer piled his plate high and enthusiastically dug in. The demon liked to eat; that much was obvious.
“What’s it like? What kind of cases do you work? It can’t be the simple ones most humans are trying to solve, right?” Dani leaned forward. “I mean, you don’t go out taking pictures of who’s screwing who for divorce cases…”
I started to motion for her to keep quiet, but then stopped. She had a point. “Actually, yes. What kind of cases do you specialize in?”
He gave us both a quick glance, then looked down at his plate, the smile suddenly cool and reserved again. “I think that’s a conversation best left for another time. The clients I work for can be highly dangerous. None of them are, on the whole, a savory lot. Or forgiving of mistakes. I make sure I do my job and I do it right. That’s how I can command the prices I do from them. Then, I donate most of the money where I think it will do the most good, and it’s not to the vampire rights movement.” And with that, he dug into his meal.
Dani and I shot each other a quick look, but we both recognized the do-not-enter sign he had slapped up. I focused on my food. Now that my other hunger was satiated, my stomach gave the kind of rumble that demanded pizza and chicken and whatever other kind of junk food I could feed it.
The ward Archer had brought with him was sitting on the counter. He had brought it downstairs with us. Dani frowned and wandered over to examine it, but she knew the rules of magic better than any of us and she kept her hands to herself.
“You paid a lot for this one. I can tell. This could only be created by a very powerful witch. I don’t suppose you’d care to tell me who fashioned it?” She glanced up at him.
He gave her a quick nod. “You can pick it up if you like. The ward isn’t set to sound an alarm unless a vampire comes near or unless somebody tries to deactivate it. I picked it up over on the Eastside. Wynter has some powerful sorceresses in her court. One of them happens to be a friend of mine. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Katarina the Frost?”
Dani abruptly set down the ward and backed away a step. “Katarina? You know the Frost? She’s Wynter’s right-hand witch. She’s one of the Calliach’s daughters.” She abruptly returned to the table.
I blinked, trying not to show my surprise. Katarina the Frost was one of Wynter’s best executioners. If Wynter was pissed at you, chances were you wouldn’t survive through the next week. Katarina was legendary in the court, both for her knowledge of magic and her ruthless obedience to Wynter. Many of Wynter’s enemies had met their end at Katarina’s magic.
“How did you meet her?”
Archer shrugged, mulling over a chicken wing. “Long ago, when the world was a much younger place, Katarina summoned me and ordered me to exact revenge on a group of humans. She had managed to learn my real name, which meant I had to obey her. Demons usually like the Fae, but her? No. For ten years I was bound by her spell. She wanted me to overthrow a minor despot—a would-be king who had driven the Fae out of their forest. This was before Britain and the rest of the UK destroyed their woodlands. My chaos was her weapon. I became friends with the petty tyrant. That alone was enough to seal his fate. When it was over and he came to his stultifying end, she set me free. I wanted to destroy her for enslaving me, but by then her powers had increased, and she was riding high in Wynter’s court. Frankly, I was more afraid of her than she was of me, so I decided that diplomacy was the best route.”
“So that was it? You just let her go?”
He chuckled. “Demons never just let old scores remain unsettled. But did you not hear me? Katarina was terrifyingly powerful by then. Oh, I demanded payment for services rendered, and submitted a bitter bill. I hinted that I might bring an army of my friends to back me up, and Wynter recognized the threat, though I doubt if she really took it seriously. But in the interests of mending fences, the court paid and paid well, which is why I never have to worry about money again, at least in the human world. The matter was settled, and Katarina and I were free to become friends.”
“Weren’t you afraid she’d come after you again?” Nate asked.
Archer shook his head. “No. I don’t know if you realize that—Dani will verify this—once a witch or magician of any sort summons a demon and the task is fulfilled, that’s it. The mage is never again able to enslave that particular demon.”
Dani nodded. “That I do know. I’ve never summoned a demon, but I know the rules.”
“Do you work elemental magic, then? Or are you a magical pacifist?” Archer asked. He seemed genuinely interested.
“I do work some elemental magic, rather than ceremonial. And I’m no pacifist. I can hex with the best of them—my family specialized in curses back in the day. But I’ve just never felt the need to summon demons or elementals. I’m not interested in gaining power over anybody, and I can cause all the havoc I want on my own.” Dani laughed.
Archer inclined his head somberly. “You’re a lot wiser than many I’ve met who dabble in magic. I think…you were born to it, weren’t you?”
“My mother and father were witches
, yes. I’m Fam-Trad in the old-school sense. We can trace our magical lineage back hundreds of years.” She paused, glancing over at the ward. “I’ve always wanted to meet Katarina. The Frost is known far and wide for her ability to create magical talismans. That’s something I enjoy doing. I know she probably doesn’t need money, but if I could convince her to put a few of those wards in the store on consignment, I could make a fortune on them.”
And that was the Dani I knew. I let out a burst of laughter. “Oh, Dani, ever practical.”
“What do you expect? I’m a Capricorn.” But she wriggled her nose back at me, then sobered, glancing over at Archer. “So, you came armed with information, you said?”
I had forgotten, in my hunger and need, that he had something to tell us. “Oh good gods, I’d make a horrible detective. I totally forgot about that.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You were just preoccupied with your hunger—that’s something hard to ignore.” Archer sobered as he pushed his plate out of the way. Nate began to clear the table as Archer brought out his briefcase and flipped the latch.
“Dani is right. I have information, and it’s not what you’re going to want to hear. I contacted WestcoPsi and had an interesting talk with a few of the guards and a couple of doctors. I asked them to e-mail over some information, including a scanned-in copy of the Souljacker’s journal.” He set a sheaf of papers on the table once Nate had wiped it clean, then returned his briefcase to the floor. “Apparently he left it behind. My source also dropped the info that the other inmates were relieved to see him go. Trust me, when criminally insane Fae and Were are relieved that a fellow prisoner escaped, there’s a problem.”
“This doesn’t sound good.” I cocked my head. “All right, tell us what you know—and how did you manage to get hold of this info so fast?”
“Bribes work wonders, and so do threats. Anyway, I found out why they locked him up, instead of destroying him like any normal vampire they catch who’s on a murderous rampage. You know what happened, right? When he was turned?”
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