Dark Kings

by Sadie Moss

  I should be embarrassed about that, right? I should be blushing and trying to close my legs.

  But I’m not.

  I can’t be when Beck is staring down at me like I might be the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

  His gaze lifts, traveling up my body until he meets my eyes; his irises have gone as dark and bottomless as deep pools.

  “Are you ready for me, angel?” he asks softly, his voice a low rumble. “I promise, I won’t hurt you. I’ll take care of you.”

  I stare right back at him, unable to look away. The lust dust is still in my system, still driving me insane with desire, but in this moment, my mind feels perfectly clear. I know what I want. Beyond any potion, beyond any magic.

  I know exactly what I want.

  My chin dips in a slow nod.

  He nods too, as if some pact or promise has been sealed between us. Then he hooks his large hands under my legs, spreading them wider as he lowers his head. His dark hair gleams in the lamp light as he settles his face between my legs, and then his warm tongue slides over me.

  “Fr—uck!”

  The stuttered sound bursts out of me as my back bows off the bed. I think somewhere in my mind, I tried to say frick, but that’s not a big enough word to encompass everything Beck’s tongue just did to me.

  I’m on fire.

  Maybe I’m made of fire.

  Is the bed on fire?

  He does it again, sliding his tongue up the length of my core before flicking it over the sensitive bundle of nerves that makes my whole body shudder in response.

  Oh, fuck.

  This time I don’t say the curse out loud, but I do turn to Remi, lifting my head off the mattress and silently begging him for what I need. He gives it to me, palming the back of my head as his mouth drops to mine. His lips taste almost sweet, like brown sugar and cloves and a hint of coffee, and I slide my tongue out to taste them better. His mouth opens at the same time, and when his tongue meets mine, a jolt like an electric shock travels through me.

  More.

  I slide my tongue against his, my lips against his, letting him take the lead as he shows me everything a kiss can be. His mouth catches my whimpers as Beck continues to lick and suck at my hard nub, and when I feel another warm mouth close over my left nipple, I let out a little scream of pleasure.

  Remi tears his lips away from mine to look at Nix, who’s leaning over me, teasing my peaked nipple with his tongue.

  Nix glances up, his breathing a little ragged, his blue eyes slightly glazed. “I’m not a fuckin’ saint,” he mutters.

  Maybe he’s not, but I don’t need a saint right now. I need this. I need him—all of them—touching me like this.

  Prying my fingers loose from his, I thread my fingers through his hair, urging him downward at the same time as I arch my back, presenting my breast to him like an offering.

  “Fuck,” is all he says before his lips close around my nipple again, and this time he doesn’t hold back at all, sucking and biting softly and circling it with his tongue.

  Before Remi can say anything to object, I yank my hand from his and pull him back down to kiss me again. The moment his lips meet mine, a little sound of surrender resonates in the back of his throat, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever heard. His hand goes to my other breast, squeezing and massaging it, making it feel heavy and full.

  Beckett’s tongue on my sex is driving me closer and closer to another orgasm, and I shift my hips against his face, getting him right where I need him, pressing upward into his touch.

  I’m close.

  I’m so close.

  But I need…

  “Please,” I pant out, breaking away from Remi’s kiss long enough to speak. “I need… I’m so… empty…”

  “I’m not going to fuck you, angel.”

  It sounds like each one of those words costs Beckett something, and when I look down the line of my body, past the place where Nix is teasing the swell of my breast with the tip of his tongue, I can see Beck staring at me.

  “But I told you,” he adds. “I’ll take care of you.”

  The words make me whimper. His nostrils flare at the sound, and he looks almost feral as he releases his grip on my leg with one hand. He slides a finger into his mouth, and my breath hitches at the sight, my stomach clenching before turning to a pool of molten lava.

  With the same slow deliberation, Beck withdraws his finger from between his lips. Then his tongue finds my clit again as his large finger slides inside me.

  Yes. Please.

  My legs lock up, my breath freezing in my lungs as my inner walls squeeze hard against the delicious intrusion. He begins to move it in and out, matching the rhythm of his tongue, and then he—he curls it or something, finding a place inside me that I never, ever knew existed.

  And I come again.

  Now Nix is the one who kisses me, devouring the moans and cries that fall from my lips. At the same time, Remi’s mouth tastes the skin of my neck, my shoulder, and my chest as his hands roam over me with the same impunity as Nix’s do. My wings are tucked beneath my body, but the men stroke them too, their fingertips grazing over the sensitive feathers.

  I feel like I’m being touched everywhere.

  Like I’m being enveloped.

  Consumed.

  My body thrashes in their grasp, but they help me through it, holding me and moving with me as I shudder and jerk. The aftershocks seem to go on forever, and they ride me through those too, their movements slowing and gentling as my body finally starts to come down from the peak of the high.

  Holy…

  Whoa.

  I blink up at the men with dazed eyes as they slowly sit back, all three of them watching me intently.

  Wow. I’ve never felt anything like that before. It was… pure ecstasy.

  Almost better than the incredible orgasm is the fact that I can feel the needy heat draining out of me. The potion or mist or whatever it was has run its course.

  The world starts to come into focus again, and I don’t feel all woozy like I did before. My body’s thrumming with the aftershocks of my orgasm, and the images and feelings of the three men surrounding me are burned into me.

  I won’t ever be able to stop thinking about this moment, no matter how hard I try. I can already tell.

  But at least I’m starting to feel more like myself. My brain is no longer filled with pure, unabated need. I was only able to think about one thing while in the grip of that lust dust: sex. Now I can focus on—

  Before I can finish the thought, the door bursts open.

  Ford strides in with an irritated growl, dragging some guy behind him, but he goes stock still when he sees the four of us on the bed.

  “What,” he says slowly, “in the ever-lovin’ fuck is going on here?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Trinity

  Ford’s sudden intrusion breaks the moment. The loaded tension that was hovering around the four of us like air in a balloon pops in an instant.

  I sit up quickly, not missing the fact that each of the men around me are obviously still… well, hard. Visible bulges strain at their clothes, and my stomach dips and flutters at the sight, my insides going all hot and melty again.

  Beckett, ever the businessman, gets up and calmly explains what happened, giving me a chance to scramble off the bed and retrieve my discarded clothing.

  I retract my wings, then pull on my clothes so fast I end up putting my shirt on backward twice before I get it right.

  Ford, meanwhile, glowers at all three of his brothers as Beckett speaks. I blush as I hear the dark-haired sin recount what just happened, but I also feel a spike of heat that I know has nothing to do with the lust dust.

  The potion is out of my system now; I can feel it. Beckett was right about it disappearing once it was… er, sated. But that means the part of me that still heats up when I look at these men, that wants them to do what they did all over again—that’s all me.

  I want them.<
br />
  With or without lust dust.

  I’ve been refusing to admit that since the second I met them, but I don’t think I can anymore. Something has changed between us, and I don’t know if it can ever go back to how it was.

  How can it, now that I know what Beckett’s tongue feels like on me? What Remington’s fingers can do, and the way Phoenix kisses so languid and slow?

  “Well,” Ford snaps, his icy eyes flashing, “while you three were playing at knocking your fuckin’ boots together, I actually did the job we came here for.”

  He yanks the guy he’s been holding onto forward and dumps him on the floor in a heap. As I stare at the man in shock, I realize that of course he isn’t just a guy. He’s a demon. The one we came here to find.

  He’s not the disgusting kind of corrupted that crawled out of the portal. This guy is higher up in the food chain. His skin has small cracks in it with black and orange colors pulsing out from underneath. His eyes are glowing a sickly yellow color, his teeth are a little too sharp, and bones protrude from his shoulders and forehead. Not quite horns, exactly; more like parts of his skeleton that grew the wrong way.

  But the rest of him looks human. The stronger a corrupted is, the more normal they can make themselves appear. It allows them to blend in better with humanity and, well, live up to their name by corrupting souls.

  The demon also looks incredibly beat up. He’s got bruises all over, and one eye has swollen until it’s nearly shut.

  “You can’t do this,” he spits. “I been good, I been good to the community, I been good to you, Ford—”

  “Yeah, and you’re not telling me about the demon portal, so.” Ford shrugs, then slams his foot down onto the guy’s face.

  The demon goes out like a light as his head smacks the floor, and I jump, my heart thudding against my ribs.

  Unruffled, Ford picks the guy up, hefting him over his shoulder. “Okay, now can we fuckin’ go? Or do you all want to spit-roast her again?”

  Remington actually covers my ears, although it’s a bit late for that. “Could you please not talk like that?” he asks.

  Ford just smirks, then turns and starts to head out.

  Phoenix finally grabs his shirt off the floor and tugs it on while Beckett strides over to Ford, catching him by the shoulder. He murmurs something that I can’t quite make out—I can only hear the words respect and lay off. I think he’s trying to tell Ford to cool it with me.

  We all head back out to the car, where I end up crammed in the back seat between Remington and Phoenix. I try not to complain since at least I’m not in the trunk like the unconscious demon, but I admit it’s hard to concentrate when I’ve got two men pressed against me on either side, and all I can think about is how I just did extremely dirty stuff with three out of the four men in this car.

  “Just so we’re clear,” I blurt out as Beckett pulls away from the curb, “we’re never talking about what happened back there. It’s just something we’re all going to forget about.”

  Remington glances over at me. His red-brown hair is still a little mussed from my fingers, and he gives me a gentle smile. “Trin, you’re the one bringing it up. None of us are.”

  My face heats up. Ugh, will it ever be a normal temperature again? “I’m only bringing it up to make it clear that we won’t ever bring it up again.”

  “I’d sure fuckin’ like y’all to stop talking about it,” Ford mutters.

  “What? Pissed you weren’t there?” Phoenix chuckles, nudging the back of Ford’s seat.

  “Maybe I’m pissed that I’m the only one who’s takin’ this mission seriously.”

  “Hey!” I sit up straighter, glaring at him. I can only see his profile, since he’s staring straight ahead. “I take this very seriously.”

  “It’s not her fault that goddamn sex club was riddled with hidden lust dust dispensers.” Phoenix kicks Ford’s seat this time. “You could’ve warned us the place was booby-trapped.”

  “I didn’t know,” Ford growls.

  “Well, it wasn’t Trinity’s fault,” Remington says firmly. “Whatever kind of potion she was dosed with, it was strong. She was grinding on Nix like a succubus when we walked in.”

  I drop my head into my hands with a groan. “Could we please move on now?”

  “You brought it up,” Phoenix notes idly.

  “And now I’m telling us to not talk about it.”

  “Why?” Beckett asks, and to my surprise he sounds… not quite upset, exactly, but more biting than usual. Which leads me to realize that I know what his usual tone of ‘biting’ is and when he’s gone beyond that. Huh. “Do you feel tainted?” he adds. “Corrupted? Dirtied?”

  His words hit me in the chest, and I lift my head from my hands as silence falls in the car.

  “No,” I say slowly. Ford is still looking ahead, but Remington and Phoenix are watching me curiously, like they have no idea how I’m going to answer. “I don’t see having sex as something wrong; at least, not most of the time. If people couldn’t go Upstairs because they had sex and gave in to lust, Upstairs would be empty. And I know of angels who’ve had affairs with humans. It’s more that it was my first time, and—”

  The car swerves as Beckett’s hands jerk on the wheel. “It was what?”

  “Well… damn,” Phoenix says, sounding for once like he’s at a loss for words.

  For the first time, I hear Ford laugh. It’s a harsh and wild sound, like horses galloping across the plains. “Fuckin’ hell, you three sure know how to pick ’em.”

  “That’s not helpful, Ford,” Remington says quietly. He’s looking at me with a soft expression, but there’s something else in his eyes too.

  Interest.

  Curiosity.

  Like I’m a puzzle that’s just been put in front of him.

  In fact, all four of the men are looking at me like that, although Beckett has to use the rearview mirror to do it. I feel myself heating up again, and I squirm as I sink down in my seat, wishing I could disappear from the car. I feel confused, but also turned on, and I have no idea what any of this means.

  Clearly, I’m struggling to control myself around these men—lust dust or no—and I’ll have to be extra vigilant if I’m going to get through this.

  I have to keep my guard up and focus on the job, not get distracted.

  Right.

  Because I’ve been doing such an excellent job of that so far.

  Chapter Twenty

  Beckett

  Fuck.

  My hands grip the wheel of my Lamborghini tightly as I draw in a long breath through my nose.

  I can still taste her on my tongue. Like sweet, expensive champagne.

  What happened back at the pleasure den was undoubtedly a mistake. It was the quickest, safest way to get the lust potion out of Trinity’s system, but that doesn’t mean it was a wise decision.

  The honest fucking truth is, when she looked into my eyes, her pupils dilated and her soft, small body writhing on the bed before me, I couldn’t say no to her.

  And now I can’t get her out of my head.

  What the hell is it about this angel? I’ve been with countless women over the years—so many that I’ve literally lost count—and I’ve shared with almost all of my brothers at one point or another. So on the face of it, what happened today isn’t anything extraordinary.

  But it doesn’t feel that way.

  At all.

  This woman has gotten under my skin. There’s something about her that makes her almost irresistible, so alluring that I can feel my own greed seeping from me like a pheromone whenever I’m around her.

  Ford is right. She’s trouble. She’s dangerous. We would all be wise to keep our distance from her.

  But my brother is also a hypocrite. He might rage against Trinity, insist that we shouldn’t trust her, glare at her like he’s trying to burn a hole through her skin—but he’s just as affected by her as the rest of us are.

  The car falls into silence as I weave in and
out of traffic, and although I hear Trinity make little terrified gasps every time I whip around a corner or cut another driver off, she doesn’t accuse me of driving like Mad Max again. She doesn’t say anything.

  A strange feeling expands in my chest, one I’m not accustomed to feeling at all.

  Worry.

  This little angel is made of stronger stuff than she appears. I’ve seen her fight off a pack of ravaging corrupted and temporarily close a demonic portal. I’ve seen her face Ford’s wrath—and although she was clearly terrified by it, it didn’t break her. As small and fragile as she seems, there’s a soul of iron in there somewhere.

  But what just happened between the four of us has left even me unsettled, and I can only imagine what she must be feeling right now.

  Actually, scratch that. I can’t imagine it at all. I don’t pretend to understand the angel, and I have no idea what’s going on in her head.

  The car’s tires screech as I pull into the garage underneath my building. Ford hauls Henrik out of the trunk and tosses the demon’s body over his shoulder, and we all pile into the private elevator that leads up to the penthouse.

  Trinity stands in the middle of the elevator as it rises smoothly, as if she’s not sure which one of us she should stand closest to or farthest away from. I catch her shooting a glance at me from beneath her eyelids, and the gesture is so alluring, so unintentionally coquettish, that I have to resist the urge to press her up against the elevator wall and drag her bottom lip between my teeth. To kiss her until she begs me to do more.

  Just like she begged back at the pleasure den.

  I draw another long breath of air in through my nostrils, fighting to keep a grip on my goddamn sanity.

  When the elevator doors open at the top floor, Ford stalks out, still carrying the unconscious demon’s body over his shoulder. Remington and Phoenix follow him, but before the angel can do the same, I step forward and catch her arm.

  I can feel her body’s reaction to me, the slight tightening of her muscles as if she can’t decide between leaning closer and pulling away. I take the decision away from her, dropping my head as I close the distance between us even more.