by Unknown
“Lucky guy,” he whispered.
“You think so?” I tugged at his long bangs. He needed a haircut. “I mean, it can’t go any further than being friends.”
He glanced up at me. “Are you speaking about Cooper or us?”
“There can’t be an us. Sin will kill you.”
He shrugged. “That’s up to you.”
My lips moved but nothing came out. I liked the quirky demon but I didn’t think I could ever trust him enough to fall in love. He didn’t really fit the fire and brimstone that people pictured when they thought mazzikim. I sure as hell didn’t represent the ideal succubus. We were a good fit in an odd sort of way. “You have to understand that I’m somewhat emotionally unstable.”
“Why can Cooper be a friend with benefits? What makes him so special?”
Ugh, could I get any more nauseous? I rubbed my tummy and scowled at John. “My dad preapproved him.”
His eyebrows rose. “That’s quite a requirement.”
“Tell me about it.” I scowled. “But no one says no to Flynn Blyton when he makes up his mind. He means well. The last time I fell in love it almost killed me.”
John spine straightened as if startled. “Your dad rules Lake City.”
“I know. What a pain.”
He blinked. “You really are going to get me killed.” He sounded stunned as well. “My kind doesn’t do well with love either.” Scratching his head, he eyed me. “So your father preapproves your lovers and Sin makes sure you stick to this roster?”
“It’s a long story. In short, Sin was taking care of me since I’m a fuck-up and even with him watching over my shoulder I’m still a mess. My dad’s taking over and insists I use—use a small group of males that I’m not going to fall in love with.” I still couldn’t say the word suitor without being drowned in shame.
“So he’s interviewing—”
“Potential lovers for me. Yeah.” I twiddled with the edge of my sweater. “So, uh, see you around?”
“Yeah, sure.” He backed away to let me jump off the counter and escape our uncomfortable discussion.
I took the elevator down to Sin’s apartment.
When I exited the elevator, I could hear the swish of his sword cutting through the air at incredible speeds. Every evening when he woke he went through these fighting stances. He said it cleared his mind. I thought he just liked to pretend to kill things since in modern times it was frowned upon to behead your enemy on the streets. I sat on the mat and watched in silence.
He paused and tossed me an annoyed glance. “What?”
“You move well for an old guy.” I grinned as his frown grew deeper.
“Why is your eye swollen?” He changed weapons and used two scimitars for this round of exercises. I could almost see him on the battlefield covered in blood and gore. He must have been in heaven in those days.
“Someone stuck their elbow in it by accident.”
He knelt in front of me and tilted my head to the side. “It might bruise. Do you want me to kill them?” From most people, I would have laughed at their joke. Sin wasn’t part of that group because he wasn’t joking. Not even a little bit.
“No. It really was an accident.” I hoped. John’s kind lived off pain, even the accidental kind. It was an interesting strategy if that’s how he fed.
Sin nodded and returned to his weapons exercise.
I sighed and tugged at a loose thread on the practice mat.
He stopped again. “What is it now?”
“Do you know who else my dad has picked?”
“No. Why did I wake with my shoulder smelling like dried tears and snot?”
I jumped, my mouth working but nothing came out.
“Don’t tell me, because I really don’t want to know. I will not let you twist me in knots no matter how cute you act.” He strode to his bathroom.
I undressed and followed Sin into his luxurious shower.
He scrubbed at his shoulder as if trying to take a layer of skin off. “I’m regretting giving you access to my apartment.”
I kissed him on the back, between his shoulder blades. I would have needed a stepladder to reach anything higher. “You think I’m cute.”
He snorted. “I think you’re many things. I’m too much of a gentleman to list them all.”
This time I snorted. I rested my head on his back and let my hands wander in front of him. “Thank you for letting me use your shoulder to cry on. I needed it.” I stroked his cock. “Turn around?” I bent to my knees as he did as I asked. There was something empowering in sucking cock.
The way Sin’s anger melted into heavy-lidded desire by just watching me kneel gave me a much needed surge of confidence. I lapped at his balls, taking one at a time inside my mouth and rolling it with my tongue.
He moaned and rested his back against the shower wall and braced his legs as if needing support to stay on his feet.
I kissed my way along his erection, sipping at the drip of hot water. The skin covering his iron-hard rod brushed my lips like silk. I circled his crown with the tip of my tongue and dipped at the small entrance, tasting the saltiness of his pre-cum.
“Fuck, Pia.” He tangled his fingers in my hair. I loved the way he said my name. It was like a combination of curse and plea.
Opening my mouth, I slid him past my lips to the back of my throat and gagged a little on his size. Too much, too fast, but my sister Rose had explained how most males liked the sound. It made them feel big. Sin being an ancient, powerful vampire didn’t matter. They all wanted to think they had big dicks.
He thrust, helping me get past the gag and going straight to deep-throating. Such a helpful vampire.
I took him hard, fast, and deep. Not letting him catch his breath.
His hips flexed as he tried to keep up with my pace. A growl rolled in his chest that sounded scarier than any shifter’s. Sex between feeds were different. It wasn’t about my orgasm for once and I finally got to really focus on my lover. Watching Sin come undone from my attention was epic.
He arched his back, eyes squeezed shut, his lips slack with ecstasy. His seed splashed down my throat as his mouth widened in a silent scream. He finally shuddered and slid down the wall, dragging me down onto his lap. “If you started my evenings like that every day, I might actually start acting nicer.”
“Liar.”
He kissed my swollen eye. “I’m usually better at sounding honest. I must be slipping.” The phone by his bed rang and he heaved a sigh. Setting me aside, he grabbed a towel and answered the call. The pleasant expression on his face fell. “I’m on my way.” He motioned at me to join him.
I shut off the water and grabbed a towel. “What is it?”
“Your father’s here and he’s pissed.”
Chapter Fourteen
“No.” I pulled the towel around me tighter. “Tell him I’m out shopping.”
The glare Sin tossed me cut as he dressed. “This isn’t a negotiation.”
“I’m not ready to face him.”
He scooped me into his arms and threw me over his shoulder a la caveman, then marched toward the elevator.
“Clothes. Please, please, let me get clothes.”
He set me inside the box and let the doors close.
“You ass!” I swung a punch at his shoulder.
With the ease of a well-oiled machine, he stepped out of reach and let me hit the wall.
I clutched my fist. “Ow.”
“Don’t try to hit me. It’s—”
“Pathetic?”
“Detrimental to your health. At my age, my reflexes are quicker than my thought. I’d hurt you.” He set my clothes in my hands. I hadn’t seen him carrying them.
“Thanks.” I raced against the elevator and it won, but at least, I’d covered the important bits with bra and underwear. My father hadn’t raised nuns. Didn’t mean I wanted to greet him for the first time in months butt naked.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
N
either Sin nor I exited.
The lights flickered as if someone had set off a silent alarm. Distant cries echoed from different directions of the nest. Were we under attack?
I stepped toward Sin and clung to his arm. “I thought you said it was my dad.”
“It is. Stay close.” His voice shook. “Flynn!” He shouted my father’s name.
A tide of bodies rolled out of the main nest’s room. They fell to the floor in all manners of undress, tangling in caresses and more intimate acts.
Daddy followed.
Since I couldn’t breathe, all the oxygen in the nest seemed to have vanished, or it might be the sight of all the naked people gyrating on the floor. My father stood in the center of the sexual storm dressed in his tailored suit. His skin glowed, not with light, but with sexual power. He had ruled this city for a long time but I had never seen him flex his magical muscles.
Sin’s guards, tech and weapons were useless in the face of my father. The vampires, the humans, and the shifters all lay at his feet fucking each other senseless.
I wiggled my fingers at him. “Hi, Daddy.” Pride swelled my chest and dread knotted my gut. He didn’t send his power toward me and Sin, so that was good, right?
“What happened to your face, baby?” He stepped over the bodies and ran his thumb under my swollen eye. His gaze darted to Sin before his free hand gripped the vampire’s throat. “You better not have been playing your rough games with my daughter, little drake.”
“It wasn’t him, daddy. It was a demon and it was an accident.”
Sin didn’t need to breathe and breaking his neck wouldn’t harm him permanently, but the wooden stake my father pulled out of his jacket would. “We need to talk.” He shoved Sin further in the elevator.
Sin rubbed his neck. “What about my people?”
“It will wear off by tomorrow. They’ll walk funny for a few days.” He gripped the stake in one hand and my arm in the other. “I can’t say the same for you though.”
“Daddy, let me explain—”
“Oh, I plan on letting you. Your mother came home in tears yesterday and hasn’t gotten out of bed since. I’m not leaving this forsaken hole in the ground until I understand why my daughter can’t come home. Finish dressing.” Once I’d done as he ordered, he motioned for Sin to start the elevator back to the apartment.
My mom wasn’t getting out of bed? What had I done? I just kept making things worse. This was why I should stay away from them.
The trip farther underground was as uncomfortable as riding a porcupine butt naked. I stared at my manicured toes the whole way and ignored the staring match next to me. The doors opened into Sin’s apartment, where he led us to his private office.
My dad set me on the Italian leather couch by the wall before pacing the office’s width. “I’m done playing games.” He kept the stake ready in his hand. “You’re coming home tonight, Pia.” He jabbed his finger toward me.
I jumped. He’d never used that tone of voice with me before. Not even after I poured sugar in Rose’s gas tank when she’d stolen my day three feed. I didn’t share with my sisters. That was just gross. This version of my father didn’t live with us. This version ruled Lake City.
Sin leaned against his desk. “She’s mine until the terms of our blood contract are fulfilled.”
“The contract says she’s yours to take care of, not to keep.”
I pulled up my knees to my chest. “But I want to stay.”
“Of course you do, but obviously you can’t be trusted to make the right decisions.” His words stung so hard I couldn’t breathe.
Sin reached into a desktop box and pulled out an old-fashioned appearing scroll. He unrolled it, revealing blood script. “Our contract hasn’t faded so the terms have not been satisfied. If you break it, then I own your soul.” Did he not see the wooden stake in my father’s hands? “She’s mine to care for until she’s well.”
“She looks healthy to me.”
“Physically, but mentally she’s a mess.” My gut clenched with Sin’s insult. Truth hurt and the vampire wielded it like a club. “Why were you crying on my shoulder this afternoon, Pia?”
“Why are you both doing this? You’re hurting me even more.” I slammed my fist against the armrests. “Maybe you both need to back off and let me decide what’s best for me.”
My father pulled out his cell phone. He showed me the picture Sin had sent him from the motel, then swiped it and showed me a picture of me unconscious on Sin’s bed after being caned. “Is my point made?”
“I’m allowed to make mistakes.” I sagged deeper into the chair. Hadn’t I just been thinking about seeing my family again? My dad was changing my mind.
“Not this drastic.”
Sin watched with a thoughtful look. “We shouldn’t let her use Joshua. I thought him being gentle with women would soothe her heart but I think it might make things worse.”
“You mean as one of my suitors?” I perked up. “I like him.” He’d been very gentle and receptive of me on my first night in the nest.
“Exactly.”
Dad scowled. “If not Joshua, then who? I didn’t approve anyone else from your nest.”
“Me.”
My father slammed the stake into Sin’s desk, splintering it into the beautiful finished top. “You’re not an option.”
“According to our contract she’s still mine until healthy. I’m willing to re-negotiate for different terms.”
I could hear my father grind his teeth. The muscles along his jaw popped with the strain. “Sin.” He said the vampire’s name as if swearing.
“Zur-Sin.” The vampire’s voice dropped an octave in his frustration. “Why can’t you or your daughter ever address me by my full name?”
Dad coughed. His face relaxed as I glimpsed a smile hidden behind his hand.
Sin’s scowl grew deeper. “She won’t ever love me and I won’t hurt her. Not unless I have a death wish.” He eyed the stake protruding from his desk. “It’s not like she’s at risk of falling in love with me.”
“No, but she’s at risk of being influenced by you.” Dad glanced at me. “What do you think?”
I glared. “Wow, you’re actually going to give me a say?” Sarcasm weighted my words. “I won’t fall in love with Sin. He’s too mean.” I wanted Sin. He was the closest thing I’d ever have to a friend, so I stuck out my tongue at him.
He winked in response.
Dad ran his fingers through his short, curly hair. Of all my parents, I resembled him the most, from the crazy hair to bright blue eyes to our penchant of setting the kitchen on fire. “We’ll change the terms of the contract then. You’ll be one of her suitors but she returns home with me tonight. She’s no longer allowed to live in your nest.”
“Who’s the other suitor you’ve chosen for me?” I held my breath.
“Lothaire.”
I gasped. He was the wolf pack alpha and the biggest womanizer in the city. Heck, he’d slept with both my sisters. The ick factor alone was enough for me to pull the plug on this idea. “No way, never in a million year, no no no.” I shook my head. “I won’t let him touch me.”
“Your sisters recommended him.” He sounded genuinely shocked.
I slashed my hand across the air. “No. That’s final. I won’t feed from Lothaire. Not even if he were the last person on the planet. I’d screw sheep first.”
Dad pinched the bridge of his nose. He only did that when he was getting a headache. “I can’t interview the whole city, Pia. Do you have any suggestions?”
I glanced at Sin.
He curled his lip. He knew who I was thinking of.
“John. He works for Sin on computers.” I gave my father my best smile.
“Pia is forgetting to mention that he’s a mazzikim demon,” Sin added.
“Yes, but—”
“A mazzikim demon.”
I sighed. “Yes.” I was more familiar with this tone of questioning. This was the lawyer part of my father com
ing out.
“Who hit you?”
“He did, but by accident with his elbow. He even iced it afterwards.” I did my best to sound reasonable. I knew he wouldn’t like this idea, but if not John, then who? Sin wouldn’t let me have Gigi. I’d have to start suitor shopping in bars or something. “John’s a good pick. I couldn’t ever trust him enough to fall in love and I don’t think his kind can love.”
“Love is a dangerous thing.” My dad’s eyes turned sad. “Sin told me what happened with the human boy.”
Wishing the couch would swallow me whole, I couldn’t hold my father’s stare and broke eye contact. I knew Sin had told him about Pierre after the incident at Cleaver. That’s the whole reason I had to use suitors, but it didn’t mean I was comfortable talking about it yet.
I chewed my bottom lip. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
He flexed his fingers, inviting me to take his hand again. “Let’s take a trip and go get ice cream.”
That I could manage.
Chapter Fifteen
We all had our idiosyncrasies. My father’s was his love of ice cream. He believed it cured all aliments. Most of the time he was right; I didn’t think the magic would work on broken hearts, though.
I sat in the booth of his favorite parlor. It had a 1950s feel to it, right down to the jukebox and red vinyl seat.
My dad carried two hot fudge sundaes with nuts to our table, handing me one. “I had them supersized.” He winked. “I missed dinner and you could use a little more weight.”
Poking at the fudgy goodness with my spoon, I did my best to avoid meeting his gaze. I had so many things to say but they all sounded petty and vain inside my head. I took a spoonful to stop my mouth from speaking nonsense, and tasted sawdust.
Dad moaned after his first mouthful. “Nothing like homemade ice cream.” He shoveled a few more bites into his mouth before his gaze landed on my still full bowl. Sighing, he scooped another spoonful and held it front of me.
I stared as it dripped on the tabletop. In our culture it was a very old tradition for an incubus to hand feed the succubi he cared for. Not many did it, but old ones, such as my dad, still held to some of the old ways, like the use of suitors. I leaned forward and ate the offered spoonful. “Yours tastes better.”
