Greed's Charity (Seven Deadly Sins Book 1)

by R. A. Pollard

  Isabelle listened, her mind mulling over the words. How could this even be true? This was all from books, stories she studied in university. The Seers were mythical women who were pretty much cloistered from the world to prevent their corruption at the hands of men. She replayed in her head the meeting with Greed, how he had seemed so shocked, how her powers had been unreactive to him.

  Reality sank into her like a stone in her stomach. This was all true. Despite what she had shared with the man who called himself a demon, some small part of her believed this all to be some kind of messed up mind fuck. Who in their right mind believed in demons and psychic powers, in evil souls and mythical gods? She laughed at herself. Hundreds of thousands of people believed in some small way, and so, too, did she.

  “Balance? If the Seers are hunted, would it not be better to remain hidden? I have spent my life hiding my curse. Wouldn’t it be for the best?” Her mind battled against the knowledge, but her heart had already accepted it.

  Ilianna just smiled at her and took her hand. Turning it over she kissed Isabelle’s palm. “Oh sweet girl, I wish I could just take from you that which has been given. But the world needs you now. Have you not noticed? The evils in this world run rampant, souls corrupting all those around them until no light remains. The mortal plain is hurtling towards judgment day, and there is no one to fight against it. No one but the seven. You and your demon are just one part of a greater whole.”

  Isabelle’s head snapped up. She opened her mouth to defend what had happened, but Ilianna just smiled and leaned in, kissing her forehead. “Worry not. You are destined. Once long ago, you crossed paths, and he made a choice to save the woman he was ordered to take to Hades. That choice ended in his punishment. His punishment stalled the wheels of destiny for a time. But now he has returned, and the Fates have entwined you once again.”

  “He is…I mean, I don’t understand how we can be destined…I don’t even know him.”

  “Hush now, you do not need to fret. You do know him. You would never have allowed him to touch you if somewhere deep inside you didn’t accept who and what he is.” Ilianna looked up at the sky. The bright blue was beginning to darken with the onset of night. “Our time will soon be at an end, dear one. Trust the demon. He will protect you from the trials ahead. He needs you as much as you need him.”

  The world around her became fuzzy, like the wind blowing mist. The dream began to break up. Isabelle reached for the woman. She was a fixed point of information in a world where everything had been turned around on her. Ilianna just smiled her sweet smile, her form vanishing, the dream fading into black.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “The Seer, has awakened,” a disembodied voice echoed, deep and thrumming, sending energy spiking through the very air. The sound of feathers upon feathers moving, hidden within white light, the noise almost deafening.

  Eyes began to open in the swirling iridescent glow, each one black as night at first, then colors emerged: sunlight, teal, ice, coal, chocolate, gold and copper. The light diminished, showing the rough outline of seven bodies facing one another, all of them giants. Power rolled from each like falling mist, obscuring their forms. Another voice answered, sickly sweet in tone, the edge of every word bitter.

  “We are so close to achieving our goal. Find her and bring her here. If she resists, kill her. We can always find another. One less rodent to eradicate.”

  “What of the demon?” This voice was soft, almost childlike, with eyes like the sun. A copper gaze turned to the speaker.

  “What of him? He will fall further into his own madness, which will only aid us in our task,” Sickly Sweet answered with a snap of his voice. His copper eyes narrowed on those in the circle around him.

  “And if all seven interfere? Then what?” This one boasted confidence, his icy gaze fixed on the group.

  “The wheels are already turning. They cannot be stopped. We only require one Seer to complete our plans. If something happens to this one, it’s no great loss. We know where the Dreamweaver Seer is. Our task will not falter,” Copper Eyes said. His voice was honey sweet, true pleasure in his tone.

  “Uriel, the task of retrieving the Seer is appointed to you. Do not fail us.” The same voice spoke again, the light shimmering with the power contained therein.

  The radiance around one form began to dim, vanishing into the flesh of the male form now coalescing from the light. Black eyes locked on the others as the male bowed. Upon his back huge wings of shimmering black and silver feathers glowed from within. Uriel straightened to his full six foot five height, the tips of those great feathered wonders touching the backs of his heels.

  “It will be done, Michael.” There was such reverence in his tone. It was clear he would follow him until death.

  The copper-eyed being nodded, the light gradually sinking into his skin. The body of Archangel Michael took form. His long brown hair shimmered as the power pulsed and swirled around him.

  Uriel’s body literally exploded into a million sparks of light. Each spark crackled with power as he vanished from the circle. Michael smiled wide and lifted his arms.

  “My Malakhim, my brothers. Today we will break the river of fate. Today we will see our vision move forward into a world without sin, a new world, shaped from the sacrifice of those who embrace darkness. Only purity will remain in our new Eden!” The mingled roar of five voices shook the very air.

  “He needs you, as much as you need him.” The final words from her dream kept running through her mind as sleep receded and awareness of the room returned. Isabelle stretched in the luxuriously warm bed. She had never felt so good.

  No Natalie bugging her to get up and follow her on some jaunt to the mall. No battering assault on her mind. The peace was blissful. Her mind came fully awake with a jerk. Awareness brushed over her with a sudden realization there was a very heavy male arm over her waist. A very enticing male at that. Her eyes popped open. So it hadn’t all been a dream after all? Turning gently so as not to disturb him, she took in his features, something she had yet to do, given the whole being attacked and being told demons existed thing.

  The male behind her was breathtakingly handsome, strong straight nose and stubble-covered chin. His dark hair, just a tad too long, hung over his closed eyes. He felt so warm, his huge body almost protectively encircling hers. It might have been considered sweet if not for the hard ridge of his cock nestled between the cheeks of her ass. For a crazy moment she cursed the sweatpants that encased him, then shook herself free of that idea.

  The realization she was in a bed, with a very large, very hard male almost made her giggle in hysteria. Since she had been a child, long contact with people only caused her pain. Feeling the evil emotions of those around her gave rise to her solitary life. But with him, even with prolonged skin on skin contact, she felt nothing. She exhaled a contented sigh. Happy to remain in this cocoon of warmth, she closed her eyes.

  “You’re awake.” His voice, thick with sleep, rumbled behind her as his arm tightened around her waist. Those two little words sent her hormones into overdrive. The devil on her shoulder whispered into her ear, suggesting enticing things she could do to him.

  Wriggling a little, she felt his arm tighten again and his body tense. The low groan which left him made her insanely happy. She could make this big, bad demon sweat. What a feeling!

  “Woman, you’re going to get that pretty ass of yours spanked if you keep that up.”

  “Well, that isn’t really much of an incentive for me to stop, now is it?” Isabelle had never felt so free. In this moment, it was only her emotions. No one was poisoning her, making her feel like she was drowning. The demon behind her pulled her back against him. A rumbling growl emanated from his chest as he slowly rubbed his erection back and forth between her ass cheeks.

  Isabelle trembled in his arms, his maddening slow thrusts against her making her mind imagine all sorts of things he could be doing to her body right now. She licked her dry lips, her body clenching in ne
ed as the demon nipped at her throat. His hand moved from her waist down to the panties she still wore. His finger slipped between skin and fabric to slide between her slick folds, ripping a gasp of pleasure from her.

  Isabelle let out a whimper, feeling his fingers slide deep into her core. It took all of five seconds, and she was trembling. This was insane. How could her body turn to fire in his arms? Every nerve reacted to him, her body open and welcoming to his command. He began to thrust against her, the swollen head of his cock rubbing against her ass as his nose scented up her neck. Turning her head so she could see him, she observed his emerald eyes were glowing. She opened her mouth to speak, but he claimed her lips. Her mouth welcomed his, her tongue stroking and dueling with his.

  She felt his hand pushing the material of her underwear aside. The cool rush of air touched her heated flesh, causing a moan to escape her. Greed moved behind her, lifting his hips, then she felt the velvet length of him as he rocked back and forth between her slick lips. His swollen head probing, spreading her. His low growl rumbled through their kiss, and she was totally lost to him.

  The demon pulled back from her lips to utter one word. “Mine.”

  That one word made her heart flutter and her soul submit. His mouth claimed hers once more, plundering as his hips pulled back, ready to take her, to make her his. A sudden pounding on the door had Isabelle jerking her lips from his, the demon behind her growling in something close to rage.

  “Mammon! I know what you’re fuckin’ doing in there! You have thirty seconds before I come in and rip you off her!”

  “Fucking Lust. Of course.” Isabelle heard him growl and release her body from his seductive song.

  The intrusion was like a bucket of ice water thrown over her. She pulled away as if she had been burned. She bolted from the bed, her face flushed with unfulfilled need and embarrassment. Covering her burning cheeks with her hands, she locked her eyes on the demon who was covering his face with his elbow, shaking, his skin glistening with sweat. His hands were balled into fists, and she watched him pull himself back under control. Finally turning his head to look at her, those green eyes seared her soul, reminding her just how close she had come to giving up the big V to a man she barely knew.

  Her body was humming all over, her clit aching with the unrealized climax her body still craved. Her skin felt too tight and her knees weak from the pounding of her blood. So the tip of the day, don’t cock tease a horny demon. He will seduce you and make you his slave, forcing you to submit to his desires. Not like she was complaining, but there should be a warning in a manual somewhere.

  Greed groaned and climbed from the bed, shoving his still hard cock back into his pants, hissing at the contact. His eyes locked on hers, marking her body with his heated gaze.

  “I should apologize. But I can’t, you do things to me. Things I believed had long been carved from my soul. You should stay away little human…” He turned and headed towards the doors. Pausing he looked back over his shoulder. His body raged at him to return, to claim her, to mark her as his. His hand gripped the door handle, yet his body refused to leave the room, to leave the hot, willing female who clearly desired him.

  Five hundred years in the Pit, his soul torn asunder while his flesh was ravaged from his bones. That kind of pain tore at your very being. But this right now—walking away from her—this feeling deep in his chest was worse than anything the Pit had ever dealt him. Through sheer force of will Greed pushed open the door, fighting against every instinct that roared within him.

  He ignored the four pairs of eyes that turned to him as he exited the room. When they called to him, he just flipped them off and made his way to the stairs. He needed out of his room, away from his siblings, away from her scent. She was going to be the end of him. How had he existed so long in utter, desperate darkness and survived? Yet five minutes alone with her and his soul was laid bare.

  Shit, he didn’t even know how he had slept last night. He didn’t usually sleep on the bed. Six months out of that fucking hellhole and not once had he used the bed. He preferred the floor. After five centuries sleeping on rock and stone, a real bed was just too soft. Yet last night he slept with no issues, all night long. No nightmares, no waking up in a dead sweat thinking the noises in the dark were coming for him.

  For the first time in five hundred years, he had opened his eyes and not immediately scanned the room for his jailers and torturers. He had to wait for his brain to catch up, and remember he wasn’t in Tartarus anymore. He had woken surrounded by warmth and woman. He had felt calm, at peace. Things he’d not felt in so long. They were but a dream in the mist to him. Yet there she was, curled up against him, a temptation laid before him, one he could never have resisted even if the world’s existence had depended on him.

  He forced open the access door to the roof, sending it slamming against the wall behind it, a cloud of brick dust flying. Panting, Greed exited onto the roof, opening and closing his fists as he paced. What the hell had he been thinking? This was crazy, touching her the way he had. But gods…her scent, the way she responded. He felt like he had just been allowed to touch a goddess, and now he had to deal with his punishment. His body ached like his first torture session in the Pit. Every nerve felt alive again, every sense heightened. He didn’t like it, yet loved it all at once.

  How had one small human woman, Seer or otherwise, come into his life and turn on the light to his soul? Growling, he walked to the edge of the roof and looked down at the forty-story drop. The wind rushed up around him, and he closed his eyes, trying to find that endless bleak calm once again. But he was in turmoil. One little female with the violet eyes had lit the fuse on the time-bomb that was his control.

  If Asmodeus hadn’t stopped him? Groaning, he covered his face and rubbed it before running his hands through his hair. Just one moment longer and he would have been inside her sweet body. No one would have been able to pull him away from her. His skin tightened just thinking about it. Grumbling, he gripped his throbbing erection, wishing the damn thing would just go back to being dead already. He could smell her everywhere. She was on his skin, in his blood. She was getting in his soul, and he wasn’t sure why he was allowing her such power over him.

  Greed closed his eyes. All he could see was her. Isabelle with her skin flushed, her head thrown back in abandon as he brought her to such wonderful heights of pleasure. He licked his lips. He could still taste her, damn him to Hades and back to the Pit. He couldn’t let her go—he wouldn’t let her go. She belonged to him and the Sin of Greed did not give up that which he had claimed. Even if it killed him.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Isabelle watched him leave, her body still tingling from his touch. God, what had happened? One second she was waking from that dream and the next she was giving herself to a demon, craving his touch like the oxygen she needed to breathe.

  She moved over to the bed. Sinking down onto the mattress, and covered her face with her hands. The pure exhilaration of being able to touch someone and not retch in pain had been liberating. But was this all it was? Something inside her heart told her no, this was more. He reacted to her as well, almost to the point of insanity.

  She flopped back against the covers. The mingled scent of them saturated the bedding. This was crazy! This whole fucked up situation was unbelievable. Shit like this didn’t happen to boring nerdy women like her. She was destined to grow old alone and have way too many cats!

  There wasn’t supposed to be a sinfully sexy demon in her future who could set her body on fire with just a look. She wasn’t supposed to be a woman with powers meant to balance the world! Grabbing a pillow, she covered her face and let out a scream. Though the pillow muffled the noise, screaming didn’t help.

  A soft knock at the door had her flushing with embarrassment again. She knew just from the damn knock it wouldn’t be Greed. He was a—enter the room without permission—kinda guy. When she didn’t answer, she heard the door open. Refusing to remove the pillow from her face, she
just lay on the bed, hoping the earth would swallow her up to save her from having to face those other men she knew also lived here.

  “You have no need to feel any shame, Isabelle. No one here will judge you. Besides, that’s the first time I have seen my brother with a guilty, sheepish look on his face since…well let’s just say a long time.” She felt the bed sink beside her. A warm chuckle filled the room. She knew that voice. It belonged to Mr. Silver-Eyes.

  “Come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever seen him not take something he wants. The Sin of Greed you understand? My name is Ze, Sin of Envy.” Isabelle couldn’t breathe under the pillow, but she wasn’t coming out. She wasn’t going to answer him, so he could just damn well leave. Wait, he stopped talking. Why had he stopped talking?

  “I thought it best to bring you some food, considering you’ve been sleeping most of the day. Oh, just to let you know, Greed will be reprimanded for what he did to you. It is unacceptable…” He what? Ripping the pillow from her face, she scowled at the silver-haired demon.

  “What do you mean reprimanded? For what exactly?” The clearly over confident ass hid a smile running a hand through his shimmering hair, trying to look contrite. He wasn’t succeeding, Isabelle concluded. His pathetic attempt wasn’t even close.

  “Well, he was warned not to touch you. Clearly he ignored our leader. He will be punished accordingly.”

  Isabelle moved from the bed, standing before the demon, pillow in one hand, the other on her hip. The fact she was dressed only in an oversized shirt seemed to have been forgotten in her ire. She stared him down, her eyes narrowing.

  “He didn’t do anything to me I didn’t want him to! Where do you get off punishing him for that? You take me to see this so-called leader of yours. I won’t have Greed hurt because of something I wanted as much as him!” She felt herself flushing and realized she had been shouting. She blushed furiously and looked at the floor.