Tempt Me

by R. G. Alexander

  Angelique covered her mouth with one hand, the other gripping the railing for white-knuckled dear life. Don’t scream, don’t scream.

  Oh, but she wanted to. So good. She couldn’t believe this was happening. That she was bent out the window of her hotel room while Gabriel took her from behind.

  It was insane. Probably illegal. The sexiest thing she’d ever experienced. And after last night she’d have thought that impossible.

  His hips pumped against her, rocking her, pushing her barely covered breasts against the rough, aged iron. The chain of the locket and her cross both made the smallest jingling noises, noises that someone on the street could hear if they were listening. It threw her, how erotic it was. How something so illicit could feel this good.

  She couldn’t close her eyes, couldn’t stop them from scanning the street below. When she saw a small group of people, laughing and talking to one another as they walked toward their next adventure, she tensed.

  Gabriel leaned against her back gently, looking over her shoulder. His whisper brushed past her skin, its own caress. “I knew it. Felt it. You got wetter. Tighter. You love this. And I love how hot it makes you.”

  She watched them disappear without looking up, gasping with relief and arousal. Gabriel’s hands left her hips, one circling around to slide through her sex, the other going to the low cleavage of her dress, his hips making shallow thrusts that were driving her wild.

  “I love your breasts. You know how lush they are. How men stare at them when you’re not looking.” His rough fingertips traced the flesh over the fabric, and she knew he could hear how fast her heart was beating.

  “Most of the time I want to keep them all to myself. Want to be the only one to see them. But I can feel your sweet pussy melting around my cock, know how hard I can make you come . . . so I’m feeling generous.”

  He tugged her top down, freeing her breasts from the snug, stretchy fabric. Cool air brushed her sensitive nipples, the feel of steel on her bare flesh nearly making her cry. “Oh my God.”

  He pushed her hair to one side to get a better view. She felt his lips brush her shoulder as he sighed roughly. “Now, that is what I call a view.”

  “Please.” She tried to keep her voice down, but her body was like one raw nerve. She felt everything. Every sensation. Cold, hot. Pain, pleasure. Fear and hope of being seen. All of them making her ready to beg.

  The fingers in her sex tilted her higher against him, his strokes getting deeper. Harder.

  “Yes. That. Please do that.”

  She noticed a glimmer of movement in the shadows on the corner. Two men, around her age. “Oh shit,” she whispered harshly.

  They were looking right at her.

  Gabriel had straightened, hips pumping hard against her as he started to lose his own control. She loved it. She wanted him to fuck her hard. Wanted him to claim her.

  The men hadn’t turned away. She watched the taller one step closer to the other until he was standing behind him. The smaller man with the spiky black hair went still, his eyes widening in surprise, then pleasure.

  Angelique looked down and bit her lip to hold back the sound threatening to escape. The tall man was touching him, cupping him, while they watched her in silent fascination.

  The next moment Gabriel picked up his pace, and all Angelique could do was hold on to the bars, arching her back and feeling the weight of her breasts rock with his powerful thrusting.

  “They still watching you, angel?” Gabriel’s low words were so rough it took her a moment to realize. He knew. He knew she was being watched.

  “Yes.”

  “Then let’s show them how pretty you are when I make you come.”

  He pressed on her clit, thrusting his cock so deep inside her she couldn’t stop her short, sharp cry. The iron rattled with the tightness of her grip as her climax shattered her into a thousand pieces. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to put them back together. Or if she even wanted to try.

  Gabriel’s hoarse voice called out her name as he joined her, his damp chest warm against her back as he kissed her shoulder, her neck.

  “I don’t see anyone.”

  She looked down, amazed to realize she’d forgotten their audience. Forgotten everything but Gabriel and the way he made her feel.

  They were gone. Maybe they’d gone back to their own room. Maybe they’d only been in her mind. She silently thanked them for helping her in fulfilling one of her secret fantasies.

  Gabriel wrapped one arm around her shoulders, tugging her back inside the unlit room. “You are one dangerous woman, Angelique Rousseau.”

  “Yes, she is.”

  She gasped and spun around in the darkness at the sound of the strange male voice. “I thought you locked the door. Who is that?”

  EMMANUEL WATCHED GABRIEL SIGH AS HE REMOVED HIS condom before pulling Angelique back in his arms.

  “That’s the blue-eyed man I’m always talking to. The one with a lousy sense of timing. Emmanuel, meet Angelique.” He looked around, irritated. “This would probably be easier on her if you showed yourself.”

  He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He wasn’t sure why he’d let them know he was here. He should have left them alone instead of spying on them again. Though this time it looked as if Gabriel wouldn’t have minded.

  Angelique yanked up the top of her dress, which was a shame. She was a goddess. A glorious flesh-and-bone goddess. And he was a Peeping Tom.

  Emmanuel allowed her to see him when she looked like she was appropriately covered, and she jumped in Gabriel’s embrace. “You.”

  He noticed Gabriel’s jaw tighten. “You?”

  Emmanuel shrugged, slipping his hands in the pockets of his long coat. He knew this already. “I was watching through the window the other night.”

  Angelique tilted her head. “I thought I saw you; then you disappeared.”

  “That’s what he does.” Gabriel lifted one eyebrow. “Any particular reason for this visit, Manny?”

  There had been. He was sure of it. He’d wondered how the experiment had gone, though he could see it had taken an unexpected turn.

  He wanted to spar with Gabriel so he wouldn’t have to think about how difficult his conversation with his sister had been. How he hadn’t shown himself to her so she wouldn’t see the sadness on his face when she told him what he’d already suspected.

  Bethany was pregnant. When she was Isabel, a lifetime ago, she had been like a mother to him. The only person who truly loved him. There’d been a time he’d thought . . . but now another soul, a new soul, would be born into her life. And he was happy for her.

  And he felt farther away from her than ever.

  He’d asked her about Angelique’s locket. Bethany had told him she’d seen Angelique with it and told her to ask the Mambo’s permission before taking it. Only Emmanuel knew Mambo Toussaint would never have allowed Angelique to take the necklace. Even a trained hougan or mambo would have trouble dealing with the negative energy that locket was emitting. He’d been surprised Gabriel hadn’t seen it more clearly.

  Bethany had promised to look through the journals she’d been given. Talk to the Mambo. Try to find out more. He knew she would; she’d always been good at puzzles. Then he’d left without telling her why he’d come. Without telling her he loved her.

  “Are you okay, Emmanuel?” Angelique had taken a step closer to him without him realizing it. Her sympathy radiated off her in waves.

  He didn’t want pity. Especially from her. She was his. Well—he glanced up at his charge—not his. It was clear now she was Gabriel’s woman. But she was Emmanuel’s Venus. His ideal. He shouldn’t let her see him this way.

  Before he could speak, Gabriel’s voice broke through the silence. “Angelique, do you think Manny here is handsome?”

  “Of all the rude—” She turned to look at Gabriel, her expression incredulous. “Why would you ask me that?”

  Gabriel studied her, his smile tight. “You’re blushing.”

>   Emmanuel wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he could see he was upsetting Angelique. “Gabe, stop. She doesn’t have to answer that.”

  “Oh, but she does. You see, tonight is the night we give her everything she wants—isn’t it, baby? All her wildest fantasies. A rule is a rule.” Gabriel didn’t sound like he liked the rule. And Emmanuel still wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

  He watched Angelique shift from one bare foot to the other, her arms crossing and uncrossing, the expression on her face changing from disbelief, to suspicion, to excitement.

  “Do you think he’s handsome?” Gabe repeated.

  “Yes.”

  Emmanuel shouldn’t feel as good as he did, but he couldn’t help it. She liked the way he looked.

  Gabriel lowered the timbre of his voice, looking directly into her eyes. “Go to the bedroom, take off your clothes, then sit at the edge of the bed and wait for us.”

  When she turned and walked directly to the bedroom without argument, Emmanuel felt his jaw drop in shock. That didn’t seem like her. “What have you done to her?”

  His charge smiled, green eyes darkening with a knowledge Emmanuel didn’t have. “Not as much as I want to. Yet.”

  Together they watched the line of her back revealing itself as she wriggled out of her black dress and underwear, slipping something over her neck and dropping it into the pile before disappearing from view.

  Emmanuel took a shaky breath. “What are you up to, Gabe?”

  “You want her.”

  He opened his mouth to deny it but Gabriel shook his head. “That wasn’t a question. You’ve watched us. You’ve seen her. You’d have to be dead not to want her, and as you keep telling us, you aren’t dead anymore. I do have a question, though. You’ve never been with anyone before, have you?”

  Emmanuel ran a hand through the hair at his temple. “What do you think, genius?”

  “Want to?” Gabriel’s face was serious, no threat or artifice in his gaze. Emmanuel still couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  Gabriel shrugged. “Call it testing my new abilities. I think I still have some jealous energy to work off from the bar. A large part of me wants to maim you just for looking at her, but the more important parts want to please her. Want to give her everything. Anything. Hell, I don’t know why.”

  But Emmanuel knew. He may not know as much about desire, but he knew love when he saw it. And it was changing Gabriel, making him seem . . . lighter . . . despite his posturing. Had this been a part of the plan all along? No one had told him about Angelique, but then, they hadn’t told him a lot of things.

  Like how flexible the rules could be. He wasn’t supposed to interfere or let anyone else know he was, and yet, nothing had happened when he’d shown himself.

  He also hadn’t been told how hard it would be to remain on the outside looking in. Something Gabriel seemed to be offering a solution to.

  He wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t even sure what he was supposed to do. Could he touch her? The idea sent a tingle of pure excitement up his spine and made his jeans grow uncomfortably tight.

  Gabriel gripped his collar. “Just once, Manny. I won’t make this offer again. And you have to listen to me for a change.”

  He could do that. If it meant she could know he was there. That she would know him. He nodded swiftly and Gabriel let him go.

  Watching as he headed into the bedroom, Emmanuel followed slowly behind him. A part of him was sure he would be ripped away or struck with a bolt of lightning by the ones who sent him here. This wasn’t why he’d come. This wasn’t his mission. He was here to guide, to watch, to look after. He shouldn’t allow himself to get distracted.

  If they wanted to take him, they would. Until then, there was nothing on Earth or the other side that could stop him from walking through that door.

  CHAPTER 13

  SHE WAS CERTAIN SHE WOULD WAKE UP AT ANY MOMENT. Then what she’d just done at the window with Gabriel, and the man who’d appeared in the sitting area of the hotel room, all of it would make sense. Oh, that was why she’d behaved that way, she would think. She’d been dreaming.

  Only she was fairly certain she was awake. Awake and sitting naked on the edge of the bed, waiting for Gabriel . . . and his friend.

  Emmanuel. It was too much of a coincidence. Those eyes and that name. But Bethany had said he was a child when he’d disappeared with Papa Legba at the crossroads.

  She blew out a shaky breath. He didn’t look like a child. He was beautiful. She vowed to herself that she would stop eavesdropping and asking so many questions from now on. The more she knew about this world BD had opened up to them, this world of voodoo and spirits and magic, the stranger it got. She missed her crazy professor and his “theories.” The facts were almost too much for her to handle.

  Why was she doing this? The answer came back swiftly. Because Gabriel had told her to, in a voice that instantly renewed her need and heightened her arousal. A voice she felt compelled to obey, because she knew what would happen next. Or, if not what, then how good it would make her feel.

  Two men? She thought about the ones she’d seen on the street. They’d been aroused by watching her. They’d touched each other. Somehow she didn’t think that was what Gabriel had in mind.

  Did he want Emmanuel to watch them again, this time without hiding from sight? The thought was exhilarating. What if he wanted more? Ordered her to touch the other man. Kiss him.

  He wouldn’t. He’d been jealous at the bar. Possessive. He wouldn’t want to share her. And even if he did, she wouldn’t say yes. Would she?

  God, yes.

  She couldn’t lie to herself. Just the idea of it had her hand slipping down her belly, her thighs shifting as her desire increased. If they didn’t come in here soon, she might have to find her own relief, imagining herself between them.

  “Someone is looking for another spanking.” Gabriel’s wicked words sent a shiver up her spine.

  Yes, please.

  She tried to send him an innocent look. “What? You didn’t tell me not to.”

  They smiled at each other, both knowing that the promise of punishment was no threat. She’d loved it, a fact she’d been unable to hide.

  The tall, raven-haired Emmanuel walked into the room, and she froze. Imagining him was one thing; having a fully clothed man see her naked left her feeling vulnerable and unnerved.

  Gabriel knelt in front of her and she was distracted for a moment by his broad, bare shoulders and the open flap of his pants. But then he placed his thumb and finger on her chin, lifting her gaze to his.

  “You okay?” His expression was so tender it gave her hope. Did he feel something for her, after all? Was it close to what she now knew she felt for him?

  She loved him. Wherever it took her, whatever the toll to be paid. All her talk to the contrary, she didn’t want to leave New Orleans. She wanted to stay with Gabriel, flaws and hauntings and all. But only if he loved her back.

  “Angelique? Baby? Am I wrong? We don’t have to do this.” Gabriel’s concern and Emmanuel’s discomfort finally registered.

  She shook her head, smiling. “I’m fine.” She looked up at Emmanuel. “Really. I’m fine.”

  Gabriel winked at her, relief making him seem almost lighthearted. “That you are. Isn’t she, Manny? It should be a sin to cover up a body this delicious.”

  Angelique laughed, shaking her head at his teasing, and caught Emmanuel staring at her breasts with a hungry expression.

  Gabriel rubbed her thigh in approval and she cupped each heavy globe in her hand, lifting them as if for inspection. “Is this what you’re looking at? Would you like to touch them?”

  She wasn’t sure how she’d gone so quickly from submissive to brazen, but Gabriel didn’t seem to mind.

  Emmanuel looked to him for permission, and whatever he’d seen must have let him know it was okay to move closer. He sat down beside her on the bed and she touched his
sleeve. “Why don’t you take off your jacket? I’ll feel weird being the only one . . . naked.”

  As soon as she’d said it his long jacket and whatever shirt he’d been wearing beneath it disappeared like magic, leaving him in only jeans, boots, and the most unique assortment of tattoos she’d ever seen.

  He was unreal. BD-beautiful, but more vulnerable. His tousled hair cried out to be stroked. His blue eyes made her want to cry. His body made her want to cry for another reason. There was nothing vulnerable about him there. He seemed to be molded from muscle, his back and arms slightly larger than Gabriel’s.

  The tattoos were unusual. Like black scars with stitching holding him together at his shoulders, his chest, along his spine. It made him appear even more unearthly. The markings were strangely heartbreaking. She wanted to ask him about them but she didn’t want to spoil the moment.

  “Thank you, Emmanuel.”

  He smiled, almost bashful, though he still had a hard time keeping his eyes away from her cleavage. “You can call me Manny.”

  Gabriel snorted and stood up, stepping back, but Emmanuel didn’t look up at his reaction. His hand lifted, then hesitated, above her breast.

  Why did he seem so uncertain? Surely he couldn’t be . . . She looked up at Gabriel, silently asking the question. He nodded.

  Unbelievable. And, with the way Emmanuel was looking at her, incredibly flattering. She would be his first. His first everything . The idea sent a stream of heat through her veins, melting her nervousness away.

  She took his hand and placed it on her breast, carefully watching his reaction.

  A flush darkened his cheeks. The deep, impossible blue of his eyes glittered with surprised desire. His fingers tensed, his palm scraping across her nipple, and she arched slightly in reaction.

  He noticed. He did it again, massaging her flesh, learning her, focusing only on her. She turned her body more fully toward his, licking her lips in anticipation.

  “Can I kiss them?” Emmanuel’s question was to Gabriel, she knew, as much as it was to her.