by Jane Kindred
Dev opened his mouth to say something but forgot what it was as her words sank in. “You have a fondness for him?”
“Well it’s hardly the damn dragon’s fault he’s stuck with you, is it? I doubt it’s a picnic. Truth be told, I think I like him a great deal more than I like you.”
Something akin to a smug purr sounded inside his head. “So you do like me, then.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.” Ione turned to go into the house.
“I followed you into the prison because I was jealous.”
She paused but didn’t turn around.
“I called Phoebe looking for you because your phone was off and I was worried, and she told me you’d gone to see Carter. Instead of hearing ‘she’s gone to demand the truth from Carter about this Nemesis business,’ I heard ‘she’s gone to see her ex-boyfriend.’ I told myself I was driving up there because it was my duty as an assayer and because I was concerned for your safety. But it was because I was suddenly afraid you still had feelings for him. Which, of course, would be none of my business in any event. But it felt like my business.”
Ione turned slowly to face him. “Why? Why would it be your business?”
“Because I feel a connection to you that seems preposterous given how little we know of each other and how recently we met. And yet it’s there.” Dev took a step closer. “There’s a sort of...well, it sounds absurd, but it’s not just the electrifying connection when we touch. Even when we’re meters apart, there’s a...”
“Vibration.”
Dev felt it in the ground right now as if it was flowing down through her and into the earth to get to him. He couldn’t help but smile. “You feel it, too.”
“What I feel right now is a strong desire to slug you. Frankly, I find you infuriating.”
“I can work with that.” He took another step toward her. “Perhaps you’d feel less inclined to slug me—or at least to tell me you wanted to slug me—with your knickers in your mouth.”
Ione’s eyes widened and she shifted her weight. “I’m pretty sure I’d still find you infuriating.”
“But you’d still let me do it.”
“I...don’t know.” The color in her cheeks said she did.
“Shall we find out?”
Ione moistened her bottom lip and regarded him for a moment before she turned and went inside—leaving the door open.
Chapter 17
She heard the click of the latch behind her while she unzipped her jacket. The vibration of Dev’s demon-enhanced blood crackled in the air as he closed the space between them and his hands came around to her front to finish unzipping the jacket for her. He wrapped his arms around her and brought his hands up under her shirt to stroke her skin.
“Still want to slug me?” he murmured against her ear.
“Your mouth’s still moving, isn’t it?”
Dev chuckled, his breath tickling her neck. “I can move it somewhere else if you prefer.” He turned her to face him, his hands sliding around to her back, and Ione closed her eyes as his lips brushed hers. As the kiss deepened, the vibration went all the way from her head to her toes—becoming particularly noticeable at the midpoint.
Dev released her, moving his hands to the waistband of her leather pants, and slipped out the top button. Ione shivered at the touch of his fingers making their way through the buttons inside the fly.
With two fingers inside her panties, he teased them downward. “Still find me infuriating?”
Ione bit her lip as she looked him in the eye. “Completely.” His fingers slid down and curved inward, seeking entry. Ione groaned softly as the top joint of his middle finger found its way.
“How about now?”
Ione made an incoherent noise that was neither affirmation nor denial as he stroked the finger inside her, his other rubbing the hood of her clit.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
All she could manage was a high-pitched whimper. He could make her come standing right here in her foyer with just two fingers barely inside her, and it wouldn’t take long.
Dev smiled and kissed her again while she rocked her hips into his hand but he pulled away much too soon. “I don’t think you need your knickers in your mouth, after all.” He wriggled his hand deeper into her pants to penetrate her with both fingers, pumping them slowly. “Tell me again that I’m infuriating.”
“You’re—” The word morphed into a long, drawn-out moan.
“That’s what I thought.” He drew his fingers out against her whimper of protest and ran the slick tips of them along her upper lip before sliding them into her mouth. Ione sucked and moaned around them as his other hand took their place below. Dev mimicked the motions of the fingers between her legs with the fingers in her mouth. “Like that?”
Ione made a moaning sound of assent, rocking her hips faster.
“So do I,” said Dev and took both sets of fingers away from her without warning to drop onto his haunches and wriggle the leather pants down her thighs. “Quite a bit.” He closed his mouth over her swollen clit and stroked his tongue beneath it, pressing his fingers inside her at the same moment, and Ione had to grab the hair at the side of his head to stay on her feet.
He was dogged in his determination, and Ione’s knees nearly buckled as the vibration she could no longer differentiate from his mouth and fingers and her own quivering response broke into a shuddering climax. He lapped at her with his tongue as her body rocked with it, and Ione’s moaning turned into a breathless wail.
Dev looked up at her while she trembled with aftershocks. “Still want to slug me?”
Ione tried to answer and he had to stand and catch her as she stumbled into him. “I don’t care,” she finally managed to gasp.
Dev laughed and tilted her head up to kiss her with the salty musk of her own desire. “Poor thing. I think you may need to lie down. Best get these off you.” He proceeded to tug off her pants, and Ione gripped his shoulders to keep from toppling over. Without further conversation, he scooped her into his arms, carried her steadily up the spiral stairs and tumbled with her onto the bed.
With Dev reclining beside her, Ione wriggled out of her jacket and pulled off the black sports turtleneck she’d worn for warmth while riding on the freeway. The removal of the snug compression fabric freed her breasts and Dev eyed her with appreciation, hands cupped behind his head.
She smiled wryly as she moved to unlace her heavy boots. “See something you like?”
Dev smiled back. “You look cold.” Ione laughed, but Dev picked up her leather jacket and held it out for her.
She paused at the bootlace with eyebrows raised. “You want me to wear my jacket?”
“And the boots. And those red lace knickers.”
“Oh, now you want me to wear my ‘knickers’ as you so adorably call them.”
“That’s right. Why, what do you call them?”
Ione shrugged, letting him slip the jacket over her arms. “Panties.”
“And yet you think knickers adorable.” Dev shook his head. “Stand up.”
Ione bristled slightly, leaning back on her elbows. “Are you giving me orders?”
“Only in bed, darling. Come on. Up.”
Ione considered. She’d indulged his kink so far...and enjoyed every minute of it. She slid off the mattress and stood in front of him. Dev turned her around to face the bed, cupping her breasts and holding her body close, the firm heat beneath his suit pants pressed against the curve of her back.
She shivered as he toyed with her nipples. “You planning to keep wearing that suit?”
“Heavens, no. It’s terribly uncomfortable.” He unzipped and she felt the head of his cock nudging the cleft of her ass through her panties. “Just the trousers.” Dev gave her a gentle push toward the bed. “Hands on the
bedspread.”
She heard him undressing behind her while she followed his orders, the tie sliding out of his collar with a snap that made her jump.
Dev stepped up behind her. “Spread your legs farther.” He gave her a nudge with his boot to direct her then put a hand on her back and lowered her onto the bed so that her bare breasts rubbed against the rough fabric. Then he was drawing her hands behind her back and wrapping the necktie around her wrists. Ione’s breathing quickened when he slipped his hand along the inside of her thighs and cupped the damp heat between them.
After he’d finished removing his jacket and shirt and laid them neatly on the bed beside her, he stood back to observe her. Ione’s heart raced with anticipation, the uncertainty of wondering what he’d do next making her hotter than she’d ever been.
“This won’t do,” he said after a moment. “Stand up.”
When Ione obeyed, she only had a moment to realize he’d been putting on a condom before he sat on the bed and whisked her onto his lap, nudging aside her panties, and buried himself in her.
Ione gasped and Dev’s hands paused lightly at her hips.
“All right?” he murmured at her ear.
“God, yes.” The words were breathed out on a moan.
Dev turned her head to kiss her, but the angle was awkward. “Do you want me to untie your wrists?”
Ione only hesitated a moment. “No.” His cock responded with a sharp twitch inside her, and a soft groan accompanied it. As Dev’s hips began to move rhythmically beneath her, she tried to wriggle back against him, but Dev gathered her hair in his hand and held her still, pushing her forward so that her weight tugged against his grip.
In the mirror over the bureau across from her, his eyes met hers. “Don’t move.” He braced his boot heels against the frame of the bed and thrust upward rapidly with his powerful hips, watching her in the mirror as her breasts bounced inside the leather jacket, pushed forward by her bound arms.
As Ione began to moan, he tugged sharply on her hair. “No moving and no sound. I want only the quivering inside you and the flush in your cheeks to tell me when you come.”
With her own boots braced firmly on the ground to hold herself still, Ione struggled to keep silent. The vibrations coiled inside her like a spring being wound tighter and tighter while Dev watched her in the mirror, drawing her down to meet his repeated thrusts. She bit her lip, seeing the flush rise in her cheeks as the spring uncoiled with a bang, the tightness in her muscles from trying not to move or cry out making the orgasm more intense than any she’d ever had.
“My God, you’re beautiful,” Dev groaned. Ione fixed her gaze on him in the mirror as every muscle in his body tensed when his cock jolted inside her with his release, the groan ending on a joyous roar.
She let out her breath with a cry, no longer able to hold it in, and Dev drew her back against his chest and rolled with her onto the bed as she whimpered and moaned, kissing her neck and her throat until they’d both stopped shuddering.
“I wish I could keep you like this for days,” he murmured at her ear as he cupped her breasts.
It occurred to her that, given her experience with Carter, perhaps she ought to have been more cautious. Dev might have been a psychopath, and she’d let him tie her up twice. Yet somehow that was part of what made it so hot. Surrendering completely despite that tiny kernel of doubt. Even as she pondered it, he was loosing the silk tie from her wrists.
He nuzzled her ear as he pulled the tie away. “I love you in this jacket.”
Her heart stopped for an instant until the full sentence registered.
“Especially with nothing under it,” he continued. “Always wear this jacket.”
Ione laughed shakily, trying to ignore what she’d thought she’d heard. “I think that might be a bit awkward when I’m at the grocery store.”
“Oh, God. Now I’m picturing you at the market in this outfit. And riding there on your motorbike. Oh, you’re killing me.” He rolled himself away from her and finished undressing at last, heading into the adjacent bathroom to relieve himself.
Ione rolled onto her side and watched him return, the deep brown skin rippling with nothing but muscle.
“Seriously. You’re still killing me.” He put his hands on his hips. “Do you have to keep being that insanely sexy? Stop it this instant.”
Ione laughed and then squealed in surprise as he dove onto the bed and smothered her with kisses before scooting down to unlace her boots and toss them aside with her socks.
“Come on then, off with that jacket before I hurt myself.” Dev helped her remove it, pausing to kiss her navel, before tugging off the red lace panties. He sat back and shook his head. “Nope. Dammit. Still killing me. Under the covers.” He hustled her between the sheets and wrapped himself around her as he joined her. “Although I have to admit,” he murmured sleepily, “there’s no way I’d rather die. If I don’t wake up, have me buried with those knickers.”
Ione giggled softly to herself, picturing him wearing them, which was likely not what he had in mind. She snuggled closer, realizing she’d never felt so relaxed—or so safe—with anyone.
* * *
The musical tones that woke her sometime later made no sense to her sleepy brain.
Dev reached across her and grabbed his phone off the nightstand. “Dev Gideon.” He listened for a moment. “Why, yes, as a matter of fact. She’s right here.”
Ione rolled over to face him, coming swiftly and horribly awake. “The Conclave?” she mouthed.
Dev nodded grimly and handed her the phone.
She sat up and took the phone, answering as calmly and professionally as she could. “This is Ione Carlisle.”
“Mademoiselle Carlisle, this is Clémence Dupre. We’ve been trying to reach you on your mobile number.”
“I’m sorry. My battery must have died. I’m not used to carrying it. I was just here with Mr. Gideon—”
“The Conclave has taken a vote. We wish to see you at the temple at ten.”
“At ten. Yes, certainly. I’ll see you th—” But Clémence had already hung up. Ione handed the phone back to Dev, propped on his arm beside her. “The Conclave is convening at ten.” She glanced around, still disoriented. With the curtains drawn, she couldn’t be sure whether they’d meant ten at night or ten in the morning. “What time is it?”
Dev clicked the button on the side of the phone and the screen lit up. “It’s ten after nine—” he glanced up “—a.m.”
“Oh, God.”
“Come on. We’ll shower together. It’ll be quicker.” He threw off the covers, revealing a rather optimistic morning hard-on. Dev grinned at Ione’s obvious glance and took her hand to pull her from the bed and drag her with him to the bathroom. “Entirely a function of biology, I assure you. Pay no attention to it.”
Ione shrugged as he turned on the water. “It’s not as if I can do anything about it now.”
“Indeed.” Dev took her hand and led her into the shower. “Let’s just get you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, shall we? We’ll worry about my anatomy later.”
He winked, but she was too preoccupied to smile. She felt like she was on her way to the gallows.
“Ione.” Dev took her face in his hands and looked her in the eye. “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ve come to the right decision.”
She didn’t doubt it. But the right decision for whom? She was beginning to have serious doubts whether what was right for the Covent was right for her.
* * *
Dev managed to look as if he’d been up for hours, his hair towel-drying quickly and his suit relatively unrumpled. At least it might not be obvious that they’d slept together. Except for the fact that he’d been with her at nine o’clock in the morning and she’d only just showered. They took his rental and, as Dev drove, Ione
tried to come up with some scenario about having met him for breakfast just before Clémence’s call.
The Conclave had arrived before them—perhaps had been here at the temple when Clémence had called—and Ione walked up the aisle feeling their eyes upon her with judgment. Well, she’d know what that judgment was soon enough.
“Elder Dupre.” Ione bowed to each of them. “Elders Grimaud and Guerry.”
“Mademoiselle Carlisle.” Clémence nodded. “Let us get right to the point. First of all, let me reiterate that we are not here to make a determination of your level of responsibility in the incident with Carter Hamilton. That remains for Monsieur Gideon to decide.” She glanced past Ione to where Dev stood off to the side. “We trust that he will weigh the evidence impartially and fairly. What we are here to determine is whether your failure to be forthright with this body regarding your ancestry constitutes a breach of faith with this institution.”
Ione nodded. “Yes, Elder Dupre.”
Clémence glanced at her two companions and one of them leaned in to whisper something to her before she continued. “We have come to a split decision of sorts. Because this is a Global Conclave, technically, we need only two to be in agreement. But, given the circumstances, I feel we must have a full consensus to make a binding ruling. The member who cast the dissenting vote didn’t feel that we could separate the oath-breaking from the possible necromancy. We have therefore agreed to withhold our final determination until such time as Monsieur Gideon’s report is complete.”
Ione felt like she’d missed a paragraph. “Forgive me, Elder Dupre, but I’m not sure I’m following you. Am I to understand that you’re now charging me not with a breach of faith and negligence, but with oath-breaking—and necromancy?”
“It was agreed that if Monsieur Gideon determines that you were complicit with the necromancer Carter Hamilton in any way, the guilt of necromancy must be considered yours as well as his. And if you are guilty of necromancy, well...you will most certainly be guilty of oath-breaking.”
