Envy's Kindness (Seven Deadly Sins Book 2)

by R. A. Pollard

  Sitting on a dirty chair in the corner, she cradled her head in her hands and looked at her feet. Her fragile world had come crashing down tonight, and what was worse, it didn’t seem to be over. Something had happened to her. Hell, it had happened to him as well. She felt different, something was off. Sitting up quickly, she turned to peer up at the dark sky through the condensation-covered glass. She needed to stop being a coward and find out what the hell had just happened.

  A rush of cold air swirled through the greenhouse, then the door clicked closed again. Speak of the devil, she thought as the demon strode toward her. He had removed his jacket at some point and stood before her in a t-shirt and leather pants. Holy mother of God, how was he even legal?

  “I don’t want to see you, demon. Go away.” Yeah, that would work, act like a petulant child.

  “That’s a shame, because I very much want to see you, Sera. Any way I can get you. Naked would be my preference, but I will take anything I can get.” The infuriating bastard laughed out loud as she threw a ceramic flowerpot at his head. He successfully ducked it, and she grabbed handfuls of potting soil, slinging them in his direction. He continued to laugh.

  Sera was going to rub that arrogant smirk off his face. Growling, she grabbed the next thing to throw at his stupid face. Suddenly, he was beside her, his hand gently encircling her wrist, forcing her to release her grip on the rare orchid she had been about to throw. He went quiet for a few moments, breathing deeply, but he didn’t release her.

  Finally, he spoke, his voice a little strained. “Easy now, Pixie. You’re going to do some severe damage to my manhood in a minute.”

  Sera narrowed her eyes at him and seriously considered kicking him in the shins. Something occurred to her then, and she turned her gaze to his hand resting on her wrist.

  “I still can’t believe that I don’t feel anything when I touch you.” She searched his face, a wince marred his handsome face and he shook his head. It was like puzzle pieces fitting together, the total silence when she touched him, now his sudden pain when being touched, everything came together in a breath. He had her power! Right now he was trying to fight back the tornado of visions, something she knew well. The fact he was seeing her past didn’t matter much to her, but the fact he was beginning to struggle did. Her heart grew heavy, and she lifted her hand to his cheek. “You have to let it wash over you. Don’t try to grab anything in particular or you will be sucked down and unable to return. I’m so sorry, Ze. Please open your eyes. Please.” Panic gripped her as he swayed unsteadily and then sank to the dirt-covered floor. Moving with him, she kept contact by pressing her forehead against his, willing him to surface from the maelstrom.

  Seconds seemed to stretch on forever until he sucked in a deep breath, finally opening his eyes. He blinked a few times, and Sera almost cried in joy. He had managed to come back. Something that had taken her years to learn, he had mastered in moments.

  “Wow, I never knew girls had such trouble picking underwear. Should it match? Lace bra over sports bra? What’s a maxi pad?”

  Sera blushed bright scarlet, her mouth agape. Damn him! “Don’t bring that up! No polite man would ever speak of such a thing. You’re rude and conceited. Far too arrogant for your own good. You have no manners whatsoever! Here I was, worrying about you! You’re poking around in my intimate memories, you pervert!”

  Ze just smiled at her. She was getting so worked up about it, she didn’t even get the chance to fight back when he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her on top of him. He laughed as they lay together, his body heaving against hers. He settled one arm around her so she couldn’t escape, and the other made itself at home on her ass. He continued to grin like an idiot.

  Sera gasped in outrage and wriggled on him as he stroked her ass. “Stop pawing me!”

  He shook his head and covered her sputtering mouth with his.

  Sera considered smacking him again, but his kiss sent heat curling all the way down to her toes. One of his hands moved from her ass to the back of her head keeping her still for his assault. His tongue traced her mouth until she gasped, parting her lips for him, unable to keep from moaning into the kiss. He was clearly an expert at performing.

  She couldn’t stop the breathy little moans that left her throat, and she fell into the seduction, pressing herself against him, molding her form to his hard body. His tongue explored almost lazily, the hand on her ass stroking back and forth, causing flames to lick over her body. She tilted her head to the side, deepening the kiss and parting her legs so she was straddling his lap. He rubbed the thick, hard evidence of her effect on him between her legs, and she gasped.

  The demon pulled back with a low growl, brushing his thumb over her kiss-swollen lips. Sera blinked, staring down at him like a fool. She was going to officially count this as her first kiss. The last one so didn’t count, as it was given in haste with death on their heels. So as first kisses went, the term “holy God in heaven” was definitely appropriate.

  “There now, I have kissed you properly. Just a little introduction to everything I’m going to do to that body of yours, Pixie.” Smug bastard had a smile that could tempt a saint. He folded his arms behind his head and stared up at her.

  Sera narrowed her eyes at him, purposefully bracing against his chest to stand, bringing a huff of air from him. She snorted and got to her feet, where she turned her back on him and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “And what makes you think I’m going to let a lecherous playboy like you have anything to do with my body?”

  “Lecherous? I’m wounded. Playboy yes, lecherous no.” The demon rose from the floor and moved behind her, pressing his chest against her back. He lowered his head, so his lips brushed over the endless expanse of her throat as he spoke. “I can think of some better words we can use to describe me, Pixie.” He ran his hands along her back, working his way around to her front. She trembled under his touch, caught in his web of seduction. She really should stop him. She had all these arguments as to why this was wrong. But she was being touched, his hands were on her skin, his scent wrapping around her like a drug. Maybe this was just the come-down from adrenaline, but frankly, one steamy night with Biker God was better than a lifetime of having never been touched by anyone.

  “Sinful.” He dropped a kiss beside her ear, his tone low, rolling over her skin like fingertips, drawing a soft gasp from her.

  “Sexy.” His hands moved to cup her breasts through her shirt. She arched like a cat craving attention, pressing herself harder into his palms.

  “Seductive.” This little game was making the blood pound in her veins. She could feel him pressed against her, hard and thick, rubbing back and forth against her ass. Her body had literally melted and only from few touches.

  “Lots of ‘S’ words there.” Sera was coming apart in a whole different way. She had never been touched like this before, not by anyone. Her skin burned with each sweep of his hands, even through her clothing. His breath against her neck turned her knees to Jello. Places she had only explored alone in the dark of the night throbbed and ached for his touch.

  “Hmm, true. Let me think. Sinful, seductive, sexy and…yours.” His last word brought a desperate sob from her mouth. She turned quickly in his arms, throwing her arms around him and covering his mouth with her own.

  Tears burned in her eyes as she kissed him. Could he be more arrogant? The demon lifted her easily, his hands on her ass, pulling her against his hard length. His mouth devoured her, plundering, demanding she submit to him. Sera felt the workbench behind her as he pushed her onto it, stepping between her parted legs. He rumbled into the kiss, cupping her face with his hands, refusing to let up until she was trembling against him. Slowly, his lips began leaving a trail of lava along her throat, down to where her throat met her collarbone. His fingers ran down her waist, sliding under the edge of her shirt.

  She was on fire, and her whole body reeled in the heightened sensations that surged over her skin. His teeth found a
soft spot on her neck, and when he bit down, she cried out softly, feeling the rush of wet heat between her legs. Her body pulsed, soft ghosts of promised pleasure rushing up her spine.

  His hands slid under her shirt, pressing against her bare flesh, and she arched against him. His low growl against her neck sent curling heat into her womb, nearly tipping her over that edge. Sera dug her nails into her shoulders while he thrust his hips against her, driving her higher with the promise of what was to come.

  Rivulets of sweat rolled down her back, his hot hands doing things to her skin she had never believed possible. He was only touching her back, but the small circles he danced with his fingers were undoing her. Panting hard and fast, her whole body trembled.

  “Ze! Please, I can’t take any more. I’m going to break apart.” Her plea was a sob of desire. She wanted so much more, needed so much more. But fear of the unknown bit at her. She felt him smile against her throat and his lips moved to her ear.

  One hand moved to her ass, pulling her harder against his straining cock, rubbing her through their clothes and making her moan her pleasure to the air. The other hand continued the assault on her lower back, dragging his nails along her flesh, causing her to convulse in his arms.

  “Trust me, Sera. Shatter for me, I’ll catch you.” He pressed his forehead to her shoulder, thrusting against her. His low groans might as well have been his fingers brushing over her clit, each low tone sending a pulse through her, threatening to send her over the edge.

  He ran his nails up her lower back, and she broke apart, arching toward him, her head thrown back and cries of pleasure filling the greenhouse. Her legs tightened around him, bringing a hiss from his throat. She felt him shaking, his hands gripping her body to him, his face buried against her neck as he rubbed himself back and forth against her.

  Sera had never experienced the endless build to climax quite like this before. She lived alone, but she was not a nun. She knew how to give herself pleasure. That paltry experience, however, was nothing compared to the all-consuming rush of release that pulled her down into its luxurious depths and held her there, drawing out every strangled moan. He held her, letting her ride the high, her body finally dropping from the precipice of orgasm into reality once more.

  Leaning forward, she panted, dropping her head against his shoulder, her arms encircling him, trying to calm the trembling that wracked her body. She doubted he realized what a gift he had just granted her. Her body might as well have been a bundle of erotic nerves for him to play, and boy did he know how to play! Her skin was flushed with her release, her body pulsing on the echoes from his touch. That had only been his fingers on her lower back. Sera was pretty sure she would never survive being naked in a room with him, and that made her want to do it even more.

  Fuck me. That was about all he could think. How in the hell was he to survive this woman? She had just burned him alive. In all his long years, with as much experience as he had, never once had he spilled inside his pants like a damn teenager. He’d been so swept up in her, her cries of pleasure wrapping around him, that before he knew it, his body was out of his control. That had never happened before. This feeling, it went beyond craving. This was need, pure and simple. He needed to touch her, needed to taste her. Since the second those jade eyes flashed at him in rage, he had wanted to feel her fire. Now that he had, he wanted more.

  Ze held her, his eyes closed as he prayed to his father for strength. He was not going to strip the girl down and take her in a dirty shed, even if his cock throbbed in his now very uncomfortable pants. When he claimed this female, it was going to be in a bed, and she would be drunk on pleasure. Solid in his plan, he pulled back so he could see her face, brushing a damp curl of red hair behind her ear. She stared at him like he hung the moon. Yeah, he felt like a god right now.

  “Beautiful.” Her blush was like music, the color creeping over her cheeks. He was not about to let this one slip through his fingers.

  Sera dropped her gaze, a stupid smile plastered on her face. Yeah, he felt smug as all hell. He’d just brought her to orgasm with his fingers on her back while rubbing himself against her. Her hands tightened on his waist as she lay her head against his shoulder. Oh yes, he was going to have so much fun with her sensitive skin. His mind positively reeled with the many ways he would make her cry his name. But first, he needed some new pants. His were now rather uncomfortable. He was wondering which of his brothers to ask, or rather which of his brothers would chide him the least if they found out what happened, when someone knocked on the greenhouse door.

  “Yes?” Ze turned as the door opened.

  Lucifer’s voice filled the room. “You might want to get out here. We have five guns pointed at us, and some old man is demanding to see Sera.” Lucifer’s level tone told Ze more than he needed to know. One, this wasn’t Lucifer fucking around just to piss him off, and two, Lucifer was thirty seconds away from burning the fools into charcoal briquettes. Great.

  Ze frowned at Sera as she gasped and pushed away from him. She looked down at herself, clearly making sure it didn’t look like she’d just had the orgasm of her life. He hated to tell her, but with that flush to her cheeks and the gleam in her eyes, only a blind man wouldn’t be able to tell what had just happened. Ze followed behind her as she pulled open the door, fresh air washing over their hot skin, chilling the sweat clinging to them. It felt fantastic, helping to calm the fire in his groin and the craving in his blood for the small woman who was now staring at the scene before them.

  What greeted them appeared to be a small posse of men from the town, all lead by the old man from the store. Each man had a gun bigger than the one before, and they were pointed at his brothers. He heard Sera gasp. Clearly, she knew this was not the best idea her friend from the store had ever had.

  “Phillip, what the hell?” She walked to stand before Lucifer, blocking the old man’s aim. Ze growled. Daft woman, putting herself between loaded weapons and Lucifer. He moved to stand beside her, sliding his palm down her arm to grasp her hand.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Phillip Dunham was shocked that Sera allowed the man to touch her. He had come to believe that she was fragile and disliking of company. Someone had reported that they had seen an orange glow coming from the farm, and Phillip had rounded up the friends who were playing poker at his house. They’d all hopped in the truck and driven down here after he had assured the local fire chief that if indeed there was a fire that he would be contacted. Phillip honestly hadn’t expected to see anything, but driving up on the mess that was Sera’s truck, then cresting the hill to find her home a charred ruin…well he was not having any of that.

  Lifting the shotgun, he pointed it at the man beside her. He recognized this one from earlier, the one searching for her. Seemed he was trouble. No sooner had he left town than people had been talking about him. Now this. And not just this big motorcycle-riding thug, but many more men had appeared, dwarfing Sera by comparison.

  “I think you should step away from the lady there, friend.”

  The silver-haired motorcycle thug scowled but put up his hands and took a step back. Phillip kept the gun trained on him and stepped forward to take Sera by the arm, pulling her behind him.

  “I think you all should leave now.” Phillip ignored the huff from Sera behind him. He wouldn’t let an outlaw biker gang kidnap her.

  “Phillip, I’m fine! These are my friends.” Sera made to step forward when one of Phillip’s friend, Alex, grabbed her and held her still. Mr. Silver Hair gritted his teeth and locked his gaze on Alex.

  Phillip had seen that look in a man’s eyes before. If Alex didn’t release her, he was a dead man. “Best let her go, eh?”

  Alex shrugged and released Sera, who whirled to glare at him. She stomped up to Phillip, and he had to admit he had never seen this much fire in her before.

  “Friends? No more than twelve hours ago this one,” he gestured with the gun at the biker, “was in my store asking about you. You ran because you
didn’t know him. So how is it you’re friends now? And why is it that his gang shows up after your home is reduced to smoldering ash?” He kept his eyes on the man before him, backing up a few steps to stand with his colleagues.

  Hands on her hips, Sera stared him down. Phillip swore, dropping the barrel of the shotgun. He wasn’t about to put her life at risk in case the damn thing accidentally went off.

  “Yes, friends. If not for Ze, I would have died tonight.”

  Phillip looked at the smoldering remains of the house, his eyes returning to the biker. “And your truck?” He wasn’t convinced.

  “We were going for help. You know that truck has always been on its last legs. I guess it just gave out.” Yeah, likely story. She was too nervous by far. He had known her long enough to know that the wringing of her hands meant she was hiding something. Besides the fact that her truck looked like it had been cut in two by a damn laser.

  Still, he was actually worried the guns might not stop these big bastards. Slowly he dropped the barrel. One by one, his friends lowered their weapons, though none of them appeared to be convinced by Sera’s words. They were staring at the giant men, all of whom had remained silent the whole time. Phillip narrowed his steely gaze on the silver-haired biker.

  “Was that the way of it, boy?”

  “She didn’t recognize me. Changed my hair, lost two hundred pounds. I was coming to surprise her.”

  Phillip looked him up and down, entirely convinced they were both lying. But right now Sera didn’t seem to be in any emotional distress. If anything, she looked embarrassed and a little flustered. With a sigh, he nodded and handed his gun to one of his friends. Offering his hand to the biker, he said,

  “Phillip Dunham. We weren’t properly introduced earlier.”