Starved for Love

by Annie Nicholas

  “It was connected to the whole Pierre fiasco and to save me.”

  Sin’s eyebrows rose. “You told him about Pierre? You are serious.” He stared at me for a moment longer before nodding his approval.

  For some reason, it eased a little tension around my heart. “It’s not my soul on the line, it’s my father’s.” I studied Val. “You both already know each other pretty well. Accompanying me tonight wasn’t about interviewing Sin as my suitor, you came for our contract.” Hoel had mentioned something about checking into it.

  Val’s face went expressionless. “I’d be lying if I said I was delighted about Sin being your suitor. Truthfully, he’d be my last choice. But I also came to assist you in saving your demon.”

  Rising onto my heels, I approached Sin as he scowled at me. “I hear you do black magic.”

  One corner of his mouth lifted in a sardonic smile. “Yes.”

  “Of course. Why am I not more surprised?”

  “How do you think I found you the first time, Pia?” Sin’s eyelids grew heavy, his gaze traveled along my curves. “Nice dress. Did you wear that for me?”

  “Enough.” Val pulled me away to sit on his knee. “We came to see if you can summon Pia’s demon. He’s gone missing, so she’s down to two suitors. Now that I understand why she’s so particular, I’m not comfortable feeding from her until she has more resources.”

  I tossed him a glance over my shoulder. “Is that why you’re flinging speed bumps at me? You don’t want to feed?”

  Sin grinned. “I don’t mind offering my services more often until you’ve secured her more food. I’m sure Cooper won’t mind either.”

  Val growled. Not the sexy noise he made with me but something from our demonic past. “You will both stick to your contract and only to your contracted days. It’s not healthy for her. She needs some variety.”

  “Ours states every nine days, on Pia’s day three of her cycle. Your feedings will throw that all off. I will accept earlier dates though, not later ones.” Sin leaned back on his desk, relaxing against his hands, a predator at rest. “And adding to her roster of suitors won’t prolong the time between our visits. The others can shuffle around our schedule.”

  I could sense Val’s body heat rising. “Peace.” I raised my hands between both of them. “I want John back. My gut tells me he’s in trouble. Sin, you know John. He’d never leave this long without contacting me, especially after leaving me high and dry on my day three.” There would have been flowers with an apology, a text or candy. Something.

  “He left you a note.” Sin stared at his shoes as if bored with our visit already.

  “On my front door, at the house he never visits because he’s terrified of my dad.” I shook my head. “I know him better than both of you. I want you to summon him.”

  Sin laughed outright, throwing his head back. “And your wish is always my command. Let me jump on my broomstick and get on that.” He flopped onto his chair, propping his boots on the desk. “There’s always a price, sweet cheeks.”

  If I could have growled like Val I would have. I didn’t want to try from fear of sounding like cat in heat. “Why are you so difficult all the fucking time? Can’t you be nice for once?” I paced the room to burn off steam before it poured from my ears.

  Bloodsucking zombie-breeder.

  Val had no reason to worry about me and Sin. There was no relationship here to have. Sin demanded. That summed it all.

  “What do you want?” Val pulled out a checkbook.

  I stopped mid-step and blinked. He’d pay Sin for my John? Hell must have frozen over.

  Sin shook his head. “I have money. My prices are steeper.”

  I closed my eyes as my stomach dropped. I’d heard that tone of voice before and it never foretold anything I liked.

  “What is it?” Val sounded so calm and confident. This meeting would have been so different without him here to back me. Sin would have ground me to the wall.

  “Some of your blood.” The vampire tongued the tip of his fang.

  “Too high a price for a low-level demon. My blood is a valuable commodity on the black market.” Val folded his hands across his stomach. “Toss in Pia’s contract and you have a deal.”

  My contract? I couldn’t breathe. I’d been tied to Sin so long. No more midnight motorcycle rides, no more box of toys, no more narcissistic nights? I glanced from my oldest lover to my future one.

  Sin snorted. “You think too much of your blood. There are others who are willing to sell.”

  “I doubt it.” Val spoke his words in a soft voice. “What do you want for her contract?”

  The request jerked Sin in his chair. “I’ll let you know when I think of something.”

  “Don’t I have a say in any of this?” It was like I’d become invisible.

  “No.” They spoke in unison.

  “As to John,” Sin said, “I can’t summon him without his full real name to intone, no matter what you offer to pay me.” He shrugged.

  “I know it.”

  “Not his human name, Pia.” Sin gazed at the ceiling as if asking for divine help. If God struck him down, I would have cheered.

  “I know his demon one. He’s told me.” Silence hung in the room like a guillotine blade as they both regarded me with identical scowls. I toed the carpeted floor. “What?”

  Val sighed. “Demon names are a very valuable. You keep trying to reassure me that your suitors’ relationships with you are superficial but you’re doing a poor job.”

  “Oh. I didn’t ask for it.”

  “It doesn’t matter if he told you his name unless you remember exactly how to intone it.” Sin added. “One slight missed sound and it doesn’t work.” He gave me an evil grin. “Or I summon something worse.”

  “Uh…” Val wasn’t going to be happy about this. “John gave me a locket last Christmas, the kind that plays a message. I have it at home. The message contains his name.” I rubbed my arms, trying to bring warmth back to my ice-cold bones.

  “Well, that makes a difference.” Sin rubbed his chin as he leaned forward, a spark of excitement in his dark eyes. “I’ll do it for an extra night with Pia. John skips his next turn and you come to me instead.”

  Val cut his hand across the air. “No.”

  I stepped in front of him and blocked his view of Sin. “Yes.”

  “I’m not done with my terms.” The vampire leered at me. “You can’t deny me anything.”

  I crossed my arms and shot him a yeah-right look. “I’m naïve, not stupid. Narrow down those terms.” Like I ever denied him.

  “Sexually, of course.”

  Val rose behind me. “We’ll have to search harder to find someone else to do this. Let’s go.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Sin’s desk with a no-nonsense yank.

  “Good luck with that.” Sin waved goodbye. “There are no other dark practitioners in Lake City. You might find a witch or two but they won’t touch a demon spell.”

  Val eased around with a slow twist. “None, in this whole city? What did you do to them?”

  “Killed them.”

  I couldn’t tear my gaze from Sin. The ease with which he admitted murder left me no doubt that this male would be my undoing. No wonder why my father worried incessantly about me and why Val wished to break our bond. Yet Sin never once hurt me. He could have. He’d had many opportunities to break my body and possess my spirit. Instead, he’d healed me after Pierre.

  “I agree to your terms.”

  “What?” Val released my arm.

  Sin only nodded. “Retrieve your locket and meet me at my nest in a couple hours. I have some things to prepare first.”

  I spun but found the space behind me empty. Val already had left the office. I didn’t have to see Sin’s expression to know ab
out the smug grin on his face. Straightening my limp spine, I followed my incubus’s trail. Not giving Sin the satisfaction of knowing how upset he’d made me, I closed his office door softly.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I feared Val had abandoned me at Sin’s club. We’d only known each other for two days and he was so possessive. I’d never asked for his attention. He came blazing into my life making demands, trying to change everything.

  Screw him.

  I sat at the bar and signaled to use the phone. The bartender knew me and set a vintage rotary in front of me, then slid a gin and tonic my way. I smirked, nodding my gratitude. Hopefully one of my sisters would give me a ride home. I had a locket to locate and a demon to rescue.

  An elegant male hand settled over the phone before I could lift the receiver. “Who are you calling?” Val leaned against the bar, the edges of his jacket brushing my arm.

  I sipped my drink. “I thought you left.” I wanted to both shake and hug him at the same time.

  “No, but if I stayed near Sin any longer only one of us would have left this bar alive.”

  The music changed to something slower and sultry than the pounding rock a moment ago. I watched couples pair off and merge. Breathing grew more difficult. I downed my drink and scooted off the stool. “Take me home.” Marching across the club, I exited the building without looking to see if Val followed.

  I liked games in the bedroom but not with the heart. Val wanted what was best for me. However, he didn’t know what I needed or how to give it.

  The silver sports car pulled up to the curb a moment later and Val opened my door. Our drive was a silent one. I couldn’t trust my mouth. Val kept throwing up walls around me. Some succubi would love the protective gesture but I found it confining. My self-limitations already restricted me. I didn’t need someone adding to them.

  We pulled up to the house. No lights shone through the windows and I leaned toward the windshield to peer. They probably turned in early and my sisters were off doing whatever it was they did.

  “Stay here, this should only take a minute.” I left him, not waiting for a response. If he wanted to give me orders, he’d better learn to take a few. I grew up in a mortal world, which taught equal rights. Immortals tended to stick to older philosophies, changing much more slowly than humans.

  I entered the house and ran to my room. John’s locket was in my jewelry box. I’d never worn it. The gold pendant weighed heavy in my hand as I fingered the rose engraved on the lid. I pressed the button and listened to John’s voice speaking in a demon dialect.

  “Caelutekhamel.” When he’d given me the gift he’d told me it was the most precious thing he owned. I thought he had meant the locket, not the name. Succubi couldn’t use magic so I knew very little about it. How should I have known a name had power?

  I clasped it around my neck, setting the cool metal against my skin. What had John gotten into now? He worked for Sin sometimes, which was where I met him. The thin, dirty-blond demon had come to fix the nest’s security camera system a little over a year ago. He’d tripped all over himself when I walked into the room. All left hands and feet, too tongue-tied to make any sense. I’d wanted to stick him in my pocket and take him home. It took a lot of begging to persuade my dad to contract him as a suitor. He didn’t see anything positive in John, which I used in turn to convince him that would keep me from falling in love.

  John always used glamour around me no matter how much I coerced him to let me see his demon form. I hoped he was okay. Nothing would please me more than to find out he’d gone on vacation with a pretty girl. Deep down inside, I knew that wasn’t the reality.

  I descended back to the foyer and saw the light on in the kitchen. I stuck my head in to say good night to whichever parent was still awake and found Val instead. “Hey, I’m ready.” I swung the locket between two fingers.

  “We don’t have to be there for another hour.” He poured hot water into two mugs and stirred. “Why don’t you explain why you’re so angry?”

  “I’m not angry.” I flinched. “Well, not that much.” I sat on the stool at the counter, across from him. “I’m—I’m upset. You’re making a lot of demands. It feels a little one-sided.”

  He kept stirring, staring into the hot liquid as if trying to find an answer to cheat on a quiz.

  “Is one of those for me?”

  He gave me a sheepish grin and slid one over. “I don’t like Zur-Sin.”

  Hot chocolate with marshmallows. How could I give the male who made this for me without my asking a hard time? “You don’t have to. You’re not the one sleeping with him.” I blew on the creamy liquid from heaven.

  A strangled noise came from his throat. “Fuck, that bothers me.” He turned away and ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re not the only one confused. I don’t have these urges with my other wives. I’m not sure where it comes from or what to do about it. Part of me thinks I should bail and run while I can.”

  My hands went numb and I almost dropped my cup. I’d had similar thoughts.

  “We hit the ground running when me met and never slowed. I’m out of breath and can’t think straight.” He faced me again and took my hand from across the counter, tracing my fingers with his. “Would you hate me if I killed him?”

  I snatched my fingers away. “Yes.” Tilting my head to the side, I searched his drawn face. “Could you?” Who was this incubus? Maybe I should research Val on my own. It would be the grown-up thing to do. Too bad I sucked at being an adult. I wouldn’t know where to start.

  “Yes.” He hung his head, clenching his hands. “Tell me why I shouldn’t. I can share your body. I know I’ve no choice and would never endanger your life by refusing to let you feed, but why him? What would possess your father to agree to that godforsaken contract?”

  “That’s partly my fault.” I dipped my finger into the cocoa and fished out a marshmallow. “After the Pierre fiasco and ruining that mailman’s marriage, I ran away. I left the city and hid. At the time, I wasn’t thinking right. Lack of feeding sent my mind into a chemical imbalance. Paranoia drove me away and I withdrew from the world.”

  I licked my fingers clean and avoided Val’s stare. “From what I know, my family tried to find me but couldn’t. My dad finally hired Sin to do it.” My heart fluttered as the fortress I’d built around those memories collapsed. “I never knew how he found me until tonight.” A dark room, the scent of old cigarettes, the sharp stab of a street light as the door to my room was kicked in. “He dragged me kicking and screaming from the hotel, then he tied me up and tossed me in the backseat of his car. I begged him not to take me back home.” I swallowed with a throat gone dry and glanced at Val. He’d heard parts of the story already but only Sin and I knew what happened inside his nest. “I’m not sure why but he didn’t. He took me to his nest and—and, ah hell, he force-fed me, okay?” I had wanted to fade away. My mind wasn’t whole, the need had eaten away at my civility. How could a succubus achieve an orgasm to feed when each touch reminded her of heartbreak? I was a starved animal who’d forgotten how to eat. Sin found ways of pleasurable punishment to ease my guilt and pain. “He made me healthy and whole before sending me home.” I plucked another marshmallow out of my drink, hesitated with it by my mouth, then offered it to Val. “He saved my life. Made me want to live. I don’t think my family could have done that for me. Not with the dark place I was lost in.”

  Val stared at me as cocoa dripped from my finger. Taking his sweet time, he sucked it clean. The silky slide of his tongue curled my toes as I imagined it licking other parts of my anatomy.

  “My father paid Sin with that contract.” They’d always been uneasy allies but a city the size of Lake needed two masters. My father governed the people and settled differences. He also looked the other way when Sin’s dealings were less than legal, but Lake’s immortal population needed
a bogeyman. My father used Sin as an enforcer. Not many laws were broken in their city. “I’ve held my part of the deal ever since. Sin’s an evil bastard but he’s never hurt me.”

  “How long do you think that will last?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t have the option to worry about it so neither should you.” I finished the drink and pointed at his. “Are you going to finish that?”

  He chuckled, sipped it and passed the cup to me. “If he were dead then you’d be free.”

  “And if you don’t succeed, then he’ll come after you. Or someone will take revenge. Or worse, Sin might have a death curse. Either way, I risk losing both of you. Just can it, Val. You have wives who you’ve chosen not to be involved with. That’s not me. I care to a certain extent about my suitors. No matter who I’m with, you’ll find fault in them.”

  Frowning, he sighed. “If I were closer to my wives would it bother you?”

  “No, I’d be more inclined to marry you. I’m not the jealous type.”

  “Neither was I.” He came around to my side of the counter and wrapped me in his arms, resting his head against mine. “I feel very alive when I’m with you. Everything tastes better, smells better. You’re carefree and chaotic. I don’t want to share any of it.” He laid a kiss on my neck, firm and possessive.

  I closed my eyes and leaned against him. “Those qualities tend to drive most people crazy.”

  “I’m not most people.” He spun me around to face him and ran his hands along my sides. “Do you think Sin will mind if we’re a little late?”

  “What did you have in mind?” I arched my back as his hands caressed my ass.

  He lifted me to sit on the counter and took my place on the stool.

  I gasped at the sudden movement and used my hands to steady myself as I leaned back with the momentum. “Val, maybe we should go to the car. My parents have rules and—and…”

  Val already had my legs spread, his hands petting the insides of my thighs and pushing at the short hem of my dress. “I want to feed from you.”