In the morning, though? After I’d slept on it?
We need to talk this out. You guys need to tell me everything. Where you came from, what you do here, how you found me, and what would happen if I stayed.
I wasn’t going to rest until I demanded a thorough explanation.
Dante was waiting for me on the landing just at the bottom of the stairs. “You ready for cooking lessons?” he asked.
“Not yet!” I said. “I want to talk to you guys. All of you. I need answers. I want to see the books that are locked up in the library. I want to know why you want me to stay. I need—”
“Whoa there, who’s bright eyes and bushy tailed this morning? We could put that energy to work,” he said, with a slow smile. “C’mon.” He offered a hand as I stumbled down the steep stairs.
Out of the three, I could sense that Dante was the least sure of me. He acted like he didn’t want to bother with me, like I was just a guest and he would make sure I ate and that was about it.
I sensed that I was just another disappointment to him. A wimpy human girl. And it irked me.
I wanted to prove to him that I was different.
But that meant…staying here. And obviously, I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t permanently hook up with some magical dude, quit my job and go live on an island in Maine. My parents would freak out over that even more than a punk musician.
It was true, I’d be gone in…twelve days.
Well, at least I could prove to Dante that I could cook.
“Okay, fine,” I said. “What are we making?”
“Biscuits, eggs, salad,” he said. “Simple stuff. But it’s not really going to be about the meal today. It’ll be about learning to tame…the beast.” He raised his dark brows, his eyes crinkling with amusement, like he expecting me to cower before his oven.
We had just stepped into the kitchen.
“Oh, whatever,” I said.
I don’t really know what I expected because I had never seen a wood-fired stove before except in pictures. It was built into a brick hearth, and it was already heating up the kitchen, the fire glowing red-hot behind a grated door. On either side of the door were smooth black surfaces for pots and pans and two heavy iron doors with smaller doors under them, and above the range was a shelf for maybe keeping things warm, although the entire room was pretty darn warm already.
I seriously don’t think this kitchen had ever been renovated since the 1870s. I didn’t see a single modern thing inside the room. The dishes were stacked on a very tall piece of furniture with open shelves reaching to the ceiling and two cabinets beneath. There was no countertop, but a long wooden table. Some pots and pants hung from pegs. The walls were tiled and the floor was made up of well-worn broad planks. I tried the faucet on the farmhouse sink, even though I knew the place had running water.
“Wow, all the latest amenities, huh?” I said.
He snorted. “I don’t want all the latest amenities.”
“How do you know? Have you ever used them?”
“I don’t need to use them,” he sneered. “Cooking is meant to be done with fire.”
Now it was my turn to snort. “I know your type. The purists. If you were out in the world, maybe you’d leave crappy comments on my videos about how you make your own chicken stock and never use a microwave. That’s what I hated about the internet.”
“What? People who don’t use microwaves? Because I agree with them.”
“Ugh. People who are so opinionated and judgmental, calling names and fighting about something so stupid. This is cool. I feel like I’m on the set of Downton Abbey. But you’re not special because you don’t use a microwave, you know. And I don’t deserve to be threatened just because you don’t like my coconut curry.”
His mouth drew into a severe frown.
“I’m sorry. I’m putting some stuff on you,” I said.
“Has someone threatened you?”
“Not really. Just some random, anonymous guy. Stuff like that happens.”
“I would never threaten you,” Dante said, taking a step closer to me. “Why do you care what an anonymous guy thinks? Is this why you have a certain air of insecurity about you?”
I opened my mouth, speechless with annoyance before I said, “You wouldn’t understand. You don’t have to worry about what people think of you.”
“Hm,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s true. I’m just not willing to compromise myself, even if it means driving everyone away.”
“How has that approach been working out for you?”
“I don’t want that kind of girl as my bride. Some soft little hunched over creature of convenience. Someone who will run away at the first sign of trouble.”
“Oh, what kind of girl? You mean me?”
He went silent and glaring, leaning against the oven without breaking a sweat or burning himself. His eyes bored into me. If he didn’t want me, he should have let his eyes in on it. He was looking at me like he wanted to throw me on the table and rip the buttons off my blouse.
“Is there some reason you’re pushing me away?” I asked.
He grabbed an old cookbook off the table and opened it to a marked page, slamming a salt shaker down on the pages to hold them open. Then he walked off into another room off to the side. I heard a refrigerator door open and shut—oh, so there was one. He came back with butter and eggs and milk and an assortment of tender greens.
“Since you already know how to cook, maybe you could follow this recipe while I get the range to the right temperature,” he said, his voice just above my ear.
“So far, two stars on Yelp for the cooking lesson,” I muttered under my breath as he turned back to the range. I rolled my eyes and looked over the biscuit recipe. The dry ingredients were already set out and waiting, so it was pretty easy.
“Have you had a lot of girls back here in the kitchen?” I asked.
“A few,” he said.
“How did that go?”
“Usually they’re pretty impressed,” he said.
I glanced over my shoulder at him. “That sure is a big, hot range you have, Dante,” I said, in a breathy voice. “Like that?”
“Mocking me now…,” he said. “Most of them aren’t actually interested.” He sounded gruffly approving. “They’re pretty happy to let me do all the work.”
“I see. So I’m not so bad after all.”
“You talk a lot,” he snapped back.
I cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients for the biscuits. It was starting to feel rather cozy in here, if on the verge of being too hot. Considering that it was August and there was a chill in the outside air and gray fog blanketing the ocean out the kitchen window, I could see how this would be nice most of the year. I wasn’t about to compliment the atmosphere, though.
I heard Dante murmur something in that strange language again. The fire behind me roared to life and a wave of strong heat passed over me. I glanced back and saw him manipulating his hands as the fire obeyed the motions of his fingers, spreading sideways behind the grate.
I paused with flour dusting my hands and the dough cutter in hand. “Are you—controlling the fire?”
“Of course I am. I’m a fire demon, Bright Eyes.”
Oh my. I actually got a nickname now. Even if it was said with vague sarcasm. I bit my lip, trying to hold back a reaction as he spread his hands and fire leapt out of his palms. My heart was beating very fast.
“A fire demon. Van said you’re not like…hell demons, but…”
“We’re elemental demons,” he said. “There isn’t quite a name for us in your language. We’re not quite fae, not quite spirits… We have bodies that are born and that die, just like you do, but we’re not human.”
“If you say ‘demon’, then it sounds like you’re evil.”
“Evil, no. Wicked? Absolutely…” He took a step closer to me, as I faced him, until his legs brushed mine. “I’m pushing you away because I already know you won’t stay.”
“Da
nte…” I couldn’t deny his words, but I also felt like I couldn’t deny him. I wished I could tell him something else, that I loved this magical place enough to be here forever…
“I want to resist you…” His fingers brushed my cheek, and suddenly he was kissing me, his smoky scent enticing. As he kissed me, I felt heat slide down my body as if I had swallowed his magic, settling in my core. Between my legs, I felt myself heat, craving something to fill me like I had never felt before.
I turned my head from him, sweat breaking out over my forehead and chest. “I should tell you that I already kissed Van.” My resolution to sleep with them all was sounding very naive at this point.
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Van is my bond-brother. He is as attracted to you as I am. Alister, too… That’s the thing about you that makes it even worse. You seem to be all of our type. But no matter how perfect you are…it’s too much to ask.”
“What are you asking?”
He paused. “Demons will often form a blood brotherhood in a group of two, three, or four. It makes our magic stronger, but the consequence is that we marry the same woman. If you stayed, all of us would marry you.”
“All three of you?”
“That’s right. We’re very good at sharing things.”
“Wait—like a gang bang?” I asked, bristling.
His hands trailed down to settle on my knees, a light touch that was not overtly sexual but still sent desire flaming through me. “No. That doesn’t sound like a word I would use on my wife. We all have different gifts that would bring you pleasure and we would offer them to you both individually and as a group. I know in your world it probably sounds kinky, but to us it’s more practical. We’re just stronger when we bond to each other, particularly since we’re all different types of demons. Sharing a wife is a consequence of the bonding, not the reason we did it. It’s not always easy, either. We’ve known each other since we were kids but we’re very different people. We don’t always have chemistry with the same woman.”
“So you all have chemistry with me…” I didn’t deny it. I definitely felt it myself. I guess I had always had trouble deciding what sort of guy I liked, just as I had trouble deciding what sort of person I was. Did I want to save the world? Or did I just like cooking stuff? Or did I crave the rush of comments and likes? Or was I just a simple small town girl in the end? All my boyfriends had been so different, and none quite right.
“That’s right.”
“So…if we kissed now, Van and Alister won’t mind at all…”
“They’ll be glad to hear it,” he said, leaning back in.
I reached for the back of his head. Suddenly I could hardly stand how much the idea turned me on. They all want me and they all want me to want each other…
His tongue slipped between my eager lips. He was the kind of guy who liked getting to the point. As he kissed me, he was heating me up inside. I could feel the fire magic inside him, bleeding out into me. I was so flushed I was almost panting, but it didn’t feel bad—except that it was making me yearn for relief. Between my legs, I was so hot, it was like he’d been touching me there. He grabbed my legs and lifted me onto the kitchen table, where we could kiss even closer, my legs hugging his thighs.
“Sounds…too good to be true…,” I breathed. “I don’t know if I could handle three men in real life.”
“There are three of us,” he said. “But only one wife. You’d be our anchor to the human world. If you became our bride, the island would be safe. And so, you’d be incredibly precious to us. Everything we do would be to make you happy. Demons are pretty selfish creatures, except when it comes to our women. Living here alone, we’re pretty good at taking care of our needs if you want time to yourself, but…on the other hand, you might find that we have ways of stirring your desire so you’re never bored.”
I was embarrassed by how hot that sounded to me. As if something that had always seemed complicated had suddenly become simple. Why try to figure out a relationship between three guys who were more focused on themselves than me, when I could just have three guys who were all about me?
I can’t believe you’re seriously thinking about this.
“I smell your need, Bright Eyes,” he said. “How long has it been?”
“Um…long enough that I don’t want to say?”
He chuckled low, the sound whirling through my brain, and his hand slid up my inner thigh.
“Dante…” I was having a hard time catching my breath. I wanted his hand to keep going. But this was feeling more serious than my vacation list implied. “I really—can’t be your wife. I would miss my family and friends.”
“You wouldn’t be trapped here,” he said. “Actually—none of us would, anymore. I could see the human world if I was with you.”
“You mean you’ve never been off the island?”
“Oh, I have—in the Sinistral Realm. Not your world. It’s too risky until the island has a proper human anchor. Electricity makes magical beings sick, so we can only use a limited amount. And at least one of us must stay here at all times to guard this place.”
“So you’re saying you would marry me, and I would live here with you, but I could still go home? And one of you could come with me?”
“Two of us, even.”
“And those things would leave you alone because of me?” I stopped myself. “I mean, I haven’t known you for very long.”
“Two weeks is long enough to know,” he said.
“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. “Two years wasn’t long enough with my other boyfriends.”
“You’re not with them anymore,” he said. All of his statements were so direct, so bracing, I felt like I couldn’t wriggle out of them.
“Of course not.”
“Are you sure you didn’t know from the start? When you know, you know.”
“That is true for me with friends…but guys are a lot more complicated.”
“I bet you’re overthinking it. I bet you have all kinds of expectations of how your future husband is supposed to be and you’re scared to make the decision. Around here, you don’t even have to decide. No matter what you’re hoping for, one of us can probably fit the bill.”
“Unless it’s a tech guy,” I said, but what he was saying made some sense to me. I felt an instant rapport with Nicole and Dakota, and that had held up over the years, even though we were pretty different people. With guys, I was always agonizing over whether my parents would like him or whether his career was good enough or alternately, if he was too into his career. All that stuff got in the way of my heart.
My fingernails curled around Dante’s shirt and I pulled him closer. “Maybe you’re right… But in that case, you’d better show me what I’m in for so I can make the best decision.”
His hand slid a little higher, where I yearned for it to go. He stroked his fingers firmly across my wet panties. I wished I’d brought sexier underwear instead of just cotton boy shorts. I had no idea this was going to be Sexy Man Island.
He didn’t seem to care that his fingers weren’t finding silk and lace. “You’re soaked through. Dirty girl,” he breathed. “You’re supposed to keep my kitchen table clean.”
“It’s your fault…”
“My fault? This place was spotless until you came along.” He yanked my underwear down off my hips and put a hand on my chest, pushing me back onto the table. “I’ll clean you up and we can get back to work.”
I felt like I had lost control of the situation very quickly. He tore my underwear off my legs and I heard the soft “pat” sound of it falling on the floor. And then, right away, his tongue was stroking all along my wet folds, teasing at my clit and my entrance.
My eyes swept over the high tin ceiling, which had four rather ancient light fixtures dangling down over the table, before I had to shut them because I was seeing too many stars. Every little encounter with these guys was a turn on, but even I hadn’t realized how much it had been building inside
me. I certainly couldn’t have imagined that my cooking lesson would lead to Dante giving me the best oral sex of my life. I practically had to beg for this from my other boyfriends and he was getting right into it.
But then there was the fire magic he carried inside him, and as his tongue kept gliding along me, licking up my cream, I was breaking into an even more intense sweat. I wanted to tear all my clothes off. My limbs were turning to jelly as heat seemed to work its way through them, melting me from the inside out. It wasn’t a bad feeling, more like being in an amazing sauna that relaxed me from head to toe. I plucked at the hem of my blouse, baring my stomach, trying to get cool, but with the range burning away behind him, there was no relief.
Suddenly I heard footsteps. Alister had slipped in silently, which seemed to be his usualy mode, and he was standing right over me before I could react. He put his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
I didn’t know what to say. Despite what Dante had just explained, I felt caught in the act. No extra person had ever watched me orgasm before, and I was very close to doing just that.
“I couldn’t be happier to see the cooking lesson going so well,” he said. “I was worried you two would end up arguing. Did Dante explain how things work around here?”
There was some new edge to Alister I hadn’t noticed before. Cool and dominating. His hands gently worked the knots in my shoulder muscles as he spoke, adding to the feeling that I was letting everything go.
“Yes,” I gasped. “He did. I can hardly believe that actually works for you guys…”
“It works very well, with the right woman.” He smiled down at me, and despite his tone, which was more icy, his eyes were fond, growing half-lidded as if he took pleasure merely from watching me take pleasure. “You look hot, my dear. Dante has that effect.”
“I am hot…” I barely gasped out the words. Dante was going very slow with me but his tongue seemed tireless and he never stopped. I felt the muscle of his tongue pumping in and out of me, only a preview of what I really wanted, but as it curved against my inner walls I had to shut my eyes, shuddering with pleasure.
Tempted by Demons: A Reverse Harem Paranormal (Brides of the Sinistral Realms) Page 8
