“Penhas are nonconfrontational,” she whispered back. “They don’t control other beings.” Then again, they weren’t supposed to go after things like the Goblet of Eternal Youth, and she’d already seen that happen…which now made sense. “I think Satan Jr.’s mom has been using the Penhas to advance her son’s agenda for a while. Penhas came after the Goblet a few months ago. Almost worked, too.”
Nick eased up next to the trailer and felt for any emotions coming from within. “You think his mom’s a Penha?”
“No idea.” She scooted next to him, pressing into his body, and he could feel her reaching inside him to try to feel what he was sensing. He opened to her, allowing her inside, and smiled with how right it felt.
“Is anyone in the trailer?” she asked.
“There’s anger. Fury.” He stopped talking as a crescendo of voices rose from within. A male voice shouting, a woman’s yelling back.
Something crashed from inside, and the door slammed open right next to them.
They quickly dove under the trailer as a man stepped outside. He was wearing a gold jumpsuit with sparkly gold boots and had bleached blond hair. He whirled back toward the trailer, and Nick jerked his head underneath so he couldn’t be seen.
“I’m tired of you trying to run my life,” the man shouted. “You think that just because you got me unfrozen that I should bow to you and let you tell me what to do.”
Satan Jr. Fury slammed into Nick, but before he could move, Becca reached out to wrap her fingers around his wrist. “Not now,” she whispered. “Wait.”
He immediately drew on her strength and self-control to gain control of his anger. She snuggled against him, reaching into him to help him build his shields. “I like that I can help you,” she whispered.
“You and me both,” he said as he curled his fingers into the grass, forcing himself not to jump up and punish the man for what he’d done to his sister, feeling Becca’s control winding through his being, tamping down his need to retaliate.
“I’m your mother. I have every right to do what I think is best for you,” a woman’s voice said. There was a soft step above their heads, and then a pair of women’s feet came into view, clad in stilettos and black stockings. The faint scent of perfume drifted under the trailer, and Nick felt his groin tighten.
“She’s Penha,” he whispered. “I can feel it.”
“You’re fine,” Becca whispered. “You had sex twenty minutes ago.”
He dropped his head. Beads of sweat trickled down his back, and he latched even tighter onto Becca, drawing her against him, rubbing himself against her to try to use her to block the influence of the Penha, but he suddenly became aware of her breasts pressed against his chest, of the soft curve of her hips under his hands…“This isn’t working,” he gritted out. “She’s powerful.”
“So are you.” Becca’s voice was calm. “Shut her out.”
“I’m trying,” he muttered.
“You blistered Dani!” Satan Jr. shouted. “How could you do that? You know she was going to be my queen!”
At the mention of Dani, rage flared inside him, and Nick embraced his anger, trying to force the sexual need out of his body. He and Becca could control anger. Lust, not so much, apparently.
“I had to get her brother out of the Council offices!” Rosemarie snapped. “There was no way to get through him. These Markku you found for me are weaklings in comparison to him.”
Becca raised her brows at him, and he shrugged.
Satan Jr. growled in frustration. “He still has the post-battle weakness. You could have taken him out when he was down!”
“I wasn’t willing to risk your life on that!” She snapped. “You should be thanking me. Besides, Dani was using you. It’s Jerome she loves.”
There was silence, and Nick felt Satan Jr.’s denial before he even spoke. “Dani loves me. I am the one who will make her queen of hell.”
“No, you arrogant fool. Dani was using you, and once you were frozen, I realized it. Putting her in that vesicle of hell pus was the best thing I could do for you. If her brother succeeds in killing Satan, then you’ll be the leader of hell and you can manipulate her into anything. If he doesn’t, then Dani will die, which is what she deserves anyway.”
There was more silence. Then, “It still pisses me off I can’t kill Satan myself.”
“Yes, well, we have to accept the fact that your shared blood keeps you from killing him and make other arrangements, right?” Her voice turned soothing and sultry, and a fresh blast of lust crashed into Nick.
Shit. “She’s extremely powerful. No wonder the Markku have no chance against her.” He dropped his head, willing himself to stay still, when all he wanted to do was crawl out from under the trailer and beg her to ride him until he collapsed from exhaustion. He’d have no chance at all if she actually directed her powers at him.
Becca slipped her hand under the front of his jeans, and he nearly exploded right there. “Better?” she asked.
“Sort of,” he croaked. Now he wanted Becca so much that he was in actual physical pain. “You’re killing me.” He felt her own lust flare, and he groaned. “We can’t have Penha-induced sex under here,” he whispered. “We’ll never be able to be quiet. They’ll find us.”
Her hand stilled in silent admission that he was correct. “Then we better get out of here soon, because your lust is starting to affect me.”
There was the rapid thud of feet fast approaching. “Your highness?” a new male voice said.
“Yes?” Rosemarie said.
Her highness. He looked at Becca. “Queen of the Penhas?” It made sense now.
“No wonder Satan couldn’t resist her,” Becca whispered. “After two hundred years of celibacy, even he had no chance against her.”
“Our cameras are picking up two visitors at the blister,” the new person said.
“Who are they?”
“The girl’s mother and a guy claiming to be her true love. The mother has a chainsaw and is trying to cut through the bubble.”
Nick swore under his breath. “We need to get them out of there.”
There was the sound of Junior’s fist hitting something. “It has to be Jerome. I’m going to go kill him.”
“Don’t be a fool. He’s the future of the Council now that Otis and Paul were caught throwing him in the Chamber. I heard that he’s already been ordered to find two replacements to assist him on the Council. We have to get him under our control and use him.”
“I don’t care. I’ll kill him.” Satan Jr. whirled to leave, and then there was a sharp whistle from Rosemarie.
Suddenly, there were three pairs of dainty bare feet with painted toenails around Satan Jr. and the air was so thick with lust that Nick could barely breathe. Satan Jr. groaned, and Nick felt Satan’s Jr.’s resistance and anger vanish, replaced by a burning sexual need that had Nick drawing blood on his own lip to keep from groaning.
“Take him to his tent,” Rosemarie ordered. “I will deal with him later.” She turned suddenly, her toes facing the RV. “Who is here? I smell lust that is not one of my men.”
Nick clenched his fists.
“Little man,” Rosemarie said, her voice smooth and silky. “Come out now and be my stallion.”
Nick began to shake with the effort of keeping still. “Get me out of here, Becca. Now.”
Twenty-one
When they reformed at the top of the hill, Nick dropped to his knees and clutched the ground, trying to get control of the sexual need consuming him. “I can still feel her. She’s looking for me. We need to get out of here. Or we need to have sex. Just make it fast or I’m not going to be able to resist her call.”
“Trust me, I’m wanting sex right now as much as you are. Let’s just get Paige…” Becca frowned as she looked around. This hillside was empty. “Paige?”
There was a giggle, and they turned around to see Paige’s tousled head pop up from behind a bush. “Oh, you’re back already. What’s the rush?” H
er shoulder was bare, and her cheeks were flushed. “I’m fine. You can go do your thing and—”
“What are you doing?” Becca nearly shouted with motherly outrage when the bushes moved to reveal a half-naked Markku with his hands around Paige’s waist and his lips buried in her navel. “Who the hell are you?”
Nick’s lust began to fade, chased away by a rising roar of fury, and he staggered to his knees as the Markku grinned up at Becca, his blond hair falling over one eye. “Hi.”
Paige wrapped her arms around the man’s shoulders. “We’re soul mates…umph.” She disappeared from sight as the Markku hauled her under him and dropped his body on top of hers. Paige made a noise of delight and wrapped her legs and arms around him, wriggling her body against his.
Nick leapt to his feet and bolted for the bushes. “Get off her!”
“Paige Darlington, get out from under him right this minute!” Becca ordered as Nick grabbed the Markku by the back of the head and yanked him off the kid. The Markku’s hand slipped out from under Paige’s shirt.
Nick flung him across the clearing, nodding with satisfaction when he crashed into a tree and thudded to the ground.
“Colin!” Paige shrieked, scrambling to her feet.
Becca tackled the apprentice as she tried to sprint after the Markku. “It’s the Penhas, Paige. Fight it!”
Nick jumped in front of the Markku, who was already on his feet and starting after Paige again, his eyes glazed with lust. Nick forced himself not to break the kid’s head open, reminding himself that he was under the influence of the Penhas. “Markku. Stand down.”
The man blinked, then looked at Nick, his eyes suddenly clearing. “What?”
“What’s your name?” Nick asked.
“Colin Meissner, sir.” Then suddenly, he let out a noise of astonishment and fell to his knees at Nick’s feet, his head bowed. “I am your servant.”
“What? Why?” Paige stopped struggling against Becca. “Why are you Nick’s servant?”
“He is our leader.”
A sense of responsibility swelled over Nick. This is your man. He cursed. “Get up.”
The man scrambled to his feet, his gaze fixed on Nick. “You have come to free us. I knew you would come.”
“I’ll free you,” Paige shouted. “Just finish what you started.”
Becca shoved Paige down on the ground and pressed her hands to her shoulders. “Paige, look at me.” When Paige’s eyes were fixed on her face, she nodded. “We ran into Penhas. You and Colin were both under the influence of them. You need to regroup and get in your own mind again, okay?”
Paige stared at her, and Nick saw her eyes beginning to clear. She nodded slowly and took a deep breath. “This is way intense out here.”
Becca cautiously released Paige. “You okay now?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Paige sat up and shook her head to clear it.
Nick looked at Colin. “What’s going on up here?”
Colin sat down on a nearby rock, his body quivering with relief, making Nick wonder how long the kid had been trapped in the throes of Penha lust. “Satan Jr. has been tracking the Markku for the last two hundred years. When he finds us, his mom shows up to recruit us.” Colin winced. “There’s not a lot we can do to resist.”
Nick nodded, all too aware of the power of Rosemarie Galoux. “What about the lack of post-battle weakness?”
Colin looked bitter. “A lie. We all still have it. But she waves that out as a recruiting carrot, and that, combined with the sex, has snared every Markku so far. And then once we’re under her spell, she never lets us break free. She keeps us up at that camp and keeps the Penhas around. Even when we go out on a mission, we have to be back before her influence can wear off.” He frowned. “This is the first time I’ve been myself since I got here.” His gaze flicked to Nick. “It’s you. You ordered me to get control and I did.” There was definitely awe on his face. “I knew you’d come back for us.”
“Come back? I was never here.”
“Come back to the race. We’ve been waiting.”
Nick frowned. “But the race is extinct…or mostly, anyway?”
“Not at all. There’s plenty of us around, but we’ve been aimless since we don’t have a leader. Since we don’t have you.”
Nick shifted, realizing that Becca was looking at him with great interest, and he was suddenly consumed with the intense conviction that he’d let the Markku down. Like he’d missed something. But what? “What’s Rosemarie going to do with the Markku?”
“Use us to rule hell once her kid takes over. Kill all the Rivkas and use us instead.” Colin scowled. “That spoiled loser has no significant powers of his own, except harvesting souls and being an ass. His ma is creating his future for him.”
“What about the Penhas?” Becca asked. “They’re a nonviolent, nonpolitical race. I’ve never heard of them using their powers this way.”
Colin nodded. “She got kicked off the Penha throne after she got knocked up by Satan, and from what I hear, that pretty much pissed her off. Ever since then, she’s been plotting to get back at him. She plucks the most powerful Penhas out of society and dumps them in her camp to do her bidding. Junior steals the souls of their families and holds them in limbo. If they don’t do what she wants, he tortures them so horribly that the Penhas don’t dare resist their queen.” Colin flicked a relieved gaze at Nick. “Yeah, well, I’m fine now that our leader is here.”
Becca looked at Nick. “You’re their leader?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea what he’s talking about.” But it felt right. If felt like it fit. “We need to take her out. That’ll make everything else fall down. We’ll just go down there and kill her—”
Becca held up her hand to wait. “What do you know about the blister machine, Colin?”
“I’m the one who set it.”
Paige’s face fell. “My best friend is in there. You set it?” She grabbed a rock off the ground and hucked it at Colin, who didn’t even bother to duck as it bounced off his forehead. Paige instantly yelped and clutched her shin where her black soul was manifesting. “Dammit! I can’t even hate him for bubbling Dani?” She took a deep breath. “Fine. I love him, but I’m still going to kick the shit out of him…Aigh!” She dropped to the ground, hugging her shin.
Becca quietly moved to sit next to Paige, stroking her shoulder. “Don’t give up, Paige. Fight it.”
Colin stared at her. “Is she all right? She’s a little…” He made a circle next his temple with his index finger.
“There’s nothing wrong with her,” Becca snapped, unable to stop her eyes from glowing red. “Did you actually set the blister machine, or were you simply present?”
“I set it.” He glanced at Paige. “I couldn’t help it.”
Paige snorted. “Give me a break. You can always help it if you want to.” She sat up and folded her arms over her chest. “You’re weak.”
His face darkened. “I’m not weak. You try fighting off the Penha power and—”
“Colin!” Becca snapped her fingers to get his attention off Paige. “When you set it—”
A blast of sexual need suddenly filled the air, and both men dropped to their knees with a groan.
“Omigod,” Paige whimpered, clutching her stomach. “It’s back.” She started crawling toward Colin. “Colin?”
She moaned as he wrapped his arms around her waist and tossed her on her back beneath him. He dropped on top of her and began kissing her fervently while Paige made little noises of joy and wrapped herself around him.
Becca scrambled over to Nick. “We have to bail.” She reached out to grab his wrist.
“Don’t touch me.” He jerked out of her reach, the front of his jeans tight and bulging. “We’re too connected now. You’ll be sucked into my lust and we’ll both lose it.”
“We have to take the chance, or we’ll lose it anyway. Grab me at the last second, okay?”
At his nod, she crawled over to Paige, sweat drippi
ng down her temples. The air was growing thicker with carnal need as Rosemarie got closer, and Becca caught a flicker of male Penha sent her way. She shuddered, even though she should have been fine, given her recent romp with Nick. She had a feeling Rosemarie was amplifying all the sexual need around her. She grabbed Paige’s arm. “Don’t let go of Colin, Paige. We’re taking him with us.”
She could only assume Paige’s muffled moan was an acknowledgment. She looked at Nick, who was on his hands and knees, head down, taking deep breaths. “I’m going to start the fade, so make sure you grab me before I’m gone.”
He nodded once, and she slid her ankle right next to his fingers, so all he’d have to do was move slightly.
Sudden desire seized her, and Becca looked up to see a beautiful woman in a red halter top and a leather mini come sprinting over the crest of the hill, two male Penhas flanking her. The woman was wearing the stilettos Becca had seen while hiding under the trailer, and she knew it was Rosemarie. There was so much lust emanating from her, even Becca wanted to have sex with her. Or the men. Or anyone. Or especially Nick.
“Get us out of here,” Nick groaned.
Becca started the fade immediately. Then Nick grabbed Becca’s ankle and an orgasm ripped through her so fiercely that she screamed and fell to the ground, and Paige slipped out of her grasp.
“Paige!” She reached for her apprentice as everything turned gray, and saw Paige’s head turn toward her, her eyes wide. Becca shouted, and Colin jerked around to look at her. Then Paige and Colin both lunged for her, and then everything was gone.
Becca was still screaming Paige’s name when they came up through the floor of Becca’s apartment, fighting against Nick. He grabbed her and dragged her against him, holding her tightly against his body. “Becca! Stop! She’s gone.”
“She can’t be.” She struggled against him, and he felt her desperation. “We have to go back and get her. Let me go!”
“We can’t! Not right now! Rosemarie will have us both at her mercy. We can’t fight that. You have to calm down.”
“She’s a virgin, Nick! I can’t let her first time be Penha sex! It’ll be like rape.” Becca tried to get her hands free to throw a fireball at him, and he clamped his hands around her fists so she couldn’t get them open. “Let me go, dammit!”
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Hot Page 22
