“But I will take care you. I’m going to take the hurt away, Ruby, but no more,” he whispered against my bare shoulder as his fingers rubbed over my sex. My head lolled as I arched into him.
“Please,” I moaned. Allistair bit into me harder, and I let out a sharp yelp. It broke the skin, but it felt so good. I pushed against his hands, but he wasn’t having it.
“I am going to let you go. And you will do as I say if you want your release. Is that understood?”
I whined in answer.
“Promise me, Ruby. Say you’ll be good and you’ll do as you are told.”
Every part of me aching for his touch, I nodded and breathed out, “I promise. Just…please.”
Allistair pulled away from me, his commanding presence dictating my every move so that I could have the one thing I wanted. He told me to sit up. I sat. He told me to move to the center of the bed. I moved. He told me to lay down on my side. I did as I was told. Allistair climbed in beside me and pressed my back to his front, positioning his arm underneath the curve in my side to wind it around my waist and shackle both my arms simultaneously. I writhed in the constriction.
“Shhh…you promised you would be good.” He slipped his free hand down my hip and into my panties. I opened my legs as far as being spooned against him would allow me, and he took the invitation. He parted my folds with his fingers, grazing my clit just enough to make me buck. Impatient, I ground back into his hips, driven by the feel of his cock against my backside. He was impossibly hard, and yet, he wouldn’t have me. I grit my teeth as I rubbed against him.
He hissed, and his fingers stopped.
Something dark and ugly unfurled in my chest, but I kept it in and stopped all movement. His fingers continued. I tried to keep my moans from escaping as he slipped a single finger inside of me, the slickness of my desires coating him. My body was begging for more, but he was drawing this out.
I shifted again, grinding against him. Again, he stopped.
“I’m not going to fuck you, Ruby. You take what I give, or you get nothing at all,” he growled. Power lashed out from him, for just a moment, but it forced me to be still. The moment I stopped, he slipped two fingers inside of me, gliding them back and forth, pressing his palm into the swollen, sensitive nub. I arched my hips, trying to move against his fingers. Feel them deeper. Faster. Allistair’s grip didn’t give my body a single inch of room to chase my own pleasure the way I wanted. He kept at a slow torturous assault, letting an intense ache build inside of me that only he could relieve.
“More,” I whispered, but I didn’t dare rock back into him. Not when I was so close. I was so fucking close. He would reward me…
The force of his palm against my clit, rubbing it in rhythmic circles, faster… his fingers sweeping, plunging deep inside me…the pressure building, twitching, and burning as his speed increased…
“Come for me, Ruby,” Allistair commanded. He left a trail of suckling kisses down my neck as I found my release. Stars exploded behind my eyes, so violent and so sudden that I couldn’t scream. Waves of pleasure crashed through my body as I poured. I couldn’t do anything but ride it out as I shuddered, his fingers never ceasing, working me all the way.
The moment my orgasm stopped, he pulled his hand away and clarity started to fill my mind. I twisted, trying to turn towards him, but his hard, unyielding body kept me trapped how he wanted me.
“Sleep,” he whispered. The sound of his heart beating was the last thing I heard before the world faded black and sleep overcame.
**Allistair**
I didn’t know if I was a Devil damned saint, or the worst fucking piece of shit in her life right now. No, I couldn’t be the worst. Laran now held that title, thanks to his little excursion tonight. A low growl slipped from my throat before I could cut it off. Even in her sleep, she arched into me. Wanting something I very much planned to give her.
Soon. Just not tonight.
She wouldn’t remember everything the white lotus brought on, but she would remember enough. I was not taking advantage of her when she was high. That would be fucking despicable, even for me.
My cock twitched as she moved closer, completely unaware of the effect she had on me. Well, not completely. She thought she was keeping her distance this past week. Ignoring me as best she could. What she didn’t realize was that I could see that glint of need in her eyes every time she looked at me. I could feel it, as sharp and painful as I felt my own.
The only difference was that I wouldn’t make her suffer because of Laran’s fuck up. Even if it made it harder for me to stay away and keep my hands off of her. Julian’s rules could go fuck themselves.
He could spout honor and duty as much as he wanted, but I knew the truth.
He wanted her just as bad as the rest of us. He just wouldn’t give in.
I wasn’t nearly as selfless, or stupid. It’s what kept me here, in her bed. When I knew I should have left. She was a temptation; not quite forbidden, but entirely unexpected. When Lucifer brought us forth from the flames and gave us our purpose, I never imagined that I would want to fuck her like I do now.
I was supposed to protect her from men like me. Like Laran. Like Rysten. Especially Julian.
She wasn’t a child though, and I never knew the child she was. The babe I saw all those years ago was gone. A week ago, I thought I hated myself for it because I missed out on knowing her. What I really hated was that I wanted her. If I’d been here when she was a child, that would have never come to pass. I wouldn’t be in her bed right now, contemplating all the ways I was going to fuck her.
There was no going back now, not when her lips had my mind painting pictures of her on her knees. Putting her smart mouth to much better use.
Her dark blue hair slid across my chest as she twisted around in her sleep. So beautiful. So unique. She thought that we had the wrong girl, but never before have I met someone with hair the color of the flames. Not even Lucifer. I slid my hand through the slippery strands, mesmerized by the color change. The blue was dark enough to pass for black, until the light reflected the most stunning of azures.
“Where is she?” Laran’s presence brushed against my mind, uninvited.
“She’s at home. What do you want?” I replied tersely, brushing my fingers across the curve of her neck. The skin was so soft. Supple. A breathy little moan escaped her lips.
“I’m going to stop by and check on her. Can you tell Jul—”
“There’s no need. I’m here with her.” I sent back, focusing on the girl before me. They would call me away soon, but I didn’t want to move. Not yet. Not when tomorrow was already coming.
“Why are you still with her?” There was a challenge in his tone. I frowned in annoyance, running my hand over the curve of her hip.
“Because she was so fucking high on white lotus, she may have hunted down the first man on the street to sate her if I hadn’t made her go to sleep,” I snapped back. There was no need to mention what happened before she went to sleep. Not even I would have been strong enough to calm her had I not given her what she needed first. She was the strongest succubus I had encountered pre-transition. The oldest, too. She was using powers she shouldn’t have before the change, and starving herself while she did it, no less. I don’t know what went down in her past, but something happened that made her hesitant with men. Male demons even more so. Her body was begging to be touched and fulfilled, but her mind wanted no part of it.
Not consciously anyway.
“Meet me back home. Rysten is on his way to watch her.” A sudden flash of anger boiled within me at his blatant attempt to get me away from her. He even went so far as to call in Rysten, who he hadn’t bothered with at the bar. The fucker needed to remember it was his carelessness that caused this, and I had just as much right to her as he did.
“Feeling a bit heavy-handed, War?” I mentally growled back, sending my displeasure along with it. Ruby winced against me, pushing back. Her mind lashed out with power like an iron lif
ted right out of flame. It speared through my shields without effort, and took a sharp stab at the innermost part of myself. Attacking, where no demon had ever held the power to before. I recoiled from her, catching myself as I toppled out of her bed.
Had she felt my displeasure? Had that made her lash out? Or was it something more?
Even more curious, was where that power came from when she’d never given a hint of it before. I knew that something lurked inside her, as it had her father. I was almost certain that was not it, but something else entirely.
I watched her for a moment longer, the blood in my veins calling me back to her bed. As much as I didn’t want to, I needed to get back and report what just happened.
It appeared our girl had more to her than meets the eye.
Chapter 10
The birds were chirping. The bees were buzzing. It was Saturday morning, and I didn’t have work. The pounding in my head served as a reminder for the bad choices I made the night before. Like letting Laran take me to a demon bar, and getting felt up on some creepy imp’s lap. Oh, and let’s not forget how I finished the night off by throwing myself at Allistair.
Yeah. Last night was a shit show by anyone’s standards.
I wanted to yell at Laran and blame him for putting me in the situation to begin with, but he didn’t really make me go. He didn’t make me high. I’m also equally sure he didn’t make me seduce Allistair. All of which meant that as much as I wanted someone to blame, this was all on me, and it fucking sucked.
Being a demon and having lowered inhibitions wasn’t always fun, compared to what people might think. At the end of the day, or really, the next morning, we still had to wake up and deal with the consequences.
“I’ll have four orders of bacon and a cup of coffee. Thanks, Martha.”
Yep. My consequences were me hiding in Martha’s Diner and treating myself to bacon while I sat at my usual booth and stewed about the bad life choices I’d made. I liked to pretend it was a pre-reward for when I chose to do the right thing next time, but honestly, it was just another Saturday morning, and that meant this booth was the only place my ass would be.
The jingle of the bell on the front door pulled me from my inner rambling. Please don’t be Kendall. I was not in the mood to deal with her shit today. By the time my head swiveled around to check the door, the shift in power that was seeping through the room left little guesswork about who it was.
Golden eyes bore into mine and the sinking feeling in my stomach became an anchor tugging me to the linoleum floor. I wanted to evaporate on the spot, but not even disappearing would save me from the embarrassment of last night. I straightened my spine and kept my head high.
“I went by your shop, but you’re closed on Saturdays,” he stated. He wasn’t loud, but he projected enough that I heard him from across the diner. Devil damn him. Between Allistair and Kendall, the Saturday crowd would not be happy with me. I chose to ignore him, but I knew he wouldn’t go away. “What kind of tattoo artist are you? That doesn’t make a lot sense.”
“It’s the one day I have off, and it has been that way since I started taking care of myself. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” I let me voice trail off, making it abundantly clear that I wanted him to leave. Silly me, thinking one of the Horsemen knew how to take a hint.
“Rather limiting, don’t you think?” he continued, crossing the diner in smooth, measured steps. I growled under my breath, but shoved down the urge to throw a salt shaker at his head.
“If someone wants a tattoo, they can come in the other six days of the week. I’m not staying open until two in the fucking morning on a Saturday for drunk rejects to stumble in and get something they’ll regret in the morning. That’s not how I run my business, and it’s a great way to tarnish your name.” I leaned back in the booth and crossed my arms over my chest.
“If you say so,” he said when he reached the table. He placed a hand on my shoulder and I slapped it away instantly, like he was an annoying fly and not someone whose every movement I was keenly aware of.
“What do you want?” I snapped at him. Allistair grinned at me, like he knew exactly where my thoughts had been going.
“You,” he said bluntly without having the decency to keep his voice down. The fucking audacity. I swallowed hard, pleased that the vixen inside me was stomped on by a sizzling anger racing through me. I opened my mouth to tell him off, but he put a finger to my lips in the most publicly sexual way possible. “Now, now, Ruby. No need to make a scene. It is my turn after all.”
I considered biting him just to prove a point, but the coughing behind him and the smell of bacon brought me to a halt. Allistair stepped aside and took the seat across from me as Martha sat down my pile of bacon and a cup of steaming black coffee.
“There a problem here, Ruby?” Martha asked. Her sharp brown eyes cut towards Allistair. It wouldn’t have been the first time some jackass wouldn’t leave me alone. If only Allistair was a stalker. He wasn’t though, and even if Martha threw him out, I know he would just find me later. Better now in a public setting where he couldn’t try any funny business.
“I’m good, Martha. Thanks,” I said. She watched him for a moment longer before turning to me.
“If you need anything, just holler. Ol’ Ben keeps a baseball bat in the back just for the persistent ones.” I choked on my sip of coffee, silently waving her off. She threw Allistair one last look of disdain before leaving us.
“The old woman thinks you need protection from me,” Allistair noted as I took a swig of my coffee.
“Do I?”
Allistair’s eyes flickered with something akin to amusement, but that wasn’t all that was lurking there. The onyx flecks swirled around the iris; mesmerizing, but deadly. Allistair was the Horsemen of Famine, and as far as I could tell, the strongest incubus I’d ever come across. He said he was here to protect me, but my hazy memories from the night before didn’t lend to that. There was a darkness in his eyes, something so sharp and painful, but in the most pleasurable of ways. A predator. I had no desire to be his prey.
“You have nothing to fear from me. I make no guarantees for the rest of this world, but I would never harm you,” Allistair said.
“Because you think I’m Lucifer’s daughter?”
Allistair narrowed his eyes and replied, “You are his daughter. I have no doubt about that.” His smug voice and cold arrogance was off-putting. I pursed my lips, taking another sip of coffee.
“My birth certificate is hardly proof,” I scoffed. I’d always hated having the last name Morningstar, but in a world full of humans, most people didn’t know how odd it was to be a demon named after the king himself. Not once in my almost twenty-three years have I ever questioned there being more to it, and given my lackluster abilities, I wasn’t about to start.
“Your birth certificate is just what we used to track you. We didn’t need it to prove who you were. We know who you are. We’ve always known. We were there the day you were born. We were there when Lola smuggled you out of Hell. Rysten’s the one that made your birth certificate while Lucifer placed his mark on you. You grew up invisible because we needed you to.” The controlled passion that lay beneath that smooth, honey-like voice silenced me. I didn’t know how to reply, because I didn’t know if he was telling the truth. He sounded like he was sincere, but I wasn’t dumb enough to trust my instincts. Demons lie. They cheat. His abilities alone could probably make me believe the sky was yellow if I gave him the chance. There was also a hole in his story…
“I don’t have a mark.”
Allistair’s eyes dropped to my chest and back up. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was checking me out. I opened my mouth to tell him where his eyes belong—
“Ruby!”
Fuck me. I knew that voice. It belonged to the only person in Portland that could make me cringe out of both pity and annoyance.
“Kendall,” I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes. I took a long drink of my coffee, hoping she wo
uld see I was with someone and leave. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
“What are you doin’ here? You should be banned from comin’ here after what you did to my car,” she sneered as she stomped toward our table.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I feigned innocently as I schooled my face into a bored expression. Her brown eyes sparkled with hatred until they turned to the person sitting across from me. I didn’t know if it was because Allistair exuded sex appeal, or if she really couldn’t stand to see any man near me, but her eyes roamed over his designer suit and dark hair, turning more lustful and jealous by the second. Oh, boy. Here we go.
“Who might you be?” she inquired, waiting for his name. There was a subtle coax to her voice that I think was meant to be alluring, but instead made her sound desperate. Allistair tore his eyes from my face to give her a dismissive glance.
“I’m a friend of Ruby’s,” he said coldly. I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to do a little clapping dance in my head, or be concerned by the venomous glare she turned back to me.
“I’d be careful keepin’ company with a girl that has her record. She’s goin’ to find herself in such trouble one day that even the Lord can’t save her from it,” Kendall said. Her words were meant to be chilling, but her implied threat didn’t worry me.
“You can’t save someone that’s already damned,” I muttered under my breath.
“Are you admittin’ your indiscretions?” Kendall said tersely.
“Only if you admit yours.” She blanched on the spot and I cocked an eyebrow.
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” she said stiffly. I munched obnoxiously on a piece of bacon because I knew it annoyed her.
“Isn’t that my line?” I shot back, hiding my grin behind the lip of my coffee cup. She narrowed her eyes, smoothing over her yellow dress. Always so prim and proper in front of people.
“I have no idea what Josh ever saw in you,” she said snidely.
“Self-respect and pure fucking awesomeness,” I deadpanned. Kendall’s mouth set in a firm line, and while it was mildly amusing to push her buttons, I wanted her to leave.
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