by Emma Dean
Xavier gave her an appraising look. “Why does that demon like you so much?”
The heat of the moment had passed, but Piper felt like they’d gotten closer somehow in more ways than just physically. She grinned at him. “Why, are you jealous?”
That slow, lazy smile spread over his gorgeous face again and he tugged her closer so he could wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Maybe a little.”
“I’m a queen, remember? That’s why he likes me.” Piper opened the book and realized it was in Latin. Well, this wouldn’t be light reading.
“You’re a queen?” Niko asked, sliding onto the bench on her other side. He studied the way Xavier held her and then smiled. “Well, I know you’re our queen, but didn’t realize you were a literal one.”
Piper smiled back. She did feel like a queen with the way these guys looked at her, anticipating her every need. It was easy to see herself falling in love with them.
Even Caleb, if he’d let her. That one was complicated and…there was a lot of pain waiting for her there. Piper didn’t know if it would be his or hers, but she didn’t feel ready for it regardless.
“Cleopatra VII is my ancestor,” she explained, flipping through the book until she found what she was looking for. “Eisheth says my blood can curse your people.”
Niko shared a look with Xavier. “A race of humans that worshipped cats. Yeah, I could see pharaoh’s blood being used to curse us. Well, shit.”
“Pretty much,” Xavier agreed. “But what curse would they even use?”
Piper scanned the page on contracts and shrugged. “Does it matter? I doubt it will be pleasant. Maybe they’d trap you in your leopard form.”
There was a lot that could be done with blood per the demon books if the index was any indication. It made Piper a little nervous for the first time since she’d learned Eisheth didn’t actually want to deliver her to the crocs.
“So were my eyes deceiving me or were you making out with her X?”
Piper blushed, but didn’t take her eyes off the Latin words.
“Yup, she had my lips first.”
“Damn, guess I’ll have to show her how to really kiss. You aren’t always that great at it. You’re better at uh, other things.”
Piper squirmed in her seat as she tried not to picture what ‘other things’ Niko was talking about.
“My tongue is pretty magical,” Xavier admitted. “You know cats, we’re good at licking things.”
Piper slammed the book closed and frowned at Xavier, who was too busy grinning at her to give a shit. “Would you rather just call Jessica then?”
Niko scooted closer to her and then wrapped his arm around her waist, tugging her into his side. “I can smell how badly you want us,” he murmured into her ear.
Well, that was embarrassing. Piper let her hair fall over her face so she could hide for just a moment, but her heart thundered in her chest and if they could smell her like that, well no doubt they could hear her heart beat as well.
“I’m trying to save your asses,” she griped. “But at this point I’m just going to call Jessica since neither of you are interested in studying.” Piper wanted them badly, but she also didn’t want to be some sacrifice in a spell at the end of two weeks.
Niko pulled back and looked down at her in surprise. Even Xavier’s eyes were wide with shock. “You cursed!”
Piper chewed on her lip, annoyed she’d lost her temper. She swiped her hair behind her ear and cracked open the book again. “Yes, well, don’t get used to it. Read something and be useful.”
Xavier grinned at Niko. “She wants us to be useful. What do you think we could do to be useful?”
Niko smiled playfully and opened another book. It was all she could do to keep her eyes on the dang text. These two were going to kill her. “Oh, I’m sure we could think of something. You could lick her while I read the Latin books out loud. After all, we both know you can only read English, X.”
“We’re in a library,” she hissed, clenching her thighs together and reading the same line for the hundredth time. “If I caught two students going at it in my library I would kill them. And I have. It is not pleasant.”
“I really don’t think Oscar gives a fuck,” Niko admitted. “He didn’t even say hi when I came down.”
Piper looked up with a frown. “How did you get in?”
Niko scooted closer and set his hand on her thigh. “Eisheth left the door open.”
Of course he did. The demon liked her mates, and obviously he wanted them together. Piper wondered why that was. Maybe he was just a nosy matchmaker-type. Who’d given her his true name. That little bit of trust had filled her with a weird warmth.
Piper had never really felt like she belonged out in the real world with other people and their dating apps, insta, and snaps and whatever new trend was going on. She never really had friends, female or male. Her father had been her only friend for a very long time. There was nothing wrong with that in her opinion.
Why would she want to hang out with some shallow person who only listened to her so they could have their turn to talk about themselves? There had been a few times with other doctorate students Piper thought she might have found someone she could hang out with, but everyone was so busy with their own thesis.
Then there were those who came just for the Sac State Hellenistic Collection. She’d thought for sure she’d click with someone who had her same interests, but unfortunately she’d been wrong. So Piper had stuck with her dad. While he never really got her intense interest in Ancient Egypt he supported it. He even watched documentaries with her when they weren’t in the middle of a sci fi show.
But these three, well at least Niko and Xavier – she felt like it was so easy to be around them. They didn’t really push her into doing something she didn’t want to do. They were interested in her interests and didn’t really care that she was weird and isolated. The only time she went out to socialize was to her Tango classes and milongas.
Piper was stubborn too. She’d gone on Grindr to find a gay partner after the first disaster with her straight one. The relationship had been a hot mess – full of passion and lust just like the dance, but he’d been that way with every woman he’d danced with.
She never permanently partnered with anyone who was into women ever again. It had been a mistake, but one she’d learned from. The dance was an addiction and it was easy to mistake that addiction for tango as one for the person. Her current partner was happily married to a man, and they had three beautiful children.
It was much better that way.
“Shoot,” she muttered, pulling out her phone. “I need to text Patrick.”
Both Xavier and Niko raised their eyebrows at that. “Your boyfriend?” Niko asked, tightening his grip on her thigh rather possessively.
Piper laughed. “Why, are you jealous?” The same question she’d asked Xavier. These guys were so possessive and intense. It was weird, but she kind of liked it.
“Maybe,” Niko murmured against her neck.
It took all her willpower not to lean into that caress. “He’s my dance partner. We usually meet up tonight.” Niko pressed a kiss to her skin and it made her feel rather breathless.
Xavier leaned an elbow on the table to watch. Those amber eyes of his practically glowed with only the witchlight in the library. “Don’t cancel on our account. I’m sure we could take you dancing.”
Piper sent the text and then laughed. “It’s not just dancing,” she told him, ignoring Niko’s gentle touches as best she could. “Patrick and I compete as amateurs in tango. The club we go to is for practice and not really for beginners.”
Those amber eyes twinkled at her like they did the first time she saw him. “Every time I learn something new about you I’m impressed.”
Xavier went back to his book and Niko followed his lead, but both didn’t let go of her. Xavier held onto her hand and Niko her thigh. It was difficult to feel worried or unwanted between the two of them.
“So what’s it li
ke being a cat shifter?” she asked. Piper felt like they knew so much about her, but she hardly knew anything about their lives at all.
“We all have jobs just like humans do.”
That piqued her interest. “Really? What do you do Xavier?” Piper felt a little embarrassed she’d never thought to ask.
Xavier didn’t seem to like the question because the smile disappeared from his face, but he answered her anyway. “We all served eight years in the Army right out of high school. Then I went into welding when we came back to Crescent City. Niko went to school and became a teacher. Caleb’s family has money and owns most of the original businesses in town. So he focuses on pride business and runs those.”
Niko nodded. “I teach at Sunset High. Most paranormals send their kids there. I’m not the only pride member on staff. It keeps our people and the humans safe. Hormones are a bitch to deal with when someone can shatter windows with their mind or turn into a lion.”
The shock was almost strange. It was just so…normal. For some reason she pictured them on some kind of commune and isolated from the rest of humanity. “Well, what do you teach Niko?”
Xavier wasn’t interested in talking about their lives back in Crescent City anymore and Piper wondered why that was as she turned to face Niko. No wonder she’d felt an instant connection to the quieter of the three men, he was a teacher. He was a lot like her.
“I teach a few subjects, but I prefer math and chemistry.”
“Niko was an EOD tech in the Army, diffusing bombs and shit,” Xavier explained. “That’s why he’s so good at chemistry.”
Piper studied Niko’s handsome face. He was such a sweet, easygoing guy. She never would have guessed he used to do something so dangerous. “Did you all serve in the military for a reason?”
“We needed the training,” Niko admitted. “We needed the money for school, and the knowledge on the guns and weapons. Our blood feud with the crocs makes all that necessary. With the witches’ help we are able to protect our territory with tech magic. Morgan is the best in that field. We got lucky.”
“This says you can kill the demon to get out of the contract,” Xavier said, changing the subject. “That sounds pretty easy.”
“No!” Piper snatched the book from him and scanned it. “Eisheth is ancient. You’re not going to be able to just kill him.”
“Babe, you have his summoning name. I won’t hesitate to kill him if it keeps you alive.” Xavier was deadly serious and the tone in his voice took her breath away. This man would stop at nothing to keep her safe – to keep her alive. Unlike his mother.
No matter how much she hated the idea – Xavier would go there for her.
As much as she liked flirting with them and as much as she was physically attracted to them that was a level of dedication Piper had never truly experienced outside her relationship with her father. But that wasn’t the same thing. That wasn’t trusting an essential stranger to do whatever necessary to protect her.
Piper felt herself fall a little more for Xavier. It didn’t matter if they were mates. This was something he would do for her, and she found that oddly romantic even if it simultaneously horrified her. “Well, let’s exhaust other options first if that’s all right with you. This text states we could ask Lucifer to break the contract as the demon’s keeper.”
Niko slammed her book shut. “Lucifer is Jess’s territory. We never deal with him direct. He’s a slippery bastard. Worse than the demons with all their fancy words and literal promises. If Jess wants to call him that’s on her.”
Piper blinked and then coughed as dust rose in the air. Well, she hadn’t expected the Lucifer thing to be real. That realigned her entire world view and raised so many questions she didn’t think these boys wanted to answer. Perhaps Eisheth would.
“What about another contract to void the first?” she asked.
“Contracts with demons are not on the table.” Caleb’s deep voice rumbled over her and she jumped. Damn these guys were so quiet. She hadn’t even heard him walking up. “We’ll have to find another way.”
Piper looked up at Caleb and he had his arms crossed over his chest again. It made him look intimidating, but it also made his arms look massive. She licked her lips as nerves fluttered in her stomach. Was he mad at her for the demon thing?
“I suppose I can call Jessica then,” she said softly, hoping the suggestion didn’t upset him.
Caleb glanced between the three of them and he sighed. “Yes, let’s call the demon hunter. Oscar said you could take some of these home,” he said, waving at the books on the table. “But if you don’t bring them back by the end of the month they curse you with bad luck or something ridiculous like that.”
“I get to take some home?” Piper couldn’t believe it. She started stacking books like crazy and Xavier and Niko only chuckled when she went to the demonology section, grabbing anything she thought she could use.
“There might be a limit on books,” Niko teased.
“You may take up to ten,” Oscar said as he walked up to them with his hands clasped behind his back. “Morgan called to inform me she found a talisman you might need and to invite you to Sacramento’s Golden Coven’s Beltane Ball in two days so you may retrieve it.”
“You guys have a ball?” Piper couldn’t believe all this had been just under the surface. How had she missed so much? Now that she knew about it, she wanted to learn everything. “I want to go.”
Caleb frowned at the witch and looked like he was about to say no.
“Please?” she asked.
That stern expression softened just a little and Piper could see the sadness hiding behind his intensity. “Going to a witches’ ball is not safe. They are neutral and so invite all kinds. At this point in time I wouldn’t feel safe with you going without me. So if you’re okay with having me as your date, then you can go.”
Oh goodness. Piper felt her heart clench like it had when he’d told her about his family. Maybe Caleb wasn’t the scary guy he always showed her, distant and aloof. Maybe he was just as lonely as she was.
Piper didn’t look at the other two and held Caleb’s gaze. “I’d be happy to have you as my date.”
The look of surprise on Caleb’s face was something she didn’t quite know how to deal with. Maybe he didn’t think she’d agree. Piper wondered why he thought she didn’t want to go with him. Was he just as confused about their non-relationship as she was? Well…maybe the ball would give her a chance to find out what he really thought.
Chapter Nine
Piper
Piper wore nothing but a towel as she surveyed her closet, trying to figure out what to wear for the witches’ ball.
After she had closed up the library on Saturday and the guys had taken her demon books for her, they’d gone back to her apartment – alone. But no one had made a move. Instead the four of them had sat on her couch and watched the original Star Wars trilogy all night which surprisingly had been Xavier’s suggestion.
It had been nice to say the least. Niko cooked this time, and even though Caleb was slightly apart from them he still sat on the couch with Cat Solo watching everything from his cat tree. It was progress. And Piper wasn’t really sure what she thought about that.
Then they’d spent the last two days just hanging out on her days off. Piper read four of the five demon texts while making notes. The guys made sure she ate, slept and took the occasional break.
When she wasn’t reading Xavier had her teaching him all about Star Wars. They’d watched most of the movies and the TV shows while Niko and Caleb participated, though Niko was the only one who would give his two cents on the story.
Despite how hot and heavy they’d gotten in the library no one did more than snuggle her. She would watch TV with one of the three on either side. Sometimes they touched her and sometimes they didn’t, but when she fell asleep she sprawled across them which was a bit embarrassing when she woke up.
They were taking their time with her and she could hardly sta
nd it. Finally it was the Beltane Ball and she felt like she was going to burst from the desire she could feel growing until she was ready to rip their clothes off.
It was progress. Piper was no longer opposed to the idea of them even if the word ‘mate’ was a bit scary. Did she want there to be progress though?
These three men knew they had to share her. They planned on it and had no problem with the idea. If Piper were to be honest with herself the idea of three men falling all over themselves for her was incredibly tempting. But Caleb didn’t seem to be trying to get to know her – just keep her alive.
What did that mean exactly?
Well, she planned to find out at the Beltane thing. Piper wondered what someone would even wear to a witches’ ball. She supposed she had plenty of options from her competitions, but she also didn’t want to be overdressed. Flicking through her dresses she checked her phone and saw the text from Jessica’s…sidekick, partner?
Apparently Jessica would meet her at the ball.
Piper had called her as promised. Neither Xavier nor Niko had wanted to. Piper had been too chicken to ask Caleb to do it so…she supposed it had been educational to say the least. A demon hunter…who was friends with a demon.
This Luca guy had answered the phone and said they’d been expecting her call and that Jessica was already on her way to Sacramento. So that had been easy enough.
Piper had spent most of the day reading to distract herself. The guys had mostly left her alone, doing their own thing. Each of them had already done their daily work out and it was something to see when they lifted weights on her balcony or came back from a run all sweaty.
Then at some point Caleb had left saying he needed to go rent a tux so that gave her some indication as to what to wear at least. Even if no one else was fancy, her date would be.
Her date.
Goodness, the idea of going out on a date with Caleb made her so incredibly nervous even if it was just so she could get a witch talisman and meet up with the demon hunter. It felt like more than that to Piper. She wondered if it did to Caleb too.
