by S. A. Ravel
He rammed into her, hissing softly as her slick folds enveloped him eagerly. Perrine arched her back, thrusting her hips back to meet him. Each thrust pushed him deep inside of her, as they fucked in time with the looping music in her head.
Energy crawled through her skin, burned in her blood. His head lowered, teeth and lips latching onto her ear. His hand slid down her body, found her clit and stroked her with tormenting pressure, fondling her as he took her, bringing her to double orgasm.
Perrine cried out as the music rose again, all of it rising in a crescendo as she reached orgasmic bliss. Her knees trembled, wanting to give way as he held her up.
“I want more,” he said.
He was still inside her, hot and hard. He pulled away a moment later, whirling her around, eyes blazing. He lifted her onto the piano, pushing her down onto her back.
“Play with your breasts some more,” Davin said, a dark, sensual demand in his voice. “And open your legs. I’ll paint you like this, open and glistening for me.”
She obeyed, even sliding a hand down her body to fondle her clit. Perrine bit her lip, increasing the pressure, bringing herself pleasure. She spread her legs wide, baring her pussy to him, their wetness on her inner thighs.
“You know what I want, don’t you?” he asked, then smiled, utterly, shamelessly wicked. His cock jutted towards her, slick and engorged.
“Well, sugah, my pussy is spread open damn near at eye level, and I already knew you’re the feasting sort…”
He grasped her ankles, pulling her forward so her ass almost dangled off the edge of the piano, and feasted, pushing her hand out of his way. Perrine cried out, tongue and lips on her clit, jolting her system.
“Pull my hair,” he murmured, “scream for me.”
Her fingers sank into the golden waves, clenching as he brought her to another peak, tongue lapping the honey spilling from her orgasm. And then he did it again until Perrine begged him to let her have a few moments respite from the sensations. He just laughed, and lifted her from the piano, looking around.
He said nothing, made no movement but suddenly every throw or paint drape in the room rushed towards them. Perrine screamed, her arm locking around his neck, but the drapes stopped, dropping to the floor in a pseudo nest and then he lowered them into it.
“Merde,” she swore. “Préviens-moi la prochaine fois, ange!”
“Sorry,” he said. Not sounding sorry.
He settled between her thighs, plunging in before she had a chance to blast him some more. Perrine moaned. Even though she was ready for him, already open, he was still tight inside her, a delicious fullness she knew would spoil her for other men.
Davin set a strong pace, in and out of her body with no regard to her human status, head tossed back and hair streaming over his shoulders. Her fingers clawed at his shoulders; all she could do was hang on for the ride, helpless as he wrung another orgasm from an already decimated body. He followed a second later, jets of his hot seed spurting into Perrine before following gravity back down his shaft.
It was more than an animal, lust-induced fuck. It was better than an amazing song. Neither was complex enough to explain the high that flooded Perrine’s head. She’d never felt more alive. He braced himself on his arms, keeping most of his weight off her as they both caught their breath. Her legs trembled, body aching. How would she ever forget him, forget how he made her body sing?
After a time, he moved, rising and glanced at his painting. It was a bright Ailaut seascape, its warm colors capturing a perfect snapshot of the tropical paradise… but it was nothing like the song she sang.
“I thought it worked that time,” she said.
“It almost did.” He looked at her again, eyes intense, inscrutable.
Perrine wanted to ask what he meant by that, but her chirping communicator interrupted her. She didn’t remember taking it off, but there it was, resting on the cover of the piano. She ran her thumb across the screen, pulling up her missed messages on the exterior speaker.
Jerica’s panicked voice filled the silence of the room as the last of the music finally faded.
“Perrine, I know you’re busy, but I need you to come in right now. Narcisse is hurt.”
He didn’t want to let her go. But he wasn’t a monster. Or cold. Or crazy… well. He wasn’t cold or a monster. And her pleas weighed in his ears, the pleas of a woman who’d lain so sweetly underneath him. Her eyes wide, fingers caressing his chest gently. He grabbed her wrists, halting her. He knew she was as much a master at manipulation, in her way, as he was in his.
Davingelo swore. “Damn you. Fine. But I’m going with you.”
Perrine scowled, and her full lips turned down in a frown. “This is my business, Davingelo. I need no angel hovering over me, mucking things up.”
“Call me an angel one more time.” His eyes narrowed. “And I am no mere… angel. I am an Archan. If there is trouble, who better at your side?”
She stilled, and he couldn’t quite read the expression across her beautiful face. She nodded, then began to dress.
Such a shame.
8
Perrine grabbed the shredded pieces of her dress and wrapped them around herself. She ran back to her room, grabbing clothes from the suitcase Jerica brought that morning. The Institute was a fifteen-minute walk from Club Parodie, maybe ten if she ran the entire way. She had the energy for it. Jerica’s message brought her post-orgasmic bliss to a screeching halt. The other side of her magical high was brutal, and far too jarring for Perrine to keep her emotions in check.
Davin, on the other hand, strode into her room and pinned her with a laser sharp look. A stream of light highlighted his wings, throwing his otherworldly beauty into sharp relief.
“Where are we going?”
Perrine strapped her communicator on her wrist and headed for the door as she spoke. “My club to find out what the hell happened.”
She retraced her steps back to the courtyard, Davin followed on her heels. Once they were beneath the open morning air, Davin wrapped his arms around Perrine’s waist and turned her toward him.
“Hold me tightly, Binita.” With no further warning, Davin took the sky. On another day, Perrine might have marveled at being airborne, at seeing the lush island paradise the way an Aikalah would.
But in that moment, her thoughts could only focus on the terror in Jerica’s voice… and her father, laying lifeless on the floor.
“Head south, to the Pleasure District,” she said.
Davin set his jaw as he pumped his wings to gather speed and height. He set her down on the sidewalk by the front doors five minutes after they had taken off from his courtyard. Perrine tugged the door open and ran inside.
An air of tension permeated the main floor of Club Parodie. A ripple of energy hung over the room, remnant of the chaos recently passed. Jerica sat near the front row, her hands clasped on the table in front of her. She looked calm, except for the tracks of tears running down her cheeks.
Narcisse wasn’t on the floor, and he was very much alive. But one of his sleeves was torn and stained with blood. He smiled weakly, his eyes gazing at her as he held his hand over the wound, keeping the flow of blood at bay. Freddy and Teddy stood on either side of him. Teddy holding a small electric blade in his hands.
“Hello, cher,” Narcisse said.
Perrine felt Davin’s presence as he took a position next to her father. Freddy and Teddy tried to adjust their demeanor, but even the baddest of bad asses knew they couldn’t take on an Aikalah male. If she moved quickly, she might be able to use him to her advantage.
“How are you doing, Papa?”
He shrugged, wincing as the gesture jostled his wounded arm. “I’ll live, bebe.”
Perrine walked over to Jerica and put a hand on her shoulder. “Boys, what can I do for you?”
Freddy clasped his hands in front of him. “Madam Despre, Mr. Madson would like to have a word with you.”
Lans sending for her again wasn’t a good sign. Even if p
eople noticed her absence from Parodie, Jerica was smart enough to cover it with a clever lie. He must have known she hadn’t gone home after he let her go or that she hadn’t gone to the club. Which meant he had someone watching her… or someone telling him her schedule.
There was only one person who knew her schedule and her finances.
“Jerica, why don’t you go on home, honey. The boys and I need to talk business.” Perrine’s voice was syrupy sweet when she spoke, but she would have loved to sink her nails into Jerica’s shoulder.
“Nobody’s going anywhere, Despre. Besides, Jerica here knows all about the situation.”
Jerica turned to look up at Perrine, her eyes wet all over again. “I’m sorry, Perrine. They made me do it!”
“Ssh… I believe you, honey.” She really did. Jerica wasn’t a good enough actress to fake the look of fear and panic in her eyes. She didn’t have the stomach to sell someone out on her own. Perrine didn’t bother to hide her annoyance as she turned to look at Freddy. “Tell Mr. Madson I’ll meet with him on the day we agreed and I will meet the terms we agreed to.”
“’Fraid that won’t do. He was very insistent.”
“He can shove his insistence. If he wants his money, then maybe he should stop crooking his finger every five minutes and waiting to see if I come running. Or does he suddenly not care about the money?”
Freddy shifted his shoulders. “You know the answer to that, Madam Despre.”
The words hit Perrine like a knee to the gut. Of course, she had known. That was the only explanation for why Lans was suddenly interested in her. Why the threats were so personal. Why he played verbal gymnastics to put a leash over her head. He didn’t care about the money. What was a few months of credits to a man like him? He wanted her. In his bed. In his cage.
Freddy signaled to Teddy who grabbed Perrine by the arm. “We’ll have you back by the time the doors open.”
Perrine twisted her arm, trying to wrench it from his grasp. She locked her legs and pulled back. If he was going to take her to a cage, he would have to drag her there.
A blur of color blazed past Perrine and rammed into Teddy. He wasn’t a small man, easily half a foot and one hundred pounds on Perrine, but he flew like a rag doll and crashed into the stage. Davin crouched on the ground, his wings unfurled.
“Davin!”
“I just knew you would be interesting,” he informed her, rising to his full height, wings snapping up and out.
It was magnificent, a statement of power and beauty.
Freddy ran at him, probably hoping to catch the Aikalaan unprepared. It didn’t work. Davin used Freddy’s own momentum against him with a punishing arm to the chest. Freddy crumbled to the floor, gasping for air.
Davin pressed his sandaled foot against Freddy’s side and kicked him backward, so that the thug’s eyes faced the ceiling. “That was half strength. I would keep that in mind if I were in your position. The female is mine—touch her again if you want to die.”
There was a single second of calm before a wave of utter chaos tore through the room. Jerica screamed and sobbed. Narcisse whooped in surprise and dodged sideways out of his chair. Freddy and Teddy both moaned in pain.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Perrine shouted. This was a whole new level of bad. If Lans took it as a sign of disrespect, he might want to make an example of someone. She didn’t even want to think about how he would make an example of her.
Davin’s eyes were distant when he looked at her, hazy. It was as if he couldn’t quite see her.
Perrine took him by the arm. “Hey? Are you with me? Davin!”
Awareness flashed in his eyes, then annoyance. “I’m here. No need to screech.”
“Screech… why you—” She cut herself off, took a deep breath. “Take the goons outside and down the block. Then go back home.”
“Not without you.”
“Yes, without me. I must clean up the hell you just turned loose. Go home, Davingelo.” If he didn’t, she didn’t know what she would do. But she hovered on the cusp of a ledge. The slightest breath of air would push her over. Give her the excuse to do something very, very rash.
He stared at her in silence, eyes calculating. Then he looped his arm around her waist and pulled their bodies together. At first, she thought he meant to drag her out the doors and fly back to AINA. Perrine twisted in his arms and opened her mouth to protest.
Davin silenced her by claiming her lips. It was over before she really had a chance to enjoy it. He pulled away from her and grabbed Teddy and Freddy by the arms, dragging them out the door.
Perrine watched him go, her mind temporarily short circuited by the kiss. So much so that she had forgotten where she was until her father’s voice snapped her back to reality.
“You bringin’ home an Archan to Papa, bebe? My girl.”
“Describe him again,” Lans said. “Be certain.”
The thug ticked off the physical description, then went through the entire sequence of events a third time. Lans sat back in his chair, fingers steepled, mind racing.
Perrine Despre, the magnificent whore, had brought an angel with her. A tall, pretty blond male with golden wings who she had called Davin. There was only one angel of that description in this city. One.
Lans smiled. He now had a far, far better use for her than in his bed. Perrin Despre had access to something far more precious than premium pussy… she had access to Davingelo himself. Davingelo’s art.
“Tell me again what he said.”
For the better half of the morning, Narcisse, Jerica, and Perrine tried to untangle the last two days. A bottle of melon wine passed between them helped smooth some of the hurt feelings between the Despres and Jerica.
Jerica swore the Lans hadn’t told her to apply at Parodie, but had only approached her in the months before, as Perrine got close to paying off the loan. Jerica grew up on Nevhana, just like Perrine. She was too sweet to be deep in the underworld, but anybody from her neighborhood would know who Lans was. Half of the businesses in the district started with one of his loans.
Perrine didn’t elaborate on the terms Lans had conned her into, but she could tell from the look on her father’s face that he knew exactly what Lans was after. And he didn’t approve one bit. But he wouldn’t mention it to her unless she brought it to him first. The deal with Davingelo, however, he was more than happy to talk about.
“What are his terms?” Narcisse asked. He didn’t even question the impossible things his only child told him. He didn’t seem to doubt her for a second.
“Above board, so far,” she said. “From the set up, they may be telling the truth. Somebody’s money is keeping that place going.”
Narcisse shook his head and passed the bottle of wine to her. “There’s no guarantee Madson will go for it. If money isn’t what he wants, then the promise of it won’t distract him.”
“I think it’s gone beyond the repayment stage now.” Perrine gestured to the splintered furniture and the dent in the stage, all evidence of Davin’s rage. “He’s going to want to retaliate, to protect his reputation.”
“Yeah? Isn’t that what the angel is for?”
Narcisse left, at Perrine’s insistence, to have a doctor look at his arm. Jerica started cleaning up and making a list of the damage. Perrine went up to her office and called the staff to inform them that due to recent events, Club Parodie was closed until further notice.
She spent most of the afternoon calling everyone and did her best to sound positive. But sounding like things were looking up when she knew damned well her back was against the wall, was a hard needle to thread. Having to do it repeatedly left Perrine more drained than she had expected. Rather than go back to AINA , she went to her own home. When Davin realized she finally had a reason to be as committed to replicating the duet as he was, he would want to resume work immediately. Perrine had never needed to rest as much as she did that evening.
She didn’t even change into pajamas before curling up
in her bed and closing her eyes. Perrine drifted into a glorious, dreamless sleep for a while. She would have slept a few hours more, but heavy hands clamping over her face, blocking all attempts at breathing had a way of waking a woman out of a dead sleep.
9
Perrine couldn’t see her attacker in the dark, but she had an idea who would want to pay her a visit. She slid her hand under the pillow on the other side of the bed and pulled out a small weapon. Physically, it wasn’t very impressive. She had seen fillets of fish bigger than the tiny weapon in her hand. But she aimed it at her bedside lamp and pulled the trigger, vaporizing her bedside lamp.
He let go of her mouth and held his hands in the air. She recognized Lans Madson’s voice instantly. “There’s no need for violence, Perrine.”
"Really? I just had to burn my favorite lamp to keep you from smothering me in my sleep."
He need the weapon. ”Perrine, be reasona--"
"Shut your raggedy ass up and sit the fuck down."
It was amazing how quickly Lans did what Perrine wanted when she had a vaporizing gun pointed at his back. He didn’t hesitate for a second before pressing the pad on the wall and bringing up the lights. He must have been in the room for a while watching her sleep. Perrine tried not to think of just how creepy that was.
“I sent a message to you through Freddy and Teddy. Didn’t you get it?”
Lans smiled. “That’s why I’m here. Your friend’s message spoke louder than yours did.”
Damn it. She had hoped Freddy and Teddy would be reluctant to admit that a single Aikalaan male had kicked their asses. “This isn’t any of his business. He doesn’t have a stake in my club or my loan. And we both know that what you want he can’t give you.”
“If he were anyone else, I might agree with you, but it just so happens that my associates have use for someone with connections at the Institute. Someone who knows the grounds, and can get people in and out unnoticed.”
“You mean your bosses want more money, and you want to use me to help you steal from Davin to get it. It’s a school. Don’t you have a bit of shame?”
