The Devil's Masquerade: The Remedy

by Jennifer Loren

  “Very well. Rabbie, send for Nicholas and have him meet Catriona in the sitting room near his bedroom,” Savage says, standing poised and confident as he watches Rabbie escort me to the sitting room. Nick comes in as I sit stiffly, waiting for him. He doesn’t speak as he looks me over, but butterflies instantly swarm within me as I look over him. I remind myself to breathe so I do not become intimidated by him. He is so handsome and so alluring that I almost forget why I am here.

  “Hello,” he says smoothly as he takes my hand. “Catriona, is it?” I nod. “My grandfather says you wish to meet with me. Why?”

  Wow, he touched my hand, and oh how he licks his lips is so wonderful, and now he is smiling at me. I can barely get my tongue to cooperate right now. Look away. Look away from the man Cat before you beg him to take his clothes off and let you lick his naked body. “Well ummm …” Oh yeah, confidence. “I thought if we are to be married then maybe we should get to know each other a little better first.”

  Nick sits beside me, seeming to be suspicious of my every move. He takes a long gaze over my body, making me even more nervous. Speak Cat! Speak before you forget why you are here. Before I say a word, a man comes stumbling in with tea on a tray he is not quite capable of handling. Tea is spilt and dishes clang while the man tries to hold them with one hand and carry the tray in his other. He curses under his breath the whole way in and throughout his placement of our cups in front of us. He obnoxiously bows to Nick with a scowl. “Will that be all … ole dark and demanding one?” Nick looks as if he is going to laugh but holds back and simply nods. “If it is alright then, I would like to … may I … please … return to my room and finish watching the game? Please. Sir. Great … Your Honor.” Nick hides his face from me as he waves him on. “Fourth quarter, and he wants fucking tea. Never once have I seen him drink tea, but suddenly it’s a tie game, and he wants fucking tea,” the man mumbles as he exits the room.

  Nick looks back at me with an apologetic smile. “Ro … Roland is new,” he explains quickly. “So, you want to get to know me better?” I nod.

  “I thought it would be nice to understand each other. I think we should start by telling each other what our best qualities are. For instance, one of my best … qualities is that I can transform into what you most desire. Have you ever seen this done?” Nick shakes his head as he watches me transform. I can only imagine what he sees. His eyes are so big and his heart is beating so rapidly that I can see it through his shirt. “Who is it you desire? Who is it you see now?” I lean into him and whisper, “You seem to want me more than anything, so why don’t you take me? Why don’t you come to me Nick? Why are you trying to deny yourself what you want most?” I don’t touch him, and I don’t say another word. I just leave him in his trance. As I walk out, Savage stops me.

  “Leaving so soon? Did your visit not go well?” Savage asks me.

  I hate him. My anger forces my head up and my stance to become hardened. “On the contrary, our visit was very reassuring. Nick is everything a woman could ever want.”

  I return back to Kayla with a large smile, and from the look on her face, I don’t have to tell her how well it went. We kept what our true plan was to ourselves and simply told the others we were searching for information to see how Nick felt about Ria. However, Kayla wanted to confuse Nick and lure him to me by seeing her. She said if Nick sees her in me, then it will make it even harder for him to want to kill her, and maybe it would return some of his memories of her. I float into my room, happy with myself and my newly acquired skills, but Elijah walks in right behind me looking nervous and panicked. “Are you okay?” I ask him.

  He waves my question off with frustration. “I’m fine. Tell me, how did it go? Did you two hit it off?”

  “Yes, it went perfectly. I told you that before. He is … wow. He is handsome for sure and hard to deny. I can see what my sister was talking about.”

  “How wonderful! I hope you two have a wonderful life together and have many little demon children,” Elijah snaps at me.

  I stare at him hard, stomp my way right in front of him, peer deep into his eyes, and then punch him right in the gut. “Stop being a jackass,” I say before pushing him out my door and giving him a sweet smile and a kiss to his cheek. “Good night, Scruffy.” I shut my door as he cringes and curses at me.

  Chapter 21

  Nick

  My emotions have been going wild ever since that woman left. No matter how much I want to deny myself seeing Kayla again, I can’t do it any longer. I do as expected of me and prepare to go into work, leaving with both Delin and Ro in tow.

  The guards for the building instantly open the doors for me when I arrive. No one looks me directly in the eyes, and they obey every request I have. I quickly go through all of our business ventures and handle them with ease. This is all basic day to day for me; however, my day does go much faster without Galena hovering over my shoulder or Grandfather confirming every decision. I feel like a child when they are around. This new found freedom Grandfather is allowing me today is quite nice, especially when I have my own interests to handle.

  I leave Ro and Delin in the building’s recreational room, playing games and whatever else they do while I am usually working. I check on them once before I sneak out and give Ro a nod so he knows to up his antics a little. I need him to keep Delin preoccupied while I go investigate Kayla more thoroughly.

  Sneaking onto the estate is way too easy. They put up some motion detectors and cameras, but for some reason, they never thought to cover the men that patrol the perimeter. I follow closely behind one, and the moment he turns, I meet his eyes.

  “Take me inside and make sure I won’t be detected.” The man nods and leads me to an area where he has me stop while he goes into a control room and turns off some cameras. He steps back out and has me follow a direct path into the house. “Good, now go back to patrolling and forget you ever saw me.” He disappears into the night without any memory of me. Now that I am inside, I eagerly work my way through the house and up to her bedroom where I wait for her, hidden within her ensuite. She comes in and begins to change out of her clothes. I begin to get aroused and take a single step closer to get a better view of her, but being careful to stay hidden.

  “Kayla?” A man yells as he knocks on her door and forces me to step back. Kayla re-clothes herself and opens the door, allowing the man to come in. He steps into the room, closing the door behind him as he talks to her quietly, too quietly for me to hear. She nods and smiles, touching his chest and kissing his cheek while he smiles and takes hold of her hands. I remain hidden and somewhat calm until he wraps his arms around her. He wants her. I step into sight, steaming. When Kayla catches sight of me, her eyes go wide. She quickly removes the man from the room, thanking him and shutting the door.

  “I don’t like him,” I growl.

  Kayla stomps towards me and huffs right in my face, “I don’t care if you like him. You won’t hurt him. He is my friend and he means no harm. You calm your jealousy before I kick you out of my house.”

  “I am not jealous. I don’t get jealous, and you can’t force me to do anything. You will learn to obey what I say or else,” I snap at her confidently until she punches me in the stomach. Son of a bitch! Cringing, I look up at her as she crosses her arms and scowls at me.

  “You listen here. You will not talk to me like that, and if anyone is going to obey someone, it will be you obeying me.” I straighten up, take hold of her body, and push her up against the wall. “Put me down.” I shake my head and smile. She tries to wiggle free while I enjoy the control I have over her. “Stop smiling at me. I’m mad at you.”

  “So be mad. I don’t care.” I lean in to her and caress her neck with my lips, enjoying her scent and the feeling of her body against me once again.

  She gives off a light moan, and her fight against me is weaker. “I’m getting madder and madder at you Nick. If you don’t put me down I swear I will …”

  I spin her around and put her o
nto the bed, climbing on top of her, grabbing her arms and holding them over her head. “Are you going to do what I want or am I going to have to restrain you?”

  She leans up to me in anger and snarls, “Let go of me.”

  “I will restrain you then.” I grab the scarf from her neck and tie it around her wrists and back to the bed. She dares me to make another move, and I always love a good dare. I rip though her shirt with ease. Kayla gasps and leans back, allowing me to enjoy her freed breasts against my face. I remove my shirt and pants while she quietly watches me, but the moment I undo her pants, she starts to put up a respectful, but futile, fight.

  “You better not Nick. If you think for one second that I am going to let you …” I pull her pants off and rip through her panties with my teeth before spreading her legs and kissing in between them. “Oh my … oh Nick. I swear I will … oh.” She threatens me over and over but still opens up her legs even wider for me. I look up at her with a devilish smile before finding great pleasure in making her squirm and beg me for more. Every stroke of my finger, every sweep of my tongue, and every groan of enjoyment I make against her pussy makes her even more mine. She struggles against her restraints, trying desperately to free herself before she comes, but it’s no use. I make one final kiss and she falls back, vibrating and coming against my lips. Kayla lies back motionless with deep gasps, and I take the opportunity to grip her ass and pull her towards me. My dick’s anticipation is so great that it works its way inside of her with a quivering excitement. Her gorgeous body gives me ample opportunity to enjoy every part of her while I thrust my hips against her, relishing having her wrapped tightly around me. I release her restraint and twist our bodies so that she is on top of me. I love watching her breasts bounce and her hair fall against her face. She’s clearly exhausted, but she hooks her legs on either side of my hips and begins aggressively riding my cock. Oh fuck! She sends my head spinning. I have to take hold of her ass and hold on, enjoying the ride. Kayla slides up and back down again, and I release, all the while fighting my desire to scream out for her. She collapses onto my chest, and we both are silent beyond heavy breaths.

  “Kayla? Are you okay?” someone asks, knocking on her door. I look down at her as she lifts her head towards the door. I don’t have the energy to run, and she doesn’t seem to have the ability to move period, so I start to panic.

  “Ummm, yeah Ryan. I was just … just … doing some yoga before bed,” Kayla says as I try not to laugh.

  “Yoga?” Ryan laughs. “Oh-kay. Enjoy that.”

  She looks down at me while I cover my mouth to hide my laughter. “Stop laughing. It’s not funny. He probably thinks I am some kind of freak in here pleasuring myself.” I keep laughing, and she smacks my chest and jumps off me in a huff.

  I grab that scarf, whip it around her waist, and quickly grab the other end, forcing her back to me. “I didn’t say I was done with you yet.” I pick her up into my arms, and we find our way into the shower. I take advantage of every second with her before I have to leave, not that it makes leaving her any easier. She helps me get back to my car safely, and I give her one last kiss. During my drive back to the office, I am exhausted but not so tired that I can keep from smiling wide.

  Sitting down for breakfast, I feel a little better than the day before, and in fact, I find myself starving. I pile on the food, receiving a sharp glare from my grandfather. “Good morning, Ma Joie,” Grandfather says to me as he sits. Because of his curious expression, I decide it best to sit back and slow down my pace, but I am unable to speak with my mouth full of food, so I simply nod. He rolls his eyes away from me before greeting Galena. “Good morning, Galena.”

  “Good morning, Father,” Galena says.

  “Hungry are we Nicholas?” he asks, avoiding looking at me as I jam another fork full of food into my mouth.

  Damn! I feel like I had sex all night and need to recharge entirely. Oh yeah, I did. “Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t get to eat much yesterday, and I feel like I ran a marathon last night. My dreams were so active. Maybe I did run a marathon,” I say, continuing to eat.

  “Dreams? What kind of dreams, may I ask?” Grandfather inquires with surprising interest. Galena laughs, and I look up at her strangely. “I bet I know,” she says, looking down under the table. Fucking bitch. I have had a hard on all morning, and I was hoping no one here would notice, not sitting at a table especially. “It’s okay, Nicholas. It is perfectly normal. It has been awhile for you.” Galena continues to giggle even through my huffing.

  Grandfather sighs, “Galena, enough! Not much longer, Nicholas, and you will have plenty of women to fuck at your leisure. For now, you need to continue to concentrate on your training. Sex only distracts and changes your attitude too much. You need to stay focused.”

  “How much longer must I be in training?” I ask, trying to calm my dick down.

  “I am hoping in time for your introduction party, your Masquerade Ball. Everyone is coming, and if you like, I will have a parade of women for you to choose from. Fuck them all for all I care, but you must choose one to marry and present to the High Council so they can confidently make you a Lord.”

  “Like who? Ria? I don’t like her,” I huff.

  “It does not have to be Ria. It can be anyone of the options I provide for you. I would say Catriona is quite nice, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, I do like her. She has some … great qualities about her, but why can’t I choose my own?” I ask, causing him to steam.

  “I swear you are just like Dante!” he snaps suddenly.

  “Who’s Dante?” I ask as he tries to ignore my question. I look over at Galena, and ask again, “Who is Dante?”

  “Nicholas, eat your breakfast.” I sit back in my chair huffing. “Dante was your father, Nicholas. There. Are you happy, now? I told you about him, and I was hoping we wouldn’t have to revisit that heartache, but to make you happy, I did,” he says angrily.

  My father? I recall the conversation Grandfather had with Galena about me killing Dante. I killed my own father? I thought he said he died in battle? Why would I kill my own father? Was it an accident? I must have heard him wrong. It must have been someone else they were talking about. I stare off, trying to understand, when Grandfather shakes me back to his attention.

  “Your father was a great man Nicholas. You should be proud of who he was and that you are like him. No reason to worry about it now. He died a hero and would want the best for you, and I am positive he would want the best wife for you as well. Nicholas, when you choose your wife, you need to make sure she will be a suitable mother to look after your children. You will not have time to deal with such things. Galena’s mother handled all the household details and the children so I was free to deal with business.”

  “I don’t want children,” I say, trying to hold back my laughter as I watch Ro wrestle with Rabbie over a drink that is supposed to come to me.

  They silently argue with each other over who will bring it to me until Grandfather, who is not amused by the scuffle at all, slams his fist onto the table and shakes them back to order. “I didn’t ask what you want. It is your responsibility to carry on the family, especially since my daughter is incapable of doing so,” he says causing Galena to sink into her chair.

  “You want children?” I ask her. She shrugs. “Why don’t you then?”

  “Father forbid it until …”

  “Until she finds a suitor worthy of our seed!” Grandfather yells across the table.

  “Why have you not found the right one? If you are finding someone for me, then why can’t you find someone for Galena as well?” I ask.

  “I am not finding someone for you Nicholas. I am matching you with an appropriate woman to bare your children.”

  “And so why can’t you do that for Galena?”

  “Because she has not proven that she is an appropriate woman to bare our family’s children! Stop asking such questions, Nicholas. What is with you this morning?” Grandfather asks.

>   “I was just curious as to why. She seems sad about the matter.”

  “She seemed sad did she? Who cares? She is constantly moody. No more of this Nicholas. I want you to take care of some business for me today at Sovereignty. Galena will assist you.”

  “I can do it. She doesn’t have to babysit me wherever I go.” Grandfather sighs deeply and sits back. “I can do it. I don’t know why you don’t trust me?”

  “Fine, handle it, but make sure you check in with me before you leave and check in with me when you get back.” I nod, already planning my day with a smile and an erection. As I walk out, I realize I forgot something, Ro. When I head back into the room, I overhear Grandfather talking about me.

  “There is something wrong,” Grandfather says. “Nicholas is showing signs of feelings and emotions,” he emphasizes with disgust. “I don’t understand how this could happen?” Grandfather sighs before asking Ro to stay in the room, as he was desperately trying to sneak out a side exit. “Have you noticed anything different about my grandson? Has he been seeing anyone? Is he having sex with someone?”

  “Ummm, no sir … I don’t know much more than Delin does. I just got here. Nick, I barely know the man. I mean, I know he … Nick, he is … well, he is a man … who … Nick likes things, and he doesn’t like things, and he likes to understand these things, and … ummm … so he asks a lot of questions so he can understand such curious things he doesn’t understand. You see?” Ro rambles, clearly not knowing what to say and what not to say.