Daughter of Asteria (The Daughter Trilogy) (12 page)

it’s pointless to allow it to wander. Do I need to remind you how much I love you?” he says softly.

I purse my lips, and Persia walks over to interrupt the conversation I don’t want to have with him

right now.

“The elevator is waiting when you’re ready,” she says softly.

Devin nods, and takes my hand to pull me forward.

“The two of you need to show some acknowledgement of other people being in the apartment

since you no longer have a padded room,” Hale teases.

Theia and Phillip grumble lightly and my eyes admonish the mocking sun. He shrugs innocently,

and Devin just shakes his head.

“All of his rooms here are padded,” Deacon adds with a menacing tone.

“Why?” I ask suspiciously.

“Because it’s Vegas, baby,” Devin smolders with a light, playful tone as he mocks Hale’s line

from earlier.

I can’t fight the grin he’s infecting me with.

Damn him and his hotness when he’s so playfully cute.

“So when are we meeting up with Hagar and Stasia?” Theia asks as she tries to shift the awkward

subject.

I grimace at the mention of
Stasia
, and Devin’s eyes show his troubled worries for my

discomfort. I try to wipe my face clean of the accidental distortion and stare at the wall as I listen.

“We’re meeting Hagar in an hour at the casino just down the strip. We’ll meet Stasia later, but-”

he pauses, hesitating to continue.

I can feel his eyes burning against me as reluctance tenses the air in the elevator just before the

doors open to the lavish, decadent - and of course - white apartment.

“But?” Theia prompts.

I walk over to the floor to ceiling windows lining the apartment and showing off the crazy world

far below.

“But,” Devin sighs, “she wants to meet us at her work. She says she can’t break away tonight, and

unless I meet her there, she won’t meet us at all,” he grumbles.

At work?
What’s so terrible about meeting her at work?

“So she doesn’t know about Adisia?” Hale snarks.

“I told her in the last text I sent, but she still wants us to meet her there. She refuses to discuss

anything with me via phone, email, or any other form of communication other than face to face,”

Devin murmurs under his breath.

Because she fucking wants him back just like Gemma.

I restrain a derisive snort and walk out to the balcony. I can’t continue listening to this

conversation.

It’s bad enough to know he’s been texting her without telling me. I’m sure she’s not too worried

about me, and I’m sure I’ll find out
why
soon enough. I don’t need to hear about the manipulative

mastermind she is ahead of time.

I breathe in the wind that strikes my face, and I long for the control I once I had over it. I hear the

door slide open, and I can feel Devin’s body behind mine as his hands grip the railing.

“I love you, and I hope I’m not asking too much of you. I promise I don’t want to see her for any

other reason than to counter their air,” he promises as his breath blows against my hair and sends

chills sliding down my neck.

I shiver slightly from the warm seduction, and then I sigh as I answer without turning around to

show him my lying eyes.

“I know. I just wanted to breathe in the new city rather than force you to feel uncomfortable

while explaining the situation with her. It’s pretty obvious why she wants you to meet up with her

face to face, but I trust you.”

He spins me around, and his lips envelope mine. I wrap my arms around his neck, and he sits me

on top of the railing, forcing my legs around his waist. His hands grip against my rear as he jerks me

tighter to his body.

“Thank you,” he murmurs against my lips.

“For what?” I breathlessly release while relishing the accidental steamy moment.

“For trusting me.”

Crap.
I don’t know if I really trust him, but this is definitely persuading me to consider it to be a

truth.

“I love you, Devin,” I strain out through my true anxiety.

“I love you, baby,” he utters with such heartwarming sincerity.

The door slides open again, and a chuckle erupts from behind Devin’s back.

“You two can’t keep your hands off of each other for five seconds,” Deacon snickers in mock

frustration.

“You ready?” Devin asks with a hint of breathlessness.

I can see his reluctance to lose his grip on me, and I feel the throbbing in my body begging his to

continue it’s seductive dance.

“Yeah. The question is, are you ready?” Deacon teases.

Devin smirks and his eyes dare mine to take him on. I accept the challenge very willingly, and

his grin spreads.

“Go on without us. We’ll catch up in a bit,” Devin murmurs with such a provocatively obvious

tone.

“As you wish. Try and keep it short though. We can’t have all play and no work,” he chuckles.

Devin just shakes his head, and my legs tighten around his waist, prompting him to bring his lips

back to mine.

Deacon makes a quick exit once the lights start to flicker, and I can hear the loud grumbles from

Gemma inside. I smile as I bask in the glorious seduction pouring into my mouth, and Devin lifts me

from my perch while keeping my legs firmly clasped against him.

He flashes to a room, and I feel the passion growing as the door shuts behind us. I don’t even

bother to look around as he places me on the bed and keeps his body planted above me.

His shirt slowly slides over his head as my greedy hands pull it free from him. The bulbs

overhead began to burst, and he smiles as his lips graze my neck with their salacious intent.

“I’ve been dying to get this tempting little black dress off of you all day,” he murmurs against my

neck.

I groan slightly at the seductive ploy, and my body squirms beneath his as he slowly pulls me up

enough to unzip the back.

His hands rise up my thighs to bring the dress to a higher peak. I feel him smiling against my

neck as his hands move to be on top of the dress until they reach my neckline, and then they start to

peel the dress from my body. I tremble under the sensations surging through me, and I almost ache

for the teasing dance to end.

I pull his lips to collide with mine, and the passion flows from my mouth to his, rushing his game.

His grip becomes more needy than restrained, and his body becomes heavier against mine as he

ends the torment. I hear the shattering of more bulbs as the energy of the room fuels my fire.

Will there ever be a time when he doesn’t completely rule my body?

I hope not.

“I’m too tired to go
anywhere now,” I force out through rasp breaths.

Devin snickers at my mortal fatigue as he pulls me from the bed.

“We need to meet the others. We’re already late for our meeting with Hagar, and now you won’t

have any time to gamble tonight.”

I smile helplessly as I revel in the incredible afterglow of our intimate, and slightly destructive,

tousle. The shattered glass from so many bulbs gives me pause, and Devin scoops me up before I can

plot a path to a safe spot.

“I wasn’t thinking. You get ready on the bed,” he says as he puts me back on the soft folds. “I’ll

clean this up before you get cut.”

He hands me my bag, and I start rifling through it to find a new outfit to wear since the black

dress didn’t survive his immortal grip. I giggle a little as I swat the shards left of it off the bed.

“I’ll buy you a new one,” he says with a menacing smirk.

“I’m still waiting on the replacement corset ensemble you shred to bits,” I tease.

His eyes flash with excitement, and his wolfish grin spreads.

“Are you trying to keep us in here all night by reminding me how incredible your body looked in

that salacious little number?” he seduces.

“No,” I giggle. “I’m just reminding you that your list of things to replace is growing.”

“You’re right. I’ll replace the corset first that way I keep a chronological order,” he smolders.

I roll my eyes as the girly grin spreads bigger across my face.

“I’m sure that’s the real reason.”

“I’m sure it’s not,” he dares. “But, it’s seems to be less crude than my actual intentions,” he

playfully adds.

I laugh a little more as I start to pull out some fresh underwear, and a breeze splashes against me

as Devin clears the dark room of all the harmful debris so fast, my eyes can’t gauge him at all.

“I’ll take care of the other rooms while you finish changing,” he says while replacing the bulbs in

a blur of speed.

“Wow. You came prepared,” I muse.

“I had the hotel load me up with as many light bulbs as they could fit in the supply closet,” he

teases.

I blush a little at the presumptuous forethought, and then I roll my eyes when his taunting gaze

offers me a little more embarrassment.

“I thought you were going to clean the other rooms,” I urge.

“Yes ma’am,” he plays.

I just laugh as he saunters out, and then I pull out another daring dress Camara procured for me.

The blue marvel drapes from one shoulder to offer a sneak peek of what’s underneath. The short

hem should play well in the night air of the Vegas life. The very tight fit shows off every inch of my

body as it hugs me almost too much.

Camara has no shame.

The mirror gasps as it sees my unruly mane left over from the spontaneous, and somewhat

elongated, sexcursion we just embarked on.

I quickly brush through the tangled mess, and then I focus on the smeared makeup that has almost

completely abandoned me.

I pull out my small travel bag -
I finally got a slut bag -
and steadily reapply until I finally feel

pleased with the end result.

I deliberately strut out on my tiptoes, and Devin’s eyes widen as he catches sight of me.

“You really do want to stay in here all night,” he breathes.

“I just wanted to look halfway decent for our first night in Vegas.”

“You surpassed your set goal. You’re stunning,” he gasps, his mouth falling to a gape.

I blush under his enamored gaze, and his lips trap mine without dally. His firm grip pulls me in

tighter to his incredible body, and I giggle a little at his sudden adoration.

“Let’s go to the meeting we’re already late for,” I murmur against his lips.

“I changed my mind. They can handle it without me,” he plays.

I laugh a little louder as I grab my purse, and he carries my hand in his as we stroll like a normal

couple into the decadent elevator.

“Why do these padded rooms have windows? I thought you couldn’t soundproof them with

windows,” I ponder aloud.

“You can when you have insight into technology that shouldn’t exist yet. I need to install them in

all my homes, but that’s going to take a while,” he smugly releases.

I roll my eyes at his slightly arrogant remark, and he leads me out the doors to the brightly lit

streets of Sin City once again.

I smile as I pass Elvis, and then Elvis again, and then Elvis - this one wearing a Hawaiian

ensemble. I had always considered that to be a cliché, but apparently it’s also true.

We turn into a casino, and I jump slightly when a loud roar erupts hysterically at a winning table.

Devin laughs at my startled response, and his hand grips me a little tighter as we approach a lounge

area.

“Hagar,” he says with chipper enthusiasm as we approach a beastly man with a shiny bald head

and a draping beard that tangles at his chest.

Wow. He’s a bit intimidating.

“Devin, you’re late,” he growls.

Theia and the others flash glances of disapproval for our tardy arrival, and I slouch as I fidget

awkwardly.

“I’m sorry. My fiancée and I got a little wrapped up in the city air. Please forgive me,” Devin

says with a smirk.

Hagar’s eyes widen as he turns his attention to me. His mouth trembles a little as he continues to

assess every inch of me, forcing me to squirm with more discomfort.

“All is forgiven. I’d be a little caught up as well if I was you. I didn’t know you had gotten

engaged,” he sighs with a hypnotized tone, his eyes still gaping into mine. “Where the blazes is her

ring?” he scolds suddenly.

Devin laughs a little as he pulls my hand up to his lips. “There was a rewind. I had her ring

custom made, and now they’re having to do it all over again. She’ll have it back soon enough,” Devin

warmly counters.

I blush feverishly under the smoldering eyes of the man I love. I was worried he had forgotten

about my ring.

Hagar’s eyes calm down, and then he continues with a more businesslike tone.

“I heard of the rewind, and Hale has told me what it is you wish for me to do. I have a wife now,

Devin. It’s dangerous for me to become associated with someone taking on Safina. She didn’t rise

from her tomb that was locked away the belly of the earth to simply lose a fair fight,” he sighs.

“If you don’t help us, you’re helping Safina. Has my mother shown you the end of the fight?”

Hagar tilts his head to the side. “No, and what do you mean I’m helping her?”