Demon Spelled (13 page)

She tossed him a wicked smile. “I’m sure you are.” She motioned for someone to enter. “You and Lyx are the focus of the news.”

The Thirteen
officially taking a concubine was akin to the Queen taking one. He turned his chair so he could gaze out the window. Below stood his concubine and his spouse. The two most important people in his life, and the softness he felt toward Sanja alarmed him.

As he watched, Lyx curled a lock of her hair around his finger, his gaze locked on her while she gaped at her surroundings. Much different than her Earthly domain, he wished he could read her mind the way Lyx could.

“I saw the news.” Baal’s residents were eager to learn more about her, but they’d only managed to dig up the information he’d leaked. Just enough knowledge to interest them and to keep the citizens speculating. None would actually attempt to malign her character for fear of his or Lyx’s wrath. “I’ll officially present her to Baal when she’s expecting our first child.”

“I will make her acquaintance before then.”

“Of course.” He hadn’t even thought about introducing her to Jakira, but it was standard protocol. If he wasn’t
The Thirteen
and one of her few trusted, she’d have already called him to the mat for the blunder. He made a mental note to rectify the gaffe soon. A dinner with immediate family and Jakira to formally present Sanja would kill two demonic-birds with one stone. Plus Lyx’s social-climbing family would eat up a soiree with Jakira. Would likely be on their best behavior as well, because he fully expected them to snub their woman. They would be subtle about it because an outright rebuff in public would bring about his and Lyx’s wrath. How they reacted in private would be anyone’s guess.

Jakira touched a fingertip to one of the snakes about her head and caressed the tiny serpent. “Wonder if I could interest Sybil in defecting to Baal.”

“Why do you want her so bad?” Troz could do without mother-in-law interference. He’d treat his concubine how he pleased without any expectation from her mother. Sybil earthbound made his life less complicated.

The snake coiled around Jakira’s finger, its darting tongue touching her skin. “I want to own her power.”

Troz laughed. No wonder Sybil never agreed to Jakira’s request.

“You could talk to her for me, Troz. Make a formal invite on my behalf.”

Another glance out the window showcased his lovers still. Lyx stared at their woman like an infatuated man. Yeah, Troz could understand his enchantment. He inhaled deeply as he watched his spouse run his fingers through her hair.

“I want my concubine to have a chance to settle in first. I’ll pay Sybil a visit in a week or two and issue your formal invite. Will that please you, Jakira?” It was rude to speak to her without looking at her, but at this point he couldn’t care less. Watching his lovers was more entertaining.

“I’d be more pleased if you’d give me your undivided attention.”

He cut his eyes at Jakira and presented her with a smirk. “I’m distracted.”

“I’m unsure what to think about your schoolboy crush.”

That he didn’t care to deny her assessment of his conduct, testified to the depth of his emotions. “Don’t for one minute believe it makes me less dangerous.”

From the corner of his eyes, he noted Jakira kissed the head of a serpent. “If anything it makes you more dangerous. You have someone to protect. That’ll make you even more treacherous.”

That got his attention, and he focused on his Queen. “I had Lyx before her.”

She snorted. “Lyx can take care of himself. In a fight, I’d place my bets on him rather than you.”

Betting on Lyx would be a winning hand. His spouse was a skilled soldier, lethal, and beautiful to watch as he eliminated his opponents with ease. Troz, on the other hand, was skilled at annihilating demons socially and economically. He went for the spirit of an individual rather than the soul like Lyx. Together they were indomitable.

“Of course your new acquisition will turn Lyx more steadfast. Doubt I’ll see him out and about prowling for a fast lay anytime soon.”

“Just because he likes to fuck anything with a hole never indicated he wasn’t loyal to our family.” To imply otherwise rankled. They’d never expected monogamy from one another. Fidelity was Sanja’s lot, not theirs, although, at the moment, Troz wanted his dick in no other cunt but hers.

How long will it take for the newness to wear off
? When would he seek another lover? Presently he couldn’t see that day forthcoming.

He ran his hand through his hair. Why’d it feel like he’d entered a new stage in his life? One that would forever alter him?

“Go back to your fuck-toy.” Her crudeness was uncalled for, but he realized it wouldn’t have bothered him had she said it of any of his prior lovers. “The next time I see you, I hope you’re less frazzled.”

Me too.
“Keep me updated on the angels.”

Jakira inclined her head and disconnected the call.

Troz watched Lyx and Sanja until they exited the lawn. Only then did he return to various issues that must be resolved.

LYX TOOK SANJA
on a tour of his and Troz’s home. Since being left on the edge of orgasm, the woman jittered worse than a Baalian jumping bean. To give her time to acclimate back to normal, he refrained from touching her beyond his initial contact when he led her out of the kitchen. A discussion about her reaction was in order with Troz. He’d never witnessed an individual take the frustration so hard. Goose bumps erupted along her flesh, and her jaw clenched as she rubbed her arms. Half a dozen times he caught the faint sound of a moan. Struggling with arousal thirty minutes later wasn’t a normal demon response, which reminded him of the fragility of their concubine.

Eyes wide as they traversed through the first three floors, she remained silent as she grappled with her discomfort and assessed her new lodgings. When they hit the fourth story, she gawked at the canvases lining the walls of the portrait room. “These are of yours and Troz’s family?”

“Yes.” Lyx laced his hands together behind his back and held his position, watching her move about the room. Her long auburn hair cascaded along her spine, falling almost to her lower back. The curve of her hips flared into the rounded globes of her ass. She thought she was fleshy—no, she’d called it chubby. He thought she was curvaceous and goddamn perfect. If not for Troz’s punishment in effect, he’d have taken her here for all the eyes of his ancestors to watch. He cleared his throat. “Do you paint portraits?”

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Sometimes.”

“What do you paint other times?”

“I draw with pencils a lot. Black and whites, with lots of shading, that’s my favorite. It takes patience and skill to capture the essence of a person in a black and white, but….” She trailed off as a blush hit her cheeks. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bore you with the nuances of art. I get overly excited when I talk about it.”

“If it’s important to you, it’s important to me. I want to know all the minor details.”

A slight cant to her head as she studied him. She finally stopped walking and stared up at a painting. “He looks a lot like you.”

“Great-great grandfather. Swipe your hand across the base of the frame and a bio will pop up.” She followed his instructions and gasped when a hologram presented. “Have you ever sold your works?”

She nodded. “A few. It takes the right client to get my style of art.”

“Why is that?”

That question darkened her eyes. Sanja shrugged and indicated his great-great grandfather. “He’s still alive?”

She’d ignored his question. Unsure if he should be intrigued that she’d managed to snuff him from her thoughts or irritated, he answered her question. “Yes. Although he rarely leaves the coast these days.”

“He lives on Earth?”

“No.” He grinned, her incredulity amusing him. If she only knew how much fortitude it took to resist walking to her and embracing her. “We have a beach too, my sex-pet.”

“Oh.” She shot another look at his ancestor before peering at the others. “Where are you and Troz?”

“We don’t have one. Wanted to wait until we found our concubine.”
Or wife
. She looked away, and he wondered why that statement bothered her. Lyx strode to her, the heels of his boots clicking on the tiled floor. When he reached her, he placed his fingertip beneath her chin and tilted her head back to stare into her eyes. “How does it feel to know a portrait of you will grace these walls?”

“What….” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“State it.” He could already hear her thoughts, but he needed her to trust him enough to say how she felt.

“Why? You’re probably already in my fucking head.”

Most of the time her sass amused him and turned him on, now wasn’t one of those moments. “Do you wish to feel my hand on your ass?”

A slight tremble scurried through her body, reminding him of her current discomfort, and she took a hurried step away from him. In a rush, she said, “What if I don’t work out?” She held up a hand as if to ward him off. “Please don’t punish me for that question.”

“I will never punish you for your fears. Not trusting me to voice them
will
warrant punishment.” Her relieved exhale was like shrapnel to his pride and chafed his ego that she feared him this much. He wasn’t unreasonable. “Tell me, why do you believe you won’t work out?”

“Look at me, Lyx.” She held her arms out to the side. He loved looking at her. Could become his favorite pastime and addicting. “I’m an overweight girl—”

“You’re not.”

“—with self-confidence issues.”

That is the fucking truth.
And he despised that she couldn’t see her value.

“No man has ever wanted me just for me. Not even….” She gaped at him and sucked in a ragged breath, as if she suddenly realized her mistake too late, but couldn’t back down now. “Not even you and Troz want me for me. If I’m not a good baby maker, there’s really no reason to keep me. I repeat, what if I don’t work out?” Her final sentence was issued just above a whisper. “Will you pass me off as used goods or sell me to the highest bidder the way Horace would’ve?”

Goddamn it, no
! That she believed they would pissed him off to the –
nth
degree. But he’d demanded her honesty, and he wouldn’t allow her to observe his anger, so he ground his teeth and focused on her other concerns.

He’d never heard of a witch that couldn’t conceive with a demon. There were tests they could perform to determine her fertility. But he surprised himself when he realized whether she could conceive or not mattered little to him. She was
his
concubine regardless if she could produce an heir, and she’d remain with them either way. He was pretty sure Troz would agree. “Do you want us to keep you?”

Frustrated by his question, she blew out a long breath and shook her head. “I-I want to go home.”

A rueful smile tugged at his lips. When would she admit her attraction to them? The hesitancy in her gaze indicated she expected him to blister her backside any moment for her honesty. He wouldn’t, because he needed her to open up to him. This was a starting point. “Since that’s not a choice, I’m afraid my other options might be worse than what y’all represent.”

Another demon probably would treat her poorly. Being part human was not a selling point in her favor. Many Baalians were prejudiced against her race. Her angel blood even more of a detriment. Indeed, there would be many demons that would purchase her just to torture her, a sick and twisted sort of justice against angels and humans. Her biggest asset was the witch she denied. That alone made her marketable to demons that could overlook her human and angelic ancestry. Those like him and Troz who wanted children without regard to the rest of her genetics.

“We give you orgasms. Most of Baal’s residents wouldn’t bother with your pleasure. They’d only take their own.” Goddamnit, he enjoyed watching her come. Troz had gotten her close so many times in the kitchen and then left her without release. Watching her get right to the edge and then be denied, knowing she suffered, even that had turned him on, but then he’d always been a bit of a sadist.

“That has nothing to do with personalities and if I’ll clash with you and Troz. Y’all might decide you don’t like me much. That I’m too big a pain in your ass.” He snorted, and she shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Sadness tilted the corners of her eyes and sagged her shoulders. In her young life, she’d already been the victim of too much bullshit. He wanted to protect her from further injustice. He wanted to use his claws on those who’d harmed her in the past.

“You fit Troz and I nicely, my sex-pet.” She opened her mouth to argue, but he talked over her. “I see inside you. Don’t forget that. I like the woman beneath the gruff external shell. You’re a warrior, you’re strong, and I respect the hell out of you. But on the inside, you’re sweet, and kind, with a heart that has the capacity to love without expectations. I seldom like anyone the first time I meet them. Not the case with you.”

“You don’t have to like me to want to fuck me. That’s all that was on your mind yesterday when we met.”

Valid point
. “I’ve more to show you. We can continue our discussion while we walk.”

“There are more floors to this monstrosity you call a home?”

Lyx chuckled. “Six floors in total.” One of which was directly beneath their bedroom. A chamber dedicated to sexual delights. Soon they’d introduce her to that room.

He offered her his hand and waited patiently while she contemplated accepting his offer. Various thoughts swirled through her mind. The fiercest among them was that touching him would increase her arousal to the point it might become unbearable. She finally settled her hand into his and cringed as their flesh connected.

That’d been hard for her to swallow. “Thank you, Sanja.”

She nodded, her bottom lip trembling.

“I’m sorry for your pain.”

“Don’t lie.” She wouldn’t look at him.

“I cannot prevaricate, which is why Troz took to your white lies so strongly and why you were chastised.” He led her out of the room and to the transport that’d take them to outside. As she peered about he gleaned from her thoughts that the transport was much like her elevator. “Trust me when I tell you he’d much rather have gotten you off and then filled your womb with his cum.”

She bit her bottom lip and he faced her, bracketing his palms on either side of her head against the walls of the conveyance. “I’d ease your suffering if it wasn’t Troz’s punishment.”

Sanja swiped at a tear below her right eye, and the anger she fed to herself at her emotions bled into his mind. “Is it normal to hurt like this when denied climax…repeatedly?”

“No others before you have. I’m guessing your DNA is to blame.” The level of Troz’s discipline might require adjustment in the future. She was too headstrong for there not to be a next time. “Or Baal is the culprit.” At her confused look, he explained, but not before she breathed deeply, his scent filling her head. She liked how he smelled. And
he
liked that. “Baal enhances sensation for non-demons. Because you’re witch and angel, those two combined, along with Baal’s affect on you, could be the cause of your distorted misery. In other words, you
feel
more than the average human would.” If that were the case, his sadistic tendencies would require toning down as well. Because he
would
demonstrate how a little bit of pain could thrust her into an entirely new realm of pleasure.

“That’s kinda scary to think about.”

Grinning, he stepped aside and leaned a shoulder against the wall beside her. “You said I didn’t have to like you in order to want to fuck you.”

She peeked at him through her lashes, waiting for him to continue.

“Technically that’s true. But within the first ten minutes of meeting you, you tried to kill yourself, and I was already hooked into your mind. I like you very much, Sanja, even if you don’t wish to believe me. Just as you are attracted to us while you deny that attraction and lie about it even to yourself.” He took her hand again and interlaced their fingers. “Can’t you at least try to give us a chance? Get to know us before you decide we’re vile creatures?”

“I know you’re not vile creatures. Mom might not have done all her witch homework, but she taught me there were various degrees of demonic evilness. Baal is not among the evil class of hell spawn. But….” She turned her head to stare directly into his eyes. “Is it so hard to understand why I’d prefer to have a choice in my future? You both took my virginity without asking, and I’d never
ever
planned to participate in anal sex. It’s so…perverted.”

He chuckled. What naivety. She’d enjoyed their claiming even if it was another aspect she refused to admit. “You especially enjoyed Troz in your ass and me inside your pussy at the same time. That experience took you to a higher level of pleasure. That
will
be repeated. Frequently.”

Her thoughts told him she wished she didn’t like double penetration. He failed to comprehend why she’d want to deny herself pleasure. But he chalked it up to another human weirdness.

“We’ll do many perverted things to you in the years to come.” Lyx ran his thumb along her bottom lip, while his fingers rested on her throat directly over her pulse. “I have a room dedicated to perversion. We’ll put clamps on your nipples and even a clamp on your clit.”