devil 04 - the devil you know Read online

  The Devil You Know

  Sam Cheever

  Book 5 in the Dancin’ With the Devil series.

  Astra Q. Phelps is turning twenty-five in a few months and she’s starting to feel the effects of her Settling, the time when a half angel, half devil Tweener decides whether to embrace her dark nature or her light.

  The delectable Dialle, king of the Royal devils, really needs Astra’s help in Hell to deal with an insurrection. But Astra’s Settling pretty much has her thinking of only one thing—S.E.X.!

  Sex with Dialle, sex with her yummy partner Emo, sex with a molten-hot dragon slayer she meets along the way, and sex with assorted other randy Royals cavorting among the fires of Hell. It’s a constant struggle just to keep her mind and body pure so she can concentrate on the business at hand, but Astra Q Phelps is definitely up for the challenge. And Good versus Evil has never been this much fun!

  Publisher’s Note: Books 1-4 in Ms. Cheever’s Dancin’ With the Devil series can be found at http://www.cerridwenpress.com.

  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  The Devil You Know

  ISBN 9781419931215

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  The Devil You Know Copyright © 2010 Sam Cheever

  Edited by Helen Woodall

  Cover art by Dar Albert

  Electronic book publication October 2010

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  The Devil You Know

  Sam Cheever

  Dedication

  I’d like to dedicate this book to Martha, who was one of the first and is definitely one of the staunchest Astra Q. Phelps fans I have. Thank you for beating me into writing this book, Martha. If you hadn’t applied that two-by-four upside my head at RomantiCon last year, I probably would have let the series end with book three. As it is, I’m oh so glad I wrote The Devil You Know, because it truly was the most fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on! Enjoy it, girl!

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Pitchfork: Arizona Board of Regents, for and on behalf of Arizona State University body corporate

  The Devil You Know

  The Devil you know may break your heart, be cold and without soul.

  But acquaintance makes the Devil you know, more friend than deadly foe.

  The Devil you know might stain your soul, its motives ne’r do well.

  But comfort lies with the Devil you know, tho’ it damn your soul to Hell.

  Prologue

  Milestones and Millstones

  The Devil you know will comfort bring, though chaos be your friend,

  The Devil you wish mayn’t solve a thing, and slay you in the end.

  Sometime around 2060, the world went to war again and opened up a whole new can of worms. Up until then humans thought they had it pretty rough on this Earth, with poverty, crime, disease, your everyday evil forces and the general disintegration of morality.

  However, when the laser guns and plasma bombs finished smashing a geographic area comprising about seventy percent of the surface of the Earth into smithereens, something eminently evil used the resulting chaos to slither its way into the world. This evil something hadn’t been seen before by human eyes, but had always been there, in a parallel dimension, watching the show and waiting for its turn to join in the fun. And every once in a while, when Earth’s defenses were particularly low, this something would reach across that barrier and tweak us a little. Which explains things like mosquitoes, liver and onions and reality shows.

  Devils and demons were never meant to walk among us. But once they’d found a way to get through, God had no choice but to send his angels in to keep an eye on them. Several minor skirmishes have already been fought between the forces of good and evil, since that time thirty years ago when the first devil snuck through Earth’s defenses. The angels, with the Big Guy at their backs, are winning the battles so far, but the outcome of the war is still uncertain.

  About ten years ago God started using Tweeners to help the good side out. The only problem with Tweeners is that, by our very makeup, we are some portion devil. That’s why we understand and know how to defeat the forces of evil. But it is also what has made us a little bit unpredictable to the good guys.

  What exactly is a Tweener, you ask? A Tweener is a non-human. We have neither wings nor horns, but generally have both angel and devil in our family forests. Which is probably why we enjoy a higher sensitivity to spectral influence than regular human people.

  My name is Astra Q. Phelps. Don’t ask me what the Q stands for because that little piece of info will go with me to the crematorium. I’ve had all printed documentation of the name destroyed and, though a lot of my enemies have tried to dig it out, no one will ever know what it stands for. A girl has to have some secrets. Especially when the truth would cause her some serious embarrassment.

  I run a business called the Angel Network, which is the only devil-and-demon locating-and-destroying business in the universe. In other words, I kick serious evil butt for a living. I am a Tweener.

  Recently the Celestial Army has been keeping me pretty busy saving the world. Over and over and over and… Well, you get what I’m saying. The human world just has trouble staying saved.

  I’ve also been dealing with some pretty intense feelings for a certain gorgeous Royal Devil, who may or may not be the great unifier of prophecy. It’s been a busy and confusing time. But it’s about to get much worse.

  My twenty-fifth birthday is just a few months away.

  The thing about that twenty-fifth birthday is…well…for Tweeners it’s kind of make or break time. It’s called our Settling and it’s the culmination of our growth period. The time when we become what we will be in life. It’s also the time when the dark side of our nature has the greatest pull.

  It is on our twenty-fifth birthday that we decide which way we’re gonna go. Good or bad. Black or white. Gray usually isn’t an option. And outside influences have a lot to do with the outcome. In my case, my influence pool is decidedly murky, given the fact that I hang out a lot with devils.

  Really hot devils.

  Extremely sexy devils.

  Truly, stupendously, ripped, horny, sensual devils.

  Incredibly…um… Okay, you get it.

  Right.

  Anyway, as the fateful date approaches, I can feel the changes boiling just under the surface of my mind.

  My skin quivers with it.

  My body heat
s.

  And my libido… Well…let’s just say my boyfriend’s threatening to go off planet just to get some much-needed rest.

  Of course he doesn’t mean it.

  At least I don’t think he does…

  Chapter One

  Crowned!

  Our randy miss doth pitch a fit, o’er an audience of red,

  But in the end she’ll welcome it, to warm her lover’s bed.

  “Tell me again why we have to have sex in front of twelve hundred people?”

  Dialle sighed, tugging on a stray lock of my auburn hair. “Not people, Astra. Devils.”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Answer the question.”

  His full, soft lips dropped to within a single steamy breath of mine. “Don’t you want to have sex with me?”

  I sucked in his essence and my knees wobbled, my happy place clenched with desire and my heart started to do the rumba in my chest. I licked my lips. “That’s not pertinent.”

  His lips touched mine, a feathersoft kiss that stole air from my lungs and filled my sexy thong with moisture. “It’s extremely pertinent, my queen.”

  My world tilted, wavered and turned muzzy under a wave of lust. I even forgot to yell at him for calling me his queen.

  Sighing, I forced myself to focus. “It is not pert…pert…um, what you said.”

  Those treacherous lips descended again, pulling my will to resist away and replacing it with a tsunami of lustful inclinations.

  My lips met his hungrily. My mind might want to argue, but my damn traitorous body just wanted us to hump, hump, hump like bunnies. As the kiss intensified, I whimpered and ran my fingers up under his shirt.

  His golden skin was smooth, hairless and unnaturally heated. His masculine scent folded over me, leaving my mind feeling as if I’d consumed copious amounts of some kind of drug.

  The kiss grew hungry, nearly frantic. I tilted my head to capture his mouth more thoroughly and my tongue slid out to tangle with his. His mouth was hot and sweet, like melted butter under my tongue. He tasted of raw, unfettered sensuality.

  Pure decadence.

  I slid my fingers into the waistband of his tight leather jeans and pulled him close. He gasped as my fingers stretched the soft leather and slid inside, finding him hard and more than ready for me.

  I cupped the fat head of his cock in my palm and shivered as a bead of moisture touched my skin. My mind formed a high-definition picture of my tongue licking that bead of sweet saltiness off my palm. I shivered with delight under the visual.

  I was lost. Toasted. Sucker punched by my hormone-crazed body. My slut-monkey side had beaten my weakened conscience into tattered, bleeding submission. I would have consumed him then and there, right on the floor of the throne room of the Royal Devil Court, but our skin sparked and it startled me.

  I pulled away.

  We never used to spark. Only my daemon hickey used to spark, and that, only when we communicated from a distance, or another male came too close.

  But lately we’d been creating literal sparks whenever we touched in a sensual way. It was a bit disconcerting to say the least.

  I pulled away and licked my lips. His taste lingered on the swollen flesh and my body clenched with desire. “I’m going to have to buy fireproof clothes if that keeps up.”

  Dialle’s grin was wicked. “Or you could just go naked all the time.”

  “Har! In your dreams, bud.”

  “Actually, yes, that has been a central theme in my dreams on many occasions.”

  I couldn’t help sharing his smile. Then I remembered the conversation I’d been trying to have before he kissed me. I crossed the room and sat down. When he made a move to join me I held up a hand, palm out, to stop him. “You stay over there. So I can breathe.”

  His black eyes sparked with mischief but, for once, he did as I asked.

  “Now tell me about this crowning ceremony.”

  He inclined his head and dropped his perfect, well-rounded ass onto the arm of a nearby chair. “Since my father has been recalled to Hades, I must serve as king until he returns.”

  I nodded. “I’m with you up to that point.” Dialle and I had recently intercepted a plot by King Dialle the First to overtake Saint Peter and breach the Pearly Gates. The happy result of that fight was that King Dialle had been reimprisoned in Hell for the foreseeable future, his “get out of Hell free” pass rescinded by the Big Guy.

  “I am, of course, the most obvious choice to succeed him—”

  “Wait a minute. The most obvious choice? Aren’t you the only choice?”

  He cocked his well-shaped head, the silken black curtain of his hair drifting to rest against one broad shoulder. The strands curled enticingly where they touched the black silk of his shirt. His smooth, golden pecs showed in the deep vee of the unbuttoned shirt. My eyes glazed a bit and I had to do a metaphorical headshake to get my focus back.

  The hormonal consequences of my Settling were…well…unsettling.

  “Lovely Astra, you of all people should understand that things are never that simple in the devil court.”

  I lifted my eyebrows and shrugged. “Right. I forgot for a moment that I wasn’t talking about rational beings.”

  “Devils are rational, Astra. Just not in the same way you are. We have our own rationality.”

  “Whatever. Anyway…”

  He slid into the seat of the chair he’d been resting against and crossed one long, slimly muscled leg across the other, ankle to knee, man style. I licked my lips as this new position gave me a prime vantage point to his nicely rounded package.

  I blinked. Why was I fighting having sex with him again? Oh yeah, twelve hundred horned and horny voyeurs. Got it.

  “To become king, I must undergo the crowning ceremony. The words of the ceremony create powerful magics that ensure the loyalty of my subjects.”

  I nodded. All that made perfect sense to me. The sex in front of strangers part though, not so much.

  “Unfortunately for you, the ceremony isn’t complete until I consummate it with my chosen mate.”

  “I’m not your mate.”

  “Ah, but you are, lovely Tweener. You bear my mark on your neck and you carry my heart in your pocket.”

  Glaring at him, I got up to pace. “The mark was given against my will.”

  “I would dispute that assessment, my love. But even if it were true, it would not diminish its meaning…or its effect.”

  I stopped pacing long enough to fix him with an angry frown. “This mark was given to me in a weak moment of passion. I had no idea at the time what it entailed. It wasn’t very nice of you to lock me into all of this without even asking if I was interested.”

  He lifted his hands out to the sides and cocked his head. “Devil, Astra.”

  I sighed. What could I say? He had a point. When you hung out with devils, you kind of had to expect to get screwed.

  Fortunately it was usually a frunkin’ fine experience.

  * * * * *

  Dialle sprawled on the throne, his long legs spread wide, one stretched straight and the other bent at the knee. He wore only tight white breeches, which outlined his natural assets beautifully, and soft knee-high boots.

  His hairless golden chest glistened in the soft light of the chamber, looking as if he’d been polished for my viewing pleasure.

  I stood at the back of the room and wiped sweaty palms on the gauzy gown they’d held me down and forced me into and swallowed hard.

  Call me chicken, but I’d rather fight an army of supra-demons than have sex in front of hundreds of devils.

  Brawwwkkkk!

  I focused on Dialle’s angelic features and the way his glossy black hair slid over his broad shoulders. Licking my lips, I allowed the twinge of lust that sparked easily to life low in my belly to grow with thoughts of our last time together. A full week ago now, due to the restraints of ceremony and my own busy schedule, you know, saving the world and stuff.

  No wonder my skin felt as if every
nerve ending was on fire. My Settling was fully upon me now, which meant I was a walking, talking hormonal mess. I needed to get me some hard, hot, sexy Royal Devil soon or I might explode.

  Several feet in front of the throne was a long, low altar-type construction with velvet padding on top. My eyes kept straying worriedly toward it, wishing it had a couple of walls at least, to provide some modicum of privacy for the act.

  It wasn’t the act I was worried about. Certainly not that. It was the observers. It was my staunch, unwavering opinion that some things just shouldn’t be group activities.

  Sex was at the top of that list.

  Suddenly, Dialle straightened in the throne and stood, looking toward the back of the room, directly at me. I fought the urge to look over my shoulder and held my ground, praying he was watching someone else approach and it wasn’t my time on stage just yet.

  I was relieved when someone stepped up beside me, thinking that I’d been given a few moments’ reprieve. And then I was newly terrified when that someone held out his arm and cocked a dark, elegant eyebrow at me.

  Torre. Dialle’s brother.

  I widened my eyes at him and he rolled his lips, trying not to smile. “When you’re ready, my queen.”

  I scowled. “Then I guess we can all leave now.”

  He gave me a look that reminded me way too much of my sister, Darma, who unfortunately happened to be his girlfriend.

  Sighing, I placed my hand on his arm and we started down the aisle, toward Dialle. “I don’t know why I have to get dragged into Dialle’s coronation.”

  “It is the way of our people.”

  I made a face and mocked his snotty tone of voice.

  Torre just grinned. At least he had a sense of humor. Unlike his surly girlfriend.