devil 04 - the devil you know Read online

  I snorted in a less than ladylike way. “Of course not! But I’m on the cusp here. I might need some spiritual guidance or something.”

  It was his turn to snort. “You’re a funny girl, Astra.”

  I turned away in disgust and started pacing again. Flick continued to throw white clothing into a white suitcase in his monochromatically white cloud.

  Finally, sighing, I gave a thought to sitting down and a chair appeared under my butt. I dropped into it, feeling unaccountably squirmy and uncertain. Something brewed in the center of my chest and made my stomach churn with worry. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I felt something coming my way and I was pretty sure I wasn’t gonna like it.

  Whatever it was.

  The premonition made it hard to sit still. Standing up, I thought the chair away and resumed pacing.

  Flick closed his suitcase with a white click and turned to me. “You’re a mess, Astra.”

  I glared at him. “You think? That’s why I need my angel contingent around. This is a terrible time for all of you to desert me.”

  Flick shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Astra. This conference occurs only once every thousand years and it’s mandatory.” He glanced around. “You’re welcome to stay here on my cloud if you want. Until the Settling is over…” He glanced away. A five-hundred-year-old virgin, Flick was hopelessly uncomfortable with all things sexual. And even he couldn’t miss the recent spike in my libido brought on by my Settling. I even walked differently these days, with a kind of feline sway and glide, rather than my usual stomp and stalk.

  Sighing, I resisted the devilish urge to give over to the skank side of my nature and tweak Flick a little with some outrageous flirting. I mean, let’s face it, as a five-hundred-year-old virgin he had enough problems of his own to deal with.

  “Okay. Enjoy your damn conference. Bring me back a t-shirt.”

  Flick grinned at me. “Size small…in white?”

  “Bleurgh!” I shifted off the cloud and back to my office, where I proceeded to pace some more. I was so immersed in my thoughts that a soft knock on the doorframe of my office door made me jerk around in surprise.

  My business partner Emo’s dark, handsome face peered in at me. He stayed in the hallway, his dark eyes filled with wariness, which I knew hid a deep-seated yearning that was making both of us increasingly uncomfortable.

  He was a Tweener just like I was, but as a young boy, Emo had been turned by an evil Devil King into a lower form of devil because he wouldn’t kill one of his parents. I had known him strictly in that form, at least as far back as I could remember, since King Nerul had also messed with people’s memories of Emo so that we wouldn’t remember him as the adorable dark-haired little waif he must have been.

  As my partner and a short, squat, red guy with blazing red eyes and horns, there hadn’t been any sexual tension between us. At least on my part. But since Nerul had died and Emo had been released from his curse, showing his true, Royal Devil form, I’d been fighting some serious yummy reactions to him.

  Which had only exacerbated his longtime um…fondness…for me.

  My Settling had made everything ten times worse.

  Sometimes, when we stood too close, with his heat and unique, incredible musk enveloping me, I was hard-pressed to remember why I couldn’t just strip him, throw him to the ground and hop on his ditty.

  I gave him a wary smile. “Hey, partner.”

  Emo’s smile was strained. Royals could smell lust. He was probably getting a snoutful at that moment. “Astra.”

  I frowned to hide my hurt feelings at his icy greeting. “What’s up?”

  “There’s a troll uprising downtown. It appears they’ve taken an interest in the underwear store at the mall. According to the very frantic manager, who was locked in her office with a few of the clerks who managed to escape when the trolls broke in, they’ve been putting the underwear on their heads and wearing the frilly teddy-bear nighties as leg warmers.”

  I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Our jobs are so interesting.”

  He nodded, smiling at last. “The manager was sobbing into my ear and was hard to understand, but I think she said the trolls were getting violent because she didn’t have underwear big enough to fit their queen’s head.”

  I laughed. “Do you need me?”

  A spark flared in Emo’s beautiful black eyes, sending instant shock waves through my overcharged body. But it passed quickly and he shook his head. “I can handle it, boss.”

  “Okay. Let me know if you change your mind. I can be there in a heartbeat.”

  I watched him leave with a heavy heart. We used to have fun taking on these weird little tasks together. But since my Settling started, he’d been staying as far away from me as he could. I missed our old comfortable, friendly relationship.

  However, I didn’t ruminate on Emo for very long. The air in my office sparked and thickened and Dialle was suddenly standing there, mere inches from my face. I gasped as his hands closed around my waist and he pulled me up hard against his body. “Hello, Astra.”

  His lips found mine and all the air in my lungs combusted as I dragged his scent and his heat into my body, savoring it and rolling it around on my tongue like a fine wine. My body fired with hunger, clenching and weeping as Dialle’s hot tongue warred delightfully with mine.

  I slid my hands from his hips, down over his firm, round buttocks and yanked him closer, rubbing my belly against his cock.

  Dialle gasped and bit my bottom lip gently. Frissons of stark desire tore through my body.

  I whimpered, pulling at his clothes.

  With a sigh, Dialle pulled away. “I can’t stay, Astra. I have a problem I need to deal with.”

  Licking my lips, I frowned. “So go take care of it. Why’d you come here?”

  He ran a smooth fingertip over my bottom lip. I closed my eyes and fought the urge to suck the heated digit into my mouth. “I wanted to say goodbye. I’m going to be gone for a while.”

  My eyes popped open. “What? Where are you going?”

  He lowered the finger and frowned. “As you might not know, I have subjects on other planes. They’re a wild bunch, undisciplined and used to doing as they please. They’re outcasts of a sort, and up until now they’ve been ignored and left to their own devices. But last night one of them tried to kill me.”

  “Shit! Do you want me to kick his ass?”

  Dialle’s smile made my pussy clench. He reached toward me, caressing the teardrop-shaped daemon hickey on my neck. Sparks met the touch of his finger against my skin. A tsunami of sensual feeling roared over me, making me shudder with lust.

  “I like this new protective instinct toward me, my love.”

  I forced myself to turn away, moving to stand in front of the single large window behind my desk. “Don’t get too excited, bud. It’s in my nature to protect. I’d protect you if you were a stranger on the street.”

  The air behind me heated and strong hands found my shoulders, sliding to my throat and down, to cup my breasts. Talented fingers tweaked my nipples, bringing them to hard points beneath my soft sweater.

  His lips closed over the tender flesh of my neck and I dropped my head to the side, giving him better access. He kissed his way down to my shoulder and then across my nape to the other side. When his mouth closed over the daemon hickey, enveloping it in heat, I was gone.

  Dialle sucked on the tender flesh, drawing jolts of pleasure from my sensual core with each strong pull. I cried out, leaning heavily against the warm, smooth skin of his chest. I realized he’d shed his clothes with a thought. A cool draft on my belly told me he’d shed mine too.

  His talented fingers left my nipples and slid down my belly, into the moist curls at the juncture of my quivering thighs. The hand closed over my pussy and two strong fingers slid inside. I shuddered, moaning.

  Bending me toward the wall, he leaned over me and whispered in my ear. “I’ll miss you, lovely Tweener.” I felt the thick, hard head of
his cock against my throbbing entrance and, when he drove deep, I moaned, teetering on the bright edge of my release.

  Dialle groaned as my body clasped him and began a leisurely, sensual assault. His hard flesh slid slowly in and out of my body, stopping each time just before the fat head of his cock left my clutching warmth.

  As my orgasm built low in my belly, I widened my stance and bent lower, resting my forehead against the cool glass of the window and grasping the windowsill with white fingers. I lifted my ass higher to give him better access. His lips found the sensitive skin of my back, feathering a warm trail up my spine as his hard length branded me from the inside.

  His strokes were long and slow, building release like a smoldering fire, rather than a raging inferno. But the result was no less combustible for the tenderness of his assault. My body burned for him. The air around us flamed and roiled from our mating. My pussy was painful with yearning. I felt his every kiss, his every touch, like a lick of fire against my skin.

  He reached around my body and laid a strong finger against my clitoris. Without moving the finger, he sent a jolt of power into the tender bud of flesh and my world exploded. Sensation roared through me. My muscles stiffened against the onslaught and stars burst before my eyes. Pleasure rolled over me and my knees buckled. If it weren’t for Dialle’s iron grip around my waist I would have hit the floor.

  Somewhere at the edge of my awareness I realized Dialle’s flesh jerked within me. His arms were iron bands around my body as he succumbed to his own violent release. As he spent himself in hot jets that burned deep in my sensual core, his lips formed my name like a tender caress.

  I’ll return to you as soon as I can, Astra.

  And then he was just…gone.

  I straightened away from the wall as the televisual sounded a beep to warn me of an incoming transmission. I turned around just as my sister’s face swam online. She didn’t say a word, just lifted an eyebrow at me. “A bit underdressed for the office aren’t you, Astra?”

  I looked down and shrieked. Dialle had forgotten to think my clothes back onto me before he left. “End visual!”

  A wry smile touched my sister’s lips as her face disappeared from the screen. Taking a deep breath, I looked around for my clothes. Nothing. He’d blipped them into the great unknown. Damn! I hated when he did that!

  All I had was my long leather trench coat and an old pair of boots. I headed toward them. “What’s up, Darma?”

  “I wondered if you’d heard from Dialle. I guess that question has been answered.”

  I frowned toward the back of the televisual, just barely resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at it. “Why do you ask?”

  “He took Torre with him off plane. To some insurrection or something. I-I’m worried, Astra.”

  My sister had never been in love before. She’s always been the efficient, practical, dependable sort…with the sour temperament that goes along with all that selflessness like crackers with chili. But recently she’d discovered love with Dialle’s brother Torre. It had been a true wonder to watch happen. And, mostly, I was happy that she’d managed to find some poor shlug to drag around by the ear. But she didn’t really know the rules for dating, so I’ve sort of become her dating confident.

  A very uncomfortable position to be in. Believe me. You’ve heard the term, “kill the messenger,” right? You should have been there the night I told her she couldn’t be at Dialle’s crowning ceremony.

  Pulling the cool leather over my shoulders, I shivered from the memory.

  But, true warrior that I am, I took a deep breath and gave her the bad news. “They’ll likely be gone for a while.”

  Rigid, angry silence emerged from the televisual. I was really glad I couldn’t see her face at that moment. It would probably turn me to stone.

  “Darma?”

  “I’m going to find him.”

  I dropped my butt into a chair and grabbed the first boot, shaking my head. “You can’t. Don’t even think about it, Darma.”

  “Why not? Who’s going to stop me?” She was quickly approaching a level of shrieking that could be used as a weapon all by itself. I grimaced and tugged on the last boot.

  “Nobody’s going to stop you, Darma. I just meant that Torre wouldn’t want you there…”

  A gasp sounded from the blackened communication screen. I hurried on before she exploded the televisual. “Because you’d be in danger. He would want you to stay here and be safe.”

  “I don’t care what he wants. I’m terrified for him. I want to go and protect him!”

  Shaking my head, I dropped my butt into my office chair. “He’s not a helpless little babe, Darma.” Though with Darma around he was darn close to it. Though it had been several months since she’d discovered her own powers, she still scowled on the use of magic, and poor Torre, in a confused effort to please his lady love, refused to use his powers when she was around, making him pretty much a walking target around the big, bad nasties. “And he’s got Dialle and an entire army behind him.” I finished.

  I was pretty much winging the army part. I didn’t really know how many of his soldiers Dialle had taken with him. I mean…it’s not like we’d had an in-depth conversation before he’d left. My body tingled anew and my cheeks pinked in memory of his last few minutes in my office. But he wasn’t stupid, so I had to assume he’d taken backup. Going into one of the dark planes without some serious muscle behind you would be moronic.

  Dialle was a seriously hot Royal Devil. He was sex and yumminess personified. But he was anything but a pretty package with an empty head. He was shrewd and cynical, like a good ruler should be, and he would approach this, his first real test as king, with the utmost care and consideration.

  I reached over and flipped the visual back on. My sister’s overly pale face shimmered onto the screen. Her pretty blue eyes looked haunted and I noticed they had small purplish arcs under them. She was really worried. “Look, Darma, Dialle’s a warrior and he’s very smart. He wouldn’t go into this situation without a significant army behind him and he’ll protect his brother with his life. You don’t need to worry about him. Really.” I tried a smile and it seemed to help. She sighed and nodded.

  “Okay.”

  I took a deep breath, feeling as if I’d done something good.

  It didn’t last long.

  “But if anything happens to him I’m holding you personally responsible, Astra. And I’m going to come over there and kick your naked ass!”

  Her storm cloud of a face disappeared from the screen and I flopped back in my chair, all good feelings gone. “Amazing.” Not for the first time I wondered what poor, sweet Torre saw in the dragon queen.

  The outside office door opened and I realized Emo was back. I stood up, intending to go get a report from him, and then remembered I was dressed like a midnight snack. I wondered if I should risk space shifting to my vehicle but quickly decided against it. I wasn’t all that good at space shifting. Once I’d ended up half inside a supra-demon. Shuddering at the memory, I clutched my leather coat close and headed for the door, chin held high.

  I kicked demon ass for a living. I made bad guys quake in their cloven hooves. I was badass personified. I am Tweener, hear me roar! Yeah. I could do this. I could face a sweet, sexy partner and get a simple report from him. So what if I was dressed like a street flasher?

  Still, my hands shook slightly as I pulled my office door open.

  Chapter Three

  UnSettled

  A friend for life is truly rare, his loyalty a treat.

  A friend in love can strip you bare, and knock you off your feet.

  I could hear him moving around the office, shuffling papers and sliding drawers open and closed. He would be filing his report from the latest job and organizing his desk. For the last couple of months, since the strain had begun to really show between us, Emo had become scrupulously tidy and almost obsessively organized. I had assumed at first that he was just trying to keep tension to a minimu
m between us by working extra hard to be a good partner, but it had reached the point lately where I had to wonder if he weren’t compensating for something.

  I emerged from the hallway and saw him. He was standing in front of the window, staring down at the street, a mini televisual, his report, I was sure, in one hand. “Hey, partner.”

  Emo jumped slightly and turned. His handsome golden face was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and his black eyes swirled with agitation. When he looked at me his lips tightened and then tipped upward in a tortured smile. “Hey, boss.”

  “How’d it go?”

  He shrugged. I noticed then that he was holding himself very stiffly and worried that he’d been injured. Hurrying forward I reached out and touched the soft knit of his black torso-snugging sweater.

  I gasped as I touched him and he jumped away, scowling. My fingers tingled and felt as if I’d burned them. An impossible amount of heat radiated off his body.

  I could feel it from nearly a foot away. “Are you all right?”

  Emo laughed. It was a bitter sound. A spot of color caught my eye and I looked down, a pretty, pastel swatch of fabric stuck out of his pocket. I reached for it, pulling it from his jeans. It was a small, lacy scrap of silk. Ladies’ panties.

  Lifting an eyebrow in question, I grinned. “Souvenir?”

  Emo’s body softened slightly as some of the tension slid away. He moved around me, taking great care not to touch me as he passed. “Collateral from the assignment. The Troll Queen was trying to fit them on her head and when I told her to give them back she threw them at me. I’m afraid they stuck to my sweater and I didn’t notice until I was back in the Black Knight and heading back here.” He paced slowly back and forth in front his desk, casting me a quick glance and a grin. For just a split second he looked like the old Emo. My friend.

  “They look like they’re about your size, Astra…” He cut himself off and flushed visibly, gulping. “You can have them if you want.” He headed toward the office door.

  “Wait!” I walked over and stood in front of him, lifting a hand to touch his forehead. He was burning up. “Emo, you’re sick. You need to get to an unplanned injury unit right away.”