Demon of Desire (7 page)

“It was our pleasure. We don’t eat full meals often, but the
social aspects make it that much more pleasurable.”

Sin rose on her toes for one last quick peck on his mouth,
then went inside.

* * * * *

Baen scratched the back of his head as he looked at the
remaining unsorted boxes in Sin’s attic. He and his brothers had come over
daily for the past week to help determine what was in there and what to do with
it all, and had only made it through half of the room.

Sin used a crowbar to open another crate, coughing when she
lifted the top layer of packing paper inside. “So much of this stuff seems to
be in the original shipping containers, as if he never looked at the contents.”

“He might not have,” Gower said. He was rewrapping the china
pieces Sin wanted to send to her mother, and packing them in a cardboard box.
“From what Marrett has said, I gather George acquired a lot of it just to get
it out of circulation. Prevent anyone from accidentally stumbling on the
things.”

“Yet my great-aunt suffered her whole life from what he kept
here.”

Baen put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed, hoping to
comfort her some. “Sometimes things happen when we stay focused only on the big
picture. His intentions were good.”

“You’re right. Will Marrett be able to keep them safe, the
dangerous pieces? And what do we do with the just plain weird stuff?”

“The Marrett family has been securing artifacts for a long
time without problems. And the weird stuff, if we can’t find a museum
interested, we might just want to destroy.” Baen pulled another tightly wrapped
object from his crate and checked it against the packing slip. In theory, a
museum would be thrilled with some of the fetishes and icons, but first Marrett
needed to screen them. It was impossible for the untrained individual to tell
if a spell had been cast on an object.

Sin looked like she was wearing down, so he signaled his
brothers. “Why don’t we call it a day? After Sin cleans up, she and I can stop
by the pub and pick up some pizza to take to the house.”

Enos nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Works for me, too,” Gower agreed.

They sorted anything loose and organized what they could for
the next day. Gower and Enos left together in Gower’s car, and Baen went
downstairs to the kitchen to clean up their lunch dishes while Sin showered. He
didn’t envy her the task of moving into a furnished house. So many rooms still
stood as they had when Absinthe had moved to the nursing home.

He and his brothers, and many in the community, had told
Absinthe to contact her grand-niece and let her have the house then, but the
old woman insisted it couldn’t happen until she died. Baen still wasn’t certain
what her reasoning had been, but wondered if she knew the financial straits
Sin’s boyfriend had her in. If Sin took possession of the house and control
over the woman’s money while the boyfriend was still under prosecution, some of
the money might have been claimed for restitution. It didn’t seem fair, given
Sin’s innocence in the scandal, but the man had swindled many people.

She was so lucky she hadn’t married the man. Even still she
had lost almost everything she owned. Possessiveness filled Baen just thinking
about anyone hurting her like that. He liked to think that some sort of fate
kept her from marrying. He wanted that privilege for himself and his brothers.

There were a few families in Whispering Valley who had
plural marriages, so they wouldn’t be shunned for it. In some breeds of
shifter, that was the common lifestyle choice. He and his brothers had a few
relationships over the years with a shared woman, but he imagined it would be
quite an adjustment for Sin.

And they planned to do everything they could to help her
adjust.

He heard her softly singing as she came down the steps, and
he met her in the living room. Walking up behind her, he wrapped his arms
around her waist and hugged her tightly. Her scent filled the air as he kissed
her ear. “You smell heavenly. Soft, musky, with a bit of sweet vanilla.”

She leaned into him. “Thank you. I love how you show your
appreciation.”

Turning her in his arms, he gave in to the urgent need to
kiss her. He wanted to do so much more but the brothers had agreed to go slowly
with her. He captured her lips, kneading them, his tongue begging for entrance.
When she parted her lips he entered slowly, holding back the desire to fuck her
with his tongue. He explored, taking the time to learn her taste, dancing
slowly with her tongue.

He grew warmer and harder as he planted flirty pecks across
her jaw. He sucked her earlobe into his mouth, running the edges of his teeth
across it, encouraged by her indrawn breath.

She was melting in his arms, her body relaxing, accepting.
The only thing that kept him from pushing her onto her couch and ripping both
their clothes off was the niggling voice reminding him his brothers and a
couple of pizzas were waiting on them.

Resting his chin on the top of her head, he took a cleansing
breath and willed his cock to retreat. “We’d better go.”

Chapter Six

Sin woke to find her room in twilight. Tigger, the tabby
cat, sat on her chest, watching her eyelashes when she blinked. The cat yawned
and stretched. Sin twisted to one side to urge the cat to move. Tigger was the
slowest of the cats to adjust to her presence, taking most of the past month to
accept her.

“Did I sleep through dinnertime?” she asked, petting the
striped fur. Working out the kinks in her joints as she rose, she decided she
was warm enough without her robe, and slipped her feet into slippers before
following the cat downstairs.

As she reached the foot of the staircase, she noticed a man
sitting in her living room. She faltered, almost missing the last step. Then
she recognized Enos. “You guys don’t have to keep watch over me,” she chided,
walking toward the antique settee.

He looked up from his book and lowered his feet from the
coffee table. “Yes, we do.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not helpless.”

“No, you’re not. But until we’re certain we’ve exorcised all
the entities from this house, we’re not letting you stay here alone.”

That irritating whisper twittered in the corner vent. Sin
folded her arms across her chest and glared at Enos. “Then why don’t you start
with those voices?”

“I can’t.”

Her brows drew together. “You can take down a demon who’s
sucking your cock, but you’re afraid of voices?” From the wave of angry energy
that washed outward from him, she knew she’d said the wrong thing.

“No one can get rid of the voices.”

She waited, shrugging melodramatically.

“This place is called Whispering Valley for a reason. The
fact that you hear the whispers proves you belong here. You’re one of us.”

“But who are they? Ghosts? Those fairies you guys
mentioned?”

Enos walked toward the window where the drapes were pulled
back. The setting sun painted the sky crimson. The wooded mountainside stood
out in black relief against the sky. He stood and stared for a long moment,
then turned back to Sin. “It’s the valley.”

“What is?”

“The whispers. I don’t know how to explain it.” He paced in
front of the glass. “You know about psychic energy, right?”

“Like being able to feel people’s moods?”

“Sort of. More like how people can move objects. Or make
things appear and disappear. Communicate with animals. Everything has energy.”

“Okay. I follow so far.”

Enos came to stand in front of her. “I don’t know if it’s
the thinner air at this altitude, or if someone put a spell on the place. Maybe
it’s the combined psychic forces of the people living here. I can’t explain how
it happens. In Whispering Valley, we hear the energy of everything around us.”

“This must be one of those things I’ll come to understand
with time.” She looked into the corner of the room where the ornate black
heating vent sat. “Am I just hearing the air moving through the ducts?”

He shook his head. “It’s more like the house’s thoughts.”

She frowned. Warning bells clattered through her head.
The
house’s thoughts
. He was crazy. The whole freakin’ town was crazy. Every
time she thought she was settling in to her new life, something like this came
along.

“Your life will be easier when you open up to what’s
different here. Yes, it’s all crazy. But it’s real.”

What was real anymore? Any minute now, the cats would start
talking. Or reading her mind like Enos just had. Or had he just read her facial
expressions?

She needed to walk away before she did something foolish,
but the hunger inside continued to grow. She craved something, and had an idea
how to cure it. It was past time to quit fighting. Her lips parted. Leaning to
close the space between them, she gave in to what her body asked. “Kiss me,
Enos.”

He did. Without hesitation. His mouth plundered hers as if
he shared her desperate need. The deep thrusts of his tongue in her mouth sent
shivers down her spine. Her core warmed, her clit throbbed. She whimpered and
brought his hand around to her breast.

Her flesh swelled in his hand, her nipple hardening
painfully as his thumb brushed over it. “Oh, yes,” she whispered.

He pinched the nub through the thin cotton gown. “I need to
see you.” He lifted the hem and pulled it over her head.

Strangely, she wasn’t embarrassed to be standing naked
before him. She arched her back slightly, lifting her full breasts to him.
Understanding her need, he licked and sucked at one while cupping the other in
his hand.

Enos worked her flesh slowly, kneading, tasting, running his
tongue over the skin between the mounds as he moved to suckle the other breast.
Sin’s heart sped erratically, as if it couldn’t keep up with the blood coursing
through her veins.

When he pulled back and met her gaze, her breath caught.
What she’d read in his eyes as possession had softened into something needy yet
giving. Like his greatest pleasure would be to see her satisfied.

She cupped her hand around his neck and pulled his mouth to
hers. At the same time, he lifted her legs to wrap around his waist. He slid a
finger between her labia. “You’re wet.”

“I’m waiting for you to fill me.”

“Not yet.” His middle finger spread her juices around as he
stroked back and forth, avoiding her clit. She rocked toward his hand. With a
chuckle, he dipped his finger deep inside her.

Sin whimpered. The explosions of passion spreading upward
were more a response to his touch, his smell and taste, than her sexual dry
spell. Resting her head on his shoulder, she nibbled at the cord of his neck.
Her tongue laved over his pulse there and her hips began to thrust to the
rhythm of his heartbeat. As she sucked, her teeth lengthened, but she fought
the urge to bite.

Enos matched the rhythm with his hand, thrusting deep and
withdrawing, as she moved faster. Then his hand disappeared and she heard his
belt unbuckling. She lifted herself to give him room.

He lowered them to sit on the couch, adjusting her knees on
either side of him. She sat back on the bunched fabric of his jeans and shorts
and reached for his erection. Wrapping her fingers around the base, she felt a
wave of feminine power wash over her at his gasp.

She made him hard. Her body. Her touch. The silver glimmer
in his eyes told her he had no one but her on his mind. The heady rush made her
pussy pulse harder still.

Unable to wait any longer, she rose above his cock, stroked
her slit with it and pushed it inside. She gasped at the fullness, her pussy
stretching to allow him deeper.

“Damn, you’re so hot inside. I don’t know how long I will
last.”

“Don’t wait too long,” she warned, rolling her hips into
position to ride him hard. Her inner thighs stretched taut, spreading to take
his full length. Her breasts bounced. She reached up and pinched her nipples,
then pulled.

At the same moment, Enos slipped his thumb between them and
pressed against her clit. Pleasure pulsed throughout her body and with each
thrust, small cries escaped her parted lips. She’d never liked to make noise
during sex in the past, but the sounds built between her panting breaths.

Sin dropped hard on his cock, pressing her clit into his
hand as ecstasy rocketed through her. She cried out, first a high squeal, then
dropping to a guttural moan.

She became aware of his thrusts and grunts and felt the
warmth of his orgasm fill her. His hands clasped her butt cheeks and held her
still as shudders passed through him.

His hands relaxed. His head dropped back against the couch.
Letting her forehead rest on his pale, muscular shoulder, she tried to catch
her breath and swallow down the whispers of guilt that disapproved of what
she’d just done. Why couldn’t she just enjoy the moment without Gower and Baen
entering her head?

How did she tell Enos that she was also attracted to his
brothers? Especially when his dick, soft as it now was, was still inside her?
She might not be the most experienced chick in the hen house, but even she knew
one didn’t talk about other men while in bed, or on the couch, with a lover.

Enos ran his fingers up her spine, sending shivers spreading
in their wake. Sin sighed. She could get used to this, having a man who enjoyed
the cuddling after. Hell, with the way he made her come, she’d be willing to
skip the cuddling if he preferred. She nipped at his collarbone, then licked
any pain away.

“You’re still feeling frisky, I take it?” he asked, lifting
his head to look at her.

She sat back on his firm thighs. And realized they weren’t
alone. “What—?” How long had Gower and Baen been watching?

Fuck.
Reaching for her nightgown, she tried to gain
back the slightest bit of modesty.

Enos glanced over his shoulder and shook his head. “Nice,
guys. Thanks for knocking.”