Steal the Night (7 page)

“Why me?” I asked, not making him say it.

He shrugged and wiped away my tears with his thumb. “I don’t know. I just know that you and Zack…you’re like my kids, the only ones I’ll ever have because I won’t put a kid through this. There was a woman I cared about once. Pretty thing, but she left and I knew I wouldn’t try again. I don’t want anyone else to feel like I do. I hate it. I push everyone away and I don’t always want to. I just do it. It’s my instinct. I’ll never have a mate. I’ll never even have a girlfriend. But I have you and Zack and even Neil. I’m comfortable here, Zoey. I don’t feel the need to run like I have in the past. All I know is that I would do anything to protect my little pack.”

“Including not telling the only female member of your little pack’s husbands what really happened tonight?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Damn it. I knew you were going to do that to me. All right, Zoey, but they’re going to find out eventually, and we have to figure out a way to protect you from that asshole.”

I nodded. “If you have a plan, I’ll follow it.”

“All right then,” he said, helping me up. “Go take a shower and get that bastard’s stink off you. Don’t look at me like that. I have soap. I think. Towels, I’m not so sure about.”

I let him herd me to the bathroom. When he turned to go, I stuck my head out again. “Lee,” I called to him. “I love you.”

His normally taciturn face split into a joyous grin. “I know you do, darlin’.”

I closed the door and took the longest, hottest shower of my life.

* * * *

“Why did she need to take a shower?” I heard Dev’s voice as I opened the door to the bathroom. I took a deep, settling breath because I was about to have to perform. I couldn’t tell Dev what had happened. I couldn’t give him that guilt. He would feel bad enough with what I had told him.

“Some asshole spilled vodka all over her,” Lee grumbled. “She didn’t want to walk around smelling like a bar.”

“I’m just a little confused here,” Dev was saying.

Lee snorted. “Well, that’s what happens when you do stupid shit like letting a vampire drain your ass, Quinn.”

“Yeah, that probably wasn’t worth it,” Dev admitted. “I still feel a little weak and Daniel passed out long before he could really enjoy it. He’s going to be very angry with himself in the morning when he finds out Zoey had to face Marini alone.”

I walked into the room, drying my hair with the towel Lee had managed to find. My wolf and I needed a quick trip to Target. Now that I knew how he felt about me, I was going to be much more comfortable in the future about helping him out. His apartment needed a feminine touch. It also needed more towels and maybe a nice yellow rug for the bathroom. He would complain outwardly that I was interfering, but I knew deep down he would like me taking care of him.

“I handled it, Dev,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster. I was feeling better after my shower and the talk with Lee. I’d taken care of it and no one had gotten hurt. All in all, I was going to have to call it an acceptable loss.

Neil stood with Dev, looking pale and worried. “You didn’t come home. I got scared so I slapped Dev awake.”

“He did,” Dev said, touching his cheek. “It was rather awful. He screamed as well.”

“Didn’t work on Danny, huh?” I asked.

“He moaned a lot and he tried to kiss Dev,” Neil admitted with a delighted smile. “He told Dev he had great boobs.”

Dev shrugged at Neil, a frown on his face. “Well, obviously he thought I was Zoey. He played with my hair. I’m afraid he finds my hair confusing since it’s gotten as long as our wife’s. Somehow he ended up spooning me.”

Neil looked around the room innocently.

“He always was an affectionate drunk.” I wondered how many pictures Neil had taken and when that website would be going up. I was going to be a big fan.

Dev put his hands on my shoulders. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. We should never have done that. We should never have left you alone like that.”

I sighed, trying to put him at ease. “I wasn’t alone, Dev. I had plenty of backup. Marini showed up, he postured a lot, he took the Blood Stone, and he left. I came up here to talk to Lee and he couldn’t stand the smell of all that vodka. He’s very picky.”

“Well, you smelled like a drunk, Zoey.” Lee played his part to the hilt. He crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly as he stared down Dev. “She was scared, Quinn. The bastard scared her.”

Neil might be a terrible liar, but Lee knew that the best lie had a kernel of truth to it.

Dev’s green eyes were filled with concern. “Are you really all right, sweetheart?”

I nodded. “I’m fine. Except for the fact Lee doesn’t have any conditioner.”

Lee shook his head. “Why would I have conditioner? You should be happy I had shampoo. Normally I just use soap.”

“And he doesn’t have a hair dryer.” I had found one thing in his sparse bathroom that made me giggle. I pulled it out now. “But he does have eyeliner.”

Neil gave me a thumbs-up. “I always knew Lee was one of us, Z.”

Lee plucked the tube from my fingers. “That’s not mine, obviously. This is why I don’t have people over.”

“Really?” Dev asked. “I thought it was because you were a misanthropic jerk.”

“That too,” the werewolf admitted. “Now out, all of you, before Zoey starts deciding I need new furniture.”

He knew me too well. “You need some rugs too, Lee. I bet your little paws just go all over the place when you run around in here in wolf form.”

Hardwood floors would be hard to run on. When he was in wolf form, Neil always did that thing where all four feet went different ways and I had to help him up.

“Out,” Lee commanded. “Neil, you stay. Dev can take care of Zoey. Come on in and have a beer with me.”

Neil passed me his robe and I put it on over the T-shirt Lee had lent me that hit just above my knees. I was grateful for the robe so I wasn’t walking around the building half naked. “Night, Z.”

Dev took my hand and walked me down the hall to the elevator. It was a long, weird walk back to our place. The only way back up to the penthouse was to go all the way down to Ether and then up again.

He stopped in the middle of the hall and pulled me into his arms, squeezing me tight. “I’m so sorry, Zoey.”

I fought back tears because it felt so good to be close to him. I let my head rest against his chest. “I’m all right.”

I said the words as much for myself as for him. I was all right now because I was in his arms again and earlier in the evening, I wasn’t sure that would happen. I let him hold me for a long moment, the heat of his body warming me. Finally, I let go and turned my face up to his. “I love you.”

His hands cupped my cheeks. “I love you, my goddess. We’ve been putting off the inevitable, haven’t we?”

I nodded, happy that we were at least discussing the subject. “We have to deal with Daniel’s heart.”

Dev took a long breath and kissed my forehead before letting go and leading me to the elevator. “I’ll find a way. I won’t let him die on us and I won’t allow Marini to use you to steal for him again. I swear I’ll kill him first.”

“You owe Peter Hansen a couple of nights in the VIP room gratis,” I mentioned as Dev hit the complex series of buttons that would take us down to the club.

Dev frowned, obviously putting on his business hat. “Why would I want to do that? Do you know how much a night in the VIP room costs?”

“Nope,” I replied tartly. “If you don’t want your wife making business decisions for you, maybe you shouldn’t party so hard.”

“Perhaps I should think more before I pretend I am a teenager again,” Dev said. “I will admit I view my actions differently when it costs me money rather than my mother. I will never forget how angry she was to have to pay off the Madrid police force when Declan and I got arrested for public lewdness.”

Oh, yes, I might need that bail fund Neil had mentioned.

“I disagreed with them completely,” Dev explained. “I thought it was a beautiful act. Apparently there is a law or something…”

I laughed at the thought as Dev led me through Ether. It was quieting down because dawn was coming. The cleaning crew was busy setting everything back to rights. We walked up the stairs and I knew what I needed to do. I wasn’t going to let Marini wreck my special places. If he took my good memories of a place, then I would just have to make new ones.

I stopped his hand when he would have pushed the button to take us up to the penthouse. “Can we stay here for a while?”

“You don’t want to go upstairs?”

“I want to stay here for a minute or two.” An idea played in my brain. A way to burn off the bad memories.

I wanted to be here with him and though he couldn’t join us, I wanted to be here with Bris. If Marini had assaulted me in this room, then I had to remember that Bris had saved me. There was a sweetness to that. I could take it back. I could make this place mine again.

Dev turned and there was a slow smile spreading across his face. “You want to be alone with me, my glorious goddess? How may I serve your needs this evening?”

Need was the right way to put what I wanted. I needed him. I needed to shove Marini’s face out of my head and I knew just how to do it. “Why don’t you sit in that chair for me?”

He studied me for a long moment. I knew what he was thinking. Usually he was the dominant force in our sex life. Dev almost always took the lead. If he sat down in that chair, he would be conceding that power to me. “All right, if that’s what you need tonight.”

He obediently sat down and rested back in the chair, letting me know he was mine to do with as I pleased. Dev was part fertility god and that meant he instinctively knew what his partner wanted from him. It made him an incredible lover and now it made him rather submissive. I appreciated it and it let me know just how much he trusted me.

“Do you have any condoms down here?” I asked, feeling almost shy.

Dev’s lips quirked upward in a sly grin. “I have condoms stashed all over this club, lover. Anywhere you want to throw down, I’m prepared for it. I think about fucking you all the time. Open the top drawer of that desk.”

I did and sure enough, there was a box sitting there. I snagged one and shrugged out of Neil’s robe, then pulled the T-shirt over my head and wiggled out of my underwear.

“Are you sure I have to sit down?” Dev asked, his voice deep with desire. He’d enjoyed the striptease, and I was sure his clothes were feeling rather confining now. I glanced down and sure enough, his cock was straining against his slacks.

“Yes, Devinshea. I’m going to make it worse for you, baby. Keep your hands to yourself, please.”

“Zoey,” Dev breathed, dismayed.

I stared down at him, enjoying my foray into the dominant position. It was already getting me hot, the thought of him itching to touch me but forcing himself to be still. I needed to take back a little power, a little control. “If you move, I’ll stop what I’m doing. You don’t want that, do you?”

“No,” he whispered, his hands curling over the arms of the chair. Every muscle in his body stiffened with arousal.

I leaned over and kissed him briefly, letting him feel my tongue running along the edges of his plump, sensual lips. They were practically perfect and wholly masculine. God, I loved kissing him. I could kiss him for hours and not do a damn thing else. Our noses rubbed together, reminding me how sweet intimacy could be. There was no violence to this. There was just love and devotion. I ate at his lips and he let me. I straddled him, and already I could feel the hard ridge of his erection pressing up. The rest of Dev might be willing to play the submissive tonight, but his cock was ready to take over at the first opportunity.

“Give me your tongue,” I whispered against his mouth, and he opened underneath me, letting his tongue reach out to caress mine. Dev allowed me full access, letting me delve inside. Our tongues played together, dancing against one another in a perfect sweetness. Dev’s magic started to pulse from his body, a wave that swept away my anxieties and left me with nothing but an easy lust. We kissed and I felt myself getting very soft and very wet. I ground down, loving the way his cock jumped every time I rubbed against it.

“Zoey,” he groaned into my mouth. “You’re killing me. Let me touch you.”

I pulled back and I was sure my grin was mischievous. There was a certain relief that came with being intimate with Dev. I’d worried Marini would be there between us, but this was nothing like Marini. Dev’s magic called to me. There wasn’t a place for anything but Dev and me here. His magic thrummed through me, relaxing me and reminding me how good it was between us.

“Not yet.” I got down on my knees, and he had the arms of the chair in a death grip. I had gotten so wet, the front of his slacks were covered with my arousal. I laughed a little at that. I was glad he didn’t have anywhere to go. “Sorry about your pants, baby.”

His green eyes gleamed at me. “I’m not. If you humans weren’t so sexually repressed, I would be proud to walk around in them and tell everyone exactly how they got that way. It’s the one thing I miss about Faery. I liked being able to talk openly about how good it is to fuck you.”

It was true. Faeries were big on oversharing when it came to their sex lives. But not all humans were repressed, and I needed to make that clear to my husband. I unbuttoned his slacks and slowly eased the zipper down. My fingers brushed against his taut skin, reveling in the muscles I found there. Dev’s body was perfection. Silk covering steel.

“Repressed, huh?” I pulled down the waistband of his blue silk boxers. His cock sprang free and he moaned as I stroked him. I wasn’t particularly gentle. He loved it rough. I clenched him in my hand, studying the beauty of his cock. Long and thick, with a gorgeous purple head. There was already a lovely pearly drop pushing from the slit.

“I wasn’t talking about you,” he said breathlessly, pressing his pelvis up.

“Oh, I think you were.” I kissed his cock, just a little peck. I let my tongue lap up the drop of arousal on his cock. Salty. Slightly sweet and wholly Dev. “I might have to prove you wrong, Devinshea.”

There is one particular part of my faery prince’s cock that I love to run my tongue over. He has a thick vein that runs from the base of his penis almost all the way to the head before disappearing deep into his flesh. I licked all the way up along that vein, feeling it pulse and buck under my tongue.