“Even at full strength, I would only last about two seconds before he killed me. I’m surprised he hasn’t tried already,” Cole says with a sigh as he turns the shower back on and without thinking about it strips off and climbs in.
Devon takes a step back but doesn’t avert his eyes. He is getting closer to his goal. Cole has fed from him, but he wants so much more. He has only felt this way once before and that, of course, is with his sire. Their sire. It must be the connection. She is the connection and now all he can think about is taking them both and he swallows. He turns away as Cole steps out of the shower, oblivious, thank the gods, to Devon’s feelings of desire for him. “Let’s get you to bed,” he croaks out as he would like nothing more than to climb in with him and show him how it can be between two men.
“Not that one,” Cole says, pointing at the huge, ornate bed that Liv sleeps in with her two husbands.
It turns Devon’s stomach as he thinks of the three of them in there. “You can use mine,” he says, and Cole smiles at him gratefully, choosing not to think about all the things Devon and Jess get up to in it.
Devon pushes open the door and Cole relaxes as soon as his body is horizontal. He hasn’t slept in a bed in weeks. He starts to doze almost immediately, but he can still hear Devon and Jess talking, assuming he has gone to sleep.
“Don’t go and sit with him anymore,” Devon growls at her the second she walks back into the room.
“Who?” she asks innocently, and he grabs her arm.
“You know who I am talking about. Your little fuck buddy next door,” he says.
“Oh, him,” she says breezily. “It’s charity,” she adds. “He’s a mess.” She looks at Cole sleeping in his bed and he can see the lust shoot through her. He knows his charge has a massive crush on his sibling and the feeling of jealousy sparks through him and he wants to hurt her. He isn’t jealous because of her, but of Cole.
“Besides, you are one to talk, fucking that fat Feeder,” Jess mocks.
Cole, in his sleepy state, takes offense on Dawn’s behalf. Just because she doesn’t have arms and legs like sticks doesn’t mean she’s fat. Devon also jumps to her defense. He tightens his grip on Jess’s arm and whispers menacingly to her. “Don’t speak about her that way. And you know it wasn’t me. I took the blame because Cole is in bad shape. He doesn’t need that bastard coming at him.”
Jess shrugs, unconcerned about her bitchy remark and it grates on Devon. He can see the mood she is in and she is about to cause trouble. He can smell it on her, and it makes him sick. He has been trying to hide his feelings, but he is sure she knows how he feels about Cole. Before she can blurt out anything that Cole may overhear, he placates her with a charming smile and says, “We can’t all be as beautiful as you.”
Her disposition changes instantly and she beams at him, everyone else forgotten except him. That’s the way he wants it. It is so easy to manipulate her. She kisses him seductively and all the tension and lust that has been building up in him comes to the surface as he kisses her back. She is his only release and he needs this.
“Mm, right here?” she asks with another look back at the bed.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he teases her, knowing she would jump on Cole in a heartbeat if he let her.
“So, would you,” she murmurs, that wicked glint back in her eye.
He feels his eyes darken and he squeezes her ass. “Later then,” he says to piss her off. Even though his cock is stiff, he has all the power here and she needs constant reminders of that.
She stalks off in a huff to the bathroom and slams the door. Devon flinches and checks that it hasn’t woken Cole up. He appears to be sound asleep, so he leaves him. He isn’t too worried about Jess. Her fit of temper won’t last long. Once he leaves her presence, she will feel remorse and come to find him to apologize. He leaves the room and heads back downstairs to get the blasting from Constantine.
Xane watches the two of them going at it like pit bulls. It holds his interest in a purely entertaining way. He doesn’t care about the contents of the argument. Well, maybe with the exception that Devon is taking the blame for something that Cole did and Constantine has to be aware of it as well. He pulls the pin out and lobs the grenade, ready to sit back and watch it detonate. “Cole is one who fucked her,” he says. “Why are you covering for him?”
He enjoys the silence that follows and waits for one of them to respond.
“He is suffering,” Devon says eventually. “He just needed something to take his mind off all this.”
Constantine grunts, taking it all in his stride, proving to Xane that he already knew and mutters, “Don’t we all.”
That does interest Xane now. Is he being faithful to her? He would have bet his life on the opposite of that only a few moments ago. Maybe he is wrong. Either way, he doesn’t care. His plan backfired and now he is bored as the other two sulk off in silence, leaving him alone. He sits heavily in the armchair he favors and settles himself into a comfortable position. Now that he is alone, he realizes that he wanted some alone time. He could have skulked back to his home or to the Castle even, but then that would mean complete solitude. For some strange reason, he cannot fathom, he finds comfort being here in her house, even with her men. He feels closer to her somehow. He closes his eyes and thinks of her. He wonders if she knows. He hasn’t felt her since she was taken, and it leaves an empty space in his heart. Just thinking of her gets him worked up and he opens his eyes with a frustrated sigh. He should go and do somethin
g about that, but he knows he won’t. Even the thought of touching another woman churns his stomach and that makes him feel nauseous. They are married and he has forsaken all others and bonded with her. It happens when Demons form a true bond, leaving behind everyone else to unite with their true love. Marriage isn’t taken lightly as the consequences are so drastic in their kind. Because of this, it infuriates him that Sven won’t give up his obsession with digging into their private life.
“Xane?”
He looks up as he hears his name and sees his mother standing in the doorway. “What?” he snaps at her.
“Come home. You need to get out of this place,” she chides him.
“What I need is my wife,” he says. “Why aren’t you doing anything about it?”
“I cannot, my son. You know I need assistance to get there and there is no one around to assist,” Xanthe says.
“So helpful,” he sneers.