Dante and Hayley

Praise for the writing of Sheri Gilmore

Maslow’s Needs

Maslow's Needs is excellent with a gritty and dangerous feeling to thrill lovers of dark vampire heroes. It's a heady blend of sexual heat and horror…[W]ell crafted and exciting in every way! I highly recommend it! -- Patrice, The Romance Studio I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about the supernatural and likes their romance tinged with a dark atmosphere. Maslow's Needs is a terrific book that I will never forget. -- Susan White, Coffee Time Romance

Maslow's Needs is highly erotic. Drayden and Jessi literally sizzle whenever they are together. I certainly hope to read more of this goth world and cannot wait to see what else Sheri Gilmore has in store. -- Barb Hicks, Paranormal Romance Reviews Elements in this book from the bondage scene, to the background of witchcraft and an intimate look at Goths, were purely fascinating…A definite read for anyone willing to expose him or herself to a darker taste of love and pain! -- Rachelle, Enchanted in Romance

Maslow's Needs is now available from Loose Id.

HOT HOUSE: DANTE AND HAYLEY

Sheri Gilmore

www.loose-id.com

Warning This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Loose Id e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

***** This book is rated:

For substantial explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable (ménage, BDSM, violence, homoerotic sex).

DISCLAIMER: Many of the acts described in our BDSM/fetish titles can be dangerous. Loose Id publishes these stories for members of the community in which these acts are known and practiced safely. If you have an interest in the pleasures and pains you find described herein, we urge you to seek out advice and guidance from knowledgeable persons. Please do not try any new sexual practice, whether it be fire, rope, or whip play, without the guidance of an experienced practitioner. Neither Loose Id nor its authors will be responsible for any loss, harm, injury or death resulting from use of the information contained in any of its titles.

Hot House: Dante and Hayley Sheri Gilmore This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by Loose Id LLC 1802 N Carson Street, Suite 212-29 Carson City NV 89701-1215 www.loose-id.com

Copyright © May 2005 by Sheri Gilmore Excerpt of Desert Moon: Ah-ten copyright March 2005 by Alicia Sparks All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing, photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.

ISBN 1-59632-120-2 Available in Adobe PDF, HTML, MobiPocket, and MS Reader

Printed in the United States of America

Editor: Maryam Salim Cover Artist: Christine M. Griffin

Author’s Note “When I had journeyed half of our life’s way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, for I had lost the path that does not stray.” -- Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

When I wrote this book, the first question I heard was: “How can you make the devil the hero?!” My response was: “Why not?” Then, I heard: “You can’t; it won’t sell.” My response: “Well, I am and it will!” Thank goodness for Loose Id! LOL. I first studied The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri in high school, then again later in college. The poet’s dark imagery of his journey through Purgatory and Hell stayed with me. Not to haunt me -- as it did with fellow classmates, who said, “Eww, that’s gross” -- but to fascinate me. I bought my own copy a couple of years ago, along with John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Both books are fascinating reading that led me to further research with The Book of Enoch, A Dictionary of Angels, and a tour through several books on Hebrew mythology with their

theme of reincarnation. Not to mention a brush-up on my Greek mythology! Although I thoroughly enjoyed Milton’s tale, I kept coming back to Dante. The image that stood out the most for me was of Satan, hanging upside down in the pits of Hell for his “sins.” That’s when my ever active imagination kicked in and I came up with: What if Satan is just misunderstood? What if he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing in the “grand scope of things” of the world? What if God gave him another chance at redemption? So ... Dante and Hayley’s story was born.

I hope you enjoy Hot House: Dante & Hayley. The imagery is dark, and the theme is one not many people can accept, but it is the story of a deep passion and a great romance. The need of God’s “most favored” angel to experience the human emotion of love so badly that he disobeys his Creator for that one chance at finding his soul-mate and ending his eternal loneliness. A love that has truly lasted through the portals of time.

Chapter One

“Tell me again why we’re here.” Hayley pressed against Jay, but though the excitement in his voice rose above the music of what she thought was Mercyful Fate, blaring across the dance floor where dozens of bodies gyrated and crashed into one another, she could hardly hear him. She turned her head toward her friend. “Because you want to get laid.” “Correction. We don’t want to just get laid. We want to get fucked,” Jay shouted. He smiled at a leather-clad female goth rocker in front of him. Hayley watched the pale woman take hold of Jay’s hips and grind her pelvis against his to the beat of the heavy-metal music. Jay threw his head back and laughed. “There’s a difference, Hayley, girl.” Hayley rolled her gaze to the ceiling. Once again she’d let her best friend talk her into one of his ludicrous schemes. She chanced a peek at the bodies pressed close around them, along with the smells of sweat and lust. Leather, body piercing, black hair, black fingernails ... When was she going to learn? “Uh, speak for yourself, guyfriend.” Hayley took a step back. “I’m not planning on getting laid, or fucked, by anyone ...” A guy with red-and-white face paint passed in front of

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her and flicked his long, pierced, forked tongue at her. A shudder passed through her body, and she took another step back. “... or anything ... in this place.” Since they’d walked through the door, her feeling of dread had increased. The front part of the club wasn’t so bad, but when they’d undergone the perusal of the club’s goldpainted bouncer, she had struggled with the urge to leave. He had narrowed his demonlike red eyes at them, but after a thorough scrutiny, especially of her, he’d let them pass through an iron gate with strange symbols above it. The squeak of the heavy iron as it closed still echoed in her mind. She had looked back, and the gold man’s smile had been evil. But, like every other time Jay had a wild idea, she stayed. The hair on her neck prickled, and she rubbed her hand across the sensitive skin for the thousandth time that evening. She glanced around to see if someone watched them, but didn’t notice anything unusual. She snorted, the sound lost in the din. Everything in here was unusual. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” She pulled on Jay’s arm to get his attention, but he was focused on a half-naked lizard woman with pierced nipples. “Oh, Hayley, you are such a spoilsport.” Jay patted the goth rocker on the ass and turned toward her. “There are some what you girls call ‘really cute’ guys in this club.” He grabbed Hayley by the shoulders and swiveled her around to face the stage. “Now just a min--” “See?” Hayley froze. Goosebumps slithered along her arms. Not from the icy wind that had seared their skin before they entered the club, but from the sight of the man leaning against one of the massive stone posts at the side of the stage. She hadn’t seen him earlier and wondered if he were the one who had been watching. Her nipples beaded behind the thin fabric of her knit sweater. “Cute” just didn’t cut it.

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His eyes surveyed the crowd below him. Like a hunter stalking his prey, he studied the

herd for signs of weakness and waited silently for the precise moment to strike. A small giggle escaped her. She put a fist to her mouth to stop the uncontrolled response, and let her gaze travel over the hard, lean line of muscular thighs and legs encased in black leather. Long-legged men had always been a weakness of hers. Hayley swallowed hard and continued her perusal. A leather vest revealed smooth, dark skin sprinkled with black hair. Tattoos raced over his skin. Red and yellow flames burst up his arms where the body art peeked from beneath the material between chest and shoulder to tease her. The design danced and burned to life when he flexed his strong arms across his chest in a seemingly restful pose. Black hair like silk feathered across his brow and past his shoulders. The urge to run her fingers through the mass was almost unbearable. She felt a quiver in her abdomen, a slow burn that licked down to her clit, and squeezed her thighs in denial. Her gaze drifted back to the man’s face. Hard. Unyielding. Firm but sensuous lips were set in a straight line beneath a long, aquiline nose, high cheekbones, and ... He turned his head like an eagle, then blinked once. Black, soulless eyes penetrated her being. A shudder coursed through her. She wasn’t fooled by his casual stance, or his made for sin bod. The guy’s stance spelled “danger.” He held her gaze; his arms unfolded, ready to strike. Haley’s mind screamed run!, but her body wouldn’t respond. With one graceful movement, the man leaped from the stage to land in front of her. His head drew level with her hips, and she swore he sniffed her crotch, like some wild beast. His eyes narrowed, and she tensed. He stood to his full height. Hayley looked up. Her neck ached with the need to snap. The rhythm of her heart pounded against her chest so hard she thought her ribs would break, and the scent of an

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exotic, but familiar, incense filled her nostrils. She wanted to close her eyes and break contact with his, but couldn’t. He had her in a trance. “See what I mean?” Jay asked. “I think he likes you.” Jay’s big shoulder nudged Hayley. “Rrrroww ... go for it, girl.” Hayley’s head snapped forward. Visual contact broke, except for the black toes of the stranger’s boots. She rubbed her neck. Her thoughts circled in some type of vortex where there existed nothing but blackness, emptiness. An image of bodies caught in a whirlwind took a blurred shape in her mind. She reached out, but her hands didn’t make contact with anything, and she lost her balance. Strong hands gripped her arms to pull her up. Her head lolled back, and weakness assailed her legs. She closed her eyes. “I-I think I’m going to be sick.” Without a word the stranger lifted Hayley into his arms. His breath fluttered warm against her cheek. She felt him move. “Wait.” Jay’s voice faded behind them. “Where are you going?” Hayley lifted her head and peeked through her eyelashes toward a door beside the stage. “Jay?” She squirmed against the iron bands wrapped around her, but dizziness hit again. She groaned and shut her eyes. “Your friend is right behind us; don’t worry.” The voice, like dark, rich honey, slid over her skin. The chaos in her mind eased. He spoke perfect English, with the trace of an accent she couldn’t quite place. Again, familiarity touched the edges of her memory. Her mind registered the fact that she should try and break free, but she couldn’t summon enough energy to fight. She took a deep breath, yawned, then let her head drop onto his shoulder. “I’m tired.” “Yes, I know.”

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Their movements halted. He shifted her higher, and she heard the rattle of a handle. “That is a normal reaction to ... this place.” A door swished open, then shut with a thud. He moved a few more feet before he lowered her onto something soft and plush, and placed a pillow beneath her head. Once settled, she chanced opening her eyelids, one at a time. She reclined on a sofa, and he, she sensed more than saw, moved away from her. A sensation of loss and disorientation replaced the warmth she’d experienced in his arms. The room lay in darkness except for a dim light radiating from an aquarium built into the far wall. The sound of an electric filter hummed in the quiet recesses. No sounds from the club could be detected in this small sanctuary. She squinted to see the tank better. Strange. There weren’t any fish. She frowned and watched the water churn with angry bubbles, almost like a steady boil. Hayley eased her head to her right. Good, the nausea had abated. She glanced around the hunk’s darkened frame a few feet away and made out the lines of a desk and a computer screen. “Better?” “Yeah, thanks.” She sat up, slowly. “Where is my friend?” “He is your boyfriend?” She hesitated, wondering if she should lie. “No. We’ve been best friends since third grade.” “Ah.” He paused, like her words gave him a deeper understanding. Of what, she couldn’t begin to have a clue. She raised her eyebrows. “He is just outside the door. My friends will entertain him while you’re with me.” Hayley couldn’t see his face, but she heard a note of amusement in his voice. If his friends were what she’d seen outside, she was positive she didn’t want to see his enemies.

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And -- she examined the length of his silhouette while a shudder passed through her -- she was certain he had plenty of those. He moved away from her, toward the desk. There was a click, and brightness flooded the room. Hayley raised her hand and blinked at the sudden glare. A chair squeaked, followed by silence. When her eyes adjusted, she focused on her host. He studied her with narrowed eyes, wary and watchful, his stare causing goosebumps to form up and down her arms. Hayley dropped her gaze and explored the office in more detail from beneath her lashes. From local newspapers, she knew the House of Purgatory had only been open for a few years. The club had garnered a reputation for the multitude of great alternative rock and heavy-metal groups that performed every week. But instead of the autographed photos of rock stars she had imagined would outline the walls, there were rows upon rows of books. Hayley frowned. She didn’t want to meet those eyes that penetrated into her soul, but the need to examine his library grew stronger. No self-respecting librarian would pass up the opportunity to touch -- and smell -- such a collection. She chanced a glance in his direction. He hadn’t moved, but continued to watch her. His narrowed gaze had been replaced by hooded eyes and the briefest of quirks to the sensuous lips, as if the mixture of her curiosity and apprehension now amused him. Curiosity won. She stood. Moving around the end of the desk farthest from his reach, she could see if he made a move toward her out of the corner of her eye. “And curiosity killed the cat.” “What did you say?” She wasn’t sure that she’d heard his whispered words correctly. His lips twitched further, but he shrugged. Her mental inquisitiveness growled, and her eyes left her host to hungrily scan the titles in front of her. She gasped. The collection in front of her was vast and -- her hand

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trembled over what appeared to be an ancient copy of the Bible -- valuable. Her need to touch the text battled with the fear that she would harm such a treasure. “You may pick the books up.” His voice was soft, almost hypnotic. “You may even --” He cocked his head to the side. “-- smell them, if you wish.” Hayley jerked her head toward him. How did he know? She looked away, and her heart pounded harder. He couldn’t. His offer had to be mere coincidence. She shivered as she remembered an earlier conversation with Jay. Nothing in life happened by chance. There was always a reason for whatever transpired. The books distracted her, calling her attention away from her memories and the mysterious man. Her fingers skimmed “The Iliad,” by Homer, “The Analects,” by Confucius, and two volumes of “The Arabian Nights.” All in their original languages of Greek, Chinese, and Arabic! He had to be an art smuggler. Why else would these ancient tomes be here in the back room of a nightclub? Hayley turned to her host. “Who are you?” When he smiled, his face gentled. The deep lines etched in the shadows of his cheek smoothed. He became beautiful. She immediately recalled a painting she’d seen in a museum when she was younger of four archangels huddled together, as if they shared a secret. She remembered a fifth angel off to the side, isolated from his brothers, with his leg chained to a large stone and a look of despair on his handsome face. For a long time afterwards, she had thought of the lonely angel, wondering if he had ever found companionship and peace. The memory had faded with the years -- until now.

Odd. Why would she recall something so trivial that she had forgotten so long ago? His voice called her back. “You wouldn’t believe me, little girl, even if I swore to you with my hand on that very holy book.” He waved toward the Bible, but the smile never reached his eyes.

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A jolt of awareness shot through her body. The soothing tones from seconds before disappeared. In their place, harshness and cynicism caused the hairs on the back of her neck to bristle. “Yeah? Well, I’m brighter than I look, and I’m not a ‘little girl.’” Shoulders back, she lifted her chin and looked him straight in the eye. “Try me.”

“Now hold on, Igor.” Jay tried to break through the wall of muscle blocking his way into the room “Mr. Gorgeous” had taken Hayley. “That’s my best friend in there, and I want to know what’s going on.” He was playing Red Rover with a bunch of overgrown kids. Whenever he tried to push through their line, they locked arms and pushed him back like he was a feather. A waitress walked by, stopped, and snorted. “You’re their size. Just break through.” Jay looked at the four guys who guarded the door, then back at her with a raised eyebrow. “Do you see how big they are?” Muscles rippled beneath the guards’ skin, reminding Jay of the way a thoroughbred stallion trembles when excited. She shrugged. “So? You’re as big as they are.” “Oh, yeah, right.” “You are. You used to play football, didn’t you?” She waved her hand toward the wall of beefed-up bodies. “Just bust through there, get your friend, and get out of here.” She looked back toward the dancers and gave a sigh. “Wish I could leave.” “How do you know I played football?” The waitress shrugged. The wistful look on her face changed into something close to guilt and fear. “You’re such a big guy and all.” She walked quickly into the growing crowd. A shiver of apprehension formed a knot in Jay’s stomach. The thrill of excitement he’d felt when that strange man had given him the flyer for the club yesterday had disappeared.

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Sure, he was tired of dating every Betty, Jane, and Sue, but he’d stooped to an all-time low when he dragged his best friend to this place. The time had come to forget women. He sighed. The guy who had given him the flyer had said the music was good and a person could find anything they desired at the House of Purgatory. A body flew off the stage and into the writhing mass below to be swallowed by the throng of people, who jumped, stamped, and rammed into one another’s bodies. Blood spurted into the air along with screams of pain, mixing with the beat of angry music. A surge of bile rose in Jay’s throat. He should have known the guy had been lying just to get more people to come here. One of the guards bumped into him; then two more pushed around him. “What the hell?” He watched the men run into the crowd as if the devil were after them. “Has everyone gone crazy around here?”

Hisss. He turned to the door separating him from Hayley. A woman walked past the remaining guards and stopped in front of him. Jay stared, and his knees grew weak. Pale skin, smooth like porcelain, stood out against long, red hair and green eyes. Pale green diaphanous material swirled around her feet, but the woman’s breasts and pubic hair were visible. She shouldn’t have bothered with clothes. It’s a sin to hide such a beautiful

body. The woman smiled as if she could hear his thoughts, and moved closer. The hair on his arms rose, and his cock throbbed with the desire to have the woman touch him. He cleared his throat. “Where did you come from?” “Down there.” The woman pointed to a hallway to the right of Hayley’s door. Jay didn’t remember seeing it before, but it didn’t matter. He gazed at the woman. She was everything Jay wanted. Hot. Sexy. Desirable. “Your friend is in capable hands. She will want for nothing. Come with me. I’ll take care of you while you wait.”

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Jay nodded, but turned back toward the door. “I have to let Hayley know where I’m going, so she won’t be worried.” A cool, slender hand touched his skin. Warm breath whispered into his ear, and a hand stroked up the inside of his arm. Anticipation flooded his abdomen. He moved forward into the woman’s outstretched arms. “Both of you will find what you need here.” The woman took his hand. Jay gazed into her green eyes and saw his reflection. “Who are you?” Red lips smiled before their cool texture touched his mouth with a kiss. His eyes closed with the power of the woman’s desire. “I’m whoever you wish me to be.” The electrical kiss burned along the seam of his mouth. He opened his eyes so he could look into her beautiful eyes; he screamed, then ran.

Damn! Jay wandered along the perimeter of the crowd, trying to make his way back to the place he’d left Hayley. What was wrong with him? He’d left her to God knows what. One minute he’d been prepared to bust through the wall of trolls, and the next, he had stared into he didn’t know what.

Jesus, what was that? He could swear he’d just seen a woman turn into a gargantuan snake. Who the hell was that dame? Medusa? A wave of bodies pushed him to the left, but another wave forced him to his right and back. The place was wall-to-wall people, thicker and more rambunctious than when he and Hayley had arrived. Stale air teased his nostrils, and sweat soaked the front and back of the yellow-blue-and-green tropical shirt he wore. He broke through a small group and found himself against a bar. Jay dropped his head and shook it back and forth. No way would he make it through to that door now. He might as well have a drink while he waited for the crowd to thin.

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His gaze on the floor, he raised his hand to the bartender. So far, not one of the female patrons appealed to him. Most of them were too skinny. Too bad there wasn’t some buxom blond around to share a beer with him. “Yeah. What’s your poison?” Jay looked up toward a voice that boomed like thunder. His mouth opened to respond, but nothing came out. His gaze traveled over the bartender, who stood taller than Hayley’s man, with legs and arms twice as large. He made the trolls who guarded Hayley’s door look like dwarfs. Intricate tattoos circled from inside his shirt to cover each arm. Down and around they wove to reach the man’s fingertips with colors that mingled into a work of art. “He’ll have vhat ve’re having,” a female voice said. Jay turned to the sexy voice, and his mouth opened further. All thoughts of Hayley and trolls evaporated at the sight that greeted him. Long red fingernails tapped against the shiny surface of the bar while a pair of long legs, encased in black stockings, swung to the beat of the music. A black leather bustier pushed creamy tits up into the air. Jay’s dick leapt in excitement at the sight. The hope that the plump globes would spill out any second rose paramount in his mind. Images of Amazon legs wrapped around his waist as he plunged into a deep, wet pussy had his dampened mood perking up. “Who’s we?” He cleared his throat of the puff of cigarette smoke she blew in his face. He didn’t care. She could blow on him all night long. “My sister, Helga, and I.” The female held out her hand. “I’m Olga.” Jay took the manicured hand in his and kissed her fingers. “Sure you are.” This was the weirdest place, but what the heck. Helga and Olga. Right. And her heavy Hungarian accent was real, too. He shrugged. He’d play along if the sister looked like this one. Tall, blond, and stacked. What more could a guy ask for? Jay glanced around. There

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wasn’t a soul who resembled the bombshell beside him. “Um, where’s this sister of yours? She’s not a redhead, by chance, huh?” “No, she’s a brunette. She’s in zee back, vaiting.” “Waiting for what?” Jay’s mind buzzed with possibilities. “What’s in zee ... um, the back?” “Pleasure, of course.”

Of course. Her answer must cover both questions. Jay bit back the urge to jump up and down and yell “yahoo.” He’d told Hayley he was here to get laid, and by George, he’d do just that. His thumb stroked the length of his erection. With a gulp of his anonymous drink, he finished the fiery concoction and slammed the glass down on the bar. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go take Helga her drink.” “I don’t know.” Olga took another sip of her drink and swung her leg. The bartender wiped the counter in front of them. Both looked at him with wary glances. “Vhat do you zink, Gar?” “He looks like a virgin to me.” Gar shrugged his massive shoulders. “A what? A virgin?” Jay almost choked. “I haven’t been a virgin since I was fifteen and Mary Jo Harper pulled down her panties behind my old man’s workshop.” Olga giggled, while Gar bellowed. What was so damned funny? Jay’s nostrils flared. He tried to take in air, slowly. The need to kill someone grew strong. He was an even-tempered guy for his size, but when pushed too far, he had been known to hurt people. One thing for certain, he didn’t like to be the butt of any joke. Olga placed a red-taloned hand on his arm and patted. “No, no, darling. Not zat kind of virgin.” She giggled again. “Ve are meaning you have never been to an establishment like zis one before, no?”

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“Uh, well ...” Jay shuffled his feet on the tiled floor. “No.” He coughed as another wave of cigarette smoke hit his face. “Vell, zere is always a first time for everyzing.” Olga’s fingernails grazed the front of his shirt. She stood and ground her cigarette butt out with the heel of her boot. His hand held firmly in hers, she led him toward the back.

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Chapter Two

So, she wanted to know who he was. Dante leaned against the desk with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed at the ankles. At least she hadn’t asked him what he was. “I am Dante.” “What are you?” She nodded toward his library. “Some kind of art thief?” Ahh, the question she should not have asked. He shook his head and smiled. She had spunk, he’d give her that. It amused him she thought him a thief. In a way, he guessed she was right. Except he stole something much more valuable than art. His gaze skimmed over her shoulder-length brown hair, pullover knit sweater, and faded jeans. Such a pretty face with her turned-up nose, full lips, and gray eyes. Not a raving beauty, but he had a strong urge to teach her a few other things he knew she’d probably never imagined. He cocked his head to look at her again. The girl was an enigma. Excitement tightened low in his gut at the prospect of being her teacher. “I knew you were different from the other females who enter here, when I first saw you and your friend huddled together, not sure which way to proceed.” “Well, from what I’ve seen, that could only be a good thing.”

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He couldn’t stop the laugh escaping. Like that perfect shell one found amongst the chipped and broken shells cast upon a cluttered shore by the fierce winds of an angry storm, she was a rare find indeed. “I’m surprised you made it past the gate.” He paused, but she didn’t respond. “Most girls like you would run in fear, trying to return to the preconceived safety of their world.” He forced his fascination aside and pushed away from the desk, circling her. He stood close enough to feel the heat of her skin, but he didn’t touch her. “I am the ... proprietor, you could say ... of this house.” Dante stopped in front of her, and her eyes found his. There was a moment of recognition. A brief flash of the sun and blue sky ... laughter. He blinked. He knew her? “We’ve met.” She lowered her gaze and shook her head. “I don’t think that line is going to work with me.” The link was severed.

Had she felt it, too? He let his mind wander over the eons of his existence. Frustration surfaced that he could not recall if they shared a past. When he had smelled her scent earlier, there had been no recognition. He angled his head to read her emotions better. His eyebrow lifted.

Egotistical. He almost laughed out loud at her perception, but he felt her anger. He drew back and frowned. “Why are you angry? I have done nothing out of place.” “No.” Her head came up, and her eyes held his, full of fear, but didn’t waver. Bold, but careful, and able to resist him. Admiration for her grew. She was intelligent. Most human females he encountered were more than willing to climb into his bed without the slightest question of who, or what, he was. She not only asked questions, but demanded answers.

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“My turn.” Dante stepped back. The warmth and smell of her skin flooded his sensitive empathic abilities. He rubbed his temple to ease the throbbing that had begun. Why had the gatekeeper sent her to him? “Who are you, and what are you looking for?” Her expression went from confusion to wariness. Her head bowed, and she looked from left to right, as if searching for an answer to his question. Dante moved forward and captured her chin in his fingers. He wouldn’t abide lies. If she were some spy Zeus had sent, he would find out. No one could hide from him for long. Her face was pale, but the stormy gray depths of her eyes refused to reveal their secrets. Frustrated, he pushed her away from him. She gasped. By the look of her, she wasn’t used to even mild use of force. “Believe me, girl, I am being patient with you.” His lips felt tight and pinched with the effort it took not to force her to grovel at his feet. But he didn’t want her to fear him. In some perverse way, he enjoyed her defiance. The last person who had stood their ground against him for more than a few seconds had been Beatrice. His gut twisted with a longrepressed regret. “I would have most spies begging for mercy in seconds.” She pushed strands of her silky hair away from her face, and her tongue eased across dry lips. Whatever lipstick she had started the night with had long ago vanished with the worrying of her tongue. “I-I’m not a spy.” Dante narrowed his gaze on the pink of her tongue. Arrows of desire shot to his groin. The need to feel her tongue lick, taste, and devour his cock made him clench his jaw to prevent an audible groan. “Then who are you?” His voice sounded hoarse, but she didn’t seem to notice his reaction to her. If he weren’t in such pain, he would almost find humor in the fact there was a female in his habitat who was immune to his ... charms. He had been called the great

seducer, after all.

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His gaze took in her clothes again, so unlike the leather and metal familiar in his world. His vision traced the pure, clean lines of her face. No heavy makeup to hide imperfections. He leaned closer and sniffed her hair. No dyes or cigarette smoke. When he’d sniffed her pussy earlier, he couldn’t detect the smell of another male on her. She was clean. Enigma, most definitely. The keeper would pay for whatever game he was trying to play. “My name is Hayley Thomas. I’m a research librarian at the local university.” His gaze didn’t waver. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. The motion caused the neckline of her sweater to pull down to reveal a silver chain. The glitter of the jewelry, cool but inviting against the creamy skin of her neck, caught his attention. “I-I study and catalogue ancient --” She nodded toward his library. “-- books and documents.” “Ah. So you are interested in my collection?” “Well, yeah. How did you get --” He moved beside her and ignored the disorientation he experienced whenever he drew close to her. When he’d held her earlier, it had taken all his concentration to make his way to his apartment. Though the need to sink his cock into her body increased, he resisted the urge and reached for the necklace, instead. His fingertips brushed the soft skin of her throat. She pulled away from his touch; he removed his hand. “I’m not going to hurt you.” “That’s not what you indicated a few seconds ago.” The look in her eyes held distrust and something ... Dante turned his head to feel her. The scent of her invaded, but with effort he pushed forward into her mind. Fear? Anger? He was almost there. Ah ... desire. Finally. His gaze returned to hers as he moved closer. She hid her emotions well, but she would answer him because she desired him. No female denied him, ever. He laughed, trying not to remember the three who had.

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“You silly girl. I don’t want to hurt you.” He let his smile fade. “I want to fuck you.” She backed away, but the sofa impeded her progress. He took advantage of her tactical error and took another step closer. She fell into the cushions with a cry. He followed, with his arms braced enough to keep his weight from crushing her. Their legs entangled, and she was trapped. Triumphant, he smiled. He leaned forward, his mouth next to her ear, and whispered. “Would you like to hear what I want to do to you?” The fall had knocked her necklace loose from her sweater. Dante lifted his weight to trail a forefinger along her exposed cleavage. “Hmm?” His eyes narrowed when he felt her nipples tighten beneath her sweater to pierce his chest. Fantastic. He lowered his head, then traced the path his finger took with his tongue. She trembled beneath him, and the salty taste of her skin sent a surge of power rushing through his veins. He nipped the soft curve of her breast, retrieving the chain with his teeth. An oval medallion revealed the initials H.B.T. With one bite, he had the jewelry off and tossed to the end table. He wanted nothing between her delectable skin and his mouth. Her gray eyes closed at the same instant she groaned. His cock hardened like stone at the sound of her arousal, and his powers slipped as her feminine power robbed his strength. He frowned, for only two women had ever had this effect on him. But never again. With a growl, he ground his hips against her, wanting her to feel his desire throbbing with the need for her blood. He wanted to punish her for the craving she made him feel. Danger lay in weakness. Weakness allowed the demon loose. He couldn’t take a chance on his otherness breaking free. Little bursts of hot air from her parted lips tickled his ear during every flick of his tongue up her neck and across her chin to her lips. If he could make her as disoriented and confused as he felt by their nearness, he would be able to stay in control. “You want me, Hayley Thomas?”

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She nodded and raised her mouth to his, but he pushed her back. He wanted her first step toward damnation in words. “No, you have to tell me what you want.” With her pupils dilated, she took on a wild, intense look, but she shook her head in denial.

God, You know I love a challenge. Dante laughed and traced the edge of her lips with his tongue. His hips rotated against her. The smell of her arousal rose between them. “Tell me you want me to fuck you.” His engorged cock slid over her clit through the material of their clothing. With satisfaction, he watched her eyes close in pleasure. “K-Kiss me.” The words sounded like they were dragged through clenched teeth, but Dante had what he wanted. Her surrender. His mouth found hers with a fierceness he couldn’t contain. Teeth clashed and bit. Lips suckled and nipped. The need to possess her, completely, drove him. He raised his head to see her face. The change in her caused his power to shift toward her again. Hair tangled around the pillows beneath her head, and her pale skin flushed with excitement. Delicate hands clutched his upper arms to pull him closer. Soft, feminine hips arched into his. The conservative librarian from earlier had disappeared. Her fear and reservations had evaporated for the moment into pure hedonistic desire. No, her mind and body wouldn’t be enough. He wanted her soul. His gums tingled with all the incentive he needed. A stab of pain signaled the elongation of his incisors. His fingers grasped her chin and forced her head to angle away so he could locate her jugular. Dante positioned himself to taste her soul. His fangs extended to their full length. “Oh, my God.” She stiffened. The arms that had clutched him to her body a moment ago lashed out and tried to push him away.

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He hadn’t expected her to be so strong for such a slender girl. He tightened his grip, but she wedged her knee between them and kicked. Taken by surprise, he tumbled to the floor. Her sudden rejection didn’t make sense. He felt her desire. Anger and confusion washed over him, but in the background, admiration grew for this small creature who dared to refuse him. No one had ever denied him in his own realm. That only happened on earth. The conflict of emotions seared through his groin with a pain too intense to ignore. He doubled over.

“You’re a vampire!” Hayley backed into the corner of the sofa, knees drawn to her chin. The paramount need to escape intensified, but she didn’t know if her legs would support her to the door. She scanned the room for some kind of weapon. A miniature statue rested on the shelf closest to her. She glanced back at Dante, still on the floor, but too close. He could grab her before she reached the door. Her gaze slid from the door to the man on his hands and knees with his head bowed. She frowned, then leaned forward. Gosh, she hadn’t meant to hurt him that bad, just get him off of her. Her hand reached for his shoulder, but drew back. “Hey, are you okay?” He lifted his face to her with an expression contorted with pain and anger. Eyes flashed iridescent like the wings of a dragonfly. She jerked back at the murderous look he shot her. “Yeah.” He grimaced. “Peachy.” He pushed one knee up and sat back on his other foot. The sharp intake of air and his sudden pallor didn’t escape her. “You ... don’t ... look fine.” “No thanks to you.” Hayley bit her lip, sure he would beat the shit out of her. What had he expected her to do when he produced fangs, for goodness’ sake? She shuddered and leaned her head to the side to see the two-inch spikes, but they were gone. Curiosity overtook fear. “Are they real?”

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Maybe he had slipped them on and off without her seeing him. She had heard of clubs where the patrons pretended to be vampires. Maybe this kind of foreplay happened all the time. She took a slow breath and pushed the hair out of her face. Her hands shook so hard, she had to cross her arms and hug herself. Her imagination had taken flight for a few seconds, like when she had been a kid and watched too many scary movies. Vampires and werewolves weren’t real. They were a figment of her imagin-“The fangs are real.” She looked into eyes, now black, and felt the blood rush from her head. There was no humor in their depths. He really thought he was a vampire? She swallowed against the lump in her throat, eased her weight off the sofa, and took a step toward the door. “Well, this has been fun, but I think I need to get going.” A hand shot forward and circled her wrist. She yelped. With one powerful tug from him, she found herself back in the spot she’d stood seconds before. The frisson from his touch shocked her more than her impeded progress to ultimate freedom from this loony bin. “You can’t leave.” His voice sounded deeper. “I have to go.” She twisted her wrist, trying to break his hold. “My friend ... will be worried.” “Your friend is --” He turned his head at an angle and glanced toward the opposite wall, as if he could see through the structure, and grinned. “-- occupied.” His fingers loosened their grip enough to stroke the inside of her forearm. Waves of pleasure rippled across her skin. Her nipples tightened, and the muscles around her clit quivered with a flood of moisture. She turned her head when he leaned closer. She’d liked those kisses a little too much earlier.

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“Don’t tell me you don’t like what I make you feel, Hayley.” His tongue circled her earlobe, while his free hand caressed her hip. “I can smell desire all over you.” “Uh, you kiss very nice, but the fangs are a bit much.” She couldn’t ignore the longing, but she had to deny what her treacherous body wanted. Hayley moved toward the door again. His grip tightened, and she gasped when she felt his fingernails bite into the soft skin of her arm. Funny, she hadn’t remembered them being that long -- she looked down again -or black. “You don’t understand.” He leaned forward, his breath a whisper across her face. A look of sadness pierced his gaze. Hayley froze in her attempt to break free. “You cannot leave. Once a person steps past the gate, they become a part of my domain. You become mine --” He kissed her forehead. “-- to do with as I please.” Hayley jerked her arm free. He was certifiable. Each breath she took burned. She shook her head, hysteria rising into her throat, choking her. His voice sounded soft and coaxing, but his words scared the living daylights out of her. Her head moved so her vision took in the entire room. In the bright light, Dante’s office resembled a vault, and she felt the walls slowly closing around her.

This whole place is crazy. She had to get out of here. She ran for the door. “You chose to come past the gate of your own free will.” Heavy wood creaked in protest. She forced a crack open in the doorway. Heavy-metal music blasted through before a larger hand applied pressure and her escape evaporated. The music was obliterated into silence once again. A whimper escaped her throat. “Very few humans do that.” He nibbled her earlobe with sharp teeth. “You should have stayed in the front part of the club with the clean souls.” “No!” She beat her palm against the barrier, but no one could hear her.

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“Shhh.” Strong arms wrapped around her, and his heat emanated in a cocoon of warmth. His hold increased, but she didn’t feel pain. Only wave after wave of pleasure. “I haven’t wanted a woman this way in a long time. Let me show you how it will be with us.” Her breasts pressed against the wood; her nipples hardened against the coolness. The erratic thump of his heart pulsed through the material of her sweater, while his breath tickled her ear. Hayley experienced the falling sensation she’d had when she’d first seen him. She could feel him invade her mind. The image of bodies swirled together, then apart, but never far. This time the vision took shape. A man and a woman, naked, came together in sex, but not long enough to fulfill their desire. Their bodies were prevented from the final climax. The agony of their never-ending passion revealed both pleasure and pain, but the love they had for each other lay evident on their strained faces. “This is Paolo and Francesca.” His words whispered into her ear, drawing her further into the illusion. “Look at the need and desire they have for each other but cannot fulfill.” His hand moved to her hip and pulled her closer into the curve of his body. “I’ll meet your every need and desire, Hayley. I will not leave you frustrated.” A low moan escaped her lips. She couldn’t move, or breathe. She wanted what he promised, but Dante could be some serial killer who drugged his victims, raped them, and cut their throats in some sick game to prove himself a vampire. His grip tightened, and he gave her a little shake. “I’m not a vampire.” His voice sounded rough in her ear and full of anger.

God, he could read her thoughts! His fingers tunneled into her hair to pull the strands away from her neck. “I’m something much worse.” He kissed her. “I can give you pleasure, or, if you resist initiation, I will give you pain until you beg me to take you.”

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The skin over her jugular tingled. “I can make this easier for you.” His tongue swirled over her neck. A sob rose in her throat, and a bead of perspiration pooled between her breasts. The sound of their heartbeats blended to form tympani, echoing in her ears. The need to roll her head back and beg him to puncture her, to relieve the painful throb in her veins and her groin, grew. She bit her lip. She had to fight the intensity of his will. He turned her in his arms, but she shifted her shoulders, throwing his hands off. “W-What do you want?” She stepped sideways with her back against the door. “Why are you doing this to me?” His lips twitched, the hint of a smile evident at the same time his eyebrow rose. His forefinger followed the line of his vision, tracing her jaw to the edge of her mouth. She jerked her head back against the hard wood of the door. “Those are the rules. All souls have to serve purgatory until it’s time to be reincarnated.” He moved away from her to sit behind his desk. He raised a hand to the door. The action was tired and weary, as if he’d seen everything life had to offer, good and bad, and didn’t have the heart to explore either concept any longer. “Go, if you want, but you will not be allowed to pass over the gate to the outside.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hayley waved her hands in the air. “Gates, freewill, fangs.” She stomped her foot. “Are you so psycho you think we’re all dead and this is Purgatory?” Her hand covered her mouth. She waited for him to jump across the desk and kill her. Mentally ill people didn’t like being told they were crazy. He didn’t move. He sat still as a statue, and his eyes glittered with the strange iridescent lights from before. Hayley wondered if the phenomenon happened when he was upset. Or excited. She tightened her thigh muscles at the memory of his powerful erection pressed against the core

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of her body and, again, against the small of her back, their only barrier a few thin layers of cloth.

Fuck, she liked to flirt with danger. Dante held himself rigid. The urge to climb across his desk and show her how crazy he could be boiled through his blood. He fought the lack of control that made him want to strip her clothes and feel the softness of her skin against his. The less control he had, the more the demon would gain. His fingers gripped the desk tighter, and his gums tingled from the thought of his fangs in her neck. He craved the taste of her blood. Her soul. His cock throbbed with the need for her sex. He closed his eyes against the sensation. Sex and ecstasy entwined with such subtlety in this place of darkness. The release another’s lifeblood offered was the only true relief he gained from this existence of day to day, year to year, century to century. But it had been so long since he had allowed himself even that pleasure. Wood creaked and snapped. Dante looked down to see the result of his frustration and her denial. Splinters from his desk lay scattered in his hands and lap. When he glanced at Hayley, her face had grown paler. He sighed and brushed a hand across his eyes. He could force her to submit to him, but that wasn’t what he wanted. What he wanted was -- he sighed -- of no consequence. “You better run before I do something you would regret.” He rotated the chair so his back faced her. If he kept her in his vision, he wouldn’t be able to do what he knew was right. Greed and desire would win over his better self. He laughed, the sound bitter. No one, including himself, would believe his being might have a better half. He was what he was. “I’ll speak to the Keeper and find out why you were allowed to pass the gate.”

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Dammit. It was Talos’s job to prevent screw-ups like this. He frowned. He didn’t want to say the words, but did. “You don’t belong here.” There was no response except the sound of the door opening to signal her departure. Music pulsed like blood in his veins, loud and evocative to match the heightened frenzy of the crowd. The beat invited the numerous souls gathered to participate in every form of hedonistic pleasure they had been sentenced to enjoy for all eternity. For most, Dante knew firsthand, the pleasure no longer existed. Only pain. The noise disappeared, muffled by the closing of the door. He leaned forward and turned the light off with a click, which echoed through the room. Darkness closed around him. He was alone. Again.

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Chapter Three

Jay danced and turned with Olga through the crowd of sweaty bodies. A man with a green-painted torso bumped into him. “Hey, watch it, fella.” The man turned to Jay, his eyes red-rimmed, his face devoid of any enjoyment. Jay frowned. His focus on Olga and her sister evaporated. His step faltered as he looked closer at the people around him. They weren’t happy. He turned to his right. Two women swung their hips to the beat, sensuous and alluring, their movements an invitation to anyone nearby, but their faces were tight with what looked like exhaustion, or ... pain. Jay turned slowly and studied the club’s patrons, all alike. Gooseflesh skittered over his skin. He rubbed his arms. This wasn’t right. They should be happy, excited. Even the music had an eerie quality he hadn’t noticed before. He angled his head. The musicians sounded off-key, like they hit the wrong notes or the instruments weren’t tuned. Olga touched his hand, but he refused to look at her. He didn’t want to see the same look of drudgery on her beautiful face. With a quick move, she stepped into his line of vision, a smile curving her lips. “Vhat is zee matter, Jay?”

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He shook his head and forced his eyes closed. He couldn’t express the relief he felt. If he tried, she would think him weird. For a second the illusion of a veil being lifted from his vision had assailed his senses. He’d been seeing things. He pulled her against him. “Are you as excited as I am, Olga?” “Yes, darling. Zee second I saw you, I knew tonight vould be unforgettable.” He sighed. His imagination was working overtime. The unknown drink must have been stronger than he’d realized. His cock tingled with fire and the need to get this bitch alone. She looked like she could handle his desire to play rough. On impulse, he leaned forward and kissed her red lips. “Let’s go play with Helga.”

***** Hayley shoved twin Amazons from her path. No way would this place pass any of the city’s fire codes. The main exit, any exit, couldn’t be located. Where was that gate thingy, with the gold bouncer, they’d passed through when they’d come in? She turned her head to the left, then back to the right. Someone bumped into her from behind. She staggered forward a couple of steps. “Sorry, Mistress.” A man reached out to steady her, but claws scraped through the material of her sweater. She turned and narrowed her gaze on a guy in a werewolf costume. “That’s okay.” Someone bumped her from behind, pushing her into the dog-man’s arms. Up close, the mask appeared even more realistic, with yellowed fangs and a tongue dripping with saliva. “Where did you guys find your costumes?” Hayley shook her head, the anger she’d experienced forgotten at the realistic design of his mask. The werewolf cocked his head to the side, just like a dog, but didn’t answer for several seconds. His eyes looked puzzled at her question.

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“I’ve been ... this way ... for a long time, Mistress.” That was the second time he’d called her by that title. Hayley took a deep breath, counted to ten, then squeezed through the mass. For every three steps forward, the crowd pushed her back one. The authorities would be ecstatic to know about Dante’s little club. There were too many people packed into the building. When they’d arrived, the old warehouse had looked huge. Her steps slowed, and she focused on the walls, which had shrunk inward since they’d come inside. Impossible. She squared her shoulders and pushed ahead. An eight-foot speaker loomed to her right, and she had to cover her ears. The noise vibrated through her mind with such an extreme thud, she couldn’t hear herself think. Mayhem at its worst. Stumbling in front of a fan, she inhaled a deep breath of cooler air, but her lungs filled with a stale, musky odor, forcing her to cough.

My God, what happened to the air conditioning? The front of her sweater lay plastered against her damp skin, itchy and uncomfortable. The heat in the club had risen at least twenty degrees since she’d entered. She’d almost welcome the blast of freezing air from the entrance. A half-naked couple twisted together in near copulation, knocking her into a stone wall. As careful as possible, not wanting to touch anyone else, she eased down the length of the wall until she found herself by a bar. Her eyes bugged and her mouth fell open. A man she assumed was the bartender towered over her. He was as large as ... well, as large as ... Her mouth closed. She couldn’t think of anyone as huge as the man who stood in front of her. Black, wiry hair covered dusky skin that held a tinge of green. His eyes were small and beady, hidden beneath shaggy eyebrows. He looked like that wrestler Andre the Giant. A large, flat nose looked like it had been squished in a fight. He sniffed and looked down at her. Hayley’s eyebrows shot up.

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The guy’s left nostril lifted away from his top lip to reveal a nares the size of a small cave. Make that several fights, she amended. He had to be the biggest, ugliest man she’d ever seen. His little finger could pulverize her without effort. “Uh, excuse me?” She smiled and hoped her expression looked genuine. “Have you seen a guy in here who looks like me?” “You’re an identical twin, too?” He nodded toward the Amazons, who were in the process of licking the body of a man they had sandwiched between them. His breath blew hot across her face like a desert wind. Hayley wrinkled her nose when the smell of garlic hit her. She covered her mouth and coughed once to disguise the fact that she wanted to vomit. “Actually, that would make me a fraternal twin, but --” She waved her hand to stop her digression. “Look, mister. I’m looking for my friend. He’s wearing similar clothing to mine. Non-goth.” She pulled at the sleeve of her sweater. The giant didn’t blink. “A guy. My age.” No reaction. Hayley leaned one hip against the bar and looked at the ceiling. The sigh she released was long. She might as well quit her search and go home. Jay was probably having the time of his life, while she, on the other hand, had only run into the biggest group of weirdos she’d ever met. She eased her butt onto a stool and looked around. People danced across the floor. She glanced at the cages situated overhead. Girls danced there, too. Everyone was having a grand old time, except her. She was alone, again, on a Saturday night. Her thoughts turned to Dante, but she shook them off. The only men she attracted were ones with mental problems. She sighed. Maybe she’d become a nun.

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“Give me a beer, Fee Fie.” She turned to the bar, leaned her face on one hand, and traced a pattern in the moisture with her other. All she wanted was a nice, down-to-earth boyfriend to share a quiet evening at home. Was that too much to ask? Of course, she wouldn’t object to some good, hot sex thrown into the equation. A brown bottle intruded into her line of vision. Moisture from the hot atmosphere condensed above the cool bottle, forming a wispy cloud. “The name’s Gar.” “Um.” She took a swig, liking the way the cold liquid slid down her parched throat. “Hayley.” She didn’t know why she bothered to introduce herself, except her mother had instilled manners in her since she could talk and walk. The giant probably couldn’t care less who she was. “Nice to meet you, Princess Hayley.” His deep voice rumbled through the wood of the bar. He bowed, then offered her his hand. For the umpteenth time that night, her mouth dropped open. She managed to remember her mother’s lessons in etiquette and placed her hand into his. “Same here.” He pumped her hand up and down. When he let go, her arm tingled, like it might be pulled out of the socket. She laughed and gave the giant a smile. He grinned back, revealing that most of his teeth were gone, except three gray-green ones in the front. Hayley marveled at the transformation in his face. She cocked her head to the side. The smile was a little rusty, but it added warmth to the rough features. He was so ugly, he was cute. Kind of like the old mutt she’d found on a street corner when she was younger. She felt a twinge of happiness for the first time tonight. She took another sip of her beer. “Ugh.” Her mouth pinched in distaste, and she spit the rancid brew back into the bottle. Instead of the ice-cold beer from a second before, a lukewarm liquid remained and tasted far more fermented.

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Gar shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry about that. It’s hard to keep things fresh down here.” Hayley wiped her mouth with the back of her hand at the same time the band behind her hit an eerie note. A shiver ran down her spine, like a premonition. “What do you mean ‘down here’?” No, she didn’t want to know. She placed the bottle on the counter and held up her hand to stop Gar’s answer, but he didn’t notice. “Well, you know, Princess.” Gar nodded his head toward the crowd. “Hell.” Hayley didn’t move. She couldn’t. Deep down she had known what Gar would say. All night, in the back of her mind, she’d had the same thought over and over. Even before they’d left Jay’s apartment, Hayley had known something strange would happen. It was like déjà vu. Dread crawled across her skin. She pivoted on the barstool and looked across the floor. What had looked like people having a good time when they’d first entered took on a sinister aspect she’d ignored. Those weren’t costumes the patrons were wearing. She narrowed her eyes to focus. The patrons were, in reality, werewolves, two-tongued serpents, and gargoyles. Hayley turned back to the bar, her eyes shut against what her mind registered.

It’s all a dream. The smell of sulfur and sweat permeated her senses, and she knew that what she saw and smelled at that moment was reality. For the second time, she opened her eyes, looking at Gar with a newfound awareness. He was one of them -- a monster, or a demon from Hell. She shook her head. “No.” She stood up and backed away from the bar. She bumped into the writhing creatures, but twisted away. The sound of ringing registered in her mind. Gar picked up a red phone and spoke into the receiver. She almost laughed, but stuffed her fist in her mouth to stop the hysterical need. If she started, she wouldn’t stop. Hayley turned and ran. She knew who Gar was speaking to -- the devil. And the devil definitely had a name: Dante.

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Hands reached out to pull her into the frenzy. The sleeve of her sweater ripped. Claws dug into her skin; faces leered down at her. Hayley drew her arms closer to her body, fighting her way through the crowd. Where was the door? She stumbled, but pulled herself upright, afraid they wouldn’t let her go if she stopped. She had a flash of the gate in her mind from earlier. Jay had asked the bouncer what the words above the gate said, but the gold man had not responded. The glowing red letters had looked like gibberish, but they now became clear in her mind.

Enter into the Suffering City, endure eternally, but abandon every hope. She wiped a hand across her forehead, finding her skin cold and clammy. The floor shifted beneath her, like a mini-earthquake. Tiles heaved up and down. She grasped a rail for support. All around her, the monsters and demons moved in a circle, weaving in and out, moaning, “Pape Satan, pape Satan.” She held on until the motion stopped, but the rail wasn’t a rail anymore. The flickering flames of a red-and-yellow tattoo taunted her. Muscles rippled beneath her fingers. Hayley staggered backwards a few feet across the floor and looked into Dante’s black gaze. “Where’s the frickin’ door?” She screamed the words at him, spitting in his face. A pain, sharp and hot, sliced through her head. Hayley doubled over. She clenched her teeth in an effort to speak. “I ... want ... out ... of here!” Dante stepped closer, but she threw her hand up to keep him away. With an effort, she forced herself to stand. “Hayley.” “No, stay away from me. You’re evil. All of you!” “I tried to tell you.” The pained look on Dante’s face registered through the throb in her head, but she didn’t understand why he would look hurt at her words. He knew what he was.

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A demon standing a foot away inched closer; she kicked out at him with her foot. The monster jumped back, and the gleam of a knife attached to his belt glinted in the flickering lights of the ... She looked around and gasped. The club she had entered had transformed into a giant cavern. What she had thought were electrical lights didn’t exist, were only lanterns and torches strung high around the dark brown and gray stone walls. “What happened to the walls?” She rushed forward and grabbed the demon’s knife. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt at the same time her stomach knotted, and her knees weakened to hit the stone floor. Bile rose in her throat and she gagged. “Gently! If she can see the reality of this stink hole, then her soul and her mind are fighting each other for control.” Strong hands grasped her shoulders, pulling her up. With a growl, she swung the blade out and around. “Get off me!” “Hayley, let me help you.” Dante stepped smoothly around the blade, wrapping his arms about her from behind. With expert strength, he pinned her arms to her side and brought her ass in hard to nestle against his erection. His whispered voice sounded next to her ear. “The pain will go away if you let me hold you. Shhh. Let me caress you.” She shivered at the sound of his words, firm and full of command. Just listening to him eased the ache in her head. The velvet softness of his voice made it seem so natural in this place, with everyone watching, to lay her head back against his shoulder and let him cradle her in his arms while his expert hands stroked over her body, taking the pain and confusion with them. Pleasure pulsed in their place. She closed her eyes at the image of thousands of fingers caressing her. Moisture from her desire pooled between her legs. She turned her head to look into Dante’s soft, concerned gaze and relented to the silent demand and need she saw there. Around her, the demons’ chants echoed for their master to proceed whether she agreed or not, their faces eager for the debauched entertainment.

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Dante’s fingers eased down her arms to capture her hands; his hips swayed back and forth in imitation of what he wanted from her. Music flowed around them in some ancient Babylonian beat. Hayley closed her eyes with a sigh; the pain from a few seconds ago dulled to a mere throb. “That’s it, baby, let it go.” He kissed her temple. “Accept this reality, and the pain will go away.” His hands on hers, Dante guided her fingers to the opening of her jeans and rubbed her forefinger against her clit through the fabric. Hayley arched and hissed with the sensation. The chants grew louder, while Dante’s demands grew bolder. He forced her fingers to the zip of her jeans. Then he eased their fingers inside her panties and down to tease her slick folds. Viscous moisture coated their hands, and the musky smell of her sex filled the air. “No, I can’t.” The dreamlike trance slipped away, and awareness of where she was returned. She tried to move away, but he pulled her closer, his breath a whisper in her ear. “Focus on me, Hayley. Rub your clit while my fingers play in your cunt.” Dante pushed two fingers deep inside her body, and she cried out with the pleasure. The sight and sound of the “watchers” left the parameters of her mind. Only the feel of what he made her do and what she allowed him to do remained. She wanted the vortex they were caught up in to whirl and swirl forever. “Faster, Hayley. I want you to come for them.” He kissed her neck. “You are so beautiful. They all want you and the power of your climax, just like I do.” She shook her head in denial, but her orgasm claimed her at the same time a sharp, electrical pain cut deeper into her mind. “Ahhh!” She grabbed her head with both hands and jerked free of Dante’s embrace to curl into a ball against the floor. Sensations of pain and pleasure washed over her. She felt the crowd

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move closer and heard Dante’s voice issuing orders to his demons. He sounded far away, too far. Only he could make the pain recede. “Help me.” Hayley squinted through tears of pain. She reached for him, but his image faded into a misty gray.

***** “Hayley?” A beeping noise and the smell of ammonia penetrated her mind. The need to get away from soulless eyes had her twisting against the hands that held her. Everyone watched her while Dante touched and caressed her. In some perverse way, she craved what he could give her, but knew deep down their actions weren’t normal. “Hayley, do you hear me?” A man’s voice rose above the continued beeping noise. Hayley tried to open her eyes, but a bright light flashed. The pain intensified. She moaned and shut her eyes. “Dante.” “Did she speak?” When she turned away, someone touched her arms and legs. Demons! She kicked her legs to break their hold, but the hands clamped around her tighter. “Dammit, fasten those restraints.” The voice faded for a second, but returned with a cool hand to her forehead. “If she moves around too much, the bleeding will start again. She’s got to be stabilized before she can go up for surgery.” Hayley screamed and moved her head back and forth to knock the demon’s caress away. Where was Dante? Why didn’t he protect her? “Hayley, stay with us now. Don’t go back to that dark place. Fight, girl, fight.” “What happened to the other one?” “He didn’t make it. The EMT personnel said the young man lasted until they got him to the hospital, but died as they drove up. It was a bad one ...”

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The beeping faded with the voice. A reddish-orange light appeared behind her and beckoned to her. She didn’t hesitate to walk toward its call. She looked back once and saw a woman with numerous medical personnel surrounding her. The woman lay pale and lifeless, tubes and strange fluids infusing her body, a respirator covering her mouth. Blood covered the woman’s face and clothes and dripped onto the floor. Hayley frowned. The girl looked familiar. She stepped closer to the pitiful figure covered with glass, mud, and blood. She looked like ... her!

Hayley. She stepped back at the sound of a coaxing voice, calling her. She glanced between the reddish light and the figure on the table. The initial shock faded, and a strange calm spread through her, tingling and alive. She turned back to the red glow and walked into the light.

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Chapter Four

“Why is she still here? I didn’t call her back.” Dante paced back and forth in front of the sofa where Hayley lay with her face pale and pinched in pain. He fought the urge to go to her and relieve her distress. If he interfered too much, she wouldn’t be able to return to her world. “They were calling her back. I eased her pain, but something else kept her here.” She’d been unconscious for hours since she’d fallen in the mosh pit. He turned to the creature crouched in the shadows. He heard no response, other than the cold clink of metal upon metal. “Answer me, damn you!” The creature stretched to his full height. Metal joints creaked with his movements. He stepped closer. The dim light of the office reflected off the brass plating of his skin. His eyes gleamed red. “She had Charon’s mark, just like the other one, Master.” “You didn’t answer my question, Talos.” Dante wasn’t intimidated by the watchman Zeus had created, a beast fashioned from bronze in the shape of a man, to be given as a gift to King Minos, a flawed human. The king might have ruled Crete with an iron hand, but he’d had a fetish for bright, shiny things. Greed -- one of the nine deadly passions. Talos didn’t have a heart that could be tempted by gold, making Dante wonder what could tempt the metal man these days. Dante

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had no such weaknesses. He possessed more wealth than anyone cared to count. The only item he had ever desired and would never be his had been the bronze man’s downfall, too. “I took you in when you failed to protect Crete against the wiles of a woman. I thought you’d make the perfect gatekeeper.” Dante circled behind Talos to come up beside his ear. “Perhaps I was mistaken.” Talos didn’t move, but stared straight ahead. Dante’s whispered threat had no apparent effect on the metal man. But then, after a second, he spoke. “You could have let me die.” Dante heard the hatred in the man’s voice. He circled back to face Talos. The red eyes gleamed with the bitterness the brass man felt at being forced to live in Hell. Dante wasn’t affected. He survived every nanosecond with the knowledge that all the creatures of Hell hated and feared him, except Gar. “We both know that if I hadn’t taken you, Zeus would have.” Dante moved back to the sofa and picked up a damp cloth. He reapplied the cool material to Hayley’s forehead. Her sigh tugged at something deep within him. His fingers played with a strand of her hair. So helpless, so fragile. A muscle in his jaw tightened when he realized what he did. He looked at Talos. “That’s a chance I couldn’t take.” “What’s wrong? Not enough souls in Hell; you have to take the ones who belong in the underworld, as well, and imprison them in Purgatory forever?” Dante reined in his fury at the insolence Talos flung at him. His nostrils flared to take in a deep, calming breath. He laughed, the sound bitter. “You know Hades and I have always been rivals, Talos. Just as Zeus and God have been.” “I didn’t know you and God were on speaking terms these days.” He shrugged. “We have an understanding.” He wiped Hayley’s brow. “Mainly that I keep Purgatory running smoothly, to give the humans a chance to move closer to Heaven. Their survival on earth depends on their preparation for reincarnation while down here.”

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“Things change.” Talos shrugged. To Dante the statement sounded a promise of things to come. “Yeah? Since when?” Dante wondered what kind of plot Zeus had hatched to overthrow him. It wouldn’t be the first time. As long as Dante kept Talos as his gatekeeper, no souls could enter the underworld, only Hell. He knew Hades needed fresh souls in order to keep his army of demons satisfied and under control, just as he did. He focused his empathic powers toward Talos, trying to read his emotions, but after a few seconds, gave up. Empathy was useless. The brass covered his skull as well as his body, blocking Dante’s ability. Only Dis could penetrate the metal, and Talos knew it. Red eyes stared into black ones. Dante refused to blink. Talos lowered his gaze, but Dante felt no satisfaction at the small victory. Dis was the one with the true powers, not him. “Why not give her to me?” Talos’s eyes roved over Hayley’s body. “I’ll be happy to initiate her into the realm.” He drew one finger down the girl’s arm. “She looks like a good fuck.” Dante watched him place his finger in his mouth. His red eyes closed with an ecstatic shudder of his body. “Sweet.” A wave of jealousy rushed through Dante’s mind and body, so strong that when he stood, the power emanating from him forced the brass man to step back. His body temporarily blocked Talos’s view of Hayley. Red eyes full of lust met his once more. Dante kept his voice low and controlled. Losing control would allow his demon to gain freedom. He took a deep breath. “Until I know why she’s here, she stays with me.” “Sure you don’t want to initiate her yourself --” He grinned at Dante. “-- Master?” Dante’s arm jerked forward. Flesh connected with metal, and Talos staggered sideways. Dante’s fist throbbed, but he chose to ignore the pain rather than show any weakness to his

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foe’s old watchdog. Someway, somehow, Zeus had contacted Talos, and the two of them were responsible for this girl’s presence. “I’ve had enough of your insolence.” Dante turned his back to the man. “Get back to your post.” Music blared, then faded. The door clicked shut. Beside him, Hayley groaned. Dante experienced a wave of helplessness as he watched her twist and turn, struggling against an unseen force. He knew what she fought. Her world would try to keep her with them, and in the process she would experience the trauma of being torn between two realities. If she had been a true candidate for Hell, she would have come over to him when she had entered his office. The longer she stayed here, the more she risked losing her soul for all eternity. Even if she returned home, her sanity could be endangered. Those faced with the “truth” before their time often sacrificed more than they were willing to offer in their quest for knowledge. “Go back home, Hayley. You didn’t ask for this.” He bent and touched the damp cloth across her forehead, finding the cotton crisp and dry. His jaw tightened. Nothing stayed cool for long. Purgatory lay on the outer circles of Hell, but the temperature still soared in the range of discomfort -- a reminder for the souls waiting for reincarnation of what lay in store if they refused to grow and evolve while on earth. He dipped the rag into the tepid water on the table and returned it to her heated skin. She quieted for a second. He let his fingers trace the line of her jaw; his thumb circled her full lips. When he inhaled the scent of her hair and skin, his cock hardened. Talos’s accusation came back to him. The silkiness of her hair threaded through his fingers, and he closed his eyes with the sensations she aroused in him. She was clean, fresh, and ... innocent. His gums tingled, and deep within, his true nature howled to be set free. What did he care why she was here? The thought of Talos or some other demon touching her, licking her, driving their cock deep against her womb until she cried out in pain and pleasure, seared his mind.

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No! She had come to him. His hand tightened, knotting her hair around his fingers. Why couldn’t he be her initiator into Purgatory? His mouth and tongue moved over her lips. He groaned at the taste of her, like sweet honey, nectar of the gods. His body shook with the realization that if anyone took her, it would be him. He would give in to his weakness.

Why not? He had been damned for all eternity eons ago for his sins. Why shouldn’t he burn a little longer for the corruption of one more soul? Dante sighed, knowing that this time, if he took this particular soul, it would truly be his doing and not their own. Little did man know, but they held their own destiny in their hands. “Satan” didn’t make man do the atrocities committed throughout the ages. Man did just fine on his own. He was just the “watcher” assigned, making sure everything ran smoothly. He eased away from her to sit on the edge of the table, and his gaze followed the line of her neck to her breasts, rising and falling gently with her breathing. Her neckline scooped low, but not obscenely so. He spotted her necklace on the end table and remembered the initials he’d read earlier: H.B.T.

Hayley B. Thomas. Hayley B. Beatrice? Dante felt his spine stiffen. It couldn’t be. His gaze went to her face to study the classical features in repose. He shook his head, but knew his suspicions were right. Her face appeared different, but her soul and scent called to him. Why had he not recognized her before now? Zeus. Somehow the Greek god had masked her scent from him. Many of the souls he amassed were here for all eternity. But some stayed for a few years or a few hundred, based upon their sins, to be reincarnated onto earth and serve their next level of Purgatory. If they passed their trial, they moved a little closer to Heaven, their stint on earth but a second with their souls intact throughout their faith journey.

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If they failed to advance spiritually on earth, and exhausted all the levels, like him, their souls came back to serve as whores for the multitude of demons who were his army. All hope for a new chance at life on earth and salvation burned up in the fires of Hell. His fist tightened. Zeus had found Lilith’s and Beatrice’s soul and planned to use Dante’s misguided love for them to crush the gateway to Hell. With nowhere else to go, all souls would come to Hades and be used again by Zeus and the other Olympian gods to cause mayhem on earth. The old religions would rule once more. Dante couldn’t let that happen. There was no love lost between him and the Maker, but he’d promised to do everything within his power to preserve the faith and not break any more rules. He’d promised after Beatrice, another woman whom he’d thought had truly loved him, had betrayed him. He looked at Hayley. She might share their soul, but he sensed that she was not the same as Beatrice, or Lilith. He didn’t love her. He desired her, like Dis craved Lilith. The two could be kept separate. The love he’d felt for Beatrice he could not deny, but ... Hayley’s passion, he could. She breathed deeply and then sighed before she woke. Gray eyes stared into his, and Dante felt his control slip. Poets said eyes were the gateway to the soul, and at that moment he believed them. Hayley had Beatrice’s eyes, not Lilith’s, and his reaction to her was the same. “Am I dreaming?” He shook his head, not sure he trusted his voice. “I’m still in ... Hell?” He nodded. The look of sadness and confusion on her face tore at the place his heart once occupied. The desire to pull her into his arms and wipe away her pain knotted in his gut. He knew she didn’t belong here. She was what he’d thought Beatrice to be at one time:

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good and beautiful. Her soul had transcended the most difficult levels of Purgatory. She should be but one step away from Heaven.

Taste her! The darkness in his soul rose. God, what her lifeblood would give him! He could feast on her soul for years and never need another to satisfy the loneliness or abate the nightmares that burned into his black soul every time he allowed himself to sleep. His incisors lengthened, cutting into his flesh, but he refused to open his mouth and scare Hayley. The taste of blood coated his tongue. If he didn’t swallow, he’d choke. He closed his eyes and fought his urge. His hands gripped the edges of the coffee table he sat on. Sweat broke across his forehead, but he pushed his desire down to the bottom of his gut. The burning in his gums and lungs receded for the moment. “What’s wrong?” The cool touch of her fingers on his skin singed like the flamed tattoos marking the “watcher” who happened to reign over Hell. He jerked his arm away. A new wave of desire brought on by her nearness attacked his weakening reserve. His head bowed to fight the demon that dwelled within him, always a part of him, and the part that desired Lilith. He raised his gaze to Hayley. The pain intensified with the effort to speak, but he had to protect her. “Get ... away ... from me.” He didn’t want to see the look on her face when she saw the heartless beast he truly was. If the hardened bitches he’d loved and desired years before couldn’t stand him, then Hayley would be no exception. If she didn’t leave in the next few seconds, he wouldn’t be able to control what he’d do to her. The need to possess grew too strong. The part of him that God had denied wanted her too much. “Ahhhh ...” His skin burned with the feel of claws tearing flesh. He fell to the floor, twisting and turning. The spasms wracked his body until his muscles knotted. The nature of the beast could not be held within. He curled into a ball and surrendered. The demon took control. The laughter in his mind told him the dark angel was free.

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You, fool. Look at her, ripe and fresh. Laughter echoed. Dante grabbed his head, the words reverberating around his skull.

If you won’t take her, I will. “No!” Dante fought the pain, but the demon pushed his more rational self aside. With a deep breath of satisfaction, Dis revealed himself, reveling in his newfound freedom with an arch of his back.

“Dante?” Hayley called from her huddled position on the sofa. Dante’s eyes had been iridescent when he looked up at her with his head bowed in pain. He’d told her to leave, but the voice she’d heard wasn’t his. His body had contorted in some sort of seizure, his back arching to the point of breaking. Now he lay on the floor, still as death. Unsure of what had happened earlier, her thoughts were fragmented, but she remembered the pain and that somehow he’d helped her. Now he needed help, and she wouldn’t abandon him. She owed him that much. The two sides he presented confused but fascinated her, like a moth drawn to a flame; she had to find what the attraction to this man meant. If she’d ever met him before, no way could she have forgotten, but somehow she knew him. She eased her legs off the edge of the sofa like she’d done when she had been a little girl and had to use the bathroom, afraid of the bogeyman under her bed. “Be brave, be brave, be brave,” she chanted, her shoes quiet against the floor. Her fingers reached for her talisman, engraved with her initials and the names of three guardian angels. The silver wasn’t there. She stopped. A moment of panic seized her at the loss of her most prized possession. Her greatgrandmother had given her the necklace, which had been blessed by a rabbi and a priest, the day she’d been born. She had never been without the sacred item.

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“Get a grip; it’s just a necklace.” She forced her feet forward. “I’m not superstitious like Grandma.” Two steps closer and she knelt beside Dante’s body. She nudged him with her finger.

Please don’t be dead. “Dante, can you hear me?” She shook his arm. His skin radiated warmth, but no response could be elicited.

Oh, God. Shaky fingers felt for a pulse in his neck, and she let out a relieved sigh when she found the steady throb. Hayley rolled him onto his back and looked into his face. He looked as if he were asleep, but something felt ... different. Her hand smoothed across his cheek and chin; the scratchy sensation from his stubble chafed but stimulated her skin. The thought of his roughness against the smoothness of her inner thighs crossed her mind. She jerked her hand back. What should she do now? He was breathing, and his pulse was strong. Her fingers tapped against his arm. Hayley thought of Gar. The giant would know what to do for his master.

Master. She forced the reality of her words from her mind. If she thought of him as the devil, then she’d go crazy. He was just a male, and she’d treat him like she did every other man she had problems with.

Right. Who are you kidding? She laughed and pushed against the floor with her hands to rise. This was no ordinary man. “What are you laughing at, little girl?” Hayley froze. The voice came from Dante, but she didn’t recognize the timbre. Dante’s voice held a deep warmth and richness. The voice addressing her sounded cold and raspy, the syllables rusty from non-use. Before she could move, a hand grabbed her upper arm and pulled, drawing her closer against Dante’s chest. She shivered at the sudden touch of cold flesh, like death. Her instincts

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screamed in retreat. Seconds before, his skin had been warm and alive. She tried to pull away, but her attempts to struggle were short-lived. “No. I don’t want you!” Her scream echoed around the room, but no further. The beast laughed, then quickly rolled her beneath him. He straddled her hips and pinned her arms to the floor above her head. His eyes glinted, reflecting her face, pale with fear, in their depths. “Well, you’ve got me, for better or worse.” He threw his head back and laughed, the sound eerie and haunting. “We’ll be like every other old, married couple. Now, feed me, sweet Hayley.” He clasped both her wrists in his left hand and leaned down on that elbow, his face an inch from hers, fangs glinted with his demonic smile. With his right hand he tapped her nose in a playful gesture. This thing had Dante’s face, but the beauty she’d seen when he smiled earlier wasn’t there. Evil emanated from the features above her. Evil and lust. Hayley’s breath came in short gasps, but she managed not to hyperventilate. Fear rose in her throat, but she swallowed the bitter taste threatening to choke her. Stay calm. She had to think of some way to throw him off. “Don’t bother, babe.” His finger moved across her cheek, down her chin, and across her breast. “Unlike that weak, sniveling --” He stopped his tirade and licked her cheek. “I know what you’re thinking.” His hand traveled lower and eased under her sweater. “I know what you want.” His sensual words whispered like the hiss of a serpent. Hayley bucked her hips, making him laugh harder, the sound cold and cruel to her ears, but somehow stimulating. “Stop!” His hand hesitated for a minute; the smile faded. His strange eyes studied her with the same intense stare Dante had used. He laid his hand flat against her belly and feathered his fingers back and forth across her skin.

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Hayley pictured his long black fingernails scraping her skin at the same time the sensations attacked her nervous system. Surprisingly, they weren’t repulsive as she’d imagined. A tingling began low in her abdomen and spread to her clitoris. What was happening to her? She closed her eyes to the face above hers and tried to fight her arousal. She was in Hell, and whoever held her in his arms wasn’t Dante. She clenched her teeth. “Get off me, you bastard.” The hand stilled. The eyes glittered brighter, closer. Cold lips covered hers at the same instant his forefinger and thumb pinched the tip of her nipple. Her hips arched against his of their own accord, and she opened her mouth under pure instinct to take his tongue. Moisture built between her legs with a slow, steady throb of her clit. Then he was gone. He rolled off her but kept a firm grip on her wrists to pull her up beside him when he stood. His right hand rose, and Hayley shut her eyes in defense, but he only feathered his black fingernails through her hair. She bit her lip and stared at his chest. “Now, babe, I’m not going to beat you. Yet.” He laughed. “Don’t get mad with your poor body for wanting to have a little fun.” He twirled her around like a ballerina. With three turns, she stood next to the sofa, where he eased her down with one arm behind her back. He knelt in front of her and trapped her knees between his thighs. His pelvis pressed closer; his penis rubbed against her knees. “It knows exactly what it wants.” He leaned forward and flicked her cheek, like a snake, with his tongue ring, cool and wet against her skin. “What I want, too.” Hayley closed her eyes and forced herself to hold still. “You are Lilith, and the true nature of your soul wants me to fuck you.” If she didn’t react, he wouldn’t get any enjoyment. This one fed on her fear and the mortification of how he’d made her respond to him. He’d wallow in the knowledge that his words made her afraid and excited at the same time. She turned her head to look at Dante’s library, and tried to ignore the demon’s erection, hard and alive. It throbbed with a will of its

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own, brushing against the thin fabric of her jeans, demanding entrance between the folds of her cunt. She choked on a sob. The desire to feel his dick between her legs and inside her body hummed through her. She had to fight this. If she didn’t respond -“If you think I’m not getting off because you refuse to play, you’re wrong.” She tried to pull away, but he held her fast, and her fear turned to anger. “Who are you, and where’s Dante?” He moved to sit on the coffee table. “I wondered when you’d ask.” Cold hands slid down her arms and caught her behind her knees. Goosebumps raced over her skin at the way he knew her body. The way he touched her suggested they had been intimate many times, but she didn’t know this one. Did she? He had called her Lilith, and his personality felt ... familiar. With one fierce pull, he had her legs straddling his hips. Hayley leaned back, but he held her fast. With a mere flex of his arm muscles, he brought her chest to chest, face to face, with her enemy. When they were flush, strong hands bit into her waist to hold her in place, his dick straining to enter her. “I’m what your momma and your priest warned you about, little girl.” His voice changed tones and timbre throughout the sentence from deep and raspy to high pitched and wheezy. Hayley felt the blood drain from her face. She shook her head. “No, this isn’t real.” She pushed against his chest, but he didn’t move. “This can’t be happening.” “But it is, Hayley.” He leaned forward and kissed her neck. “I’m called many different things by many people. Take your pick.” His teeth pricked her skin. “The name Dante is just one of them.”

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She slapped him hard. “I’m not calling you anything.” The imprint of her hand glowed red against his skin, and she watched the iridescent eyes spark. Not with anger as she had imagined, but with anticipation. Her fear and anger turned this “thing” on. Grabbing her wrist, he pinned her arms to her sides with his knees, as his body rose above hers. Pain shot into her shoulder at the rough treatment. She leaned backwards with the force of his weight, while her legs wrapped around his waist. She pushed with her muscles, but he forced her body against the length of the sofa cushions. Her sweater rode up to the edge of her breasts. When he spoke, his voice had changed back to the seductive hiss of a serpent. “Oh, but you will.” He leaned forward. She felt his tongue circle against the skin of her belly. The cold silver of his tongue ring caused ripples of desire through her abdomen. She wriggled one arm free, reaching out to scratch him, but he moved too quickly. A knee pinned her arm midway between her wrist and elbow while he removed a black leather belt from his pants. Pulling both arms up, he wrapped her wrists securely. Satisfied with his binding, he jerked her arms above her head and attached the belt to a hook built into the back of the sofa beneath the cushions. He kissed her nose. “By the time I get through tempting you, you’ll scream all my names.” Moving lower, he bit her above her hip at the edge of her low-cut pants. His eyes glinted at her from under long black lashes, and his smile flashed wickedly. Hayley felt her pussy grow hot and wet. God, she’d never met a more sinfully beautiful man. The danger that he radiated outweighed her fear and made her want to draw closer to his dark flame. “Even Eve eventually gave me all that I wanted when I whispered in her ear.” His mouth inched lower to close over her jeans. His tongue, forked and pierced, flickered at the junction of her thighs. His eyes lit with a new fire. A moan escaped Hayley; he lifted his head.

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“That’s it, girl. Give in to me, like I know you want to.” With nostrils flared, he sniffed her crotch. “I smell your lust.” His teeth clamped onto the zipper, and he tugged the metal down. “Now let me taste your cream.” The inferno he’d created within her body consumed her. She couldn’t fight him. She didn’t want to. Casting the last of her insecurities aside, she spread her thighs for him. “Oh, yeah.” The deep rumble of his laugh vibrated through her back as his head buried between her legs. The first flick of that wicked tongue sent her careening over the edge into a red-hot pool of flame. When the orgasm hit, she bucked so hard she would have knocked them to the floor, but he wrapped strong hands around her hips and lifted her up away from the hook to sit on the sofa with his body behind hers. In that position, his hands could stroke under her sweater and across her skin from her neck to her breasts. When he undid her bra and tweaked her nipples, Hayley’s whimper echoed through the room. Her clasped hands tightened into fists. Her nails bit into her palms. “Like that?” His voice rasped against her ear. Weak and helpless, she nodded. His fingers traced across her abdomen as though he drew diagrams, and he muttered something in a strange language. She concentrated on the patterns and realized they were inverted pentacles. “W-What are you doing?” He smiled against her cheek before he kissed her. “I’m starting the binding process.” He continued down and around to the apex between her legs.

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She drew her legs together when he touched her at the point above her clit. The stimulation of his tongue had been too much. She couldn’t take anymore. His lips nibbled her neck, and tiny quivers of pleasure made her eyes close. “Open up, baby.” His voice held a note of authority, but he didn’t wait for her compliance. His hands spread her knees wider. With his feet he pulled her jeans the rest of the way down her legs. When the garment had landed in a tangled heap on the floor, his hands traveled up her thighs, and he held her open until his legs spread her calves. Powerful forearms and elbows pinned her within the circle of his arms. “I don’t like this, though.” Hayley tried to scoot away, but she couldn’t move. His grip was too strong, like bands of steel. “You will.” His words sounded like a growl. “I know what you need.” An arm wrapped around her waist as his nose pressed closer into the curve of her neck, where he sniffed her, like an animal. Thoughts of his canines made her body stiffen, but the sensation, when it came, took her by surprise. There was no bite. Long, strong fingers dipped into her vagina, not one or two, but three, forcing the drenched lips of her sex to stretch and burn against his invasion. His fingers took her with greed, like they were mini penises, each hungry for their own release. She gasped. “That hurts.” She moved her hips in an attempt to break free, but the more she tried to escape, the harder and faster he pumped his hand into her body, stretching her tightness inch by inch. The burning subsided to be replaced by a pressure, which built to a point where pleasure and pain merged. The hand on her waist moved to her nipple, and he pinched her again and again. With every tweak, the muscles around her pussy pulled tight to drive her mad. His other fingers continued to play over her skin and in her body until she screamed his name. “Dis!”

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She frowned -- that wasn’t his name. Why had she called him ... Dis? All thoughts twirled out of control as he angled his fingers higher against her G-spot. Her body arched and spasmed in orgasm, but he held her tight against him. “That’s it, baby.” He stroked her belly as if drawing the exquisite release out through her body into his. He kissed her cheek. “Mm, so sweet.” “Please, I can’t take anymore.” He laughed. “We’re not through yet.” His teeth bit into her neck without breaking the skin. He suckled over her jugular. “The night has just begun.”

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Chapter Five

“Hm, nice door,” Jay said. He rubbed his hand over a door covered with black leather and silver chains. The padding felt smooth and thick. Olga’s throaty laugh caught his attention. She pulled him further inside the room and closed the door. The music outside evaporated. “Wow, this is great.” Jay walked to the wall and pounded his fist against the cold cement. “Hmph. Must have cost a fortune.” He’d love to get his hands on enough money to soundproof his recording studio, like this place. He cocked his head to one side and closed his eyes. “Nope, can’t hear a peep.” He wouldn’t have thought anything could mask the decibels pelting out from the room behind them. His ears were still ringing from the blare of electric guitars and the throbbing bass of the drums. “Jay?” Olga came up behind him and wrapped her arms through his. Her hands grasped his shoulders, and the red claws pierced his skin. “I do not vant to talk about zis soundproofing.” She turned him toward her.

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His mouth was level with hers. When she stuck her bottom lip out in a pretty pout, Jay’s cock jumped. “Yeah?” He flicked her plump lip with his forefinger. “What do you want to do with that beautiful mouth, if not talk?” She kissed and sucked his finger until one knuckle was covered by her red lips. She reached out and drew his hips against hers, hard, with both hands. Jay gasped at Olga’s strength. She had knocked the breath out of him. The gasp turned to a groan at the feel of her pelvis against his. Her hips moved in a slow, circular motion, and she sucked his finger harder. “Olga, baby, I’m going to come if you don’t quit.” He pulled to free his finger from her mouth, but she bit down. Pain shot from his fingertip through his arm. “Ow! Bitch!” He tried to move away, but she wrapped her arms around him in a grip so tight he thought his ribs would crack. “O-Olga, you’re crushing me.” He grabbed her hair and pulled. “Let go!” There was a pop. He stumbled backwards, while his finger throbbed with pain from the suction of her lips and the bite of her teeth. What was wrong with this bitch? A minute ago she had been so sweet. He looked at her narrowed eyes. The full mouth was a thin line slashed across her face, and her massive chest heaved. She moved from side to side like a wrestler ready to pounce, or a giant tigress. Jay held up his hand. “Now, wait a minute.” His glance darted around the room, and he noticed objects hanging on the wall that resembled weapons: a ball with spikes, a flogger with about ten knotted leather strips of various lengths. He gulped at the sight of a table in one corner with straps on each end. His stomach muscles tightened. In anticipation or dread, he couldn’t say. “I don’t know what you had in mind, lady, but I don’t go in for that S and M crap. You got the wrong boy.” Olga growled low in her throat. “Do not lie. You know you vant it.”

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Jay crouched, ready to take her on if she tried to jump him. She looked like she could handle two or three men his size, the way the muscles in her legs and arms bulged.

Damn. He hadn’t noticed how beefed up she was. In the dim light of the bar, she’d looked curvaceous and sexy. Her bicep flexed. Well, she still looked sexy, but hell. He hadn’t counted on anything rough. “Where’s that sister of yours? Or was that just a lie to get me back here?” “Olga didn’t lie, Jay.” The voice sounded from a darkened corner of the room behind Olga. “I’m over here.” Jay stiffened. If he was going to have to tackle two Amazons, this was going to be a rough encounter. He tried to remember how his football coach had told him to handle oncoming defense players. Keep your head down and shoulders square, boy. Never let your

guard down. They’ll try every trick in the book to get the ball. That was the damned truth. Jay felt his balls draw tight in defense. “What’s wrong, Jay?” The second woman, Helga, stepped into the light. “Don’t you like to play two against one?” She was everything Olga wasn’t. Petite and dark, short black hair lying close to her scalp, skin the color of honey. Her laugh, rich and deep, blended with her husky voice but didn’t bear a trace of an accent. His balls might balk, but his dick was ready to play offense. He had a hard-on bigger than Texas. Anything to score. “Damn, girls.” Jay stood straight and rubbed a hand across his head. His short military cut stung his fingers. “You make it hard to say ‘no.’” Olga let out a scream. Jay tried to get back into stance, but was too late. The bigger girl hit him square in the gut. His back crashed against the hard floor, and Olga straddled his belly.

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Jay struggled to catch his breath. She hit harder than any linebacker he’d ever encountered. Maybe she was a man. He laughed at the thought, but soon cried out in pain. Olga flipped him over on his stomach and pulled his arms behind him. The more he struggled, the more she twisted. “Ow! Get off me.” This game had gone too far. If he could get his knees under him, he could buck her off and stand. Then he’d let the bitch have it. He’d never hit a woman, but this was self-defense. A knee ground into the middle of his back, and his chin popped against the floor. Stars swam in his vision, and he was reminded of Sylvester the cat when he tried to attack Tweety-Bird. Tears stung his eyes. Tiny feet encased in soft leather boots came into view. Helga. Jay blinked back the tears and looked up. His gaze traveled over shapely legs covered in black fishnet stockings held in place by red garters. When he reached the apex between her thighs, he stared, and his mouth watered at the sight of crotchless panties. Helga squatted to his level. “Like what you see, Jay?” “No.” Jay closed his mouth and looked away. If he gave in to her, he knew he was going to have hell to pay. These bitches meant business. A hand grasped what little hair he had and jerked his head back. At first he thought it must be Olga, the giantess; he was surprised to see Helga’s arm stretched out. Her deep, brown eyes were narrowed, and her cheeks were flushed red. Helga scooted closer and spread her legs wider. The scent of her cunt wafted across his nose. “Are you sure?” Her voice held a warning. “Yeah.” He gritted his teeth. His hair felt like it was being pulled out by the roots, but he couldn’t give in. “I see pussies prettier than that every day -- Ahhhh!” Helga pulled his hair at the same time Olga’s knee drove harder between his shoulder blades. Helga moved away with short, quick steps. The sound of leather striking against skin

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reached his ears as Olga twisted his arms higher onto his back and lifted him up to face her sister. Jay’s heart stopped at the sight. Helga had turned the table on end and stood beside the contraption, holding a whip. The black handle made a smacking sound against the palm of her hand. Trickles of blood oozed from her skin, but she continued to watch him with eyes full of anger and excitement, oblivious to the pain she must feel. He looked at her pussy. The short curls were covered with slick moisture. My God,

she’s getting off on the pain. He swallowed hard, but against his better judgment, he grew hard as a brick. He’d only ever seen this particular scenario on film when his older brother and friends had brought an X-rated movie to a bachelor party. He’d been turned on big time. This was his secret fantasy, but he’d never thought he’d get to experience his deepest desire. Helga must have noticed his hesitation. She smiled and motioned for Olga to bring him over to the table. Jay tried to resist, but the larger woman exerted more pressure on his arms. Pain shot into one of his shoulders, and he thought his elbow would snap. He gritted his teeth to keep from crying. “Damnation, woman, ease up before you break my arms.” Olga pulled him against her chest. Nipples dug into his back through his shirt. “I am going to break somezing else before zee night is zrough.” Her tongue circled his earlobe before she bit down. Jay’s dick shot up at the pain. Traitor, he thought. His body was excited at the prospect ahead, but his mind rebelled. He knew what the two women had in store for him, and how much torture was involved. Part of him wanted to know, but the more rational side wanted to run.

Kinda hard to do at the moment.

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He was frog-marched to the table, turned, and strapped to the thing. Olga seemed to take special delight in slamming him against the thick wood. She giggled when the air whooshed from his body and he grunted. Jay tasted blood in his mouth. His tongue touched a tooth, and he swore it was loose. The bitch was going to pay for that. He’d spent a fortune on dental work over the years, repairing damage done from hits he’d received playing football. The blond came close to his face. Her red-taloned fingers stroked his jaw from one side to the other. Full lips kissed him on the mouth. When she pulled away, Jay spit the blood over her face. A scream of fury tore through the still air of the room, and the hair stood up across his neck. The look of outrage turned the goddesslike features into those of a hideous monster. Her lips pulled back to show her teeth. Her cheeks flamed with anger, and her eyes bulged. She drew her fist back and aimed at his face. Jay shut his eyes and turned his head, but the blow never came. One at a time, he opened his eyes to peek at what had caused his reprieve. Olga was down on her hands and knees in front of Helga, who had a booted foot on the Amazon’s back and a hand wrapped tight in the long blond hair. Her dark brown eyes sparked with fury. Jay breathed a sigh of relief, but his gratitude was short-lived when he saw the reflection of anger she flashed in his direction. Helga pushed Olga away and stepped forward. When she was even with him, she raised her whip and flicked the long, loose tips down his right cheek. The action was gentle and deliberate, and his dick tightened with the movement of the leather strips against his skin. Her smile at his reaction was cruel. Her fingers touched his chest to work between the buttons of his shirt and massage his skin. The sweet, musky smell of her skin and hair teased his nose. When her hand moved lower over his abdomen, he moaned. “That feels good.”

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“Mm, you like?” “Yeah, I like.” He gave a short laugh, which caught in his throat when her hand cupped his balls and squeezed. She rubbed her hand up and down the outline of his shaft. “Yeah, baby, just like that.” He pivoted his hips against the motion of her hands. Now, this was more like what he’d had in mind when Olga had suggested a threesome. Jay closed his eyes against his urge to come. “Faster, baby, come on. Don’t tease old Jay, now.” Her laugh vibrated through him, and Jay smiled but kept his eyes closed. Her fingers unsnapped his jeans and worked his zipper down to release his dick. He sucked in a breath at the touch of her fingers on his bare skin, cool and firm. “Ahh ... yeah.” When her tongue flicked across the end of his cock, Jay’s body jerked. One flick, two, then her mouth devoured him. He clenched his jaw to prevent his orgasm. Her mouth was hot and wet, and when she sucked him hard, he could imagine he was in a tight, hot cunt. Damn, she was good. A whimper sounded behind Helga. Jay opened his eyes to see Olga sitting on the floor where her sister had left her, watching them and rubbing her clit. Her long legs were bent at the knees and splayed. With every flick of Helga’s tongue against him, Olga moved her fingers, faster and faster. Her breathing matched his, hard and shallow. He could feel the pressure build in his body and saw the same on her face. They were about to come. He gripped the straps on his wrists tighter, and his head pushed against the table. Olga’s lips parted in a heavy pant, and she leaned her head back. Their eyes met, and their mutual need clashed, but he couldn’t break contact.

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He pumped his hips against Helga’s mouth and watched Olga pump her hips against her fingers. When his orgasm hit, hers took her at the same time, and they cried out together. With his body relaxed, he closed his eyes and felt Helga kiss his cock. There was a flurry of movement, but he couldn’t open his eyes yet. He felt too damned good. “Zat’s a good boy. Come here, now. I’m not mad at you anymore.” He felt her touch him with fingers still wet from her own body. He opened his eyes to see Olga’s blue ones close, begging for forgiveness. How could he reject her after what they’d shared? He leaned his head forward and kissed her lips. Her sigh filled his mouth, along with the sweet taste of her pussy. Ah, this was heaven. A whip cracked from across the room, and his eyes opened wide. Olga smiled against his lips. Fire flamed in a heavy iron forge, and he could see Helga standing with her legs spread apart. Her head and face were covered with a leather mask, and Jay groaned. He was wrong. This was Hell.

***** Steam rose to cover the mirror. Hayley turned the hair dryer around, letting a rush of air hit the glass. No luck. This place was a virtual hot house. If this was Hell, it had at least one thing going for it: there was no lack of warm water. The shower she’d taken had been straight from Heaven. She laughed, not sure her priest would care for her humor. She turned the dryer off and opened the door to the bedroom. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the bed. Sheets lay crumpled and twisted; pillows were strewn about the room. The bed stood empty, but the memory of Dante’s arms, strong and warm, wrapped around her when she’d awakened during the early morning hours, reassured her about what she’d

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let him do to her the night before. She’d snuggled close against him and fallen back to sleep, experiencing a sense of protection she had never felt with another man.

Let? She snorted. He’d taken everything she’d given, and he hadn’t been gentle in the acquisition of his desires. Her cheeks flushed. She’d loved every second. He seemed to know what she craved but had never felt comfortable enough to tell any of her past lovers. The extent of her sex life had been spent in the missionary position. Boring! Dante had fulfilled her secret fantasy to be dominated. She’d experienced a little hurt when she discovered him gone this morning, but she couldn’t afford to be upset over his disappearance. She sighed. One-night stands were probably commonplace to a man like him. She looked at her watch on the counter and wondered what time it was. There weren’t any windows in Dante’s apartment. With those manuscripts, he must be afraid of a robbery. She shook the watch, but the timing mechanism had locked on midnight. Her hand stilled. They’d come into the club at midnight.

You’re being ridiculous. There was no way she was in Hell. All that garbage last night had been a trick to get her into Dante’s bed. He must use it often, because everything had been perfectly staged and timed after she’d taken a few sips of the beer. She frowned, remembering the episodes of dizziness and the nightmares. Had the beer been drugged? Uneasiness tugged at the back of her mind. When she got dressed, she’d find a phone and call a cab. Jay would be sound asleep at home by now. Funny -- out of the two of them, she was the one who hadn’t been so anxious to get laid. She’d come because he’d talked her into another one of his harebrained schemes. Hayley couldn’t count the number of times she’d tagged along to be the one to bail the other out of trouble. She sighed and placed the watch back on the counter. Her reflection caught her attention, causing her to lean forward and study her face. She looked different, but ... better.

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Humph. If this is what a night of great sex did for you, no wonder Jay was always looking for the right woman. She ran a hand through her mass of hair and watched it fall against her shoulders in the mirror. The luster of her hair shone brighter. Her hand went to her face and traveled down her throat to her breast. Her skin looked smoother, flushed from her shower, but that wasn’t all. She felt different. Her body tingled with a new awareness. Her eyes narrowed. She watched her hand lower across her abdomen to her pubic hair. Her clit, pink and swollen, peeked at her from beneath dark curls. When her fingers touched the swollen nub, she gasped. Glancing back to her face, her eyes darkened with the memory of how she’d become so sore. She smiled. Her mind raced on to cover other details she’d almost forgotten when she’d awakened. She groaned. Dante had brought her to orgasm so many times, she’d lost count. God, what a mouth. What hands. He’d held nothing back in bed. Even his tough-guy routine turned her on. He’d scared her at first, but when the heat of his mouth had touched her through her jeans, she’d known he could show her the kind of sex she’d only fantasized about in the darkness of her room. She’d given in and let him take control to lick, kiss, suck, and caress her like a bitch in heat. Her skin and clit tingled, and her nipples hardened. Hayley closed her eyes to remember every detail from the previous night. She might never get this kind of sex again, but at least she could enjoy her fantasies when she thought of him. She moaned and studied her reflection through half-closed eyes. Her mouth parted in anticipation as her forefinger dipped into the soft curls covering her clit. Her fingers came away wet. She rubbed the nub the way he’d flicked his tongue ring across her -- quick, once or twice, then hard, with a pressure that made her squirm. Hayley opened her eyes to stare at her reflection.

Oh, my God. That couldn’t be her.

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She wiped the moisture from the mirror. Her hair, tangled and wild, clung in damp red strands to her face. Her eyes were ... green ... and bright with desire and pleasure. Her lips were fuller, poutier. She looked like every man’s wildest wet dream. A voice inside her head demanded she continue what Dante had started last night. Give

me pleasure. The voice wanted pleasure from her thoughts, but also pleasure from herself. She thought of Dante’s touch as she pinched her nipples between her own forefinger and thumb, alternating between the two peaks. Her other hand moved between her legs, and two fingers pumped into her vagina the way Dante had worked her the night before. Her thumb pressed her clit. “Nooo ...” Hayley stared with both disgust and excitement at the image before her, but she couldn’t stop. There were two sides of her fighting, and excitement won. She closed her eyes and pinched a turgid nipple as her hand pumped harder until her climax hit. “Yes!” Her high-pitched scream filled the tiny room, and her muscles clenched against the spasm attacking her body. Her knees gave way to leave her slumped on the floor, her fingers, dripping with her juices, still engulfed by her body. Hayley leaned her head against the cabinet and felt the sting of tears on her face. This wasn’t her. She didn’t act like this. Sex was not the all-powerful, all-consuming focus of her life. She was smarter than other women, who needed the act of sex or self-gratification to feel complete. Her life was perfect the way it was.

Wasn’t it? Her knees still felt weak, but she managed to pull herself up. A pale face, blotched with tears, stared at her from the mirror, and the spark of enthusiasm in her eyes from earlier had disappeared to be replaced with doubt. She had to leave here before she let herself get too involved with a man who brought out a wild need in her she had always hidden behind layers of self-control.

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Dizziness hit, forcing her to grab the edge of the counter. Above her, the lights on the vanity crossed in her vision, and her mouth watered with the need to vomit. On shaky knees, she made her way to the toilet and knelt beside the ceramic bowl. The throb of her temples told her the headache had returned, and she rocked forward with the effort to keep her eyes open. A sharp jab of pain shot across her head; she retched into the bowl. A hum and a beeping sound echoed in the distance, with the hum getting louder. She’d heard the noise last night, but Dante had eased the pain that had accompanied it. “Go away,” she whispered and covered both ears with her hands. Her balance lost, she curled her body against the floor. The coolness of the stone helped lessen the pain, and she forced herself to lie still even though she experienced a fright beyond any she’d ever known -- the fear of death.

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Chapter Six

“Mistress!” Large hands turned her, but Hayley couldn’t open her eyes to see who it was. Her mind was too fuzzy to recognize the voice. She didn’t know how long she’d lain on the cold floor. “I will take care of you, Mistress.” Hayley felt massive arms around her, carrying her like a baby, and she realized this had to be Gar. For such a big creature, he was gentle when he laid her on the bed and pulled the covers around her naked body. A door creaked, and Hayley could hear muffled voices, but she didn’t try to understand what they were saying. The effort drained what little energy she had left. A cool cloth touched her skin, and she jumped, but settled as the dampness eased her head. One thought resounded through her mind. “Gar, I-I need to go home.” She pulled the cloth from her eyes and squinted against the pain. “Will you help me get ready and call a cab?” “You cannot leave the master. He has only now found you again after so many years of being alone.”

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What is he talking about? She’d never met Dante before. The big guy must have her confused with someone else. “I really need to get home.” He patted her hand. “You are home, Mistress. We have all missed you for so long. It will be like the old days, now that you are back.” Hayley pulled her hand free. “What are you talking about? I don’t know you or Dante. Last night was my first time here.” She forced her eyes wider to see Gar’s face. The giant looked at her with warmth and pride in his eyes. He thought she was someone else. The image of herself in the mirror flashed through her mind, and her hand tightened around the sheet she held against her chest. The reflection hadn’t been her, but, then ... it had. She eased up on one elbow, careful not jar her head with a sudden movement. “Who do you think I am, Gar?” A knot formed in her stomach. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but had to ask. Gar’s answer was the key to these bizarre events happening to her. If he thought she was someone else, then Dante most likely did, too. The realization that he’d been having sex with someone else in his mind, while he was with her, hurt. “You are Lilith, queen of demons.” He stood straighter, and his voice rang with conviction. “Wife to our master, Samael.” Hayley rubbed her arms to rid her skin of the spider sensation crawling over her. She shook her head. “N-No, you’re wrong. My name is Hayley Beatrice Thomas. I’m no demon, and definitely not anyone’s wife.” Gar went down on one knee and took her hand in his. His movement was so swift, she moved back against the pillows. “Yes, it is you. You are the beautiful Beatrice my master loved so much during his second stay on earth in human form.” “You just called me Lilith.” She jerked her hand back. “Make up your mind.”

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“No, no, you do not understand.”

He’s got that right. She didn’t understand what he was saying. Everybody here was crazy. Second stay on earth. She was hallucinating. Her fingers massaged her temple where the headache had turned into a dull throb. Hayley wrapped the sheet around her sarong-style and stood up. Her gaze followed the trail of her clothes over the floor of the room. She hoped the man in front of her didn’t wonder how they’d gotten there. “You are Lilith, but you are Beatrice, also.” Gar followed her around the room. When she picked up a garment, his eager hands took each away and folded them into a neat pile, placing the garments in the crook of his arm. Hayley spotted her silk thong twisted into a knot. She quickly jerked it out of his reach. She couldn’t remember how Dante had gotten her jeans off, but she could still feel his teeth and lips against her skin when he’d stripped the thin material from between her legs with his mouth. The thong was a little too personal to let Gar handle. “How can I be both women, and myself?” Gar went still, and his expression grew confused. “I-I do not know, my queen, but I do know you are all three. I recognized you when you came to the bar, as did several others of the demons who have served the master for years.” Hayley thought of the werewolf and knew Gar believed what he told her, but she was tired of all the games. When she caught up with him later, Jay was going to get an earful for talking her into coming to this place. “And I thought your master was Dante. You just called him Samael.” “He is one and the same, but not reincarnated like you.” “What?” Gar moved his hands in an agitated manner in front of his chest.

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“The master was first the Creator’s most favorite and beautiful angel, Samael, but he fell victim to lust for the human woman Eve. For that he was cast out into Hell, where he ruled for thousands of years with his wife, Lilith. He pleaded his case to the Lord, and He gave him and Lilith a second chance, as humans. That was when he was born as Dante, but he stayed as beautiful and knowledgeable as before.” Gar dropped his hands and hung his head. “But it was not to be. The reincarnation of Lilith, in the form of Beatrice, tempted him again, and the Creator threw him back into the pit of Hell, with no hope of redemption. Here he has ruled, alone, for several hundred years.” “Amazing.” Hayley could only shake her head at the sincerity in Gar’s voice as he told the story. She came out of the trancelike state and reached for her sock, dangling from Dante’s lamp. “Jay, you’re a dead man,” she said beneath her breath.

***** Dante climbed the thirteen stone steps, approaching the gate and the front part of the club. The iron mass remained locked during the light of day. The souls of the damned were only accepted at midnight. He waved his hand, and the iron hinges creaked as the gate opened, allowing him passage. His mouth drew tight at the knowledge that his powers were stronger with Dis on the loose. “You are going into the light, Master?” Dante stopped, but didn’t look back. The voice belonged to Talos. “Yes.” “How long will you be gone?” The question held a nonchalant sound, but Dante wasn’t fooled. Talos was in league with Zeus. The two were plotting something, and Hayley was the key. A muscle clenched in

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his jaw, but he held his suspicions to himself. He couldn’t afford to have Talos informing Zeus of his whereabouts. “Not long. There’s an old soul I need to speak with.” He continued his stride, then decided to give the brass man a warning. He turned his head to show his profile; the flames of Hell gleamed across his arm. “Guard the gate well, Talos. No one is to enter or leave until I return. I would hate to come home and find what belongs to me missing or ... injured ... in any way.” Metal creaked as Talos acknowledged the warning. Dante bit back a smile at the idea of the brass giant being nervous. The only person who’d ever affected Zeus’s creation had been Medea, but that had been a long time ago. “I hear and obey, Master.” The gates of Hell slid shut behind him, the sound echoing throughout the massive entrance hall. Dante stepped into the sunlight and lifted his face, closing his eyes against the brightness. His nostrils flared with the breath of fresh air into his lungs. Times were rare these days when he took the opportunity allowed him to walk in the daylight. The experience brought back too many bad memories, but early morning had always been his favorite time. Most humans were asleep, and the streets were quiet. The constant noise, heat, and lack of privacy in his infernal home made these solitary hours more special. No time to waste today, though. He snapped his fingers, and a lone cab stopped in front of him. At his approach, the door opened and Dante climbed in. “Take me to The River Styx.” The cabby turned to him with the nub of a cigar between his teeth. Thin, acrid smoke swirled around his sunshades, hanging low on a wide nose. Black, beady eyes appraised Dante. With a snort, the man turned and accelerated, mumbling under his breath. “Thinks he’s some kinda god or somethin’, snappin’ those fingers.”

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Dante’s eyebrow rose, but he ignored the man. This one was coming to him soon enough. No need to waste energy on him now. Wisps of the cigar smoke and the man’s body odor wafted to Dante’s nose. With a cough, he rolled his window down halfway. He’d smelled better scents in the cesspits in the depths of Hell. With that thought, a picture of Hayley appeared in his mind. The warm, rose-tinged smell of her skin filled his mind. When he’d been between her legs, the musky scent of her cunt had given him a rush. She was just as he remembered Lilith and Beatrice to be, but different. He gazed out the window as his hair feathered back from the rush of wind against his face. Buildings and the occasional person flashed across his sight. The car sped to their destination, but he was oblivious to the view, which usually calmed his restless soul. He had to get her out. She was still innocent. He had barely stopped Dis from taking her last night. The need to penetrate her body and take her soul had been hard to control, but he’d succeeded. This time. The longer she stayed with him, the stronger the temptation would be to claim her. He ran a hand over his face and through his hair. Dis would win if she stayed, and take great pleasure in her initiation into the House of Purgatory. He’d show her every sexual deviation that had been invented since the dawn of time. Not only that, Dante thought, but the satan would be free again to torment the world with worse sins than the humans created for themselves. And he’d have Lilith at his side to help. When Dis had teased him and finally relinquished control to Dante last night so he would be tempted by Hayley’s pleas to fuck her in the same positions Lilith had enjoyed, he had caught glimpses of his first wife. The thought of Lilith still made him ache with need. Hayley’s personality might still be too strong to be affected, but Lilith was there, watching and waiting for any opportunity to escape the prison he had forced her into when

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he had been taken from earth that second time. Without Dis, she had died and been reincarnated into a new person. Lilith, she-demon of the night, with flowing red hair and green eyes. She could make any man, or demon, hard. She dominated man and beast into submission with her creamy white body, so sensuous and sexual. Her mouth, red and full, could suck the life and very soul from a being. She was the reason humans believed in vampires. But, oh, what an erotic and ecstatic submission it could be. Dante closed his eyes; his cock burned.

I will not give in to her. His fist crashed against the armrest, and sweat dripped down his forehead. “Can’t you go any faster?” The cabby’s eyes met his in the mirror, and his eyebrows were drawn into a frown. “That’ll cost you extra, Mac.” Dante felt his anger ignite and blend with his desire. His control slipped, and the voice he released wasn’t his, but Dis’s. “If I’m not there in five minutes, your bowels will hang in my refrigerator tonight for supper.” The words hissed, snarled, and growled from his throat. The cabby’s face paled. The cigar dropped into his lap at the same time his foot pressed the accelerator. “I-I’ll have you there in a second, mister.” “I thought so.” Dis smiled, then gasped. His head fell forward. Dante pushed through the fog to gain control again. He’d held Dis in check for hundreds of years. He wasn’t going to let him break free without a fight. This was Zeus’s plan, then, to have his inner selves fight each other over Hayley.

Lilith. Dante shut his eyes in denial of his other half. A bead of sweat ran down his nose. No, she’s not Lilith. She’s not Beatrice. She’s Hayley, and she belongs on earth, not Hell.

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The car slid against the curb next to an old, abandoned warehouse, and Dante leaned forward with a wad of bills in hands that shook. “How much do I owe you?” The man shook his head, his face the color of ash. “N-Nothin’.” Dante nodded and stepped to the sidewalk. The car pulled away with a squeal of tires before he could shut the door. Dante’s eyebrow rose. There were a few benefits in being the “son of the dawn.” His mouth tightened against the temptation of Dis’s magick, because he knew the drawbacks were ... Hell. Papers and debris littered the street around him. This part of town stood remote and desolate. Abandoned warehouses lined the street, and the only people about were homeless or drug addicts, the “forgotten children of society.” His people. They lived dangerous and violent lives and usually died the same way. Dante turned down a side alley beside an old warehouse. A faded sign swung on one rusted chain, but he could make out the words: The River Styx. Once a vibrant club, very few knew this sector held the entrance to the underworld. At least, none who were still alive. He walked past a Dumpster. An old wino lay passed out in the corner against the building. His beard, long and unkempt, tangled in clothes that were tattered and faded. Dante squatted, his hands dangling between his knees, beside the old-timer and touched a piece of leather hanging from the bottom of an old boot. The other shoe was mismatched and covered with dirt. Dante shook his head at the filth the homeless were forced to live in. Who said there was no Hell on earth? He grabbed the opening of the man’s shirt and shook the sleeping form. “Charon.” Nothing, except a loud snore.

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“Charon, wake up!” The sound of Dante’s command reverberated down the alley like thunder, and the old man stirred and opened his eyes a mere slit. “Whatcha want?” He shifted his body and rubbed a dirt-covered hand across his nose. “Cancha leave an old man in peace?” Dante tapped the man on the nose to wake him up again. When the guy’s eyes opened, Dante spread both his hands in front of the filthy face. The old man’s eyes grew wide with interest, and he sat straighter. Dante reached behind Charon’s ear to pull out a quarter. The old man pursed his lips and rolled his gaze to the sky. “You can do better than that, oh, prince of magicians.”

Figures. The old-timer was a shark. Dante hated to use any more of Dis’s powers, but decided a few little tricks wouldn’t hurt. He leaned forward and grasped the man’s jaw, and his mouth popped open. Dante ignored the rotted teeth and inserted his thumb and forefinger. He closed his eyes, spoke three words, and removed a coin. He held it up to the light for inspection. “Obolus.” The old man smiled and reached out. Dante pulled the ancient coin away from Charon’s reach and shook his head. “I want information first.” Charon’s pale blue eyes narrowed and glowed red. “Why do you bother me, chief of satans? Yours is the only gateway open since you put me out of commission. I have nothing of interest for you.” Dante shrugged. He didn’t want the demon to know the use of his old title had any kind of effect on him, but with each acknowledgement of his true powers, Dis grew stronger. “Your mark was on two humans last night. I want to know why.” When Charon held his answer for several seconds, Dante knew he’d come to the right source.

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“They came to the shore.” The demon shrugged. “I haven’t had much business in the past ... oh, I don’t know ... two thousand years! Why do you think I sent them to you?” Charon grabbed for the coin, but Dante was too quick. He jerked his hand back and grabbed the demon by the front of his shirt with the other hand. With one yank, he spun the old man against the concrete wall. Dante leaned close. The reek of whiskey on Charon’s breath made his nose twitch. “I think Zeus told you to send them to me.” He decided to let Dis take control enough to frighten the old man. The flame tattoos smoldered until his eyes burned. Charon pulled away, but Dis had him in a stranglehold. “I could stake your pagan ass out on the riverbanks of the Styx. Her waters poured into your mouth will tell me the truth. Or ...” He shoved Charon away from him. “... you can cooperate, and I’ll pay you more than one obolus.” He scratched his black nails on the front of his shirt, then studied them. The fingers of his other hand snapped, and a chest of coins appeared at Charon’s feet. Charon licked his lips, his beady eyes glancing from the chest to Dis and back. “You’d give an old demon a choice?” “Yes.” Dante’s voice sounded weak as he struggled to maintain control. He could only allow Dis out a few more seconds. If his dark nature stayed longer, his personality would grow stronger while Dante grew weaker. The chance was great, but he had to find the reason Hayley was with him. He had to send her back before Dis initiated her. “All right, I’ll tell you.” Dante grunted, and his fingernails returned to their natural color. Dis clawed his way back into their psyche, and the pain of the retreat burned into his mind. A lightheaded sensation grew, but Dante managed to nod for Charon to take the chest of coins. The old demon knelt and ran his hands through the silver. The shiny metal trickled through fingers gnarled and twisted from thousands of years.

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“Okay, spill.” Dante’s legs were shaky. He resisted the urge to lean against the wall. Charon could not witness his distress. He fought the nausea and knew Dis grew stronger every minute. “Zeus found Beatrice’s soul in the form of a girl named Hayley. He and Hades staked her out for days. Seems she has a good friend who likes to party.” He glanced up at Dante, an evil glint in his eye. “They convinced the friend to take the girl to the House of Purgatory. On the way, they had a ... little accident, and Hades brought them to me. My mark was to ensure they were allowed to enter even though they might not have been dead at the time. Zeus knew you’d recognize Beatrice.” He grinned. His yellow teeth shone in a bitter laugh. “Zeus knew Dis would find Lilith, too.” Charon stood and moved closer. “He did, didn’t he?” Charon circled behind him, and Dante could feel the red gaze rove his body from head to toe. “You’re fighting him now. He wants the girl, but you won’t let him have her.”

Damn. For a wino, Charon was sharp. Dante raised his hand, and his fingernails glowed red. “Shut up, old man, or I’ll take the silver somewhere else.” The demon stepped back and huddled around the chest. “No, you promised it to me. I answered your question.” Dis would have incinerated the chest out of spite, but Dante’s empathic powers allowed him to see Charon’s need. Dante knew what hunger and banishment were. He hungered every day for the touch of another human soul, unspoiled by sin and decay. He closed his eyes and tried to remember Beatrice, but the face he saw in his mind had silky brown hair, not black. The woman he pictured had fair skin, not olive. He sighed at his mind’s image of Hayley. “Keep your treasure, Charon. I’ll not take it from you if you promise to keep me informed of any movement from Zeus or Hades. Deal?”

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The demon bit into a coin. Satisfied the silver was real, he nodded. Dante turned to leave. He stopped at the end of the Dumpster and spoke over his shoulder. “Dis and Lilith are gone. They died when Dante and Beatrice were born.” He heard Charon’s snort of laughter. “That may be, but the soul is the same, Master Demon. Your name may change -- Dis, Samael, Lucifer, Dante -- it doesn’t matter. You are who you are.”

No!. His mind screamed, but Dante remained silent. He turned back to the entrance of the alleyway. He refused to go back to the way he had been when Lilith ruled his heart and mind. She had owned his soul. If not for her and Eve, he’d still be allowed in Eden, adorned with the most magnificent jewels in Heaven, or on earth -- still be loved by his Creator. His long stride carried him forward into the deserted streets of dawn. He had worked too long and hard, learning to ignore his darker side. He would not go back to the way he had been.

The hour had grown late when he returned to the House of Purgatory. People lined the sidewalk into the entrance. Some were mere visitors who liked the heavy-metal music and goth atmosphere, but others would be entering and passing through the gate, never to return to their lives here on earth in their present forms. Dante pushed through a group of women. “Excuse me, ladies.” A tall redhead grabbed his arm. He felt her soul ebbing away as she neared the gates of Hell. “Hey, wanna rock?” She moved closer and rubbed her overexposed breasts against his chest while her hand groped his crotch. “Not in your lifetime.” Dante, jaw clenched, pried her hands from his body and pushed her back into the crowd.

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“Fuck you, asshole.” The woman turned to her girlfriends. “Can you believe that guy? Who does he think he is? God?” “No, baby, I’m going to fuck you.” Dante closed his eyes at the sound of Dis’s whispered threat. The evil laugh that followed echoed through Dante’s mind. He made his way to the gate and shook the heavy metal with one hand, too weak to use his powers. Talos silently appeared from the shadows. His bronze skin gleamed under the streetlights, and his eyes glowed red. He opened the gate wide enough to allow Dante passage. His hands hung loosely through the grill as his smile leered. “Did you find who you were looking for, Master?” “Yes.” Dante rubbed his eyes. He glanced back at the redhead, who stared with her mouth open at his easy entrance into the hottest club in town. Her surprise gave him a malignant thrill of satisfaction. Dante stumbled and grabbed the gate, while Dis took advantage to rush forward. “Put that one with the big mouth at the front of the line.” Talos raised an eyebrow in question, but nodded his obeisance. It had been a long time since the master had requested a specific partner. “Do you wish her to be sent to your quarters?” Dante fought for control, but Dis held him down. “Yes. I need a little oral stimulation tonight.” He smiled. “Let’s see how she and my other guest like each other.” Red eyes flickered, but Talos bowed his head. “As you wish.”

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Chapter Seven

“What are these rooms, Gar?” Hayley’s hand clutched the wooden handle of a torch. When she’d asked for a light, she’d been sure Gar would come back with a flashlight. Instead, he’d handed her a stick covered with damp rags. One sniff told her the wet substance was kerosene. “They are the master’s ‘rooms of pleasure,’ Mistress, but it has been many years since he has used them.” “Oh? Why?” Her free hand trailed across the smooth rock of the tunnel. They had walked for several hours, exploring the different tunnels and caves. The intricate maze had been designed by a devious mind. Without Gar, Hayley would never find her way out. “Since the death of his beloved Beatrice, he has not craved the sadistic pleasures he did when Lilith ruled his heart.” Hayley stilled, not sure she liked the flare of jealousy she experienced at the knowledge that Dante had been in love with these other women. She shook her head. She couldn’t afford to fall in love with him. “Does he ... bring a lot of women to his apartment?” “Not often. Only when his sexual needs grow too strong.”

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“Oh.” Hayley bit her lip, realizing where she fell in the scope of things. Foolish, foolish

girl. Men like him didn’t fall for little librarians like her. She had known she couldn’t mean anything more to him than a one-night fling, but deep down -- her throat convulsed on a swallow -- she had secretly hoped for more after offering him everything she had. Gar glanced behind them toward the entrance. “I think it would be wise for us to return to the master’s apartment.” “Why? What is Dante hiding back here?” She raised the torch higher to illuminate the end of the narrow hallway, but the shadows had no end. She frowned and turned to Gar. Her previous suspicions returned. “Does he have a stash of stolen literary gems behind these doors?” “I ... do not ... understand, Mistress.” Gar shook his head, and a deep frown furrowed between his eyes. “My master’s Creator stripped his gems from him when he was thrown into the pit years ago.” Hayley searched the giant’s face, but could see no deceit. He didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. She sighed. “Where did Dante get all those priceless books he keeps in his office?” Gar’s expression cleared. He smiled and stood straighter. “He wrote them.” His chest puffed out with pride for his master. “He used ... what do you call them?” He snapped his fingers. “Ah, yes, pen names, but they are all his works.” “No way.” Poor guy. He truly believed they were in Hell and Dante was not only Satan, but the author of ancient literary masterpieces. Dante had a lot to answer for, filling this simple man’s mind full of such bullshit. She had to set Gar straight. He was too sweet and trusting for his own good. “Gar, honey, there’s no way --”

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A scream cut her words off. There was so much pain in the sound that the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and she dropped the torch. Blood rushed to her arms and legs and her heart pounded as the flight-or-fight instinct set in. “We must go, Mistress.” Gar tugged on her arm. “Now. We are too close to the outer realm of Purgatory.” Hayley pulled away. Someone needed help. She took a deep breath and retrieved the torch with shaking hands, then inched forward into the darkness. A clink of metal echoed off the cavern walls. She turned her head and stood still, squinting into the darkness. There! On the right. Hayley burst through the heavy wooden door and stopped in her tracks at what greeted her. A massive black forge blazed in the center of the room. The sound of iron clinked and sizzled in the heat. At that instant, the flames flew high to illuminate the rest of the room. Hayley gasped at the sight in the corner.

The fetal mass of bruised and bloody limbs cringed ... “Oh, yes, Mistress Helga” ... in anticipation. The mouth twisted and opened to emit a silent cry drowned by the maniacal laugh of the dominatrix who stood above. With her whip in one hand, she struck the creature huddled beneath her, while another woman, an Amazon, prodded him with a smoldering rod of iron. Hot metal ripped and seared at the same instant the whip split through blistered skin. Jay, past caring what the two women chose to do to him, shook as his torture blurred into pleasure. The more brutal they were, the more pain he craved. The red-hot poker singed the remaining hair from his pubic bone, and his cock surged forward. The sting of the whip brought the final spasm before he shot his load into the waiting mouth of Olga.

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He couldn’t count the number of times he’d come. He didn’t care. This was Heaven and Hell rolled into one, and he wanted the tide to keep flowing until he passed out, or died, from the sheer ecstasy of what his tormentors did to him. Olga stepped forward and released a pin. The chains pulled his body out while the table rolled until he hung upside down; his face fell even with Helga’s pussy. She moved closer and spread her legs. “Now, lick me, slave.” “Yes, Mistress.” Jay searched her soft folds with his tongue until he found her clit. He bit hard, knowing that, like him, she craved the pain. “Harder.” She thrust her hips forward against his mouth. “Harder.” From behind them, Olga whimpered with need. She moved forward and rocked her pelvis against Helga’s ass cheeks, her breathing coming in short bursts. Her hands and fingers latched onto Helga’s upper thighs. Their momentum drove Helga’s cunt against Jay’s tongue. Within seconds, both women screamed their orgasm, and the rush of Helga’s juices flowed into his eager mouth. Olga fell splay-legged to the floor, her fingers tapping her clit, and Helga squatted to kiss Jay full on the mouth. Their tongues entangled with the taste of her pussy, but she pulled free. Jay groaned his disappointment. “You pleased me, slave.” She kissed his lips again before she stood. “For that, you get a reward.” Her lips closed over his dick. Jay sighed with the feel of the warm suction against his skin. Helga’s small fingers closed over his sac and pulled with the same momentum her mouth used. The other hand smoothed his thigh from knee to ass. She pinched his ass-cheek and traced the indentation between with feathered caresses.

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Jay welcomed the additional stimulation. Then it disappeared. Without missing a beat, she inserted two of her fingers into her mouth while she suckled him. Helga increased the suction and pulled his cock at the same time she inserted her wetted fingers into his rectum. The pain made him gasp. “Stop. Please, Mistress, stop.” Sweat rolled down his shoulders, neck, and forehead to mingle and drip from his soaked hair. She ignored him and plunged deeper against his prostate. “No, no! I can’t take it!” He tugged against the restraints, but again, the pain turned to pleasure. He knew her awareness of what he felt, because she pressed into his body deeper. Once, twice ... “Yesss!” Jay’s hips pumped against her face. “Oh, thank you, Mistress. Thank you.” His voice faded into the blackness surrounding him.

Across the room, Hayley sat on her knees with her hands in her lap. She wanted to look away from her friend’s subjugation, but couldn’t. The sight repulsed but excited her at the same time. Her clit throbbed, and her juices coated the crotch of her jeans. An unknown need made her ache to join the threesome in front of her. Gar stood behind her, his body turned so he couldn’t see the scene before them. He

doesn’t have to see. The sounds emanating from the trio were enough to make anyone come. Groans, moans, and screams of ecstasy. Hayley took a deep breath and tried to get control of herself. She made an effort to stand, but her legs shook so badly, she stumbled. She grabbed Gar’s arm. Instantly, he was at her side to assist her. He leaned close to her ear. “We must go, Mistress. The demons in this realm are vicious.” “But I can’t just leave him. He’s my best friend.” “He is where he desired to be. We must go.”

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Hayley bit her lip at the thought of leaving Jay. She turned to him, but he was still unconscious. The two women embraced each other, kissing, touching ... “Mistress.” Gar’s voice was firmer. “Y-Yes.” Hayley cleared her throat. “Let’s go.” Together they eased through the massive, leather-covered door and back in the direction they had come. Hayley took several deep breaths to steady her composure. She tugged on Gar’s arm, and he immediately stopped. “W-Why is Jay in that room?” She had to know if he would be okay. Gar looked uncomfortable and wouldn’t meet her gaze. “In Hell, Mistress, an initiate is granted their deepest desire and pleasure before entering the mass of whores kept on stock for the demons.” “Oh, my God.” What better form of Hell could there be? To be granted your deepest, darkest desire, then have it forever used against you in the form of torture. Hayley shivered. The giant’s hallucinations were becoming all too clear.

***** Dis lounged against the cushions of the sofa. “Sofa, be gone. Give me silken pillows from the Orient --” He pulled the redhead onto his lap. “-- and soft leopard pelts from Africa.” Immediately, Dante’s sofa transformed into a lush divan fit for a king. Dis nodded with satisfaction until he noticed the desk. Had to go. With a wave of his hand, the desk and the office walls disappeared, to be replaced by the rough walls of stone. Electric lights were replaced with the soft glow of torches hidden within niches in the wall.

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Dis threw his head back and laughed, and the sound echoed around the room. Now he was home. His nostrils flared in anger with the memory of hundreds of years of enslavement. Enslavement within the persona of Dante. “Not any longer, human. This is my home, my realm.” He pulled the redhead further into his arms and felt her body become rigid. His head lowered to her neck. How he loved the smell of fear mixed with lust. Her body quivered with desire, while her mind shut down in horror at the realization that she was at his mercy -- that she had become food. His fangs extended. “Now, my dear, what was that you said earlier about fucking me?” Without waiting for her answer, he drove his incisors into her jugular. His eyes closed in ecstasy at the taste of her soul. Scenes of her childhood on into her teenage years flashed through his mind. After several minutes, he raised his head and licked his lips. “Umm, you’ve been a bad, bad girl, Gina.” The woman looked at him with the dull eyes of one whose will has been drained with her blood. She was his slave now. She’d do for him what all the others had done over the years: serve him and please him. “Down on your knees.” The woman obeyed with a trace of fear in her eyes. Dis smiled. Good. He wanted her to know what he did to her. She couldn’t fight, but she would be aware of every caress, whether rough or gentle. She could respond to him verbally, but she wouldn’t fight. His will was her desire. He watched her face when he unzipped his leather pants to expose his erection. Her widened pupils told him she was shocked at the size of his cock. He pulled her face within an inch of his body. “P-Please.”

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“Please, what?” He grabbed her hair and pulled her head forward until the tip of his rod touched her lips. “‘Please, fuck me?’ Or ‘please, let me suck you’?” He laughed at the tears mixed with lust in the woman’s eyes. Now she would know what a big mistake it had been to curse him earlier. He’d use her, then throw her to the mercy of the mosh pit. Oh, the demons would grab her up quick. They never refused fresh meat. He traced a finger across her cheekbone, and his smile died. His cock pushed into her mouth. “Please me, or I will make you wish you were fucking a demon.” “Let her go, you bastard.” Dis stiffened at the sound of Hayley’s voice. He heard Dante scream in rage somewhere deep within his brain. Wimp. Scared to let her see the real you, just like you tried to protect

Beatrice from what you really were. Are. He released the redhead and turned toward Hayley. He let his eyes strip her, to see her the way she had been the previous evening. His mouth twitched at the corner, and he lifted his head and sniffed. “Ah, Hayley, my sweet.” He held his hand out to her. “Come meet Gina.” He looked down and let his other hand caress the redhead’s cheek. “I brought her home especially for you to play with.”

His gaze lifted to hers, and Hayley gasped at the piercing quality. He knows. He could smell how turned on she was by the scenes she’d witnessed between the two women and Jay. Between the two women. Her eyes fell on the woman, Gina, and her pussy clenched. Somehow he knew about her secret fantasy to be kissed, licked, and sucked by another woman.

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She swallowed hard. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as her gaze went from him to Gina and back. The look of sheer lust and expectation in his eyes made her blush. Her gaze faltered, but she took a step toward him. She stopped and took a deep breath. “No, I won’t do this.” He smiled and waved his hand. Gina’s clothes disappeared. Hayley blinked, not quite believing what her eyes showed her to be real. Long, dark fingers tipped with black nails feathered over the redhead’s naked hip. Dis. Hayley’s feet moved forward. One, two, three steps. A cry tore from her throat. She couldn’t do what he wanted of her. Dis turned the other woman toward her, but his eyes never left hers. His hand brushed dusky nipples and cupped lush breasts. When his fingers moved south to dip into the plump red curls between the woman’s legs, Hayley felt her eyes widen. Her nostrils flared. She was so close, she could smell the musky scent of Gina’s cunt. Her eyes closed on a moan, and her clit throbbed. Hayley staggered forward until she reached a stone pillar a few feet from where Dis stood teasing her with Gina’s body. He knew what she wanted. What she craved. Hayley grabbed the pillar with both hands. Sweat formed across her brow. She leaned her forehead against the coolness of the stone and hoped the bulk hid her from Dis’s knowing eyes. Her legs shook with fear. Fear of what she’d discover if she gave in to her desires. She couldn’t go any farther. She wouldn’t. “Hayley? Where are you?” The sing-song quality of Dis’s voice played across her skin. She kept her forehead against the stone, then turned her body away from him until the back of her head rested against the pillar. She sank to the floor and hugged her knees to her body. The creature, Dis, had returned in place of Dante. Images of the night before flashed through her mind, and she bit her lip. “Give in, Hayley. I can give you what you want. Come to me.”

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Her head thumped against the stone. Her need rose to suffocate her, and she pulled at her already tattered sweater. The clothes were tight and binding. Her hands clawed and pulled until she heard the material tear. “Come to me, Hayley. Let me please you.” His voice grew deep and seductive. Hayley whimpered. “Let Gina please you.” Hayley leaned to the side until she lay against the cold floor, peering across at Dis and Gina. His eyes met hers, but his arms cradled Gina, kissing her neck and shoulder. His hands kneaded the woman’s breasts until Gina moaned in pleasure. They looked like a normal, lustful couple, but she knew better. The girl lay, literally, in the clutches of the devil. “Gina wants to please you, Hayley.” “W-Why would she do that for me? She doesn’t even know me.” Dis’s eyes flashed with what looked like triumph. “Because --” He kissed Gina’s ear. “-she wants to please me.” He held out a hand to her, and heat coursed through her body. She got to her hands and knees. While tears streamed down her cheeks in refusal, she crawled to him. She couldn’t resist. He offered her too much. He offered not only the pleasure she knew he could give her, but the pleasure she’d always wondered about and ached for. He offered Gina.

“That’s right. Slow, now. Slow.” Dis leaned forward in anticipation. His cock throbbed with the need to plunge deep into the hot, moist depth of Hayley’s body, but he didn’t. Somewhere in his mind he could hear Dante. He could feel him lose control, and he smiled. Dante wanted her as much as he did. They were one, even if the human denied it for a thousand years. They’d always been one -- Ladon, Lucifer, Samael, Dis, Dante ... Satan.

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Gina’s cry of pleasure brought him back into focus. He looked down her lush body, covered with sweat, to see Hayley’s head between the slave’s legs. Silky brown hair blended with coarse red. The sight of her pink tongue and lips covered with Gina’s juices made him ache. Gina moaned again, close to climax. Dis pulled the slave’s head further into his lap and held her arms tighter. Gina’s fingernails pierced the muscles of his arms, but he ignored the minor discomfort. He’d felt worse pain in the forges of the Amazon twins, and loved it, just as Hayley’s friend did. “Okay, Hayley, go faster. That’s right. Let your tongue circle her clit with quick strokes, but press hard.” Her beautiful gray eyes met his. Black pupils were dilated with desire, and her cheeks were flushed. Without missing a stroke, she nodded and continued her task. When the first wave of the climax hit and Gina bucked, Hayley grabbed the other girl’s hips and held her still so she could bring the orgasm to fruition. Dis smiled and closed his eyes to the sounds of Gina’s screams of pleasure. Hayley was his -- her initiation into his realm almost complete. He opened his eyes and found her sitting back on her knees, waiting. He released Gina and moved to Hayley. He crouched in front of her and wrapped his arms around her. “So fragile.” His fingers feathered through her hair. “So scared.” But ready to become what he needed her to be. He trailed his forefinger down her jaw and lifted her chin. “Now it’s your turn.” He lowered his head and kissed her lips, tasting the sweetness of Gina on her mouth. “Lie down.” She obeyed him and lay beside Gina. With a wave of his hand, Hayley’s clothes disappeared to reveal pert breasts and a firm, flat abdomen that tapered to long, slender legs.

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Dis marveled at the creamy whiteness of her skin. She was more beautiful than Beatrice or Lilith, a combination of the one’s innocence and the other’s wickedness. He craved both, and with Hayley he could have what his two halves most desired. The redhead rose up onto one elbow to face Hayley. Her green eyes looked to him for instructions. He nodded. “Begin, Gina. Please Hayley, and I will let you choose the demon who will be your master.” Gina leaned closer to Hayley, but Dis grabbed her hair and pulled her head back. His voice changed tones from deep and cavernous to high and raspy. The flame tattoos burned his skin, and he knew his eyes glowed red. “Displease her, and I’ll give you to the Amazons and their forge.” Dis watched Gina’s eyes grow wide with fear. She nodded. Satisfied the slave understood him, he released her to sit back on the divan. He draped his arms across the lush pillows and looked at Hayley stretched out before him with her legs spread in invitation. He could see the wetness of her cunt and smell her excitement. His eyes met hers. “Tell her what you want.”

His words echoed in her mind. What do I want? Part of her knew this was wrong, but another part wanted Gina to do to her what she had done minutes earlier to the girl. Her hips rose in invitation, and she heard herself whimper with need, but the words wouldn’t come. Just do it, already! “Tell her, Hayley. I want to hear you say the words.” “Damn you. You know what I want.” A spray of spittle covered his cheek, but she watched him smile. He wiped the moisture off, then licked his fingers. Hayley shuddered. He demanded she reveal her darkest needs. She remembered how he’d made her beg the previous night. She reached for Gina, but

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the girl backed away and looked at Dis. Hayley clenched her teeth, and her frustration consumed her. She turned to him. His eyes narrowed, and she felt his gaze burn over her body. Hungry. Excited. “Say it, my love, and everything you desire will come true.” Hayley closed her eyes and swallowed hard. She had to give in. Her heart pounded so hard she thought she’d have a heart attack if someone didn’t touch her. He wanted her to grovel. Her pride balked, but her desires won. “I hate you,” she whispered, her eyes open to him. His only response was to smile and rub his hand across her foot and up to her ankle. Hayley groaned. “P-Please.” Hayley arched her hips and looked at Gina. “Please, what?” he asked, his fingers feathering up her calf and back down, the smile now an evil grin. He repeated something similar to what he’d asked Gina earlier. “‘Please, fuck me,’ or ‘please, let her suck me’?” “Please, let her suck me.” The tight control she held on her inner demons cracked, and the whore broke free. She grabbed Gina’s face and brought the girl’s lips to hers. Their tongues mated in a frenzy of swirls and tangles. Hayley released her hold and looked at Dis. “Then, you bastard, I want you to fuck me.” She watched Dis throw his head back and laugh. The sound triumphant. He tilted his head in a mock bow. “Your wish is my command, my queen.” His eyes found Gina, and his face grew hard as the smile evaporated. “Do it. Give her what she wants.” Gina’s mouth closed over Hayley’s nipple and bit hard. Hayley arched her back and cried out in pain and pleasure. “Yes, yes, yes!” The redhead moved her lips lower across Hayley’s abdomen. Hayley sucked her breath in against the tiny shivers caused by the contraction of her muscles. Her fingers played in

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Gina’s hair, the red strands soft and feathery against her skin. Hayley pushed Gina’s head lower. She wanted to feel that pouty, wet mouth on her clit. At the first flick of Gina’s tongue against her knot, Hayley dug her fingers into the girl’s scalp and clamped her thighs around the redhead until she could harness the spasms that wracked her body. Slowly, slowly she eased her muscles and let Gina increase the pressure of her tongue. The pleasure grew. Hayley closed her eyes to concentrate and moved her hips in a steady rhythm against Gina’s mouth. Deep inside she could feel her true self break free, giving in to the wanton needs she’d always suppressed since she was old enough to realize her sexuality. This was what she was ... a whore, a seductress. She opened her eyes and focused on Dis. His eyes were dark and intense. A muscle ticked along his jaw. He wasn’t touching her now but sat back against the cushions, watching and waiting like the predator she knew him to be. Hayley could feel her climax building. She wanted him to suffer with need and lust the same as she did. Her fingers found her breasts, and she pushed them up at the same time her hips moved against Gina. She smiled with satisfaction when his nostrils flared and his eyes glinted darker. Her fingers pinched her nipples at the same moment the orgasm hit. She couldn’t stop the scream or the wild thrashing of her head. Her back arched and her eyes closed. She wanted the sensation to end and continue at the same time. Her thighs clutched Gina to her body as wave after wave of pleasure washed over her. “Don’t stop, don’t stop. Please, give me more!” Gina’s mouth was ripped from her body at the same instant Hayley heard the growl of some wild beast. Confused, she tried to sit up, but a heavy weight pushed her back against the divan. Red eyes snared her gaze. “If anyone gives you more, it will be me.”

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The words were like the hiss of water against molten metal. His lips seared and crushed the softness of hers until she was forced to open her mouth to him and accept his tongue and teeth, nipping and sucking. Hayley couldn’t breathe, but she didn’t care. This was what she wanted. She wanted to feel him inside her. He’d denied her last night. He hadn’t let her touch him or taste him. He’d refused to sink his cock into her. But not tonight. She would have all of him. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and her arms went around his neck to pull him closer. She tore her mouth from his and bit the skin on his shoulder and neck. When she reached his ear, she tongued the lobe, then bit hard. The sound of his groan made her laugh. Pleasure and pain, that’s what she craved. “Do it. Do it now,” she said against his ear. His body stiffened at her command, but she didn’t fuss when he pulled back from her and looked into her eyes, into her very soul. Hayley saw a flicker of pain and sorrow cross his face, then the emotions were gone, replaced with desire and triumph. For a second, she wanted to run, but didn’t know why. He was like two people, one wary and cautious, the other careless and passionate beyond anyone she’d ever known. And, Heaven help her, she wanted them both. But she needed his passion at the moment. She wanted him to take her and handle her roughly. She wanted him to make her lose control, so she swallowed her fear. “Fuck me. Now.” Her voice was louder, stronger. Her hands clasped his shoulders and shook him, demanding he give her what he’d promised. Dis grabbed her wrists and forced her arms above her head. His eyes burned with the desire she asked for, and something else. Anger. He clasped both wrists in one hand and moved the other to grasp his cock and place the swollen shaft between her thighs. The feel of his cockhead against the wetness of her cunt made her squirm. “Beg me,” he commanded.

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Hayley’s temper ignited. From within, she heard a voice scream with rage. How dare

you! Fuck me, now! She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until Dis smiled an evil smile and shook his head. The tsk-tsk sound he made clawed at her irritation and anger. “That is most unladylike, my love.” His fingers teased her clit, then moved lower and teased the entry to her rectum. “But we both know you’re not always a lady, don’t we?” Hayley felt her, then. She rose from the depths of Hayley’s memory and emerged with a burst of triumph. She was free. Dante pushed his finger into her rectum, deep and hard. “Are you my whore?” Hayley arched forward. “Yes, Dis, I’ve always been your whore, and ... your wife.” He removed his finger and pushed her thighs up and back, tilting her pussy toward him. He smiled. “Welcome home, Lilith.” Then he drove his cock home. The massive head drove hard into her flesh, but she welcomed the pain right after the orgasm Gina had given her. She could feel him pump harder. Hear his breath in her ear. Feel damp, hot skin rub back and forth. God, he’s soooo good. How could she have forgotten him? Lilith opened her eyes and looked at her husband’s face, so beautiful he could make da Vinci cry. At that moment, he looked into her eyes, and the passion she saw made her gasp. He still desired her. Still ... loved her. She smiled. “Harder.” He grunted, but complied. When the thrust came, the power of it scooted her head off the cushions of the divan. Strong hands wrapped around her waist to pull her into a sitting position, face to face with the angelic demon thrown from Heaven for loving human women. Her and ... Eve. The old jealousy and hatred curled in her belly. She hadn’t been his first choice. She’d been second-best, again. Just like Adam, Samael had wanted Eve to be his. When the bitch

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had stayed with Adam even after giving in to the leviathan’s temptation, Lilith had offered herself to escape the perils of the desert. “Focus on me, wife.” Although his words were laced with a threat that she should heed, she knew she’d ignore it. Her goal in this universe’s existence consisted of bringing men -- and angels -- to their knees, with sex as her weapon of choice. “Make me, husband.” His eyes burned red, and she could feel the flames on his arms heat. Ohhh, he was mad now. Lilith threw her head back with a laugh, ending on a scream with his brutal thrust into her body. He’d show no mercy with her for that remark, but that’s what she craved. Pain. “You ... make ... me ... want to ... kill ... you!” He pulled her off his cock, flipping her over onto her belly. Hayley’s presence broke through long enough that she tried to crawl away, but his knee came down in the small of her back to halt her escape. With one arm under her waist, he lifted her while he stuffed two pillows under her pelvis. “W-What are you going to do?” Hayley looked around, not sure how she’d gotten in this position. The last she remembered, Gina had been licking her clit. She frowned over her shoulder at Dante. “I’m going to give you what you love the most,” he said while coating his cock with a thick, white substance he scooped from an ancient Egyptian jar. The murderous look on his face caused a sinking feeling in her gut. This wasn’t Dante. This thing was Dis. She looked at his cock. It looked as lethal and angry as its master, with its red, enlarged head covered with the juice from her pussy and the lubricant. The large veins bulged with blood running back and forth. Hayley had a good idea what he had in mind. Although she’d fantasized about anal sex, she wasn’t sure she wanted to try it with a partner this agitated. She swallowed and

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attempted to reason with him, but she pushed her way through her memory. Hayley choked and coughed. The haze and fog returned, stronger than before. Lilith laughed and bucked her ass against Dis’s balls. “Come on, then. What’s taking so long?”

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Chapter Eight

“Hey, boss, you heard the one about the guy who dies and finds himself in Hell?” Dis looked up from his beer at the two demons beside him, while Gar wiped the counter further down the bar to his left. He sighed. “No.” “Well, the guy was wallowing in despair at finding himself in Hell, when he met his first demon,” said the first demon, a short, reddish-hued creature with horns. “The demon asked, ‘Why so glum?’” said the second demon, a big, blue monster with reptilian eyes. “The guy responded, ‘What do you think? I’m in Hell!’” Dis rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to listen to stupid demon jokes. He wanted to sit here, alone, at the bar and get drunk. The two beside him continued with their joke, but he only heard bits and pieces. His thoughts were of Hayley. He grunted. He should say Lilith. His sweet, innocent Hayley had been consumed by the essence of his first wife, bitch that she was. Granted, Lilith was the best fuck he’d ever had, but how could he have convinced himself he could keep Hayley intact and still have the wild eroticism he craved? He shook his head. The two demons’ voices droned on.

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“‘… well, you’re gonna love Mondays, then. On Mondays, all we do is drink till we throw up, and then we drink some more!’” “Yeah, boss, listen now; it’s getting good.” “Um.” Dis swallowed another gulp of the tepid beer. “‘You’re gonna love Tuesdays. We smoke our lungs out.’ The guy is fascinated at what he’s hearing. Hell’s not so bad …” Dis swiveled on his barstool and looked out across the floor. Most of the inhabitants of the pit were laid out in exhaustion from hours of whoring, and only a few stragglers not chosen from the mosh pit were still dancing, hoping to catch the eye of some demon. Dis wished these two would shut up and go find some human soul to suck on. “‘… into drugs?’ The guy was ecstatic. ‘Are you kidding? I love drugs! You don’t mean …’ ‘That’s right! Thursday is drug day. Who cares how much crack or smack you use? You’re already dead …’” Dis noted Gar behind him, but didn’t turn around. He looked at the dusty beer bottle in his hand, then back across the floor. The band played on and on, like a broken record, the same songs over and over. Hayley didn’t belong here in this cesspool. What had he been thinking, initiating her last night? He frowned, not sure if Dis spoke, or Dante. “Wait, boss. Here’s the punch line,” said the first demon. He placed his hand on Dis’s arm. “Listen, listen. You’re gonna love it.” “Then the demon asked the guy, ‘You gay?’ The guy turns white as a ghost. ‘No.’ Then the demon shakes his head. ‘Ooooh, you’re gonna hate Fridays!’” The two demons busted out laughing. “Get it, boss?” The short red one doubled over and grabbed his stomach. The giant blue one slapped his knee and took a swig of his beer, only to spew it across the floor because his laughter shook him so hard. “Funny, guys.” Dis wiped the spewed beer from his arm. “Don’t you have some souls to corrupt, or something?”

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He turned toward Gar. “Give me another beer,” he said. “Or, better yet, give me a shot of whiskey.” The demons sobered and looked at each other. Dis could see the confusion in their eyes at his lack of humor. “Boss, what’s wrong? You always like our jokes.” “Yeah, the old Dis roared with laughter whenever we found a new human joke.” “Well, I’m not the old Dis. I’m the new and improved model.” He swallowed the shot of liquor in one take. “Now, get the fuck outta my face before I turn you both into slime!” His cavernous voice echoed off the walls of the club. The band hit a wrong note, and the music died. Dancers halted their sensuous sways to turn toward him with looks of horror on their faces. The two demons bowed low and backed away from him. Their master was in a bad mood. Everyone knew that when Dis became angry, there would be hell to pay. “Master?” asked Gar. A frown creased the giant’s forehead. “What?” “Master, are you not happy? You have what you wanted. The mistress is back in your bed.” Gar looked at him with a frown of confusion. If he’d been the old Dis, he would have disintegrated the giant into a mound of ash. But he wasn’t the old Dis. Dante still hovered around the fringes of his mind. His better half refused to leave him in peace. Hayley had released the part of his soul that was Dis, and he’d released the part of her that was Lilith. But it wasn’t enough. “No, Gar, I’m not happy. I had forgotten all the mischief my first wife can cause in my existence, as well as on earth.” “But you love her!”

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Dis laughed, the sound far from joyous. “Do I?” He shook his head. “I lust for the bitch, and always will. It was Dante who loved. He loved Beatrice, supposedly the better half of Lilith.” He pushed his shot glass toward the giant for a refill. “I do not understand, Master.” “It’s okay, Gar. I’m not sure I do either.” He swallowed his second glass of whiskey. The liquor burned all the way down to his stomach. He clapped his old friend on the shoulder. “Since I was born in human form through Dante, he is part of my soul. ‘Forevermore,’ as Poe would say. What he feels, I feel, and vice versa. He always wanted to deny the lust he experienced when he was with Beatrice, but I wouldn’t let him.” He paused to let the giant digest his words. Dante never spoke of Beatrice, or the reason he’d been thrown back into the pit of no redemption. Dis felt the pull of the liquor. He needed to talk to someone, and Gar had always been there for him, from the very beginning. The giant was the closest thing he had to a friend. “She was married to his best friend, Simone. Dante loved her from the first moment he saw her at his friend’s betrothal feast, but knew he couldn’t have her.” He motioned for Gar to hand him the bottle of whiskey. If he was going to get drunk, a silly glass wasn’t going to do the trick. He’d drink the liquor straight. “So he acted her friend and won her trust. The more he got to know her, the more he put her on a pedestal.” He took a swig. When he tried to place the bottle on the bar, his hand shook and he missed the counter twice. He looked his old friend in the eye. “He worshiped her. To Dante, she was perfection itself.” He wiped a hand across his eyes and blinked at the fuzziness of his vision. “But I was always in the background, edging him on with desire, until one day his resistance burst.” He laughed. The sound was bitter to his ears. Old memories, full of pain, flashed through his mind.

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“We were on a picnic. Simone had to leave to take care of an emergency and asked Dante to ‘watch over Beatrice.’ Well, he did. She lay on her back on a blanket, and he could resist her no longer. The moment his lips covered hers, Dis and Dante became one, and we took her.” “You raped her?” The giant’s eyes bugged out. “Rape? Hell, no. She was all over us in a heartbeat. I knew from her response to me she that was Lilith’s soul reincarnated in the form of Beatrice. That’s why Dante couldn’t resist her. She offered him the erotic pleasures he longed for but had forsaken when he’d taken human form.” “What happened afterwards?” “Beatrice became her prim and proper self and told Dante we’d ‘not speak of this again.’ She couldn’t afford her wealthy husband divorcing her. We were to pretend nothing had passed between us. I didn’t want to let her go, but Dante took control and agreed.” Dis held up the bottle to drink, but it was empty. He frowned. He didn’t remember downing the whole thing. He shook the container, not sure he could believe his eyes, because his vision was so distorted. “Humph.” “Did you remain friends with her?” “Dante would have, but she died soon thereafter. He fell into a depression, which lasted about three years. He was working on our poem then. You know how I’ve always loved to write, Gar.” He smiled and stood, but stumbled against a barstool. “Well, I’d say I outdid myself after Beatrice died. The Divine Comedy was my greatest work.” “Master?” “Hmm?” “You are drunk.” “Yep.” “Let me help you to your quarters.”

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“Nah. I can make it. Besides, after the night we had, the queen bitch is probably still asleep. I wouldn’t want to disturb her.” Gar ignored him and came around the bar. The giant placed his massive arm around Dis’s shoulders and assisted him toward the hallway beside the stage. The door opened, and Hayley appeared with Gina in tow. The two women headed for the pit. Dis hardened at the sight of the woman he’d initiated. She had changed clothes. A black leather halter top barely covered pert breasts and revealed her belly for any demon’s view. A silver navel ring sparkled and winked in wicked invitation. Her beautiful hair, woven with hair extensions, leather braids, and beads, fell the length of her back. To the patrons of this club, her manner of dress gave a clear invitation for sexual escapades full of pleasure and, more than likely, pain. Something he knew Lilith enjoyed. Dis touched a spot on his stomach where she had bitten him last night, and clenched his jaw. The least she could do was to cover the body he considered his, but he knew better. He took in the form-fitting leather pants with crisscross patterns cut along the sides. The pants hugged her luscious ass the way his hands had cupped her the night before. She was a goddess, and all would want her in this place of sin -- male and female alike. God knew he did. “Bitch.” “Why do you call her such things when you love her, Master?” Dis stopped and focused on his friend. “I’ve had many years to look back over my relationships with Lilith and Beatrice. They used me, Gar. I was the one male who could satisfy their lustful needs, but they never truly loved me, or cared for me.” “How can you say that?” “Because no one has ever loved me.” He nodded toward Hayley, standing below the stage, her hips swaying to the music, motioning for the two demons he’d bellowed at to come to her. Not once did either of them look in his direction. They had eyes for her alone. If she allowed them, they’d not only dance with her, but fuck her, too.

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“Lilith was my wife, but slept with every Tom, Dick, and Harry who sniffed around her pussy. Beatrice pretended to be the pure and loyal wife of my best friend, but didn’t have a problem flirting with me except when our liaison jeopardized her station in life.” “But you seduced her, Master!” “Me? I think it was the other way around, my friend. All those shy smiles and fingers brushing across my knuckles every chance she got. Oh, no. Beatrice knew how to play the game. She wasn’t that far removed from the memory of Lilith.” “What about Mistress Hayley, Master?” Gar had resumed their slow pace across the floor. The souls of the damned were dancing again, but kept wary eyes on their progress, flicking anxious glances from Hayley to Dis. They knew she belonged to him. “Ah, Hayley.” Dis’s step faltered. “She’s my dilemma. I’ve let Lilith take control of the Hayley we knew. I lusted for Lilith so badly, I gave in.” He pounded his chest with a clenched fist. Dante and Dis co-mingled, drifting back and forth at the edge of his mind. “I needed Hayley to bring the lot of my past lives together, but in my greed to be whole, I sacrificed her goodness.” He hung his head. “She’s damned, like the rest of us, Gar, and I’ll never forgive myself.” Dis clutched the bottle in his hand and brought it to his mouth. With a wink at the giant, he tried to take a swallow. He laughed and held the bottle up to Gar. “It’s empty.” His laugh died, and his throat constricted with what felt like tears. “Like me. Empty.” Damn! Why couldn’t they love him? He just wanted what Adam had found with Eve -a companion to hold and love, to stand beside when things got rough. But that wasn’t his destiny. He’d tried to seduce Eve into loving him, and look what she’d done -- went and told on him the first chance she got, then begged her husband to take her back. He’d been the one to

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be cast out of Heaven. God had given him Lilith, Adam’s first wife, the two-timing whore. She had run rampant on earth and blamed her actions on him. Dis found Hayley with his eyes. He could feel his anger and frustration grow when the blue demon pulled her close against his body, their pelvic bones rubbing. Dis closed his eyes and swallowed. Sure, Eve was punished, but humans still had a chance to be redeemed. Not him. His second chance to walk earth like a human had been ruined by another woman -- Beatrice, another incarnation of Lilith. Again, he was thrown into Hell. Women! With a growl, he slung the bottle across the club. Dancers dove left and right. Screams of terror echoed through his mind. The room dipped and swirled. He stumbled, but Gar caught him. Hayley and the demon never missed a step. “I’ve got you, Master.”

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Chapter Nine

“Well, well, well.” Zeus clapped his hands together and smiled at Hades. The two peered into the prophetic depths of the River Styx. “We should be back in business in a matter of days.” “Don’t become too ambitious, my lord. Dis may be back in a weakened form, but Dante is still lingering.” “Hades, dammit. You could ruin a god’s best wet dream with your optimism.” Zeus glared across at his brother, the ruler of the underworld. “Sorry, my lord, but I’m not known for my levity.” “True.” Zeus sighed. “Okay, look at it from my point of view. Dante is in a weakened form, too. He’s still fighting this rejoining with his darker self. He’ll be confused and indecisive. The perfect time for me to send in my troops.” Hades nodded, and his frown dissipated. “You may be right. He is concerned over the girl’s welfare. He may despise Lilith and Beatrice, but he still wants them, and Hayley, too. If Talos could abduct her when our troops reach the inside of the gate, we would be better able to convince the Magician to surrender his reign.”

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“Now you understand.” Zeus glanced around the rank banks of the river. “Charon, where are you, you filthy demon?” The mists of the river separated to reveal a haggard form, poling his boat to the shore. The demon’s red eyes shone through the gray fog. “I am here, o great Zeus.” “Cut the dramatics, you scum, and take me back to Olympus. I’ve got plans to work out.” “As you wish, my lord.” Hades walked with his brother. “How is your daughter, Mercy?” Zeus sighed, the expression on his hardened face softened. “She’s as lovely and talented as her mother.” “Have you told her you are her father?” “No. To her I am Uncle Zeto, her mother’s longtime friend and companion.” The features hardened. “No one need know I am her father. She deserves a chance at a normal life. Something I’ve not afforded any of my other children. Look where that got them: doomed to feed the demons of Hell instead of walking freely through the Elysian Fields.” Hades touched his brother’s shoulder. “We will rectify that soon, my lord.” Zeus nodded, then stepped onto the ferryman’s barge. Hades watched the demon narrow his gaze on the mighty Zeus. He’d have to keep an eye on that one. Hades’s concern lay with whose bid would win the old demon’s fealty in the long run. Zeus needed his silence, but Dante needed his information. Who would meet the demon’s price?

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Chapter Ten

Flames flickered in eerie shades of red, orange, and yellow against the stone walls. The band’s music lay muffled behind the massive wooden door to his sanctum, but Dis could hear every note played, and every word spoken throughout his kingdom. Such was the life of an angel. Senses magnified so sharp and perfect that he could hear an ant crawl across the ground a mile away.

Lot of good that does me. He rolled onto his back across the silk divan and stared at the ceiling. The sound of Hayley’s conversation between her demon and herself echoed off the stone walls. He sifted all other sounds into the background. “Umm, that feels so good. Where did you learn to dance like that?” Dis closed his eyes. Jealousy burned and boiled in his gut. Why didn’t he stop her? He could. He was the chief of satans, the master magician. But he wouldn’t. The House of Purgatory was designed for the enjoyment of his demons and the atonement of the human souls sent here. If they chose to use her for their pleasure, and she allowed them, by law he couldn’t stop them.

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He twisted the sheets beneath his hand. A slight breeze feathered his cheek like a spiderweb. He turned his head away. Even if he wanted to kill them, he wouldn’t. One thing he’d learned the hard way: don’t break the rules. “You gonna let that blue-balled devil fuck your woman?” Dis shot off the bed at the sound of a male voice near his ear. His body rolled to the floor and took a defensive crouch. His head lifted in instinct, and his nostrils flared to smell the intruder’s identity as his eyes narrowed on the shifting shadows around the room. The small hairs on the back of his neck stood erect. The light brush against his cheek should have warned him of a psychic scan, but he’d been too occupied with thoughts of Hayley and Lilith.

There! The interloper moved from behind a column into the light, which flickered across his skin and face. Blue eyes glowed with menace, but Dis met the divine being’s gaze. He knew this one well, though they had not been face to face for thousands of years. He stood to his full height and inclined his head without breaking eye contact. From past experience, Dis knew not to trust this one. Roped muscles rippled beneath tanned skin showing scars from past battles. A leather vest emphasized the breadth of shoulder and depth of chest. Skilled in the many techniques of war, weapons, and killing, this one was God’s ultimate warrior. “Michael.” “Samael.” “I’m called Dis now, or Dante.” “I thought Dis was a nickname Hades preferred.” “What, never wanted to change your name? Be something or someone else besides a glorified watchdog?” Dis shrugged. “I liked it so much, I used it as the name of my city of Hell in a poem I wrote a few hundred years back, during my last stint on earth.”

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Michael nodded. “I’ve read it. It’s ... interesting.” Dis watched the archangel move to the nightstand and pick up one of Hayley’s earrings. He brought the object to his nose, then frowned. With that one sniff, Michael would be able to track Hayley anywhere in the universe until the end of time. He had the same gift, as did all angels and demons. The ability allowed them to hunt the souls marked for either salvation or damnation. Dis stepped forward. “Well, you didn’t come here after ... oh, what, several thousand years? ... just to discuss my literary achievements.” Dis’s voice lost all civility. He grabbed Hayley’s earring. “What the fuck do you want?” “I’m here to warn you.” “What about? Zeus’s attempt to overthrow me and get the underworld back in operation? Too late. I already know about his plan.” The whiskey and the thought of Hayley lying with the demon made his speech careless. “Then you also know they’re going to use your woman to get to you.” Dis narrowed his gaze on Michael. “I reached that conclusion when I first saw her walk through the gate.” “Why aren’t you doing anything about it?” “Don’t come down here and tell me how to run my kingdom. I know all the rules inside and out. None have been broken by me, so you can go back and tell your Boss everything’s fine.” “Yeah, except, at this moment, your woman is about to screw everyone, including the enemy, but you.” Dis felt his arm burn and knew his eyes were glowing. The smell of sulphur intensified. “Leave Hayley out of this.” Before he could blink, Dis found himself shoved against a pillar, with Michael’s hand wrapped around his throat and the angel’s face an inch from his nose.

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“You always had a weak spot for the girls. When are you going to learn they’re poison? You can’t trust any of them.” “What would you know about it, Mike? Have you ever sunk your cock so deep into a hot, wet pussy that the feeling made you want to die?” The hand around his throat tightened, and he was pushed further against the pillar. His lungs burned with the lack of oxygen, but he ignored the discomfort and laughed. The sound was strangled. He knew Michael hated any shortened version of his name. The angel took great pride in the name the Creator had given him and the duties he was assigned to carry out. Michael’s eyes burned with anger and something like satisfaction. “You know I have, brother, but unlike you, I refuse to be pussy-whipped. If that bitch was mine, I’d beat her for acting a whore.” “Yeah, but she’s not yours.” Dis coughed, his voice hoarse and raspy. “No one has broken any rules, bro.” “Since when have you followed rules, Samael?” Michael’s voice held a curious note of surprise. He gave Dis one final shove before he released his grip. Dis fell to the floor, coughing with the effort to breathe. He crawled forward on his hands and knees. When he got his feet under him, he stood. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d allowed himself to get this inebriated. His legs stumbled, but he forced them to support him, and faced Michael. “What are you trying to say, Michael? I know you didn’t come here out of any brotherly concern for me. You only do what He tells you to do.” Dis watched the warrior pace the cavern with his long, leather-encased legs eating the ground beneath in two or three strides. Damn, he’s magnificent. Dis had forgotten the raw power his brother exuded. Another flash of jealousy hit his gut.

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He closed his eyes. After a forced state of dormancy for over three hundred years, he didn’t know if he could handle the flux of emotions he had experienced in the past couple days. They made him weak. He rubbed his temple. His mind twisted and turned in a pit of confusion, but somewhere in the turmoil, he registered Michael. His brother had quit his pacing. “This has always been your weakness, Samael. You are too quick to get your feelings hurt. You always think everyone else is getting a better deal than you.” Michael shook his head, and a look of sadness crossed his face. “How can you be so jealous of me when you are the one He created most beautiful of us all?” Michael moved closer. His eyes glowed with renewed anger, and his mouth pinched in pain. “He loved you above us all. He covered you in the finest jewels and made you the ruler of Eden.” The angel stopped in front of him. Dis felt the heat from Michael’s breath against the skin of his face. They were so close he could count the pores in his brother’s skin. “You threw it all away because of your jealousy over Adam. Your name suits you well,

Sami, for you truly are blind, you fool!” Dis felt his body stiffen at Michael’s accusation. “Yeah? Weren’t you just a little bit angry when He made man? We were already perfect. And, to top it all, He gave Adam a woman, a companion, like all the other animals, to enjoy their sexuality and reproduce.” Dis’s hand cut through the air. The old hurt gnawed at his gut. “He gave us no one.” Michael looked at him, and Dis thought he saw sadness replace the anger in his brother’s eyes. “That’s who we are. We were made to serve Him. We can’t do that if we have a mate.” He shook his head. “I can’t live like that. I won’t.” He circled his brother and came up behind him with his mouth to Michael’s ear. “Tell me you don’t crave the feel of a woman’s hands on your body and her mouth sweet and warm against your lips.”

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The last he whispered for effect. He wanted Michael to know the ache he’d felt for so many years. He wanted his brother to know the loneliness that ate at his soul. That was his true Hell, not this fiery pit of damnation. Michael turned his head to him, and his eyes were bluer than the earth’s reflection in Heaven. Michael moved away, toward the divan, and picked up a pillow. “Do I crave the feel of a woman?” His smile was bitter. His large hands squeezed the pillow so hard that feathers erupted from the seams, but he didn’t seem to notice. His eyes never left Dis. “Yes.” Michael snapped his fingers. “But not just any woman,” he whispered. “I crave the woman this one used to be.” Dis stepped back, and his eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?” “Let me show you how much I crave the feel of a woman, Sam.” Michael turned to the cavern wall. With a wave of his hand, images merged, then swirled out of focus. “Let your mind and body hear and feel what I felt. What I still feel when I allow myself to remember.” Michael’s hand touched Dis on the shoulder. A tingling sensation burned and spread from his shoulder throughout his body, and up his neck to his head. A wave of nausea hit, and he clutched his gut. “Don’t fight it, Sam. Relax and the pain will go away.” Dis took a deep breath and exhaled through his mouth. He let his mind merge with Michael’s until the scene before him unfolded. He didn’t just see Michael’s thoughts cast upon the wall -- he was there. He was Michael. His lips were Michael’s lips. He could feel and taste and smell everything his brother experienced in that projected moment. Two figures, a man and a woman, kissing ... caressing. With a shock, Dis realized Michael was kissing Lilith. He could taste his wife’s lips and her neck. His tongue circled

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lower. His mouth closed, and he suckled her nipple. He could hear her groan, and his cock hardened as Michael’s hardened. “No.” Dis tried to pull away, but Michael tightened his grip. “This didn’t happen.” But his mouth went dry with desire. In his mind, he could feel everything Michael did to her, to his wife! With weakened legs he sank onto the side of the bed. Every cry of pleasure Lilith uttered raced down his spine to pool in the tip of his penis. Their pleasure was his pleasure. The images of Michael and Lilith seared his mind, but he couldn’t shut the stimuli out. Michael raised his head and stared the woman in the eye. Dis looked into his wife’s eyes, green and bright with desire. She was beautiful. Everything a male, human or angelic, could ever want in a female -- except faithfulness, or loyalty. Dis went still. He knew what Lilith asked of Michael. He waited for his brother’s decision. He could feel Michael’s need. He could feel how the angel’s heart was torn between loyalty to his brother and desire for his brother’s wife. Michael’s eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched. His nostrils flared with the shallow, rapid breaths he took. He looked from Heaven to Lilith and back. With a groan, he closed his hands over soft, yielding flesh. “So be it. You will be mine this one time.” Dis gasped when Michael drove his cock into Lilith’s heat. He rocked his hips and slid deeper into her pussy. “God, yes.” The remembered heat from last night wrapped around his cock, too. The words were spoken by his brother, but Dis closed his eyes at Michael’s satisfaction. He knew what his brother felt, for he had felt the same so many times. Lilith’s body had been made for fucking. Her cunt sucked a man in so deep, he couldn’t fathom a way out. His own cock throbbed to the rhythm of Michael’s hips. Not long now. Any second ... “Yessss!” Together, their minds joined. They cried out and came in unison.

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The scene flicked forward to hours later, and Dis looked down on the sleeping form of his beautiful, cheating wife, stretched out on her belly across the grass. Michael stood beside her, trailing one finger over the creamy white skin. He’d had Lilith not once, but several times. At that second, what little love Dis had saved through the years for her vanished. He had watched, taking pleasure and pain in what he’d observed. The woman Michael had fucked may have been his wife, but she was truly a whore. He closed his eyes and willed the release from his brother’s mind. He’d had enough. She not only fucked every man and demon fool enough to allow her in their bed, but his own brother, as well. Michael moved away without a glance. “She was one of a kind.” Dis snorted. “You can say that again, but I’m not sure that’s such a good thing ... brother.” He tried to keep the jealousy out of his voice, but knew he hadn’t succeeded. Michael’s jaw clenched. If in guilt, Dis couldn’t be sure. “She is dead, Samael. If you wish to save Hayley from her past, there are ways to suppress her memories of Lilith.” “I’m not so sure. There were moments the last couple of days when I looked into her eyes ...” He paused. “It was Lilith whom I saw. Certain things she did --” He waved a hand at the wall. “-- like that little whimper she makes when she feels my tongue -- excuse me, our tongue -- on her clit for the first time.” “What do you mean? All women make noises when they’re in the throes of passion, Sam.” “I know my own fucking wife, Michael. That’s her out there, whether she looks different or not. Hayley is gone. I initiated her into my kingdom last night. All past memories of previous incarnations have merged. The strongest incarnated soul has taken over -- Lilith.”

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Michael shook his head. “She is Lilith, but she’s not. Just like she’s Beatrice. Everything she was before has made her who she is now. This place has brought her suppressed memories forward. That is why she acts like your wife.” Dis paced in front of Michael. His agitation returned with the words he heard. Michael moved to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. “You can save Hayley if you want to.” “How?” “Do you love her?” Dis stilled. His brother’s question took him by surprise, and his heart skipped a beat. He’d thought he loved Lilith and Beatrice, but what he had felt for them was first lust and then worship for an ideal. Lilith had been, and always would be, a slut. He now saw Beatrice’s lust through new eyes. She’d only used him for a diversion from the tedious life she led as a rich man’s wife. But Hayley ... She was different. He’d known that the instant he’d seen her. “Yes.” “Then put this on her and send her home, and her memories of Lilith and Beatrice will return into the pit where they belong. Her soul has evolved into a better person.” Michael offered him a piece of jewelry. “You can’t keep her, brother. She does not belong here.” Dis looked at the object Michael held in his hand. A necklace. Dis frowned. It was Hayley’s necklace. “Where did you get this?” Michael raised an eyebrow. “On the nightstand.” Dis grabbed the silver chain and studied the talisman. On the front he recognized the three initials that had told him Hayley was Lilith and Beatrice. He flipped the talisman over. Engraved in the silver were three names. He read them out loud. “Senoy, Sanaenoy, and Semangelof.” He looked back at Michael. “These were the three angels who chased Lilith when she fled Adam after he tried to force her into sex.”

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Michael snorted. “That’s a matter of opinion, brother. The way I remember it, she refused Adam his husbandly rights and ran away into the desert to whore with demons, then she married you and whored with ... angels ... and men.” Dis watched a muscle in his brother’s jaw clench. “Whatever. The human didn’t know what to do with what he had.” “Humph. Kinda like you with Lilith, huh?” Dis stared at his brother open-mouthed. He had to admit Michael was right. He didn’t know what to do with the lingering thoughts of Lilith that were plaguing him. He had wanted her and lusted after her, but had grown morose and angry when she fooled around with others. “Yeah, what’s your excuse?” Michael’s eyes narrowed. “I’m a bit more honest in my desire, Sam. I wanted to fuck Lilith ever since the day she came into existence. I have no delusions that the bitch loved me.” Dis turned the talisman over and over in his fingers. He might be misguided with what to do about Lilith, but he knew what to do about Hayley. He felt the same driving desire he experienced with Lilith and Beatrice, but there was more. He liked to see Hayley’s smile and hear the sound of her voice. He liked the tiny sounds of satisfaction deep in her throat when he made her come. He wanted her to be happy and safe. His eyes met Michael’s. “What happens when the talisman is put back on her?” “The initiation will become null, and all memories of her past lives will leave her. Her soul will be free to go back where it belongs.” Dis felt his lungs constrict. She would return to her life on earth, while he had to stay here. Alone. He couldn’t be the one to send her away when his soul screamed for him to keep her for himself. “Do it.” His voice and hand shook, but he gave the necklace to Michael. “I want her to be safe and happy.”

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Chapter Eleven

Hayley raised her arms above her head and twirled around the half-naked man in front of her. She didn’t care that he was painted a weird blue-green color. She just wanted to dance. The music reminded her of one of Chimara’s songs. The beat pulsed through her body, and she closed her eyes. Her hips moved in a sensuous motion. She felt good. No, she felt great. After Dis had fucked her last night, she had awakened with memories of some wild dreams. No, she frowned -- more like déjà vu. The blue guy moved closer, but she pushed him back. He might have a good body, but he smelled like rotten fish. Not like Dis. She breathed in deeply with the memory of his body moving over and in hers, slick with sweat. A groan escaped her throat. The man was a god. Images of Dis and another man flashed through her mind. Her eyes opened wide in realization of why her body felt so alive. She’d dreamed of having sex with Dis and another man ... Michael? The name seemed right, though she couldn’t remember ever meeting him before. But she did know him. Intimately. She stopped dancing and groaned. Why was she dreaming of these things? She looked at the man in front of her and had to repress a gag. Why was she dancing with this man when she wanted Dante? She’d never

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been one for casual sex. Now, in the space of two nights, she was allowing her body to be groped by this strange guy and indulging in group sex. She glanced at Gina. The other girl had a vague, empty look on her face. Her beautiful body was flushed from her exertions, and Hayley felt her clit twitch with the memory of Gina’s tongue.

Who knows, you might begin to like it. “No.” Hayley lifted her head and scanned the room. Nothing, but she could have sworn someone had spoken to her ... a woman. She shook her head. Her imagination playing tricks, like the other day when she’d looked into the mirror and thought she’d seen someone else.

Swhoosh. A soft rustle sounded behind her in a corner hidden in the shadows. Torches flickered in the stale air. Someone, or something, watched her. She squinted in hopes of seeing into the darkness. Nothing but blackness met her stare. “Dante, is that you?” “Relax, babe. He’s passed out by now, the way he downed that fifth.” The sweaty man wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Why don’t we go somewhere more private?” His breath fanned her face. “Eeyewww.” Hayley pushed out of his embrace. “Ever heard of a toothbrush or a bar of soap?” She had to find Dante. She had to explain to him how much she wanted to please him, but that sharing partners wasn’t her thing. She knew she needed to go home -- back to the real world, away from the overflow of hedonistic pleasure that abounded in his world. But she couldn’t. Dante had given her something she knew had been missing in her life: passion. “Where ya going? The party’s just starting.” Cold, clammy hands grasped her wrist and tried to pull her back into the crowd, which had grown thicker since her arrival. “Let go!” A figure emerged from the shadows, and she held her breath. She couldn’t move, but didn’t know if it was from fear or fascination as a man appeared in front of her. Taller than

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Dante, his arms and legs were like tree trunks, and the contours of his muscles were carved in clear detail for her eyes to behold. His abdomen held various scars, but still lay flat and sculpted. When her gaze fell to his sex, large and bulging behind the leather of his pants, her mouth watered in anticipation. She swallowed against the sudden desire flaring to life in her groin. Her fingers bit into her palm. She tore her gaze from his cock and focused on his face. She gasped as recognition dawned. “Michael.” His blue eyes shone from the darkness, and his mouth moved in the briefest of quirks at the corner. “So, you remember who I am.” His voice echoed throughout the room. The demons closest to them slowed their dancing to study the newcomer. Their eyes squinted with suspicion. Hayley shivered. “I-I think so.” She moved closer to him; the grasp on her wrist slackened. One second he stood in front of her; the next, he circled around her, leaning close. She turned to him but stepped backwards until her body pressed against the door to Dante’s office. His eyes were narrowed, and his nostrils flared, as if he tried to smell her. His head turned at an angle, reminding Hayley of Dante. The comparison ended there. Their eyes might be shaped similarly, but they were of different colors, except when Dante’s glowed iridescent in moments of distress. Her hand reached out to touch Michael’s hair. He pulled his head back, and his expression grew wary, like a stray dog. “It’s okay.” Slowly, her fingers touched his hair. “I won’t hurt you.” Silky soft like Dante’s and just as black. The man’s face was hard and fierce. A long scar traced the edge of his cheekbone. He wasn’t beautiful like Dante, but his features held an appeal a woman couldn’t deny -- pure animal magnetism.

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Her hand trembled, and she tasted fear but continued her exploration with her fingers down his cheekbone to his jaw. To her surprise, he closed his eyes and turned his face into her hand. Hayley stopped the progression of her hand and watched in amazement. A large hand covered her own, and the warrior -- for there was no other name she could use to describe the man in front of her -- kissed her palm with such gentleness, she wanted to cry. The blue eyes opened and studied her with ... love ... and sadness. She didn’t understand why he looked at her like this. “Lilith, you are so beautiful.” His whispered words washed over her skin, bringing sadness. Everyone thought she was someone else. “I-I’m Hayley.” Michael smiled and leaned to her. Before she could move, he covered her lips with his. Their breaths mingled, and the velvet of his tongue against hers made Hayley’s body tremble with need. She wanted to bring him closer, but he pulled away. His hands, strong on her upper arms, held her in place. “It is time for you to be gone from the little one’s mind.” Hayley stared at him. What was he talking about? She shook her head in confusion. “What do you mean ‘it’s time to be gone’?” Michael’s jaw tightened before he brought her to him and crushed her mouth beneath his. Hayley’s head fell back, and the hot, aching need she’d experienced earlier came forward in a rush. The heat began in her groin and spread through her abdomen up to her brain. She felt like another person inside of herself, clawing to get out. In her mind rose an image of Michael sprawled on his back against the grass rose, his head thrown back in satisfaction while his hand caressed a woman’s head between his legs. Hayley gasped when she realized the woman was her, but not. She tore her mouth from Michael’s, and he let her go.

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His eyes traveled over her body, and Hayley stared back. No, that wasn’t her. It was ... Lilith. A wave of dizziness made her stumble back when Michael opened the door. She felt a burning sensation between her breasts. She touched her face and neck where sweat covered her skin. She clawed at the object she felt against her skin, but her hand came away scorched. She screamed and looked at Michael. Satisfaction shone in his eyes. Why? She’d thought he liked her. Hayley looked at her hand, and the pain intensified. “What have you done?” She’d been branded. Her eyes focused on the words burned into her flesh. Then she understood. Sensoy, Sansenoy, Semangelof. Her years as Lilith rushed through her mind. He was trying to repress the memory of her past lives. She didn’t want to forget who she’d been and what it had felt like for him to love her, for all of them to love her. She had been strong. Beautiful. With Lilith’s knowledge, she would grow strong again, become mistress of the demons. She wouldn’t be alone anymore, locked away in Hayley’s memory. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and her hands clenched into fists. Her nostrils flared to take in the putrid air of Hell. “You bastard!” Her voice wheezed and hissed, changing forms, as her memories raced. “Leave her, Lilith. Go to the desert, where you belong.” The memory of Lilith burned the edges of her mind. Her brain felt as if it were on fire. The demoness came forward with a rush, and Hayley clutched her head. Her words were garbled and full of pain and anger. “I hate you! More than I hate Samael.” What was left of Lilith fought for control, scratching and clawing her arms, fighting against the forces that pulled her into oblivion. “I curse you for all eternity, Michael. May you never find the one thing you’ve always searched for your entire existence.”

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Michael, his face without a trace of emotion, stood firm and quoted a verse from ancient texts. “‘Shadai. Senoy, Sansenoy, Semangelof, Adam, and the ancient Eve. Out, Lilith.’” She covered her ears, but still felt the memories recede. Michael paused. A look of great grief crossed his features. His voice sounded choked when he continued. “‘The wild-cat shall meet with the jackals, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow.’” The angel’s voice grew softer. “‘Yea, Lilith shall repose there, and find her a place of rest.’” With one last scream, Hayley felt the wild, lustful memories leave her mind. The echoes of the demoness’s screams drifted into oblivion, and she fell onto the bed.

Michael moved forward, but Dis shoved him away. He didn’t want his brother to touch the girl crumpled on the bed. She belonged to him. He saw the love on Michael’s face. Whether his brother denied it or not, he knew the angel loved Hayley, who was Lilith. He pulled Hayley into his arms and registered Michael turning away to return to the shadows. “Hayley?” Dis pushed her hair from her face with shaky hands. God, she was so pale. He raised his eyes to the heavens.

Don’t let her go without me telling her goodbye. He rocked her in his arms and buried his face in her hair, so soft and silky. He loved her. She had to know how he felt. Maybe if he had told Beatrice sooner, she would have chosen him all those years ago. “Hayley, look at me.” Slowly, her eyes blinked -- once, twice. The beautiful gray irises focused. “W-What happened?” “Oh, thank you, Lord.” Dis kissed her forehead. “Thank you.” He held her damp body close. She would leave him soon and go back to her world. He wanted to enjoy the feel of her one last time in his arms.

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“Dante? What’s going on?” Her small voice interrupted his moment of relief and gratitude. He laughed, tears in his eyes. “That’s my girl, always demanding to be in the know.” He held her face in his hands. “I love you, Hayley.” Her eyes grew wide. “I-I love you, too. But why are you crying?” “You have to go home. You don’t belong here.” A look of comprehension crossed her face. Her voice sounded calm, reserved. “I’m really in Hell, aren’t I? And you are the devil, aren’t you?” Dis nodded, too scared to speak. “Did I die?” “No, not yet. Your soul is trying to go back. That’s why you’ve been having the dizzy spells and headaches. You were sent here by mistake.” He knew she hadn’t believed her circumstances until now. Her time here would be like a dream for her, and he was glad. He didn’t want her to remember how her memories of Lilith had made her act the whore. His Hayley wasn’t like that. She was everything he and Lilith weren’t, sweet and innocent. “What about my friend, Jay? Did he die?” “I don’t know.” He hadn’t kept track of her friend. The man could be anywhere in the bowels of Hell. His demons wouldn’t have tired of their new toy yet. She didn’t need to know her friend would spend eternity in the clutches of demons. The thought would terrify her. He didn’t want her to be afraid of him, a monster, a demon. He only wanted her love. “What do you mean, you don’t know? You’re Satan, aren’t you? Don’t you control this place?” Her anger erupted, but he stayed calm. “It doesn’t work that way. There are rules, Hayley.”

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“Rules? I want my friend back.” She pounded her fists against his chest. “You’re the fucking devil, damn you. Do something!” “We don’t have time. You have to go.” He caught her fists to his chest and forced her to be still. “Now.” Gray eyes stared into his, and he saw the light already fading. Her tears fell to wet his skin and pierce his heart. She shook her head. “I love you. Why can’t I stay with you?” “No, love, that’s not how --” He choked on the words he’d said to her earlier. “-- things are done.” Rules. There were always the damned rules. The light faded. Her eyes closed. He held her warm body, just a shell, in his arms. Dis threw his head back and howled. The music screeched to a halt, and demons throughout the realm shook in fear at the sound of their master’s misery and anger. There would be hell to pay tonight.

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Chapter Twelve

“He did what?” The shout echoed down from Olympus, traveling across the River Styx, up through the old warehouse, and into the streets beyond. The sound reverberated like thunder, and passersby searched the heavens for the thundercloud, but the sky remained clear. Hades bowed his head against Zeus’s anger. When his brother was in this mood, there was no consoling him. They must all ride the storm, so to speak. “Michael repressed the memory of Lilith, thereby releasing Hayley’s soul from Purgatory, my lord.” Talos stepped forward to try and explain. “Bad move, tin man.” Hades moved between his brother and his creation. He leaned close to Talos’s ear. “You don’t know when to keep quiet, my friend.” Talos shoved him away. “I’m not your friend.” Hades laughed, then shrugged. “It’s your funeral.” “Will you two shut up?” Zeus’s head lowered, and he glared at them with anger-filled eyes from under his white brows. His nostrils flared. Hades thought he could actually see steam coming from the god’s ears. He almost felt sorry for Talos, but not quite. If the gatekeeper had done his job, this would be over. Instead,

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they were going to have to storm Hell and close the gate by force. Even with Dis in a weakened state, Michael would be close by. “I thought I told you to grab the girl.” Zeus paced around Talos. “What happened?” “Michael showed up and took her away from my contact. The demon had her within his grasp, but the angel intervened.” “Damn, fucking watchdogs!” Zeus’s voice thundered again. “Should’ve crushed them under my thumb when He first created His pets.” Zeus smacked his fist into his hand. “Nasty, vicious creatures, especially the one -- Gabriel. Actually makes Dis look like a choirboy.” Hades narrowed his gaze. Talos didn’t appear nervous or anxious. Maybe he was telling the truth, but how had the angel known what was going on? Charon. “My lord Zeus.” Hades stepped forward, braving his brother’s wrath. “I think there is another we must be concerned about more than your metal creation here.” He winked at the hostile look Talos threw him. The brass man hated anyone defending him. Too bad; he’d have to get over it. They were in too delicate a situation to worry about hurt pride. Time was precious if they still intended to take the gate of Hell. “What are you talking about?” Zeus asked. “If Talos, or his goon, didn’t give us away, who did?” “Charon, my lord.” Zeus sucked in his breath with a hiss. “The little bastard. I’ll kill him.” “Hard to do when he’s already dead.” Talos’s mumbled words were loud enough. Hades wondered if he did it on purpose. Sparks flew from Zeus’s ears, and the god’s eyes glowed red above the snarl of his mouth. Hades sighed and rolled his eyes. “Do you ever shut your mouth, man? You just want to piss the old guy off.”

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“Why not? I’m in Hell any way you look at it.” Talos’s red-eyed glare met his before he moved off into the shadows. Hades shook his head. There went a guy with a chip on his shoulder bigger than the universe. One day someone would set him straight. Probably another woman, but one smarter than Medea had been. “Hades, I want that demon here, front and center.” Zeus paced the marble floor of Olympus. “Well, I’m not sure where Charon is, my lord. He is probably hiding over at the House of Purgatory.” “Get the troops together, then. It’s time we paid Dis a visit. Besides the souls I want coming into the underworld, I want your nickname reclaimed.”

***** “Get up, Samael.” Michael kicked his brother’s boot. “Zeus and Hades will be here soon, and we’ve got to make a stand.” Dis lay across his divan and stared at the ceiling. He didn’t move. “Did you not hear me, brother? Get your ass in gear.” Dis turned his head and stared up at Michael. “Why?” “Why?” Michael grabbed him by the vest and hauled him up. “Because our Lord is depending on us to defend this gate.” Dis felt the heat of Michael’s words wash over his skin and the power in his brother’s arms when they shook him, but he stayed limp and refused to respond. What did it matter if Zeus took control? There was nothing left for him here. His heart had died for the last time, and his soul had been damned years ago. His eyes met Michael’s. “Why does He care about this realm? The righteous souls will come to Him.”

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“You fool.” Michael shook him one more time before he released him to fall back against the divan. “Don’t you understand? Or are you still so self-centered you can’t see?” Dis frowned as Michael paced to the far wall and propped himself against one arm. Black hair fell around his face when he dropped his head and stared at the floor. The mighty angel had never looked so defeated. Lines of strain etched the skin around his mouth and forehead. Dis sat higher on the cushions. “If Zeus gains control of the gate, then no souls, good or bad, can enter Purgatory unless they are pagan. They will wander aimlessly to haunt the world.” Michael looked at him. “Hayley’s soul will wander in despair, forever.” A sharp pain caused his heart to skip a beat. He couldn’t let that happen to her. She belonged in Heaven when the day came for her to die. Not wandering, looking for a place to rest before her soul entered another body. If the souls didn’t rest, they would never be able to reincarnate. Why hadn’t he realized this? He stood up and grabbed his dagger. “Let’s go.” Michael blocked his progress. “Thank you, Sam.” Dis ignored the hand his brother offered. “I’m not doing this for Him. I’m doing this for Hayley.” He brushed past Michael, not hearing the angel’s whispered words. “But you are doing what needs to be done. That’s what counts, o prodigal son.” Michael smiled.

***** “Hayley, wake up, dear.” The soft voice whispered in her ear. Hayley pulled her eyebrows together and tried to open her eyes. Pain ebbed and flowed through her stiffened body. She moaned with the effort to make contact with the soft, feminine voice that called her.

Where’s Dante?

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She struggled until her eyes were slits against the brightness of the room. A white-clad middle-aged woman bent over her with kind eyes. A nurse. “There you are. How do you feel, dear?” A cool hand stroked across her forehead. Hayley tried to answer, but the words came out as a croak through her dry lips. She swallowed and tried again. “I-I hurt.” The nurse smiled and patted her arm. “You’ve had a rough journey, sweetie. It will be a few weeks before you feel like your normal self.”

Journey? Did the woman know where she’d been? How had she gotten here? Hayley looked around, her movements slow. The room was stark, the white walls reflecting the sterile effect. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was in Heaven. A stab of pain in her head reminded her she was indeed in the real world. No, nothing could hurt this bad in Heaven. What about Hell? She took a deep breath. Had it all been a dream induced by her trauma? The memory of Dante’s touch and kiss were still vivid in her mind. No, he had been real. Her mind rebelled at the thought that her lover might have been a figment of her imagination. His arms, holding her; his voice, telling her of his love. She bit her lip. A tear eased down her cheek, but she didn’t have the energy to wipe it away. She knew he was real, but he was gone. “It’s okay, Hayley. After a major trauma, it’s normal to be overwhelmed and emotional. Go ahead and cry, my dear. Let it all out.” Hayley closed her eyes to stem the flow of tears. Flashes of Dante, smiling down at her, raced through her mind. Images of Gina and Michael followed. A sob caught in her throat and she hiccupped. Pain burned through her ribs at the movement. “What happened to me?” She clutched a pillow to her chest. “You were in a terrible auto accident, dear.” The nurse hesitated, her gaze sliding away.

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Hayley felt her heart stop for a second. The monitor above her bed began to hum. When her pulse started again, her heart beat heavy against her chest. “W-What happened to my friend, Jay?” The nurse looked uncomfortable, like she didn’t want to discuss Jay’s fate. “I don’t want to upset you, Hayley. Not when you’ve come so far in the last couple days.” “Please.” Hayley grabbed the nurse’s hand. “I need to know.” “I’m afraid your friend wasn’t as lucky as you were.” She took Hayley’s hand and squeezed. “He didn’t make it, Hayley. The crash killed him. I’m so sorry.”

He’s in Hell. I saw him. Hayley’s tears renewed with force. Liquid heat scorched her cheeks. Why had he died and not her? Why not her? Then she’d be with Dante. She curled her body into a tight ball and cried. Her best friend, gone. Dante, gone. What did she have to live for?

Yourself. The voice, echoing through her mind, sounded familiar. She tried to recognize it, but couldn’t. The encouragement offered gave her hope. She had to live for herself. She would get better, and life would go on. After a while, Hayley’s tears dried and she slept. She didn’t see the angel who stood guard over her bed, or feel the soft brush of his fingers across her brow. Michael had charged him with her safety, and he would not betray the warrior’s faith. He closed his eyes to focus on his brothers’ battle.

***** “Bolt the gate and post the first sentry.” Dis looked out over the parking lot of the House of Purgatory. “Zeus and Hades know by now that their plan to use Hayley has failed.” Dis motioned to the gate. “We need to be prepared when they attack.” Michael’s gaze turned somber. “How do you think they’ll approach?”

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“There’s only one way in.” His brother surveyed the landscape. Michael might be a mastermind in the ways of strategic warfare, but so was Hades. There might be only one way into Hell, but the gods and their army would attack with everything they had. Michael assessed the parking lot. “Their element of surprise ended when they lost Hayley.” From behind them, a ruckus arose. Demons moved left and right to allow a bearded individual through the line, followed by another of Dis’s brothers, Gabriel. Dis stiffened; the hair on his neck rose in warning. It’d been a long time since they’d been together, and at the time, they had not been fighting on the same team. “So, it’s a family reunion. Where’s Raphael?” Dis could forgive his younger brother, Raphael, who only followed orders. Orders from Michael, or Gabriel, the angel of death and destruction. “Michael gave him a babysitting job at the last minute.” Gabriel shot a look filled with distaste at their older brother. The memory of brutal torture, and eventually a sword piercing his heart, forced an involuntary grimace. Dis fought the urge to touch his chest. He would not let Gabriel gain any satisfaction from his memory of their last encounter. In front of Charon, a blue-green figure shifted his feet. Dis recognized the demon who had danced with Hayley. Anger swirled with jealousy, rising like bile in his throat. He growled. This day just gets better and better. “What are you doing with him, Charon?” “Making sure you have all the culprits, Magician.” He shoved the demon forward. The blue monster landed on bended knees in front of Dis, his head bowed in supplication. “Master, I beg of you, do not listen to what this old man says. I have served you faithfully for many a year.”

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Blue-veined hands grasped Dis’s leather pants leg. “Quiet.” He shook his leg free and turned to Charon. “Well, what’s going on?” “This one had orders to lure your woman away in order for Talos to kidnap her.” Charon planted a boot in the demon’s back and shoved. “’Cept they didn’t count on your big brother showing up and diverting their plan.” Dis bent and grabbed the demon by his blue-black goatee. With one yank, he had the demon face to face. “Served me loyally, huh?” Dis threw the infidel to the ground and raised his hand, letting a fireball build in his palm. A band of iron clasped around his wrist. He turned to see Michael’s hand around him. “Wait, brother. Let us see if he has more information.” Dis hesitated. The bastard deserved the never-ending flames of Hell for what he’d done, but -- his nostrils flared with resentment -- they needed to question the demon first. “I’m not telling you anything, angel.” The demon spit upon the ground near Michael’s booted foot. Stillness descended around them. Everyone held their breath as Michael cocked his head to the side and narrowed his gaze. The action might look minute to the untrained eye, but Dis knew his brother wasn’t amused by the demon’s bravado. Michael might be an angel, but he was no pussycat. An example would be made. Solid beams, whiter than the eye of any flame, flashed from both Michael’s and Gabriel’s eyes and mouths, catching the demon’s insolent gaze. A scream of agony ripped from the creature. His body rose into the air and spun around, higher and faster, until he hit the top of the cavern. The sound of bones crunching created a gasp of fear from the army of demons gathered around them. They would remember the ancient war when Michael and Gabriel had cast them down from Heaven to earth.

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Dis knew what pain wracked the demon’s body, having experienced the same tortures when he had been captured by Gabriel years ago. Afterwards, Michael had cast what was left of his abused body, torn and bloody, into the fiery pits of Hell. A shudder passed through him at the memory. He wondered how long the vile being could hold out against the mental interrogation the angels of war and destruction plied upon him. “Enough. I’ll tell you what you need to know!” Not long. The beams of light vanished. The demon’s body fell twenty feet to the stone floor, where he lay crumpled and twisted. No soul stepped forward to help their brother, his limbs mangled and broken. When he reached out to them with a shaking, grasping hand, two or three demons stepped further back into the crowd. Dis knelt down beside the torn body. Any compassion he might have had lay buried by the demon’s betrayal. This one deserved what he received. “What is their plan, demon?” A hand grasped at his arm, leaving a charred and bloody smear across his tattoo. The demon’s eyes glazed, but he opened his mouth to answer, his voice a mere whisper. Dis leaned closer to catch the dying words. “T-They cannot defeat the faithful.” A shudder escaped the demon’s body before the remnants of his soul seeped from his being in a darkened shadow, to be absorbed by the demons who stood nearest. Their forms tightened in response, like the first stage of rigor mortis. In a matter of seconds, the shell of the deformed body combusted into flames and the other demons’ catatonic states relaxed. “Well, what the fuck did he mean by that?” Gabriel’s voice oozed with frustration. Dis pulled free of the clinging corpse and stepped away from the putrid fumes, black as soot, rising to the cavern’s ceiling. Around him he could hear several souls cough from the smell of burning flesh.

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Michael clapped Gabriel on the back with a smile. “Simple, little brother. We need a host of faithful souls to defend the gate.” “Right, and I bet you and old Sam here know where we can find these souls in the next five seconds, because here comes Hades.” Across the parking lot, eerie black shadows carrying swords and shields rose from beneath the asphalt to stand eight feet tall. Michael turned. “Shit. Hoplite swords.” Gabriel’s shoulders straightened. “All right, Hades.” A gleam of anticipation entered his eye. “These swords have a dual purpose, boys. Cutting flesh and thrusting deep into your opponent’s body.” He laughed. “The pagan demons’ main objective will be to push through our lines using a downward cut to increase the force of their blows.” Gabriel stepped forward. His fingers curled around the bone haft of a foot-long knife strapped to the outside of his left leg. “Still like to get up close and personal, huh?” Gabriel smiled. His blue eyes sparkled. “Always.” He stepped closer, his mouth millimeters from Dis’s. “As you should well remember.” Long repressed fear rose, hot and rancid, in the pit of his stomach, but Dis stood his ground. Gabriel pulled the thick, curved blade from its sheath and angled the cool metal close enough that Dis could feel the whisper across his neck. “Ah, the curve of the khukuri fits nicely to your neck -- the optimal target ... skeeeek.” A wave of nausea followed the surge of fear as Gabriel pulled the blade parallel with Dis’s neck and made a slicing sound. A thin film of sweat formed across his forehead as vivid memories of his punishment for loving a human rose in his mind’s eye. Gabriel’s cool lips touched his cheek; he jumped. “The ultimate symbol of Shiva.”

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From the deeper recesses of his mind, he heard Dante scream, Kick that bastard’s ass! Dis shook his head and forced himself to speak, still refusing to give Gabriel the satisfaction of acknowledging past tortures. “The Creator should have made you satan since you have so much in common with the Hindu god of war.” Gabriel laughed; the blade disappeared. “You think so?”

Unbelievable. Dis marveled at the genuine pleasure in his brother’s voice. “You are a sick motherfu--” “They’re advancing!” Michael’s voice cut into their discussion. Dis forgot the nightmares of his past, moving behind the first sentry. “Demons, form a line. Spears up, shields out.” He rapped hard on one shield, testing the readiness of the demon holding the weapon. “These bastards fight like Greeks.” “Exactly, Master.” One demon turned frightened eyes to him. “They were the most feared of all warriors in ancient times.” Dis moved closer. “You will just have to fight like Romans, the conquerors of the Greeks.” He grasped the demon’s shoulder and squeezed, trying to offer encouragement to a fellow soldier. The demon nodded and returned to formation. The line raised their shields and spears. As one, the demons of Hell stomped their feet, creating a sound like thunder. In between hisses and moans, a chant erupted; the line moved forward. “Hail Satan, prince of darkness, annihilation to his enemies.” Gabriel frowned. “Damn. That makes every hair on my body stand up.” The line advanced in unison; the chant grew louder. Michael moved beside Dis. “The idea is to show fealty to the Maker.” Dis shrugged at his brothers’ discomfort. “To believe in me, the devil, they would have to believe in Him, also. That combines both our magicks.” Michael hesitated, then shook his head. “Warped logic, as usual.”

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Dis shrugged. “A different way of looking at things.” A hideous sound, emitting from the pagan demons’ open mouths, screeched across the night wind to send a chill of dread down his spine. This could very well be the end of the world, not only for him, but for Hayley, too. He clutched his sword tighter. He grasped Michael by the shoulders and faced him. “You and I and everyone here are

faithful souls. We believe in the Creator. The faithful --” He nodded toward his demons. “-also believe in satan -- me. As long as we all believe in both entities, we can defeat the ancient gods. They are nothing to us.” As he spoke the words, the truth hit Dis like a blow to the gut. He might not agree with his Creator’s ideas of right or wrong, but he did believe in God. So did every soul in the House of Purgatory. Michael nodded, slowly, his eyes narrowed in understanding. “Okay, men, weapons ready. On my mark, we attack.” Dis raised his gaze to the heavens and cast a rusty prayer. Please, for Hayley’s sake. He glanced at Michael and Gabriel. His brothers’ eyes glowed with the excitement of battle. Dis smiled. Once they had fought each other. Now they fought side by side. Pride, not jealousy, for his siblings choked him. He swallowed the foreign emotions, raised his sword, and shouted. “For the kingdom!” “For the kingdom!” echoed around him in response.

For Hayley. He looked at Michael, who nodded, and knew his brother had the same thought. “Onward!”

“What the fuck are they doing?” Hades mumbled and frowned, stalking around the rear flank of his battalion. He searched the front line and beyond, trying to discern Michael’s tactic.

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The angelic demons had formed cubes in multiple rows. Their spears extended from all sides, and their shields covered their bodies like the plates of an armadillo. Their unearthly chant interspersed with demonic groans rose above the war cries of his demons. Zeus stopped beside him. “I wish they’d stop that forsaken chanting.” He closed his eyes and covered his ears. “Makes my skin crawl the way they’re calling down his power.” “Whose power, my lord?” Zeus opened his eyes. The look of disgust on his face would have made a lesser god cringe, but Hades stood his ground. “They are calling the power of Dis.” “But to no avail. He is in a weakened state.” The chant rose louder above the two armies. “... annihilation to his enemies.” “Humph. Thinks he’s a damned god, or something.” “To some, he is.” Zeus’s gaze narrowed suddenly, and his skin paled. He grabbed Hades’s arm. “Pull back. Pull back now!” “Are you crazy? We have the advantage in numbers. We’ve always had more souls than their Creator. We were around centuries before His Hell came into existence.” “Imbecile! Don’t you see what Dis is doing? He’s combining the forces of his dark magick with the forces of the Creator’s light. To believe in one is to believe in the other. We don’t stand a chance if they’re in accord. They will become a unified weapon of such power, no entity could withstand their strength. Pull back at once!” Anger seeped into Hades’s consciousness at the same time understanding of the angel’s intentions dawned. His scream of frustration rent the night air before he issued the order to retreat. “Damn you, Dis. I will have my name back one of these days.”

“Why are they running?” Gabriel’s indignant voice sounded behind Dis.

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Dis turned and smiled at his brother for the first time in thousands of years. “I think they realized we’d defeat them too badly this time.” “This time?” “Yeah. We overtook them two thousand years ago and cast them into temporary oblivion.” Dis turned back and watched the last of the ancient demons disappear beneath the pavement. “We would have destroyed them completely this time, without mercy. Although disgraceful, Zeus knows that his retreat will allow for the continued existence of the gods in the world.” “Hmm, we’ll have to negotiate terms for a treaty.” Michael rubbed his chin. “We could always hold one of his favorite children as a permanent ‘guest’ of Hell to ensure his good behavior.” Michael nodded. “Hey, not a bad idea.” “But I wanted to cut something up!” Gabriel swung his khukuri in a wide arc, sending several nearby demons into a panic. “Or, better yet, use ‘Greek fire’ on their asses.” Dis cringed; Michael laughed and thumped his middle brother on the shoulders. “All in good time, brother. Save the sulphur, resin, and tar for another day.” “And you all call me barbaric and sadistic!” Dis shook his head, stalking to the entrance of Hell. “Where are you going? This is call for celebration.” Gabriel pinched Gina on the ass as she strutted by him. “We could share.” Dis stopped and looked back at his siblings. Disgust roiled through his gut. Hayley wouldn’t understand him accepting another female’s companionship for the celebration of any type of victory after he had confessed his love. He wouldn’t -- no, couldn’t -- disrespect her memory that way. “I don’t really feel like celebrating.”

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Chapter Thirteen

“Miss Thomas, you need to rest.” “I’m fine.” Hayley wished the head librarian would leave her alone. Yes, she was tired and her head ached, but she didn’t want to go home. There was nothing there but lonely walls and memories. Hayley shoved a book onto the rack with more force than she had intended. Several books from the other side of the stack fell to the floor.

Damn! If she kept this up, Mrs. O’Connell would have security escort her to her house. She glanced down the row to see if the old battleaxe had seen the mishap, but the woman had returned to her office. The stacks were long and high, and here in the back of the library the silence could be deafening with the lights dimmed. Research books weren’t popular until time for yearly term papers. Then all hell broke loose in the quiet little library. Hayley stifled a giggle and smiled at the thought of Hell breaking loose on Mrs. O’Connell. The poor woman wouldn’t know what to do. Her straightlaced mannerisms would fly out the window in the face of the sweaty, naked, gyrating bodies Hayley had come face to face with several months ago.

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Her smile faded when her thoughts centered on Dante. She bit her lip at the same time she bent down to retrieve the books she had knocked over. I will not think about him. She repeated the words over and over, without success. The more she tried to forget him, the more she wanted him. Correction. The more she needed him. She sighed, the sound loud in the quiet recesses of the stacks. Maybe one day she would forget, but not today. Today would be another step forward, slow and painful. A book slipped from her hand. With a curse, she looked to the ceiling. “Get a grip, Hayley. You’re all thumbs.” She knelt again to retrieve the book, but hesitated when she read the title: How to

Summon Angels. “What in the world? What’s this doing back here?” Her heart skipped a beat, and her hand trembled. She felt a slight breeze lift the hair from her neck. Goosebumps tickled her skin, and she had the impression of being watched. Her eyes narrowed in the dimness to search her surroundings. Nothing. Not a soul here but her. “You’re hallucinating. Put the book back and keep working.” With a decisive nod, she rammed the book back onto the shelf, not caring that the order might be incorrect. Someone else would find the mistake and put the book in the New Age section. She refused to be the kind of person who went around having séances to call up spirits. She needed to be in the quiet of her own home where no one but her knew the hell she’d been through.

Michael shook his head. They were both miserable, both stubborn as hell. He had placed the book where he knew Hayley would find it, the tool for communication plain as day. But no, she refused to accept the messages he tried to pass to her.

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His brother was no better. After their victorious near-battle with Zeus, Samael had retreated to his quarters to wallow in self-pity and despair. Nights and days filled with drinking himself into a stupor. The demons were restless. They needed a leader, but Sam wasn’t up to the task. Something drastic needed to be done. Michael sighed. He hadn’t wanted to take this problem to his master, but he had no other choice. The solution his Creator had come up with was not to his liking, but Michael knew he would obey the command given to him. He shifted his shoulder and felt again the sting of his wounds. Wounds he deserved for the forbidden desires he possessed for a human woman. His jaw tightened. He’d hidden that desire well, but the revelation to Sam of his lust for Lilith had cost him. His Creator was angry with His most powerful angel. An example had to be made, or others would follow, and the downfall would be complete. Michael knocked on the door but didn’t wait for an answer. Inside, the lights were extinguished and total darkness abounded. Out of habit, he snapped his fingers and the torches flared to life. Light was unnecessary to an angel. They could see everything with the light from their own eyes. He looked at Samael sprawled naked across the divan, snoring and drunk. Everything except what was right in front of them. He kicked the bed, but only received a grunt in response. Anger infused his belly. “Get up, Sam. I’m tired of your moaning and groaning about how life is so unfair.” He kicked the bed again, this time sending the mattress and pillows flying to the floor. “What the hell?” Samael came up from under the pile, his hair in disarray, his naked body crouched in the attack position. Several days’ growth of stubble made his face more swarthy than usual. To one who didn’t know him, he was an imposing figure. Michael cocked an eyebrow and shook his head. “Over here, slick.” Sam turned toward him with slow, unsteady movements. He narrowed his eyes to focus on Michael. Recognition dawned, and he rubbed his belly.

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“What’s the big idea, waking me up like that?” He smacked his lips like a bad taste coated his tongue. “I was sleepin’.” A yawn escaped his parted lips. Michael snorted. “Yeah, well, you’ve been sleeping a damned lot lately. Have you seen the state of your kingdom?” He watched his brother wave a hand at him in dismissal and stumble over a pillow. Sam weaved his way to the bathroom with arms outstretched to steady himself. “Who gives a rat’s ass?” he shouted. “Several thousand demons and an angry Creator, for starters.” He heard Sam snort over the sound of piss hitting the side of the urinal. Michael sighed. He was going to have to go into his tough-love routine. He stifled a groan. Didn’t anyone care how hard his job was? Did anyone appreciate the indecencies he had to stoop to in order to take care of business? Samael returned to the doorway, rubbed his belly, and belched, long and loud.

Obviously not. “Sam, look, there’s something I have to tell you.” Michael forced his voice to sound uncertain. He turned his back to his brother so Sam couldn’t see his face. He was counting on Sam’s hangover and his sensitivity to being overlooked to help in this situation. “Whuh you talkin’ about?” Michael hid a smile. He heard the suspicion in his brother’s slurred speech. He let out an exaggerated sigh and hoped he wasn’t overplaying his role. “Well, our Creator isn’t happy with me at the moment.” That’s putting it mildly. “And he’s thinking about casting me down to earth like he did all of you.” “Why? What for?” Michael paused and turned to his brother, but didn’t meet his gaze. He let his voice drop to a whisper, as if he were ashamed. “For loving Lilith.”

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Sam didn’t utter a sound, but Michael could feel a change in his awareness. He looked up and saw his brother’s gaze narrowed in thought.

Good. Now he’d drop the bomb. If Samael loved Hayley, this would surely set him off. “Since you’re tied up here in Hell with all this --” He waved his hand. “-- I’ve decided to look Hayley up and see if there’s anything between us.” The look of total outrage on his brother’s face had Michael averting his head to hide the smile of satisfaction he felt spread across his face. “I mean, there might not be anything, but Lilith was a great fuck, and if I’m going to be human, I’ll have to take care of my sexual needs --” The air rushed from his lungs with a whoosh. Samael sat on top of him, fists raised to pummel his face. Michael grabbed his brother’s wrists and wrestled him down until he was the one on top. He laughed. “What’s wrong, little brother?” He pinned Sam’s arms to his side. “Jealous?” “I’ll kill you before I see her with you.” “Ooo, I’m scared. Especially since the last time we fought each other, I won.” Sam glared, and his lips were drawn away from his fangs in a snarl. “She’s mine!” Michael’s smile evaporated. He looked his brother in the eye. “Then prove it.”

***** “‘Stand facing east. Perform the Qabbalistic Cross.’” Hayley touched her forehead with the index finger of her right hand. She looked at the book and frowned. “Hmm, says to ‘visualize a sphere of white light at that point, and vibrate: Atah.’ Okay, here goes. Atah.” She went through the movements. “‘Lower hand to solar plexus and visualize a line extending down to your feet, and vibrate: Malkuth (the Kingdom).’”

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She shook her head but followed through with the words and gestures the book instructed be used. Several more minutes passed until she reached the part of the ritual she was most interested in. She studied the words carefully, with her mind focused on the book in front of her. “‘Extend your arms out to your sides, forming a cross. Vibrate (visualizing the Archangel standing guard). Before me --’” “It won’t work.” Hayley jumped at the sound of a voice behind her. The book fell to the floor and lay open, but she couldn’t move to retrieve it, or turn around. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. The form of a man reflected in the window, though she couldn’t make out a face. But that voice. It was his voice. How could that be? She hadn’t completed the incantation. “WWhy not?” The reflection moved until she couldn’t see the man’s form. When he answered her, he stood behind her. His breath washed warm against her neck. Awareness tingled down her spine at the smell of his skin. “Because that angel is not known in Heaven or Hell any longer.” She closed her eyes at the sound of the rich timbre in her ear. “Where did he go?” Strong hands grasped her waist and pulled her against a body, warm and hard. “Why do you wish to know?” His lips caressed her ear through strands of hair. She gasped at the tiny shivers of need washing over her skin. She closed her eyes and tilted her neck to give him better access. Fingers dug into her waist, and he pulled her closer until she could feel his hardened cock against the small of her back. “Answer me.” His voice was soft, but authoritative. Hayley swallowed her fear. The voice said the incantation hadn’t worked, but here he was with his lips on her neck and his dick pressed into her back. She glanced at the book on the floor. The pages flipped gently with the night breeze from the open window. A page

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caught, and she inhaled sharply at the illustration shown to her -- an angel in the throes of passion with a woman. One hand moved away from her waist to circle in front across her abdomen. Her muscles tightened in anticipation. Long, warm fingers eased under her shirt to caress her skin. First her abdomen, then her breast. Fingertips grazed the tip of a nipple. Hayley bit her lip, but too late. The moan she tried to stifle escaped. “Tell me what I need to know.” At that moment, she knew that this was real and not her imagination playing tricks on her. Only Dante would demand she tell him what she wanted. He always craved the words. She smiled and leaned her head against his chest. “I miss him and want to see him again.” She rotated her hips against his erection. He groaned, and she laughed. Fingers pinched her nipple, and she cried out in pain and pleasure.

Yes. That’s what she wanted. The pain and pleasure only Dante could make her feel. Hayley tried to turn in his arms, but he held her fast. “Is it just for a good --” He grabbed her hips and ground his pelvis into her backside. “-fuck that you need him, or do you have other reasons?” Hayley breathed hard at his roughness. Her eyes closed at a flood of desire between her legs, while her nostrils flared to take in the musky scent of their arousal. “Oh, I can think of a few more reasons to have him here.” Her giggle turned to a screech when she was lifted, then thrown to the sofa. She struggled to sit up, but his weight pushed her down into the cushions, pinning her hands at her sides. When she looked up, her breath caught at the sight of his face. God’s most beautiful angel. “Dante.” His mouth took hers and crushed her lips until she opened to him. At the first sign of submission, his tongue invaded to take and conquer. Hayley didn’t fight him. She wanted this. She wanted him. A small mewling sound escaped her throat, and he withdrew.

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“I-I’m sorry, Hayley. I don’t know what came over me.” He swallowed, his breathing ragged, and released her arms. His eyes glowed with passion, but they weren’t iridescent like before. She frowned. “Why are you sorry? I want you to love me like that.” Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she offered her lips, but he didn’t respond. He had withdrawn into himself. Hayley swallowed her disappointment and leaned her forehead against his. “I missed you.” Chocolate eyes burned into hers. “But you still didn’t tell me why.”

So that’s the problem! Hayley rolled her eyes. “You numbskull. I’ve been trying to show you for the last ten minutes.” She gentled her words and voice when she felt him retreat. Her arms tightened around his neck, and she pulled him fully on top of her. “Dante, I missed you because I love you.” She kissed his nose. “I’ve been trying to live without you for the last several months, and not doing a very good job of it.” She sighed and turned her head toward the book on the floor. “I even stooped so low as to try magick to get us together again.” Her eyes lowered. “I was that desperate for you.”

Could this be true? He looked at the woman in his arms. Her face was averted in what looked like embarrassment. He shook his head, too afraid to believe what she told him. A tear escaped the corner of her eye and trickled down her cheek. Dante reached out and caught the drop with his forefinger. Light refracted off the tiny sparkle of moisture before he put it to his tongue. He closed his eyes at the taste of Hayley and buried his head in her neck to breathe in her scent -- cinnamon and apples, everything down-to-earth and simple. Everything he had always desired. “I love you, too.” His voice sounded muffled against her hair. He raised his head to look into her eyes. The love he saw reflected there caught him off guard. He wanted to believe, but he had to be sure she wanted him and not the power he had once possessed.

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“I have to tell you. I’m not the same.” She frowned, and his heart sank. Now she’ll turn away like Lilith and Beatrice. The thought burned like the fires of Hell, but he continued. She’d hear the truth, and nothing else. Then, if she wanted him to leave, so be it. “I’m human now. That was the price for having you.” He watched the frown disappear, but she didn’t seem angry. In fact, she smiled. He tried to smile back, but couldn’t be sure he succeeded. “I think that’s great.” The smile grew tremulous. “I think that’s wonderful!” He kissed her hard. “I do too.”

Michael watched from outside the window and nodded in approval. Finally! He shook his head, but smiled. He knew happiness for his brother. Samael had always wanted a companion and mate. Now he had both.

Maybe I’ll be an uncle soon. He snorted as the thought crossed his mind. How would he be any kind of uncle where he was headed? The coolness of the night called him, and Michael turned his head to the stars. He couldn’t imagine ever holding Lilith like Dante held Hayley. She had evolved from an enticing vixen to a wonderful, loving -- He looked in the window and raised his eyebrow -wildcat. He threw his head back and laughed. Samael didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into. Hayley wasn’t so meek and mild. A little of Lilith still existed in her, after all. Naked bodies entwined on the carpet, with the one on top female.

She raked her fingernails down her partner’s chest and laughed at his sharp inhalation. Her teeth nipped and sucked their way down his body until she arrived to the part of his anatomy she hunted.

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When Dante threw back his head at the feel of her mouth around his cock, she sighed.

This was what she wanted. What she’d always wanted, but had never realized until she became Lilith. The part of her that remained Lilitu, that was still Lilith, raised her head and smiled with satisfaction into the eyes of her lover. She felt his body still beneath her. “Where’s Hayley?” His voice sounded cold and distant. Hayley blinked at the contrast between the man who had held and caressed her minutes earlier, and the one who lay beneath her. She shook her head. “I-I don’t know --” Dante bucked hard and threw her off. When she would have pushed up, he pinned her beneath him. The murderous look in his eye made her breath catch in her throat. “Dante, you’re hurting me.” She twisted her wrists, but he wouldn’t release her. The grasp so tight, her hands were numb. He leaned forward, his face an inch from hers. “I want to know what you did to Hayley.” He gripped harder. “And I want to know now, Lilith!” Hayley shook her head. “I’m not Lilith. I’m Hayley, and I love you.” His nostrils dilated, and his jaw clenched. She had to say something fast, or he looked like he’d kill her. He thought she was Lilith, but why? Hayley searched her mind for what she might have done to make him react like this, and it came to her. She relaxed in his grip, and she saw his eyes narrow. “Are you frightened of a woman who shows her man what she wants?” He pulled his head back and looked down at her. The confusion on his face prompted her further. “I desire you, Dante.” She wiggled her hips against his erection. “I want to ride you until you make me come, then ride you some more.” His pupils dilated.

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“Wouldn’t you like for me to pleasure you for a change, instead of the other way around?” Her voice changed from seductive to pleading.

God, please let him accept me. All of her. Not just the part of her that would give in to his desire, but the part that desired him, as well. The part that craved him giving in to her and letting her take her pleasure in any form she chose. When he released her, lifting his weight, she sighed and sat up. “I guess not.”

Dante turned at the sound of her voice, so defeated and sad. He raked a hand through his hair. He wanted to believe this was his Hayley, but she’d never acted like this with him except under the influence of Lilith. When she stood, moving away, he reached out and caught her wrist. She stopped, but refused to look at him. Her pulse beat erratically beneath her skin, and he longed to ease her distress, but he had to be sure Lilith hadn’t returned to fuck up his life again. He couldn’t go back to Hell. He craved Heaven too much this time. “The Hayley I know wouldn’t demand to be on top.” Her head snapped up, and her gaze sparked with anger. Dante’s cock jumped in anticipation. His mind might have doubts, but his body craved the things Lilith could always evoke in him. “This Hayley almost died.” She stepped closer and aimed a finger at him. The force of her impact stabbed into his chest. He stepped back, but she didn’t retreat.

Ah, shit, she’s pissed. He’d never seen her like this. Scared and excited, yes, but never so mad that fire spit from her eyes. Again, he thought of Lilith, but this time the comparison didn’t scare him. “This Hayley lost everything she loved.”

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He had reached the sofa. The cushions dug into his calves, and he had to lean back to escape her prodding finger. She’s magnificent. Her hair fell tangled around her shoulders, and her lipstick smeared across her mouth, but the glare in her eyes made him hard. “And I’m not going to wimp out on what I want when I have a second chance.” He heard her voice catch with her admission. How could he have doubted her? “Ahh, Hayley, honey --” His words vanished with a whoosh, and he felt his body fall backwards into the cushions. He landed hard with her on top of him. All his breath gone. “Are you?” “Am I ... am I what?” “Going to wimp out on another chance to have everything you’ve always wanted?” Dante stared into beautiful gray eyes and pouty red lips surrounded by glossy brown hair. In that instant, he saw all three of her incarnations in the one. She was right. This was his chance. His only chance to have everything he’d ever wanted -- Lilith, Beatrice, and ... Hayley. “No.” He feathered his fingers through her hair. “I’m not letting you get away from me this time.” With a groan, he tightened his grip on her hair and brought her lips to his. He kissed her hard. Seconds turned to minutes before their lips parted. Their mingled pants echoed through the room and into the night through the open window. “You want me, Hayley Thomas?” Her eyes widened when she heard his question. He’d asked her the same thing the first day they’d met. A day he’d never forget. He watched a wicked glint enter her gaze. She nodded and lowered her mouth to his, but he pushed her back, mimicking their motions in reverse, like they’d done so long ago. Instead of fighting him, this time she gave a little smile.

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Ah, she remembers. But would she play the game? “No, you have to tell me what you want,” he said, remembering word for word. Her fingertips brushed the skin of his throat in imitation of his previous action. He pulled away from her touch, and she removed her hand. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she whispered. “That’s not what you indicated a few seconds ago,” he said, liking their game more and more. He heard her laugh and knew they’d gotten to the best part. “You silly boy. I don’t want to hurt you.” She leaned forward and bit his lip, hard and fast. At his gasp of pain, she suckled it deep with her mouth and tongue.

This hadn’t been in the original scenario, but Dante liked it. He closed his eyes and imagined her suckling his cock instead of his lip. She drew away and reached for the zipper of his pants. Oh, yeah, this was good, but he wanted to hear her say -“I want to fuck you.”

Thank you, God. She always knew he needed the words. His pants down around his knees and hers on the floor, he watched her rise above him, then lower her body onto his. He closed his eyes and surrendered to the feel of her hot cunt milking his cock. The images of Lilith and Beatrice merged into Hayley and became one. She was everything he needed. Just her. The need to come rose. He opened his eyes and watched the expression of intense concentration on her beautiful face. His balls tightened and tingled. Intense heat seared from his crotch down to his feet. And, God Almighty, his toes curled as his semen shot into the hot depths of her body.

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Sheri Gilmore

Michael felt his own cock stiffen with need. He’d watched her take Samael, with her on top; Samael take her from behind at the side of the sofa; and now, her silky head moved up and down over his brother’s cock for their third copulation. Michael imagined it was him she sucked. The soft slurp of her lips echoed across the windowsill until he could take the pain no longer. With hands that shook, he removed his own cock from its confines of leather and stroked the hot skin in time with her movements. He wanted her. He needed her. His orgasm hit hard, and he sucked in his breath and gritted his teeth against the pain. With a firm hand, he pumped his cock until the last spurt of his seed had been expunged from his body. In his mind he pictured Hayley’s tongue lapping the creamy substance from his skin, instead of it lying wasted on the soil below his feet.

One last stroke. Pleasure shot up through his balls and into his spine. Michael groaned. But this time, he wasn’t going to go after what he desired. In the distance, he heard Dante cry his release and heard the emotion in his brother’s voice. “Hayley, I love you.” Michael didn’t look back. With his jaw tight, and his pants secure, he walked into the darkness, alone, to rule the realm of Hell -- the blaze of red-and-yellow-flamed tattoos evident on his arms.

Sheri Gilmore When Sheri Gilmore isn’t creating romantic sexual fantasies for her readers, she’s a registered nurse, wife, and a mother of three. Her most favorite cities are New Orleans, San Francisco, and New York City, but she’s always wanted to visit San Antonio, Santa Fe, and Las Vegas. Visit Sheri on the Web at www.sherisecrets.com.

***** Read on for a tantalizing glimpse of

Desert Moon: Ah-ten by Alicia Sparks Available Now from Loose Id

Desert Moon: Ah-ten Caire wanted to run her hands along the man's broad chest, to explore the tiny thatch of hair just below his navel, to take his tight nipples between her teeth and watch his deep blue eyes smolder with gold as she had seen so many times in her dreams. But she waited with bated breath, hoping she could subdue him enough, hoping her incense and smoke trick would entice him so that he would willingly come to her. Anything to have her hands in his hair, his body pumping into hers. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched the women bathe him. Their tiny breasts floated on the water, just out of reach of his mouth as he sat in the tub, submerged to the waist in the warm, clear water. She would have gone to him herself if she had not meant to test his reaction to the women. In the seconds when they had met, he claimed to be a man who could not be owned by women. Her heart pounded against her chest as she sat in the shadows, anticipation flowing all through her body. Medina, one of the young girls with long, dark hair, ran her hands along his chest, leaving a trail of lather in their wake. He tilted his head back as a lazy smile crossed his face. The man might proclaim to be immune to women, but he certainly seemed to be enjoying his treatment at their skilled hands. Corine stood behind him, lathering his thick hair, twisting the dark mass in her small, white hands. Caire inhaled a deep breath, wishing she were the one standing behind him, his head on her chest as she wove her fingers through his hair. One command was all it would take to empty the pool of the others. Then she could take her time exploring the warrior's body, taking in his ample chest, the thick mass of hair that covered it, sliding her fingers down lower to wrap around his cock. Watching the others surround him both aroused her and angered her. She should be the one attending him. The desire to stand, announce her presence, take control of the

Alicia Sparks

situation, was strong, but before she could move, he reached out and took Medina's breast into his hand and gently coaxed her forward. Caire's wetness came as no surprise. She had watched others have sex before and had been more than intrigued by their actions. But tonight, watching the man she longed to have, a new surge of yearning swept through her, one that was so much stronger than anything else she'd ever felt. He let out a low moan, deep enough for her to hear as the sound echoed through the stillness in the room. Corine had ducked beneath the water and no doubt had his cock in her mouth. Caire licked her lips, imagining how it would feel to have them stretched over his thick rod, his hands buried in her hair as she licked and sucked, moving on top of him. She reclined on the chaise, still hidden in the shadows, her eyes intent upon watching the women as they pleasured Ah-ten. Spreading her legs, she imagined him raising himself above her, placing his cock in her mouth. Her hand wandered down her stomach to graze against her soft patch of hair. She let it linger there for a second, imagining how his tongue would feel if it were to sweep against her while she stroked him. Then her fingers moved lower, closing over her clit, which was already swollen with anticipation. Corine came up for air as Medina slipped from Ah-ten's arms and slid into the water. Corine sat astride him, her breasts pressing into his face as his fingers dug into her back. Caire couldn't see, but knew that he had Corine's breasts in his mouth, lavishing attention on one and then the other. From the sounds of the moans floating out to her, Caire imagined his skilled tongue moving swiftly, followed by his teeth, which would sink into her flesh, gently biting, bringing her to ecstasy. Finally, her fingers slipped into her wet warmth. One hand moved to cover her breast, to squeeze her nipple as she imagined what Ah-ten was doing. The other worked furiously at her wet pussy, attempting to bring herself to orgasm as she watched Ah-ten take turns with the maid's breasts. She longed for him to lift them out of the water and glide them over his

Desert Moon: Ah-ten cock, which she somehow knew would be thick and large with deep purple veins that begged to be squeezed to release. Her fingers weren't enough. Not when the man who was the object of her obsession possessed something so much larger than her fingers.

***** What people are saying about

Desert Moon: Ah-ten Ah-ten is a hero to beat all heroes and Caire is a ruler of intelligence in a fascinating story. Everything combines to create an excellent novel that I recommend to all lovers of romantic fantasy. -- Anya Khan, Just Erotic Romance Reviews I haven't read sex scenes as erotic as these in a long time. Ms. Sparks has created a fascinating universe in her Desert Moon series, one that I hope to revisit very, very soon. -- Tanya, Fallen Angel Reviews This book is awesome and so good you won't put it down until you finish it. Ah-ten is sexy and bold with an alpha attitude that will rock your world… Lovers of fantasy must pick this one up. -- Angel Brewer, The Romance Studio