The Demon's Seduction

THE DEMON’S SEDUCTION A Demons Unleashed Erotic Novella by Lisa Alder

Copyright 2011 by Lisa Alder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written consent from the author/publisher. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead, or places, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. Praise for The Demon's Bargain 4 Flames = Smokin' Hot from Demon Lovers Books and More *** Dark, haunting and sexy, THE DEMON'S BARGAIN is one treat of a tale.... 4 out of 5 stars from The Romance Reviews! *** The Demon's Bargain is a very hot torrid read.... 4 - a pack howl and 4 Alarm Fire from Bitten By Paranormal Romance

Dedication As an author, my goal for myself is to grow with each manuscript I write. As an author, my goal for my readers is to entertain. Hopefully, I achieved both. This book was a bit of a departure from a traditional romance. But as we all know, love comes in many varieties. I hope that I was able to do justice to those who choose a less traditional path.

The Demon's Seduction: The Background Ten years after escaping their prison, the Demon's battle against the evil Fae continued to rage on. The Fae had stepped up their attacks on the Demons in the last few months, aggressively attacking and searching for Demon weaknesses. The Demons needed the light and power of the Moon while the Fae drew strength from the Sun. Both Demon and Fae drew power from human emotion. But the Demons have recently discovered a new and powerful weapon in their ongoing battle. Love. As the Demon of Seduction, Zepar thinks making a human fall in love with him is going to be easy. Turns out, not as easy as he thought....

PROLOGUE The Demon of Seduction lounged in the cushioned chair near the fire and swirled a glass of aged scotch. He stared contemplatively into the flames as the first sip burned a fiery path down his throat. His world was changing, yet again. Both Demon and Fae drew power from human emotion. But Demons had discovered a mighty weapon against the Fae. The Fae might believe they were winning, but they were wrong. The Demons had a new secret defense. Love. The emotion of love transformed their energy and made them stronger. So now, every Demon was tasked with finding the love of a human. Even he, the Demon of Seduction, must find a mate. Zepar smiled. He was the Demon of Seduction. How hard could it be to make a human fall in love with him?

ONE One month later “I need a woman.” Zepar, the Demon of Seduction, lounged in the large wing chair, one leg thrown over the arm of the chair, legs splayed wide, his well-endowed cock cupped lovingly by fine leather breeches. Thalia perched in the other large chair across from him and stared. She was one of the Graces, his personal pet name for the three human women who were available for the lesser Demons. Normally he considered her a seductive, sexual being. The sheer panels draped over her lithe body left little to the imagination. The dusky peach of her areola was clearly visible through the fine fabric. Her erect nipples pebbled against the gathered fabric like a beacon, flashing touch me, touch me. The perfect bow of her peach lips usually curved into a subtle smile as if she had a secret she wouldn’t share. The thick fringe of her lashes framed smoky eyes the color of granite. Her features were serene, mysterious, and seductive. It was why he’d chosen her for the Graces. She exuded sexuality and well, grace. But right now, her lush body screamed annoyance, not sex. “Let me make sure I understand you correctly.” Her voice was soft but he heard the recrimination. “You want me to be your pimp?” “Pimp is such an ugly word,” he purred, flooding his voice with sexual heat. “Don’t use that voice on me.” Her spine got even stiffer. The move unexpectedly jutted her breasts forward. The tease. “I’d prefer the word procure.” Zepar’s gaze had snagged on her cleavage. Thalia snapped her fingers at him. “Hello. Don’t talk to my breasts. I’m up here.” Zepar lazily returned his gaze to her face. “But they are such lovely breasts.” He swirled the scotch in the snifter and turned on all of his charm. “Why do you want me to find you women?” Zepar frowned and tried to keep his posture nonchalant, but he was actually very uptight. “I don’t seem to be doing a very good job of it.” Only the top echelon of Demon leaders knew about their newfound power source, love. The Demons were closely guarding the secret. The Fae had recently attempted to infiltrate the Demon stronghold through human women, and Thalia was human. As much as Zepar would like to, he couldn't trust Thalia with that information. The elegant curve of her neck was marred by the straight set of her head as she stared at him, her eyes narrowed and mouth pursed tightly. Oddly, he couldn’t ever see her thoughts. She had the unusual ability to lock her mind up tighter than a virgin’s ass. Zepar swallowed the temptation to confide in Thalia. She was his favorite. This past month, Zepar had screwed as many humans as possible and then retreated to Thalia's company. When he was with her, he was immersed in a well of peace. Somehow she managed to soothe and arouse him all at the same time. “You have a gift for finding the right woman.” Which was true. She’d been very adept at finding women that would appeal to the Demons of the castle. “So you’re ordering me?” She stood abruptly. The panels of her short dress swirled around her ass, the sheer fabric playing peek-a-boo with the curls that protected her sex. “If you want to put it that way-yes.” His cock lay flaccid in his breeches as he contemplated going to look for another woman. “Fine.” Thalia strode towards the doorway, the swish and glide of her legs drawing his attention. “I have an appointment and then I’ll start looking." A sudden spear of jealousy stabbed through him. “With who?” Her features settled into a porcelain mask. “Why do you want to know?” Zepar paused, the snifter halfway to his lips as he noted the small quaver in her voice. She'd sounded hurt, and he couldn't help but wonder, Why? Anything to distract him from the real problem at hand. Humans were not falling in love with him. The fight against the Fae was escalating. The entire Demon castle was on edge, as if waiting for the Fae’s next volley in their ongoing struggle. He had been trolling the local village for the last few weeks. His cock was literally sore from all of the sex he’d engaged in and still not one woman had fallen in love with him. The Demons needed all the power they could get. And as they’d recently discovered, love generated more power than the full moon. “I would know that the Demons are treating you well.” “Rest assured, I am fucked well.” The harsh tone of her voice was at odds with the absolutely still mask of her face. Then she let him into her thoughts. A sudden vision of another Demon fucking her, those killer legs wrapped around a Demon’s waist, as the male pounded in and out of her body, flashed through his mind. His cock stirred, but he suddenly wanted that Demon to be him. Even though Thalia was reserved for the Lesser Demons. And therefore, off limits. “Who?” he demanded. “If you must know, Prince Gaap and Barbas asked me to spend time with Leraye.” Hope zipped through him. “Has his condition changed?” “No.” Leraye, the Demon of Battle, had been frozen in some sort of stasis since Prince Gaap’s battle with the Fae. So far they had been unable to break the spell that had rendered him a statue. Barbas, the Demon of Healing, had tried to no avail to break the curse. Every day his friend remained frozen, Zepar's hope that Leraye would reanimate dwindled. “So what do you do?” Images from her mind assaulted him. Thalia caressing the statue. Thalia licking the solidified form of Leraye. Thalia curling around Leraye’s frozen body. His cock strained against the placket of his breeches as the images suddenly shut off. “Would you care to watch as well?” she taunted. Zepar frowned, unsure where this sudden animosity from Thalia came from. She had always been more biddable. Thalia whirled around, her back stiff as she hurried toward the exit. “I’ll be back with a woman for you later.” Zepar thought of the increasingly aggressive attacks from the Fae. He didn’t want anything to happen to Thalia. “Let me know when you are ready to go into the village. I’ll come with you.” She paused at the doorway, her body wooden. “Is that necessary?”

“I do believe it is.” “As you wish.”

TWO Thalia marched toward the Demon of Battle Leraye’s room. The urge to kick something burned strong. She was an idiot. Lusting after Zepar, the Demon of Seduction, was a bad idea. On a badness scale from one to ten, it measured a billion and one. For starters, he was off limits. The Graces were only to serve the Lesser Demons. Lords, Dukes and Princes were reserved for the aristocracy of Female Demons. When she’d signed on to be a Grace, she hadn’t thought beyond the fact that she’d have a roof over her head and food in her stomach. She’d always liked sex. Loved sex. And she had no other skills. She didn’t want to work on farms or in the village for a pittance. Her family was dead. All gone. Here, she was pampered and taken care of. So the trade-off of sex for shelter had seemed like a bargain. She couldn’t even complain, because Demons after being imprisoned for thousands of years beneath the Earth’s crust, seemed to have a far greater appreciation for the female form than the average human male. They often took hours pleasuring her, and tended to be very tactile in their pursuit of the physical feast of the flesh. They straight-up loved sex. And they loved women. Most of the time, she considered it a win-win. But lately, she wanted more. And the only one she seemed to want more with was Zepar. He, however, was clueless. He also seemed to be on a quest to fuck as many women as he possibly could. Ever since his two friends, Vetis and Gaap, had hooked up with human mates, Zepar had been insatiable. But as she’d sat across from him, she couldn’t help but notice that he looked tired. And not all that satisfied. The anger that had carried her through her meeting with him came back. She’d sat there, fighting the urge to lick his bicep every time he’d raised that glass to his lips. And then lick the scotch from his sensuous mouth. She’d been so distracted by his physical presence that she’d barely heard his request. Her body literally melted every time she saw him lately. Her core softened, her nipples stood at attention as if he were their commander, and her mouth watered with the possibility of getting her lips on his body and on the massive cock cupped by his breeches. It was crazy. She was crazy. Besides the fact that technically he was off limits, he didn’t want her. She knew that, and even so, lately it had been hard to hold back from him the images of what she wanted. Thalia pushed open the door to Leraye’s chamber. He sat in his throne chair in the corner near the window, facing the sea. When he’d been frozen, he’d been sitting in a tree. They had cut off his clothing and armor to search for any wound or place on his body where the spell had touched his body. But there were no unusual marks. His naked body was beautiful and scarred from years of battle. Ridges of muscle lined his stomach and his arms and legs were corded with strength, every muscle tensed as if he’d been about to attack. The bold slash of his nose, the strong line of his jaw, and the curve of his brow were locked in harsh, unforgiving concentration. His shaved head and fierce, shockingly light blue eyes hadn’t changed since they’d brought him home. “Hello, Leraye.” Thalia had no idea if he could hear her. But it had been a month since Prince Gaap had returned with the statue, and she thought their hope of him actually re-animating was slim. In an odd way, he’d become her confidant. Thalia put her arm around the cool, marble-like shoulders of Leraye and slid onto the statue’s lap. "He asked me to find him a woman." She nuzzled the cool flesh behind his solid ear and wished for the warm and comforting embrace from a real Demon. Flesh and blood. Real. Not just one who came to her in her dreams or fueled her imagination. But the simple affectionate caress did nothing for her. With every nuzzle, every swish of her hair against the inanimate form of Leraye, her anger at Zepar grew. Damn him. Damn him for asking her to find him women. And damn him for not realizing there was a woman right in front of him who wanted him. Thalia slipped the shoulder straps free and let her gown fall to her waist. Shifting so that she straddled the cold lap statue of Leraye, she pressed her mound up against his frozen crotch. The feel of him, cool and impersonal against her most sensitive skin was less of a turn-on and more of annoyance. "I wish that you would come back to life and spear me with your cock." For she knew a secret that the rest of the castle seemed oblivious to. Leraye had wanted Zepar just as much as she had. They were oddly united in their unrequited love of the same Demon. As if she could force Leraye to respond, Thalia rubbed her erect nipples over the shockingly cold planes of his chest and tried to stimulate some sort of pleasure. It was crazy. She had another appointment later in the day. She would feel the hard, bold thrust of a Demon cock inside her within hours. But lately those encounters left her feeling emptier than ever. Even more frustrating, the sexual liaisons had been rare, with many of the Demons leaving the castle to find female flesh in the outside world. And she had no idea why. She feared they were growing tired of her. Where would she go if the Demons cast her out? A sudden breeze of cool air blew through the room. Thalia shivered as she felt the presence of another. She should be embarrassed, half-naked and pressed up against an inanimate object. Instead, her sex creamed as the distinctive scent of Zepar flowed through the silent chamber. He must have cloaked himself in glamour because she couldn't see him, only feel his presence. She sensed Zepar as he lingered near the window. So he wanted to watch, did he? Well then, she would put on a show. Thalia leaned back along Leraye’s thighs until her breasts thrust up into the chilly air. Her nipples rose like mountain peaks and begged for a mouth upon them. The position lay her out like a visual feast and gave Zepar full view of what she was doing with Leraye's statue. Thalia lifted her legs and wrapped her calves around Leraye’s neck. Her ass was snug against his marble stomach, her pussy wide open, and his frozen semi-erect rod nestled between her butt cheeks. The panels of her tunic draped around her waist, so that her nether lips and her breasts were bared to the air. Thalia cupped her breasts and imagined Zepar’s rough, callused fingers against her skin. She squeezed but the gesture gave no pleasure. She wanted Zepar’s hands on her flesh. With an almost vicious gesture, she plucked at her nipples feeling the answering twang deep in her womanhood. She made sure Zepar could see everything as she worked her body. She willed him to reveal himself. But he stayed hidden. Instead he watched like a voyeur. With one hand she continued to play lazily with her nipples and the other slid into the nest of her curls. Stroking the lips of her nether region, she imagined Zepar’s hand there instead of her own and finally her body began to respond. Slick arousal coated her fingers as her sex awakened and began to roil.

She shifted to grip Leraye’s marble wrists and twisted her cunt against the statue. Each rub brought a measure of relief but the it was short-lived. She needed more. Thalia moaned, never pulling her gaze from the spot where Zepar watched as she slammed her body up against Leraye’s frozen form. With each thrust, her breasts bounced and her swollen mound and pubis hit the statue in succession, stimulating her. She ached for the thick staff of Zepar’s cock as she rubbed against Leraye. It wasn’t Zepar’s body, but this moment was likely as close as she would ever get to him. Thalia hooked her ankles around Leraye’s neck and thrust against him repeatedly, reaching, grasping for satisfaction. Finally her orgasm boiled over and she tumbled into a haze of sexual relief. She shifted her attention to Leraye, and dismissed Zepar from her mind. “I hope this gave you some pleasure, my Lord.” She wondered if anything she did ever penetrated Leraye’s consciousness. Hopefully not. Thalia sat up and re-fastened the panels at her shoulders. She placed a gentle kiss against Leraye’s cool, pale lips. Then she whispered against Leraye's mouth, her voice full of regret, “We are both left wanting what we cannot have.” They both wanted Zepar. And they were both being denied.

THREE Zepar stood, cloaked in glamour, still as the statue of Leraye, and watched Thalia get herself off against the frozen figure of his friend. She knew he was there. How was that possible? And yet Zepar knew it to be true. Her gaze had skewered him as she'd caressed her own body. His cock rose to attention at her breathy moans and the erotic bounce of her generous breasts. He fisted his cock and pumped. Her actions aroused him far more than any of the human women he'd had lately. A rosy flush covered her body and sweat sheened her features. Her lips were plump and reddened where she’d bitten them. Then she shifted so that she sat up and straddled Leraye’s body. Gods, Zepar wanted those legs wrapped around him. With a soft, gentle caress, she kissed the statue’s lips. Zepar blinked. Had the pallor of Leraye’s marble countenance lessened? Could it have been from her sexual attention? It seemed improbable. However, Gods knew, Demons were a sexual lot. After being denied for thousands of years, most Demons lusted after women. Most, but not all. Zepar knew his old friend better than Leraye thought. Zepar knew that a woman’s flesh was merely sport to Leraye. Thalia stood abruptly. Her breasts swayed, the erect nipples and peach areola puckered tight and his mouth watered at the sight. She faced the window where Zepar stood and paused as if waiting for him. Thalia bowed, revealing the shadowed valley between her generous breasts and tempting his mouth. “I will go find your next lamb now, Demon.” “Wait.” Zepar uncloaked, his gaze momentarily distracted by her breasts and the odd urge to bury his face between them. Her thighs glistened with the juice from her sex and Zepar’s gaze was drawn inexorably to the damp spot on the statue of his friend. He strode over to them. “I think he changed color when you kissed him.” But when Zepar looked at Leraye again, the statue once more appeared cool and inanimate. "That would be wonderful." Thalia rested a hand on Leraye’s shoulder as if protecting him. "But he feels and looks the same as before." “From your pleasuring.” Zepar insisted, but his insistence waned as he looked at Leraye again. Frigid and insensate. Her stance was as rigid as the form of his friend. “I sincerely doubt that my actions would have that effect on him.” Whether he was statue or not, was implied. Zepar assessed her critically. Leraye’s sexual preferences were none of her business. “You do not give yourself enough credit, Grace.” He used the generic term to put distance between them and to distract her from Leraye's secret. And it worked. “My thanks, my Lord.” She flushed and then she was gone. Zepar was left alone with his old friend and his churning thoughts. Zepar knelt in front of Leraye. His gaze was glued to that damp spot as the erotic image of Thalia pleasuring herself against his friend played over and over in his mind. He’d watched and wanted to lap up every bit of her juice so that it didn’t go to waste. Zepar didn't want to leave his friend just yet. So he pulled over a chair from beside the bed and propped his feet up on Leraye’s knees. "I'm in a quandary." Zepar slumped in the chair. His gaze darted around the room, anywhere but on that wet spot, and he poured out his troubles. He needed a human woman to fall in love with him and no one was taking him up on it. He couldn't understand it. Leraye listened. Just like old times. Leraye was an exceptionally good listener. Always had been an exceptionally good friend. They had been chained and trapped next to each other for a thousand years. Zepar knew Leraye almost as well as he knew himself. He had tutored the young Leraye in the art of sex and given him his first sexual experience. Their bond of friendship had stayed strong even after they ascended back to the surface and were no longer intimate. Zepar finally let his gaze stray back to the that spot. "Thank you for the chat, old friend." The urge to taste her and to feel Leraye welled up within in Zepar. Finally, he gave in and licked her essence from the statue’s stone cock. *** An hour later, Thalia approached Zepar. “I am ready to go to the village, my Lord.” She was dressed in a demure cotton gown and a fine velvet cloak. Her hair, a burnished ebony, shone in the flickering light from the fire Zepar had lit. The musky flavor of her pussy still lingered on his tongue. And he thought, not for the first time, he’d much rather stay here and enjoy the lush pleasure of Thalia’s body. But unfortunately, duty called. “Fine.” He lumbered to his feet with a heavy heart. He had to find a human mate. They needed all the power they could amass to continue to fight the Fae. “Let’s go.” Two hours later, they sat in the former tavern of Vetis’ mate, Amara. This was the third establishment they’d checked out. A trio of musicians played half-heartedly in the corner while the patrons ignored their music. Cigar smoke hung in the heavy air. What should have been soothing aromas, the earthy peat from the fire and the hops from home brewed beer, settled heavily in his head and made him grumpy. “You should cloak yourself,” Thalia said crossly. Apparently the grumpiness was catching. “Why?” “You’re scaring away all the women that I’ve found for you.” At the first two taverns, women who were clearly in league with the Fae had approached them. The stink of Fae on their bodies had overwhelmed him. Or they were too eager. Or unwilling. With every prospect she’d selected, he’d fallen further into the doldrums. He just wasn’t interested. Zepar stared moodily at his feet. Gods, he was sick of having sex with strange women. Wait. What the hell was wrong with him? He lived for sex with strange women. He was the Demon of Seduction, for the Gods' sake. The door blew open and the breeze carried the scent of Thalia to his nose. The subtly earthiness of her perfume stirred his cock. “I’ll wait outside.” Within two minutes, she joined him. “We’re ready.” Zepar didn’t even look at the women. He only sniffed the air for any scent of Fae upon their person. Thank Gods, they were clean. He wanted to get this over with. “Blindfold them and let’s go.” Thalia quickly complied and their group was on its way. Zepar searched the shadowed doorways on guard for any sort of attack. Almost hoped for some action. The atmosphere was heavy with anticipation. Something evil lingered in the air. Zepar pulled both iron knives from their sheaths, his grip tight.

As they approached the woods between the village and the Demon's castle, the Fae attacked. From the cover of the trees, a group of six Fir Bolg assassins swarmed their small party. The two women screeched and cowered together. Thalia smoothly slid a knife from a sheath at her ankle and crouched low, prepared to fight. Zepar grinned at Thalia and fell into a similar stance. But the Fae didn’t come after Zepar. They went straight for the women. In the shifting moonlight, one of the women’s hair seemed to shimmer gold. All of the Fae, except one, circled the women. Thalia swung her knife in an arc keeping the Fae away from the village women. Zepar slashed his knives at the Fae defender and ignored the women’s whimpers. The Fir Bolg surrounded the three women and reached for them, but Thalia's defensive moves kept them from doing any real harm. Zepar's blade clashed and rang against the Fir Bolg defender's in the silent midnight air. Zepar drew power from the full moon and lunged toward the assassin. But the wily Fae twisted out of Zepar’s reach. They parried and blocked in a fierce, deadly dance. The impact of the Fir Bolg's blade against his sang up Zepar's arm as their blades met again. "You will not defeat me," Thalia hissed. The sound of her voice distracted Zepar and alarm zinged through him. In that moment of inattention, the Fae assassin swiped his blade across Zepar’s arm. The slash burned and numbness spread. The blade must have been tipped with some poison. Thalia thrust her iron knife upward and into the chest of one of their attackers. With a muffled cry, he slumped. Zepar roared and lunged again. But, as if responding to a signal, the Fae fell back and dragged their fallen comrade away. The two women still cowered on the ground. Thalia stood alone, her chest heaving and her gaze glassy. Her fist clenched around the iron hilt while the Fae blood dripped to the earth. Each drop sizzled against the trampled grass. Adrenaline pumped through his veins like a deep spring pulsing water to the surface as a sense of possession startled him with its fierceness. He wanted to roar but, unsure of her state, he kept his voice soft and non-threatening. “Are you well?” Zepar suppressed his rage. She didn’t need more violence right now. She didn’t answer, but continued to stand there as if lost. Thalia blinked. "I'm fine." “Let’s get the women to the castle and make sure they are unharmed.” Her stone eyes were blank, empty. But as if the need to care for someone else shocked her out of her trance, her gaze finally cleared. She stared in horror at the blood flowing from his bicep. “You’re injured.” “It’s a scratch.” A big scratch but he’d live.

FOUR Thalia was still shaking. She had stabbed someone. A Fae. As soon as they’d returned to the castle, Thalia had dumped the two women on the other Graces, Cleta and Laia. The stink of Fae had coated them both and they needed to be cleansed before Zepar could have sex with them. Thalia couldn't seem to focus. She couldn't go to her chamber since the women were there being prepared for Zepar. Thalia found herself back in Leraye's chamber, wandering aimlessly through the still room. Her teeth chattered, clicking and clacking so hard her jaw ached from trying to keep them quiet. Thalia pulled the velvet duvet from the bed and wrapped the luxurious material around her shoulders. "What the hell am I doing here?" she muttered. But truly, she knew. Sadly, Leraye's cold embrace was the most comfort she had experienced in a long time. So Thalia limped to Leraye and settled herself in his lap. With the warm, sensual material enveloping her, she curled into his frozen arms. "I killed someone," she said baldly. "It's probably no big deal to you, being the Demon of Battle but...." She couldn't even finish. Death was so final. Thalia's shaking got worse as she kept seeing the scene over and over again in her head. The Fae's surprised face as her blade connected. The adrenaline had pumped through her and gave her the strength to push her iron, deadly to the Fae, into her attacker's flesh. Horrifying and exhilarating. She had saved the women. And herself. And then she'd seen Zepar's cut. Remembered the fear that gripped her until he'd dismissed the wound and hustled them all to the castle. "And now, he's with them." Zepar couldn't even be bothered to see if she was okay. He was off having sex with a woman she procured for him. Probably amazing sex. "I've heard blood rage from adrenaline works like a heady aphrodisiac. You would know, I imagine." Images of Zepar, muscled and sweaty, as he engaged in sex filled her mind. And suddenly, her chill burned away. Desire simmered, a pulse low in her core. Her breasts ached and her nipples puckered. All that adrenaline shot to her womanly regions zapping her nerve endings and heightening her senses. "Leraye, I'm horny as hell." She wiggled against his stone erection. "I want sex in the worst way." But not with an inanimate object. Not like earlier. She wanted a lover. She wanted Zepar. But thanks to stupid, Gods' damned rules, he was forbidden. And he seemed determined to fuck every human woman in sight. Despair blanketed her. Instead, she would have to find solace with her silent, stone statue. Zepar barged into Leraye’s chamber. “There you are." He said baldly, "I need the other one.” “What?” She glanced at the old-fashioned clock that hung on the wall, its ticking overly loud in the silent living tomb. “The first one didn’t work out,” he grumped. “She was far too timid. She squeaked.” “I beg your pardon.” Gods dammit, why couldn’t he take me instead? “She squeaked every time I came near her. And then when I disrobed, she outright screamed in fright.” Thalia's gaze roamed his body hungrily. She wanted him. Badly. “You can be quite intimidating.” Zepar growled. The rumble started a delicious tremor in her feminine core. The Demon practically oozed sex. Thalia squeezed her thighs together and hoped that Zepar hadn’t noticed. But of course he had. Gods, she had to distract him before he commented on her forbidden attraction. Thalia sprang to her feet and flung the velvet comforter on the floor. “Good thing I anticipated something like this and got two.” He stopped dead. “You’ve been going through women like wine lately.” He was sure to notice the snipe in her voice. “I’ll go get her.” Before she left, she brushed a tender kiss over Leraye’s lips. “No.” Zepar placed his hand upon her forearm. The contact zinged all the way up her body, zapping her breasts with a jolt of energy but he hadn’t noticed. He was staring at the statue his friend. “I’ll have Figgins bring her here.” Here? "I'll take my leave." "No." But Zepar stopped her again. "Wait with me." Thalia waited in uneasy silence as Zepar stared intently at Leraye's statue. Thalia wanted to ask why Zepar wanted to have sex in Leraye's chamber, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer. “Let’s turn him around.” “Excuse me?” Surely she couldn't have heard correctly. “Leraye.” Zepar clutched the statue’s shoulders in his large palms and shoved the throne chair around to face the bed. “I want him to watch.” Thalia's heart beat in triple time. Zepar's actions had grown increasingly erratic over the past month. But before she could question him, Figgins arrived. “Your friend, my Lord,” Figgins the castle butler, lead the new human into the room and then quickly left. “Is it my turn?” The blowsy blond smiled at Thalia. Her puffy lips and easy sexuality were completely different from the human that Zepar had just rejected. “If you would like.” Thalia refused to make a woman submit to Zepar unless she was willing. However, Zepar could always turn them into willing bed partners. The blonde shifted her attention to Zepar, eyeing his broad shoulders and tapered waist. “I’d like,” she purred like a kitten and untied the wrap dress, letting the silky fabric fall to her feet. The move exposed small high breasts, a tiny waist and a completely bare pussy. And that was Thalia’s cue to leave. “You’re leaving?” The woman pouted, her lips pouffed into a moue of distress as she glanced between Thalia and Zepar. Thalia blinked. Oops, she hadn’t seen that one coming. “Yes,” she said at the same time Zepar said, “No.” *** Zepar stared at the exquisite specimen in front of him. She was the exact opposite of the lamb he’d just sent home. This woman would be a tiger in bed. She stood completely nude. His cock should be standing at attention and pulsing with need. Instead he remained softer than boiled pudding. Thalia sputtered beside him. “My Lord?” He was the Demon of Seduction, dammit. “I want you to stay and watch,” he said calmly as he removed his clothing. “With Leraye.” He swore that his friend had gained some color earlier when Thalia kissed him. Zepar needed to see if sex somehow stimulated Leraye. Zepar didn't know if it was

from Thalia's kiss or her carnal attention. But the way Thalia had slammed against Leraye's stone stomach would make any Demon cock surge to life. Just as his did now. Zepar shifted his hips to give his bulging erection a little more room and fixed his gaze on the blonde. But he only saw images of Thalia. Thalia's graceful arms wrapped around Demon flesh. Thalia's legs splayed wide for Demon cock. Thalia's breasts. Thalia's mouth. Thalia's sweet, slick pussy. He was harder than ever. This was the real reason she needed to stay. “Who is Leraye?” The woman ran her long blood red nail down the length of Zepar's bare forearm, studying his physique with a practiced eye. “The statue.” She shrugged, her nipples hardened in the night air, as she glanced between Zepar and Thalia. “I can deal with kinky.” She licked her lips and her shadowed eyelids drooped as she stared at Thalia’s breasts. “Are you sure you don’t want to play?” “I determine who plays,” Zepar said imperiously. The thought of this floozy touching Thalia caused something dangerous to rise within him. “And I want her to watch.” Technically, Zepar was Thalia’s superior. He could command her to do anything he wished. He had the utmost respect for the Graces and he hated to force her to do something against her will. But his determination to attempt to reanimate Leraye took precedence over her reluctance. “My Lord.” Thalia’s gaze implored him but he couldn't relent. “I want you to monitor Leraye for any signs of life.” She bowed deeply, her face an unhappy mask. “As you wish, my Lord.” “Get on the bed,” he commanded the human woman. “Whatever you say, sugar.” She sashayed toward the massive wrought iron bed and hopped up on the lush silk sheets. She leaned against the pile of pillows and cupped her breasts. Her blood red fingernails flicked the pert tips of her nipples as she waited. Zepar felt his cock wilt. He remembered Thalia banging the statue and his cock sprang back to attention. He shifted his focus to where Thalia stood preternaturally still. “Sit in Leraye’s lap. Face us.” Thalia raised the graceful arch of one eyebrow. "Do it." He fisted his cock and looked her in the eye. “And strip.”

FIVE Fabulous. She was going to be forced to watch the Demon she wanted for herself engage in sex play with another woman. And she’d thought her evening couldn’t get any worse. Thalia carefully removed her tunic, draped the sheer fabric over the chair Zepar had occupied earlier, and then climbed into Leraye’s lap. The stone was cold beneath her bare bottom. She shivered in the chilly air, and her nipples hardened into twin points. What the hell had Zepar planned? The human woman smiled at Thalia and slid her fingers along her bare slit. “I like this,” she said breathlessly. Zepar employed none of his famous seductive charm. “Thalia, drape your legs over his arms,” he said in a voice guttural with need. Thalia hesitated, unsure about what was going on. “Do it.” Slowly, carefully, Thalia lifted her right leg and draped it over Leraye's stone arm. Then she did the same with her left. The move left her pussy wide open and the lips of her sex parted and exposed to both of their gazes. “Only I get to look at her,” Zepar said gruffly. “You, on your back. Head at the foot of the bed.” The woman pouted and gave herself one more leisurely stroke before obeying Zepar's command. Zepar still stood by the foot of the bed. His cock jutted proudly from the blonde curls surrounding his sex. Thalia couldn’t take her eyes off his fierce erection. Her body burned and the juice of her arousal trickled from her body. Zepar’s gaze flicked to Leraye and then back to Thalia. He climbed on the bed. She could see everything through the twisted iron bars of the footboard. Zepar’s massive shoulders tapered to his waist and flowed over his buttocks. Very fine buttocks they were. Even the muscled hardness of his thighs was a turn-on. The fierce jut of his cock caused her to weaken and melt into Leraye's cold embrace. Zepar’s intense gaze never left Thalia’s face as he bent down to lick at the woman’s cunt. He flicked his tongue against her clit and Thalia’s quivered in response. He extended his long Demon tongue. He buried his nose in the bare folds of the blonde's sex and she knew exactly when he slid the expanded member into the blonde’s body. Thalia’s womb clenched, begging for a phantom tongue. She wanted him to fuck her so badly her heart banged against her ribcage and her breasts shook. She could see the drop of pre-cum glisten on the tip of his sex. Involuntarily she licked her lips. She wanted her mouth on his erection so badly it was almost a fever. In a desperate move, she spread her nether lips and speared her fingers into her body. As Zepar increased the rhythm of his thrusting tongue, Thalia kept time with him. Her gaze was locked with his. Then he abruptly withdrew his tongue from the woman‘s body. The blonde whimpered and her hips rose. Thalia’s hips jerked too. “Stop.” He commanded. “Take them out. Now.” She was too far gone to do anything but obey. His gaze bored into hers as he moved up the woman’s body until his mouth hovered over her breasts. “Touch yourself as I touch her.” Thalia waited for his next move. Her entire body quivered, hovering on the edge of release. Sharp details aroused her. The cold column of Leraye’s marble thighs beneath her bare bottom and exposed sex. The sight of Zepar much as she'd imagined him earlier, muscled and sweaty, poised above the other woman. Zepar curled his tongue around the woman’s nipple and tugged. Thalia cupped her own breast and squeezed the nipple to the point of pain. Her womb clenched. “Not yet.” He gritted out. “Use your other hand on your sex.” Thalia watched as he slid the thick hard length of his cock into the woman. Thalia mimicked his motion and slid three fingers into her weeping channel. But her fingers were a sad replacement for the solid bulk of Demon cock. Zepar began to thrust. His tongue curled around the woman’s breast and squeezed. The veins stood out on his forearms as he held himself apart from the woman, only his tongue and his cock touched her. Just as only Thalia’s fingers touched herself. “Faster.” His whole body strained toward orgasm while Thalia fucked herself. Their tandem actions kept time to the pumping of her heart as she finally realized he was fucking her without touching her. The sex act a poor simulation of what she really wanted from him. The lines on his face drew into a grimace as he roared with his completion. Her body bowed as the tidal wave of orgasm took her over the edge into oblivion. And she closed her eyes and broke contact with her phantom lover. She turned her face toward Leraye, unwilling to let Zepar see how he had hurt her. With her face tucked against Leraye's, she blew out a tortured breath and whispered, “Damn him.”

SIX Zepar's attention was riveted on Thalia. One hand lay against her breast, the other nestled in the curls of her sex, slick with cream from her body. Her pose was one of repletion, but her face was turned away from him. The blonde scraped her nails down Zepar’s chest. The blonde. He’d forgotten that she was there. She stretched beneath Zepar. His cock wilted faster than an ice cream cone in hell. “What’s next?” Her avid grin and raised eyebrows told him she’d be up for anything he suggested. She didn’t seem at all disturbed after the attack by the Fae. Their stink still lingered over her body, even though the other Graces had bathed her before she attended him. Thalia's expression was hidden by the fall of her shiny midnight hair as she sighed against Leraye’s frozen lips. And this time he saw it. The statue had actually changed color. Leraye had changed color. Thalia needed to kiss Leraye again. Zepar pulled out of the blonde's body, feeling tainted and rose abruptly. His fingers circled her wrist as he pulled her off the bed. “Time for you to go.” “Go?” He practically threw her dress at her. She tried to get him to let her stay. She twined her arms and legs around his unmoving body and rubbed against him. “Please let me stay,” she begged. Shit. The first human who seemed to have some interested in him and he needed her gone right now. Leraye had changed color. That was far more important. If this human loved him, it wouldn't disappear right away. The fact that Zepar could care less if he never saw the human again would have to be addressed. Later. He summoned Figgins. "Make her comfortable." Figgins hustled the woman out without any further conversation. “What was wrong with her?” Thalia sniped. “Too adventurous.” Zepar lied. If she was in love with him he would have to submit for the power she could give the Demons. “What the hell are you looking for?” “I’ll know when it’s just right.” Thalia lifted her legs from the restraint of the statue’s arms and curled against Leraye. Zepar couldn’t believe he’d let Thalia distract him. They had bigger matters to attend to right now. “He changed color.” “Who?” Thalia yawned, her eyelids drooping. “Leraye.” Her eyelids popped open. "You really believe he changed color?" “Kiss him.” “Excuse me?” Zepar placed his hand on Thalia's shoulder and pushed her face toward Leraye. “Kiss him.” “It’s not enough that you fucked her with me in the room. Now you want to watch me with him again?” Her voice quavered. She sounded hurt. Zepar paused, stunned by his thoughts. He hadn't been fucking the human, he'd been fucking Thalia. “Please.” Zepar stroked a finger down her cheek. “He gained color when your breath blew across his lips. I’m wondering what would happen if you kiss him.” Thalia stared at him for another moment. “As you command.” She placed her lips against the stone and kissed him. The sight of her lush mouth on his friend's pale lips twisted something inside his stomach. More color flooded through the stone body, the grayish white warming, and Zepar could feel a change in the temperature of Leraye’s shoulder. “He’s getting warmer,” Zepar said excitedly. Zepar straddled Leraye’s bent knees. He surrounded her body with his embrace and clasped them both closer to Leraye. “Blow into his mouth.” As if from a distance, Zepar noted the silky softness of her back against the hard planes of his chest. Her hip was solid against his sex and balls, which hung between Leraye’s legs. Zepar kept his hands curled around Leraye’s shoulders so he could monitor the change in the stone’s temperature. Perhaps Leraye could be saved. Hope began to blossom in Zepar’s chest. Thalia blew into Leraye’s mouth and more color flooded his friend’s cheeks. The skin beneath Zepar’s palms began to warm. “More.” With every kiss she bestowed upon the statue, Leraye’s skin thawed and the tone began to change from the white of stasis into a more natural skin tone. Thalia paused. “Why are you stopping?” “Because I need to catch my breath. And this position hurts my neck.” “Straddle him.” Thalia turned to face Leraye and straddled him like she’d done earlier. Her chest still heaved. “Help me,” she said crossly. “What?” “We can take turns.” While they argued, Leraye’s skin began to cool. “You’re right. We’ll take turns.” Zepar pressed his lips to the hard stone mouth. With a strange sensation swirling in the pit of his stomach, he blew. He wanted to keep his eyes open but they slowly drifted shut. Disorienting contradictions bombarded his senses. Leraye’s frozen, rigid thighs beneath his own, Thalia's warm silk back against his chest, the solid curve of Leraye’s shoulders beneath his hot palms, and the cold sensual shape of Leraye’s stone lips against his. Zepar inhaled and kissed the statue again and again, each time forcing more air into his friend’s mouth. He wasn’t sure but he thought Leraye’s lips might have softened. Zepar broke away, his chest heaving. “Your turn.” “He’s getting more color!” Thalia’s granite eyes sparkled. “I think it’s working.” Leraye did have more color, his skin was a pinkish yellow. Zepar curled around Thalia and Leraye and stared intently at his friend’s face, waiting for a true sign of animation. Thalia continued to kiss and blow air into Leraye’s

mouth. After a few more minutes, she paused. “Your turn.” Zepar thought he saw a flash of awareness in Leraye’s electric blue eyes when he tilted his head and pressed his lips against the statue. His mouth was definitely warmer. Zepar pressed his mouth harder against the stone, and hoped for some sign, some movement. He blew more breath into the slowly awakening Leraye. After several more minutes, Zepar took another break. Thalia pressed her lips to Leraye’s and Zepar searched the statue looking for more signs of life. But by taking turns, he and Thalia couldn't pump enough continuous air into Leraye to thaw him. “Let’s try this.” Zepar pressed his cheek to Thalia’s. “If we blow together, perhaps it will be enough.” Thalia nodded, her gaze soft upon Leraye’s face. Zepar’s lips touched both Thalia and Leraye’s mouths as they blew together. “Harder.” They inhaled long and deep together. The tips of Thalia’s nipples brushed against Leraye’s chest, which was almost skin tone and warm to the touch. His eyes were a bright pale blue. Together Zepar and Thalia leaned in and blew repeatedly. Thalia’s chest heaved. “I’ve got to stop for a second.” She rested her forehead in the crook of Leraye’s neck. But Zepar couldn’t wait. They were so close. He could feel it. Zepar pressed his lips to his friend’s once again. He inhaled and blew as hard as he could. Stars danced behind his eyelids, and the mouth beneath his moved. Zepar’s eyes popped open. Joy flooded Zepar. They had done it. They had brought Leraye back from stasis. Then suddenly Leraye’s mouth wasn’t just moving. He was kissing Zepar, his lips warm and firm against Zepar’s mouth. So thrilled, Zepar grasped Leraye’s head and kissed him back. Leraye’s tongue, warm, wet, alive pressed against Zepar’s lips and desire flooded him. In that prison, their sexual interaction had been born of necessity. Their intercourse only a way to relieve the sexual cravings, not a life choice. Lovers determined by proximity. While Zepar had no problem with Demons who preferred their own sex, he was not one of them. But Leraye's kiss made a mockery of that belief. Horror replaced joy as he realized his cock was erect. Because he’d been kissing his friend.

SEVEN Thalia realized three things at once. Leraye was breathing on his own. His bright blue gaze sentient and aware. Zepar’s cock was poking into her back and she was pretty sure it wasn't because of her. And she was naked, her pussy pressed against Leraye’s also very erect, hot, pulsing cock. “You’re awake. I’ve got to tell Gaap.” Zepar jumped up and away from them so quickly that he shoved Thalia closer against Leraye’s very happy erection. But Zepar didn’t leave. Leraye tilted his chin down, but she caught the flash of hurt quickly masked by a wicked smile. His mouth was red, his lips swollen. “Hello, angel.” Leraye had been kissing Zepar. Really kissing him. Based on the Demon cock that had poked her in the back, Zepar had liked it and that was totally freaking him out. Because everyone knew that Zepar didn’t do males not since they’d escaped their prison. As Thalia processed all of that, she had to wonder why. Zepar had been aroused by kissing Leraye. There should be no shame in that. Zepar still hovered by the doorway as if unable to leave. "You are revived. Truly?" "Yes." Leraye's deep voice was rusty with disuse. His arms circled Thalia, trembling and still a little weak, even as he leveled a knowing look at her. "And a special thanks to you for keeping me company whilst I was incapacitated." Thalia flushed remembering the things she’d confided in Leraye while he was a statue that she thought was going to be a statue forever. Did he know? “Don’t,” he whispered and brushed his lips against hers. His mouth was warm and accepting and more tender than she would have expected for such a fierce warrior. “What’s a little air between friends?” His gaze was steady on Zepar. She assumed he was trying to reassure Zepar that the kiss hadn't meant anything. Trying to settle them back into a friendship. And it worked. The relief on Zepar's face was impossible to miss. "Exactly." Zepar's shoulders relaxed. "What a miracle that our breath could resuscitate you. I only wish we'd known sooner." "Thank the Gods you are recovered." Thalia brushed a comforting palm over Leraye's bald head. “You know I might need a little more resuscitation,” he murmured against her lips. “You want me to...?” she breathed into his mouth. He slid his tongue inside her mouth and ran the tip around the inside of her lips. A buzz sizzled through her. His arms curled around her back and underneath her buttocks. His kiss turned feral and her insides melted. There was heat and want in his actions. Leraye slanted his head and attended to her mouth in earnest. Desire slammed into her as his fingers slid along the seam of her buttocks and he pressed her damp sex into his growing erection. He brought one hand up to cup her breast, the calluses of his fingertips a sensual play against her chilled flesh. He slithered his tongue further into her mouth and she opened all the way for him. “I’ll just...go.” Zepar’s dazed voice broke into Thalia consciousness. She’d been lost in a haze of arousal. Thalia listened until his footsteps stopped echoing on the stone floor and then gently pulled her mouth from Leraye’s. The move left her bereft. “He’s gone.” The chill of the air turned their heated embrace cold. Leraye’s fingers tightened their hold on her body as she attempted to rise. “Where are you going?” “Wasn’t that just to prove a point?” “Does this feel like I’m trying to prove a point?” He prodded the head of his erection against her clitoris then slid the hard member along her slick nether lips. “I thought you might like a little reciprocation for all the hours of pleasure you’ve given me.” Thalia flushed bright red as she remembered all the things she'd said and done to his statue. “Let me just say that I love how flexible you are.” “Oh my Gods.” “And frankly since I just had to sit through you grinding your sweet ass into me while we watched him fuck her, I deserve a fuck of my own.” He slid the head of his cock just inside her wet channel. “You could see that too?” “I could see and hear everything. I just couldn’t respond.” Conflicting emotions careened through her. She was oddly attracted to Leraye. Perhaps because he knew her secrets. “But you are a Lord. It is against the rules.” The door to his chamber banged open like a sentry warning her of forbidden territory. “I’ve been frozen in stasis for the past month. I can pretty much guarantee that if I want carnal attention from you that no one is going to deny me.” Thalia hid her face in the curve of Leraye's neck, hyper-aware of her nudity and the fact that his cock was nestled just inside of her pussy. Her womb clenched as if trying to draw him further inside but he would not be swayed. “Isn’t that right Prince?” Lovely. The Prince was here. “Absolutely.” Prince Gaap spoke with joy in his voice. "You are recovered then?" "I am regaining my strength with every kiss." Leraye spoke in a deep rumble. Zepar grunted as if someone punched him. Wonderful. Zepar was here as well. "I would have Barbas examine you." The Prince's words were laced with steel. Thalia wanted to burrow into the shelter of Leraye's arms and avoid the intruders. "Later," Leraye growled as if he sensed her discomfort with their audience. Silence accompanied his demand. Finally, Barbas said with a hint of laughter, "He appears healthy enough." Leraye held her tightly. "If you please, Prince Gaap." Leraye spoke over the curve of Thalia's shoulder. "Leave us until morning." "As long as Thalia is willing, I'll allow this reprieve," the Prince said. "Yes." Her voice was muffled as she spoke against Leraye's neck. The door banged shut. And Leraye seated his cock fully into her. She was already swollen and needy from the earlier session with Zepar, and her channel, slick with cum, accommodated his invasion with ease. “Let us retire to the bed, my angel.” Leraye stood in one swift movement, the muscles in his abdomen rippling against her pubis. Thalia whimpered as the hard rod of

his erection and the weight of gravity pushed her clitoris down upon his cock. His legs trembled. "Let me walk," she protested and tried to care for him. “Wrap your legs around me,” he demanded. In the month of her one-sided congress with Leraye, she had forgotten he was a warrior and Demon of Battle. He lifted her buttocks and strode toward the bed. With each stride, she bounced. She curled her hands around the curve of his shoulder and feathered her fingers over the scars on his back. The uneven surface was a tactile testament to his battle prowess. Leraye lay her down on the lush silk sheets, right over the spot where Zepar had just taken the blonde. She didn't think it was an error. "You really want to do this?" Thalia stared into Leraye's eyes seeking answers to the mystery of the universe in his gaze. He looked at her, no humor in his face, his light blue eyes somber. "Yes." "With me." She pressed, suddenly unsure. The past few minutes had felt real and true, but perhaps she was only feeling what she wanted to feel. "You know my secrets and I know yours," he said lightly, his tone at odds with the very serious look in his pale Demon gaze. "What better basis for a partnership." He was still seated within her. His cock pulsed against her inner walls with an insistent beat. He was leaving the choice up to her. Could she? Should she? Lately her appointments had left her wanting. The impersonal attentions of the Lesser Demons were pleasurable and yet she was more and more frequently left with a feeling of emptiness. A feeling of sorrow. The times she'd sat alone with Leraye were the most satisfying she’d had in a long time. "Yes." His muscles had tautened, and his body rippled with tension. "Excellent. Now, what position should we try first?" Thalia blushed, remembering the things she had done to his statue while he was inside watching. Leraye laughed with delight. His blue eyes sparkled like moonlight upon the ocean. "A Grace that is embarrassed." "I would that you call me by my name," she said sharply. "Of course, Thalia," he replied gently and brushed a lock of hair from her face. "Did you think I didn't know your name?" "I...." The temptation to cower from him was strong but she refused to. "I wasn't sure." "It always pays to know one's enemy." Leraye's face hardened into a mask, not unlike the expression he'd worn for the past month. "Am I your enemy, my Lord?" "Now who is being evasive? Call me by my name." "Leraye," she said softly. "No longer enemies." "Not anymore." He slid his cock out of her body and then back inside again. "I believe we are allies now." Allies? She wasn't sure how they were allies, but as the thick staff of his erection slid in and out of her body, she realized that right now she didn’t care. Thalia felt connected to Leraye in a way she'd never felt before. "Do you like that, angel?" The glide of his cock rubbed against her G-spot and arousal flowed from her pussy. "Gods, I believe I am harder than when I was a stone." Thalia giggled. The sound surprised her. It had been too long since she'd felt this kind of joy. Leraye nuzzled her neck with his chin and then curled his tongue around her ear. The sweet sough of his breath against her skin was a balm to her overworked and overstimulated body. The events of the past hour were a blur of arousal and hope and shame. But now she found a joy and satisfaction in his attention. The hard planes of his chest brushed lightly against her nipples as he slid in and out of her. "You prefer a harder contact, do you not?" he murmured slyly. Leraye extended his tongue and trailed the member down the center of her neck. He twirled the tip in the deep hollow of her throat as her pulse thudded against her skin. He was right. He knew her. A thrill of anticipation rippled through her. He knew her. With a delicate lick, he fluttered the tip against her breastbone and traced lightly around the globes of her breasts. "These really are magnificent, angel." "Thank you my Lord." She gasped as he curled his tongue around her nipple and clamped down. Hard. He did it again and then set up a rhythm that kept time with the pulse in her throat. Thalia fell into a bottomless well of sensation as he worked her body with a depth of knowledge that sent a thrill through her. He assaulted her senses with the hard muscled cage of his body, the thick slide of his cock, and the sharp almost pain of his tongue's attention. "I will not hold out much longer." He apologized. "It will be my pleasure." Thalia groaned as he squeezed even harder, and then slid his palms underneath her buttocks and lifted her into his hard thrusts. The assaults on her body, the rough glide of his curls against her clit, his thick heavy balls banging against her swollen lips and ass, the sensual rasp of his tongue. With a hoarse shout, Leraye tumbled over the edge. The iris of his eyes disappeared as his pupils expanded, and the black encompassed the pale blue. Thalia fell into the abyss with him. She gasped for breath and her mind spun as pleasure spiraled through her. He shifted to the side and lay replete along the naked curve of her body. Waves of pleasure still lapped at her sensitive zones. He smiled down at her with warmth and a bit of affection. "I would show you all of the things you showed me while I was trapped." She thought of how she was trapped here. A Grace to give pleasure to the Lesser Demons who seemed not to want her anymore. Trapped by her love for Zepar, a Demon who was forbidden to her and didn't want her anyway. That hollow, empty place expanded in her chest as she imagined his frustration and pain. "Was it terrible?" “Honestly, you made it bearable.” She had eased his imprisonment. A sense of happiness bubbled through her. Leraye's face settled into amusement and something else. Some other emotion she couldn’t identify. “How about you show me how flexible you are when I can enjoy it?”

EIGHT Once again cloaked in glamour so he was invisible, Zepar snuck into Leraye’s chamber. He was oddly unable to resist watching Thalia and Leraye. Compelled to try to understand what had happened between him and Thalia and then between he and Leraye. Immediately his mind shied away from that earlier kiss. He quietly sat in the chair that had held Leraye's frozen form. The same seat where Thalia had connected with Zepar in a most primal manner and satisfaction from their mutual pleasure had roared through him. Now he used the chair for a more clandestine purpose. To observe Thalia and Leraye together. As he watched them, Zepar couldn’t help the curl of jealousy. Why would she engage in bed play with Leraye? They had just shared possibly the most explosive sexual encounter of his life. And as the Demon of Seduction that was saying a lot. Zepar's gaze was glued to the new lovers. Leraye shifted so that he sat on the edge of the bed. His erection rode high and thick as he lifted Thalia up and turned her so that she straddled his hips. Then he pressed her back against his thighs. With one large hand, he cupped the globes of her breasts and squeezed them together until her nipples touched. “Like succulent berries,” he said against the peach tips and then sucked them both into his mouth. While he feasted upon her breasts, he ran his other palm along the back of her thighs and lifted her legs to curl around his neck. Just as Thalia had done to Leraye earlier this day. The white milk of her thighs was a stark contrast to the swarthy skin of Leraye’s thick muscled chest. Zepar’s breeches tightened. He knew what was coming next. Leraye spread her pussy wide with his rough fingers. “Such a lovely pretty pussy all wet and shiny, just for me.” He rubbed at her flushed nether lips, coating his fingers with her pussy juice. Zepar's fingers twitched with anticipation as he watched jealously. Then Leraye speared Thalia with the blunt head of his engorged cock. The salty musk of sex hung in the air. “Do you know what it felt like to be able to see you do this to me? To hear your moans, and see the evidence of your desire, and yet not feel a thing?” Thalia’s throaty moan filled the chamber. Unable to look away from their erotic dance, Zepar's cock swelled harder. Thalia clung to Leraye’s arms. He clasped her hips and jerked her into him. His forearms strained, his biceps were slick with sweat. Every muscle hardened and sharpened as his body bowed with lust. Thalia’s breasts bounced and shook with each fierce thrust. Her lips parted as she gasped for breath. Her legs clamped around Leraye’s torso and hooked behind his neck as she strained into the sex play. Zepar ached with a jealous lust. His heart wrenched as he watched. With each thrust Leraye pulled his magnificent cock from her body until the purple head touched her clit and then slammed back in. The beauty of their sleek bodies, flushed and hardened with lust, struck at him. Watching them, their intensity as they lost themselves in the pleasure of sensual touch set off an answering firestorm of desire within his blood. His cock throbbed against the placket of his breeches and he pressed the bulge. “Touch yourself,” Leraye commanded brusquely. Zepar shot a startled glance at Leraye. His words an echo from their long ago interactions. Leraye couldn't be talking to him. But Zepar obeyed the command willingly and loosened his breeches to fist his cock. Thalia obeyed as well and flicked her fingers against her clit. And then Leraye began a series of short, sharp thrusts. Zepar's arousal was fueled by the view of Leraye's muscular cock gliding in and out of Thalia plump cunt. His attention was split between both sexes and the inadequacy of watching rather than participating. His heart constricted as he realized this was how Thalia must have felt earlier. Zepar’s gaze was glued to where the two of them joined. Their hips pumped as he jerked on his cock and wished desperately he were part of the action. Leraye and Thalia stared into each other’s eyes lost to passion but connected to each other. And Gods, he wanted that connection as well. With a mingled shout, they flew off the cliff into a swirling tempest. Leraye threw back his head and his muscles strained. Thalia’s pelvis thrust up as she clenched against an erotic bow of lust. Zepar wanted to finish. Instead he released his throbbing erection and studied his friends as envy clutched his heart in a jealous clasp. And then Leraye turned his head and looked straight at the chair. “You didn’t finish.” Thalia lifted her head and scowled at the chair. “You are watching me--us--again?” In a most graceful manner, she unhooked her ankles, sat up, and covered her breasts with her hands. Zepar hated that she was hiding her body from him. And yet he was hiding from them both. With reluctance, he discarded the glamour. “So you knew he watched before?” Leraye’s eyebrows lifted. “Yes.” “You hussy,” he teased. Zepar envied their ease with each other. An ease he'd had with Thalia that he wasn't sure he would ever get back. “What you didn’t know, angel,” Leraye removed his slowly shrinking cock from the channel of her sex never taking his gaze from Zepar’s. “Is that after you left, he licked your cream from my cock. Not that I could feel anything.” Her eyes had widened. “It looks as if the ever gallant Demon of Seduction is hurting.” Leraye taunted and gestured to Zepar’s fully erect cock. His gaze was like a physical touch. “Perhaps the sweet Grace would be willing to take care of that rather large problem you have.” "Graces are not allowed to have congress with Demon Lords," Zepar responded quickly. But the damage had been done as he imagined Thalia on her knees with his cock in her mouth. He swelled even harder. "Ah, but Prince Gaap has given me leave to do as I wish for the evening," Leraye said softly. Zepar was through with his games. He wasn’t sure where Leraye was headed. “Enough. Do not torment her so. Thalia does not engage in sex play with more than one partner,” Zepar said harshly. Each Grace was allowed to choose what she would and wouldn’t participate in. Thalia preferred one partner at a time. Which he would honor. “So now you are giving her a choice?” Leraye said. “I don’t seem to recall that you gave her that option earlier.” Thalia laid her fingers across Leraye’s mouth. “Hush.” “Just speaking the truth, angel.” He curled his tongue around one of her fingers and sucked the digit into his mouth. But his gaze stayed firmly on Zepar. A strange ball of shame settled in Zepar’s gut.

“I will go,” Zepar said. At the same time, Thalia said breathlessly, “I’ll do it.”

NINE What had she just done? Zepar froze in the chair, almost as still as Leraye had been as a statue. Only the rapid rise and fall of his chest betrayed his agitation. Leraye's fingers curled around her hand and squeezed. Thalia and Leraye shared a moment of complete understanding. She might only get one chance to have Zepar as a lover and tonight was the night. “Come up onto the bed,” she ordered huskily. “You do not have to do this.” Zepar countered. “I know.” He held still for another moment as if silently arguing with himself and then he pushed slowly to his feet. “Come. Sit against the headboard.” Zepar hesitantly stumbled toward the bed, all trace of the Demon of Seduction gone from his posture. Only pure aroused male remained. Thalia liked being in control. “Lose your pants.” Zepar dropped his breeches to the floor. His erection bobbed as he climbed onto the bed and settled against the mound of pillows. Thalia tossed a pillow at Leraye. “Sit against the footboard.” “I want you to show me your cunt while you suck him off.” Leraye’s voice brooked no argument. And the rush of heat from her sex surprised her. She turned her back to Leraye and sat on her heels. She smiled slowly at Zepar. Anticipation rippled through her. The tingling began in her toes and spread through her body as she realized she was going to get to touch him, put her mouth on him, kiss him. He rested against the headboard but his posture screamed hesitation. With a sweet caress, she scraped her fingers up his muscled legs, until she reached the juncture of his thighs. His cock twitched. A small drop of cum glittered on the tip of his erection. “Cup his balls and play with them.” Leraye’s voice was gravelly with want. She understood then that she was Leraye’s emissary, and he would have her do everything to Zepar that he wanted to. It remained to be determined if Zepar would allow any sexual contact between himself and Leraye. Thalia trilled her fingers over the twin sacs and learned their shapes, marveling as they hardened and grew. “Suck them into your mouth, just like I sucked your nipples. Together.” Leraye’s breath grew harsher. She could feel his gaze upon her as she bent forward on her knees. “Ass in the air.” Leraye commanded. “I want to see your pussy dripping with cream.” Thalia spread her legs wider and bent so she was exposed to Leraye’s avid gaze. With delicate licks, she tasted and loved Zepar’s balls. Her nipples brushed against his hairy muscled thighs. “Pinch her nipples.” Leraye commanded Zepar. “Hard.” Zepar quirked his eyebrow at her, telling her silently, the choice was hers. She nodded and sucked his balls into her mouth just as Zepar squeezed. And suddenly the cool, wet glide of Leraye’s tongue trailed along her calf to linger in the crease behind her knee. Her moan took them all by surprise. “Take me in your mouth.” Zepar ordered roughly. And Thalia realized he was the only one whose mouth wasn’t occupied. She licked delicately along the dark purple vein of his cock and swirled her tongue around the bulbous head. She’d imagined this cock in her body earlier. A thrill of anticipation sizzled through her. She was going to suck that gorgeous Demon cock into her mouth and make love to his manhood. Her pussy clenched in response. She curled her fingers around the base of his hot erection and pursed her lips. Zepar’s clever fingers alternately pinched and flicked at her nipples. Then suddenly she felt the lightest touch of wet tongue fluttering against her clitoris. “Gods, I missed the taste of a woman.” Leraye’s lips moved against her sex and then he speared her with his tongue. Leraye’s hot breath blew against her pussy as she sucked Zepar’s cock further into her mouth. His girth spread her lips wide and crowded the back of her throat. Thalia moaned again. The vibration hummed along Zepar’s cock. She swallowed hard, the constriction of her throat a heavy pressure on Zepar’s cock as Demon filled her from both ends. Zepar’s cock in her throat and Leraye’s tongue in her cunt. The rough pads of Zepar’s fingers against her nipples and the hot press of Leraye’s fingers holding her open for his mouth twin assaults on her body. She rocked forward to suck on Zepar and Leraye pulled his tongue from her body. Then he rocked her back and speared her, impaled her with his tongue. Until Zepar pulled her forward again, the pressure on her breasts a pleasure pain. She reveled in the back and forth rhythm of being pulled between two large Demons. Her head swirled with disbelief even as her body was bombarded by the sensual assault. Leraye’s rough tongue widened and expanded until he was larger than any cock she'd ever taken. He touched her womb and pressed against her g-spot, the rough pad teased her clitoris. As Zepar’s fingers played with her breasts and nipples, his cock filled her mouth. Desire, lust, longing for this moment to last forever battered her. But she could hold out no longer and she flew into the ether, her body and mind breaking apart into a thousand little pieces.

TEN Gods, he was going to come. Zepar's cock hardened as Thalia sucked him with unrestrained enthusiasm. But Zepar couldn’t take his gaze from the rounded curve of her ass as Leraye’s tongue slid in and out of her slick heat. In the close cocoon of the bed, the three of them seemed enveloped in a cloud of lust. His gaze flicked to Leraye’s face, stamped with desire. But Leraye was watching Zepar’s cock slide in and out of Thalia’s mouth. And Zepar realized that Leraye had fisted his own cock. While Leraye fucked Thalia with his tongue, he was working his own cock and watching Zepar fuck her mouth. Suddenly, Leraye met Zepar’s gaze over the curve of Thalia’s back. Leraye was thinking about Zepar. The knowledge was in the depths of his shadowed blue gaze. Zepar’s heart contracted. And then Leraye jerked harder on his cock. Zepar couldn’t take his gaze away from Leraye’s expanding penis as Leraye brought himself to orgasm. Leraye’s seed sprayed between Zepar’s legs and across Thalia’s breasts, smearing them both with his passion. Leraye's hot cum on his thighs trigged Zepar’s release. His entire body imploded as his orgasm blasted through him. Thalia swallowed and swallowed as Zepar’s wad filled her mouth and she sucked until he was dry. Yet Zepar couldn’t take his gaze away from Leraye as he milked his cock. A flash of something powerful skittered over Leraye’s face. And then Thalia was coming again. Leraye pumped his tongue in and out of her body slowly. Zepar’s cock came free from her mouth as she closed her eyes and arched her back in pleasure. Her lips were red and cum slicked her mouth, open on a hard exhale. Then Leraye leaned in and tongue-fucked her in earnest. Unwilling to leave them alone, Zepar cupped her breasts and pinched hard. Thalia stiffened and arched again. She groaned in pleasure. Zepar stared hard at Leraye then slammed his mouth against Thalia’s soft lips and sucked his own cum from her mouth. But Zepar never took his gaze from Leraye as she orgasmed around Leraye's tongue. Her face cloaked in erotic pleasure as they kept up a relentless rhythm. Finally, as if the intimacy was too much, Leraye slithered his tongue from her channel, closed his eyes, and rested his head against the globe of her ass. When the connection was broken, Zepar disconnected from Thalia’s mouth and tilted his head back against the headboard. His legs were spread wide. The sleek satin beneath his ass, Thalia’s lips brushed his softening cock in a sweet caress as the hard points of her nipples stabbed his thighs. She collapsed into the V of his legs. Then other sensations registered, the hot muscles of Leraye’s chest along the outside of his left thigh, Leraye’s forearm heavy across Zepar’s leg as Leraye twined his fingers with Thalia’s. Leraye shifted to one side and cradled Thalia, his head resting on the curve of her back and his torso curled around as if protecting her. Thalia lay in the curve of Zepar’s thighs, her softer skin silky against the rough hair of his thighs. Leraye lifted their entwined hands to his mouth and bussed her knuckles in a simple caress. Tears leaked from her eyes and trickled over Zepar's legs. “It’s been an eventful day, hmm, angel?” “One might say that.” Her voice trembled. “I’ll take care of you,” Leraye whispered. “Sleep.” Something had happened here. But Zepar was too tired, too overwhelmed to put it together. And as if denying where his brain wanted to go, his body shut down. And they drifted into slumber. *** Thalia awoke to male voices. Two of them. She’d fallen asleep against her better judgment. Graces as a rule did not sleep with the Demons they serviced. They had their own private chambers. But she’d wanted to hold on to every last moment of her time with Zepar. And oddly, she had even wanted to linger in the comfort of Leraye’s embrace. Instead she had succumbed to slumber almost immediately. She was surrounded by male Demon flesh. Her head was pillowed on Zepar’s chest and behind her the heat of Leraye’s body warmed her from knee to buttocks. Leraye’s morning erection prodded the crease of her ass. She was sure that if she opened her eyes, Zepar’s cock would be at attention as well. They were both insatiable warriors. And once she opened her eyes, this early morning cuddling would be over. So she was going to to lie here and pretend to be asleep for as long as she could pull it off. “Do you not see what is right in front of you?” Leraye’s words held a strong note of reproach. “I see plenty.” Zepar’s voice rumbled in her ear. Leraye’s hiss penetrated the last remnants of her sleep. “How could you ask her to find you women?” She held her breath, waiting to see what Zepar said. If he even understood how he’d hurt her. “A lot has happened since you were frozen.” Zepar ignored the question. “We’ve discovered a secret weapon in the battle against the Fae.” “And it has to do with humans?” Leraye asked for clarification. “Yes. Love gives Demons a power far greater than the energy of the moon. I’ve been searching for a human woman to fall in love with me.” Leraye laughed. “Power. Like a surge of energy?” “Yes. So I need to find a human woman.” What about me? She was a woman and a human and she already loved him. The pain was so great, she swore her heart cracked and broke. “So, the Demon of Seduction is failing miserably at love.” Leraye mocked with venom. “I’ll make it happen.” Zepar’s body had tensed under cheek. “You will pay Thalia back for the way you used her.” She held still at the amount of animosity in Leraye’s words. “I used her?” Zepar laughed softly without amusement. “You don’t think--” Thalia could take no more. She didn’t want to hear what Zepar might say next. Her heart was already broken in pieces, but she couldn't let on. She yawned loudly and stretched, pushing her ass into Leraye’s hard-on and 'accidentally' bumping Zepar’s with her hand. “Oops.” She rolled onto her back so she was sandwiched between their chests. Thalia smiled seductively, determined that neither Demon would see how much she hurt right now. “Good morning boys.” “Good morning, angel.” Leraye curled his fingers around her chin. “We have a surprise for you.” “Oh, I don’t need a surprise.” “Yes, you do.” Leraye rolled off the bed and stalked toward the door, his movements almost angry. He lifted a tray of food that had been left outside the door. “You need some pampering. I’ll bet you're sore from yesterday’s activities.”

She stretched again, her body deliciously well used. She watched the play of muscles in his body as he strode back to the bed. With a flourish, he placed a tray heavily laden with fruit and sundries at the foot of the bed. He began to bathe her with a heated cloth from the tray, paying particular attention to the dried cum on her breasts. His attention was not sexual, but sweet. He dropped the cloth on the tray and picked up a bottle of scented oil. With a pop, he unstopped the bottle and the heavy, aphrodisiac scent of spearmint wafted in the air. “Hold out your hands.” Leraye commanded Zepar. The Demon of Seduction stared at him. “Come, you’re the Demon of Seduction. You surely have used oil before.” “Often,” Zepar gritted out. “Then get to it.” Leraye poured the oil into Zepar’s hand and with a swishing motion indicated he should start. Zepar rubbed his hands together. The friction warmed the oil and the scent rolled over her. “And what are you going to be doing?” Zepar asked. “Working from the other end.” Leraye pulled Thalia into the V between his legs, her back lounging against his chest. With strong fingers slick with oil, he massaged the tension-filled muscles of her neck and shoulders. The soothing motion began to work its magic and the mint tingled along her skin. “You are very good at that, my Lord.” “Have to be. Between battles we must ease the tension in our bodies.” He dug into a particularly hard knot. Thalia sighed. The massage soothed her weary heart. Zepar lifted her foot up to his chest and began with her toes. He rubbed the oil, digging his thumbs into the arch of her foot with sure even strokes. The strong touch of his hands sparked an answering tug in her womb. And her sex began to tingle. Her breath caught. This was not about sex. She shifted her buttocks and closed her eyes again, determined to relax. Zepar rested her foot on his thigh and then shifted his attention to her other foot. Leraye continued to massage her shoulders, and then spread her arms wide and smoothed his hard hands down the length of her biceps. He leaned over her shoulder, his thumbs pressed along her wrists and fingers. “What do you dream of, angel?” A home, a lover, safety. Simple things. But he didn’t really want to know her dreams. And she was determined that if she had one more chance with Zepar in her bed she was going to take advantage of the opportunity. He might not want her for the long term but she knew things about him, about his sexuality, and she wasn’t above using them to get what she wanted. “Naughty things.” She let her eyelids drift up and lasered in on Zepar’s erection. With a small smirk, she loosened the muscles of her thighs and let her legs fall open. “You little hussy.” She could hear the smile in Leraye’s voice. He slid his oiled hands down her chest and covered her breasts with his large palms just as Zepar slid the heels of his hands up her thighs until his thumbs nearly touched her clitoris. Thalia looked down at her body, the two pairs of very masculine hands caressed her flesh, and her sex sizzled. When they were massaging her, their touch had been impersonal, almost asexual. But neither Demon was unaffected. Leraye’s erection poked her back every time he leaned forward to run his palms further down her body and Zepar had moved closer to her, his member bobbed with every beat of his heart. Leraye slid his palms all the way down and covered Zepar’s hands with his, just for a moment. She loved the sight of two pairs of male hands. Their heavier touch warmed her sex and an electric silence hung in the air. Leraye swirled his hands away from Zepar’s. The disappointment was so acute, she nearly missed his next statement. “Time for your pleasure.”

ELEVEN Zepar fidgeted as Leraye strategically placed peach halves over each of Thalia’s bare breasts. The concave pit cradled her nipples, and the air was perfumed with the sweet scent of the fruit. “Are you finished?” Zepar’s voice was deep with memory. “We used to fantasize about this,” Leraye said. “My Lord?” Thalia lifted an eyebrow. “I was a virgin when we were cursed.” Leraye’s battle-roughened fingers smoothed over the soft skin of Thalia’s belly. “But I was fortunate enough to be chained next to the Demon of Seduction.” Zepar listened to Leraye's recollection of their years of imprisonment and remembered. Remembered the young Leraye. So eager, so responsive. Thalia blinked, and her gaze slid between the two of them. “He tutored me quite effectively in the art of seduction.” Leraye sprinkled pomegranate seeds over her collarbone and down the center of her body. “We spent hours discussing our appetites and what we would do when we rose to the surface again. Isn’t that right?” “True,” Zepar replied slowly. His heart constricted as he remembered thousands of years together. Until they’d broken free of their prison and then Zepar had never touched Leraye again. He had denied his longing for his former lover, focusing only on the pleasure of female flesh. “He gave me my first sexual experience.” Leraye’s glittering blue gaze pierced Zepar. The air was heavy with memory as Zepar held Leraye's gaze. “Well aren’t you lucky? I’m still waiting for my turn with the Demon of Seduction,” Thalia said. The intense moment was broken by her teasing words. Leraye snorted. “Yes, you are.” And Zepar understood, he was to give her this. In payment for her service to Leraye. In payment for the way he'd used her last night. Once they left this chamber the bond would be broken forever and she would go back to being forbidden. And Zepar would go back to denying his attraction for Leraye. So he had to make this count. “It's a feast fit for Demons.” Leraye’e eyes danced with mischief. Camaraderie and friendship rolled over him. He would make this about Thalia and sex. Nothing more. “And feast we shall.” Succulent fruit food adorned her body, slices of apple ringed her belly button, strawberries rested in the valley between her breasts. “We just need the final ingredient.” Leraye nestled a bunch of grapes in the V of her thighs. They had spoken of this. In the long years of imprisonment, Zepar had combined the banquet of sex and food and lust for a woman into an elaborate scenario where he could slake all of his hungers at once. He realized now that in all of those scenarios, Leraye had been present. Clearly Leraye had never forgotten. “Where to start, where to start.” Leraye rubbed his hands together like a general anticipating battle. Then he gestured to Zepar. “Why don’t you do the honors.” Breasts. Zepar loved a female’s breasts. The most feminine of attributes. “I’ve a yen for her breasts.” “Most excellent.” By silent agreement, Zepar and Leraye lay on either side of Thalia. As one, they extended their tongues, with a delicate lick, Zepar caressed the side of Thalia’s rounded globe. “You have the most exquisite tits,” Zepar murmured. Zepar curled his tongue all the way around her breast and squeezed. Leraye did the same, as they created twin peaks and crushed the peaches over her nipples. Juice from the ripe fruit leaked down and exploded on Zepar's tongue with sweetness. Zepar lost himself in the glory of Thalia's breasts, nuzzling the underside and curling the tip of his tongue around one generous globe as Leraye mimicked his action with her other breast. She arched, her breath a soft sigh. But that was not what he wanted to hear. He wanted her writhing in ecstasy. He slid the palm of his hand over her hip avoiding the fruit that blocked his path, tracing his finger over her soft skin. She arched up to press her breast into his face. Zepar glanced at Leraye but he was lost in the glory of Thalia's breasts as well. As Zepar edged his hand toward her slit, his fingers collided with Leraye's. For a moment, the simple contact gave him pause, the callused pads of Leraye's fingers skimmed over the back of his hand and stunned him with a sensual shiver. Leraye twined his fingers with Zepar's and lead them to the promise of Thalia's wet sex. They avoided the grapes, and rubbed their joined fingers along her cleft. The scent of her musk was heavy in the morning air along with the sweet juice of the peaches. His pulse thudded in his cock as his body responded with an unusual urgency to the sensual play between the three of them. Thalia's softer, smoother fingers curled around his cock and her thumb swiped over the head. Leraye's cock was receiving the same attentions. For some reason the sight of the three of them intimately entwined struck a chord within his chest. They were his best friends these two. A swell of emotion thundered in his heart. Zepar speared their middle fingers into her feminine channel. Their thumbs trilled against the swollen bud of her clitoris and the press of their joined hands smashed the grapes against her hot sex. Cool grape juice coated their fingers and her cleft. Thalia arched and moaned. “You like that, angel?” Leraye growled. The sound arrowed through Zepar like a lightening bolt. Zepar devoured the peach over her nipple then caught the hard bud in his lips. The steady pressure of her fingers around his cock was a seductive pleasure. And the erotic slide of his fingers with Leraye's into her sex set up a sensual rhythm against her clit. The sounds of sex and moans filled the air. It felt as if they were connected on some other surreal plane, intertwined so that it was difficult to tell where one started and the others left off. The surge of Thalia's hips became more frantic. Her fist tightened on his cock and everything in Zepar readied. He could feel the clench of her walls around their fingers. His arousal built and built as his cock grew harder. Sweat slicked her skin, and the scent of their three bodies filled the air. She was near her climax. His own cock had swelled, the orgasm about to crescendo through him. As one he and Leraye leaned into Thalia and swept down to give her a kiss. Their three mouths met in a zap of pleasure. For a shocked moment. Zepar froze and stared into the depths of Leraye’s pale gaze. Their fingers were still joined and pumping in and out of Thalia. Her fingers curled around their cocks. Pleasure threatened to overwhelm him. But he wanted inside her body. Wanted to give her everything she'd asked for earlier. Zepar broke away and disengaged their fingers. His actions were clumsy as he unwrapped her fingers from his erection. A bewildered frown marred her face. “Feed your cock to her. In her mouth,” he commanded Leraye, his voice guttural. Leraye shifted so that he straddled Thalia’s face and leaned forward to nibble at the pomegranate seeds. She tilted her head back to take all of him in her throat and

exposed the long white column of her neck. Zepar watched Leraye’s thick, hard cock slid between her reddened lips. The same mouth had worked him last night. An intense desire to be inside her blinded him. His own cock swelled even harder and he could wait no longer. Zepar plunged into Thalia’s slick channel. Zepar set a slow pace and Leraye matched his rhythm as they pumped in and out of her body. The air was heavy with the scent of crushed fruit and sex. Zepar couldn’t take his gaze from the way Leraye fucked her mouth. Thalia wrapped her hands around Leraye’s buttocks as if urging him to go faster. Gods, the sight caused his own climax to bubble out of control. Zepar worried that they were hurting her but then she lifted her legs and curled them around his buttocks. The move pulled his chest closer to her body. The bed squeaked as they rocked back and forth. Each thrust brought them nearer to their completion. Thalia bowed, back arched, as she moaned long and hard. As Thalia climaxed, her feminine fist milked Zepar’s cock and he let the sensations burst. He and Leraye shouted together. Triumph roared through him as his cum jetted from his cock into her womb and Leraye’s semen pumped down her throat. His gaze caught Leraye’s and he thought to see the same triumph there. They had fulfilled their fantasy. Instead, Leraye's gaze was filled with a fierce possession. Leraye curled his fingers around Zepar’s skull and pulled him closer. Leraye slanted his head and kissed Zepar. The hard thrust of Leraye’s lips against his mouth shocked him. The uncontrollable urge to kiss Leraye back thundered in Zepar’s pulse, equal parts arousal and fear. His cock still pulsed within Thalia. The contrast of her soft body and Leraye’s hard fingers and mouth were too much. Zepar pulled away. This wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to be about sex with Leraye. It was supposed to be about Thalia. Zepar yanked his cock from her sex and jumped off the bed. His chest heaved as he stared at them. Leraye had eased his cock from Thalia’s mouth and sat back on his heels. Thalia had rolled to lay with her head resting on the hard, thick muscles of Leraye’s thighs. Leraye looked at him with pity. Zepar couldn't understand why Leraye seemed without mercy. Zepar shifted to Thalia. Recrimination and regret shimmered in her slumberous gaze. He hadn't done anything wrong. But as he submitted to their scrutiny, he understood, he hadn't done anything right either. He turned on his heel and left as if a hundred Fir Bolg assassins were after him.

TWELVE “That went well.” Thalia turned away from Leraye and curled into a ball on her side. Leraye eased down behind her and wrapped a hard arm around her waist. “You had to know the night was doomed to end poorly.” She might have yelled at him if she hadn't heard the sorrow in his voice. Thalia trailed her fingertips over the deep scars on his arms, testament to his fierceness in battle. She wanted desperately to soothe him. For if she was disappointed, how must Leraye feel? He’d been in love with Zepar for years. “True.” She lay on crushed grapes. His body cocooned hers from shoulder to ankle. The heavy weight of his arm anchored her in place. Leraye placed a gentle kiss on the sensitive skin behind her ear. Her heart trembled at his attempt to soothe her. “What do you really dream of?” he asked quietly. She tensed. “What do you mean?” “You lied.” He ran his nose along the shell of her ear. His soft breath tickled the sensitive skin. “No one wants to know what I really want.” She shrugged off her dreams as if they were of no consequence. A heavy despair settled over her. She had made her choices years ago and she had to live with them. “I want to know.” Leraye rolled her over to face him. His jaw was dusted with the shadow of a beard but his eyes were clear and intent. “You matter.” Thalia rubbed her thumb over his lips and marveled at how a hard Demon could have such a soft mouth. “It hurts too much.” “Tell me,” he demanded. He was a study in contradictions. Hard, muscled warrior. His features were almost harsh in their spareness. Battled-hardened and tough to the core. Except his touch was the gentle, feather light as if she were a precious, delicate flower and he worried of crushing her with his brute strength. Fine. Thalia replied defiantly, as if daring him to mock her simple desires, “Love. A home.” “Is this castle not your home?” “It’s a shelter,” she corrected. “A very nice shelter.” He seemed to be thinking, his gaze narrowed as he stared at her. “Anything else?” “A lover.” Her gaze automatically shifted to the heavy arched doors that Zepar had recently stormed through. Leraye’s callused fingers cupped her cheek and brought her attention back to him. “What if I offered to give you those things?” He kissed a trail down her neck, and nuzzled the sensitive spot where her shoulder connected with her neck before licking his way to her breasts. Her heart bump-bumped with a frantic beat. “You are in love with another.” She swallowed away the lump in her throat. She couldn’t speak Zepar’s name. “Who is to say I couldn’t be in love with you too?” He twirled his tongue around her hardening bud as if trying to coax her body into agreement. Even as her heart petrified, her body melted. His sensual attention was like a balm to her battered soul. Affection and arousal eddied through her. They would be a good match. And they had at least one thing in common. They both loved Zepar. And Zepar wouldn't allow himself to love Leraye or Thalia. If wasn’t quite what she had dreamed of...well, that would have to be okay. *** Zepar paced the Prince’s war room. Where the hell was Leraye? And what the hell had happened in that chamber? “Sit down.” Gaap commanded him. “You’re driving me crazy.” Zepar dropped into one of the chairs that surrounded the massive round table and promptly began tapping one finger on the rowan slab. The ornate door swung open and Leraye strode in with a jaunty swagger. For some reason, Leraye’s cocky grin grated on Zepar’s nerves. He glowered at his old friend. Old friend. Somehow that label didn’t fit right anymore. Something had changed in that room. And Zepar didn’t know how to change it back. “Why are you so happy?” How could Leraye be so happy when Zepar was still so confused? One of Leraye’s dark eyebrows rose. He stared hard at Zepar hard then shifted to Gaap. He bowed low. “Prince.” You are recovered, then?” Prince Gaap studied Leraye, searching for signs of ill effects from the Fae spell. “I am very well.” Leraye stood in front of the Prince. “You seem to be fully recovered. More than recovered, you appear to be thriving." Prince Gaap motioned for Leraye to sit. "So let's discuss what has happened since you were frozen.” “I could hear your words even though I was not responsive.” Leraye leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his massive chest. His muscles bunched and he was very carefully not looking at Zepar. Why wouldn't Leraye look at him? ‘We need to figure out what the Fae did to you.” Zepar didn’t want the same to happen to Leraye again. Leraye nodded. “Agreed.” “Any ideas? We looked for a dart, any wound on your body, but could find none.” A fine sheen of sweat covered Zepar’s face as he remembered the frantic search for a wound, then the raging disappointment when they found nothing. “I believe it was some sort of massive electrical overload that rendered me basically null. Unable to move, unable to do anything.” Gaap studied him. “But you were aware?” “I could hear you and see you but I couldn’t make my body obey any commands.” "How could such a strong pulse be delivered?" Gaap asked. "Smaller pulses injured me in the last battle against the Fae and rendered my magick useless for a bit." “Maybe that’s why they didn’t hit you again,” Leraye said to Gaap. “They used all of their energy to freeze me.” “Perhaps.” “I wonder why they did not employ the same tool against me in the woods last night,” Zepar mused. “Last night.” Leraye seemed to grow larger, his body hardened, readied for battle. “You put Thalia in danger when you went to find women.” Gaap raised a brow at him. “The Fae attacked and then ran away.” Zepar’s chest puffed with pride. “But not before Thalia managed to stab one with her iron knife.” “She was traumatized.” Leraye growled. “She told me she was fine." Zepar dismissed his comment, surprised at the rage he saw reflected in the depths of Leraye's pale blue gaze. "She wasn't fine." Leraye gritted. "Let's focus on the Fae." Gaap brought the conversation back to their enemy. “Why would they run?” Leraye asked.

“It does bear some reflection,” Gaap said pensively. “They certainly did not resist on the same scale as during my battle with them.” “Maybe they thought they had the upper hand with you but not with Zepar and Thalia,” Leraye said. “Against one human woman and one Demon?” Gaap shook his head. Zepar saw the knowledge in Leraye’s gaze. Knew that Leraye understood what had happened in that wooded glade. How Gaap had carried both Leraye and his mate, Lili from the enchanted forest. Leraye bowed low. “I have yet to give you my thanks.” Gaap waved away Leraye’s gratitude. “You would have done the same for me.” It was true. “At least now we know how to break the spell.” Zepar shifted as he recalled how he and Thalia had broken the spell. “Thank the Gods that you recovered.” Gaap took a long draw of red wine. “You seem changed.” Leraye nodded solemnly. “Being imprisoned, again, made me realize that I don't want to live half a life anymore.” Gaap frowned. “Half a life?” Leraye went over and knelt in front of the Prince. “I’d like to petition for a boon.” Zepar’s heart thudded in his chest. Leraye hadn’t looked at him but somehow he knew that whatever the Demon had to say would not please him. “Speak.” “The Grace, Thalia,” Leraye said softly. “I wish to have her as my consort.” Zepar leapt to his feet. “Impossible.” Both Leraye and Gaap turned to look at him. Their sudden frowns triggered a wave of doubt but he didn't back down. “What?” Leraye’s countenance stiffened into a harsh mask. “She’s here to serve the Lesser Demons,” Zepar said desperately. “Who are all out looking for human mates.” Leraye responded. “She told me herself that she is rarely called upon anymore.” “Exactly,” Zepar crowed triumphantly. “We must all find human mates. We need the power of their love.” “In case you’ve forgotten, Thalia is human.” Leraye’s voice dropped, laden with menace. Zepar flushed, a blast of heat colored his face. “But did you gain power from her kisses?” "Her kiss revived me. Is that not power enough?" Leraye paused, fists clenched, his body tensed as if for battle. Each muscle and sinew stood in stark relief as he stalked over to confront Zepar. Zepar countered. “There is a noticeable surge of power. And I don't believe she gives you that." But the callous dismissal twisted his stomach into knots. She had been his anchor this past month. He’d found peace in her company. He had nothing but the greatest respect for Thalia. However the thought of Thalia and Leraye together caused his thoughts to spiral into panic. He didn’t want it. Didn’t want them together. “This battle is for the very survival of Demons.” Zepar ran agitated fingers through his mane of blonde hair. “We cannot allow softer emotions to rule our heads.” Disappointment flooded Leraye’s face. He shook his head, his mouth turned down. “It’s a good thing you are not in charge.” A sick pit grew in his chest, hollowed out and aching. He had lost the regard of his friend. Leraye turned to address the Prince. “What is your answer?” “Zepar makes a valid point. We need to gather as much magick as possible to fight the Fae,” Gaap said softly. "Did you feel a pulse of power when you mated?" “She has given us ten years of service.” Leraye rebutted without answering. “We are no better than the Fae if all we do is try to harvest human emotion for our own gain.” Zepar’s throat tightened. He didn’t want her to feel used. Of course he didn’t. But what if she were using Leraye? Zepar had taught her all of the tricks of seduction. Prince Gaap said, “You are correct. But--” “But we need the love of humans.” Zepar ground out. “Yes, but we cannot force them to fall in love,” Prince Gaap said patiently. Zepar knew that first hand. Out of sheer frustration, he burst out. “I don’t understand why I can’t get one single human to fall in love with me.” Pity and some other deep emotion darkened Leraye's eyes. “You have missed the point completely. It’s about being in love with each other.” Leraye’s mouth softened into a smile that Zepar had never seen before. “And that’s what you think you have with Thalia?” Zepar waited expectantly. Waited for the denial. Waited for the laughter where Leraye confessed that no, that wasn’t what he and Thalia shared. They shared sex. Very hot sex. Pictures of Leraye and Thalia slithered through his mind. Thalia with her head thrown back in ecstasy, her body flushed with desire. Thalia with the look of a woman sated. Leraye, his muscles hard, brutal, clenched while an orgasm ripped through his body. “Yes.” Leraye looked almost as surprised as Zepar felt. “I am in love with her.” The unexpected twist of jealousy struck him. He didn’t want them together. “And she feels the same?” Leraye hesitated. Triumph roared through him. “Hah. She does not.” “Not yet. But I hope she will grow to love me.” “Look at you.” Zepar snarled. “Simpering about love. Where is the warrior?” Leraye said, “Are you that miserable that you will not allow us some measure of happiness?” “You realize what she is doing?” Leraye raised his brows, a look of cynical disregard on his hewn features. “She is seducing you for her own gain.” The words spewed out of his mouth, an almost desperate attempt to turn Leraye and Thalia against each other. “I have taught her well.” “Enough,” Leraye roared. Every muscle in his body tensed and Zepar realized he had pushed his friend too far. He also noted the lines of tension around Leraye’s eyes. His friend was thinking, assessing strategy as he did when he prepared for battle. “I want her,” Leraye said calmly, softly. “I’ll allow it.” The Prince, who both had forgotten was even in the room, acquiesced. “For now.”

THIRTEEN Thalia tugged playfully at Leraye’s hand. “Come with me.” “I thought I already did that.” She giggled. Actually giggled. The last few days had been amazing. Since she had agreed, and the Prince allowed she and Leraye to be consorts, her days had been filled with training her replacement, Judy, the blonde from the awful night with Zepar, and her nights had been filled with Leraye and love. A sense of contentment settled over her. He was an adventurous lover. They’d engaged in sex play all over the castle grounds, some places more fun than others. But she knew not all was well. They both had emotional demons to exorcize and she planned to help Leraye over the one place that she knew haunted him. She headed toward the dungeon steps. His fingers tightened on hers. “What are you doing?” “We’re going to engage in a little bondage.” She tugged him toward the cells where the Demons kept their enemies. “You’re going to let me tie you up?” Leraye grinned, his teeth flashed white in his ferocious face as he leered at her. Oops. Perhaps she'd been too playful. She didn't want to flat out lie to him but she feared if she explained he would balk, so she avoided answering. She knew he needed this to move forward. Thalia paused on the winding steps, her back against the cool stone wall, and pulled him into her embrace. The hard planes of his chest flattened her breasts and his engorged cock rubbed against her stomach in a slow, seductive caress. But as he tilted his head and moved in for the kiss, he had a serious look in his eyes. His fingers were hard in hers, and the tight grip belied the relaxed mood. With one more squeeze of his fingers, he fitted his mouth to hers. Thalia curled her arms around his shoulders and savored his solid bulk. His mouth devoured hers, his tongue probing and teasing before invading her mouth. He slid his rough callused palm up the fine cotton of her dress, cupped her breast, shaped her flesh and plucked at the budding nipple. A gentle glow seemed to surround her, a warm buzz that filled her heart with joy and hope. Hope that everything would be okay. Thalia broke away from the kiss. “Let’s go.” “I know what you’re doing.” Leraye held her in place. “And are you agreeable?” A sudden uncertainty attacked her. Would he be mad? She only wanted to erase the old memories, make new ones that spoke of happiness rather than reminding him of what he couldn’t have. “I’m open to the idea, but only if you let me tie you up afterwards.” He nipped at her reddened lips and caressed her jaw gently. Thalia smiled wickedly. She didn't want to make it too easy for him and if he were thinking about later he wouldn't worry about what was going to happen next. “If you can catch me first.” “Vixen.” He laughed. They raced down the steps. Thalia purposely chose a cell that had a window but little light from the moon. The idea was to come as close to re-creating his prison as possible. She led him into the darkened room. Cuffs to restrain him were bolted into the walls. The metal clanked against the stone, and a shiver of apprehension skittered down her back. “What’s wrong?” He circled her waist from behind her, arms hard against her stomach, palms pressed flat to her waist. His erection prodded her in the buttocks, insistent, aroused. And still she couldn’t shake the sudden feeling that everything would change if they did this. “Maybe we shouldn’t.” Goosebumps radiated down her neck and over her spine. “It will be fine.” Leraye snapped his left wrist in a cuff himself. “Although it would be far more pleasurable if you’d restrain me.” This was silly. She was trying to make this fun. Leraye didn't seem worried. Why should she? Thalia pressed him back against the wall, mimicking their pose on the steps. With quick efficient movements, Thalia stripped Leraye of his clothing. She dragged his breeches over his straining erection and down thick muscled thighs, taking the time to caress his cock with light touches and score her fingernails over the hairy column of his legs. His nearly hairless chest gleamed in the dim light, like a Greek statue and her knees went weak at all of that strength and power at her mercy. But Thalia couldn’t shake the feeling that the shadows had eyes. Zepar had been shadowing them this past week, but she didn't sense his presence right now. It was likely nothing. With a quick look around, she lifted his right arm to the cuffs, set at waist height, and snapped his wrist in the heavy restraint. He still had a quite a range of motion which is what they needed for this experiment. She leaned close, the tips of her breasts brushed his naked chest, and whispered in his ear. “Now I'm in control.” "Yes," he said submissively. Another shiver trilled through her at the capitulation in his words. She stood in the barely there light and shimmied out of her cotton dress. Her nipples were already hard and her sex had begun to cream at his harsh, shadowed features and the sword of his erection. "Face the wall." Leraye turned and presented her with the hard, sculpted curve of his ass. He was gorgeous. “I'm going behind you.” She was in control but it didn't mean she couldn't tell him what she was doing. Thalia stepped closer. The heat from his body radiated off of him and warmed her. If she hadn’t been this close she wouldn’t have seen the slight sheen of sweat or the increased pace of his breath. She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Grab my cock,” he begged hoarsely. And this time, Thalia submitted. *** Zepar watched from the shadows, a voyeur with a sick compulsion. He had watched them this past week. Watched Leraye bend Thalia over a saddle in the stables and fuck her like a stallion. Watched them roll in the loamy earth of the herb garden, releasing the scent of crushed basil and mint as they laughed like loons. Watched them on the dining table as Thalia decorated Leraye's cock with chocolate sauce and licked him clean. Watched them as they fornicated their way around the castle. He hadn’t been able to stop. Each time he saw them together his heart gave a little jolt. He wasn’t jealous. He was almost positive he felt disgust. Yes, disgust for their insatiable lust. Just because he hadn’t felt that kind of lust except for when he’d watched Thalia fuck herself, or when he’d kissed--

So what if he'd been unable to maintain an erection. So what if he'd been unable to fuck anyone else. He was under a lot of pressure. The castle needed as many human/Demon mating pairs as possible. That was it. Thalia pressed a kiss to Leraye’s heavily muscled back. Leraye flexed his deltoids as he fisted his hands against the rough stone walls. Zepar couldn’t see her hands from here, but he knew she pumped Leraye’s cock slowly from the way her arms moved. The sheer beauty of Leraye’s body took away Zepar’s breath. Broad shoulders, thick muscled neck, even the curve of his head held power and beauty. His body possessed the ability to bestow pleasure or pain. Or both. With each movement of her hands, Leraye’s hips shifted toward the wall. Thalia had spread her legs further apart and pressed her pelvis against Leraye’s ass. Her buttocks moved with Leraye’s. The contrast of Leraye’s darker, battle hardened body and Thalia's softer more feminine curves caused attraction swell within Zepar. Their sensual dance was a visual, erotic feast for his weary soul. And miraculously his cock surged to life. Zepar found himself echoing their erotic rhythm as he rubbed his own cock in time to their thrusts. Zepar could see her whisper in Leraye’s ear but he couldn’t hear her words. The heavy sound of their breathing in the near silent dungeon chamber drowned out whatever she said to him. “Do it.” Leraye ground out. Zepar was mesmerized by the flex and play of Leraye’s muscles and the sight of her long slender finger. She’d lubricated the digit and now ringed the rosette in Leraye’s ass with her right hand even as she continued to work his cock with her left. Tentatively, Thalia pushed her finger part way into Leraye’s ass. Zepar wanted to stop her, take over from her awkward moves and show her the proper way to breach that place of pleasure. “Harder.” Leraye grunted. Thalia shoved her finger in all the way. Leraye groaned. “More.” Without hesitation, she plundered his ass, working three fingers into him. The sleek lines of her arms were highlighted by the sliver of moonlight. Thalia’s breath heaved in and out of her lungs, as she rocked her body in time to the dual assaults on Leraye. Zepar loosened his breeches and he worked his erection while Thalia worked Leraye’s. He clenched his own ass with each purposeful invasion of her fingers. Each time he thrust his hips a powerful shame rose within Zepar. And yet, he couldn’t look away. The power in the interaction was immense. The mingled scent of Leraye and Thalia perfumed the air and the temptation to join them nearly brought him to his knees. The phantom lover caught in the shadows. Unable to admit that he wanted to engage with them, yet equally unable to stop watching. As Thalia worked Leraye’s body, Zepar saw the love between them. The gentle kisses she placed along the curve of Leraye’s spine. The way Leraye turned his head to gaze into Thalia’s eyes. Their connection was almost palpable in the steamy, confined air. How could he have doubted them? And why was he so jealous? With a muffled shout, Leraye erupted and spewed cum over the prison cell walls. He watched the two kiss, as their lips met in a gentle, affectionate caress. A lover’s act. No, not just a lover’s act but the act of two people in love. Zepar’s heart pounded against his ribcage as he finally accepted their love. His heart was empty, hollow. He was going to creep away, still cloaked in glamour, and hope they hadn’t noticed him lurking in the corner. But not yet.

FOURTEEN Thalia leaned her forehead on the hard bulge of Leraye’s shoulder. His heart boomed against the sculpted planes of his pectorals. His scarred body filled her with an abundance of love. His muscles bunched more than normal as he strained to release his hands from the cuffs. She hoped desperately that this interlude had helped him with his lingering lust for Zepar. Gods knew she understood. “You going to let me go?” His voice rumbled pleasantly through her insides and she smiled at the contentment she heard there. He tugged again, but she’d used special cuffs that would withstand a Demon’s strength. “Not just yet.” She lovingly cleaned Leraye’s body and her own. “How did you manage to acquire these?” The metal rattled in the somnolent air as he shook his wrists. Thalia smiled secretively. “Never you mind.” Zepar lingered in the corner. She must have sensed him earlier and just not realized it was him. Again. He’d been present at most of their more public exploits but she still had no idea why. The ache in her heart intensified and she wished, again, he would either join them or leave them alone. “He’s here again?” he murmured. She nodded. Her forehead rubbed against his sweat-slicked skin and she savored the scent of his essence. All male and all Demon. “Let me go,” he said in a louder voice. But before Thalia could retrieve the keys, another voice interrupted. A woman. “No, you don’t.” Thalia turned around, her body in front of Leraye’s. It was Judy, the woman who Thalia had been training to take over her place as a Grace. “What?” “Shut up, Thalia.” The woman pointed some sort of weapon at Leraye. “You’ve served your purpose. Now move away from the Demon.” Thalia frowned. “What?” She couldn’t seem to process what was happening. “You think I didn’t know you were my contact?” Judy sniped. “I’m not dumb. The Fae told me not to speak of it. But I knew it was you. You’ve been helping me since you brought me here.” “You traitor.” Leraye snarled from behind her. Thalia whirled to face him. “You think I betrayed you?” “Get away from me.” Leraye’s face had hardened into contempt and hate. His words came from a far off place as if the wind blew around her in a tempest. He was listening to Judy. He thought Thalia was a traitor. Thalia blinked, unable to snap out of her shock. Her head roared. A gaping hole hollowed out her chest and froze her feelings into ice. Leraye believed Judy. Not Thalia. Thalia had given him everything. Everything she had to give. And he believed that she would betray the Demons. How could Leraye believe Thalia would harm him, harm any Demon? She loved him. Oh, Gods. She loved him. Leraye tugged on the handcuffs. Thalia moved away from Leraye, who believed Judy, and closer to the keys on the bed. Thalia saw Zepar materialize behind Judy but he couldn’t reach her in time to disarm her. “We will destroy the Demon of Battle and cripple Prince Gaap and his minions.” Judy raised her weapon and pressed the trigger. "No!" With a hoarse cry, Thalia launched herself between Leraye and the deadly stream of electricity. A blast glanced off Thalia’s shoulder, but the bulk of the shot streamed past her and into Leraye. The pain, a searing white hot burn, felt as if her body was rent in half and she fell into the darkness. *** Zepar lunged for Judy, but he was too late. The first blast struck Thalia and she went down hard. Leraye was frozen. With an inhuman roar, Zepar tackled Judy. His blade sliced across her jugular so deeply that he severed her head from her body. In a flash, Zepar knelt to Thalia’s inert body. She lay so still. Her chest barely moved. Leraye’s body began to twitch. Whatever the blast had been if it had hit Leraye full on, it would have frozen him again or killed him. Instead Thalia had borne the brunt of the wicked zapper. Leraye towered over them. The cuffs dangled from each bloody wrist, his hands clenched into fists of rage. “Leave her,” Leraye said harshly. “You idiot.” Zepar lifted Thalia gently into his arms and started for the dungeon steps. “She did not betray you.” There was no blood. Which was almost worse. Nothing to staunch. And yet a vicious burn slashed her right side. Leraye thudded behind him. “You're so sure.” “She just threw herself into certain death to save you.” Zepar tried to be as gentle as possible as he raced for his chambers. She lay limp in his arms. “Get Barbas,” Zepar spat. “We must see if he can save her.”

FIFTEEN Zepar hovered over Thalia as she lay on the chaise in his chamber. His chest was heavy as he fought alongside Thalia for each breath. Leraye knelt beside her, keeping vigil. Barbas, the Demon of Healing, lounged wearily in the ornate chair next to the fireplace. His dark skin, dark hair and dark eyes rendered him more like a Demon of Doom than one who had taken an oath to heal. He had tried everything to heal Thalia’s wounds. “I can do nothing further.” Zepar was desperate. There had to be something else. "Nothing?" Zepar could barely hear over the sound of his own labored breathing. Leraye's chest rose and fell harshly. And he knew Leraye was caught in the same anguish. It had been over twenty-four hours since Thalia made her sacrifice and nothing had revived her. "We could try a transfusion." "Take my blood," Leraye blurted. Zepar would gladly offer his own blood too but he knew that Leraye needed to atone for his moment of doubt. "We will have to use the blood most compatible to her type," Barbas said patiently. But after a small test, Barbas determined that neither his blood nor Leraye's was suitable. At that moment, Prince Gaap entered Zepar's chamber. "How is she?" They explained the dire situation to the Prince. Zepar ended with, "We need compatible blood." "Try mine." The Prince held out his arm. In that moment, Zepar knew he would lay down his life for Gaap. As Barbas tested Gaap's blood, the Prince revealed his true reason for the visit to Zepar's chamber. “The human, Judy, is dead.” It was a statement. “Yes, my Lord.” Barbas replied. "I verified her death myself." Gaap said, "It would seem now we know why the Fae did not attempt to kill you on the way home from the village." "A ruse to conceal any stink of Fae we might have uncovered." Leraye hypothesized. It made sense. Dammit. They had thought nothing of it when they brought the women to the castle and bathed the Fae's touch from them. “She spoke of a contact in the castle when she attempted to kill Leraye.” Gaap frowned, his face dark and worried. Zepar nodded, a solid lump in his throat as he remembered how close Leraye had come to death. And how close Thalia lay to death now. "The Prince is a match." A smile burst on Barbas's face. "This is good. "Do it," the Prince said imperiously. Within minutes Barbas had set up a transfer of Prince Gaap's blood to Thalia. Zepar was too overcome to speak. Leraye knelt before the Prince, his head bowed low. "Thank you." Once the transfusion was complete, Zepar went to Thalia's left side and Leraye to her right. "You are certain that Thalia was not the traitor?" The Prince asked. Leraye jumped to his feet, fists clenched, face fierce. "She is not." Zepar got ready to restrain Leraye in case he was foolish enough to attack. "I could see her face when Judy attacked. Thalia did not betray us." His conviction rang through the tense chamber. "I had to ask," the Prince said mildly. Zepar relaxed slightly. “If Thalia was not Judy’s contact, then we have another traitor in this castle,” Gaap said ominously as he rolled down his sleeve. “That was also my assessment.” Barbas concurred. "I need you to find that traitor.” Gaap directed the command at Barbas. Zepar knew that Barbas sometimes acted in other capacities for the Prince. "As you wish," Barbas replied. Gaap spoke to Zepar and Leraye. "You will speak of this to no one." Zepar nodded. "I will be happy to give my assistance," Leraye said fiercely. Zepar also pledged his aid. Gaap looked at them both, a serious weight in his face. "Concentrate on your consort's recovery," Gaap said. "And then we will see." Prince Gaap had just given his permission for them to claim Thalia as their own. A particular joy filled Zepar. But the blessing would not matter if she didn't recover. Gaap said, "I will pray for her." And then he left. And once again Zepar was left in his chamber with the still, silent Thalia and Leraye and Barbas. Thalia's chest had sunken in and her lips were pale, nearly blue with lack of oxygen. She was fading before their very eyes. "Why won't she get better?" Zepar lamented. "Her body is capable of regeneration.” Barbas rubbed his thick-fingered hands over a tired face. “But it’s as if her mind is not willing. She has given up.” Leraye dropped his head to the chaise. “Gods, what have I done?” The mighty Demon of Battle had been destroyed by the probable demise of one slight woman. Zepar stroked his palm over the smooth curve of Leraye’s head. With his other hand, he clasped Thalia’s fingers tightly and willed her to live. “Fight, damn it.” Barbas lifted his dark gaze to the hand Zepar had rested upon Leraye’s head. Their vigil reminded Zepar far too much of the way they kept watch over Leraye when they’d first brought him home. Zepar’s chest hollowed at the desolate look in his old friend’s eyes. How could he ever have thought that Leraye and Thalia didn’t love each other? “I saw the glimmer of power when you kissed in the dungeon,” Zepar spoke. “Before Judy blasted her. Should we try it?” Leraye didn’t even answer. He just jammed his mouth to hers desperately but nothing happened. No spark. Nothing. Leraye backed away slowly. The fire crackled merrily in the fireplace. The snap and hiss, normally a pleasant sound, at was at odds with the somber expectation that hung in the air. As Zepar stared into Thalia’s slack face, a desperate idea floated in his mind. Zepar curled his fingers into a fist. "What if we try to revive her, the way we revived Leraye.” Barbas shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.” Leraye stared into Zepar’s eyes, his pale blue tormented gaze lit with emotion. “You were able to bring me back.” A frisson of concern skittered up Zepar’s spine at the hope in Leraye’s gaze. What if they couldn’t do it? What if it didn’t work?

“We have to try,” Leraye said fiercely. “We have to.” “By kissing Leraye. Breathing air into his lungs together. We literally breathed life back into him.” Zepar continued to clutch Thalia’s hand in his own, fearing that if he let go she would slip away as the sun slipped beneath the horizon. Barbas stared steadily at the two of them. “Try it. And call me if there is any change.” “You’re leaving?” Zepar said desperately. “There’s nothing more I can do for her,” he replied solemnly. "And I have a traitor to find." With that Barbas left. Zepar perched on Thalia’s right side near her rib cage, while Leraye took the left side. With his free hand, Zepar grabbed Leraye’s and twined their fingers together, Leraye’s hard palm tense. As one they leaned over Thalia’s prone form. “What worked the best was to press our lips to yours together.” Zepar steeled himself for disappointment, afraid to let hope take root. Leraye nodded stiffly and pressed his cheek to Zepar’s. The sensation brought back forgotten memories. The brush of Leraye’s hair along his jaw line, the rougher skin of Leraye's beard against his face. the battle-hardened muscles of Leraye's chest against his. Zepar inhaled and gently, tenderly placed his mouth at the corner of Thalia’s lips. Leraye did the same to the other side of her mouth. The three formed a triangle of lips that felt right and true. “Please,” Zepar whispered, “come back to us.” Zepar and Leraye breathed in and out of her mouth. Zepar held Thalia’s hand next to his own heart. He clasped Leraye’s hand over her heart and felt the thready bump-da-bump as it beat erratically. Leraye cupped Thalia’s jaw and blew harder into her mouth. “I’m sorry,” he murmured between breaths. In and out they breathed as one. But nothing happened. Zepar and Leraye refused to give up. They continued to breathe in and out. But her heart slowed, and its rhythm steadily declined. “No,” Zepar said fiercely. “Kiss her. Show her.” Zepar and Leraye descended upon her mouth. Zepar pressed his tongue inside her mouth at the same time as Leraye. Their tongues twined together as they blew with all their might and tried desperately to give her life. Zepar poured every ounce of love into the kiss as he willed Thalia to live. Her hand was clutched to his heart and Leraye’s against her breastbone. His tongue dueled with Leraye’s as they stroked hers. Unable to hold back emotion he hadn't let himself feel for a long time, Zepar unleashed his love for Leraye. And suddenly Zepar wasn’t just kissing Thalia but Leraye as well. As if he had willed it to be so, it seemed as if Thalia was moving her tongue against theirs. Had he imagined the tentative touch? No! Thalia had responded. Her heart thud harder against their twined fingers. They continued to kiss her, their tongues stroking hers and suddenly power, pure and radiant, shimmered between the three of them. Zepar broke away from the intertwined kiss, his chest heaving. The power shocked him out of his joy. Gods, he wanted to be a part of their love. Yet, he didn't know how. He had only aided in bringing her back to consciousness. But he knew from watching Leraye and Thalia earlier that their love ran true and deep without him.

SIXTEEN Thalia regained consciousness slowly. Sensations filtered through her muddled brain. The hard press of Leraye’s chest against her shoulder and the callused roughness of his fingers along her jaw. Zepar's palm and fingers entwined against her breastbone. Zepar's taste in her mouth. Her lips were wet and swollen from the attentions of her Demons. A thin sheet covered her naked body as she reclined on a chaise of the finest velvet. She recognized the chair from her many intimate conversations with Zepar. “Hey,” she said sleepily as a smile flitted across her lips. She was surrounded by the two Demons she loved most. Their hands hooked together with hers. However, she didn’t usually fall asleep in Zepar’s room. “What am I doing here?” Her body was floaty, ephemeral, as if the lightest of winds would blow her away. She absorbed their silence. And in a memory recall, the shocking events whirred through her mind. The erotic encounter in the dungeon with Leraye, Judy and her accusations, the blast of something from a weapon as her heart shattered into a million pieces. Her frantic gaze went to Leraye but no condemnation lurked in his gaze. “I’m sorry.” His voice was deep with regret. “How could you believe that?” Her heart was breaking all over again. “I don’t. I only doubted for a minute, but I was wrong.” Leraye looked miserable. “But Zepar never did.” “I’ll just go.” Zepar tried to extricate his fingers from theirs but Thalia hung on tightly. “It’s your room,” Leraye said Then Thalia said, “Don’t go.” Zepar paused as if torn. “Don't you two want to be left alone?" “What I want is for you to stay here,” she said in a steel-coated voice. Thalia prayed that Zepar would listen to her. She’d never tried to command him. But she felt things slipping through her fingers and couldn’t bear to part this way. Her heart thudded in her chest until he stopped trying to withdraw his fingers. “What happened?” “Judy almost killed you.” Zepar’s voice broke. Thalia’s gaze focused on her first love. The Demon, Zepar. His fingers brushed gently over the curve of her eyebrow. The heat from his body was like an inferno against her right side, warming her insides. “You saved me.” Leraye growled. “Why would you do that?” And then she turned to her other love, a surprising love, one she never anticipated. “You haven’t figured it out yet?” With a shaking hand, she lifted their twined fingers to her lips and nuzzled his knuckles. “She loves you,” Zepar said. You idiot was implied. “Ah, but she also loves you.” Thalia lifted their twined hands to her lips and nuzzled Zepar’s knuckles. The tension in the room rose to a new level. But she refused to back down, because Thalia realized that she’d almost died. She couldn’t waste this chance to show both Demons she loved them. “What do you want?” Zepar asked softly. His gaze luminous with hope. And Thalia knew that he had finally opened his heart. “The three of us. Together.” She pulled both of their heads down to meet her mouth. At the touch of both of their lips, she moaned. Each had their own unique touch. Leraye harder, more dominant, and Zepar, softer, yet no less insistent. A strange sort of energy hummed through her. Thalia looked deeply into Leraye’s shadowed gaze and purposefully licked up the side of his neck, a particularly erogenous spot which she’d found during the last week of love play. The huff of his breath feathered along the tops of her breasts. Her nipples peaked at the light caress of air. “She liked that,” Zepar murmured against her beaded nipple. “Do it again.” Zepar sucked the tip into his mouth. His tongue curled around the sensitive bud and tugged. Leraye eased the sheet down her nude body and bent his head to her other breast. Thalia looked down to see one mane of blonde hair and the other dark and bald head against her body and something deep inside of her broke loose. She loved them both. The tug of their tongues on her nipples caused an answering clench deep with in her belly. But Thalia knew it wasn’t enough. She didn’t just want their attention on her. She wanted their sexual focus on each other as well. “Hold.” And wonder of all wonders, they listened. “Turn me around. So that my head is at the foot of the chaise.” Zepar carefully lifted her and lay her back down until her head was near the foot and her thighs straddled the other end, open wide and already drenched with arousal. Leraye’s gaze was ensnared by her glistening sex. Zepar’s cock strained against his breeches, thick and ready. “You want to lap that right up, don’t you?” She smiled at Leraye, just a little bit wicked, and waited for understanding to dawn in his gaze. “Anything for you, angel.” Leraye’s tongue swiped over his lips and as if unable to resist he bent over and gave her one long, leisurely lick. Thalia purred. “On your hands and knees, mouth at my pussy. Your cock aligned with my lips. Now.” Leraye complied quickly. The musky scent of his pre-cum filled her senses. And then the head of his penis bumped against her lips. With a slow swipe, she licked the salty liquid into her mouth and moaned at the erotic dark taste of him. Leraye trilled the bud of her clitoris with his clever tongue, the little motion setting off tremors through her body. Zepar cleared his throat. “Where do you want me?” “Do you have any lubrication?” She gasped as Leraye continued to love her with just the tip of his tongue. He traced her nether lips, and circled her slit, but never once entered her. Zepar understood immediately what she wanted. “Suck him into your mouth.” Zepar demanded. And Thalia was helpless to resist. Slowly, slowly, she sucked the whole of Leraye’s wide, broad cock into her mouth. She tongued the bulbous head and sucked harder until he was seated all the way inside her mouth and the head touched the back of her throat. She swallowed. The motion squeezed him tight and he groaned. Slowly he began to move. In and out of her mouth, he fed his cock to her. “Spread your legs wider.” Thalia spread her pussy open even as she realized that Zepar had been talking to Leraye. Leraye shifted and Thalia could see through the opening of Leraye’s legs as Zepar pumped his own cock and covered himself with lubrication.

He rubbed his cock against Leraye’s hole and it was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen. Leraye shuddered. And finally, finally he stopped teasing her with his tongue. He slid the agile member into her pussy on a short, rough thrust. He’d curled the tip so he hit her g-spot even as his flat Demon tongue pressed hard against her clitoris. Then he went so deep he touched her womb. And if her mouth hadn’t been full of Demon cock, she would have screamed. *** Zepar hesitated. He was erotically charged by the sight of Leraye’s tongue as it disappeared into Thalia’s feminine sex. The sight of her reddened lips as she sucked Leraye’s cock into her mouth had left him harder than the stone pillars supporting the castle’s arches. And then Zepar traced his gaze over the familiar muscled curve of Leraye’s spine. Zepar rubbed the head of his cock over Leraye’s rosette. With each pass, Leraye puckered then relaxed. Zepar could wait no more. Zepar eased his cock into Leraye. The tight clasp of Leraye's muscles squeezed his cock near to the point of pain. But it was a pleasure and a pain wellremembered. With every inch of his cock that disappeared into Leraye, Zepar felt as if he were coming home. Zepar spread his legs further, gripped Leraye’s hips and held on for a wild ride. He began to slowly pump in and out of Leraye, wanting to savor each moment of friction. But as he watched them, he felt disconnected from Leraye and Thalia. They faced each other and he could watch them but didn’t feel like he was participating. As if Thalia read his mind, she reached up and cupped his balls with her hands. Zepar slid his hands down the front of Leraye’s thighs and plucked at her nipples. The new position pushed Zepar’s cock into Leraye, then pushed Leraye’s cock into Thalia’s mouth and Leraye’s tongue further into Thalia’s cunt. As one, the three set up a rhythm and sawed in and out. Mouths, tongues, hands, cocks, pussy a jumble as they connected in so many places that it became hard to remember where one started and the others stopped. Love thundered in his heart. This moment was more than reunion. It was a beginning. For all three of them. If Zepar was willing to let go of the reasons he'd held back from Leraye for the past ten years and embrace his love for his friend and the woman who had sacrificed everything for them both, his world would be thrilling beyond imagination. The pressure began to build at the base of Zepar’s spine and signaled he was close to orgasm. “I’m going to--" He would hold on to both Leraye and Thalia. With that resolution, the cum bubbled up like a geyser and shot out of his cock into Leraye’s ass. His vision blurred as the world went white and he came and came and came as if he hadn’t come for a thousand years. Thalia hollowed her cheeks and sucked ever harder. Leraye’s buttocks tightened as he unloaded his wad into Thalia’s mouth and the reaction tugged even harder on Zepar’s cock. Leraye buried his face in her pussy and fucked Thalia even harder with his tongue. And Thalia lifted her thighs and clamped them around Leraye’s face as her body bowed. Zepar was buried balls deep in Leraye, his pubis snugged up against Leraye’s balls, which were close to Thalia’s lips. Her muffled moan vibrated through Leraye and into Zepar, setting off another round of tremors. For a moment, no one in the room moved. The only sounds were their heated breathing. Leraye eased his tongue from Thalia’s body. She whimpered and lifted her hips as if begging for more. He tilted his head and pressed a gentle kiss on the inside of her thigh. “Patience, angel,” Leraye murmured against her soft white skin. Zepar took that as his cue to slowly withdraw from Leraye. And then Zepar stood behind him. Still separate. Still alone. Zepar watched as Leraye pulled his softening cock from Thalia’s lips and then stood. Still and strong and broad. Leraye held out his hand to Thalia. Without hesitation, she let him pull her to her feet. Thalia swayed in front of them. Her lips reddened and plumped and her mouth slick with Leraye’s cum. Leraye grinned at her and licked his lips. The shadow of his beard was shiny with Thalia’s juices. Leraye curled one arm around Thalia’s shoulder and tugged her to his side. He kissed her with a fervor Zepar had rarely seen. And for a moment, he felt left out. Zepar took a step back. Leraye’s hard palm grabbed his neck and jerked him into the circle of their embrace. Thalia and Leraye turned to Zepar and together they kissed him. Joy burst within him. Their lips, one pair soft, one pair hard, assaulted his mouth. Zepar was embraced on both sides, Leraye’s thick muscular arm around his back and Thalia’s softer palm on his buttocks. Their essences mingled in his mouth, an exquisite blend of male and female. The taste was highly erotic. Zepar closed his eyes and savored. As if unable to help himself, Zepar pulled Thalia closer to him and slithered his tongue down her throat, and traced the same path that Leraye’s cock had taken, then pulled out of her mouth. “Zepar,” Thalia gasped as she rubbed her breasts against his chest. “Yes, love,” he answered. "What would you do to make things right?" He had thought things were right. But now he knew he would do anything. It was Leraye who questioned. “Thalia?” “Anything.” Responded Zepar. All of her attention was on Zepar. “You watched us.” Thalia’s tongue played with Zepar’s nipples even as he slid his fingers to her sex and toyed with her clitoris. “Yes,” Zepar answered. “In the dungeon?” she probed. “Yes.” He held his gaze steady on Thalia. “Are you willing to give Leraye what he really wants?” She asked softly, her attention still on Zepar, but she’d managed to pull Leraye in to her snare as well. “What do you think that is?” Zepar asked. He'd stopped breathing in anticipation, as if he couldn’t wait for her next words. “He wants to put his cock in your ass,” she said baldly.

SEVENTEEN Everyone stilled. It was as if Thalia had unleashed an elephant in the giant chamber and everyone feared that if they moved, the elephant would crush them. “It’s not necessary.” Leraye denied and pushed away from Thalia, away from Zepar. The words, his actions, cut Zepar in the heart. “I think it is.” Thalia countered. “Do you love me?” “Yes.” They answered in tandem. “Yes," Zepar said again. The word was more emphatic and more sure the second time around. They both loved her. “I love you, too.” She smiled, a serene, elegant yet somehow wicked smile. “And I want you to fuck each other.” Zepar’s cock jerked at the coarse words. Of course he’d trained her in what to say to Demons to get them to respond but her words evoked images that he’d banished years ago. He’d never been breached. That act was the last stronghold to deny what lay in his heart. He would only fuck Leraye. Zepar had never allowed the reverse. He’d let the Demon suck him off while chained and trapped but his ass remained inviolate. “Do you agree?” Thalia’s harsh words broke into Zepar’s memories. “Yes,” he said hoarsely. Because in his heart, he wanted exactly what Leraye and Thalia wanted. "Not without you, Thalia,” Leraye said. Zepar knew in that moment that Leraye would protect Thalia at all costs. Thalia agreed breathlessly. Leraye took charge. “Bed. Now.” A shiver of arousal skimmed over Zepar. “Thalia, lie down. Spread your legs,” Leraye said. She lay on the velvet duvet and spread her legs wide. The glistening folds of her sex beckoned. “You haven’t had your cock for the day, have you?” Zepar said. She twitched as if trying to suck in a cock that wasn’t there. Her fingers moved toward her pussy. “Don’t touch yourself.” Leraye ordered her. “Watch us first.” Zepar’s cock was already hard again as he stood by the side of the bed. Leraye came up behind him and pressed his hard muscled chest against the tense planes of Zepar’s back. The sensation was unfamiliar and yet he relaxed into the embrace. Leraye’s chest hair crinkled against his back and the hard rod of Leraye’s erection rubbed in the cleft of his buttocks. And then Leraye reached around his waist and gripped Zepar’s cock in his masculine hand. The rougher, bigger palm should have been more like his own and yet, Leraye was shaped differently, so he felt the change from the tip of his cock down to his toes. Leraye circled Zepar’s throbbing, aching cock and squeezed. Zepar stiffened. And Leraye swiped the ball of his thumb over his weeping head repeatedly. Until Zepar’s hips involuntarily began to move, trying to initiate harder contact. Thalia whimpered. “Don’t worry, angel. I’m just getting him ready for you.” With one final swipe, Leraye released Zepar's cock. Leraye’s stubbled jaw brushed his shoulder and Zepar felt the lightest of kisses on his neck. Leraye’s voice rumbled in his ear. “Turn around.” Zepar turned slowly to face Leraye. Despite his harsh commands, a certain vulnerability hovered in Leraye’s pale blue gaze. And Zepar sought to reassure him the only way he could. Zepar cupped Leraye’s jaw in his hand and slowly brought his mouth to his friend’s. The first touch of their lips was tentative. A mere brush of their mouths. But then as if a torrent of sensation released within him, Zepar grabbed Leraye’s hips and jerked their bodies together. Everything about kissing Leraye was harder. Thicker jaw, harder lips, and even harder pressure against his mouth. The thick broad planes of Leraye's chest against Zepar’s and the hard rod of his erection as they rubbed their cocks together. And Zepar loved it. Leraye’s arms curled tight around Zepar’s ribs and he thrust his tongue inside of Zepar’s mouth. Suddenly the contact was rough, intense as their tongues dueled for supremacy and they rubbed their cocks against the softer skin of their bellies. Pre-cum leaked from Zepar’s slit and coated Leraye’s belly and Zepar wanted to claim this warrior. Zepar groaned and Leraye broke out of the embrace. “Fuck her, gently,” Leraye said. Zepar climbed on the bed and hovered over Thalia. Heat rose from her aroused body. Her nipples were reddened and puckered and begged for his mouth. Zepar bent down and sucked one hardened tip into his mouth. She tasted of sex and love. Her regal body flushed. Red love bites marred the insides of her thighs, the marks from Leraye’s mouth. Thalia’s gaze was glued to Zepar’s cock. He’d never been so hard in his life. “Please.” Slowly, Zepar eased his cock into her wet folds. Her sex suctioned him in as if she had been long without a cock and was starving for one. The contact was feminine and sweet and erotic as she softly, gently kissed him. Her kiss was nothing like the invasion from Leraye yet touched a tender place inside of Zepar. A sense of completing their circle swept through him. Zepar pulled back out, and teased her clitoris with the head of his cock, rubbing back and forth with just enough pressure to have her squirming. The sensual arousal fizzed through him like fine champagne and he began a slow glide into her sex. Zepar lost himself in sensation. The cool touch of Leraye’s hand on his buttocks sharpened his awareness. The squirt of lubricant onto his hole caused his body to clench at the untried contact. But Leraye, as if understanding that this first time was important, soothed him with strong sure strokes. Leraye’s palm slid from the back of Zepar’s neck, down his spine, to cup his balls. But then with his other hand, Leraye eased his finger into Zepar, then out, keeping the same slow rhythm that Zepar had going with Thalia. Easy, sweet, seductive. “I have wanted to fuck you for over a thousand years,” Leraye said hoarsely. Zepar's heart contracted. Passion for his old lover overwhelmed any regret at how long this moment had taken. Leraye positioned his cock at Zepar’s hole. Each time Zepar flowed in and out of Thalia’s pussy, the head of Leraye’s cock rubbed over Zepar’s rosette. Tingles began in the tips of his toes and traveled up his body until he felt as if he were buzzing. On the next glide into Thalia’s body, Leraye slid his cock inside of Zepar. The sensation of being filled to bursting threatened to swallow Zepar whole. He felt split in two and yet complete for the first time in his life. Thalia’s entire body throbbed. The slow rhythm Zepar had started only prolonged her arousal. He’d refused to take the sex to the next level and it was driving her

crazy. Suddenly there was a change in their contact. He was keeping the same slow pace but his body was heavier on top of hers. Thalia opened her eyes and stared over Zepar’s shoulder into Leraye’s joyous gaze. His arms strained as he held himself above Zepar and above Thalia, his entire body clenched in desire. She had two gorgeous Demons on top of her. “Harder,” she and Zepar said at the same time. And they began to fuck in earnest. Thalia kept her eyes open and watched Leraye fulfill his dream. He slammed in and out of Zepar’s body, the hard contact shimmied and shook her as well. Zepar’s cock filled her, so hard and so thick she could barely breathe. Leraye arched back, his mouth opened in a groan as he came inside of Zepar. With a shout, Zepar emptied his cock into her body, and the throb of their release triggered Thalia’s. Power burst from their joined bodies, almost a physical force. Light and energy shimmered in the air around them. Zepar and Leraye's bodies hummed and sizzled, transferring some power to Thalia. Her sex pulsed and clenched around Zepar’s cock, the contractions of her womb so hard she lost her sight for a moment. And then she opened her eyes to see two Demons smiling. Sweat coated their muscles but something softer and yet still tense hovered in the air. Leraye turned Zepar’s chin and kissed him full on the mouth. Their mouths met intimately. Their kiss turned feral and triggered another orgasm in Thalia. Watching them while Zepar’s cock still pulsed inside her was incredibly erotic. She sighed. Then they broke the kiss and both Demons turned their attention to Thalia. “What?” They asked in unison. “It’s so beautiful,” she replied. Her breath stuttered. But it wasn’t because their combined weight pressed her further into the mattress. It was the look in both of their eyes. One light, one dark, both filled with love for her. Thalia reached up to cup their heads in her palms. As one they leaned down and kissed her. Their mouths joined in a triangle of lust and love. Another burst of power shot through her. Zepar and Leraye’s ended the kiss. Their faces filled with wonder. “Magick,” Leraye whispered. “Love,” Zepar contradicted. They took turns licking the salty skin of her neck. “We all found what we were hungry for,” Thalia said happily. “Which reminds me....” “Anything,” Zepar replied. “Everything,” Leraye responded. She smiled sultrily. “Next time I get to be the middle of the sandwich.”

About the Author Lisa Alder has been writing romance for years. All manner of stories lurk in her mind, with all manner of fictional creatures vying for her time and attention. Right now she=s consorting with Demons and Fae, but she=s been known to play with Angels, hot CIA dudes, and kick-ass heroines as well. You can find her on the web at www.authorlisaalder.blogspot.com , on Goodreads, on Twitter @LisaAlderBooks and on email: [email protected] She loves to hear from readers! Happy reading!

Acknowledgments Huge thanks once again.... To the fabulous, amazing Theresa Stevens for her editorial work. To Madeira James at Xuni.com for her stunning cover work. To LGC Smith for her emergency reads and props. To Martha at Alpha Division for her guidance and encouragement and sheer determination to succeed. (I can't thank you enough.) To Cecilia Gray for anything and everything: phone calls, texts and emails from Yay! to the OMG, my career is over. To my husband who has supported everything I do even when he doesn't necessarily understand it. I would be nowhere without you all.

Excerpt from The Demon's Bargain Available on Amazon, BN.com, and other online retailers now!! Subtle light flickered against the black walls. Blood red velvet drapes hung at the windows and let in the fading rays of the sun. While flames licked at the sootstained stone, Vetis, Demon of Corruption, lounged in the velvet upholstered chair, one leg flung over the ornately carved wooden arm, and stared disinterestedly at the destructive, seductive beauty of the flames. Gods, he needed a distraction. A challenge. Prince Gaap had ordered them all to gather as much human energy as possible to prepare for an imminent attack by the Fae. Intelligence suggested the Fae would advance soon. The Demons had to be ready. A battle was coming. He understood. And he would fight to the death before he spent another moment trapped beneath the Earth again. But Vetis was deadly bored with siphoning the energy from dissolute humans bent on destroying their lives with greed. “A visitor, my Lord.” His current butler, Figgins, bowed. “Who is it?” Did he even want to know? He swallowed the compulsion to send away without an audience whoever chose to disturb him. “Edward, the gambler, sir.” Vetis sighed. The sod was trying his patience. The man owed Vetis. That was what happened when you bargained with a Demon...and lost. “Get a cell ready.” He would draw the energy generated by the man’s fear and be done with him. “Yes, my Lord.” Figgins clicked his heels together. “Shall I show them in?” “Them?” “Ah, yes. He has...a lady with him.” Stupid sod. He thought to trade another for his debt. How many freaking times had these ignorant humans thought they could get away with cheating a demon? Would they never learn? “Show them in.” “Very good sir.” Figgins opened the grand doors to his chamber with a flourish. A sudden rush of cool air swept through the room and the velvet curtains swayed as if heralding a sea change. Towing a reluctant woman along in his wake, the fool gambler strode in as if he owned the castle. His hard-soled shoes clicked along the stone floor, the harder tap of her stilettos a counter beat to the gambler’s stride. Still slouched on his throne chair, Vetis observed them. Edward the gambler fairly vibrated with energy, radiating an excitement strangely at odds with his predicament. He saw no fear in the man. His thoughts were full of only anticipation. Yawn. So Vetis turned his gaze to the woman. She’d been dressed up like a hooker on the walk. Black stiletto heels, a black micro-mini so short he was sure if she turned around, he’d be able to see the globes of her ass peeking out the bottom, her wares on display. The black halter top was cut down to her belly button, in a wide V, displaying a decent set of breasts. Large, round, real, her nipples poked the black material but there was no doubt it was not from arousal. Her face was like stone. Sharp caramel eyebrows over a long blade of a nose and a cupid’s bow mouth the angels would have wept for, except for the fact that she was not smiling. Her angelic blond hair tumbled down her back. But what drew him was her eyes. Not one single emotion betrayed her. Her gaze was flat, blue, empty. When he probed her mind, he saw...nothing. How curious. As the Demon of Corruption, his goal in life was to make people do things against their nature. But first he needed to know their nature. Her mind was blank. Too blank. “You think to bring me a prostitute to pay off your debt?” By only a flicker of her eyelid did she reveal her distress. Not a prostitute then. “No, no.” The gambler laughed and a hint of nervousness finally edged into his mind. He pinched the woman, hard, on her arm. “This is my wife. Smile, dear.” The woman’s x-rated mouth remained still. “Your wife?” Vetis said flatly. He pressed his mouth into a straight line. It was nearly impossible to corrupt one already so depraved as to offer his wife to a Demon. Now if the gambler had protested, it would have been fun to demand her as payment. But this, this was annoying. This...insect dared to try to dupe him? “And why did you bring her with you?” Vetis slumped even further in the chair, shifting his weight to put his chin on his fist. Come, you ass. Show me your true colors so I can decide what your punishment shall be. And how I can reap the energy from your psyche. “I would offer her to you.” “I see.” Vetis blinked slowly. The woman hadn’t made any movement. None. She was preternaturally still. And her mind continued to stay amazingly blank. He had no idea if the man’s offer repulsed her or aroused her. Absolutely none. What an interesting turn of events. “Come closer, sweet.” He crooked a single finger at her, watching her dead eyes. The burning wood crackled, sparks flaring in the still silent cavern of a room as the earthy aroma of peat wafted lazily through the air. The woman didn’t move. “Is she drugged?” Vetis asked with pretended idleness. He couldn’t say why the thought enraged him, but Vetis suddenly wished the man would answer yes, just so he could hurt him. Edward shifted, his body turned toward the fire as if mesmerized. “No, my Lord.” He pushed his bride toward Vetis without so much as a flinch. “Go to him.” She shuffled toward him in the stilettos, her gait uneven, as if she were unaccustomed to walking in the sharp heels. The sacrificial woman hesitated at the two-tiered dais that held his chair. “Come, come, up the steps.” She lifted her gaze to his. Still no emotion. Still no feeling. And apparently she was mute. After another moment of hesitation she placed one foot daintily in front of the other until she stood directly in front of him.

Up close he could see the makeup slathered over her face. Rouge painted her cheeks, deathly pale beneath the false front. Her mouth, the pouty, puffy lips glossed shiny and slick, trembled. Finally emotion. Energy he could feed off of. Fear? Desire? Vetis tested the air, sniffing delicately to sense her mood. Besides an overabundance of some blowsy floral perfume, nothing else scented the air. “Of course, I can’t make a decision until I sample the merchandise.” He rubbed his fingers against his thumb, then wiggled his digits, like a safecracker getting ready to breach a vault. Vetis slid his palm inside the slinky halter top and brushed a thumb against her nipple. The woman’s skin was frigid. As cold as her ice blue eyes. Even in the heat of his room, she was nearly frozen. She didn’t react. Not one flicker of emotion crossed her face. With the exception of that slight tremble in her lips and the barest flinch of an eyelid earlier, she showed no reaction. She remained perfectly still while he brushed his thumb against the hard point. He slid his other hand between her knees and with a gentle press, indicated she spread her legs. The skin of her inner thigh was soft as the down feathers that stuffed the comforter on his bed. Slowly, he slid his fingers toward her mound. No underwear blocked his path. Wiry curls protected her feminine slit. He rubbed his fingers over her. Nothing. No juice wet his hand. The little nub of her clitoris was cold and dry against his fingertips. He couldn’t take his gaze away from hers. She was like a giant void. He had to wonder, as she stood without protest against his intimate invasion. What would it take to corrupt her? Tucked into leather breeches, his cock lay flaccid against his stomach. He waited for some sort of response. If nothing else she’d be good for a few blow jobs. He imagined his cock ramming in and out of her mouth, fucking her throat, until he came jetting down into her body. And still his body remained limp, uninterested. Gods, this boredom was killing him. The sensible, the logical move would be to send the woman home and feed off the sick energy pouring from the gambler. But, her absolute lack of emotion was like a siren, tempting him toward an uncertain path and payout. He wanted to corrupt her, wanted to harness her energy. Prince Gaap would clearly advocate for the former. But Vetis needed something. Needed a challenge. The woman stood straight and still while he tested her indifference. With one hand he cupped her breast while he trailed the other back down her thigh. He probed her mind again. And finally, he saw.

Excerpt from To Summon A Demon Available on Amazon, BN.com and other retailers now! The moon hung low in the sky. Pale blue light rippled over the lapping waves. The soft shush-shush of the ocean licked at the shimmering white sand like a lover. Lili spread her blanket in the secret little cove, hidden by a pair of boulders rising out of the sand like breasts laid out as an offering. “Apt,” she murmured. With a gust of warm wind, the ties on her shift loosened and the rough material swished against her naked skin. Lili constructed a small ring of stones near the edge of the water with careful precision, close enough that if the fire tried to spread the sea water would put it out and yet far enough inland to burn. She arranged the dry tinder in the small circle, making a small teepee, then threw in the shredded pieces of clothing she’d had worn yesterday. She would have never done something like this before. Before Brian had died. Before her life had been reduced to scrabbling for existence. She remembered the world before the Demons were freed. She’d been in computer sales. She’d had a good life in the city. A condo in a high rise and her fiancé in her bed. Sewing, hand-stitching, had been a hobby. An activity that linked her to her roots and helped her stay connected to her grandmother who lived in a quaint cottage in Ireland. But once the Demons emerged, the energy in their bodies disrupted the electricity grids. Soon after they ascended from the depths of their Hell, systems started going haywire. Within a month, the entire world’s electronic infrastructure had crumbled. The information highway was a rutted, unused back road. Banks, stock markets, the tech industry collapsed without the proper conduits in place. The entire world regressed to a pre-electronic age. And without the electronics to power systems, other industries soon fell into chaos. Ten years later the entire world had gone back to an age she had barely even read about. She’d had to relearn how to do everything without the aid of electricity. The reality of her daily life still had the power to throw her. But she’d dealt with everything until yesterday. Yesterday. Before she’d delivered the bookseller’s wedding dress. Yesterday before the Fae had attacked her. Yesterday had been the final straw. They’d attacked her. The memory of their hands groping, hurting played in her mind like an old-fashioned movie strip. Each roll of the film sickened her more and more, until she wanted to scream and explode with her rage and her fear. Every single miserable moment in her life could be attributed to the Fae. And she wanted them to pay. She would get her revenge. And who better to use than the mortal enemy of the Fae? The Demons. Specifically, the Prince Gaap. He commanded all of the Water Elemental Demons. The urge to hum a protective chant was strong but she knew she needed to wait. The instructions she’d found on how to summon a Demon were very specific. When the fire was lit and the flames fanned into a crackling offering, she lay down on the blanket, feeling a bit silly, even though her purpose was deadly serious. She remembered life before the Demons had come. Her life had been good. Solid. Happy. Now? Not so much. The Fae had attacked her. Stolen the one thing she had left. Her dignity. She’d made her own way in the world, without a man to protect her, without a family behind her. She stayed out of the way and concentrated on survival. All the while mourning her fiancé Brian and the rest of her family. But the Fae had changed all that when they’d attacked her. They had violated her body and suddenly the injustices of the last ten years rose up like a tidal wave inside of her and threatened to pull her under. She wouldn’t let them destroy her. Only the Demons could aid her revenge against the Fae. The sand chilled her through the wool weave of the old blanket. Goosebumps shivered across her skin and pebbled her nipples. Lili closed her eyes and called a Demon. “Gaap,” she whispered as she slid her hands up her body to cup her breasts. “I offer myself to you in exchange for your help.”

Jake's Wild Bride...Coming Soon Lisa Alder has two sides, a naughty side and a nice side. You've gotten a taste of her naughty side, come take a peak at her nice side. Jake's Wild Bride is a sexy, contemporary romantic romp. Lilah Mason is a woman on the brink of realizing her dreams of respectability and security when her fiancée dumps her the night before their wedding. Actually, he has his best man, Jake Forrest dump her. Jake is back in town only long enough to see his best friend married and to clean out his childhood home so he can leave behind his past reckless behavior once and for all. But first he has to babysit his old friend's ex-fiancée. It doesn't help that he is wildly attracted her her, but he's been down that road and vows to keep his hands to himself. What he doesn't count on is Lilah.

Excerpt from Dark Mercy (Masters of Mercy) By Rebecca Lyndon June 1098, outside the walls of Antioch

She came from the water. Richard of Guildford caught sight of someone rising from the waves of the Orontes. Gooseflesh rose up along his arms despite the lingering heat of day. He couldn’t tell through the dark desert night who disturbed the surface of the river, but he held up his balled fist, silently signaling the eight men following behind him to stop. Richard hadn’t kept them alive on their trek to the Holy Land these past three years by ignoring his gut instincts. They were far from the reinforcements of the siege camp, and, even though Richard believed to his core that his men were the best there were, none of them would stand a chance against a large enough ambush. He pulled his sword from its scabbard as a lithe form rose above the water. A lone woman that moved with an unearthly grace. Gossamer silks clung to her body as she floated toward the bank. Silver moonlight glistened off the curve of her breasts and the wide swell of her hips. Her dark mound showed clearly beneath the thin fabric. Richard tightened his grip around the hilt of his blade even as his cock hardened. She smiled as she stepped onto the grassy bank. Hardly the reaction one expected of a seemingly defenseless woman facing an armed band of warriors. But this was no ordinary woman. Even if Richard had not seen her gliding across the river, he still would have sensed it. Her amethyst eyes sparkled with their own light. “Put down your weapons.” Richard heard her voice, clear and loud in his mind, but her full, red lips had not moved. He was certain of it. When Richard shook his head in an exaggerated manner, commanding his men to stand firm against her, she waved her hand. The steel tip of his sword was forced to the ground with such strength that it buried in the cracked earth at his feet. Richard turned to see that the same unseen force had disarmed them all. “What are you? "Richard demanded. The willowy creature slid her gaze appreciatively down his body as she stepped closer. Her dark nipples puckered. “I go by many names, but you may call me Ashira.” “And I say, we are better off calling you by your true name,” Richard’s second in command, Rhys, said from directly behind him. “Demon” “Whatever name you choose for me is of little importance. What you should be interested in is what I can do for you.” “We want nothing from you she-devil,” Richard said. She dragged a slender finger down his chest. Richard tried to raise his hand to slap her away but found he was frozen, held fast by invisible bonds. “Is that so? Your minds, all of them, tell a different story. Each one of you is a powerful warrior. Together you are perhaps the most potent fighting force in this war. This crusade of yours has made brothers of you, but it has also worn you thin. You are all tired,” she said, weaving through the line of men as her dark magic held them immobile. She stopped in front of each man, looking deep into his eyes, taking his measure. “You are tired of watching good men cut down. You grow tired of watching your friends waste away with disease, their minds devoured by madness. But most of all you are tired of waiting to get your due.” “Lies,” Geoffrey Stark said as she passed him, but his voice lacked conviction. But her words were all too true. They had all started out on this journey with thoughts of securing their places in heaven, but if the last three years had shown them anything it was that hell was not some far off realm. The fires of perdition would pale in comparison to the agonies they had all endured in this infernal place. “I can give you all that you desire,” she said. “You can end the siege?” Richard asked. “Of course. But I can give you much more than that.” “What else?” he asked. “Riches. Power. Immortality.” Richard struggled to free himself from her spell, but he was hit by a powerful wave of lust as she returned to him. He imagined those red lips of hers wrapping around the length of his cock, sucking him dry. Those same lips curved up in a knowing smile. “Yes, that as well.” “And the price you ask for these gifts.” Her teasing look turned serious. “Surrender your own release, and instead offer to me the pleasure of all the women you touch.” Give up his orgasm and become an incubus? He weighed the temptation of nearly limitless strength and wealth against the cost. “For all eternity?” She shook her head. “One day a woman will return your release to you. On that day you will know that your service is no longer required.” “It is the devil’s bargain,” Rhys called out, but his voice was heavy with the same desire that rushed through Richard. “We would be empty shells. Nothing more than pleasureless demons.” Ashira rubbed her breast with her hand as she looked up and down Richard’s Welsh friend. “Not pleasureless. You would still feel the ecstasy of every lick and stroke, but there will be no release." She turned and rubbed her ass against Richards’s groin for emphasis. His cock was close to bursting. “Just think of all the comforts that would come along with all that wealth and power. Enough to fill a hundred lifetimes.” Richard swallowed hard. He knew some of his men would be swayed by this creature's promises of treasure and power, and Richard didn’t fault them. But he had lost half of his fighting force since he had left the shores of England, and he would gladly let heaven damn him if it meant he didn’t have to lose another friend. “Spare my men, even any who don’t agree, and I will accept your deal,” Richard said. Ashira smiled, and her look changed to one of pure hunger. She fell to her knees before him. She pulled at chausses, freeing his cock. Her tongue snaked out to wet her lips. “Then you are mine.” Her mouth descended on him, taking his full length in a single motion. Richard groaned as her wet tongue encircled him. Her cheeks pulled in as she sucked hard on his shaft. Realizing he was free from her divine bondage, Richard brutally grasped on to her long fall of golden hair and held her head still. Her glittering purple-colored eyes looked up at him, their corners lifted. She approved of his show of control. He surged again and again into her mouth. He waited for the telltale sounds of her throat’s resistance, but she took all of him without complaint. He could feel the power surging through her body. His heart began to pound to the beat of it. He thrust in time to the primal rhythm. Her long fingers bit into the flesh of his hips, holding him as brutally as he held her. He had gone past the usual point of his climax, but she continued to pull the dark pleasure from him.

“Do you swear to serve me?” Her voice was clear in his mind even though her lips were wrapped tight around around him. “I swear,” Richard said through gritted teeth. White hot ecstasy overtook him. His release gushed down her throat, and he roared out into the dark night as he came his last. Richard staggered backwards, and away from the creature he had entered into this damnable pact with. His skin felt branded by her touch. He opened and closed his fist, marveling at the feel of the unnatural strength flowing into his body. Then Richard watched as all eight others took their turn with Ashira.