Demon Branded (Demons of Florida) (7 page)

Tiago pinched the bridge of his nose and willed the emotion away. He didn’t have time to indulge. But a small spark of joy ignited at the thought of a brother or sister who’d be like him, mostly human. “Perhaps you should go to Ecuador. Just for a bit.”

“That’s what Cin was doing in here, away from me. Sulking. I told her to look over the travel plans to the new villa I bought on a banana plantation. She doesn’t want to leave me behind, the crazy woman.”

Cin glared up at Vedo. “I’ll wait for you.”

“Listen.” Tiago pointed to his suitcase. “I took the device. I’ve branded Ona Wolfrick. There will be no marriage to Shreeva Van Dross. Go to Ecuador.”

His parents went stock still, staring at him like he’d lost his mind.

“You bound yourself to a wolf?” Vedo glanced down and Tiago couldn’t help but do the same.

On Cin’s feet—she never wore shoes—Vedo’s brand still pulsed an angry red after over a dozen years. It didn’t hurt her, she’d insisted before when he’d asked.

“Why her feet, Dad?” He’d posed the question before. It’d never been answered.

Vedo shrugged. “It was the first thing I got to.”

“Right.” He nodded. “Same here.”

Vedo quirked a brow and the corner of his mouth curled up. “And where was that?”

“Don’t answer,” Cin broke in. “Males are all the same. Where is Ona?”

“She’s on her way.”

Sheer force of will kept him from going to check outside for the sound of a motorcycle.

He gave his parents hugs, congratulating them on the baby, and took his suitcase upstairs. Throwing it on the bed, he stared at it, unwilling to open it to view the dress. Instead, he headed to the shower, custom made to withstand demon heat.

By the time he’d gotten dressed and waited until he was a fashionable hour late, Ona still hadn’t made it and he’d paced a hole in the floor of the foyer.

“Come on, then. Let’s get this over with. Your mother will wait here and get your wolf to the party.”

“I think it’s best we put up a united front.” Tiago stared out the side windows. No sign of a woman or a bike.

“It would’ve been.” Vedo opened the front door and walked toward the hired limo for the night. “But we have to make do with what we have.”

“I’ve invited a few extra guests,” Tiago started. A movement to the side of the drive interrupted him but he didn’t see anything there. “I’ll tell you more in the car.”

A shadow skulked off to the left, down the long front drive. Tiago smiled. He pulled in a deep breath to be sure. There it was, the sweet scent of Ona. Tiago put his arm around Cin. “Mother, invite our guest in. Her dress is in my suitcase.”

“I saw her. Go. Cozy up to the bitch demon and see if you can find out her next move before all hell breaks loose. We’ll be there, bringing Hell with us.”

Tiago leaned down and gave Cin a peck on the cheek. “Such a blood-thirsty woman.”

“You know it.” She patted the side of his face and then gave him a shove toward the car. She yelled toward Vedo’s tuxedo disappearing into the limo. “See you later, love.”

“Don’t bring your swords, love,” Vedo yelled back.

Tiago shook his head and joined his father, ignoring the sick ball of ice forming in his gut. He’d grown up playing politics among the rich and cultured demons of Florida, but tonight, he’d rather ditch the suit and go howl at the moon.

Chapter Five

The limo with Tiago and the other demon pulled away from the driveway as she boldly sauntered into the floodlighting. Ona took a long sniff of the woman standing in the door of the mansion. She wasn’t human, exactly. There was something different about her scent.

“Can’t quite place what I am? I’ve heard that’s the case. I was human, before. Now I’m Vedo’s.”

Ona crouched and let the shift take her. The woman’s eyes sparkled as she tilted her head. Ona straightened, nude and unashamed. Only steps from the door, she asked, “What does that mean, you’re Vedo’s?”

“I’m Cin. Tiago’s mother.” She shoved a bared foot out. It was covered in the same type of demon brand that Ona had on her hip. “Well, his stepmother. His mother was a demon.”

“Yeah,” she responded, frowning at Cin’s feet. “Vedo’s the other one in the limo?” Cin nodded and Ona asked, “He did your feet?”

Cin laughed. “He wanted me to be able to follow my feet to the rift when it opened.”

“What?”

“I see we have a lot to discuss.” Cin clicked her tongue and tilted her head further, staring at Ona’s hip. “He really did put his stamp on you. That’s pretty big.”

“I think he wanted to make a larger mark than these.” She shrugged and held out her arms, the tatts there already starting to fade after three shifts.

“Come on in. I don’t trust those two to be alone for too long. All the women will be hanging on them. Not that they’ll do anything about it other than piss off some of the more ornery ones who don’t take kindly to rejection. I’ve had to end a downright brawl before—they lost a few heads in the process.”

Cin laughed and Ona immediately loved her.

The house was amazing. The front foyer was three stories tall and the entire place was filled with nice furniture—lots of leather but nothing really ostentatious. They made their way up a marble staircase to a room at the end of the long, wide hallway. Cin waved behind her, “At the top of the stairs, we have our bedroom, a library, sauna, stuff like that. Tiago never goes up there.”

She opened the door to a large bedroom. Covered with the same type of red comforter Tiago had had in the hotel, a king size bed dominated the far wall. Dark furniture accented the light brown stone floor. Red curtains parted slightly to show the peek of darkness that proved they were late.

“The house has been updated periodically to make it more fire-proof. You’ll see it comes in handy.” Cin crossed to a suitcase and hefted it onto the bed. “Let’s see what kind of dress he found for you.”

“Listen, I have some motorcycle leathers in my saddlebags.”

“A woman’s armor is her best dress. Trust me on this. You will want to look your finest because these demons have supernatural abilities to appear so good-looking you’ll just want to stare at them all day. Luckily, Vedo isn’t so easily bespelled, after being subjected to it for so long.”

“A woman’s best armor is her bite.” Ona grinned, toothy and feral.

Cin sighed and put her hands on her hips. “Well, I try to be all proper when we go to these things, but yeah, I’ll be sneaking in my sword.”

“Oh, what kind?” Ona moved toward the dress Cin had laid out on the bed.

“I’ll have to settle for a sharp dagger. Gotta fit it to my thigh under this.” Cin impatiently pointed to her own gown, some slim fitting thing that shimmered in a long sheath down her body.

“Is that a nice dress?” Ona glanced at the green filmy material. “It’s a groovy color.”

“It is.” Cin hummed and picked up the gown on the bed. “Hold out your arms.”

Green fabric flipped over her head and silky smoothness caressed her all the way down. “Feels sexy.”

“Looks it. My shoes won’t fit you. And you aren’t wearing any.”

“I have my boots in the saddlebags.”

“No. that won’t do.” Cin glanced down at her feet and she wiggled her toes. “We’ll just do without. It’s about time everyone saw this brand anyway.”

Something dark and threatening coated the words and Ona nodded, at ease with the woman.

“If you’re showing yours, I want to show mine. Where’s that dagger of yours?” Giddy excitement brightened the moment. Brock had once kidded Ona that she’d rather shop for biker boots and knives than makeup and cute little purses. He wasn’t wrong.

It didn’t take long after a quick and drastic dress alteration for them to bundle into Cin’s little hot rod and on the road. Before Ona could completely shove away her misgivings, they’d pulled to the front of an even bigger mansion, lit from every visible window. A valet opened her door. Immediately his scent assaulted her and she growled, deep and long in her chest.

“Don’t kill this hellion. He’s collared by someone. They take offense to that. I learned the hard way.” Cin let go of Ona’s arm, where she’d held her back with surprising strength. “Let’s just get inside, make our appearance, do the diplomacy thing, and then get drunk at home. Shall we?”

“I don’t get drunk,” Ona groused as she let the hellion hold her door.

“Neither do I, but it sounded good.” Cin added under her breath, “Sure would be nice to have a shot of tequila right about now.”

The place was immense. Ona scented chlorine off to the side. Giggles and splashing wafted over the lawn as they made their way to the front door, also opened by a hellion. He wore some sort of suit with a vest instead of a jacket. But it didn’t hide his mongrel face, half dog, half human. They sure were an ugly breed.

“It won’t take long for them to find us. They’d have sensed us when we were within a mile. My brand picked up on Vedo around then. What about yours? I don’t sense any changes in you.”

“What changes? No.” Straightening to her full height, she didn’t dare glance down at her hip, though she felt as if everyone stared at her. So far all she’d gotten from it was that mild aphrodisiacal effect when Tiago aroused her. The room teemed with noise and heat, but no tall and gorgeous nephilim.

They entered a large room with chairs along the walls, kind of like a hallway that was as big as her apartment in Atlanta. Demons sat lounging, stood in small circles, or meandered here and there. The scent of them nearly overwhelmed her, like burnt ash had rushed up her nose and clogged her lungs. A raven haired demoness in a black sequined dress smirked at Ona then licked her blood-red lips. Her hand decorated with tattoos on each finger, the female tugged on a leash. At the end of the chain, a blond human male slipped to his mistress’s side and tongued her bared shoulders. A sick cloud of lust emanated from him. Ona bit back her gag reflex.

“Here we go.” Cin grabbed Ona’s arm. She followed Cin’s glare toward a male sauntering his way to them with a charming smile.

“My pretties, who do you belong to?” He drew in a long breath then frowned. His gaze dropped to Ona’s hip and he stared.

“She’s mine, Farris.” The low, deadly purr halted the other demon mid-step. Her heart raced and her breasts grew heavy.

“Tiago,” she replied in her best come hither voice.

From behind the male who bowed and stepped aside, Tiago nodded as if stiff-necked. A fleeting smile crossed his face. “There’s something I need to show you. Good evening, mother.”

“Tiago. Thank you for keeping my husband out of trouble. He looks to be in one piece.”

Tiago whispered in Ona’s ear, his breath tickling down her throat. “Not one word.”

Her so-called date grabbed her arm and quickly ushered her down the hall. They passed dozens of demons and humans who all stopped and openly stared at her hip and thigh. Her feet slapped against expensive marble floors. Tiago pulled her into a room, let go of her arm, and slammed the door. Then he blockaded it with a chair under the knob.

“I’ve seen that before.” She gripped the fabric of her dress over her belly which flipped and flopped around in a jittery rush.

“Yes. And as I said then, it won’t keep out a demon or a wolf, but it will give us warning. We have a few things to get straight before you head back out there.”

“Where is
in here
?” One side of the room had a small couch and a desk with a mirror. The surface was littered with all sorts of cosmetics looking things on it. The other wall had shelves and a rod full of hangers. A few long coats hung there. But there was no other door in or out. “Why did you just drag me into a closet? This is a closet, isn’t it? Looks like it, even if it’s bigger than my apartment.”

“Surely not bigger than your apartment.” He sauntered slowly toward her, his eyes glinting, his shoulders straight and his arms loose. Like the most lethal of predators—like her.

“Maybe I exaggerate. But only a little.”

“What did you do to this dress?” He was there, right in front of her, only inches away. She had to let her head drop back to look into his face. Chiseled features, dark brows, and an edge of passion stared back at her. A wave of heat surrounded her and his lips beckoned. So soft looking, but he’d kissed her with that mouth and it wasn’t gentle.

“I made a slight alteration.” She sounded winded—like she’d just run here in wolf form all the way from Atlanta.

“You slit the side of it from knee to waist. The curve of your bottom peeks out when you walk. Are you wearing underwear?” His hand slid onto her hip and around to palm her ass. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“Yes,” she gasped. “I mean, no. No underwear.”

“No shoes, either,” he whispered against her temple. He kissed her gently as his hand massaged her in a way that spread tingles straight to her clit. His other arm toyed with the strap of the green concoction before he trailed his fingers lightly down her arm, leaving chill bumps in his wake.

“All I had were boots,” she murmured into the starch of his white shirt. He was so tall and broad, so elegant in the black tux, and he was kissing her tenderly down the side of her face like she was fragile, a woman to be cared for. No man had ever treated her that way, and she’d never wanted it, but from this man, it fit.