Genesis Queen (The Road to Hell Series) (38 page)

“I’ve been thinking.” She cleared her throat and studied her nails. The issues Micah had with his father rivaled her own relationship with her parents. Debating God’s state of mind would be futile. “Those angels might want me dead because of the earthquake I caused when I defeated Pandora in Hell. I killed thousands of innocent people.”

“Possibly.” His fingers scrubbed across his smooth jaw. “Not all of them were innocent. We received a shitload of them. But”—he held up his finger to halt her irritated retort—“if that were the case, they would want Phoenix dead. He caused cataclysmic events. The birds, the cats, and the fish bellying up.” They’d investigated those incidents. All of them had left the experts baffled. Amos’s psychic readings had gone silent, and Zen had insisted it was divine, but
not
. She’d never been so confused. “None of that equates to the sinkhole he created in Birmingham, Alabama that killed thousands. Men, women,
and
children. All very mortal and Father’s loving little pets. FYI, even in the Bible Belt I got a shitload of them, too.”

Madison ignored his sneer. She still had a hard time wrapping her brain around Nix’s deeds. Those criminal actions were so unlike the man she knew him to be. That he’d committed the crime in the city of his last name and in her home state, it’d sufficed to expose her survival when they’d believed her dead by Zen’s hand. A coup for them as far as strategy went.

“He came up with that concept all on his own. Just to lure you out of hiding.”

“He wasn’t himself.”

“He was better. Best demon I ever created.”

“Please stop painting Nix as a monster.”

“All humans are monsters at their basic core.”

“I’m human!”

“Not anymore,” he said cool as ice. “You’re welcome.”

“Don’t act like you gave me a gift, you bastard. I chose humanity, not your demon world.”

“Reality check, Ms. Pious. You are a succubus demon. It is
in
your DNA. Grow up and get over it. No one likes a whiner.”

Madison looked away and ground her teeth together. It’d be a sunny day in Hell before she thanked him for turning her demon. The reminder that she’d turned immortal, a true freaking demon through-and-through, needled her pride. She’d avoided accepting her succubus and failed anyway. Not that she’d been succeeding much at denying it before she’d entered Hell.

Would she fail at resisting the throne to Hell, too? She very much feared she would.

Clearing her throat, she avoided the conversation by changing the topic. “What are your plans for us, Micah?”

“I imagine my intentions are the same as any husband or father. I want to be with my family.” He loosened his red silk tie and left it askew as he undid the top two buttons on his shirt. She’d read somewhere the crimson color represented power. It was why most presidential candidates wore that particular shade so often. Psychological drivel, if anyone asked her.

Dragging in a harsh breath to keep her calm, she wanted something more than a vague answer. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

He pulled off his boots. “Elucidate, Madison.”

There
’
s nothing sexy about him
.
Nothing sexy about him
! That could become her new mantra, and it’d still be wide of the mark.

“If I chose you over Nix, what would you expect from me? From Amos?” She swallowed when he tugged his socks off and wiggled his toes. Sometimes his humanness stunned her.

And we want to finish undressing him. Slowly, using my tongue in the hollow of his throat, dragging it over his chest, downward to
—

Madison shut down her Lynx before she got any more out of control.

“What are you thinking, kitten?” He slouched into his seat and extended his long legs. Staring at her with a speculative gleam, he slowly rolled up his sleeves to the elbow. “Your eyes are showing your Lynx.”

“That I’ll die before I come to you.” She grunted when the burn peaked fast and hot.

“Such a little liar tonight.” A flash of something spicy flitted across his features. His gaze dropped to her mouth. Then he shook himself and snagged her ankle. Stretching her leg across the sofa, he placed her foot on his lap. No resistance came from Madison as his thumbs pressed into her insole and rotated. Tenseness evaporated from her shoulders and her spine lost its chinks. He’d always been a god with a foot massage.

Those hands on our body would have us worshipping him like a god
.

Nix was her sex god. She wouldn’t clothe Micah in the same title.

“My plans….” Her husband brought the conversation full circle. “I want whatever you’ll give me, Madison.”

“You’re lying.”

“Do you see me cringing in pain?”

“You may be more adept at hiding it than I am.” Damnation, that’d be so unfair, but plausible.

He chuckled and worked on her insole. “I always did find your quick wit incredibly sexy.” His thumbs pushed upward to the ball of her foot. “How’s this for a lie? I hate you and want you to die.” Micah flinched the entire way through the sentence. “I want Amos to help me rule Heaven. I want you to be my Queen puppet, give me your power, but I’ll keep you barefoot and pregnant.” Lots more wincing. “Lastly, I want you to be my love slave. I’ll spend an eternity giving you pleasure, gauging my skill by the number of orgasms you receive.”

Madison shivered. “That love slave part didn’t hurt ya.”

“Because I meant it.” His fingers stilled and his gaze fastened on hers. She tried to look away, but the intensity of his stare held hers deadbolted to his. “You and our son are my top priority.”

Not a flinch, a wince, or a minuscule hint of pain.

Madison gulped. She knew that wasn’t a declaration to amputate himself from Hell. She didn’t think he could even if he wanted to step aside. Built on magic, she guessed it required a reliable source of power—the Kings—to keep it functioning properly. But there was no doubting he meant every word he said and that fascinated her, as well as scared her. “What do the other Kings expect of us?”

“Not much.”

“Liar, liar tongue on fire,” she crooned when he grimaced.

He flashed her a wicked grin. “Imp.” The smile faded and he grew serious again. “Don’t worry about my brothers. I can handle them.”

No reaction this time, which meant he really believed that.

Placing all her faith in one person—even if he was a demon King and her husband—felt wrong. “I don’t think so, Micah. I’m a liability if I don’t become what they expect. That places my son—”

“
Our
son.”

“—in danger.”

“What happened to the woman who basked in my heroism? Who had no problems allowing me to protect her?”

“She died the day you walked out on me.”

Silence descended. He reached for her right foot. She groaned when his thumbs went to work on her instep. How did he know the spot that needed the most attention? He seduced her without words. Not fair.

What will his hands feel like on us when we fuck him again
?

Startled by Lynx’s foregone conclusion they’d end up in bed together, she watched Micah through a different set of glasses. Lethally good looking. Even if his beauty had diminished since his Fall, as he claimed, he still made her stomach flip-flop when she peered at him. Nothing had changed about that since she was a fifteen-year-old naïve adolescent with a paltry family life.

Disguised as a mortal man, he possessed the charisma of a saint or conveniently enough, a fallen angel. He employed persuasion like the unassuming anti-Christ. And he lulled her with the freedom to accept her demon completely, without regrets, retaining no morals. She wanted his world for the safety Hell lent. A place where she would be accepted by all of them regardless of the havoc she spawned. No censure, ever. There was freedom in that. The fallen angel himself offered a food source so tasty it very well might take an army of dragons to keep her from caving.

Pure temptation to her demon.

Dangerous to the human woman locked in a battle between good and evil.

Madison wanted his offer of Hell as much as she wanted him in her bed. His hands and mouth on her, his dick moving inside her, while she chugged his seraph and came over and over again.

Temptation? No. His lethality ran along the lines of instant addiction.

She glanced over his shoulder. Nix lay face down on the bed asleep. Features in shadows, she already had one craving. Could she chance adding a second to her life?

“They cannot force you to do more than you’re willing. They’ll exercise patience.” She refocused on Micah just in time to catch his gag and a muttered ‘fuck’. She could get used to this forced-truth stuff.

Angel seraph
…
the new truth serum
. Lynx chuckled and Madison joined her.

“Not as much patience as we’d prefer,” he conceded and by his expression, reluctantly. Cute that he didn’t want her to worry. “Amos is ours to govern and outside the parameters of Hell’s design.” He peeked at her, his fingers rotating on her foot. “He was a surprising bonus and not part of my original plan.”

Fixated on him, she watched his hands shift over her ankle to her calf. Strong fingers worked circular strokes upward toward her knee. Moisture pooled between her thighs. She fought against squeezing them together to alleviate the sudden ache.

Desperate to regain her sense of self without carnality driving her actions, she tugged her leg out of his grasp. A twisted grin contorted Micah’s features, as if he suspected why she placed distance between them.

Remember the bastard he is. Remember the evil he’s committed against me, Nix, and the world. He had Gage and Zoe murdered to force Nix into selling his lineage. Now is not the time to be turning weak
.

Usha snorted in disagreement.
Weakness of the flesh is the succubus way. But our husband offers power, not weakness
.

Grappling with that thought, she asked the first thing that came to mind. “Why’d you fuck Nix?”

Surprised eyebrows flashed upward as he reclined into the corner of the loveseat. He stretched his leg out and propped his foot in her lap. “My turn.”

Crap! Touching him would take a lot of self-control. Even if it was just his feet. He had good-looking feet, and she couldn’t say that about anyone else.

“Afraid to touch me, Madison?”

Pretty much
. She pushed his foot out of her lap. “I didn’t ask for a foot massage, and I didn’t offer you one.”

He had her number and his grin said as much, exposing white straight teeth that she could imagine nibbling against her skin. Her neck, breasts, and down between her th—

Oh, hell, no she was
not
going there.

Bending his knee, he anchored his foot on the sofa between them. Sea salt, brimstone, and sunshine wafted around her. Micah’s unique scent.

“Do you want the graphic details or just the highlights?”

A moment of confusion and then she remembered she’d asked about his sexual relationship with Nix.

“Highlights.” Spitting the word out was difficult when it felt like her tongue had been replaced with cotton. No way could she handle the graphic details.

“We consoled one another over your death.”

She looked away.

“That bothers you?”

“Very much.”

“Why?”

Madison licked her lips. How best to explain.

“Look at me, Madison. Explain with honesty, not evasion.”

She faced him, but kept her focus on his chin. “He’s a straight man.”

“Not in Hell.”

“You violated him.”

“He came willingly.” A slight cant to his head. “Phoenix made the first move. I was receptive. How’s that different from the start of any other relationship?” Madison shivered at the idea of them being intimate. “I….” He ran his palm down his face. “I’d deny this to anyone else other than you, but I have feelings for him. I wouldn’t take him over you, but I wouldn’t rebuff a relationship with the two of you, either.”

A testament to how far she’d already fallen, she grew wetter at the idea of watching them together. Alarmed, she vaulted to her feet. A second later, Micah had her on the sofa, between his thighs, her breasts flattened against his chest.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lust burned hot in Madison’s belly. One of Micah’s hands gripped her hip, while the other palm slid down and over her ass. He held her against him like that, with her hands on his shoulders. Why wasn’t she pushing away? Weak-willed. That’s what her daddy would’ve called her. Among other things.

Peppermint-scented breath fanned against her lips. “Kiss me.”

Madison shook her head…or thought she did. Too busy staring at him, while trying to convince herself she wanted no part of his mouth on her body.

“Then say yes.”

Another head shake. The seductive allure of his voice sifted through her like a potent elixir. His command was accented in a manner she couldn’t identify as any inflection she’d ever heard before. Her eyes flashed to his. Zen had an accent, Elias too, but Micah typically sounded non-regional. She’d never thought he might be camouflaging his authentic tone.

“That’s your real voice?”

“Yes, Madison. The genuine sound of me, the King you married.” He should stop talking; his voice was too sexy and did terrible, wicked things to her libido. But at the same time, she wanted him to keep talking. “What do you think?”

She liked it. A lot. Too-freakin’-much. Gawd, the twang was better than any British or Aussie accent she’d ever crushed on.

And the way he pronounced her name in his foreign lilt was like a caress. No. Better. Way better. A finger-to-her-clitoris-and-two-breaths-away-from-a-climax kind of enchantment.

She closed her eyes. His warmth comforted her. The hard press of his cock teased her. Submission would be too easy.

“Tell me yes.”

“To what?” Wrong question. No was the answer. Always the answer with him.

I don
’
t want to say no
, her demon whispered petulantly. On that they agreed.