Sweet Revenge (Dueling with the Devil) (9 page)

He held her lower half in midai
r,
banging her into oblivion. Energy swirled within her body. She clawed at her bind
s,
desperate to feel his bod
y,
frustrated at the lack of control. His fingers molded into the flesh above her hip
s,
guiding her brutally along his length. He filled her to the brink each time he slammed into her se
x,
stretching her to her limits. Greedil
y,
she milked every inch of him.

He doubled her ove
r,
cradling her in his arm
s,
her knees folded into her chest. Not able to take anymor
e,
she yanked hard on her restraint
s,
breaking the headboard. She sat u
p,
switching their positio
n,
and looped her still
-
bound hands around his neck. He pounded his cock into her. Bell parted her legs furthe
r,
giving him full access to her body. She clenched around his thickness. Xavier grunted her nam
e,
as her ho
t,
wet sheath swallowed him completely.

She licked the
t
a
ut tendon at the base of his nec
k,
relishing his salty tast
e,
and whispere
d,
“
Who wants whom now
?
”

“
Hate chicks with fucking fancy
e
du
c
a
t
i
o
n
s
,
”
he spat and buried his cock in her again.

She leaned into hi
m,
her forehead resting on his. Their bodie
s,
slick with swea
t,
meshed together in erotic turmoil. Rotating her hip
s,
she rode him hard. Her thigh muscles propelled her up and down his rigid cock. His fingers dug deep into her ass cheek
s,
as his body tensed. She knew he was close. And she was even closer.

Xavier rolled them onto the mattress. He leveraged one leg on his shoulder and continued his delicious assault on her body. Her nails drew blood from his arms. He reached up and pinched her nippl
e,
drowning her erotic rapture. Never had she come this hard. She locked into
a
tight ball of sensitivity. Her teeth sank into his shoulder to keep from screaming. As soon as she broke ski
n,
he cried out her name and shuddered his release.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Holy fucking shit!
The world stood suspended in the haze of his bliss. Xavier was afraid to mov
e,
spea
k,
even
b
r
ea
t
he
. Sex never had the impact Bell unleashed
up
o
n him tonight. This game had gotten out of han
d,
but he refused to lose. It was time to level the playing field.

Fighting every urge his body screamed at hi
m,
he pulled out of Bell and rolled onto his back. She extended her limb
s,
reminiscent of a sated feline. Her golden mane billowed around her. Satisfie
d,
she lowered her eyelid
s,
drifting asleep. She stretched her arms over her head with a yaw
n,
presenting her delicious breasts in alluring welcome. His cock started to stiffe
n,
preparing for round two. For a minut
e,
Xavier wondered if she was the devil himself. Only Lucifer could be this
m
a
n
i
p
u
l
a
t
i
ve
.

No femal
e,
not even one embodying the essence of sex and lus
t,
controlled him. Swinging his feet off the edge of the mattres
s,
Xavier ros
e,
strolling into the bathroom without a word. He stifled a laugh when the fire danced in Bell’s eyes. He kicked the door shut and locked it behind him; first to annoy he
r,
second for his safety.

Half an hour late
r,
he
re-
entered the bedroom cautiously. Bell lay horizontally across the be
d,
head propped on her han
d,
watching Housewives of Atlanta. Drama loved drama. She refused to look in his direction. Tossing clothes out of his ba
g,
he found a pair of jeans and a black tank. Once dresse
d,
he headed toward the door.

As he turned the kno
b,
a pillow hit him in the back of the head
.“
Where the fuck are you going
?”
Venom seethed in her voice.

He picked up the pillow and flung at the arm propping her up. Her head hit the bed and bounced a bit. He envisioned steam expelling from her ears like an angry cartoon character
.“
To scrounge for foo
d,
if you must know
.”
He turned and exited the room before she could get in another word or hit him with something harder.

On the other side of the doo
r,
he shifted back into Sean. Xavier crept down the stair
s,
taking in his surroundings. The mahogany banister and the oriental runner screamed money. Something he never had much of growing up. Even as he accumulated wealth from his contract killing
s,
he refused to indulge in the trappings of the high and mighty. He didn’t own a home. There wasn’t any reason for a person who stayed on the run to have a permanent residence. He had no famil
y,
other than a mother he loathed and a father he hated even more. Jacque was his half-brothe
r,
who
m,
currentl
y,
he was plotting to kill. Yeah. Permanence wasn’t his thing.

The kitchen stepped out of an episode of MTV Cribs. He opened the subzero refrigerator and leaned in. Not much happening there. Damn vampires never had any good eats. He grabbed a beer from the bottom shel
f,
housing some fancy dish he discerned as chicken. Why did everything have to be so fucking frou-frou? He would give his best dagger for a bucket of fried chicken and some mashed potatoes.

“
Hey. Anything good in there
?”
Jacque’s voice caused Xavier to jump
.“
Sorr
y,
man. Didn’t mean to sneak up on ya
.
”

Xavier closed the fridge and faced his brother
.“
Na
w,
man. Only found this stuf
f
,
”
he replie
d,
holding out his findings.

“
Fucking vamps.
E
t
i
e
n
n
e’s got to start keeping real eats around here
.”
Jacque pushed past Xavier and grabbed a beer from the subzero. He brought out two plates and scooted one across the island.

Dumping some of the chicken onto the clear glas
s,
he shot the rest to Jacque
.“
S
o,
what’s the story with you and Bell? You seem to bring out her claws
.
”

“
A lot of history between u
s
,
”
Jacque mumbled with a mouthful of food.

“
I keep hearing that
.”
Xavier found a hint of sadness in the green eyes that mirrored his own
.“
Wel
l,
it looks like you’ve moved on. Your girl is hot
.
”

“
Thank
s,
I think. Time to turn in my playa card
.”
A low chuckle echoed in the room
.“
What’s up with you and Bell
?
”

“
Just keeping each other entertained
.
”

“
I don’t know. I wouldn’t take a blade for some female I’m
j
u
s
t
k
i
c
k
i
ng
i
t
w
i
t
h
.
”

“
She’s really entertaining
.”
Xavier laughe
d,
remembering his recent encounter with Bell.

Jacque inspected Xavier closely
.“
Man. I swear I know you from somewher
e
,
”
he inquired with a raised brow
.“
Anyway. Thanks for earlier. Bell can be a pain in my as
s,
but she’s like family
.
”

“
So what? Y’all like kissing cousins or something
?
”

Jacque shoveled more of the chicken into his mouth
.“
I never looked at it that way. But we grew up together. Laurent is like the brother I never had. He and I spent the bulk of our lives trying to keep Bell out of trouble. You’re the one that’ll have to deal with her bullshit now. Good luck with that
.
”

“
Thanks. I feel like I’ll need it
.”

t t t

Bell perched on the edge of the bed fuming. She couldn’t believe that low life piece of shit walked out on her. She was more pissed at allowing him to fuck her. And hated herself more for enjoying it so much. She had to get away. There was no way she wanted to be tethered to him right now.

“
Lucifer. Luc
!”
she whispered vehemently
.“
Luc. I know you can hear me. I need to talk to you. Now
.
”

Heat roared in the center of the room. Flames danced toward the ceiling. In the
mid
s
t of the fir
e,
Lucifer appeared in his usua
l,
theatrical form
.“
What do you want
?
”

“
I want out
.”
She crossed her arms in defiance.

Lucifer shook his head
.“
Not possible
.
”

She closed the distance between them
.“
I can’t deal with being tied to that fool. I’ll do it myself. I’ll bring Jacque and Angel to yo
u,
but get rid of Xavier
.
”

He ignored her close proximity
.“
I don’t think you can pull it off by yourself. You need him. You’re too close to these people to stay objective
.
”

“
At least unshackle us. I need some breathing room
.
”

“
This is what happens when you mix business with pleasure. This is why interoffice relationships are frowned upon
.
”

“
You’re such a fucking voyeur. Just free me
.
”

Lucifer shrugged
.“
I guess I can grant tha
t,
but you must
f
i
n
i
s
h
t
h
e
j
o
b
.
”

“
Yeah. I’ll get it done. Oh…call off whatever madness you sent after us tonight. I can’t get Jacque and Angel if whoever else you’ve contracted tries to kill me again
.
”

“
I don’t have anyone else on this
.”
He scrunched his brows in confusion.

She scrutinized him
.“
Something tried to off me today
.
”

“
I didn’t send it
.
”

Where the hell did that thing come from? I don’t need random attackers showing up to complicate things.
W
e
got
to
f
ind
out
mo
r
e
about
this
c
r
e
atu
r
e
.
But first I need some me time.

”
Unlock Xavie
r,
so I can get some air
.
”

With a gallant bo
w,
he answere
d,
“
Your wish is my command
.
”

As fast as Lucifer appeare
d,
he was gone. Bell showered and changed into her favorite pair of worn jean
s,
fetched her purse and headed out. Downstairs she heard voices in the kitchen. Her breath caught when she saw Xavier and Jacque sitting at the large granite island. Even with Xavier disguised as Sea
n,
it still unnerved her with them hanging together.

“
What’re you two up to
?”
she questioned.

Xavier chugged his beer before answering
.“
Eating old chicke
n,
drinking bee
r,
and comparing notes on how you are in bed
.
”

She punched him hard in the arm
.“
You better not be talking
a
b
o
ut
m
e
.
”

Jacque laughed
.“
Isn’t being the center of attention kinda your thing
?
”

“
I don’t like my men interacting with each other. And I don’t want my secrets divulged. He’s new. Don’t scare him away yet
.
“

“
Believe me. I’ve been terrified since I met you. Lucky for yo
u,
I’m too petrified to run
.”
Xavier winked at her. Jacque chuckled when he glanced in her direction.

Gritting her teet
h,
she muttere
d,
“
Wel
l,
I’m going out for a whi
l
e
.
I’
l
l
b
e
b
ac
k
s
oo
n
.
”