Chapter One
I stretched as I rolled out of bed, trying not to wake the man next to me. I caught sight of Devinshea Quinn and couldn’t help but stare. It didn’t matter that I’d seen him naked a hundred times before. I always had to stop and sigh. His tan skin made a stark contrast to the white sheets. His dark hair was mussed from our activities, and though his face was relaxed, there was no way to soften that perfectly shaped jawline. The sheet was around his waist, leaving most of his lean, muscular body on display. Everything about Dev Quinn was perfect, from his washboard abs to his cut chest, to those ridiculously sensual lips.
I felt a smile cross my face as I sat there and watched him sleep.
He shifted, rolling over in bed, and I decided it was time to go. As much as I liked to look at him, I didn’t want the argument that was sure to come when he realized where I was going.
I stood up and was finally able to get out of the Christian Louboutins Dev had given me earlier in the evening. I flexed my feet, trying not to groan. The shoes were ridiculously gorgeous. My eyes had widened when I opened the box, and my heart fluttered. It hadn’t taken Dev long before he had me in the shoes and nothing else. Those shoes were exciting and sexy, and the slightest bit uncomfortable. They were a little like my relationship with Dev. The sex was incredible and, while I was in bed with Dev, I didn’t think about anything but him. The minute I rolled out of bed, I wanted to get out of those shoes and put on a pair of Converse. That was our problem.
Well, that and my husband.
I walked through the grotto, collecting stray clothes along the way. Dev’s apartment was at the top of a building he owned in the middle of downtown Dallas. The bottom of the building housed his club, Ether, the hottest club of its kind. It isn’t the kind of club that shows up on the Best of Dallas lists. It’s an underground club where the bouncers zealously guard the entrance. I’m one of the only humans to be permitted inside.
Ether is the place where the supernaturals of the world go to mix and mingle and do a little business. It’s an official place of peace despite my best effort to burn it down several months back. I hadn’t meant to, but then I never do. Trouble simply follows me. That had been my first date with Dev, my first date of any kind in years, really. I had been sadly single for a long time before meeting Dev.
I slowed, unable to rush through. Dev’s “condo” took up the whole top floor of the building and was the most decadent space I’d ever seen. The first time Dev had taken me up the private elevator from his office in Ether to his penthouse, the doors had opened and I’d gasped.
I call the whole place “the grotto.” It’s something like an indoor forest, complete with a brook that runs through the various rooms of the apartment. When the sun is out, the whole place lights up with soft, natural light. In the dead of night, moonbeams stream through the overhead windows, shining down and making the room seem magical.
It’s odd for a faery to live year round in the city. They don’t like the feeling of being enclosed. It goes against their nature, but Dev is mortal. He’s the only of his mother’s children who didn’t take after her and, because of his mortality, he’d chosen to leave the sithein and cut off ties. Since the day we’d met, I could remember two conversations we’d had about his family.
This place made me think he missed them.
I walked into the bathroom that was bigger than my entire living room and turned on the shower. The splendor of Dev’s home put in stark contrast our relative differences. Money wasn’t a problem for Dev. The same couldn’t be said for me. I’d recently finished a job that gave me enough money to buy a fixer-upper in the country, but I was starting to hurt for cash. My account was down to the low four digits, and I didn’t have more money coming in.
Of course, I would have given up all the money I made on my last job if I could have changed the outcome of it. Some jobs aren’t worth the payday.
Tossing my clothes on the counter, I stepped under the rainfall of deliciously hot water. The water stroked over my skin, and I stretched again. Sex with Dev was inventive and exciting, and required a certain level of flexibility. I could see yoga classes in my future.
Suddenly two big hands came from behind and cupped my breasts. I sighed for two reasons—one because it felt so good, and two because there would be no getting out of a fight. I let my head fall back against his chest, his body nestling against mine. If we were going to fight, I might as well enjoy the first part.
“Zoey.” Dev breathed in my ear, his voice the sweetest of seductions. His hands moved across my skin and despite the fact that we’d made love earlier, I responded to him immediately. Everywhere he touched, my skin seemed to flare to life. “I sincerely apologize. I have treated you poorly.”
I smiled because I knew what was coming next. “I disagree, Dev. I was treated incredibly well. At least three times.”
One hand played with my breast, plucking at my nipple, pinching and lighting it up. “Three times isn’t enough. I want to watch you come all night long.”
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done it. Dev seemed to have a never-ending appetite for sex. On some men it might have been annoying, but Dev was part sex god. It was his nature and somehow, even when I thought I couldn’t possibly want him again, the minute he looked at me with those emerald eyes, I melted. He could get me hot and wet and ready for sex with nothing more than a glance.
He got to his knees, his mouth at my breast. The warmth of his tongue covered my nipple and I was done for. I could already feel anticipation building, a fire he stoked to the perfect heat.
“Have I told you how fucking pretty you are?” His voice was a low growl, the very tone hungry.
I couldn’t help but smile. He was liberal with the praise. “You might have mentioned it.”
He nuzzled my breasts with a sigh, kissing them sweetly. “Hush. I’m talking to your breasts.”
And he could make me laugh. I threaded my fingers through that black silky hair of his and let him completely take over.
His big hand made its way lower, his fingers sliding over my clit. “I’m crazy about this, too. Such a pretty pussy.”
I nearly cried out when he ran his tongue there. I protested with a groan as he got to his feet.
Dev pressed himself against me, his cock hard and willing. “No. You be patient. If I had done my job properly earlier, you would have passed out. The fact that you can move means I’ve got work to do. I didn’t even get to the part where I tie you up and we play.”
Dev liked to “play.” He liked to play with handcuffs and toys. He had a whole closet full of naughty devices, like an FAO Schwarz for kink. With a low growl, he shifted, turning me toward him. His mouth took mine in a luxurious kiss. His tongue plunged deep, rubbing against mine in a silky glide. I could taste a hint of my own arousal on his tongue.
This was what Dev and I did best.
He lifted me up, settling me on the ledge of the shower. I was sure the contractors who had built the place thought the wide shelf was to store shampoo and soap, but I knew better. Dev designed it with sex in mind. He moved between my legs, the ledge placing my pussy at the perfect height for him.
My hands reached out as though they couldn’t stand to be this close and not touch him. Whenever I was close to him, his hands running across my skin, I felt a bit drugged.
“I can’t get enough of you. I fucking crave you.” He’d come prepared. He slipped a condom on and worked his way in, his cock stretching me wide. His chest nestled against mine as he pushed deep inside. I held on to his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist. We fit together perfectly. It wasn’t long before my back was up against the natural rock of the shower and I was screaming out number four.
He hugged me even as the pleasure still pulsed through my system, his hands stroking me, cheek rubbing against mine. This was when I felt closest to Dev, when he treated me like I was precious.
“Let’s dry off and go back to bed,” he whispered as he helped me to stand. He held me up because my legs weren’t quite working yet. It wasn’t easy keeping up with a man whose grandfather had been a fertility god. He leaned over and dropped a kiss on my nose. “I’ll tell Albert to send up breakfast for two in the morning.”
I hugged him close to me hoping that my affection would make the next few minutes easier. “I can’t. I have to go. I have a meeting with a client.”
Dev stopped, a grin crossing his face. I suspected one of the reasons he liked me was my unusual job. I was pretty sure he’d never dated a thief who specialized in procuring objects of an arcane nature before. Stealing from supernaturals made my job one of the riskier fields. It was thrilling when the job ran well and completely terrifying when anything went wrong. Dev had run one job with me and he’d been bugging me ever since to let him go again. He’d gotten off on the adrenaline rush.
He winked down at me, his hands smoothing my hair back. “That’s great, sweetheart. I’ll get dressed and go with you. I promise to keep my mouth shut and be good eye candy. Should I take the Ruger or the Glock?”
I pulled away from him because no amount of affection was going to fix this. “Sorry, but I have to go alone.”
His deep green eyes formed suspicious slits. “Alone? You never go alone. That’s your first rule.” He took a step back, his mouth turning down. “So if you’re not going alone, you’re going with Daniel.”
And there it was, the one name that could wreck our day. “He’s my partner.”
“He’s your husband.” Dev spat the word out as though it was poison. He stalked out of the shower, leaving me with an incredible view of his preternaturally glorious ass.
Yep. And just like that our nice night was wrecked. I picked up a bottle of something Dev liked the smell of and then put it back down in favor of plain old soap. I told myself it was because I needed to be professional. I didn’t want to go into a client meeting smelling like a woman who’d recently had sex four times.
If I was honest with myself, and I tried not to be, I didn’t want to hurt Daniel.
I finished up in the shower and turned it off, wrapping a warm towel around my body. Dev was sitting on the sink when I went to retrieve my clothes. He’d slipped into silk boxers and looked at me with a sad smile, his shoulders slumped.
“Sorry,” he said. “I know I’m being an ass. I’m jealous.”
“You have nothing to be jealous of.” It sounded like a reassuring lie even to my ears. I still saw Danny almost every day. It had to bother Dev. “If I could get a divorce, I would.”
I’d come to accept the marriage I’d been tricked into. It wasn’t like I had much of a choice. Tricked is a harsh word. Daniel had been trying to protect me at the time. It was kind of his excuse for everything. I didn’t resent the protection. I resented the fact that he’d left me ignorant. I had to find out from a demon that we were married.
There’d been no vows of love and devotion, no white dress or fabulous reception. There had been blood and sex and a transfer of ownership between Daniel and myself.
And there was no divorce when you were married to a vampire.
“I guess I should be happy my head’s still on my body.” Dev shrugged negligently, a boyish gesture. “When I found out Daniel was back from Paris, I kind of expected to become one of those ‘bodies in a dark alley’ stories.”
“Oh, babe, they would never find your body.” Daniel would be far more careful than that. I slipped back into the dress I’d worn earlier. It was wrinkled from sex in the elevator on the way up. I looked very “walk of shame.” “He won’t hurt you. He promised me. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t kick him to the curb when he came back.”
There were many other reasons, but I didn’t go into those with Dev. I didn’t mention that it was difficult for me to even imagine my life without Daniel Donovan in it, no matter how pissed I was at the time. I didn’t mention that it was becoming increasingly difficult to simply be friends with the man I once planned a life with. Months had passed and my anger was softening.
“Where are my shoes?” I’d worn a comfortable pair of boots with a smaller heel in deference to my meeting.
It was a nice fall night and the boots would be warm. The peep toe heels Dev had bought were not the best fit for the season. And the way some of my client meetings went, I might be running for my life before the night was over.
“I think you left them in the limo. I sent the driver home, but I can call him back.”
I glanced at my watch as I clasped it on my wrist. “Damn it, I’m going to be late. No, I’ll go in the heels.”
I winced inwardly at the thought. They hadn’t bothered me at all when they were wrapped around Dev’s waist, but I didn’t think tonight was the night to break in a new pair of shoes.
Dev smiled, and I wondered if I had really left the shoes in the car. He looked satisfied as I slid my feet into the four-and-a-half-inch heels. I could guess what he was thinking. There was no way I bought those shoes for myself, and Daniel would know it.
I kissed him anyway. It was a sweet kiss and made me remember that Dev and I had fun. It was easy to be with Dev. With the exception of my marriage, we never fought. We satisfied each other, and that was enough for now. He never told me he loved me, and I tried hard to not even think the words about him. Loving Devinshea would be dangerous, but I couldn’t seem to walk away, either. I wasn’t his destiny or his last remaining tie to humanity. He liked me. He wanted me. That was enough. It was what I needed.
Dev walked me to the elevator, his hand in mine. “Hey, could you try to find out something for me?”
“Sure. What’s up?” I was willing to do almost anything now. He wasn’t forcing the situation with Daniel so I could definitely do him a favor.
His eyebrows drew together as he looked down at me. “It’s about the new regulars at Ether. Have you not noticed? Is there a vamp convention in town or something? Normally I get one or two a month in the club. But lately, I’ve seen a couple of new fangs in almost every night. They’re odd, too. You know how normal vamps act, right?”
“Sure.” Vampires weren’t big on individuality. They tended to dress the same and act cool and standoffish until they needed a snack. It was the way Daniel acted until he started taking my blood on a regular basis. In the last several months, he’d come out of what I termed his “long, dark broody period.” He was behaving more like the Daniel he’d been when he was alive.
Dev held the door open, his face thoughtful. “These vamps don’t dress alike. One of them was wearing jeans and a Cowboys jersey, and he was hanging out with a female wolf. I swear, Zoey, I thought he was human. I was about to kick him out of the club when I realized what he was.”
It was curious. Wolves, especially the local pack, had never been friendly with vampires. It was one of the reasons my roommate, Neil, severed all ties to his family. Neil wasn’t welcome in the pack due to his blood oath to protect Daniel. There was something odd going on if wolves were suddenly buddying up to strange vamps.
“I’ll ask around.” I stepped into the elevator and realized I had another problem. Dev had sent a car for me. I opened my mouth to ask, but Dev was already tossing me the keys to his Audi. I caught them with a smile. “Thanks.”
“Don’t destroy it.” He shook his head because he knew I was perfectly capable of doing just that.
I took the elevator straight down. The doors opened directly into Dev’s office. I had to walk through Ether to get to the parking garage where the car was parked. I opened the door to the office and was assailed by the full-time rave that is Ether. The throbbing beat filled the air as I descended the steps as quickly as my shoes would let me.
A large red demon stood at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in an elegant suit. He tipped his horns forward in acknowledgment. Albert. Dev’s all-in-one, go-to demon. He acted as Dev’s butler, his bouncer, and his second in command. “Mrs. Donovan.”
I was going to try pleasantries but simply snapped my lips shut and started to walk around him. At one point, I thought Albert and I could be friends. Now, he viewed me as the harlot who was leading his precious master down the wrong path. Seriously, no one can be as judgmental as a demon. They really do know their sin.
“Zoey,” he called out as I tried to get around him.
I turned because he hadn’t called me by my first name in several months. “What do you need, Albert?”
“A moment of your time.”
“If you’re going to give me another lecture on adultery, you can save your breath. Daniel and I have an open marriage.” The open part wasn’t Daniel’s idea, but then the marriage part hadn’t been mine.
Albert ignored me. “Did my master discuss our worries with you?”
“He mentioned something about new vampires in Dallas. I think he wants me to figure out where they came from.” I had to strain to hear him over the noise. I was sure he could hear me. Sometimes it’s difficult to be the only human in the room.
“Yes, we’ve had several new vampires in the club.” Albert raised his voice and inched closer to me when he realized my difficulty. I was happy for the heels because Albert was at least seven feet tall. With the extra four inches, I was all the way up to five eight.
“And Dev said they had been seen with werewolves?”
Albert nodded. “Several of them were seen with weres and shifters. The two-natured were all female, and the vampires were all male. It did not seem like a business relationship.”
Curiouser and curiouser. If vamps and weres didn’t typically do business together, then they really didn’t have relationships. It was more about the weres than the vampires. Vampires have no problem coupling up with anything they find attractive, and were blood is particularly rich. If a vamp could get a pretty were to agree, I was sure the vamp would be thrilled. The werewolf, on the other hand, would be outcast. “Do you have any idea how many new guys we’re talking about? One? Two?”
“I have reports that state at least five new vampires have taken up residence in our city,” Albert explained.
My eyes widened at that bit of news. I had been spending too much time alone if I hadn’t heard about that. Since we lost Sarah, our witch and my friend, in the last job we’d run, I’d spent a lot of time restoring my house. I’d retreated from the world, but it seemed to move forward fine without me. “Five vamps have moved into town? There are eight vampires in residence? Can the city even sustain eight vamps for long?”
“You aren’t hearing me, Zoey,” Albert said. “The vampires haven’t moved here. They rose here. Or if they didn’t have their turn in our fair city, then they got here as quickly as they could. None of the vampires appears to be over thirty human years old, and I suspect that is their true age. These are new vampires. I am almost certain of it.”
I shook my head at the thought.
My husband had an awful lot of explaining to do.
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