Page 45

She swallowed. “It isn’t just that I have secrets to guard.

My relationships always went south. Guys inevitably reached a point where they couldn’t deal with how my song snatches male attention.

It isn’t something I can control, but they came to resent me for it sooner or later.

They were asses to me whenever other guys ogled or came on to me—as if I like that shit—and they’d even get paranoid that I was snapping up those offers and cheating on them. ”

Luka felt his mouth tighten. “The men in your past were weak pricks who made you pay for their own insecurities and jealousies. That isn’t something I’d ever do, Naomi.

If other men tried trespassing, I’d definitely have a problem with it.

But it would be them who earned my anger, not you.

And I’d never accuse you of cheating—you’re far too loyal to betray someone that way. ”

She blinked hard. “You sound very sure of that.”

“I am. I know you. You might have held back certain facts about yourself until now, but I still know you. And I know that we both want the same thing here—not merely for us to try a relationship on for size, but for us to make it permanent. You would have said otherwise by now if you didn’t.”

She clamped her lips shut. It settled something in him that she didn’t deny it.

He slid his hands into her hair. “I’ve never before felt an urge to irrevocably claim someone as mine.

But you I refuse to part with. And I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to anyway.

So accept that you’re all-the-way mine now.

You have to, Naomi. Neither myself nor my entities will give you any other choice. ”

“Your demons are on board?” she asked, surprised.

“When it comes to you, all four of us are completely in sync. We have been from the beginning.”

He went to kiss her, but then Abraxas lunged for the surface and said, “I decided weeks ago that I would keep you.”

She double-blinked. “You never said anything. And I can’t say I appreciate that you didn’t think to ask if I was good with that.”

The entity shrugged. “It was a given that you would say yes to being mine.”

She slid up an imperious brow. “Such arrogance.”

Dagon pushed Abraxas aside, stealing supremacy. “Not arrogance. Fact.” It gripped her shoulders tight. “We own you. We will always own you. There is no escape.”

Belial took over then, saying, “It is best not to argue with this. To do so would make no difference. What’s done is done.” It then retreated, as if to stick around for a response was to suggest that she had a choice.

Naomi snorted at Luka. “Your entities are bold bastards.”

“They are,” he conceded. “And they meant every word of what they said. As did I.”

“Even though I share Lou’s DNA?”

“Even though.”

“Even though I need to drink blood?”

“Even though.” He framed her face with his hands. “Baby, I don’t give a fuck that you need to consume blood to survive, so long as you survive.”

Naomi swallowed again, her chest throbbing with emotion. Fuck, the guy knew how to hit her right in the feels. Her insides had melted more and more with each reassuring word he’d given her. She was close to getting all choked up. “You’re sure?”

“Surer than sure.” He softly dragged his fingertip down one side of her face. “Would you judge or reject me for having a dietary quirk like that?”

She snickered, her lips hitching up. “It’s a little more than a dietary quirk, but no.”

“Then there you go.” He whispered his lips over hers. Gentle. So gentle. But his eyes were steely as they drilled into hers. “We’re locking this down now. You’re mine. I’m yours. Permanently.”

Like she was going to argue. Not one part of her had any interest in doing so. And now, rather than wanting to make him bleed, her entity only wanted to keep him. Because he’d given it exactly what it needed—acceptance.

“No more secrets,” he pressed. “If something happens in future, you tell me .”

She shifted uncomfortably. “There’s one more thing I’ve kept from you.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s better that I just show you.” She pyroported them both straight into her workroom.

He frowned as the red-violet flames died down. “You don’t conjure simple hellfire?”

“I can, but I’m only able to shape it into orbs.

I can’t use it to pyroport—that gift comes from the part of me that came from Lou.

His fire is ultraviolet. But being both demon and fallen angel, it seems that my own fire is slightly different.

Anyway” —she gestured at the room—“you wanted to know what was behind the locked door.”

He swept his gaze around, taking in everything. “This is an art studio.” His attention darted back to her. “You’re one of the ghost artists Tobe’s clientele uses.” It was more of a statement than conjecture.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “You don’t look surprised.”

He shrugged. “I’d already guessed.”

“You’d guessed ?”

“You sometimes smell of paint. Faintly, but still. And it was obvious by how few hours you work at the pizzeria that you had a second mode of income. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together.”

Well, shit.

“Does your entire lair know?”

“No. I prefer it that way. I don’t like—”

“The limelight.”

“Right.”

He cocked his head. “Are you the ghost artist the PI was looking for?”

“Yes, but he doesn’t know that.”

Luka squinted. “You’re sure?”

“Positive. His client doesn’t suspect it either. He barely even looked at me the time he showed up at my mom’s store to talk to Tobe. It’s only the clerics and their puppeteer who are a real issue.”

His face hardened. “They won’t be an issue for much longer. Fact is, they’re already dead. No one gets to fuck with what’s mine and live, especially when it comes to you.”

Her demon shivered at that, and then rushed to the surface to take the wheel. “You will be good to her,” it ordered. Literally ordered.

“Of course I will,” Luka told it. “I want her to be safe, happy, and well, just as you do.”

The entity sniffed. “I still plan to kill you if you hurt her.”

“You seem very sure that you could.”

“Because I am. And so should you be.”

At a knock on the front door, Naomi’s demon retreated. “That’ll probably be Tobe and the others coming to check on me,” she hedged. “He will have filled them all in.” She pyroported both her and Luka to the hallway, and opened the front door.

Jolene entered first. “Everything all right here?” she asked, her gaze darting from Naomi to Luka.

“Everything is fine,” Naomi assured her.

Tia, Alfie, and Tobe filed in behind their Prime. Naomi found herself on the receiving end of hugs, how-are-yous, and I’m-so-glad-you’re-okays.

As they all poured into the living area, Tia slid Luka a quick look before refocusing on Naomi. “I’m guessing he’s now fully informed where you’re concerned?”

“I told him everything,” she confirmed.

“Her secrets are safe with me, just as Naomi is,” Luka swore. “I’d never betray my mate.”

“Mate?” Jolene echoed, her voice overriding Tobe’s muffled curse. “I had the feeling that things were heading in this direction. It’s always nice to be right.”

“I too suspected it.” Tia eyed him closely. “After all, you’d be a fool not to have claimed my baby. And you don’t strike me as a fool.”

“I trust that you’ll take care of her,” Alfie said to him. “She’d allow nothing less anyway.”

“Am I the only one who has reservations here?” Tobe pinned a hard look on Luka. “You may not mean to ever hurt her, but let’s face it, you have a lot of enemies.”

“No harm will come to her,” Luka vowed, his expression solemn.

“Just because you say so?” Tobe snorted. “That isn’t how it works. And I swear to you on all that’s unholy that if anything happens to her—”

“You promised that you wouldn’t threaten him,” Naomi reminded Tobe, jabbing her elbow into his ribs.

Tobe’s shoulders lifted and fell. “I’m an imp—my promises mean shit.”

Lord above. “Let this be an exception.”

“It’s better if he and I come to an understanding from the start,” Tobe insisted, all reasonable.

She flapped her arms. “What understanding?”

“That if you’re harmed, I kill him. Simple.”

“Kill a legion? Really?” Her demon snorted at the idea. He’d have more chance of baptizing a cat.

Luka slid closer to her. “Naomi, it’s fine. I threatened Ella’s mate many times. Most demons make such threats when it comes to their anchors. I wouldn’t expect any different.”

Tobe arched a brow at him. “So we have an understanding?”

“No,” Luka replied. “Warnings are one thing. Come at me, and you will suffer for it. Being Naomi’s anchor won’t save you.”

Tobe stared at him for an agonizingly long moment. “Good.”

She frowned, at a loss. “Why is that good?”

“Ruthlessness in a mate is a positive thing,” said Tobe. “It means there’s a better chance he’ll do whatever’s necessary to keep you safe. That works for me.”

Her entity rolled its eyes. “Well, so long as you’re happy,” Naomi deadpanned.

Her mother smiled, amused, and then turned back to Luka. “I didn’t formally introduce myself, did I? I’m Tia, Naomi’s mom. This is Alfie, my mate.”

Luka’s gaze danced from Tia to Alfie as he inclined his head.

“You have exceptionally strong mental shields,” Tia commented.

In other words, she couldn’t read his thoughts. That was a relief.

“I take it you all want the full story of what happened with the clerics tonight.”

“We do,” said Jolene, sinking into the armchair. “Tell us.”

So Naomi did. Naturally, her account was met with lots of cursing, angry outbursts, and promises that the clerics and Kushiel would meet a very painful death.

“That they would use bombs is far from holy,” Alfie commented. “They’re apparently prepared to step away from ‘the righteous path’ if it means protecting their monkhood.”

“It won’t matter what methods they use, they won’t be successful,” Luka swore. “And they will die for harming Naomi.”

“Thus fulfilling the prophecy that the child of the devil, with the help of a legion, will take down the order and its puppeteer,” mused Tia. “But had they just ignored the foretelling, it would likely never have come about. Ironic.”

“I’d say we need to step up our attempts to find their location,” began Jolene, “but we’ve poured everything we have into uncovering it. Even with the small clues we possess, our searches have been fruitless. It shouldn’t be so damn hard to locate a monastery.”

Luka turned to her. “Tell me about these clues. I’ll add my resources to yours. Between us, we should be able to find these clerics. Just note that I will be the one to wipe them out.”

A slow grin surfaced on Jolene’s face. “It isn’t me you’ll need to beat to the punch. Knowing Naomi, she’ll get there first.”

Too freaking right she would.

After her mom, Alfie, Jolene, and Tobe left, Luka psychically summoned Daniil.

The teleporter took them straight to Luka’s den before then disappearing again.

Naomi was about to suggest that they head upstairs and get started on making their mating official in a more physical way, but then Luka was on her.

His hands dived into her hair, his mouth latched onto hers, his kiss swept her away.

He stripped her just enough to have access to her best parts and then took her to the floor.

He probed her pussy with his fingers, growled in satisfaction—presumably at how wet she was—and then plunged his cock inside her.

He fucked her hard, staring into her eyes the entire time, and when her orgasm approached, her entity took charge.

The demon slid its hands up Luka’s shirt and slapped them on his back; branded him right there and then, sending him over the edge and dragging Naomi with him. They lay there for long moments, striving to catch their breath.

“What does it look like?” he asked.

Knowing he was referring to the brand, she lifted her head to peer over his shoulder. “Uh, well, you now have a line of musical notes all the way down your spine.”

“Musical notes? Representing the siren song, I’m guessing?”

“Yup.” Sirens typically left such brands on their mates. “The top one is right there,” she added, tapping his nape. “And since your hair is short, people are gonna see it easily enough.” Her demon wanted everyone to know that this legion was taken.

A deep self-satisfaction bled into his eyes. “Good.”

Her entity smiled, pleased by his response. “Yeah, it really is,” Naomi agreed.