Page 83 of Paramour of Sin

She swallowed and nodded. “Okay.”

“And you can call me Zebulon when we’re in bed together,” I added softly. “Zane only refers to me as his lord to goad me.”

“It turns you on,” he countered playfully.

It did, so I didn’t argue. Instead, I focused on Guinevere. “In here, there is no bowing unless it’s meant to be sexual. No Lord Zebulon. Just me. Zebulon. Your lover. All right?”

“Yes, my… Zebulon.” She cleared her throat.

My Zebulon, I thought, enjoying how that sounded on her tongue just a little too much. I pressed my lips to hers, then eased back into the blankets.

“Gleason was also with me the night Trevor died,” she added.

“Taylor,” Zane corrected.

She huffed a breath. “Taylor. But that’s not the point. Gleason was with me, so he couldn’t have done this. And he saw Tre-ah,Taylor, leave alive.”

I dipped my chin, agreeing with her assessment. “Okay, who else among the Nephilim have you met?”

Her nose scrunched in thought. “Um, there’s Shane. Trudy. Creek. Some guy named Buck…” She trailed off. “You know, come to think of it, Buck didn’t approve of Gleason living with me.”

I made a mental note to add thisBuckto my list of possible suspects. “Anybody else?”

Guinevere moved her head in the negative, and her dark, nearly black hairfell forward around her. “No. I’ve only met Dark Provenance members in passing through Gleason, but not many. I tend to avoid them, and vice versa.”

Zane chuckled. “Probably a good plan.”

I sat up and readjusted against the pillows, crossing my ankles atop the mattress next to her. “In all your years on Earth, have you ever made enemies?” I asked, taking a new path of consideration into play. While this was clearly about me, it could also be possible someone did want to hurt her and saw this as a twisted bonus of some kind.

She shook her head. “No, not really. In my early years, after I ascended, I modeled and earned a little fame doing it. A bunch of humans and demons knew who I was then.”

I’d only known Guinevere as a subject in my realm back then, but I’d seen images of her during that time. She’d been a natural on the catwalk, and she slayed in front of the camera. Although, I supposed that shouldn’t come as a surprise for a succubus.

“No one seemed to care,” she continued. “I mean, I built a decent career out of modeling, and that’s the source of the money I live on. I’ve mostly been in hiding lately while my old fame dies off, but even at the peak of my career, I spent more time among the humans than the demons back then.”

I scratched the stubble prickling along my jaw. “What about your finances? Have you ever owed anyone money? Purchased anything that could put you in a Nephilim’s path?”

Guinevere sighed and clutched the blankets tighter to her body. “No. I invested well, made some good decisions, and that’s not even mentioning all the money Eve left for me when she ascended to Heaven. Since I’ve been just laying low, I don’t really have a wide circle of friends. Or a wide circle of possible enemies, I guess. I don’t even go to the gym, despite Creek constantly inviting me along.”

“And Creek is one of Gleason’s protégés?”

Guinevere laughed. “Yeah, but it’s definitely not him. He’s… well, he’s Creek.”

Zane grunted, his dissatisfaction clear.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“He wants to fuck our succubus.”

“Ah.” I tacked the Nephilim’s name on our list more out of personal curiosity than anything.

“Wanting to sleep with me doesn’t make him guilty,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t make me like him very much, either,” Zane drawled.

“Oh? Am I supposed to start distrusting and disliking every female who wants to lick you, too?”

He grinned. “Your jealousy would be most welcome.”