The male on my left turned to me and said, “Strong drink. What’s your name, dollface?”

I gave him an appraising look. Neatly kept dark hair framed a handsome face. His eyes were wicked red and his teeth unnaturally white. He had a mischievous look about him, and I instantly put together that he was an imp. One of the most common demons in these parts, but also the ones a succubus would least want to tango with, if she were thinking clearly. I most certainly, was not.

A full-blooded imp has some impressive powers to any lesser demon, but lesser I was not. Even a half-breed like me would be a prize in a place like this. Our skin was the most potent aphrodisiac on the planet, ten times more so to other demons.

It was why I’d always stayed away. For fear of what someone skilled in persuasion, or Hell forbid, blood magic, could do.

But for the first time in my existence, I did not feel afraid. On the contrary, his enigmatic persona was drawing me in, and he hadn’t said more than six words. Either he was more skilled with persuasion than even I could have guessed, in which case I was already fucked, or I was a glutton for punishment. Given how he exuded confidence like some men wore their desperation, I was inclined to believe it was a bit of both.

How lucky for me.

I eyed the black edges of a brand that were simultaneously peeking out of his collar and the cuff on his wrist. The ink was white, not the traditional black. Somewhere in the back of my mind, that meant something. So did the edges of what appeared to be flowers petals, but for the life of me, I couldn’t seem to hold onto that thought, that concern, for more than a moment before I relaxed back into a state of forgetfulness. My heart rate slowed to a steady thump, falling in line with the rhythmic beat of a song only I could hear. I smiled coyly to the imp as the bartender slid my drink to me and said, “It’s on the house.”

I turned my pretty little smile on the bartender and he gave me a wink as I accepted the Black Russian and walked away from the bar. The imp would follow. I was sure of it. For a brief moment, I wondered where Laran went, but as I approached the table where the smoke was coming from, I seemed to no longer care.

All thoughts of Laran, the Horsemen, and even thoughts of myself vanished as I stood over the crowded gambling table. Dice and cards were flying everywhere, but the slow burning pot in the center made it hard to tear my gaze away.

“You want dealt in, poppet?” someone called out from the other side of the table. I shook my head.

“Can I watch?” I heard the soft, velvety purr in my voice. The males at the table looked up at me, and the scraping of a chair made me turn. The imp from the bar had pulled up a seat, and the others moved to make room for him. He lithely sat down in the chair, his knees parted as he leaned back and beckoned me.

“If you’re sitting on my lap, you can,” he growled. My stomach tightened at the challenge in his voice. I strode up to him and threw my head back, finishing my Black Russian in one swallow. I slammed the cup on table and turned my body around to perch on his knees. The imp took my invitation for what it was and placed a hand on my waist. Something like obsession took me as I focused on the funny looking leaves in the pot. The edges curled slowly, burning bright. I watched them, in a state of suspended euphoria that didn’t seem to have a beginning or end. It just was, and I existed within it.

The imp flexed his fingers, the claw tips biting into my skin just beneath the sweater. I let out a sigh and shifted back. Closer to the demon. To heat. His arm wound around my waist, and I parted my legs so he could pull me back. Flush against him, I could hardly contain the moan building in my throat. Devil have me, I wanted him. I wanted all of them. I wanted to feel something heavy and hard between my legs, placating the need that drove me.

The imp’s other hand clamped down on my knee that was pinned between his legs. Hot and heavy, his breath made my flesh break out in goosebumps as he whispered, “What do you want, dollface?”

I squirmed restlessly on his lap as his hand unsheathed its claws and slowly started the ascent up my leg, dipping into the jagged rips in my dark jeans. A sigh escaped my lips as the hand around my waist tightened, and his fingers slipped under my shirt. The brush of his claws made me ache and my back arched—

“Get your fucking hands off of her.”

The hands on my body froze and I let out a hiss. That was not part of the deal. I turned my hooded eyes up to the demon that dared interrupt us, but was not prepared to see Laran and Allistair standing there.

Laran’s face was a mask of frozen fury. I shivered leaning back into the demon whose lap I was currently sitting on. He didn’t feel so hot anymore, and the ache I was feeling was on the cusp of pleasure and pain.

“Famine. War, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize who you—”

“Ruby. Come,” Allistair commanded. My eyes swiveled from the glowering demon threatening to explode, to the demon striding towards me with a voice that my made my stomach jerk. He reached out with both hands and plucked me from the imp’s lap, locking one arm under my knees and supporting my back with the other. I squirmed in his grip, but Allistair held tight.

“Save your words, imp. You glamored her and tried to separate us after I placed my claim.” Laran’s voice boomed, shaking the tables enough that glass rattled against the countertops of the bar and shattered as it fell to the earth. In my delirious state, I couldn’t process what was happening, or why. I just felt the need that drove me. I leaned into Allistair and inhaled deeply. Smoke filled my lungs, making me burn at my very core; a raging inferno that would not be denied.

“I’m taking her home, Laran. Make sure you clean up your mess.”

Laran grunted in response and Allistair began moving. We crossed through the bar, moving faster and farther from the smoke with every second. I watched over Allistair’s shoulder as we crossed the threshold, the embers on the smoking leaves expiring, and then we were gone.

One moment we were outside the bar, standing in the parking lot, and the next we were in an oddly familiar bathroom. Home, I recognized, as he opened the bathroom door connected to my bedroom. My queen-sized bed loomed in front of us and all I could hear, all I could feel, was the heat radiating through him. I turned my face towards his, biting my lip when I saw the fevered intensity. His eyes were not just amber. They were molten gold. He was angry, but I couldn’t register why.

Only that I knew I wanted to take it away.

As my back hit the bed, and Allistair started to pull away, I fisted his shirt in my hand, holding him there.

“Stay.” It was a single word: a command, a request, a plea, but it reverberated across the room and over his skin. I bit my lip again as his eyes dilated and darkened. He leaned forward, drawn in by the effect I had on him as I pushed my need through the air, through his clothes, over his skin, and into him.

“Ruby,” he growled. The pain in his voice echoed the burning between my legs. I tugged him closer, grabbing his shirt with both fists and pulling. The buttons popped and ripped open when he stopped only inches away. I let out a growl and reached again, tearing through the undershirt. The moment our skin came into contact, an intense current of electricity shocked me, only it didn’t hurt. But the burning beneath my skin didn’t subside. A lust like I’d never known owned me.

“I need you,” I whispered. The craving shook my body so hard, I was trembling. Allistair hovered over me, looking me up and down as I cocked my head, the succubus inside of me knowing just how to play the man before me.

“It’s the drugs,” he growled, the muscles in his arms flexing as he held himself inches away from me.

“I don’t care. It hurts,” I mewled. Allistair’s eyes flashed and he took a tight breath before a resolution seemed to settle over him. He moved back to step away as I quickly sat forward to stop him. He wrapped his hands around my wrists, holding me at arm’s length, but making no move to let me go. Gently, he pushed me until my back touched the bed and released my arms with a strained kind of control.

“I’m going to make it go away, Ruby, but you have to do what I tell you,” he murmured. I nodded as he removed his suit jacket and ripped shirts. I gripped the sheets as I drank in his very scent, waiting for him. Admiring the shape of him, the ripples of his muscle, the contours of his abdomen traveling below the line of his belt…he settled on his knees in front of me and motioned for me to sit up again. I hated being told what to do, but the throbbing ache between my legs was not going anywhere.

Slowly, he hooked his fingers under the corners of my sweater and pulled it off. The crisp air hit my flesh and I let out a gasp. He placed a single finger against my lips, instructing me to keep quiet. Knowing it was rebellious, I opened my mouth and bit his finger as he let out a sharp hiss. Without warning, I was on my back, legs dangling over the edge of the bed, my jeans ripped off. I tried to sit up, but he forced me to my side, pinning both arms above my head as he lay next to me.

“Let me—”

“Shhh…” he whispered in the hollow of my ear. His other hand gripped my hip and began caressing my skin, teasing me as he moved his hand up my body.

“I’m not going to have sex with you, Ruby. Not tonight. You will barely remember, and I want you to remember the first time I make you scream.” He squeezed my hardened nipples through the soft cotton of my bra. Pulling down the cup, he freed my breast to the chilled air and locked his deft fingers around my taught peak, rolling his thumb to send a sharp pleasure shooting through me. I let out a low moan as his lips brushed over my neck, and a throaty growl escaped as he bit me hard, sending shocks through my body.

“I’m not even going to kiss you,” he continued. He moved his hand from my breast and trailed it down, grazing lightly over my ribs and settling on the apex of my thighs, cupping me over my cotton underwear.

“But I will take care you. I’m going to take the hurt away, Ruby, but no more,” he whispered against my bare shoulder as his fingers rubbed over my sex. My head lolled as I arched into him.

“Please,” I moaned. Allistair bit into me harder, and I let out a sharp yelp. It broke the skin, but it felt so good. I pushed against his hands, but he wasn’t having it.

“I am going to let you go. And you will do as I say if you want your release. Is that understood?”

I whined in answer.

“Promise me, Ruby. Say you’ll be good and you’ll do as you are told.”

Every part of me aching for his touch, I nodded and breathed out, “I promise. Just…please.”

Allistair pulled away from me, his commanding presence dictating my every move so that I could have the one thing I wanted. He told me to sit up. I sat. He told me to move to the center of the bed. I moved. He told me to lay down on my side. I did as I was told. Allistair climbed in beside me and pressed my back to his front, positioning his arm underneath the curve in my side to wind it around my waist and shackle both my arms simultaneously. I writhed in the constriction.

“Shhh…you promised you would be good.” He slipped his free hand down my hip and into my panties. I opened my legs as far as being spooned against him would allow me, and he took the invitation. He parted my folds with his fingers, grazing my clit just enough to make me buck. Impatient, I ground back into his hips, driven by the feel of his cock against my backside. He was impossibly hard, and yet, he wouldn’t have me. I grit my teeth as I rubbed against him.

He hissed, and his fingers stopped.

Something dark and ugly unfurled in my chest, but I kept it in and stopped all movement. His fingers continued. I tried to keep my moans from escaping as he slipped a single finger inside of me, the slickness of my desires coating him. My body was begging for more, but he was drawing this out.

I shifted again, grinding against him. Again, he stopped.

“I’m not going to fuck you, Ruby. You take what I give, or you get nothing at all,” he growled. Power lashed out from him, for just a moment, but it forced me to be still. The moment I stopped, he slipped two fingers inside of me, gliding them back and forth, pressing his palm into the swollen, sensitive nub. I arched my hips, trying to move against his fingers. Feel them deeper. Faster. Allistair’s grip didn’t give my body a single inch of room to chase my own pleasure the way I wanted. He kept at a slow torturous assault, letting an intense ache build inside of me that only he could relieve.

“More,” I whispered, but I didn’t dare rock back into him. Not when I was so close. I was so fucking close. He would reward me…

The force of his palm against my clit, rubbing it in rhythmic circles, faster… his fingers sweeping, plunging deep inside me…the pressure building, twitching, and burning as his speed increased…

“Come for me, Ruby,” Allistair commanded. He left a trail of suckling kisses down my neck as I found my release. Stars exploded behind my eyes, so violent and so sudden that I couldn’t scream. Waves of pleasure crashed through my body as I poured. I couldn’t do anything but ride it out as I shuddered, his fingers never ceasing, working me all the way.

The moment my orgasm stopped, he pulled his hand away and clarity started to fill my mind. I twisted, trying to turn towards him, but his hard, unyielding body kept me trapped how he wanted me.

“Sleep,” he whispered. The sound of his heart beating was the last thing I heard before the world faded black and sleep overcame.