Page 15 of Sin

There was justsomethingabout her.

She’s a succubus, you dumbass. You know exactly what it is. She’s literally made to give you a hard-on so she can feed.

“So, you want to know why you’re here,” I said before knocking back a swallow of whiskey.

“We’ve established that.”

“I’m surprised you don’t already know after your time at Blackwood.”

She flinched in surprise. “What does any of this have to do with Blackwood? Also, how the hell do you know I was there?”

I reclaimed my seat from earlier, falling into a comfortable sprawl and draining the remaining contents of my glass. The burn of liquor was welcome as I held her stare with a pointed lift of my brow.

She waved her hand dismissively. “Okay, so Lilith told you. That still doesn’t answer my first question. What does Blackwood have to do with me being in enough danger to warrant four dickhead kidnappers as bodyguards?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her description. It wasn’t that far off, and kidnapping was the very least of our collective sins. “Do you have any idea the number of women who’d eagerly take your place?”

Her lip curled back in a sneer. “I’ll go ahead and add delusional to the list. No woman in her right mind wants to be taken hostage.”

“My observation stands. You’re cute.” Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my thighs and focused on her. “We didn’t kidnap you. We’re keeping you protected.”

“You’ve said that. But from whom? Barely anyone knows I exist.”

“The legions of hell are hunting for you, Meredith Deveraux.”

Her expression blanked before she threw her head back and laughed. “Say I believe you. What could possibly make the four of you qualified to protect me from the ‘legions of hell’?” The latter she said in an obnoxious imitation of my voice with over-exaggerated air quotes as emphasis.

Standing to my full height, I closed the distance between us and took her by the hand, sending a pulse of my power into her. The way my head immediately swam told me it was power I couldn’t afford to waste, but I had a point to make.

Her eyes flared and locked on mine.

“Because we’re the fucking horsemen of the apocalypse, kitten. No one starts the end of the world without us.”

Her lips parted on a silent gasp. Whatever she’d expected me to say, it definitely hadn’t been that.

“The four...” Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and I couldn’t help but envision that little pink tip doing thesame to mine. She swallowed and tried again. “You’re the four horsemen?”

Still holding her hand, I dipped into a courtly bow. “At your service, sweetheart.”

Any surprise she’d initially felt was carefully hidden as she studied me. I had to admit she was handling her current situation much better than I’d expected. Though I suppose having Lilith as a de facto mother would tend to put things in a much different perspective.

“So which one are you then? Ringo?”

I feigned offense. “Excuse me? I’m a lead singer, baby. Not a fucking drummer. We’ll leave that to Malice.”

“The four horsemen are my bodyguards,” she mused, not really speaking to me at all. “What did I do to deserve this much attention? I’ve barely even lived.”

“Hell needs you to finalize the apocalypse. We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Fuck, I was stretching the truth here, but I couldn’t tell her we planned to fuck her until she was knocked up in order to keep that from happening. Something told me this little succubus needed seducing before that happened.

“Hell needs me to finalize the apocalypse,” she repeated slowly, drawing the statement out like she was testing each word and searching for hidden meaning. Then she blinked and held her palm up. “Wait, you’re trying tostopthe apocalypse? Isn’t that like... your shtick? Your sole reason for existing? Why would you want to stop it?”

“Because we weren’t the ones to start it.”

Confusion flickered in her eyes. “If not you, then who?”

I sighed. “It’s complicated. But for now, do you believe me when I say you’re not a prisoner here? We want you safe. The worldneedsyou safe.”

The cutest little furrow appeared between her brows as she processed my explanation. “But why? Does it really matter that much to you that you get credit for ending the world?”

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