Page 41 of Sin

I raised both of my brows, meeting him glare for glare. I grew up with Lilith Duvall. I was not easily intimidated by silent dick-measuring contests.

“Seems to me like you need to bust out your label maker, then. A sign or something would really help if you want privacy up here.”

He took two steps forward, his aura heavy with the power that came along with his title.

“Stay out of my rooms, little girl. For your own safety.”

“Damn, you are a grump. I was right. Snow White at least had different personalities to go by with her seven roommates. I got stuck with the grump brigade.” I glanced from him to Malice. “Is it just a Brit thing? Bred to be annoyed all the time? Well, that’s not right because Chaos is”—the word Greek god came to mind, but I wasn’t about to compliment any of these assholes—“in a pretty bad mood most of the time too.”

“You need to leave, Meredith,” Grim said through gritted teeth.

“Oooh, Meredith, huh? Sounds like I’m in trouble. Too bad you don’t know my middle name. You could have really driven the point home,Daddy.” I drew the name out, really laying on the saccharine sweetness.

Did his palm just flex?

Heat suffused my cheeks. I think it fucking did. Well, looks like we found our brat tamer. Honestly? I loved getting to play the brat and didn’t get to do it enough.

“Malice, get her out of here.”

I locked gazes with Grim, my body reacting to the molten pewter of his irises. Oh, sweet agony, this one was just as hot as the others. My lower belly gave a warning clench as arousal sang in my veins.

Dammit, I couldn’t be hungry again.

Power flared in Grim’s eyes, making them glow in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Then, I swear the shadows cast by the light on his tall frame darkened, spreading impossibly.

“Right, let's get this naughty little succubus tucked into bed before she ends up six feet under,” Malice grumbled, heaving himself out of his chair. “I swear, you’re more trouble than you’re worth,” he continued under his breath as he approached.

I could feel the weight of Grim’s gaze tracking my every move as Malice not-so-gently took me by the arm and hauled me out of the office.

The second we were clear of him, it felt like an entire house fell off my chest. “Wow. So that was Grim, huh? I see why you guys keep him hidden.”

Malice chose not to answer my question. Instead he gave me a gentle shove toward the elevator and asked one of his own, “Do you have a death wish?”

“He’s not going to kill me.”

“Don’t be so sure. He has claimed countless lives. Yours isn’t special.”

“That makes no sense. You four areprotectingme,” I said, using air quotes to accentuate my point. “Why would he agree to guard me if he’s just going to kill me?”

“Maybe because being around you has the rather unpleasant side effect of making one murderous.”

“Please,” I said with a huff as we stepped inside. “You’re barely around me long enough for that to possibly be true.” I ran my gaze down Malice’s body, pausing on the obvious bulge behind his fly. “Besides, I don’t think murderous is the word you're looking for.”

It was his turn to make a sound of amused annoyance. “Don’t think you’ve accomplished anything, hellcat. You’re a succubus. This is just an involuntary reaction to being in your presence.”

Did I have a whole involuntary reaction of my own to the nickname he just gave me? Yes. Yes, I certainly did.

“Hiss,” I teased, making like I was going to scratch him.

He caught my wrist, his expression stormy as he leaned in close. “You don’t want to pick a fight with me, I promise you.”

If I’d been in my right mind, I might have thought twice about poking at one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. But I was bored, starved for companionship, and insanely horny—I mean hungry. So can you really blame me?

“Oh, I dunno. Seems like it might be fun.”

“It won’t be. I’m far more than a girl like you could ever handle.”

The elevator door opened and he ushered me out of the car, down the hall, and to my room without another word. As soon as we reached my doorway, he released me but didn’t step back.

---