Page 63 of Sin

“I killed the one man I’d ever loved.”

It was all starting to come together. This sweet succubus was traumatized by her past. Who among us, really?

“He was human?”

“Yes. I thought I was too, at the time. We were kids, really. In high school.”

With the memories of my own first night as an incubus fresh in my mind, she didn’t have to say anything else. I had a very clear picture of what happened.

“It doesn’t have to be that way every time, kitten. I promise.”

Tears filled her eyes. “How can you promise that? Lilith kept me locked away because I’m so powerful. She knew it was the only way to keep everyone safe.”

“Are you sure that’s why she did it? Or was it because it’s whatyouneeded to feel safe?”

She blinked at me, her long, wet eyelashes sticking together. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you were scared. Grieving for the boy you’d lost.” I refused to refer to a teenager as a man on principle. “Terrified of your own power. She offered stability. Safety. The certainty that it wouldn’t happen again under her watch. She gave you a place to recover and find yourself again.”

Merri hummed. “I never thought of it that way.”

I squeezed her hand. “See, I’m pretty smart. And if I’m right about that, then it stands to reason I’m right about other things too.”

Merri’s gaze went unfocused as she considered my earlier reassurances. “I guess you might be right. When Chaos kissed me earlier, I didn’t feed from him at all.”

My whole body stiffened. Chaos fuckingkissedher? Mr. I Only Growl At Her In Passing went straight in for the kiss while I’m over here opening my chest and spilling my secrets?

“I . . . that’s . . . uh, great?” I finally spluttered.

“It was the first time anyone has kissed me since...”

I could tell there was more she wanted to say, could sense the confusion and sadness the admission caused her. I wondered if she was picking up on the rampant jealousy currently raging through me. Maybe I could distract her with another truth bomb.

“Closing yourself off from people isn’t the answer, kitten. Not for your succubus nature or your heart.” I was still holding her hand, my thumb rubbing small circles on her skin. “How you’ve survived this long is a miracle. You need physical contact. Camming won’t cut it.”

“You said it yourself, I’ve survived this long.”

“Surviving isn’t living, Merri. And I think we both know that it’s not enough. The celibacy thing is not going to work. You’ve been camming every day, sometimes twice a day, and you’re still starving. Sooner or later, your succubus is going to demand more.”

I knew I’d ruined the moment as soon as she released my hand and sat up. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear, even if it was true. Actually, more than likelybecauseit was true.

“I’ll make do,” she said, her voice detached and cold. Then she stood and walked to my door, muttering on her way out, “I always do.”

Chapter

Eighteen

GRIM

“Fucking ungrateful, entitled pricks, the lot of them,” I grumbled, my annoyance swelling.

The decanter in my hand was woefully empty as I took the elevator down to the bottom floor to my bespoke wine cellar. I’d crafted an entire corner specifically to house my collection of Brimstone whiskey and now that my brothers were here, my stores were rapidly depleting. I was going to have to call Hades and ask for another shipment at this rate.

“The least they could do is refill the decanter after they empty it, but noooo. Would serve them all right if I cut them off. Bloody parasites.”

It wasn’t like they didn’t know where the cellar was. They’d left nothing more than a few drops in the crystal container this time. No excuse for bad manners. I’d have to teach them a thing or two if they were going to live in polite society. Clearly the years of rock stardom had only made Sin worse, and Chaos? Well, who knew what he’d been up to. War was never civilized.

Malice was only slightly more tolerable, though I suppose the years of living on his own had taught him a thing or two about picking up after himself. So there was that, at least.

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