Page 79 of Sin

She met and held my stare, and while her lips were still curled in a playful smile, her voice was pure ice. “I’ll let youfeed from one of my girls. You can have your choice, but”—she held up a slender finger, the pointed tip of her nail stained black—“there’s an expiration date on my generosity. Every second you are here is one less opportunity for you to accomplish our shared goal. I didn’t work this hard for everything to all come crumbling down around me. Figure your shit out, Sinclair. Do what you were made for.”

It took every ounce of bravado I possessed not to shrink into my seat as my fucking balls threatened to shrivel up under her glare.

“If it were up to me, she’d already be in the family way, Lil.”

Her lip curled up in distaste at my use of her shortened name, and I swallowed, speaking quickly to distract her from my faux pas. “She’s not interested in fucking any of us. I don’t take what’s not freely offered.”

“Have you never heard of seduction?” Crombie crooned.

This motherfucker.

I glared at him.

“Of course I have,” I snapped.

“Well, you can’t be very good at it.” He trailed his knuckles down Lilith’s arm. “If you were, your little problem would already be solved.”

“I’m the fucking king of seduction, you wingless firefly.”

Lilith had to tug on the chain connecting Crombie to her to stop him from going for my throat at my insult.

Undeterred, I continued. “She wants love. She needs it.” That was my takeaway from our little heart-to-heart the other night. It didn’t seem pertinent to mention that she was also terrified she was going to kill anyone lucky enough to bury themselves inside her. That problem would be easily solved, the other matter...not so much.

“And?” Lilith prompted.

“That’s not something any of us are capable of giving her.”

One dark, perfectly shaped eyebrow lifted as she assessed me. “Aren’t you?”

“What the hell do we know about love? We exist purely to raise chaos and destruction. We’re the walking antithesis of love. I mean, come on, Grimsby can’t even fucking touch her.”

“Hmmm,” she mused, but didn’t elaborate. For some reason, that only made the urge to squirm in my seat stronger.

“Just let me feed and I’ll get out of your hair, okay?”

Again with that twist of discomfort in my gut. I knew what I wanted, but Merri had to be willing and ready to be with me. Even if we were only feeding. With her camming situation off the table, that meant I couldn’t participate any longer. We’d been explosive even though we weren’t in the same room. I’d left our chat completely sated. Satisfied. Fulfilled. Without the ability to engage with her in that way, I needed to supplement. I didn’t have to enjoy it, though.

Plenty of creatures fed themselves without particularly enjoying their meal. This would be like that. A dry, tasteless sandwich instead of a mouthwatering feast.

“Are you certain?” Lilith asked.

I nodded.

She slid out of the booth and rose to her full height, Crombie following immediately after. Her blue eyes sparkled as she leaned down and whispered, “As you wish, darling.”

Chapter

Twenty-Three

MALICE

That sneaky little succubus had been in my room. I could smell it.

When I’d woken and she was gone, I thanked my lucky stars I didn’t have to face up to what we’d done. I hadn’t been so bloody vulnerable with anyone in centuries. I didn’t like how raw I still felt about the whole thing. Or that part of me craved another round or ten.

This was why I hadn’t wanted to get involved in the first place.

The rest of them didn’t understand what it meant to have a woman crush you with her lies. To find out you had everything you wanted within your reach but were never given the chance to take it. Merri and her fucking womb were echoes of what Odette had used me for. Except this time I wouldn’t be an unwitting sperm donor.

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