Authors: Mandy M. Roth
Tags: #vampires, #Werewolves & Shifters, #paranormal romance, #urban fantasy
Devils Among Us
Devils
Among Us
by
Mandy M. Roth
Devils
Among Us © Copyright 2013-2015, Mandy M. Roth
Cover art by Andrea Depasture © Copyright 2013
First Electronic Printing May 2013, The Raven Books
Second Electronic Printing Feb 2015, The Raven Books
Edited by Suz Gower
Final Line Edits by Dianne B
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
––––––––
A
ll books copyrighted to the author and may not be resold or given away without written permission from the author, Mandy M. Roth.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence. Intended for adults only. Must be 18 years or older to read.
––––––––
Published by Raven Books
www.ravenhappyhour.com
Raven Books and all affiliate sites and projects are © Copyrighted 2004-2015
The Raven Books’ Complimentary Material
Strength in Numbers by Reagan Hawk
Critical Intelligence (Immoral Ops Series) by Mandy M. Roth
The Barbarian Prince (Dragon Lords 1) by Michelle M. Pillow
Immortal Outcasts (Part of the Immortal Ops World)
Broken Communication
Damage Report
Wrecked Intel
Isolated Maneuver
Intelligence Malfunction
Immortal Ops Series
Immortal Ops
Critical Intelligence
Radar Deception
Strategic Vulnerability
Tactical Magik
Administrative Control
Separation Zone
Area of Influence
Desired Perception
Carnal Diversions
Zone of Action
PSI-Ops Series (Part of the Immortal Ops World)
Act of Mercy
Act of Surrender
Act of Submission
Act of Security
Act of Command
Act of Passion
Act of Engagement
Act of Pride
Act of Duty
Shadow Agents Series & Crimson Sentinels Series (Part of the Immortal Ops World) Coming Soon!
Mandy loves hearing from readers and can be found interacting on social media.
(copy & paste links into your browser window)
Website:
http://www.MandyRoth.com
Blog:
http://www.MandyRoth.com/blog
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorMandyRoth
Roth Head (Mandy M. Roth Fans) Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MandyRothReaders/
Twitter:
@MandyMRoth
Book Release Newsletter:
http://www.mandyroth.com/newsletter/
(Newsletters: I do not share emails and only send newsletters when there is a new release/contest/or sales)
Book One in Devils Among Us Series.
K
eane has lived for centuries—taking what he wants, doing as he pleases. When a beautiful young woman catches his attention, he finds himself drawn to her like a moth to a flame. He knows better than to expect more than pleasures of the flesh from her, yet he can’t seem to stop himself. Seducing her will prove to be a dangerous challenge. Keeping her will prove nearly impossible.
Hannah’s new secret admirer is more than she bargained for. As a slayer sworn to police the demons who dare to roam the earth, she has enough to worry about. She doesn’t need some mysterious guy trying to seduce her—especially one who puts her at odds with what she was born to do. She’s no match for Keane’s seductive powers, and when his brother, Janco, announces he too is drawn to her, she knows she’s in way over her head. But she can’t stop herself. She wants them both and they want her.
Note: This title was previously released under another title and under the pen name Darby London.
To my readers, for believing in me.
“T
he safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts” ~
C.S. Lewis
Hannah opened her eyes slightly, her lids still heavy from sleep. Her bedroom ceiling came into focus, slowly. She stared up at the crown molding, taking a minute to wake from the deep sleep she’d been in. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
She wasn’t alone, though she should have been. She sensed someone with her in the room. She’d have reached for her weapons, but this wasn’t the first time this had happened with this particular person. She doubted it would be the last. She had a secret admirer. Someone powerful enough to get close to her without her knowledge—until he was well upon her—and powerful enough to protect her without showing himself.
A constant in her life anymore.
My protector.
She didn’t fear him, yet she was cautious. Her lifestyle left little room for anything but. To blindly put her trust in the unknown could very well mean her death. A death she wasn’t ready to meet just yet though she knew it would inevitably come—sooner than most people’s.
Part of the job description
, she reminded herself.
She glanced down to find her short nightgown lifted high over her hips, showing off her low-cut lace panties. The red material was bright against her pale skin. A single gold coin lay on the swell of her lower stomach. She knew without looking what was engraved upon it.
The devil on one side and an angelic figure on the other.
She caressed the coin, her finger skimming over her sensitive skin. His power still emanated from the object, humming against her body. He’d left the coins for her before. Too many times to count. At first they’d baffled her. Anymore they made her feel a connection to him. She wanted him and she’d never even met him.
Her inner thighs were slick with cream, reaffirming the fact she’d been dreaming of being pleasured by her mystery man. He consumed all her thoughts of late—awake and asleep. She didn’t bother inventing a face for him. She already had a sense he’d be tall, dark and dangerous.
Everything a girl like her could hope for in a man.
With a groan, she lay back, drawing the coin up her body slowly. She let out a long, tense breath, staring around the room, positive someone was there, watching her. The mirror above her dresser cast a soft reflection. Had she not known it was her, she would have wondered. The woman staring back at her looked so different than Hannah remembered herself being.
On edge, yet secure.
An odd combination.
The woman also looked alluring, as if she were on the prowl for a man, something Hannah had never really seen herself as being before. As a virgin, she didn’t exactly do much of anything in regards to sex. She simply did her job, never focusing on her baser wants and needs.
Though no other people were visible, she knew she wasn’t totally alone because the coin had to have manifested from somewhere. It wasn’t as if it had magically appeared.
Or had it?
Besides, the scents of bergamot and rosemary clung to the air. The scents accompanied the coin, and an inborn knowledge they belonged to the coin’s owner settled over her.
Hannah brought the coin to her lips and hid her smile as she stared towards her bedroom window. Was he there? Was he watching? Was he as she imagined him to be? Dark? Dangerous? The embodiment of sex?
A giggle escaped her and she slid the coin over her lips, down her neck to her upper chest. Energy buzzed in the room and she knew then that she did indeed have an audience. Hannah gave in to the urge to give him a show. She skimmed the coin over her thin nightgown and over the hard pebble-like peaks of her nipples. She kept her gaze on the window, believing her mystery man to be there.
Her body heated and she carried the show on further, reaching down with her free hand and pulling the nightgown higher, stopping just below her breasts. She dragged the coin down her stomach to her mound, rubbing it over her lace-covered sex. Growing bold, she eased her panties to the side, scraping the coin past her shaved pussy. Cream dripped from her and she dipped a finger through it, smearing it on the coin before bringing the object back to her lips. She licked her finger and the coin casually, tasting herself.
There was no doubt in her mind that she still had an audience. She went on, pinching her nipples, positive for a split second that energy began to creep slowly up her legs. The power made it to her cunt and parted her slit, easing the ache.
Hannah ground her hips against the nothingness, moaning as she kneaded her breasts, tugging at them. The air around her grew heavy, oppressive, and her mind fogged. Something blurry appeared over her and she closed her eyes as pleasure like she’d never known consumed her. Hands. Real, flesh-and-blood hands touched her, taking over where she’d left off with her nipples. She squirmed, the aching deep within growing to epic proportions.
“Please,” she whispered, already knowing he was there with her. It was tempting to peek to see who her mystery man was, but she didn’t dare. The feeling might go as quickly as he did.
Hannah was conditioned to expect the unexpected, to accept the unexplainable and to trust in her gut feelings. Questioning everything she’d learned through the course of her life wasn’t something that was likely to happen.
Trust in him
, her inner voice stated with ease.
She did.
She opened her legs to his touch, squeezing her eyes shut tighter in the process.
He whispered to her in a language she didn’t understand. Whatever he said sounded beautiful and was so soft, the whisper was more in her mind than in the air around her. Cool lips pressed against her warm ones and Hannah silently begged for more.
The kiss ended and the lips found her ear. “All in due time,
my light
.”
Her eyes snapped open, but no one was there.
Had there ever truly been someone near her or had her mind finally broke, giving in to the stress of her life? Something fluttered to the floor and she bent. There, lying on the hardwood floor, was a coin, devil side faceup.
“Y
ou watch her from afar too often, Keane. Your obsession with the female troubles the others. They talk of you being weak. Softening in your old age.”
Keane stiffened at the sound of his brother’s voice. The truths Janco spewed forth weren’t what Keane wanted to hear. He’d already struggled with the knowledge a mortal had somehow wormed her way into his existence, making him think of little but her. He didn’t need a late-night visitor bearing harsh reminders of his weaknesses. Of his inability to pull himself from the thrall of a woman he did not truly know—a human woman at that. It was even worse that he was blood kin to the visitor who told such hard truths. Keane could kill a stranger. A family member was something all together different. He had to show restraint.
Damn family.
“I am not obsessed with a human,” he stressed, the lie rolling easily enough off his tongue. “Nor have I ever been.”
It was a blatant falsehood and he knew it. Hell, everyone knew it. There was no question why his brother had come to speak with him while he watched the woman among her own kind. Janco wasn’t one who enjoyed slumming among humans. When he did, it was normally in only the finest of restaurants, or perhaps a well-known show, but never in a public park, as was the case now. Occasionally, Janco could also be found in the bed of a mortal.
Humans were a necessary evil. His kind needed them to survive yet despised them for their fragility and ignorance, but most of all, for the fact they had souls.
Jealousy, no matter how it’s masked, was the same in the end. Humans had something Keane and his brothers never would—a soul—a ticket to redemption.
Keane had joined in on many of Janco’s mortal escapades, fucking the women as well, giving them pleasure before sampling their blood. There was nothing better than the taste of blood while he came with a fire only a supernatural could possess.
A suck and a fuck. A perfect end to any night.
Keane rolled a coin—he was rarely without one—over the backs of his fingers, letting it flip over each one. He grinned as the coin fell to one side. The devil. Half-man, half-beast, atop a throne with two figures chained to him. The wicked gleam in the devil’s eyes and the horns signifying evil stared back at Keane. In more ways than one, its meaning applied to him, to events his gift of foresight told him would come to be. He knew he would have to face something dark about his nature, something he may not like but would have no choice in the matter. He would be a slave to an obsession, possibly sexual. He also knew the human female he’d taken to was involved in some way. Perhaps she represented the opposite side of the coin—the angel or, his luck, the obsession.