A Fire in the Heart Read online

  Markus shuddered delicately. “What a ghastly thought. Come along, children. I can see that it’s way past your bedtimes. Do you need me to read you all a bedtime story? Tuck you in? Sing you a lullaby?”

  “No, no, and no,” Declan said.

  Baxter laughed. “I can’t imagine a demon bedtime story would be soothing.”

  “That depends on what your idea of soothing is, White Fang.” Markus gestured grandly. “This way, if you please.”

  By the time Declan was shown to a guest room, he looked almost asleep on his feet. He grunted his thanks to Markus and a “Sleep well,” to Liam and Baxter, and then he went into the room and sprawled facedown on the bed, fully clothed. As Baxter watched Markus close the door of the room, he wondered if the demon would tell him what he wanted to know.

  “He seems pretty exhausted,” Baxter said to Markus.

  “Of course he is. Being ridden by a loa isn’t an easy, fun-filled time of unicorns and rainbows,” Markus drawled.

  “I don’t know anything about it,” Baxter said.

  “Then I suppose you’ll be hitting the books and the Internet to learn, won’t you? Here’s your room.” Markus unlocked a door that opened to reveal a large, well-appointed bedroom with a closet, bathroom, and a very large bed. “Sleep well, Necromancer, White Fang.”

  Baxter closed the door behind them and then moved to sit on the bed. Liam was kicking off his boots. “So,” Baxter began, and then faltered to a stop, not sure what to say next.

  “So,” Liam echoed.

  Baxter took a deep breath. “Dude, I know you don’t want to talk too much about your upbringing or anything like that. I get that. Just… we’re used to magic that the angels use, or witches. What you guys did today was incredible. It was also a little scary. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Liam sat down beside him on the bed. “I know. You in Venatores are all about western magic. Has there ever been a Hoodoo Priest or Priestess in Venatores?”

  Baxter frowned. “I have no idea, actually. I’m going out on a limb to say yes, because I don’t know the history, and Michael didn’t seem that surprised by what you guys did. So yeah, probably, in the past, but not in recent memory.”

  “Right. So it’s not something you guys are familiar with. And there might be Venatores that you guys don’t know who are Hoodoo practitioners or Voodoo practitioners or Santerians. You just don’t know. But here, everyone is used to angels, demons, shifters, and western magic. Anything else is an unknown. It’s not unknown to Dec and me, though. To us, it’s very natural. We’re used to it, we grew up with it. So Danny getting in our faces like that, it’s really kind of offensive. What you guys do is pretty foreign to us. But we aren’t giving you guys shit, because it works for you, and you’re not hurting the wrong people. Same with us.”

  Baxter felt his face grow warm. He was flushed, he knew it, feeling more than a little chastised for doing the very thing he was determined never to do to anyone—treat them as something other, something frightening, something to be handled with suspicion and mistrust.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t think of it that way.”

  “It’s okay.” Liam smiled at him. “We’re used to it.”

  “I bet that’s what Angelique was yelling at Danny about,” Baxter said.

  “I guess. I’m too tired to really think about that.”

  “Do you want me to hold you while you sleep?”

  Liam smiled at him, and Baxter felt his heart give a little flip-flop in his chest. “I’d really like that, Bax.”

  “Awesome, because I’d really like to do it.” Baxter tugged off his T-shirt and stood up, toeing off his shoes and socks as he unfastened his jeans.

  “Maybe, after we’ve slept a bit, we can have hot sex,” Liam added.

  Baxter laughed. “We have to be loud, then, because your brother clearly cares a lot about the volume of our sexy times, and I wouldn’t want him to miss out.”

  That got a guffaw out of Liam, who leaned back, laughing heartily. After several moments, he got control of his mirth and shook his head, grinning hugely. “I love you, Bax baby.”

  “I love you, too, Liam.” Baxter sat down on the bed. “Get naked, and let’s get some sleep.”

  “God, that sounds like the best idea ever right now.” Liam quickly stripped off his clothes and climbed into the large bed.

  It was incredibly comfortable, Baxter thought as he climbed in beside his lover. The mattress was soft but firm, and the pillows were of the highest quality, not being so soft as to flatten as soon as he laid his head down, nor so hard as to feel as if he were resting on a brick. The bed linens were made of Egyptian cotton, the label on the pillowcase telling Baxter they were two thousand thread count. He knew that was a good thing, and feeling the soft smoothness beneath his skin, he thought sleepily that he could really get used to luxury like this.

  Liam drew up the blankets and got comfortable, lying on his side, his back against Baxter’s chest. Baxter pressed a little closer and wrapped his arms around Liam, nuzzling the nape of his neck and inhaling the scent of him: sweat, soap, and dirt. “You need a shower later,” he murmured.

  “Mm,” Liam agreed. “We can shower together.”

  “Best idea ever,” Baxter said. He stifled a yawn, feeling a great wave of weariness wash over him. “Sleep now, sex and shower later.”

  Liam reached back and patted his hip. “Agreed.”

  BAXTER DIDN’T know how long he’d been asleep, but he woke to the pleasurable sensation of a hot, muscled ass rubbing against his cock. He stretched, his arms tightening around Liam, and grinned to himself as he heard the soft moan come from his lover.

  “You awake, babe?”

  “Yeah,” Liam replied, his voice husky with want.

  “Good.” Baxter shifted slightly so that his cock continued to rub against Liam’s ass, but now between his buttocks, the friction of muscle and heat against him feeling absolutely delicious. He groaned into Liam’s back as he rocked, and slid one hand down Liam’s body, following the line of muscle and flesh to his stomach, then lower to his groin. He teased his fingers through the thatch of pubic hair, making Liam groan again, louder this time, and then he wrapped his fingers around Liam’s cock and began to stroke him in time with the rocking motion he was making.

  “Bax,” Liam panted, reaching behind himself to grip Baxter’s hip, “I want you in my ass, not against my ass.”

  “Got lube, then, babe?” Baxter asked.

  “Right here.” Baxter grinned as Liam pressed a tube into his hand as he spoke.

  It took Baxter barely a minute to get a generous amount on his fingers, and he stroked himself, not caring where the tube ended up. Whoever cleaned up this mansion skyscraper of Ondrass’s would probably find it. Liam moved, still on his side, but leaning forward a little, pulling his top leg up toward his chest, and Baxter pressed a soft kiss to the back of Liam’s neck.

  “When we get home and we’ve got more time, I’m going to eat you out until you scream for me to fuck you,” Liam said, his voice now rough with desire.

  “Oh fuck,” Baxter gasped, a flash fire of arousal burning through him at the words.

  “Maybe tie you up….”

  “Cuff me,” Baxter interrupted as, with fingers made clumsy by desire, he positioned his cock at Liam’s hole and slowly began to press in. “Cuff me to the headboard, tie down my ankles, make me helpless….”

  “Suck your cock until you’re writhing and yelling my name; then you come, and I swallow every last drop. And then I pull your dick from my mouth and go down lower and suck and lick your balls before going back to your hole and eating you out again.”

  “And then fuck me, fuck me so hard that I’m begging you for more, begging you to bite me, scratch me, god, do anything to me.”

  “Fuck, Baxter,” Liam panted, rocking back onto his cock. “God!”

  Baxter moaned, returning his hand to Liam’s own straining cock and stroking him in time
to his thrusts. Liam’s body yielded and clenched around him, each movement, each flex driving his need, his hunger for this remarkable man who had claimed his heart higher and higher, until it felt as if Baxter were going to explode.

  He came with a loud shout of Liam’s name, tensing as his orgasm tore through him, and feeling Liam clench down hard around him, keeping his cock deep inside his own body while Baxter orgasmed. The additional stimulus seemed to make it feel as if his orgasm was going on and on, as if it would never end, but it did, and Baxter was panting harshly and knew his skin was clammy with sweat. He continued to stroke Liam’s cock then, paying attention to the ridge around the crown, knowing that was a sensitive spot, and Liam’s hips jerked as he came a few moments later, his come hot and thick on Baxter’s hand.

  When he was done, Baxter let go and brought his come-covered hand to his mouth, licking it clean. “Mm. Liam-come. The best.”

  “God, what you do to me, baby,” Liam said. He rolled onto his back and gazed up at Baxter, smiling, his eyes full of warmth and love. “And we are so doing that, with the cuffs and everything.”

  “Fucking yes, we are,” Baxter said. “I’m holding you to it.”

  “You can hold me to whatever you want,” Liam purred, and Baxter laughed. He couldn’t help it.

  “Let’s take a shower first,” he said. “Maybe have a quickie while we get clean.”

  “Okay. I guess that’ll keep my lust for you at bay while we deal with things down in Ondrass’s boardroom.”

  “If not,” Baxter kicked off the blankets and sheets, “we can always sneak out and find somewhere to have another quickie.”

  “I fucking love you. I love the way you think.” Liam sat up, and his hair was mussed, sticking out in all directions, like a light brown haystack. Baxter thought that looked adorable, and Liam gave him a quick kiss and got out of bed, standing on the tips of his toes and stretching.

  Baxter boldly eyed his lover’s naked body, taking in every line and curve of muscle and sinew, the soft, tanned tone of Liam’s skin. The phoenix tattoo stood out in stark relief against his skin, and Baxter’s eyes lingered on it only for a moment, before he continued to gaze at the rest of Liam’s body, taking in the many scars. The scars saddened him, saddened that Liam had suffered in some way to have acquired them, but he knew, too, that Liam was the sort of person who would see his scars as part of the learning experiences he’d had. And then there was his cock, thick and still hard, with a slight curve in it as it jutted out proudly, the head still slick with come.

  Baxter climbed out of the bed and stood up, sliding his arms around Liam’s waist and kissing his collarbone. “Let’s get clean,” he said. “If we don’t do it now, I’ll be pulling you back into bed, and then Angelique might come in here to get us to join the others. I’d really rather not have her poking her damn nosey nose in.”

  Liam laughed at that and looped his own arms around Baxter’s neck. “Okay. Shower it is.”

  15

  GABRIEL WAS pleased to see not just all of the Brotherhood of Archangels in Ondrass’s boardroom, but Shateiel, Agrat, Ishtahar, Hiwa, Ahijah, and the Venatores pack with Declan and Liam as well. Of course, the other Archdemons and Markus were present, which was to be expected, but it amused Gabriel that residents of Heaven and its allies outnumbered demons. Tabbris and Israfel were also there, talking quietly to Raphael, and Gabriel wondered if this meeting would devolve into a shouting and insulting match.

  He took a seat beside Shateiel, and Michael sat down on his other side. Gabriel leaned back in the plush business chair, stretching out his legs and letting out a contented sigh. These chairs were amazing, he thought. Perhaps he should ask Ondrass where he’d bought them and buy a couple for the house on Belle Coeur.

  There was a video link up too, Gabriel saw, not that he understood all the technology. Minnie and Max were on a screen and smiling, and he couldn’t help but smile back. As Ondrass stood and called the meeting to order, Gabriel turned his attention to the Archdemon.

  “Great progress has been made in uncovering information,” Ondrass said. “The lady Minnie and lord Max have furnished us with a list of employees that TCC Corp. have hired and the names of the witches in their private coven. Lord Samael and Ahijah have gathered some information regarding the medical practices of the group, and those are being studied by Raphael and Raziel. Our good Necromancer, Liam, and his brother, Declan, have found a vast collection of files and data that we have been going through, and that has yielded some fascinating information.”

  “How did you find that intel?” Adramelek asked, looking at Liam and Declan.

  Declan shrugged. “It wasn’t much. We pretended to be janitors and went into one of their buildings in Maine. They were out for the day, inspecting their new facility site, so we went through their computers and filing cabinets and copied everything useful that we found.”

  “Where were the Venatores at this time?” Michael asked.

  “In the library,” Declan said.

  Michael frowned as Gabriel looked at him. “Why?”

  “Because that place was probably warded against shifters or anyone touched by an angel and don’t you dare make that into a dirty joke, any of you.” Declan shifted a little in his seat. “It seemed to be prudent to minimize possible casualties, wouldn’t you say?”

  “We were fine,” Liam went on. “Shateiel was nearby if we got into trouble.”

  “Be that as it may,” Michael said, his voice stern, “we will all be having a debriefing after this meeting has concluded.”

  Declan shrugged. “If you say so, Michael. But me and Liam, we don’t answer to you. We answer to Gabe. So if he wants to scold us, he can. Seeing as we got the job done, and no one got hurt, there’s no reason for a scolding, is there?”

  “Let it go,” Gabriel said in an undertone to his lover. He could feel Michael bristling with anger beside him. “We’ll deal with it afterward.”

  Michael hissed and then nodded once, curt and formal. “As you say.”

  Gabriel winced.

  “Moving on,” Ondrass said smoothly, “now we have this information and can go through it, with many hands making light work, I believe our most pressing concerns are twofold. One,” and he held up his right index finger, “we must find out where this new facility is. And two,” and he held up a second finger, “we must neutralize the coven.”

  “I’m not sure you can do that too easily,” Minnie said. Everyone looked at the screen. “I’ve been going through some of the files and talking to my friends and contacts, and there’s something that doesn’t sit right with me.”

  “Or the other witches you spoke to,” Max said.

  “Truly.” She sighed. “We think they’re using synthetic magic. Now, before you all start bombarding me with questions, I’m going to say right now, I have no idea how, no idea where they get it from, and no idea what they can do with it. Two chaos magician friends are looking into it, and I trust them completely. Their report should be fascinating.”

  “Then we come back to the first issue—finding this new facility,” Ondrass mused.

  “Can I ask a question?” It was Israfel.

  “Ask away,” Ondrass said, gesturing grandly with a sweep of his arm.

  “Thanks! So, I’m wondering why we need to find this facility thing. Like, it’s not built yet, is it? So what are we going to do with an empty paddock? I mean, I’m all for taking up gardening, because a vegetable garden would be totally ace, and I make a mean vegetable lasagna. Seriously, it’ll blow your taste buds. But if they haven’t built the place yet, shouldn’t we be making sure they never do? Shouldn’t we be stopping them in their buildings in Maine?”

  “No,” Adramelek said. “I understand what you’re saying, Iss, but we can’t. Wait. Let me amend that. My Guild and I could and would, without any hesitation, but you and your kind seem to have this warm, fuzzy, good feeling about human beings. If we went and took care of things in Bangor, which is a reasonably sized c
ity, there’d be a lot of people killed.”

  “But why?” Israfel asked. “I don’t get it. We’re all pretty powerful, so put our powers together and shazam!”

  “Shazam?” Ondrass asked, raising an eyebrow. “Really, Israfel?”

  “What? Shazam’s a great word!”

  “Leave him alone,” Raphael said.

  “Pillow talk between you two must be absolutely enchanting,” Ondrass drawled.

  “It is, and it’s none of your affair, so butt out,” Raphael said.

  “If I can continue,” Adramelek said, “we could do that, yes, but then we’d alert a lot of people to the fact there’s a concentration of angel and demon power in one spot. What better place for their coven to attack? And some of us would get hurt or distracted, and we’d have to split the work between dealing with the company itself and its pet coven, and then we’re back to many people dying.”

  “Oh.” Israfel looked a little crestfallen. “I didn’t think of that.”

  “It’s all right, Iss,” Raphael told him. “You raised a good point. I was wondering the same thing myself. Adramelek seems to have covered more bases than I.”

  Adramelek shrugged. “Once a soldier, always a soldier. Don’t you agree, Gabriel?”

  “Don’t bring me into this,” Gabriel said. Then he sighed and nodded. “But yeah, he’s right. Let’s not get any more innocents hurt or killed.”

  “Then we know what we have to do,” Remiel said. “Read everything that we’ve got so far and find out when their next site inspection is. If we’re there to meet them, that should work better for everyone, don’t you think, guys?”

  There was a murmur of agreement at that.

  “We’ll keep going through locked files and magic stuff,” Max said. “I’ve got a new hack I want to try out, and their servers are perfect for it.”

  “Just don’t destroy the place,” Gabriel said.

  “Not yet, at any rate,” Remiel said.