Chapter One

“I do,” I say sulkily as the minister asks if I take this man standing next to me to be my lawfully wedded husband.

“You could at least muster some kind of joy over this,” Haines says quietly as he squeezes my hand. “Your posture is disgusting.”

“Shut-up,” I snap at him.

For our friends and family attending our nuptials I have nothing but sweet smiles and kind words. But for this douchebag I have snark for days.

This is not the happily ever after either one of us was hoping for. And Haines is certainly not the man I wanted to end up with. But if I don’t have a holy union —holy my arse!—with him all hell will break loose and blah, blah, blah. We’re destined to be together. I despise him. He likes it. He’s a demon. Figuratively and literally.

Haines is a full-blooded incubus, a male demon that feeds off the sexual energy of women. I am the female counterpart—a succubus. I also happen to be a cambion, a half-blood. Perfect couple, my parents said. Marry him or you’ll start murdering people. You won’t hate each other forever. Fat chance.

“Oh, my God,” echoes the blubbering voice of my Aunt Rita amid the silence as the minister says the final lines of the ceremony. “She’s. So. Beautiful!” She sure loves to be heard.

The minister smiles as he presents us to the crowd sitting in the church pews. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”

I turn to Haines and frown at him as he leans in and gives me a hard kiss on the lips. “Could you be more of a dick?” I say quietly while everyone stands and claps for us. “That hurt.”

“Could you be happy about something for five minutes?” Haines says through gritted teeth, grabbing my hand as a show of affection. “Your parents should have let me train you years ago.”

I look at him and scoff. “Are you insane?”

Haines is one of the yummiest men I’ve ever laid eyes on. He’s just under six feet tall with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and dark hazel eyes that complement his sun-kissed complexion perfectly. His chestnut wavy hair is cut fairly close but grown out just enough so that I can pull it when I get angry with him. Trust me. I’ve done it several times before. He pisses me off daily.

When my mother found out that I had inherited her demonic genes she contacted a soothsayer who did some witchy crap and found out that Haines was the man for the job. Again, we are fated to be together. There was a choice, though. Either marry Haines, apparently the only living, unattached incubus that has the power to help me control myself, or allow my need for sex and energy to take over. I loathe Haines, but I don’t want to kill anyone.

Well, except Haines.

Before we walk down the aisle my mother stands up and addresses the crowd. “Please, everyone, listen for a moment. Mr. and Mrs. O’Neil Haines—”

I roll my eyes. “God, you have a stupid name…”

“—will be joining us at the reception hall after they take formal pictures. Please, head over to the hall, and they will be there shortly.” She turns to face us. “Downstairs. Now.”

Haines tries to take my arm and lead me down the aisle, but I pick up the front of my poufy white dress and walk off. “I gotta pee,” I tell him over my shoulder.

****

“Come on, Perry,” my mother says through the bathroom door. I’ve locked myself in. A girl has got to have privacy.

“Coming, Mother,” I say sweetly, but I’m sure she catches the sarcasm.

I look in the mirror and see a not so blushing bride giving me the stink-eye. My dress is your typical A-line fit with silver embroidery leading to the bottom in long flowery lines. Since it’s late November I opted to have a lace sheath that falls just below my elbows added to the top.

My hair is pinned up with real diamond pins and real silver ribbon laced through it. Haines may not be the man of my dreams, but my father is wealthy and this son of a bitch I just married is loaded. I insisted we do this in style. Why not? I’m not paying for it.

The make-up on my face is sparse and flawless and my platinum tear drop earrings make my neck look longer. I’m only five foot four and I’m not what you’d call petite. I have wide hips, child bearing hips my mother calls them, not so small breasts and a complexion of one who goes jogging in the sun every day. I’m a size ten, plus-sized model by today’s standards. I’m beautiful. Every succubus is. Most men don’t want a demon that actually looks like a demon.

Haines may look like every woman’s fantasy, but he is all demon. Ever since my parents found out he could help me not kill people Haines has been trying to get his hands on me. Those large, long-fingered hands that I’m sure can please anyone up for the challenge. I’ll teach you not only to control yourself but every person in the room who has eyes for you, he said. I already have a list of your duties in my home.

I was sixteen and scared of my powers, but learning to control myself just enough to stay away from Haines’ tyranny for as long as possible became my life’s mission. It worked for ten years, and now the joke is over. I need help.

I eye myself in the mirror once more, unlock the bathroom door, and snatch it open. “Let’s do this!” I say loudly as I walk toward Haines.

“You really do look lovely,” he says, looking at my breasts.

“Suck it.” I roll up my left lace sleeve.

“I fully intend to later.” He knows that shit pisses me off.

“You’re disgusting. Oww!” My mother grabs my arm and makes a minute but deep cut just below my elbow.

“Knock it off, Perry,” she says, placing a small bowl under my arm to catch the falling blood.

“Mom, you could have gotten blood on my dress. I’m selling this bad boy on eBay when we’re done.”

Haines takes off his jacket and rolls up his sleeve. “Do you know how much I paid for that dress?” My mother cuts his arm.

I grin and shrug my shoulders. “Yes, husband, I most certainly do.” My arm is starting to heal. Our union is already quickening. The church ceremony was my dad’s and my idea. I’m a demon but I still wanted to have the beautiful church ceremony all little girls dream of, but it’s the blood binding between Haines and me that will make it real. It will join us, bind us, and open me to all the help he is able to give. “Aren’t we sullying the church by doing this here? Why haven’t you burst into flames yet? I mean, you are a demon,” I say, looking at Haines.

“The same reason you haven’t burst into flames yet. You’re half demon.” Even though he’s being a dick, his deep voice is like velvet and dark chocolate.

Feeling the pull of his demon to mine, I lean into him and inhale deeply. His scent is clean and warm, and beneath it rests one of my favorite scents—butter pecan ice cream. For a brief moment I can taste it on my tongue; the cold sweetness interrupted by the gentle crunch of the pecans. A fantasy of Haines dripping the frigid, beige cream onto my shoulder and using his warm mouth to clean it up fills my head. His lips shudder against my skin as he chews the pecans and nibbles the column of my neck.

I open my eyes and remember that we’re in the basement of the church. “Damn-it! It’s already starting. You did that on purpose.” I feel drawn to him. I can’t help it. An incubus’ power lies in his sexual attraction. He can take the simplest of pleasures you may have, for me it’s homemade butter pecan ice cream, and turn it into the most erotic experience you never knew existed.

He looks offended. “Mrs. Haines…”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Whatever do you mean? I didn’t do anything.”

I point at him and scoff. “Ice cream. I’m never eating it again.” One less thing he can use against me.

“You would if I fed it to that pretty mouth of yours,” he says, full lips curving into a half smile.

Hell yes, I would. “Absolutely not.”

We’ve been married in the sight of God and now the blood-binding is kicking in. As an incubus, he calls to me. My body yearns to be touched by him, and now his blood calls to mine and tells me that I am his just as he is mine. Until we consummate our union, I will want him more than anything and despise him just as much. “Let’s just do it here,” I tell him.

“Absolutely not. I’m going to take my time with you, little girl.”

“Eww,” my mother says. “Join hands.”

Haines grabs my hand before I can protest. My mother has soaked a thrice blessed sacred white ribbon in our blood. She ties it around our hands and puts the bowl on the counter behind her. “By the powers given to me, I bind thee. Perrian Ettis Haines, I bind you to O’Neil Haines. May you serve and tame one another. Blessed be.” She unties the ribbon and puts it in the blood-stained bowl.

“That’s it?” I say, snatching my hand out of his, instantly missing the warmth of his strong fingers curled around mine. “I thought there’d be more to do than just getting my arm cut.”

“It’s healing,” he says, looking down at his arm.

“Shut. Up.” I check to make sure the cut on my arm is fully healed and then roll down the lace sleeve. “Come on, husband. I’m hungry.”

At the same time, Haines and I both inhale sharply, and a faint moan escapes my lips. I look down at my hand that had been tied with Haines’ to see the blood that was covering it, our blood, is now seeping into my skin. He’s looking at me strangely.

Haines touches my hand and a flood of passion spreads through my body. The vision of him licking the melted ice cream from my bare shoulder comes racing back and a fury of flutters erupt in the pit of my stomach. I shake my head. “Knock it off.” My voice is a little too breathy for even me to take seriously.

He comes to stand in front of me, gazing down with a grimace on his lips. “You will stop telling me to shut up. Do you understand, Perrian?”

“You two were made for each other,” my mother says over her shoulder as she ascends the steps leading from the basement of the church.

“Curse your lips,” I scream.

“Do you understand?” he repeats. He looks pretty pissed off. “I am five-hundred and twenty-six years old. To me, you—”

“Just shut up,” I tell him as I walk away, leaving him standing next to the water cooler. And for good measure I turn around just enough to give him the finger.

****

“I feel like my skin is on fire. But in a good way.” I’m sitting with my husband—barf—in the limo waiting for the driver to come around and open the door for us. I’m starving.

“Perrian, you need to calm down. Until I take you tonight—”

“Please stop,” I tell him as I open the door my damn self. That driver is dragging ass.

Haines takes hold of my arm and pulls me back into the limo. “Enough!”

His energy bounces off the inside of the vehicle, and I moan loudly. His touch is an electric line leading directly to my core. I struggle against his grip, loving the feel of his fingertips digging into the bend of my arm. I hate him for making me want him so badly. “Don’t.” My voice is barely above a whisper.

“You want me to. I know you do.” He traces his nose along the side of my neck and skims his teeth against my shoulder, and from his powers of lust I can feel the cold trail of the ice cream as if it were dripping from my shoulder. “There is no better sex than between incubi and succubae. You wanted this big wedding, you got it. But the more agitated you become the more trouble the human men will be in.” He reaches inside the top of my dress and brushes his thumb across my left nipple. I lean into his touch as the oxygen is sucked from my lungs. “We are now joined in holy matrimony and blood bound. Your powers need a release that only I can give you. I told you I would take my time with you, and I will. So calm down. If not for my comfort then think of all your family and friends in there. Your ardor will set that room on fire if you don’t compose yourself.”

I try to think but his hands are in control of my thoughts. A moan breaks through my lips and I press my hips back against him. I can feel his erection through the ten layers of this dress. He grips my nipple between his thumb and forefinger, squeezing the already tightened bud and distends it away from my body. I want more. “Okay. All right. You have to stop before the driver…”

“He won’t open the door. I thought I may have to give you some kind of release before we went in, so I pushed him to wait. I’ve been keeping a handle on your fervor since right after the ceremony, but I need your help now. You’ll be fine if you calm down.”

He pulls his hand out of my dress, and my thoughts clear. “God damn-it, if you ever touch me without asking—”

“What? What did I just say?” His voice is slightly higher and he sounds irate.

“What did I just say? Ask. Before. You. Touch.”

He inhales deeply to settle himself. “I will not let you out of here until you are ready. Besides, tonight you will want me to touch you. And I will not release you until you beg for it. Now, will you relax?”

My lips draw up in a grin as I see the anger I’ve caused. I’ve still got it. “All right. I’m stopping. But you should be considerate. Tonight will be my first time. I’m a virgin,” I say, turning to face him.

He looks horrified. I slide forward and open the door of the limo, peel me and my dress out, and slam the door behind me.

That little admission should shut him up.

****

“You two make a lovely couple,” my Aunt Rita says. She’s my father’s older sister. Or only sister. He doesn’t talk about his family too much and gets pissed off when I bring it up. “I didn’t even know you were dating.” She smiles and winks, giving me a knowing grin.

“We weren’t,” I tell her through a mouth full of mashed potatoes. I take a sip of champagne. “Shouldn’t you be enjoying your food, Rita? Dad will bust a vein if you waste it. One-hundred and forty bucks a pop.”

She looks perplexed. “Oh, I get it. You want to be alone with your sweetie!” Aunt Rita goes to walk away but then turns back to look at us. “Your father never thought you’d get married. I mean, you are twenty-six and we’ve never seen you with a man. Your cousin thought you were gay,” she says, smiling at Haines.

I point my steak knife at her. “Go eat your food, Rita.” She flitters off, and I notice Haines staring at me. “What?”

He looks me up and down and then takes a sip of bourbon from the glass tumbler. “I assume the reason you haven’t been seen with a man is tied to the reason you’ve never had sex before. What is it?”

I take his bourbon from him and down it in one gulp. Oh my God! My chest is on fire! “Every time I’ve tried to have sex with a guy I wind up either taking so much energy from him he passes out, I don’t do it on purpose of course, or he reaches his happy place before we can properly start. I just stopped trying.”

He eyes me and then looks over to the waiter that stands waiting on our every whim. The poor guy is just for the bride and groom. He’s already gotten me two helpings of mashed potatoes and three extra baskets of dinner rolls. Haines takes his glass from me and tips it up to the waiter. The guy nods and runs off to get another drink for him. Haines looks at me. “That’s it? Nothing more.”

“Nothing more.”

“You’re lying,” he says, grabbing my hand. He pauses for a second and then lets go. Smart man. “In your early years your powers must have been like electricity. Who did you hurt?”

I look at him and he blanches. “Stop talking.”

He doesn’t listen. “That doesn’t happen too often with a young succubus. You’re very strong.”

I take another sip of champagne and turn toward him. “So I’ve heard. I wish I was like my mom. She controls herself so well she was able to marry my father, who is human. If she was anything like me growing up she deserves a cookie. That’s power. Mom and Dad love each other to death. He knows exactly what she is and he still thinks roses fall out of her…”

The waiter gets closer to us, sets the glass down in front of Haines, and then looks at me. “Miss? Would you like anything?” The waiter is gawking at me.

Damn-it, I’m doing it again. If I were in control of my powers his attention would be awesome. But now, for him, it’s just downright deadly.

Succubae, like me, tend to go after the same man over and over again to gain control over and then suck the life out of them. And this is with protection.

“No, thank you.” I turn to look at Haines, but the waiter stoops down next to me.

“I can get you anything you want—a drink, more food, anything?” His lips are slightly parted and he’s completely ignoring Haines.

Waiter-boy’s scent is changing. He smells like burning jasmine.

“This is priceless,” I say, reaching out to touch his face. “No, I’m good.”

“Do not touch him, Perry.” I look up and see my mother standing behind the boy. My dad is quietly standing behind her. She gently touches the waiter on his shoulder, and he turns to look at her, like a viper following the most beautiful snake charmer he has ever laid eyes on. Her power causes goose bumps to spread along his skin. I can see them on the back of his neck. “Young man, please, go get yourself a drink and take a break.”

He stands up and gazes at her. She touches his arm, and I can actually see his release. It undulates along his skin, almost like a mirage drawing itself into its conjuror. She absorbs it, making it a part of herself. He shakes his head and walks away.

My mother looks drunk for a moment and then regains her composure. “You’re not going to be able to stay much longer, Haines.”

“Yes, Barbara.” Haines stands up and takes his jacket off. “I’m keeping her powers as discrete as I can. But if she touches someone…”

“I’m sorry,” I say looking between them. “I didn’t mean to.” I have felt a change since the ceremony, but this is too much.

“I know, darling,” Haines says trying to soothe me. “We should leave soon. We’ll have one dance, cut the cake, and leave.”

“Why are you being nice to me?” I ask him.

“I’m always nice to you—”

“Bull-shit.” I try to grab his glass of bourbon but he pulls it out of my reach.

Pulling the tumbler to his lips, he takes a sip and then pushes the glass toward me. “You didn’t let me finish. I’m always nice to you, until you open your mouth. You’re nice to look at, Perrian.”

“You see, Mom,” I say, standing and taking Haines’ drink in hand. “This is the man I’ve married. You sure know how to pick ’em.”

My mother inhales and closes her eyes. A small ‘V’ appears between her eyebrows. I’m getting on her nerves. “Perry, you need him. You don’t know how to control your powers. More and more supernaturals are coming out and humans are getting more and more anxious. This may be a new day and age but if too many men start dying from unnatural causes the proverbial villagers will start hunting us with pitchforks and torches. Haines is doing us a favor.”

I purse my lips. “Thanks Haines. You breaking my cherry is really going to help.”

“Jesus Christ!” my father says, speaking up for the first time. He covers his whiskey colored eyes and shakes his bald head, the light above dancing around it like a halo. “I don’t need to hear this. I need a drink.” He walks away, carting my mother with him.

I watch my parents retreat and feel sorry for the both of them. My father is the innocent bystander in all of this, and he’s being a real sport about it. My mother is just her normal cynical self. Everyone’s got my best interest in mind and I’m just being a bitch about it.

Haines has rubbed me the wrong way since we first met. You do know how to cook and clean, don’t you? At least you are pretty to look at.

“Come,” Haines says. “Let’s dance. I’ll make an announcement that our flight was delayed but we have a chance to catch an earlier one. We’ll have cake and then leave.” He holds out his hand. “May I have this dance?”

I plant my hand in his and take a step toward him. “See how much easier things go when you ask before touching me.”

We walk toward the DJ, and Haines makes the announcement. Everyone seems pretty disappointed. My lovely Aunt Rita yells out something crass about us hurrying to be alone. She still hasn’t cleared her plate. Too busy running her yap.