Her Dangerous Desires [Notorious Nephilim 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (7 page)

“Yes. They’re such early bloomers, too.”

“Everything seems to be blooming early this year.”

She had to ask them. It would bother her if she didn’t, and she couldn’t very well avoid her suite for the rest of her stay. “Okay. Which one of you put one of these roses in my suite this morning? I never heard you or saw you. That’s a cool trick. Can both of you do that?”

Gregory frowned in confusion. The hair on the back of Paige’s neck prickled as she glanced at Demetrius, who wore a similarly dumbfounded expression. Neither one had any idea what she was talking about. The reins nearly slipped from her hands. She dug her thighs into the horse’s side as if to draw strength from him.

“What are you talking about?” Demetrius stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. She had no choice now. She’d have to tell them what had happened.

“After I showered and got dressed, I was checking my clothes in the mirror by the door to my suite. I felt cold air, like I’d left a window open, so I went to check. When I came back into the sitting room one of those roses was on the table under the mirror. And there were no open windows.”

Should she tell them about the laugh? No way. After hearing this story, they’d probably avoid her for the remainder of her vacation. They exchanged a glance that Paige couldn’t interpret.

“Are you sure it was one of these?” asked Gregory.

“Well, no…not really. At the time I thought it was black, to be honest, but now that I’m looking at them, it might have been this color. I don’t know.”

“What did you do with it?” asked Demetrius.

“I put it in a glass of water and left.”

“Let’s go and see it.”

When they returned to the resort, Paige tried to think of a way to distract them from returning to her suite, but her thoughts were a jumbled mess. This was ridiculous. She’d been fascinated by the occult her entire life, but no experience she’d ever had had affected her this way. She didn’t like being afraid of strange phenomena. It wasn’t in her nature.

As they passed through the lobby, her eye was drawn to Lilith’s picture as the laughter flitted through her mind again. This time, Lilith’s smile seemed to be mocking her. Screw this. She wasn’t about to let a picture or a damn rose freak her out. She led the way toward the bank of elevators, determined to get a grip on her emotions for the rest of the day.

* * * *

Gregory wished he still had the ability to communicate telepathically. He and Demetrius would need to talk about this as soon as possible. Right after Paige had mentioned the black rose, his palms had begun to sweat. He’d known that her musing out loud about summoning Lilith had been a very bad idea. The carefree attitude Paige had exhibited this morning had turned anxious and quiet as soon as she’d spotted the rose bush.

There was little Gregory could do about that. If his theory was correct, that wouldn’t be the only odd thing Paige would experience during her stay here. They’d seen it happen before. Damning Lilith to the deepest pits of hell wouldn’t even work—they’d probably send her back.

Lilith had left the rose in Paige’s suite. He’d bet his left nut on that. The demon hadn’t completely left this resort—not a chance. Gregory would no sooner believe that than he’d believe she’d show up one day and reverse the curse she’d placed on them out of kindness. Lilith was still here, and once in while she liked to fuck with the guests, especially the ones more susceptible to her presence.

He’d wanted to ask Paige if anything else had happened in her suite, but had decided not to. She was obviously unsettled by what she’d seen and felt. There would be plenty of time to find out. Right now, they needed to make sure she felt safe in her own suite. Either that or they’d have to keep her constantly occupied during her two weeks here so that she was never out of their sight.

Gregory grinned as they approached her door. He and Demetrius might be able to use Lilith’s interference to their advantage with Paige. And it would piss Lilith off to no end if her little parlor trick had inadvertently done them a huge favor. Demetrius had made it quite clear they both wanted to make love to her, and up until she’d spotted the rose bush, lust had rolled off her in waves.

The air inside the suite felt calm and peaceful. He and Demetrius walked toward the kitchen where a pitch-black rose stood in a glass of water. It hadn’t come from the rose bushes on the horse trails. He and Demetrius had no idea where Lilith got the black roses, but she’d left them in various guest suites and staff quarters over the years.

“It’s not the same color, is it?” she asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. They vary quite a bit, even on the same bush.” Demetrius gave Gregory a knowing look.

“They sure do.” The lie slipped out easily. “But I wish I could take credit for giving it to you. You must have a secret admirer.” He winked at her and pushed just a little. She was probably ultra-sensitive to their powers as well, and he didn’t want her suspicions raised right now.

A small smile finally settled over her pretty mouth. Between her ash-blonde hair and those big hazel eyes, her looks were so enchanting that Gregory practically panted every time he glanced at her for more than a few seconds. “Well, I don’t know who would sneak a rose into my room if it wasn’t either of you.”

“Paige, we can’t walk through walls.” Demetrius’s grin was teasing.

“Oh. What about making yourselves invisible?”

Gregory laughed. “You are too adorable, you know that?” He put his arms around her from behind, breathing in her scent. “We can’t do that either.” His dick was rock hard, and there was no way she wouldn’t notice. “So…you’ve seen Demetrius’s suite. How about we order lunch sent up to mine?”

He held his breath until she turned in his arms and rewarded his suggestion with a flirty grin. “Why would I want to see it? What’s so special about it?”

“I have more toys than Demetrius does.”

Paige laughed. How could she resist a reason like that? “Well, all right then. But only because you promised me lunch as well.” His invitation would get her out of her suite for the rest of the day. And now that it was obvious Gregory wanted to make love to her as well, she could potentially not have to return to her suite until tomorrow morning. Not that she was using them to avoid whatever was going on in there, but for the first time in her life she was afraid of the unseen, and she didn’t like it.

Gregory’s suite was decorated in brash reds and yellows. It suited his personality. The furniture was a mishmash of styles from the twenties to contemporary. He was also a pack rat. Stacks of old magazines and books were piled up the corners, and as Paige scanned the bookcases that lined one entire wall of his sitting room, it became apparent the man had never thrown anything away.

There were books on the floor to ceiling shelves, but in addition to them were bundles of paper tied together with everything from twine to a leather belt. “Gregory, have you heard of this amazing service called trash removal?”

“Ha-ha. What can I say? I like to keep things.”

“I can see that.”

“The place is messy, but I have the best view.”

Demetrius snorted. “You have the same view as the rest of us. Woods.”

“Not true.” Gregory walked out onto his enclosed balcony and Paige followed. “I can see Pine Lake from here.”

It was true. A narrow twisting path through the treetops afforded a view of one of the lakes. The water sparked like diamonds in the bright May sunshine. “It’s so pretty,” said Paige.

Gregory touched her hair. It was just a soft touch, but it sent a jolt through her entire body. Her pussy contracted in tiny spasms, and her nipples tingled. What would it be like to make love to him if a mere touch could produce such an effect?

“Yes, it is.” His voice was low and sexy, and Paige knew he wasn’t talking about the view.

“Lunch is on the way.” Demetrius stepped out onto the balcony. “I’m sure Paige could use some food.”

She smiled at the trace of jealousy in his voice. This was proving to be a very interesting day. “Thank you, Demetrius. I am hungry. It must be wonderful not to have to worry about that.”

His expression turned thoughtful. “There are days when all this immortality wears thin.”

“Speak for yourself,” said Gregory, placing an arm around Paige’s waist. “I’m enjoying the heck out of it.”

Demetrius shot him a droll look. “That’s because you’re a selfish prick.”

“Tsk, tsk. Language, Demetrius. There’s a lady present.” He winked at Paige.

“Okay. That’s because you’re a selfish slob. Better?”

Paige laughed, more at the look of incredulity on Gregory’s face than Demetrius’s subtle change in wording. “Have you two always fought like this?”

“Gregory fights with everyone,” said Demetrius.

“I don’t fight. I engage in heated exchanges of wit.”

Demetrius laughed and shook his head. “Knock it off. You’ll turn Paige’s stomach and ruin her lunch.”

Paige couldn’t tell if they were teasing each other or really had that much animosity buried beneath the surface. She tried to imagine what it would be like to run a resort for over ninety years with the same people, but couldn’t. Then she remembered Demetrius telling her four of the original twelve were dead. “Do you miss the others? The ones who’ve died? I mean, you started this resort with them, and it sounds like you all went through a lot together beforehand. It must have been difficult to watch them grow old and die.”

Demetrius regarded her with thoughtful expression. “Sometimes I wonder if we’ll see them again. Hugh and I were close. I miss him the most.”

“Remind me again when he became mortal.”

Gregory took his arm from around her waist. “Want to see pictures of them?”

“I’d love to.”

She followed the men back into the sitting room and waited while Gregory cleared a space for them on the sofa. Then he walked over to the bookcase and pulled a bound leather scrapbook from underneath a pile of papers.

“Caleigh Kensington chose Hugh and Sterling in 1943,” said Demetrius. “We hired her during the war as a nightclub singer.”

“Oh. Now what Gregory told me at the dance makes sense.”

He brought the book over and turned the pages, stopping at one near the middle. After he placed the book in her lap, he pointed toward a group of photos. “This is Caleigh with Hugh and Sterling shortly before she decided to stay here. These were taken after one of her performances.”

Paige liked the look in Caleigh’s eyes. It was a combination of intelligence and moxy. Hugh and Sterling each had an arm thrown across her shoulder, and it was obvious from the looks on their faces and their body language that they were crazy about her.

“There are more, and if you go back to the beginning I have some of Blair with Leo and Andras as well.”

“She was hiding from the mob boss I told you about,” said Demetrius.

Paige flipped back to the beginning of the book and smiled at the candid shots of a curvy blonde woman with two men who were dressed like they’d stepped out of a gangster movie. They also looked blissfully happy to be in her presence. “What was her name again?”

“Blair Lorring. The men with her are Leo and Andras.”

As she listened to Demetrius’s voice and gazed at the photos, a strong feeling of envy washed over her. It surprised her because she had no reason to be jealous of these women. Surely their situations had been different than hers. She wasn’t hiding from a mob boss or working with the owners every day. She was only here for two weeks.

What would it be like to be that much in love? So much so that you risked everything as these men had done for a chance at mortality? And the women must have risked a lot, too. They’d left behind lives, friends, and families at a time when shacking up with two men wasn’t exactly mainstream.

Hadn’t they said Sofia and Abigail had been guests as well? How was it possible to fall in love with two men in only two weeks? Then again, if each of the owners were as sexy and charming as Gregory and Demetrius, she could almost understand how it had happened.

A knock on the door interrupted her musings. Gregory rose to open it and a staff member wheeled in a trolley with several serving dishes on it. After he left, Paige rose from the sofa, grateful to have something to do other than look at photos of smiling women and love-struck men. She’d never been that much in love with Phil. She was certain of it. And she certainly hadn’t felt that way toward anyone else she’d been involved with.

She hated thinking about Phil’s indifference toward her, but right now it was impossible not to. It had taken her two years to realize she was never going to get more out of the relationship than what little he’d given, and she’d felt foolish for hoping so long that things would change. Since breaking up with him, she hadn’t allowed herself to get that close to any man again. Once bitten and all that jazz.

She had her work, and had thrown herself into it with almost manic abandon. But now, being here away from it for a while and enjoying the company of Demetrius and Gregory, she had to admit she was lonely—very lonely. Not just for sex, but simply for the company of males. Stasia and Kimber were great, and a girl needed her best friends, but it wasn’t the same as being intimately involved with a man. It never would be.

Paige barely tasted her food. She watched Demetrius and Gregory pick at theirs and realized she was jumping to big conclusions here. This wasn’t a relationship in the making. She was a guest, and they were simply doing what they’d done for ninety-one years—seducing her. Just because every one of the other owners had chosen a mortal life didn’t mean these two wanted any part of that. And besides, she had a life and a job to return to. She wasn’t going to stay here. She wasn’t going to fall in love.

Demetrius frowned. “Is the food all right?”

“Oh, yes. It’s great.”

“You look a million miles away,” said Gregory.

She forced a smile. “I’m right here.”

“Did looking at the photos upset you?”

Shit. She wasn’t going to be able to pull anything over on these two. “Can you read minds? Seriously. I need to know the truth.”