“Don’t.” Even though my body screamed otherwise, I shrugged him off. “I’m in the middle of a pleasurable conversation with people who didn’t condemn my twin.” I turned my attention to the duke and gave him a polite smile. “Prince Wrath, please say hello to the Duke of Devon.”
Wrath flashed his teeth. “Fuck off, Devon.”
“Easy now.” Lust grinned at his brother. “Keep that up and Lady Emilia will experience three sins at once.”
“Not if I cut off your goddamn head and serve it to my hounds.” Wrath managed to scare off another gambler. Thankfully, the duke wasn’t to be deterred. The goddess must have been watching over me, because Devon’s preferred form of this court’s sin was attention, and our little show was feeding his form of greed expertly.
I finally met Wrath’s furious stare. Goddess above he was something magnificent to behold when he let his magic out of its cage. He was playing his role expertly. Soon he’d go feral, and I couldn’t wait for that beastly part of him to finally be unleashed.
“If you’ll excuse me. I’ve experienced enough of some sins for one evening. Please go back to your own table.” I caught myself before I lied, knowing Lust would sense it as easily as Wrath. I faced Lust, but purposely looked at Devon when I said, “Will you give me a taste now? Or must I wait?”
Lust slid his attention from where Wrath still hovered behind me, then leaned in. “It looks like if you get your gift now,” he murmured close to my ear, “you may incite a riot.”
“A risk I’m willing to take.” I stumbled into the duke and allowed him to steady me with one hand splayed a bit too low on my back. The moment he touched me, Lust’s sin enveloped me. I’d been ready for it, though, so I drew the power to me, used it as an extension of what I wanted instead of allowing it to overrun me.
The Duke of Devon quickly dropped his hand, but the sensation of being touched didn’t abate. Lust’s sin felt as it did the first time I’d experienced it—like invisible hands were on me, dancing up along my body. Only this time the invisible hands were bolder, likely the result of being in Greed’s House of Sin and openly desiring attention.
Music I hadn’t noticed before grew louder, the drumbeats urgent and primal. Carnal. It was time to put my plan into motion. I dropped onto Devon’s lap, earning a surprised huff from him, though the duke was only too pleased to have me perched there like a prize he’d done nothing to win but was more than happy to show off.
His chest brushed against my back as he leaned in, “Your companion won’t murder me, will he?”
“Unlikely, your grace. Not when we were asked here to investigate a murder.”
The magical hands Lust had gifted me with wasted no time with seduction; they slid over the front of my body and inched downward. With that magical sensation moving all over me, it was going to be wildly hard to concentrate on gathering information, but it would be rather easy for the second part of my scheme.
I leaned against the duke as those wicked invisible hands continued their slow, tantalizing path across the swath of bare skin that ranged from just under my breasts to my navel then stroked upward again. The magic was like a drop of liquid heat rolling up and down my neck, between my breasts, circling their peaks as it continued languidly stroking me.
I slowly slid down the duke’s thigh, my attention split between the action and reaction I sensed coming from a different point in the room.
“It’s a shame what happened to her, isn’t it?” I asked.
“You mean Vesta?” Devon’s breath caught with the next shift of my body.
“Yes,” I whispered breathlessly, eyes still closed. Goddess curse Lust’s power. It was too good. “Did you know her?”
Another lick of heat that had nothing to do with Lust’s magic-fueled desire had me cracking an eye. Wrath had commandeered a seat on the opposite side of the gaming table, his hard, burning gaze fixed on me and the duke, whose knee I was grinding against.
I gave my betrothed a secret smile. Having Wrath there, watching, made it feel as if he were the only one in the room with me. It was his attention I desired above all, his greedy hunger I wanted to ignite. His fury. I longed for him so desperately, so deeply, I ached. What we’d shared in the gondola wasn’t nearly enough, and the greedy desire I’d felt for him came rushing back, mixing dangerously with Lust’s gift.
“I knew Vesta a little,” Devon said, answering a question I nearly forgotten I’d asked. If I had any hopes of keeping my wits, I needed to stop looking at Wrath while Lust’s sin worked me. “She seemed distracted as of late.”
“How so?”
Lust’s soft chuckle sounded to my left, followed by a stronger wave of his magic. The demon bastard was going to kill me with pleasure or help to incite the riot he’d warned me against. A soft, breathy moan escaped my lips. Goddess above, everything felt so good. The pearls of my skirt hit interesting places as I rolled my hips again, searching for more of that glorious feeling. The duke swore roundly when he noticed what I was doing, but he kept his hands on the card table where Wrath could see them.
My attention locked onto the demon prince again as euphoria swept through me. I wanted to be on his lap, riding him until we were both sated. Wrath gripped the arms of his chair as if he were holding himself back. I wasn’t sure if it was anger or desire that had his attention riveted to my show. I didn’t care. This game we were playing just turned more interesting.
“Your grace?” I managed to ask between invisible strokes. “You mentioned Vesta seeming distracted. Do you recall how?”
“She’d—” The duke shifted in his seat beneath me. “She lost several games. It was unusual enough for the court to start talking. Vesta never lost focus. I even heard she’d been asking odd questions lately, about scenting blood and the intricacies of it.”
“I was under the impression all demons could detect information in blood.”
“That’s precisely why some were growing curious about her. She’d assign a guard to test any blood disputes during skirmishes. An odd amount of werewolf blood kept tainting the scenes.”
Which would certainly enrage any werewolves whose blood had been taken, giving possible credence to Greed’s suspicion of them being responsible for the attack. “Did anyone ever mention this to Greed?”
“His highness punished anyone who brought up Vesta in any negative light. Everything I’ve heard has all been the result of court gossip.”
I inadvertently slid down the Duke of Devon’s lap as he adjusted himself again, immediately feeling what he’d been hiding. His arousal. I quickly moved away from it, but not before a low growl sounded from across the table. Wrath looked close to launching himself at the duke, every muscle in his body appeared strained, and his stubborn will was probably the only thing keeping him in check. Goddess above he was incredible. Thanks to the heady combination of greed and lust mixing with Wrath’s sinful allure, I wanted him to lay me down on the gaming table, spread my legs, and own me right here and now.
My king swallowed hard, his gaze darkening, and I realized he sensed my arousal. At first, I wasn’t certain if he could tell the difference between who had turned me on—it certainly wasn’t the duke. I only desired my favorite sin, but with the amount of anger radiating off him, I realized he’d misjudged. It seemed our performance was very close to finally causing a scene. It was time to gather any other information I could before Wrath lost control.
“Was anything else unusual about Vesta before her death?” I asked. “How are her family members taking it?”
“No… no family.” The Duke of Devon’s breathing turned erratic when my hands skimmed along the front of my top. “Vesta wasn’t originally from this circle. Prince Greed kept that a secret that only he and Vesta were supposed to know, but word travels in court. For the right price. Vesta wasn’t her given name, according to gossips.”
Interesting. “Do you know what her name was?”
“No. She never spoke of it.”
“And she was alone at court?”
The duke flicked his tongue over his lips. “Vesta had dalliances over the years, nothing that took her away from her duty. Some believed Greed wanted to make her his consort, but he’s always denied that and so has she.”
“Did they ever”—I ran my fingertips along my outer thighs—“have relations?”
Wrath’s hands flexed. And the sudden thought of him pleasuring himself while watching me do the same made me forget this was supposed to be a scheme. All I wanted was him. And greed took over. The Duke of Devon began stroking my outer arms, and I wondered if Lust had sent him a little encouragement or if it was simply greed driving him to participate in my show.