Page 5 of Cowboy Devil's Embrace

I narrowed my eyes at my older cousin. Damned interfering scoundrel. Why couldn’t he just leave me to my mediocre life?

“Come on. Get cleaned up, refreshed, and we will talk,” Avail said, gesturing to Max to enter as if this was his room and not Max’s.

The nerve.

CHAPTER ONE-MAX

This had to be the worst day in the history of days,

My asshole cousin stood there, grinning at me like he had dirt on me and was about to tattle to Grandmother.

Our relationship had only recently become close, moving beyond the normal Christmas card exchange and nod hello should we happen to be frequenting the same establishment at the same time.

Not that he did that anymore. Lucky bastard was too busy with his family.

Grrr.

The Devil inside me growled his envy. It was a vice I did not relish, nor did I care to admit I was feeling jealous of Avail and his mate, Stephanie. The former human was now a Jersey Devil herself, and it was a wonder to us all.

The claiming bite rarely inspired a creature in the promised of one such as us. But in their case, well, they say only the truest of fated mates can conjure magic where least expected.

Like I said. Avail was a lucky bastard.

“Might as well spit it out, Avail,” I said, increasingly bored with this game of parading my own failures out and about for me to inspect with unerring scrutiny.

Fuck this.

“Oh, I shall, I shall. Coffee first?” Avail asked, holding out a travel mug of some delicious smelling brew.

There was a grin teasing the corner of his lips, and foolish though I might be, I did not exactly trust my cousin.

“What is it? I know you have something up your sleeve,” I grunted, taking the coffee hesitantly.

“Just so happens I have a vested interest in this project. And Grandmother isn’t wrong. It needs managing.”

“What is this project? And what could I possibly do about it?”

“It’s a piece of property?—”

“I’m not a property manager, for fuck’s sake.”

I walked to my closet and pulled out a pair of my custom tailored slacks before I opened the bathroom door.

I left it wide as I showered, leaving Avail to sit in the armchair by the window.

“You know, cousin, the pine barrens have long since been the home of our family. It’s important to us, to our beasts,” Avail said.

I ducked under the spray of hot water and tried to drown him out. Of course, I knew all about ourfamilyhistory.

With a Grandmother like ours, how could I not?

Did you have any idea what it was like to be a goddamn cult figure? I mean, even other supernaturals thought we were fucking mysterious.

As for normals, well, every fucking where you looked in the state there was a Jersey Devil this or that. Of course, they didn’t know we actually existed.

But the point was, with this super status we held, it was bloody hard to take anyone seriously whilst dating. I mean, sure, plenty of females were attracted to me. I’d just bedded two willing Witches last night.

But it couldn’t last. I felt restless and empty after each encounter. My inner Devil wanted a mate, and I knew I was not up to snuff to find one.

---