Page 58 of Seph

Memories of his cock slipping from her mouth as he ejaculated with a hoarse shout made her bite her lip.Messy, indeed.

Her thighs pressed together unexpectedly, without her control or forethought, as if aching to squeeze around him, to feel him pushing all of those long, lukewarm inches into the place where she was tight, wet, and suddenly unbearably achy. “I need to eat.” Emily blurted out firmly.Yes. Food. Use food to distract from thinking about vampire cock.

No. Not vampire cock. Simeon’s cock. Simeon’s body. Simeon as a person, dammit, when did I start to dissect people?

When people became bodies? When your dad drags you to see body after body, pointing out bites, pointing out bruises, telling you all the ways a vampire would torture a person?

They had to be bodies. They couldn’t be people, or I let them die. It was my fault those people suffered and died. A Van Helsing would have found the vampire first. Saved the day.

Or was it when I started to believe thatIwas nothing more than a body, just a living corpse, waiting until I lost a battle to fill a box in the ground?

“You okay, Van Helsing?”

For once, she didn’t blindly answer in the affirmative. She was past bland lies with Simeon. “Nope. Not even a little.”

“Well. That’s all right. We can be a wreck together?”

The flutter in her pussy spread to her heart with sudden ferocity.Damn.

Simeon licked his lips, pressed the H-Drive button, and spoke clearly. “Take me to an available open spot in the valetparking lane of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York City near Central Park.”

“Oh. Excuse me, sir. I didn’t see you arrive. Do you have a reservation?” The valet bustled over to the driver’s side window with a confused but polite expression.

“Going to go in and make one now,” Simeon kept a tight hold of the keys. “This is a loaner from a very important sort of person. I’m under... special orders,” he dropped his voice and winked, “not to let anyone else touch it. Can you show the lady inside and lead me to a parking spot? A hundred for your trouble.”

“Yes, sir. Right this way, miss.”

“Get us a suite, darling.” Simeon handed the black credit card to Emily with a sneering smile. He hoped she’d know it was a show for the hired help, so to speak.

“Mmm, of course, baby.” She played her part perfectly, simpering and swaying away, but then why shouldn’t she? She’d been trained to play a hundred parts in her quest to vanquish demons. Emily could be the bait, the decoy, the lookout, the warrior, and the ruthless hunter.

When was the last time she was just... Emily?

Some part of him thought she wasn’t acting when she looked back over her shoulder—and winked at him.

God, he loved that girl.

“This is a suite? Where’s the second bedroom?” Simeon walked into the lavish room with Emily leaning on his arm, still playing the part of Mr. and Miss Rich and Obnoxious.

“I didn’t ask for that kind of suite. While you were out parking Hades’ favorite pony, I asked what suites they had available. They have lots of suites, and all of them are about the view and the bathrooms. All these suites have two bathrooms. What’s the deal with the bathrooms?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. Everyone wants to shag in the same bed but not piss in the same pot? Ain’t even an issue with us. You can have both of them, baby.”

“Well. Um. This one has a fancy Carribean marble hot tub. I think. Or was it Chilean? Or was that the special? Chilean sea bass?” Emily tossed her bag onto the handcrafted sofa and tossed herself on after it. “I don’t know. I just want peanut M&Ms and a Coke. And maybe a burger.”

“My lady asks, and she shall receive.” Simeon sauntered over to the white phone on the wall. “Room service. Two pints of blood, a pint of chocolate ice cream, a large bag of peanut M&Ms, a Coke, and a double cheeseburger. Hm? Beef blood is fine. Ooh, venison? That’s a treat, I’ll have both. They what? That’s why you’re the best. Yep, charge it to the room.” Simeon hung up and beamed. “The bloke on the phone says Coke and both peanut and plain M&Ms await you in the Honor Bar.”

“Yes!” Emily scrambled over to the little cabinet beside the massive television and grappled it open. “You sounded very polished on the phone. Used to living the high life?”

“Sometimes. And speaking of high life... Hera. She’s not quite right, like you said. But it doesn’t seem consistent. It’s like someone messed with her memory.”

“Mmhm. And Demeter’s, too. Hey! I wonder if someone could be doing the same to Persephone? You know? Making her think that she’s almost home, and whenever she sees something, a tree, a stop sign, whatever, she forgets where she is? What if she’s been wandering around lost but thinking she’s perfectlyfine for hundreds of years?” Emily collapsed on the floor, a handful of chocolate spilling into her lap.

“That’d be horrible.”

“That’s like... that’s like being insane.” She licked her lips nervously and tore open the bright yellow packet of candy.

“Someone who has that kind of consistent power... that’s a god, all right. But I don’t think it’s Zeus. Studied mythology along with Latin and Greek at university, and I know the Big Twelve. Never heard of him having that power—and he swore to Hades he hadn’t touched her. So... Hm. I don’t know if the River Styx is literal or not. Don’t know if him beaming a case of amnesia into her brain would count as ‘touching’ or not. If he could even manage it.” Simeone paced around the living room of the suite, fingers tapping along the edges of entertainment centers and walls.

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