Page 1 of As Devils Love

Chapter One

CRUE

“Sweet baby Jesus. Are those slobbering pencil dicks gonna get off their asses and do something?” Mark groans with fervent annoyance and sinks so far into his seat that his ass is practically in the footwell of my car.

“At this rate, I’m gonna drill my own eyes out before I get a chance at theirs.”

Patience is a wise man’s game. It’s part of a forbearing nature and comes from a deep understanding of the interconnected fabric of existence. It’s about believing there’s more to life than charging headlong into every escapade, knowing we will reach the same outcome in the end.

That’s why patience, virtue, and wisdom don’t belong in the same sentence as Mark Lione. He bulldozes his way through life,and I’ve got to give him credit where it’s due. Hisno fuck’s givenattitude has served him well.

“We know where they’re headed. Let me remind you that we’re watching them out of want, not need. Go wait at the club, if you can’t refrain from whining the whole time we’re sitting here.”

My focus remains on the two guys standing outside Lorenzo Napoli’sSanctuary Club, even asI reprimand Mark.

A long-exasperated sigh is his reply, followed by, “That’s no fun either. Watching you squirm, while all the pretty chicks gang up on you, is my favorite part of going out.” He readjusts himself until he’s sitting upright again and then he rifles through my glove box for a pack of smokes that he stashed away before we got here. “And what if shit goes sideways here? There’s no chance in hell I’m gonna let you have all the fun yourself.”

He runs a hand through his shoulder-length mess of mousy brown hair, to get it out of his face, and lights his cigarette.

“Fuck's sake, man. This is a new car.” I growl, but Mark ignores my rebuke.

“Gotta break her in somehow. Show her how a real man handles his bitch.” In my peripheral vision, I see him wink at me.

I don’t really care about the car, or the smell of smoke that’s going to cling to the leather for the rest of its existence. Mark knows that too. He's been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

We’re brothers, birthed in the blood of others. Mark’s always had my back. From the trenches of middle school – where I got my first bloody nose after taking one too many hits to the face, all the way to highly classified, special ops missions in the desert in the middle of Butt-Fuck nowhere. We’ve fought too many wars together for something this small to have any meaning. Hell, for all the shit I’ve put him through, Mark could set this car ablaze and leave it a smoldering ball of scrap.

After all, I’m the reason we were in all those battles. All it took was one bad day and a bully who pushed too hard, after years of driving me up the walls. Mark stood by my side and watched as I beat that kid into a coma. He would’ve been my first kill if it hadn’t been for Mark pulling me off the husk of his body.

Then there’s that huge heart of his. A quality I’m sorely lacking in. His heart gave him the strength to hold my weeping mother, after we were offered the deal, military service or juvenile detention. He kissed her cheek and whispered that he’d protect me, no matter the cost, when we shipped off to our first war-torn country.

It was a promise he made then and that he still keeps to this day.

If I knew how to love, I’m sure I’d love him.

My trip down memory lane is cut short by the sight of a fascinating creature emerging from the Sanctuary’s exit. I’d call her a woman, but the word doesn’t do her justice. Her movements are too fluid to be called merely walking. It seems as if she dances and skates on the very ground beneath her feet, as she side steps the very guys, who have an appointment with my blade tonight.

One glance at her dark-haired exquisiteness, and my blood runs feverishly hot instead of the tepid cool I’m used to. Each new heartbeat sends another wave of excruciating warmth through my body, and it’s all settling in one place: my stiffening cock.

Beneath the rim of her tank top, her petite frame is surprisingly athletic. Her massive tits must contribute significantly to her workouts. Her long, wavy chocolate-brown hair almost seems out of place as it ripples down her body. The tips of her hair reach her waist, flowing down from where it is secured in a very loose band.

I’m enamored by the sight of her. My gaze drifts down her slender waist, where her curves bloom into a plump, round ass and full, enticing hips. All that flesh is squeezed into tight, blue jeans that hug and accentuate every sultry contour of her body.

Get a hold of yourself, Crue,I reprimand myself, but to no avail. Saliva is flooding my mouth as images of her tight, wet slit rubbing against my face roll across my mind.

“Not gonna say anything, huh?” Mark eases back in his seat and obscures my vision with a well-placed plume of smoke.

Perfect timing. His distraction snaps me back to reality just long enough to regain my senses and cool off.

If I were the sort of man who chuckled, I’d be doing it now, because I must be losing my damned mind, drooling over her instead of focusing on my targets who have since started walking to their car.

My eyes don’t linger on them for long, though, and I steal one more glance at the slender beauty as she gets into the back of a cab.

What is someone so pure doing in a dirty place like this?

“Got nothing to say,” I finally reply to Mark. “We both know you’ll ignore me, anyway,” I finish my lackluster answer.

And then, as if this wasn’t enough of a complication to my night already, my phone starts buzzing in the center console. The caller-I.D. readsUnknown.

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