Page 11 of Hounded: Ashes to Ashes

He relaxed a bit more, hiding his junk while shifting his weight from one foot to the other. With his body awash in beams of sunlight, he was even more stunning than usual.

“If it has an erection, it’s porn.” His voice was flat, but humor sparkled in his eyes.

If he kept looking at me like that,Iwas going to be the one with a hard-on.

I nipped my lower lip between my teeth and closed the distance between us. My hands skimmed up his sides, then down to his thighs. One strayed along the cut of that deep V, tiptoeing closer to the line of hair that trailed from his navel to his groin.

“Well, I like this erection,” I murmured. “I think it’s beautiful.” I nudged his fingers where they curled around his genitals, trying to gain access.

“Beautiful?” he asked, sounding dubious.

Yes, beautiful. Every speck of him was gorgeous and, the more I thought about it, the harder he was to resist. Impossible, actually.

“Maybe I should take a closer look.” I dropped to my knees.

My touches grew insistent, moving his hand aside so I could grip his shaft and give it a teasing stroke.

Above me, Loren groaned. The sound went south, warming my stomach, then winding its way lower. His cock stiffened in my hand.

“Theneighbors, Doll,” he said. “At least close the blinds…”

Rolling his foreskin back, I thumbed over his exposed head, finding it soft and glistening. Loren’s hand wove into my hair,looping the curls around his long fingers. His protest meant nothing with the weight of his palm settling on me, holding me in place.

I hummed and nodded slowly. “But the natural light is so dreamy…”

On the coffee table a few feet behind me, something else hummed. Rather, vibrated. I knew the source of the sound even before I whipped around and pinned it with a death glare.

Loren’s phone skittered across the tabletop, its screen lit with an incoming call.

I glanced up and saw him watching it, too. All signs of pleasure left his face, replaced by stony stoicism.

My grip tightened on his cock as if that would hold him. “Can’t it wait? Call her back.”

He took my hand from around his erection and pulled me to my feet. I sighed as he kissed my knuckles, then released me and walked around to retrieve his phone on the third ring.

My suspicions were confirmed when I glimpsed the ominous M on the caller ID before he cradled the device to his ear. He didn’t say a word before the woman on the other end of the line started in with a bout of shouting I heard at range.

Loren shrunk from the verbal assault, pulling the cell farther from his face as his expression became pained.

The one-sided tirade continued while Loren nodded along. Angry heat piped through me, bringing pressure that mounted until I had to turn away or risk shrieking like a boiling kettle. I went to my art desk, plucked the brush from behind my ear, and stabbed it into the rinse cup where it set loose a cloud of murky blue.

It was a brief conversation. Two minutes, tops, before Loren mumbled the usual “Yes, Miss,” and hung up the phone.

I stood with my back to him, staring out the window at the hills and trees in the distance. The pinkish washof dusk blanketed everything, but I couldn’t enjoy it while rage simmered in my gut and Loren scuffled around, quickly dressing.

After another minute or two, he came up behind me and touched my shoulder, then bent in to kiss my cheek.

“I hate her,” I said.

Loren nuzzled against my temple, and his hair tickled my neck. He looped his arm around my waist and squeezed. “I’ll be back in time for dinner,” he whispered. When I didn’t respond, he added, “And I’ll cook.”

Unless he had a craving for microwavable frozen meals, the cooking was a given, but I didn’t answer beyond a curt, “Fine.”

When he pulled away, I placed my hand where his had been and held it there as I turned toward his departure. He stopped at the door, holding his truck keys. I wondered what the demoness had said. What he was walking into. What he wouldn’t tell me.

He might not have answered those questions, but I couldn’t keep myself from asking another.

“What’s her name, anyway?”

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