“There’s not a demon in here that doesn’t know who you are, Lady Emilia.” Devon grinned. Too bad for him it actually seemed sincere. “Have you ever played Dead Man’s Pride?”
I watched another demon blow on the dice and toss them down the table. “I’m not much for playing games of chance.”
His attention flicked over my top, his look indicating he might be intrigued to know if I preferred a different sort of game instead. “Would you care to indulge me?”
I would rather gouge my eyes out. “I’ll just watch for now. Perhaps, if you’re talented enough, your grace can persuade me otherwise.”
Wrath’s annoyance caused the air to chill slightly again.
I squeezed between Lust and the duke, purposely brushing my hip against the latter’s arm. I turned to Lust and whispered loud enough for Devon to overhear. “Earlier you said something about a present from House Lust.” I sipped my wine, then discarded it before grabbing another full glass. No one seemed to notice I hadn’t completely finished the previous one. I leaned closer to Lust and dropped my voice. “You’ve piqued my curiosity. Is it like your last gift, or will I actually enjoy it?”
“Oh, it’s much better.” Lust fully turned to me, his game forgotten as he took my measure. Whatever he saw in my face must have been convincing enough for him to decide to play. “I can give pleasure without taking. Would you like a little taste?”
“Here?” I glanced toward the duke. He was pretending not to listen, but as he leaned forward in his seat, he seemed quite eager to hear the response.
The Prince of Lust nodded to the stage where several demons danced in various states of undress. One male—who wore nothing but the gems on his member—slowly stroked himself, seeming to enjoy the greedy gazes on him. Another male beside him whispered something in his ear, then bent to take his hard arousal in his mouth, pleasuring the other demon for all to see.
Lust watched me closely. “You could join them up there, experience the power of two sins at once. Those body adornments they wear enhance every sensation. Imagine how those pearls would feel as they slid over sensitive flesh, hitting areas of pleasure inside you never dreamed of.”
I tore my attention back to Lust and flicked it over the Duke of Devon. “I’d prefer to stay here, actually. Could you still give me a taste, or will that distract from the game?”
The mighty chill of Wrath’s anger hit me like a storm a second before he reached my side, and judging from the way several gamblers at the table staggered away and abandoned their game and stack of coins, I wasn’t the only one who’d felt it.
Warm fingers brushed along my wrist. “Emilia.”
“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.