Kougar, Savanna - Kandy Apple and Her Hellhounds (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 4

  Her sad confused gaze reached down into his human soul and all Zol could think of was how to tell her what he knew. Splaying his hand, he stroked her back, exquisite in its daintiness. “Is the cat the same color every time?”

  “The cat’s body color is a blending of pearl gray and lavender. The wings are white with a silvery sheen.”

  “Your guardian must be attempting to make contact.” Forestalling her next question, Zol offered, “Every Enduoir witch has a winged cat guardian that is born at the same time she is.”

  “At least, I was supposedly born and not brewed up in a cauldron, then brought to life by a twitch of Samantha’s nose.”

  “Amusing reference to Bewitched,” Zol offered after a moment of reflection on the name Samantha.

  “Why Earth?” Her gaze challenged him., “If what you say is true.”

  “There are several reasons.” Zol captured her waist in a smooth, Fred Astaire move. He knew he grinned like a lapdog when she twined her arms around his neck.

  “No closer,” she warned, as he attempted to urge her flush against him. “That hound dog cock of yours is eager enough.”

  “Baying just for you,” Zol quipped before he thought, a rare occurrence, indeed.

  “That dog is about to earn a sharp thrust of my knee. Keep talking if you want to keep dancing.”

  Zol didn’t stop his low chuckle. He dared a quick kiss on her forehead, then met her gaze. Her eyes became a tempest, dark and threatening as storm clouds. He half expected lightning to shoot from their depths.

  “Several reasons,” he began. “It’s been a long tradition for Enduoir witches to visit and live on Earth.”

  “Why?” She hurled the word at him like a dagger.

  “Usually to make certain the use of real magic here remains controlled and does not leave the confines of Earth. Also, for fun.”

  She frowned, puzzled, her temper on the rise. Zol dipped his petite witch, a swift flow of movement she didn’t fight. Swinging her upwards and back into his embrace, he smiled in the face of her icy glare.

  “There was an ancient time, Kandace, when the Magical Ones, as they were known, spread out into the solar system from Earth. They used both space faring craft and their astral bodies. When a darkness took them over, they attempted to conquer Enduoir Prime among several other worlds. Ultimately, they failed because of your ancestors.”

  She leaned back scrutinizing him while she considered what he’d told her. “And how do you know this…if it’s true.”

  “I’m a rare breed.” Zol teased her with a grin, then slow-danced her toward Zin.

  “Perhaps this question will offer more insight,” he continued after a pause. “Haven’t you, shall we say, interrupted the bad magical spells of other witches?”

  Chapter Six:

  Spellbound Hounds

  Zin tasted the candy apple drink he’d purchased for himself out of rabid curiosity. Waiting on the edge of the ballroom floor, he watched his twin masterfully handle their lovely Kandy Apple. As the two of them spoke about her heritage, Zol enticed her closer.

  So far, his brother mind-sent the words between him and the gorgeous witch.

  As he drank, the icy apple-tart concoction interested Zin’s taste buds. Though, given the torrid state of his loins, he fantasized about pouring it on his nether column, then feeling the little laps of her tongue.

  Zin rarely envied his brother, as he did now. Working as a team, there’d been no reason. In their impassioned trysts with other women, they had shared in the carnal delights.

  However, he knew their mounting pleasures with the Enduoir witch would pale in comparison to their past lusting adventures. He knew it to his bones, human and hellhound. His standing bone knew it, refusing to remain politely buried in his pants.

  She remained unaware of her sensual yielding, because she resisted her female attraction to them. Yet Kandace’s swaying curves, her every movement, matched Zol’s sublime moves.

  A torrent of envy coursed through Zin. Kandace danced with Zol as if she already belonged to him.

  Swirling his drink, Zin tipped up another small swig. To remain focused, he reflected on Hades’ words, exactly as the Underworld ruler had spoken them, before he and Zol departed for their first mission on the surface.

  * * * *

  As pups and children you were cared for by my most beloved Persephone and her maidens, often knowing the comfort of their laps and their stroking hands.

  As rutting youths you attended training lectures about the nature of women given by the most renowned of our Goddesses and their daughters—Aphrodite, Hera, Artemis, Gaia, Atalanta, Selene…to name but a few.

  Access to our libraries has been yours. Your every inquiry has been answered.

  Upon the age of copulation, you were initiated into the carnal pleasures by women of great knowledge and prowess. You have attended all manner of feast orgies and fae revelries. You have played in the Upperworld and learned the art of seducing human women.

  Why is this knowledge and experience so valuable?

  Zolivar and Zindale, mortal women, though they rarely realize it, have the power to rule Earth, to bring forth a paradise of peace. Their assistance will be all-important to accomplishing your missions and to living successfully in the Upperworld.

  Remember these words of mine, my hellhounds, and you will avoid failing me. Far more crucial to us all, you will serve the Goddess of Justice extraordinarily well.

  * * * *

  Committing Hades’ words to their eternal memories, Zin and Zol had nodded their understanding, their loyalty natural, and given without reserve.

  Zin’s eyebrows rose after he swallowed another taste of his girly drink. Unexpectedly, he’d developed a taste for it, or was it because of her, their Kandy Apple?

  It was as though he tasted her essence.

  Zin watched as Zol whirled their witch closer. He trained a listening ear while he breathed in her sultry sweet fragrances.

  He indulged in another sip, then eased forward to make certain he overheard what Zol wanted him to know about their Kandy Apple. Mindspeak between them didn’t provide all the nuances.

  Haven’t you, shall we say, interrupted the bad magical spells of other witches?

  “I always interrupt the bad behavior of anyone I can,” she snapped, lifting her nose righteously.

  Zin rocked onto his toes. The urge to lick a kiss on the tiny tip of her upturned nose was nearly irresistible. Given the witch’s feisty spirit, he could envision a happy future with her.

  “May I assume your cat burglary of a painting this evening is due to righting a wrong?” Zol inquired, smooth as the Conjure cognac they’d been asked to sample recently.

  Barely visible to his observation, her body jerked. Covering it with an excellent move, she followed Zol’s lead as he danced them closer to Zin’s position.

  “If you must know, I’m a witch. But then, that’s obviously no secret to you.” She tossed her hair magnificently, her reaction to being terribly disturbed. “Goddess knows what you are.”

  “Perhaps, a clue is in order, beautiful Kandace.” Zol held her tight, his arm banded around the middle of her back.

  Zin considered that Kandace might not realize her full power to transform humans into creatures. Her gaze at his twin threatened to turn Zol into a croaking frog with no chance at becoming a prince.

  Regardless, being a hellhound, his brother could deflect her intention. Amused by his Zol’s nonplused expression, Zin shot a smirk at him.

  “A clue is in order,” she announced like a reigning queen.

  “Unless you would prefer I continue revealing more about you.”

  Arching against his arm, she eyed Zol like a movie spitfire. “Clue, first. Then, yes, please, continue with my intriguing past.”

  “By the way, darling, are you thirsty?”

  “Yes. I could do with the drink your twin is holding.” She glanced toward Zin, and he held up her candy apple drink invitingly. “Eve
n though,” her tone softened, “I do feel like my fair lady. You know. ‘I could have danced all night.’”

  “I shall enjoy your backhanded compliment, Kandace. Another time we will dance for as long as you desire.” Possessively, Zol brought her flush against his aroused body a moment before he released her.

  Glaring with the force of flame itself, she practically snatched the drink he held out to her. Privately amused, Zin burned with his own carnal anticipation.

  “You two don’t play fair, at all, do you?” She seared them both with a glance.

  “You’ll find we can be wickedly fair, at times.” Deliberately, Zin roved his gaze over her, mentally yipping his ravenous passion.

  When their gazes locked, she didn’t back down one whisker’s breadth. Diamond glints spun like wheels of fire in her eyes, proving her Enduoir pedigree. With a salute of his glass, Zin broke his gaze from hers.

  Spellbound hounds, he and Zol watched her delicately take a sip of her drink. Enjoyment changed her fae features to a fragile loveliness briefly.

  “Gentlemen,” she intoned, “should we continue this revealing conversation in a more private area?”

  “Have you viewed the Samhain-inspired work of Anthros?” Zol inquired. “If not, I suggest our conversation continue there.”

  “I haven’t viewed her collection this evening.”

  Speculatively, Kandace eyed them above the rim of her glass. Lowering her drink, she let it slide over the fullness of her bottom lip.

  He and Zol lapped up her unintended sensuality.

  “Is that a clue?” Her soft tone penetrated and had them tilting their heads in unison. “Weird,” she muttered. “Seeing you two act in exactly the same manner.”

  Still, she rolled her enchantingly shaped shoulders in flirtation. Catching herself, she frowned. “Answer my question.”

  “Perhaps, you will notice the canine painting in particular.” Zol offered his arm.

  Pivoting to the other side of her, Zin presented his arm. “Keep in mind we would have preferred your seduction first.”

  “I’ll just bet that’s true.” She wound her arm around his forearm. “While being the Kandy filling to your elegant man sandwich is tempting, what do you suggest I do with my drink?”

  Zol plucked it from her fingers. “I am happy to carry it for you, my delicious Kandy Apple.”

  She glanced at both of them, then released an exasperated breath as she took hold of Zol’s arm. “Does any woman or women ever say no to you two?”

  “I will assume you mean a romantic liaison,” Zin responded, “or a sexual rendezvous. No, we’ve never been refused. However, we’ve only sought single available women who wish a time of temporary pleasures.”

  “Hmmm…that leaves me out. I don’t do temporary.”

  “Zin and I have reached a time in our lives when temporary is no longer of interest to us.”

  “Us?” The word erupted from her. “Are you looking for twins?”

  “An entertaining thought, indeed.” Zin tracked the progress of a security team gradually moving in their direction. “Our kind, Kandace, have been designed to be with a witch, only.”

  “What are you? Some kind of werewolf familiars?”

  Her tone indicated she considered that ludicrous. Still, Zin sensed she realized they were a type of being completely beyond her realm of knowledge.

  “Canine, yes,” Zol answered. “Werewolves, no. However, we do possess the capability to act as your familiars.”

  “Oh.” She flung her hair, frustrated. “Will any witch do?”

  “Any witch who is powerful enough to accept our primal force.” Zin mind-scanned the security team. So far, she wasn’t on their suspect list.

  “This is progressing faster than Zin and I had anticipated.” Zol wheeled them toward the roped-off showing of Anthros’ paintings.

  “What is progressing faster, precisely?” The stubborn lilt of her voice let them know her patience wore thin.

  Sensing a camera had been trained on them, Zin and Zol steered her between two paintings in a move that concealed all their faces.

  “Nice going,” she murmured.

  “Have you ever been arrested, Kandace?” Zol inquired as if he merely chitchatted.

  “Do you mean are my face and fingerprints in the international database? I’ve never been arrested and, no.”

  Restlessly, she disengaged herself from them, stepping before the nearest painting. Animal ghosts chased after Halloween trick-or-treaters dressed in various furry costumes.

  “Unless they’re using the paranormal creatures database, we should be safe.” Her sarcasm was minimal, as if she believed one existed. Turning to face them, she reached for her drink. “Is there one?”

  Zin met Zol’s gaze, and they aligned on their next words telepathically.

  “One is maintained.” Zin strolled toward what he called the purple castle painting, a favorite of his by Anthros. “Though, the data is rarely accurate. It’s constantly tampered with by all manner of sentient phenomena. Indeed, Zol and I have erased several information streams recently.”

  Kandace moved beside him, Zol a step behind her.

  “Are Enduoir witches listed?”

  Chapter Seven:

  Share and Share Alike

  Kandace tipped up her fresh drink, taking an idle sip. Maintaining her cool during a security hunt had become close to second nature—close, but not complete.

  “Witches are listed,” the Tuxedo Twin behind her answered. “We’ve never found the category, Enduoir witch.”

  “I’ll take some comfort from that.”

  For a few moments Kandace lost herself within the painting’s purple swirling land. The romanticized Dracula castle where wolf-humans mingled with elegantly attired vampires always captured her imagination. She knew why Anthros refused to sell it.

  Mentally shaking her head at herself, Kandace used an icy swallow of her drink to refocus. Goddess alive, how did she get herself into these bizarre situations?

  True, none of her previous encounters with cryptids and other paranormal creatures had offered her a chance to find out why she’d been born a witch.

  The need to know more raced, turning into the image of a rabid werewolf. Or, maybe she’d become a Vamp, with the ravenous desire to feed on the knowledge she sensed the twins possessed. Amused by her nightmarish daydreaming, she lifted one corner of her mouth in a grin.

  “Canine, but you’re not werewolves.” She’d bantered in a joking tone, just in case someone overheard.

  “Think black. Think bigger and badder,” Mr. Evening Suit Twin returned in the same tone, only as suave as Cary Grant at his best.

  “Bigger and badder,” she echoed, following his lead toward another group of Anthros’ paintings, the ones done on ultra-large canvases. Kandace stared for several moments, then asked, “The infamous Black Dogs of urban legend and lore?”

  “Hot. Red hot. Our beautiful Kandy Apple is coated in red hot cinnamon candy,” Mr. Tuxedo Twin seductively crooned from behind her.

  “I suppose you two are demons who want to feed on the purity of my soul. Or steal it for your boss by tempting me into the sins of the flesh.”

  “Cold. Ice cold. Except for tempting you into all manner of wicked passions.” Mr. Evening Suit faced her, his gaze radiant as a bonfire at night.

  Kandace nearly stepped back from the heat that wasn’t actually there. No, the heat remained down below, an imposing torch in his pants. For a fleeting instant, she allowed herself to dream about being with a man who possessed the erect endurance the twins proudly showed off.

  Despite herself, she took another peek. Whew! The urge to wipe her brow from the flash of desire heating her skin almost caused Kandace to raise her hand.

  She frowned. “I’ll admit. You two are definitely incendiary.”

  “Actually, we are.” Mr. Tuxedo bent to her ear. “That’s another clue.”

  Kandace trembled, white-hot inside from the sexy timbre of his voi
ce.

  “We are often considered to be demons in lore and legend.” With his gaze charmingly hypnotic, Mr. Evening Suit presented his hand, palm upwards.

  “Zin, right?” Her hand slipped within his of its own volition. Oh, why in crapville did she fantasize about him pulling her close, sweeping her against him, their lips meeting in a fevered kiss.

  “Zin, yes, my Kandace.” He drew her forward. “Let me show you—”

  “Zol and Zin,” a high-pitched female voice bubbled.

  Kandace knew the owner of that voice, and shriveled inside. Marra RavenDawn Tompkin was a celebrity witch, who pretended to be a practicing Wiccan. Truly a witch by birth, her powers came more from her genetic heritage than any New Age spell she cast.

  “Marra.” Zol caressed her name, then moved to meet her. “What a perfect surprise. I wasn’t aware you were attending this charity event.”

  “A last-minute summons from Pegro. You know how that goes. He loathes arriving alone. His date cancelled with a migraine.”

  Kandace attempted to withdraw her hand. Instead, Zin brought her beside him, his hold possessively firm. “She reminds me of a cheap champagne fountain that won’t shut off. Oh catty-meow me, but right now, I’m past caring.”

  Zin chuckled, a smooth all-too-attractive rumble. “Zol will stroke the Raven’s feathers enough, then soar her toward someone more deserving of her star-powered notice.”

  “Well, whatever you two are, you’re certainly accomplished in negotiating the tricky terrain of high society.”

  “You say that as if you’ve observed us before.”

  “I have. From afar, obviously. However, I observe lots of people.”

  “Hmm. How did we miss you?”

  “We don’t socialize in the same circles.” Kandace flipped her hair, feeling it tumble over her shoulders. She half-turned. “Oh holy crap, Batman,” she whispered.

  Her eyes popped, feeling several sizes too big. Kandace froze as if she’d changed into a giant popsicle. The black dog monstrosity had two heads, each of them drooling a rain of fire from their massive jowls.

  Orange blazes raged inside the orbs of their nightmarish black eyes. The beast appeared ready to spring and tear her throat out, then fling her hapless bloody body into the painting’s hellfire pit. Several other victims already burned, the flames consuming them. Others boiled like a stew made out of human flesh.