“It’s so me,” I muttered dryly as another shiver chilled my spine.
“It would be a sensual delight to strip you out of it,” Lugh said. “A tease in the truest sense of the word. All those little pins holding the stomacher in place, then all the undergarments with their tapes and laces. .”
“You sound like you’ve stripped women out of outfits like this before.”
Again, he didn’t answer, but his silence was answer enough. He was a long-lived, possibly immortal, being, and I knew he’d walked the Mortal Plain before. Perhaps what I was wearing had been the height of women’s fashion when he’d last been here.
Since he’d brought up the subject of sex himself—albeit indirectly—I went on the offensive rather than questioning him about this sudden change in milieu.
“What did you say to Brian when you called him in the middle of the night?”
He sighed and gave me a disappointed look. “Is that what you consider the most important thing for us to talk about?”
Not really. It was just my attempt to wrest control of this dream from Lugh, and that was important to me. “What did you say to him?”
Lugh shook his regal head, making me feel childish even as he answered my question. “I told him you would respond well to a little dominance.” He held up a hand to stave off my protest. “From him. Another lover might not have survived the attempt.”
I was pretty sure he was laughing at me, even though he wasn’t smiling. I wished like hell I could deny what he was saying, but since neither one of us would believe it, I refrained.
“Why?” I asked, my voice little more than a scratchy whisper. Bad enough to have Lugh invading my mind and learning each and every one of my most hidden thoughts and desires. But to have him share them with someone else, even Brian. .
Lugh cocked his head and regarded me closely. I knew he was trying to figure out what he could get away with telling me, and though I would have liked to demand he tell me everything, I wasn’t sure I dared.
“We both know you have trust issues,” he finally said.
“No kidding?” He gave me a quelling look, and I shut up.
“But you desperately long for the ability to trust someone even as you keep sabotaging your own attempts at it.”
“Now wait just a minute—”
Not surprisingly, he talked right over me. “The part of you that isn’t thinking all the time trusts Brian. That’s what makes your bond with him so special. I advised him to communicate with that part of you.”
“Huh?”
“You would never have put up with, much less enjoyed, what he did if you didn’t trust him implicitly. For someone like you, trusting another person enough to give up control is something of a Holy Grail. I wanted to show you that it was within your grasp, if only you’re willing to reach for it.”
I shook my head violently, and I could swear I felt marbles rattling around in there. I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, but I was pretty damn sure it had something to do with his machinations to get me to cede control to him on occasion.
“Whatever. Don’t screw with my love life again! It’s none of your business.”
Lugh laughed, though I didn’t know what was so damn funny.
“Besides,” I continued loudly, “I thought you wanted me for yourself. I bet you didn’t mention that to Brian.”
The laughter faded, replaced by a gentle condescension I liked even less. “Brian and I are not in competition. You will never have to choose between us, because I can only come to you when you sleep, and he can only come to you when you wake.”
Somehow I didn’t think Brian would see it that way if he knew the whole picture. I was also damn sure Lugh hadn’t mentioned his own seduction attempts when he was having his little chat with Brian.
I guess I was getting used to being possessed, because until that moment, I hadn’t thought through all the ramifications of my liaison with Brian—ramifications that had loomed large in my mind when Lugh had first possessed me. My jaw set into what I felt certain was an unattractive line as I glared at the demon king.
“So, did you enjoy it when Brian bent me over the kitchen table to fuck me?” I might not be able to be with Lugh and Brian at the same time, but Lugh was always in residence.
Lugh flashed me a completely unrepentant smile. “I have never inhabited a female host before. I must admit the differences in sensation are fascinating, and quite pleasant. And as you have no doubt gathered, demons don’t have the same hang-ups as humans about sexual orientation.”
I suppressed a groan. Not only did I have to worry about Lugh seducing me, I now had to worry that he was using me to seduce Brian. Argh!
I suspected Lugh could read the direction of my thoughts and decided he needed to head me off before I could work my way into a world-class fury.
“Enough talk about your personal issues,” he said, his tone raising my hackles even more. “I believe Hell may have frozen over, because for once I am in agreement with my brother.” The momentary flash of humor in his eyes took a bit of the edge off my anger, though I was still poised to go for his jugular if he made one wrong move.
“Raphael said we were in need of a long-term plan,” Lugh continued. “Somehow, that plan will eventually need to include a way to contain Dougal and all his minions who know my True Name, but my first goal must be to gain myself—and, of course, you—some measure of security.”
Angry as I was, I couldn’t argue with that logic. “And how do you plan to do that?” I asked.
Lugh sat up straight in his throne, his back held stiffly upright, his chin held high, his eyes blazing amber. “I may have been ousted from my throne in the Demon Realm,” he said, “but unless Dougal succeeds in his attempts to kill me, I am still the king. It is time for me to set up my court, and in the face of necessity I shall do so on the Mortal Plain.”
CHAPTER 8
Lugh’s words rang in the empty hall, full of weight and portent. The thing was, I hadn’t the faintest idea what they actually meant. Set up his court? I was trying to frame a question that wouldn’t make me feel like an idiot, but Lugh answered before I succeeded. Sometimes, I don’t know why I bother actually talking to him, seeing as he knows perfectly well what I’m thinking at all times.
“I need to gather a core of faithful supporters. In the Demon Realm, I have a council of advisors, although I don’t know how many of them are truly loyal to me. I inherited them from my father, and some of them are no doubt as enamored of the old ways as Dougal and would be happy to be rid of me. I need to build a new council, one that will serve me on the Mortal Plain.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “How do you plan to do that?”
“I will start with those I already know are loyal to me.”
I frowned. “In other words. . Adam. Not much of a council.”
He watched me warily. “I am including Raphael. I know you aren’t convinced of his loyalty, but I think he genuinely wants to put me back on the throne.”
“But—”
“He told you far more about what happened in the Houston facility than he had to.”
I laughed, the sound swallowed by the cavernous hall. “Were you listening to the shit he was telling me? He’s not one of the good guys, Lugh.”
He shrugged. “Consider him a necessary evil, then.”
I didn’t like it, but the fact was Raphael was too deeply entangled in my life and Lugh’s to exclude. “Fine. Your council consists of Adam and Raphael.”
“And you and Dominic.”
“Practically an army.”