Devil's Seed Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, events, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  Devil’s Seed copyright @ 2018 by Brook Wilder and Scholae Palatina Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  DEVIL’S SEED

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Epilogue

  PREVIEW: DEVIL’S BARGAIN

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  DEVIL’S SEED

  Chapter 1

  Tex kept hearing Lori’s words echo in his head, over and over again, like a scratched record skipping at the same spot. Pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant.

  Shock hit him first, freezing him right where he stood. His feet were stuck in place on Lori’s front stoop as he watched the tears stream down her flushed cheeks. Those tears killed him. They immobilized him completely. He couldn’t do a fucking thing; he just stood there, trying to think of how to make them stop.

  But after a few very uncomfortable moments for Tex, Lori sniffled a bit, wiping at the tears with the sleeve of her sweater. As her eyes thankfully cleared of the tears, they darkened with something else. Something very close to panic.

  “Shit. You can’t stand out here,” Lori muttered, more to herself than him.

  She grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside, out of sight. She stuck her head out, looking left and then right, as if she expected someone to come charging in after him.

  Tex only had a moment to be confused though, because Lori turned back to him with a shrug.

  “I don’t want Gears to see you.” She shrugged again, looking at everywhere but at him, “He freaked out when he found out Carrie was here. Who knows what he’d do if he finds you here with me.”

  “Lori, look at me,” Tex finally said after a long moment. His voice was soft and calm but there was still strength behind the words. “Lori.”

  It was another minute before she turned to face him, and when she did Tex could see the fear in her eyes. No, it was more than that. Lori was terrified of the man.

  Tex could see it written on her beautiful face and anger started to burn away some of the shock. Not that he knew what the hell to make of this turn of events. Still trying to rein in his fury at Gears, Tex walked over to the miniscule couch and let himself drop to the worn cushions.

  His mind tumbled in a million different directions. He’d expected joy at the money he’d brought her, but now it just lay in a crumpled wad on the coffee table. He had expected a happy welcome home. At least a kiss. Something. Anything other than… He trailed off, shaking his head.

  Lori paced nervously in the small living room and Tex shot her a sideways glance. He was just grateful that she had stopped crying. He really didn’t think he could have handled any more of her tears without hitting someone.

  Pregnant. A baby. His baby. His and Lori’s. He was having a baby with Lori. Over and over the thought hit him and for a moment he wondered why he wasn’t as freaked out as he should be. No mistake, he was fucking terrified. But his emotions shot between excitement and fear and then back again.

  Tex looked up at Lori again, her frantic pacing eating at the last of his frayed nerves, and suddenly he couldn’t take any more of her fearful movements. He jumped up, stalked towards her and pressed her against the wall in one hurried movement.

  “Stop. Pacing,” he growled, his voice low and tense.

  She looked up at him, wide-eyed, and for a moment he lost his composure, losing himself in her gaze. But then her brows furrowed angrily.

  “Oh no! You don’t get to just disappear for weeks, not texting or calling me, and then come back and tell me what to do. That’s not how this works.” Lori huffed, and Tex flinched at the sharpness of her tone.

  “Damn it, sweetheart, I told you. I didn’t have any reception in that shithole town,” Tex tried to explain, but she was already shaking her head.

  “You could have sent a letter or, hell, even a postcard. Something! I thought… I thought you…” Lori bit her lush lower lip, cutting off her words and drawing his attention.

  “You thought I had what, sweetheart?” His voice was suddenly husky but there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He was pressed against her sweet body and her cheeks were flushed with anger, as well as something else. The same heat was swirling in her eyes.

  Lori blinked and, when she looked up at him with those big hazel eyes of her, he could see the anger there. Which he knew damn well he deserved. But he could also see her fear and, mixed with that, the pain. That was what he couldn’t stand. That was what brought him to his knees.

  “I thought you had left me,” Lori whispered the shaky words, “and then I found out I was pregnant, and… and you were just gone.”

  He watched the pain in her gaze grow sharper and he hated that he had put it there. He slid one hand across her flushed cheek and tilted her face up towards his. He knew in that moment that he’d do anything in the world to banish that look from her troubled gaze. Anything to see her laughing and smiling. He would give her the moon if she asked. The moon and all the stars if it took that anguished looker from her eyes.

  “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” The words were soft but heartfelt as they fell across her lips. “I’m so, so sorry.”

  Thinking only of taking away that look, Tex leaned down, closing the last bare breath of space between them, and kissed her.

  As always, Lori melted instantly against him and, as always, it made him lose his god-damned mind. She was so much sweeter than he remembered, so much more delicious, as he pulled her close. He drew the kiss even deeper, taking everything that she had to offer and then pushing her for even more. He wanted everything. He wanted all of her. He needed her.

  Suddenly, Tex pulled back. “Lori, I…”

  “Hush.” She stopped his words with a single finger laid sweetly across his lips. When she looked up at him, some of the fear and pain were gone, replaced by desire. “Just shut up and kiss me, cowboy.”

  He let out a wordless growl at her challenge and slammed his mouth back over hers, tangling their tongues together. Silently, he vowed that he would kiss her until need and lust were the only things shining in her big, hazel eyes.

  Tex set about to do just that, to banish everything but the heat that flared up between them.

  He kissed her until t
hey were both breathless and panting, barely breaking contact as he picked her up in his arms. She was featherlight as he lifted her against his chest and Tex frowned to himself, thinking about how light she felt. Had she been eating right? Her and the baby both needed to eat more food.

  Barely registering how quickly his thoughts had shifted to the baby, he vowed that he would take care of her. Her and the baby both.

  Regret sat like a painful lump in his throat for not being there when Lori had needed him most. But he was there now, and he sure as hell wasn’t going anywhere. He’d be there for her from now on.

  He was so caught up in her that he didn’t realize how close his words had come to commitment. That was something he’d always been wary of. He’d even held Kayla at arm’s length.

  But it was different with Lori. She made him think not only of himself, but of her well-being and happiness too. He cared for her.

  I just want her to be happy, he told himself fiercely. She deserves to be happy. That’s all.

  Tex laid her gently down on the bed, still lost in his own thoughts. Lori touched her fingers against his cheek, just a soft brush of her skin on his, but it still sent a trail of chills sweeping down his spine.

  “Hey, where did you go?” Lori whispered the question, looking up at him with heavy lidded eyes burning bright with desire. A sudden, unfamiliar emotion tightened in his chest. It made it hard for him to draw a deep enough breath. He tried to shake it off, but his words came out in a sharp exhale.

  “I just… You’ve messed me up, Lori.” Her brow rose at his words and he shook his head, letting out a rough laugh. “See? Normally, I am a very well-spoken and charming man. But you, sweetheart… you have this ability to make me all tongue tied, and then I go and say things that I know I shouldn’t, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it because you’re in my head… and in my heart. It’s like you crawled under my skin.” He paused, shaking his head again as he looked at her in wide-eyed disbelief. “And I like it.”

  Lori gave a husky chuckle at his words, “I like it too, Tex.”

  She stared up at him and the emotion in her eyes terrified and thrilled him all at the same them.

  “You’re just like a god damned roller coaster.” Tex bit off the words, thinking of the ride they had gone on at the carnival. It felt like it had been years ago, instead of just a few months.

  “What? What does that mean?” Lori asked with a laugh, all the while working on the buttons of his shirt.

  “You. I mean you.” Tex huffed out a sharp breath. It was hard to concentrate on what the hell he was saying with her hands teasing across the bared skin of his chest, and lower still. “One minute you make me furious, and then the next all I want to do is protect you, keep you safe. You make me want…” Tex trailed off, growling as she swept her fingers even lower, across his abs, his hips, not stopping until she reached the waistband of his jeans. “You are one dangerous woman, you know that?”

  “Uh huh.” Lori said with a grin, it was full of mischief. “And you don’t want to make me wait now do you? Who knows what I might do next. Being so dangerous and all.”

  Tex matched her grin for grin, wondering how she taken him from terrified to wild for her with just a smile and a few words. He’d meant what he had said. A god damned roller coaster.

  He looked down. She already has his shirt unbuttoned and pulled as far off as she could, with him kneeling over her, and was working on the fastening of his jeans. She tugged at it, making a frustrated pout when it wouldn’t give way, and he kissed her again. He had to.

  He took her mouth with his, nibbling on her full lower lip as he made quick work of the sweater and dress she’d been wearing. He pulled it off over her head, and then hurried to tear off his own clothes. He threw them all in a messy pile on the floor.

  Tex didn’t hesitate as he trailed soft kisses down her body and then all the way back up again. He paid special attention to all those hidden places that made her moan and gasp out in pleasure. He’d missed those sounds. He had missed the feel of her restless body writhing under his. Hell, he had just missed her. He’d missed her more than he could put into words.

  He didn’t want to look too closely at that. His mind shied away from the thought, far too close to commitment again for comfort. Instead, he put all his attention and laser focus on making Lori as wild for him as he was for her.

  His tongue and fingers teased her, driving her close to the edge, and soon he had her hips bucking against him as she cried out his name. It was sweetest sound Tex had ever heard. It drove him on until she was trembling again. It wasn’t enough. He wanted to feel her come apart in his arms.

  Lori moaned, long and low, and grabbed at his shoulder. Her grip was surprisingly strong as she pulled him up her body, guiding him to the cradle of her thighs. He sank deep inside her in one, long stroke.

  They both stayed like that for a moment, not moving, completely frozen. Their limbs were wrapped tight around each other, as close as two people could possibly be, and Tex was overwhelmed at the feeling that swept through him. It felt like he had just come home. No, like he had just found home for the first time. A home he’d never had before, but somehow, he’d found with Lori.

  He started to move again, the urge too all-consuming to resist. Slow at first, his hips hitching in a smooth, driving rhythm that soon had them both panting and trembling for release. But he couldn’t let go.

  He never wanted it to end. He never wanted to leave the sweet haven of Lori’s body. He never wanted the intense pleasure to stop.

  Tex clenched his jaw as tingling waves of ecstasy, so sharp they bordered on pain, started low in his body, rippling through the rest of him, crashing back on each other until his whole world narrowed down to the single point where they fused together.

  Lori threw her head back and her eyes were squeezed tightly shut as they both lost themselves to the ancient dance. But, all too soon, the feel of her hot, wet center tightening on him was too much for him to handle. He swept one finger down between their bodies, teasing at the sensitive clit hidden between her thighs and she let out a scream of pleasure. She trembled in his arms as she came, hard, and all Tex could do was marvel at how beautiful she was. She looked like a god damned work of art. The Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo all wrapped up into one.

  As his climax hit him, only one thought echoed through his head, obliterating everything else. She was his.

  Chapter 2

  Tex rolled onto his back with a sigh of satisfaction that ran through his whole body. For a long moment, all he could do was lay there next to Lori. Her eyes were still closed, and he took the chance to look at her. She was always moving around, pacing or laughing or shouting at him. For a moment, he just stared at her, tracing the lines of her face.

  Her strawberry blond hair was spread out in a tangled halo on the pillow and her cheeks were still flushed a rosy pink. Her eyelashes were a darker fringe that set of the creaminess of her skin and he was enchanted to follow the trail of freckles across the bridge of her nose. He’d never noticed those before.

  She curled close to him, making a small sleepy sound of contentment, and it warmed him from the inside out. Lying there in bed, Tex was still rocked by what had just happened. He’d never felt anything like that, not even close.

  Idly, he ran his fingers of Lori’s still bare stomach, marveling that there could be a life growing inside her. A life that he had helped to create.

  His thoughts turned naturally to his own past, his own father. He’d never been a part of Tex’s life. Neither of his parents had, come to think of it. His parents had always been distant. Not that he’d made it easy on them, but after landing in juvenile detention when he was sixteen they had all but disowned him.

  They’d moved away, leaving him alone. Well, not alone. He’d had Porky, and then he’d found a new family with the Devil’s Martyrs. But something about his thoughts left him with a bitter, restless feeling.

  He couldn’t help but wonder what
would have been different had his parents stuck around, had they fought for him a little more. Would he still be where he was now? He shook his head. He would do better than they had. He would be a better father. He had to be.

  His thoughts kept turning back to his past, and a moment later he found himself thinking about Kayla, his ex. They had been together for two years, but he’d never felt with her anything like what he’d just experienced with Lori. But they were also completely different people. Kayla had been selfish and the most self-centered, narcissistic person he’d ever met. For two years, they’d used each other, and he’d never felt anything close to this.

  Tex tried to picture her as a mother, but even that thought made him shudder. Lori must have picked up on the motion because she blinked open her eyes and turned her head to look at him.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked. He was still running his fingers over her flat stomach.

  “Kayla,” he muttered idly, not thinking about how it would sound to her. Lori stiffened next to him, almost an imperceptible movement. Tex bit back a groan. Shit.