Jaded [The Moonlight Breed 9] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Gabrielle Evans (good novels to read TXT) 📗

One hard thrust and the scrape of teeth down the side of his neck was all it took to send him spinning out of control. Bucking against Spiro’s chest, Zuriel writhed in his lap, moaning, whimpering, and barely holding back his screams as he painted his thighs with cum.

“Much better,” Spiro whispered, tightening his arms around Zuriel’s chest and shuddering through his own release, filling his channel with heated semen. “Perfect.”

Zuriel hadn’t even caught his breath when a loud, pounding knock sounded at the door. “Spiro!”

“Go away,” Spiro called back, but he still eased Zuriel from his lap and patted his hip to get him to stand.

“Spiro, you have to come now.”

“Rissian, for fuck’s sake, go away. I’ll deal with you later.”

The front door of the suite banged open, and Rissian marched straight through the living room and into their bedroom. “Clean your dick off and get dressed.” He looked paler than usual, and he seemed more afraid than angry.

As a shifter, Zuriel had little in the way of modesty, but it didn’t feel right to be prancing around naked in front of his mate’s brother. So, he casually removed the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around his waist before settling down on the edge of the mattress to watch the two brothers argue.

Something was definitely wrong, and while his curiosity was burning, he didn’t think it was wise to ask questions just then. However, judging from the look on Rissian’s face, his fun and games with Spiro had just come to a screeching halt.

Spiro rose from the floor and faced his brother, seemingly unconcerned with his nudity. “I swear to the gods,” he began, only to be cut off by Rissian’s snarl.

“Get dressed.”

“What the hell has gotten into you?” Spiro demanded. “What happened?”

It wasn’t polite. Zuriel told himself he shouldn’t do it, but he couldn’t stand the suspense any longer. Dropping his shields, he took a little peek into Rissian’s mind and gasped at what he found there.

Before he could open his mouth and say something stupid, though, Rissian spoke. “Thalian is dead.”

* * * *

“No one saw anything?”

Rissian shook his head quickly as they hurried through the corridors to Thalian’s room. “We’ve questioned everyone, but no one knows what happened.”

Spiro was incredulous to the truthfulness in that statement. Someone must have seen something. Yes, it was a big house, pretentious even, but there were also thirty people roaming the halls at any given time.

Apparently, his skepticism showed in his expression, because Rissian pulled him to a stop and shook his head. “There’s no sign of forced entry or a struggle. Nothing in his room has been touched. Spiro…” He trailed off, and his eyes tightened at the corners. “He has the same blue lips and swollen esophagus Father had when he died.”

A groan rumbled through Spiro’s chest before he could stop it. He wasn’t insensitive to the death of his brother, but while Thalian was only a year younger than him, they’d never exactly been close. Actually, he hadn’t been close to any of his siblings other than Rissian. Perhaps it was because they were the only two who shared the same mother.

His closeness to Thalian wasn’t the point, though. Yes, he felt the pain of his brother’s untimely death, but the time to grieve would have to come later. As the unchallenged ruler of his race, it was Spiro’s duty to protect his people. Part of him—a part he would never let speak aloud—almost wished it had been foul play that had taken Thalian’s life. At least then he’d have something to fight against.

Following Rissian through the maze of corridors, he eventually found himself outside of Thalian’s room. “Has anyone told his mother?”

Though it wasn’t a law of his people, it was tradition for a king to take more than one wife, ensuring the best possible chance for multiple heirs. In his father’s case, the greedy bastard had taken only one wife—Spiro and Rissian’s mother—but there was never a lack of females parading through his bedroom. Four of those lucky women had birthed the other Araceli heirs.

Rissian dropped his head and rubbed at the back of his neck. “She lives on the mainland. Aradan went with one of the guards to find her.”

As the oldest, it should have been his duty to inform Thalian’s mother, but Spiro was just selfish enough to be glad that their youngest brother had taken on the obligation. As much as he’d like to return to his room and pretend like none of this had ever happened, he couldn’t do it. So with a bit of reluctance, he took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and crossed the threshold into Thalian’s suite.

“Sir,” one of the guards greeted him, bowing his head in respect. “We’ll give you a minute.” With no further instruction, he jerked his head toward the doorway, indicating that the other three sentries should follow him. “We’ll be just outside the door.”

Spiro nodded his thanks, impressed with the young man. “What’s his name?” Gods, he’d been gone for too long. There had once been a time when he knew every man, woman, and child on the island.

“Uh, Nithron, I think.” Rissian stared at the closed door with a frown as though he could see through it to the other side. “I’m really not sure. He’s only been here for a couple of months.”

The information was important, but Spiro decided to file it away for later contemplation before he went accusing people of murder. Still, he couldn’t overlook the fact that his father’s sudden illness—and ultimately, death—coincided with Nithron’s arrival on the island.

As Rissian had said, nothing in the suite had been touched or in any way indicated that someone had entered without Thalian’s permission. There was a soda can on the coffee table, and a T-shirt was draped haphazardly over the arm of the sofa, but nothing else seemed to be out of place.

“Bedroom?” he asked.

“Bathroom,” Rissian replied with