Pride (Living In Sin #1)

Chapter 15

Pry

I hoped I would have been able to keep Envy out of Alec's way for at least a few days. There was no such luck in that, apparently. And Envy was his charming self.

At least Alec stepped forward, meeting my sibling head on. My pride, the essence of my existence, swelled. Patrons around me moaned in response to the energy surging through the air. I was grateful for Des's choice in music as it drowned them out. One less thing to explain away to the humans in our midst. But I was proud. Alec had no idea who he was dealing with, but he met Envy head on.

The warlock's spell had chosen better than I could have hoped.

Envy rocked back on his heels, staring at Alec. I knew him well enough to tell that the little human's actions had thrown the other demon for a loop. It was nice to know Alec could send others in the family into a spin. Hesitantly, Envy reached out and shook the offered hand. He shot me a few confused looks, but he was amusingly quiet.

"Pry mentioned the club was family owned. I didn't realise one of his brothers would keep the whole bar running, though. That's pretty amazing!"

Even if Alec was laying it on a little thick, the words were honest. Envy could only nod and mumble his thanks. He left with the beers. I could hear him talking about stupid customers wanting table service.

With my annoying brother leaving without another word, I looked down to find Alec blinking up at me in confusion. The mix of Envy's annoyance and Alec's innocent reaction had me chuckling. This new venture was going to be more fun than I’d imagined.

“Did I say something wrong? He’s not angry, is he?”

Thankfully, Alec didn’t sound too worried. I clapped him on the shoulder and continued to steer him towards the office. The music was throbbing more as more bodies filled the dance floor.

I could feel the call of souls to convert, but I could resist it easily for a change. Taking care of Alec had become my new priority.

The office was insanely bright after the dark of the club and even Alec groaned a little at the harsh light. I had to step away a bit as arousal shot through me and I hardened. It might have been completely innocent, but my body didn't seem to care. Being around Alec was going to be a continuous test of my limits. I was beginning to think I was enjoying it a little too much.

Even though there was only a short hallway between the office and the rest of the Club, the sound cancelling was almost perfect. Only a soft thump of the base reached this space. Some of it was magic; having witches and warlocks on the payroll was rather useful. But most of it was simple building tricks we'd taken when we'd first created the club.

Back then, it had been a brothel, so this room's use and the need for soundproofing had had an entirely different reason. A much more fun reason that my human body seemed keen to bring back.

"Envy isn't used to people being nice to him. It's not as fun as he thought it would be running the bar. Especially with some of our patrons." Some supernaturals who visited the club could hold their liquor and enjoyed messing with the mortals. Envy had to decide when it was a good time to cut someone off and more often than not, he was easily irritated. Club Midnight could be quite chaotic.

It was part of why we'd gone looking for someone like Alec. Even if Envy would never admit to it.

"Well, the Club didn't seem to have any issues with alcohol, so he's doing an amazing job."

It was funny; feeling jealous of Envy getting praise. I couldn't remember if it was something that had ever happened before. Not that my pride would let me remember such a travesty. I'd forget this one, too, but for now the feeling was novel even as it stung.

Alec was already moving on like he hadn't caused a bunch of random emotions to assault me. Not that he had any reason to notice. He was a clueless human in a den of demons. Demons whose emotions usually strayed to just one. It was why we were the Seven Sins. I wasn't sure what to do with Alec; causing other emotions to surface was unheard of.

If Crave was here, he'd ask the right questions. But as I let the emotions pass, I didn't care enough to question them further. Alec was here now. The chips would fall as they would. He'd been called to us; my other family members could question why, as they felt they needed to.

I would continue to enjoy watching him in that mesh top. How it left so little to the imagination. If I wanted, I could count the little hairs that went in a fine line down his stomach and disappearing into those tight pants.

That sounded like a delightful way to spend an afternoon.

"You probably won't get to meet the other family members until later in the week." No reason to stress him out so early in the game. That, and I enjoyed keeping this little human to myself. Envy would be more than a handful as it was. "How about you get started here? Then after we get some time on the dance floor?"

Alec lifted his head, his lips already tight with a negative response. He was such fun to tease. Before he could respond, his stomach made an awful growling noise that could be heard through the quiet of the office. I couldn't stop the huge smile from filling my face as Alec turned bright red. Considering what he was wearing, I could see that it went most of the way down his pale chest.

"I see," I teased, enjoying the mortified embarrassment that rolled off the human, even as he scowled defiantly at me. "The way to your heart must be through your stomach. Thankfully, my brother Chef is very talented and will have a nice dinner prepared. It will only cost you one little dance."

I laughed as Alec glared and huffed my way before I left, leaving him to the piles of paperwork. I would find my new human some food and after some time, I would collect on that dance. Even if I had to wear him down first.