An Angel on A Demon's Shoulder (A BBW Paranormal Romance) (Demon Brothers' Trilogy Book 3)
Authors: Marie Mason
AN ANGEL ON A DEMON’S SHOULDER
Copyright © 2016 by Marie Mason
First electronic publication: March 2016
Marie Mason
All rights are 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 embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print without the author’s permission.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
Published in the United States of America
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ABOUT THIS BOOK
Remington Conroy worked for a hellish boss. No, really. His boss was the Prince of Darkness and he was a bounty hunter condemned to bring back the lost souls who managed to escape the fiery pit of hell. He, along with his two brothers, had been condemned to this life long before they were born.
Now, the family curse was broken and the men were free to do as they pleased. Both his brothers had found their mates and were now expecting their first child.
Remington tried not to be envious, he really did. He knew he could never have that. He was a little more than just a bounty hunter, having been recruited to find—and eliminate—the more dangerous souls who managed to escape the devil’s hold. Those souls who couldn’t be allowed to exist—on any realm.
His job was too dangerous and he’d made too many enemies to have a mate and children.
Besides, he had eyes for only one woman—his mother’s curvy assistant, Clementine. For over a year he’d managed to keep his hands to himself and his c*** in his pants. Now that she was in danger and he was forced to protect her at all costs, he knew the gig was up.
The last Conroy brother was about to fall—deeply, irrevocably in love.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
REMINGTON CONROY WASN’T
happy about the way things were going. It seemed as if his life was falling apart around him, yet it should be the happiest time in the world for him and his family. The curse that had shaped the Conroy family history for centuries had finally been lifted. If that wasn’t the greatest fucking news of all time, his two older brothers had found their mates and were expecting their first children. Children whose lives would not be dictated by the curse of a witch who got her panties in wad when one of his ancestors had decided he didn’t want to spend eternity with a haggled toothed bitch.
He knew that description of a witch wasn’t fair. He’d bedded some wickedly good-looking—and sexually talented—ones over the years. He also had a new sister-in-law who was downright gorgeous with a sassy personality that could rev any demon’s engine. If the amount of time she had Roark in her bed was any indication, his oldest brother certainly agreed with his assessment.
He turned onto the street where his parents’ new house was located. Thankfully, it was across town from his house. He loved his parents, but being that close to them just wasn’t right.
As he neared the new home, he saw a moving van still blocked the driveway. He knew his brothers had been here since early this morning and felt more than a twinge of guilt at how late he was arriving. He was supposed to have been there earlier, but he’d been working. As a bounty hunter for the devil, he didn’t exactly get to choose when his day began or ended.
He parked his car on the street, activating the magical ward that formed a protective force field around it at the same time he locked the doors. The bright red Jaguar was his baby. He’d won it on a bet with an overconfident incubus. The man had bet he could get a set of twin fairies in his bed faster than Remington could. The other man had lost the bet. Remington was no stranger to women and their wants and needs.
Walking up the driveway, he took in his parents’ new house. It was a little big for the older couple, but then they had probably been thinking of the future when their grandchildren would come to visit. This was the first time in his life that the couple had decided to live in this dimension. His parents were, in the eyes of some, a totally mismatched union. An angel and a demon. Remington and his brothers had spent the majority of their youth traveling back and forth between heaven and hell. His father, at that point still bound by the family curse, could not leave hell except to complete his missions as a bounty hunter for the Prince of Darkness. And his mother, given her heritage, couldn’t spend more than a month or so in hell until her life energy became affected, making her ill. If she stayed too long in the underground, she could die.
But they loved each other. He guessed that was all the matter. Love was worth the sacrifice, right?
That’s what his mother kept telling him. Of course, that comment was usually followed by the question of when he was going to find a mate and settle down. Contribute to the sudden population explosion of Conroy demons.
His thoughts turned to how those little Conroy demons would be made and his body hardened. His last assignment had been long and brutal, no time to play with the ladies. Naturally, his thoughts turned to the woman he really wanted to play with.
“So you decided to get your ass here and help after all, you sorry bastard.”
Remington pulled himself away from his horny thoughts and focused on the deep, angry voice coming from up ahead. The demon inside him instantly went on guard. While all the Conroy males had been bounty hunters for the Prince of Darkness, what Remington’s brothers and father didn’t know was that Remington was more than just a bounty hunter. He was, in essences, an assassin, taking out those souls that needed to be extinguished.
Most souls that escaped from hell were brought back to finish their eternal sentence. A few of the lucky ones were given a second chance, allowed to stay in the human realm with an opportunity to make better decisions. And others. Others were just flat out evil and needed to be destroyed. That’s where Remington came in. Those souls, the ones that couldn’t be held within the bounds of hell even with all the powers of darkness, that were evil to the core, had to be dispatched. , destroyed with no hope of redemption.
He had to admit that the years of dealing with such madness had taken a toll on him. Would have taken a much higher toll if not for—
No, he wasn’t going to think about her today. Maybe never again. Even though his brothers had found their freedom, he knew he would never be truly free from the chains of hell.
“Hey, dude.” The voice that had spoken before now softened—well as much as a voice could soften on a two hundred plus pound demon the size of the side of a mountain. Rafe walked toward him, empty boxes in his hand as he made his way to the curb.
Remington shook off the last of his thoughts. “Go fuck yourself.” He gave the standard younger brother smart mouthed answer he’d been giving his siblings for years. The two men had thought they could boss him around, control his life. Protect him. Little did they know he’d been protecting their asses all this time.
Instead of the angry growl he usually got for his attitude, Rafe’s face broke out into a radiant smile Remington had rarely seen before. “Don’t gotta, bro. Got me a woman.” Remington thought the man would start pounding his chest in a show of masculine domination; the testosterone pouring off him was so great.
“A woman who is about to drop a demi-goddess into your lap, bro. Not sure I’d be celebrating that.” A hard knot of envy formed in Remington’s chest. Hell, he did want that. He wanted a child, a wife, a family.
Rafe’s happy demeanor fell as he thought of the child about to come into the world—and all he would have to do to keep her safe. “Shit, Remington, you sure know how to cock block.”
Remington let out a full belly laugh as the expression on Rafe’s face changed from one of a horny-as-hell demon to a scared-assed man who knew he was in over his head.
The woman Rafe had hooked up with wasn’t just a pretty human as he’d originally thought. She was the descent of a goddess named Iris. One that had acted as a sort of a gateway between the human realm and Olympus. One, who apparently, had decided that the realms needed to be a little more diversified. She’d started bringing humans to the mountain, and the gods had gotten just a little angry. He still didn’t know the whole story, since her existence had basically been erased from history.
“Leave him alone, Rem. He’s got enough to worry about.” Roark strode down the sidewalk, more packing boxes in his hands. By the size of the stack on the curb, Remington figured he had timed his visit to his parents’ new house just about right. Hopefully, there wasn’t much else to do. Not that he didn’t want to help his parents, but he’d been up almost forty-eight hours, and he was damn tired. He just wanted to go to his own house and fall into bed.
To dream about her.
He heard the whisper of his demon and shut the bastard down quickly.
Roark threw his boxes on top of the ones Rafe had put down. Suddenly, Remington found himself on the receiving end of two very intense starts.
“What?” he said, throwing up his hands.
“Where have you been? Mother expected you early this morning, just like us.” Roark widened his stance and crossed his arms, using the same intimidating stance he had used all of his life when he wanted his two younger brothers to do as he said. That had worked until Remington had turned fifteen at which time he’d surpassed both his brothers in height and weight even though they were two and three years older than he was. He had continued to give Roark the respect he deserved as his older brother, which was why conversations such as this didn’t end with Roark on his ass sporting a black eye.
“I had a job to do.” He knew his big brother would understand. While Rafe had immediately quit his job as a bounty hunter the moment the family curse was lifted, Roark had continued to do the job he had for decades, this time receiving a salary for his efforts. Which was a good thing since his wife was pregnant, too. As he’d expected, Roark gave him a nod of acknowledgment. There was no calling in sick or requesting vacation when you were a bounty hunter for the devil.
The three men turned and walked back up the driveway. “Can you believe mother and father are really doing this?” Rafe poised the question Remington had only moments before asked himself.
Roark snorted. “What did you expect? There’s no way Mother is going to stay away from the babies.”
Not needing another reminder that his life would never be that of his brothers, Remington lengthened his stride and opened the door. Orderly chaos was the word of the day. The furniture was in place, and despite the pile of empty boxes on the curb, there was still a mountain of boxes left to unpack. “Hi, Dad.”
Ravjeer Conroy turned as the front door opened. “Son, I see you’re right on time as usual.” It was a running family joke that Remington seemed to appear at any family function after all the hard work had been completed. He had to admit that maybe, just maybe, he did sometimes plan his entrances to coincide with that fact. Today, that hadn’t been the case. “Need some help?”
“No, go see your mama, though. She’s been worried about you.”
“Yes, sir.” Remington braced himself. His parents’ house was an open concept, and he could see his mother at the other end. Even though he couldn’t see her, he knew there was someone else in the house.
The woman who had been driving his demon crazy and making his cock hard for over a year.
“Hi, Mother.”
“Remington! Darling!” His mother rushed over to him, flinging her arms around his neck. She was short in stature, and he automatically leaned down so she could wrap her arms around him. He returned her hug, picking her up off her feet. After a moment, she said. “Now put me down.”
He did, placing a kiss on her cheek as he let her go. She laughed prettily, and Remington realized again how lucky he was to have such a close family. “You know you love it.”
“Flirt.” She pulled out of his arms, and he leaned against the counter, watching her unpack a box filled with glassware. “Have you eaten? I sent Clementine out to get us all some lunch.”
Instantly, Remington’s body stiffened—and not just his cock this time. That was his usual reaction to the mention of the other woman’s name. His first instinct was to run. He’d avoided his mother’s assistant as much as he could over the last two years. He always had the same visceral reaction to the curvy angel. His cock hardened, and his good sense flew out the window. So he kept his distant. Knowing he needed to make some sort of comment, he said, “I hope it was pizza.”
“What else would I feed you? I swear all three of you should look like one giant pepperoni.”
Remington tried to suppress the snort that arose at his mother’s comment. She had no idea the sexual context her comment could take.
“Clean it up, boy,” his father’s deep voice sounded behind him seconds before he felt the sharp tap of the other man’s palm against the back of his head. His mother turned around with a puzzled look. Was that what had drawn his father to her? That perpetual innocence that clung to her despite being married to a hormone driven demon for decades?
Would it be the same with Clementine? He’d do his damnedest to turn that angel of innocence into—
The back door opened, and the woman of his fantasies walked inside, laughing at a comment his brother had made. His demon woke inside him, and Remington straightened from his position against the counter. Walking swiftly to the door, he opened it wide, pulling Clementine inside. “Here let me take that.” He relieved her of the large plastic bag she was carrying and went to push the door close.
“Stop that, you little shit,” Roark growled at him as his hand stopped the door before it hit him in the nose.
“Up yours.”
“Boys, boys,” his mother shook her head, and they both backed off.
Remington cursed when he realized Clementine had moved out of his reach. He carried the plastic bag to the dining room where she’d retreated. Without any sort of greeting, she took it from him and started pulling out paper plates and plastic silverware and sitting them on the table. “Need some help?”
Clementine stiffened when Remington moved up beside her. She’d hoped that he’d be too busy today to help with the move. He had managed to miss carrying in all the heavy furniture, something his brothers had groused about all morning. But he was here now. In all his six foot six-inch male glory—that was presently pressed against her side. Just where she wanted the hunky demon to be.
Lord help her, she’d had a crush on her employer’s son since day one. When she’d been introduced to the dark-haired demon, something inside of her had flared to life. Before, her libido had been non-existent, barely firing when in the company of a handsome man. That day, that day, it had sparked to life and threatened to burn her alive.
She braced herself to turn around and look at him. She pasted a smile on her face and spoke. “I’m almost done here. Rafe may need help carrying in the rest of the pizza, though.”
“He can manage without my help.”
“So can I.” The response was automatic on Clementine’s part. Remington might cause her girlie parts to stand up and start screaming whenever he ventured near, but he also had a way of putting her back up. Like a cat suddenly confronted by a large dog.