No no no, this wasnotwhat Carter wanted.
Alcy squeezed his shoulder. “What doyouwant, Carter?” His voice was as soothing as Mr. McAffrey’s had been when he’d asked the same question.
The thing was, Carter knew exactly what he wanted, but coming from a nineteen-year-old, it was going to soundsostupid.
I want what my parents have—a life partner.And what guy his age wantedthat? He yearned for someone he could settle down and grow old with. With every passing year, he wanted to fall in love more deeply. And he also wanted a plentiful supply ofreallyhot sex. Yeah right, maybe that was asking for too much. But how to condense his desires into something that made sense?
Something they would understand.
Carter took a deep breath. “I want someone to love me, to hold me, to tell me things will be okay, and then at night I want him to bend me over and make me scream.”
“Oh.” Alcy’s eyes widened. “NowI get it.”
Carter gaped at him. “You do?”
The angel gave a confident nod. “That explains why you got both of us,” He fired a glance at Beez. “Don’t you think?”
“Yup. That’s it exactly.” Beez held out a hand to Carter. “C’mere kid, and let Uncles Beez and Alcy tell you how these things go.”
Carter grasped his hand, and Beez pulled him into his lap. His skin was hot, and Carter felt that heat all the way through his body, felt it seep into his bones. Beez’s breath smelled of cinnamon, and it insinuated its way into Carter’s lungs, stirring his senses, only to have them go wild when Alcy took a seat beside Carter. The angel’s scent was pure, sweet vanilla, and it mingled perfectly with the spicy cinnamon.
Beez leaned in, overwhelming Carter with his heat. “Okay, so this is how these things work. Normally, the summoning spell needs to be very succinct. I can’t imagine how you messed it up.”
“It was in Latin,” Carter remonstrated. “I can barely speak English, so how would I have a hope of knowing any other languages? Well, besides a few dirty phrases in Spanish that I learned in high school.”
“Yeah, I told them Latin was a pretty dead language, and that we should update it to something more modern, but they said ‘oh, no! We need to stick with the classics’.” Alcy sighed. “See where that got us?”
“But what about those ingredients?” Beez demanded. “Nowaywas there ranch dressing in that spell. Or chicken, come to think of it.”
“I honestly thought it wouldn’t make a difference. I mean, the spell shouldn’t know, right? And it wanted blood and a sacrifice and...” Carter swallowed. “I couldn’t hurt anything. I don’t even like swatting mosquitoes. And I definitely can’t eat meat. The thought of eating something with a face? No, not for me.”
Beez leered, but Alcy cut him off with a sharp glance before turning his attention back to Carter. “Aw, pooky,” he whispered, stroking Carter’s back, sending tingles up his spine. “No one likes to inflict pain.”
Beez snorted. “Speak for yourself. I quite like it.”
Carter jerked back, horrified. “I don’t want pain!” Images of being strapped to a bench while Beez beat him with a whip swirled in Carter’s mind. He had nothing against people who enjoyed BDSM, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t for him.
“Oh, no, no, no,” Beez assured him. “Only for people who are into that kinda thing.” He lifted Carter’s hand in his and nibbled on his index finger. “You’re far too sweet for something like that.”
That made Carter feel slightly better.
“Alcy is—”
“I wish you’d stop that,” Alcy snapped. “You’re the only one that calls me that. And I’ve asked you plenty of times to say my name properly.”
“He has,” Beez admitted with a grin. “But it’s so much fun to yank his chain.”
Carter frowned. “But isn’t your name Beelzebub?”
Alcy shook his head. “He’s Beezlebub, not Beelzebub. That’s his uncle. We call him Beez.”
“Unlike stick-up-the-butt over there, I like my nickname.”
“We’re getting off track here, you know.” The angel addressed Carter. “And if you wanted to call me Alcy, it would be fine.”
Beez’s derisive snort rent the air. “Ooh, listen to her! She’s going to deign to have someone use the nickname I gave her.”
Alcy’s cheeks pinked. “It’s... it’s not an awful nickname. I prefer my full name, but if Alcy works for you, then it’s fine for me.”