bedeviled & beyond 04 - bedeviled & belittled by sam cheever Read Free Book Online

brownstones that were prevalent in Darma’s part of town. It was generally a very nice area, filled with newly updated homes with professional, young families. But occasionally you’d get a bad element moving into one of the homes that hadn’t been updated yet.
    The human males I was looking at appeared to be part of that bad element.
    I stopped and turned toward them, my body going rigid with anger. “I’m sure you weren’t talking to me, slime ball.”
    The taller one pushed away from the wall and strode toward us, obviously too blinded by testosterone and his own good opinion of himself to realize he was playing with fire. The other guy followed, looking a little more like he had a brain. A worry line ran deeply between his bushy eyebrows.
    Darma grabbed my arm. “Just ignore them, Astra. Let’s go.”
    I shook her off. “Get behind me, Darma.”
    “Oh Hell, no, Astra. You’re not going to vaporize my neighbors.”
    I snorted. “I won’t vaporize him if he says he’s sorry.”
    The guy strode up to us, stopping a mere four feet away. His dark eyes flashed with appreciation as he slid his gaze over Darma. Apparently he went for the beautiful but cranky type. “How about the four of us go someplace and get naked?”
    I grinned, but there was nothing happy about the expression. “Does that actually ever work for you? I mean, how many women have fallen into your arms when you yelled out for them to get naked and suck your dick?”
    He shrugged, his bristle-covered jaw tightening slightly. “I do okay, bitch. I wasn’t talkin’ to you anyway. You’re too hostile for me.”
    I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “ I’m hostile?” I cast a meaningful look at my sister, who proceeded to point her glare at me instead of the asshole standing in front of us.
    He shrugged again. “She has nice tits.”
    That got Darma’s attention. Before I knew what she was doing, she stepped forward and jabbed a long, perfectly painted fingernail in the guy’s chest. “Keep your eyes to yourself, jerk. You have no business ogling my tits or any other part of me.”
    The guy grabbed Darma’s wrist and yanked her up against his body, burying his face in her neck and sniffing audibly, like a huge hound dog. She tried to knee him in the crotch but he was wise to that trick—obviously we weren’t the first women to receive his dubious attentions—and wrapped an arm around her hips to hold her close, clamping her thigh between his legs.
    Darma made a sound of outrage and struggled as the guy proceeded to lick her neck.
    Figuring it was as good a time as any to teach Darma why her God-given powers were a valuable asset rather than a liability, I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled at her, initiating a foray into her mental drawers. Use your power, Darma.
    I won’t.
    Use it or you’re gonna get way friendlier with this guy than you want to.
    Can’t you just kick his ass the old-fashioned way?
    I could have if you hadn’t become attached to him. Now I can’t fling him across the street without sending you flying too. Just give him a little jolt in the family vault. If you cook his giblets he won’t be able to pester another woman, ever.
    Tempting. But I’m not using my powers, Astra.
    Suit yourself then. I’ll just wait here while he rapes you.
    Bitch.
    Pansy ass.
    Hag.
    I was saved from having to come up with something worse than hag when the second guy decided to make his move. He’d been eyeing me all along but hadn’t been able to crank up the courage to approach me. My initial instincts about the guy being smarter than his friend were apparently accurate. Unfortunately, when I didn’t do anything to his friend, he decided maybe I was harmless after all.
    Oops. His bad.
    He took a step closer and reached for my arm. I let him take it and flashed him a smile that would have frightened anybody who knew me better. Then I reached for his chest and laid a hand over it. “I’ll give you one beat of your wildly