When desire rises, angels will fall. One, by one, by one…
Over the past century, Belphagor has made a name for himself in Heaven’s Demon District as a cardsharp, thief, and charming rogue.
Though the airspirit is content with his own company, he enjoys applying the sweet sting of discipline to a willing backside. Angel, demon, even the occasional human. He’s not particular. Until a hotheaded young firespirit steals his purse—and his heart. Now he’s not sure who owns whom.
A former rent boy and cutpurse from the streets of Raqia, Vasily has never felt safer than in the arms—and at the feet—of the Prince of Tricks. He’s just not sure if Belphagor returns those feelings. There’s only one way to find out, but using a handsome, angelic duke to stir Belphagor’s jealousy backfires on them both.
When the duke frames Vasily for an attempted assassination as part of a revolutionary conspiracy, Belphagor will do whatever it takes to clear his boy’s name and expose the real traitor. Because for the first time in his life, the Prince of Tricks has something to lose.
Excerpt:
Belphagor pushed him onto his back and straddled him, his own unfulfilled erection poised between them like an exclamation point. “I told you, you’re my boy. Mine.” There was an implication in the words that Vasily couldn’t miss. The firespirit had been earning his bed and his supper on the streets of Raqia since the word “boy” had been applied to him more literally, likely from an even earlier age than had Belphagor himself. When Vasily had come to him after the night Belphagor caught him trying to cut his purse, he’d attempted to continue with his street business as usual until Belphagor forbade him selling himself to angels or to rough trade demons. He wouldn’t stop Vasily bartering his favors if that was what he chose to do, but he would see to it he was treated as the valuable commodity he was if he insisted on continuing in the trade.
This hadn’t sat well with a firespirit just coming into his prime. Angels in particular desired him, finding his rough looks and the wild coloring of his tangled hair the epitome of what they pictured as demonic. Mostly students out on their own for the first time with purses of crystal facets to burn, they wanted the quintessential Raqia experience. They crossed Elysium’s River Acheron to slum in Heaven’s Demon District, and in their eyes, Vasily was as low-rent as they could get. Which was all the more reason they were to keep their filthy angelic paws off Belphagor’s boy.
A red glimmer of flame threatened in the black depths of Vasily’s pupils, giving the hazel irises an amber cast. This evidence of his defiant anger, despite the fact that Belphagor had finally given him what he wanted—or broken down and caved to his charms, more like—was a Pavlovian bell to Belphagor’s hunger for him. It had nearly driven him mad to keep Vasily at arm’s length this long, telling himself he didn’t deserve him, that Vasily couldn’t possibly want him—the Vasily in his head still the same skinny cutpurse youth he’d first encountered, though his “boy” had long been nothing of the sort. Even now, his heart fluttered like a panicked bird caged in his chest, waiting for something terrible to happen, for Vasily to realize Belphagor wasn’t as young as he appeared and to ridicule the helpless state to which he’d reduced him—hopelessly enamored of another demon after the equivalent of a human lifetime of solitude.
For Belphagor, solitude had been his strength. He hadn’t needed anyone since the earliest betrayals of youthful love. But Vasily had brought him to his knees. Never mind that it was Vasily on his knees that had done it to him.
“What’s got your fire up, malchik?” He kissed the spot he’d cleaned with his tongue beneath Vasily’s Adam’s apple. “I thought you wanted to be mine.”
“I hate it when you treat me like a child.”
Belphagor raised an eyebrow. “I’m fairly certain I treated you as rather the opposite last night. Was it not satisfactory?”
The natural pink of Vasily’s cheeks reddened more obviously. “Of course it was. I mean, it was more than satisfactory. Way more. Dammit, Beli.” He crooked his arm over his eyes as if looking up into Belphagor’s embarrassed him during such talk. He was utterly charming. As was the little endearment that had just slipped out, though Belphagor might have decked another demon for it.
He kissed Vasily’s sullen mouth. “It was far more than satisfactory for me.” The soft words were almost a whisper. “You’ve absolutely spoiled me for anyone else.”
“Good.” The word was delivered with a sudden sharpness. So that was what was bothering him. It sparked a bit of defiance of his own. He wasn’t used to having anyone put restraints on him. That was Belphagor’s specialty.
“Don’t seek to possess me, malchik. I’m an airspirit.”
Vasily moved his arm away from his eyes, and they were glowing with furious heat. “So that’s how it is. You own me, you tell me what I can and can’t do, but you can do as you like.” The roiling anger in the firespirit eyes heated Belphagor like combustion from the inside out. The thought of putting Vasily over his knee once more made him almost painfully hard. Without equivocation, he was a slave to this brutally beautiful young demon.
“Yes, Vasya. That’s how it is.”
The violent rebuff wasn’t unexpected, but Belphagor, nonetheless, had failed to brace for it, too absorbed in the feel of the body beneath him and the thoughts of what he wished to do with it. He found himself forcefully ejected from the cot and sprawled on the cold wooden floor, with Vasily standing over him, magnificent in his literally naked anger.
“Then maybe you should just skip the foreplay and go fuck yourself!” Vasily delivered the Germanic hardness of the lovely verb “fuck” as if he were demonstrating it. As Vasily jerked his jeans onto his legs like he was punishing the fabric, Belphagor watched with unabashed admiration of the musculature being regretfully hidden away. Hooray at least for his lazy laundering habits that had resulted in this morning’s
“commando” mode.
He picked himself up, along with the black T-shirt on the floor beside him, which he handed to Vasily as if he couldn’t care less whether the demon walked out on him. Vasily snatched it from his grip and yanked it on over the tangled red locks he’d been cultivating. The shirt had once been Belphagor’s. It had stretched to its limits and was now much too small on the firespirit frame. Belphagor wished there were cameras in Heaven. He could just about die from gazing at the image Vasily struck.
Vasily was waiting for him to apologize or take back what he’d said, to placate him into staying. He had no intention of doing so. Vasily was his. It was an indisputable fact. He’d be back.
The younger demon turned and yanked open the rickety door in danger of coming right off the hinges at his grip, cast one last furious, fiery glare in Belphagor’s direction, and left him with a fierce slam. The bottom hinge bent.
Belphagor glanced down at his relentless and unameliorated state of arousal with a sigh of resignation. His masochistic streak might be at an all-time high.
Lately, I’ve decided to cultivate an air of mystery. The enigmatic and reclusive Jane Kindred. Only my cats know the real me. ;) I write epic fantasy and LGBT erotica, and in the case of my new series, Demons of Elysium, the two have intertwined. Outside of writing (and the day job), I’m a tea addict, a Russophile, a hermit, and a mom.
How did you get started writing?
I was a voracious reader, and when I discovered I could write my own stories in grade school, it just gave me more to read. I also had a couple of great-aunts who were published (Ellen and Annette Turngren), whom I always aspired to be like when I grew up.
What was the inspiration for your book?
I’ve always liked “bad boys” and underdogs, so I thought it would be interesting to have demons as protagonists. The Imperial Russian influence in the book is the result of my fascination with the Romanov family.
What’s the one genre you haven’t written in yet that you’d like to?
One of my favorite authors is Stephen King, and I’ve always thought I’d be good at horror. The only reason I haven’t tried it yet is that I like a happy ending, and I’m not sure how well that would go over in horror.
Are there any genres you won’t read or write in? Why?
I’ve tried writing contemporary romance. It just doesn’t work. I’ll occasionally read m/m contemporary if there’s hot sex in it, or contemporary m/f with BDSM, but if there isn’t an element of paranormal or magic involved, I have a hard time becoming invested in the story.
So, what are you working on right now? Got any releases planned, or still writing?
My second book in the Demons of Elysium series, King of Thieves, comes out on April 29, and the third, Master of the Game, releases August 5. I’m just finishing up the final draft of Master now. After that, I’m not sure what I’ll start on next, but I have an announcement coming soon for something exciting in 2015.
Alright, now for some totally random, fun questions. Favorite color?
Purple. Preferably lavender or a nice, deep plum.
Favorite movie?
It’s a Wonderful Life. I watch it every year and it never gets old. It even made it into this book.
Book that inspired you to become an author?
Freckles, by Gene Stratton-Porter. The title character still colors my ideas of romance.
Alright, you have one superpower. What is it?
Does it have to be a power for good? Because I’d really like to be able to kill people with my mind.
You can have dinner with any 3 people, dead, alive, fictitious, etc. Who are they?
Wow, I have a hard time just thinking of one whenever this question comes up. I’d like to have dinner with the entire Romanov family, but that’s seven. And honestly, I’d freak out trying to make sure I was using the right fork, so I guess that’s out. That means no Queen Elizabeth, either. Okay, how about John Lennon, Princess Diana (I’m pretty sure she’d be cool about the forks), and Betty White? I think that would make for an interesting dinner.
Last question: Which of your characters are you most like and how/why?
Probably Vasily, my firespirit. I have a quick temper and I hate being made to feel stupid.
That’s all from me, thanks so much for taking the time to stop by!
So pleased to be here. Thanks for having me!
Jan 22 - Manga Maniac Café
Jan 24 - All I Want and More
Jan 28 - Butterfly-o-Meter Books
Jan 29 - Buffy's Ramblings
Jan 30 - Chill Reviews
Feb 3 - Zipper Rippers
About the Author:
Jane Kindred is the author of The House of Arkhangel’sk trilogy, the Demons of Elysium series, and The Devil’s Garden. Born in Billings, Montana, she spent her formative years ruining her eyes reading romance novels in the Tucson sun and watching Star Trek marathons in the dark. She now writes to the sound of San Francisco foghorns while two cats slowly but surely edge her off the side of the bed.
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