Devil's Own Read Online Free

boyfriends in public.
    Niall might have purred a little. “Mmm, nice. When do you get off?”
    “Same as always.” Gus rolled his eyes playfully.
    “Damn.” Niall’s appreciative gaze swept over Gus’s body, and as if it had actually been touched, Gus’s body reacted. His groin heated like a pool of lava, and his cock began to harden in his jeans.
    “Knock it off, buddy, or I’ll have to ban you from my shop.” But it was an empty threat, Gus knew, as he blushed, and Niall just grinned wider.
    Sometimes Gus wondered why a guy like Niall was interested in him. The reason wasn’t about any absence of hotness, since Gus had many times been referred to as a surfer version of a twink, even though he probably exceeded the standard maximum height by two inches at least. No, the puzzlement arose from their being so different from each other.
    Despite his unkempt appearance, Niall adhered to a strict regimen he followed on his off-hours as well. His place was always tidy and neat, the bedclothes tucked to military perfection. Had there been any dust bunnies lurking around, they would have run screaming if they had met Niall in a dark corner.
    In comparison, however, Gus was as laid-back as they came. Not much got to him, and even less rattled him. Yes, there had been the whole body-in-the-bathtub and body-burning-in-his-shop incidents, but those had been rare occurrences. Surely, Gus wasn’t going to keep stumbling onto bodies all the time, right? That would be a statistical anomaly—or a curse from the gods.
    Nonetheless, with his surferlike attire of jeans, sandals, and artsy T-shirts, his blond bangs, green eyes, and a constant cloud of incense following his every step, Gus epitomized a pagan hippy. His pentacle pendant just confirmed his Wiccan faith for any and all to see.
    In their personal lives, that meant that where Niall was circumspect, conscientious, and strict, Gus was impulsive, careless, and mellow. Perhaps that was simplifying it a bit, Gus admitted. Maybe they were just different enough to complement each other, enough to build a relationship on. That sounded good.
    To get his wayward thoughts back into focus, Gus asked, “What brings you by in the middle of the afternoon?”
    Niall dug a piece of paper from his pocket. “I need to show you something. This involves a case of mine, so I need you to be discreet.”
    Gus resisted the urge to roll his eyes—as if he would ever intentionally betray the man’s confidence—but he didn’t manage to avoid pursing his lips. “You don’t say.”
    “No need to get testy,” Niall needled softly. Then he grew serious, took a quick look around the shop, and slipped the paper over the counter to Gus. “Do you recognize these symbols or that language? It’s okay if you don’t. I’ll have to hit the Net and the library, then.”
    But Gus had already seen the scribbles, and a shiver ran down his spine. He wanted to ask where Niall had gotten this, but he swallowed instead, fighting the compulsion. Speaking about an open investigation could open a whole can of worms for Niall, professionally speaking.
    Unfortunately for them both, he had recognized some of the symbols. He lowered his voice considerably. “These are satanic.”
     
     
    G US NOTICED , curious, that Niall’s expression seemed the same, perhaps a bit darker. Had this been the answer he had been expecting?
    “Fuck. I was afraid you’d say that.” Niall cursed under his breath and tried to snag the paper from Gus.
    Gus, however, pulled the paper back to study it more carefully. “I won’t ask where, how, or from whom you got this. But these symbols…. This is serious.”
    Niall’s grim features softened. “Huh. I expected you to say something like live and let live, or to each his own, or some other platitude or pearl of worldly wisdom. You don’t approve of, uh, Satanism?”
    Gus closed his eyes. This was not a conversation he had been looking forward to. “It’s not that. I mean, it