Loving the Warlock (Hellscape Holidays Book 5) Read online

  LOVING THE WARLOCK

  HELLSCAPE HOLIDAYS

  BOOK 5

  MILLY TAIDEN

  CONTENTS

  Loving the Warlock

  About the Book

  1. Portia

  2. Tiana

  3. Liam

  4. Tiana

  5. Liam

  6. Tiana

  7. Liam

  8. Tiana

  9. Liam

  10. Tiana

  11. Liam

  12. Tiana

  13. Liam

  14. Tiana

  15. Liam

  16. Tiana

  17. Portia

  18. Liam

  19. Tiana

  20. Tiana

  21. Liam

  22. Liam

  23. Tiana

  24. Liam

  25. Tiana

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Milly Taiden

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Published By

  Latin Goddess Press

  Winter Springs, FL 32708

  http://millytaiden.com

  Loving the Warlock

  Copyright © 2023 by Milly Taiden

  Cover: Jacqueline Sweet

  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.

  Property of Milly Taiden

  February 2023

  Created with Vellum

  LOVING THE WARLOCK

  HELLSCAPE HOLIDAYS 5

  NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  MILLY TAIDEN

  — For magic lovers,

  Here’s a fun romance.

  ABOUT THE BOOK

  Tiger shifter, Tiana Arias, has one job for the week. Behave. She can’t ruin her sister’s destination wedding at Hellscape Holidays Resort. They have fancy warlock in-laws to impress. Too bad Tiana isn’t known for behaving. Starting a feud with the groom’s brother two minutes into the trip was not a good idea. Making out with him wasn’t any better …

  Warlock Liam Morton wants his brother’s wedding to be perfect. Forget judgmental parents and old family wounds. Liam is set on protecting his brother as he has always done. But when he spots Tiana Arias, all bets are off. Never has Liam’s duty been so hard to fulfill.

  When the wedding plans collapse, it’s up to Tiana and Liam to save the day. The pair fight their attraction for the sake of their families. But when Lou and Portia play matchmaker, love checks into the resort. When the devil is your matchmaker, what can go wrong?

  ONE

  PORTIA

  Portia Flemming lounged on a thick cushion under the shade of a cabana. She had a clear view of one of the resort pools filled with people having a good time. It brought a smile to her lips to see her guests enjoying themselves.

  Beside her, Lou stirred a bright purple cocktail that smelled like heaven. She had already polished hers off. She was pacing herself. Portia prided herself on being a good resort manager. Lou offered her another drink, and Portia shook her head. She could hardly get tipsy with her rowdy cousin.

  “Oh, no. Lou, I just couldn’t. I already feel good. What do you put in these things, anyway?”

  He grinned. “Now, you know I would never give away a recipe.”

  Portia looked up to the sky in exasperation, but she also smiled at Lou. No one but him should have access to his recipes. It was entirely too much power to give to just any old bartender.

  “I’ll go do my rounds in a minute,” Portia said, laying back on the cushion.

  The resort had been very busy lately. There was the strange visit from a human … an experience Portia was not ready to repeat … a few company retreats, a couple of bachelor parties, along with the usual groups of vacationers.

  The paranormal population was definitely enjoying planning their special events at Hellscape Holiday Resort. How could she not be pleased about that? It was a great compliment. Portia wondered what other types of resort activities she could plan for her patrons.

  She had done a lot of research and found that paranormal creatures liked their trends as much as humans did. Portia liked to stay ahead of any curve. Lou was good at that. Together, they could think outside the box. As if on cue, Lou laughed between sips of his drink.

  Portia tutted. “I know that giggle,” she said, raising her sunglasses into her hair. “I don’t like that giggle,” she narrowed her eyes at him. “It usually spells trouble for me.”

  Lou waved her off. “What? Me? Trouble? No. Never.” He threw his head back with a laugh. “Okay, maybe a bit of trouble. Are you sure I can’t tempt you with another drink, dear cousin?”

  “You are trouble!”

  “You love it,” he sang.

  “Only sometimes.”

  “What do we have on this week?” Lou asked in reply to her jab.

  “We? No. The resort has a wedding. You, my dear cousin, have nothing to do with this wedding. Don’t interfere, please. The bride is a nervous wreck already. Apparently, she has younger twin sisters who are quite the handful.”

  “Ah, it’s hard when there is such a large age gap between siblings.” Lou nodded knowingly.

  “No. You’re misunderstanding. The twins are only a couple of years younger than the bride.”

  Lou grinned. “Oh, yeah? They’re that bad?”

  Portia shook her head. “I have no clue how bad they are. For all I know, the big sister is just a bit difficult. Not that she was, poor girl. She might be marrying into a stuck-up family.”

  The bartender raised a brow at her. “Portia. I’ve known you for a long time. You don’t call anyone high-strung or stuck-up.”

  “And I didn’t call anyone anything,” she replied, arching her own brow back at him. She always made sure of that. A good resort manager didn’t go around insulting her patrons.

  “Fine, fine. You won’t trash-talk a Bridezilla. I gave you the opening, and you didn’t take it.”

  “I’m a professional,” Portia pushed her long silver hair over her shoulder. “I would never be unkind to a hotel guest.”

  Lou grinned. “Una told me about the cake incident.”

  Portia’s face flushed. “Well, now, Una shouldn’t have said anything about that.”

  “Come on, cousin. You’ve got to laugh about it.”

  “I don’t see the humor in it. And stop using Una to do your work. She’s my employee. I don’t want her loyalties tested.”

  Portia was certain Una was loyal to her, but there was just something about Lou that made saying no to him very difficult. Portia had known him her whole long life, and she was only just able to distract Lou between his ideas. It wasn’t exactly controlling him, but it was knowing him enough to anticipate his wildest antics.

  “I promise I won’t stir up any trouble.” He raised his hand up over his heart and molded his face into the most serious frown he could fake for Portia. “I promise, Portia.”

  “I hope you can keep your word, Lou. This bride is one unexpected problem from losing her mind.”

  “Oh, fine, then. I won’t break my promise unless you want me to.” He tapped his fingers together, laughing deeply like a villain in an old movie. “We just need to remember what this is all about,” Lou said. “This is about love.”

  Portia couldn’t agree more. It was all about love. It brought people together, but there was just something about weddings. They could bring out the worst in some people. That was just as true for the paranormal creatures.

  With a nervous and demanding bride in the center of it, the wedding had to go flawlessly. Portia had asked all of the imps to be on their best behavior. They were to report any possible disturbances.

  This wedding was a little bit different from the others Portia had overseen at the resort. The groom wasn’t just any warlock. He was a Morton. The Mortons could trace back their magical line for centuries. They were basically royalty in their world.

  No pressure.

  She couldn’t imagine juggling this kind of high-profile event if she wasn’t a succubus with the powers of Hell behind her. The stress alone could’ve killed her.

  Speak of the devil …

  The bride, Elisabet Arias, arrived at the pool with her twin sisters in tow. Portia took the cover the cabana offered her to watch the sisters interact.

  As she suspected, observing the sisters was very telling. From the moment they sat on the lounge chairs by the pool, Elisabet started hissing complaints at her sisters about a bunch of slights. Their choice of bikinis. The color of their toes.

  The twins didn’t take kindly to their sister’s comments. The red-haired one, Gia, was full of quick replies, but it was the brunette twin named Tiana that caught Portia’s attention. She seemed to let Gia speak for her in most cases, only speaking out for herself when she felt it necessary. It was interesting, and it definitely helped Portia. Now she would know how to handle the sisters during the week-long wedding celebrations.

  Just so long as Lou kept his promise, everything should be okay.

  Portia smiled.

  This was Hell’s resort. What did she expe
ct?

  TWO

  TIANA

  Tiana Arias stood in front of the mirror, staring into her own eyes. She wasn’t in the habit of doing this, but today wasn’t just any day. This was the first day of one long week.

  Her big sister was getting married, and in typical Elisabet fashion, it wasn’t just a day. It was a whole week. If it weren’t for the perfect resort setting, Tiana would probably have faked her death to avoid the wedding.

  Her flowy blue skirt and white crop top were cute resort wear, but she knew what Elisabet would say as soon as she saw the outfit. It would probably be rude. Gia gave her the thumbs up, wearing a pair of short-shorts and a bright pink bikini top with only a white see-through wrap as a shirt.

  It was daring, but Gia was like that. The crop top was as daring as Tiana could get, and even those kinds of shirts were only for the days she felt absolutely amazing.

  It was hard to feel terrible about herself in this beautiful resort. Even if it was going to be a stressful affair, given that Elisabet was the bride.

  “Is that really what you’re wearing?” Elisabet gasped before rolling her eyes when she spotted Gia. “You two are the worst. I was very specific. I asked you both to pack your best clothes.”

  “What do you think this is?” Gia asked. “This pink bikini doesn’t come out for just anyone, you know.”

  “Michael’s family is very proper. They won’t like this.” Elisabet moved her hand up and down, gesturing to Gia’s clothing.

  “They don’t have to like what I’m wearing. I’m not the one marrying their son.”

  “But you are my sister, and how you behave and what you wear is a reflection of me,” Elisabet replied to Gia with a flash of anger.

  “If that’s how they think, are you sure you want to marry Michael?” Tiana asked, crossing her arms. Elisabet could be mean to Tiana all she wanted, but when their older sibling went after her twin, Tiana couldn’t stand it.

  “Harsh,” Elisabet sniffed. “I won’t have this kind of behavior in front of the Mortons. Do you hear me? It’s enough that our parents are who they are. I am counting on you two to make a good impression.”

  “Our parents are amazing,” Tiana cut in. “If the Mortons aren’t impressed by Mom and Dad, I don’t know if I want to associate myself with them.”

  “Can you behave, please?” Elisabet pleaded. “Don’t be like them.”

  Tiana rolled her eyes. “Don’t talk to me like I’m a child. I know how to have a normal conversation.”

  Elisabet sighed. “This week is a lot, I know, but please try to do your best for me?”

  “Oh, sure. We can totally behave like adults,” Gia said too sweetly.

  If Elisabet wasn’t so stressed out about the wedding, she might have noticed the tone Gia had used. It wasn’t the one she used when she was serious. Nope. Her twin was up to something. That was her sarcastic tone. It wasn’t to be believed.

  Elisabet looked down at her phone and frowned. “Shit. I have to deal with this. I need you two to be helpful for about twenty minutes. Think you can manage that?”

  “Well, gee,” Gia snickered. “I managed to put my pants on all by myself this morning. Pretty sure I can be helpful for twenty minutes.”

  Gia fell right into the trap that Elisabet had set. The best way to get Gia to do something was to tell her she couldn’t do it. “Oh, that’s so great,” Elisabet said. “You need to go to the lobby and greet Michael’s brother. I also need you to show him around while I deal with this.” She waved her phone around but gave no explanation.

  “Why can’t Michael do it?” Tiana asked. “Shouldn’t he be the one to greet his brother?”

  Elisabet sighed like the question was completely insane.

  Maybe if Elisabet had made the twins her bridesmaids, they would have been more willing to help. Their older sister instead chose to have her college best friend and Michael’s cousin stand up with her.

  “Look,” Elisabet sighed again. “Can you go greet Michael's brother? Thanks.” She didn’t even wait for Tiana to agree. “His name is Liam Morton. You can’t miss him. He’s tall and kind of handsome.”

  “Why can’t Mom go? She knows him, doesn’t she?” Tiana pressed. She didn’t have much knowledge about warlocks, but what she did know freaked her out.

  Elisabet sighed. “Mom is a mess right now, okay? Can you try to be helpful this week?”

  Tiana wanted to hurl a bunch of comments back, but she thought better of it. Pissing off Bridezilla wasn’t a good idea. Hellscape Holiday Resort would never be the same if Elisabet was unleashed.

  “I can try to be helpful,” Tiana said sweetly, blinking rapidly.

  “Thanks.” Elisabet hadn’t caught on to Tiana’s tone either.

  Tiana rolled her eyes on the way out of the bridal suite. Elisabet didn’t see. If she had, the sisters might have fought.

  “Well,” Gia tried not to giggle as she waved her twin forward. “That went about as well as expected.”

  “Right?” Tiana replied with a shudder.

  “Oh, God. She’s always been high-maintenance, but she really is stressed out about this, isn’t she? How is she gonna make it through the week?”

  “Well, what did she expect? She basically fell in love with royalty. If she couldn’t take it …”

  Gia nodded knowingly. “Stupid to fall in love like that.”

  The twins took the stairs down to the lobby, taking their sweet time. If Liam Morton, the warlock, had to wait a few minutes, then so be it.

  “I don’t want to give him the impression that we will be at his beck and call all week, you know?” Tiana explained.

  “Yeah. I will not be a warlock’s bitch. Unless he’s super kinky, then I might be into it.” Gia giggled, but Tiana elbowed her in warning as they left the stairwell for the grand entrance.

  Never had Tiana seen so much marble. Everything was shining under the pretty chandeliers. She had to focus on the crowded lobby to keep from being distracted by the opulent decor. It wasn’t exactly what her family was used to.

  “What does a warlock even look like?” Tiana whispered to her sister.

  “Fuck if I know. Probably ugly and stuffy.” Gia threw her head back with a laugh. “Messed up teeth?” she guessed.

  “Super gross long beard,” Tiana added, joining in on the laugh. “Oh, and a really bad nose. Too big for his face like a cartoon villain.”

  “Thin lips, for sure,” Gia added through her giggles. “Probably never heard of manscaping,”

  “Oh, and you just know! Tiny dick, massive balls.” Tiana covered her mouth to try and muffle her laughter.

  Gia didn’t care. Her laugh filled the lobby. Every single person … from the imp by the elevator to the vampire checking in … turned to look at them. Tiana elbowed her sister, and they pretended to be completely innocent.

  It might have worked were it not for the hottest man Tiana had ever seen, saying, “Those are some interesting guesses to make about a man you never met.”

  Her eyes went wide. “Excuse me?” she coughed. “I … I don’t … um … I don’t know what you mean.”

  “I heard you clear as day. I’m the big-nosed warlock with a disgusting beard.” He ran his hand over his lips, which were definitely not thin. They were full and pretty, at odds with his square jaw and clean-shaven, tanned cheeks. “Though I’d rather not have to defend the size of my male parts with women I’ve never met.”

  Tiana was in shock. She couldn’t say anything. All she could do was blink at him. Her mind spun out. This was bad. Very bad. Elisabet-might-kill-her kind of bad.