Page 105 of Beyond the Temptation: Vol 2

“You slovenly piece of shit,” I murmured as one ruby-colored tear oozed out and trailed over his saggy cheek. As I pulled him close and leaned in, I leisurely licked it off. “The fact that you thought you stood a chance against me is amusing. In your defense, you had no idea who you were dealing with. Sometimes, I do wish you mortals realized that demons aren’t just the issues you have racing through your head or the monsters lurking under your bed.”

Blood began to ooze from his nose and ears as his face went a sick mulberry color. Desperate attempts to drag oxygen to his starved lungs resulted in wheezy, choked gasps. Could I have ended him quickly? Of course, I could’ve.

I didn’t want to.

A soft whimper reminded me why I’d barged in and interacted with the worthless general to begin with. Tossing a glance over my shoulder, I saw the look of horror in her honey-colored eyes. It gave me pause and I whipped my attention back to my prey as I gazed into his soul. Knowing I was sending a gift straight to Hades, I smiled.

“Safe travels,” I mocked as I physically sensed the explosion of his heart with the euphoria that only death could give me. Finished with him, I dropped his lifeless corpse to the marble floor. The crack of his skull as he landed stole her attention from me.

Frozen in place, she stared at the crumpled heap of a human. The tremble of her lower lip and the way her entire body vibrated with fear told me I needed to handle her carefully. She was two-seconds from bolting and the last thing I wanted was for her to go shrieking down the hall before I could get this mess cleaned up.

“Sweetheart? What’s your name?” I softly asked as I cautiously approached her.

Her throat moved as she swallowed hard, but no words followed.

“Look at me,” I sharply demanded.

Her gaze instantly snapped to mine as her pupils swallowed the tawny hue of her irises. Soft, lush lips parted, and I reached out to run my thumb over her lower lip. The jolt I experienced hit me square in the chest, harder than it had initially. It was like being hit with a bolt of lightning from the heavens.

And I would know—it had happened to me before.

Fucking Zeus. Or as these Romans called him—Jupiter.

Such a dick.

“Your name,” I repeated.

“Aurora,” she whispered. Insanely, I could feel her fighting my control.

“Aurora,” I repeated, her name rolling off my tongue like the honey of her eyes—sweet and thick. It was a taste I wanted to savor. “What you just saw, never happened.”

“But you’re… bleeding,” she murmured, her voice husky and dripping sex.

I glanced down, already having forgotten about the irritating wound the asshole general had inflicted. “Eh, nothing but a flesh wound,” I assured her.

“A flesh wound,” she softly parroted, as a curl as dark as the midnight sky fell over her cheek.

“Where do you stay?” I asked her as I lifted it to run the silky length through my fingers.

When she told where her quarters were, it only confirmed my suspicions—she was a palace concubina—a slave. Though any other man might be turned away or angry at the circumstances, I was no mortal man. The fact that she was no lily-white virgin mattered nothing to me.

But even I had my limitations.

I didn’t share my toys.

“Did you belong to Albanus?”

“Yes,” she softly replied as she dropped her gaze.

“Only Albanus?”

“Yes.”

“Yet you still resided in the slave’s quarters?”

“He didn’t want me underfoot at all times,” she explained.

“You will never return there again.” Effective immediately, she would be moving to my private residence in one of the wealthier districts in the city. “In fact, you will never come back to the palace. Do you understand?”

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