Page 35 of Devil's Deal

I hate that my face heats in a blush. It’s so much worse because I know he misses nothing. He sees how affected I am.

“Well then, poppy witch,” he says, holding my gaze as his black tongue flicks out to wet his lower lip. “You won’t give me your soul and fealty. But you must give me something since I am the one who won your chaplet.”

I breathe out shakily, bidding my body to behave even as it heats with restless want. Woland’s attention and touch ignites me faster, and when he grins knowingly, a bit mocking, a bit pleased, my stomach swoops with shameless excitement.

“What do you want?” I ask, my voice breathless.

He turns me around and stands behind me, curving his forearm around my ribs while his other hand points at a heap of naked bodies twisted together in the grass. My breath stutters, shaky and shocked, when I make out the details.

All the maidens are naked, lying on their backs in the soft grass with their legs spread wide open. And each of them has a man between her thighs, either thrusting with his hips or lapping with his tongue. As I watch, Ida moans loudly, grabbing Janek’s ass and pulling him deeper inside her.

“I want you on your back for me,” Woland whispers in my ear.

A pulse of desire beats between my legs, so powerful, I grow rigid from shock. My thoughts stutter to a halt and then resume with frenetic urgency. I have to control myself. I have to stop it.

As he stands behind me, pressing intimately to the length of my body, I force myself to grow numb. My eyes glaze over as I take in the orgy of carnal bliss, and then trail away in search of a more neutral view. I desperately try to stay calm.

To the left, I see Bogna standing with her husband. He looks at the tangled mass of naked bodies with a lecherous expression on his face. Behind them, older couples dance, laughing in loud, raucous voices. Half the women have lost their kerchiefs, their hair flying loose. I see a breast flashing in the throng here and there, naked skin glowing golden in the firelight.

At the edge of the meadow, yet still in open view, a few couples fuck in the grass. My eyes widen when I see the zerca with his robe lifted, Milka, the carpenter’s wife, sucking his cock on her knees.

This is wrong, I think even as my own body pulses with needy heat. It feels much more natural than the mindless state Woland caused in me earlier. Yet, it’s still out of place.

Kupala Night is usually wild and carnal, but never like this. People who want to fuck go into the bushes, and it’s rarely out in the open. And I’ve never seen Jarota, of all people, indulging in public. He cares about appearances too much.

“What did you do?” I ask, studying the scene even as the beat of the drums settles deep in my hips, my pounding need matching the rhythm. “You’re making everyone wild and careless.”

“I’m not making them do anything,” he says softly, trailing the tips of his claws down my neck until my skin breaks out in goosebumps. “I just took something away so they can enjoy themselves.”

“What did you take away?” I gasp, the pleasure of his touch too much to ignore.

“Shame,” he answers, his claws now trailing just above my breasts.

“Am… Am I affected, too?” I ask, but I already know. Heat pounds between my legs, the need to press into him and make him hard swirling in my blood.

Oh gods. What am I thinking?

“It’s in the music,” he answers, his voice a low, intimate purr. His breath tickles my earlobe in a way that has no right to feel so exciting. “And to be fair, you keep refusing me not out of shame but out of pigheadedness. I didn’t take that away from you.”

I shake my head, hating that he won’t give me a straight answer. He says I’m affected, because I hear the music, and yet not because… Because shame wouldn’t stop me from fucking him? It’s a lie, I decide. Shame would absolutely make me refuse to fuck the devil out in the open.

With it gone, the prospect grows more appealing by the minute. Especially after he caught my chaplet. It shouldn’t mean so much to me, but it does. I can’t deny it.

“You’re a liar,” I say, but my voice is breathy and hot, arousal coursing freely through my body as his hand drops to my hip, wide-splayed fingers covering the entire curve of it.

It is unthinkable, but I want… I want him. The realization stuns me, and for a moment, I suspect he’s controlling me again. But no, I can tell the difference. This is all me, and yet, it’s impossible. I’d never want the devil. He’s cruel. He’s evil. Forbidden.

Wanting him means I am bad, too.

“Is it still a lie if I know a smart woman like you will see right through it?” he asks, his claws dragging down my dress between my breasts as he takes a small step back, giving me more space. His touch isn’t completely inappropriate and yet, it has me in a chokehold.

He teases me and it stokes the fire in my belly. It makes me want his hands on my bare skin.

“Yes,” I answer, desperately holding on to my sanity. “It’s a lie.”

Why, why do I suddenly want him like this? I gather my wits and tear out of his grip, turning to face him. Woland cocks his head to the side, his neck tensing from the enormous weight of his antlers. He watches me with a curious, amused expression.

When my eyes flit down for just a second, I gasp and take a step back.

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