Page 18 of The Demon Mark

He had taken the time to make sure it was beautiful. He’d sung the walls into carvings of roses, like she now lived in the very center of an immaculate garden. A four-poster bed was attached to the ceiling, pretty white marble ivy crawling up the edges of the pillars. There was a tub in the corner, right next to a window with fake sunlight on the other side, streaming pretty beams that he had designed himself. It was a room fit for a queen, or a pretty little pet, as it were.

Finally, she stopped crawling about and spun. Her back struck the edge of the bed so hard it made even him wince, and then she glared at him through the tangle of pale hair that had fallen in front of her eyes.

She looked like a trapped animal. And he’d be lying if he said that didn’t please him to know he was the hunter who had caught her.

But she was frightened of him now, and that wasn’t how he wanted her to feel. She needed to be back under his spell. Back to the woman who had trembled beneath his touch with something that was more than just fear.

“Where did you take me?” she asked, her voice warbling.

No, he hated that sound. She sounded afraid, and it put him on edge. “To the castle, where I have invited you many times.”

“And I have said that I did not want to leave my home.”

“That place was hardly a home. You had a stone bed to sleep on and a nest of blankets that were more suitable for a rat than one of your stature.”

She gave him a scoffed sound and then slapped the bed with her hand. “This seems like it’s made of stone as well.”

There was the wit he’d been so interested in. Envy even felt his lips quirk in a half smile before he got ahold of himself. “Yes, that is also stone. But you’ll find atop it is a mattress filled with the finest goose down and rabbit fur coverings. The blankets are the finest silk, or if you find yourself in need of warmth, there are sheepskins at the ready for you. I have servants who will arrive every morning and night to heat your bed so your feet will never be cold again. They will wait on you hand and foot, any whim or desire you have, shall be fulfilled immediately.”

Her eyes grew wider and wider with every word. Icy blue orbs stared straight into his soul as she whispered, “Why would you ever do that for me?”

“I want you to be comfortable. I want to you wish to stay here.”

“And if I want to go home?”

Envy ground his teeth together before hissing out through a clenched jaw, “That is not possible.”

“So I’m a prisoner here.”

“If that is how you wish to see it, then yes. But you could see this as the opportunity it is, and the blessing I am providing you.”

“Blessing?” She stood, anger turning those pale cheeks a lovely shade of deep scarlet. “It is not a blessing to be kidnapped. There is no blessing in fear or wondering when I’m going to see my family again. You have taken me because you wanted me. Not because I want to be here.”

“Yes, good. You understand.” He strode up to her, not giving her a chance to squeeze away from the bed or farther from him. Envy caught her by the back of the neck, forcing her to look at him. “You are mine, oracle. Mine and mine alone.”

“I am no one’s possession.”

“You are.” Envy tightened his grip, trying to remind himself that he couldn’t be too rough with her. That was always his problem.

He couldn’t be rough with humans because they were fragile little beasties who did not know how to take care of themselves. They could not fight him. There was no armor to protect them from his desires to harm and maim. She needed to be treated as though she was made of glass.

This one was not a passing fancy or a strange need that arose from deep within his belly. This one had purpose. This one could give him so much more than just a night of pleasure.

So he loosened his grip and smiled down at her. “I only wish to give you your every desire.”

“Freedom is what I dream of.”

“Is that all?” He leaned down, taking a deep breath of her ice cold minty scent, and then felt the shudder that ran through her body. A good kind of shudder. The kind he wanted to entertain. “I think you dream of wicked things. I think you wish to feel my lips against you, and to know what it is to be a woman. Truly and utterly and so deeply that we are not two people, but one. Oracle, allow me to take care of you.”

How far would she let him push her? How far would she entertain her own need?

He caught her eyes in his and then slowly let go of her. Without a thought, he sank to knees before her.

She watched him. Those ice blue eyes darkening with some need that only he could answer. She liked this. She enjoyed having a powerful man on his knees before her, and he was only too happy to give that to her. If this was what it took for her to be under his power entirely, then he would do so.

Envy lifted a hand, watching her eyes as he slid his palm up her thigh, curving around the sensitive skin that was so warm. Leaning forward, he pressed his cheek against her inner thigh, looking up at her through heavy-lidded eyes.

He knew she could feel his breath as he spoke, whispering against her skin. “I am the demon king, and yet you are the one who has me on my knees. Begging for an ounce of your attention.”

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