Page 13 of The Demon Mark

No? That didn’t make sense.

He was the only right decision. So when she struggled, he didn’t let her go. He walked her backward, forcing her to dip even more into his arms as he drew her deeper into the shadows.

“I will treat you like a queen. You will come to my castle at the highest peak of this kingdom, and you will want for nothing.”

“I want for nothing here!”

“You want for everything,” he snarled. Envy brought her up so quickly her braid lashed out at his arm. Cupping the back of her neck, he pressed her against the door of a stall and loomed over her. “You live in a hovel. Your bed is on stone. Don’t think I didn’t see the nest there. You are here while everyone else is performing, in clothing that does not befit your station. Convince me that you have everything you want, oracle, and I will eat my own tongue.”

She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again.

But no sound came out. Because she had no words that would convince him.

A dark grin spread across his face, and he gentled his touch on her again. “There it is. Do you see how easy it is to not lie to me?”

“I’m not lying,” she whispered. “Everything I need is here.”

“What you need is not what you want,” he murmured, leaning so close that their lips nearly touched. “Tell me, oracle. What is it that you most desire?”

He could see the thoughts playing behind those pretty eyes. She had so much that she desired, and nothing that she felt comfortable telling him. She was going to tell him that she wanted adventure, like all women did. Or perhaps love. He’d heard that a million times as well.

Instead, she shook her head and turned her face away from him. “I want for nothing here, and you should not be in this room.”

“In this room or in the bath house?”

“You shouldn’t be anywhere near me.” Finally she looked at him again, and this time it was fear. Not for herself, he didn’t think, but for him.

What a strange development.

Envy brought his hand from the back of her neck to trace his fingers along her lower lip, feeling the soft plush velvet give underneath his touch. “Are you worried about me, oracle? Surely you should be able to see my future and tell me if I’m in any danger here.”

She shook her head. “I cannot see your future, demon. There is nothing there but darkness.”

“Ah. All the better for me then.”

He couldn’t stop staring at the blush pink of her lips. They were so much paler than he’d expected, but full and lush. He wanted to press his own lips to her mouth, to suck on that bottom lip that was just begging for his touch. He wanted to know what she tasted like.

Would she taste like berries? He was certain of it. She was too sweet of a person to not taste just like how she looked.

Had he drawn closer to her? Or had she been the one to lean closer to him? He wasn’t certain, but he now knew that her breath smelled like mint and it was warm as it puffed across his face.

“You have to go,” she whispered again, her eyes searching his even as he drew closer to her.

Heat blossomed between the two of them, rising until he could feel it burning his own cheeks as well. He had to taste her. Had to have her. He didn’t care that their first time would be in a veritable barn, or that there were squawking magical creatures surrounding them. Envy had no reasoning in his mind other than he desperately needed her.

“Give me your lips, oracle, and I will leave.”

A blush burned her cheeks so vividly that he knew she had felt the burning between them as well.

“I can’t.”

“You can if you wish to.”

She took a deep breath, her exhale filling his lungs. “They’re going to hurt you if you stay here too long. Or we’ll move, and you’ll never find us again.”

Envy knew she was right. There were footsteps already coming toward them and an echoing call of laughter. Someone was about to find them and the circus would likely move. He’d lose her before this game had even started.

He wouldn’t steal a kiss like this, but he intended to have one soon enough. Instead, he rubbed his thumb against those lovely lips, moving into her mouth as she gasped, and pressed down on her tongue. Big blue eyes blinked up at him, framed by dark lashes that could send a man to his knees.

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