Page 11 of The Demon's Queen

“Eve.”

“Answer the fucking question!”

I lower the hand I was lifting to grab the wine bottle. “You’re in danger.”

“Danger.” She sneers. “Do better. More details. I know how well you like to talk, Azazel. Sotalk.”

“Time moves differently in this realm than it does in yours.” I hold up my hand again, this time to forestall more angry words. “I’m answering your question. This context is necessary.”

She pulls out her chair and sinks into it, crossing one leg over the other. “Get to the point.”

“The point is that I’ve been leader of this territory for five years. My predecessor had a markedly different way of doing things; her priority was to gain humans, which resulted in gaining power for our territory. It didn’t matter how bargains were made, only that they were. I put a stop to that when I took over.”

She lifts an eyebrow. “Until me.”

Guilt stabs deeper, but I muscle past it. “There are those among my people who aren’t happy with the changes. They think I weakened us, that I’m making the other territories strong at the expense of our own. Caesarea is gone, but many of her supporters remain.” I take a breath. “The primary threat is Brosh. He’s always been vocal in his criticism of me, but he’s decided to take action.”

She blinks. “What does that have to do with me?” Before I have a chance to respond, she makes the leap. “It’s becauseyou’ve been one of my clients. A regular. This Brosh decided to get to you through me.”

It feels like I’m being suffocated. Fuck, I didn’t want to tell her like this. I didn’t want to tell her at all. “Yes. The moment I learned he was in New York, I went to you. To protect you.”

“How does the time difference work with—” She shakes her head. “You know what, I don’t care.”

“You’re safe here, Eve. No one gets into this castle without my permission.”

“I wouldn’t need to be safe if you hadn’t been playing human foryearswith me.” She glares. “Tell him I mean nothing to you. Tell him it was just business and getting your rocks off. Tell him it’s all bullshit.”

I can’t. “It would be a lie.”

“It would be a lie,” she echoes. “Don’t tell me you fell for your own bullshit. Hooker with a heart of gold, right? That’s the fairy tale. That it’s not a job for me, that I really care about you, that I never once faked it. But you were a damned client andthat is my job.”

Each word lashes me. “It doesn’t matter if I’m a job to you, Eve. He knows me well enough to know that I care about you, so he’ll hurt you to punish me. No matter what you feel for me—or don’t—you don’t deserve to be hurt.”

She holds my gaze. “Style yourself my savior in your head, but did you stop to wonder if lying to me, taking me away from everything I’ve ever known... might hurt me too?”

I knew it would. I chose to do it anyway. “Better you be hurt and alive than hurt and dead.”

She shakes her head and plants her hands on the table, then propels herself to her feet. “You’re lying.”

Now it’s my turn to blink. “Excuse me?”

“It may be true that Brosh wants me dead, but it’s not the full truth, is it?” She drains her wine and sets the glass downon the table. “If you were such a good leader, such a selfless person, then you would have given me a short contract to keep me safe until you had dealt with the situation. Then you would have sent me home.” She stands and moves around the table to lean against it, bare inches from me. “But you didn’t do that, did you?”

I don’t know where to look. Her breasts are so close to my face. The angle of her body makes her dress ride up to truly indecent heights. Her expression is downright dangerous. I push my chair back a little, just to give myself space to think. “Brosh isn’t the only threat, just the most present one. Now that my feelings for you are out in the open, the threats won’t stop coming.”

“Liar.” She kicks my legs wide; I’m shocked enough to let her. Eve steps between my thighs and plants her hands on my chest. “You saw an opportunity and you took it.” She slides her hands down my stomach and hooks the bottom of my shirt, then reverses direction and lifts it. “You wanted me forever, didn’t you?”

Of course I did. How could I not? I jerk my gaze to her furious eyes. “I may have lied to you before, but I won’t in the future. Not again. I promise.”

“Whatever you say.” She leans forward but has to practically crawl into my lap to reach the sensitive spot beneath my ear. “Well, I’m here. Take me.”

I freeze. “Stop that.”

But she doesn’t stop. She straddles my hips, revealing a tiny slice of red fabric covering her pussy. It’s so thin, I can see her slit through it. My cock jumps. I can’t help it. I grab her hips. “Eve.”

“Tell me your safe word, Azazel.” The snap in her voice makes my cock even harder. My sexual tastes are varied, but Evefits them all. She always has. She grabs my chin and forces me to meet her furious dark eyes. “Now.”

“Apple,” I grit out.

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