Page 6 of Emperor of Lust

I blush fiercely. “Yeah,” I mumble, my pulse thundering in my ears.

“And it obviously goes without saying, you’re done stealing my business,” he growls.

I nod. “It won’t happen again.”

“Oh, I know it won’t.”

He reaches out, letting his fingertip trace my jawline before his thumb runs over my bottom lip again.

His gaze floats over me with a predatory gleam that sends a shiver down my spine, the agreement hanging between us like a silent contract in the quiet of the warehouse. My heart pounds, each beat a reminder of how close I’m dancing with my own mortality here. But at the same time, I feel a dark, exhilarating rush.

Damian’s smile widens, his eyes flickering with satisfaction as his thumb pulls my bottom lip open.

“Very well, Kitsune,” he murmurs. “Let’s see if you’re as good with your mouth as you are at stealing from me.”

2

HANA

My breathing is shallow,my mind still spinning from the devil’s deal I just made, one I can’t even really believe, although I think it might be the only way out.

Because…again…I canseethe blackness that lurks under Damian’s beautiful, charismatic exterior. I can sense the psychotic beast waiting to lunge from the shadows.

His gaze holds mine, his violet eyes burning with cold, cruel satisfaction, like he feels he’s won a game I didn’t even realize we were playing. The unspoken hangs in the air between us, each quiet breath a reminder the consequences of my choice are now his to deliver.

He takes a step closer, looming over me, a faint smirk on his lips as his eyes slide over me. He sheathes his knife behind his back before his hand reaches for me. I shiver as he reaches down, tracing a slow, possessive line along my jaw, his thumb grazing over my lips, pulling them open slightly, his gaze intent as he studies the way my breath catches and sees the subtle tremor I can’t suppress.

“You’re shaking,” he murmurs, his voice like velvet and steel. “Weren’t you just negotiating a moment ago? Whatever happened to the clever, wily Kitsune?”

He lets his thumb press a little harder into my bottom lip, his eyes sparking as I feel my pulse speed up and heat spread through me despite myself. This isn’t like anything I’ve ever known. It’s certainly not anything I should want?—

I stiffen as the thought bleeds through my psyche.

DoI, in fact, want this?

I open my mouth to say words I haven’t even put together yet. But something in his gaze and his touch traps me, pinning me in place. I realize with a mix of horror and dark fascination that I’m responding to him, held under his spell even more powerfully than I am by the ropes binding my wrists.

That’s when the second realization hits me: I’m not freaking out about being bound.

That’s a first since the night of terror.

Before, when Johnny and his pals were shoving me against this pole and yanking my arms behind my back, I was practically entering a catatonic state. I was spiraling.

But I’m not now—now, when I should be spiraling evenharder, because suddenly it’s not just having my arms tied or my body pinned helplessly. Now there’s an overtly sexual element to it as well, which should have me diving into absolute freak-out land.

I’m not.

And that’s…unexpected.

My pulse thrums wildly as I kneel there, bound and exposed, my breath catching as Damian’s gaze travels over me, dark and unyielding. He towers above me, the picture of predatory elegance, his violet eyes gleaming dangerously.

His mouth curls into a satisfied smirk, reminding me of the power he wields.

The control I’ve surrendered.

In this moment, I am not The Kitsune, untouchable and unseen; I am a woman on her knees, vulnerable to the whims of a man who could take everything from me, up to and including my life.

Damian reaches for his belt buckle, his other hand still tracing my jaw and lip. I watch through the mask, my eyes widening as I see the bulge under his dark jeans throb. The belt undoes with a cold metallic jangle, the sound bouncing around the empty warehouse.

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