Page 90 of Devil's Doom

“Call me a coward all you want, but I’m not going to risk it.”

“Smart girl.”

He reaches for my breast with his long arm. As he sucks and licks in a maddening rhythm, his graceful fingers roll my nipple until I grind on his tongue, wordlessly asking for more.

I was right not to take the wager, after all. The devil makes me come with shameful ease, his grin wide when he emerges from between my legs.

“Did you try very hard to stop it?” he asks, eyes glittering smugly. “I can’t tell, because it was as easy as always.”

I huff a small laugh. “Not very hard, no. With no bet, I had no good reason to deny myself.”

He slithers up my body with grace until his golden eyes hover over mine. They are soft, creased with warm laughter. I exhale quietly, and he places a chaste kiss on my lips.

“How about a wager where you have absolute control? Your body might betray you and orgasm even if you don’t want it, but your tongue won’t speak words unless you let it. Will you be brave, my witch?”

I want to roll my eyes, but the way he looks at me keeps me suspended in a helpless daze. More pieces of my armor crack, and I find myself smiling back with wonder. He can be so beautiful if he wants. It’s a travesty that he lets me see this side of him so rarely.

“Maybe. What are the terms?”

He kisses me again, nestling his long body more comfortably between my spread legs. “You lose if you beg me to stop. You win if you take it all until I fuck you, and I promise not to cause you any physical pain at all.”

My body hums with wellbeing after that orgasm, and I find myself nodding before I think better. But he’s right, after all. Nothing can force me to speak if I don’t want to.

“Say it,” he whispers, his thumb caressing my shoulder. “Do you agree?”

“Yes. I can’t wait to see you covered in wounds from my teeth,” I say with a smirk, to which he smiles indulgently.

When he speaks, his voice is soft, his fingers gentle when they caress the glowing hollow of my throat.

“There was a goddess I thought I loved, many centuries ago. When she smiled at me, I felt happy. When she lay under me, I was proud. She was the most beautiful woman in all the worlds, and I hung on her every word. She told me often how much she loved me. She gave me a child.”

I frown, staring into his sincere, calm eyes. This isn’t what I expected. Is he trying to make me jealous? I am not devoted to him, and I don’t demand fidelity on his part. I don’t understand why he tells me this. Woland’s forehead lines with tension, his voice growing slower, words labored, as if he has to tear each of them out from the depths of his soul.

“She betrayed me in the end, and that was when I realized I wasn’t truly in love. My heart didn’t break. I let her go, and even now, I can look at her without hate, because I never truly wanted her. I wanted what she represented, at least for a while back then. I was young.”

He pauses. His throat bobs when he swallows roughly.

“It’s different with you,” he says, voice dropping to a hoarse whisper. “You asked why I avoided you, and it’s because you terrify me. I’ve never felt anything like this for another person. Do you know what my biggest regret was when you said you’re infertile? It wasn’t that I failed, or that I couldn’t claim you for my goals. My first regret was that we wouldn’t have a child together. I want to have one with you. No, not one. Many. I want them desperately.”

I shake my head, frowning. I don’t know what he’s saying, and yet I do, too. My stomach fills with foreboding. When I test my restraints, they hold fast. When I turn my face away, swallowing a plea to make him stop, he merely kisses my cheek, so tender, I want to scream.

“And then you left. I never once thought about how that would affect my goals, not until much later. My first reaction was to rage because you were gone, and I need you more than anything. Without you, I can’t breathe.”

Stop,I beg him with my thoughts, but Woland is merciless. His voice is ragged, growing louder, and if this is a performance, it’s a superb one. I desperately remind myself that I should never trust him. He lies with every breath.

But what if it’s true?

“I’m not just addicted to your blood, though that’s a part of it. Remember what I did when I caught you? I drank, because being without your blood and not knowing whether I’d have it again was an anguish I couldn’t bear. So I drank almost until you passed out. And then I watched you every day, because I couldn’t get enough. I still can’t. You said tonight that no one has ever loved you, but Jaga, that’s not true.”

The words are out of my mouth before I can control myself.

“No. Stop. Don’teversay that to me.”

He ignores my barked order, his breath hot when he leans in to put his mouth over my lips, as if he wants to breathe the words into me.

“I love you. It’s an imperfect love, sometimes cruel and demanding, but it’s love nonetheless.”

“Stop!” I scream, writhing under him. My wrists chafe as I struggle against the ropes. “Stop lying to me!”

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