Page 33 of Incubus

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Roth

Smack.I stood firm, not batting an eyelash as Lilah worked out her frustrations on me.

“I told you that you had to trust me, carissima.”

Smack. I didn’t move to defend myself from her vicious slaps, because I deserved them. I could blame the kiss on the incubus, but I knew I’d done exactly what I’d wanted to do from the first time I set eyes on Lilah. And it had been worth the wait. The feel of her soft lips and her yielding body made the punishment seem like nothing more than a light breeze.

We’d finally escaped Voltaire’s lair, Rannok depositing us at the entrance to the catacombs, but only after Voltaire had his fill of the nymph—or perhaps that was the other way around.

“I trusted you, and all I got for it was being mauled by an incubus so a pleasure demon could get his rocks off!” Smack.

I couldn’t stop my lips from twitching into a smile. “Lilah, if you keep touching me so sweetly, I feel I may just fall in love.”

She stilled her hand before bloodying my lip again. It seemed as if a look of hurt crossed her fine features before she turned stony again. The thought that I’d done anything to hurt her made me ache, but what was done was done.

She gritted her teeth. “You set me up.”

“No. I didn’t know that would happen. I assumed Voltaire would make us watch some of his ‘entertainment’ to see us squirm. I didn’t know he’d make us become part of the show. And for that, I apologize.”

“You apologize for kissing me?”

I detected something in her voice other than ire but couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

“No. Never for that.” I wasn’t sorry about kissing her, and the incubus seemed to be in agreement—I felt its satisfaction alongside my own. When surrounded by the pleasure and pain in Voltaire’s club, it had threatened to take over. I’d only managed to quell its desires by focusing on Lilah’s safety. When I realized my darker side would have to come out and play to keep her from Voltaire, the incubus was only too happy to oblige.

But this was different. The incubus wasn’t able to take over completely. I controlled the demon within me and was rewarded with Lilah’s delicious lips. I felt the second when she gave way to me, and it was sweeter than I could have imagined. Her luscious mouth was made for only the gods to kiss, but I had tasted her and wanted more.

Smack.

“Don’t ever ask me to trust you again.” Setting up her stone walls again, she gained control of her anger. She clenched and unclenched her hands, likely feeling the itch to hit me again.

“As you wish.” I motioned down the dusty pathway. “Shall we?”

“I just want to get as far away from the tin man as possible. If I never set eyes on that freak again, it’ll be too soon.” She shuddered.

I wanted to comfort her, show her that she would come to no harm as long as I was around, but the warning look in her eyes told me it was best to keep my hands to myself… at least for a little while. Instead, I led the way through the dank subterranean maze.

The path was close and dark, but my night vision and the paltry torch I’d found at the entrance were enough to keep me going in the right direction. Skulls lined the walls, and bones crunched beneath our feet. The air was stale and heavy, as if the history of thousands of years weighed down around us. The way branched off on several occasions, but I knew exactly which paths to take and which to avoid. The ancient tunnels were filled with pitfalls for unwary adventurers. I should know—I helped build them. Though when I roamed here in the old days, there was no earth above these ancient streets, only sky.

We walked silently for a quarter of a mile before I began to sense I was close. The feeling this spot elicited had never faded over the years, and I was drawn to it with laser-like precision.

“We’re here.” I rounded a corner and stopped before a wall filled with human femurs. I placed one hand on an outcropping of stone; one still stained a rusty brown from the blood that soaked it so many years ago.

“We’re where?” She glanced around, likely focusing on the stacks of bones.

“At your opening chapter.”

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