Page 105 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
“Padon is definitely an idiot.”
“And pathetic.”
“And full of himself.”
“And annoying.”
“And creepy.”
“And—”
“Are we interrupting something?” a male voice asked. I turned, finding the orange-haired demon walking beside my creature and his sister. Sterling. What a strange and oddly perfect name for him. He had left with his snotty sister, promising that when he came back he would prove to me just how valuable he could be. A callback to our times talking in his cell. Back when life was far less exhausting.
Finding out he was a mortal without magic had been jarring. I had never been with one of those. And what use could he possibly have when his entire life was practically the length of a blink of my eye? Pity.
“Always,” Asher jibed, placing a kiss on Milo’s black scales and pushing herself up to stand. When I reached out a hand for her to help me up, she merely smirked and walked towards the approaching trio.
How. Fucking. Rude!
“You’re such a bitch,” I mumbled, standing on my own like a peasant.
“But she is our bitch,” Henry, that was his name, said. From his side, Sterling laughed before embracing Asher. The two hugged as if it had been years since they saw each other last. Too long. The hug was far too long.
“Okay, okay, let’s not act like you haven’t seen each other in a century. Break it up,” I demanded as I made my way to them. They laughed as they parted, and I noted how my creature seemed a bit lighter than he had seconds ago. As if whatever she had just done with her magic had sliced her open, Asher simultaneously bled both sin and virtue.
“You know, Henry,” Sterling said, turning to face the demon. I waited with bated breath as the two looked at one another with a sparkle of challenge in their eyes. “Seeing as you are Genevieve’s bitch, I would not think you would be one to talk.”
Sterling’s sister snorted, crossing her arms and looking up at the now smirking male who seemed glued to her side. “Awe poor firefly, nothing more than a hound now.”
Henry smirked, licking his lips and speaking without taking his gaze off of her. “Yes, I love being your bitch. Even more so when we are naked.”
“Gross,” Sterling groaned, sticking his tongue out and pretending to gag. Asher laughed at his side, but she offered a small smile to the pair that made me think she was quite happy for them. “Oh, by the way, Asher. Queen Shah told me she could do it tonight if you are wanting to.”
Asher nodded eagerly. “That is perfect.”
Then my creature’s warm brown eyes were on me. He wore forest green trousers and a tight black top with the sleeves rolled up. I noted just how much fuller he looked now. No sign of the starved male who existed beneath the golden castle. His sunshine curls were wild atop his head, shorter than they were back in the dungeons when I had thought them brown. He approached me with a wicked curve to his lips.
“Hello, Spice. You are looking absolutely murderous over here. If you want, I would love to help you get rid of some of that built up tension,” he teased, his hand coming up to toy with one of my braids. Behind him, Asher cleared her throat and quickly began pushing Henry and Genevieve away, shouting for Milo and Torrel to give us space. All I could do was stare at the male before me and picture all the ways I could use him before he inevitably died.
Unsure whether or not Padon knew where I was after Stella and I had been discovered by Jonah and Venturae, I took the risk of portaling the two of us to the rooms that Bellamy had given me in place of his. After forcing the prince to make it larger and demanding he get me decorations as well as a more comfortable set of linens, I deemed it good enough. The second we were in the locked room, I shoved Sterling backwards on the bed.
“Tell me, mortal boy, can you manage to keep me entertained? Or will you turn out to be a bore and force me to kill you?” My voice was husky as I lifted my legs and straddled him. His smile was sinister, his light skin already flushed from his red blood. “So interesting that you bleed red.”
His eyes lit up, a daring look in them as he scrutinized me. Then, he surprised me by flipping us. I gasped below him, feeling his hand trail down my leg. Instead of doing what any other male would do, he stopped at the strap there, ripping my dagger free. And, without so much as a warning, Sterling cutaway my blouse and skirt, then my underwear after that. Then he stood, his fingers moving to the buttons of his shirt.
“Those were new!” I shouted in response. But even I knew how devastatingly sexy it was. And as I watched him smile while he slowly undressed, light flowing in and reflecting off his hair, I realized he knew too.
My creature crawled my way, chasing me with the dagger as I backed further up the bed.
“You like blood, Spice? You know, I have lost a lot of it this last year. It seems you are not the only one interested in seeing just how mortal I am.” Wincing when my head hit the wooden frame, I stilled, trying to understand what he meant by that. “You want it, Stassi?” Sterling gave me no chance to think further before he cut a line horizontally across the fleshy part of his forearm. “Then have it.”
Warm liquid poured over me, splashing my bare breasts and stomach. For the first time in a long time, someone surprised me.
Sterling reached down and dragged the tip of the dagger across my nipple, sending shivers of pleasure throughout my body. Red spread, and I caught sight of his hardened cock as he pumped it with his bloody free hand. What in Eternity was happening? Were all magicless mortals like this?
There was a haunted look there in his eyes, sin coating the air as it pulsed in time with his cock as he rubbed the bloody tip against my clit. Moans dug up my throat from deep in my chest, and I gripped the sheets in a baffling amount of ecstasy. Just as my mouth opened in a desperate cry, Sterling shoved three blood-soaked fingers down my throat.
“Drink it, Stassi. Taste me,” he commanded. Instinctively, I sucked, the iron taste of his blood coating my tongue. And though I could not read minds like Asher, I could have sworn I tasted the sorrow and pain within him. His fingers left mymouth, the cut and bloody arm dragging down my body as he unceremoniously tossed the dagger. “Tell me, am I sweet or spicy?”
