Page 51 of The Demon's Discovery
“Sorry.” I felt awkward, unsure what to do. I lay there under him, more exposed than my lack of clothing could ever make me. The fullness of him stretching me was riding the edge of discomfort, though pleasure hovered close. I just needed him to move. “Vassago, please. I know what I chose.” I would beg if that’s what it took for him to stop thinking andmove. “I choose you. I would always have chosen you.”
His eyes slipped closed, and he leaned his forehead against mine, teeth sunk into his full bottom lip as the mist redoubled its efforts where my most sensitive areas were concerned. He moved his hips slowly, my body aching with a sharp burn as it learned to accommodate him. It only took a few thrusts for his glide to ease.
He shuddered, holding my face with one hand as he leaned in to kiss me again. I tasted the sharp iron of his blood; he’d bit his lip that hard. The other hand gripped my ass, pulling that leg up around his hip. I tried to angle my body to meet his, the sensation of him rubbing my inside walls enough to have my body tightening up once again.
Vassago plundered my mouth, his tongue plunging in and out at a pace that matched his thrusts. The mist flowed over my skin in a frenzied pattern as I began to moan, my inner muscles contracting as his controlled thrusts drove me close to madness.
I arched as much as I could against the weight of his body and the grip of the mist, calling his name out as he wrung wave after wave from me.
He quickened his pace before giving one final hard thrust. He throbbed inside me as I tried to hang on to the rush I was coming down from all too quickly.
“I do not deserve you, Dragonfly,” he said, eyes closed and forehead pressed against mine. “But I swear to do everything I can to be worthy.”
Chapter 22
Vassago
The whole world narrowed to the small apartment, the cocoon we’d made in my bed. Time ticked by sluggishly as we stared at one another, worry settling in deeper the longer I gazed down at her. My chest had stopped burning at some point, which was a relief for so many reasons, but a new concern for others.
I’d lost control.
She’d brought me back to myself, but I’d heard the fear in her voice.
As we lay there, I sorted through the wash of memories I’d gotten from Greta’s blood, coming up with less than I’d hoped for. There was more happiness mixed in than I’d expected, but what I’d seen hadn’t gone back very far.
I played over every moment of our coupling, my blood stirring again with desire despite having just been slaked for the first time in many years. I regretted my haste but promised myself I’d make up for it.
“Are you alright, Little Dragonfly?” I asked, unable to keep myself from hearing it from her own lips.
“Yes, I’m fine. Perfect, in fact.”
“I would have done things differently had I known.” My sigh was deep and heavy.
“I wouldn’t.” The gentle smile on her lips did not erase my concern, but it did ease it. I reached up and ran gentle fingers through her tangled hair, unable to keep my hands from her in one way or another.
“What do these mean?” she asked, tracing along the edges of the tattoos that ran underneath my collarbone and down my sternum.
“They are my rank and class as a prince of Hell and commander of legions,” I said. It wasn’t the full picture, but finding a way to explain further was too complicated. It didn’t matter besides, I’d forfeited my place when I left Hell for earth.
“Instead of a pin or ribbon for a uniform?”
“Kind of like, yes.”
“That seems rather… permanent.”
“Indeed.” My skin tingled under her touch as she traced them all in turn, left to right across my chest, then down my breastbone.
“What if you get demoted?”
I laughed. “That’s not how it works in Hell, Dragonfly. Not for demons like me anyway.”
Her hand finally dropped, a soft smile lingering on her mouth. “They shimmer, kind of. It’s pretty.”
“Mm.” The quiet wrapped us up tight, muffling the noises of the night outside my room. It was peaceful, at least until my thoughts left me unfairly agitated. “The boy,” I asked, needing an answer despite the question tasting like ashes in my mouth. “Was he kind to you?”
I tried to relax my jaw, my face, but I knew my expression dared her to say something provocative. I’d have accepted anything at all as an excuse to justify the irrational rage I felt at the mention of someone else touching her. As permission tofind him and be sure that he understood what a grave mistake hurting her had been.
“He was,” she said, taking all the momentum out of my plans to avenge her honor. Relief was there, as well. “We’d known each other a long time. It was just… curiosity mostly. There weren’t many opportunities for me to have friends, let alone find someone to take as a lover—” I couldn’t stop the groan that came out more like a growl. I was not comfortable with this discussion even if I wished to be. “I have never wanted to be likethiswith anyone else,” she said plainly, putting her palm on my cheek as she stared directly into my eyes.
