Page 55 of The Demon's Delight
“What—” He caged me between his body and the wall, face impossibly close to mine as his fingers traced down my cheek. I shivered, every nerve alight.
“There is no part of you I don’t appreciate. Do you understand?” His voice was low and husky. “You smell like blood and wine and chocolate, and I have… untoward intentions,Moonflower. A great many of them in fact. And there’s no forest here for me to hide in so I can… relieve myself… of them.” His jaw flexed and his eyes slid closed, his head tipping back as he took several slow breaths.
I inhaled sharply, understanding exactly what he meant. I stood straighter, which caused my leg to brush against him. He grunted, and I clenched my thighs together. “That’s okay. I’ve had thoughts like that too.”
Shock painted his face, and his eyes snapped open. “Hailon. We have to?—”
I cut him off, dragging his mouth to mine with the same intensity I’d felt punishing the Lang brother. Want and need were usually very separate feelings when I took a romantic interest in someone, but there was no clear line here. It was both. My chest ached as he devoured me right back, one hand staying on the wall, our position a mimic of how we’d kissed in town against the bricks. The other hand splayed across my mid back, drawing me up against him. We rocked together, the adrenaline of the evening like kerosene on a pyre.
Time ceased to exist as I devolved into nothing more than sensation. My magic reached for every nick and cut it could find on him, repairing, soothing, as his teeth nipped at my lips, then my throat, his heavy breath against my skin driving me closer and closer to madness.
“Stop. Stop, stop. We have to—” He kissed lightly all over my face, then took a step back, panting. He groaned, regret all over his flushed face. “We have to stop, Moonflower. I’m sorry. I want nothing more—sweet saints, I could punch myself right in thefacefor stopping right now—I promise. But there’s something we must discuss first, it’s important.” Then he kissed me again, and I could feel the way he grinned against my mouth as he whined, “I need you so badly.” He kissed me again, gentlyconsuming me. “But we can’t. Not until we talk. Go in the bathroom and shut the door. I can’t have you yet.”
“Promise it’ll never happen again and I won’t have to kill you over leaving me so needy.”
He groaned, low and long. “I swear. And should it come to that, you know I’d happily go to my knees and bow before you, Moonflower. I’d willingly take your blade at my throat. The very thought turns me on, in fact. Can’t you tell?”
I could. And he wasn’t alone there.
I leaned in and kissed his smile one more time, unafraid of the taste of blood on my mouth, unsure if it was his or mine. Then I shut myself inside the bathroom before I could change my mind.
“Thank you.” He barely breathed the words from the other side of the door. I heard him slide down the wall and land on the floor with a thump.
I felt dizzy from the combination of lust and exhaustion flowing through me as I started to undress. I was wound tighter than I could ever remember being and needed some outlet for the desire crashing through my veins. I climbed into the filling tub and reached for myself to soothe the ache.
A light moan escaped my mouth as I rubbed at my aching sex.
“Hailon? Are you…?” Seir asked.
“I’m fine,” I responded, already breathless again. I got to my knees in the tub, realizing I had a better way. The tap for the tub was on the side instead of the end, and if I positioned myself just right…
“Hailon?” Seir sounded frantic as another, louder noise escaped me, my body flushed hot as the combination of rushing water and my own hand pushed me closer and closer to the edge. I gripped the porcelain with my free hand, knuckles going white. “Should I—” He paused, and I could hear him press his bodyagainst the door. I pictured him listening to the sounds I was making, and it only drove me higher. “Oh, fuck.” He sounded absolutely bereft on the other side of the door, and between the persistent throb in my core and the idea that he knew what I was doing, that I was thinking of him while stroking myself, I couldn’t hold it back in any longer. I shuddered my release, unable to stop the loud moan that left me. I nearly doubled over as my muscles seized and water splashed as I sank down, the heat of it like a warm embrace as I came down from the rush.
Seir called my name again from the other side of the door, but it was not a query. It was a benediction. My body throbbed again in response. We were even, then.
Once I was submerged in the steamy water, my body finally relaxed.
I wanted to go back to the moments when I was hazy from the mead and everything felt floaty. To the days where I’d forgotten that there were men who might be looking for me at all. I wanted to go back to dancing. To the way Seir’s mouth had felt on mine.
In the wake of what was one of the most intense orgasms I’d ever had, my chest ached something fierce. The pain was getting more worrisome as the days went on. I wondered if I should find a healer before we left town. I also felt the ugliness of the evening creeping back up, replacing the joy.
“Hailon?” Seir’s cautious voice came from the other side of the door.
“I’m fine.”
I washed and rinsed and washed again, trying to scrub away the stain of those men and the memories attached to them from my body.
When the water was completely cooled, I pulled myself out and dressed. I teetered on my feet as I combed out my tangled hair with my fingers, exhaustion finally catching up to me.
When I opened the door, Seir was still seated on the other side, leaned up against the wall.
“Sorry,” I apologized. “I didn’t mean to take so long.”
“That’s alright. I didn’t want to leave you in there alone. I was considering coming in to check on you if you were in there much longer. The thought of you falling asleep in the water…” He shook his head. Clearly, he’d cycled through several worst-case scenarios that had bothered him.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry.” My heart thudded, heavy and hot behind my ribs. It hurt. I rubbed with my palm and Seir’s eyes tracked the movement.
“It’s alright. We need to talk aboutthat,” he said quietly, pointing at me.
