The purple horizon was the only indication of just how much time had passed, how lost we’d been in this new rapturous world.

I’d spent nights with succubi that paled in comparison to this.

Fuck, everything paled in comparison to this.

Valora curled into my chest, her blue eyes drowsy with pleasure as she stared at me. I lost myself to that beautiful gaze, falling deep into the rivers of adoration as I swam in her addictive aura.

She giggled, drawing a line of fire down my abdomen to my finally depleted cock. “You’ve been holding out on me,” she accused, her voice a sultry sound that stroked my senses.

“I could say the same about you.” I caught her wrist and brought her finger to my mouth, nibbling the pad before sucking the digit deep. She groaned in reply, her eyelids drooping. “Still not satisfied?” I teased.

“I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to walk today,” she replied, eyes still closed. “And I don’t regret a second of it.”

“Neither do I.” I angled her chin upward to kiss her softly, my tongue tracing the seam of her mouth. “I’m not sure what happened between us last night, but I’ve never felt better.”

“We fucked. A lot.”

“I don’t know about you, sweet star, but I don’t usually enjoy being burned.” I glanced pointedly at the pattern she was sketching with her fire-laced fingers. “We did a lot more than fuck, sweetheart.”

She smiled lazily. “I’m too tired to worry about it.”

“Mmm, you should sleep,” I agreed. “But I need to return to my rooms before someone notices I’m missing.” The lack of warning on my watch was a good sign. But I didn’t want to push my luck.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Meet me later today?”

“Just name the place and time,” I replied, kissing her forehead before rolling out of the sex-saturated sheets. If Necros visited her today, he would not be pleased. When I said as much, she merely shrugged.

Not arrogance, just confidence.

She no longer feared the king.

And oddly, neither did I.

Together we would kill him. I felt the truth of it all the way to my very soul.

Don’t tune me out today, Valora whispered, her eyes already closed.

I’ll never block you again, I vowed, dressing myself in last night’s clothes.

Good.

I kissed her once more, smiling as she barely returned the motions, her body already succumbing to sleep. Sweet dreams, my beautiful star.

Only of you, she replied softly.

Those words carried me back to my quarters, the warmth in them putting me at ease. Confessing had been the best decision of my life. Followed closely by giving in to my urges last night and fucking Valora senseles

s. I smiled as I slipped back into my room.

Then paused as I sensed something not right.

Death.

I blinked. The stench of it hung heavy in the air, coming from the sitting area.

The succubus.

I vaulted over the couch and gagged at the torturous sight before me. Blood. Innards. Tears. And semen.