Page 18 of The Demon Court

And she walked right into his trap.

So she could feel lust. She understood the concept, and she’d felt it before in her life. Which could only mean she was somehow blocking his power. A shield? That was the only thing he could assume, but no sorceress had ever been born with that power. No one had ever been gifted the ability to block a spirit who’d taken physical form.

They were inevitable. He and his brothers were mortal emotions turned flesh. They called out something deep inside these humans that they could not fight against because it already existed inside them.

And yet, this woman thought she could resist him.

He scoffed then and let his powers ease. With that, the women on the floor surrounding them slumped. The sound of their heavy breathing echoed through the chamber, although at least they weren’t moaning any longer. That sound seemed to distress his new little toy.

Striding toward her, he kept his hands down at his sides. He knew how to approach a skittish horse, and she was little more than a filly for him to break.

He circled her, eyeing her body up and down, wanting to make her feel uncomfortable, but all he succeeded in doing was making himself uncomfortable.

Fingers flexing at his sides, it took all of his self control—restraint, as she wanted him to believe he did not have—to not pull those pins out of her hair. He wanted to see them tumble down around her shoulders. Would that dark tangle smell like peppermint? Would he find himself in a wave of that scent that made him harden even more?

Moving around to her front, his eyes traced the graceful lines of her collarbone. He didn’t want to just lick her there, or even run his fingers along the shadowy hollows below. He wanted to feel how delicate they were underneath his hands. How easily breakable she was and knowing that she wanted him to touch her where it would be so easy to hurt.

“What is your name?” he asked, his voice little more than a husky whisper.

“Selene.” Her throat moved in a long swallow. Even there she was like a swan, delicate and lean.

No, she was not some great beauty. But damned if he didn’t want her.

“Named after the moon, under which all nefarious acts are consummated,” he said. “And no doubt your mother wishes me to worship at your feet. She wants me to bend before you, on my knees, whispering sweet nothings in your ear while you command my kingdom.”

Anger laced through the tight restraint of his lust. He felt his chest swell with it, his nails growing longer and the tips of his horns stretching.

“I have no desire for a kingdom or a throne,” she replied. Her voice rang through the great hall and her mother’s head snapped up.

Did the old bat not want her daughter to say that? Well, maybe she should have told her daughter more information about the upcoming moments then. The plan was fractured between the sorceresses. Obviously, some wanted to rule over the kingdom, and others wanted merely to rule over him.

Ah, that wouldn’t do.

He needed them all to be involved in the same plan or he’d be chasing multiple threads that all led to the same knot. If that meant he had to convince this Selene that she had the same desires as her mother, well then he was just making sure the family stayed together. Now wasn’t he?

Moving around to her back, he trailed his fingers over her shoulder and had to swallow his own moan. She was soft. He’d thought she’d be hard and cold like ice, but the damned woman was soft as velvet on his fingers.

“Now, here’s the problem,” he murmured, leaning in behind her to whisper the words in her ear. Goosebumps rose on her skin, and he had to bite back his grin. “Your mother wants to hand you over to me like a sacrificial lamb. I’m not opposed to that. When I first took over the kingdom a thousand years ago, many of your kind thought blood sacrifices would keep me appeased. I spent many nights in the arms of all those people, just like I would spend many nights in yours.”

Sliding his finger up the back of her neck, he noted a small dark mark there. A rune? No. A seven-pointed star that triggered something in his memory. But he couldn’t quite grasp the recollection before she bit out her words in a retort.

“I have no interest in becoming your sacrifice. If I am to go with you, then it will be as your queen.”

“I have no need of a queen. And I thought you didn’t want to be one.” He said the words flippantly because he wasn’t listening anymore. He already knew what she was going to say.

Muttering under his breath, he whispered the words even as she said them. “The kingdom needs a queen. We’ve never had one, and that is reflected in every aspect of this kingdom. You have created a man’s world, and it desperately needs the touch of a woman. The guidance of one such as me.”

Her mother’s words, but not entirely. Little Selene hadn’t been listening to what her mother was suggesting. Minerva didn’t care if the kingdom was led by a woman. She cared that it was led by a sorceress. So Selene didn’t actually know the High Sorceress’s plan.

“One such as you?” he replied, finally giving into temptation and attacking the damned pins in her hair. “You think you, a child, know how to run a kingdom?”

“I’m twenty-five years old.”

“Ancient.”

“I have seen enough of this realm to know how it should be run. I have spoken with enough people here to know what they desire.”

“Have you?” he asked, putting a few of those pins in his mouth. No sense to lose them, they did look rather expensive. “And what did they say?”

---