Page 22 of The Demon Court

Let him be insulted. She had a job to do here, and it was to tempt him or find information. He’d never had a woman do what she was doing to him, and, if she was reading the situation right, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Besides, she didn’t like him. This was fun.

The front doors of the castle were easily three men tall, if not bigger. Gilded like everything else Lust owned, they gleamed in the sunlight. So beautiful it made her eyes hurt to look at them. And then they opened to reveal what was beyond and it made her breath catch in her chest.

The entrance hall stretched far into the distance. Tall pillars held up a second-story balcony that wrapped around it, and each pillar was carved to look like a giant. Women with gowns falling off their shoulders, men in various states of undress with rippling muscles and handsome faces. Massive chiffon curtains hung from their shoulders and hands, gently swaying in the breeze from the windows open all around them.

Down the center of the hall was a long, narrow pool of water. Lily pads floated on top of it while golden fish swam underneath them. A thick heavy carpet laid on either side of the pool, decorated with pillows here and there in case someone wanted to lay beside the fish or feed them. All this pointed toward a dais that held a massive golden throne.

Selene hadn’t realized she’d stopped to look at it all. She could only imagine her eyes were enormous as she tried to soak in all the luxury that surrounded her. But goodness, this was... impressive. Colorful. And surprisingly comfortable.

She should have guessed comfort would be important to a demon of lust.

He’d stopped to look at her, his hands tucked behind his back and a soft smile on his face. “Does it suit?”

“Excuse me?”

He gestured around them. “Does this satisfy you?”

“I don’t see how it matters if it does or does not.” She didn’t want to admit that it did. All of it did. This was so much more than the blank white walls of the Tower. So much that it was almost overwhelming.

“Because you’re supposed to be my queen. Wasn’t that the deal?” Although the sarcasm in his voice didn’t sound like he considered her his queen. Not until he walked over to her did she realize his intent.

“Absolutely not—” she started before he tugged her into his arms.

She was suddenly pressed against him. All of him. She could feel the thick trunks of his thighs as he wedged one between her legs, the hard bulge of his cock pressed against her hip, though he did not grind himself against her as she thought he would. Instead, all he did was wrap a tendril of her hair around his free hand and look at it in the light.

“You really aren’t that pretty,” he breathed. “So, why did they choose you?”

“Perhaps because they knew I wouldn’t like you,” she hissed and shoved at his shoulder.

“No, it’s not that. Dislike makes for rather explosive lust. You aren’t supposed to fall in love with me, darling, you’re just supposed to want to rip my clothes off. That doesn’t require liking a person at all.” He hummed out a low breath and then shook his head. “What is your power?”

The swift change in subject made her head swim. “My what?”

“Every sorceress has one. An innate born ability, if you will. What is yours?”

She stared up at him, wide eyed. He shouldn’t know about that. No one knew that sorceresses were born with their magic. They’d taken care to cultivate rumors that had become truths. Sorceresses knew magic, all kinds of magic, and even he couldn’t know...

Lust tucked a finger under her chin, then stroked it along her jaw and down to the sensitive skin of her throat. “You can answer me or kiss me. One or the other.”

“Light,” she hissed. “I can make light.”

“Such a weak power.”

She ground her teeth together at the insult. “A power is only as weak as the person who wields it.”

“Such wisdom for someone so young.” He trailed his finger lower, pausing at the square neckline of her gown. “This dress is ugly.”

“I did not choose it for you.”

“Clearly. You would have worn something softer if it was for me. Something more comfortable and less... stifling.” His lip curled in disgust. “I will never understand you mortals choosing to wear something uncomfortable when you could wear whatever the season calls for.”

“You don’t need to be touching me to tell me all this.”

“Oh, but I do.” The grin on his face turned into something wicked. “I own you now, Selene. Your mother sold you off to me like an heirloom she couldn’t wait to get rid of. And that means you will attend to me in all matters. You will do whatever I wish.”

She stiffened in his arms. Not because she was afraid of those words, but because she was... intrigued by them. And she hated that.

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