Page 42 of The Demon Court

She’d gotten a bit out of him, but Selene wanted more. She needed more to understand why he was so angry, and she didn’t know if she wanted to see what would happen if she pushed him.

Why not? Why not take the risk? Maybe this was the leap they needed to take before she could get through that thick hide of his.

Selene wasn’t kidding herself. She wanted to touch the rough bristles of day old growth on his jaw. Her palm ached to feel if it would abrade her skin and spark fires that trailed throughout her entire body.

She moved her hand up, past his throat, ignoring how he seemed to arch into her touch for a moment before glaring at her with even more power in his gaze. Then she placed her palm against his jaw and gently spread her fingers. Selene scratched at the rough beard while letting out a low breath. All these riotous feelings had to go. She had to hide them away from him.

It was as if he knew. Lust tilted his face into her palm, his eyes shuttering closed as he pressed a soft kiss to her skin.

“Tell me,” she urged one last time. “I cannot help you if you do not tell me.”

“You cannot help me at all, little moon. You will remain safely hidden away while my brother visits, and he will not see you.”

“Your brother?” A flicker of unease made her stomach churn. “Which one?”

“Greed.” He inhaled deeply at her wrist, and she had to grit her teeth against the flood of warmth that burned through her body. “He wants to see you. He’s heard that I may get married, and of all people to find out, he is the worst one.”

“Why?” It took everything in her not to snatch her hand away from him. His kiss felt too good. His beard scraped against her skin so delicately and it... it...

Lust’s eyes opened again, flashing to hers with an intensity that stole her breath. “Because he will take you from me, sorceress. You are unique. The only one of your kind to ever be unaffected by our power and so he will want you. He will steal you away, and I will let no one do that.”

Oh.

When had anyone wanted her that much? Her mother had always made it clear that Selene wasn’t to leave, but not because her mother liked her. In fact, Minerva didn’t like anyone but herself. She’d made Selene stay in the Tower because of her powers, nothing more than that. Ursula might have wanted her as a sister, but she’d still let her go. Everyone let her go when there was nothing left to wring out of her.

Everyone except him. And it made her shudder to know that someone wanted to keep her. Her soul lit up with a thousand fireworks, but it was wrong to feel this way for him. She’d have to keep this close to her chest. If he knew how she felt when he said he wanted her?

Selene worried he’d never let her go if he knew how much her body ached to hear him say that again.

“You don’t even like me,” she said, trying to cover up what was happening, or she’d lose herself. Right here. Right now. “Having someone kidnap me would be the answer to all your problems, wouldn’t it?”

He met her gaze, and she felt as though he’d stabbed her. The anger radiating through him shook her palm. “You’re not getting out of here until I answer the questions I have about you, little moon. Don’t think you can appeal to my brother’s good nature and leave this place. I can assure you, the life he would give you is nothing like the life I offer.”

“And what do you offer me?” She swallowed hard. “A life of captivity? Of you telling me what to do and how to do it?”

He brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek, that horrible black color draining out of his eyes. “I offer you all that you’ve ever sought. Luxury, comfort, and pleasure so deeply felt that your being will unravel in my arms. All you have to do is let me.”

If he knew what a temptation that was, Selene feared what he might do. She feared what she’d let him do.

Instead, she pulled them both back to reality. “We both know that will never happen. I’m not interested in you. And you are not really interested in me.”

“You speak for me?”

“I do. You are only intrigued by who I am because of what you cannot compel me to do. I stand apart, as something other, and that makes you wonder what you missed. Where you went wrong. How all that power of yours could possibly be denied by a little slip of a sorceress who has no more power than the mere ability to conjure light. You are interested in me for what answers I can give you, not because you care for me or who I am.”

The words were meant to be an arrow into his chest, but she found her own heart hurting. It was the truth, though. They both knew it.

He sucked in a deep breath and then took a step away from her. The space between them filled with ice. He jerked his head toward the servants. “They are bringing your items to my room.”

“Your room?” She shook her head, stuttering, “I-I don’t think I’ll be staying there. We aren’t even married yet.”

“And for all you know, we never will be.”

A few of the servants looked at him with that declaration. Their eyes lit up with the potential for gossip before they quietly went about their work. All her items were already packed or filling someone’s arms to take elsewhere.

To his room.

“No,” she replied. “I will not stay in your room with you. That is hardly appropriate, and as I said, neither of us are really—”

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