Page 71 of The Demon Court

Lust finished his movements, letting the shirt fall open. And there it was. The same lovely taste that flooded through his mouth, a tempting mixture of honey, whiskey, and peppermint. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying.”

“I can taste that you want me.” He tilted his head to the side, frowning down at her. “But you’re still fighting it. Why?”

She sank lower in the tub until the bubbles touched her chin. “You don’t need to know the answer to everything, Lust. You’re not getting in the bath with me. Thank you for breakfast. You may leave now.”

Oh, he would not do that, but he was very curious about what was going on. She acted like this was a horrific thing to happen. Him finding her in the bath. And here he was, straining to touch her, his cock so hard in his pants that he worried it might burst.

But she was troubled. She was fighting against this thing between them when she shouldn’t. He already knew that she felt lust, so why...

Sighing, he knelt beside the tub and rested an arm against the warm metal. “Where did you come from?”

She blinked at him. “The Tower.”

“Yes, yes. The White Tower of Silver Thread. Home to the Eternal Sisters, Wives of the Night Sky.” He crossed his eyes for good measure. “That isn’t where you came from, it’s where you were placed. So, what is your real story?”

Amusement softened her features. Perhaps she enjoyed his foolishness, because at least she sat up a little more in the tub. Though she did gather some of the bubbles closer to her chest. “I’m told I was from Harpswell.”

“Is that so? It’s a very pretty area.” He had fond memories of the place, though it was rare to find families who had any magical abilities whatsoever. “And your family gave you to Minerva?”

“They didn’t want me.” She shrugged, but he felt all that lust disappear in an instant. “They left me out in the snow to die. Minerva found me, and it was by her grace that I live. She could have ignored me. Such a death is not pleasant but not, perhaps, the worst.”

His heart broke to hear her say those words. “I’m sure your family wanted you. It is tradition to leave magical children with the Tower.”

Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, and then she shook her head. “No. Minerva was very specific. They didn’t want me.”

Something in his chest cracked open at the words. A feeling he’d never felt suddenly swam to the surface. He didn’t have a name for it, but it made him move.

Slowly, so he didn’t startle her, Lust smoothed the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “I can’t imagine anyone not wanting you.”

He met her gaze without hesitation. There was no motive to his words, just the truth. As furrows appeared on her brow, she stared into his eyes as though searching for the lie. The joke at the end of all this.

There was no joke. He continued to stare back at her until she let out a little breath.

“I don’t know that anyone but you believes that.”

Lust’s hand tightened at the back of her neck. “Then they are the fools, Selene, and I am all the better for it. I would hoard you to myself if I could. If you would let me.”

He felt her swallow against his hand, even as she gave him a nod. “I believe you.”

And then he remembered that she was very wet and very slick and entirely blushed from head to toe. It took every ounce of control to not look down as the bubbles floated away from her body just enough for a tempting glimpse.

But he was here for a reason, and though his plan had been for her to touch him, perhaps he could still use this moment.

Leaning closer, he pressed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. Drawing deeply into his lungs the scent of peppermint and whiskey. “My brother believes you have two powers. One to conjure light, and another that lets you deflect our powers. Is that true?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“Oh, you should not tell me. But you will. Trust, remember? We are trusting each other in this and damn what the Tower says about me. What do you believe, Selene? Do you believe I am worthy of your trust?”

He pulled back, staring down into those big dark eyes that watched him. He saw the universe in her gaze and a thousand lifetimes of happiness or pain.

She chewed on her lip. At some point she’d crossed her arms over her chest, though she likely had no idea she was pressing those lovely breasts together as though offering them to him.

But then she hissed out an angry breath and admitted, “I have two powers. It’s not that I’m deflecting yours, it’s that I’m absorbing them and burying them very deep. I cannot feel them. And apparently neither can you. Or Greed.”

Ah, the flood of pleasure he got from her trusting him. It made him feel like a man. Not a spirit or a demon or even a king. Just the man she trusted, as she trusted no one else.

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