Page 82 of The Demon Court

“Affection, is it? Curious little spirit.” Greed bent down to look at it, his golden eyes glowing with desire. “Perhaps I should take this one back with me.”

“Absolutely not.”

Affection puffed itself up. “You’d find I’m very hard to contain. Besides, we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about Selene and how Lust is going to keep her.”

He set his coffee cup down a little harder than he’d planned. “There’s nothing to talk about. Of course I’m keeping her.”

“Just because you slept with her doesn’t mean she’s going to stay.”

“I didn’t exactly...” Lust heaved a sigh and stared up at the ceiling. “We didn’t exactly sleep together.”

Again, silence. From both the spirit and his brother.

Greed straightened, the creaking leather of his clothing the only warning before he said, “What do you mean you didn’t exactly sleep with her? Did you fuck her or not?”

“Not. I mean, kind of. We certainly did enough of other things. I don’t—“ Lust shook his head and frowned at his brother. “Why am I telling you any of this? You don’t need to know what happens behind our closed doors.”

Greed stared at him for a few moments before tilting his head back and barking out the most awful laugh. Loud and like a thunderclap, the sound carried throughout the entire room before he got a hold of himself. “You know what fucking is, Lust! Does that sound like fucking to you?”

“There are layers to it, and please stop being so crude. It wasn’t fucking.”

“What was it then?” his brother asked, amusement glittering in his golden eyes. “Making love?”

“Both of you get out.”

“You’re visiting me.”

“You’re in my castle!” Lust threw his arms out in disgust before pointing at his brother. “You have no say in how I feel about this. If I say we fucked, then we fucked.”

“I suppose having your fingers or mouth in her is one thing, but I’ve never seen you so upset. Fucking is getting your dick wet, brother. You didn’t manage to do that.”

His dick was soaked by the time they were over, but he didn’t need to tell his brother the finer details. Grumbling, he shook his head before looking back at Affection. Though the conversation was not one he wanted to have, it felt important to ask, “What did you mean we have to figure out how to keep her?”

The spirit drew itself up, and he noticed for the first time that it had eyes. And a mouth. And what looked like a nose it was trying to conjure up, but it was very much in the wrong place. “There are nuances to keeping someone in your life, and you’ve never done that before. Just like you’ve never had to work to get someone in your bed—no, don’t argue, we all know that’s the truth—you’ve also never had to convince someone to stay with you.”

“Isn’t it enough that I am the king of this entire floating island and that she is lucky to have me around?” He shook his head. “I will fulfill every fantasy she has and provide her with startling new ones. There is nothing that will stop me from pleasuring her until she is uncertain which direction is up. Is that not enough to keep a woman around?”

Even Greed gave him a look that said he was an idiot.

As one, both the spirit and his brother said, “No.”

Lust sank into one of the plush leather chairs in his study and held his head with both hands. “What do you mean, no? I will give her everything she’s ever wanted.”

“Do you even know what she wants?” Affection asked. “She’s told you stories about her childhood, and she’s invited you to enjoy in her body, but how much do you know about her?”

“As well as anyone else.”

“Precisely.” Affection rolled its eyes when he nodded like that was a good thing. “Women don’t want to be fucked all the time. They want to know that you care, that’s how you keep her around. By caring.”

“And how do I show her that?”

Greed made eye contact with him and then shrugged. His brother sank into the opposite chair, leaning forward on his forearms so he could better pay attention. Apparently, they both needed to learn this lesson.

The spirit was all too happy to oblige. It rolled in front of them and gathered itself up again. “Flowers. Affection. Kisses! Romance her to show her that she means something to you.”

“Romance?”

“Yes.”

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