Page 89 of The Demon Court

“I thought you wanted my hair to be done?”

“I do.” And he wanted that honor himself.

Lust let her fall silent and watch his reflection as he ran the brush through her hair. He’d watched her brush these dark locks so many times, and now he got to do it himself. The soft waves felt like silk in between his fingers and he had to bite his lip so he didn’t groan at the feeling. He wanted these spread across his chest. He wanted to feel the weight of her draped over him after he’d thoroughly exhausted her.

There was no time. He had responsibilities, and those weren’t to bury his face between her thighs. As entertaining a job as that might be.

Weaving the first strands away from her head, he started in on the intricate braids he had envisioned. “My people will be glad to see you. And I will be glad that everyone knows you are mine.”

“I never took you as someone who thought running this kingdom was worthwhile or serious.”

“I’m sure that’s what Minerva would like everyone to think.” He started on the other side, leaving thinner braids loose so he could use them later to tie it all together. “There is time for fun and there is time for work. There’s a reason this kingdom runs better than any of the others. And a reason why my people are happier.”

She let out a low hum that ran straight down his spine. Damned women knew what she was doing and yet she still moaned like that. “My mother would have everyone think otherwise. I grew up hearing that this kingdom was worse off than all the others. Spinning wildly into the cosmos with a lack of leadership.”

“If that were the truth, don’t you think the monstrous beings who live in the darkness below us would have swallowed up this island already?” He tugged hard on one of her braids before returning to his work.

“Are they real?”

“Of course they’re real. Everything terrifying is.” One of her braids had loosened a bit, but he decided to use it. The looser it was, the better he would weave them all together at the back of her head. He’d leave the bottom half of her hair loose, he thought. He just wanted the strands away from her face, so she couldn’t hide like she usually did.

“Lust?” she asked a few moments later, and he realized he’d been lost in his work.

“What is it, little moon?”

“Why do you think you run this kingdom better than the others?”

He met her gaze in the mirror and flashed her a cocky grin. “Because I’m the prettiest brother, and people love me the most.”

She tilted her head back and burst into laughter. The sound pealed through the room like the ringing of bells, and something settled in his chest that he’d never felt before. A quiet sensation of such utter happiness and bliss, but it was not startling or overwhelming. It was merely quiet and calm.

Lust rubbed at the feeling in his chest. He couldn’t quite get rid of it, no matter how hard he tried.

When she finished laughing, her grin still turned her face somehow more beautiful than before. “What is it? What is that look?”

“I’ve never heard you laugh like that before,” he said, returning his attention to her braids. He needed something to distract him. Something that would keep his hands busy so he didn’t grab onto her like she was the only rock in the middle of a storm at sea.

“Why should that matter?” she asked, her voice quiet.

“It made you beautiful,” he replied. “More than ever before.”

ChapterThirty

Though she had thought this would be uncomfortable, Selene quickly realized two things.

First, his people weren’t monsters. They didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, they just didn’t know what to do with her. When she walked around in her thick, dark gowns, they thought something was wrong with her. How did she know this? A few of them asked if she was feeling better, and when she told them she’d been fine since she got here, Lust gave her a look of utter satisfaction. Clearly, he had known they were worried about her.

Second, Lust looked all too good on top of a horse. His thighs gripped it with practiced ease. He took his time making sure that everything was situated on his mount before he swung up with all the grace of a dancer.

Selene hadn’t lied when she said she’d ridden before. Minerva loved horses, and there were quite a few afternoons where she’d joined her mother on rides around the Tower.

But she’d always had a riding dress on. Particularly the one that he’d taken off of her. Now, she knew that if she wanted to get on this horse, she would leave her thighs bare. Everyone would be able to see quite literally all of her leg, and she didn’t know how to be comfortable with that.

Gritting her teeth, she looked at the bay roan horse in front of her, eyeing the lovely dark legs and the pretty dark mane that someone had braided. It was a beautiful beast who likely rode like a dream. But she didn’t want everyone to see her bare like that.

“Lust,” she muttered, so the servants wouldn’t overhear her complaint. “How am I supposed to ride this horse?”

“Like you always do, I imagine.”

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