Page 9 of The Demon Court

“Keep your mouth shut,” she hissed, only to hear the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Well, far be it from me to keep any of my adoring followers waiting.” Lust sat down on the open barstool next to her, his back to the counter and his arms spread wide across it.

His hand almost hit the bowl of porridge, and she found she would have been interested to see it sink into the sticky gruel. It would serve him right to have disgusting fingers. Even for a few seconds.

But then his eyes lit upon her, even though she wasn’t looking at him. She could feel his gaze lingering on her features. He reached out, slowly, as though giving her time to flinch away. And then he dragged the hood off her head.

His fingers trailed across her cheek as he did so. A scorching line of heat lingered in their wake, long after his skin had stopped touching hers.

And those emotions all froze where they were and then sank deep underneath the prison of her mind. Still. Silent. Nearly dead if she wanted them to be.

“The little one from the village square,” he murmured. “I’ve been thinking about you.”

“I’m sure you’re mistaken.”

“Oh, no. I’m not.” He watched her, his eyes like the touch of his hand even though he had dropped it back onto the counter. “Do you know why I haven’t forgotten your face yet?”

She stared resolutely at the back of the bar. Every tavern she’d been to before this one had bottles on the shelves. But not this one. Instead, they had decorated with animal skulls and hides. She wondered if they didn’t have enough alcohol to display. Nothing was more depressing than seeing three bottles of rum with a tavern full of people.

A warm hand tucked underneath her chin, sliding up her jaw and then forcing her to turn her head and look at him.

So look at him, she did.

His lips were almost too full for a man. Soft and plush and oh so kissable. His features were largely undefined, so it was impossible to place where he’d come from or where his lineage might have started. A perfectly straight nose gave him an aristocratic quality, not to mention the dark slashes of his manicured brows. And at the top of his forehead twin horns coiled up his skull. They weren’t large, just larger than her hand, but they had a brilliance to them that made her think he’d dusted them in gold.

She noted that his clothing was odd, even for a place like this. While the men here were happy to wear well pressed suits made of wool and fine fabric, his was made of silk. It floated around his body in a billowing white shirt that was then trapped by what looked like a corset. Instead of making him look feminine or soft, it only accentuated how broad his shoulders were and how narrow his waist tapered.

“Well?” he asked, as though he knew she’d become rather dumbstruck by his face. “Do you?”

She wasn’t dumbstruck. She was merely observing.

Selene arched her brow. “I don’t think you remember me at all.”

“Are you suggesting I’m a liar?”

“There is no reason for a demon king to remember a nameless, faceless woman in a town far from his castle.”

That made his eyes widen a bit before a choked laugh escaped him. “Demon? Very few call me that.”

“Is that not what you are?”

His eyes searched hers, confusion marring his handsome features. He hesitated before replying, “No, actually. I am Lust.”

“I know who you are.”

“But you are confused by what I am.” He tapped a long finger against his chin, and she could physically feel everyone lean forward at that movement. The woman to her left even let out a little whine. Staring at the digit as though she wanted to suck it. Or ride it.

Selene was glad she couldn’t feel anything. Not a single thing but that ice cold disappointment. “I’m not confused in the slightest. Why are you talking to me?”

“Because you left something for me to find, and because you said something that I can’t seem to forget.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the square of her cloak that she’d left behind.

Of course he had it. Exactly as she’d planned.

Then he lifted it to his nose and inhaled. Taking a drag of her scent like her perfume was the antidote to a poison he’d ingested.

“I did not leave that for you.” She reached out and tried to snatch it from him.

“Ah, but you did. You left it for me and you said something that you knew I wouldn’t be able to ignore. Do you know what that was?”

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