Page 51 of The Demon Court

His eyes met hers in the reflection. And oh, if she didn’t look more beautiful than he’d expected. Her eyes glowed with triumph, as though she’d caught him in a lie. Her cheeks were already flushed, her lips slightly parted, and they looked decadently wicked together.

He loomed over her, the candlelight bouncing off his horns. So large compared to her that his outline swallowed all the light. His hands disappeared into her unlaced dress as she wantonly leaned back into him. It was a painting that a prophet would use to warn young women of the monstrous demons, who wanted to take away their innocence.

Lust bared his teeth at her in the reflection, knowing before he saw them that his canines would have grown sharper and his eyes would flash with desire.

He’d never looked like this with a woman. He was meant to be desirable, alluring, a man that none could resist. But in this moment, with her, he looked like the demon she expected him to be.

And she looked like she enjoyed it.

He kept their gazes locked as she placed her hand over his. The thick brocade of her gown separated them, but he moved his palm with her as she guided one of his hands up toward her breast again. She stopped just underneath it until he was almost cupping the soft swell.

“You think this will scare me, but it does not. I knew what I would have to pay to serve you, and I was never afraid of it.” She shifted his other hand lower, his middle finger just brushing her heat.

A low growl escaped his lips, and that feral expression seemed to sharpen even further. Peppermint filled his nose on an inhale and somehow that made him feel as though he could lose control. He’d drag her up onto the bed with him, roll her underneath him, and devour her lips. He’d sink his fingers between her legs, into that warm, tight pussy. He’d suck her nipples until she begged him to stop, until he’d left marks all over her body in bright bruises from his tongue, his teeth, and his lips.

Lust wanted to do all that and more, but he would not do so unless she begged for it.

And Selene begged no one.

“Is this how you want to remember this moment?” she whispered, her voice a little breathless. “A transfer of information? A payment made?”

“No,” he rasped. “This is not how it will go between us.”

She slowly lifted her hands from his, leaving him to make the final choice. “Then I will get ready for bed. And you—“

He interrupted her before she could finish the sentence. “Will be waiting right here for you.”

Though he knew it was foolish, he intended to spend the night with her. If only to bury his face in those pillows and fall asleep with her scent in his nose.

“What?” she whispered. “No, you will...”

“Stay here. In my room. In my bed.” His fingers flexed one more time against her stomach, shifting a little lower, dragging the cloth against her clit, until he felt the buck of her hips against him. He grinned and then withdrew his hands from underneath her dress. “I promised I wouldn’t touch you in any way you don’t want, little moon. Scared that you’ll reveal yourself in your sleep?”

“Impossible. I do not desire you,” she whispered, but her eyes were bright with worry.

And perhaps something else.

He nodded and then shifted up onto the bed, knowing she’d seen how affected he was by their little exchange, and not caring how wide her eyes got before she looked away. “Then get ready, Selene. I find myself wishing for dreams.”

ChapterSeventeen

Her dreams were filled with touches and soft gasps. The sound of masculine growls and the feeling of silk sheets sliding up her legs, tangling between them so she could finally find some sense of relief.

But that was not reality. Not in the real world where she knew to caution herself. Even in her dreams, she had fought back against the sensations, knowing that if she didn’t stop them that she could never come back from this moment. She’d be his, and she wasn’t meant to be anyone’s but her own.

The dawn woke her. The soft beams of sunlight shifted through the gauzy fabric covering the balcony door. They drifted in the breeze, and she watched them for long moments from underneath heavy lids.

Selene felt as though she hadn’t gotten a lick of sleep. She needed another three hours to feel more like herself, and she’d need her wits about her today. Lust’s brother would arrive soon and she needed to stay hidden away. Or maybe she needed to impress him. She hadn’t, really...

A warm, thick arm tightened around her waist for a moment before it relaxed again.

She forced herself to remain still, just in case her movement had nearly woken him. But the heaviness of his arm stayed very still again. Almost too still.

Selene suddenly realized how tangled they were together. His arm was around her waist, one thick thigh wedged between her own. His breath was heavy against her neck, slow and deep as it could only be in sleep.

He was wrapped around her like a second skin, and she didn’t know when that had happened.

Last night, she’d wanted to turn around and let him have his way with her. She’d wanted to feel his lips against her skin, to know what it would feel like to ride that impressive hardness that he had made no move to hide in the slightest.

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