Page 63 of The Demon Crown

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered.

Her cheeks turned bright red. He so adored that color and had the fleeting wonder if this was what Lust had felt like? Maybe it was. He’d never speculated what had captivated his brother the moment he’d seen his new wife Selene, and yet... surely it had to be something like this. It had to be this consuming emotion that made him want to grab onto her and never let her go.

“Greed,” she scolded. “It’s the dress. It’s not me.”

“It’s absolutely you.” He stood and held out his arm for her to take. “Now, would you like to have dinner with me?”

“Am I allowed to leave the room?”

“I had hoped you would.”

Greed wondered if he was dressed for the occasion as he walked beside her. He’d put on his best leather pants and a leather vest over his white shirt. His rings always glittered on his fingers, but were they enough? He should have placed more gems on his person, a necklace at least, or maybe one of those rare magical crowns. It wasn’t the most gallant of outfits, but he wasn’t a very gallant man.

He’d wanted to give her this, though. And so he had tried to make himself look as though he was a little more put together. Because he wanted people to look at him and see that he was the only person who had what they wanted.

Now she was one of those objects that others would desire. And as he walked through his oasis jungle with her on his arm, he knew no one could see them without wanting what he had. They would try to take her from him and he would fight them to the bitter end. Blood would be fed to the desert on her behalf, and he would feed it many times before he was satisfied.

He drew her into the dome where all of his balls and gatherings should have been held. He had been told there were many in this place before he’d taken over the oasis. The floors were made of molten gold, reflecting everything like a mirror. The massive table at the end was full of every food she might desire. Meat, cheese, wine, vegetables, pies, tiny cakes that his chef insisted on placing there. Not to mention the whole roasted pig that took up the center of the table.

Varya hissed out a breath. “This is too much food for so few people, Greed. It’s a waste.”

“The rest will be given to the staff to eat.” And then he froze. Because maybe she’d want something else. Maybe she would desire... “Or a town of your choosing.”

“Really?” She frowned up at him. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I already have a treasure that everyone desires.” He skated his fingers along her jaw before he could stop himself. “I have no need for food, Varya. Not when you stand beside me.”

Again her cheeks flared that bright red color. So lovely, as she seemed to accept that this food would go to those who needed it. Fascinating.

He watched her as she approached the table. Her movements were graceful and so calculated, a true warrior through and through. She had no idea what she did to him moving like that.

Already he was uncomfortably hard. Already his hands burned to touch her, mark her, make her his. But he held himself back because he also wanted to see what she thought of the food.

Varya stood in front of the table, staring down at it, her hands braced on the wood. But she didn’t move. She didn’t grab anything at all, and it made him wonder if she did not know where to even start. Perhaps she’d never had any of this food before.

And oh, that made his entire body tingle. He’d be the first to feed this to her. He’d be the first to...

Fuck. He could come just from the thought.

Shaking his head, he surveyed the table before making his first choice. A small cracker that his kitchen had been making for years, made of the finest sifted grains. On top, he placed caviar from the fish that they grew in the deepest pools of the oasis. The dark pearls were delicious, and many people would kill to have them.

“Here,” he said, holding it out for her to taste. “I think you’ll find this interesting.”

Obediently, she opened her mouth, her tongue already outstretched for him. He had a flashing image of her doing the same on her knees, and his free hand clenched so hard he could hear the bones creak.

Varya closed her mouth, chewed, and then shemoaned.

By all the seven kingdoms, he almost fell onto his knees in front of her again. Her eyes rolled back in her head and he just knew that was the same face she’d make when he brought her to release over and over again. When he’d made her beg him to stop because she couldn’t do this anymore, and he made her come one more time.

“That’s delicious,” she said, her tongue flicking out to lick at her lips. “I don’t even have a name for that.”

“You don’t need to know the name when you’ll be eating it for years to come.” He turned around before he did something stupid. Like crush their lips together and paw at that expensive dress. “Try this now.”

He didn’t use a fork to pick up the thinly sliced meat. Instead, he lifted the marbled, shaved beef to her mouth and watched her lips close around his fingers. She licked the juices off his thumb and almost unmanned him that easily. “What is this?”

“A rare beef that can only be grown here in the oasis. They’ve had this breed of cattle for centuries, only here. They have a specific diet. A very specific way to cut and prepare the meat. And all of it can only be found here, in my home.”

“It sounds like you have a lot of secrets, Greed.”

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