She nodded before retreating down the stairs. I took a deep breath to regain my control before turning to River. She sat on the bed, her hand clasping the towel against her chest. Color crept high into her cheeks as she kept her gaze focused on the floor.
“You have to go now,” she murmured.
“I’m not leaving you here.” She still wouldn’t look at me as she rose to her feet and grabbed the fresh set of clothes she’d gathered from my tent before coming here. I moved to block her when she hurried toward the bathroom with them. “Let me watch you.”
She clutched the towel tighter against her body. “Kobal, I don’t do this kind of stuff; I’m not sure how to. I’ve never…” her voice trailed off, and her face turned redder than the fire she could wield.
My fangs pricked as a new possibility dawned on me. But it couldn’t be; she was far too desirable and alluring to have remained untouched for this long. However, perhaps itwaspossible no other had taken her before; she’d spent most of her life raising her brothers from what she’d told me.
“Never what?” I inquired.
“Never done anything like this with anyone. It’s allsomuch and so overwhelming. No one has ever made me feel the way you do, or touched me the way you do. I don’t know what to make of it, and I can’t escape you, not even when I’m sleeping.”
The desperation of her words and the tone of her voice tugged at my heart in a way it had never been tugged at before. I could feel the confusion and anguish swirling out of her. “Have you never been with a man?” I asked.
Her nostrils flared as her vulnerability slid away to be replaced with exasperation. “I have no way to protect myself from you, and you keep coming at me!”
“I don’t want you to protect yourself from me. I wantallof you.”
“Then what will be left of me when you’re done?” she cried in frustration.
“Have you ever been with a man?” I asked again instead of answering her question.
“That’s none of your business!”
“No, then.” If she had figured out how to wield her life force power, I had no doubt I’d have been blown through a wall as she glowered at me.
“And if I’d been with dozens or thousands upon thousands of others like I’m sure you have, would it make a difference? Would you still want me?”
“Yes,” I answered honestly. “It would not matter to me, because I will be your last.” I thought her eyes might pop from her head. “It is not the same amongst demons; we don’t judge in the way humans do. You could have been with more men than I’ve been with women, and it would not matter, not to me. And I have not been with thousands upon thousands.”
My words to her had been true, demons didn’t judge sex in the same way. The only time it meant anything more than satisfying an itch was when it was with one’s Chosen. If she wasn’t my Chosen, it would be different between us simply because Ilikedher more than any other woman I’d ever been with.
I respected her determination and steadfast way of approaching things. I admired the way she kept forging forward even after losing everything she’d ever known, having her new heritage and powers thrown at her, and a whole new life and possible death sentence tossed into her lap.
My words had been true, but I was still inordinately pleased by the realization she’d never known another man. I’d never been with a virgin; I preferred a more experienced partner, but with her, she would be onlymine.
Her chin tilted up. “So not thousands upon thousands,” she muttered. “Woo-hoo for you.”
“You will judge me then?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip in such an enticing way that fresh blood flooded my groin. “No,” she finally said. “I won’t. How do I know you’re not trying to get in my pants because the man who stole your throne from your ancestor ismyancestor? Maybe you’re looking to punish him or spite him in some way by trying to have sex with the person you consider his daughter?”
My lips skimmed back at her words as uncontrollable anger surged through me. Swiftly moving toward her, I slammed my hands into the wall beside her head before she had a chance to move. She jumped when the plaster gave way beneath my fists.
“Don’teversay something like that again!” I snarled.
Her gaze remained on mine; I saw no fear there as her eyes narrowed minutely. I caged her in when she tried to duck my arm, pinning her against the wall with my body and hands. She pulled back and pressed herself against the wall again. Unlike so many others who would have cowered before me, her chin rose and her lips compressed.
Despite her defiant front, I could hear her heart hammering in her chest. I knew I was overwhelming her, knew she was frightened of everything she was feeling, but I couldn’t get myself to move away from her.
“You’re here because of your heritage, I will give you that, but I donotdesire you because of it. I desire you because ofyou. I am not one for spite; I am one for death. Never forget that, River. I don’t do ulterior motives, play games, or use sex as a weapon. Besides, Lucifer wouldn’t give two shits about me throwing his daughter one. He only cares about the power you may be able to bring him or the damage you could possibly inflict on him.”
“I don’t know what to do!” she cried in frustration. “I’m not sure I could satisfyyourneeds. I know they are far more than human, you said so. How do I handle that? And when you return to the fire and other women…”
Pulling my hand from the wall, I brushed my knuckles over her silken cheek when her words trailed off and hurt flashed through her eyes. “All you have to do is be you. That is all I want from you. I’ll only take what you’re willing to give me, but know I want it all. There will be no other women for me, solely you.”
“You can’t know that.”
