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His eyes flash open, and they’re red at the pupils, just like mine. I stand, towering over him, and wrap two hands around his throat. I don’t apply any pressure. Putting the touch of my palms to his scrawny neck seems to terrify him even more.
“Hear me, and hear me well,” I say in a low tone. “Go back to Lord Egretz, and tell him he can fuck himself. We have no deal.”
For a split second, I think about tossing this lame lad to the ground and leaving it at that. But I am in too deep to put any more of Lana’s safety at risk. He had followed us all the way to the tower; who is to say he wouldn’t have climbed the tower and smothered her in her sleep?
The sheer thought blinds me with rage, and I move my hands to clench around his antler horns, but then my conscience stops me. I let go, and he crashes to the ground with a thud.
I turn, leaving him in the forest. That is my message, loud and clear. No one will get near my beloved. Not even a young demon likely looking for scraps of gold or nobility of his own.
I return to the tower after making sure the vicinity is clear. I go back inside, lock the door securely, and climb the stairs to Lana’s room. I feel no pity or remorse for my actions and feel them even less when I open the door and find the enchanting woman naked, laying on her back and writhing.
“Mmm, perfect timing,” she whimpers.
I slam the door shut, locking that one, too, and she chuckles. She has been touching herself. I see the red blots on her face, the shine in her eyes that only can only mean a yearning for a passion unhinged.
I give her everything she wants. I make love to her all night, the lingering danger beyond us having vanished behind the veil of our heated longing.
SIXTEEN
LANA
I am in utter bliss, and I completely welcome it for the first time in ages. I haven’t felt this open, this free and adventurous since before I was enslaved on the isle of the minotaur. I once believed that all of the ability to feel desire, pleasure, and joy had been drained out of me. I was excited merely to exist, to survive solely for the sake of survival.
Now, I am thriving in a place that is still somewhat strange to me yet is slowly starting to feel like home. And I embrace it with open and curious arms.
The sex with Systorak has been spellbinding and has empowered me in ways that feel cosmic. I know there is more to it than the physical satisfaction, but I have yet to summon the courage to speak to the demon about it. He is so tender and gentle with me. Even when we fuck rougher, there is a concern for my enjoyment. If he only wanted sex from me, he could have dumped me on my ass immediately after the very first time.
I had been emotionally vulnerable then, having to deal with the demon wasp trying to take me out. Yet, he was cautious with me, sweet even. That tells me that he must feel something more for me too.
But before I broach the subject, I decide to make a request to visit Milthar. Initially, Systorak wasn’t sure about it. He supposed the king might think of it as a means of escape. But I managed to use my silver tongue and my enhanced charm to relay to the king that I have no interest in returning to Milthar permanently. I merely want to visit my friend, Sheryl, and check on the tavern's progress.
I wrote my request on a scroll that Systorak hand-delivered to the king’s guards. My request was approved the same day, which gave my demon a look of confusion and possibly envy.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him as we read over the document.
He curls the sheet of paper in his hands, thumbing the edges.
“I’ve never heard of such a request being granted so … quickly.”
He folded the piece of paper and placed it in his pocket before swiftly turning to me. We are in the bedroom of the tower, a place that has become our lovemaking nest and the room for sensual experimentation.
Despite the presence of six extra eyes and horns protruding out the top of his skull, I have become acutely fantastic at reading Systorak’s facial expressions. I can tell at this moment that he is attempting to veil a truth, a truth that both he and I have been avoiding.
I step closer to him as his eyes avoid mine. I take one set of hands into my own and crane my head up to meet his gaze.
“I’m not going to run away,” I say softly. “I hope you know that. I want to come back, Systorak. I merely want to visit Sheryl and see how she is coping. But I want to come back here … to you.”
The word home sits on my tongue like a sweet treat, yet I can’t bring myself to say it. His eyes come to mine, the pinpoints of red shining bright like a fire on a moonless night. He smiles at me, which always gives me the most delightful shivers.
“I would very much like that,” he says, albeit delicately.
He pulls me into his body with his extra set of hands, taking me by the hips, then bending his neck to meet my lips. I groan under him as my body bends to his will, my underwear beginning to dampen the way it always does when his hands are on me.
“Oh, Systorak,” I breathe his name lightly.
He grins over my lips, then peels himself away, one hand holding onto my own. It was only a few seconds of his touch, but I am already dizzy.
“You should get going before I get the urge to devour you,” he says, a small growl lilting his voice.
