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It consumes me, even as a voice whispers in the back of my mind that jealousy is a sin and I should quelch it before it takes root in my soul. The only thing that keeps the monster at bay is the fact that Don’s eyes never once leave mine, and after only a few seconds, he shoves the woman aside and returns to his mission of getting to me.
My heart thumps in a wild rhythm, the skulking predator snatching all of my attention to the point that I don’t even notice that Dara has slinked into the shadows and left me alone to face him.
“Little Devil,” he purrs as he approaches. He makes a show of running his eyes over my body, taking in my new outfit and how it accentuates my breasts and curves and elongates my legs. “You look fucking sinful.”
He stops directly in front of me, his roaming eyes returning to my face. They hover on my lips, a pained groan escaping him before he grabs my hand and pulls me toward a cropping of trees.
Tugging me far enough into the thicket that we can’t be seen by anyone else, he pushes me against a tree. The rough bark scrapes at the exposed skin of my back, but the bite of pain only intensifies the electricity zapping up and down my body.
Don uses his large body to cage me, standing so close that I can feel the heat radiating from him. His wild gaze never once detaches from my mouth, and with each lingering second, the need to feel his lips on mine becomes more unbearable.
“Has anyone ever kissed you before?” he asks in a voice laden with desire and barely controlled restraint.
“No.” I can hardly get the word out as I struggle to wrangle my out-of-control hormones.
“I want to be your first.”
That voice of reason, that part of me that was brought up in a devout Christian household and knows that this is sinful and wrong, pleads with me to say no and push him away. To remove myself from temptation and flee.
Except… I want him to be my first, too.
My first and last and everything in between.
There’s no conscious thought given, only pure unadulterated desire, as I whisper, “Okay.”
The grin he gives me is diabolical. A sure sign that I just handed my soul over to Satan himself in exchange for a simple kiss. “Oh, my little devil.” His hand slides to the back of my head, holding me in place. “You have no idea what you’re agreeing to. I don’t just want your first kiss. I want all of your firsts. Everything. All of you.”
I watch with my heart lodged in my throat as his face lowers to mine. Our breaths mingle before I feel the soft brush of his lips. It’s a teasing touch. Fleeting. There and gone in a blink of an eye, leaving me aching for more.
My hands find their way to the front of his top, fisting the fabric as I pull him closer. He growls, pleased with my reaction and slants his lips over mine then proceeds to damn me to hell for all eternity.
The girl I was before goes up in smoke. Don’s touch, his kiss, forever changes me, and born from the flames is a red-haired demon. Wielding a battle ax and with a spine of steel, she’s the confident, determined woman I always wished I could be.
It’s as though his lips are a vessel through which Don allows the perilous darkness within him to pass. It slides off his tongue and down my throat, wrapping around my heart.
A blissful sigh slips past my lips as his tongue entangles mine, pulling me down further into this dark pit. Pleasure I’ve never felt, never even contemplated, races along my nerves and erupts down my spine until all that exists is him—us. Who knew damnation could be so heavenly?
Lack of oxygen eventually forces us apart. My chest heaves and I can feel the frenzied rhythm of Don’s heart as it slams against his chest. Holding me close, he rests his forehead against mine and peers into my eyes, seeing all the way to the depths of my soul. “Your lips are the sweetest wine, and I want to drink from them for the rest of eternity.”
CHAPTER TEN
By the time we stumble back out of the forest, the party is in full swing. I’ve never seen anything like it. I imagine it is the sort of festivities pagans would have participated in back in the day. Men and women dance around the bonfires, many of them draped over one another and wearing next to nothing.
They’re all so free with their bodies that I am almost envious. Not that I want to strip down and go dancing naked beneath the moonlight. I simply would love to have their confidence. To feel that at home in my own skin.
“I want to introduce you to everyone,” Don says, glancing down at me.
“O-okay.”
Noticing my hesitation, he leans in and presses a finger beneath my chin. “It’s time people treated you the way you deserve. Let me show you how it will feel to be my queen.”
Wrapping his hand around mine, he leads me to a makeshift stage. On shaky legs, I follow him up the steps. He lets go of my hand when we reach the platform, his hands lifting into the air as he strides across the stage.
As though everyone in the crowd is attuned to him, they all turn toward their king, their festivities forgotten.
“My People,” he bellows across the now silent space. “I mentioned earlier that I had a surprise for you all.” He gestures toward me. “I want all of you to meet Kali—my queen.”
Gasps and whispers ensue as all eyes fall on me. I feel like a bug under a microscope, and it takes everything in me not to fidget beneath the weight of so many eyes.
