Page 27 of Hell-Bound

“Would you care to dance?”

While Renata certainly knew it was abadidea to dance with a Devil, Ren felt a bit embarrassed at the thought ofrejecting someone who was literallybowingto her. Plus, he could know information about contracts.

She laid her hand softly in his and noticed that his fingers were long and velvety with no calluses, odd for a consummate violin player.

Her eyes darted once more around the room as the male led her to the middle of the dance floor. No one was watching. They all seemed too involved with their own activities.

“You are new to our courts,” he began. “Don’t worry, my lady,” he said as if reading her thoughts. “They are either not paying attention or are trying very hard not to.” He gave her a wide grin, revealing two sharp fangs. “They would hate being accused of being envious. No one wants to summon Pelegros this early in the evening.”

She smiled, not wanting to appear as clueless as she was.

He placed a hand on her lower back and drew her flush with his body. It was hard and muscular against her.

She gulped.

Then, a panicked thought.

Wait. Do I know how to dance?!

He smiled coyly as the music started again, and he spun her onto the dance floor. She held her breath as she willed her feet to move in time. But she needn’t worry. Her body knew these steps, or enough to get by, and at least she wasn’t tripping over her dress or his toes.

“Do you belong to someone?” he asked, tilting his head curiously.

As soon as he opened his mouth, she smelled the most incredible aroma of flowers. She couldn’t place what they looked like, but she could feel the flicker of a memory tingle at the back of her mind. Long fields on a summer day, sweet wine next to a rippling brook. It was…enticing.

As she breathed in, her vision began to blur. She felt truly at peace for the first time. She smiled lazily, meeting the male’s burgundy eyes gleaming back at her.

“You are quite lovely,” he said, reaching up to caress hercheek.

It felt like the softest petals tickling her skin. It was calming. Safe. Like there was nothing in any plane of existence that could hurt her.

“You’re a musician. Wind instrument, I presume,” he smiled. “I can tell by your lips. Someone who knows…how to use them.”

He moved his hands to her lips but did not touch them. They just hovered there.

She couldn’t think—couldn’t make a sound. She could only look into his eyes, completely hypnotized with every gravelly word. Her sensations began to change from slow and soft to something much warmer. Her heart thumped harder, and as he continued with every touch, pleasant ripples of sensation created throughout her body.

Ren had never been touched, not by a male and certainly not by someone so captivating.

“I find that the best musicians feel the music,” he continued, ignoring Ren’s lack of response. “The notes penetrate. Slip inside you and move you to ecstasy.”

Finally, she found words.

“Y-yes. I feel that music has its own type of power,” she stammered, trying in vain to ignore the ache forming between her thighs.

His smile widened, his fangs fully revealed.

“I am glad you understand me. Many do not recognize the power music has over people. My name is Xarek. And you are?”

“Ren.”

He purred her name.

“Ren.”

He seemed to like the taste of it on his tongue. He gently brushed his fingers down her back as he guided her across the dance floor.

“Stunning.” He sighed, leaning close. “I admit that I am quite…curious about you.”