Page 29 of Hell-Bound

She heard it before she saw it, a deep feminine moan.

A Lesser Devil, skin pink and glistening with sweat—head flung back and mouth open. She was completely nude, and her hips were shifting rhythmically to the thrusts of her partner.

Ren couldn’t completely see the male, most of his body blocked by the large armchair they were using for their stage. But she could see his face.

His head rested against the back of the chair, delicate curls tousled and lying artfully between two sinister-lookinghorns, both of which were larger and thicker than Xarek’s, curving around his head dramatically. His fist was twisted around the Lesser Devil’s tail, helping guide her body where he wanted her.

The muscles in his forearms flexed as he reached up to fondle the Devil’s perfect breast.

Ren covered her mouth to stifle a gasp as, to her horror, the tendrils, still wafting from her person, floated towards the couple.

The male groaned with pleasure as he tilted his head to the side and opened his eyes, fixing them on Ren.

“My sweet, I was hopingyouwould come,” he growled before throwing his head back, curls flying, a roar of rapture escaping as he climaxed.

Done. She wasdonewith this.

She whirled around through the door, trying to keep her feet, urgently retracing her disoriented steps to the foyer. She threw open the stained glass doors and dashed out into the night, hearing Jester giggle as she fled.

There are few things I hate more than being overwhelmingly curious. It’s an irritation I can’t quite purge. And she—well, she is the most intoxicating of curiosities.

It was completely dark inside as Ren ran up to her room in The Denizen’s Tower, locking herself in.

Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. She hadn’t been threatened, hadn’t been in danger, yet she felt desperate to escape.

She had encountered something entirely unfamiliar, in both sensation and emotion and had completely lost herself. She had lost control. A thought that terrified her.

Losing control meant losing the little part of herself that she still had—the small memories and names that she held in her mind. She was losing Renata. Doomed to be justRenfor whatever remained of her life.

Even now, she couldn’t rid her mind of what it would feel like to be that pink Devil moaning on top of a sinfully beautiful violinist. Because in that fleeting moment, in his arms, she didn’t care. Ren, Renata…they both agreed. She didn’t want to think. No more war inside her mind. Only feeling. Just body taking over. Embracing pleasure.

No. Stop.

She pushed the heels of her palms into her eyes. She was more than this weak thing. They had told her that. Jamal had told her that.

He was another Half-Elf who kept bar at her favorite tavern in Vergessen. Her feet had taken her there, unbidden, after another heart-wrenching meeting with her parents.

Jamal had waved her over to the bar, and she settled in. If she was going to have another uncomfortable conversation, she was at least going to get a stiff drink out of it.

“Nothing?” he asked, pain in his eyes.

He had poured her two fingers of an amber liquid, which she didn’t question. She immediately took a big swig and delighted in the rich, honeyed flavor that sent immediate relief through her.

“Nothing,” she responded, swirling the remaining liquid. She was now on her second. “I woke up and had no concept of who I was. Or…not the things that matter. And everything is terrifying because everything is a first! The first taste of pastry, the first swim in a lake. You know nothing of yourself, so nothing is comforting—well, except music. I didn’t forget my music.”

He nodded at her, wiry hair bouncing as he did.

“Has…anyone tried to help you remember?”

She bit her lip. “A little. But it hasn’t been helping. Clara and Atlas just got frustrated. Clara kept showing me things from my past—toys, pictures, the like—hoping it would jog something.”

She noticed that he would not meet her eyes.

“Doyouknow anything? Any reason why this would happen?” she asked.

He sucked in some air.

“The thing is, Renata. I don’t know if I’m the best person to help you with this.”