Page 6 of Hell Fae King

“Does it?” he asked, leaning toward me. “Perhaps you’re right. Perhapsseducedis a better word.”

“I didn’tseduceyou,” I fired back, but the words lacked heat and came out in a breath instead.

A breath that touched his lips.

Because his mouth was only a hairsbreadth away from mine.

“You’re naked and in my bed right now, Miss De la Croix,” he murmured. “Perhaps you didn’t mean to seduce me, but you have and you are.” His lips brushed mine. “Scenting your sweet ambrosia-like arousal isn’t helping matters.”

A tremble worked through me, not born of fear so much as interest.

Because I could smell him, too.

His cinnamon spice. Underlined with Melek’s decadence and Az’s simmering bonfire cologne.

“I want a truce, Camillia,” Lucifer said, the words spoken against my mouth. “Not a deal. Not an agreement. Not even apromise or a vow. Simply… a truce. Give me a chance to show you who I really am. Please.”

CHAPTER 2

TYPHOS

The wordpleaselingered on my tongue like a curse. I rarely used it. Rarelymeantit. But with Camillia De la Croix, it seemed utterly appropriate.

She’s terrified of me,I thought for the thousandth time since entering my bedroom.

The woman had frozen upon seeing me, making her visibly frightened. That, coupled with Melek’s mental comments, confirmed the cause—me.

She thinks you’re going to kill her for mating me,Melek had said, sounding somewhat annoyed.You should fix this, Ty.

Then he’d kissed me and disappeared without further comment, telling me his words were more of a command than a suggestion.

I’d sighed, thinking it could be fixed once we all sat down to eat and discussed what I’d remembered, but Camillia hadn’t even been able to look at me, let alone move.

And something about that had hurt.

She was naked in my bed, still partially aroused from Melek’s ministrations, yet frozen and unable to do more than flinch because she feared what I might do to her.

I really fucked this up,I realized again when she didn’t reply to my request for a truce. I couldn’t blame her for hesitating; she had no reason to trust me.

Just as I’d had no reason to trust her initially. She was a threat to my Source, tome. That threat aspect hadn’t changed. But I now knew her intentions weren’t nefarious. She was a pawn. A weapon encased in a beautiful, feminine exterior.

Melek had understood her worth long before I’d been willing to consider it, my history having made me too biased to see the queen standing before me.

But I noticed her now.

Camillia De la Croix may just become my equal.

And much, much more…

I inhaled, reveling in her bouquet-like aroma. So innocent and alluring. Except beneath it was a subtle scent of death, one that reminded me of wilting flowers.

That scent belonged to Vivaxia.

It was reminiscent of the gift she’d left behind inside Camillia, a gift designed to extinguish my light.

“You’re dangerous,” I whispered, my lips barely touching hers. “So fucking dangerous.”

My nearness now was a testament to that. I’d been drawn over here as a result of a raw emotion tugging at my heart. An emotion I didn’t fully understand but thought might be guilt.