Page 10

Ten

T he next part would be easier than talking. Pleasuring a mortal was something he knew how to do. It was something demons were instinctively skilled at—just like killing.He put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer.

Startled, she put her hands against him. “Wait.”

She was not quite looking at him, like she was trying to imagine she was someplace else. Azreth’s discomfort grew as he waited for her to steel herself. He understood the difficulty of needing to complete this task when you didn’t want to.

He’d never expected to see so many of his own feelings reflected in a mortal. But then, he’d never spent much time thinking about their feelings before now.

Eventually, he sensed her nerves beginning to settle. She glanced up at him, waiting for him to continue. Her eyes were dark and hooded, and there was something unnerving about the blackness in their depths. He wondered if mortal eyes saw more than his own. What could she see when she looked at him?

He thought about how she’d touched his hand—so lightly, like the brush of a feather.

Moving very slowly this time, he sank to the ground, then guided her into his lap, putting her back to his front. She was stiff, leaning slightly away from him. Putting her in his lap only emphasized their size difference. Her legs were framed by his thighs, and her shoulders still came up below his. He waited, hoping she would relax. She didn’t. She looked ahead, unmoving.

He was glad she had his back to him, because he didn’t want her to look at him.

“You would like my assistance?” he asked, wondering if she’d changed her mind.

Raiya stiffened. “Yes. Please.”

And then, despite everything, Azreth felt something heating the air between them. A flicker of lust. He might have missed it if he hadn’t been paying attention.

“We may as well get it done with quickly,” she added.

“Yes,” he said uncertainly. He looked down over her shoulder, his eyes traveling down her bare neck to the scant triangle of her chest that was visible before the robe covered it. He could see nothing of the shape of her breasts, but he could imagine them, just as he could imagine the curves of her hips and thighs and the pale gold-brown of her smooth, clear skin beneath her clothes.

He realized, suddenly, that he found her beautiful.

Which was irrelevant. Mortals all served the same purpose. It didn’t matter if he found them beautiful or not.

Testing the waters, he shifted his knee so that his thigh pressed between her legs. She drew in a breath, and her excitement and nerves bloomed in the air.

“Have you done this before?” she asked.

“Not with a mortal.”

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

“You will have to let me know.” He reached beneath the split on the side of her robe, running his hand over her trousers and along the soft warmth of her inner thigh before grasping between her legs, conforming his hand to the curved shape of her sex.

Raiya tensed. Her eyes were closed now, her jaw tight with grim determination.

The last time he’d tried to feed from her while touching her, in his cage in the dungeon, he’d been out of control with hunger. It was no wonder she was afraid of him.

He wanted to show her how good he could be. He wanted to feed from her, but more than that, he found himself wanting to please her—which was an uncomfortably submissive desire, and he didn’t quite know how to feel about it.

Conscious of her preference for a soft touch, he let his hand open and relax into the crux of her thighs. He watched her face closely as he eased his hand upward to the head of her arousal. She held her breath. Her hips cocked back, her thighs squeezing him. He studied her reactions to each measured touch, learning what increased her enjoyment and what didn’t. He watched her lips slowly part as he cupped her in his hand.

She was brave. Azreth had never allowed someone to touch him like this.

In fact, he had never been given permission to touch someone without offering his own body in exchange, either. He had never had the opportunity to watch someone willingly twitch and writhe with pleasure from his ministrations.

He lifted her thigh with one hand, opening her legs further, and he felt a surge of triumph as she made a soft sound and leaned back against him for support.Arousal emanated from her, thick and heady.

To his frustration, his cock was stiffening again. It made him nervous and angry. It made him feel weak. But he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

He wondered if she had ever imagined coupling with him, even if it was only a fantasy she would never act upon. He pictured her shrugging off her robe to bare herself to him, lying on her back like Nariel never had, and parting her legs for him. Submitting to him. Wanting him.

Through their clothes, the head of his cock would not stop rubbing against her backside, and his resolve was weakening.

He bent his head, leaning into her warm hair. He imagined her inner channel softening under his touch, as if she would welcome him inside her.“You smell like lust,” he murmured.

Perhaps it frightened her, because she half-heartedly pressed a hand to his thigh as if to put some distance between them, even as her pleasure flared. Instinctively, he pulled her tightly against him and redoubled his efforts on her sex. She made a faint sound as her hips bucked. His cock strained against her.He wanted to feel her skin, to sink into the heat between her legs, to watch her come undone on his fingers.He lifted his hand away from her body long enough to find the waist of her trousers and slide beneath it.

She gasped. “No. Wait.”

He paused. “Why not?”

“I just—just please don’t.” She sounded desperate.

Azreth snapped out of the embarrassing fugue state of lust he’d entered. He looked down at Raiya, who was suddenly fearful and unhappy. She was afraid of being overpowered.

He had the perverse urge to try to comfort her. How one might do that, though, he had no idea. He’d never tried to comfort someone before, because that would be a strange and unnatural thing to do.

Grimacing with distaste at himself, he pulled his hand away from the waist of her trousers and placed it on her thigh. “Be at ease,” he murmured.

She exhaled, her head tipping back to rest on his shoulder, as if she really were put at ease. Or maybe the effort of trying to reach climax was just tiring her. Her emotions were heavy and convoluted, but he knew she was close.

He held her for a moment as he waited for the fear to recede. Then he eased his fingers along her inner thigh—courting her again. He brushed his thumb over her center. The lightness of the touch would drive anyone mad eventually. He waited for her to show him she was ready.

Only when she arched, pressing her body against his hand needily, did he begin to handle her in earnest again. A swell of pleasure came from her as his fingers pressed just beneath the crest of her sex.

“There,” she said breathlessly.

“I know.”As if there was any chance he could have missed it. He dutifully continued in even, steady strokes until her entire body undulated, her fingers clutching at him as she reached her peak.

The essence of her poured into him, and he groaned, doubling over. It was a feast. It was ecstasy. For a moment, everything in the world was perfect and beautiful.Both of them gasped and trembled and moaned together in united bliss.

It was not mere copulation. It was not like Nariel. And he felt a deep regret as he realized there was no coming back from this. Nothing else would ever compare.