Page 20

Chapter 20

W hen Ashdei strolled into family dinner for the first time a few days later, Mari almost fell out of her seat. Like Dohal, he mostly preferred to keep to himself. He tolerated the other men because he knew it was required to spend time with her, but with the exception of the party, he’d never seemed much for gatherings of any kind.

Several of the people around the table watched him warily, but no one said anything as he came up behind her chair and leaned to kiss the top of her head. I missed you , he whispered into her mind. She felt how much the simple touch soothed him and smiled.

Ashdei rested his hand on her shoulder and looked over the room. His eyes stopped when he came to Luis. “Well, it’s certainly a surprise to find you here. Do they know where you are?”

Mari sat up straighter. Who exactly were they? And why were they looking for Luis? Was this yet another enemy who would come for them? She didn’t ask any of the questions on the tip of her tongue because Luis looked pained by the reminder.

“No, and I’d like to keep it that way.” He frowned, his shoulders drawing up. “Do I need to offer you something to keep my confidence?”

Ashdei closed his eyes briefly and seemed to come to a decision. “No. Call it a favor for my beloved. No one will hear of you from me.”

Luis tilted his head. “A demon who doesn’t want anything in exchange for a secret kept? That’s novel.”

Ashdei flashed his fangs. “I have other things to occupy my attention.”

Willow, who sat next to Luis, watched the exchange between them first with trepidation and then with curiosity. Did the sphinx know something Mari didn’t about what was going on?

“Ahh, yes. I had heard that you had taken up with our hostess.” Luis slid a glance her way before returning to Ashdei. “She seems a bit too wholesome to be your type, but I suppose your tastes might have changed over the centuries.”

Mari choked on her drink.

Shall I tell him how wholesome you were on the desk when you were moaning around my cock? Ashdei purred into her head.

Her face heated with a blush, and she put down the glass in a hurry so she wouldn’t drop it.

Ashdei’s grin was sinful. “I don’t think my tastes have changed so much as I’ve now realized what’s important.”

Luis nodded. “That makes sense. Sometimes it takes us a while to realize that the patterns we’re caught in are bad for us. In any case, I’m thankful for your keeping of my secret and glad that you’ve found a person who makes you want to be better.”

Ashdei started. “I hadn’t thought about it that way, but that’s exactly what she is.” He crouched next to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Someone who makes me want to be better. Do better.” He rested his head on her shoulder and hugged her.

It was the showiest display of affection he’d ever made in a room that wasn’t just her and her men, and it made Mari want to push him down onto the table and do the most wicked things to him.

You sent that one loud and clear , he chuckled into her head. Shall I carry you out of here on my shoulder so they think I’m to blame because you’re so wholesome?

Don’t you dare , she sent back.

He straightened with an exaggerated sigh and his blue-flame eyes met hers. I can wait as long as it takes.

The same words she’d said to him about gaining his trust. What is it you’re asking me?

One corner of his mouth ticked up. You. Me. The dragon. We were interrupted the other night.

Every nerve ending in her body seemed to catch fire at once. Saints, she was going to self-combust if he didn’t stop saying dirty things in her head while looking at her like that.

I’m surprised you didn’t make the lights flicker with that one. His smirk was infuriating and too fucking hot.

Pris eyed them across the table with a knowing grin but didn’t say anything. She had clearly picked up on the vibes of their internal dialog from the unruly swell of Mari’s magic, but there was nothing Mari could do to stifle her reaction to him.

You look like you want to slap me , he teased.

Those cheekbones were made to take a handprint , she tossed back, surprising herself with her vicious tone.

His expression sharpened into something predatory. Promises, promises.

She stared up into his fiery blue eyes. You’ll regret taunting me.

Not even a little. There was no provocation in his voice now, only longing.

When they arrived at the grotto after dinner was done, it was lit with what seemed like a thousand tiny fireflies. Dohal lounged easily on the bed with a long green skirt the same color as the foliage. His eyes glowed red with his power as they raked over her.

She wore a short yellow dress with a ruffle at mid-thigh, but with him appraising her like that, she felt like she was wearing much less. Ashdei came up behind her, silent as a shadow.

His hands skated over her hips as he leaned to whisper in her ear, “He told me what you said you wanted to do to me that first night—tie me up and make me watch him take you.”

She shivered as arousal bloomed in her belly. “Would you like that?”

Her demon chuckled. “I don’t think it matters, because you obviously would.”

Mari looked back over her shoulder. “You know that’s now how I operate.”

“Let me clarify then.” Ashdei showed her a slow smile. “What I would very much like is for you to use me—in whatever way you desire most.” He licked the shell of her ear. “The more depraved the better.”

She searched his face for a moment that drew out long. “How much pain do you like?”

“Much more than you’re willing to give out, I assure you.”

“We’ll see.” She walked toward the bed at a leisurely pace, letting her hips sway with each step.

Dohal watched her approach with a bemused smile on his generous lips. Are you finally ready to embrace that dark part of you that you have been so afraid of?

Is there a possibility that I could really harm him?

He took her in with a slow glance. With the power you wield now? Certainly. But I would not let you.

You promise?

I would never let you hurt yourself that way. His voice in her head was solemn and earnest.

She turned to sit in front of Dohal facing Ashdei, her legs dangling over the edge of the bed. “Kneel before me.”

Ashdei rushed to comply, falling to his knees but not touching her. The blue tendrils of her power unfurled, moving to caress his body through his clothes. He watched them with amusement, chuckling when she fondled him through his pants.

Mari swallowed and gave that dark part of her, the one that Dohal was always urging her to touch, a little more control. The smoky blue magic wrapped Ashdei’s wrists in a flicker of motion too fast to track. He struggled against their pull, but after a moment his eyes widened in surprised when he realized he couldn’t actually resist them.

Saints, he was delicious.

Dohal’s hand rested lightly on her shoulder. “Did you taste that flicker of fear? Like something exquisite on your tongue?”

“Yes.” Her mouth watered for another morsel just like that one.

The black curls of Dohal’s magic engulfed her and moved beyond to rip every stitch of clothing from Ashdei in an instant.

The demon gasped but did an admirable job of staying still, even though another flash of fear shimmered through him. Already, his cock was hard and heavy. She could feel the way he longed for her, and she wanted to bask in it forever.

“Take your true form,” Mari said in a voice that was nearer the goddess’s than hers, harsh and demanding.

Ashdei obeyed at once, as if he couldn’t resist doing what she commanded—his body growing and thickening, his horns and wings sprouting. Her magic snaked up around his powerful arms and circled his neck, tightening until she was certain he would have to struggle for breath.

The demon bared his fangs at her and snarled. She felt him tug against her magic again, straining to get free. The longer he fought, the more fearful he became—but there was more. Under the mounting alarm, she could sense the wild current of his desire. He enjoyed the battle. He lived for it.

Each time she bested him, his lust soared. She drank it down in gluttonous gulps until she felt drunk on him.

“Luscious,” Dohal drawled. “He’s even better than I thought he’d be.” His magic rubbed over hers, touching the demon where she did, his touch lighter, almost delicate. Wrapping his arms around her, he spread her thighs and hiked her dress up to her waist. “What else do you want?”

No answer came immediately to mind, but something inside her knew, nonetheless. The curls of her magic sharpened at the edges, enough to draw blood everywhere they touched him. Ashdei bellowed in pain. His terror perfumed the air around them. At the same time, his adoration swelled until she thought her heart would burst with it.

“He craves taming,” Dohal rumbled in her ear. “Give it to him.” He slid his thick fingers into her around the edge of her panties.

Her magic coiled around Ashdei’s horns and tugged his head back, bowing his spine. Another offshoot of her power slithered around his cock, winding tight until he gasped.

“Perfect,” Dohal praised. His magic once again mimicked hers, only softer, caressing. He stroked his fingers in and out of her in a slow rhythm that had her hips rising to meet him and her mouth falling open.

Her magic copied the sensual motion of Dohal’s hands, pumping Ashdei’s cock as he spluttered for breath. Blue-fire tears ran down his face, spawning wisps of smoke where they landed on the plush greenery around him.

“He burns for you.” Dohal drove his fingers deep, making her body arch. “As do I.”

Mari turned her head to accept his ardent kiss. His tongue pressed into her mouth to taste her. She opened to him without hesitation, welcoming him into her body as she always did and always would. His hunger soared with her surrender until it was so overwhelming she couldn’t even think.

Dohal withdrew his fingers, ripping off her panties in the process. He manhandled her onto her back under him in an instant and plunged his cock into her, all restraint forgotten. He was huge, and she cried out at the abrupt penetration but clutched his back at the same time, pulling him to her. She’d never needed anything as badly as this. He took her in a feral and vicious claiming that left her sore and throbbing in the best way, utterly undone. Ashdei was forced to watch them the entire time, his desire growing until it loomed over them all.

When he was done, Dohal moved to stretch out next to her, still breathing hard. She moved to the edge of the bed. With a light, teasing touch, she played with herself where Ashdei could see while Dohal’s seed dripped from her cunt. Ashdei groaned with need.

“The only way you taste me tonight is if you clean up the mess he left,” she said as she released him. The sting of humiliation at not being able to pleasure her properly hit him just right by the way his entire body coiled with tension.

Ashdei ached with wanting her as he crawled forward on his knees and buried his face between her legs. With an eager murmur, he lapped at her swollen cunt. She stroked her magic over his cock lazily. When she tired of the slow build, she applied more friction, and he moaned into her.

Using her magic to grip his horns and angle his mouth away from her, she increased the pace of her fondling. The dark part of her wasn’t done with him yet. “You’re not doing a very good job,” she crooned to him, feeling wicked. “I may never let you make me come.” When his desire surged again, she chuckled.

The humiliation and arousal battled inside him, sharpening each other and making both keener. After the long teasing he’d endured, the stimulation was too much, and his climax rushed through him in moments, his seed spilling over, wasted. She ran a toe along his thigh through the mess he’d left and felt him react with another surge of arousal.

She let him return to his task when he was done shaking. He sucked her clit between his lips and flicked his tongue over her. His desire to please her thrummed through his body, but when she teetered on the edge a while later, she pulled him away once more.

He growled with frustration.

Mari laughed and patted his cheek. Her magic wound around him, thorny and wild, slicing him whenever he struggled. She squeezed his balls until he yelped and redoubled her efforts tugging on his gorgeous cock.

“How many times do you think I can do this to you before you pass out?” she asked, low and dirty.

Ashdei whimpered when she made him come again, his hips jerking. Shame and overwhelming lust filled him in equal measure.

Next to her, Dohal smirked. “Are you torturing him or yourself?”

She arched her back when she let Ashdei resume his loving worship of her cunt. “A little bit of both.”

With a disapproving click of his tongue, Dohal grabbed her wrists and pushed them over her head. “You will not deprive yourself while you carry my young.” She squealed in protest, but he was much too strong to resist.

“Impress with me with how hard you make her come or next time I’m letting her toy with you as long as she wants,” Dohal growled to the demon.

Saints, she loved it when he got bossy. It made everything inside her flutter. She struggled against his hold just to feel his grip tighten around her wrists and released her power.

Ashdei pushed her thighs wide and set to work with a zeal that had her on edge in short order. His lips and tongue should come with a godsdamned warning label as deadly weapons, because holy fuck, did he know how to use them. She tried to resist him as long as she could, writhing under him and trying to squirm away until he dug in with his fingers to hold her still. The kiss of pain was delicious.

With a growl of feral need, he bit down on her clit, and she detonated, her thighs and belly clenching with the force of the release. She cried out loudly enough to make the trees above them shake.

He didn’t pause for a moment, even when she was shuddering under him in the throes of her climax, and pressed his fingers into her trembling body as he suckled on her throbbing clit. Still burning with his desire to please her, he built her up to another toe-curling orgasm right on the heels of the first.

Dohal claimed her mouth when she was whimpering helplessly with pleasure, scouring every inch with his tongue, as if he craved the taste of her more than air. He held her jaw and stared into her eyes when he pulled back. “That was lovely. How do you feel?”

Mari paused to consider. She glanced down at where Ashdei had collapsed over her, once again in his human form, with his head on her abdomen. He radiated contentment in a way she’d never felt from him. She ran her fingers through his hair. “Good. Sated.”

“How about you?” Dohal rested a hand on Ashdei’s head in a gesture that was distinctly tender.

“Perfect,” the demon murmured. “But I hope we’re sleeping just like this, because I’m not moving.”

Dohal snorted. “She sleeps however she is comfortable, and you’ll make do.”

Ashdei huffed, much more pleased than annoyed. “Fine.”

“We can stay like this for a while,” Mari said, curling her fingers in her demon’s hair. She was way too comfortable to consider moving at the moment anyway.

Dohal wrapped his arms around her and snuggled closer, his breath warm on her skin.