Page 73 of Lord of Bones

I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting. A relaxing bath? Not with this man. I guess I’d known that this would turn into another dark game. He’d warned me it would. And I’d gone with him willingly. He’d given me an out, and I’d denied it.

We both knew I wanted this.

I wanted this as much as he did.

It’s like he’d helped awaken something inside me. Something dangerous and volatile, something that made me feel powerful, and more alive than ever.

“New plan. I don’t need a safe word,” I said, a cocky smirk lifting my lips. “Cross my boundaries and I’ll just stab you. Sound good?”

Belial stared at me, then after the most intense seconds of silence of my life, he laughed. He strode back toward the tub and fell to his knees before me.

The demon sat on his heels, completely soaked, his black shirt sticking to his chest and strands of his hair sticking to his temples. “Feel better?”

My mind was reeling. Adrenaline slammed through my veins, the afterglow coursing through me, making my body light and tingly. His cruel ministrations had relieved the pressure inside me, like cuts meant to drain poison.

It was a heady combination of things that had all my aches and pains, my anxiety, and all the other bullshit that had been weighing on me, gone in a blink.

“I feel better,” I admitted on a rasp, my eyes wide as realization sunk in.

“Good,” he said, a smug smile in his voice. “Now that we’ve had that little warm up…”

He pulled off his shirt, revealing a chiseled torso littered in more scars and faded ink.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Getting in."

He dropped his wet shirt to the floor and his hands went to the laces on his pants.

"B-but I'm filthy."

He titled his head, the silver hanging from his horns jingling. "And that’s supposed to deter me? Move over.”

Chapter27

RAYVEN

I staredat the demon’s naked body, my jaw going slack at the sight of him. Belial was so fucking sexy, my brain stalled out as my hungry eyes wolfed down his every detail.

His pale skin was covered in swathes of ancient ink, old scars, and a fine filth of sweat that shone in the candlelight.

He stripped out of everything except for his silver cuff and chain decorating his cock, the charms and chains dangling from his horns, and of course, the mask.

The mask always stayed on.

I shuffled toward the center of the tub, and he sank into the water behind me.

“You can relax,” Belial’s delicious, velvety voice said as his arms came up around me, pulling me against his chest. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I did just stab you…” I murmured, my muscles tensing.

The demon gave a sigh as he reached for one of the bottles on the ledge and dumped some divine smelling soap into his palm. “I probably deserved it.”

He began to work the shampoo into my hair, building up a lather. I expected the water to muddy the moment I hit the water, but it stayed pristine even as I smoothed my hands over my skin, washing the grime loose. Whatever Belial put in the bath, it must have been a spell of sorts to keep the water clean and clear.

As he washed me, my muscles relaxed some and I settled against him, the ripples of his muscular chest against my back sending a pulse of heat straight to my core.

I knew he planned to make me hurt later, make me ache in a way only he could. And this right here, this perfect moment of solace in the middle of a shitstorm, would be worth every second of the pain. It would make the agony oh so sweet.