Page 7 of Taken to the Demon Court (Stolen Demon Brides #3)

EVE

W hat the actual fuck?

One second I was in the auction house where a pink-haired demon got all up in my personal space; the next I was waking up in the most extravagant-looking sitting room I had ever seen in my life.

Did she transport me here? They. There were two. Another one had handled the bidding.

Light streamed in from the floor-to-ceiling window. The ceiling literally glittered with gold flakes. The furniture in the room looked like something out of a royal palace, and the couch I was lying on was so comfy and soft and warm and— oh.

It wasn’t just a couch I was lying on.

I blinked rapidly as the demon I was resting my head on came into view. It was the same one from the auction house. Pink hair, small red horns, a wicked smile that told me she was ready to play, and bright red eyes…

Another one shifted near my legs. My eyes followed the movement to see the same exact demon sitting there with my legs across her lap. She looked at me with an almost bored expression .

Not the same. Twins. Fuck me.

I could still feel her body behind mine, her lips at my ear, and hear the sinful words she whispered before—clearly—rendering me unconscious somehow.

Be a good girl and let's not make this harder than it has to be.

Absolutely not what I had expected to be my first interaction with my purchaser . I didn’t expect her voice to be so silky smooth. Like melt-on-your-tongue smooth. Knows-what-to-do-between-your-legs smooth.

Stop it. Demons are supposed to be frightening, not weirdly attractive.

“Are you awake, darling? We’ve been waiting so patiently for you to join us,” said the one near my head.

Based on the look she was giving me, she was planning on fucking me. Or eating me. Or both.

My eyes fell to the one at my feet again. The thought of both of them wanting that from me had my stomach clenching with fantasies of them on either side of me. Their hands gripping me. Their tongues dancing along my flesh.

It was every girl's wet dream.

But this isn’t a dream, and I’m still not sure I’m not about to be eaten alive—and not in the sexy way.

The one at my feet ran her blackened claws up my legs, disappearing under the skirt of my puffy blue dress.

It had a silk-like texture and bunched at the sides. The petticoat was soft against my legs, and the corset too damn tight against my boobs.

Looking down, my cleavage was out and about for all eyes to see.

“I see you took the liberty to change me,” I said, looking back at the one above me.

I realized then that she wasn’t the one who had met me on stage; it had been the more stoic-looking one toward the end of the couch. A surprising realization, given what she had whispered to me—it sounded like a comment more fitting for the cockier one.

As if to prove me wrong, her claws raced up the skin of my legs, sending shivers up my spine.

“The court has rules,” the one at my feet said.

“Court,” I murmured. “Don’t tell me you’re like demon royalty or something.”

But I knew that already, given what had happened at the auction. I had been sold to her for a measly royal favor.

“Or something,” she replied.

The one above me placed her hand under my chin and forced me to look at her.

“What happened to that fighting spirit we saw earlier?” she asked. “I was excited to see what else you had in store for us. Or maybe this isn’t exciting enough for you? Shall I change my tactics?”

Fuck. Her insinuation had my heart pounding.

“You should tell me why you bought me,” I answered.

“You have a gift,” she said, moving hair away from my face. “A gift that we need for the time being.”

I raised a brow. “That’s it? Will you eat me after?”

The girl threw her head back with a laugh. It was warm and sensual. It was like the twins had a deep-seated, dark sexual energy that came out even in the simplest interactions.

Or maybe I‘m just severely touch-starved after rooming with a bunch of human sacrifices for days.

“We don’t eat humans very frequently,” the other said. “You will be free to go once you’re done.”

I looked down at her and held her gaze.

“And who are you two?”

“Eros,” she said.

“Oros,” the other said.

Bitterness washed across my tongue. Why are they choosing to lie about this ?

Admittedly, I had seen humans lie about extremely stupid stuff, but considering these were two demons who wanted to use me for my power, it seemed kind of odd their names were the first thing they decided to lie to me about.

“Is this a test?” I asked. “Giving me wrong names?”

I pushed off them and ran my hands down the fabric of the dress they had dressed me in. I had never owned—or worn—something that expensive or high quality in my life.

“We had a female servant change you if you’re worried about us seeing you naked,” Oros said.

I guess that’s sort of polite? It was nice that they didn’t undress me while I was out and found someone to do it instead.

“I’m not.” I stood, walking the room in silence.

“Good,” both of them answered in unison, and the implications of their reply did things to me. I desperately needed to put some distance between us.

When I was far enough away, I turned to them, taking in the demons in front of me.

They didn’t seem like they were going to hurt me.

Eros had her arms placed on the back of the couch, her legs wide open. The smirk on her face looked like it was etched into her skin.

Oros, on the other hand, was stiffer. She crossed her legs, raising her black-clawed hand over her knee. Her facial expression was unsatisfied, disinterested at best.

They both had pinkish hair in a mullet-like haircut. The same red short horns. Fangs that poked out of their mouths.

Save for their differing personalities and facial expressions, they looked exactly the same.

“Take me on a tour, would you?”

Eros’s smile widened, and she jumped up at my request.

“We like to employ those that have lived in this realm the longest,” Eros explained as we walked down the hallway.

“It means that they know it and are usually very loyal. This is a reward; not every demon out there can make the kind of money they do,” Oros added.

“What about the other realms you mentioned?” I asked.

According to the twins, the demon world was made up of various realms. This was the one that they resided in, the Demon Court.

It not only contained the king and the palace but also various cities where the common demon folk lived.

Apparently, the most powerful demons would get assigned a realm, and when they died, their offspring would take over.

How very eighteenth-century royal of them.

“Father doesn’t trust them,” Oros said, her eyes looking over at me before darting ahead to the empty hallway.

“They often have their own agendas,” Eros supplied. “There are a few good ones out there, though, and we don’t have to worry about those.”

“Like the ones who took the other girls?” I asked.

I just hoped Mia and Iris would be okay. I might have gotten lucky to be bought by demon twins that did not want to eat me, but that didn’t mean they were.

“You do not need to worry about your friends.” I jumped at the intensity of Oros’s tone, though she wouldn’t look at me as she said it.

Again, no lie detected. A strange bit of relief ran through me.

Growing up, I didn’t have many friends, and I had even less as I came into adulthood. I had regular clients, but I didn’t care for them. To be honest, I didn’t really care about people, which was why I was able to do the job I did.

But those girls were somehow an exception.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Eros cleared her throat as we came to an open double door .

“And this is where the common demons cook and have their meals,” Eros said, motioning out at the large workers’ kitchen. “They will make yours. They know a few edible human dishes.”

It looked very similar to a human one, with a row of ovens and a large butcher's block counter in the middle of the room.

Well, human kitchens didn’t have blood splattered all over the floors and walls or a pile of body parts on the counter. Though not all of them were human. I caught a very distinct black-clawed hand.

It was almost enough to make me queasy, but I held back my disgust as we surveyed the room.

There were more than a few demons in there when we walked in, all of them trying and failing not to stare. They looked very similar to the twins, with slight differences in hair color and stature. Nothing like the nonhuman-looking ones I saw at the auction.

These ones were less intimidating.

Whenever one of them caught my eye, I would watch their reactions like a hawk, trying to determine how they felt about a human roaming their halls.

If demons eat us and the twins are showing me around like some guest… What will they think of me?

But the workers didn’t seem to have any ill intent toward me. If anything, it seemed like they pitied me.

“Is it undesirable to be your plaything or something?” I asked, my gaze shifting to Eros.

The smile that lit up her face had my stomach flipping. She led us back through the double door and motioned for me to go first.

“Is that what you want to be, darling?”

I searched her face for a break in the mask, but there was none. Stepping out into the hall again, I steadied myself. The exhaustion from the whole ordeal of being sold and whisked off to a new place with demon twins was starting to weigh on me.

I would kill for a nice, deep sleep back home in my own bed. Hell, I’d even settle for the beds back in the auction place. They were tall, soft, and the comforters were very fluffy. The type of fluffy you could bundle yourself in and block out all the noise from the outside.

I remember distinctly doing that when I was about six or seven and hiding from my parents’ arguments.

The memory hit me like a slap to the face.

The exhaustion is making my traumatic memories come alive.

“It would seem that’s what the house believes,” I said, looking back at Oros, who was following us closely. “Isn’t that right?”

Her face did not betray her thoughts on the matter.

“They can assume whatever they want,” she replied in a low tone.

I was about to ask her what those assumptions were, but I was cut off by a group of three demons walking down the hall. They were all girls with extremely long hair that fell past their butts, wearing flowy dresses that hid their figures and a bright, shimmering gold pin attached to their chests.

They looked at me like they were the popular girls and I was the new kid in school.

Fresh meat.

They took their time, looking me up and down, laughing as they walked past.

“Didn’t you learn your lesson after watching your father punish the treasurer?” one of the women asked.

Oros stepped around me, shielding my body with hers.

“Didn’t you learn yours when you were demoted to the lower court after the last time you tried to annoy us, Freya?”

Eros let out a laugh.

“Feisty today, Oros? ”

Is this not usual for her?

From my position, I could only make out half her face, but she didn’t give away her true feelings.

The woman in the middle flinched, her smile dropping just a smidge.

“I didn’t know you were so protective of your food,” Freya spat out. “Or maybe a new toy? If so, that’s even more embarrassing.”

Eros stepped forward with a smile. Her facial expression was so warm I didn’t even have time to prepare for the way her clawed hand flew through the air and smacked the demon right on the side of her face, her nails leaving red marks on her skin.

“Say that again,” Eros commanded.

What the fuck? I had been around criminals before. Murderers. The best money was with the most dangerous clientele.

But none of them had ever been able to surprise me like that .

“Excuse me, I wasn’t thinking,” she said quickly, her eyes falling to the floor.

“Evidently,” Oros said. “ Leave .”

They scurried away without another word.

Eros and Oros both looked back at me, though only one of them had a dazzling smile that caused my breath to catch.

“Where were we?”