Page 23 of The Devil's Menage

“We bring each other pleasure,” he said, though his sly grin had disappeared.

“Do you love him?”

She wondered if Bellinor was like Celeste to him, a being he cherished beyond all measure, though with the distinct difference that he was corporeal in this world, unlike the moon mother.

“Love? There is no love in le Voile, just lust and rapture. I give myself to him in any way he asks, and he sustains me.”

“Sustains you?”

In a flash, Rul was on top of her, pinning both arms above her head. He ground his erection against her entrance, the sensation awakening the arousal that always seemed to lay dormant within her.

“An incubus feeds on lust and pleasure, on the exquisite excess of erotic revelry. I need it to survive.”

His mouth was at her neck, biting, sucking, pressing kisses to the skin that made her entire body hum with need.

“Is that why Bellinor kidnaps people? For you or for him?”

Rul cocked his head, slowing his rutting.

“He doesn’tkidnapanyone. They all come here willingly.Including you.”

Isabelle struggled in his grasp, tired of the way they continued to put the blame on her, but as always, it was useless.

“You all keep saying that, but I didn’t realize what it meant to be bonded.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Tears burned her eyes, guilt welling in her chest and tightening her throat. Itwasher fault, for letting her lust consume her, for listening to the needs of her body and not her soul. She’d failed Celeste, had failed the temple, had failed herself.

“There, there, don’t cry,” he said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “I can tell he is pleased with you. I am too. You will be different from the others. I promise I can…behave.”

A tremor of fear met the tingling burn of arousal, a curiosity it would probably be wiser not to satisfy, but she needed to know.

“What happened to the others?”

“Sometimes we forget our own strength. Eventually we tire of them and offer them freedom.”

Horror twisted in her stomach like a knife, her mind whirling with all the possibilities of what his answer meant. But perhaps there was some hope.

“Offer them freedom?”

He nodded.

“Yes, though they are forever changed by their time here.”

“So, I’ll be able to go home?”

Rul cocked his head with a wry smile.

“I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Not with the way Bellinor looks at you like you’re the most valuable jewel in the universe.”

Cold shuddered up her spine, and she started struggling again, a distinct sense of unease permeating through her. She was a nobody, worth nothing at all, certainly not some prized trinket to put on a pedestal.

“Can you get off me?”

Rul held her down for a few more moments before rolling his eyes and sliding off of her, though he pulled her into his arms.

“Would you like me to show you around?”