17. Ember

17

EMBER

I know, I know. I had just told Mayhem I needed time to process all the new emotions flooding my system, but I couldn't lie… Hearing this powerful man, this Prince of Hell , say he was here to serve me turned me on to no end.

That was one emotion I didn't need to process.

He had a cocky attitude and anger issues, yet he'd been so gentle massaging my shoulders. I'd been on the receiving end of a back rub from a man a few times, but Mayhem was the only one who paid attention to the task, actually feeling the tightness in my muscles and working out the sore spots. Everyone else just squeezed a few times, hoping it would be enough to get them into my pants.

Mayhem seemed to care about more than my vagina, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and that was an emotion I needed time to process. Warm and fuzzy I was not.

At least, I didn't used to be.

After we cleaned up our dinner mess, Ash and Chaos retired to their room, leaving me alone in the kitchen with Mayhem.

"How is your headache?" he asked like he was genuinely concerned.

"It's better, thanks to you." I drew my lower lip between my teeth, and his gaze slid down to my mouth. "I guess we should head to bed."

"Indeed." His eyes met mine, and we stood there, staring, his gaze penetrating all the way to my soul. "Shall I sleep in Cinder's room again?"

I opened my mouth to say yes, but the word didn't make it past my throat. Instead, I stepped toward him, resting my palms against his chest and rising to my toes to kiss him. His lips were soft against mine, the facial hair around them more like silk than the coarseness I would have expected had I not already kissed him today.

What happened this morning felt like weeks ago. Logically, I should not have been falling this hard, this fast, for anyone, much less a demon prince. Yet, there I was, sliding my arms around his shoulders and leaning into him.

He rested his hands on my hips, opening to me, brushing his tongue to mine before pulling back, his eyes searching mine. "You said you needed time."

"I know. I do." But time for what? To come to terms with the fact that I was fated to him? Really, there weren't any terms I could come to. Fate was fate, and fighting it would only lead to trouble. I should listen to my heart. The heart always knew what was right, but my brain wouldn't shut the eff up.

If I allowed myself to go all in, I would get my heart broken. This budding relationship had a hard and fast expiration date, and I wasn't sure I'd survive the ending.

"Fate is a fickle bitch." Emotion tightened my chest, one fist around my heart, the other squeezing my throat.

"Perhaps. It's possible fate brought us together simply to teach us a lesson before pulling us apart." He cupped my face in his hands. "That isn't what this feels like, though."

"But we will be torn apart. It's the only way to set the world right."

He stroked my cheek with his thumb. "I would gladly destroy this world and mine if it meant I could spend eternity with you."

See? That right there should have been a massive red flag to a light witch, but it wasn't. Not to this light witch, anyway. Never had I ever been desired—loved?—this fiercely. Hecate have mercy on my soul.

"I don't want you to destroy anything but my family's curse."

"I know." He tucked my hair behind my ear.

"Can I have your promise that you won't?"

"No." He held my gaze, studying my reaction. "I will not make a promise to you that I can't keep."

Was that another red flag? Or was it a green one? My stomach was doing this weird combination of fluttering, turning, and clenching, and I had no idea how to interpret it.

"You could keep it if you wanted to."

He slid his hands to my shoulders. "If anyone causes you pain, they will pay. I will not be able to stop myself. You are mine to protect."

"I can take care of myself." Good goddess, these emotions needed to chill the eff out.

A smile curved his lips. "I know. It's one of the many things I love about you."

Add flip-flops to my stomach's gymnastics show. "How can you call this love when you've only known me a week?"

"My soul has known yours since the beginning of time. Our energies were created as one, then separated, half into my realm, half into yours. My darkness has been searching for your light since the moment we split, and now that I've found you, we are whole once again."

His words sank deep into my soul, resonating in my being and making themselves at home.

"I call this love because there is no other single word that can convey this connection to you. Even love does not do our bond justice, but there is no other way to describe it."

"You've done a pretty good job." I clutched the back of his neck, pulling him down until his mouth met mine.

An mmm vibrated across his lips as he slid his arms around me, pulling me close. Whether or not this was love, I couldn't say, but I was tired of thinking. My mind was exhausted from trying to decipher my emotions, so I gave up.

I wanted Mayhem. He wanted me. Why shouldn't we act on it?

I kissed him harder, reveling in the heat of his mouth and the sensation of his rock-hard dick pressing into my stomach. When I nipped his bottom lip between my teeth, he groaned and lifted me onto the countertop.

I spread my legs so he could fit between them, and he pulled me closer, pressing his groin against me and kissing me like I was his last breath of air. He slid one hand up my back to fist in my hair while he cupped my breast with the other.

With a tug, he angled my neck, giving himself better access to the sensitive spot beneath my ear. His lips grazed my skin before his tongue slipped out, gliding up to my earlobe and raising goosebumps on my arms.

"You belong to me." His breath whispered across my ear, making me shiver in a good way.

"You've got it backwards." I popped the button on his jeans. " You belong to me ." I reached into his pants and wrapped my hand around his dick.

His breath came out as a hiss. "Yes, I do."

"You'll do anything I want you to." I stroked his length twice, my mouth watering at the contrast of silky-soft skin on his rock-hard girth.

He inhaled deeply, pressing his forehead to mine and closing his eyes. "I will. Anything."

"Take me to bed."

"It will be my pleasure." He lifted me from the counter and carried me to my bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him before lowering my feet to the floor.

I cast a quick silencing spell and pushed him toward the bed, shoving his pants to the floor on the way. He kicked them aside and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling it forward, over his head, and tossing it onto the pile.

Heat pooled below my navel as I took in the sheer perfection of Mayhem. The dark hair sprinkled across his muscular chest made my fingers twitch to touch him, to follow the trail down his defined abs and take his length into my hand…and then into my mouth. Yes, he was a demon, but he could have been a god.

His deep purple eyes glinted with desire, and when I licked my lips, his pupils dilated.

"Sit down." I pressed my palm to his chest, and he obeyed, sinking onto the edge of the bed and spreading his legs.

Resting a hand on each of his muscular thighs, I lowered to my knees and looked up at him. His lips parted like he wanted to say something, but when I flicked out my tongue, licking him from bottom to top, his words turned into a moan.

I circled my tongue around his tip before grazing it with my teeth. That earned me a groan as he gripped the edge of the bed. I took his first two inches into my mouth and wrapped my hand around his base.

His stomach clenched as I sucked, taking him in deeper, and the tips of his talons began to protrude from his fingers. I rested one hand on top of his, and he curled it into a fist. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I whispered against his dick, turning his skin to gooseflesh as I licked him. "I love having this effect on you."

He relaxed his fingers, and as I took him into my mouth as deeply as I could, his talons extended even more. He moaned as I sucked him, and when he rested his clawed hand atop my head, moisture pooled between my legs.

A deep growl rumbled in his chest, and with a sharp intake of air, he tugged my hair, pulling me away from his dick. The purple of his irises bled outward, undulating as it overtook the white, making my pulse sprint.

His nostrils flared, his eyes narrowing, his expression that of a predator about to devour his prey. A trill of fear shimmied up my spine, my body reacting to the imaginary danger of being stared down by a demon.

But this wasn't just any demon. Mayhem was my demon, and he was about to make me his witch.

I rose to my feet, instinctively taking a step back. Adrenaline coursed through me, heightening my arousal, and as he stood, looming over me, I unbuttoned my jeans, my pulse whooshing in my ears as I shoved them to the floor.

He stepped forward, splaying his fingers. My stomach flipped as I took off my shirt and bra. Another step toward me, and he glided the dull side of a talon across my stomach before hooking the sharp side into my underwear and ripping them off with a flick of his wrist.

My heart pounded so hard, I could see its rhythm in my chest.

With a hand on either side of me, he boxed me in, pinning me against the wall. A hint of tusks protruded from his gums, making me tremble in an oh-so-good way.

I clutched his dick, stroking it as I licked my lips. "I'm not afraid of you."

I fully expected him to tell me I should be, but he didn't. His gaze wandered over my face, pausing on my mouth before returning to my eyes. "Good. I don't want you to be. This is who I am."

"I know." I brushed my lips to his and slipped my tongue between the tips of his tusks. They hadn't fully extended, and they didn't hinder the kiss at all. In fact, they turned me on even more.

He moaned into my mouth, pressing his body to mine, and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him there. "I don't think I can hold back much longer," he said. "I need you."

"Then take me." Because I was about to explode with desire.

He pulled away, grabbing my hips and bending me over the bed before tracing his claws down my back. Goosebumps pricked every inch of my skin, and I spread my legs wider, bracing my arms on the mattress as he rubbed his tip against my wet folds.

I moaned, moving my hips toward him to take him inside. A pleasurable ache expanded in my core as he filled me completely, and he reached a human hand around my waist to stroke my clit.

Electricity pinged through my body, setting my nerves ablaze. He slid out until only his tip remained, and again I leaned into him, taking him deeper. Countering my movement, he pushed into me, circling his fingers on my sensitive nub as he ground his hips against me.

A masculine grunt emanated from his chest. He pumped his hips, a taloned hand clutching my shoulder while he rubbed me with human fingers. An orgasm coiled inside me, the delicious friction of his every move sending me closer and closer to the edge until my entire world exploded.

Ecstasy surged through my body, setting my soul on fire. I cried out in pleasure, shouting his name, and he growled, slamming into me three more times before sinking in so deep he penetrated my very being.

He huffed heavy breaths and placed his elbows on the bed, both his hands in their human form. Resting his front against my back, he nuzzled into my neck before pressing a kiss to the side of my head. "Did I hurt you?"

I laughed and turned, craning my neck to see him. "Quite the opposite."

His eyes and teeth had returned to normal, and with one more heavy breath, he pulled out and collapsed onto the mattress next to me. "You are everything."

I had no idea what to say to that, so I climbed under the covers and lifted the top of the blanket, inviting him in. He lay on his side, and I snuggled against him as the little spoon, clutching the arm he wrapped around me.

Even more emotions built in the core of my being, pinging off each other and swirling in a messy cyclone inside my soul. None of this was going like I'd planned. It felt as if I'd been hijacked by a person who knew how to feel . The problem was I didn't know what to do about it.

So I just lay there, staring straight ahead into the darkness and trying not to think about anything.

"I love you, Ember," he whispered against my hair.

I pretended to be asleep.