Chapter 14

ChapterFourteen

He’d meant what he said. Lust could not protect Selene if she was hidden away in her own room, where his brother could sneak at any point. Greed could find her anywhere, but his brother was not likely to take a woman out from under his nose.

And damn it, he’d wanted her in his bed since the first moment he’d seen her on that street. Let alone when she’d challenged him in the tavern.

If he wanted to slide his hands over those smooth thighs, or test the weight of her breasts, or lick his way between her thighs to see if she tasted like sweet honey or if she was as icy there as everywhere else, why should he not? He was lust incarnate. He was meant to be desired and for others to desire. But this foolish little mortal had tested everything he believed and he couldn’t get his head wrapped around it.

Running his hands through his hair, he stalked through the halls toward the dining room. He hadn’t returned to his own bed for the better part of three nights while he tried to piece through his thoughts.

He’d stood outside the door a few times, though. Staring at the wood as though he could see through it and peek into the scene beyond. Was she sleeping in his bed? Did her dark hair spread out across his pillow, leaving the sweet scent of peppermint all throughout his sheets?

The thought made him impossibly hard. It made him want to knock down the door and slip underneath the covers with her.

And that was why he hadn’t gone back to his own bedroom. He couldn’t. What would he do if he did?

Lust knew his own limitations. He knew she didn’t want him there, and that by forcing her to move into his room, he’d overstepped the lines of trust they were trying to build.

But he didn’t know why that trust mattered to him!

He could get himself together. He’d be perfectly charming during dinner, proving to her that he was a good man with good intentions, and why should she be afraid of her king? She should fear demons. But he was a spirit of lust, a blessing upon these lands.

Setting his shoulders and a fake smile on his face, he opened the doors and stepped into the candlelight beyond. The servants had removed what was a normally massive table with at least twenty chairs around it. Instead, they’d filled the room with flowers. Bright bouquets with splashes of pinks, reds, and purples had rained petals onto the floor. As he stepped, their scent rose from the delicate petals he crushed beneath his heels.

They had changed the large table out for a smaller round table, still large enough to seat six, but with only two place settings and mounds of food upon it. Candlelight glimmered all around them, hanging from the ceiling on silver threads that were almost invisible to the naked eye. As such, the lights hovered around them, flickering and swaying with the slightest breeze.

And then there was her. His little moon goddess sitting in the chair on the opposite side of the table with a glass of wine in her hands. She eyed him, clearly not sure what to think of the banquet he’d thrown for the two of them.

“Good evening,” he said, his voice catching in his throat.

Embarrassing. He had seduced queens before. Women who were actual goddesses that graced these lands for only a few moments before they returned to their own realms. Lust knew how to make a woman swoon and fall at his feet with desire.

But not this one. He had no idea how to convince this woman to spend time with him. No, that wasn’t right. He didn’t know how to convince her to fall into his bed. That was all. Spending time with her was merely an enjoyable side benefit.

He wanted to hit himself. Enjoyable wasn’t the right word either. They argued, she belittled him. There was no enjoyment in their time together other than the chase.

Yes. That was better.

With these thoughts in mind, it was easier to walk over to the table and drag his chair from the opposite side to sit next to her. He sat down with his legs spread wide and relaxation in every single muscle of his body. She did not wriggle underneath his skin at all. He languidly looked her over, as though she were nothing more than a puzzle for him to figure out. In fact, he was so unaffected that he even crossed his ankles.

She eyed him with the same suspicion as always. “Why am I here?”

“I thought mortals needed to eat.”

“We do. But you and I have never eaten together.” She lifted her glass to her lips, and he watched the graceful movement with rapt attention.

Her neck was so thin. Delicate. Easy to wrap his hands around if he wanted to, and he did. Lust could already see the red marks he’d leave on that pale skin, the purplish bruising of his mouth where he would latch onto her as she screamed out his name.

Damn it.

She lifted a brow as she set her glass back on the table. “Is something bothering you?”

She knew. Of course, the sorceress knew that she’d already woven him into her web. He hated it, but had no idea how to struggle his way out of this one.

“You mentioned trust,” he said, reaching across her for his own goblet of wine. Pouring the red liquid, he steadied himself by watching the light dance off the wine. “Is this not a way to build trust?”

“Did you read that spending time with each other over food might inspire trust to develop?” she asked.

He had, but he wouldn’t admit it. “I just wanted to spend time with you. No book is required for that.”

“I don’t understand why you would want to spend time with me. We clearly don’t like each other.” Selene’s eyes saw too much. They narrowed at him, as though she were trying to peer into his mind. “But that’s what you expected me to say, isn’t it?”

“You are very perceptive for one so young.” He drained his glass of wine in a single gulp before pouring another. “I’ve taken an interest in you, little moon.”

“Why is that?”

“For the reasons you already know.”

“Yes, because I somehow can’t feel your power.” She shrugged. “That’s not a reason for you to be so interested. There are others like me, you said. Others less plain.”

“Perhaps it is because your mother sent you to me like a sacrifice. Minerva made it very clear what her plan was for you. Come to the castle. Seduce me. Get me under your thumb so I fall head over heels for you, place you beside me on the throne, and then you will bring the sorceresses here. Together, they will all either overwhelm me with magic or I will follow along like a puppet while she threatens me with your death.” He lifted his wine goblet to her. “And yet now that you are here, I find you to be stubborn, obstinate, and very much avoidant of even being around me. I find that curious.”

Her eyes had widened with every word he said. Lust felt better, knowing he controlled the conversation. He’d startled her, and Selene didn’t seem to battle as well when she was jarred off her pedestal.

“I...” She hesitated before swallowing a mouthful of wine. “I am not my mother’s puppet, as you claim me to be.”

“So you were listening in on the conversation before you surprisingly showed up.” He grinned. “Listening from the eaves is rather devious, don’t you think?”

“I have no interest in serving anyone but myself.” She seemed uncomfortable even saying the words. “My mother has taught me since I was a child to serve her, and that my purpose would be to tempt you. You are correct in that.”

“And?” He waited for her to respond before gesturing with a hand. “You were trained for this. Why are you so bad at it?”

Her eyes flared with anger. “They weren’t even upset that I was leaving. They saw my enslavement to a man who they proclaimed to be a demon as something good for themselves. I miss them. I miss my home every day. I think about them when I walk through the halls of this place and wonder if they are thinking of me. But I know the answer to that question. They do not. And if they are thinking about me, then they are only wondering if I have succeeded and if they should pack their things so that they can make a new life in this castle. I fear the moment they come here, they will forget about me again. Set me aside like a little doll who they can pull out when they want me to make a show of it. Is that enough for you? Is that enough of a reason for why I have been struggling here to understand first what you want with me and second why I was even sent here or if I wanted to be?”

She took a large breath after that purging of her fears, before her eyes widened. Perhaps she hadn’t expected to be quite so honest with him.

It was more than he’d expected as well.

Lust licked his lips, taking his time as he started on his second cup of wine. He watched her chest heave with her emotions, her eyes flashing with a challenge for him to catch her in a lie. But she wasn’t lying. She was just as confused as he was, for different reasons.

“So what do you want?” he asked. “Deny the Tower. Throw away what you were trained to be or do. Who are you then?”

Her eyes widened before she met his gaze with nothing short of horror in her own. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to know?”

“I... I’m not sure.”

“Then, as I see it, you have two options.” He set down his wine and started filling a plate for her while he talked. “You can continue down the same path you’ve been walking. You can do what Minerva and your sisters want you to do. It is familiar. I don’t think anyone would blame you for choosing the comfortable option. Or you can deviate from that path and carve out something new. Try whatever you want here. That is the basis of what lust is.” He handed her the plate full of food, keeping his hand on it even as she grabbed it. He made her look him in the eye. “Lust is about indulging yourself. Whatever gives you pleasure, do it. Take it. If it does not serve you or please you any longer, let it go.”

She picked at the food on the plate, obviously giving his words a thought. He’d rather she agree than to ignore him. After all, she was in his castle.

The idea of tempting her with whatever she wanted? Seven kingdoms. It did something to him that he hadn’t felt since he first took a physical form. He wanted to see that newness through her. He wanted to watch her experience the world and all its decadence while he feasted on her emotions.

Lust would give anything to feel that newness again. He was ancient. He’d forgotten what it even felt like. This was as close as he’d get.

She rolled a strawberry in honey, not looking at him as she popped the red berry into her mouth. “I don’t know what I want. No one has ever asked me that before, and yet you seem to think that I will be able to ask for something that I do not know exists.”

He almost groaned. But somehow, he held himself together, leaned forward, and forced her to look at him with a gentle hand under her chin. “Then let me. Let me offer you the world on a platter, Selene. If you do not like what I offer, we will throw it away. Trust me to know what you need.”

Her lips parted with a soft inhalation and he almost kissed her. Almost tasted her bitter anger on his tongue, and he knew her lips would burn him. He wanted that, he realized. He wanted her to scorch him, destroy him, tear everything he knew from his flesh until he was remade in her pleasure.

But Selene was not a simple woman. She licked her lips and then replied, “I’ll think about it.”

Disappointment flooded through him. Damn it, he thought he’d had her. But Lust was not one to be beaten that easily.

He inclined his head and replied, “That is all I can ask.”

Then he reached for her hand, her fingers still coated in honey, and licked the sweetness from her skin. He took his time. Swirling his tongue around every single digit, knowing she should be flooded with an answering warmth. He seduced her as only a demon could, then let out a pulse of his own power to encourage lust to grow within her.

Nothing. Not even a tiny hint that she’d felt a single thing from his touch.

Sighing, he dropped her hand and slumped back in his chair. “Absolutely ridiculous. Are you a block of ice, woman?”

She laughed.

Shocked, he watched as she tilted her head back and burst into laughter. Her long throat worked, her eyes squeezed shut in mirth, and her dark hair tangled down her back. Loose. Unbound as he had wanted it to be the first time he’d seen her.

The sound was better than any he’d heard in his life. Lust had never been fond of laughter. Usually that was insulting in the bedroom, but now he wondered what it would sound like in the dead of night. Selene would try to keep herself quiet because she wouldn’t want to wake everyone, and he would keep teasing her until she burst out like this. Laughing too loud for a lady, but she wouldn’t care if someone heard her.

This was Selene, he realized. These were the moments when he got to see the real her. Not the Selene who had been cultivated by the sorceresses or told how to act. No one had ever tried to change her laugh or told her how to find humor in moments like this.

He found an answering smile on his own lips as he sipped at his drink. “What is so funny?”

She shook her head, wiping tears from her eyes. “You really are very unlikeable, do you know that?”

“No one has ever said that to me before.”

“I wish you were less charming. It might make it easier for others to see what I do.” She shook her head again, still chuckling. “You’ve never had to work for this, have you?”

“Work for what?” Lust leaned forward, curious about what this strange human would say.

“To make someone like you. Getting them to trust you just to spend time with them. You’ve always had relationships handed to you because someone wanted what you could give them.” Selene hadn’t stopped smiling, so her words had a little less bite. “Perhaps we are good for each other, demon king.”

“Perhaps.” He set his wine down on the table and placed his hands on his thighs. “Are you really not attracted to me? Not even a little?”

She looked down at the alcohol before responding. “It’s probably the wine talking, but yes. I am attracted to you. I told you before, I feel attraction. And you were clearly made to be attractive to any and everyone.”

Lust preened. “I knew you had to feel something.”

“But I need more than physical attraction to be interested in someone. I stand by what I said. Trust is very important to me, and not because I want to trust someone before I get close to them. I don’t think I ever trusted anyone worthwhile in my entire life. The longer I’m here, the more I realize how sad that is. And I don’t want to be sad anymore.”

The words were sobering. He could feel his expression softening even as he stood. Lust gave her a small bow before reaching for her hand again.

This time, he noticed she didn’t tense up when he pressed a kiss to the backs of her fingers. “I will do everything in my power to make you happy here, little moon. All I hope is that you trust me to offer you what you want. Or perhaps what you need.”

“I haven’t given you my answer on that yet.”

“Then think about it while you finish dinner. I will leave you to enjoy the banquet on your own, as you have made very clear.” He didn’t tell her that he had plans to make.

Plans to seduce a woman who could not be seduced.