Chapter 34

ChapterThirty-Four

They denied him access to the Tower. Selene had known they wouldn’t let him in, of course. Since when had any of her siblings allowed a man to be in their home without repercussions?

What she hadn’t expected was to miss him. She’d thought she would walk into her old home, the same young woman she’d been before. Selene truly believed nothing had changed.

She would see her mother and her sisters, and they would all rejoice that she’d survived thus far. She thought they would smile at her and tell her they were pleased to have her back. They’d eat good food, the kind she’d missed since leaving. She wouldn’t be the person dressed in odd clothing with odd ideals.

Of course, Minerva would pull her aside to hear her story about what had been happening in her absence. Her mother would want to know every detail and Selene would spare nothing.

Except... She wondered what Lust would say about the portraits on the walls. She wondered if he’d like the food, or if he would laugh at how simple it all tasted. He’d want more spice. More colors on the paintings. More everything.

And now, strangely enough, so did she.

Minerva pulled her aside quickly, before she could even sink back into the comfort of familiarity.

“You are to stay here for a few weeks,” she hissed. “I don’t care what that demon thinks. You will remain with us while you acclimate back to your own home.”

“I have no wish to force him to linger. If you want me to control him, Mother—”

“I think you have forgotten your task.” Minerva drew herself up to that great height, looking down at Selene with so much disappointment it made her chest ache. “You have been in that castle for too long. Don’t think I have forgotten the temptations that lie there. Remaining here will remind you why you are doing this. Do you not agree?”

She didn’t.

She wanted to go back to the castle where there were colors and laughter. Where people didn’t look at her with calculating expressions, nor did they want her to betray another person without remorse.

Everything was so jumbled in her head. She was supposed to manipulate Lust, and if she failed in doing that, then she was supposed to gather as much information about him as possible. Which she had done.

Minerva stopped her in front of the great white door that led into the dining hall. “You will tell me everything you have learned.”

She opened her mouth to do just that, but... couldn’t.

There were secrets in that castle that were now hers. Entrances and exits that only servants knew about. The truth was that Lust wasn’t a demon at all. He was a spirit. There were other spirits as well, and she’d met them. Some in physical form like his brother and some like Affection who existed outside of their realm. She also thought that Lust might be changing, and that terrified her more than anything else that she’d learned.

Because now she had a gut feeling that spirits could change. And she didn’t know what that meant.

All of that, and more, pressed against her tongue and she felt her throat working around them. But nothing came out. Not a single secret, because she didn’t know what her admission would do to those people she had come to care about.

Minerva tsked. “Do you see why you need to come home? You need to stay here, little girl. With us. And if you are incapable of remembering your own people, then who are you? Just a sad child left out in the storm. Remember that’s who you are without us, Selene.”

At Minerva’s harsh gesture, the doors to the dining hall opened more and Ursula stepped out. She kept her eyes on the floor as she said, “I’ll take you to your room, Selene,” she whispered.

“I thought we were having dinner?”

Minerva shook her head. “Dinner is for family. You, my dear, are a guest in this house until you remember who you are.”

The sting of her words burned like a slap across Selene’s face. It was fine. It would all be fine. She didn’t have to be the person who everyone wanted her to be, not unless she desired to be so.

And yet... She still found herself becoming that little girl again. The one who wanted to be like the others and was never allowed to be. She wasn’t given to the Tower. She was left here. A foundling with no family to her name, other than this one who didn’t want her.

Sighing, she nodded and dropped into a low curtsey. “I will not let you down, Mother.”

“See to it that you do not.”

Minerva disappeared into the only warm room in the Tower. Selene turned toward her sister and nodded. “Let’s go.”

“It’s the same room,” Ursula said, as though that somehow made it better. “No one touched anything. I made sure it was clean, just in case you... for when you came back.”

In case she failed, her sister meant. When Selene did not respond, neither did Ursula. They both walked up the countless stairs, all the way to her door that had been her haven for years. Except now, it was to be her prison.

Sighing, she planted her hand against the door and held Ursula’s gaze. “Do you think she’ll ever consider me part of the family?”

Ursula hesitated, then blew out a long breath. “I don’t know.”

It was enough of an answer.

Selene swung the door open and stepped into her old bedroom. The same room she’d been in since she was a child. There used to be paintings on the wall, drawings that she’d done of the Tower and her family. She’d wanted to paint the walls, but Minerva had told her it was too childish to do so.

Instead, the white walls were more gray than she remembered. Her wardrobe to the right had a fine layer of dust on the top, and her blankets on the bed were still mostly composed of fine white skins because she always got cold here. It was so cold. All the time.

She hated it. She hated feeling cold when she’d been shown what warmth felt like. And suddenly that thought blossomed into something else. Something that whispered warmth wasn’t just physical, and everything here lacked what she now knew she wanted.

Her heart thundered in her chest. There was a cloak in the closet that she’d left. It had a few tears from countless years of use and would have made a poor impression. But it was her warmest cloak. If she put that on, she might be able to sneak past the others and then she could find him.

Him. Lust. The only person she really cared about seeing right now.

“Well, well, well. You look like Minerva grabbed you by the tail and yanked. Can’t say I’m all that surprised.”

Gasping, Selene whirled to find him leaning against the wall to her left. How had he—

She supposed she shouldn’t even think the question. He’d gotten in somehow, and she knew it wasn’t through the window. She had a room with only a small slot for a window, where it might have been used to shoot arrows at enemies. Selene could barely fit an arm through, let alone a full grown man.

“How did you…” She let the question trail off into nothing.

Lust grinned, his eyes sparkling with some emotion she couldn’t quite name. “Don’t ask questions of demons, little moon. Don’t you know answers come with a price?”

Anything. She’d pay anything for him to remind her of a time when she hadn’t felt so cold. And then something clicked in her mind. She didn’t have to feel cold if she didn’t want to. He was the only one who knew how to warm her.

Selene darted toward him before her mind could warn her that this was a terrible idea. There were better places to seduce a man like him. Less taboo places than her childhood bedroom with a gaggle of sorceresses below, all of whom wanted him dead.

But the moment her arms wrapped around his neck and her body plastered against his, she was lost. Selene devoured his lips, consuming them with her own. Nipping and biting until he hissed out an angry sound because she’d almost broken skin. She didn’t care. He had a duty right now, and that was to make her forget.

His arms snapped around her in a vise. He wouldn’t let her go now, not even if she begged for it. Selene had walked right into the arms of a demon king, and her body was the sacrifice he’d claim.

Groaning into his lips, she writhed against him. He was already rock hard against her belly, likely from their fun in the carriage. Had he ever taken care of himself, or had he been like this since they parted?

She liked the idea of him suffering. Waiting for her to touch him.

He drew his lips from hers, leaving a wet streak across her cheek as he moved to her throat. “I’m not complaining, but why—”

She palmed his cock, drawing her fingers from the base up to the head that she could feel almost escaping his pants. “Stop talking.”

“Understood.”

Lust flipped them around, shoving her back until her spine hit the wall beside the door. Flushed and breathless, she watched him as his eyes hungrily trailed from the bottom of her skirts to her neck.

“I’m going to ruin this dress,” he growled. “You’re going to have to burn it when I’m done with you.”

“I want to.”

He lunged forward and grabbed either side of her bodice. With one harsh rip, he tore it in half, the buttons pinging all over the walls and floor as they scattered. It didn’t matter, she didn’t care where they went.

All she cared about was his lips that crashed down onto hers as his hands palmed her breasts. Those talented fingers flicking over her nipples, tiny circles sending her deeper and deeper into madness.

“You don’t know what you do to me,” he groaned, ripping his mouth from hers to circle his tongue around her nipple. “You consume me, Selene. Body, mind, soul, all of it is yours.”

“You don’t have a soul.” She arched her back. “You’re already a spirit.”

“I am a soul who took flesh.” He gave her one more lick before dropping to his knees before her. “But if I do not have one, it is because you own it. Crushed between your delicate hands.”

She looked at him on his knees, ready to service her yet again as though she were a goddess. And she nearly came undone then.

He looked up at her with a wicked grin, then licked his lips. “You’re in charge, little moon. What do you want?”

She should stop. She should tell him that her mother and her sisters would hear them downstairs. That this room was special to her and they couldn’t do this here, of all places.

And yet, the only thing she was capable of doing was hiking up her skirts and wrapping a leg over his shoulders. Biting her lip, she grabbed onto his horn with one hand and braced herself against the wall with the other.

“My pleasure,” he growled. “But I want to hear you scream.”

Oh, she would. She had every time he’d done this and yet he’d never complained once that she hadn’t done it back to him. That she hadn’t slid his cock between her lips and sucked hard enough to make him moan like she wanted to hear.

Like the way he moaned at the first long lick he gave her pussy. Selene let out a hiss, her head thudding against the wall. How was she meant to stay standing for this? His tongue circled her clit, too gently, not hard enough, but then he suddenly sucked. Hard. Two of his fingers sank inside her at the same time and she swore she saw stars.

A curse tumbled from her lips. She rolled her hips against him, chasing his tongue so he’d just put it where she wanted him to be. But no. He licked and sucked and avoided all those tantalizing places because he wanted to torment her.

He wanted this to last a long time.

Selene wanted the exact opposite. She wanted a swift, blinding orgasm that would make her forget everything that had transpired. She didn’t want to be in this room, and he could transport her away from it.

With a snarl, she grabbed onto his horns with both hands and held him in place where she wanted him. He met her gaze, those bright blue eyes seeing far too much and she almost came right there.

He licked, tormenting her until she couldn’t take it anymore. “Make me come, Lust. Then I want you to throw me onto that bed and fuck me into the furs.”

His eyes suddenly glowed violet with whatever power he had that she hadn’t seen before. Only then did he finally start to devour her.

Selene let her head thud back against the wall, hissing out a “Yes,” and he ate her. Consumed her. Devoured her until all the stars in the night sky seemed to get closer, just within reach.

Until someone pounded on her door right next to her head.

Selene flinched, dropping her leg from his shoulder immediately and trying to get away from him. Lust palmed her hips with both his hands, a silent warning that he wasn’t letting her go. Not until she came on his tongue, just like he wanted.

But she couldn’t. Not with someone standing a foot away from her.

Giving him a warning glare, she called out, “Who is it?”

“Selene! Enough of us begged Mother to have you come to dinner with us!” It was Bathilda. The last sibling she wanted to hear from. Bathilda wouldn’t leave until Selene came out. “She said you could join us all. Are you ready?”

“I’m changing!”

The doorknob started to turn.

Eyes wide, desperate to hide him, Selene stumbled past Lust and tore herself out of his grip. He let out a low, frustrated growl, but reluctantly stood when she gestured for him to get up.

“What—“ he stared, before she slammed his back against the wall and slapped her hand over his mouth. Using the other hand to hold her bodice closed, she watched as Bathilda opened the door to her room.

Her sister couldn’t see him. All she’d see was Selene leaning in the doorway, one hand holding her dress shut with perhaps too much of a wild expression on her face.

“What’s going on?” Bathilda asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“I couldn’t get the dress off myself, and I’ll admit, I got a little frustrated.” Selene hoped that explained why her cheeks were so red. “I’ll be down in a moment.”

“Are you sure you don’t need help? I can tie your dress.”

“No!” Selene almost shouted the word before blushing an even deeper scarlet. “I can manage just fine. I have a dress that would be perfect for dinner. I just... just...”

Lust curled his tongue around one of her fingers. He gripped her wrist, forcing her to lower her hand as he slowly sucked her finger into his mouth. The sensation of his tongue doing that to such a sensitive digit scrambled her mind.

Her sister’s frown deepened. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine!” Selene squeaked. “Just a little distracted right now, is all. Can you give us—me— a few moments?”

“Of course. Take all the time you need and I’ll bring you to the others.”

Because she didn’t know how to get back to the dining hall without someone watching her, obviously. “Thanks,” Selene breathlessly whispered before tugging the door shut. Her sister likely got an eyeful of breasts but…

“For fuck’s sake!” she hissed, yanking her hand out of his grip. “What are you doing?”

“Exactly what you asked.” He prowled toward her until her hips hit the mattress. “I’m licking you until you come and then ruining those furs as I finally feed my cock into your wet pussy.”

She trembled. By the seven kingdoms, how was she supposed to do that with her sister right there? Or not do it and suffer through a dinner knowing that he was waiting for her?

“I have to go,” she whispered. “I have to or they’ll know.”

The grin on his face never budged. He merely shifted to the side and let her fly past him to the wardrobe, where she pulled out a simple dress. He didn’t say a word, but she heard the creak of the bed as he laid down on it. Would he wait for her? What was he planning on doing? What man was all right with her leaving in the middle of all this?

She dressed quickly, turned around, and gasped.

A naked demon waited for her in her bed. The soft furs caressed all that golden skin. He fisted his cock in one hand, a slow drag from the head to the base captivating her. She licked her lips without even realizing what she was doing.

“Hurry back,” he said, his voice a deep rumble. “I’ll take the edge off, but then I expect to need you all night, little moon.”

She could barely rip her eyes from the glistening drop dribbling down the head of his cock before whirling and rushing out the door.