Chapter 22

ChapterTwenty-Two

Her heart thundered in her chest. Varya knew what his words meant. He was more than just some selfish king who wanted her to bend to his whims. This was Greed himself. A man who would want everything she had to give to him and then still take more because he thought he deserved it.

Could she do this? Could she bend to him completely?

Some part of her hated the idea of it. The same part wanted to stay wild and free, and that was the voice that she listened to. The voice that said she deserved to take what she wanted and not care about anyone else. Fuck whatever he wanted from her, because she was the one with wants and needs and no one had ever listened to those before.

No one had ever put her first until him. No one had healed her wounds after a difficult adventure. She’d never had a single person tell her that she was important to them, or that her life was worth taking care of. Instead, they’d all asked for more.

Her ribs screamed, but even that pain reminded her how alive she was and that this handsome man wanted her.

Greed could never take anything from her that she didn’t want to give. And he knew that. He was trying to scare her, and she refused to let him.

Baring her teeth in a snarl that he would understand, she met his heated gaze with one of her own. “I’m not an object to own.”

“And yet, you would be mine.”

Why did that send a thrill up her spine? She didn’t want to be tied down to anyone, nor did she want any man to ever own her, but the thought of him being that person? Well. It made a girl think.

“You think very highly of yourself, Greed. Do you really believe you’re such a temptation that I would give up all that I am?”

“Yes, because I want all that you are.” He trailed his nose up her neck, the scratchy texture of his beard raising goosebumps up and down her body. “I want your pain, your relief, your happiness, your grief. All of it. I want it and I want to be the only person who gets it.”

“And what do I get in return?”

“You get me.” He leaned back slightly and licked his lips.

“All of you?” she asked, because she had to know this was an even trade. She wouldn’t give him everything if he wouldn’t give her the same.

And yet... When had her mind changed to this? She shouldn’t even consider saying yes to him!

“There’s not much to give.” A shadow passed in front of his eyes, one that she recognized very well. A shadow of doubt. The fear that he wasn’t good enough and never would be. “But what I have is yours.”

“I don’t want what you have.” Varya leaned up and ghosted her lips over his, so close she could feel his breath and heat. Her abs burned with the movement, but she needed him to understand her. “I just want you.”

A low groan echoed in his chest and he kissed her. He kissed like a starving man, trying to devour her whole as if that would somehow satisfy a need he had no name for.

She wanted to claw her way inside him. She wanted to hide from the voices whispering in her ear about what they would do to her and how she was nothing but a sleeve for them to use when they saw fit.

No one took this from her. No one took her right to enjoy using her body as she saw fit and she would not listen to those devious voices of men who had not deserved an ounce of her attention.

Gritting her teeth, she felt the cool wave of fabric part over one of her thighs. Without thought, she swept her bare leg behind his and shoved.

Greed’s eyes snapped open in shock as he suddenly tumbled. He was quick on his feet, though. He landed on his bottom rather than his back, bracing himself as he stared up at her with wide eyes and mouth slightly open.

“What was that for—”

He shut up when she followed him down. Varya whisked the long skirts out of her way and straddled him as she sank onto his lap. Control, that was what she needed. He couldn’t tell her what to do and he wouldn’t order her around. Never.

“I have told you,” she said as she palmed his shoulders and shoved him again. “I am no one’s object. No one’s toy to play with.”

“I don’t want to make you a toy.”

“No, but you want to play,” Varya whispered as she lowered him flat. “And I’m afraid you’ll never be able to see past that. So do you understand what I’m saying, Greed? I cannot give you all of me. Nor do I want to.”

She trailed her own lips down his neck, pressing soft kisses to his overheated skin. He arched into her, his breath already faltering and turning rapid.

“Then we cannot do this,” he argued, seemingly with himself more than with her. “I will not have you if I cannot have... have...”

Her fingers danced down his chest as she ground against him. He was already hard and throbbing between her legs, and she knew that this was her choice to make. He wouldn’t push her. Greed wasn’t those men in the cave.

He’d made it very clear that he wanted her, and he’d also shown he was a man of honor. As much as a demon could have honor, she supposed.

Varya slid down his body, the metal sheen of her dress pooling over his lap as she moved. Flicking her gaze up to him, she waited until he looked down at her. All those freckles stood out against the red tinge of his skin. His cheekbones were blushed with need and his pupils were so dilated his eyes looked entirely black. Like the demon he was.

She smiled, slow and coy. “Are you sure you cannot make an exception? Just this once?”

Varya knew what she asked. She would not beg for him to change his rules just for her, just so she could taste him and know what it felt like to have a demon inside her, but... Some part of her had hope he would agree. That he would let her, for a few moments, indulge herself.

It was almost like he felt the spark in her. The greed that made her even say the words because she wanted to take something for herself right now. Just to see if she still could. To see if those idiots in that cave had broken something inside her.

That hard jaw clenched. The muscles on either side bunching as he ground his teeth and stared at her, watching her eyes as though she could tell him what she was thinking without ever saying a word. That bright gold gaze flashed, and he nodded. The cords of his neck stood out in stark relief as he battled with himself.

“Aye, for you treasure,” he finally said, swallowing hard. “I suppose I could.”

Oh, that shouldn’t give her butterflies. That shouldn’t make her mouth water with the plans of what she would do to him. And it certainly shouldn’t make her mind whirl with all the possibilities.

Varya knew what she wanted to do most. And that was prove to this demon king, this embodiment of greed, this monster who had ruled her kingdom, that a single mortal woman could bring him to his knees. She wanted him to know that she had more control over him than he’d ever dreamed.

And damn it. She wanted to feel powerful for once in her life. Varya didn’t want to feel like the thief who stole for her people and then slipped away with no connections. She wanted to feel like someone gave a shit about what happened to her.

So she would take this moment, and him, in her hands. This would not slip away from her, no matter what shadows or memories clogged her mind.

Focusing her attention on the body in front of her, she unbuttoned his vest and then dragged his shirt out of his waistband. Crouched between his legs now, she couldn’t pull her eyes away from the rigid abs that she revealed as she drew the shirt up.

He was a man built for battle. Scars decorated his flesh, and she wondered if he’d let them stay there. She’d seen him like this before, but now he was laid out in front of her like a banquet. Not sick. Not ill. Just staring at her with those gleaming eyes as he waited to see what she would do.

Leaning down, she pressed her lips to his stomach and smiled against the jolting muscles. Tongue and teeth trailed down his side as she reached his waistband and made quick work of the ties.

Then she drew back just enough to pull him out from his leathers and...

“Oh,” she whispered.

His smug grin made her want to smack it off his face. “Too much for you?”

A bit. If she was being honest.

The thick, veiny appendage was larger than she’d ever seen in person. And Varya had seen a few in her lifetime. But by the gods, it made her mouth water. She wanted to touch him, taste him, slide her tongue up that throbbing vein and taste the pearly white droplet on the top. More than anything, she wanted to suck him so deep into her mouth that he couldn’t talk for just a few damn seconds.

Varya wet her lips before she grasped him. And then she gave him one long lick from base to tip that had him tilting his head back against the floor and groaning.

His back arched again, all those lovely muscles flexing before her eyes. Sliding one of her hands up his stomach, she clawed into his chest. Little pinpricks of pain that made him hiss out a breath and then glare down at her.

He’d said he wanted her pain, hadn’t he? She would give him his own if that’s what he wanted.

“Bratty little thing,” he snarled. “But you know how to suck a cock.”

She squeezed the base of him harder, sliding him all the way out of her mouth slowly. Taking her time so he could feel the flat of her tongue against every inch of him before she let him drop out of her mouth. “Are you complaining?”

He arched a brow but remained silent.

Good enough.

Varya circled the tip of him, slow and never quite enough because she liked the idea of punishing him. Making him wait. And she knew what a sight she presented. The short waves of her hair spread across his thighs, her ass in the air, while that dress pooled on either side of her. She made eye contact with a deep pull of him between her lips, nearly touching the back of her throat, and there was still so much of him left.

“Fuck,” he hissed. “You look so pretty on your knees.”

He’d pushed up onto his elbow so he could watch her better, but suddenly it felt like he was in control again. She moved faster, sucked harder, drawing more and more compliments from him because the man never shut up.

“Yes, Varya. Good girl, now faster. Just like that. Gods, you’re so fucking talented with that wicked tongue of yours.”

She let him slid out of her mouth with a wet pop before snarling, “For gods’ sake, do you ever shut up?”

“Make me.” His eyes glittered with challenge, and she knew he expected her to lunge upright. To climb on top of his lap and cover his lips with hers as she sank down onto this massive cock.

She wanted to. Gods, she wanted to.

But Varya knew what that would mean. She knew he would take and she would give and it would never stop.

Besides, she hated being predictable.

In a swift movement, she both shoved him down onto the ground and turned herself around. Knees now planted above his shoulders, she flipped her skirt out of the way so she could glare over his shoulder at his shocked and heated expression. “Can you at least keep yourself busy?”

“Fuck,” he growled before planting his hand on the back of her neck and shoving her down where she’d been.

She gripped his cock firmly, holding perhaps a little too tight. And she’d only just started to suck him again when he gave her dripping pussy a long, slow lick.

Lightning.

It sparked through her veins and made her toes curl on either side of his head. And though there were still whispers in the back of her mind, she also recognized who was in control. She was. And if she wanted him to lick harder, she could grind down on him. If she wanted him to stop talking, she could smother him as he worshipped her.

He did it again, his tongue tracing circles around her clit, and she bucked on him. He grasped either side of her hips, forcing her to remain in place while he put that tongue to better use than just hissing out praise.

She didn’t want to hear him, and now she didn’t have to.

Whimpering around his cock, she swallowed him like it was the last thing she’d ever do. Varya stroked, sucked, and pulled until she felt him tightening underneath her. Until she felt that harsh coil in her belly tightening and tightening.

She couldn’t think. Could hardly keep up a regular rhythm, but he was helping with that. Greed lifted his hips, sliding his cock in and out of her mouth as he sucked hard on her clit. And there it was, the pinpoint of pain that burst into a thousand sparks of pleasure. She rode the wave, grinding her pussy against that tongue and lips that brought her down from the shockwave as she pulled her mouth away from him to moan against his inner thigh.

Varya came down slowly, her hand still pumping him and those soft growls echoing against her belly through his chest.

Breathing hard, she slipped him back into her mouth and cupped him. Rolling his balls between her fingers until an actual growl erupted from between her thighs. He pulsed in her hand, spraying his cum into the back of her mouth, both salty and warm and everything she’d wanted it to be.

By the gods, he’d unraveled her. He’d wormed his way into her heart and she didn’t even know the man. Couldn’t know him. He was a thousand year old demon, and she’d made him cum in her mouth like a regular commoner.

And she’d do it again. A thousand times over.

“Fuck.” His voice rang in the room before he let out a little chuckle. “The things you do to me, treasure.”

“Oh?” She could barely lift her head from his leather covered thigh. “Like what?”

He slapped her ass so hard the sound echoed through the ballroom. He’d left a handprint with that one, but the slight sting made heat burn through her yet again. She could do this with him all night.

Then she was laughing. Chuckling along with him as they both tried to get their bearings on the floor of the ballroom. What had come over her? What had she even done?

But she couldn’t feel guilty about it. She’d taken what she wanted, and Varya felt like she was glowing. She wasn’t broken after all.

Fuck the Horde. She could still enjoy herself immensely.