Chapter 22

ChapterTwenty-Two

Where she had gotten all this confidence, Katherine had no idea.

All she knew was that her entire body hurt. The walk back had been arduous and long. The voices of her friend and patients had rung in her ears the entire way.

“The monster has done this.”

“Will we never be free of him?”

“It’s your duty, Katherine, to take care of this for all of us. If he won’t stop because he has a specific blood donor, then he’s never going to stop. Your heart was true, but it’s in the wrong place.”

And none of it felt... right. None of it. No matter how many times she’d stitched those patients or held their hands while they died, she knew that this wasn’t Gluttony.

He hadn’t left the castle. Sure, she slept through the night and he might have gone then, but why would he attack so many? He’d existed on just a few drops of her blood long before he’d taken her neck. And even then, drinking that much from her had satisfied him for a week! More, maybe, if she’d stayed without antagonizing him.

And those wounds... They hadn’t looked right. She knew what wounds Gluttony would make. She’d treated women like herself multiple times. Even when he tore their flesh, it didn’t look like the wounds in the almshouse.

None of this was right. None of it. And everyone was so quick to jump upon the idea of the monster in the castle who clearly was their problem rather than looking around themselves.

It had made her angry. So angry that the emotion itself had carried her all the way to the castle and then even to this moment.

But she wasn’t angry at him. How could she be angry at the man staring down at her like she was a gift from the gods themselves? He had never been unkind to her and had gone out of his way to take care of every one of her needs. He was a good man, and she refused to believe otherwise.

Not, at least, until he proved himself unworthy of those thoughts.

“Katherine,” he said, and the tone of his voice sent a shiver down her spine.

That shudder made her entire body weak. Oh, she wanted him. And she was tired of denying the sparks between them. Did a demon taste different from a man?

His breath puffed over her pulse. “Are you sure?”

“I’m very sure,” she replied. More confidence than she really felt melted into her words. “You are not the monster they say you are, Gluttony. And I am not afraid of you.”

The deep groan that echoed through his chest rocked into her a moment before he latched onto her throat. The sharp prick of his fangs punctured through her neck, a little painful like the last time, but no worse than a paper cut. And then there it was. Again.

The long, slow draw of his tongue against her skin as he drew her blood into him.

And, just like last time, it felt a little religious. As though she had given herself to a god of this kingdom, allowing him to draw her soul out through her throat as he dragged upon the very essence that kept her alive.

She curled her fingers into his jacket, holding onto him as she swayed against his chest. It was wrong. This was a demon feasting upon her flesh and yet white hot heat flooded through her entire body.

Slickness rushed between her thighs, so much that she could feel it as she tried to press them together. Nothing eased this torment, though. She remembered it from the last time. How she’d gone back to her room and spread the softness between her thighs, seeking a release from the pressure that only he could inspire.

A breathy moan escaped her lips and, for a split second, she wanted to snatch the sound back. Heat flooded her cheeks, embarrassment turning her bright red. How could she make that noise?

It was wrong.

It was right.

Because his answering groan rocked right into her core and she clenched her hands in his shirt. Drawing him closer as his hands spasmed against her back, crushing her against him.

She didn’t know which one of them started walking backward. Perhaps she dragged him with her, but it felt like he led her in a dance until her back hit the wall. Something rattled beside her, a vase he’d set out maybe, and then a candelabra fell onto the ground.

“The fire,” she whispered with a soft laugh as he ripped away from her neck to yank his shirt off.

And oh.

Oh.

She’d seen him shirtless before, but only in darkness. The liquid warmth of the candles illuminated the impressive planes of his chest. The rigid bumps of his abs, the “v” of muscle dipping into the low hanging pants that barely clung to those narrow hips. She could have counted the bumps of his ribs if she wished, and the tiny mounds of muscle that framed them before he dropped the shirt on top of the flames and stomped them out.

Then he was on her again. His chilled hand sliding around her waist. The other, he braced above her head, his forearm pressed against the wooden paneling as he slowly dipped his head back to her neck.

She moaned again, not trying to hide the sound this time as he licked his way up her collarbone to the twin punctures over her throbbing vein. He chased the tiny drops of blood that had leaked out and then closed his mouth around her again.

Katherine arched her back, pressing against him and her hands came down on his smooth skin.

It was vaguely like touching marble. A statue come to life. So smooth that nothing stopped her hands from gliding along his skin, seeking out her fill when she knew there would be no fill from this.

She wanted him with a ferocity that startled her. And there weren’t words to describe the way she wanted to claw her way out of her own skin to get to him. Or maybe she just wanted him to claw his way inside of her.

Her hands flexed against his back, drawing him closer, needing more. More than what he was giving her, and more than either of them had desired.

But he didn’t move, and she was impatient.

Katherine reached for his hand at her waist, twining their fingers together as she drew his hand up to her breast. They both groaned at the same time. Her into the air, him into her throat, and his fingers gently cupped the soft flesh there. He squeezed, then shifted ever closer to press his hips to hers.

The hard bar of his cock rubbed against her hip. She wanted to touch it, to grasp his heat in her hands, but then he used her own thumb to slide over her nipple and an electric bolt made her buck against him.

He chuckled, that tongue working its magic against her neck. He used her own hand to pleasure her, plumping her breast, pinching her nipples, all of it done by her own hand with his on top of her fingers. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

Gluttony used her own body against her in so many ways. He played her like an instrument and made her sing with moans that she couldn’t stop making.

“Katherine,” he whispered against her neck.

And suddenly, he wasn’t there anymore. He was right in front of her, his lips pressed against her own.

His warm lips spread over hers, sweet and metallic with her blood, but the taste of him as well. And it speared right through her entire body.

She threw her arms around his neck, pressing herself to every inch of him that she could. It was perfect. It was wicked, and mad, and wrong, but she wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything else.

He growled, and she swallowed the sound deep inside herself. She didn’t care anymore if he had been the one to attack those people. She didn’t care if everyone else thought she’d lost her mind.

Katherine wanted this man who held onto her with a grip like iron, but whose lips remained soft and plush as velvet.

He devoured her lips far rougher than he had her neck. His tongue coiled around hers, his teeth clashing against her own, devouring her whole and coating her entire mouth with the taste of her own blood.

“You are so sweet, Kat,” he muttered, pressing harder into her until she wondered if he was trying to crush her. “So sweet.”

She couldn’t think. Couldn’t do anything but nod and drag him down for another mind numbing kiss that turned her inside out. “More,” she finally bit out, and his answering growl did things to her that she hadn’t expected.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” The voice sliced through her conscious.

Immediately, Katherine tore her mouth away from Gluttony’s and stared up at him in horror. They both looked at each other, and she could see the blood smeared across his lips.

Hers must look like that, too.

Oh, by the gods, what had she done? What had possessed her to think this was a good idea to kiss a demon and then stand here with her blood all over her own mouth like this was normal?

“Is that why you’re keeping her around, then?” Gluttony’s brother laughed, but the sound wasn’t kind in the slightest. “Oh, well just keep her, brother. If you just wanted to fuck, you should have told me.”

“Envy,” Gluttony snarled, his lips curling up like the animal so many people claimed him to be.

And those fangs. Ah, they reminded her so much of why she shouldn’t be doing this.

“What?” Envy said, and she could hear his footsteps coming closer. “If I had known all this, then it wouldn’t have mattered. I appreciate you trying to save her delicate sensibilities, but what man could deny you a sweet haven for release?”

Nope. She was done.

Before she smacked him or he said something else stupid, like wondering if Gluttony would share, Katherine slipped out from underneath Gluttony’s arm.

She fled down the hall, not even pausing when she heard Gluttony’s heartbreaking voice say, “Katherine, wait—”

She couldn’t wait.

Her cheeks and ears burned so hot with embarrassment she wasn’t sure if they would ever turn back to the same color they had been before. What had she been thinking? What was she doing?

This was a deal. Nothing more. She was supposed to come here, offer him her blood, and then go back home to her tiny little room in that boarding house where no one cared what she was doing.

Katherine wasn’t the kind of person who got to have the attention of a demon king. She was born to poor parents and knew her place in this realm. No one crawled out of poverty by handing themselves over to a king like him.

What they did was become a whore. And clearly, he’d expected that from her.

Not that it was a problem. She wouldn’t have begrudged any woman who had offered herself to him. Katherine would have probably cheered for them, done her job to thank them and look after them once they returned to the almshouse for her stitches but... but...

Slamming her bedroom door shut, she slid down it until her butt hit the ground. Her bad hip screamed with the effort of it, stretched straight out on the ground and slightly at the wrong angle.

She cared for him, she realized. A lot. Enough so that the idea of him wanting to buy her body along with her blood? It hurt. So much more than she’d expected it to because she wanted him to see her as the woman she was.

No one else had ever seen her like he did. They looked at her limp and knew her story. They knew who she was, where she’d come from, and everything that had happened to her.

And then they would look at her with pity. Gods, she hated that expression on people’s faces. She hated how they offered to help her, like they didn’t think she could take care of herself. Like the injury that slowed her down had ruined her life.

He didn’t look at her like that.

Maybe Gluttony was blind to it. She’d gotten better at hiding the limp, but it didn’t mean she... ah. This was all so jumbled and she was such an idiot.

Now she’d kissed the man. Maybe he would expect more from her, and she hadn’t been so certain that she wanted to give him more. At least, not now. In the moment? Oh, she would have spread her legs, pain be damned, just to find out what that massive cock would feel like as he slid inside her. All the way in.

Deep.

Hard.

She thudded her head against the door and sighed. Now was not the time for such thoughts. She needed to get her head back on straight. She needed to remember that this was a job. Sacrifice herself for the greater good. Do something other than be the cripple the town thought they owed.

She just wanted... wanted...

The door shuddered with a forceful knock. Her first instinct was to press herself firmly against the door and shout, “Go away, Gluttony! I don’t want to talk right now!”

No other sound came from the opposite side of the door. Just silence. It took her a long time before she finally got the courage to roll onto her hands and knees, then push herself upright.

She could do this. She could face him and not turn into a puddle of goo. Or yank him into her bedroom and insist that he finish what he had started.

But when she opened the door, there wasn’t anyone there. Just a small golden tray with plenty of bandages and a new jar of balm. One she had forgotten to bring back from the almshouse.

A dark mist emerged from underneath the tray, although she had to admit that Spite looked a little gray right now.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said quietly, gathering both the tray and the spirit up. “What are you doing here?”

“I never left.”

“I haven’t seen you in a week, though.” She closed the door behind her with the good side of her hip and then limped over to the bed. She put everything down and then unwound the bandages. “Are you well?”

“Am I what?” It stared at her, and she wondered if anyone had ever asked if it was well. “Why do you want to know?”

“Well, I’m making friends with spirits now.” She patted the little spirit on top of its head before handing it the mirror that had been hidden underneath the bandages. “Hold this, would you?”

The spirit was quiet as it propped up the mirror. Katherine took her time winding it around her neck, making sure she applied a thick layer of the healing balm before tying it off. It looked like a macabre necklace, especially with the blood still smeared around her mouth.

Sighing, she tried not to look at herself for too long.

Spite peered around the mirror, a little dark face appearing in the mist. “Did you mean that?”

“What?”

“That we’re friends?”

Oh, her heart broke. “Yes. Of course I meant it.”

The mirror wobbled. “Even though I haven’t been very kind to you?”

This Katherine could deal with. And it was the perfect distraction from her own emotions that were rioting inside of her. She scooped the little spirit up and hugged it close. “Even though you haven’t been very kind lately. Everyone deserves a friend, don’t you think?”

It didn’t say much after that, but she swore it was a little lighter as the day turned to night.