“You better or I’ll march right up to that castle myself, snatch him by the horn, and drag him down here with you.” She smiled and waved me off. “Sweet dreams, dear.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I pushed the door open and stared down at my Fervor Crisps, smiling. Well, at least I had Annen as a friend. She was so easy to talk to and so easy to get along with. I just wished that—
Someone bumped into my shoulder, and I dropped the Crisps. Before they could fly all over the place, the demon grabbed them in one hand and shoved them against my chest. “Watch it.”
My brows raised in surprise. The Wrath’s irritated words weren’t spoken so commonly in Lust where the sweet greetings were the norm. He growled under his breath, yet didn’t move. I gazed up into two red, smoky eyes, my breath catching in my throat.
A red tint to his skin. Black claws. Rough, wrinkled horns. And a huge scar that cut straight through his left eyebrow and down his left cheek. Something about him—his eyes—seemed so oddly familiar, yet I couldn’t place where I’d seen him. He snarled at me, his gaze slowly drifting down my body.
“You don’t have to be rude.” I crossed my arms over my chest, holding the bag of Fervor Crisps close. “Have some respect.”
In less than a second, he had curled his hand around the front of my throat and pushed me against Annen’s Bakery door. “I don’t give a fuck about you or your respect,” he said. A red, smoky haze drifted from his eyes, his red tail curling around my wrist and pinning it to the door.
I slammed my hands into his chest. The Fervor Crisps fell between us and onto the ground, but I didn’t care. If this was how I would earn respect, then so be it.
His lips curled into a smirk, eyes a terrifying mess. “What are you gonna do to me?” He tilted his head, the golden rings on his pointed ears glinting under the moonlight. “Suck me off until you’ve had your fill?”
My nostrils flared, my demon stirring. Who did this man think he was?
Someone cleared their throat, and I gazed over the demon’s shoulder to see a young woman with pretty green eyes. “Hey, dumbass, do you know who you’re talking to?” She stared at the man in front of me, brow arched.
The Wrath demon released my wrist, leaned closer to me, and said, “We’ll meet again soon, your highness.” After pushing me out of the way, his tail brushing against my inner thigh, he walked into Annen’s bakery and didn’t look back.
I glared through the foggy door. Irritable, snappish, resentful, and definitely not someone I’d hang out with… but he seemed so damn familiar. Who was he?
The woman waved her hand in front of my face, her emerald eyes glowing. “Don’t worry about him. All Wraths are annoying as heaven.” She extended her hand. “I’m Maeve.”
“Dani,” I said, placing my hand in hers.
Her hand lingered on mine, lips curling into a smile. “You’re gonna be the new Commander, aren’t you?”
“I am.” My smile widened.
She gazed down at the Fervor Crisps on the ground between us and nodded toward the center of Chastion. “Come on. I know a place where Wraths like him won’t be and you can get your fill of Fervor Crisps all night.”
I hesitantly gazed back at the castle, the dark clouds sitting softly around it. I looked back at Maeve and nodded my head. “Okay,” I said. This was my chance to make a friend, to destress for a few hours, to get out of the castle, and to stop thinking of Javier. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 10
Maeve grabbed my hand and tugged me through the city. I hadn’t been here much at night, only a few times on some late-night Fervor Crisp runs with Eros. Hell, we had been too busy with other work to make it down here that much during the day too.
But Chastion looked even more beautiful on the inside than it did on the outside. Roses hung from balconies, their petals decorating the quiet streets. We walked into the square in the city center. Right smack dab in the middle was a building the size of a stadium. People were lined up outside, dressed in mini-skirts and latex dresses.
Instead of waiting at the back of the line, Maeve dragged me to the front. “This is our Commander. She wants to check out the club. Be a dearest, Xiaxio, and let us in.” She dragged her manicured fingers against his taut chest, watching him tense.
The man spared one glance at me, bowing his head briefly, and unhooked the black satin VIP ropes. Maeve tugged me up the stairs and into a large club. The room was spacious. Marble floors, a bright pink light shining from the entire back wall, maroon leather couches.
She leaned closer to me, curling her arm around mine. “This is Rebel!” she shouted over the music. “It’s like this all-day every-day with people doing business here or just trying to find a good time.”
Unlike the Lounge, Rebel had an upbeat atmosphere to it. People were dancing to EDM-like music and drinking and flirting all over the place. And… there was something else that was different. Glass cubicles lined the walls, each small pod having people fucking inside. The pods closest to the entrance had more vanilla-style sex… but each pod after, the people became more and more raunchy. I squinted, trying to see the last few pods, but the room seemed to go on forever; I couldn’t get a good view.
“The farther we walk into the room, the kinkier the sex,” Maeve said, noticing my gaze.
Each pod was a different themed desire. Any single desire I could think of was there, all out in the open, for anyone to see: school girls bent over their teacher’s lap, sex slaves crawling to their masters. Were those actual people in there? Or just… holograms?
I tried to keep my thoughts straight, but with all these scents drifting around the room, I couldn't think at all.
Maeve grabbed my hand, pulling me close. “And do you see that group of guys over there?” She pointed to a leather couch toward the center of the room. Under the dim light, three men sat talking with each other, each with a Passion Delight. Though I couldn’t see their faces from this angle, their backs were sculpted like the heavens, each curve visible through their shirts. And those large, curved horns. I inhaled softly. I could even smell their scents from here: peppermint, citrus, and almond. “That’s the Triad.”
“The Triad?” I asked, staring at them.
One of them glanced in our direction, his piercing black eyes taking me in. Then he nudged the other two who looked our way. My eyes widened slightly, noticing Zane amongst them.
“They’re the three... how do you say it in human... dirtiest men in Lust.”
Zane leaned back on the couch, lips against his glass, his eyes a hazy black. I hadn’t seen him so drunk before. He’d always been the calm, collected one. Not the flirt. So, him being part of this Triad… was a bit too difficult to believe.
“They’re basically the man whores of Hell. Sleep with plenty of women and men. They don’t really have a preference for gender, but… be careful around them because they specialize in taken women.”
I glanced back at Maeve. “Taken women?” I asked, a giggle escaping my lips. Eros would kill Zane for even thinking about touching me. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying my hardest to picture Zane as a flirt, but ended up laughing even more.
“Hello Ladies,” someone said. I opened my eyes to see them all before us, muscles flexed through their shirts, horns pointed down slightly, dark eyes fixed on me. Everyone in Lust was beautiful, but these men were the breathtaking kind.
“Commander,” the other one said, voice husky. He had two deep dimples on his cheeks, his blonde hair tousled to one side.
Zane held out two Passion Delights, one for Maeve and one for me. I grabbed one, letting my fingers brush against his. “Dani,” he said, lips curled into a seductive smirk. And, it was in that moment, I realized I had never really seen Zane flirt. He had said one damn word, and Maeve was already nearly sweating.
“First name basis?” blondie asked, tipping his glass in his direction. “Didn’t think you’d had it in you.”
Maeve leaned closer to me. “Did I mention that
they compete too?” Her lips curled into a smirk. “When they find someone that they like, that is.” She wiggled her brows at me, pulling away and gazing back at the guys. “We’re here to relax, Axel. Not to talk to guys who can’t even perform in bed.”
Maeve arched a hard brow at Axel, the blonde. He stepped closer to her, grasping her jaw. “Oh, darling, I know you didn’t just say that I couldn’t perform in bed. I seemed to remember that the last time we saw you… you were begging us to take you.”
The two started bickering back and forth, and by bickering I meant flirting. Zane caught my eyes and nodded toward the rear of the room. I pulled my arm out of Maeve’s and walked with him and the other man.
“How’s Maria?” I asked.
Every time we had taken a step, he had moved just an inch closer to me until his forearm was brushing against mine. Though it was common to walk near each other in Lust, I didn’t expect him to do it. And I really didn’t expect the hair on my arms to stick right up.
His lips curled into a smirk. “She’s… Maria. Me and Enji…” He gestured to the man walking next to us. “... are going to see her tonight.”
My brows raised. Damn, Maria. Getting it on with not one but two demons tonight. That girl said she hated demons, but part of me thought that was just her fears. She couldn’t resist them.
I sipped my drink and continued walking, keeping quiet. Zane and I never really talked back on Earth, so I didn’t really have much to say to him now.
“Are you preparing for the Crowning?” Enji asked, fingers brushing against the center of my back.
“Yes,” I said.
His lips curled into a smirk, and he glanced back at Zane. “Good,” he said. “We’ll be attending. It’ll be an enjoyable time, I hope.” There was something in his voice that I couldn’t quite decipher, a hidden meaning behind his words. And… it kind of scared me. I knew the basics of a Crowning Ceremony… but this Courting Pit was getting me nervous.
“Who are you inviting into your court?” Zane asked.
“Into my court?” I asked, brows furrowing. An uneasiness feeling washed over me.
“The Courting Pit?” Enji asked, gaze flickering to my breasts. “Do you know what will happen?”
“Of course, I do.” I brushed off the comment as if it were nothing and sipped my drink. But I didn’t know the first thing about what the fuck I would really have to do if someone challenged me.
“I have to invite people into my court?” I asked Zane, brows furrowed together.
He shrugged. “If someone challenges you, you’ll have to prove yourself and you need people to help you prove yourself.”
I pressed my lips together. Okay, well, I’d think about this later. When I actually wanted to think about what exactly I would be willing to do for the crown. Not when I was in the middle of another sex club.
Maeve finally caught up to us, pulling me away from Zane and Enji. “Time to go. See you later, boys.” She tugged me in the opposite direction, a flirty smile on her face. Her neck was painted with red hickies.
I stared wide-eyed at them. “Did you… did you fuck Axel?” God, it had only been a few minutes, and she was just complaining about how much of a man-whore he was.
She blushed and gulped down her Passion Delight. “Maybe.” She curled her arm around me and pulled me out the door, heading back through the city. “That’s all for tonight. If you stay there for too long—I don’t want you to stay there with them for too long. Eros is waiting back at the castle for you, isn’t he?”
I nodded my head and walked down the paths with her. The breeze from Pride was strong tonight, and I wished that I had worn more than just this little dress. “Hey, Maeve,” I said. “Have you ever been to the Courting Pit?”
She paused. “A long, long time ago. When Eros’s mother and father became the new Commanders of Lust.”
“What was it like?” I asked.
“Well…” She swung our arms back and forth, looking at the Garden of Passion. “All the commanders and everyone from Lust attends the ceremony. It’s split into two parts, the Courting Pit and the Crowning Ceremony…” She waved her hand in the air. “The Courting Pit is first… which is where you have to prove yourself worthy of the crown.”
I swallowed hard. “And how did Eros’s parents do that?”
She stared directly at me, the pink moon bouncing off of her eyes. “They fucked. A lot.”
Chapter 11
I stumbled back to the palace, my mind buzzing with everything that had happened tonight. Maybe this was what I needed: to get out of my damn head for a bit. Not once had I thought of Javier or all the stress this Crowning Ceremony was giving me or even Trevon’s inability to find someone suitable for himself.
The white stone walkways were empty this late. Demons were still in the Palace’s Lust Rooms or down in the Chastion or even in the Garden with all the pretty pink flowers that glowed so strongly under the moonlight. My vision blurred for a moment, the Passion Delight suddenly hitting me hard.
My fingers brushed against the roses lining the path as I walked. Part of me worried what Eros would say when I didn’t come home with any Fervor Crisps, but he wouldn’t mind me getting to know everyone tonight. He’d be proud of me, and that was all I needed to feel good.
Palace guards opened the front doors for me. I grasped onto one of their wrists, leaning closer to him and inhaling his scent. “Where’s Eros?” I whispered, wanting to find him and do God-knew-what to him all night long.
After clutching my wrist in his hand, fingers brushing so lightly over my skin, he said, “In his office, Commander.”
“And the Lust Rooms?” I asked, my eyes taking in all of him. “Are they empty?” He relaxed under my gaze, probably smelling the Passion Delights mixed with the sweet scent of my arousal coming off of me in waves.
I closed my eyes, brushing my fingers against his temple and seeing all of his hidden desires he had buried deep in his mind. Taking me on the castle steps, buried deep inside of me, my hand around his throat, squeezing hard. I shivered and pulled my fingers away.
Eros. God, I needed Eros now.
Without listening to another word he was mumbling, I walked through the open doors and followed Eros’s scent. I wandered up the white marble spiral steps toward Eros's office on the second floor.
When I reached the floor, Eros’s cinnamon scent mixed with another familiar, lovely one. The moans from the Lust Rooms downstairs drifted up the spacious room, yet all I could hear was the screaming coming from his office.
“How could you do this to her?” someone yelled. It was a woman’s voice, filled with anger and hatred and envy. My throat dried, my Delight-high quickly fading away. The voice sounded familiar, yet I still couldn’t place it. “Do you even understand how much danger you’ve put Dani in?”
I paused outside of Eros’s office door, placing my ear against the wall and listening. Eros walked around the room and sighed softly. “Kasey…”
My eyes widened. Kasey was here? After all this time, she had come back? What was she doing here this late at night? Was this the first time he had seen her since he killed their parents?
“She’s stronger than you think she is,” Eros said, but I could hear the hesitation in his voice. Kasey knew that I was Asmodeus’s daughter, but, like everyone else here, she didn’t know that my mother was Fatima—an angel. Everyone thought I was one of the Lust whore’s daughters. Not powerful and definitely not worthy of the title Commander of Lust.
“Because of your senseless decisions, people are trying to kill her. Rumor has it that Sathanus will have her fucking head.” Her voice was filled with so much rage, she almost seemed like a Wrath demon herself.
Eros growled, and I could feel his dominating aura hit me right through these thick walls. I purred softly, the aura arousing me, then I cursed myself for thinking such terrible thoughts at such a terrible time.
He’s in the middle of a fight with his sister, Dani. Keep your cool.
“Sathanus is gathering his army and will march on our kingdom the moment she is crowned.”
“Don’t envy one of your own fucking friends, someone who’d do anything for you, someone who has been asking about you non-stop and worrying that you won’t ever like her again,” Eros seethed. Though I had seen him angry before when Trevon turned into a demon, I had never heard him like this. With every word, he raised his voice until he was yelling, until everyone in this entire castle probably heard him.
“I’m not envious of Dani,” Kasey said.
“Well, you’re acting like Mother did when she wanted to rule Lust,” Eros said, distastefully.
“Don’t you da—”
Not being able to hold myself back any longer, I pushed Eros’s door open and stepped into the heated room. With her hair set in soft, brown waves, Kasey stopped mid-sentence, dropped her pointed finger at Eros, and looked in my direction. When she had made eye contact with me, her eyes glowed the faintest color green.
They were glimmering, and if I had learned anything here… it was that when Envies envied me, I could see it in their eyes. They glowed with an aura so powerful that I could taste the sourness on my tongue.
Kasey tore her gaze away from me and glared back at Eros. “We will finish this conversation tomorrow.”
“There is nothing to finish,” Eros said, hardening his stare. He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him, standing behind me and placing his hands on my shoulders. “Dani will rule our kingdom, whether or not you like it. She’s Asmodeus’s daughter.”
“She’s half-human.”
My heart skipped a beat. Half-human… sure. That’s what I was… not a hybrid.
Demonic Desire (Becoming Lust Book 2) Page 5
