by Lee, Kimber
“Retribution,” I parroted. “Who was that girl?”
His eyes landed on mine. “Were you jealous?”
Was he being serious?
“Insanely,” I replied through clenched teeth, throwing his little word back at him. “Did you fuck her?”
He was standing in front of me now, his eyes connecting with mine. “No. Did you fuck the hunter?”
“No!” I replied in astonishment. I wasn’t even attracted to the guy… not anymore. And he thought I was dating someone.
“Then the girl did her job.”
I gaped at him, the wheels in my head whirring incessantly and pieces of the puzzle fell into place. He wanted to make me jealous. And he was smug because he’d succeeded.
It was petty. It was immature. It was so human.
I reached up and slapped him, the satisfying sound of my palm connecting with his cheek echoing in the room. Before he could react, I grabbed a handful of his matted hair and tugged, dragging a low growl from his mouth.
“Don’t ever do that again,” I threatened, grabbing his hair and pulling for a second time.
He could’ve demonstrated his incredible strength. He could’ve flown into a rage and punished me… again. But I watched as he fell to his knees before me, forcing me to release his hair. Then he hung his head.
“Don’t ever make me do that again,” he said in a hushed voice.
“Make you? I didn’t make you do anything, Andrei. I didn’t ask for any of this supernatural bull.” And I didn’t ask to fall for you. “Did you enjoy humiliating me like that in front of all your minions?”
His head snapped up. “Humiliating you?”
I restrained myself from clouting him again because I didn’t think I’d stop there. I was bound to kick, punch and claw his eyes out—and that would only end badly for me, I was sure. I bet bipolar Andrei could make an appearance at any moment.
“Do you think I was excited about being summoned here like a little slave? You think I was clapping in delight when you put me on show like your shiny new toy?” My voice broke on the last word, at the memory of being in my worst nightmare. “And gosh, I bet you thought I’d be delighted at the prospect of being fucked like I was some kind of whore! You got your point across, thank you very much.” I forced the pain out of my face and made way for the violent rage swirling in my chest. “I will never underestimate you again, Lord Andrei. I will never mistake you for a human. You are what you are.”
“I was angry… with you… with myself.”
“Andrei, get up,” I whispered. Speaking to him when he was on his knees felt strange.
“Let me make you understand something,” he said firmly, ignoring my command. His eyes were beckoning me to drown in them. “You are not a whore and fucking you like that… Fucking you like that was the only way I knew how to show you, and them, that you are mine. That I want you, only you.” He gracefully rose to his feet, towering over me once more. “This is what I am, Rainelle, and you haven’t even seen the worst of it.”
That was true, wasn’t it? Tonight had brought with it a major epiphany, one that I realized only now I’d wanted some confirmation about for so long.
He’d taken me out on a few dates after our initial breakfast, hung out with me with no expectation of sex, given me a foot massage once and even slept over. He’d seemed so human and maybe I’d wanted to take a walk on the dark side and see what exactly I was dealing with.
If you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.
I couldn’t remember the beginning of that quote but I knew that Marilyn Monroe had said it. I also knew that it was absolutely true.
“I’m not yours,” I said.
“Come again?”
“You very well know that I didn’t even come the last time.”
He instantly looked remorseful, a look I wasn’t used to seeing on his face. “I was angry. You needed to know and understand that.”
“You said that. Now get back on your knees.”
His gaze became thoughtful before he complied and fell to his knees. I was naked, I was battered, and my entire being was being pulled in two directions by Human Andrei and Demon Andrei. But I was sure about one thing: I was never going to be treated the way he treated me in front of his underlings again.
I snatched a mass of his hair, yanking his face even closer. He let out a soft hiss. “I’m not yours, Andrei.”
“You already said…”
“What I said out there? It doesn’t count. None of it counts. I was being fucked within an inch of my life in front of a demon audience.” I mentally shivered at the memory. “You could’ve told me that I was Wiz Khalifa and I would’ve repeated it. So, you repeat after me: I am not yours.”
His upper lip curled into a snarl. “Remember who you’re talking to.”
“I remember,” I spat, leaning in until our faces were inches apart. “How could I forget when you reminded me oh-so-nicely?”
His eyes shut, long lashes brushing his cheeks. He looked like he was in physical agony. “You are not mine.”
“But you are mine.” I cupped his chin and his eyes snapped open. “You’re a demon of pleasure. A demon of my pleasure. Only my pleasure.”
“As your boyfriend, that would be my main focus.”
My hand fell from his face and I froze. “What?”
“Tonight you came to a realization? Well, I had mine four days ago, when I discovered that you find another man desirable.” He was still on his knees and it was highly disconcerting. So was the look of pure vehemence he was giving me. A vein in his forehead looked like it was throbbing. “I meant what I said about slitting his throat.”
My hands cupped his face and I stooped slightly until we were eye to eye. “I can slit throats, too, so don’t ever test me with another whore again, Andrei.”
His pupils had dilated and his breathing became hitched. “There’s only you,” he rasped, and he closed the distance between our lips.
It took me only a second to decide that I didn’t want to push him away. And desire sparked until it lit a fire between us. My hands held him to keep him in place and I kissed him harder, taking control of our movement. Teasing his lower lip between my teeth, I savored the pained groan he released into my mouth. Meanwhile, his hands were gripping the back of my legs, and before I could even fully taste him, he yanked me into him and hauled me over one broad shoulder.
“What the hell?” I shrieked, amazed by how high up I was.
“I ran you a bath.”
As the enormous, stark white bathroom came into view, I realized that he was telling the God-honest truth. He set me down in front of the Jacuzzi-style tub. And because of the steam wafting up, I knew that he hadn’t just run this bath a while ago—magic was definitely responsible.
“Get in,” he gently commanded, and the plea in his voice was unmistakable. He didn’t want me to refuse, the bipolar shit.
I gingerly hopped in, expecting scalding boiling water and was mildly surprised when it felt instead like a warm blanket swathing my legs. I sank down until the water was waist-level, letting out a sigh of immense pleasure as I did so—my fatigued muscles practically wept with joy.
“Oh, God,” I exhaled, shutting my eyes and splashing my face with water.
My moment of bliss was cut short when I felt Andrei descend behind me. I stilled, feeling his long, muscular legs next to mine. He’d obviously shucked his pants and the instantly recognizable hardness of his erection was digging into my lower back.
He pushed my hair out of the way and kissed the back of my neck, inhaling my scent. “I don’t know how to apologize,” he admitted, his voice gruff. “I’ve never apologized to anyone before… ever.”
My head bent forward as he continued giving me soft butterfly kisses on my neck.
“I never knew what it felt like to be regretful,” he murmured, “until tonight. Until I hurt you.”
I didn’t want to moan and make him aware
of my response to his sweet attention but I couldn’t stop the sound leaving my lips when he licked around the base of my neck.
“Say it already,” I whispered, leaning forward and away from his mouth. I turned at the waist to look at him. “Say the fucking words.”
He ran his tongue across his lower lip. “Rae, if I could go back, I would have gone to bring you here myself. I would have told you exactly why I was so fucked up in the head,” he said in a low voice, “but I would have still fucked you hard on that table in front of my subjects because you needed it.”
“If that’s your apology, I should tell you never to touch me again.”
His face clouded over. “Rae…”
“But I know what you’re capable of. I know that I want this, that I want you.” I looked away. “You said you would never apologize for being what you are.” I looked back at him. “Apologize for messing with my head then.”
He reached out and pulled me back to him, water swishing around us. “I’m sorry for hurting you.” He kissed my upper arm, rolling his tongue against the bruise there. “So sorry, baby.”
I twisted at the waist. “Did you mean what you said about dominating me?”
His mouth stopped moving and he raised his head. “Did you mean what you said about submitting to me?”
“You didn’t give me any choice.” I didn’t want to dwell on how it had turned me on. Everything about what happened tonight was insane.
Andrei grimaced. “With any other human, there wouldn’t be. But for you, Rae, there is always a choice,” he said gently, brushing a mass of hair out of my face before he tugged me to him. “But don’t you see, you did not submit. I took you. It had to be done but it shouldn’t have been to feed my wrath. I… apologize.”
I could feel his heart beating against my back, and I decided to fully turn and face him to make my point. “You know I’m not good with commands. You know I’m difficult. And you know I will never let you do that to me again.”
He continued to regard me in silence, but I persevered.
“You’re a demon. I know that. I don’t give a fuck anymore,” I pronounced, feeling absolutely absolved of any guilt I had about that. “What I do give a fuck about is how you treat me. You say I’m more than a whore, more than your… your sustenance. You have to prove that, Andrei. And sometimes, that just means that sex isn’t always a means to an end.”
“It’s the only language I know,” he rumbled, sliding a finger up my inner thigh.
I slapped it away, completely refusing to acknowledge my shuddering response. “Stop that. I can’t right now. You hurt me.”
A pained expression crossed his face. “I can’t make it better. But let me see, Rae.”
“You are not examining my pussy!” I exclaimed, horrified. Besides, I didn’t have to look at it to know that it was bruised and viciously red.
“Lean against the side of the tub,” he calmly demanded.
“Andrei…”
“I said, lean back.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Lean back, please,” he amended.
And to prove how much progress he was making, I obeyed him and rested my head and upper back against the marble. Then, placing my hands firmly at my sides, I gave him a sassy quizzical look.
Andrei gripped my legs at the knees and slightly raised them, lifting my ass clean off the bottom of the tub and exposing my vagina to the open air. His face was only a hair’s breadth away from my clit.
Before I could protest, his tongue was slowly, agonizingly licking its way up my gaping slit. The beginnings of a complaint died on my lips and was instead replaced by a sharp cry of intense pleasure. I squirmed as he blew cold air against my distended bud before covering it with his hot, wet mouth. The he started sucking.
“Ah, fuck, Andrei,” I panted, already way too aroused for the sweet assault.
His tongue plunged inside me and the bridge of his nose was nuzzling against my sensitive flesh as he vigorously ate me out. The appreciative moans he was making sent tormenting vibrations deep within me and I arched my back, completely surrendering to the sensations.
“Don’t stop,” I wailed, bucking wildly and chanting his name like a prayer. “Don’t you dare stop!”
Each firm stroke of his tongue jolted me against him, made my entire body boneless. His nose was rubbing my clitoris. I was going to come and I was going to come hard…
Then I exploded all over him as he gently nibbled at my flesh.
Andrei continued to lick his way through the little aftershocks of my climax, and then he scooted forward and brought me down on him. I cursed aloud, still so swollen from the night’s events to take his tumescent rod again.
But the pain quickly frittered away when he didn’t move inside me. He was just waiting. And when his hands came up to push the hair out of my eyes, I could see that he wanted to make sure I was fine.
“You’re the only being that I bow to, Rainelle Erickson. I’m a fucking human in your hands.”
I held his face and looked him in the eye. “You… won’t… come.”
The shock in his face almost made me laugh. But he quickly collected himself. “I see.”
“That’s it? You see?” I could feel his throbbing cock inside me and knew that he was harder than ever before.
He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned back against the side of the tub. “Fuck me, then. Use me. You’re here and that’s all that fucking matters.”
I stared at his beautiful, hard face for a long time before I pinched one of his nipples and his eyes flew open in surprise.
“As cute as that was, I want an energetic, eager sex demon inside me.” I leaned forward and kissed his neck. “You will fuck me and you won’t come.”
He gripped my waist and thrust upward, surprising a scream out of me. “Very well,” he declared.
“Real smooth,” I murmured, placing my hands on his shoulders.
Our eyes locked when I began to ride him. I went slow at first, until slow just wasn’t enough. Meanwhile, his powerful thrusts drove his rigid shaft against my womb and I felt completely consumed by it. Water splashed onto the floor as his thrusts became faster and all kinds of sensations overtook me. I squeezed him inside me, as tight as a vise, and languished on his answering grunts of pleasure. The faster our movements became, the more contact I wanted with him. Sensing this, he kissed my neck, kissed my breasts. His tongue set my skin ablaze and his teeth grazed every erogenous spot on my upper body.
“Too much,” I cried out, when he was rolling one of my nipples in his mouth. Sweat tasted salty in my mouth. “Oh, shit! I can’t…”
“Baby, come,” Andrei urged, his voice like sandpaper. “Come around me.”
I threw my head back on one of his thrusts and let it go, climaxing again so soon after my first one. I grabbed his hair in both of my hands and yanked his mouth to mine.
“Baby, come,” I whispered to him, biting his lip.
The familiar heat of his seed filling me up prompted yet another, although smaller, orgasm. I clenched around him, squeezing every drop of his release.
“Rae, Rae, Rae,” he groaned into my mouth, sucking on my tongue. “Don’t ever leave me.”
Too exhausted to speak, I could only make a small grunt of acknowledgement. I would never leave because I was stuck with him for life… and I totally didn’t mind.
And my boyfriend knew exactly what that grunt meant.
Chapter 16
The first thing I saw when I woke up was Temp’s big head hovering over me. I experienced a moment of confusion—Where the hell am I? What day is it? God, is that my breath, or did something die in here?—that I instantly quashed.
I sat up and rubbed my bleary eyes with the heels of my hands. And only when I was fully awake did I take in the fact that I was in my own bed, in my own penthouse.
“You deaf? I’ve been yelling in your ear for the past five minutes,” Temp groused, holding a cup of coffee in his outstretched hand. “Come
on, Nancy Drew. We’ve got some work to do,” he said in a singsong voice. Although, he actually looked less annoyed than he sounded.
I gratefully accepted the coffee, surprised to see that he knew how I liked it—black. “I love how you ended that little rhyme with lyrics from the Scooby Doo theme song,” I muttered dryly. “What are you doing here at…” I glanced at the digital clock on my nightstand and winced. “… seven o’clock?”
The asshole even had the audacity to look chipper. He was in a bright green T-shirt that actually hurt my eyes and grey board shorts. And he completed his low-key surfer-dude look by letting his icy blond hair down, looking all shaggy and windswept. He still, however, managed to look sufficiently well-dressed. I, on the other hand, was stuffed into a ratty old nightshirt and in desperate need of a toothbrush and Colgate.
“Well, as your admittedly sexy sidekick, I feel the need to…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Sidekick? What are we, eight?” I scoffed, raising an eyebrow at him. “Besides, I don’t need one, Temp. I never have.”
“You’ve never dealt with demon stuff, either.” He flashed me a megawatt Temp grin. “Although I hear you have been busy, Baby Phat. You went to the Carpathians?”
“I didn’t exactly go for the mountains,” I said sarcastically as I set the now-empty mug on the nightstand. “But you already knew that. Word about things like that probably get around fast in your world and I bet you’re the Perez Hilton of your kind.”
Temp looked offended. “Did I or did I not warn you about Andrei? And oh, hell, Rae! What is that?” He pointed a finger at my left hand.
“What?” I looked down… and suppressed a curse when I saw Andrei’s ring back on my forefinger. “Oh… that.”
“Tell me it’s not what I think it is.”
“Depends on what you think it is.” I was stalling and he knew it. We stared at each other. “Temp, one minute you’re the happy mother of the bride, next minute you’re the old man warning the kids not to go up the mountain. Pick one character and stick with it.”
“I don’t comprehend those analogies,” he informed me with a poker face.
