His wings pounded the air, and he held my gaze, his eyes searching mine. I’d never seen him look uncertain before, but he did now. “I’ve been in the City of Thorns the whole time,” he said at last. “I’ve lived here for centuries. I was locked in the prison underground. The same prison where I locked you up that night. That’s where I lived for hundreds of years, and for most of that time, I saw no one except Mortana. Until she disappeared.”
“What?” My heart squeezed. “Didn’t she leave two hundred years ago?”
He looked out over the sea as he flew, his face a mask of indifference now. “Yes.”
“So you were in a dungeon by yourself for centuries.” I had so many questions I wanted to ask that I didn’t even know where to begin. “Why does everyone think you’re a duke? If you were a prisoner that long, how are you so stupidly rich?”
His expression had grown cold. “It’s not mine. I demand money from the king.”
Every response just invited more questions. “And why does he give it to you? Why is he scared of you?”
A bitter chuckle. “He has good reason to fear me.”
Vague. Okay. “And does the king know you were in prison? Does he know that you’re an incubus?”
“No. He only knows that I’ve learned one of his secrets, and he’ll do anything to keep it hidden from the rest of the city.”
It was hard for me to picture this powerful, dark force of nature in a prison cell for his whole life. Really, it was dreadfully sad. As we flew, the wind swept over us, whipping at my hair. “Was your mother with you when you were a kid? In the prisons?”
“Yes. But it wasn’t long before she was executed. Mortana helped make all that happen. She helped round up every Lilu in exchange for her own protection.”
“But how did you survive?”
I felt his fingers tighten on me, nearly imperceptibly. “Mortana liked to toy with me. And when she left, I was simply forgotten. No one knew I was there. Demons don’t need to eat. We feel hunger, but we don’t require sustenance to live. So I just stayed there.” His eyes had darkened, and his expression seemed haunted. “Until at last, I found a way to escape.”
I breathed in deeply, watching his wings as they pounded slowly under the dark night sky. “What do you mean, she toyed with you?”
Darkness slid through his eyes, and the wind seemed to grow more bitter. “I mean she amused herself by torturing me in her own way.”
Holy shit. No wonder he was desperate for revenge. “And you have no idea what happened to her?”
“No,” he said quietly. “I don’t even know if she remembers what happened to her. I don’t know that she has any idea who she is.”
“What do you mean?"
He took a deep breath. “She once told me about a spell. It’s one we use to forget what we’ve done, to rid ourselves of guilt. A spell for forgetting. She offered it to me, and I said no.” The wind tugged at his silver hair, and his eyes gleamed in the night. “That was why, when I met you, I was so convinced you were Mortana. I thought she’d used the spell on herself. You seemed nothing like her, but I thought there was a chance she’d forgotten everything. I was sure of it until I tasted your blood.”
I was pressed right against his chest, like he was clinging to me for salvation. This close to him, I could feel his chest muscles moving slightly as his wings shifted. “Must we talk about her right now?” he murmured. “I’m afraid the mood will be ruined.”
But it was hard to let it go when he was a mystery I wanted to solve. “Why did she offer you a spell to forget your past? What was it you wanted to forget?”
“Because at the heart of me, Rowan, I’m evil.” His gaze pierced me, the blue in his eyes shot through with shadows. “And sometimes, I’d like to forget that.”
It was hard not to hear the ragged edge of pain in his voice. I almost wanted to touch the side of his face, to tell him that he wasn’t all that bad. But what did I know? He hadn’t told me his history.
The bitter wind was sharpening my senses as we flew. Now, the most pressing question was why I was going somewhere to be alone with an incubus, a creature that killed mortals with sex.
“Orion,” I began, “we had a deal that if I helped you find out what made the king weak, you would help me find my mother’s killer. But I didn’t learn anything from the king—”
“I’ll still help you”
I stared at the faint glow of silver in his wings. “Okay, and this still seems like a bad idea. As an incubus, won’t you kill me? That’s what incubi do. They seduce mortal women and kill them.”
A sly smile played about his lips. “I may be evil, but I’m compelled to keep you safe, and I will. I won’t do anything that hurts you.”
“Why are you compelled to keep me safe?”
He swept down lower until I could feel the spray of the ocean against my skin. “I don’t know, but it’s deeply inconvenient. You’re supposed to be my spy. That means putting your life at risk. How can you work for me if I can’t tolerate risks to your safety?”
“If you were in prison all that time,” I asked, “have you ever actually killed any mortals?”
“Not yet, I’m afraid,” he said darkly. “I just obsessed over it for a few centuries.”
“Wait, what?”
He took a deep breath. “Not the death, but the sex. It’s how we feed and grow strong—from lust. So I dreamt of it day after day and night after night—feeding on mortals, drinking from their desire. Demons, too.” His wings pounded the air. “I do want to kill that frat boy who attacked you, but I won’t be killing him in a way that he enjoys.”
I turned my head to see that we were approaching the yawning opening of a sea cave. Angling his wings, Orion swooped inside, and darkness swallowed us.
Chapter 31
He touched down in the shadows and lowered me to the floor. When he spoke a word in a demonic language, lights sprang to life in a chandelier above us. The flames cast a warm glow on amber stone walls, and licks of fire rose in lanterns in alcoves.
I turned to look at Orion, whose wings were still spread out wide behind him. In the light, I could see how absolutely exquisite they looked, flecked with pearly white constellations that glowed like stars, blending to silver.
“Nice wings.”
With a swirl of smoky, dark magic, his wings disappeared again. “They’re all right.” A seductive smile played over his lips. “You’re the first person I’ve brought to my grotto.”
When I turned to look at it, I realized it wasn’t simply a cave. The walls were built with golden stones, and cool, blue water flowed into a pool inset into a tile floor. By the side of the fresh pool stood a bed of flat rock, covered with a mattress and turquoise pillows.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“When I got out of the dungeons, I needed to find a quieter hideaway. In my cell, I craved other people. But now that I’m around them, I’m not used to the noise of the city.” The look in his eyes was endlessly sad, and his throat bobbed. “So this is where I go to escape. Except right now, it’s where I want to be with you.” He took a few steps closer to me.
I reached out to touch his chest, the steel beneath a soft shirt, and he shuddered. “But it must be hard to look at me when I look so much like her.”
His eyes sparkled in the warm light. “It’s confusing for me, too. But you aren’t her. Apart from how you look, you’re nothing like her.”
“Because I’m not sexy?”
His expression turned fierce. “Because you’re willing to risk your own life. Because you put avenging your mother’s memory above your own safety. And because you’re not afraid to admit your flaws. I guess we’re alike in these ways.”
“And we’ve both spent a lot of time alone.” My pulse was racing as I looked up at him, still stunned by his shocking beauty. The candlelight wavered over his high cheekbones, sculpting the divine planes of his face. A dangerous pulse beat through my body, making it hard for me to think straig
ht.
I reached down for the bottom of his shirt, and I slid my hands underneath the soft fabric. When I pulled it off him, my eyes went wide. Holy hell, he looked like a god. His body was thickly corded with muscle, his abs chiseled. He was a warrior dipped in gold.
A thrill lit up my body just looking at him, and I wanted to taste him. When I met his eyes again, I saw them searching mine. I reached for the straps of my gown, and I let it fall to the floor. I heard his sharp intake of breath, and his expression was reverent as his gaze roamed over my sheer blue underwear. With his eyes on me like that, need built within me.
Then he simply looked ravenous. He moved for me and lifted me up against the wall, his hands under my ass. I heard him moan quietly as his mouth met my throat. A hint of his fangs grazed over my skin again. Was he going to bite me? I didn’t hate the thought, and I found myself arching my neck, giving him more access.
But instead of the sharp sting of teeth, I felt the warmth of his tongue swirling over my skin. My fingers threaded into his hair, and I closed my eyes. His sensual magic was stroking over my body now, a hot and dangerous caress. With my legs wrapped around him, I felt my hips rocking against his body.
As I gripped his hair, my breath sped up. “But how is it that you won’t kill me? Isn’t that the whole problem with incubi?”
A dark laugh. “It is a flaw, yes. But I can make you scream with pleasure even if I don’t fuck you. It’ll take an extreme amount of restraint on my part, but you’ll be fine.”
My core clenched at his words, and I was already slick with desire for him. “You’re quite confident in your abilities.” Truth was, I was, too.
He looked up at me with a seductive smile. “I’m an incubus. Along with killing, it’s the one thing I know I’m good at.”
The cool sea air rushed over my bare skin, and my nipples hardened. The look in his eyes was positively primal now, sliding into darkness.
I arched an eyebrow. “Did I mention that I’ve never actually had an orgasm?”
“You did.” He stroked his hands up my ribs, his thumbs sliding under my bra. “That’s about to change.”
He caressed me just below my nipples, and my body went tight, heat flooding me. With hooded eyes, his gaze brushed down my body. “You are perfection, Rowan.” He leaned down to kiss me, claiming me with his mouth.
As his powerful body pressed against mine, my lips opened for him. The kiss deepened as his tongue caressed mine. His thumbs slid up higher now, sweeping over my breasts—his touch so light that I shuddered against him. Incubi drank from lust, and I was giving him a feast right now. I felt myself melting into him, my knees already going weak. Another brush of his fingers over my breasts, and I clenched with desire.
With a nip to my lower lip, he pulled away from the kiss. I felt dazed as I stared at him.
“I want to see all of you, Rowan,” he said, and it came out like a guttural plea. “I want you naked and spread out on my bed.”
His gaze slid down to the apex of my thighs, where my sheer panties hid almost nothing. Dark shadows snaked out from his body like smoke, and he bit out a curse in another language. I sensed his restraint was slipping. I could feel the glorious, hard length of him straining against his pants—something else that set demons apart from human men.
He kissed me deeply again, tasting me. As my tongue brushed against his, my mind swarmed with images of the glittering sea. I felt like I was floating above it, still flying.
When he pulled away, his midnight eyes slid down my body, over my aching breasts, and then landed on the little scrap of material between my thighs. Lifting me from the wall, he carried me over to his bed and laid me down on the soft pillows. I was liquid, aching for him.
I thought he was going to lean down and kiss me, but instead, he knelt over me. Demonic magic snaked in the air around him, and his eyes were endless darkness. “Take everything off. I want you to show yourself to me.”
My heart raced as my face flushed. I knew how stupid it was to come here with him in the first place, and yet, I needed him so badly that I wanted to do whatever he’d asked. I’d do anything for the pleasure he promised.
A seductive smile ghosted over his lips. “Take it all off. Now.”
I reached behind my back and unhooked my bra. When I pulled it off, the ocean breeze rushed over my pebbled nipples.
A low, hungry growl rose from his chest. “Now take off the rest.”
I slid my fingertips into the side of my panties. He seemed entranced with my body, which weirdly made me excited by the power I had over him. Because Orion was a powerful, ancient demon, feared even by the king. And the way he was looking at my body, it was almost with a sense of worship.
Basking in the attention, I was moving very slowly as I started to pull my panties down one millimeter at a time. Part of me ached to rip them off and spread my legs for him, but I was enjoying this too much.
When my panties were finally low enough to show him everything, I watched every one of his muscles go tense, his fingers clutching the pillows. His dark, intense gaze on my body was a thrill I’d never experienced before, and I wanted him to see exactly how turned on I was. But I still kept my panties moving at a glacial pace down over my hips.
His breath had shallowed, and he moved forward, planting his hands on either side of my head. “Why are you going so slowly, Rowan?”
“No reason.” With a sly smile, I slid them down a little more around my thighs. “I just like the way you’re looking at me.”
He shifted back, then reached for my waist and lifted me. He turned me around until I was on my hands and knees, his body folded over mine. He covered my hands with his, and he whispered in my ear, “How about we go at my pace, love?”
When he’d first called me love, I’d hated it. But right now, it made me even wetter.
He moved away from me, but he stroked his hand slowly down my spine. As he touched me, my back arched, my ass rising to meet his touch. He kept tracing his hand down lower, over my ass, then between my thighs. An excruciatingly light touch, making me shiver. I wanted to force my hips back against him…
I gasped and raised my hips up even more. Shameless. I was throbbing with need for him. What I really wanted was for him to pull my panties aside, for him to fill me where I was wet. Aching for him, I let out a moan.
And that was when he pulled his hand away from me.
“Now,” he said in a low voice. “Take those the rest of the way off for me, and I’ll give you what you need.”
Chapter 32
I wriggled out of them quickly, and I heard his sharp intake of breath, then a low snarl.
From behind, he leaned over me again, hands covering mine for a moment. Then one of his hands moved slowly down, tracing over my breast, my nipple, making me gasp. Lazily, he moved his hand down to my abdomen.
Oh, God, he hadn’t even touched me yet between my legs, and I was already insanely turned on. “Tell me,” he whispered in my ear, “that you want me to give you what you need.”
I turned my head, my mouth now only inches from his perfect lips. “I want you to give me what I need,” I whispered.
Then, finally, he moved his hand lower. All it took was one light touch between my thighs to make me moan.
And because he needed his ego stroked, he pulled his hand away again.
“Come on, Orion.” I’d never wanted anyone like this before.
“I just like hearing you ask,” he said, his voice husky.
Slowly, lightly, he moved his middle finger in a circle just where I needed him. I groaned again, and I found my legs spreading wider, my ass moving against his length. My body was tightly coiled with desire, my toes curling. I wanted more of him—I needed him to take off his pants and fill me. My hips moved of their own accord, my body begging for more pressure. I wanted his hands all over me, and I’d become nothing now but animal desire. “Orion, I need more,” I whispered.
At last, he slid one finger into me, then another, and
I heard him groan my name. Pleasure was rising in me as he stroked in and out, my body clenching around him. I was moving against him, fucking his hand. Finally, for the first time, I was about to come.
“Rowan.” That reverence in his tone, like a desperate prayer offered up to the heavens, started to send me over the edge. I was writhing beneath him, surrendering to the pleasure he was giving me.
Was this actually going to happen? For the first time, was I going to feel that release?
My hips moved against him as he plunged in and out of me, and my vision started to go hazy, filled with images of a midnight sea outside. My body shuddered.
My mind was going dark, shattering as spasms gripped my body.
At last, I climaxed, calling his name.
My muscles had gone completely limp, and I pulled the sheet around myself, catching my breath.
When Orion lay down behind me, I felt that his body was still rigid, his muscles tense. I turned, kissing him deeply. Somehow, I still wanted more, but that couldn’t happen. He twined his fingers into my hair, kissing me hard, desperately.
Then he pulled away with a groan. “This was more difficult than I’d imagined.” His eyes were dark as night. “Rowan, we need to stop now. There’s only so much torture I can take in a night.”
I touched his cheek, my heart aching at his beauty. “Okay. You did it, by the way.”
An amused smile. “I know.”
When I turned away from him, tugging the sheets around me, my heart was still pounding hard. Orion’s powerful arms were wrapped around me, and I gripped one of them. “No wonder everyone makes a big deal out of orgasms. I had no idea. And no wonder mortals let themselves die at the hands of incubi. It was worth it.”
A dark laugh from behind me. “Maybe for most mortals, it was worth it, since their lives were worthless anyway. But not for you, it wouldn’t be.”
The sound of water lapped gently against the rocks. “That’s…sweet. I guess.”
City of Thorns (The Demon Queen Trials Book 1) Page 17
