Page 23 of Hell Sent

He wondered if she had ever imagined coupling with him, even if it was only a fantasy she would never act upon. He pictured her shrugging off her robe to bare herself to him, lying on her back like Nariel never had, and parting her legs for him. Submitting to him. Wanting him.

Through their clothes, the head of his cock would not stop rubbing against her backside, and his resolve was weakening.

He bent his head, leaning into her warm hair. He imagined her inner channel softening under his touch, as if she would welcome him inside her.“You smell like lust,” he murmured.

Perhaps it frightened her, because she half-heartedly pressed a hand to his thigh as if to put some distance between them, even as her pleasure flared. Instinctively, he pulled her tightly against him and redoubled his efforts on her sex. She made a faint sound as her hips bucked. His cock strained against her.He wanted to feel her skin, to sink into the heat between her legs, to watch her come undone on his fingers.He lifted his hand away from her body long enough to find the waist of her trousers and slide beneath it.

She gasped. “No. Wait.”

He paused. “Why not?”

“I just—just please don’t.” She sounded desperate.

Azreth snapped out of the embarrassing fugue state of lust he’d entered. He looked down at Raiya, who was suddenly fearful and unhappy. She was afraid of being overpowered.

He had the perverse urge to try to comfort her. How one might do that, though, he had no idea. He’d never tried to comfort someone before, because that would be a strange and unnatural thing to do.

Grimacing with distaste at himself, he pulled his hand away from the waist of her trousers and placed it on her thigh. “Be at ease,” he murmured.

She exhaled, her head tipping back to rest on his shoulder, as if she really were put at ease. Or maybe the effort of trying to reach climax was just tiring her. Her emotions were heavy and convoluted, but he knew she was close.

He held her for a moment as he waited for the fear to recede. Then he eased his fingers along her inner thigh—courting her again. He brushed his thumb over her center. The lightness of the touch would drive anyone mad eventually. He waited for her to show him she was ready.

Only when she arched, pressing her body against his hand needily, did he begin to handle her in earnest again. A swell of pleasure came from her as his fingers pressed just beneath the crest of her sex.

“There,”she said breathlessly.

“I know.”As if there was any chance he could have missed it. He dutifully continued in even, steady strokes until her entire body undulated, her fingers clutching at him as she reached her peak.

The essence of her poured into him, and he groaned, doubling over. It was a feast. It was ecstasy. For a moment, everything in the world was perfect and beautiful.Both of them gasped and trembled and moaned together in united bliss.

It was not mere copulation. It was not like Nariel. And he felt a deep regret as he realized there was no coming back from this. Nothing else would ever compare.

Eleven

Azreth had never charged an enchantment before, but fortunately, it came naturally to him. It was like feeding in reverse. Raiya watched his hands as he worked on the bracelet, and there was a greedy glint in her eyes that he’d not seen in her before now. Ambition? Jealousy? Perhaps… admiration? A part of him was just relieved to see something other than quiet fear and resignation in her soul.

Her face was still flushed from earlier. His gaze dropped to her lips, which seemed plumper and redder than before. Her eyes darted up to his, and she shifted nervously when she realized she was being studied.

“Are mortals preferable to demons for feeding?” she asked. “Is that why your people come to Heilune? Because we… taste better?” She had many questions. The more time they spent together, the more she asked.

He turned the bracelet in his hands, wondering how he would know when it was finished charging. “They are preferable because they are soft and weak and easily frightened. Your plane is a feast for us.”

“We are not weak.”

He glanced at her.

“We’re not weak,” she repeated, narrowing her eyes.

He was surprised she was so defensive. She could see their physical differences just as easily as he could.

Then again, he wouldn’t like being called weak either, and he didn’t want to anger his only ally. He searched for a better way to put it.

“You are… not strong,” he said, then he realized that wasn’t quite right, either. There was more than one kind of strength. “Mortals are small and easy to break. They cannot put up much of a fight. It is different in the hells. We must fight every day in order to survive. That’s why many try to make their way here, even when it comes with great risk. That, and you taste better.” As he’d just discovered.

“Perhaps other demons would have an easier time if they all behaved like you. It isn’t so bad being fed from when you do it like that.”

He looked up at her so sharply that he almost dropped the bracelet. She gave a nervous smile and looked away, folding her arms tightly over her chest.

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