Page 10 of The Devil of London

It basically consisted of women being bound in sinful positions, suspended in the air, and offered up to the patrons to use in any way they wanted. Some would bring friends and run trains on those willing to be used in such a manner. He tied me up, suspended me, and left me untouched.

It was how I’d met Paris, who’d been smitten with me. It had been on the day they had suspended me in the air, left untouched. I’d watched others taking their pleasure. Afterward, I had been handed a poem Paris had written as he had watched me. He’d left before I’d been able to locate him. Then, after weeks of looking for him, he’d sent flowers to the mansion Nasir had built for us while Nasir was away on business. It had intrigued me to have someone other than Nasir send me such a gift, and it led to us sending secret letters to one another. Months had passed, and Paris had invited me to his room in the apartments above the theaters.

Nasir had discovered my digression, which I had thought I’d been so careful to cover. In the French Opera House, where he’d gotten accommodations for being a writer of various plays, we’d intended to be together. Only, it never happened.

Instead, Nasir and Merikh had kicked in the door just as Paris had finished disrobing me. They’d beaten him to a bloody pulp, stabbed him several times, and then bound him to the bed. Nasir had forced me to ride his mouth, which Paris—God love him—begged me to do. I’d agreed only because Nasir threatened to slowly cut Paris up if I didn’t. As I had climbed onto his lips, he’d kissed my naked flesh with reverence. His tongue had slipped into my pussy, and I’d come for him several times while Nasir sat in the dark corner, watching me. I had been oblivious in my pleasure, which meant I’d failed to notice Paris had ceased participating. When I finally did, he’d succumbed to his injuries.

“You’re an unfeeling bastard,” I whispered.

“One would think your lesson learned with Maxwell would’ve squashed your fanciful thoughts of love. I had warned you from seeking relationships with men, love. I’d told you not to stray from me. You ruined what we’d had. We both kept that time peaceful. I had merely wished to continue it. But you were not content with what I offered and craved more. I’d also told him you were mine and if he continued to write his love letters, it would come to a violent end. I believe Shakespeare said it best when he said, ‘These violent delights have violent ends.’ In all honesty, your lad went out in a delightful way. I am certain his last thought was of how delicious you tasted on his lips.”

Paris had been soft, sweet, and so damn nice. He’d been a gentle soul in a dark, merciless world. I’d been his muse, which had ended his life long before it should’ve had the curtain pulled on it. On the way out of the chamber, Merikh had poured gasoline on the remains and Nasir had forced me to stand in the shadows as the French Quarter came alive to put the Opera House fire out. By the time they had, little more than charred ruins remained, and it had stayed that way until the sixties. The person who bought the property built a hotel over the ashes.

“William was sweet, wasn’t he?” I asked, moving farther down the hallway until he stopped once more in front of another painting. Khaos was my obsession, and the one thing I’d never been able to escape. Without answering me, he started moving down the corridor. Khaos had adored William Shakespeare, and we’d both mourned his loss when news of it arrived in the Americas.

Khaos stopped before a doorway and punched a code into the keypad. The door slid open to reveal another room. The atmosphere in this one was saturated with sexual tension.

Khaos’s fingers wrapped around my wrist, pulling me with him toward a booth in the back of the room. Along the farthest wall, they’d positioned booths with velvet curtains to conceal them from view of the room positioned back into the farthest wall. Releasing my arm, Khaos held his hand out to show I should sit, and I slid into the booth, dropped my purse next to me, and then took a sip of my drink. Khaos sat beside me, his nearness causing me to squirm.

The lights dimmed even more as Damaris strolled out onto the stage. Her focus sliding around the audience as she learned them.

“It’s nice to see oldfriendsand new ones tonight.” Damaris tipped her head to me and then returned her attention to the audience. “I hope you are enjoying your time in the Devil’s Chamber. From the sounds coming from some tables, I’d say some were impatient to find pleasure?” Murmurs of agreement whirred around the room. “My girls are preparing to give you an enticing show with patrons they’ve hand selected from the audience tonight. If they’ve chosen your partner, please refrain from joining them on stage unless you’re invited to do so—that is rule number one. Rule number two is that anything goes kink-wise so long as your partner is willing. If you select someone to fuck, again, they must be willing. If you overstep, the gentlemen monitoring the room will happily remove you from the grounds. The bar’s open in the lounge, but be warned, it’s a fuck-fest within it and there’s no regulation on which form you can fuck in. Knots, double-headers, bloodletting, and much more occur in the Devil’s Lounge. If you’re not interested in joining them, be certain to wait for our highly trained staff to assist you in any need you may have. Enjoy your night, Sinners. I know I intend to.” Her platinum-blonde hair was up in a pinup-girl style, which matched the style of the blood-red dress she wore. Damaris was otherworldly beautiful, but she was also one of the kindest souls I’d ever encountered in my two hundred and ninety-nine years on this earth.

A hand touched my thigh, and I glanced at it before dragging my gaze up to Khaos’s face, which had darkened with something akin to desire. Uncertain how to respond, I reached for my drink and downed it in one, quick swig. He chuckled as his hand crept farther up my thigh.

“What are you doing, Khaos?” I asked. My nipples had hardened into achy points from the single touch, and I struggled not to shift my legs apart in invitation.

“Whatever the fuck I want,” he returned sharply. “Why would you need companionship, Aderyn?” His eyes bore into mine as my pulse jack-hammered against my throat. The pounding of it echoed in my ears, rebounding inside my skull as I tried to find the words to reply. “It seems you’ve grown more difficult in your time alone.”

“I run a shop, which you are aware of, obviously. Day after day, I ask men what they’re looking for and then have to tell them that their wives or girlfriends will love it. The girls I employ are amazing, but employees. I’ve made a few friends, but they all have their own families while I remain alone. I go home to an empty house alone, bathe, then read before bed. That is why I need companionship. I am tired of always being alone.” How I had been able to even speak with his fingers slowly rubbing against the inside of my thighs was beyond me.

“You have me, brat. Some asshole from the internet isn’t going to fillanypart of you. I’ve been neglectful of you, but I intend to remedy it immediately.” My stomach flip-flopped as I waited for him to elaborate. “You’ll spend your weekends with me from now on. At my estate, of course.”

“I’ll do no such thing.” I hadn’t thought before spewing the words out abruptly. At the menacing demeanor sharpening his features, I blanched. “I came here to let you know about the harassment I’ve been dealing with in the shop and to see if you knew anything about it. I didn’t come here for your pity. You and I are like oil and water. We both know it, don’t we?”Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck! I’d acted rashly. I’d end up tied to his bed if I didn’t figure a way out of this now.“I have my store, and I’m launching a new clothing line for the Bad Witchery this summer during the Founder’s Day celebration held in your honor. Besides, you have an empire to rule.”

“I do, which is why you’ll be coming to my estate, where I can easily handle you and the pressing matters of my empire.” A topless server started toward us with a cocky smile on her lips. Her perky tits bounced with each step she took toward us, and then she knelt before Khaos and slid her hand between her thighs, leaving no question where her fingers were vanishing.

“Hello, Khaos. I wasn’t expecting you to join us tonight,” she purred even as her lips parted with a sultry, lusty moan. “My cunt’s missed you working it over, baby.”

Anger burned my ears, but I fought to appear unfazed by the woman’s blatant disrespect. I’d never let Khaos know how much his relationships with the girls affected me. If I acted as if I could not care less, then he wouldn’t know how much it broke my heart that he fucked them, but hadn’t ever used more than his mouth or fingers on me.

“Is that so, Gigi?” Khaos murmured, squeezing my thigh hard enough to hurt. “This is Aderyn. She’s drinking Witch’s Brew tonight with Empress Gin. Refill her drink and bring me another three fingers of top-shelf bourbon.”

“Are you sure I can’t offer you more? I’m so wet for you,” she whined before showing him her wet fingers before loudly sucking them clean.

“If I wanted more, I’d have asked. Do as I tell you to do.” His cold dismissal of her should’ve appeased me, but it didn’t. “Have Beatrix squeeze the juice into the glass and place the basil above the ice.” Sliding his regard to the stage where couples were slowly making their way to the small couches that faced the audience, he forgot she existed.

“As you wish,” she stated while awarding me with a vicious look.

“Don’t look at me as if it’s my fault, darling. I viscerally know what his dismissal feels like, and have been subjected to it more times than you can probably count. The devil is fickle in his needs, and by the time you’ve learned how cruel he can be, you’re six feet deep in a hole he buried you alive in. It’s then when you finally understand you’re disposable, replaceable, and undesirable to the cold-hearted, unfeeling monster you sold your soul to. If you’re smart, you’ll run now.” I smiled tightly at her as Khaos’s rage floated in the air between us.

“Just because you can’t satisfy the devil doesn’t mean I can’t, bitch,” she snapped before tossing her hair over her shoulder as she rose and moved toward the Devil’s Lounge.

“Stand up, now,” Khaos growled. I rose from the bench, then I faced him with my shoulders back and my chin up. I wasn’t the same pathetic creature he’d pulled out of the sanatorium. Time away from him and the only family I’d ever known had hardened me. I’d had to fight for what I wanted, and I’d built my store from the ground up by myself. “Come to me.” Stepping closer, I’d been prepared for him to berate me, but he gripped my hips and forced me forward onto his lap.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re not disposable, replaceable, or undesirable, Aderyn. We thought you were dead. Yes, I fucking buried you. I also murdered everyone who refused to bring you back.” His hands slid to my ass, lifting my dress until cool air fanned my cheeks. “But I didn’t replace you, nor did it cool my desire to have you near me.”

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