Page 24 of Prince of Ruin
Only… he would never let her unearth it.
A tap turned, somewhere in the bathroom. Sera rolled onto her side and stared at the door, wincing a little as a gush of seed flooded from her body. What was she meant to—?
The door opened, Azazel’s body highlighted in stark relief against the lights within.
Her breath caught once again, because he was beautiful.
Hauntingly beautiful.
And so damned untouchable she could barely think.
“Here.” He knelt on the bed and drew the sheets back, despite her sudden rush to rescue them.
“What are you—?” Her voice squeaked out as the warm washcloth in his hand traced between her thighs.
No, he wasnot.
He was.
He cleaned her tenderly, even as she pressed her hands over her face to try and hide her utter mortification. The washcloth left her skin, and then his breath stirred between her thighs and he kissed her there. Gently.
Sera tore her hands down as he looked up. His expression in that moment was unguarded. Not quite as unreachable as she would have suspected.
“None of this makes any sense,” he told her, slipping under the sheets and hauling her back into his arms. “Least of all that. You were a virgin.”
His tone said,explain.
“It’s complicated.”
“Everything about you is,” he said, and the mockery in his voice was aimed entirely at himself. A hand slid down over the curve of her hips. “Buttryto explain.”
“Okay, fine.” She shivered in his arms. “Iwasa virgin.”
“A rarity in this day and age. Saving yourself for someone?” He kissed the edge of her shoulder, teeth scraping there.
“Yes.” A little gasp worked its way loose. Surely he wasn’t—
He was.
His hand slipped between her thighs again, gentle and curious. “And yet, you gave yourself to me. Tell me about him.”
“I loved him.” Those fingers circled her clit like a pack of hungry wolves. They stilled momentarily at the words, then resumed. “I loved him more than anything. But we couldn’t be. We were torn apart. He chose… his path. I chose mine. I’ve never….” She gasped again. “I’ve never wanted another.”
“Until me.”
Sera bit her lip as a dangerous mouth traced the smooth muscle of her shoulder. This was the velvet glove, but there was still steel inside that glove. She knew what he was doing. “Until you.”
“You gave your innocence to a demon,” he whispered, his fingers dipping inside her. “Does it make you feel dirty? Did you think it would assuage your guilt?”
“No.” She turned and glanced over her shoulder. “Maybe I wanted to pretend too?”
There was a look in his eyes that she’d never seen before.
He was troubled.
And not by the thought that she’d replaced him in her head with some imaginary lover.
If he only knew the truth….
