Page 14 of The Demon Prince

Gluttony would never forget the grace of her arms as she dragged that brush through her hair. How she hadn’t even needed candlelight to move through her room. She lived in the darkness, just like he did. And he had known those pale limbs would look so beautiful wrapped around his neck, his waist, anywhere he could get her to touch.

She’d become a living, breathing obsession that he couldn’t get out of his head.

And he’d taken the risk. Leaning onto her bed when he damn well knew she was awake. His pet certainly had no idea how easy it was for him to read her. He didn’t even know if she’d realized who he was just yet. Her heart had thundered in her throat, a temptation that was almost impossible to ignore as his lips were so close to that throbbing beat.

But he had held himself back. Somehow. Perhaps because he enjoyed the chase, just as his brother had suggested. Maybe he did need to just take what he wanted, because that was when the blood tasted sweetest.

Yet, he had the feeling her blood would taste sweet no matter how he had it. No matter when she gave it to him, willingly or not. She would taste like honey and all the glowing, bright things that he’d never had in his life.

He needed to get himself together.

She’d sunk her little claws into him and he couldn’t be a good ruler, or at least stay out of the way, if he was obsessed with yet another of his subjects. Once she knew who was outside her window, she’d slam it shut. Bar it with metal and close him off from the only thing he wanted right now.

And yet...

Her window was open tonight.

He stood outside as he had the nights before, staring into the room and telling himself to leave. He didn’t need to be here. She deserved to have her privacy, but he’d already well and truly broken through that dream, hadn’t he?

Her name was Katherine. Gluttony had taken the time to figure out who lived in the boarding house, and what rooms they were in. It took surprisingly little effort to find, considering the front door was rarely locked.

After he’d left that night, with her scent filling his lungs, he’d snuck into the manager’s office. Also unlocked. The paperwork wasn’t difficult to find, although it was lacking in detail. Just a room number, a name, and the last time they paid.

This place was ridiculously expensive for what it was. He enjoyed Katherine’s room because it was pretty and it smelled like her, but that didn’t mean it was worth the price. The walls were peeling; the floor was warped and likely would rot through after the swamp finally touched the bottom of the building. He wouldn’t have it. His newest obsession would not live in such a dangerous place.

She’d need to leave the moment she bent to him, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Leaning into the window, he peered around her room. There was no tell-tale lump on her bed tonight. No rising and falling of sweet breaths that filled his lungs with sunshine and flashes of red hair.

But he could smell her. Not just that her room was full of her scent, but because she was in the room. He could feel her looking at him too and hear the thundering beat of her heart.

What had his little pet planned? Was she finally going to fight back against him because he was a strange man who had entered her room?

The thought was strangely exciting.

Gluttony climbed through her window as he pondered the thought of her attacking him. He didn’t want to taste fear in her blood, but he also liked the idea of her little claws coming out to play. What if she scratched him? Would she draw blood?

Ah, the thought was enough to send a man to his knees. Already stiffening, pressing against the buttons of his pants, he wandered through her room. Touching everything he could.

Some primal part of himself wanted to leave his scent here. Even though he knew mortals couldn’t smell anything like he could, it made him feel a little better. Any mortal man could walk in here. He could step through those doors because she invited him in, and Gluttony could do nothing about it.

He’d have to stand outside that window, watching another man fall upon her like an animal, knowing only he could feast upon her the way she so desperately wanted.

A low growl echoed in the depths of his throat, and he heard her heart stutter. It kicked back into a quick beat, likely so hard that she could feel it beating against her ribs.

Now, where was she?

He turned, his eyes skating around the room as he tried to plan out their first meeting. He hadn’t expected it to go like this, of course. Gluttony had already been planning how he would introduce himself to her. First, he would bump into her on the street. She’d be surprised to see him, the demon king of their kingdom, out and about.

He would suggest that he was going to the market. And perhaps she would like to join him. After all, he had no idea where he was going and it had been a long time since he’d been into the town.

Then, of course, he’d flash a disarming grin. She’d blush, and he would have to take a moment because the scent of her shyness would likely make him mad with want and desire. But he’d get himself under control and guide her to the market with her hand on his arm.

They’d spend a wonderful day together. He’d invite her back to his castle, and then they would have a moment in his great hall where he bent her over his arm and feasted upon her neck.

He could already see the twin beads of blood that would drip down that lovely swan neck of hers. But that was so far ahead of himself, and obviously wouldn’t happen now.

Instead of the gentleman she met on the boardwalk, he was the intruder who had let himself into her room in the middle of the night. And he knew she was here. He knew exactly where she was, because her heartbeat gave her away.

---