by R. Scarlett
“Sure,” Stella said, tilting her head so that a few red curls swung in front of her eyes. Pearce reached out and brushed them away, eyeing Molly’s friend like a juicy steak.
“Stella, didn’t you have to go to that fashion show tonight?” Molly asked, hoping to interrupt their bizarre little trance.
Stella’s eyes remained locked with Pearce’s when she answered. “It’s not until later.”
Tina left them and joined Molly, leaning close to her ear. “Please tell me Tensley has another friend.”
“No,” Molly said brusquely; she was not setting her friends up with demons. “I really do have to go, but can I ask you to do something?”
Tina was studying Pearce’s physique like he was a sculpture in a museum. “What?”
“Keep an eye on Stella.”
Molly left then, blood pumping as she navigated the ever-more-familiar path to Tensley’s apartment building.
He was alone, and the only time she’d gotten a decent night of sleep in weeks was when he’d been in the other room.
“That’s the only reason I’m here,” she whispered to herself, staring up at the classic architecture sprawling above. “To get some sleep.”
THE LAST PERSON Tensley expected to see at his door was Molly. She wore a short black skirt and translucent blouse that revealed a lacy camisole underneath, one that showed just enough of her cleavage to send his pulse rising. She was a vision to be reckoned with, and he was struggling so much with not just marking her right there that his hands shook.
A shudder moved through his immense, agitated body. It was becoming harder and harder to keep his beast in check. Every time she was near him, it was like she chipped away his control a bit more. He was completely powerless to it.
“I brought you coffee,” she said, a nervous smile playing on her lips. She lifted it higher, but when Tensley didn’t say a word of thanks, the grin faltered. “I just thought you’d need something—I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have interrupted. Pearce said you’d boarded yourself up.”
At the mention of his morbid associate, Tensley jerked forward, towering over her. “You talked to him?” He didn’t like the thought of Molly alone with Pearce. Not at all.
Molly backed up, clearly taken aback by his tone. “Yeah, I ran into him at the park. He was jogging—well, until he started flirting with Stella and Tina.”
As long as Pearce wasn’t messing with Molly, Tensley didn’t care who that asshole flirted with.
“You can leave the coffee on the counter,” he said, motioning for her to come inside. “Pearce was right, though—I have a ton of stuff to do today. Can’t really talk.”
It was probably rude of him, but having her there, in his penthouse, when it was just the two of them…he knew there was no way in hell he could contain himself.
Molly tiptoed in, placed the coffee soundlessly on his kitchen counter, and then whirled on him. “I was wondering if…”
“Yeah?” he prodded, trying to keep his eyes above her glorious breasts.
She licked her lips and the image went straight to his cock. Well that doesn’t help matters.
“I was wondering if I could study here.”
If she stayed, he’d absolutely lose it, and he wasn’t ready to damn her to an existence by his side just yet. His beast ached to gain control and every time he thought of her unmarked, unclaimed, it egged him on.
It was a constant battle between his reason and his desire, what was for the best and what he so desperately craved. The beast in him was growing stronger with each day, and he was afraid one day, he wouldn’t be strong enough to overpower it. He laughed softly to himself. There was no question there—it would happen eventually, he knew it. It was just a matter of time. All he was trying to do was delay it as much as possible, until she was ready.
Control, I need control.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Molly,” he said, clenching his fists to keep from throwing her over his shoulder. “I can’t be distracted—”
She waved a delicate hand. “You don’t have to worry! Honestly, I’ll be so consumed in my reading you won’t even know I’m here.”
Is that a hint of desperation in her tone? As gorgeous as she still was, Tensley had to admit Molly looked beyond exhausted—and were those bruises beneath her eyes, hastily covered with makeup?
“Fine, yes. But I really don’t have time to chat.” He had a meeting with the Boston division, Ares, the next day, and would need to convince them it was time to hand over their territory. A lifetime’s supply of belladonna, money, and hundreds of familiars were being offered to sweeten the pot, but Tensley still felt nervous about Scorpios’ overall terms: Ares would have little to no involvement on the board, and he wasn’t sure they’d go for that.
Molly nodded and sat down on his leather sofa without another word, yanking many large textbooks from her bag and spreading them out on the coffee table.
Tensley returned to his office and sat down, trying to find his place amongst the papers he’d been memorizing before Molly’s arrival. It was after he’d reread the same page four times that Tensley leaned back and tapped his fingers against his oak desk.
A desk he’d rather have her bent over…
“Fuck it,” he said on an exhale, gathering a few papers and books and stomping out to the living room.
Molly glanced up, now seated on the floor with a pen between her swollen lips. She eyed him from underneath her lashes as he sat across from her and flipped one of the files open. The words tangled in his mind—Scorpios, Ares, territory, power, low-blood demons, hunters—and he glanced up to see Molly glaring at her own book.
“Having trouble?”
Molly flinched, wide eyes actually glowing for a moment. Had he scared her? “Some of it’s in Italian.” She rubbed her forehead before throwing her luscious waves into a loose ponytail.
“I just so happen to know someone who speaks it fluently,” Tensley said, joining her on the sofa.
He could feel her eyes on him as he read the text—Greek mythology, a story about Hades and the Underworld.
“So you like this stuff?” he asked when he had finished translating a paragraph.
Her lips quirked. “Yeah. I was always fascinated by the gods, how unflinchingly cruel they were. Hades and Persephone interested me most.”
“But Hades was brutal; he captured her,” Tensley said with a frown.
A spark chased her icy eyes. “But he captured her heart, too.” Her voice was so smooth and honey-warm that he ached to taste its sweetness. “Hades fell in love with Persephone. He knew Persephone’s mother, Demeter, wouldn’t let anyone wed her daughter. So one day, while she was picking flowers, he captured her. In her wrath, Demeter—who was the goddess of grain, agriculture, and fertility—destroyed the land and its crops. Once Zeus saw the famine caused by Demeter’s rage, he agreed that Persephone needed to be returned to her mother.
“Hades didn’t argue, just offered a pomegranate seed for Persephone to eat. Some scholars say it was a trick on Hades’ part, while others argue she ate it fully aware that it would keep her with Hades. The gods then proposed a compromise: Since Persephone had eaten something from the Underworld, she had to dwell at least part of every year there. Rhea suggested that Persephone spend six months as its queen, and the rest of the year with Demeter. It’s why we have seasons—autumn and winter are when Demeter mourns her daughter’s absence, with spring and summer marking her return.” When she finished her explanation, she sat still for a moment, contemplative.
Tensley furrowed his brows; the myth was uncomfortably similar to a real situation in their own lives.
Was he Hades? Had he captured Molly and thrown her into his own Underworld of demons and war?
Tensley traced his fingers along the words and read them aloud: “So feared was she that mortals often invoked her name in curses. Do you really think he tricked her into eating the fruit?”
Molly gave an infinitesimal shake of her chi
n. “I think…I think she knew. I think a part of her had been hiding under the surface her whole life, a part only he was able to bring out. Hades allowed Persephone to be who she truly was.”
“I’m not entirely sure we’re talking about the story anymore,” Tensley murmured, noticing how Molly was watching him with a new, unadulterated hunger.
Then the moment passed and she leapt from the cushions, scooted by him and into the kitchen. “I was thinking of making some food. Is that all right?”
“Go ahead,” he said, retrieving another file and trying to read as she bustled around.
He leaned his elbows on his thighs and bit his thumb, sneaking glances at her scouting around his kitchen like it was hers, the idea of her staying there creating a warm sensation—and then he scolded himself. A few minutes passed where he focused on his work, trying his best to ignore her.
“Here,” Molly said a few minutes later, handing him a plate.
Tensley looked at it.
“You didn’t have much to work with,” Molly said, interpreting his hesitance for dislike.
It couldn’t have been further from the truth—no love interest had ever made him a meal before, and he felt a twinge in his stomach at the gesture.
“Do you actually know how to cook, or are PB&Js your gourmet meal of choice?” he said between bites. “I didn’t even know I had peanut butter in the house, honestly.”
Laughing softly, Molly ate some of her own sandwich. “I can manage—you learn quick if no one’s around to cook for you.”
“What do you mean?”
Molly shrugged. “My parents were busy a lot. My dad would give me some attention, but it wasn’t very often. To them, ‘good parenting’ meant fancy schools and nannies and a lot of gifts at Christmas, didn’t include quality time.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a childhood,” he muttered, watching her closely.
“It was pretty lonely at times,” she agreed. “It’s why I want to have more than one kid, actually. So they’ll always have someone to play with.”
Tensley rubbed his cheek and sat back, ruminating on the thought of children—their children, if he followed his family’s orders. Would she want to carry his young? Did she imagine him, the beast, as the father to her children? Or did she picture a perfect, gentle human?
He froze.
Could he even be a father? Would he be capable of caring for his children or would he be like his father, cold and distant?
Looking at Molly now, radiant and addictively sweet, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep his hands to himself. His beast loved the idea of her swollen and barefoot many times.
“How many do you want?” she suddenly asked, her cheeks reddening slightly.
“I’ve never really stopped to think about it,” he said, admitted. “We—demons—tend to have bigger families, to maintain the bloodline. I always assumed I’d have a lot of kids, but never really thought about my preferences. It has to do with keeping the bloodline healthy and growing. I guess I always assumed I’d have a large family, but never really thought about what I personally preferred.”
When he glanced up, she wore a strange expression.
“What?” he asked, reaching for his sandwich to escape her piercing gaze.
“You’re a difficult man to figure out, Tensley Knight. Every time I think I’m making progress, you go and say something I’d never have expected.”
TENSLEY FROWNED AS he chewed. “Is that…bad?”
Molly’s tinkling laugh soothed his edginess. “Not at all. I want to understand you, Tensley. I want to know more about the world I’m supposed to be a part of.”
Tensley straightened, taken aback even further by that afternoon’s events. “Where do you want me to start?”
Molly mock-stroked her jawline. “Hmm…how about at the beginning?”
Tensley chuckled. “The beginning? Like, of everything?”
“Yep.” Molly crossed her arms and settled farther into the cushions.
Tensley cleared his throat. “As our legend goes, it began with a god named Chaos. It’s said that Chaos birthed Fallen from his heart and created many other gods in the Abyss—now known as the High Court of Babylon. Fallen was a troubled god, however. He enjoyed tormenting the other gods, so in time, they loathed him.
“As Fallen grew tired of their company, he explored Earth, gorging himself on many of his guilty pleasures. It was during his time on Earth that he came upon a kingdom ruled by a powerful princess who had conquered many cities. She was a great beauty, and he admired her for her exploits and power. Over time, he fell in love with her—the kind of love that blinds, that made him want to give her whatever she asked for. So, when she demanded the High Court, he made it happen.”
Molly quirked her head, thoroughly engrossed. “What happened then?”
Tensley squinted, trying to recall the details of a story he hadn’t heard in nearly a decade. “Fallen destroyed every god who stood in his way, even Chaos. The gods who joined Fallen’s cause became the nine Princes of the High Court, who still rule it now. When Fallen conquered the High Court, he went back to retrieve his princess, but she betrayed him. She’d never actually loved him; it was all a plan to cut out his heart, since she believed eating a demon’s heart would make her immortal.”
“But I thought demons didn’t have hearts…”
Tensley nodded. “Not full hearts. So when Fallen arose, still alive and furious, he ripped out her heart and sent his demons to suck the souls from her people, creating familiars.
“Fallen vowed that our society would never be weakened by humans again, and created many strict rules surrounding demon classes, marriages, and more. When there were too many high-born demons in existence to all reside in the High Court, Fallen sent the overflow to Earth to live among the humans. Organizations like Scorpios and Ares were then created to keep everyone in check.”
Molly shifted in her seat and played with her ponytail. “Have you ever been to the High Court?”
“No,” Tensley said. “But I’ve heard it’s like a beautiful darkness on a cool summer night, that the water is crystal clear and the forests are thick and full of beasts for hunting. Lavish parties, too much belladonna, and too much politics. Fallen’s High Court has smaller courts that other demons take care of.”
Molly’s forehead wrinkled. “Does Fallen have children?”
“He has a wife, Lilith, who some pray to for fertility. They have many children, but definitely favor their son Thorne.”
“And how does it all work? How can Fallen control two worlds at a time?” she continued, bemused.
“First off, you have to understand where we stand in the power structure. Fallen rules, his word is golden, and you’re asking for death if you think otherwise,” Tensley explained. “Below him are the nine Princes of Babylon, and each is given a sector to manage. Asmodeus is our Prince, and the person my father—the current Scorpios Dux—answers to.
“After the Duxes are the Nobiles of the Realm, middle-class demons with no real power. Anyone below that isn’t acknowledged by the court—low-borns like Illya, for example.”
A sour taste filled his mouth at the thought of his best friend’s fate.
“Our culture has social norms that don’t match your own: above all, never to show love or affection.”
Molly’s demeanor visibly stiffened. “Why’s that?”
“Because when you love someone, it makes you weak. Vulnerable,” Tensley said with a sigh. “It can be the greatest weapon there is.”
“Is friendship a supposed ‘weakness’ in your world as well?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what about Illya?”
“Illya’s different,” he answered quickly. “He’s family. Normally, demons from other families are considered competition; it’s a constant battle to get ahead, to gain power and favor in the High Court through any means necessary, which is why my family fought so hard to have you.” Tensley risked a look at Molly. “Our union,
when the time comes, will make us powerful—very powerful.”
She returned his stare, though whatever emotions she felt at the suggestion remained a mystery to him. “How does that work?”
“How does what work?”
“The…” She paused, then tried again. “The ‘union’. The marking.” A nervous blush crept onto her cheeks.
Hearing her say those words were enough to set his blood on fire. His fingers bit into his thighs just thinking about marking her. “Are you sure you want to know this? Are you sure you’re ready to hear all of this?” he asked, making sure she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by learning too much in one night.
What had been a slight blush earlier now turned her cheeks crimson red as she nodded.
Just seeing that beautiful crimson awakened his beast. He opened his mouth and closed it. Then opened it again. “Oh. Well, it takes place during sex. As we reach our peaks, my demon side would fully take over, and I’d bite your neck. The bite, as well as my saliva, would form a sort of ‘collar’ around your neck, visible only to high-borns. Lower classes of demons would only see a shadowy sort of scar, and it’s undetectable to humans. Since my family is middle class, we would only see the shadow.”
Molly’s fingertips skimmed her neck, perhaps imagining where he might bite her. “And then I’ll be claimed?”
“Yes,” Tensley groaned, the beast within him begging to escape and do it right there.
“What does the marking ultimately mean?” Molly asked, oblivious to his inner battle.
“It’s a claim of ownership and protection in my society. Only high-borns or higher-middle-class demons do it to their mates; it’s sort of like a brand.”
She balked. “A brand? Like marking one’s territory?”
“Yes, demons often see humans as property, pets really. I won’t lie, the primal side of me, my demon side, might see you as such.” Tensley saw the way Molly shied away and immediately backtracked. “But I wouldn’t look at you that way. To me, you’d be a partner. An equal.”