“I want it.” I hardly recognized the breathy mewl of the woman who gripped his forearm.
“I know.” His eyes flashed, sparkling diamonds burning in the dark black skies of his gaze. “I am a master of my word, little Guardian. You shall have what you want.”
His lips crashed into mine, his arms pulling me hard against him at the same time our mouths collided, and I was lost to the frenzy of sensation, giving myself up to them, allowing them to consume me. I submitted without counting the cost, and as the fervor burgeoned, it no longer mattered who was wrong or right. It all boiled down to this—this hot, unbearable temptation and the need to satisfy it before it drove me crazy. I had to have him, to experience his lips on mine, and as his tongue probed deeper, I couldn’t rationalize the consequences, couldn’t think to care what might happen to my soul now I had begged for this overshadowing sensation.
It was done.
It was what I wanted, and if I was to be damned, then I may as well relish it.
Savor each exquisite sensation.
“Hush.” He drew away a fraction. “You think too much, little mortal.”
I sighed, aware of my guilt in this matter.
“When we kiss, you will think only of me.” My gaze rose to his dark gaze with the instruction. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, Master.” The answer came without conscious thought just before his mouth devoured me again, the demon sweeping me from my feet as our passions entwined.
Chapter Ten
Satan
This moment was the culmination of effort, planning, and biding my time. Surveying the feisty little blonde, visiting her in her dreams, night after night until finally, it was time for the big reveal, establishing myself as her only option moving forward.
There was no ridding herself of me. That event would be difficult enough even if she had fought and struggled, but based on the lust I sensed swirling in her veins, it was impossible. She wanted me. She craved the things I could bestow, and with the slightest push, she had toppled into the pit of my temptation, just as I had hoped.
It was sublime.
Drawing away from her hot embrace, I glanced around. Cathy’s little abode might be to her taste, but it did nothing for me. It was time to alter the aesthetic and create an ambiance fit for the ruler of Hell. I conjured the scene I wanted in my mind as she clung to me, weighed down by the burden of all that lust and shame. I didn’t even have to lift my hand to make the changes, the power of my suggestion alone enough to transform her room into a palace of scarlet and black. Dark candelabra hung from the high ceiling, flames dancing on top of black candles, illuminating the crimson walls.
“Where are we?” I glanced down at her gasp to find her eyes wide with shock.
“In your house,” I reminded her. “I just tweaked a few things to align with my tastes.”
“It’s…” she shuddered lightly, the tiny hairs on her arms rising in acknowledgment of the environment. “It’s perfect for you.”
“For us,” I corrected. “This space is ours until I say otherwise.”
“Black candles make me anxious,” she confessed, risking a peek at them burning above her before her gaze lowered back to my chest.
Running my fingers through her honeyed tresses, I sniggered softly. “It is only because you associate them with evil, but why would you worry about that now? You are consorting with evil in its purest form. There is nothing that wax can do to hurt you.”
“You will protect me?” She looked shell-shocked as if she could hardly believe the things she was saying.
“From all things,” I promised. “While we are together, there is no power in the heavens, on Earth, or in all my realm that can hurt you.”
She pulled in a shaky breath against me while she considered my statement.
“Wh-what will you do to me, Master?” There was genuine trepidation in her voice, but it pleased me. Cathy had finally come to heel, and now it was time to enjoy her.
“To begin, I shall warm you up, ready you for service.”
“Service?”
I smiled. “To me,” I clarified. “You are mine. That means you are available and ready for your master at any time.”
“For sex, you mean?”
The despondency I heard laced in her tone surprised me. She had always yearned for the carnality, her thoughts confirming how much she’d relished it with Damon and the extent to which she imagined it with me. Any reticence on the subject now made little sense.
“Yes, for sex, but for anything, I so desire.” I immobilized her with a determined stare. “And anyhow, we both know how much you want the sex.”
“It’s not that.” She tried to glance away, but the intensity of my will prevented her. “It’s just, there must be more than just sex. I don’t want to be obsessed with my desire.”
I laughed at the admission. “It is a little late for that, I think. You opened the doors to desire with Damon, and your need has only grown since. There is no reason for concern, though,” I assured her. “I will attend to those needs.”
Gesturing to my right, we both turned in time to see an enormous bed manifest before us. Covered in gleaming black satin sheets, I tugged her toward it, allowing her time to inspect the structure for herself.
“It’s huge,” she whispered, pulling from my grasp and trailing her fingers over the satin.
“You like it?”
“It’s unnecessary.” She turned to me. “And pretentious.”
I grinned at her assessment. She was not wrong. “It is perfect. The ruler of perdition should have a grandiose place to fuck, no?”
I shot her a triumphant stare, her gaze lowering at once.
“It seems less about us, about me, and more about you.” All of a sudden, she seemed like a petulant child who had been denied a toy she wanted. Hell, she was practically pouting as I approached.
“I already told you.” My voice was deeper now, even more commanding. “Your needs will be more than well catered to.”
She rose from the rich burgundy carpet below, her body complying with my wordless command, though her eyes were wide with disgust.
“What are you doing?” she hissed. “Put me down!”
Chuckling at her insolence, I ignored the instruction, sending her body floating over the giant bed.
“Master!” She was afraid now, of course. Mortals always were when a fragment of my true power was revealed. “Please.”
“Hush.” My response was curt, sealing her lips without the need for any sort of gag. “I am going to show you, prove this whole thing is about you, Cathy.” I gestured around the space I had created. “The furnishings may be my choice, but this is your show—your circus—the fantasies here are yours.”
“I’m sorry.” Suspended and outstretched over the large bed, she panted, realizing, too late, what she should have intrinsically already known, my rules were the law, and she would do well not to anger me. “Please, I won’t question you again. I won’t doubt you. Just let me down.”
My brow arched at her poor choice of words as I wandered to the side of her elevated body. “Down, you say?”
Cathy’s desperate gaze met mine, and slowly, as though she could sense the trap she was about to tumble into, she nodded.
“As you wish, little Guardian.”
With one flick of my finger, she fell, her body plummeting the few feet in the direction of the bed. Crying out, she squeezed her eyes closed, and thus, was unable to see the way my reactions steadied her, controlling her fall and ensuring she ended sprawled on the black satin, shaken but unharmed.
“Why did you do that?” Back in charge of her limbs again, she scrambled to her knees, her stare accusing.
I smiled at her tone. Once again, she had forgotten her place. “To remind you who is in control.” My voice boomed around the place, the flames above us flickering at its resonance. “A fact you seem to keep forgetting. You are quite fascinating, little mortal, and I am going to enjoy you, but you should rem
ember who I am—what I am—do not fuck with me, Cathy. You do not have the strength, and you shall not win.”
Large eyes met my warning before her gaze slid to her lap.
“To ensure we do not have any further issues, let us recap.”
Her chin rose to acknowledge me.
“How do you address me, little Guardian?”
She sighed, knowing and hating the answer. “Master.”
“Good.” I took a step toward the bed, my shins grazing the bedspread. “And what is the first thing I expect from you?”
Her expression crumpled, demonstrating beautifully just how painful she found it to have to acknowledge the truth. “Obedience.” Her reply was barely a whisper.
“What was that?” I demanded. “Your master needs to hear your response.”
“Obedience.” She managed an adequate volume, her gaze narrowing at my reiteration of the point. “You want me to obey.”
“So, you do know the rules?” I tilted my head at her. For all her light and authority, Cathy was so fragile and kneeling before me now, her comparative flimsiness had never been starker. “But can you keep to them?”
“It’s not so easy for me,” she replied with a shrug. “I am used to being in charge, Master, not waiting for orders.”
I grinned. “You need not wait any longer, little one,” I coxed. “The time for talking is over. It is time you proved yourself to me once and for all.”
A flicker of fear rose in her gaze, but it was easy to ignore as I summoned the powers around me. Flames rose as my fingertips ascended, the ground beneath us shaking as I glowered down at her.
“Strip for me.” I snarled the order, aware I had been too kind to the woman for too long.
If she needed authority and boundaries, then I would give them to her, whether she liked it or not.
“Strip?” She repeated the word as if she did not know what it meant, her hesitation only riling me further.
“Yes, unless you would like me to do the honors?” My gaze devoured her hungrily. “I can rip those fabrics from you in half a second, leaving you exposed in rags. If that is what you would prefer?”
That had her moving, rising on trembling legs as she pulled her clothes over her head. “I can do it,” she assured me hurriedly, casting the clothing aside. “I can strip.”
My jaw tensed when, yet again, she failed to address me properly, and whether she remembered the error, or just sensed the intensity of my glare, quickly, she corrected herself.
“Master.” She exhaled the word breathlessly, her fingers trembling as they grasped at her attire.
Placated, for the time being, I withdrew a few inches, permitting her space to disrobe. I would have preferred a slower, more tantalizing display, yet it seemed Miss Bateman’s only concern was to expedite the task as quickly as she could. Not that it mattered though, I would have plenty of time to ogle her nudity and enjoy her, and at least, finally, she had complied. Stripped to her pretty little white bra and panties, she paused, her gaze rising to meet mine.
“You want me completely bare, Master?” Her face erupted in an adorable blush as she inquired.
“Naturally.” I sounded as unimpressed as I could muster, though secretly, my fury had started to cede, dispersing into the lust that soared at the sight of her toned, flawless body. “How else should I want you?”
Nodding, she blew out a breath before she slipped her bra straps from her shoulders.
“Did Damon not see you this way?” I persisted, knowing already from both of their recollections that the answer was, he had.
“Yes,” she breathed, reaching around to unfasten her bra. “But he never seemed so…” she hesitated, her gaze shifting anywhere but my face.
“What?” I insisted, leaning closer to her burning cheeks. I could not wait to get my hands on her, but first, there would be a lesson or two for Cathy to learn. “What did he not seem?”
“Demanding.” She managed the word just as her lingerie slipped away to reveal her pert breasts, her nipples pebbling under my gaze. “He never seemed so demanding, Master.”
There was no choice but to smile at her beautiful body, as well as her innocence.
“Of course not, child,” I soothed, reaching for the breast nearest to me. Running a finger under its curve, my caress rose to circle the beading bud at its center. Cathy gasped at my touch, panting as my hand skimmed an invisible line toward her other breast. “Damon was not the lord of all Hell, was he? His power was not as great as mine, not as impressive.”
She shook her head, her gaze wide as she followed the path of my finger, and inside her mind, I could hear her thoughts unraveling as desire swelled at her core, fogging all other considerations.
“But more than that,” I went on, seizing the obvious advantage. “Damon was never your master.”
Chapter Eleven
Cathy
I’d never considered myself vulnerable before. A woman I might be, and a comparatively slight, petite one at that, but I had an influence most of my sex did not share, an air of authority that turned heads and demanded attention. I warned off demons, warring in that age-old battle between good and evil, and all the while, I had been so self-assured, so arrogant in my surety about how my story would end, so certain that good would win. Standing topless beside Satan now, I could scarcely even recall that woman—the girl I’d been. Who was she, and why had she been so confident? The dark glimmer in his gaze made it difficult to catch my breath, difficult to remember why I’d been so buoyant in the face of adversity. It had all been for nothing, after all. Each battle meaningless in the face of his supremacy. When it had come to it, when the greatest evil of all had oozed into my life, I had nothing. No defense, no way to counteract his attack, and the worst of it, I hadn’t even wanted to. A wave of giddiness rose in me, my limbs quivering at his scintillating assessment. The way he stared at me, the way his gaze burned into my skin, it was like he’d stripped me completely, not just of clothes, but my barriers and inhibitions as well. It felt as though he gazed into my soul, and there was nowhere to hide from that kind of scrutiny.
“I asked you to strip.”
I jerked at the terse reminder, desperately trying to ignore how my face flamed with embarrassment as I eased my panties down to my knees, watching as they pooled at my ankles. That was it then. It was done. My humiliation was complete as I stood naked before him.
“Hands by your side.” He towered over me, his dark hair falling into those scorching eyes as he glowered in my direction. “Let me see what I am about to claim.”
“You speak about me as though I am a piece of meat. I don’t like it.” My voice had less conviction than I’d imagined, but at least I’d said it. The way his gaze seared me was doing more than just making me hot and bothered. It was blinding me, clouding my thoughts until all there was in the world was him. Satan and his ruthless magic, his callous intent, and the memories of the way he’d kissed me, the way I’d melted into his embrace and longed for more of his caresses.
“You shall have them.”
Nothing about the intensity of his expression altered as he made the vow, but I shifted from one foot to the other, aware yet again, he had just helped himself to my private thoughts. Christ, there was really no escape from a being like this. Damon had been difficult enough to tolerate, but Satan was like Damon on steroids, bigger, smarter, and faster.
I had no chance.
“Whatever your complaints about the way I regard you, all of my caresses shall be yours once this lesson has been taught.”
“Lesson?” I swallowed at the idea, still perilously aware of how exposed I was, completely naked while he remained in the attire he’d manifested in. “What lesson?”
His lips curled, one dark brow rising in that way my impulses found so tantalizing. “I am glad you asked. Since you have such trouble settling into the new order, I thought I could help to reinforce the dynamic for you.”
Gazing down at my body, I noticed the way my nipples ha
d tightened into small bullets, my breasts aching with need for his touch once more. “I think I am well aware of it, Master.” The sardonic edge in my tone made it easier to stomach the title he demanded. “I am here with no clothes while you are fully dressed.”
His smile widened. “That is only the beginning, little Guardian,” he promised in a tone so dark it seemed to suck all the remaining oxygen from the room—precious air he didn’t rely upon, but I most definitely did. “I understand the life you have had so far, the role you have played, and I know the reason for your insubordination, but it means nothing to me. I am Satan, and I expect respect wherever I go. Since I have chosen not to obliterate you, you shall be no different, and to cement the fact, I will spend the rest of the day humbling you, reminding you which of us has control and which of us has relinquished it.”
“What does that mean?” Panic tightened at my core, spiraling into fury at his words.
Yes, I had consented to his approach, I had been captivated by his undeniable allure, but that doesn’t mean I wanted this, to be tamed in such a blatant way, to be mastered by the very darkest demon of all. “Humble me? You can’t! You have no right.”
“I have every right.”
I just grasped his words before my feet rose into the air again, my cry stifled by his index finger that pressed gently against my lips.
“I am your master in more than just semantics, little Guardian, a fact you are about to understand only too well. Your life, your welfare, nay your very sanity depends upon me.”
There was a fleeting moment when emotion spiked in me. I felt the tears burning in my eyes, and I wanted to give in to their consolation, to the emotional release I knew would help me to manage the unraveling situation. I loathed the way he could treat me like this, hoisting me into the air like a rag doll and delivering me down wherever he desired. I despised how insignificant I was compared to him, the way my light seemed to have reduced to barely a flicker in his presence, and those sentiments, combined with my physical vulnerability, combined to produce the tears, but as the moment passed, I blinked them away. I wouldn’t give into him any more than I already had. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
Damn Me: A Paranormal Demon Romance (The Demonology Series Book 4) Page 7