I don’t know if he believes me or not, but I’m buoyed by the fact that he’s even willing to listen. I dive in, explaining as concisely as I can. “He plans on taking over Hell and Heaven. Tonight. He wants to overturn Lucifer’s reign. He stole the three of us because he needs us to scythe the Seven Sins and take them out. He has a whole group of followers here with him tonight, ready to take out the rest of the party, just as soon as my sisters and I get to scything.”
Varying emotions flit across his face, and his gaze turns calculating. “Okay, but that doesn’t make sense. The Seven Sins can’t be killed, just like Lucifer. And that still doesn’t explain why Morax needs you and your sisters.”
Confusion wells up in my mind at his question. “My sisters and I are Annuli. With our scythes, we can reset or annihilate souls. Even the Seven Sins,” I tell him. I can tell from the pure shock that flashes in his blue eyes that all of this is news to him.
Silence grows deafening between us as Ire watches me. I can’t read the look in his eyes. I can’t tell if he believes me or still thinks I’m playing some messed up game.
He tilts his head, making my eyes flick up to his short horns before falling back down to his face. “And are you?” he finally asks, his voice deceivingly calm.
I don’t trust it for a second. Ire is many things. Calm isn’t one of them.
“Am I what?” I ask, my voice betraying my nervousness.
One hand moves from the shelf behind me to come up and grip my face. He cradles my entire jaw in his hand, tilting my head up, making my neck strain.
It’s demanding. Possessive. Angry.
Which is why it’s so ridiculous that my nipples pebble and my thighs have to press together for the friction. We’re hidden in a tiny space, with nothing but a glorified curtain blocking us from the world, and Ire is like a stick of temperamental dynamite. And yet, when he presses against my body, forcing our chests together, his fingers digging in as he secures his hold on my face, I’m so turned on that the intensity of it scares me.
“Are you planning on scything the Seven Sins?” he asks slowly without blinking, his voice barely more than a whisper, but no less deadly.
I swallow hard, and I know the edges of his fingers can feel my throat as it bobs. “No.”
I look back at him, knowing I can’t break eye contact, or he’ll think I’m lying. The tension between us is as thick as the length I feel pressed against my stomach, and I have to lock my hips in place to keep from moving against him. Dangerous. Ire is so, so dangerous.
He keeps me like that for the longest moment, completely at his mercy, sharing air, our bodies touching, his unabashed erection trapped between us as much as he has me trapped against these shelves. This crazy attraction simmers inside of me, but I see it burning in him too, the blue of his eyes like a fueled flame.
I should fear him. I should be shoving out of his hold and running as far away from him as I can. Fear would be a logical reaction. He’s a powerful demon after all. Even I can sense that. But...I don’t think he’ll hurt me, at least not in any kind of way that I wouldn’t enjoy. That thought surprises the heck out of me, but I don’t have time to analyze it before Ire’s voice is pulling at my attention again.
“And your facade?” he asks, his gaze skimming over my body from head to toe.
“Courtesy of a demon named Shateel.”
“So the way you really look…?”
“How I was in the dream but usually much cleaner,” I tell him lightly, trying to thin out the thick sexual tension. “Though I wouldn’t have worn a dress like this in my old life, that’s for sure.”
Another moment passes, and I force myself to wait patiently, even though I know time is running out. For some reason, I feel like it’s imperative that I get Ire on my side.
Finally, as if he just made up his mind about me, his hand suddenly drops, and he straightens up. “Alright, Snarls. I believe you.”
Relief whooshes through me, and I sag against the shelves. “Thank you.”