Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress #2) - J.L. Weil Page 0,62

trust me.”

My fingers traced down his spine. “And rightly so.”

A grin of pure wickedness flashed over the prince’s face. “I think that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me.”

I tugged playfully on a cluster of dark hair curling along his nape. “Whatever.”

“You might be of Queen Verena’s court, but you are not safe within these walls,” he warned, some of the demon receding from his eyes.

“I kind of figured that out.”

His hard body sank deeper onto mine. “Don’t trust her. She is remarkable at deception.”

I raised a brow. “Better than you?”

Again, he gave me one his half smiles that made my heart skip. “Now you insult me.”

“Since you seem to be interested in uncovering truths, are you going to tell me what you’re planning? And don’t feed me your it’s-better-if-you-don’t-know bullshit. We’d already been down the road before.”

“And it worked, if I recall.”

“You aren’t really going to let your mother…?” I made a slashing motion across my throat.

I had more or less been joking, but the seriousness that dropped over his features was all too real. “There are no lengths I won’t go to if it means keeping you safe.”

Uneasiness coiled in the pit of my stomach at the thought of Ashor and his mother going toe to toe. Darkness fighting darkness. “That’s not the answer I was looking for.”

“I can’t give you the one you want,” he murmured, rubbing his nose against mine. “But I can promise that I will protect you at all costs. You are mine.”

“So possessive,” I teased to lighten those hard lines over his brows, but I took comfort in his vow as well as in his arms… at least for the night.

15

Sleeping with Ashor shouldn’t be a decision I took lightly. It was complicated. Giving myself to him would solidify our bond on a deeper level. To link our bodies would bring on a whole new level of closeness I wasn’t sure I was ready for.

But there was nothing I could do to stop myself from reaching for him.

While our gazes locked, my mind went through all the reasons this was wrong, and Ashor just waited, watching me with those smoldering eyes, letting me make the decision. He would never press me on the matter—a notion I found empowering, to be the one who decided our fate. I almost wished he would take the power out of my hands and choose for me.

His answer was so blatantly displayed in his features. Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes. His voice was a soft caress in my head, stroking my soul with a gentleness that undid me.

“Prick,” I murmured right before our lips met.

The entire world went still at the touch of his commanding mouth on mine. Like everything between us, the kiss was impatient, stuffed with months of wondering and imagining. I raked my fingers into his hair and moaned at the ache that began building inside me.

My rashness didn’t stop with a kiss. Pushing at his shoulders, I climbed on top of him, my legs straddling his hips as I deepened the kiss, slipping my tongue inside him. At the first caressing taste of him, something snapped inside of me—an insatiable hunger for this man. My nails ran up and down his chest, muscles rippling and jumping under my fingers.

He was hard underneath me, the fullness of him pressing against the softness between my legs. “Lexi,” he breathed. “If you keep doing that with your mouth, your body is going to be mine before the fun begins.”

Heat rushed over my skin, regardless of Ashor's cooler body temperature. “Promise?” I murmured, marveling at how naturally my body responded to his. A small touch at my hips, the sweep of his tongue, the whisper of his breath along my skin all enticed something within me.

Deft hands slipped up my back, fumbling with the clasp of the bra. And now the only things separating us were his boxers and my barely there thong. Hungry lips cruised down the column of my throat, igniting little flames at each point he kissed. Some areas received more attention than others did as Ashor explored my body, discovering what made me purr, what made me moan, and what drove me wild.

I gasped when his lips found my nipple, my back arching. Need became a song in my blood. I’d craved this night with every pore in my body. What was the point in denying that this demon was my mate in every sense of the word? I couldn’t.