think.
“Here.” He knelt on the bed and drew the sheets back, despite her sudden rush to rescue them.
“What are you—?” Her voice squeaked out as the warm washcloth in his hand traced between her thighs.
No, he was not.
He was.
He cleaned her tenderly, even as she pressed her hands over her face to try and hide her utter mortification. The washcloth left her skin, and then his breath stirred between her thighs and he kissed her there. Gently.
Sera tore her hands down as he looked up. His expression in that moment was unguarded. Not quite as unreachable as she would have suspected.
“None of this makes any sense,” he told her, slipping under the sheets and hauling her back into his arms. “Least of all that. You were a virgin.”
His tone said, explain.
“It’s complicated.”
“Everything about you is,” he said, and the mockery in his voice was aimed entirely at himself. A hand slid down over the curve of her hips. “But try to explain.”
“Okay, fine.” She shivered in his arms. “I was a virgin.”
“A rarity in this day and age. Saving yourself for someone?” He kissed the edge of her shoulder, teeth scraping there.
“Yes.” A little gasp worked its way loose. Surely he wasn’t—
He was.
His hand slipped between her thighs again, gentle and curious. “And yet, you gave yourself to me. Tell me about him.”
“I loved him.” Those fingers were circling her clit like a pack of hungry wolves. They stilled momentarily at the words, then resumed. “I loved him more than anything. But we couldn’t be. We were torn apart. He chose… his path. I chose mine. I’ve never….” She gasped again. “I’ve never wanted another.”
“Until me.”
Sera bit her lip as a dangerous mouth traced the smooth muscle of her shoulder. This was the velvet glove, but there was still steel inside that glove. She knew what he was doing. “Until you.”
“You gave your innocence to a demon,” he whispered, his fingers dipping inside her. “Does it make you feel dirty? Did you think it would assuage your guilt?”
“No.” She turned and glanced over her shoulder. “Maybe I wanted to pretend too?”
There was a look in his eyes that she’d never seen before.
He was troubled.
And not by the thought that she’d replaced him in her head with some imaginary lover.
If he only knew the truth….
Sera rolled and slid her hand through his hair. He caught her hips, but he allowed the kiss as she hauled his face down to hers.
“Let me pretend you’re my love,” she whispered, stealing little pieces of his soul with each punctuating kiss.
“And what would you do if I was?”
“This,” she said, pushing him flat onto his back and straddling him.
She leaned down and kissed him again, as lazy hands stroked up and down her spine. Sera ground herself along that hard, rippled ridge between them. The caress of several piercings almost made her come.
“I would make love to him,” she said, biting his bottom lip. She clasped her fingers through his. “I would promise him forever.”
“More lies.” But he tilted his head back, yielding his throat to her. “I’m surprised you don’t choke on them.”
A little nudge, and then he was breaching her again. But this time, it was up to her how far they took this.
Sera drew his hands up, placing them on her breasts. Darting a hand between them, she tried to fit him inside her.
He cursed under his breath, and stole a hand from her breasts, wrapping it around the base of his cock. “Like this.”
And then she was sinking down, aching muscles stretching to envelope him. It hurt a little. She hadn’t thought it would.
Azazel didn’t take his eyes off her the whole time.
Sera shuddered. From this angle, she could feel those piercings riding over something inside her. Pain melted into pleasure. It softened her, left her vulnerable. She rode him with soft, slow rolls of her hips, her fingernails digging into his chest.
He curled a hand around her neck, and hauled her mouth down to his. “Tell me more,” he breathed, as he stole a kiss from her lips. “Maybe we’ll both believe it for a moment.”
A knock came at the door.
Sera blinked awake, but Azazel moved first, slipping from the sheets and striding across the floor, careless of his nakedness.
The glint of morning light peaked under the curtains. She dragged the sheets up to hide herself, trying to catch a glimpse of who was at the door. The rumble of voices was too low for her to hear anything.
And then