Page 24 of Demon Food

It was pleasurable right away, like a drug in my veins. Oh, he was good. So good with his drinking. Skilled and deft and understated.

Then he released his tongue into my mouth, and I melted.

This was what the Tasting Room was designed for. It wasn’t for them to feed on a human but experience a human’s energy.

His tongue explored each corner of my mouth, and I could almost feel him accessing every sexual word I’d spoken all day as if hearing them for himself. It wasn’t that simple, of course. He couldn’t read my mind or access my memories, but I’d heard they could taste every vultus before them as if they were all connected by a single thread. Every filthy act I’d done. Every time one’s cum dribbled down my throat.

Which made me an asset to their kind, as I was not without my fair share of filth swimming about my veins for them to savor. It was probably what made me so potent.

His body jerked more, carnally even, as his hand cupped the back of my head to hold me in place so he could discover me. My eyes rolled back into my skull at the pleasure blanketing my body, curling my toes.

I raked my fingers through his silky hair and began to kiss him back, dancing my tongue against his, which was clean. So clean he tasted.

He pulled back so abruptly, it was as if he’d been burned. He blinked as flames of red licked the rims of his irises, but that wasn’t the alarming part. The alarming part was the way he was looking at me.

“What is that?” he asked, nearly out of breath.

I scanned his face. “What is what, Your Grace?”

“You.” His voice was tight as if caught by his breath and his fingernails were digging into the arm of the chair. “There’s a well inside you, human. You said it was deep, but you have no idea how deep it is. It’s like it is endless.”

I’d never heard one of them refer to it as a well. I’d heard a sea before. An ocean. A river even. None of it really made any sense.

“What in the kingdom have I stumbled onto?” he whispered, a smile curling his lips. He twisted his fingers into the white streak in my hair, tugging gently as if testing if it was real, smiling more when deciding it was. “The gods have delivered me luck. They’ve delivered me a diamond.”

Jaxlyn was right. He wanted me. The king of Novithia wanted me.

Fantasies of all sorts drifted past my vision. Me on top, riding him. Me jamming my fingers down his throat. Me pressing my thumbs against his perfect Adam’s apple.

“Take me upstairs, Your Majesty,” I said, offering him my best attempt at a smile. “You won’t be disappointed.”

“Oh, my pet.” He clicked his tongue. “You misunderstand. One doesn’t go through the trouble of discovering a diamond only to leave it for someone else.”

My brows pinched together. Leave it?

He twisted toward the door. “Neopal. You may enter.”

9

My lips parted, but no words were coming forth as the door opened and in walked the decorated commander. In his arms, he carried a hammered silver box carved on the top with a floral motif.

“What do you think, Commander?” The king grinned against his wine goblet as he tipped his chin toward me. “Isn’t he delicious?”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Neopal said, bowing. “Good choice. Very unique.”

The king nodded toward the box, and Neopal lifted the lid, presenting its contents to the room like a prized auction item.

My soul tried to leave my body.

Inside the box was the largest spile I’d ever seen, tucked into a black silken fabric.

“What is that…?” I trailed off when it hit me.

It was the tradition of a formal contract where a whore was expected to wear the ass plug of the vultus who bought them when entering the demon’s home as a symbol of ownership. I’d never done that as I’d never done a contract. I’d always been too unwilling to leave Landry.

My voice was barely there as I asked, “You want a contract with me? At the palace?”

“Did I fail to mention that?” The king brushed his jeweled fingers over the spile like it was a pet, then dug it from the fabric.