She sucks in a breath, but doesn’t try to escape my embrace. After a moment, she relaxes again, that soft little ass of hers pressing against the throbbing tip of my cock. I look down to see her burying her face against my chest, but there’s a slight smile on her face as she wriggles a bit to get closer to my steel length.
Now, I may be the demon of gluttony, but even when indulging in excess and chaos as my nature demands, I still always have total control.Always. It’s something my father has long praised me for, much to the chagrin of my brothers. It’s something I’m proud of.
I’m very close to losing that well practiced control for the first time in my life.
Kara tells me saucily that I can just leave her at the fence outside her small home, but I only laugh and keep her close. Whatever it is about this wild little bird,mywild little bird, has me fighting to hold onto my famous control. I won’t be leaving her at the fence, or leaving her at all.
Shewillbe mine because I must have her, mate her, serve her in all the ways that I can for the rest of my life. Even though I know I’ll never get my fill of her, I still have to try to sate this need she’s awakened.
And yet …
I think about the life that’s been mapped out for me, as the favored son of Lucifer. I’m meant to rule in Hell. Even after I retire, it’s always been assumed I’d stay in the demon realm, where humans can’t survive. I stop at the gate and loosen my grasp on her as I tighten my hold on my control once more. She slides down my body, a subtle gasp escaping her lush lips as she rubs against my cock. I try to ignore her beautiful eyes blinking up at me with the orange glow of sunset behind her while the cool evening breeze ruffles the loose strands of her hair. I try and fail.
“Can you make it to the door?” I grit out through teeth so tightly clenched they may shatter.
She leans against me and tests her weight on her injured ankle. “I think so,” she says. I can only marvel at how perfectly her body seems to fit with mine. I need to get out of here, away from her scent, her gentle smile, the feeling of her body against mine—all of the things driving me to lose control. “What can I do to thank you, Zorion?”
I know my name isn’t common to humans, but the way she says it sends a thrill through me. Is there a glimmer in her eyes or am I fooling myself into believing that she’s offering everything to me? I have to scare the wits out of her. It’s the only way.
With inhuman speed, I roughly grab her around the waist and jerk her up against my body, grinding my cock against her belly as I suddenly take her mouth with mine. Her lips part and she moans as my tongue sweeps between them. I find myself groaning as her hands reach for my shirt, slide up over my shoulders and into my hair. The searing kiss is over too soon as I shove away from her to keep from taking her then and there in her backyard.
Why not indulge yourself?
Because you’ll never regain control. Your gluttony will finally consume you.
“Will I see you again?” she asks, shaking now that she’s no longer clinging to me.
“No,” I answer, turning away. I don’t let myself look back as I race into the cover of the forest. I turn back into my copperhead form as soon as I’m out of sight to try to clear my head.
It doesn’t work.
I know I’ll be back tomorrow.
Chapter 4
Kara
The entire next day, my lips won’t stop tingling. I can’t stop thinking about that kiss Zorion gave me before stomping off into the woods. I’d stood there until the sun was fully down, trying to pick out his huge form in the shadows, but it was as if he just disappeared into thin air.
I keep zoning out at work, my thoughts continuing to drag themselves back to that giant, handsome stranger. Why am I so drawn to him? It’s not like we don’t get tourists through the town every summer and fall, and some of them even hit on me. But no one haseverconsumed my thoughts like Zorion, and it’s stupid because he made it clear I’ll never see him again.
That kiss, though … It remains in my thoughts right alongside the rough feeling of his hands gripping my waist, the way his tongue found mine so expertly. That giant rod pressing into my belly. It was so distracting I got told off twice, once for staring blankly at the cash register and accidentally ignoring a rapidly growing line, and once for ringing up the same box of cereal four times. All because I couldn’t stop thinking about Zorion.
Well, you have to stop,I admonish myself as I gather up the samples of Gramps’s figurines to show Shelby at the gift shop after my shift at the grocery store. She greets me happily, saying the last of the lip balms sold out, so she hopes I have more for her.
Trying to keep my face excited and positive, I show her the little animals and bees. “Something new,” I say. “Even better than lip balm.”
She looks them over and her brow furrows. “These are adorable, Kara, but I just don’t know if they’ll sell.”
“They have the name of the town on them,” I say, turning over the cat so she can see the tiny letters.
She shrugs. “So do the magnets and keychains and those only cost four bucks. Maybe if we did the six-dollar price point…”
I try not to show how distressed I am. The bigger figurines take up twice the wax as the lip balms so we need to get at least twice the price for them. I have to tamp down my irritation at Gramps for trying something new at such a bad time.
“Just take the samples and try it out,” I say. “I’ll get some more lip balms up here as soon as I can.” That is, if I can find the time to harvest more wax.
My car makes weird noises again on the way home but I manage to get there. I tenderly limp my way into the house to get suited up to see if there’s any wax I can get from the bees we keep in the backyard. If not, I’ll have to trudge out to the woods again. If my ankle wasn’t still tender, that might not be such a bad option, because then I might see …