Her ears were twitching like crazy. “N-no.” Was she about to? There was a reason this shouldn’t go any further. Why couldn’t she remember the reason? Her nipples throbbed so hard, she couldn’t think.
He turned to pull up a chair before her, then sat. Because he was going to be down there awhile? How titillating.
He began easing her skirts higher, revealing her garters and hose. “Are you curious what this feels like?”
She nodded. But she shouldn’t let him do this. Should she?
With her skirts bunched in her lap, he laid his palms on her thighs and eased them apart. “I’m going to show you what a demon can do with his pointed tongue. I want your honey all over it.” She felt air against her soaked curls just as he growled, “Gods almighty.”
She knew he’d make this act heart-stopping, but what if she got even more addicted to him? Would she turn a blind eye to the others he slept with?
Fuck that. She shoved back and snapped her thighs closed.
What the hell just happened? “After I’ve fantasized about this for ages, you wait until I’m breathing your arousal, and then you bar the gates to heaven? Unnecessarily cruel, Lila.”
She crossed her arms over her breasts. “I refuse to be in the rotation among your many females.”
He drew back in bewilderment. “What’s brought on this concubine talk?”
“You said you pursued me because you liked variety and a challenge; I don’t want to be a challenge for you, and you don’t want to give up your variety.” She exhaled. “Maybe we should just get rid of your demon seal, and then you can be with others. You can have heirs with them.”
Though he’d planned this exact scenario, his stomach clenched. “Is that what you want?” His wife would rather he fuck others than share his bed? After she’s ruined me?
Giving himself a shake, he said, “You know what—it doesn’t godsdamned matter what you want.” He stood, staring down at her. “I won’t share you, and you will not share me. There will be no others for either of us. I demand total fidelity.”
She gazed up at him. “You’re the one who told me to expect the opposite!”
“I said careless things to get a rise out of you. I haven’t been with another since you came to this castle.”
“Now I know you’re lying. You roared right after I arrived, and it sounded sexual.”
“Oh, it was.”
Her lips thinned. “So I heard you coming with someone else.”
Could she actually be . . . jealous? The possibility made his heart thunder. “Did you know that I got your silk shift from the Sorceri?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I roared because I was stroking off with your godsdamned shift giving me the scent I needed. You heard me pleasuring myself to memories of our first kiss all those eons ago.”
The pulse point in her throat fluttered. “Really?” she asked, her anger seeming to dissipate.
By all the gods, she had been jealous! She hadn’t been pining over a fiancé; she’d been bristling. “I inherited that harem with the crown, but I have no desire to bed someone because she sees it as her duty. I’ve never been with any of them.”
“You made it sound like you had. You said they catered to your every filthy desire.”
“At our dinner, I enjoyed getting a rise out of you. Otherwise, my pride made me goad you,” he admitted. “Calliope, I already released those females earlier. You and I have issues between us—but infidelity will never be one of them. You’ve gotten yourself a very faithful husband.”
At least that would always remain constant. Unlike my appearance . . .
Lila thought back to the first time Abyssian had mentioned a harem. Oh, yeah. It’d been right after she’d scoffed at the idea of sleeping with him.
She’d stung the demon king’s pride, so he’d reacted with a lie. This again made him seem . . . normal.
With all the lies she’d told, she could hardly be upset about his.
Had he truly used her lingerie to masturbate? She would have liked to see him, naked, stroking his hard length. . . .
She peered up at his proud face. His gaze glimmered in the firelight, filled with hunger and promising wicked things.
Things only she would get to enjoy.
Her jealousy vanished, and in its place rose an undeniable lust for him. He’d said all the right things, sending her back to where she’d been before she’d read the invitation.
“Your irises are bright teal. Are you relieved I’m all yours?”
She lifted one shoulder. “Maybe.”
“You were jealous!” He looked delighted.
Chin jutting, she said, “I’m proud, and I respect myself.”
His eyes grew lively. “My fey mate refuses to share me with others, and she’ll let me know her wishes forcefully.”
She sighed. “What are you talking about?”
“Would I have gotten a glass of wine in the face if you hadn’t been bristling? You snapped those lovely thighs closed because my mouth is to pleasure you alone. Message received, little wife.”
She hadn’t thought he could look smugger than this morning. Wrong.
“You will never have reason to bar those gates again.”
“Very well. I was jealous.” She blew a curl out of her eyes. “Are you done now?”
He shook his head, his lips curving. “Oh, not by a league.”
“While you’re busy gloating, I can go masturbate.”
“Ah-ah.” He pressed closer to her. “Not a chance. I was a tongue’s touch from where I’d kill to be. Now that I’ve soothed your anger, I want to soothe other parts of you.”
Curiosity seized her, and she uncrossed her arms. “Okay.”
His delight deepened. “My fey mate loves her pleasure. And my jealous hell queen won’t share me. I’m a very happy male.”
He was never going to let her live this down. But she could take his ribbing.
He pressed his mouth to hers for a tender kiss. Then he grazed his lips along her neck, to her breasts, to her navel. . . . He rubbed a horn against her torso, murmuring, “Want my scent on you.”