Usually, I endured fucking the lord. I did what Lucifer needed me to. Urs hadn’t missed my reluctance, but thankfully, Az had. I’d slipped a few drops of her concoction in his wine when we got to his room. I’d gotten away with a quick make-out session and some wandering hands before he passed out on top of me.
He shouldn’t wake after the amount I’d given him, at least not for a good eight hours.
We’d been on the road for a couple days, so I took advantage of his excellent shower, then grabbed some fresh clothes from my bag, dressed, braided my still damp hair, checked on Az one more time, then slipped out of his quarters, carefully pulling the door closed behind me.
I turned, and jumped, my hand moving before my brain registered who it was. My blade was about to fly, about to imbed itself in Lothar’s skull, right between his glowing eyes.
“What the actual fuck, Lothar? I almost scrambled your brains.” I slid the blade back into the sheath at my hip, looking back up at him when he didn’t reply. “Well, what do you want?” I said, and couldn’t shake the unease that was suddenly crawling all over me.
Lothar shook his head, like a wild lion. “I was making sure you were okay,” he said, his fangs fully extended, his voice a deep rumble.
I straightened, this wasn’t right. Why the hell was he out here? “Why wouldn’t I be?”
He shrugged a massive shoulder. “I don’t like that Lucifer uses you this way, Rox. It’s not right.”
My heart thumped hard in my chest, as anger pulsed through my veins in an instant. “What did you say?”
He growled. “You are family, Rox?—”
“I’m not your family.”
His eyes flashed brighter, glowing in the shadowed hall. “Yeah, you fucking are. I’ve known you longer than I can remember. You take care of all of us…when Relic was born, you?—”
“Relic was an innocent pup with no one to care for him. I was only one of many handmaids to look after him.” My head spun. Where was he going with this?
He frowned. “I know that. What I’m saying is, you take care of everyone, Rox, and for once, I wanted to do that for you.”
I huffed a laugh. “By standing outside Asmodeus’s room while he used me?”
His chest heaved with his rough breaths. Why was he breathing so hard? As in control as he sounded, his body was giving away how he was truly feeling. He wanted to fuck someone up, and I got the feeling that someone was Asmodeus.
“Like I said, I don’t like that Lucifer makes you his?—”
I closed the space between us in an instant and pressed my finger to his lips. “Whore?” I held his stare. It cost me, but I refused to look away.
He grabbed my hand, taking my finger from his lips. “I never said that.”
“Maybe not in those exact words, but yes, you did. I know you, Lothar. I know exactly what you’re thinking.”
“No, you don’t.”
“You think Lucifer is pimping me out, using poor, innocent, naive little Roxy to get what he wants.”
His eyes flashed again, and that jaw was granite.
I laughed, and it wasn’t nice, then lifted my chin. “I am Roxana the Blade, handmaid to Lucifer. Warrior, torturer, seductress. Yes, I love deeply, and I look for the best in people, but I also have more kills under my belt than you ever will in your entire immortal life.” I grinned. “I take immense pleasure in hearing the screams of those I take to my chamber of pain to extract the information we need.” I pressed closer, lowering my voice, letting it go a little husky, sexy. “And if it benefits Lucifer or me, I can fuck like no other. I can make any male I set my sights on scream my name, then walk away while he’s begging me for more. Without regret, and without emotion. So no, I don’t need you to follow me about to make sure I’m okay. I don’t need anything from you, Lothar. Understand?”
He dragged in a rough breath.
“Do you understand?” I repeated, adding a growl of my own.
“I understand,” he said.
I stepped back, putting some much-needed space between us. “Good.”
“I don’t doubt you are all of those things, Rox, and more, but just so you know, that will never stop me from looking out for you. The way I see it, I owe you.”
My heart seized. “For what?”
