The two gentlemen, disoriented, stumbled back down into their seats and grabbed for their drinks from the table.
“Sit down and make merry or get out!” Sean ordered the two of them and all seemed to settle in the usual manner, back to the merriment and general entertainment of the club.
The scantily-clad women going about their usual nightly business didn’t appear to be having too much trouble that evening and so Alex watched on, hopeful that they might take another large chunk out of his father’s debts by the end of the week.
It was only when the merriment quieted into an oddly familiar hum and the music of the band playing in the corner grew silent, that Alex sat bolt upright in his throne and paid real attention to the room.
All eyes turned on the curtained entryway at the far end where the heavy red drapes had been pulled back by the guards. One was not merely swept aside to allow a gentleman entry, but both pulled back for some grand entrance.
But who, in The Devil’s Lair, could be worth such a grand entrance when The Devil Lord himself was already sitting upon his throne?
The hum of gossip grew louder at the swishing sound of skirts and when the woman stepped into the room, Alex’s heart leapt into his throat.
For once, he knew what it was like for the members of his club to look upon him for he felt as though he were looking at a female version of himself.
The creature who entered the room was breathtaking. In a scandalously low-cut black silk gown with breasts practically up at her chin, the woman swept into the room, the obsidian choker at her throat glimmering darkly in the candlelight.
But it was not the gown that took Alex’s breath the most. It was that red mask upon her face with its great black horns that shone almost as brightly as her neck jewelry and the rubies that adorned her hair.
Those rubies, Alex recognized just as he recognized the woman who strode down the center of the room, her eyes never leaving his. They were green and glimmering, confident and regal. The pale creamy skin of her breasts and bare shoulders against the black of her gown made Alex’s insides twist with such desire he had to bite the inside of her lip.
Well aware that he must not show any kind of emotion before the entirety of his club, he kept his expression carefully closed beneath his mask, never blinking as his dark bride gathered up the skirts of her gown and took to the steps of his throne.
She draped herself and her skirts over his lap, sitting upon him in a way that made his manhood harden immediately.
Through gritted teeth he growled low in her ear, “What are you doing?”
Emmaline wrapped her arms around his neck and turned her face in toward his ear. “Joining you,” she whispered in return, “We shall do this together and one day we shall be free of it.”
Alex’s stomach twisted with pain then. His desire was overwhelmed by the thought of what she was suggesting. He had thought he wanted such a thing at first but the idea of putting Emmaline in harm’s way now made him feel sick.
“I cannot ask you to do that,” he whispered carefully so not to be heard. To all the onlookers it likely seemed as if he were nuzzling into his bride’s neck.
Lifting his hand, he gestured to the band and on his silent command, they started to play once more.
“You have not asked me,” Emmaline responded, “Yet, I am here. We shall be free of your father’s debts one day and then I wish for you to know that I was by your side for the entirety of the time it takes for us to finally have the future we both deserve.”
Alex was overwhelmed by some emotion then, one he could not quite put his finger on, but one that was all-encompassing. It gripped him just as Emmaline gripped him around the neck and made him feel as if he could no longer breathe.
And yet, he liked it.
“How can you wish for a future with someone like me? Someone who frightens you.”
Alex sucked in a breath, bracing himself for her answer.
It was then she looked him deep in the eye, and holding his jawline in both her hands, she whispered, “I am not frightened of you, Alex. I see you and I am not afraid of you.”
Before he could say another word, she kissed him. It was a strong, passionate kiss, one that made him tingle from head to toe. And his cock became so emboldened that it took all he had in him not to take her right then and there in front of every one of his patrons.
Instead, he kissed her back, his hand gathering the hem of her skirts so that he could caress the bare skin of her thigh.
He squeezed there until she squealed delicately against his lips.
“Forgive me,” he whispered, kissing her again before he added, “I just needed to know that you are real, that I am not dreaming.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck again, she kissed him and pinched the skin at the nape of his neck until he too winced. “There, now you know, you are not dreaming.”
With that, she kissed him again and Alex’s entire world started to spin off its axis.
