Still bound by the souls, she had no choice but to lie immobilized and enjoy the view as he covered her. The hot liquid ran between her breasts, down her stomach, and over her thighs.
Finally, he dropped to her side on his back. Her head spun. She didn’t need oxygen yet was gasping for it at the same time.
His eyes shut, and his breathing slowly evened out. Until it was almost too even, and she started to fear he’d fallen asleep.
“Murmur?”
He cracked an eyelid and turned his head to meet her gaze.
“You gonna let me go any time soon?” She pulled on the bonds at her wrists.
His lips curved. “I’m tempted to say no.”
“You like me being tied down, huh?”
His eyes darkened. “Then you can’t escape.”
“I wasn’t trying to.”
“But you still couldn’t, even if you were.”
She had to smile. She wasn’t complaining, that was for sure.
Nevertheless, her icy bindings dissolved. She lowered her arms, wincing at the stretch in her shoulder muscles. Murmur rolled onto his side facing her, satisfaction written all over his face as he surveyed the mess he’d made on her.
“I need a shower,” she said.
He climbed off the bed with surprising quickness and straightened his clothing, and then, to her surprise, he bent and scooped her into his arms. He held her close as he stalked down the hall, ducking to fit under the doorway.
“You’re way too big for this house,” she remarked. “You should just shift to human form.”
He glanced down at her with a curled lip.
“I’ve seen your human form. You look good.”
“I lookhuman.”
She laughed. “I take offense to that. And right now you’re so huge, your horns are nearly scraping the roof.”
He shot her another look, and before her very eyes, his horns retreated into his skull and disappeared. “Problem solved.”
He still had to stoop to enter the bathroom. Shifting her to his side and holding her with one arm, he bent and turned on the water. Or tried to. It seemed he didn’t have muchexperience with how showers worked. He kept trying to twist the lever instead of pulling it up.
“Let me down,” she said, chuckling. “I’ll do it.”
He straightened, letting her slide down until she stood on her own. Once the shower was hot, she stepped under the spray on wobbly legs. Murmur propped a shoulder against the wall, tail flicking lazily behind him.
Tugging the curtain closed, she got busy washing, scrubbing extra hard, considering she’d taken a bath in demon jizz. “So, what did you mean about not taking me back to your lair?”
“I’m ready to cast the spell, but I don’t need to bring you back with me. I found another way.”
She peeked around the curtain at him with a frown. “What way?”
“In addition to your blood, I also need to draw on your energy—your vitality, or innate magic. Luckily, there’s a seal that allows me to take power from you at a distance. I’ll put a mark on your skin, collect your blood here, and return to Hell by myself.”
“But …” She stared at him, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes. She couldn’t deny the sting of disappointment she felt. She didn’t actuallywantto go back to Hell, did she?
Her rational side said no, but she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t been daydreaming about their study sessions in the library. God, maybe Iris was right, and she needed to rethink her position on all of this.
