For she had willingly snuck into the lion’s den, and I couldn’t wait to get her alone.
I couldn’t wait to spill her secrets and…devour her.
“Get moving!” The snap of this demand made me narrow my eyes dangerously at the next fucker with a death wish. One who only added to the offence at speaking to her like this when daring to fucking touch her!
I felt my fist near crush the obsidian and bone entwined beneath my palm. Had she not been so close, I would have sickened her further by making another of my men know the agony of losing a hand. Instead, I gestured to the side, telling him without words to release what was not his to touch. As he would be another offender I would be dealing with once I had time to do so.
She must have been resisting, because as soon as he let her go, she stumbled forward instead, taking several unsteady steps before managing to right herself. She would have fallen into my arms had she not caught her balance, for I would not have allowed her to touch the ground.
The moment brought her closer, and I felt my body tense with anticipation to touch her. My attention narrowed to her alone, the rest of the world falling away into silence. I let my eyes linger, drink her in, my need for her growing by the second until it felt less like desire and more like enchantment. As though I were truly spellbound. As though she were the sorcerer and I had been reduced to nothing more than her willing victim.
Oh, how the tables had turned, my inner demon mocked.
Although the second I tasted her fear, the demon in me recoiled. Her fear did not entice. It did not thrill. It did not stir the predatory satisfaction my demon was so accustomed to taking from others. Instead, it unsettled me, sat heavy on my senses like an inharmonious note that refused to play to the tune I commanded.
That alone was enough to make me cautious.
So, I did the unthinkable.
I softened.
Not all at once, not so much that it would appear, but enough that the shift could be felt. My shoulders eased back against the throne, the rigid line of authority I wore like armor loosening by degrees. But then, when she flinched, I found myself leaning forward slightly, closing the distance not with force but intention. I was careful to remain seated and tried not to dominate her space like I wanted to.
“Come closer, little Inanna, don’t be frightened.” The name I gifted her came to me with ease, as if summoned from a deeper part of me. For that was exactly what she was…
‘My little Goddess of beauty’.
As for my tone when I spoke to her, I lowered it without effort, the harsh edge tempered, smoothed into something quieter, something meant to be heard rather than obeyed.
It was not kindness, for I was not capable of that illusion.
It was consideration.
Her reactions came in small, telling ways, the minute tightening of her fingers in the fabric of her dress, the way her breath stilled for half a second before she answered me. The flicker of surprise that crossed her face when I did not bark an order or demand her submission. She was clearly braced for cruelty, for dominance wielded without restraint, perhaps. The absence of both seemed to leave her momentarily dazed.
Good.
“I… erm, I think you have me mistaken for someone else,” she replied, adding to the delightful lure of her, for it was no longer just her beauty that captivated me. Not when her voice sounded like a caress grazing my dark soul. Yet her words made me smirk, and I suppressed outright amusement by rubbing my hand along my jaw, covering my lips momentarily.”
“Is that so?” I mocked, unable to help myself. But she didn’t give me what I wanted this time, for she denied me her Siren’s song by not speaking. Instead, nodding and making her loose hair stroke her bare shoulders.
“I am curious why it is you think so,” I asked, prompting more from her, and I watched her closely as she spoke, every word noted, every staggered breath catalogued.
“My name is Eliza, not Inanna… although, don’t get me wrong, that’s a lovely name… who… erm… whoever she is,” she answered with visible nerves, and my smile widened. Not only because her reaction pleased me, but because I now had a name to go with the face I would never forget. Although I was also intrigued, for despite her fear of me, she still did not beg.
There was no pleading with me to let her go by claiming ignorance of what brought her to my domain. Her spine remained straight, even as that fear curled tight in her chest. Her chin lifted just enough to suggest that whatever mistake she had made in coming here, she would face the consequences head-on.
Impressive.
“Eliza…um,”I hummed, enjoying the way her name flowed freely from my tongue. Now giving her a glimpse of how it would sound spoken over her naked skin in whispers of adoration or gentle reprimand. For I was known as a dominant lover, and despite how much I wished to worship her, I would also take her pleasure in hand and rule over it.
But I was naturally getting ahead of myself.
“Well, little Eliza, why don’t you go ahead and tell me why it is you came here and graced my domain with your pretty presence?” I said, enticing a delightful blush to dust her cheeks at the barest compliment I bestowed. And, in truth, it was nothing compared to what I wanted to say, for she really was the most beautiful creature I ever beheld.
But considering her response to this was to look away from me, as if fearing the mockery she would find in my eyes, I took that as a sign of self-consciousness. That, or she did not believe my words were sincere, as she now looked uncomfortable.
Well, that would fucking change and soon, because she would quickly learn I would not abide such thoughts. A lesson I would start now, as I ordered sternly,
