His tentacle presses into my oversensitized inner flesh the moment my previous orgasm begins to fade, and before long I’m lost in it once more, body racked with near-constant aching, my breaths little more than gasps as he coaxes another climax from me. Eventually, I grow languid, overwhelmed by how many times it’s happened so far.
With each orgasm, he’s taken a little bit of my loneliness away and has given me a little more hope for the future. I don’t need Cobbin Lake, or my parents, or anyone or anything for that matter…
I can take care of myself.
I’m not so afraid of my magic anymore.
And yet…
“What’s wrong?” Sepher asks, grabbing my shoulder and flipping me onto my back, slipping out of me at the same time. “I sense your thoughts shifting.” He pulls back his tentacles as he props up on his side next to me. Partially leaning over me, he blocks my view of all else except his face.
I rub my eyes. “It’s nothing. I think you’ve worn me out.”
He cocks his brow, his eyes searching mine. “You have something to share and I will hear it, Grace. There are no secrets between witches and their masters. Tell me or I will force it out of you.”
“I didn’t agree to be your slave.”
“You are not a slave. You are a Witch of Sepher, Duke of Hell, and the only one there will ever be. My blood is inside you now. You are far from a slave.”
“I didn’t need power,” I whisper. “I don’t have to accept that title. Youwillsend me home when we’re through.”
“Grace.” He says my name with a darkness I haven’t heard from him yet. A palpable warning that has my chest constricting.“We will never be through. Your soul will come to me upon your death and remain with me until the end of time. You needed something from me… why else would I have been summoned? A summoning cannot be successful unless the summoner has aneedto be answered. I have been searching for it all along because you have only given me shallow answers.”
“I…” I close my mouth and flatten my lips.
His eyes narrow in warning as he gently clasps my neck, running one of his tentacles up my tingling body. “What secret are you hiding from me, love?”
My throat tightens and my breath gets lodged in my chest. Fearful of releasing it because it may release my words, I try to look away instead, but his fingers shift to clutch my chin, keeping me facing him.
I don’t want to see him any longer. He’s too hauntingly attractive and intimidating to look at, especially knowing I’m still very naked and spread open for him. Yet he’s not making any move toward restarting our sex marathon. I am vulnerable, and I feel it, but I also… don’t feel unsafe with him. It doesn’t make sense.
Maybe because if he wanted to hurt me, he could have done so a hundred times by now?
I want to think not all demons are evil, and he’s slowly convincing me that some, at least, can be trusted…
Tears form on my lashes despite blinking them back, and I sigh in defeat. Sepher will get his way once again. “Fine,” I mutter. “I’m ashamed. I did something really dumb when I was younger and it’s cast a shadow over my entire life. I thought I’d grow up and join my mother’s coven, but those dreams died as fast as my stupid adolescent relationship. Returning home after college should’ve been easier, but it hasn’t—it’s been the exact opposite. Is that it? Is that what you want to hear? About a human’s boring problems?”
“What did you do?”
“Does it matter? It was seven years ago.”
His chin lifts. “It matters to me.”
The gravity of his tone stuns me. Searching his expression for his familiar teasing edge, all I find is seriousness and concern.
No one’s ever looked at me this way before, hanging on my every word, like what I say will change something fundamental. I don’t let it show but I immediately feel like everything is going to be okay… after all. Maybe Sepher, a demon, is what I really needed all along.
He called me ‘love.’
The words that come out of my mouth are not the ones I planned.
“I was seventeen and dating a boy at the time. His name was Zack, and we not only lived next to each other, we also went to school together, shared homeroom and almost every class too. It was like fate knew we belonged together. At least I assumed as much, given my background. I was naive… So, when I caught him kissing another girl after school, I was reasonably devastated. You see, he wasn’t just my boyfriend. We were best friends for years before we started dating, and when I caught him kissing someone else, I didn’t know if I could forgive him and move on from that, or if I’d just lost the one person I cared for the most in my entire world.”
“Enough about this Zack. What didyoudo?” he growls dangerously.
“They didn’t see me, so I left and went home and cried in my room for a few hours. I tried to text and call him but kept stopping before doing it. I had no idea what to do… That evening, I went over to his house to confront him in person. But when the door opened, it was his dad, and he told me Zack had just gone out with his mom to a movie.” I take a breath beforethe next part, and Sepher seems to be patient enough to give me a moment to collect my nerves.
I open my mouth to relay the nasty details… details I’ve hidden from everyone I know for years and will probably continue to hide for the rest of my life. But Sepher isn’t a part of that world, he’s from another. He’s safe.
