His shadows pour out of him now like they, too, can’t take it any longer, stretching out from behind him and reaching for me hungrily. I breathe a heated sigh of relief. Gods yes. They swirl around me, the tendrils caressing my skin in gentle strokes and soft lashes. Their tender, ravenous touch electrifies every fiber of my being, and I want more. More. He doesn’t give me more. Instead, he swiftly draws them back within himself, and my heart stops at the realization that he doesn’t plan on giving me what I need easily. He is going to make me suffer. He stands at the edge of the bed, licking his lips and staring down at me with bright, glowing eyes as if I’m the only light he needs in this world. And fuck, I might not need light at all if I have him. I crawl toward him and take his throbbing dick into my hands and then slide my lips down the length of him. I suck and twirl my tongue against each jolt of pleasure I feel coursing through him, taking him in as deep as I can. Swirling my tongue around the tip, I tease and lick and savor the delicious taste of him as his pleasure filled moans add fuel to my own arousal. Keeping my eyes locked to his, I slowly glide my hand down my breasts and torso, his eyes following the movement the entire time, and then I caress my swollen clit, trembling as he growls breathlessly, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open at the sight of me pleasuring us both. I refuse to wait any longer. I’m taking what I need from him.
Clutching my hair in his hands, he slowly tilts my head back, a wide smile on his face as his shadows wrap tightly around my wrists, gripping and pulling my hands away from both of our bodies, refusing to let me touch either of us. His eyes no longer shimmer with liquid gold, the bright crimson glow as he watches me now makes the hair on the back of my neck stand in fear. I fight his power, pushing and pulling against it but his tight grip on my hair keeps me locked in place. I’m not afraid of him or his shadows, but somewhere deep within my mind a part of me screams that I should be.
With a mischievous grin, he leans in close to my face and whispers, “You have two options,” he says darkly. “Either you want all of me, exactly as you see me now, or you want the old me who I will no longer give you because he does not exist here.” Those bright red eyes search mine. “It is all or nothing with me. Tell me if you do not want this. If you do not want me.”
The words spill from his lips with such intensity that I would fall to my knees if I weren’t already on them.
He felt my brief moment of fear and my heart aches that he thinks I might not want him. A part of me does fear this version of him, but it also excites me more than I care to admit. Deep down, I believe he’s wanting confirmation that I won’t deny or reject him, because he’s afraid. Even though he’s not the mortal Ere I fell for in the past, he knows how I feel. He hears every thought that passes through my mind. I want all of him regardless of what he is. Demon, King of The Underworld, or Hell itself, it doesn’t matter to me. Not long ago, I felt like a puzzle missing its pieces, searching for a way to make sense of the emptiness I felt. He was always there to fill those empty spaces. To remind me that I was enough even when I felt like I wasn’t. He is the missing piece that completes me in this harsh, chaotic world. The monster in front of me is no monster at all. He’s just another lost soul wandering through a world full of darkness and pain that looms nearby ready to consume him entirely. We are alike, him and I. He is as much of a victim to Nyx’s games as I am. And he is enough.
His smile as I look back up at him reminds me that he can hear every untamed thought racing through my mind, but I want to tell him how I feel anyway. I want to assure him that I embrace who he is and want him exactly as he is.
His shadows release my wrists, and I place my palm against his cheek, the warmth of him soothing the sting of him believing I wouldn’t want him. “You are beautiful, Ere. I thought it the first day I ever met you, but I also thought the same when I first saw you here. Menacing horns and wings and all.” I smile, brushing my fingertips along his cheekbone. “I accept you completely in all your forms, and that will never change.” Looking up at him, I smile through the tears that now fall from my burning eyes. “I want this. I want you. All of you.”
His face lights up in a way I’ve never seen before as his eyes flicker back to a soft, warm gold. A rush of heat flows through me as they suddenly shift back to the fiery red that drives me crazy.
“Good girl, Nora,” he whispers, his fingertips gently trailing up my neck and then stopping at my cheeks to wipe away my tears. “Now, lie back and let’s see if I can make your pussy weep for me, too.” Keeping his eyes pinned on me, he brings a finger to his mouth, gliding his tongue across it and sucking the saltiness away, savoring the taste of the tears I cried for him.
This king, cruel and naked, stands before me—a smile capable of stopping hearts, eyes the shade of fresh blood, horns that would make a sane person scream, and wings so vast they should instill terror, yet I am unafraid. Right now, my only fear is that he’ll refuse to touch me where I need him to most.
This man is going to ruin me, and I can’t wait for it.
I lay back on the bed, and beyond the veil of darkness, his shadows come alive and trace a path from my hardened nipples to my aching clit, finally granting me the touch I desperately crave. They crawl up my arms and legs, every touch of them like it’s him touching me himself, like twenty or fifty or a hundred of his hands pleasuring me all at once. The silky smoothness of them holding me and feeling me and so damn hungry for me to come is almost too much. They continue rubbing and caressing and grinding against my center, growing needier and more impatient by the second. I lift my head and our eyes meet. I surrender to his shadows, give in to him completely, losing myself in a pleasure filled oblivion as tears flow down my cheeks. As the orgasm crashes into me, I cry out his name and he conceals his predatory, satisfied smile by tucking his bottom lip into his mouth.
He rakes his eyes over me from head to toe as my body trembles and my breath comes out ragged and uneven. “Hearing you scream my name is my favorite sound.”
I feel the bed shift as he kneels between my legs, using his fingertips to tease my breasts, pausing at my nipples and giving them a firm pinch that snaps me out of my blissful, orgasmic state.
I whimper and his dark laughter sends a tingle of heat through my body as he gently brings one nipple into his warm mouth, and then does the same to the other, easing the sting.
“Mmm…was that your attempt at begging for me?” He scrapes his teeth across each nipple harder than before, then again brings them into his mouth, lashing his tongue against them one by one to soothe them.
Letting out a moan full of both pleasure and pain, I keep my eyes on him. “Please. Don’t stop. I need more.”
This time he touches me himself, his shadows snaking up and encircling my wrists and ankles to bind me loosely to the bed. His fingertips slowly trail across my skin, from my breasts down the center of my abdomen, and then he tortures my hips, drawing little circles and swirls lower and lower, but not quite low enough. He knows where I need him to touch me. Then he glides his fingers across the wetness at my clit once and then twice, before plunging a thick finger deep inside of me immediately followed by another. Waves of pleasure wash over me as he thrusts in and out. I grip his shoulders, digging my nails into his skin, and his growl of pleasure nearly tips me over the edge.
His shadows grip and pull tighter, forcing my hands above my head and spreading my legs further apart. “No touching. Not yet,” he says firmly, his voice leaving no room for argument.
Like this, I’m completely paralyzed. With each thrust of his fingers, his shadows press into me harder, caress my clit even faster, and he smiles, his eyes dancing and relishing in seeing me vulnerable and desperately begging for him. Although he seems to love this, I think I love it even more. Not being able to touch him is driving me crazy.
“Please, Ere. I can’t take anymore. I need your dick,” I beg, my voice cracking as I shift my eyes away.
Gazing too deeply into those dangerous red eyes might send me spiraling into another orgasm, and I need him inside me above all else right now.
I’ve never needed anything more than I need him in this moment.
“Keep your eyes on me, my love.” He grips my face, forcing my attention back to him while he rubs my clit with his shadowy touch, swirling gentle circles around it while thrusting his thick fingers in and out of me.
“I can’t.” My voice trembles, knowing that I truly can’t handle much more. “If I look at you,” I breathe, barely able to hold it together. “I’ll come.”
Although he has taken enough and I’ve given enough, my hunger for more still grows. I want all of it. All of him. I don’t care if this wrecks me or if no one ever understands why I feel the way I do about him. This is all I’ll ever need. He is undoubtedly all I’ll ever want.
As our eyes meet, a flicker of bright purple and blue flames illuminates the darkness, and it’s as if we can see into the depths of the other's soul for just a moment. My magic flares in my palms, and his shadows don’t run or hide. They mingle and swirl together as one in a silent confirmation that everything will be okay if we stick together. Then his shadows gently swallow the light, and it fades away.
“Come for me. I want to hear you cry out my name until you can no longer speak.” He leans down, pressing his tongue firmly against my clit, sucking and devouring it until I’m on the brink of sweet oblivion once again.
“Ere…” my moan is soft and barely audible.
He shakes his head. “Not good enough.”
