Page 9 of Prince of Wrath

“Thanks for dinner, but I have to go. Celeste should be out of her study session. I need to be sure she makes it home.”

Vass’ worried face pulled my head out of a dangerous thought.

“Celeste is a grown woman. She can get home without an escort.”

His eyes snapped to mine, and the raw anger in them was enough for me to butt out of his affairs.

“Sorry. Go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I waved him off, but he had vanished before I’d finished my statement.

The house was still again.

Was there irony in being jealous of the Prince of Envy?

Not only that he had found a woman worth living for but that she seemed to enjoy his attention. Their budding relationship was blooming too slowly for my own liking, but then again, I hadn’t wasted any time getting Sloane into bed after we’d made our deal.

It hadn’t been hard. She was obvious with her affection at first, squirming under my lingering gaze, wearing undergarments in my favorite color and letting them show when I found an excuse to be around her.

Though I’d never told her, it wasn’t in my nature to make myself known in such an intimate way to the souls I bartered. She was special. The fire in her spoke to me. Watching how the fuel I provided to her spite facilitated her growth had been one of my favorite entertainments.

Ben had been forced to stand in her shadow to witness her transformation, but he was in the cheap nosebleeds. I’d had a bedside seat for the show.

I cleared my plate, rinsed it in the sink, then headed up the stairs to my bedroom. My reunion with Sloane had ended with a lot less skin than I’d craved. A cold shower and pleasuring myself wouldn’t take the burden of being unsated.

I took my phone out of my pocket and opened a new text thread with the phone number I’d taken before killing Sloane’s cell phone battery.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

I can’t get the taste of your lips out of my head. When can I have another?

Sloane

How did you get this number?

UNKNOWN NUMBER

I have my sources.

Send me a picture.

Sloane

Did you lose your mind while I was gone?

UNKNOWN NUMBER

Yes. And I’ve lost all memory of what your tits look like.

Remind me.

Sloane

Fuck you.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

Is that an invitation?

Because there are several ways I would do just that.