| |
––––––––
EMBER WAS STILL SLIGHTLY dazed from the fall and from being healed by the angel when Raum carried her into his bedroom. She noticed familiar black wallpaper with intricate, embossed patterns on it. He lay her down on his bed, then he began to strip. Her eyes went wide when he was naked. Ember had seen him nude once before, but he’d been covered in ash. This time, his perfection wasn’t marred by anything. She met his eyes and flinched when she saw how furious he was.
“I’m very cross with you, Ember,” Raum said when she cowered away from him. “It was an extremely foolish idea for you to attempt to attack Lord Dallinar on your own. I’m going to punish you for taking such a dangerous risk, but I’ve promised you I’ll never hurt you and I’m not going to break my word.”
“How are you going to punish me?” the demoness asked him huskily.
He gave her a wicked smile, then grabbed hold of the hem of the jacket that covered her. “Slowly and thoroughly,” he said seductively. “I’m going to drive you to the edge of insanity with pleasure.”
Her breath caught in her throat at the promise and she clutched hold of his jacket. He was far stronger than she was and he tugged it out of her hands. He paused to run his eyes over her body, lingering on her curves, then he climbed onto the bed with her.
Ember’s heart rate sped up as the demon lord grabbed hold of her ankles, then began crawling towards her. He opened her legs wider as he went. She could have turned back into her demon form, but her human form shouted at her not to dare. The last time she’d been naked with Raum, he’d brought her to the edge of something she’d never experienced before. Her body ached for him to finish what he’d started, so she didn’t try to fight him when he lowered his head.
Raum kissed Ember on the stomach and waited for her reaction. When she didn’t pull away, he grinned to himself in satisfaction and began to work his way downward. When he touched his tongue to her nub, her back came off the bed in shock and surprise. He easily held her down and stroked her with slow, then rapid flicks of his tongue. Soon, she was moaning and writhing in pleasure. He’d vowed to punish her, so he pulled away when she was about to climax.
“Is that it?” Ember asked in crushing disappointment when the demon lord sat up to smirk down at her.
“I’m just getting started, my dear,” he said with a rakish grin, then he flipped her over onto her stomach.
The hellion tensed, expecting him to invade her body with his straining shaft. Instead, he kissed his way from the small of her back up to the nape of her neck. His hands slid beneath her to cup her breasts, then lowered himself down until his manhood was nudging the swell of her firm cheeks. “Do you like this, Ember?” he asked as he played with her nipples.
“Yes,” she admitted in a needy croak. She opened her legs for him and he slid his shaft between them, but he didn’t enter her. He rubbed against her nub until she was groaning. “Please,” she gasped, not even knowing what she wanted.
“I like to hear you beg, darling,” Raum said, not sure how much longer he could control himself. He ached to be inside her and to feel her clenching around him. He wanted to see her beautiful face when he brought her to her peak, so he rolled her over onto her back again.
Ember stared up at the handsome demon. She shocked herself when she drew him down for a kiss. Their tongues entwined and she wrapped her legs around him, urging him to take her. Her human body knew what it wanted and how to achieve the bliss he was promising her.
Raum succumbed to the overwhelming temptation and guided himself into Ember. She was too tight to start with. Her sharp hiss of momentary pain made it clear that she’d been a virgin in this form. “I’m sorry,” he said contritely. “I broke my vow not to harm you.”
The demoness shook her head, then ran her hands down his back to cup his magnificent butt. “It feels good,” she said and squeezed his firm flesh. “Don’t stop now,” she pleaded.
That was enough urging for the demon lord. He slowly drew out, then pushed himself back in. Her body accepted him and soon became slick with her passion. Beleth had used her in her demon form, but Raum was the first man to taste and touch her in her beautiful human form. “You’re mine now, Ember,” he murmured as he picked up his pace. “No other man shall ever touch you again,” he said.
Ember knew it was just bedroom talk, but something inside her warmed at the possessive tone in his voice. He slid in and out of her and she felt that incredible sense of something wonderful building again. He took her breast in his hand and squeezed it firmly, then pinched her nipple just enough for it to sting slightly. Her hips jerked and she moaned, urging him to do it again.
Encouraged by her reaction, Raum pinched her nipple slightly harder and Ember’s back arched. He levered himself up onto his elbows and pinched both nipples as he drove himself into her. Her gray eyes were dazed with passion and her lips were swollen from his kisses. She’d never looked more beautiful. “It feels so good,” she moaned and thrust her breasts into his hands. “Do it harder!” she ordered him.
Although he’d promised he’d never hurt her, she obviously enjoyed some pain with sex, so the demon lord obeyed her request. He pinched her nipples hard and she gasped in reaction. He felt her constricting around his shaft as she came. The demon drove himself into her over and over until they both climaxed together.
“Is it always like that for humans?” Ember asked in wonder when she had her breath back. Her nipples were aching slightly, but she didn’t mind. After the agony Beleth had put her through, sex with Raum had felt like paradise.
“Hardly,” Raum said, then pulled her close to his side so he could stroke her long, tangled brown hair. “That was rather epic, if I do say so myself,” he added smugly.
It felt weird to be cuddled by a creature she should have been terrified of, but Ember found herself snuggling against him. She even put her arm over his chest. He kissed the top of her head in approval. “Do you know that angel who can heal people?” she asked.
“No,” he replied, tone turning speculative. “I’d never met her before Xiara Evora brought her to the apartment you were squatting in. If word got out that a Night Cursed angel still has her full power and that she can heal others, the citizens would tear the Night Cursed District apart to search for her.” While the angel had looked different, she was obviously the same holy person who had assisted him.
“If the Immortal Triumvirate learn about her, they’ll probably lock her up somewhere so she can’t help anyone ever again,” she said in a morose tone. “They’re evil enough to make sure no one could benefit from her power except them.”
“Why did you attack Lord Dallinar?” Raum asked, striving not to get angry again that she’d taken such a reckless risk. He’d gone in search of her and had witnessed her being blasted out of the fairy’s tower in a fit of rage. The stone gargoyle had spirited Ember to the angel before Raum could go to her aid. He’d felt something very close to terror and despair when he’d thought his intended partner had died.
“He’s draining the rogues,” Ember replied and told him about the shifters she’d found in a cave in the woods. “The Immortal Triumvirate are slowly working their way through the rogues, rendering them helpless and stealing their lifeforce,” she finished up.
Raum rubbed his hand up and down her arm soothingly as he mulled this information over. “It seems this is their solution to the increasing problem with the shifters losing control of their beasts,” he mused. “I wonder if they’re targeting the masterless vampires as well?”
Ember shrugged and his eyes went to her breasts. “You really have a thing for boobs, don’t you?” she said when he cupped one of her mounds.
“I do,” he confessed silkily. “Allow me to show you just how much I enjoy yours in particular.” He bent his head to take her nipple into his mouth and Ember’s insides clenched in pleasurable anticipation.
