A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 1)

“What am I doing with you?” he growled softly—to himself, it sounded like—going to the back entrance where the couple was still pressed against the glass.

“Playing a dangerous game with my life, it seems like,” I retorted, my current situation making me a little saltier than usual.

He slammed the door forward. The couple flew into a heap of limbs on the floor. The man’s eyes were hooded and on fire, and the woman’s were soaked with arousal. Another flood of desire poured into me, sending my brain back to moments ago, when I’d been trapped against that tree with those tricky fingers deep in my pussy.

Goddess give me strength, I wanted more. Lots more. My body was not on the same page as my brain. Logic was completely absent where Nyfain was concerned. I needed to go sleep it off, preferably after a good self-love session.

Couples littered the hallway and my gaze skittered between them. A man with his face between a woman’s thighs. Two women writhing together in a corner. Another woman in the middle of five men, using every hole the goddess had given her and two hands to make up the difference. She was clearly excellent at multitasking dongs. Three men on the bench, one guy bent over sucking while a third took him from behind.

“Holy shit,” I groaned, staggering into Nyfain.

He glanced down at me, looked around, and then swept me up into his arms. He’d apparently been ignoring all of this. All the sex around us hadn’t made him flinch. I couldn’t even fathom that, because suddenly I was a wanton mess. Again.

“Let’s go finish what we started,” I purred, tracing my tongue along the shell of his ear.

“You’ll hate yourself for it in the morning.”

“Probably.” I ran my lips down his neck, delighting in his deliciously balmy smell, in the heat of his skin and the feeling of his strength wrapped around me. “I’ve hated myself for less.”

“I doubt that is true. We aren’t attracted to each other, princess. It’s our animals. We need to heed logic where they will not.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t feel your animal until the demon showed up.” I skimmed my lips against his jaw and lightly kissed the corner of his mouth.

He flinched away before hoisting me up and throwing me over his shoulder. “I always stay connected with my animal. I have to, or I might lose him. His desperation to hump you seeps through. Don’t let it go to your head.”

His words sounded hollow, as though he were willing himself to believe them.

He put me down roughly in front of the tower door and fit the key into the lock. The demon from earlier had been removed. I wondered if that was why the other demons had decided to go looking for us.

“I won’t always act like the damsel, you know,” I said defiantly, shoving away the residual desire.

“Good. It’s beneath you. But it’s important right now. It will stall the inevitable.”

“What’s the inevitable?”

“The demon king coming and the enemy closing in. You will need your grit by the end.”

Shivers arrested me. I breathed through the sudden uncertainty clutching at my chest.

“I need to learn to hand fight better,” I said. “I’m great with a dagger, and despite what the men will tell you, I’m the best hunter in my village. I’m good with a bow and a spear. I’m not so good with my fists, though. Also, I could use more strength.”

“You were just fine with that knife when you stabbed me.”

“That was my animal, I think. I don’t really remember doing it.”

“You have plenty of strength. You could use more conditioning with your animal.” He turned the key.

“And if you are going to lock me in this cursed tower every night, I need access to the library.”

He pushed the door open and shoved me inside.

“And if you don’t stop manhandling me,” I said as I stood in the room, “you’re going to be sorry.”

A grin pulled at his lips. “Is that a challenge, princess?”

His rough voice and the excitement I could see glittering in his eyes fired me up in ways I couldn’t really explain. Fear and arousal created a heady mix.

I didn’t have a reply, so I turned my back to him, waiting for him to leave.

“Strip out of your shirt, and I’ll help you out of your binding. Your lady’s maid will be…busy at present.”

I groaned in annoyance and pulled off my shirt. My face heated, and I made sure to stay still so he wouldn’t see the evidence of my embarrassment, my vulnerability. His presence moved up behind me, and a soft tug pulled at my middle as his heated breath washed over my exposed flesh.

“You didn’t get to come earlier,” he rumbled, his fingertips tracing lightly over my shoulders.

“Just another one of your torture devices, I assume.”