Devil to Pay

REINA

I woke the next morning,sobered by our fucking and able to think clearly for what felt like the first time. The bed was empty, but the sheets were warm, so Santino—no, Satan—hadn’t been gone long.

A shiver went through my body as I recalled my lover’s real name. And then what he’d done to my body with that forked tongue and massive, knotted cock. Embarrassment rushed through me, making my skin itch and burn, and I pushed the sheet off my body to stand at the side of the bed. I caved so easily to him, a victim of my own horniness.

I was both ashamed and wanton. My aching body longed for more while my head reeled at being so intimate and vulnerable with him. I needed to cleanse myself of him, and then maybe I could think straight and determine if what happened last night was the breaking of a levy or … something more.

Walking into the bathroom, I took in the huge walk-in shower before observing the nozzles and twisting them to find a pressure and angle I liked. Once under the spray, I closed my eyes and ran my hands over my hair, pressing the water through my strands. The heat of the water was luxurious on my sore muscles. I could stay in the water for hours, turning into a prune while my flesh turned pink and raw from the assault of such a hot temperature, but I didn’t care. It was divine.

As I stood there, I lost track of time, turning in surprise to find Santino pulling the glass door open and staring at me so unabashedly.

“What are you doing?”

“If I were to wait for you to come back to me, I would’ve been waiting on you all morning.”

“You were gone when I woke up. I assumed you’d left for the day.”

He shook his head before undoing his pants and slipping them off. My eyes drifted southward, tracing the hard edges of his muscles. When my eyes leaped back to his, I remembered suddenly I was naked too and spun to face the wall, so he didn’t have such a clear view.

Santino chuckled at my reaction as the door’s glassy echo alerted me that we were now confined in a space that suddenly felt small for two people. And he was in front of the door, so I had no escape route.

“I’ve already seen it all.” He reminded me with a smirk, letting his eyes trail hotly down my back and tracing the curve of my ass. “Though I do enjoy seeing my mate in all her glory.” My body shivered in reaction, longing for him to touch me once more, but I jerked to the side before he or my body got any ideas. Santino chuckled.

“Surely, after how many thousands of years, you already had a mate?”

This silenced him, and for a moment, I was sure things had gotten so tense inside the shower compartment that it was going to erupt. Stealing a glance at his face, it was screwed up and dark like he remembered something—or someone.

“No, I’ve never taken a mate. I’ve never been interested in a woman like this before.”

“A woman like me?”

“That is what I mean.”

“So, why take me as a mate if you’ve never done it?”

“Because one look at you and I felt this … longing inside me. Like I could never be whole again if I didn’t have you, even if it wasn’t physically, I needed to know you were mine and protected by me.”

“Are those the implications of being your mate?”

“No other will touch you. No man or woman will have sex with you. I will know if you are hurt, distressed, happy, aroused, scared, and occasionally I will be able to call you to me.”

“Aroused? You’ll be able to know when I’m aroused?” Santino smirked, and something sunk low in my belly.

“Like right now.” Santino moved closer, reaching out and tracing my lips gently before bringing his hand to my jaw. His fingers toyed with the hair tucked behind her ear before he shook his head at me.

“You have enraptured me in the most illogical way. Never before has a human woman been able to hold my attention for so long. Something about you calls to me like a familiar lullaby I once knew.” He paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. “My life will last forever, but trifling with a mortal can feel like an eternity in hell. Humans, by nature, are far too slow, uncultured, undomesticated, and someone my age doesn’t have the time to break something like that. But then I met you … You, curious you, who fights back, questions me, doesn’t want me in the way all women who have ever looked at me have. I don’t understand it, but I want to, and worst of all, I want you in a way I have never wanted anyone. I don’t need others, but I need you. I cannot live without you.”

“One day, you will have to,” I whispered, staring at him with bewilderment.

“Not today,” he whispered back, his voice much lower than mine as he leaned in and caught my lips with his. It was a bruising kiss that I felt to my toes. It ached in a way that touched my heart and soul. It flowed through all my veins and consumed me like fire.

What happened last night wasn’t a moment hinged on lack of self-control or even giving in to the inevitable. It was something more. The meeting of two souls and answering an ancient call that only they could hear. Yes, it was inevitable, but inevitable in a way that I never would’ve understood until this moment.

I was his, but he was also mine.

My feelings had festered for a while, brought on by the taste of danger that lingered around him. The freedom he offered unlocked my deepest desires and only added more pressure to the tight coils of my self-control.

If I let go, I could have anything right here and right now, and he would give it all to me or burn down the world to get it.