I stroke his cock again, tracing one particularly prominent vein. Aside from sheer size, he’s a familiar enough shape—give or take some delightful ridges—and he’s got a wicked curve that makes my pussy pulse. “Any surprises here?”
“Not in the way you mean.” He drinks me in with his gaze and then shakes his head sharply. “But I’m forgetting something.” Azazel shoves off the bed and stalks naked to a cabinet against the wall. It’s impossible to take my attention from him, the long lines of muscles in his back, his round ass, the flex of his thighs and calves as he walks. Gods, he’s powerful to the point of beauty.
He returns, ridged cock a promise I am eager to fulfill, and dangles a pendant necklace before me. “This will ensure you don’t get pregnant.”
I blink. “I have an IUD.”
“I’m aware.” He doesn’t move. “But I don’t have evidence that science will hold up in our realm with magic in play, so we will be doubly sure that you’re protected.”
Warmth threatens to bloom in my chest. “You could just wear a condom.” He always has before with me—one of my nonnegotiable rules for clients.
“I could,” he agrees easily. His attention drops to my pussy. “But I want to fill you up, baby girl.” He leans down and plants a hand next to my hip, his rugged face intense. “Don’t you want Daddy to make a mess of you?”
I can’t breathe. My mouth works, but it takes several tries before I can dredge up an actual response. “You know I only call you Daddy to piss you off.”
“I know.” He grins suddenly. “But I’ve decided I like it.”
I like it too. A lot. I’m stuck here for who knows how long, so it’s not as if my situation can get more complicated. The logic is as flimsy as a butterfly’s wings, but I don’t care. “How does the pendant work?”
He presses it into my palm. “A single drop of blood will key it to you. As long as you’re wearing it, it will prevent pregnancy with no side effects.”
No side effects sounds kind of nice. I nibble my bottom lip. I came to him for frenzy, but it’s hard to hold this kind of thing against him. Captor or not, he’s taking care of me in his own way.
I am dangerously close to softening for him.
To avoid thinking about that, I drape the pendant around my neck and take his hand. I press a single finger to one of his claws. The bright bloom of blood against my skin makes us both draw in a harsh breath.
“The center,” he murmurs, holding the pendant so I can smear my blood there. “A few drops of blood now and on the first day of your cycle.”
I shiver and lift my gaze to his. “I’m ready, Daddy. Make a mess of me.”
CHAPTER 10
AZAZEL
Iknow better than to accept what Eve offers me. She was almost taken from me today. She’s only here because she’s traumatized from the events of the day even though her life hasn’t been exempt from violence. If Brosh’s people had escaped with her, she wouldn’t have survived the night.
The thought has me pressing her back onto my bed and running my hand down the center of her body. The bruise on her ribs is already fading; it will be gone by morning. It’s the only evidence of what happened earlier, and yet I can’t stop myself from touching her wide hips, her thick thighs, sure that there’s some other injury I haven’t catalogued yet. “They tried to take you from me.”
Her eyes flash. “I’m not yours for someone to take.”
If only that were true. If only I’d had enough self-control to stay away from this woman who intrigued me from the moment her sorrow drew me to her. Bargainers have a nose for people who may be receptive to a deal. Years ago, roughly six months before she met Pope and everything changed for her, Eve was one of those people.
If I’d properly approached her then, if I’d offered her a contract . . .
“You’re mine now, Eve.” I palm her pussy, soft and sweet and already wet for me. “You have been since long before you signed my contract.”
She hisses out a breath that makes her breasts bounce. “It’s in your best interest to stop talking and fuck me.” She grabs my wrist and holds my hand to her heat. Some of the venom slips out of her tone. “Please, Azazel. I can’t fight with you about this right now.”
Is this harm? I’m not entirely sure, and that should be answer enough. I know what I would tell another bargainer in this situation, but I can’t seem to take my own advice. I’ve compromised my ethics again and again when it comes to Eve. Why not now as well?
I can make her feel good. I can make her forget, at least for a little while. She came to me for this. I won’t turn her away. I’ll give her exactly what she wants, even if it damns us both.
So I stop thinking. I lean down over her and kiss her roughly. Eve tastes like she always has. Like home. If I ever had to define what that means, I don’t know if I could put it into words. Maybe it’s better that I don’t.
She rises to meet me instantly, every bit of fight going into the slide of her tongue against mine, into the sharp pain of her teeth against my lower lip. She believes I’ve spent years lying to her, but the only untruth I’ve told is related to being human. All the rest was naked honesty. This is honest.
I drag my mouth over her jaw and down her throat. Her breasts are pure artistry, round and perfect and peaked with rosy nipples. I lavish one with a kiss while cupping them together and allowing my thumb claw to form so I can drag it along the lower curve of the other.
Eve whimpers. “Yes, Daddy. More.”
Daddy.
If she ever fully comprehends what that name does for me when she moans it . . . Well, best not to think about that too closely. I would love to spend hours teasing her until she’s shaking and desperate, but she won’t tolerate that right now. She needs fast and hard and rough, to settle her in her skin.
I understand. It’s what I need too.
Even so, I have no desire to hurt her, and if we move too fast, that’s exactly what will happen. Pain has its place, but only so much of it. The balm can heal a lot, but I want her to enjoy this.
Any excuse to taste her again. Every time with Eve may be my last time; I’m too greedy for every detail, every sensation. I kiss my way down her rounded stomach, nibbling at the curve in a way that makes her squeak. I press my face to the apex of her thighs and inhale deeply. “I can’t get enough of you.”
“I . . .” She shudders out a breath as I push her thighs wide. “I don’t know if I like you talking so much.”
I use my thumbs to part her folds and flick her clit with my tongue. “Want me to stop?”
“I want you to hurry up.” She reaches down to grab my horns, and it’s my turn to shudder. They’re not particularly sensitive, but there’s something about the way she wrenches my face closer to her, demanding pleasure, that sends a shiver down my spine and makes my cock so hard, it’s a wonder I don’t come on the spot.
She’s already dripping for me. I inhale again, making us both wait a beat before I cover her with my mouth and kiss her pussy just the way she likes. Eve makes a mewling noise that I’ll hear in my dreams for the rest of my life. “Oh, fuck.”
Just as her thighs tighten on either side of my head, she jerks my horns with each shiver and shake. I push one finger into her. My hands are bigger in my true form. Everything is bigger in my true form. I have to get her ready for me. I need to . . .