Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(26)

His eyes sparkled, and he took a step closer. He gave me a slow, dazzling smile that made my heart skip a beat. “I’ll be happy to prove it to you when I win the trial. And do you know what?” His voice was low and silky. “I like being challenged by you.”

The vulnerable side of Orion was gone, and he’d turned on the charm again. So I can’t say I was shocked when he left the door open between our rooms. He crossed into his own room, pretending to ignore me as he unbuttoned his shirt. When he pulled it off, I told myself not to stare at the absolute masculine perfection that was his body—the thickly corded muscles, the visible V in his abs just over the top of his pants.

But telling myself not to stare was just about as useful as telling the moon to stop shining.

When he turned to me, his lips curled in a beautiful half-smile, I was momentarily mortified to realize my mouth had been hanging open.

He crossed to the door frame and leaned against it. My gaze roamed over his snake tattoo, then down to his chiseled abs again. “Something the matter, Rowan?” And here was Orion’s cocky attitude, replacing that brief glimpse of his vulnerable side.

I took a deep breath, trying hard to ignore the heat sliding through my belly. “Are you trying to seduce me? Because I don’t care how pretty you are—I’m still going through with the trial.” I’d somehow lost control of my voice, and it had come out louder than necessary. One of the dogs poked his head in the door, looking between us to make sure everything was all right.

Orion’s eyebrows rose. “I simply took my shirt off because I’m getting ready for bed.” The look he was giving me was positively smoldering. “Love, surely you know by now that if an incubus were seducing you, you’d be writhing beneath me and begging for more right now.”

I felt my cheeks flush, and my mind clouded with a haze of lust. I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, only that Orion was getting the upper hand. Throwing me off my game, getting me flustered.

But I was a succubus, and two could play at this game.

I let the blanket drop from my body, knowing that my wet tank top was falling off one of my shoulders and that my underwear hardly covered a thing. As soon as I did, I felt the atmosphere in the room change—a flash of heat and light that seemed to pulse from the demon king himself.





15





ORION





As soon as she dropped the blanket, I knew I was in trouble. All the blood seemed to rush from my head, making my cock harden until I could no longer think straight.

I stared down at her—big brown eyes, her full, peaked lips, nipples straining at the wet fabric…

In the salt breeze off the coast, I knew that if I kissed her, she would taste of the sea. I loved kissing her, and the way she looked at me. I loved…

Stop it.

Only a thin sheath of fabric covered her naked body, and I could see her perfect contours beneath it.

As a succubus, she could feel me drinking in her beauty, and her chest was faintly flushed.

“Not trying to seduce,” I managed, forgetting the basics of language.

I was repeating myself, though, wasn’t I?

And yet, it was the truth. I couldn’t seduce her—not when I risked everything.

I’d simply wanted her to realize that little blond pretty boy Kas had nothing on me. Quite simply, jealousy was making me act like a fucking idiot.

She sat on the bed and leaned back. The damp tank top stretched over her breasts. She was quite obviously not wearing a bra, and her nipples were hard against the fabric. What I wanted to do, more than anything, was to throw her down and rip that cotton off her body. I wanted to kiss and lick her between her thighs until she screamed my name loudly enough for him to hear…

“Of course you weren’t trying to seduce me. My mistake.” She looked up at me from under her long eyelashes and rolled over, giving me a view of her ass. I was desperate to run my fingers over that fabric, to feel her heat.

Her cheeks were lightly flushed. “Something the matter, Orion? You look…dazed.”

She was using my exact phrase against me. Smart-ass.

I didn’t feel entirely in control of myself as I found myself moving closer, back into her room. A moth to a flame. I sat next to her on the bed, but my eye was drawn back to that fucking bruise on her neck.

I reached out to brush my fingertips over it. At the contact of my fingertips against her skin, she gasped slightly.

My heart was ready to explode.

“Just making sure you’re healing properly.” My voice sounded husky, and I pulled my hand away from her.

Her lips appeared full, slightly pouted. There was something about how she looked right now—seductive and adorable all at once—that was robbing me of rational thought. I wanted to taste her so much, it hurt.

She bit her lip and brushed her fingertips over my wrist. “I’m fine. I’m a demon now, Orion. You don’t have to worry about me breaking.”

She was right, of course, and yet, I’d never felt more compelled to keep someone safe. All I could do was thank the gods she trusted me enough to come with me here, into my home. I stood, trying to force myself to move away from her, to douse the fire in my thoughts.

“I want to kiss you, just once.” The truth tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop myself. “But that’s all, Rowan. Just one kiss tonight.”