A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #2)(97)

I swallowed. “Okay. Don’t spank me. Or flog me. No hot candle wax. I will not call you Daddy. If you’re going to tie me to the ceiling and floor, fine, but stick to tickling and not something painful.”

His eyebrows dipped low. “Looks like you got an eyeful when you were sneaking out the other night, huh? Ms. Smith told me you got to see her purple dildo in action.”

“Yeah. That I was surprisingly fine with. I might want to pop you in the ass with one someday.”

“Oh, lucky me…” he said dryly, and I laughed.

“But the stuff with Leala and that demon was a bit much for me.”

“What a fucking life, huh?” He stroked his fingers across my cheek, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. “Do you trust me, Finley? Please answer honestly. I need to plan accordingly for what comes next.”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Okay. Stay here, close your eyes, and no peeking. I want to get the blindfold.”

He came back a moment later, his scent putting me at ease. A slip of material pressed against my eyes, and I waited as it tightened. His arms came around my back and legs, and he lifted me, carrying me past that curtain and presumably into a room where something sensual that would require a modicum of trust was bound to happen.

“Don’t be nervous,” he whispered, setting me down gently.

I gave him what was probably a crooked smile as I tried to ignore the butterflies floating around my stomach and ribcage.

His hands touched down on my outer thighs, right below my slip. He slid them upward, lifting the silky fabric as he did. Up and over my hips, my waist, on up until he was lifting my arms with the fabric seemingly pooled at his wrists. Then it was gone.

“No panties,” he groaned, and my smile brightened. I liked torturing him. “I’m not sure I’m as good as your tragic ex-friend, but I’m going to try my best.”

His lips barely touched down on mine, light and teasing. Fabric whispered and air caressed my skin. Was he taking off his clothes?

“How was that?” he asked, his tone subdued as he took my hands.

“I think you should kiss the way you always kiss and leave the more erotic kissing to the ladies.”

He laughed, deep and delighted, and my heart fluttered. “Note taken. Okay, I’m going to help you get into here…”

He pulled my hands gently to get me to walk forward.

“Step up,” he said as my toe bumped into a barrier.

I did, and then again, and again, climbing steps.

“Okay, stay there,” he commanded softly, power infusing his words. He held my hand, lifting it a little as he moved. Water sloshed, the sound like two feet stepping into a basin. It sloshed a little more, and then he was leaning into me, his tongue flicking across a nipple. “Here we go.”

His hands pressed firmly on my ribs, and he lifted me into the air and then lowered me, sliding my front down his. His hard cock skimmed my right inner thigh until it caught at my apex, but he didn’t allow me to stop and play. My body pushed it down between us until my feet hit warm water. It traveled up to my mid-thighs before my soles touched a warm metallic surface.

“Is this a…bathtub?” I asked.

“Of sorts. No offense, and not to impugn my own salon experience, which I wouldn’t trade for the world, but I think you’ll find this a little cozier than a breezy seat on a bunch of slats in a makeshift bathhouse. If it weren’t for the grumpy salon worker, I might not have enjoyed myself.”

I laughed at his description of the sponge bath I’d given him, then sucked in a breath as he walked me back a step. My calves met resistance, but he kept pushing until I lowered onto a seat partially covered by warm water.

“This has been cleaned, right?” I asked as he continued to lower me, my top half leaning way back.

He paused, and I tensed. His dark chuckle said he was kidding, and he kept going.

“I cleaned it myself, princess,” he said as my back hit a soft cushion. The seat was heavily reclined, nearly like lying in a bathtub, but with my lower half higher so that the water cut across my body. “The surfaces are magically treated. They don’t decay in the water, and the water doesn’t get cold once it is poured into the bath. It’ll only chill again after it is drained. These baths aren’t a new addition since the demons took over. They’ve been in existence since before I was born. The salon was primarily a place for women to get themselves looked after—hair, nails, that sort of thing. But given the setup, which I only discovered after the curse, something more was going on here. My father would not have approved, but since it was women’s business, he clearly never stuck his nose in. You’ll see what I mean.”

“Kinky?”

“I think so. I suspect there were lots of happy endings. There was probably a reason the women of the noble class were so well groomed.”

“But demons didn’t work here, then.” The water came up just past my bust, leaving my head and neck out of the water.

“No. I’m not sure who was actually doing the…treatments at the time. I haven’t been able to bring myself to ask the staff.”

“So you want me to go in undercover?”

A pulse of power slithered across my flesh. I moaned and couldn’t help spreading my thighs a little on the seat.

“That answers that,” he murmured darkly.