Lyonis suddenly laughed a hearty sound. Telal hated it. “You do love her.”

Telal glared at him. “I care some. I do not love her.” He felt a twinge inside that felt as if he'd lied. Panic instantly swelled inside him. Love? Did he love the crazy succubus? God, he did not want to think about that right now because his heart and his mind were disagreeing on the subject.

“Whatever. I'd recommend that you don't let a great thing like that pass you by. You never know when she might be taken away.” Lyonis' expression turned grim. Telal knew he'd almost lost his mate to the jaheera demon, but seeing how it affected him made him shift uncomfortably in his seat.

“I'm going to bed,” said Telal, coming to a stand. “I'll think about it and let you know.” He was a planner, had always excelled at weighing the pros and cons of a situation. He'd do the same with this one. Only this time was different because he was weighing his life to his brother’s.

After shaking hands with the men, Telal found Lily and let Chloe escort them to the bedroom they'd be using. Telal made for the shower and dropped under the hot spray letting it clean the feeling of filth from his skin and loosen his tight muscles.

He heard her soft steps before she came into view, beautifully naked. She stepped into the shower with him and wrapped her arms around him. His heart squeezed tight and he held her in return. It felt good to have her in his arms. It eased even more tension in him but made his heart thump erratically. Did he love her? God, he hoped not. Lyonis' words floated in his mind. But he shoved the thought away because they didn't count. Even if he did decide to go to war with his brother, he'd never let her come. She'd be here in the castle safe and locked away.

Her hands roamed across his back then cupped his cheeks giving him a playful pat. He almost laughed. She thought she was so much different off that drug of hers but really, he liked her like this. A little bit more serious, still sweet and naive, and kind.

The shower spray covered them both, matting their hair down and wetting their bodies. His eyes roamed over her form, loving the dip of her waist, the flare of her hips, and the soft press of her mounds against his chest. She felt womanly and perfect against him. She pressed a kiss to his chest then another, slowly going lower.

His cock punched hard and erect, his body growing tense once again. “What are you doing, lilit?”

She smiled up at him with warm eyes, her lips pressed underneath his belly button. “You're tense. I thought I'd help you to relax.” She kissed further down to each of his hipbones as her hands trailed up his thighs.

He almost staggered at her touch and had to slam his hand on the shower wall to keep from falling over. His cock fell against her cheek. He ached to have her suck him in deep but she ignored him and continued to lick her way down his groin.

She trailed her fingers over the area. “Why don't you have any hair here? Seeing blue down here would be pretty fun. Do you shave it?” The naughty witch asked the innocent question while her hand curled around his cock light as a butterfly.

“No,” he gritted out. “Demons don't grow hair down there.”

“Oh.” She said it like it was the most interesting thing to learn. She pressed her forehead against his thigh. In a voice devoid of playfulness, she said, “If you don't want to retake the throne that's fine. I support you. But please, please help me to get my mother out.”

He swallowed hard over the tightness in his throat and rested his head on her hair, so dark and wavy, beautiful. Love. Is this what it felt like? The need to please her and do anything for her to make her happy?

“I'll get her out, Lily.”

She looked up at him and saw the sincerity in his gaze. Like a light flipping on, her expression lit up bright as the sun. “Telal...thank you. Thank you.”

Then in a smooth move, she swallowed his cock whole, burying him to the back of her throat. He did choke now, his hips jerking from the raw pleasure.

“Lily,” he warned. Though he wasn't sure what he was warning her about . She made a moaning sound around him then slid him out and back in again, flicking her little tongue around him and licking his shaft like a delicious treat. Raw possession came over him. He wanted to keep her, he realized. Only let her mouth ever please him. The thought didn't shock him as it might have even a few weeks ago, but it settled deep inside him like concrete—sure and strong.

She pulled back, letting her hand massage over the tip of him trying to coax his orgasm from him. And it was working. His sack pulled tighter and tighter, his muscles clenching. Hell, it took an effort not to let his toes curl. The pleasure of just watching her getting poured on from the shower and pumping his cock in her little fist nearly undid him.

“Let me have you.”

She shook her head and swallowed him whole again and again. Breathing became a chore as his lungs pumped hard to suck in oxygen. His head fell back and he let his fingers touch the tresses of her wet hair. He didn't hold her to him or guide her because what she was doing to him was magic of its own.

His body grew incredibly hot as his climax neared. “Let me inside you,” he begged without shame. The torture of her mouth sucking on him was too much.

She pumped him with her hand and bobbed up and down his shaft, moving faster, sucking harder. His hips started jerking in response. The hand in her hair tightened out of reflex. He only had one last chance to warn her so he did.

“I'm going to come in your mouth if you don't stop.”

Fuck. She moved faster. A growl started in his throat then ended in a ragged shout as his entire body jerked from her little mouth. His semen seemed to shoot down his spine and out through his body in hot, erotic spurts that didn't want to end. The little succubus moaned around him, licking him clean then gently released him.

He fell back against the shower and when she came into his arms again he held her tight. His mind felt foggy and heavy. He wanted nothing more than to drop onto the bed and pass the fuck out.

“Let me finish you,” he said instead though. He had to make it even, make her come.

She kissed his peck and smiled up at him. “No, let's go to bed.”

She shut off the water and he followed her by hand into the bedroom, too tired to do anything else. Before he passed out, he wrapped his arm around her to pull her close. She felt so right there so good. So he told her so.

“You're not so bad yourself, baby.” He heard the laughter in her voice and smiled as he fell asleep.

CHAPTER 38

Kearny's eyes popped open as he groaned. Someone was jabbing at his stomach with something hard and unforgiving.

He jerked to a sitting position with his fists pulled tight ready to fly. A woman with dark skin, darker than Rosa's, stepped back from him, her hands raised in a defensive pose.

“I'm Nanu, the healer. I'm just stitching you up.”

He smelled her before he saw her. Rosa came up from behind him. She looked raw like she'd hadn't slept in days and her eyes were puffy and red from crying.

“What's wrong baby?” His voice sounded too hoarse from not being used. That and his tongue felt brittle as dried wood. He needed blood. She surprised him. She knelt over him pressing a dozen kisses across his chapped lips and holding his head in her hands. “It's all right. I'm okay.” She made a half-sob, half-laughing noise and pulled away, her lips trembling in a smile.

“I thought you were going to die.”

His chest felt entirely too tight at her words. He didn't know what to say so he just pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, his heart beating with an emotion he hadn't felt in a long time.