Terror at the Gates (Blood of Lilith, #1)

by Scarlett St. Clair

“There are other ways to get your kicks, Lilith.” “Any suggestions?” I asked, rolling my shoulders. “I’m getting restless.”

“You have a pretty mouth, little love, but you say the ugliest things.”

“Any normal person would need a fucking cigarette after dealing with you,” said Cassius. “Why do you think Zahariev smokes so much?”

“Promise me something,” he said, still watching me. “What?” “If you ever feel like you don’t want to do this anymore…tell me. Give me the chance to bring you back.”

“I know your secret,” I said, my fingers tightening, digging into his skin. “If you harm one hair on her head, I’ll end you.”

“For you, I have all the time in the world.”

“Someday I will have to watch you marry another man, and it will be far easier to do if I never fuck you.”

That was a lie. It was never going to be easy.

I would break every rule for her if she said she wanted more.

“You want me to do something about it?” he asked. “You can’t,” I said. “Not without starting a war.” “I would go to war for you,” he said. I ceased breathing, thinking that I’d misheard him. I pulled back and met his gaze. He was usually so composed, but there was something unfiltered in the way he looked at me now—a raw confession of devotion. “What did you say?” His mouth lifted in a soft half smile as he swept his thumb over the edge of my lips. “I would go to war for you,” he said again. “I would fight endlessly to keep you if that’s what you wanted.”

“I am not worth everything you would lose, Zahariev,” I said. “You are worth it,” he said. “But I’ll wait until you ask.”

“What happens when Lisk finds out I survived?” I asked. “Then he will know he has failed,” said Zahariev. I tried to take a subtle breath so he wouldn’t hear my voice shudder. “He’s just going to try again,” I said. Zahariev’s arms tightened around me. “I’ll kill him before he has the chance.”

Hold me tighter, Zahariev, she’d said. If I did, could I keep her from breaking?

“You are such a brat,” he said, his eyes locked on my lips. “I think you like it,” I said. I braced my hands against the bed, using the leverage to inch closer. “I think it makes you hard.” “I like it,” he said. “You know what makes me harder? When you obey.”

“You think you’re brave for handling me?” “No one handles you, Lilith,” he said. “Good fucking luck to the man who tries.”

“You don’t think I carry you wherever I go? You are unshakable. A menace. Sometimes, I think I would do anything to fuck it out of you, this goddamn defiance, even though it won’t work. Even though it’s what I adore most about you. I guess I just think it would be fun to try.”

“In this room,” he said, jerking me toward him, “I’m always the boss of you.”

“And here I thought I knew you best,” I said, letting my nails trail up his thighs. “You do,” he said. “Better than anyone.”

“I’d follow you anywhere.”

“I could have remained invisible to you, and my devotion to you would be unchanging.”

“You are such a fucking brat,” he said. “You like it,” I said. “I do,” he agreed, grasping my jaw and pulling me close. “But next time, I’m going to fuck you like I don’t.”

“They can have it,” he said. “So long as I can have you. Only if you agree, of course.”

They will call her a demon, but I watched her transform, and I will call her goddess.