City of Thorns (The Demon Queen Trials, #1)

by C.N. Crawford

Divine. His silver hair hung down to heartbreakingly sharp cheekbones. He sported a high-collared black coat that hung open. Under his jacket, he wore a thin gray sweater that showed off a muscular body. It looked soft, but I could tell the abs beneath it were rock hard. I found my pulse racing as I thought of running my fingers over the material and feeling his muscles twitch.

It was too bad he was a demon and an unrelenting asshole because he was heartbreakingly beautiful.

“…and can you explain to me why the one guy who seemed like he would actually be able to sexually satisfy me is also a demon, and also he kidnapped me and threw me in a prison? That’s how I know there’s no God. It’s too cruel. The sexiest person I’ve ever seen, the guy who’d make me want to wear lace underwear instead of the pharmacy stuff—he’s the Hannibal fucking Lecter of the supernatural world. Are you kidding me?”

I don’t think I ever understood the desire some mortals have to end their lives until I listened to the details of yours last night.”

He had me completely pinned with his piercing gaze, and I felt my nipples going hard under my dress. To my shock, I found that he was right. I wanted him to bite me. I wanted him to grab me, shove me against the wall, and clamp his teeth into my throat. In fact—bizarrely—I wanted him to do all kinds of filthy things to me.

I didn’t want to feel turned on by my supremely arrogant demonic abductor, and yet, here we were. The heart wants what it wants.

I leaned against the hard, muscled wall of his chest, and when I looked up at him, I saw that he looked nearly as dazed as I felt. “That was horrible,” I lied. “I hated it.” He leaned down and whispered, “I don’t believe you. But I suppose I am sorry about the abduction.”

“In the world of social psychology, there’s something called a self-fulfilling prophecy, or a behavioral confirmation. It means that people’s behavior changes depending on what’s expected of them. A person’s expectations actually elicit certain behaviors.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Like you wanted to climb over the table and throttle me.” Damn it. He could see right through me. I could feel myself blushing, and I shook my head. “There’s nothing wrong. I slept fine, just had some weird dreams.” “About what?” You, kissing me all over. “Just, um, monsters. What are you reading?” I took a sip of my coffee. Orion’s eyes gleamed, and he lifted the book so I could see the cover. Fifty Shades of Grey. I choked and spat out my coffee, then wiped the back of my hand across my mouth.

My breath sped up, and I felt him move behind me, his hands going to my hips. I fought the insane impulse to lean back into his powerful body.

And perhaps Orion can join me.” Drawing more from my id, I turned to Orion, stroking his large bicep. The look he gave me was deeply carnal, which was good, since I was supposed to be inspiring envy in the king. “Oh, do you know what else I’d like to do? I’d like Orion to fuck me hard against a stone wall, since we haven’t done that yet.” Holy shit. Too much id. Too much id. With a low growl, Orion’s eyes darkened to shadows, and his heated expression seared me.

I turned to Orion, giving him a full view of my cleavage, and touched my finger to his lips, then traced it down his body. I felt his muscles twitch beneath my touch. “The city could use a succubus again, I think,” I said loudly. “Don’t you?” The look in Orion’s midnight eyes sent my heart racing. It was hard not to think of how I’d felt with him pinning me to the wall, with his teeth in my throat.

Nice. She’s really going to start her speech by explaining she’s not like other girls?

“Look, if you all decide you don’t want me here, then I can leave, of course. I can live anywhere. And perhaps I can compel Orion to come with me. I think there’s something about him—a very large thing, in fact—that I’m really quite attached to. I can’t imagine any other male coming close.”

As he held me against the stone, his eyes looked dark, dangerous. I stared into his perfect, masculine features, and the world around me seemed to dim. I wanted him to lower his mouth to mine, to kiss me deeply. Goddamn it. Terrible taste in men, Rowan. Absolute worst.

He pressed in harder between my legs, and I bit my lip. From the feel of him, he wasn’t just faking his desire. And what I’d said before about how I couldn’t imagine any other male coming close to him? Holy moly, I wasn’t wrong. Orion started to lower his mouth to mine, eyes black as night— “That’s enough!” The king’s voice boomed through the hall. I was horrified at how disappointed I felt at the interruption.

“Well, you have magic, and I have my own superpower. It’s called anxiety.

“The contents of your bedroom concern me.”

“This sounds insane,” he said, cutting me off, and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I thrive in chaos. I like to watch things burn. But this situation is making me feel something different, unfamiliar. I don’t like it,” he said in a clipped tone. “This is making my heart beat faster, almost like a…like a warning. As if something bad is about to happen.”

“You told your secrets, Rowan, in that prison cell. But you didn’t tell all of them, did you? There was something you kept hidden.” Even from myself. That thought rang out in my mind—a voice that wasn’t quite my own. Hidden from myself. What the fuck?

“A star identifies the Lightbringer, our destined leader. No one has seen that mark in a long time.”

And all of this was a fantastic reminder of why I couldn’t be seduced by his beauty. Did he look perfect? Yes. Was he sketchy as fuck and possibly a murderer? Also yes.

Just being close to him and feeling his magic pulse over my body made my breath hitch, even if all this was just for show. “Yes.” Must…remember…he’s my suspect…

His hand moved higher, dragging my hem with it. His fingertips stroked slowly up and down my skin… God, I wanted to take him somewhere alone.

Unable to contain myself anymore, I pressed my lips against his. Under the hem of my dress, his fingers tightened on my flesh. He kissed me back slowly, deliciously, his tongue brushing against mine. When he pulled away from the kiss, my heart was racing out of control. I ached for him. And if all of this was happening in front of other people—that wasn’t my fault. That was Mortana’s fault.

The brush of his fingertips was a slow, maddening touch that left a trail of heat in its wake, now near my panties. I felt as if there was something reverent in the way he was touching me, and my core pulsed, aching for him. Slowly, he moved his hands over my panties, brushing his fingertip down the front. I gasped at the sensation. I was sure that he could feel exactly how turned on I was through the silk, and I felt my cheeks going redder. From him, I heard a quiet growl that seemed to reverberate over my skin.

His muscles visibly tensed. “Why be with a duke when you could be with a king?” He sounded almost pleading. This was driving him mad. “I don’t understand.”

“He’s made everything modern. Ridiculously so. He’s put a cappuccino machine in the kitchen, and even I don’t have one of those. I’m wondering if I need to seduce the king now.”

My pulse raced whenever I thought about Orion’s lips brushing over mine. When I thought of what he’d look like without his shirt on… Insanely, I wanted him in here with me.

My one burning question was why the fuck the king was so scared of Orion.

As he finished the kiss with a nip to my lower lip, he pulled back. The look he was giving me was molten, hungry. His expression was positively primal, like he was about to rip my dress off, throw me up against the wall, and fuck me right here.

I should probably stop this now. I mean, we were in a room with other people, for crying out loud…but my breasts ached for his touch.

“I don’t want to give you over to the king. I want you in my bed, naked and moaning my name.”

“Do you trust me, love?” “No.” His beautiful mouth curved in a dark smile. “You’re very wise in that regard. But do you trust me at least not to kill you until I can bring you somewhere where I can make you come?” “I guess?”

His feathers were tinged a deep silver at the tips, and they seemed to glow like moonlight. “What are you?” I breathed. “Magnificent,” he murmured.

You’re an incubus. Can you fuck me to death?” Wickedness gleamed in his eyes. “Is that a request?” “No, it was a concern.”

“Either I trust you, or I’m just making stupid decisions because you robbed me of the ability to think clearly when you were sitting in my lap. When I could hear your heart beating faster and your breath speeding up, it was difficult to think straight.”

“I’ve been in the City of Thorns the whole time,” he said at last. “I’ve lived here for centuries. I was locked in the prison underground. The same prison where I locked you up that night. That’s where I lived for hundreds of years, and for most of that time, I saw no one except Mortana. Until she disappeared.”

“Because at the heart of me, Rowan, I’m evil.” His gaze pierced me, the blue in his eyes shot through with shadows. “And sometimes, I’d like to forget that.”

“When I got out of the dungeons, I needed to find a quieter hideaway. In my cell, I craved other people. But now that I’m around them, I’m not used to the noise of the city.” The look in his eyes was endlessly sad, and his throat bobbed. “So this is where I go to escape. Except right now, it’s where I want to be with you.”

Holy hell, he looked like a god. His body was thickly corded with muscle, his abs chiseled. He was a warrior dipped in gold.

A hint of his fangs grazed over my skin again. Was he going to bite me? I didn’t hate the thought, and I found myself arching my neck, giving him more access.

“Did I mention that I’ve never actually had an orgasm?” “You did.” He stroked his hands up my ribs, his thumbs sliding under my bra. “That’s about to change.”

“I want to see all of you, Rowan,” he said, and it came out like a guttural plea. “I want you naked and spread out on my bed.”

My heart raced as my face flushed. I knew how stupid it was to come here with him in the first place, and yet, I needed him so badly that I wanted to do whatever he’d asked. I’d do anything for the pleasure he promised.

My body was tightly coiled with desire, my toes curling. I wanted more of him—I needed him to take off his pants and fill me. My hips moved of their own accord, my body begging for more pressure. I wanted his hands all over me, and I’d become nothing now but animal desire. “Orion, I need more,” I whispered.

“No wonder everyone makes a big deal out of orgasms. I had no idea. And no wonder mortals let themselves die at the hands of incubi. It was worth it.”

They wanted to put me on trial? I was Hell itself. I would burn the wicked from this earth. I was born to rule.

Every time I started to feel it rising, it was from wanting to protect you. It was thinking of you as a little boy in that prison.” My chest ached from the hurt of all this. “My demon side came out because I wanted to protect you. I burned through the locking spell because I wanted to keep you safe. So I don’t know who I am, but I do know that I’m not the monster you’re looking for. But you? You’re the one who betrayed me, Orion. You were pretending to help me find my mom’s killer, when all this time, it was you,” I snarled.

“I could have killed you five times over in the last two minutes. I could kill you now. And something fucking idiotic is stopping me.” His jaw tightened. “I have never loathed myself more than I do right now, and believe me, that’s saying something, because I have plumbed some amazing depths of self-loathing.”