Chapter 5
Penelope blinks up at me before taking the glass and bringing it to her lips. She gulps the amber liquid far too fast and ends up gasping and coughing, her eyes full of tears again.
“I take it my father traded me for wealth and power? That’s how a man from a poor family, with nothing, no education, became what he is?” Penelope’s calm voice is like a clear song in my mind, soothing an ache I never knew existed. She”s intelligent and, hopefully, resigned to her fate.
“Yes, twenty-five years ago in your time, he came to me and offered you in a trade,” I explain, sitting in a chair opposite.
”And you simply went along with it,” she snaps, brown eyes flashing fire.
Oh, I”m going to enjoy this little firecracker. She”s so much more than I anticipated. I can”t wait to feel her explode around me.
”Of course. I”m the demon of greed, Penelope. It”s what I do. Who I am. What I was created for. I collect the souls of those willing to trade them for fortune and glory, money and power. They come to me. No one forces them. They have a choice right up until they sign on the dotted line, your father included. Although, in your father”s case, no signature was required.”
Penelope frowns. ”Why?”
”Because his trade was… unique.”
”Unique, how?”
I smirk. ”He wanted to trade something other than his own soul.”
My bride pales slightly despite already knowing the outcome of my deal with her father. ”Me.”
I nod, bringing my glass to my lips and taking a swallow. ”I”ve been collecting souls for Lucifer for a long time, little one. It takes a lot to pique my interest. But something about your father”s offer intrigued me. A pure life. Something that would belong to me and only me. I was bored, so I agreed. When he found your mother and got her pregnant, I made my claim on you. And here we are.”
Penelope”s lips quiver as she asks, ”Why me?”
Why, indeed? It”s a question I”ve asked myself several times over the years. But now, sitting here with this beauty before me, I hear the metaphorical doors of my self-imposed cage slamming shut behind me. Penelope thinks she is the one trapped in this contract; little does she know that she is the one who has captured me. But I”m not ready to reveal that yet, and she”s not ready to hear it, so I simply shrug and reply, ”Why not you? Seemed like a good opportunity to take a wife.”
“I’m not your wife. I”m your slave,” she spits passionately.
My cock jumps with lust. Oh, this will be a lot more fun than I expected.
My little kitten of a bride has claws.
I pause, studying Penelope”s defiant gaze, her words cutting through the air like a sharp blade. ”No, little one,” I respond calmly, sipping my scotch. ”You are not my slave. You are my wife, bound by a contract your father forged before you were born. But there is no reason we cannot define our own terms within this arrangement.”
Her eyes narrow, suspicion and disbelief etched across her delicate features. ”Define our own terms? How generous of you, Mammon,” she retorts bitterly, her voice laden with sarcasm.
I swirl the liquid in my glass. ”Consider this a negotiation rather than an imposition. I have wealth and power, yes, but you possess something far more precious—intelligence and spirit. I do not desire a subservient companion. I desire a partner, albeit in an unconventional manner.”
Penelope”s expression softens slightly, her curiosity piqued. ”A partner in what, exactly?”
”In mutual benefit,” I reply, leaning forward. ”I am in part responsible for the circumstances that brought you here, but I am not insensitive to your predicament. If we are to navigate this life together, we need to find common ground where both our needs can be met.”
She eyes me warily, yet intrigue glimmers in her gaze. ”And what about my freedom? Can that be negotiated, too? Why can”t you let me go?”
I chuckle, a dark amusement bubbling within me. ”It doesn”t work like that, little one. Your father”s contract was sealed by dark forces that cannot be undone unless Lucifer allows it.”
Penelope pales. ”So when you tire of me, Lucifer gets my soul?”
I regard her over the rim of my glass. ”Who says I will tire of you?”
Her laugh is bitter. ”I may have led a sheltered life, but I”m not na?ve enough to believe your appetites can be satisfied by one woman for the rest of eternity.”
I shrug, feigning carelessness. ”Perhaps. Perhaps not. Regardless, Lucifer will not get your soul. Your soul belongs to me. If there comes a time when I wish to part ways, I will release you with your soul intact.”
Penelope spreads her hands, her gaze pleading now. ”Why would you do that? Why agree to this in the first place? You”ve sacrificed your freedom, too.”
Freedom, little one, is a fickle concept. Even those seemingly bound by chains can wield great power.”
Penelope”s shoulders relax slightly, her guard momentarily lowered. ”You”re talking about empowerment within captivity,” she muses, her voice softer now, tinged with a mixture of resignation and curiosity.
”Empowerment can manifest in unexpected ways,” I state, meeting her gaze steadily. ”I sense a fire in you, Penelope. A discontentment with your life thus far. A longing for more. I can show you what lies beyond the world you”ve always known.”
Her velvet eyes spark with temptation as she bites her plump bottom lip. There she is. My curious little kitten.
She studies me with renewed interest, the spark in her eyes now tempered by a glint of contemplation. ”Okay, Mammon,” she concedes cautiously, ”let”s explore these ”defined terms” of ours. Does one of them involve having me warm your bed?”
I run my eyes over her tempting curves. ”If by warm my bed you mean burying my big cock inside your perfect little cunt until you shatter and spill your juices all over me, then the answer is yes.”
Penelope”s breath huffs out in surprise, and her cheeks flare with color. ”Well, at least you”re honest.”
”I will always be honest with you, Penelope. I may be a demon, but I”m still tethered by certain… rules. And in the interest of honesty, I want to make one thing very clear.” I pin her with my gaze. ”You. Are. Mine. You were mine twenty-five years ago, but now that I”ve seen you in all your glory, it will be a very long time, if ever, before I let you go. I will have you as my equal, wife, in my bed and out of it.” I smile as her eyes widen at my bluntness.
Her slender throat bobs with a hard swallow. ”Y-you”d force me?”
I laugh. ”Force you? Oh, no, little one. I won”t need to force you.”
”Says the demon who forced me to speak my marriage vows. The only reason I”m your wife is because you used some kind of magic to make me believe I was in love with you,” she accuses hotly. ”So while we”re defining our terms, that”s one of mine. I want your word there will be no more Jedi mind tricks.”
I place my glass carefully on the side table and lean forward, bracing my elbows on my knees as I look at her. ”And what makes you think my word amounts to anything?”
Penelope lifts her stubborn little chin. ”Because your word is your bond. Once you give it, it”s final. It”s how you reap all those souls for Lucifer.”
Satan”s beard,this woman is my fucking soulmate. Which is saying something, considering I don”t have one. But for the first time in my long existence, I wish I did.
I nod. “I agree.”
Penelope”s breath leaves her in a relieved whoosh. ”Thank you.”
I grin, capturing her small, cold hand in mine.
”W-what are you doing?”
”Giving you my word.”
Before she can protest, I unfurl her fingers and slice into her palm with my sharp talon before doing the same to mine.
”Ow! What?—”
”Hush, it”s only a nick,” I interrupt her outraged cry.
I press our palms together, and she shudders as our blood mingles.
”Oh, God, what is that?” she asks breathlessly, her eyes dropping to half-mast as she shifts restlessly in the chair.
”God”s not here, little one. The only name I want to hear from your lips in future is mine. And what you”re experiencing is my blood oath taking effect.”
She moans. ”Is it supposed to feel this…”
”Intense? Potent?” I finish, knowing my blood is having an aphrodisiac effect on her untried body. She huffs a shaky breath and licks her lips, causing my cock to swell to monumental proportions.
She doesn”t need to know that the whole blood ritual is totally unnecessary. Giving someone my word means exactly that—a spoken promise of intent. But my blood will give her a little taste of the pleasure to come once my bride gives in to her desires. If she”s this responsive to a few drops, Satan only knows what drinking my blood from the source will do to her.
My cock throbs painfully.
Soon,my mind whispers.
”I give you my word I will not use my… Jedi mind tricks to rob you of your free will,” I say roughly before removing my palm from hers and bringing her hand to my mouth.
”Now what are you doing?” she asks breathlessly.
I smirk. ”Seeing if you taste as delicious as you look.”
I lick her palm, sealing the small wound with my saliva, before slowly sucking her index finger into my mouth. I flick my tongue over her skin, groaning as her sweetness sizzles along my tastebuds.
Penelope shivers as goosebumps skitter up her arms, and her nipples tighten to hard points against the silk of her gown. Her heavy breasts rise and fall with her labored breaths as she subtly squeezes her thighs together.
Oh, yes, my virginal bride is far from unaffected by my touch. I glimpse a spark of resilience in her hooded eyes, the glimmer of a flame waiting to be kindled. A furnace of untapped passion beneath all that creamy skin, just waiting to be released. Waiting for me.
I drag my mouth up her finger, nibbling on the sensitive tip before releasing it. Leaning further forward, I slide a taloned hand into the soft hair at her nape and claim her mouth. I’m not gentle, showing no mercy as I thrust my tongue inside to taste her, dominating her mouth and nipping at her soft lips.
Penelope releases a small moan as I pull back, her mouth instinctively following mine.
I smirk. ”I think that kiss proves that force will never be necessary when it comes to introducing you to the pleasures of the flesh, little one. But I can wait. I”ll show you my world while we get to know each other a little better.” I flick my tongue over her swollen lower lip. ”But know this; you and I are inevitable, and you will be mine in every way.”