Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Rayven
My blood froze and melted all in the same heartbeat as Belial took a purposeful step toward me.
It was almost frightening, how utterly handsome the demon lord was, wrapped up in powerful muscle, scarred flesh, and luxurious fabric that he wore with perfection.
Especially with the blood smattering his antlers.
Creepy.
But in true goth girl fashion, it didn't bother me one bit. If anything, the fact that he'd just brutally eviscerated a soul for the simple crime of touching my dress only enhanced the whole thing.
"Lie down," he commanded again, his voice raising so that it echoed through the graveyard.
My skin prickled with how eerily still everything was. It was as if every creature, flora and fauna, held their breath in anticipation of what the Lord would do if I disobeyed him.
Nobody disobeyed the Lord of Bones’ orders, not unless they wanted to suffer the consequences.
But that's exactly what I wanted.
Or would you prefer I make you? My entire body pulsed hot at the question we both already knew the answer to.
Yes. Force me.
I didn't say it out loud. That was against the rules of the wicked little game we were playing. If I wanted him to stop, I'd use my safe word, and this would all end. Otherwise, he'd keep going, no matter how much I screamed or fought him.
He took another step forward, his mouth snaking into a brutal grin that promised all sorts of depraved fun once he caught me.
And he would catch me.
He always did.
Turning heel, I launched into a full sprint in the opposite direction. He could have used his magic to teleport in front of me before I'd gotten so much as a step away, but I knew he liked the chase. We both did.
Excitement in the form of my racing pulse thrashed in my ears as I heard his heavy steps on the ash-laden stone, trodding after me at an unhurried pace.
"Run as fast as you can, little human. And make sure you don't get hurt by anything lurking in the maze.
If I find even a scratch on you that I didn't make myself, I'll redden your ass for allowing something to harm my most precious treasure. "
Shit. I was familiar with the twisting hedge maze.
It was more like a muddy swamp, filled with all sorts of horrors, and many of those creatures didn't have the wherewithal to understand that I was the queen.
Bolting through the cemetery gates, limbs reached for me again, snagging at my hair, my dress.
Belial rumbled a gravely sigh behind me. "Not off to a great start, little human.”
I rounded the corner, veering down an offshoot path in the maze. Thorny brambles shot from the undergrowth and stretched into the opposing hedge like trip wires. Whether it was Belial's influence or something else, I wasn't sure.
Whatever it was, someone wanted to see me spanked and humiliated.
I jumped over the brambles and ducked under branches, sliding through the mud like you'd slide down a slick hallway in socks.
This wasn't my first rodeo. I'd been chased through this labyrinth before.
This time, the circumstances were different.
I'd more than survived this maze, I'd conquered it, and earned the Lord's dark heart in the process.
Hells, now I was every bit the owner and keeper of this place, just as much as the Lord of Bones.
Suddenly, moving too quickly for me to react, a thick vine shot out from the brush and encircled my ankle. It jerked me right off my feet and sent me hurtling into the mud. Luckily, it was soft and free of anything sharp, leaving me unscathed, but my dress was ruined. "Shit!"
I scrambled into a sitting position, pulling at the vine, but the harder I tugged, the tighter it cinched around my ankle.
Belial rounded the corner in a dramatic appearance of swaying antler jewelry and skeletal arms reaching for him from the hedges.
"Aw," he tutted. The arrogant smirk he wore was as frustrating as it was sexy. "Caught in a snare already? I'll admit, I'm disappointed. I thought you'd give me more of a chase."
It's not like I didn't want to be caught. I wanted very much for whatever came after my inevitable capture. But I didn't want to make it easy for him. The harder I made the wolf work for his meal, the more he’d enjoy it.
Without even thinking, I summoned Belial's magic on instinct, and the vine was sliced clean through in multiple places, as if diced by an invisible cleaver. I gaped at the severed vine, the individual sections wriggling in the mud like worms.
It took a beat for me to parse what had happened, and my attention flicked up to Belial, who was closing in on me.
"Good girl, you used magic to protect yourself. Though, don't think that will save you from a spanking if I find so much as a scrape on you."
Collecting myself, I shot to my feet and peeled my clothes off as fast as I could, stripping down to my boots.
The rest of my clothes were soaking wet and caked with mud.
It would only slow me down. Today I opted for no underwear since I was quickly going through my collection.
Belial kept tearing them off me faster than the tailors could make them.
Realizing what I was doing, the demon froze, as if I'd cast some sort of hypnosis with my naked body. Using the moment he needed to collect his jaw from the mud, I scurried away down yet another offshoot path.
I threw a backward glance over my shoulder to see if he'd caught up with me yet, and—not looking where I was going—crashed into something hard and muscular.
Belial captured my wrist in his iron grip before I realized that he'd finally cornered me. He pulled up on my arm, forcing me onto my toes while he shoved his sinfully gorgeous face into mine with a snarl. "Do you understand what it is you do to me? After all these months, I don't think you do. You’ve invaded my mind, my heart… You take up every inch inside me. It’s all yours, little thief. You’ve stolen all of me. Every inch.”
His hands clamped around my hips, and pulled my pelvis vice tight to his, so I could feel every steel-hard inch of his engorged cock. "Every inch.”
Without warning, he hauled me into the air like a flour sack and threw me over his shoulder, knocking the wind out of me. "The harder you fight me, the harder I get, human. So keep at it, if you want to have a limp at the ball tomorrow."
Blue smoke and heat wrapped around us, my head whirling as he created a portal. I clawed at his back, and he only laughed at my mock attempt to free myself. By the time his boot hit the ground in that single step, we were back in the cemetery.
Belial carried my flailing body to the sarcophagus.
The falling ash had created another thin cover over the stone, but this time he didn't bother cleaning it for me.
He threw me down for dramatics, but I didn't miss the way an invisible force seemed to catch me and lower me gently onto the unforgiving stone.
"If you think I'm going to just lay here and take it, you have another thing coming, asshole," I spat.
"Oh, I don't expect your cooperation at all.” Belial chuckled darkly. “Not from a rabid thing like you. Luckily, I don't need your cooperation. In fact, I'd prefer it if you kept up the fight. It makes it more fun."
I couldn't agree with him more, the struggle added a naughty element I found irresistible when I was in the mood for things like force play.
So, to spice things up, and to heighten the authenticity of our fucked up game, I kicked him. Not in the balls, of course, I was much too fond of that area.
I opted for his thigh instead. The crazy bastard didn’t flinch, even though I was wearing my shit-kickers.
His eyes darkened, filled with terrifying glee. “Oh, you shouldn’t have done that.”
Before I could fling another taunt in his direction, the sarcophagus lid began to shake. I gripped the edges to keep myself from sliding off. "W–What's happening?" I asked, breaking character for a second from sheer surprise.
Whatever it was, I couldn't be in any real danger, because Belial was still wearing that manic grin. "Consequences."