Chapter 4 Quinn
Quinn
For a moment, it’s as if everything around me freezes. The air. The flames. My very breath.
All I can feel is the impossible warmth of his gentle hand curled around mine, pressing the toppled white queen of his chess set into my palm.
Marry me now.
My eyes search the black depths of his gaze. The wide obsidian of his eyes bore into mine, luring me in, drawing me closer until my knees bump up against his. The heat of his powerful thighs seeps through his clothing and soaks into my skin.
Is he warm like this all over?
I stare at his mouth, at the sardonic curve of those firm, full lips, and feel heat blooming everywhere on my body. My face flames, my chest warms, and between my legs… Oh, good goddess, between my legs, there’s an inferno I’ve never fed raging like a wildfire.
“Why are you doing this to me?” I whisper.
“Doing what, darling?”
“Tempting me.”
His lips curve upward, then he tugs me forward with barely any effort. Still, I fly from my seat and into his lap. The chess piece clatters to the floor. My hands land on his muscled shoulders, my knees crash against the glass coffee table.
I’m embarrassed to find I’m straddling him, thighs spread over his, and my aching pussy pressed against his thick, turgid bulge.
His show of strength should terrify me, not thrill me, but that’s all I feel pressed against his warmth. There’s no space between our bodies and barely any air. It’s as if his proximity, his heat, his intoxicating scent of smoke and spice burns through all my damn defenses.
“I haven’t even started tempting you, little queen. But oh, the plans I have for you.” Malphyr runs his nose along the curve of my neck, blazing a trail of want that zips straight to my core.
I cling to him, my fingers gripping his broad shoulders as his wings extend.
They curve up and around us like a shield, and I’m suddenly cocooned in his embrace.
Momentarily sheltered and safe from the outside world, I lean into his touch, glory in the feel of his hard muscle against my soft curves.
My teeth catch my lower lip as pleasure pools low in my belly and he drops little kisses along my shoulder.
Is this what it would be like? To be married to him? To be devoured by him? To be cared for by him?
“What plans?”
He chuckles darkly. “I could tell you, but I’m not sure you’re ready to hear it.”
I draw back, eyes narrowing. “I’m not a kid anymore, Malphyr. Don’t treat me like one.”
“Trust me, I know you’re all woman now.” His hands slide over my ample hips, and the tips of his claws dig into my soft belly and the small of my back. If he wanted to, he could tear my clothes clear off my body just as easily as he ripped his shirt.
The thought sends a flood of heat to my core. The demon’s nostrils flare and his black eyes seem to liquify with desire. Beneath my legs, his cock swells and I bite back a moan when I realize it’s got texture. Scales, maybe, or raised ridges.
Goddess help me.
Malphyr’s hands tighten, and a low growl rumbles through his entire body.
“I can smell your arousal, your sweet innocence. I feel the hammering of your heart. Hear the rush of your blood flooding south. None of that is my doing, Queenie. The truth is you want me.”
“I want your help,” I correct, but my voice sounds softer. Breathy.
“The choice is all yours, darling. I know you’ve made a name for yourself in the city. You’re one of the best in the business. So if you want to broker a deal with the Twin Tusks, I’ll stand by your side and watch you do it.”
I weigh his words, searching for hidden meaning. “You'll stand by my side, but you won’t lift a finger to help.”
Malphyr shrugs his huge shoulder. “Arguably, I am helping. You’re here in my house. You’re drinking my wine. You’re welcome to stay as long as you need. And my presence at your side while you fix this situation with your brother definitely qualifies as help.”
“How?”
I resist the urge to bat away his hand when he twists my hair around his large finger.
He meets my gaze, and lets the strand slip free while he growls, “Because no creature on earth would dare touch what’s mine.”
My breath catches, and then his mouth is on me.
The shock hits first, with a blaze of pleasure chasing as his warm mouth moves over mine.
His tongue flicks across the seam of my lips, demanding entrance.
I yield on a moan, gathering him close and shifting my hips over the ridges of his cock as his forked tongue slides over mine.
He tastes faintly of cider and smoke, and the combination is potent.
I hunger for him. For every decadent, delicious, dizzying bit of him, but I tear myself away on a gasp, scrambling off his lap and practically leaping to the other side of the room.
“Wait. Stop. I’m… I’m not yours to claim. Not yet.”
Malphyr tips his head back, wings outstretched and horns gleaming in the firelight. His tongue slides along his lower lip as if he’s still savoring the taste of my kiss, and the sight is so erotic, so very tempting, that I nearly climb back into his lap.
Instead, I tug my dress back into place and will my trembling fingers to work up a chill. What I need now is a cold shower, but my stupid little powers won’t cooperate.
Fine. Let cooler heads prevail.
“I can’t—” I clear my throat and gesture lamely at his lap. “I can’t renegotiate terms while on top of you.”
Malphyr’s lips quirk as he regards me from the coffee table. “Having the high ground is usually the more dominant position.”
“Yeah, well. Not always.” I spin away and march toward the floor-to-ceiling windows.
I watch as the sun rises over the tops of the bordering forest that lends its name to this town, and I wonder if my brother is out there, watching its ascent, too.
“I need to find my brother, Malphyr. I might be a big player in the city, but I’m not a million-dollar player.”
Dragging a deep, fortifying breath into my lungs, I release it slowly and watch as a fine frost creeps over the glass. It transforms into condensation and evaporates in the heat of Malphyr’s apartment within moments, giving me a chance to sift through what he’s said and what he hasn’t.
“You know, I never asked why you needed a wife.”
“I don’t need a wife. I need an heir.”
I roll my lips between my teeth, and steel myself against the surprising pang that blooms in my chest. Rubbing at the spot absently, I repeat his words. “You just need an heir.”
So, any fertile female would do, and I was just the lucky lottery winner? Great.
“Guess there are some things a demon can’t just snap his fingers and make happen.”
“If that’s what you’re hoping will happen by renegotiating our contract, I’m sorry to say that’s just not how it works.”
I turn to him and fold my arms. “Then, how does it work, Malphyr? Explain to me why you want me to bear your half-demon spawn, and why you’re in such a hurry to do it.”
His expression softens with confusion, but I blink, and it’s gone.
“I have my reasons. That’s reason enough.”
“Okay, fine. Then why me?”
“Why not you, Quinn?” He sighs, mild annoyance lacing his tone as he releases me.
“I’m nobody,” I reason. “I come from nothing. My family’s connected with criminals, low lives, and thieves.
That’s what the Frost name has meant in these parts for generations!
” I wave at the sleepy town spread out below.
“There are people out there, human and monster alike, that wouldn’t associate with my kind, wouldn’t deal with my kind.
Not in a hundred years. And then there’s you. ”
He snorts. “What about me?”
“You’re wealthy. Connected. Accomplished. Even though everyone in town knows what vices you deal in with your various clubs and casinos, you don’t seem like the type to ever get your hands dirty.”
“If you don’t think my hands aren’t dirty, you haven’t been looking hard enough.” Malphyr pinches the bridge of his nose and draws a deep breath. “Where are you going with this?”
“Why did you deal with me at all? Why did you offer me a place in a world like this?”
I wave at the sleek interior of his penthouse and the enormous view from my vantage point. Everything gleams with dark luxury from the art on the wall to the open fireplaces to the marble flooring and onyx countertops.
“Was it to mock me with things I could never have? Things my family would never be able to afford? Certainly not while we were swimming in my father’s illegal gambling debts.”
“No!” Malphyr roars.
I whirl back, arms spread wide. “Then explain it to me before I accept new terms for my body, my innocence, and my fucking firstborn!”
He flinches when the curse flies from my lips, but then he straightens to his full height.
Towering above me with his every muscle flexed and his wings fully extended, I should be quaking with fear.
But I don’t bow. I don’t cower. Instead, I meet his fiery gaze with a cool one of my own until he breaks the silence.
“It’s late. I’m tired. And I don’t have to explain myself to you. You either like the offered terms, or you don’t. That’s your choice. I’m not the only person in this town you can hit up for money.” He turns away, stalking toward the hallway in great, long strides.
I watch his retreating figure, about to call a warning to watch his wings when they look like they might catch on the corner.
But of course they don’t.
This is his house, he knows its dimensions better than I. Why would he need me to warn him?
Maybe a better question is why did I feel the need to? It’s not like the big, bad demon needs me for anything other than my ability to provide him with the necessary science to give him an heir.
I bite my lip when he stops at the corner, hand braced against the wall.
He doesn’t turn back.
“Pick a bedroom. Get some rest. Let me know what you decide. Offer’s good for twenty-four hours, Queenie. But as I understand it, you’ve got less than seventy-two of them.”