That I alone brought the devil to his knees.
He worked me higher, devouring me until I was a gasping mess and my orgasm was only a breath away. I whimpered, ready for that moment where nothing existed but the pleasure he gave me, only for him to pull away.
He straightened my underwear as I gaped down at him, tugging on his hair with furious fingers. He dropped my dress, smoothing the fabric back down as if his greatest concern was making sure it didn’t wrinkle. “What the fuck?” I asked, my lungs heaving with desire as I pressed my legs together and stood taller. “Rafe!” I gasped when he wrapped an arm around my waist and led me further down the stairs.
Hugo and Gabriel appeared at the base as we rounded the corner, their backs turned but preventing anyone from ascending the steps. I looked up at the top, finding Joaquin hovering there as a guard at the top. “Are you still nervous?” Rafe asked, smiling as he looked down at me from the corner of his eye.
“Not unless you count thoughts of castration as nerves,” I growled.
He grinned in response, turning a wide smile my way. His lips gleamed with the essence of me covering them, and my pussy clenched in response. “Definitely not from heaven,” he muttered.
I couldn’t answer, because he guided me around the corner and into the open ballroom doors, leaving me to wonder who the hell had a ballroom in their home. Talk about ridiculous.
The space was filled with people milling all about, mostly groups that seemed to segregate based on their sex. Women chatted together, their eyes falling on me with subtle smiles curving their lips. The whispers came almost immediately when eyes settled on my stomach, and I fought back my uneasiness.
As pissed as I was at Rafe for leaving me hovering at the edge of an orgasm, the anger I felt toward him melted a little with the realization that he’d given me a few moments of peace. I just hoped he didn’t expect me to fend for myself with the women so soon.
I wasn’t ready for that. Once we were in the center of the room, Rafe stopped walking and I stared up at his harsh features. Gone was the man who teased me about being a demon and who went to his knees in front of me.
This was the devil who ruled the world, who terrified people into submission with only a glance. The first of the men stepped up, and I settled into Rafe when he wrapped himself around my back. Despite the lack of tenderness in his face, his hands settled on my stomach as he introduced me to a man that I had no business knowing.
I was the only woman who remained with her husband as the first men introduced themselves, wishing us well and offering congratulations. Steadily the pattern changed, until more and more women came up with their husbands.
But it was clear that it was unusual for these events, that women were often discarded while the men discussed business. Any time something remotely violent or illegal came up, the women would duck out of the conversation.
But I stayed, wrapped in Rafe’s arms and an active part of his business.
His equal.
And for the first time, I felt likemi reinain more than just the name he called me.