AZRAEL
"What is your name?" I ask in a calmer tone, to calm and entice her, brushing her lips with my fingers.
Her eyes light with interest and arousal; her fear is completely gone, replaced with desire and hunger—a hunger I'm far too familiar with, like every other concubine.
It's always a desire for fame or riches, or to be loved; a desire to have me to themselves. Typical and close-minded creatures they all are.
"Ivana of House Balen, here to serve His Majesty."
"That house rings a dull bell." I twirl a strand of hair around my finger. "I believed they were known for only bearing sons."
"Yes, Sire. I was mated and married to the first son, Victor, for a year before I was chosen by Your Majesty to be his 'woman.'" She blushes at the last word, quietly, shamelessly.
"A taken woman—the sweetest kind to devour." I smile with pleasure, leaning closer.
She bridges the gap, desperately hoping to receive a kiss, but I move past her mouth to her ear.
"Do you not love that precious mate of yours? You could have refused the call, proven your unwavering loyalty to your bond. It would have cost the lives of your family, but isn't it something worth dying for?" I ask, hoping for her to say the words—for that damned goddess to hear from whatever hell she's in.
"I did, Your Majesty, initially." Her eyes light up. "But upon seeing you in person, I realized it would be an even greater honor to serve you."
A foolish woman, moved and swayed by words, looks, and riches; believing it was her beauty that made her selected when, in actuality, all I desire from a woman like her is the soiling of her mate bond—to devour and destroy the very thing that filth of a goddess stands for.
Fabricated love, fated pairs, eternal loyalty to one person… all that vile, disgusting nonsense.
To torture and torment her people until they give up on her ways and turn from her, one wretched family at a time, until all hope and desire are abandoned, leaving only hatred and despair.
Until the dawn of wolfkind is ended.
That is my repayment for this insufferable punishment of hers—the very reason she's stooped to sending her own creations after me in hopes of stopping me.
"Then serve me, you shall." I pull my hand away from her, watching the disappointment and hunger flicker in her eyes.
It only takes a moment for her to figure out what needs to be done. I do not do the serving—but she.
She pulls off her gown first, to be naked before me. Slowly she rises from the bed, moving to kneel before me.
Gently, she begins to kiss my lips on her own, gliding down toward my neck, to my chest.
Skillfully, she slides my robe off my shoulders to reveal my chest before she begins to have her fun.
Moving from nipple to nipple, holding my gaze as she skillfully teases, with a sultry gaze I imagine has worked on every man in her wake.
I, on the other hand, feel nothing.
It's at this point that I have my own fun—focus hard, plough harder, to the point of breaking them just to gain a bit of pleasure—for hours, until I feel some sort of satiation by morning.
"May I?" she stops at the waistband of my shorts, desperate to pull it lower and reveal what she craves hidden underneath.
But all of it suddenly repulses me. None of it is even remotely eye-catching enough—not like with that filthy woman from before.
I can't stop thinking about it. Every second I close my eyes, she's there again, naked, calling me, tempting me with that shy, confused expression.
Flushed lips from kissing, shivering, bruised body.
I remember those wounds too—deep red gashes in her back that rubbed me the wrong way.
They were as beautiful as every wound I've ever inflicted on anyone… but I cannot shake the disgusting feeling that they did not belong on her back.
"Stop." I roar, smacking her hand away from my chest and getting up.
She flinches instantly, terrified, falling on her knees with her head pressed against the floor.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, for daring to be so bold." She pleads, cowering.
Even her terror is less amusing tonight.
I suck my teeth, rising from the bed, walking for the bottle of wine at my desk—laced with venoms and poisonings of different kinds, enough to knock me out for a few hours, since I won't be satiated tonight.
I down the entirety of its contents in one swing.
"Sire?"
I look at her again, more furious, throwing the empty glass on the spot right next to her so it shatters into a million pieces.
She screams, flinching away and moving toward the wall.
"Get out!" I yell louder.
She doesn't wait to be told twice, dashing out the door.