Sinners' Kingdom #1: The Book of Lust (Complete)

42

I struggled against the hypnotic fuzz that tried to infect my brain. Hell, no. Not this time. I was still pissed at him, and it wasn't even about my eyes anymore. I'd been so overwhelmed that I'd practically forgotten how he had run through those innocent monks who had only been defending their home. Demons! No conscience! No humanity! They just slaughtered anything in their way. I almost hoped this island was deserted just so he would have no one else to maim and kill, at least until I found a way to get him under better control. My dominance was tenuous at best, and the Commanding ability I'd discovered on accident just today was already useless again. It had done fuck-all when I needed it most to rein him in, and I still didn't know what was wrong with it. This stupid contract. Even if my magical education were up to par, it would still be a mystery. How the hell was I supposed to control a Prince?

By putting my fucking foot down, that was how.

Before the weakness could drip down to my knees, I clamped my hands around Lust's wrists and shoved him off. Tried, at least. He only let his hands fall a few inches before grabbing fistfuls of my — his? — robe, and the asshole tried to drag it off of me completely. My hands flew to the collar that almost slid off my shoulders, and I wrenched it back into place, hard.

"Stop! Get off of me. Don't touch me."

I poured venom into every word, but I already knew they wouldn't carry the compulsion from before. Telling the Prince of Lust 'no' was useless. A sickening sensation crawled up from my gut at the memory of him lifting me up as I moaned and strained, of him touching and then plunging in right in front of Mammon. Even with Lust's aura clouding my mind now, and my body already tensing and wanting, I knew what I really wanted, and it wasn't this. But it was futile, wasn't it? Blind and defenseless, trapped on an island in the middle of nowhere, caught in the crossfire as two demons with an age-old enmity faced off with no concern for the one human mixed up in this bullshit —

"Sable... Do you really want me to stop?"

Lust's breath was warm by my ear, and only after a second did I realize he was no longer moving, pulling, rubbing. Motionless.

Huh?

What was he doing?

... This was a trick, right?

Must be. Lust didn't just stop. He never stopped. This was just a sadistic demon ploy or something, to get me to beg him to let me go only for him to take what he wanted in the end. Obviously. He would get an even bigger laugh out of hearing me eventually beg him for more than he already did. That was his game, right? If I answered, I would be playing right into it.

And yet...?

I might as well. If he did whatever he wanted with me anyway, then at least I'd be right about him. I would take the small satisfaction of having measured him correctly, at least. Give it a shot?

"Yes," I said cautiously, doubting. "I want you to stop."

I waited for him to react, barely breathing.

"... Then later, love. You must be tired."

He sounded hurt. Was he for real? Couldn't be. He didn't move away, and he was still pressed way into my personal space and practically wrapped around me like a constrictor, but... he had stopped moving. I held my breath for another few seconds, preparing for him to burst out laughing and rip his robe off my body, but his arms only snaked around my waist to hold me close.

Yeah, there was still an obvious hardness pressing against my back, which ruined the atmosphere a little. But other than that —

Seriously. It wasn't just his voice. It was all of him that felt subdued, at least partway. There was no hiding the heat of him as he held me tight, and if I made even a single conceding half noise, I had no doubt he would leap right back into action, pull the robe up and start pounding into me until I passed out, crying. But right now, in this moment, he held back. I hadn't imagined that hurt, bruised burr hiding in the underbelly of his rich voice. He accepted my rejection. Restrained himself. Let me be... This Lust? This Lust did something like that?