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

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The island must be teeming with life from one end of it to the other. Even if I couldn't see it, I could hear it, smell it, even feel the crowded aura that stuffed the jungle like spewing froth. There was no end to the squirrels chittering, insects buzzing, the constant rustling of the foliage that definitely wasn't from Lust's footsteps or Mammon's, and occasionally the heavy thumps that sometimes accompanied them. Whatever made those sounds was enormous, and they weren't alone. I had no doubt Lust could eviscerate any animal rash enough to approach a demon like him but even so, being surrounded by this nonstop sea of noise and presence made me vaguely sick. Or maybe it was something else that made my stomach lurch every so often with increasing dread, something I couldn't define yet and that I could only feel in the back of my mind...

Or maybe it was just all the damn bugs.

I was too glad for words when we made it out of there. Apparently the island was full of these dense patches of vegetation, but for now, we had emerged out of the valley and had come upon a nice little spot on the flat land beyond it, complete with some boulder formations surrounding a small freshwater lake, or so Lust said. If I were a little wimp, I might have cried when he brought me to the edge of it so I could hear it lapping against the banks, and when he lowered me into it so I could sit in the cool water and soothe my aching limbs (my aching everything)... Oh...

Okay, so I might have gotten a little dust in my eye and whatever. I dropped right under the surface to clear it away, obviously. Nothing a brisk dunk couldn't fix. I didn't completely disrobe, only taking my arms out of the sleeves and leaving Lust's garment draped over my shoulders so I wouldn't show my whole bare ass to either demon, and I rubbed my legs down under the surface until the pain felt like it was slowly draining away. Starting to, at least.

"You really are hurting."

I almost yelped at the chastened voice that came from right in front of me. "Lust! Get back! When did you —"

His hands were on my thighs before I could finish my sentence, and as naturally as breathing, he stroked them, dragging his palms down over my knees and rubbing soothing circles into my legs. All of this, while I was practically falling over myself trying to yank the edges of his sopping robe around my body. Stupid, considering it was nothing he hadn't seen before, but —

"Stop that! I'm fine, I'm cleaning myself off."

"You can't see. I'll help you."

"I don't have to be able to see to do it myself! Get off of me!"

"You only have to tell me what to do," he said, undeterred. His voice was silky smooth and low, seductive as always even when he spoke normally, but there was an earnestness in it so yearning that it almost made my heart stop. I had to swallow hard before I answered, and even then my voice didn't come out as sharp as I wished it did.

"I'm already telling you to back off. For once, literally just this once, don't grope me. Why can't I have sixty seconds to myself? Why can't you leave me alone for a single minute?"

"Sable, why are you hiding yourself that way? Not that you don't look lovely, so flustered. Here, I'll take it."

Okay, scratch that. I didn't give a damn about his 'earnestness' anymore as he tugged on the robe to try to bare me again. I knew exactly how this would end if I let it. Sure enough, his hand slid under the fabric, rubbing across my belly and curling around my waist to hold me still. The water was up to my chest, making the robe billow up and give him full access to whatever he wanted. I couldn't fight him, either. To try to beat him in a contest of strength would be the stupidest thing I'd done yet.