A Legacy of the Damned: Daughter of Astaroth

Chapter 32 - Of Pain and Passion

*Before you proceed with this chapter, please be aware that it contains some sexual content. The kind that's too much for some readers and not enough for some others. Can't please everyone, so I took the middle ground...of sort ;)

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Once, when I was 15, a year before I met Sacha, I was instructed to seduce a newly elected mayor who refused to be one of Astaroth's puppets. It was an easy job. Coy smiles and a few sweet words, and the man was panting over me. Obsessed. Gifts and flowers arrived daily. He was so in lust that he had conveniently and completely forgotten that he was already married with kids.

When we were "incidentally" caught in a compromising position, my identity was protected because I was underage and also because Astaroth was the instigator.

There were zero feelings involved on my part and it didn't make a dent in my life- the next evening I was out partying with my friends. But he was arrested and the scandal had ended his career and his marriage. His reputation, in ruins.

Believe it or not, that's considered merciful in my world because if Astaroth had told me to pull the trigger between his eyebrows, I would've done so without as much as batting an eyelid.

That's what I do for Astaroth. I ruin men and seduce information out of them.

But it's different this time. With Sacha, it's not that easy. Right now, for the first time, my feelings are definitely involved.

There's this connection between us that I don't know what to do with and I don't know if I'd come out of this unscathed. My instinct is screaming that when this is all over, I would be completely destroyed.

Here he is, pursuing me like a predator stalking its prey but I'm running the other way. I'm trying to evade him when I should be seducing him, work on gaining his trust, and ultimately betray him. That's what Astaroth is expecting me to do.

I move from the living room to the dining area and he's right there, not far behind me.

I trail a finger lightly along the length of the dark mahogany dining table, trying to appear cool and unaffected while my heart is pounding against the wall of my chest and my stomach is full of butterflies. I'm filled with nerve and excitement. I'm both scared and thrilled.

I round the table to walk back to the living room, then drift off to the wall of windows, before realizing my mistake. I'm trapped unless I want to turn around and face him. This place is huge, why did I end up here?

"There's nowhere to run, princess." His voice is deep and smooth, sliding over me like velvet and I suppress a shiver.

I press my hands flat on the cool glass window, looking out with my back to him. We're high up on the top floors and it feels as though we're all alone in this world. The full moon is up in the sky and the lights from Seattle skyscrapers wink against the darkness and spread before us like stars.

"I'm not running," I lie.

He saunters toward me, slowly closing the distance between us and I force myself to stand still. The air between us is electrified and my pulse is racing.

"You're not?" His warm breath touches the side of my neck and the shell of my ear. All the nerve endings on my skin come alive.

Our eyes meet in the reflection of the glass window. He watches me as his large hands come up to palm my waist.

He keeps his eyes firmly locked with mine when he leans down to place his nose a centimeter away from my neck to inhale deeply. "You smell unbelievable, princess. I can't get enough of your scent," he murmurs, and his eyelids come down as though he's savoring my scent.