Page 75 of Infernal Secrets

“Sex.”

My mouth went dry. “What do you mean?”

“Are the parts different? Do you have sex the same way humans do?” She looked at me, cheeks still stained with her lovely blush.

“Well.” I cleared my throat, mentally begging my cock to settle down. It had been far too long since a woman had tempted me. “Depends on the infernal. For Shyrlivi, it’s the same as humans—for the most part.”

“For the most part? Is something different?”

“Well, there’s our horns.”

Her eyes rounded. “Oh.” She pursed her lips, and I wondered if she forgot that piece of information. “So you were serious about me turning Cyn on when I touched his horns?”

Okay. Maybe she didn’t forget.

I licked my lips and tapped the bed with my fingers. “Yes. If we feel sexual attraction to the person touching them, we’ll experience pleasure when they touch our horns.”

“So, if you don’t want me, nothing happens?” She made a sour face. “I meant you, as in Shyrlivi, and me, as in another person. Not you and me specifically.”

I shook my head, chuckling. “Can you imagine being on the battlefield and someone grabs your horns during a fight, making you come in your pants?” I smiled when she laughed. “But no, nothing happens with our horns if we aren’t attracted to another person.”

“Then why’d you warn me?”

“With Cyn?”

“Yeah.”

Could she honestly not tell Cyn wanted to fuck her senseless?

I sighed. “He’s complicated, but he’s easy to read when he’s attracted to someone.”

“Zeke,” she mumbled.

“Well, that.” I wasn’t surprised she knew. I’d seen her reaction at the graveyard. “But it’s not just Zeke. He’s also attracted to you.”

She squinted at me. “He wants to tear my head off half the time.”

“Doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to fuck you. Ever hear of hate sex?”

“Sure. Who hasn’t?” She tugged at the edge of the covers in her lap. “He uses it as a threat,” she whispered.

“What?” I sat up. “He threatened you with—”

“No!” She reached for me, grabbing my arm and pulling me back down. “He’s never said he’d rape me or anything. He’s brought up fucking me a couple times when we get into arguments. But only if I wanted it. I never took it seriously.”

I took a deep breath. My heart hammered in my chest. Had she not stopped me, I’d have gone into the other room and—no. I couldn’t think of it. The thought of him forcing himself on her made me sick.

“Are you okay?”

I grabbed her hand, tugging her down toward me. I breathed a sigh of relief when she came willingly.

She tucked herself under my arm, resting her hand on my chest.

I needed to calm down, and it meant a lot to me that she didn’t recoil from my sudden need for her closeness. What is happening to me?

“I’ll be fine. I never thought he’d do something like that, so it shocked me to think you suggested he had.”

She started drawing patterns on my shirt, grounding me. “I wouldn’t have let him stay here if he had.”