Contract Marriage with the Devil

Chapter 1

Elena POV

I never imagined I would marry a demon who had lived for three hundred years.

That thought kept circling in my head even as Kael’s mouth crushed against mine. Rain hammered the tall windows of his bedroom. Lightning split the sky white, and thunder rolled so loud the glass shook. His hands were everywhere, rough and sure, pulling me tighter until there was no space left between us. I could taste the storm on his tongue, the heat of him, the controlled power he always held back.

He broke the kiss only long enough to lift me. My legs wrapped around his waist without thinking. He carried me the few steps to the bed like I weighed nothing and laid me down on the black sheets. The mattress dipped under his weight as he followed, bracing over me. Another flash of lightning lit his face for a second, those dark eyes locked on mine, and then his mouth was on me again, deeper this time, slower, like he was trying to memorize the shape of my lips.

Clothes came off in pieces. His shirt first, then mine. The cold air of the room touched my skin only for a moment before his hands replaced it. He kissed down my throat, over my collarbone, lower. I arched when his mouth closed over my breast, tongue circling, teeth grazing just enough to make me gasp. Still no words. Only the sound of the rain and the low thunder and the soft wet noise of his mouth on me.

He pushed my thighs apart and settled between them. I felt him hard against me, thick and ready. One of his hands slid down, fingers finding me already wet. He stroked slowly, spreading the slickness, then pressed two fingers inside. I bit my lip hard to keep quiet. He watched my face the whole time, eyes half-lidded, like the way I clenched around his fingers was the only thing that mattered in the entire city.

When he finally lined himself up and pushed in, the stretch pulled a broken sound from my throat. He sank deep in one long thrust and stayed there, buried to the hilt, letting me feel every inch. Outside, lightning cracked again. The room lit up white for a heartbeat. I could see the dark veins of power under his skin, the faint red glow in his eyes he never fully hid from me anymore.

He started to move. Slow, deep strokes that dragged against every sensitive place inside me. The bed didn’t creak. We made almost no sound at all. Just the wet slide of him, the quiet catch of my breath, the heavy rain, and the thunder that seemed to answer every time he pushed deeper. His hand found mine and pinned it above my head. The onyx ring on my finger pressed into my skin. I could feel its heat, the same heat that lived in him.

I never imagined I would marry a demon who had lived for three hundred years. I never imagined I would want him like this, silent and desperate, while the sky tore itself open outside.

He shifted the angle and I saw stars. My free hand dug into his back. He f****d me harder then, still quiet, still controlled, but the control was slipping. Each thrust drove the air from my lungs. I came first, biting down on his shoulder to stay silent, body locking tight around him. He followed a few strokes later, burying himself deep and spilling with a low, almost inaudible groan against my neck.

We stayed like that, rain still raging, bodies locked together, while the thunder rolled away into the distance.

Kael POV

Sixty-five days earlier

I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the top floor, looking out over the wet city. The onyx ring sat heavy on my finger, black and cold the way it had been for three centuries. Behind me Jack was shouting, the contract I had given him already torn in half and fluttering to the polished floor.

The pieces rose on their own. The torn edges glowed, pulled together, and sealed without a single wrinkle left. Jack stared. His face went white.

“You are a demon,” he said, voice cracking. “A contract signed with a demon. A contract signed with a demon cannot be undone, Kael.”

I turned slowly. My wings unfurled without effort, black and wide enough to throw the whole room into shadow. Jack dropped to his knees so fast his bones hit the marble.

“Please,” he begged. “I will pay every dollar. Every single one.”

“You didn’t steal money,” I said. “You stole from my order.”

Four of his men stood frozen near the door. I lifted one hand. Thick black chains erupted from the floor and wrapped around their throats and chests. They clawed at the links, choking, eyes bulging. The chains dragged them backward, pulling them down through the marble itself until only the sound of their fading struggles remained. I snapped my fingers. The contract on the floor caught fire and burned to clean ash in three seconds.

My personal assistant, the old man with grey hair who had served me since the first century, stepped forward and bowed low.

“My lord, this ring has become unstable again. It has been with you for three hundred years.”

I looked down at the black stone. “It answers only to me.”

“The demon ring carries your life force,” he said carefully. “If it ever leaves you, your power will begin to fade.”

“And then?”

“If the ring does not return to you within one hundred days, your own demon fire will consume you. You will disappear forever.”

I felt my eyes shift, the red rising. “A ring does not get to decide whether I live or die.”

The old man kept his head lowered. “Unless it meets a soul pure enough. The old texts say the demon ring may choose the perfect vessel.”

I almost laughed. “A pure soul in New York? This city puts a price tag on confession.”

The ring on my finger flared. Blue fire shot upward in a thin column of light, punched straight through the glass, and streaked down toward the street far below. I followed its path with my eyes. A girl was walking alone through the rain, head down, dark hair stuck to her cheeks. The blue fire hovered above her for a single heartbeat before vanishing.

I stared at the spot where she had been.

“Find her,” I said.

The old man looked up. “Who, my lord?”

“The person who made my ring lose control.”