Saphira, hearing his blatant words of lust, hesitated for a split second before subtly nodding her head; a sign that she 'agreed' with his commands.
Adam smirked victoriously.
Her agreement was perfectly displayed as resigned acceptance, of ambition, and of a merchant making a deal.
Unlike the deviless of before, Lyn, whose acting left many things to be desired, Saphira's was meticulously trained. The resources and experiences between the two made it so Adam was unprepared for the level of deceit that devils were capable of.
The constant interactions with his harem had only served to further dull his sense of deceit as any and every emotion the girls had were directly 'told' to him through the brand.
He had been riding a bike, without realizing that the training wheels were still on…
With a mental command, the shimmering barrier rippled, and a man-sized opening appeared directly before them. Saphira's unique scent wafted into his nose.
With the path clear, and all obstacles gone, Adam's self-control wavered.
The sight of her, so close and unobstructed, was too much for his lust-fueled nature.
He moved with devilish speed, his hands shooting out to grab her. One hand moving to palm the softness of her ass, while the other grasped her thin and seemingly delicate neck as he pulled her through the opening and hard against his body.
Saphira, at 1.85 meters tall, was much shorter than him.
Her explosively busty, curvaceous frame was crushed against his chest and abdomen.
The warmth of his skin, his raw, manly smell, and raw power that clung to him, was an overwhelming sensory assault.
On the outside, Saphira performed perfectly.
"Humph!"
She gasped and released something akin to a sound of a mild anger and unwillingness.
Her body stiffened in Adam's arms, her hands coming up to push feebly against his chest. Every perfectly acted body language screamed of a reluctant surrender, as her face showed conflicted anguish.
Reluctant to obey, to be touched, but doing so anyways as she ambitious for power.
But inside, behind the performance, her mind was entirely cold.
Deep in her eyes, not a flicker of emotion stirred; simply calculating, reading the script in her mind, uncaring even when her body was being so blatantly groped.
'This was it, he had taken the bait.' She thought.
Adam's defenses were down, his guard lowered by her acting and his own arrogance.
His mind distracted by her body and clouded by lust.
He was holding her close, believing her to be a reluctant, yet manageable.
He had no idea that the threat was pressed against him, her heart beating with an icy, deeply hidden killing intent.
For a single moment, the chaotic energies of hell seemed to stop, as everything went silent.
The distant grumbling of active volcanoes, the deep roars of demons, the low, pervasive hum of the barrier; all of it faded into a dull, muffled backdrop at that very moment.
The only reality was the warmth of their bodies.
Adam's powerful arms were a cage of flesh and will around Saphira's; her soft, seductive curves yielding to his brute strength in a way that sent a primal thrill of possession coursing through him.
His left hand slipped past the simple leather armor guarding her hip, his fingers digging roughly into the impossibly soft, elastic flesh of her ass, squeezing its full squishy weight.
His right hand moved to her breast; the firm, generous mound fitting perfectly in his palm, her stimulated cherry tips scrapping against his hand.
He was lost in the sensation, addicted to the feeling of exploring and tasting a new woman's body, his mind forgetting his own words of reason and reflection as he thought of conquest once again.
This beautiful, high-tier deviless was in his grasp, her body his to ravage and dominate.
He moved his hand from her breast, his fingers trailing up the column of her neck, intending to cup her jaw and capture her mouth in a kiss that would start the exciting journey of her submission.
But!
As his fingers met the line of her jaw and he tilted her face up to meet his, time seemed to freeze before Adam's very eyes.
The eyes that stared back at him were not filled with reluctant arousal, terrified resignation, or even furious defiance.
Her molten brass irises held no emotion, no fire, no soul.
They were like black static.
They were the eyes of a predator who had allowed itself to be cornered, executing the perfect trap.
They were cold, calculating, and held a stillness more terrifying than any scream.
Her face look blank and focused, like that of a tiger that had locked onto its prey. Her small mouth was slightly agape as her needle like pupils pierced into his face.
In that split-fraction of a second, a primal instinct, honed by his rebirth and demonic inheritance, screamed a single, deafening warning in Adam's mind.
'Danger!'
No killing intent.
It wasn't that she revealed her desire to kill him.
In fact, Saphira had masterfully kept it hidden, like a viper coiled in the dark.
It was only because of his own heightened perception, the quality of his senses sharpened beyond his rank, that he felt the void where passion or fear should have been.
He felt the absolute, unnatural stillness of her spirit in his arms, the chilling lack of any physical or mental resonance to his touch.
Her body was warm and soft, but the being inside it was a glacier.
She was a stillness in the storm.
It was negative intent.
The moment that alarm blared in his psyche, the moment his own instincts caught her perfect performance, Saphira struck.
There was no transition, no telltale gathering of energy or shift in posture. The expressionless, calculating stillness in her eyes ignited into a burst of violent purpose at the exact same instant Adam's own survival instincts kicked in.
The trap, so meticulously set and patiently maintained, was sprung.
The time for observation, for deception, for the careful dance of lies and negotiation, was over.
Her hunt had begun!