“Jesus once went to a Pharisee’s house for a meal,” Lilah explained quietly as I began raking my fingers through her hair. “When a woman that lived a sinful life in the village heard Jesus was there, she turned up at his house with a jar of perfume. When she saw Jesus, she was so overcome that she began crying. Her tears fell on his feet and she wiped them away with her long hair. The sinful woman then kissed his feet and anointed his skin with perfume.

“The Pharisee criticized Jesus and said that if he was truly a prophet, he would know the woman was a sinner and therefore would never let her touch him with her sinful hands.

“Jesus told the Pharisee the lesson of a moneylender who lent money to two men, one a lot and one a little. Both men could not pay back the money. The moneylender forgave them both and rid them of their debts to him.”

Lilah stopped rubbing the vanilla into my feet and looked at me. “Who will love the moneylender more?”

Shrugging, I answered, “The one with the bigger debt.” Lilah beamed a fucking beautiful smile my way.

“That is correct. Jesus therefore said that the sinful woman had many sins against her, but by forgiving those sins, she would love him more.”

Lilah smiled and said, “I love that piece of scripture.”

“Yeah, why?” I asked, my hands still in her hair.

Lilah closed her eyes and took a deep breath, only to open them again and say, “Because I am a Cursed. I am a sinful woman, an extremely sinful woman, but one day my sins will be forgiven.”

My hands stilled in her hair, and I had to talk myself down from going crazy. “Then why wash my feet, baby?”

Lilah rose from her knees and seeing a comb on the table beside the bed, asked, “May I comb your long hair?”

Fuck. This bitch was gonna kill me. It was the slowest, most painful foreplay.

“Yeah, do what you want to me, Li.”

She reached out for the comb and with shaking hands began running it through my hair. I instinctively put my hands on her tiny waist, and Lilah stumbled in shock. Our eyes met, but I weren’t letting go. Lilah seemed to sense this and carried on combing through my hair, her hands like fucking gold on my head.

Her comb suddenly stilled, and she said, “I washed your feet to gain your forgiveness.”

Lifting my hand, I took hold of hers and pulled it, and the comb, from my hair, meeting her eyes. “What the fuck do you need to be forgiven for?”

“Because my curse as a temptress lured those women to me tonight and you had to have them killed. You got blood on your hands. I beg for your forgiveness.”

Taking the comb from her hands, I threw it across the room and lifted her off the floor, bringing her to the bed, where I threw myself on top of her.

“Ky!” she breathed in panic, and my hands planted on her face.

“Get this straight now, baby. I ain’t worthy of giving you forgiveness. I’m a sinner, and I love it. This is my life. Death is just the way we gotta roll as Hangmen. Those cunts deserved to die for touching you. I ain’t even thought about the consequence of that since. That’s how little killing sick, jealous fuckers registers to me.”

Lilah swallowed and, edging closer, I said, “But you. For you, I’d kill every fucker in the world if they were a threat. Those bitches died because they touched you, Li. I gotta protect you. Gotta keep you safe.”

A shaky hand met my cheek, and Lilah said, “I do feel safe with you.”

I looked down at Lilah, her hair around her on the pillow like a damn halo. “Baby,” I rasped, you look like a fuckin’ angel right now. I ain’t seeing any evidence of some evil, sinful woman.”

Lilah’s hand dropped. “That is the disguise. The devil is beautiful after all.”

“Then I fuckin’ want the devil, Li… I want you.”

Silence stretched between us, and Lilah’s eyes dipped. But when she lifted her head again, I could see the hunger there. A finger suddenly ran down my sternum, and a hiss escaped my lips.

Fuck!

Lilah stared at me for the longest time before she wet her lips with her tongue, dropping her gaze to my lips. My cock hardened and her eyes shot up to mine, her cheeks blushing scarlet red.

Lilah fidgeted in my arms and leaned up, her hand reaching around to grip the back of my neck. “I wish… to kiss you now.”

My eyebrow lifted in surprise, and Lilah tightened her hold. “I… I have never been kissed before, not since I was a small child and it was forced upon me. And at my home… when I was taken in the Lord’s Sharing by Brother Noah, mouths did not meet. Brother Noah worried I would steal his soul because my soul was dark and impure.”

My hands fisted and I fought the urge not to lose my shit at that fucked-up statement. My bitch was twenty-four and had never been kissed because of some bullshit, made-up excuse she believed. If I could dig up that bearded fucker and kill him again, I would… repeatedly.

“I have observed Styx and Mae doing it often.” Her lashes fluttered as she looked up at me again. “It seems… nice… intimate.”

Stroking a strand of hair from her face, I left my hand on the side of her head and pulled her close, her breath hardening, chest panting. “Ky…” she said, panicked.

“No talking, baby,” I whispered as my lips closed in on hers. “I’m gonna kiss you now and I’m gonna show you how fuckin’ good it feels. Yeah?”

I caught Lilah’s sharp intake of breath just as my lips brushed against hers. Her full lips were tight and unmoving at first, but when I ran the tip of my tongue along the seam, a groan ripped from her throat and her hand fisted my hair. As Lilah instinctively opened her mouth, my kiss became firmer and my tongue played against hers, our need growing more desperate. She tasted as sweet as honey that had been dipped in vanilla.