The Demon's Bargain

The Demon’s Bargain By Lisa Alder

A Demons Unleashed Novella

Copyright

©Lisa Alder Smashwords Edition March 2011

Smashwords Edition, License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

PROLOGUE

1In the dawn of time the Demons were the chosen of the Moon and the Fae were the chosen of the Sun. Two parts of the whole, one dark, one light, they were much alike and shared common powers. But the magick of Demon and Fae is also fueled by Human emotions Both need human souls in order to exist. Not content to share with the Demons, through trickery the Fae conquered the Demons so they could hoard all Human emotion for themselves. They trapped the Demons far below the surface of the Earth, hemmed in by mineral and rock and bound by magick. The Fae did not grasp that in so vanquishing the Demons they sundered their own power. Neither is whole without the other. While the Demons festered inside the Earth, cut off from their beloved Moon, the Fae faded in the light of the Sun until they were little more than shadows. Until the year 2015, after five years of floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis had plagued the Earth, when a huge earthquake ripped through the Earth’s fault lines like a giant wave and ravaged the planet. The tectonic plates shifted and cracked open the dark, torturous prison which held the Demons captive for thousands of years. They roared to the surface, overjoyed to be free of their banishment. Their first impulse was to partake in the pleasures they’d been denied for century upon century. And although they initially had no quarrel with Humans, they were stronger, smarter, and more devious. So when the Humans attacked, the Demons defended. But the Humans were no match for the magick of the Demons. The energy from the Demons disrupted all electrical systems functioning on Earth. The electronic age exploded. Microchips and nanotechnology fried and died in an instant. Banking systems, maintained and funded with electronic chits, crashed. Cell phones and the Internet no longer worked. Electric appliances and cars became inert plastic and metal shells. The world plunged back into pre-electronic times with Humans scrabbling for existence. Humans had believed all the natural disasters plaguing the Earth had been bad, but Demons were worse. For the past ten years, the battle for supremacy between Demons and Fae continued to rage on...and Humans were caught in the middle.

Earth 2025

Chapter One

Subtle light flickered against the black walls. Blood red velvet drapes hung at the windows and let in the fading rays of the sun. While flames licked at the soot-stained stone, Vetis, Demon of Corruption, lounged in the velvet upholstered chair, one leg flung over the ornately carved wooden arm, and stared disinterestedly at the destructive, seductive beauty of the flames. Gods, he needed a distraction. A challenge. Prince Gaap had ordered them all to gather as much human energy as possible to prepare for an imminent attack by the Fae. Intelligence suggested the Fae would advance soon. The Demons had to be ready. A battle was coming. He understood. And he would fight to the death before he spent another moment trapped beneath the Earth again. But Vetis was deadly bored with siphoning the energy from dissolute humans bent on destroying their lives with greed. “A visitor, my Lord.” His current butler, Figgins, bowed. “Who is it?” Did he even want to know? He swallowed the compulsion to send away without an audience whoever chose to disturb him. “Edward, the gambler, sir.” Vetis sighed. The sod was trying his patience. The man owed Vetis. That was what happened when you bargained with a Demon...and lost. “Get a cell ready.” He would draw the energy generated by the man’s fear and be done with him. “Yes, my Lord.” Figgins clicked his heels together. “Shall I show them in?” “Them?” “Ah, yes. He has...a lady with him.” Stupid sod. He thought to trade another for his debt. How many freaking times had these ignorant humans thought they could get away with cheating a demon? Would they never learn? “Show them in.”

“Very good sir.” Figgins opened the grand doors to his chamber with a flourish. A sudden rush of cool air swept through the room and the velvet curtains swayed as if heralding a sea change. Towing a reluctant woman along in his wake, the fool gambler strode in as if he owned the castle. His hard-soled shoes clicked along the stone floor, the harder tap of her stilettos a counter beat to the gambler’s stride. Still slouched on his throne chair, Vetis observed them. Edward the gambler fairly vibrated with energy, radiating an excitement strangely at odds with his predicament. He saw no fear in the man. His thoughts were full of only anticipation. Yawn. So Vetis turned his gaze to the woman. She’d been dressed up like a hooker on the walk. Black stiletto heels, a black micro-mini so short he was sure if she turned around, he’d be able to see the globes of her ass peeking out the bottom, her wares on display. The black halter top was cut down to her belly button, in a wide V, displaying a decent set of breasts. Large, round, real, her nipples poked the black material but there was no doubt it was not from arousal. Her face was like stone. Sharp caramel eyebrows over a long blade of a nose and a cupid’s bow mouth the angels would have wept for, except for the fact that she was not smiling. Her angelic blond hair tumbled down her back. But what drew him was her eyes. Not one single emotion betrayed her. Her gaze was flat, blue, empty. When he probed her mind, he saw...nothing. How curious. As the Demon of Corruption, his goal in life was to make people do things against their nature. But first he needed to know their nature. Her mind was blank. Too blank. “You think to bring me a prostitute to pay off your debt?” By only a flicker of her eyelid did she reveal her distress. Not a prostitute then. “No, no.” The gambler laughed and a hint of nervousness finally edged into his mind. He pinched the woman, hard, on her arm. “This is my wife. Smile, dear.” The woman’s x-rated mouth remained still. “Your wife?” Vetis said flatly. He pressed his mouth into a straight line. It was nearly impossible to corrupt one already so depraved as to offer his wife to a Demon. Now if the gambler had protested, it would have been fun to demand her as payment. But this, this was annoying.

This...insect dared to try to dupe him? “And why did you bring her with you?” Vetis slumped even further in the chair, shifting his weight to put his chin on his fist. Come, you ass. Show me your true colors so I can decide what your punishment shall be. And how I can reap the energy from your psyche. “I would offer her to you.” “I see.” Vetis blinked slowly. The woman hadn’t made any movement. None. She was preternaturally still. And her mind continued to stay amazingly blank. He had no idea if the man’s offer repulsed her or aroused her. Absolutely none. What an interesting turn of events. “Come closer, sweet.” He crooked a single finger at her, watching her dead eyes. The burning wood crackled, sparks flaring in the still silent cavern of a room as the earthy aroma of peat wafted lazily through the air. The woman didn’t move. “Is she drugged?” Vetis asked with pretended idleness. He couldn’t say why the thought enraged him, but Vetis suddenly wished the man would answer yes, just so he could hurt him. Edward shifted, his body turned toward the fire as if mesmerized. “No, my Lord.” He pushed his bride toward Vetis without so much as a flinch. “Go to him.” She shuffled toward him in the stilettos, her gait uneven, as if she were unaccustomed to walking in the sharp heels. The sacrificial woman hesitated at the two-tiered dais that held his chair. “Come, come, up the steps.” She lifted her gaze to his. Still no emotion. Still no feeling. And apparently she was mute. After another moment of hesitation she placed one foot daintily in front of the other until she stood directly in front of him. Up close he could see the makeup slathered over her face. Rouge painted her cheeks, deathly pale beneath the false front. Her mouth, the pouty, puffy lips glossed shiny and slick, trembled. Finally emotion. Energy he could feed off of. Fear? Desire? Vetis tested the air, sniffing delicately to sense her mood. Besides an overabundance of some blowsy floral perfume, nothing else scented the air. “Of course, I can’t make a decision until I sample the merchandise.” He rubbed his fingers against his thumb, then wiggled his digits, like a safecracker getting ready to breach a vault. Vetis slid his palm inside the slinky halter top and brushed a thumb against her nipple.

The woman’s skin was frigid. As cold as her ice blue eyes. Even in the heat of his room, she was nearly frozen. She didn’t react. Not one flicker of emotion crossed her face. With the exception of that slight tremble in her lips and the barest flinch of an eyelid earlier, she showed no reaction. She remained perfectly still while he brushed his thumb against the hard point. He slid his other hand between her knees and with a gentle press, indicated she spread her legs. The skin of her inner thigh was soft as the down feathers that stuffed the comforter on his bed. Slowly, he slid his fingers toward her mound. No underwear blocked his path. Wiry curls protected her feminine slit. He rubbed his fingers over her. Nothing. No juice wet his hand. The little nub of her clitoris was cold and dry against his fingertips. He couldn’t take his gaze away from hers. She was like a giant void. He had to wonder, as she stood without protest against his intimate invasion. What would it take to corrupt her? Tucked into leather breeches, his cock lay flaccid against his stomach. He waited for some sort of response. If nothing else she’d be good for a few blow jobs. He imagined his cock ramming in and out of her mouth, fucking her throat, until he came jetting down into her body. And still his body remained limp, uninterested. Gods, this boredom was killing him. The sensible, the logical move would be to send the woman home and feed off the sick energy pouring from the gambler. But, her absolute lack of emotion was like a siren, tempting him toward an uncertain path and payout. He wanted to corrupt her, wanted to harness her energy. Prince Gaap would clearly advocate for the former. But Vetis needed something. Needed a challenge. The woman stood straight and still while he tested her indifference. With one hand he cupped her breast while he trailed the other back down her thigh. He probed her mind again. And finally, he saw.

Chapter Two

Amara held herself immobile. The wicked heat of the room threatened to shatter the cold box where she hid and suppressed her emotions. She couldn’t afford to let her rage show. But deep inside her head, where no sane woman would venture, she let out her fantasy. She was going to kill her husband. She shut off the sensation of the Demon’s fingers brushing against her female place. Ignored the flick of his thumb against her breast. Retreated down into herself, into a place where no one could ever reach her. His touch was a violation she would bear but never surrender to. It didn’t matter. He didn’t matter. All that mattered was surviving this humiliation. And then she was going to kill her husband. She imagined the knife, the handle cool and solid in the clasp of her fingers. The sharp serrated edge of the blade as first she sliced off his hands. Blood, metallic and dark red, spurted from his stumps. The spray, wet and warm against her skin, coated the shiny cold steel. Edward’s life stolen as he had surely taken away hers. She would clench her muscles as she raised the blade high over her head. When the tip hit his breastbone, she’d ram the knife through his ribs and deliver a deathblow to his heart, all the while reveling in his suffering. She imagined him lying in a pool of his own blood. Just as she had lain in hers on her wedding night, after he had sold her virginity for a spot at the tables. The Demon held her gaze, but she refused to let her repulsion show. Her reaction didn’t matter anyway. He was a Demon. He would do what he wanted regardless of her wishes. She ground her teeth as the Demon removed his hands. Something dark and predatory flared in the black depths of his gaze. “And what would I do with her?” The sibilant hiss edged along her nerve endings like little lightning bolts. His words struck fear into her heart, but she stood strong. Her lying, cheating worm of a husband simpered. “Anything you desire, my Lord.”

“Really?” He brought the hand he’d touched her clitoris with to his nose, inhaled. “Anything?” Amara thought of the degradation she had endured since her marriage. Her papa would have killed her himself if he’d known what the “protection” of her husband had done for her. Never trust a man who trades a woman for a gambling payoff. Amara choked down a bitter laugh. Since she’d come under the protection of Edward’s clan, she’d been nothing but payment for his debts. Damn him to hell. “Why have you not spoken up for yourself?” the Demon wondered aloud. “Perhaps I misunderstood your lack of passion before. Maybe you are merely a shell.” “Everyone knows you don’t engage with a Demon.” She shot her husband a scornful glare. Stupid Edward didn’t even have the sense to flush. “Ah, a most intelligent response.” The Demon smiled lazily at her, his teeth white and gleaming in the dark beauty of his face. He recognized her intelligence when her husband had not. The bleak thought simmered even as she kept her face impassive. Edward was a an even bigger fool than she’d realized if he thought to cheat this Demon. “So you agree?” Her traitorous husband practically cackled, his body vibrating with his delight. “We must come to terms.” The Demon held out his hand to her, palm up as if in supplication. For a moment, she stared at his long, lean fingers, then shifted her gaze to his soulless eyes. The devil lurked beneath that sinful gaze. She didn’t want to touch him. And he knew it. Why would the Demon agree to this farce? “I accept.” Edward, the fool, didn’t even wait to hear the terms. What in the hell did the Demon have planned for her? It didn’t matter. She wouldn’t let it matter. She’d get through this. But she needed to know. “What are the terms?” Her voice cracked, as if she’d been too long without water. He beckoned with his fingers, and she reluctantly placed her hand in his rough palm. His skin scorched hers, sizzling when he twined their fingers together. The Demon tugged her closer and twisted until she fell into his lap. He wrapped his arm around her stomach, trapping her. One thigh came between hers to spread her legs and force her butt against the semi-hard length of his cock.

Revulsion spread through her like the wildfires that had destroyed cities after the giant quake. For a single moment, she allowed her shame to bubble and fester, then she shoved it back down where no one could see and she wouldn’t feel anything. “One night.” His teeth bit the curve where her neck met her shoulder. She held still enduring the sharp pain. One night. She could endure one night of anything. Amara relaxed slightly as the terms of her sentence became clear. She was instantly aware of the hard contours of his body, thighs as big as tree trunks under her buttocks and his chest a granite slab at her back. Then his tongue came out in one long lazy lick up the side of her neck, rough and hot against her frozen flesh, and curled around her earlobe. She wanted to hunch in loathing but she remained still, determined not to show her shame. “Of pleasure.” Never her pleasure. But she could endure one night of anything. Edward rubbed his palms together. “Done.” “Ah, but I’m not finished.” Gods, she should have known there would be more to it than that. “Yes. Yes.” Edward bounced on his toes, his impatience to be gone a physical presence. The Demon slid his hand back into the slutty top her husband insisted she wear. He wrapped his hand around her breast and squeezed her nipple, hard. “Her pleasure.” Edward snorted. Amara couldn’t stay still any longer. She squirmed against the pressure of his fingers, only wanting to get away. The Demon held on tighter. His grip was not painful, but she knew herself, and his touch would never be a pleasure. At the very last, she understood. She was doomed. Because she had no pleasure in her. “However, until she is pleased--” The grand door opened slowly. The old man who had shown them in approached her husband. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw the handcuffs. Her stomach spun, acid churned, and a slick sweat broke on her forehead. Were the cuffs for her? With quick efficiency, the butler snapped her husband’s hands behind his back. “Hey!” “You will be my...guest.”

Amara couldn’t prevent the fierce stab of satisfaction at the Demon’s words. She was not the only one to be imprisoned. “But you took her.” “Actually, I believe you offered her.” The Demon shifted subtly, the hard throb of his erection pulsed against the seam of her ass. She would have to pretend to enjoy her sexual torture. As she softened her body against the Demon, she wasn’t sure what disgusted her more, his obviously erect penis or her stupid soon-to-be-dead husband. Shock flashed over Edward’s features as her husband finally understood what the Demon had arranged. “Now she is mine.” “Who are you?” she blurted. “He didn’t explain?” Slowly Amara shook her head. “I am Vetis, Demon of Corruption.”

Chapter Three

The challenge was on. Vetis loved the bargain he’d made. It was so very perfect. Prince Gaap wouldn’t be happy but by the Gods, Vetis needed some satisfaction. Some challenge. He’d been doing his part dutifully. The Demons had plenty of energy stored for the imminent Fae attack. There was plenty available for wielding magick. The gambler sputtered all the way out the door. Figgins was obediently mute while he ushered the man toward the dungeon. Vetis smirked as he saw what Edward had visualized. The dungeon would be a far sight nastier than the threesome with two blondes Edward had anticipated after he’d agreed to the deal. Vetis laughed. The sound a rough bark in the now silent chamber. The woman on his lap stiffened. And Gods, the move pushed her ass against his suddenly, finally interested member. “Why in the Gods name did you ever marry him?” She didn’t say a word. Just held still, perched over one of his thighs, legs spread while her thighs gripped him with surprising strength. Likely so they wouldn’t have to touch anywhere else. “You have to answer me.” Honesty wasn’t part of the terms of their bargain. The Fae had cornered the market on compelling Humans to tell the truth. But as she turned to glare at him, her ice blue eyes shooting heat, he gleefully understood she didn’t realize that. The movement caused her top to gape. The halter strap sagged, exposing one beautifully pert, pale pink nipple. His cock surged, straining his breeches, arousing him as nothing had in a good long time. In a lazy movement, he swooped his hand up the naked skin of her back, and gently pulled the strap from its bow. The fabric stripped away, like the peel of a banana and bared her beautiful breasts to his avid gaze. He captured the frigid nipple in his hot mouth and suckled. She was stone cold. Not aroused at all. With her lack of emotion, he withered. Which did not make him happy.

She was the perfect challenge. A woman without pleasure. And his job was to make her writhe with it for an entire night. He must be up for the task. But before he could turn her into a pleasure slave he needed to know why she was not aroused. Enough of this indulgence. “Answer me.” He demanded in a hard voice. “My father sought Edward’s clan to protect me.” She swallowed back a sob. In her mind, he saw an ailing old man as he begged the stupid gambler to marry his daughter. And Vetis understood. Her true emotions blazed through his body like a wildfire. Love. Grief. Both sizzled through him and energized his body even as he witnessed the horrible destruction the apocalypse had wrought on her village. Since then her world had regressed to a simpler time. Humans now understood they inhabited the Earth with all manner of creatures stronger than them, fiercer than them. And yet the Demons and Fae still had need of the energy from Human emotions. Vetis popped the nipple out of his mouth. He nuzzled the pale valley between her breasts and inhaled the warm clean scent of her. He licked the underside of her left breast marbled with blue veins. There he discovered the small round scar seemingly at odds with the rest of her fine soft skin. She flinched. Where she had not shown any reaction to his sexual overtures, the attention of his tongue to this scar caused her distress? He leaned back and cupped the large globe with both hands, inhaling her scent, thumbing her nipple once more, until she calmed. Then he deliberately fingered the round uneven scar, a travesty against her beauty. “Cigarette?” he inquired softly. Her heart beat violently, thumping so hard against her breastbone, her breasts shook. “How?” She remained silent, but the scene in her mind gave her away. Sandwiched between two men, one mounting her from behind, the other holding a faggot, glowing like a brand against her breast. Her back arched in agony against the double assault. Their laughter echoed in his mind. He cursed the impulse to disclose his secret, even as the words escaped his mouth. “Did you know I can read minds?” He revealed to her knowledge that few possessed. She blanched, then met his gaze in a mixture of defiance and misery.

“The shame is not yours.” He was compelled to comfort her. “You are doomed to be stuck with me forever.” “You have such little faith in my carnal abilities,” he mocked. “Wrong. I have no faith.” “It looks as if we have a long way to go in your seduction,” he drawled. Anger, and some other emotion seethed below the surface. No wonder she believed herself incapable. Had anyone ever given her pleasure? Even worse. How would he corrupt someone without avarice? The door to his chamber slammed open. “So did you siphon energy off the dolt?” Zepar, his friend and sometimes partner in more erotic endeavors strode into the room. “Not yet.” “Gaap is going to be pissed. His mandate requires us to wring every drop of energy from--” Zepar halted, suddenly noticing Amara on his lap. She hunched her shoulders and turned away from the doorway, trying to hide her body, arms crossed over her breasts defensively. “Well,” Zepar said softly. “What have we here?” His smile was sharp, wicked as he arched a brow at Vetis. The answer came to him in a flash of brilliance. “Zepar, you are just the Demon I am in need of.”

Chapter Four

Amara stiffened. She wanted to tilt her head forward. If she moved just so, the tendrils of her hair would hide her breasts from the Demon who had just entered. She refused to show fear. Even as her heart quaked in her chest. She vowed to accept whatever punishment they meted out, not cower in fear. Vetis tensed and his muscles hardened. The cords in his thighs shifted against her female mound, and for a moment the movement did not feel all bad. Amara would service these Demons, settle the debt her husband incurred, and steal back her dignity once and for all. She pushed her chin up and narrowed her gaze, ready for them. Vetis ran his fingers along the back of her neck, the rough pads abrading her skin, yet not in an unpleasant way. “What did you have in mind?” The new Demon’s voice rumbled in the room. The hint of wood smoke and a musky underlay of male semen wafted from him. A wicked smile graced his face as he crossed his arms over his heavily muscled chest. His biceps bunched and flexed. And she knew he could subdue her with little effort. She was strong but these were Demons. Devils. Sure to damage her. Earlier Vetis had seemed almost fierce on her behalf, but she couldn’t let that moment lull her into a false sense of security. These beasts would use her for their own amusement with no thought to her or how they hurt her. She would not tremble in their presence. The big Demon, Zepar, strode to the dais and leapt up the steps in one giant bound. Instinctively she wanted to recoil but held her ground. The pads of his fingers were gentle on her chin as he lifted her face. He stared at her as if trying to see into her soul. “This is not your usual sport.” The big Demon frowned. His forest green gaze shot to Vetis, with a clear question in his eyes. “Your place is not to question me,” Vetis replied arrogantly.

Gods the man, Demon, had an ego. Zepar trailed his fingers over the bare skin of her shoulder, his touch almost delicate. “Then what are you about?” “Pleasure,” Vetis hummed. “I am always on board with that goal.” Zepar, the big one grinned, his teeth snapped together with glee. “I knew you would be.” Vetis tugged her halter top up. For a second she thought he was covering her up. Instead he tugged the offensive black top over her head to bare her breasts to both men. “What about the mandate?” “I have trolled the gaming tables for the past month, absorbing and storing Human energy.” Vetis flexed his fingers against her breast. “I am ready for some fun.” “I’ll bet we can have an inordinate amount with this beauty.” The big blond Demon knelt and tapped his finger on her mouth. Fear held her immobile. He was huge. “What’s your name sweetheart?” Amara hesitated. Everyone knew to engage a Demon was considered the height of folly. Their trickery was legend, second only to that of the Fae. Vetis wrapped his hand in her hair and twisted her head back at an awkward angle. She arched her back to relieve the pressure, determined not to wince. “You will answer.” The move thrust her breasts forward. “Gods, they are gorgeous.” The big blond Demon leaned in to nuzzle her flesh. With his tongue, he licked the valley between her pendulous breasts. Then he closed his eyes and inhaled slowly. The big one hadn’t hurt her. He hadn’t pulled on her nipples or squeezed her too hard. The sensation was unique. Wet, soft. Weird. But she knew pain awaited. He frowned. “She has the scent of fear on her.” “We will have to remedy that,” Vetis said calmly. “But first she will tell us her name.” By waiting she had unintentionally drawn his ire. “Amara.” With her arms, she covered her breasts. “Come Amara,” Vetis purred. “We must prepare you.” She tensed and anticipated the grip of their hands on her clothes. For the rending of her dignity.

Vetis’s cock throbbed against her hip. He was mightily aroused. A shiver of apprehension skittered over her flesh. With a man behind her and another in front of her, horrible memories of her wedding night invaded her thoughts. After he accepted her dowry to pay off his gambling debts, her groom had sold her virginity to the highest bidder. Or in her case, bidders. Her knowledge of what happened between a man and a woman had been learned through very sweet books that were clearly lies. Her sexual initiation had been pain-filled. Pinching hands, rough thrusting, ripping, as the men tore into her flesh, without care for her barrier or inexperience. She’d been a blushing bride for all of an hour before she’d been reduced to her husband’s whore. Vetis yanked her head around. Sharp pain pierced her scalp. The abuse was coming. “Don’t ever compare me, us, to them.” He was angry with her? That was rich. As rage threatened to burst from her, she shoved the emotion back inside. When the coldness had returned, she finally nodded. With a gentleness at odds with his fierce words, Vetis let go of her hair. She eased back until her spine curved more naturally. From the table next to him, Vetis lifted a deep purple glass bottle in the shape of a woman. His fingers caressed the rounded globes of her glass breasts before he pulled the stopper from the bottle with a pop. “Perfect.” Zepar purred and held out his hand. The tip of his thumb brushed her breast as if by accident then casually then moved away. Vetis poured a small bit of oil in the man’s very large palm. Real almond oil. The rare scent wrapped around her senses. After the Demons unleashed their destructive wrath and ravaged the Earth’s natural resources, such extravagance was almost eradicated. Vetis poured a small amount of the scented oil into his own palm then placed the bottle carefully back on the little stand. He rubbed his palms together and the friction perfumed the air around them. Vetis shifted Amara until her bottom sat on his thighs. Zepar inserted his legs between Vetis’s to build a table for her body to rest on. They gently pressed her down until her back lay along their thighs, her head hung down one side and her stilettos were planted firmly on the floor, and her breasts thrust skyward like an offering to the Gods. The position was uncomfortable but at least it didn’t hurt.

Rubbing the oil into her skin, their warmed palms caressed her collarbone, then flowed down the length of her arms. Their movements in perfect synch as if they’d practiced. Her rib cage, her stomach, the dip in her belly, no secret place was left untouched from their smooth, sensual strokes, nearing but not ever touching her breasts. She was surprised they hadn’t hurt her yet. Perhaps the pain would come later. Like a butterfly on the wind, the thought flitted away when they leaned over her body to cup her ankles in their palms. The flat broad muscles of the chests--whenever had they removed their shirts?–rubbed against her ribcage, flirting with the buds of her nipples but never quite touching. Which was fine with her. It only hurt. They kneaded the skin of her calves and thighs with long sure strokes, until they came to the hem of her very short skirt. Their hands traced sensual circles along the sensitive inner skin of her thighs. Each stroke pushed the skirt higher and higher until her pubis was exposed. But they never once touched her female slit. Vetis leaned down and put his nose in the curls of her mound. She froze and waited for the bite, the flash of pain. Instead, he inhaled long and deep as if he could suck the essence from her body. But he never touched her. That made her happy. Or it should have, but a subtle sense of disappointment kept her on edge. In unison, they slicked their fingers along her flesh, until each held a breast in their hand. As if choreographed, each bent their head, one dark, one light, at the altar of her breasts. Their hot mouths opened over the entire areola and sucked in rhythm to the throb of their erections pulsing against her hips. Oddly the sensation was not unpleasant. Gods, wouldn’t it be amazing if she could fulfill the bargain and be done with this torture? If for one night, she could experience, if not pleasure, then an absence of pain during the sex act. Hope, like a poison, spread through her. Vetis groaned low in his throat, the sound vibrating through her breasts and spreading down to her womb. “Gods do you smell that beautiful scent?” Zepar rubbed his head against the concave hollow between her hipbones. His hands caressed her body with a reverence that was impossible to turn away from. And yet, she stiffened anyway, readied for the pain. This was where they violated her.

Amara’s gaze was drawn to Vetis, as if, like the Fae he compelled her to focus only on him. Again and again, her attention strayed to the size of his cock, poking out of his breeches and seeking a female to conquer. Cum pearled on the knob of his erection. The salty scent of his arousal sickened her and curdled any softening in her nether regions. “Patience.” “Are you talking to me or to her?” Zepar growled. The beast was near. Harsh lines of arousal cut into Vetis’s face. Leashed power prowled through his muscles like a panther and dread snapped like tiny lightning bolts along her nerve endings. Amara trembled. In one smooth action, Vetis stood and pulled Amara with him. Her leather skirt wrapped only around her waist and bared her womanly curls and ass to their lust. “Push down my breeches.” Vetis commanded. She dared not disobey. Behind her, fabric rustled as the other Demon took off his clothes swiftly. In a tentative move, she pushed ineffectually at the tight leather breeches. “You are too big,” she murmured, a flush spreading throughout her body. With a bark of laughter he helped her get the material off the head of his enormous erection. Dear Gods how would she ever take him into her body? From behind, Zepar pushed her skirt down her thighs to pool at her feet. Now. This was where the pain would begin. She tilted her chin up defiantly. As one they stepped toward her, Vetis’s chest brushed the points of her breasts even as his erection teased her curls. The blond Demon fitted his chest to her back, his huge erection nestled in the crease of her ass. One head tilted to the right and one to the left, they licked their tongues along her neck. No pain. No fear. Sandwiched between the two men, with her spike heels on, their erections hit her body at just the right point for penetration. She stood perfectly still, arms at her sides as they wrapped her in an intimate embrace. The cream from Vetis’s cock was hot against her stomach, and the pearling drops from Zepar’s erection seared her ass. The air was thick with the sweet scent of almond oil. As they rubbed against her, the oil from her body slid along their skin, and a curious softening occurred. She felt...cherished. How very odd.

If she could just stay here in their embrace, her life might be bearable. Vetis growled low in his throat. He inserted his hand between their bodies and glided his cock to the valley of her curls. Instinctively she tensed to protect against a sexual invasion. But he did not penetrate her, only rubbed her slit with his juice. Zepar crowded her from behind. She tensed again and waited for the intrusion. Instead he slid his cock along her feminine lips. Her womb clenched. Liquid trickled from her sex. And gratitude rolled through her in a wave. As if they took predetermined sides, they thrust together slowly, rocking along her nether lips with heat and oil and friction. The sensation was pleasurable, perhaps more than pleasurable. The cage around her hardened as their thrusts became more urgent. Then they came in unison, their cum squirting between her legs. Trapped between the two large males, the scent brought back the horror of her wedding night. She wanted to weep all over again for the loss of her innocence. She nearly ached with the wave of pain rolling through her. For a moment, Amara had thought perhaps she would feel pleasure. Perhaps she was not broken on the inside. Instead she looked up into Vetis’s cool dark face. A knowing smile quirked his mouth, as if he knew what she was going to ask. Hope blossomed in her stomach and spread out to warm her body as their sexing hadn’t been able to. Could her night be over so easily? “I’ve had my night of pleasure.” “Not even close.” As their hot wet seed ran down the inside of her thighs in a slow insistent trickle, hope bled out of her heart.

Chapter Five

Vetis invaded her mind, needing to know what caused the slump in her shoulders, and he found defeat had shrouded her thoughts. Their sexual encounter left him surprisingly unfulfilled. Misery stiffened her muscles and he knew what he must do. He loosened his grip on Zepar’s ass and pressed his chest against her torso. He planted the suggestion of a deep healing sleep in her mind. With a graceful swoon, she fell into his body. “What’s this all about?” Zepar asked as they carried her over to the giant four poster bed. From a warming bucket by the bed, he extracted two steaming cleanse cloths. He tossed one to Zepar and with the other rubbed the damp fabric over his naked still semi-erect form. Vetis watched the sweet Amara sleep. If only the interlude had been more pleasurable for all involved. Zepar continued, “Not that I’m unhappy or unwilling to have a little fun now and again. But that was not our usual sport.” True. Their usual was varied and prolonged with willing partners who would accommodate their baser natures. “This kind of seduction isn’t a slam bam event.” Vetis studied her with contemplation, watching the rise of her chest with each deep inhale. Even in sleep her breasts were full and tempting. The cloth a pleasant friction against his still sensitive member, he squeezed just a little harder. “This kind of corruption will take finesse, planning, and...knowledge.” And he knew just where to get his knowledge. Vetis pumped his cock a little harder. “After all, she is an innocent.” Zepar cleaned his own body while he studied Vetis. “That was not the image I pulled from your mind.” “She was forced.” He shot the cloth into the laundry bin with vehemence. “What a waste.” Zepar wiped the cleansing cloth over the dried semen on her thighs, cleaning her gently. “This body is a gift to be treasured and worshiped, not abused.”

Vetis nodded his absolute agreement. Gods, when she had begun to flush, just the hint of arousal sweeping over her fair skin, Vetis had nearly crowed with triumph. His cock hardened at the memory. He gripped his growing erection and began to pump in earnest. She was turning out to be far more fun than he’d imagined. He wanted her mouth on his cock with her cheeks smiling. He wanted to take her from behind and pound into her perfect ass. He let the images of the things he would do to her play through his mind. The liberties he would take when she was willing. “What are you thinking about?” Zepar lounged on the chair near the bed. His cock lay flaccid against his stomach. Abuse always wilted him. They’d been imprisoned for thousands of years with no privacy. Zepar knew exactly how close he was to finishing. They knew each other’s habits and secrets. “How hard I’m going to fuck her.” Vetis leaned against the column adorning the fireplace. Firelight played across her curves. He cupped his balls in one hand and imagined fucking her glorious breasts. He pictured her on her hands and knees while he rammed into her rounded ass and she screamed in pleasure. Vetis increased the pace as his cum began to rise. “When she is ready,” Zepar said fiercely. Gods, he wanted her to be ready now. Ready for the slick heat of her cunt to welcome his cock and drench him with liquid desire. Ready for his balls to slap against her perfect pussy. The vision was too much for him. He came with a muffled shout. Semen spurted from his cock, leaving him senseless as his cum sprayed out over the firewood. With a hiss, the flames released the scent of his semen into the air. “When she’s ready.” Vetis used another warm cloth to clean off his fading erection and glanced back at his friend. Zepar hovered over Amara and silently offered his protection while she slept. “She really is truly delectable,” he murmured. “Her husband thought to trade her for his debt.” Vetis snorted. “Idiot.” “And where is the husband now?” Zepar’s muscles rippled as he stood, ready to do battle for her honor, to deliver retribution, despite his lack of clothing. “In the dungeon.” Vetis replied. “I’m about to pay the man a visit. Would you care to join me?” “I wouldn’t miss it.”

# Vetis mentally cringed as they tread down the stairs to the dungeon. After being imprisoned for centuries below the earth, trapped between tectonic plates, closed in and dark places were his least favorite places to be. Ten years of freedom could not erase thousands of incarceration. “It is...not a pleasant place.” Zepar commented about the narrow steps that lead down below the Earth. Vetis’s footsteps slowed. “Bearable.” The peat torches flickered casting shadows over the weathered and ancient stone. Fire slithered up the limestone blocks and then extinguished in a puff. “At least there is hope of leaving, which we did not have.” His friend paused, and flattened his palm against the old stone as if the walls could speak. The Demons had rebuilt the former ruins into a living, working fortress then covered the abbey in a decrepit glamour. From outside the circle of their magick, the castle still looked like a ruin. “True.” “So what is the plan?” Vetis tread slowly, deliberately clicking his boots on the stone, as if the noise would ward off their enemies. “Information.” “What kind?” “I need to know what has been done to her.” Vetis said, “The challenge is to get her to have one night of pleasure.” Zepar stopped dead. “How is that corruption? It sounds more like my job.” “Corruption is defined as getting someone to do something they believe they never would.” With each step, they descended further beneath the earth, replacing fresh air with the scent of stale urine and defecation. Gods but he hated this place. “Okay.” Zepar responded. “But still. What about Gaap’s directive?” He was sick of Gaap’s directive. He’d been mucking around the Humans, stealing their energy to use against the Fae. With the Earth and Humans in complete disarray, corrupting most people was ridiculously easy. “I’ve been doing more than my fair share. Besides, I’m bored with easy corruption.”

“You didn’t look bored a few minutes ago.” “She is,” Vetis spread his lips in parody of a smile, “inspiring me.” “So, good Demon, bad Demon?” Zepar asked. “I get to be bad.” “How come I never get to be the bad Demon?” “Because I’m so good at being bad.”

Chapter Six

When they reached the appropriate cell, Vetis nodded to the guard and waved him away. Vetis and Zepar flanked the cell doorway, leaning in a casual pose against the stone walls that separated this cell from the others. The husband had not improved upon his detainment. He jumped up from the metal cot in the corner and ran over to the bars. His white fingers gripped the iron. “Is it done?” “You gift me with powers beyond my mien.” Idiot. “Should have known.” He whispered under his breath, “Stupid cunt.” From deep in his gut, rage began to rise and burn through Vetis’s ribs, lungs and heart. “Silence!” The word exploded from him. Vetis’ sound waves shook the bed in the corner of the cell and Amara’s husband stumbled back. “Come Vetis.” Zepar kept his tone friendly, mild as if he sensed just how close Vetis was to the edge of blood lust. The temptation to reach through the bars and gut the prisoner roared through Vetis. With an edge of contempt, Zepar played the good Demon. “Cut the fellow a break.” He forced his mind to calm, picturing Amara with the flush of arousal on her breasts. “I want information.” He made his voice cold, menacing. Edward edged back against the bed. For a moment his mind had been wide open. And surprise, there was more to this fool than Vetis had originally believed. A furtive deal in a shadowy backroom. The instigator cloaked in darkness as he handed Edward a picture of Vetis. Fae? Possibly. “I’m sure he won’t mind accommodating you,” Zepar said pleasantly. Only Vetis heard the bite. Apparently his friend had seen the same thing. “Isn’t that right?” “Wha-what kind of information?” “If I am to pleasure your wife, I need to know what was done to her.” The coward subtly relaxed. “How about a little side bet?” He gave a sly smile.

“Still gambling, I see.” Vetis uncrossed his arms from his chest and straightened away from the cool stone. “Sadly my debts have been many.” His face brightened and his chubby cheeks lifted. “But I always pay them off. Or I should say my wife does.” The asshole laughed at his joke. If there had been any affection in his voice, Vetis might have cut him some slack, but Edward’s casual response to selling his wife pissed Vetis off. “I am not in the mood to bargain. Are we clear?” “I’m already stuck here because of her.” He kicked at a small pebble on the barren floor. “Why should I make it easier for her?” Vetis had hoped that the man would just tell him what he wanted to know but it seemed that had been too optimistic of him. What Vetis needed now was to discover who gave the man a picture of him. “How much do you know of Demons?” Vetis asked softly. The man wasn’t a complete idiot. He blanched. “Ah, you can compel people to do things.” That wasn’t quite accurate, but he’d take it. “Yes, we can.” Vetis saw what Edward desired. A picture of the man reclining on a bed of silks surrounded by riches flashed through the gambler’s mind and he steadied. He was stalling on purpose. But why? “I’m sorry. I’ve been remiss. I forgot to introduce you to my friend, Zepar.” Vetis said, his voice even softer. “Do you know what kind of Demon he is?” “N-no.” The man’s teeth began to chatter. The clickety-clack grated on Vetis. “Demon of Seduction.” He drew out the word seduction. The man fell away from Zepar, his face a rictus of horror. Zepar’s smile was all teeth. Vetis knew Zepar also caught the images the man feared. Apparently, he was terrified of sodomy. After thousands of years imprisoned with only men, Zepar would never fuck another man unless he didn’t have a choice. But this stupid sod didn’t need to know that. “What do you,” he gulped. “Want?” Edward edged back and cowered on the ragged cot. “Tell me what else you know of Demons.”

“You’re dangerous.” “True.” Vetis clapped enthusiastically. “Anything else?” “You are the sworn enemies of the Fae.” And there, the same picture Vetis had seen before. This man was conspiring with the Fae. The Fae had maneuvered the gambler into incurring the debt with Vetis. How very interesting. Why? “Do you know any?” Zepar curled his fingers around the iron bars, tension in his hands. They waited for him to lie. But oddly enough, he didn’t. “I have met some. They are frequent visitors to our tavern.” “I see.” Vetis glanced at Zepar. They needed more information before they could attempt to use this idiot. “Perhaps you can be of some use to me.” The gambler jumped up eagerly, leaning toward the bars with an avid grin on his face. “But first--” Vetis stopped and the man’s grin fell. “Tell me about your wife’s adventures.” “But haven’t I given you enough information?” He hid his petulance beneath a submissive smile, keeping the image of the riches present in his mind. Vetis jerked his chin at Zepar. “Fine. Fine.” The man shrank further away from Zepar. But his mind betrayed a gleeful maliciousness as he pictured his wife’s abuse. “Vegetables.”

Chapter Seven

Amara awoke from the longest, most restful slumber. Gods, she didn’t want to regain consciousness. She stretched her arms above her head and arched her back. Slinky satin slid against her naked skin, caressing her breasts and slipping between her legs. Satin? They couldn’t afford satin. Her eyes popped open. And it all came rushing back. She sank into a cushion of down. The ornately carved posts of a black walnut bed rose into the air. Sheer shimmery fabric draped the canopy and silk bindings hung from all four posters. She didn’t remember getting into this bed. Her last memory was of utter hopelessness and then her mind was blank. Her heart fluttered, the tempo picking up as she lay perfectly still and took inventory, testing her body for any aches that shouldn’t be there. Acid gurgled in her stomach and threatened to burn a path back up her throat. “Good. You’re awake.” Vetis’s voice rumbled and slid inside her, winding through her body as surely as the sheets caressed her inner thighs. Amara pressed her eyelids closed and wished she could just pretend yesterday had never happened. Actually while she was at it, perhaps she could pretend the last two years hadn’t happened. “I thought you might be hungry.” His minty breath was warm in her ear, the little puff tickling her eardrum. Amara braced and turned her head toward his voice. “A little,” she lied. But then her stomach grumbled. Vetis was so close she could see that his irises were not the black she’d thought last night. They were a deep midnight blue. He blinked, the thick black lashes fanned against his tanned skin. A dusting of beard shadowed his jaw. Clad in a black silk robe loosely tied at the waist, he leaned back into the velvet chair next to the bed. The lapels gaped open to reveal his smooth tanned chest and dark nipples. His legs were spread wide and his cock was erect. A thick vein pulsed with his blood. Gods, he was big. A smile played over his sensuous lips. Had he just been sitting there watching her sleep?

“Demons have...strong appetites,” he said wryly. Amara cleared her throat, unsure if he meant for food or something more carnal. “Both.” His mouth curved into a wicked smile as he answered the question in her mind. “Do you trust me?” “Do I have a choice?” Bitterness welled at her impotence. “Free will is a wondrous thing. I would never presume to take it away,” Vetis commented mildly. “And yet I am trapped here.” His face hardened into harsh lines, his mouth an uncompromising slash. “The debt must be paid.” “Can’t you just...let me go?” She had to ask. Last night there were moments when he had seemed almost kind. Okay she had officially lost it. Demons were not kind. “The sooner you fulfill the terms of the bargain, the sooner you can leave,” Vetis said. “I am trying to aid you.” Pleasure. Right. Perhaps she could fake it and get this over with. Last night she must have been under some sort of compulsion for, toward the end, the contact had been almost pleasant. “Fine.” “Why don’t you sit back against the pillows?” As Amara pushed up into a seated position, she white-knuckled the satin against her breasts. Vetis leaned lazily toward the post closest to him and captured the silk scarf. In a sensuous move, he ran the silk through his hand as if he were caressing a lover. Then he reached for her wrist. “You mean to tie me to the bed.” She cursed the waver in her voice. “I won’t hurt you.” Vetis trailed the rough pads of his fingers along her arm as if trying to soothe a wild animal and then he slipped her hand through the silken tie. With a flick of his wrist, the material restricted her arm. Not too tightly. But then he tugged on the other end and the restraint raised her arm slightly from the bed. The satin sheet slipped down the right side of her body and exposed her breast.

Amara tensed in sick anticipation of his touch. But he had already headed around to the other side of the bed. With brisk efficiency, he looped the silk and bound her left wrist to the opposite post. Now both her breasts were bared to the chill morning air. Her nipples puckered. Fierce sunlight streamed in through the open window. On a gust of wind, a hint of cut grass and the tang of lemons scented the room. Vetis carried a heavy silver tray toward the bed. “Spread your legs.” He climbed up on the bed. His robe fell completely open. His erection pulsed as if commanding her to notice. “I don’t want--” The items on the tray registered. Front and center was a giant carrot. She scrabbled back toward the headboard, kicking out toward the tray. The move flung the satin sheet away from her lower body. Exactly what she wanted to avoid. Amara whimpered as memories scrolled through her mind like an old horror film. “Stop.” Vetis grabbed her ankles and forced her feet down to the bed, pushing until her knees pointed toward the ceiling. Amara yanked at the bindings, wrenched her wrists as she tried to cover her sex. She slammed her knees together and pulled her elbows into her waist. With each panicked tug against her restraints, she sought to protect her body. Protect her sex. But nothing would be able to protect her mind. She sobbed. Gods, not again. Please not again. She didn’t even realize she had spoken aloud until he murmured gently, “No. We must face down these bad memories and make new ones. You understand.” Vetis whispered to her and repeated his commands over and over slowly until she finally realized he was trying to calm her down. “Can I let go of your feet?” She nodded. Prayed he wouldn’t hurt her. “Let your legs fall open.” He repeated the command. His midnight blue gaze held hers imploring her to trust in him. She did as he instructed, her mound spread wide and exposed to the air. And to him. Vetis curled his fingers around the carrot. The instrument of her torture. “Let’s banish this memory.” He held the carrot near the leafy greens and extended it toward her. “Bite it.” He traced her mouth with the smooth peeled tip, the odor sickly sweet in her nose. She hated carrots. Ever since. Hated them. She opened her mouth and chomped. Hard.

The tip broke off in her mouth with a crisp snap. The sharp sound pleased her and she imagined destroying her abuser’s penis instead of the carrot. She chewed savagely and with each crunch tried desperately to eradicate her memories. Vetis winced. Amara spat the masticated carrot onto the tray. “More,” she said fiercely. He obliged by holding the offensive vegetable out to her. Crack. She broke off another piece as her anger bubbled. “Better?” She did feel better. “Yes.” He turned the carrot around in his hand so that the greens dangled from his fist. “Still not quite right. But I have an idea.” His smile was full of sin. “Lean back against the pillows.” Amara started to object then shrugged. He began with the arm he’d bound first. The slightly rough edges of the greens teased the delicate skin on the inside of her right wrist, and then he gently swept the leafy tips along the sensitive veins of her inner arm. Not quite a tickle. Then across her collarbone and along her throat, he brushed against her rapid pulse. Her blood beat so hard she thought it might just burst right out of her. With a flourish, he twirled the greens over the hardening tip of her breast, the contact feather light against her nipple. “And how does that feel, hmm?” Her heart’s frantic beat was a dual assault of lingering terror and new burgeoning sensations. The newer odd reaction of her body overpowered the terror in her mind and caused the fear to fade. She swallowed. “F-fine.” He tsked. “Only fine? Mustn’t neglect the other beauty.” He shifted the greens to her other breast and twirled just a little bit harder. Her thighs quivered at the strange tingle in her feminine parts. “So that’s the way of it.” Vetis painted a path down her stomach, her belly button caving involuntarily. He brushed the greens down toward her mound and she was unable to take her gaze away as he teased her little bud. Then he traced a path from her belly button to the crease in her ass. The greens prickled, yet didn’t hurt. He wasn’t hurting her. The miracle grew as she realized she felt something other than pain when he touched her sex.

Could this be desire? The tingling increased and a buzz throbbed low in her belly. In long, slow sure strokes, he swept back and forth, each stroke just a little shorter, until he teased only her clitoris. With one last twist, he whirled the greens away. A whimper escaped her. “Now that’s much better.” Vetis’s rapt focus was on her exposed slit as he bent down so nose his nose almost touched her nether lips. He breathed in her scent. “Ahh.” His exhale blew gently across her clitoris. “The delectable scent of aroused woman.” Gods, she wanted...she didn’t know what. Something. “You are quite exquisite, my peach.” She couldn’t wait to see what he would do next.

Chapter Eight

Vetis surveyed his handiwork. When he’d concocted this bargain, his main goal had been relief from boredom. But her husband’s disregard and Amara’s total lack of feeling stirred dangerous emotions in him. He had been denied sensual pleasures because of his physical imprisonment. But Amara was imprisoned only by her own horrible experiences. Because her husband had used her. And that enraged him. Vetis shoved back the trickle of guilt--for wasn’t he going to use her in a similar way? She just didn’t know it. Gaap had insisted that Vetis spy on her thoughts. They needed to make sure that she wasn’t involved in the Fae’s plot. Vetis thought not. But he must verify his beliefs with confirmation. Amara leaned back against the pile of silk pillows, her arms still restrained. Her legs sprawled open to reveal her completely to him. For now, she was his to look and touch and play with as he saw fit. Her nether lips had swollen and plumped with each brush stroke of the carrot’s greens. Her mound was flushed a most delicious shade of pink. The beautiful flower of her womanhood pulsed among her nest of sunlight curls. As he blew on her clit, the musk of her arousal perfumed the air. The rush of energy from her unexpected creaming gave him a buzz. Gods the temptation to lick into her until she orgasmed was strong. But that wouldn’t get rid of her bad memories. His goal was still one night of her pleasure but now he craved more. He wanted to release her from the mental cage that imprisoned her body. He justified his actions. His intent was to eradicate her dark memories. And discover anything he could about her husband’s interaction with the Fae. “I would love to fuck you with my tongue.” He blew on her once more and then glanced up to her face, her eyes rounded with some emotion he couldn’t identify. “But alas that will have to wait until later.” She hadn’t said a word but he noted with satisfaction that she was breathing in shallow pants. Her breasts rose and fell. Flushed a pretty pink, her nipples pouted for a tonguing. The first step was completed. But Vetis didn’t just want submission, he wanted her total surrender which would take time and finesse.

He removed the evidence of her destruction of the carrot from the tray and tossed the remains into the trash. Then he carefully selected a succulent, ripe peach. With a sharp knife, he very precisely cut the plump fruit in half. Sweet juice ran down his arm as he began her lesson. “You are aware of the history of Demons.” She nodded, but her attention remained glued to the knife. He hesitated, wanting to reassure her even if she wouldn’t believe him. “Know this. I will never harm you. Are we clear?” She bobbed her head tentatively. “I believe I need oral verification.” “Yes.” The husky answer rasped along his nerve endings. “Excellent.” Vetis praised her and ignored the twisting in his stomach. He would never harm her physically but how would she feel if she ever learned that he was using her memories to protect the Demons? Vetis ignored the twinge of conscience and focused on teaching her about pleasure. “We existed for thousands of years without...pleasures.” Her gaze drifted back to the knife and he knew he was losing her. “Eating real food is a banquet of sensual delight.” He inhaled the aroma of the peach with as much gusto as he’d inhaled the bouquet of her musk. After being denied food for centuries, he reveled in the sensual tastes and textures of real food. The bright colors pleased him after years of darkness. He shoved away the memory of that grim prison. He would not go back there. But this was about her, not him. Vetis held one of the halves to her perfect lips. “Eat,” he whispered, “and imagine that I am nibbling on your own delectable peach.” “What?” “I am particularly fond of peaches.” Her tongue ventured out to twirl around the sweet center of the fruit tentatively. And Gods, he could imagine that tongue curled around his balls just as sweetly. “I am going to eat you up like this peach,” he growled. “Eat.” As she took a small bite, he squeezed the fruit just slightly. Nectar ran down her chin and traced a path down her naked body.

The juice trickled along the valley between her breasts, a small pool gathered in her belly button, stalling there. She hummed low in her throat and took another bite. Vetis squeezed the peach again. The liquid trailed inexorably toward her clitoris. His mouth dried as the sweet juice dribbled toward his prize and he knew exact moment the juice found its pearl. “Oh.” Gods, he was harder than the tectonic plates that had disintegrated with the final catastrophic earthquake. Patience. “More?” he smiled wickedly. “Please.” “I’d like a taste of peach,” Vetis slyly pressed his case. He wanted her to share her body with him willingly. “Will you share with me?” She flushed and nodded her assent. Her capitulation triggered a rush of satisfaction. Power surged through him as her emotions awakened slowly before him like a tender shoot unfurling toward the sunlight. Vetis carefully twirled the fuzzy skin of the peach along her body, painting her with lush strokes of the furry fruit. Then he squeezed the other half of the peach over one nipple. The nub puckered, gloriously aroused by the cool sticky juice. “Your body is deliciously responsive.” He fed her a bite, pleased with the way she savored and licked the peach before she opened her mouth over it. Her actions were unknowingly seductive. He drizzled more juice over the other nipple, thrilled with her body’s response to the stimulation. Then he lifted the fruit to her mouth for her to finish. When she was all done, she licked her lips. “Hmm,” he said. “We’re all...sticky.” He lifted a warm wash cloth from the tray and fastidiously cleaned his hands. The second phase of his seduction was complete. Amara waited patiently in front of him. Nectar from the peach slicked a path from her chin to her clitoris, the sweet liquid tempted him to lap her up. “Don’t worry. You’re next.” #

Amara’s senses were heightened, every detail seemingly charged with eroticism. The soft cushion of the down pillows at her back, the slippery silk beneath her butt, the sensitized nerve endings from Vetis’s sensual touch. The room felt much warmer than when she’d awakened. Her skin had heated everywhere, except for the cool peach nectar that coated her slit and curls and the twin assaults of sticky juice. The cool breeze hardened her nipples until they were so tight they almost hurt. Her legs were spread wide, open for him to do what he wished with her. And her female parts ached, empty and barren. As if her body waited for something indefinable that she couldn’t quite grasp. Her womb clenched. But not in fear. Anticipation. And she wondered. Was this pleasure? “Where to start.” Vetis knelt in front of her on the decadent bed and crowded her back against the pillows. The hairy roughness of his legs pressed her thighs open even wider. His attention was riveted on her sex. “We’ll save the best for last.” He leaned over her, the silk robe cocooning them in decadence. His pink tongue came out of his mouth and her eyes widened to see it was so very long. With the soft tip, he traced the contour of her lips, the touch lighter than a butterfly. The juice from the shared peach sweetened the tender kiss, totally at odds with the stamp of lust on his hard face. Then with the gentlest foray, he eased his tongue just between the bow of her lips and curled it around the inside of her mouth. He groaned softly. “Open for me.” Amara parted her lips, unwilling to disobey him. She had never been kissed like this. Soft and testing as if he needed her mouth more than he needed to breathe. Tentatively she touched her tongue to his. The experience was definitely pleasurable. His tongue ventured further into her mouth, as if breaching her defenses slowly, then he opened his lips fully over hers. He devoured her. His hands held her head still. Vetis swirled his tongue into and out of her mouth, each time he ventured a little further until his tongue penetrated her throat.

His knees pushed her legs up, until her knees were almost even with her hands. She could do no more than grip the satin bindings in her fists and thrust back with her own tongue. A hot drop of his seed sizzled against her stomach. She could smell the scent of his cum, but it was intermingled with the sweet peach and her own feminine scent. “Gods I can’t wait for this.” His cock pushed insistently against her belly. He ripped his hands from her throat and gripped the wooden headboard behind her. A purple vein ran down the widening rod and disappeared into his black curls. The bulbous head was red and hot and monstrously aroused. She would never be able to take him into her body. Her stomach clenched. The beginnings of arousal dried up in a flash of fear. Amara wondered if this was it. Her muscles tensed as she waited for pain and prayed it wouldn’t hurt too badly this time. As if he knew her doubts, Vetis opened his mouth and scraped his tongue down the bowed curve of her neck. Sliding his extra-long tongue over her breast, he then curled the talented muscle around her nipple and tweaked it. He loved her breasts with his mouth, licking up the peach juice from her body, then more. Nipping, then suckling, then pinching. With each caress her body responded with a wash of sensation. Vetis kissed his way down her body leaving her breasts. Except they didn’t look like her breasts. They were flushed and swollen and wet from the attention of his mouth. “Please,” she whimpered. Her womb clenched. The muscles bunched as if wanting to hold onto something. Was this pleasure? This unbearable wish for him to never stop. This unshakeable need for more. “Please what?” he growled against her stomach. “I don’t know.” The need to writhe against him, to find friction for her over-sensitized body burned. But with her hands restrained and her legs trapped against his, she couldn’t move. Vetis dragged his hands from the headboard and down the length of her body. He stopped to cup the globes of her breasts, then pressed the heels of his palms against her lower abdomen and pushed on her womb. The rough pads of his fingers burned a trail of sizzled nerves in his wake. Then he slid his hands to the top of her thighs and held them wide. “Gods look at you, just weeping for my cock.” His gaze was nearly crazed as he drew her into the dark pool of his desire. His erection rose proudly from the cradle of his curls, his balls seemed swollen larger than before and his bulbous tip glistened with desire.

“Not yet,” he chanted over and over again. Amara listened to him, confused by her feelings as two separate emotions vied for dominance. Disappointment. The things he was doing to her body felt so good. But relief too. For soon the pain would come. She knew this to be true because pain was all she’d ever known.

Chapter Nine

Vetis leaned back on his knees, kneeling in front of her with his hands on her soft inner thighs. The temptation to slam into her waiting heat nearly overwhelmed him but fear lingered in the subtle tension of her limbs and the shadowed corners of her mind. Bright flashes of pain and images of violation strobed in her thoughts as she anticipated his invasion. Patience was a virtue, he repeated silently. Gods, he hated virtue. “Another little known fact about our imprisonment.” He slithered toward her mound until his nose nestled in her curls. “They separated the males and the females, so I was without this particular feast for thousands of years.” He extended his tongue slowly and let the muscle come out further than before. He hadn’t wanted to scare her with its unusual length. Vetis started at the bottom of her slit and pressed his hot tongue against her swollen flesh. Slowly, deliberately, he laved his tongue against her sex and teased without entering her. Licking up her cream, he flattened his tongue against her clitoris and pressed rhythmically against the aroused bundle. And Gods, yes, her hips began to rock on their own. Fluttering the tip of his tongue, he flirted with her sex and outlined her nether lips with the same care and attention he’d shown to her mouth earlier. The temptation to just plunge into her hot channel was potent. Instead he slipped inside gently, using the tip of his tongue to arouse her, just barely penetrating her silken sheath. When she moaned low in her throat, he slid in just a little further. But he didn’t expand his tongue as he’d like to. He kept the muscle long and lean instead. Desire swelled and plumped her walls as he tasted her womanly musk. Gods he was so thankful to have this pleasure again. He slid his tongue further inside of her, touched the entrance to her womb and closed his mouth over her entire mound. Her clitoris throbbed against his upper lip and her buttocks thrust against his chin, her hips urgent now. He curled his tongue inside of her vagina, searching for that perfect button. Ah, there. When he found it, he pressed hard against the spot and reveled in the tightening of her slick channel. He fluttered the tip inside her and listened for the catch in her gasps.

With a long lusty moan she orgasmed around his tongue, sucking him further into her body and squeezing every throb of pleasure for herself. Amara collapsed against the pillows, her body flush with the satiation of completion. Triumph roared through him. With reluctance, Vetis withdrew his tongue from her body and sat up. He rubbed her cum from his face, licked his fingers to taste her essence, and then gripped his painful erection in his palm. “My turn.” # Amara flopped on the bed like a rag doll with no control over her limbs. Her brain still fizzed with the electric sensations he had evoked. She couldn’t move. His large palm held his erection as he’d held onto the carrot earlier. He was huge. The rush of fluid between her legs shocked her. She blinked and stretched languorously, marveling at the incredible looseness of her limbs and the euphoria of her first orgasm. At least that was what she thought it was. “Did I just have an orgasm?” “It was your first?” He stroked his palm up and over the head of his cock. “Yes,” she purred. It had been...wonderful. “I am in need of one as well.” “Am I supposed to watch?” She eyed his hand as he gave his staff another slow pump. “Absolutely not. This is a participation sport.” Suddenly she knew what he wanted. The lethargic feeling of well-being evaporated. She’d been forced to do such things before and they were not pleasant. She tried hold onto the looseness, but not tensing proved impossible. Vetis held his palm out to her nose. “Another memory to replace.” His warm masculine scent was impossible to avoid. “Lick my palm,” he commanded. Gods, she didn’t want to taste him. Didn’t want what would come after his palm. Didn’t want to take that giant cock into her mouth and have him use her like a common whore. He continued to

wait. Finally she tentatively licked his palm. “That is the smell of you and me. Together.” He murmured, “Soon you will know it well.” She shuddered at the salty taste in her mouth, torn between revulsion and a growing curiosity. He had already proven that sex held some pleasantness. What he wanted couldn’t possibly bring her more. Could it? “Have you no faith in me?” he tsked. “What is your favorite candy?” “I cannot afford candy.” He waved away the comment. “Pretend you can afford anything you would like.” “Fine.” She thought she might have an inkling of what he was about. If so, it would make the next few minutes bearable. “Minutes?” He gave a shout of laughter. “You do me an injustice.” “But...you’re ready.” “Prolonging the release will make for greater pleasure for everyone involved.” Not for her. But whatever. “Chocolate,” she replied softly. “Excellent. Mine too. Let me untie you.” With a flick of his fingers, he freed her from one binding and then the other. Vetis tugged the tapestry bell pull hanging by the bed then gave the soft material a tiny caress. He turned to Amara and laced his fingers with hers. His erection still big and strong, he walked naked with her over to the dais where he’d touched her with such impersonal hands last night. Amara shivered at the memory. He hadn’t hurt her yet. For that she was grateful. Vetis dragged a footrest over to set in front of the chair. He eased into the large throne chair where he’d lain her over his knees like a banquet last night. “Straddle the footrest, knees on the floor, facing me.” The soft silk of the rug underneath the chair tickled her knees and calves, and the rough hide covering the footrest abraded her overly sensitive mound. He slouched back with his buttocks on the edge, so that somehow the stool was just the correct height. His erection bobbed in her face. She was so close she could count the beats of his pulse through the thickened veins. His rod grew stiffer and stiffer with her perusal. The door behind them opened.

“Ah, thank you, Figgins.” He gestured lazily to the small table next to his chair. “You can put the tray here.” “Very good, my Lord.” Amara wanted to slither to the floor and hide underneath the chair so that the butler wouldn’t see her. But Vetis lifted her chin up gently. “There is no shame in mutual love play.” “Quite right, sir.” The butler never even looked at Amara. Not even a peek. He quietly exited the room. “Have you no sense of propriety?” she asked him curious enough to risk his displeasure. “I spent thousands of years trapped with only male Demons for company, chained to unforgiving rock by a sorcerer’s spell, and without a single stitch of clothing.” She shuddered at the picture of isolation and degradation. He continued. “I wear clothing simply because the feel of the sensuous fabric against my skin pleases me. But being naked holds no shame. It is but a state.” He reached over to the tray and lifted an ornate silver dish into his palm. The rich dark aroma of chocolate wafted to her senses. Gods, she hadn’t had chocolate in years. Since her sixteenth birthday. Long before her marriage. Before her life changed. Her mouth watered. Involuntarily, she leaned toward the seductive treat. Her heart thudded in her chest slowly as he dipped one long finger into the bowl of warm chocolate. She followed the path of his finger as he sloppily traced her mouth. Her lips parted. The sweet flavor burst on her tongue as he pressed his finger into her mouth. Gods, it was so good. She licked the chocolate from her lips, nearly moaning from the taste. He smiled lazily. “More?” “Yes, please.” “How can I deny such a sweet request?” With his finger, he scooped out a little more. She tracked his hand as he moved inexorably toward his cock. Then he lovingly painted the tip with the decadent chocolate. He relaxed against the back of the chair and sucked his finger into his own mouth. “Partake.”

She knew what he wanted. And Gods help her, she was going to give it to him. Perhaps this bargain was not impossible. Perhaps she could have a night of pleasure. Amara placed her palms on the rough hairiness of his thighs, the bristly hairs teasing the softer more sensitive skin of her arms. She eyed the tip of his cock. This wouldn’t be so bad. She tried to convince herself. Tentatively, softly she licked the chocolate. Iit coated her tongue and teased her senses. She tried to ignore his erection and focus solely on the chocolate but the scent of aroused male made her attempts impossible. “Best way to get all the chocolate is to put your entire mouth over the head.” His voice guttural, she glanced up at him. She found his gaze rapt on her mouth and she realized hat she held some power here. Amara sucked the head of his cock into her mouth. Only the head. Her lips formed a moue over the tip. Each gentle pull delivered chocolate to her taste buds, the sweet flavor delicious. “Time for more.” Vetis popped his cock from her mouth. While she had been sucking, he had scooped chocolate onto two of his fingers. Now, he globbed the chocolate on the tip of his penis. She licked her lips and readied to take him into her mouth again. “Not yet.” Vetis made her wait as the chocolate oozed down the sides of his rod. The sweet aroma of the chocolate mingled with the darker scent of his cum as he finally nodded his approval. He tipped his hips downward to give her better access to his cock. She opened her mouth obediently. This time he did nothing but wait. “Put my cock inside your mouth.” He gave her the control. Amara curled her fingers around the massive base of his penis and guided the member into the recesses of her mouth. When the tip hit the back of her throat she closed her lips around him and pressed her tongue up against his cock, sucking the chocolate off of him. Her position created friction in unexpected places. The soft velvet of the seat cushion rubbed against her nipples, the sensation pleasant. She straddled the footrest and when she pressed forward, the bristled hide chafed with an unusual, erotic pressure. The urge to increase that pressure surprised her. “I believe it’s all gone.” Vetis rasped.

Amara let go of his cock reluctantly. He plunged four fingers into the bowl. Amara licked her lips in anticipation of the taste and feel of his hot flesh in her mouth. This time, he painted his entire cock with chocolate and liquid rushed to her nether regions. Amara squirmed. His raging hard cock was drenched in chocolate and the treat was all hers. Without waiting for approval, she sucked his cock into her mouth, suctioning off the chocolate and savoring the slide of sweetness down her throat. She pulled more of him inside until the head of his cock hit the back of her throat. Instinctively she swallowed and the contraction of her muscles drew a harsh groan from him. She did it again. His hips pushed against her face. And she knew what to do. Previously, she had been the unwilling recipient but now she became the giver. Amara controlled their pleasure. She rose to her knees and with long sure strokes, she worked his cock in and out of her mouth. The salty drops of his cum and chocolate taunted her aroused senses. Each time he hit the back of her throat she swallowed, squeezing his rod. Her lips pressed against the base, and when she reached under him and gripped his balls, he came with a great shout. His hot seed spurted into the back of her throat, overpowering the taste of chocolate, burning a path into her body. Warming her from the inside out. So this was what pleasure was all about. A rush of gratitude for a Demon giving her this gift spread through her. “Thank you.” Amara licked her lips. Above her Vetis’s breathe sawed in and out. The carpet-covered stone floor burned her knees, the hard buds of her nipples pressed into the rough hair on his thighs, and her lower body ached for more. For as much as this sexual encounter was pleasurable, she was unexpectedly unfulfilled. Vetis responded to her thanks. “You’re welcome.” “So we are done?” Amara could finally be free of the bargain. She could go home with the knowledge that sex didn’t always hurt. “Look around you.” “My Lord?” “The stipulation was for one night of pleasure.”

“True.” She didn’t like the feelings that coursed through her. The bite of disappointment and the snap of irritation flooded her mind as she waited impatiently for his answer. “It is daytime.” So the bargain was not met yet. That was what she got for trusting a Demon.

Chapter Ten

Vetis lounged on his side, surrounded by silk bed pillows, head propped on his hand, and surveyed his latest project. Amara, covered in a shimmering sheath of the palest pink, lay wraith-like against the ruby red sheets. The nearly sheer cloth of the gown revealed more than it hid. The backside of the cloth caused a subtle friction whenever she moved. As she shifted underneath his scrutiny, her nipples beaded. It was a delightful form of foreplay. He had worked on one of his goals-tutoring her in love arts. Now it was time for a more serious endeavor. Flames from the torches on either side of the bed cast a warm glow over the dark sheets as the sun descended into the horizon. The sky was a wash of vibrant colors, purples, blues, and deep blood red. Ten years after the great Earthquake, the sky still bloomed with the volcanic dust. “You enjoyed our feast?” He had plied her with all manner of delights. Succulent roast pig, delicate cheese, sweet strawberries straight from his hand, all disappeared into the talented cavern of her mouth. Truly he hadn’t expected much from the chocolate experiment. She had far exceeded his meager expectations. “It was wonderful.” Her lips quirked in the most amazing little smile. It was the first sign of happiness he’d provoked since she’d come into his chamber and the expression seemed to set rather uneasily on her face. He had an ulterior motive this time. He’d purposely seduced her with delicacies, so that he could plumb her mind for information about her husband’s treachery. In truth, he believed only Edward had an alliance with the Fae. But he must be sure. To satisfy Gaap, to protect the whole Demon race from their mortal enemies, the question of her innocence must be resolved. So first he sated her with sex then food. As if plying her with food and carnal pleasure would somehow absolve his unexpected guilt over invading her mind. Zepar lingered in the shadows as his backup. Between the two they should be able to discern her true purpose. Vetis would be particularly harsh with her if she turned out to be involved with the Fae.

The rest of the room settled into darkness as the sun hid for the night and the moon had yet to rise. Peat torches flanked the bed and cast an intimate glow down upon their little haven. She would not be able to see Zepar. “So how did you come to be here?” He trailed his finger over the delicate arch of her eyebrow. “I believe you know, my Lord.” “You and your husband run a tavern?” She snorted. “I do the work.” In his mind, he saw as she scrubbed the floor on her knees, tended to the stew in the kitchen and poured the drafts while her husband entertained in a dark corner. “He reaps the money.” Vetis leisurely twisted a blonde curl of her hair around his finger, marveling at its fine silk before dropping the lock over one breast. “But he does not always reap money or you would not find yourself here.” She blinked, as if she’d forgotten why she lay in his bed, wore his gown and sucked his cock. Dammit. She was worth more than one hundred of her gambling husband. Did she not see that? “Quite true.” Her smile had disappeared. “My apologies. His cavalier treatment of you...grates.” Vetis ran his palm over her breast. Her nipple stabbed into his hand, as if in supplication and her back arched. He petted her breast in an attempt to soothe her. Zepar shifted in the shadows. Right. Back to business. “And has he offered you as payment before?” Pictures flashed through her brain at such speed Vetis was nearly dizzy. Most similar to what he’d already seen. The sheen of terror that coated the memories was not faked. “Yes, my Lord.” Amara hunched her shoulders, curving away from his touch. Vetis thought back to his trip to the dungeon. Of the gambler’s fear of sodomy, his fear of Zepar. “What of him?” “What of him?” The venom in her voice was easy to intuit. She would betray the husband without a backward glance. “How does your husband treat you?”

“He doesn’t,” she said flatly. But the emotion in her mind wasn’t dismay it was gratitude. “He claims he doesn’t want to catch anything.” Vetis leaned over to lick the tender skin behind her ear. Her breath caught. “Have you ever been taken with care and gentleness?” He couldn’t help the question. It had no place in this subtle interrogation but only he and Zepar would know. “No, my Lord.” “We shall have to remedy that,” he declared. It would be so. She relaxed back down into the satin sheets. “I...would like that my Lord.” Vetis parted the slit in the gown that allowed for easy access to the erogenous zones. Cupping her full globe, he pressed small sipping kisses against her flushed skin. In the cool night air, her skin grew chilled. Her nipple was like ice in his hot, hot mouth. Vetis taunted his old friend by exposing her other breast to the cool air. While Zepar watched, he plucked the nipple until the bud rose in salute. Zepar had a particular fondness for breasts. They both did after being denied the glory of females for thousands of years. Vetis turned his head to rub the stubble from his chin along her aroused nipples. “Oh.” She sighed. Zepar’s breeches rustled. With his Demon senses, Vetis searched the shadows. His friend’s cock rose proud and erect from a nest of blond curls, the large erection tight in Zepar’s fist. Vetis eased the material of the short gown up just slightly to reveal her sex to Zepar’s regard. Aroused woman, ripe fruit, and smoke from the torches scented the air around their illicit threesome. Gods, yes, she had started to respond without fear, eyes closed and features flushed as she lost herself in his sensual caress. His chest swelled. Triumph and desire surged through him. He would succeed in his goal and usher her into a world of sensual delight. When he was sure that Zepar would be able to see her glistening curls, Vetis taunted him by fondling her. “My Lord?” “Just working on your full night of pleasure.” “Is this to be it then?”

The disappointment in her voice was too much for him. “I don’t believe so.” Her night was going to be superb. Not just some rush job while Zepar looked on. “Good.” She sighed again and shifted her legs restlessly. Her hip bumped against the burning heat of his erection. But tonight was not for him. He didn’t just intend for her to be satisfied. He wanted her to beg. To be mindless with lust. To long for his thick hard cock inside of her velvet sheath. Tonight he desired to leave her sated but empty. His mouth savored her breast as he supped on her flesh. He trilled his fingers against her sex. With each little press, more juice from her body coated his hand. Gods, how could anyone have ruined such a responsive pussy. He nipped at the bud of her nipple and she arched, entreating him to take more. Vetis obliged her and sucked her areola into his mouth, hard. He curled the tip of his tongue around the nipple and feasted on her. His palm massaged the soft skin between belly button and mound before sliding down to cup her curls. She moaned. The soft sound echoed in the darkened room and covered Zepar’s heightened breathing. Her legs bucked to increase the rocking of her hips. Vetis shoved the heel of his hand against her clitoris as she spread her legs without being asked. “One last question, peach,” he murmured against her nipple, teasing the bud with the brush of air. “What’s. That?” Her hips rose in time with his strokes. Vetis chanced a look at Zepar whose hand kept time with the stroke of Vetis’s fingers along Amara’s slit. “My Lord.” He slipped her clitoris between his fingers and rubbed in sync with Zepar in an intimate rhythm. His own cock full to bursting, cum leaked out the tip and dropped to the sheets unnoticed. “Why do you suppose your husband chose to gamble with me?” A glaze of passion fuzzed her mind. It took a moment for the right image to focus. She pictured the Fae that her husband had his assignation with but that was it. He couldn’t see if she had been aware that the Fae wanted the gambler to lose to Vetis. Her eyebrows scrunched in thought. “I don’t know.” But Vetis had no desire for her to think any longer upon his questions. He distracted her with his hand. Her body rocked to the rhythm he set. She thrust her hips upward as her channel begged to be fucked. Only his poor innocent had no idea what she longed

for. Her yearning encouraged him. She would have her night of pleasure. He would demand it of her. “Very good.” Vetis praised her and clamped her clitoris. Amara threw her head back as she orgasmed around his hand and her body wept for want of a cock to invade her. Conquer her. Vetis glanced to the end of the bed as the jet of Zepar’s sperm shot into a bucket. Zepar’s gaze burned and his hand still pumped while the force of his silenced orgasm strained the muscles of his throat. Vetis gave one last glance to the slackening cock of his friend while his own trembled with unspent seed. Zepar was better served than Vetis at this point. His friend slipped from the room as silently as he had come. Presumably to share their new knowledge with Prince Gaap. Amara was safe with him. For now. With that thought, he rolled Amara onto her side, pulling her into a protective embrace. Her heartbeat thudded against her breastbone and vibrated along his arms. As she descended from the sexual high, her breath shuddered. The cleft of her ass cradled his pulsing erection. “What about you?” she responded drowsily. “Sleep, peach.” She was exhausted. If he were a forgiving sort, he’d agree that the bargain was fulfilled. But he would demand her complete surrender. Tomorrow. They would satisfy the terms of the bargain tomorrow.

Chapter Eleven

“You need to let her go,” Zepar said calmly. “And the husband with her.” “Not until the bargain is fulfilled.” Vetis popped a grape into his mouth and chewed enjoying the burst of flavor on his tongue. “The bargain is a trap. That makes the deal null and void.” “I will not cheat her.” Vetis tamped down on his fury. “The bargain will be fulfilled tonight.” Zepar lounged in a chair in front of the fireplace in his chamber. The crack of a log splitting echoed the tension in the massive room. “The longer he lingers in the dungeon, the more danger he puts us all in.” “But the Fae have no idea that we know about their bargain with him,” Vetis said. “And we have no idea why they sent him here.” “We will follow Amara and Edward when they leave,” Vetis replied softly. Gods, he hated letting her leave with her husband. But the Demons needed to find out what the Fae had intended by sending Edward to the Demon castle. He hated allowing the worm to go free. Bile soured the grapes in his stomach. Evisceration would be kind. Vetis craved the violence of carving the gambler into pieces. Even better, he wanted Amara to have the option of killing the sod. He may yet let it happen. “What do you suppose The Fae are up to?” “They struck a deal with the gambler to lose to me specifically,” Vetis said shortly. “You saw what I saw.” “I saw more than that.” Zepar grinned, his face creased with amusement. “Maybe we should change our names. For it seems as if our very natures have switched.” Vetis gave a shout of laughter. “I am no match for your seductive powers.” “You did a fine job without my help.” “My student is most willing.” Vetis frowned. What would happen to her when she left the protection of the Demon castle? When she left his protection? And what if the Fae enacted revenge on her for her husband’s failure?

“What’s wrong?” “I don’t like the idea of her out there.” He waved casually toward the window. “Without some sort of protection.” Or at the depraved mercy of her ever-losing husband. “We’ll protect her until we find out why the Fae used the gambler to target you.” Zepar planted his booted feet on the stone floor. “Then it will be over.” Vetis understood Zepar’s admonishment. He didn’t have the time to worry about one innocent waif when their bargain was finished. He needed to focus on the coming battle with the Fae. He needed to spend his time gathering energy to wield Demon magick, not mooning after some barmaid. But as if he sensed Vetis’s conflict, Zepar turned toward him. “However, if she turns out to be involved, we will kill her.” Denial was immediate and visceral. A flash of pure rage rippled through his muscles. No one would touch her. But wisely, Vetis muted his reaction, unwilling to let Zepar know how strongly he felt about Amara. As casually as he could manage, Vetis said, “Perhaps we should pay another visit to the groom and warn him of the danger of harming Amara.” The potential for violence, an outlet for the mass of emotion that swirled through him, perked him up. “You have feelings for her.” Zepar stated as he propped his elbows on his knees and stared into the flickering fire. “I will admit that this corruption started as a lark,” Vetis cautiously replied. He crunched a bite of carrot in his mouth. With a wince, her remembered the relish she had taken in biting the tip off. “Getting a human to do something good against their nature should be the purest form of corruption.” But now that he knew Amara, he knew she deserved more. And he was determined to be the one to give it to her. He knew the reward would be much sweeter when she was finally ready for their loveplay. But the constant arousal was killing him. “You can’t let her distract you from our larger problems.” “Do you think that’s why they sent her here? As a distraction?” “There’s no way anyone who has heard of you would believe that you would chose such a challenge over one more prone to violence.” Vetis had garnered a reputation among the Humans. Purely from their own damn faults.

A truly corrupt soul cannot hold out long against the temptation to reveal its blackened core. In the battle against the Fae, the Demons needed all the energy they could trap. Rage, fear, and greed engendered far more energy than sex. It would be a waste of his time. The Fae would know that. So what had they wanted? “Maybe they thought I would have him...what? Kill her? And that would clear his debt. But what purpose does that accomplish?” Murder also breeds an energy but the act uses energy as well. “Perhaps it is time to pay the man a visit.” Zepar’s arms rippled as he pushed to his feet. He frowned. “And what is the sweet Amara doing?” “I asked the Graces pay her a visit.” “Instruction?” “Of a sort,” Vetis said thoughtfully. “I vowed to give her the gift of sexual satisfaction. She should be able to find pleasure.” “An excellent solution.” Vetis grimaced. His gut churned as he thought of her with the three women. He’d sent them to her, but he had to resist the urge to storm into his chamber and wrench her away from their tutelage. # Amara paced around the Demon’s chamber. She was unused to inactivity. With the exception of her bed play with the Demon, she had done nothing for two days. A small flush spread through her as she remembered last night. Zepar, the big Demon from the first night, had spied on them acting the voyeur. She had known he was there. Had known he watched and still she’d bubbled into a rich sexual puddle when Vetis had stroked her womanhood to orgasm. A flush of arousal swept through her and flooded her feminine parts. Making her wonder...Last night had been quite enjoyable. But apparently Vetis had not deemed it pleasurable enough. How could there be more? Yet, her womb ached, seemingly unfulfilled. She longed for something, but she had no idea what else there could be. The sex act itself was a painful, rough invasion. It would hurt when he tried to enter her with his cock. Vetis was huge.

And still her lower body throbbed as she pictured his thick erect cock, purple veins, and luminescent cum beaded on the bulbous head. And there it was again, that mystifying gush of liquid from her pussy. Three soft knocks on the massive door interrupted her thoughts. “Ah...Come in?” The door swung open to reveal three beautiful young women, one blond, one dark, the other redhaired. Ivy and periwinkle twined like crowns through their long hair. They wore white panels of fine fabric that covered their breasts and flowed down to mid-thigh, gathered at the waist with a belt fashioned from rope. Each carried a large pot of steaming water. “Hello,” they said in unison. Lavender and rose scent wafted from the pitchers as they fluttered to a bathtub concealed behind a sheer curtain. “Hello,” she replied tentatively. Amara had been sequestered in this room with no contact with anyone except Vetis, Zepar, and the butler. She had little knowledge of what existed outside of his large stone chamber. So she fell back on her regular service role. “Can I help you?” They tittered as they poured the scented water into the bath. As they leaned over the tub, Amara couldn’t help but notice that they wore no undergarments. “Who are you?” “We are the Graces,” the blonde one replied softly. “Like the ancient Greek goddesses?” Amara frowned. The laughed together, the musical notes like a waterfall of sound. “No silly. That is just the title the Demons gifted us with.” The brunette smiled easily at Amara. The blonde spoke again. “Vetis sent us to you.” “Oh, Vetis,” the red-haired one sighed. “Is he truly as large as he looks?” “Hush, Laia,” the brunette admonished. “Um, have you never seen him?” Amara frowned. If he sent them, surely they must know him. “His cock,” Laia trailed her fingers along her collarbone, her expression dreamy. “Is his cock as large as the rest of him?” Amara swallowed thickly, remembering Vetis’s large erection as the chocolate ran down the sides of his rod. She licked her lips.

“Oh my.” The blonde one’s eyelids drooped as a huff of breath escaped. “Truly?” “Forget it,” the brunette said grouchily. “It’s not like we’ll ever get to see the thing. My name is Thalia.” “How do you do?” Amara responded formally, even though the situation was quite bizarre. What could they want with her? “I’m Cleta,” the blond one smiled shyly, “and that’s Laia.” Both Cleta and Laia appeared loose and flushed from the steaming water. But next to the tub, Thalia stood stiffly, her face set in a frown. “If we could just touch him.” Cleta cupped her own breast and rubbed her thumb over her protruding nipple. Her ardent gaze focused on Amara. The thought of Cleta touching her Vetis sent a shiver of annoyance down Amara’s spine and her fingernails bit into her work-roughened palms. That was silly. He wasn’t hers. He was a Demon. Bound to no one. But then curiosity got the better of Amara. “Why will you never see him?” For as much as her time here was enjoyable, she knew soon it would come to an end and Vetis would be entertaining someone else in his bed. Her mouth pulled down and she refused to acknowledge the weight that constricted her chest. “Oh, we are not allowed congress with the Demon nobility.” Laia twirled her finger around the ivy twined in her red hair. “It’s against the rules.” “Stupid rules.” Cleta pinched her own nipple. Amara couldn’t look away from Cleta’s hands as she aroused herself. Amara’s pulse spiked as Cleta’s face tautened and her breathing increased. “Cleta, we haven’t started yet,” Thalia reprimanded. Started what? “Why are you here then?” “Settle into the bath and we’ll begin your lesson.” Laia laced her fingers with Amara’s and tugged her toward the steaming water. “What lesson?” Thalia and Cleta unhooked the ties at Amara’s shoulder. “Vetis requests you to learn to pleasure yourself.” #

Vetis and Zepar took up the same positions outside the gambler’s cell. Except this time the man lay on the simple cot, his body sprawled in slumber, while his cock tented his drawstring pants. He dreamed of men abusing his wife while he looked on, cock in hand. But the gambler’s dream revealed what his conscious mind had not. He hungered for male flesh and his arousal stemmed from watching the other men’s aroused penises. Vetis growled low in his throat. “He has no remorse for the way he treated her.” Rage thundered through his body, blood pumped through him, the vein at his temple threatened to pop. Each heartbeat delivered a violent need to kill this miserable excuse for a Human. “How are we the Demons?” Zepar stepped closer to Vetis, lay his hand heavily upon his shoulder, and offered his sympathy. “We are not.” “We must prod him to dream of what we need to see, not this...abomination.” He swallowed deep in his throat at the fury of watching sweet Amara be abused. They had both seen worse. He’d corrupted people over less. And Zepar’s seductions were not always of the wholesome sort. But this was Amara. Zepar said, “We will have our revenge.” They nudged the gambler’s dream, pushing him toward another type of satisfaction. The dream shifted to the man standing in a pile of gold coins, laughing while the Fae probed his mind. Unfortunately, the dream solidified nothing except that the gambler truly did conspire with the Fae. “You know what must be done,” Zepar said softly Vetis had to let her go. They needed them out of the castle. “In the morning.” He would have tonight. She would have tonight. “Now would be better.” “The bargain must be met. If we deviate from the terms, Edward and the Fae could become suspicious,” Vetis gritted out. Silently he promised. She will have her pleasure. Although right now he wasn’t sure who needed the pleasure more. And he couldn’t fathom why he was so insistent on fulfilling her. But the more time he spent with Amara the more he understood she had no joy in her life.

He refused to think about how his bargain had turned into more. For him, for her, tonight was about ultimate pleasure. “You’re right. We must fulfill the terms of the bargain.” Zepar shifted his cock in his breeches and leered at Vetis. “Do you want my assistance?” No! The thought roared through Vetis but he forced himself to smile easily. “No. The moon will be full tonight. You must gather as much energy for whatever attack the Fae have planned.”

Chapter Twelve

Amara reclined on the chaise in Vetis’s chamber, the room illuminated only by the bright light of a full moon. The velvet curtains were tied back to let in the silvery light. Amara savored the cool, silent midnight. The room was redolent with the scents of lavender, rose, and feminine arousal. The Graces had been most helpful as they explained ways to self-pleasure and demonstrated on themselves, instructing her to follow their motions. She had dutifully learned their techniques, except she had imagined Vetis administering the languid caresses, until she brought herself to climax. The experience had been...fine. Lovely. But she longed for him. Not for her own administered affection. She ached for his hands to stroke and plunder and sate her desires. To fill that hollow place that resided within her. All these years she’d been unaware of how empty she truly was until Vetis had shown her. And Gods, how wonderful. She had desires! She had never believed she could be normal. She had considered herself doomed. Who would have ever thought that a Demon could awaken her body? And now that she was ready for him, ready to complete the bargain.... He was nowhere to be found. The door blew open with a gust of wind. The slow thud of her heartbeat reverberated through her body. Her nipples pebbled, her womb clenched, everything within her tightened as she waited to discover if Vetis had come to attend her. He stood in the doorway, a dark silhouette in the flickering lights from the shadowed hallway. Clad in leather Engineer boots, snug leather breeches, and a fine silk shirt, he lounged with lazy grace against the doorframe. “My Lord.” The title rasped over vocal chords gone suddenly dry. Was tonight the night? She was ready for him. Ready to submit. He strode into the room like a dark warrior intent on conquest. The silvery moonlight shadowed his face in lines of menace and his hooded eyes burned with intensity.

She lay against the stiff back of the chaise, unsure what to do next. “Are you...unwell?” The Graces had given her a gown of pale pink, similar to their own, but with panels so fine it was painfully obvious when her nipples tightened beneath the filmy sheer fabric. He stopped as if drunk on the sight of her, bathed and pampered and lotioned, ready for his pleasure. The bulge in his breeches belied the shadows she thought she’d seen. “We will both be very well. Quite soon, I might add.” Her heart triple-timed at the promise inherent in his words. “I am...very glad to hear so, my Lord.” He eased down next to her and caged her between his muscled arms. The heat from his body crowded her, pulsating like a living breathing entity, as he traced one finger slowly across the sensitive skin of her collarbone. Goosebumps shimmied along her skin. Her nipples tightened in response to the simple caress. He nuzzled her with his jaw before licking up the side of her neck with his hot, agile tongue. Then Vetis traced the shape of her ear with his nose and inhaled slowly. “Mmm, there is nothing sweeter than the scent of a well-pleasured woman.” His tongue curled around the edge of her jaw as he traced his hand from the curve of her shoulder down to her fingers. Like a proper English gentleman, he lifted her hand to his mouth in a courtly gesture. But then he dragged her fingers along his nose and drew them into his mouth. The rasp of his tongue against her flesh sent a spear of electricity thrumming through her. Arousal arrowed through her body and straight to her womb. She gasped, dizzy from the heat and the power. “Except perhaps the scent of man and woman well-pleasured together.” A wicked smile tilted his lips as he surveyed her body and then narrowed in on her nipples. Puckered and waiting for his kiss, the pert tips strained against the sheer material. But he ignored her breasts and trailed his hand leisurely down her stomach to her female core. The panels had been draped modestly over her, but somehow they must have fallen open, for her curls were exposed to his heavy-lidded perusal. “You’ve learned well, my sweet.” Exploring the same path his gaze had taken, he feathered his fingers along her bare skin then gently flicked one nipple. Her body jerked at the unexpected contact. He cupped her breast, rubbing the aroused nub with his knowing fingers. As if the secrets of carnal knowledge lay waiting in the depths of his midnight blue gaze, she couldn’t look away.

To unlock those secrets, she would do anything he asked of her this night. Because in the depths of his Demon soul she had found her own rebirth. As if he’d read her thoughts, Vetis cupped her head to urge her mouth toward his. When they were but a hair’s breadth apart, Vetis stopped. Still compelling her with his gaze, he slid his hand, firm and sure, between the filmy material. The hot brand of his fingers seared her breast as he caressed the bud with the utmost care. Amara shivered. Excitement simmered in the beat of her heart and the clench of her womb. So different from the first time he had touched her thus. He murmured against her lips, the contact light, gentle and oh-so erotic, “We will both be wellsated this night.” Then he sealed his mouth over hers, his tongue demanding entry into the cavern of her mouth. When his long tongue probed, she didn’t hesitate. Forming a moue, she sucked on the tip, telling him with her mouth what she wanted to do to him. The action seemed to inflame him. Vetis pressed her into the curve of the velvet chaise. The hard, hot planes of his muscled chest rubbed against the aching tips of her breasts. The contact was too light. Too light. Amara moaned and hungered for more. And then he took over and invaded her mouth with long slow thrusts. As she imagined his cock inside of her, she hollowed her cheeks and sucked harder. With every draw of her throat, an answering pull shuddered deep in her womb. Her body quivered for his touch. Only his. Amara pulled away from the wet heat of his mouth. “Please.” She begged. She wanted sex. She wanted to be taken, used, fucked. She wanted whatever he would give her. # Vetis heard the absolute submission in her words. Gone was the woman of no feeling. Of no emotions. Fire flared in her cool blue eyes. Fire for him. As he probed her thoughts, no fear hovered. Just the pure, beautiful glow of desire. He glanced at the chaise. Suitable for their second or third or fourth sex act of the night. But not this first one. Gods, he would finally penetrate her. He thought of all the wicked ways he could take her, but finally settled on the perfect start. “Come.” He eased his breeches open to relieve the pressure from his stiff cock.

“I certainly hope so, my Lord.” He barked a laugh and easily lifted her into his arms. He carried her to the bed, noting the sensual way the sheer panels rubbed against her body and became trapped within the wet folds of her sex. Vetis gently laid her down on the silk sheets and stood for a moment to admire her voluptuous curves. Flush with desire, panels askew, breasts round, nipples exposed. Her curls glistened, begging for his mouth. Her lips were red and swollen from his kiss. And he saw absolute acceptance in her gaze as she beckoned him to join her. Gods, she was beautiful. Vetis divested himself of his boots. He stood at the edge of the bed and he reached for the bottom of his shirt to peel over his head. Amara rolled onto her side and delicately licked the vein in his engorged rod. Blood zinged to his already rock hard erection, bulleting through his bloodstream. His head grew light with the rush of sex. “Thank you, sweet.” He popped the head of his cock from her mouth and stifled a moan of disappointment. Her pleasure was more important right now. “Perhaps later we can have a go at that.” Vetis rolled her onto her back and proceeded to lave every inch of her body with his tongue, tasting her flavors. The hint of lavender along the valley of her breasts, the sweet salty of the underside of her breast, and the heated moisture from her sex. Her hands gripped his head with urgency, her hips rolled into the carnal attentions of his mouth as he kissed and nipped and played with her clitoris. “Please.” The urge to penetrate her with his tongue was strong. To find that button and give her some relief but greater rewards awaited them both. Vetis rose over her, her body a temple he’d worshiped. But now, it was time to plunder. The head of his cock teased her folds. Amara grabbed his hips and tried to urge him into her. “Please what?” he ground out, his control nearly gone. “Please.” Amara twisted beneath him. The movement coated his cock with her feminine essence. Her pussy was drenched with want, with need. “Look at me,” he commanded. She looked up at him and he probed her mind. Complete trust melded with raging desire.

Gods, she was more than ready. “Tell me what you want.” “Please,” she pleaded. He wanted her total surrender. She pushed her torso off the bed and wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his waist, clinging tenaciously. She murmured against his mouth. “Fuck me.” The sensation was heady. He’d taken an abused, frozen woman and turned her into a wanton sex goddess. He slid into her slick, welcoming channel in one smooth thrust. “Now the night of your bargain begins.”

Chapter Thirteen

Amara nearly wept with relief as the thick hard staff of his erection slid into her. Gods, he was big. His cock spread her wide. Her body fisted around his thick member, the walls of her core suckling his cock just as surely as her mouth had. Every pulse urged him further inward. Before, the invasion had been awkward and hurtful. Now Vetis invaded her channel as if he’d been made only for her. He pushed in to the hilt, his pubic bone pressing against her clitoris, and the heavy weight of his balls cuddled against her engorged sex. That terrible pressure, the ache that hollowed out her womb and left her wanting was suddenly gone. Replaced by the fullness of Vetis. His cock throbbed within her. He held there, propped on his elbows, with his arms cording. The wiry hairs of his legs were a welcome abrasion against the softer skin of her inner thighs. Her heart thundered in her chest, banging against her ribcage. Each pump of blood, winging through her body, pulsed through the folds of her sex. “Vetis?” “A moment,” he grated out. She nudged her hips up, needing relief, needing something. The tilt of her hips pushed her clitoris harder into his pubis, and the head of his cock rubbed against a secret place inside. “Oh.” Vetis began to pull out of her. Amara whimpered, hooked her legs tighter around his waist, and dug her heels into his buttocks. The engorged head massaged that secret spot as he rocked in and out of her wet, creaming pussy. Her head went light as all of her blood rushed to her core. Her body strained, trembling with need. “Help me,” she panted. Vetis began to thrust just a little harder. The head of his cock hit her womb and his balls slapped against her mound. He nuzzled her breasts, lapping at her nipples with long sure strokes.

Everything faded until she was surrounded by Vetis, surrounded by the details of this moment. The slippery satin beneath her buttocks. The hard silken cage of his arms. The smooth planes of his back under her palms. The musk of mightily aroused male as he slammed in and out of her body. The gush of liquid from her pussy, no longer empty, as he filled her to the hilt. His cock became impossibly harder, swelling so big, he satisfied her body completely. The thick rod caressed every nerve in her channel and stoked her arousal, until the sensations building within her burst. The explosion whitened her vision and stopped her heart as wave after wave of sensation rolled over her. Colors kaleidescoped in her mind. Euphoria fizzed through her body and spread out like a nova, pulsing through her nerve endings and sensitizing her from her toes to the skin on her scalp. Every pore of her body was overwhelmed by his sensual assault. Vetis pumped in and out of her, until he stiffened, pushing up, neck straining as he jetted his seed into her in hard bursts, the dark beauty of his face ravaged by passion. Her hearted thumped and sweat slicked her skin. Gratitude, wonder, and relief, tumbled through her and bounced off the walls of her mind like a pebble in a fast-moving creek . As their blood slowed and their bodies cooled, Vetis leaned down to rest his forehead against hers. “That is an example of proper sex,” he said softly. There had been nothing violent or invasive about his touch. It was everything concourse between a man and woman should be, erotic, beautiful, decadent. Right. The beauty of their joining was like coming home, like discovering where she truly belonged. She couldn’t contain all the emotions flowing through her, tears leaked from her eyes. Carefully, Vetis rolled to the side, staying locked with her, pulling her tightly against the hard muscles of his chest. He ran his palm over her back, and down to the curve of her hip. “Don’t cry sweet Amara.” He soothed her with a light touch. “Come, tell me more about your life.” And so she shared with him, her duties, her daily life at Edward’s family pub, and the dark miasma that coated most human existence. For thousands of years, humans had ruled the Earth, their only true enemies and predators, each other.

But once the Demons had been unleashed, the Humans had battled the Demons believing they were the enemy. Of course, Humans, no match for the fearsome power and thousands of years of rage of the Demons, were easily defeated without their electronic weapons and reliance on technology. But neither Demons nor Fae could survive without drawing energy from Human emotions so for awhile there had been an uneasy truce. Until the Fae had actively attempted to re-imprison the Demons again. Now Humans were caught between the two races. And, they were third on the food chain. The infighting and corruption that filled everyday life caused much strain. Most of which she bore with resigned acceptance. “What was it like?” she asked. Her fingers feathered along the corded skin of his neck and distracted him. “Hmm?” His cock began to harden again as her light touch stoked to life the sexual energy never far from the surface around her. “What?” “Your imprisonment.” “Let’s not speak of such things.” Amara cupped his shadowed jaw in her fingers and held his face still until he drowned in her acceptance. “Let us speak of it.” And so he told her of the cold, and the damp, and the dark, one arm chained by Fae magick, the other hand and tongue free to find the insects that lived in the earth for his only sustenance. The lack of privacy and the lack of women. The deep abiding loneliness, even in a space filled with other Demons. “Thank you,” she murmured, then swallowed as if unable to say more. He began to lure her into round two, astonished anew at the softness of her skin and the languid arch of her back as she preened like a cat in the sun. He rejoiced at her easy acceptance of him and his touch, her enjoyment in the simple caress a far cry from when she first entered his chamber. The payment may have begun, but the debt was barely paid. “You can thank me later,” he said arrogantly as his cock hardened to steel. He rolled onto his back, bringing her with him, her knees beside his ribcage so she squatted over him, her pussy hot against his erection. The bounty of her breasts swung in his face as he reached up to tweak her beautiful rosy nipples. “We’re not done yet.”

Chapter Fourteen

Amara stretched languidly, her body deliciously sore from last night. Sunlight streamed through the windows and reminded her of their third time together, when Vetis banged into her from behind, her breasts smashed against the cold stone window ledge. The contrast of frigid cold against her front and the inferno of his body from behind had been unbelievably erotic. He pounded into her sex while the moonlight rippled over the waves of the sea and seemed to encircle them in a halo of sizzling energy. This morning the satin slipped over her abraded nipples and slithered between her legs like a silent lover as she shifted back against his hard warm body. He nuzzled the sensitive skin between the crook in her neck and the back of her ear. Arousal shimmered through her and her feminine petals dewed. “Gods, again?” He slid his clever fingers through her curls to swirl around the plumping bud of her clitoris and then inserted two fingers into her weeping channel. Amara moaned low in her throat. “You’re insatiable,” he teased. Her hips pumped. His breath came faster against the side of her neck, and his erection rubbed along the crease of her buttocks. “Shall we retire to the chaise?” he murmured. The fourth time they’d pleasured each other with their mouths at the same time. Just thinking about his thick hard cock fucking her mouth and her throat caused Amara to whimper. She wanted to grab hold of this pleasure while she could because she knew deep down, her time here was almost at an end. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to live secluded in this opulent chamber and indulge in sex and heat forever. But as if he read her mind, he whispered with true regret in his voice. “You cannot.” “Then no chaise. Here and now.” She took control, rolled onto her back, then yanked him on top of her with an urgency that bordered on frantic. Amara wrapped her legs around his waist, like the first time he had shown her what love should truly be like between a man and a woman. She guided his already rigid erection into her body.

“You know there are plenty of more interesting positions....” he tapered off, noting her intensity. The giant door was shoved open with a bang. “It’s time,” Zepar said gruffly. Pain stabbed her heart, visceral and immediate as her hope for more bled out onto the sexinfused sheets. “Please,” she whispered. She knew Zepar could see everything. See her open slit, flushed and wet with arousal and Vetis’s cock penetrating her to the hilt, and she didn’t care. She would wrest this last time from Vetis even if they had an audience. Amara didn’t even look over. “Send him away.” As they hovered on a precipice, the room was eerily quiet. Vetis threaded his fingers through her hair and pressed his forehead against hers, acknowledging silently, this would be their last time. “Give us a few minutes,” he commanded. “We can only spare a few,” Zepar replied softly. Vetis pulled out in a long slow stroke and left Amara quivering with need. Her body bowed with lust. “Leave us ‘til then.” “As you wish.” Zepar closed the door softly. They held there, suspended. She memorized his features, holding this moment in her heart, so she could take out it out later like a treasure from her memory chest. “Make love to me.” She knew she was asking for too much. He’d given her so much already. Her dignity, her resolve, her sexuality. But she was greedy and just this once she wanted more. “Yes,” he replied and slid back into her body with reverence. Even though she couldn’t express all the feelings in her heart, she poured all the love she had into this last time with her Demon lover. # Vetis was still buzzing from the energy generated in his last bout of sex with Amara. Of course intercourse always gave off a joint electrical pulse but it had never been enough to generate magickal energy. Yet here he stood, while his body sizzled with a surfeit of energy. He needed to store the energy away but it was imperative the Demons understand how this energy had manifested. The jolt of power had been ten times what he would normally gather from Human fear or greed. The phenomena needed to be catalogued and studied. And re-created.

Was it only Amara? Did she have some special power he had not intuited? He didn’t know. There would be time later to discover the secrets of what had happened but now they must try to trap the Fae who was working with the husband. So Vetis had to let her go. “Bring him in,” Vetis commanded Figgins. Zepar and Figgins escorted Edward into his chamber. The husband looked much the worse for wear, his clothes smudged with dirt and his hair hung in unkempt hanks around his deceitful face. “The cunt actually did it?” His brows rose in disbelief at the rumpled sheets of a bed wrecked with passion. Amara came from the behind the screen dressed in the clothes Vetis had given her, a soft skirt of the finest cotton and a warm and comforting fisherman’s wool sweater. Her hair streamed like a glossy waterfall of gold and her skin shone with the glow of one well-loved. But what stopped him cold was her pale blue eyes. No longer were they blank. They radiated with spirit and animation. He swore her aura illuminated the room. “Maybe I just need the right persuasion,” she bit out. “Slut.” Edward’s arms strained at Zepar and Figgins’ hold. She laughed. “That’s rich. Coming from you. You...jerk.” “Do you really want them to let you loose?” Vetis said coldly. He hoped the fool would attack Amara. He would love the chance to inflict harm against him. As if he realized how tenuous his position truly was, the gambler slumped. “Sorry, my Lord,” he said grudgingly. “Your debt is forgiven.” Vetis forced the words out through clenched teeth. He really wanted to wrap his hands around the man’s throat and choke the life from him. Vetis tried to see into his mind. Desperate to glean more details as to why the Fae had sent him to the Demon of Corruption. If he could find the information, he wouldn’t have to let Amara go. But the man’s only thought was of escape. Which meant Vetis had to let Amara leave with her husband. They could not alert the Fae by changing any of the parameters of the bargain.

Edward bounced on the balls of his feet. “So I am free to go?” “Not just yet.” Vetis set his face in hard lines. “Do not approach me again.” Amara jerked. She had misunderstood but he could not explain to her here and now. “And never cower behind the skirts of your wife again. From now on you will settle your own debts.” “But,” the gambler sputtered, “you can’t--” “Silence,” Vetis roared. The stupid fool finally understood, recoiling at the way Vetis towered over him. “I have deemed it so.” The man nodded nervously and scuttled toward the door. “Haven’t you forgotten something?” Zepar drawled in a deceptively lazy voice. “What?” Edward stopped, jumped away from Zepar. Fear made his eyes wild. “Your wife,” Vetis snapped. She looked at the lout as if she could skewer him. Then she paused and turned to Vetis, her shoulders softened and a tremulous smile graced her lips. “A moment, my Lord.” The melodic tones of her voice, heavy with sadness, washed over him. He inclined his head. Air stuttered in his chest. The difficulty in breathing reminded him of the soul crushing moment long ago when the Demons realized they were trapped underground. Amara glided to him and smoothed her fingers over his cheeks and lips, as if she would memorize his features. He drank his fill of her while he waited for her words. She cupped his jaw with a gentle caress. Rising up on her tip-toes, she brushed her warm, full lips against his mouth. “Thank you,” she whispered so softly only he would hear her. Vetis swallowed, his throat constricted unexpectedly. He read her thoughts, searching for darkness but she was full of light. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.” The husband was suddenly impatient, tapping his foot by the doorway. Her anger at his impatience swept over her features, so blissfully full of life, unlike the first time Vetis had met her. Vetis recalled when he’d seen into her soul for the very first time. Her vision, filled with icy rage, as she imagined killing her husband. Instead of enhancing and corrupting that rage, he’d turned the tables and gotten her to feel pleasure.

His final gift to Amara would be the tools to rid herself of her husband once and for all. But first he had to let her go. # It was done. Vetis had let her go. For a weak moment, she’d wanted to beg to stay with him. But deep down she knew it wasn’t possible. Demons used Humans. They didn’t live with them. They didn’t love them. She sealed off the pain and planned her next move. She had been secreting away money for awhile. She only needed to save a little more. As soon as she had enough, she was gone. She had the skills to work and she could support herself. Having no clan was better than the “protection” she’d been forced to submit to under her husband’s clan. Vetis had threatened Edward. If he ever tried to sell Amara again, he would answer to Vetis. The gesture was sweet. But truly how would Vetis know? Amara had to defend herself now. She would never let herself be used or degraded in such a manner again. And if her heart ached because she would never see Vetis again, she kept that to herself, like a closely guarded secret. Because if no one knew, then no one could mock her for falling in love with a Demon. Amara walked away from the castle, turning for one last look at the window of the room where she’d been held captive and had finally found her freedom. But the Demon castle was once again cloaked in a glamour spell that hid it from Human eyes. All that filled her vision was the ruins of a long forgotten abbey. She sighed and braced for the long walk home. The energy that filled her earlier was gone, swept away on a tide of profound sorrow. But she was stronger than that. She would survive.

Chapter Fifteen

Vetis and Zepar followed Amara and Edward at a safe distance, keeping to the shadows as they ventured further and further into the run down part of the village. The Demons cloaked themselves in glamour when people passed them by. “She is in love with you,” Zepar said softly as they approached the tavern. Vetis recalled the surge of power that accompanied their union. The crackle and sizzle of magick that thundered through him at the moment of completion. Could love have been the difference? His heart rate accelerated at the thought. “Perhaps.” “Do you forget my title? Seduction is my strength.” Zepar’s boots clicked on the ancient cobblestones. “One doesn’t need love for seduction.” Vetis flicked his hand and searched for an alternative to the hope snarling in his chest. “You of all people know this.” “Love is a gift. Would you throw that away?” Zepar continued to nag at him. “What are you, my priest?” “Ah, trying to anger me will not work.” Zepar hated the church with a passion. For how could seduction be wrong? The beauty of giving in to your senses, to indulging your carnal appetites was natural. “Fine.” Vetis thought about that surge of energy again. It must have been an anomaly. They would have to try to create the energy again with another Human. But for some reason, he couldn’t picture being with another woman. “Get your head in our mission,” Zepar snapped. Vetis shoved thoughts of Amara and sex from his mind. They lingered across the street as Amara and her husband entered the pub. “We need to wait outside until the Fae approaches.” Otherwise, their enemy might sense them inside and not make contact with the gambler. “Are you sure he will come?” “It is the most logical.” He hoped they could have the confrontation with the Fae outside, leaving Amara safe in the tavern.

Truly, he didn’t want to go into that tavern, didn’t want to be confronted with the desolation of her existence. He had given her tools to survive on her own, to find pleasure. Once they discovered the Fae’s purpose, he would give her the knife to enact her revenge on her husband. Gods, he hoped that would make her happy. He was the Demon of Corruption, feared by most, hated by many. He would not condemn her to a life with him. His experiment, born of boredom, had opened a hole in his heart. He would give her a new life. To know she was happy would have to be enough. # Amara stepped back into the warmth of the pub she’d called home for the past two years. She’d never felt at ease here and she couldn’t wait to finally leave. She refused to let the dark wood paneling, floors sticky from spilt ale, and the smoky scent of curing pork from the hut behind the main room bring down her spirits. She was free in a way she’d never been free before. “‘Bout time you got back,” Edward’s brother said from behind the bar. He poured himself a pint and disappeared into the back room. “Get to work,” her husband ordered, slinging himself into a stool at the bar. “And bring me a pint.” “Get your own pint,” she said pleasantly as she tied an apron behind her back. Her gaze skittered around the nearly empty pub. A group of regulars gathered by the fire and a solo man, barely visible in the shadowed recesses of the corner, were their only customers. The tables were cluttered with dirty mugs and crumbs littered the floor. The fact that she’d be leaving soon, loosened her tongue. “Looks like your lazy brothers have done nothing since I’ve been gone.” She ran hot water over a freshly laundered cloth from the pile underneath the bar. The pile was stacked to the same height as when he’d dragged her out of here two days ago. “Shut your whoring mouth,” he snarled as he built as own his pint behind the bar. “Don’t speak of me like that again or you’ll regret it.” Amara rubbed the cloth in ever widening circles over the sticky copper bar. “You have no say in how I speak of you,” he said belligerently. “I’ve been imprisoned because of you.” “You’ve been imprisoned because you attempted to bargain with a Demon.” She continued to wipe the bar down in long languorous strokes, remembering the feel of Vetis sliding in and out

of her. Perhaps if she daydreamed of his sensual attentions, the time until she had to leave would be bearable. “Fool.” And thank the Gods for it. Amara would still be stuck in this hell with no hope if her husband wasn’t a total idiot. “I had no intention of bargaining with him.” He gloated. “It was all part of a bigger plan.” And Gods hadn’t she heard those words before? They usually preceded some situation where he used her to pay off the debt from some wager that never panned out. “The why did you take me to the castle with you?” He crowded her against the bar, his breath hot and fetid against her neck. “I was hoping he’d ask me to kill you.” A shiver raced down her spine even though she stood preternaturally still. He wasn’t kidding. For a moment, black despair slithered around her heart. But she refused to let him win. Straightening her back, pushing against the wall of his chest, she broke away from him. “My luck he had something different in mind.” She smiled, letting every luscious memory of her time with Vetis play over her features. “Bitch.” Her husband stalked away from the bar and headed toward the solo man in the shadows. The smirk on Edward’s face worried her as he straddled a chair at the man’s table as if he’d been invited. Amara snatched up the broom from the kitchen and began to sweep, edging closer to the warmth of the fire and the furtive conversation. Try as hard as she could, Amara only caught some of their words. Her husband was describing everything about the castle, and Vetis and Zepar and their dungeon. “Why don’t you invite your charming wife to join us?” The voice that came from the form huddled in the corner was magnetic, compelling, and Amara found herself obeying without conscious thought. “What?” She sank down into the hard seat of the oak chair as if magickal bonds held her there. She knew not to make eye contact, even though his form appeared to be mere shadows with no clearly delineated features. Power, immense and overwhelming, radiated from him. “So you traded her for your debt?” the silky voice purred. The underlying menace in the dulcet tones shivered across her shoulder blades.

“That was what he wanted.” “And while you were locked away in the dungeon, where did your delectable wife reside?” Her husband pffted. “With him.” “So she spent three full nights with a Demon?” The being cocked his head, as if analyzing her, trying to see deep into her soul. A sick feeling gurgled in her stomach as she finally put the pieces together. This creature was Fae. Her husband had made a deal with the Fae. When the Fae turned his attention to her, instinctively Amara blocked her thoughts. He wanted information about Vetis. She would go to her grave before she would betray the Demon who had returned her soul. The shadow laughed softly. The sound grated over her nerves like the screech of ill-oiled machinery. “Ah, how amusing, she thinks to protect him.” “Do I get my reward now?” Edward was still trying to make bad bargains as he rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I don’t believe you did what we discussed.” “I thought--” “I didn’t ask you to think, now did I?” Her husband blinked. “I need information about their lair, their living arrangements, where they store their magick energy. We must prepare for war. I need her.” In a slow hypnotic move, the Fae reached across the scarred table with an abnormally white, pampered hand. # “Amara is in trouble.” Vetis sprinted toward the pub. “How do you know?” He ran with purpose to the tavern door that seemed further and further away the faster he ran. “I can sense it.” Zepar kept pace beside him. “We should assess the situation before going inside.”

“Screw that.” He shoved through the suddenly crowded streets, launching mortals out of his way to get to her. Vetis banged open the pub door, dismissed the group of old men by the fire and focused on the trio in the shadows. The Fae was here. With Amara. With her husband. “What if she’s involved?” Zepar curled his fingers around Vetis’s bicep. “Not a chance.” Vetis didn’t even hesitate as he shook off Zepar’s hold. No way was Amara consorting with the Fae. Tendrils of magick sparkled in a visible line from the Fae’s fingertips to Amara’s head. With a battle cry, he unsheathed his sword and roared to Amara’s rescue. He charged toward his sworn enemy ready to defend her to the death. But before he reached the table, the shadow disappeared. All that remained was a pile of clothing draped haphazardly over the chair. “No.” The husband cried and grabbed for the specter of the Fae. “What about my money?” On the off chance the Fae still lingered, Vetis knew Zepar had his back, but he could sense no glimmer left. He held his sword at the ready, searching for any sign of the Fae’s presence, ready to defend her. Not like that worthless husband of hers. “Are you okay?” He rasped and chanced a look at Amara. She had shoved the chair back, stood proud and true even as she trembled. “What-what are you doing here?” He’d take that as a yes. A stunned shock blanketed her face. Even her thoughts were fuzzy as if she’d been blocking them from the Fae. He grinned. Good girl. Zepar came up beside him with stealth. “Gone.” Gods damn it. A commotion arose from the other occupied table, and one of the old men, with a silver dagger gripped in his fist, charged the husband. “No one tells.” He lifted the dagger above his head, then stabbed the knife down toward the husband’s chest. Zepar casually knocked the old man over. “My thanks,” Edward, the stupid fool grinned, wiping the sweat from his grimy face.

“We need you alive to answer our questions.” Vetis snarled at the idiot. To Amara he said, “we must question him.” From a sheath at his waist, Vetis removed a knife with a serrated blade, exactly like the one Amara had pictured in her rage the evening they met. He turned the knife around and closed her fingers carefully around the burnished wood hilt. “But once we’re done, the honor is yours.” # Amara couldn’t process the events of the last minute. Vetis was here! But, as she replayed his words, she realized he was here because of the Fae, not her. The momentary elation fizzled like an ale gone flat. Why would he give her a knife? The weight of the weapon was heavy in her hand. The blade looked strangely familiar. Vetis was so near, the comforting warmth of his body heat seeped into her. His closeness distracted her so she was only half paying attention when he whispered in her ear. “For your freedom, you can deliver your vengeance.” She looked down at the wicked blade in her hand, remembered his confession that he could read minds. Remembered how much she’d wanted to kill her husband the moment he’d given her to Vetis. But something had changed within her and she no longer wanted the same things. “I do not need this.” She had her freedom. And she would not kill her pathetic excuse for a husband. “I am trying to give you a gift.” She tossed the knife onto the table and reached up to cup his jaw reveling at the sensual rasp of his beard against her softer skin. “You already gave me a gift.” “You do not wish to carry out your fantasy?” “How could I when he brought me to you?” She laid her heart bare with that statement. Zepar crowded them closer to the stone wall of the pub. “We need to get this over with.” He glanced around the pub. “I have a feeling I cannot shake.” Her husband snatched up the knife and backed away from them. “No one is killing me.” With an unnatural groan, the old man rose from the floor. In one fluid movement, he plunged the dagger into her husband’s throat. Blood gushed from the wound in a great red river. Amara gagged and turned away from the geyser. “Gods damn it,” Vetis swore.

The old man collapsed again. Zepar knelt over the attacker. “Compelled by the Fae. I knew I felt him still,” he said with disgust. Vetis hovered over Edward, shook his shoulders and barked out questions, that even if he’d wanted to, he couldn’t answer. He was in his death throes, his vocal chords severed. Vetis dropped Edward’s body to the floor with a thump. Amara stood in the corner, frozen by the violence of her husband’s death. “What did the Fae want?” Zepar stood in front of her and obstructed the view of her husband’s dead body. “The Fae?” Zepar nodded impatiently, but Amara couldn’t focus. She shuddered. “Leave her.” Vetis curled his arm around her shoulder and for a moment she allowed herself to be weak, to tremble in the hard embrace of his arms and breathe in the scent of him. She’d missed him so much. It had only been mere hours yet it felt like an eternity. “We need to know how much our enemy discovered of us.” Zepar pulled a glamour shield over the three of them and blocked anyone from listening to their conversation. Vetis commanded. “Show us.” Amara visualized the scene when she sat down at the table, trying to remember every detail to give them as much information as she could. She played the conversation through her mind and shivered at the Fae’s words. We must prepare for war. “What about the Fae?” Amara peered through the crook of Vetis’s arm to stare at the body of her husband. She couldn’t bear it if the same fate befell Vetis. “We know they’ve changed their tactics and are trying to use Humans to infiltrate our fortresses. We will be on our guard.” The confidence in his voice comforted her. “We have another problem.” Zepar continued to hold the glamour. “He knows you spent three nights with me?” Vetis said tensely. Amara nodded.

In unison, Vetis and Zepar circled around her, then locked her between their arms as they searched the shadows of the pub with suspicious expressions. Amara placed her fingers gently over Vetis’s forearm. “What is it?” “You have to come back with me,” Vetis said in measured tones. For a moment, her heart leapt. Back with Vetis. The staccato beat of joy almost drowned out the voice of reason in her head. She said slowly, making her words a question, wanting the answer to be no. “Because of the Fae?” “Yes.” And her heart dropped. She couldn’t go with him. If he wanted her, if he wanted to be with her that would be different. While it was lovely that he wanted to keep her safe.... “I would be no better off than before, same reason of protection, different prison.” Amara broke free of the circle of his arms, already bereft. His brows arced down, his face drawn. “You would compare me to him?” “You are nothing like him.” Her fists were clenched, her words fierce. “Then why do you protest?” Zepar took two steps back. “I’ll leave you alone now. Perhaps you should discuss what we talked of earlier.” Zepar pivoted around to face the empty tavern. Vetis yanked Amara close to him. His erection prodded her belly. “You do not wish to have more pleasure?” “Sex is not enough,” she said desperately, even as moisture pooled in her lower body. “Who said anything about just sex?” He growled and he nuzzled the side of her neck, nipping at her tender flesh. “Who said anything else?” Vetis pulled back to gaze into her eyes. “You are my heart.” With those words, she melted. Amara threw her arms around his neck, rubbing her body against his and kissing his mouth hungrily. A subtle light surrounded them in a pure white glow. “What is that light?” Amara had noticed it this morning. “Ahh, I believe the energy,” he cleared his throat. “is love.” “I did that?” she flushed, knowing that her emotions had given her away.

Vetis pressed his forehead to hers. “We did that.” Truly? “I love you, Vetis, Demon of Corruption,” she confessed, holding his gaze with hers. “I love you too.” He skimmed a hand up underneath her sweater to cup her naked breast. The nipple beaded in his palm. Amara squirmed against the pressure of his fingers only wanting to get closer to his heat. But first, there were things to be discussed. She curled her fingers around his wrist to stop his wandering hand. “What are the terms?” “Pleasure.” Vetis stroked his tongue up the side of her neck. “Our pleasure,” she said breathlessly and let go of his wrist. She gave herself up to his carnal attention. “It’s a bargain.” THE END

Coming Soon and Contest:

Look for Prince Gaap’s story, the next installment in the Demons Unleashed series: To Summon A Demon, coming mid-May 2011

Would you like to win an e-copy of To Summon A Demon? Here are the rules: Leave a review of The Demon’s Bargain on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk Email me, Lisa Alder, at [email protected] and let me know you wrote a review. Give me your review name (pen name, screen name) and please put Contest Entrant in the email header.

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All reviews received by June 1, 2011 will be entered into a drawing to receive a free e-copy of To Summon A Demon. I’ll be giving away 5 copies. Winners will be notified by email. Thank you for reading The Demon’s Bargain!!

About the Author

Lisa Alder has been writing romance for years. All manner of stories lurk in her mind, with all manner of fictional creatures vying for her time and attention. Right now she’s consorting with Demons and Fae, but she’s been known to play with Angels, hot CIA dudes, and kick-ass heroines as well. You can find her on the web at www.authorlisaalder.blogspot.com , on Twitter @LisaAlderBooks and on email: [email protected] She loves to hear from readers! Happy reading!

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Theresa Stevens, editor extraordinaire who asked all the right questions and helped clean up my writing!

Thank you to Maddee James at Xuni.com for an unbelievably gorgeous cover!

Thank you to my critique partners, Sophie, Lynn, Adrienne, Trish, Cyndy, Martha, Rachael, Julie, and Gigi for their unfailing generosity and guidance through this whole crazy process. A special thank you to Lynn for the final proofread when you were ultra-busy yourself.

Thank you to my family for allowing me the time to write and the patience to do your own thing when I was busy working!! And finally to my husband for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.

Love you all.