TO SUMMON A DEMON A Demons Unleashed Erotic Novella By Lisa Alder
Copyright 2011 Lisa Alder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written consent from the author/publisher. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead, or places, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Acknowledgments First of all, thank you, thank you to Theresa Stevens for her fabulous editing services!! And again, thanks to Madeira James at Xuni.com for an absolutely inspired cover. You rock! Finally, to Lynn and Adrienne for your sounding board services and to Martha for pushing me to go even further. Heart you guys!
PROLOGUE In the great Earthquake of 2015, the earth broke apart and unleashed the Demons who had been trapped below the surface for centuries by the magick of the Fae and the sheer density of the tectonic plates. During the fateful earthquake, the core shifted and the Demons escaped from their prison. They burst back to the surface and the singular power of the moon that sustained them. The Demons had two main goals, to experience the pleasures denied to them for thousands of years--and to wreak vengeance against the Fae. While the Fae had but one goal: Return the Demons to their prison.
Chapter ONE The moon hung low in the sky. Pale blue light rippled over the lapping waves. The soft shushshush of the ocean licked at the shimmering white sand like a lover. Lili spread her blanket in the secret little cove, hidden by a pair of boulders rising out of the sand like breasts laid out as an offering. “Apt,” she murmured. With a gust of warm wind, the ties on her shift loosened and the rough material swished against her naked skin, as if the weather was in collusion with her intent to offer herself to the Prince of Demons. Lili constructed a small ring of stones near the edge of the water with careful precision, close enough that if the fire tried to spread the seawater would put it out and yet far enough inland to burn. She arranged the dry tinder in the circle, making a little teepee, then threw in the shredded pieces of clothing she’d worn yesterday. She would have never done something like this before. Before Brian had died. Before her life had been reduced to scrabbling for existence. She remembered the world before the Demons had been freed. She’d been in computer sales. She’d had a good life in the city. A condo in a high rise and her fiancé in her bed. Sewing, hand stitching, had been a hobby. An activity that linked her to her roots and helped her stay connected to her grandmother who lived in a quaint cottage in Ireland. But once the Demons emerged, the energy in their bodies disrupted the electricity grids. Soon after they ascended from the depths of their Hell, systems started going haywire. Within a month, the entire world’s electronic infrastructure had crumbled. The information highway was a rutted, unused back road. Banks, stock markets, and the tech industry collapsed without the proper conduits in place. The entire world regressed to a pre-electronic age. And without the electronics to power systems, other industries soon fell into chaos. Ten years later the entire world had gone back to an age she had barely even read about. She’d had to relearn how to do everything without the aid of electricity. The reality of her daily life still had the power to throw her. But she’d dealt with everything until yesterday. Yesterday. Before she’d delivered the bookseller’s wedding dress. Before the Fae had attacked her. Yesterday had been the final straw. They’d attacked her. The memory of their hands groping, hurting played in her mind like an old-fashioned movie strip. Each roll of the film sickened her more and more, until she wanted to scream and explode with her rage and her fear. Every single miserable moment in her life could be attributed to the Fae. And she wanted them to pay. She would get her revenge. And who better to use than the mortal enemy of the Fae? The Demons. Specifically, Prince Gaap. He commanded all of the Water Elemental Demons. The urge to hum a protective chant was strong but she knew she needed to wait. The instructions she’d found on how to summon a Demon were very specific. When the fire was lit and the flames fanned into a crackling offering, she lay down on the blanket, feeling a bit silly, even though her purpose was deadly serious.
She remembered life before the Demons had come. Her life had been good. Solid. Happy. Now? Not so much. The Fae had attacked her. Stolen the one thing she had left. Her dignity. She’d made her own way in the world, without a man to protect her, without a family behind her. She stayed out of the way and concentrated on survival. All the while mourning her fiancé, Brian, and the rest of her family. But the Fae had changed all that when they’d attacked her. They had violated her body and suddenly the injustices of the last ten years rose up like a tidal wave inside her and threatened to pull her under. She refused to let them destroy her. Only the Demons could aid her revenge against the Fae. The sand chilled her through the wool weave of the old blanket. Goosebumps shivered across her skin and pebbled her nipples. Lili closed her eyes and called a Demon. “Gaap,” she whispered as she slid her hands up her body to cup her breasts. “I offer myself to you in exchange for your help.” She waited, breath held, breasts pushed up toward the moon like the rocks behind her. Nothing happened. The manual had been extremely specific about the magick required to summon the Demon. She needed to touch herself. In places that had been untouched by love for a very long time. She’d been hoping that if she sort of phoned it in, that would be good. No doing. Lili sighed and rubbed her palms over her puckered nipples, not aroused at all. The heat from her palms warmed her skin but her body was as unresponsive as a stick broom. Rage at the injustice perpetrated by the Fae edged out any feeling of arousal. They hadn’t raped her. But they had touched and grabbed and poked and jabbed at her body, at her sex, violating her in a most personal manner. Anger bubbled up inside her. She would take revenge on the Fae. She would avenge her honor. But she couldn’t do it alone. The strength of humans was no match for the power and magick of the Fae. She needed an ally. She needed a Demon. Lili forced herself to calm. She had to be aroused to call the Demon. She had to find a place within herself where she could allow the emotion she’d sublimated since Brian had perished, and the feelings she’d suppressed after the Fae attacked, to be called forth. As she lay there, she remembered the hands of her lover. In a lazy move, she traced patterns across her flesh, a slight tingling started in her belly and snaked downward as she plucked at the nub. She imagined his hands, slightly rough, as she slid one hand down her stomach. When Lili reached her pubic bone, she hovered on the brink of a decision. Did she proceed with her summoning or did she pack up and go home to her miserable existence? She pinched her nipple and her insides jumped at the sensual contact. Her nether lips began to throb slightly, as if awakening from a long slumber. Lili inhaled slowly, and with the exhale slid her fingers into her curls. In the whisper of wind, she imagined her lover telling her to ease open her legs and she complied. The move pushed her shift onto her hips and exposed her lower body to the moon.
As she separated her fingers to rub against her feminine lips, slowly, not touching her clitoris, the wind whispered again. Lili sighed as the wind flattened the material of her shift against her breasts. “Gaap,” she called softly as she rubbed slowly along her increasingly slick channel. It had been so long since she’d welcomed a lover into her body. Her middle finger slid inside her at the urging of the wind. And she gasped. But the invasion wasn’t enough, not nearly. In her mind, she pictured a huge, hot cock. She pictured the slide of the thick rod into her filling her, as it split her channel and banished her memories. Of their own volition, her hips rose and begged for that phantom cock to invade her. She squeezed and plucked at her nipples, knowing she wasn’t supposed to come. The whole point of the summoning was to bring the Demon to fuck her. And in agreement for the fucking, she would get the help she sought. The wind licked at her legs and curled around her stomach. The warm air slid beneath the shift and blew against her breasts. Her body burned hotter than the little sacrificial fire she’d built. With one hand on her breasts and the other buried deep inside her body, she found herself on the edge of orgasm. As arousal washed over her in a wave, she remembered forgotten sensations. Lili dug her heels into the cold sand and continued to work her body, uncaring now that the ceremony would be null. She imagined a thick, throbbing cock inside her, dominating her and then exploding jets of seed within her. Her eyes opened wide as she stared at the moon. Her body imploded and her vision grayed. She thought for just a moment, she saw the face of her Demon in the shimmering night sky.
Chapter TWO The incredible force of the moon bled down over the tableau, and his body drew in the power like a treasured aphrodisiac. Hie crackled and sparked with magick. Standing on the rocks above the protective cove, Prince Gaap, Demon of the Southern Hemisphere and Guide of the four Demon Princes, palmed his cock and stared at the human woman offering on the beach. “Well this is interesting.” The sex was decidedly one-sided and now he was aroused and frustrated. She lay on the blanket, with her eyes closed and her black hair a halo around the strong features of her face. Her generous breasts rose and fell. Her body was flushed with the desire visibly thrumming through her flesh. Her mouth lightly parted as she drew breath. Her capable hands brought her to completion but he could see in her hardened nipples and smell in the faint scent of arousal that so much more could be achieved with his willing and talented tongue. The thought of pressing inside her, of expanding his adaptable member to curl around that special spot and lick her throbbing clitoris, sent blood zinging through him. He yearned to feel the tight squeeze of contractions as her channel sucked his tongue further inside, and to absorb her essence into his mouth as surely as she would welcome his seed inside her body. His skin warmed from the images that played through his brain. While his cock hardened and ached for sexual release, deep suspicion warred with his hungry arousal. “Likely a trap,” Leraye, Demon of Battle, and Gaap’s head of security, said softly from his left. Gaap continued to stare down at the woman who’d tried to summon him. “Definitely a trap,” Zepar, Demon of Seduction, snarled from his right. “I am aware.” Somehow, his cock didn’t give a damn. The temptation to swoop down onto the sand and plunge into her was like fire in his blood. But caution prevailed. He squeezed the head of his erection to coax out a drop of pre-cum, and lubricated his pulsing cock. The abrasion of his rough fingertips was a coarse and unpleasant reminder that he wasn’t fucking her raw. Instead, his own hand would bring him from the point of erection to sexual completion. “However, her actions were clumsy with a singular innocence,” Zepar commented. His own cock stood at attention and strained against the tight leather breeches, raring to go. She had been clumsy, at first. But as she aroused herself, her body had responded with a sensual ferocity that belied her awkward fumbling. He hated to waste an erect cock on his own ministrations. After thousands of years under the Earth’s crust, he preferred a woman’s channel to his own fist. But even as he pictured her actions, Gaap’s brain instructed his cock to let go. “She is no innocent.” The muscles in Gaap’s neck strained as he spurted his cum onto the rocks above her. Anyone who attempted to conjure a sex Demon for their own use was definitely experienced. After the Demons had erupted from their prison and unleashed their wrath, most humans were now afraid of their beastly natures. Yes, the stupid humans thought they were beasts. Yet, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her if he thought she was there to harm his subjects. Only the very ignorant, the very fearless, or the very wily attempted the ancient summoning ritual. However, she was clearly not ignorant. The woman had moved her hands over her body with a surety that even now heated his blood and enlarged his cock once more.
“So what do you suppose she really wants?” Leraye crossed his arms over his massive chest, and Gaap followed his second in command’s gaze to the woman lying wantonly on the sand. Tears leaked from her closed eyes. Tears? A curious anomaly. “I believe it might be time to discover the woman’s true purpose.” Gaap thought about covering up his erection and then decided against it. She wanted a sex Demon? She was about to get one. An aroused one, he thought, as he contemplated the thatch of curls that surrounded her glistening slit. His cock hardened again. Leraye said softly, “I’d advise against it.” Gaap wasn’t about to put his Demons in danger. “Noted and ignored. Watch the beach for any approaching enemies.” Gaap frowned down at the woman who had now curled into a ball, huddled against the chill midnight air. The contradiction intrigued him. Her sorrow drew him toward her far more effectively than her sexual temptation of a few moments ago. For as much as he loved sex and reveled in the release, he understood sorrow more completely. He’d had to eradicate the emotion. As a ruler, he could have no use for softer feelings. He must be ruthless to protect his kindred from the enemies who would banish the Demons back to their prison. Gaap eased down onto the sand, then strode toward the woman without artifice or stealth, his shirt billowing as he approached her. Finally he stood beside her. His cock bobbed in the increasing wind as she continued to huddle seemingly unaware of his presence. After several minutes of watching the delicate bumps of her spine shiver and shake from her muffled cries, he finally decided to address her. “You summoned?” With near frantic speed, she whipped around and scuttled up against the side of the jagged rocks. Her muffled shriek was the only sound she made before she grabbed handfuls of sand and clutched the silica in her tight fists. Her eyes, a stunning amethyst color, were wild. The rough cotton of her shift gaped open to reveal the sweet perfection of her nipples. “Who are you?” Her voice was a sexy rasp and scraped over his senses like their chains over the basalt core. She’d conjured him. He just might have to taste those hard sweet berries. To sample the goods she offered before he pretended to make a decision about whether or not to help her. Because the manual about conjuring a sex Demon was, in fact, false. Not that a human couldn’t get a Demon’s aid for a price. But the idea that they could be controlled by sex was laughable. Gaap curled his arms over his waist and bowed low. His gaze never left the wary regard in her deep amethyst eyes. The unusual color startled him for her eyes were the exact shade of the crystals embedded in their volcanic rock prison. “You chose to take your pleasure, instead of waiting for me,” he mocked. “And now you don’t know who I am?” The sand trickled through her fingertips as her mouth fell open. “Gaap?” “At your service.” He gestured to her body and let his attention linger on her nipples. “Though it would seem you no longer require it.” He moved his hungry gaze to the juncture of her thighs. Her pink nether lips peeked through glistening black curls and taunted him. The sexual bounty enticed his mouth and his cock. Gods, he loved sex.
Loved everything about the act. After being denied for centuries, now he reveled in the pleasure and the secrets of a woman’s body. For thousands of years the only sex he’d had was...unsatisfactory. Now here was a banquet laid out for his feasting. A banquet who had summoned him. A banquet which might also be a trap.
Chapter THREE “What are you doing here?” Lili blinked several times as if unable to trust her eyes, and stared up at Gaap. His breeches were undone and a thick, erect cock sprang from a bed of burnished copper curls. His shirt blew in the brisk midnight breeze, unbuttoned to reveal a massive chest, muscle upon muscle, ripped and contoured, roped over an impressive bone structure. She should be afraid. He exuded menace overlaid with sensuality. Sexual attraction oozed from every muscle, sinew, and bone. As he stared down at her, she could see the predatory heat in his gaze. Gaap knelt down beside her. His earthy aroma mixed with the salty ocean air. “There is something about the scent of aroused woman.” As if trying to draw the smell deep into his lungs, he inhaled heartily. His knees sunk into the sand as he ran his palm over the smooth satin skin of her thigh. The rough callus of his fingertips sent a shiver along her spine. The touch was erotic, not invasive. “The musk of your womb is a most powerful stimulant.” He leaned down and his head dipped as if he would press his nose right against her sex. Lili held still, her body tight. But as her mound throbbed, she realized fear was not the emotion uppermost in her mind. “Your body is begging for the thick broad length of my cock.” She licked her lips as her gaze was drawn to his straining erection. Her mouth watered as liquid seeped from the tiny slit in the bulbous head. He was huge. Gods, to have him inside her, would be amazing. Her eyelids drooped. She imagined watching the long, hard, thick steel of his cock slide in and out of her body, touching her secret place inside, drawing her tight like a bowstring and playing her until she burst into a thousand points of bright incandescent light. Lili realized she was panting as she sank into the hypnotic depths of his whiskey-colored gaze. Had he come closer? Did she care? “Your nipples are begging for my attention.” Lili’s breasts were overly large and her nipples were ultra-sensitive. She’d forgotten. Too long without sexual attention and she’d forgotten how much she loved to have her lover suck on the breasts until her body clenched in response. His gaze narrowed in on the hard points, clearly visible through the sheer cotton shift she wore. And Gods, as her core softened, her breasts flushed and hardened. Her blood thumped in the button of her clitoris and liquid arousal drenched her body. Lili’s breath caught in her throat as she looked at his huge erection. A deep blue vein pulsed as he grew larger. His voice grew softer. “Let me fuck your mouth. I want the head buried deep as your lips squeeze the base.” With his words and the obvious arousal stamped on his face, her own blood rose, unbelievably turned on by the images he painted. Almost as if she could see what he wanted to do to her in his mind. She swallowed. The muscles in her dry throat clenched as she imagined blowing him while the flames flickered and the fire died. If he asked her right now, she would lie down on the rough blanket and let him do whatever he wanted. Just for the chance to have that gorgeous cock sheathed inside her. She'd come here seeking to barter sex for a favor. But she'd disobeyed the rules of the summoning. Right now, she didn't care. She just wanted sex.
Her knees fell open. His gaze trailed down her aroused body, lingering in all the places she wanted him to seek out and explore. Her body practically begged him to enter her. He leaned back on his heels, away from her, even as his cock strained toward her. “To answer your original question.” Question? “You called me.” Gods, he’d seduced her with words, never even touching her. She would welcome him, a Demon, into her body right now if he reached out those clever fingers and touched her. Lili licked her lips and forced her gaze away from his erection. Right. She had called him. And she realized that while he was aroused, he was definitely not distracted. He focused on her with laser intensity. The muscles in his body were ready for any attack. He was on guard. Because of her? “I mean you no harm,” she said softly. What threat could she, a mere human, possibly pose to this hard, fierce Demon? “You still haven’t told me what it is that you...desire.” He hesitated over the word desire. And with abrupt shock, his words prodded her memory and reinstated her true purpose for attempting to entice a Demon. “Revenge.”
Chapter FOUR “Really?” Gaap searched the shadows of the empty beach for an enemy. She had summoned him for vengeance. Demons thrived and gained magick from human emotions. He would welcome the rage needed for vengeance and feed off the emotion. But he could not sense the necessary fury within her. As her lust cleared, he found himself disappointed. Lust was a lot more fun than vengeance. But she just continued to stare blankly at him. “What are you staring at?” She mutely sat there, her body exposed, almost as if she’d forgotten she was half-naked and bare to his gaze. “I didn’t think it would work.” Clearly, the summoning was successful since he was here. She didn’t seem afraid of him, which was not ideal. But curiosity won out over the temptation to scare her. “Why on the beach?” “You are the Demon of the Water Elementals.” He was Demon of a lot of things. Interesting. He had definitely felt the tug of her presence even before he became aware that someone tried to call him. They needed to find out where she’d gotten her information. She wrapped her arms around her torso and covered her breasts. As if the cold night air just registered, she shivered. “And how can a Demon of the Water Elementals help with vengeance?” “I want my revenge on the Fae,” she said fiercely. Here was more passion. But still her emotions were subdued. Gaap wondered if Zepar and Leraye, hidden next to the large breast-shaped rocks, could feel more of her emotions. “Why the Fae?” Gaap inhaled discreetly. And just there he could sense the underlying scent of the Fae. The only reason he hadn’t picked up on it before was the cover of the wood smoke and the cleansing air of the sea. His body stiffened and he regretted that he’d left his breeches undone. His intent had been to intimidate her. But if the Fae were lurking nearby, he’d left a very precious part of his anatomy open to attack. He lifted his chin and hoped Zepar caught the signal. Leraye would already be canvassing the area beyond the beach, using his ultra-developed senses to search for any enemies. She swallowed and looked away. But not because she was lying. Because she was ashamed. The truth was in the hunch of her shoulders and the downturn of her mouth. “They attacked me.” The brisk breeze off the ocean carried her words away on the wind. The Fae were tricky bastards. They tended to seduce humans out of their clothes and enslave them with lust but they rarely just attacked. “Did they rape you?” She frowned. “No, they just groped. Or maybe,” she looked out to sea. “I don’t know exactly. It’s a little fuzzy.” Gaap sifted through her memories but couldn’t get a clear picture. Hands pinched, fumbled, and violated her, but no faces were clear. A vague impression of disgust and discomfort, and yet, no fear. Convenient for her. Trap. “And you expect me to believe this is how you exact revenge?” What would her argument be? A woman attacked would not use sex to summon a Demon. As much he liked the look of her splayed across the sand, it seemed unlikely that she would expose herself like this.
She snatched up the blanket to cover herself and pressed back against the rocks. “This was a mistake.” But she was not subdued or submissive. She sparked with anger. “You are angry?” He thought he had the right to be angry. She’d fucked herself drawing his carnal attention without delivering on any kind of payment. She yanked on her clothing. “Yeah. I’m angry. I thought that a Demon might help me.” She sneered at him. “Clearly I was wrong.” He couldn’t believe her audacity. His cock had gone soft at the thought of the Fae lurking around. But as she raked him up and down with her gaze, the damn thing started getting hard again. His cock grew in length at her attitude. How could her contrariness turn him on? The blanket fell to her waist as she tugged on her skirt. Her breasts bounced underneath the light cotton. Her irritated movements compelled him to provoke her further. And yet, he had to proceed with caution. Her attempt to summon him deserved consideration. The Fae had recently tried to infiltrate the Demon castle by sending a spy into their midst. Fortunately, Zepar and Vetis, the Demon of Corruption, had seen through the ruse and eliminated the threat. The Fae had used a woman then too. Amara was now a permanent inhabitant of the castle and consort to Vetis. The Fae’s first plan had failed. Gaap had to wonder if this woman was their next foray. It would make sense. The Fae knew that Demons had insatiable appetites for sex and the logical way to exploit that predilection was to tempt them with women. However if she was supposed to be temptation, they had picked the wrong woman. No one wanted a shrew. Except, apparently, him. “Maybe I just summoned the wrong Demon.” The thought of her summoning another triggered a violent fury. He would protect his Demons with his last breath. “Don’t even think about it.” “What’s it to you?” She had tugged a tunic over her cotton undergarment but the rougher wool still gaped to show the feminine swell of her breast. The time had come to make his point. He withdrew his hunting knife and pressed the tip close to her soft flesh. The thick blade with its serrated edge was obscene against her fragile curves. “You presume to call a Demon and then piss me off. You will pay the consequences.” The razor sharp metal shone in the fading light of her campfire. She stared at the wicked blade, seemingly mesmerized by the deadly iron and the thick solid shaft in his hand. “So this is to be my destiny?” She confounded him by leaning into the blade until the point pierced her fair skin. The red blood beading on the tip was offensive. Gaap pulled the knife away from her breast abruptly. “Don’t tempt me.” However, those words were a lie. He definitely didn’t want to kill her. Far from it.
Chapter FIVE She was going to die. Lili stared down at the blood trickling over her breast. She tracked the path of the red liquid and wondered if the end would be slow or quick. Had the last ten years had been leading to this one moment? The moment when she finally truly relinquished control, and she embraced peace. After years of anger and sorrow, all of her choices had lead her to this final moment. If the Demon killed her, the torment would be over. The guilt over having lived when Brian had died would be gone. “Do it.” She flattened her mouth into a tight, uncompromising line and stared into his eyes. His hardness struck her once again. His face was sculpted in harsh lines as he gripped the knife. His long elegant fingers wrapped around the hilt with a deadly purpose. She tried to push her chest into the tip, but he retracted the blade with a quickness that took her by surprise. She didn’t even seen him move. The momentum brought her to within a hair's breadth of his muscled hard chest. Heat radiated off him, his muscles tensed and ready for battle as he watched her like the prey she was. His shoulders could bear her burden for a moment. His chest could cradle her body. He could have taken her with little effort to restrain her and there wouldn’t be much she could do. She had come without weapons. The only weapon she’d needed was her body. At least that was what she thought. He studied her with hard intent. “What are you about?” Death. Peace. Revenge. All her goals and desires jumbled around in her brain as she stood so closely she could see the thickness of his eyelashes and the muscle in his clenched jaw. As the strength of his presence surrounded her, she realized there was only one logical answer. “Sex.” Wasn’t that why she’d conjured him? To be used. So if she wasn’t going to get her revenge and she was going to die, she pretty much had only one request. She didn’t want to die without having sex one last time. He had wanted her. At least briefly. She remembered his gaze when he first appeared in front of her. Maybe she could make him want her again. Lili lifted up her hands as if in surrender. Which was what she was doing in effect. She thought about his massive erection and everything within her softened, preparing for the invasion. She leaned back against the stone outcropping, her hands held above her head. The position caused her back to arch and her breasts to strain against her cotton undergarments. “Fuck me.” And then kill me. Did anything really matter? As if answering her call, the wind whipped through the tiny cove, the cool breeze blew up her skirt and swirled between her legs. He continued to assess her without moving, without breathing it seemed. So she took matters into her own hands. She cupped her breasts and offered them to his mouth. His pupils dilated, and she knew he was thinking about it. Thinking about sucking her nipples until she begged him to sink that cock into her. She pictured him just like she’d imagined when she’d been pleasuring herself. Her lips parted. She wet them with her tongue as she waited. Demons loved sex. That was well known. “Slide that thick steel cock into me. Let my body welcome yours, let me take you inside me, let me pleasure you.” Her womb clenched.
But he said nothing. “I used to enjoy sex,” she lamented. Revenge, her dead lover, everything, forsaken as she stared at the growing bulge of his erection. He loosened his breeches all the way. She lounged against the rock, afraid if she made any aggressive moves, he’d kill her before he fucked her. “It’s been forever.” Lili tilted her hips toward his erection as her fingers plucked her nipples. She moaned softly as his cock sprang free. “Gods, you’re huge.” “Watch my back,” he said softly, his gaze lifted upward. Lili tilted her head back to see the shadow of another man above them. “Is he going to participate?” She didn’t necessarily care. If she were going to die, what did it really matter? “Perhaps.” He very carefully lay the knife down on a rock, far enough away from her that she couldn’t reach it. He didn’t get it. She wasn’t going to attack him. “Just don’t...hurt me.” She needed to erase the memory of the Fae with their hands and their violation. “Not right now.” Perhaps he would hurt her later. She understood the threat. But then all thoughts went out of her head as he pressed his chest aggressively against the aching points of her nipples. He rubbed hard enough to bring the abraded flesh more sensitivity. He slid his hands down her back and over her buttocks, the contact hard, confident, and filled with intent. He drew his tongue up the side of her neck, the contact a soft erotic counterpoint to the commanding strength of his fingers. Her breath quickened as he tasted her skin with a singular intensity. He spread her legs further apart, pressed his palms into the cleft of her buttocks, and lifted her with the strength of his muscular arms. He supported her body, which was not insubstantial, with only his arms and the help of the rocks behind her. Then he slid his hands further along her buttocks until his fingers were poised to enter her. He teased her nether lips, swirling around her opening, then making a foray inside before pulling back out again. The scent of his skin filled her nostrils. Heat poured off his body, as his hot hands teased and taunted and took possession of her sex. As he played her body, Lili closed her eyes and focused on the sensations, and not the fact that any number of Demons watched them. He slid one thick long finger inside her, and her vagina clenched, wanting to hold onto that rough contact. “More,” she begged. He slid two fingers inside her and rubbed her clitoris with an unsurpassed skill. “I used to dream about this.” He nipped at her neck. The love bite sent shivers down her spine. Lili clutched at his shoulders, as arousal pooled low in her abdomen. “About how succulent and sweet pussy would feel against my fingers, how the taste of aroused woman would coat my tongue, how a woman’s channel would suck me dry.” He dragged his tongue over the skin of her collarbone, and down across her nipple. Had his tongue grown longer? He tickled her nipple with a flutter of the tip of his tongue against her softer skin. The rasp was a sensual abrasion. Every touch sent another blaze of sensation through her body. Her sex pulsed. “Please,” she whimpered. “It’s not enough.”
“What’s not enough?” he demanded. And she knew he was going to make her say it aloud. “I need you inside me.” “Who?” “Please, Gaap.” She frantically slid her hands down to his buttocks and tried to ram him against her throbbing mound. She needed friction, she needed contact, and she needed his cock inside her. “Now.” His knuckles brushed against her ultra-sensitive clitoris. “Oh God,” Her womb clenched. “Now.” The head of his cock brushed her wet curls. Her sex dripped, waiting for his invasion. At long last, she would have that connection again. He stroked her. It wasn’t a tease. He tested her readiness. The Demon took his time and worked on the pleasure of his partner. The action went against everything she thought she knew about Demons. But then he slid home and her thoughts scattered like seedpods on the wind. Lili wanted to cry at the rightness of his cock buried deep inside her. It had been so long. He filled her, invaded her with the exquisite girth of his sex. Sensation bombarded her as emotion overwhelmed her. She hadn’t done this in ten long years. Brian. Brian. Her heart cried out, her brain grasping at Brian’s memory, trying to recall his face. Gaap paused, as if he could sense her anguish. Then he pulled back out. “Who am I?” he demanded. She moaned when he gripped her chin in his hand and forced her eyes open. Lust exploded in her at his fierce expression. Her heart was empty and her soul barren, but her body was on fire. For a Demon. The ultimate betrayal and yet she couldn’t stop craving, needing the erotic sensations of his body joining hers. Sexual stimulation rolled over her like waves on the sand. “Gaap,” she whimpered. “Excellent,” he growled and plunged back in. In and out. Her whole body tingled, layer upon layer of arousal swelled through her. The rough hairiness of his chest abraded her nipples. The flex of his thighs parted hers, forcing her legs further apart, even as her hips rose to meet his urgent thrusts. With each meet, they slammed together, her body hungry for release. Hungry for the euporia that lay just beyond her reach. Gaap gripped her buttocks in his large palms and lifted her higher. The new position caused his cock to rake along her clit with every thrust. And the head of his erection rubbed that secret spot inside with each frantic meeting until her body exploded. Lili came so hard, light fractured and splintered, and she was unable to distinguish the stars in her eyes from the stars in the sky. Gaap continued to pump in and out of her. He invaded her body, her mind, until she could see nothing, was nothing, and then she thought of nothing but Gaap.
Chapter SIX Gaap paused, buried to the hilt, as her body milked his cock. The feel of her sex was even more spectacular than he’d anticipated. His entire body throbbed with the need to move but he held still, waiting, waiting. As her muscles began to soften and her eyes began to drift closed, he moved again. Each plunge into her body was like the blade of his sword as he joined them together with carnal intent. His balls slammed against the swollen lips of her mound. She raked his shoulders with her nails as her desire rose again. Gaap's blood sizzled. The power of the moon shone down upon his back and the force of his desire burst through him. His vision grayed and the world seemed to tremble. Until finally, he shook like the earth's core as it broke open and sent the Demons back to the surface. His orgasm roared through him and blasted all thought from his mind. Lost to sensation, Gaap contined to ram in and out of Lili's body. Her arms, her legs, her cunt clutched at him with desperation. Gaap's attention snapped back to Lili and he demanded she climax again. She held his gaze with uncompromising fierceness. The pain in her eyes wrapped around the rusty organ of his heart as surely as her legs gripped his waist. The ferocious swell of sorrow swamped him. Power flooded into his body, overwhelming him. He concentrated on the swell of magick. Instead his brain, his thoughts traveled another direction. Had he ever felt as she obviously felt? As they descended from the sexual high, Gaap kept one ear attuned for enemies and wondered at her willingness to die. He could sense a deep and abiding unhappiness in her even when she reached her peak. She wasn’t faking. She didn’t care if he killed her. The notion bothered him more than he’d care to admit. Perhaps she’d been coerced. Or perhaps the Fae had offered her oblivion by becoming bait. But why would they hand him the gift of her strong emotions? “It’s best if we go.” Leraye spoke from behind him. “Finish it.” He was right. They had lingered far too long in this little cove. But Gaap was reluctant to leave her. “In a moment.” He pulled his quickly fading erection from her and righted his clothing. While the woman lay limply back against the rock. “Get dressed.” “Aren’t you going to do it?” She gestured half-heartedly to the knife he’d set on the rock out of her reach. “Perhaps later,” Gaap said lazily. He still needed to discover how the Fae were planning to use her to get to him. And they must have wanted him specifically because she named him during the summons. “Maybe I want you to.” She held her arms out defiantly as if waiting for the plunge of his blade. Instead, Gaap pulled her to her feet. He yanked the laces together on her wool tunic overlay. Her skirt was still bunched around her waist. Gaap tugged the skirt down. “Let’s go.” He bit out the command. Gaap looked at her lush body, barely hidden by the common, rough cotton. He would return her to her home and then he needed to discuss this development with his trusted advisors. Gaap kicked sand over the remnants of the fire and the charred clothing.
“What did you use for kindling?” “Driftwood and scraps from the dress I was wearing when I was attacked.” She stood lethargically in front of him, not moving, just docile. Which he was pretty sure wasn’t in her nature. “Maybe you asked for it.” She snorted. “Right.” When she didn’t move, he prodded. “Why did you ask me?” “If I’m going to die, I wanted to have sex just one more time.” She shrugged. “It had been a long time.” “How long?” “Are you going to throw me into the ocean?” she asked idly, as if the answer were unimportant. “What for?” “Like a sacrifice.” Demon sacrifice? It might be amusing to scare her but right now the spot between his shoulder blades was itching and her easy acceptance of her death was seriously beginning to piss him off. “Let’s go.” And that right there jostled her into defiance. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” “You’re right.” He was going to escort her home and then leave her there. No way was he bringing her anywhere near the castle. He curled his fingers around upper arm and tugged her away from their little sex spot. “You aren’t going to kill me?” She seemed completely shocked by this turn of events. “Not today.” “Then...are you going to help me?” “Help you.” “If I’m going to live, I want my vengeance.” He’d think about it. What were the Fae trying to accomplish? “Not today.” He repeated the words again. “I guess I’ll just have to summon another Demon tomorrow,” she taunted. “What was the voyeur’s name?” Gaap felt a surprising and unwelcome rage rise up within him. He’d be damned if she summoned Leraye...or any other Demon. She was his. He tightened his grip on her arm painfully but she didn’t cry out. “You don’t need another Demon.” “That remains to be seen. I will have my vengeance.” “For someone who was willing to die a few moments ago you certainly have changed your tune.” “The sex seems to have given me a second wind,” she shot back. “Where are you taking me?” Gaap tugged her toward the road. Zepar and Leraye trailed behind them and watched his back. He should let his security chief take her home but he was strangely reluctant to let her go. Against all common sense. Every step took them further away from their beach tryst and closer to reality. He needed more information. “What is your name?” “Lili.” “I’m taking you home.” A pang of regret rippled through him. “Lili.” He let her name roll off his tongue. The name sweet and completely unlike her slightly acerbic personality. “No thanks.” She tugged her arm from his grip and ran.
Gaap let her go, resisting the urge to go after her. It would be complete folly. “Follow her.” He commanded Leraye. “See if she has any contact with the Fae. We need to discover what they are planning.”
Chapter SEVEN Three nights later, Gaap hovered in the bushes, like a peeping Thom and waited for a show of the beautiful Lili. She wanted vengeance. Her situation couldn’t be nearly that simple. But at the same time, if he didn’t interact with her they would never find out what the Fae intended. And though he hadn’t admitted such to his friends, he didn’t want her using any other Demon the way she’d used him. Her home was...minuscule. A living area, cooking area, and separate bath. That was it. He still had some discomfort when in small confined spaces. A decade of freedom could not eradicate the memory of millions of tons of rock hanging over your head. Gaap spent as much time out of doors as possible. Even better, he spent time in any body of water. He’d been denied access to the sea for the thousands of years of incarceration. The deprivation had been like a small death in its own way. So he now submerged whenever he could. He watched her through the open curtains. The flickering glow from her fireplace bathed her features in a soft, entrancing light. A false light. Her movements were efficient, controlled, and subdued, unlike when she’d been pounding against him as she rode his cock with a sensual abandon. Gaap grew hard at the memory. A frequent occurrence in the last three days. He’d resorted to cold showers and relieving himself several times a day. But then all he had to do was think about her purple eyes flashing annoyance at him and he’d grow hard again. She leaned over the stove and lifted a wooden spoon to her mouth. Steam rose from the pot wreathing her face. Even from this distance, he could see her pink tongue venture out to lick the spoon. An image of her, licking his cock with that succulent pink tongue, thickened him even further. Gods, he needed to fuck her again. And yet he couldn’t take the chance. Could this be a compulsion planted by the Fae? But how? And why? The logical solution was to kill her. Eliminate the threat. He might yet decide her death was the only possible outcome. Right at this moment, all he knew was he had to see her, touch her, taste her once again. He’d come here against the counsel of Leraye and the rest of the Demon Princes. They thought Gaap should wait for her to make the next move. He, however, wanted to keep her off balance. And what better way to do that than to show up at her home. Frighten her. Shock a confession out of her. The final agreement had been reached just an hour ago. Leraye would keep watch over Gaap while he was with Lili. After thirty minutes in which little happened, he wondered if the Fae would somehow show themselves. However, he knew that was a futile wish. The Fae were too clever. A small part of him wished that she were innocent. Wished that the stink of the Fae on her was merely an aberration. As if they’d brushed up against her in the
marketplace, rather than the unmistakable odor of a setup and betrayal. But that wish was foolish, designed for a younger more gullible Demon than he. He had no illusions left. Gaap knocked on the front door of the tiny cabin and waited. Nothing moved. The very air seemed stifled as stillness radiated around him. He knocked again. Did she not have visitors? Gaap pounded his fist against the sturdy door, noting the ward, a subtle protection against both Fae and Demon, carved into the wooden lintel. “Coming,” she finally called. The sultry rasp of her voice vibrated against his nerve endings. She had the sexiest voice he’d ever heard. The door swung open. Lili’s eyes widened. For a moment, her gaze darted behind him as if she looked for an unseen enemy. “What are you doing here?” “You summoned me.” He leered. “Quite effectively I might add.” A deep flush spread over her pale cheeks, but then she shot back with a scathing retort. “A gentleman wouldn’t bring that up.” “Whoever said that Demons were gentlemen?” Pink bloomed over the cleavage of her large breasts. “You are absolutely right.” Just so they were absolutely clear. “No gentleman can defeat the Fae.” Her gaze darted to the open doorway, as if she expected to see the wily fuckers lurking behind him. No one was there. He’d checked, double-checked, and triple-checked for glamour before he approached her cottage. She nodded. “You’re right.” The time to find out what was really going on had arrived. Unfortunately, all he could think of was getting back into the lush curves of her body. “So you will help me?” The hope in her gaze caused a sensation he was unfamiliar with to curl in his stomach. His only intention was to help himself. To her body. He’d forgotten how incredibly sexy she was. How her purple gaze seemed to be a conduit to the secrets of the Universe. But a legion of Demons hid around the perimeter of her house and his mission was about information, not sex. Unfortunately. Off balance. That’s what he needed her to be. And if he came inside her again, he would be the one off balance. This meant, as much as it pained him, she was off limits. For now.
Chapter EIGHT A wicked thrill of anticipation went through Lili. She’d barely been able to think about anything but her encounter with the Demon three nights ago. She’d tried to keep her mind on how he could help her. On what to do the next time they met. She had known that they would meet again. Lili knew she should focus on her revenge. But Gaap, with his hard body and even harder gaze, captivated her. He would be her tool. And she would be his, until her revenge was complete. That was how using a Demon worked. The information in the ancient book she’d found was very specific. In exchange for fucking her, he would help her. But Gods, her thoughts had continually gone to how good the fucking had been and not about how she would enact revenge against the Fae. “What do you want from me?” The smoky sultry note in her voice surprised even her. He pushed into her tiny cottage and shoved the door closed. Another thrill twirled through her body and flickered into her core as she anticipated what he would want from her. Gaap dominated the small space of her single room cottage, filling up all the lonely spaces that had been empty for ten long years. She let all of what she was feeling pour into her gaze as she traced the lines of his body. She’d had no idea that Demons were so...large. He was big everywhere. His feet were encased in expensive leather boots. Tight breeches clung to his massive calves and thighs which rivaled the trunk of the rowan tree in her tiny front yard. The ripples of his stomach muscles were visible through the cotton tunic molded to his torso. His shoulders could put Atlas to shame. He would have no problem fighting off the sorrows that haunted her since she had lived and her Brian had died. With the thought of all that strength concentrated on her, Lili's body prepared for his. Lili looked up, but not very far. Though the difference was slight, he was still taller, and another tiny thrill coursed through her. Few people were taller than she. That detail had tormented her for her entire life. She’d stopped hunching her shoulders years ago, but inside she was still that gawky, awkward teenager who would always be a bit of a freak. The heat in his gaze liquefied her until she was all but melting into him. “Let’s go,” he said harshly. His words banished her desire. Palpable disappointment streamed through her. She had the random thought that if she ever crossed him, very bad things would happen. Lili licked her lips when the thought didn’t send her running out the back door. The planes of his face were tight, hard, unforgiving. The warm tan of his skin offset his whiskey eyes and strong blade of a nose. His burnished copper hair flowed away from his cheekbones as if to show them off. “Where?” she said breathlessly. She had to find her balance, find her anger, those emotions had kept her sane for the last ten years. “You’re going to show me where you were attacked.” A sick dread settled in the pit of her stomach. Her arousal turned toxic and chased away the feeling that she'd morphed into a giddy teenager. “Let me get my cloak.”
Surreptitiously she tucked her knife into the sheath wrapped around her thigh. And she added another smaller blade to the holder strapped to her wrist. She’d become lax about carrying weapons. Because no one had bothered her. Even the Fae who liked their women comely and docile had left her alone until last week. Lili led the way to the clearing where the Fae had attacked. The pit of her stomach twisted. This used to be a pretty place. Sweat broke on her forehead and pain speared her left eye socket as they approached. Unable to focus clearly, hazy images of the attack flitted through her mind. Her heart thudded. She couldn’t quite remember. She could only relive the fear, and the nebulous anxiety that trembled through her limbs. She didn’t want to go in there. Didn’t want to recall those awful moments again. Since the attack, she’d gone out of her way to avoid the clearing. The lush glade wasn’t that far from her little cottage, just past the edge of the nearest village. When the world infrastructure had collapsed, shipping goods and food had become so expensive that the economy had folded back into small villages where the small economies could sustain the population of the village. Barter economies. Skills that had been near extinct in the age of machines were suddenly necessary to the survival of the remaining population. The quiet of the forest was broken only by their heavy footfalls and the scuttle of woodland animals in the underbrush. “What made you come this way?” “I had delivered a new suit to the bookseller in the next village.” Her fingers were still cramped and twisted from the amount of stitching in his formal suit. Lili had been working day and night on the suit to finish in time for the bookseller’s wedding. Every stitch reminded her of the love she had lost and the life forfeited because of the return of the Demons to the Earth’s surface. The bitterness had been overwhelming. But the credit she’d amassed for the rush job had been thrilling. Books were her passion. Her secret pleasure. And her only companions. She stood in the clearing and looked at the Faery mound blankly. “Do you usually come this way?” Lili frowned, thinking back to the day she was attacked and wondering why she’d taken this short cut through the woods. “I...don’t remember.” Usually she stayed away from anything that had to do with the Fae, not wanting to draw their attention, not wanting to engage them. Gaap leaned against the twisted, gnarled trunk of a particularly enormous tree, arms crossed over his chest. But something in his casual stance warned Lili. She started to ask what was wrong. The tingle at the back of her neck warned her. She decided that getting her knife was a higher priority than talking. The Fir Bolg, Fae assassins, swarmed the clearing. Oh hell no. Lili’s heart thudded in her chest. She refused to be a victim again. She refused to be afraid. The handle of the knife was cold and resolute in her hand. She brandished the blade with intent, more than ready to defend herself. But they paid her no mind. The ten assassins converged on Gaap.
Chapter NINE Gaap had hoped he was wrong about Lili and the trap. But as the mob of Fir Bolg poured into the clearing and headed straight for him, he knew he’d been right. She’d been the bait. Dammit. The intensity of his disappointment felt out of proportion to the length of their interaction. He really should have fucked her one more time before coming out here. But he’d wanted to take his time. Rather than a quick screw against a rock wall, he’d wanted to spend hours exploring her body and making her explode with passion. Oh well. He gripped his blade sure and steady in his right hand as he anticipated the imminent attack. The Fir Bolg tended to be deceptively short. Their muscular, wiry bodies had a lower center of gravity than the larger Demons. Although they lacked the body mass of Demons, they were designed for easy evasion and quick reaction. The trunk of the tree he’d chosen for his defensive position was thick enough that no one could reach him from behind it. The position limited the points of access from his enemy. Gaap counted nine. Plus Lili. It was really going to piss him off when he had to kill her. The Fae broke into groups, like a well-trained regiment. The first wave of three came at him in a rush. No one spoke. The silence in the clearing was broken only by the rush of wind through the canopy of leaves and the babble of the creek on the other side. It was as if all the other forest creatures realized violence was afoot and crawled into their lairs to wait out the battle. Gaap swung his right arm in an arc. Their gazes were so intent on the sweep of his knife hand, they ignored his left. In quick succession with small jerks of his wrist, he launched the iron throwing stars into their guts. Although iron could be deadly to the Fae, a very precise hit was needed in order to stop them permanently. Blood from their wounds spurted onto the ground and into the air. The red lifeforce flowed around the bodies and slicked the ground. The first wave fell. The second group paused their attack. In the instant they checked on their comrades, Gaap removed five poisoned darts from the pocket of his clock. He cursed the fact that he’d only had the few iron stars. The Fae would tread more carefully now that the first wave was down, and their wariness would make them harder to kill. An unearthly yell distracted him as Lili charged the third line of defense. With her arm raised above her head, she raced toward the third wave with a wicked look of hatred etched on her face. Surprise made him hesitate, which cost him. The bulky leader of the second wave had a trick of his own. He used an electric shock pulse to pierce the spot where Gaap’s tunic met his breeches. Extremely difficult area to target and hit accurately. The jolt of electricity momentarily fried his entire magickal system, rendering him null for precious seconds and cutting down his time to counterattack effectively. If he didn’t dispose of these Fae assholes quickly, he was going to be unconscious while his body repaired. He threw the first dart. And hit the intended target, the leader of wave two.
His preternatural ability to sense danger kicked in and instinctively he tossed the next dart up. The Fae hanging from the branch above him fell on top of the pile of his first attackers. In a glance, he assessed their situation. From behind, Lili had stabbed one of wave three through the heart. Her blade was stuck in the Fae’s back and as she tugged ineffectively at its handle, another Fae crept up behind her with another electrical pulse weapon. While the electrical pulse would only incapacitate Gaap, it would kill Lili. Gaap threw the remaining three darts in quick succession, nailing the final two of the second wave and one of the third. “Lili,” he shouted. She looked up frantically, her booted foot was planted on the Fae’s shoulder and her hands tugged on the hilt of her knife. “Duck.” She obeyed and dropped to the ground as Gaap launched himself toward the remaining assassin. The Fae tried to adjust his trajectory but he’d been aiming for Lili and couldn’t correct fast enough. Gaap’s booted feet struck the male in the chest and rammed him to the ground. Gaap barrel-rolled over his shoulder and came up facing the final assassin. Blood ran down his breeches from the nicks of their weapons. He could only hope the damn Fae hadn’t struck anything vital. He reached into the pocket of his cloak and realized that the remainder of his weapons had fallen out when he’d launched himself to save Lili. Pretty damn stupid to be defeated this way. “Who sent you?” The Fae sneered, taking his time as he stalked toward Gaap with a look of total disgust on his face. Gaap saw Lili rise from behind the Fae and push the hair from her face. “We will return you to the depths of Hell where you belong.” The remaining Fir Bolg raised his arm to deliver the death strike. And Gaap subtly shifted so he could leap out of the way. But before Gaap could move, a look of complete surprise replaced the sneer. Eyebrows raised, mouth rounded in an O, the Fae assassin fell forward and landed on the soft dewy grass of the clearing with a thud. A jeweled dagger, precisely thrown to maximize damage, protruded from the Fae’s back. Lili swayed. Her hair was a tangle of curls and a smear of blood desecrated one pale cheek. Her gaze was glassy as she stared at the jeweled hilt of her knife sticking out of the Fae’s back. Gaap stared down at the dead assassin. “Not today.”
Chapter TEN Blood stained the ground and ran in rivulets through the once serene clearing. Lili’s brain refused to process what had just happened. Gods, she wanted to fall to the ground and throw up. The coppery scent of blood and rolling waves of violence still lingered. Even the forest animals continued to stay quiet. “Oh my Gods, you’re bleeding.” Lili glanced around frantically. They really needed to get out of here before someone else attacked. The thick metallic scent filled her nostrils and made breathing difficult. She ripped a strip of cloth from the hem of her cloak. Her favorite cloak. But she realized after the first group attacked that the assault had not been random. Those Fae had come here for Gaap. And she had lead him right into the clearing. A question nagged at her. How had they known? Or were they just waiting for someone to appear? The way the final one had spoken. The one she’d-“We need to get out of here before they awake.” “Awake?” “They aren’t dead.” He glanced at a couple of their attackers. “Not all of them anyway.” They weren’t dead? He leaned down and grasped the hilt of the jeweled dagger that had been a present from Brian right before he’d died. Back when her obsession with weapons had been merely an idiosyncrasy rather than a necessary tool for survival. Gaap wiped the bloody blade on the grass and then tucked the dagger into a belt loop. He scooped up the throwing stars and secreted them away in another concealed pocket. Lili ran up to Gaap. He tensed in a way that told her he was bracing for attack. From her. “You don’t--I wouldn’t--” She was at a loss as to what to say. But she knew better than to get too close to him. She’d watched him destroy his attackers and he’d barely moved. She handed him the wadded strip of cloth. “Press it against the wound until I can get you stitched up.” Gaap looked around as if expecting someone to come out of the woods. But nothing happened. Finally, he closed his fingers around the smooth cloth and tucked the pad between the waistband of his breeches and his skin. “Let’s go.” He limped back toward her cottage. Lili followed, hyper-aware that she’d led him straight into this attack. And she understood that he believed she’d known the Fae would be there. Adrenaline propelled her legs to move. Even with his injury, Gaap outpaced Lili, keeping to her side so that she remained in his field of vision. “In front of me,” he growled. As she moved in front of him, he glanced around as if searching for something or someone. “Do you think there are more coming?” she asked hesitantly. The adrenaline that helped her keep her head when they were first attacked suddenly overwhelmed her system. Her arms, legs, and hands began to shake. Lili fisted her hands, ready to defend them. This time, she would be prepared. She swung her head from side to side, searching for a threat. With each step, the blade strapped to her thigh called for her to wield it.
Gaap didn’t answer, just made haste back to her cottage. When they reached the gate to her tiny yard, he paused and executed a hard, assessing sweep of her yard. All she wanted was to get inside the safe haven of her home. Lili reached for the latch on the gate, but his hand stopped her. Blood coated his skin and his fingers, clenched around two separate knives, were white beneath the red. Everything looked fine to her. The curtain over the sink was still spread wide and the glow from her fireplace cast shadows and light over her meager existence. But Lili knew he was looking for threats. “You first,” he commanded. “You think there’s someone inside?” She couldn’t keep the tremble out of her voice. Shit. So much for the tough girl who’d taken out a Fae. “Only one way to find out.” Gaap jerked his chin toward the front door. Lili unlocked the door quickly and pushed the heavy oak door open. The homey surroundings of her cottage wrapped around her like a blanket of comfort and warmth. “It’s clear.” Gaap staggered into her home. Lili glanced at his makeshift compress. His blood had soaked through the thick padding. He was hurt worse than she’d realized. “Oh my Gods.” Gaap collapsed into the single chair at the table. A fine sheen of sweat coated his face. “Got any thread?” Of course she did, just not the kind that was usually used to stitch up wounds. Lili bustled around heating water to disinfect her needles and pulling out the thickest thread she had. She set a glass of water in front of him. With the blood he lost, he needed to replace fluids. “Drink.” He stared suspiciously at the glass. “You first.” “You really think I’m trying to poison you?” She propped her fists on her hips, her earlier feelings of worry were lost in a haze of disbelief. His face was a hard mask. “For the Gods sake.” She gulped down the glass of water. The liquid hit her parched throat and made her realize how absolutely dehydrated she was as well. She poured another glass and swallowed the contents before re-filling the glass and slamming it down on the table in front of him. “Satisfied?” “For now.” He gave her a strange, intense look and drank. The muscles in his throat contracted as he swallowed. He set the glass down on the table and picked up the knife he’d pressed against her just the other evening. “Sew me up.” Lili gulped. She’d never sewn flesh before. She loosened the laces on his breeches, trying to ignore the impressive bulge of his cock. She’d read that adrenaline could cause this kind of reaction but she’d never seen it herself. Gaap peeled off the bloodied tunic. Suddenly all of the fear she had suppressed while fighting dumped into her system and shocked her hormones awake. He was so big. The muscles of his biceps flexed as he kept a wary eye on her. The hollow in the pit of her stomach expanded as her mouth dried and her heartbeat increased. Suddenly images from the other night flashed through her mind. The strength in his arms as he’d held her up, pressed her against that rock, and pounded into her.
She stroked the rippled muscles of Gaap’s stomach. The power there entranced her and she marveled at the slickness of his skin. The gash along his stomach dispelled any carnal thoughts as he hissed in pain. “Are you okay?” “Just sew.” “Spread your legs.” Lili gulped. She knelt down between his legs, using his thighs to brace herself. With difficulty she focused on his wound and set about sewing up his skin and ignored the reality that she was pressing the tip of her needle in and out of flesh. As Lili looked up from the gruesome task, Gaap was flipping through the ancient book she’d discovered right after her assault by the Fae. “So this is how you found me.” Gaap’s voice was deceptively low and his concentration remained on the illuminated pages. “Yes.” Lili swallowed convulsively. The book had been quite educational.Although he had definitely not behaved according to the tenets the author had written. “You certainly aren’t acting the way the book said you would.” A smile quirked his mouth. “So tell me, how should I behave?” “You’re supposed to want sex with me,” she said grumpily. Instead she was using his skin for quilt workand he was reading a book. One taste and she’d been hooked. The author even cautioned against becoming obsessed with a sex Demon. Ridiculous. Lili would never become obsessed. Hadn’t she lived without sex for ten long years? “Who said I won’t demand sex with you?” he replied silkily. Her insides thrummed at the velvet-coated threat in his words. Beneath the heavy folds of her cloak, her nipples tightened and her core softened at the overwhelming sensuality he exuded. He growled. Growled! The primitive primal sound rumbled through her body, and she was more turned on than ever. Her breath caught and her attention snagged on the growing bulge against the placket of his breeches. As Lili tied off the thread, her mind drifted to their sexual encounter. “You should, ah....” She’d forgotten what she was about to say. Gods, that bulge was huge. Her channel wept for the opportunity to welcome him back into her body. He should lay with her. “Lie down.” He stared at her steadily, intently. What should he do? Right. The bed. Blood loss. “On the bed. You lost...blood.” Her throat convulsed as she thought of him in her bed. The longing that accompanied that thought made her yearn for the pleasure of his touch. Yearn for the completion of sex. He stared at her. Finally he stood. He towered over her, his lithe and muscular body dwarfing hers, even though she stood taller than most men. The unfamiliar sensation made her weak in the knees. He kept the knives in his hands as he shuffled to the bed and sat down heavily. “Where did you get the book?” “Ah, found it at a bookstore.” Her gaze was trapped by the thickening length of his cock. “Seems rather convenient.” Lili brought her attention back to his face. She’d thought the same. But for once, something was finally going her way. She’d been amazed that she’d found a book on how to summon a Demon so easily. She wasn’t sure of his meaning was except that she was sure it wasn’t good. "Are you accusing me of something?”
The more she thought about it, the madder she got. “Because if you are, just come out and say it.” Anger bubbled up inside her as the results of the events of the last few days built into a crescendo. The tension in the room rocketed to new heights. But she refused to back down. The temper she’d lost when she’d been scared out of her mind came roaring back. Especially when she saw the blood, his blood, leaking into the nooks and crannies of her skin as easily as the fear for him had leaked into her heart. And she finally demanded, “What the hell do you want from me?”
Chapter ELEVEN Gaap observed dispassionately as Lili put on a show of wrath. She swayed, her hands clenched in front of her as if she was going to punch him in the jaw. Her face was white with anger and he wondered if she had access to her dagger. The soft contrasting scent of lavender drifted through his senses but underneath lay the metallic odor of his blood. He frowned. An inordinate amount of blood coated her hands. Gaap glanced down at his abdomen, then back up at Lili just as her eyes rolled back in her head. He leapt from the soft worn quilt and caught her before she hit the uneven plank floor. For as tall as she was, her body was surprisingly slight. Face pale, lips bloodless, she lay quiet in his arms. He gently set her down on the bed. He ran his hands over her sleek biceps and strong forearms before searching the concentration of blood at her wrist for a wound. Gaap rolled up the soft cotton of her sleeve and found the source of blood. The small puncture would have been barely noticeable in the heat of the battle but untended, the consequences could have been dire. Could still be. Gaap noted with a growing consternation the amount of blood that had soaked into her dress and cloak. His body's natural ability to heal had already activated. He could feel his own blood increasing, pumping through him and restoring the balance in his system. The electrical pulses that had disrupted his body were already normalizing. He’d be as good as new in another few hours. He cleaned the blood off her limp arm, marveling at the fragile bones of her wrist. “Is this a trick?” he murmured to the unconscious woman, though it made him feel very foolish. “Awaken.” He shook her arm, all the while noting her lips were still bloodless, her face unnaturally pale in the flickering firelight. He placed a hand over her forehead. Her skin was clammy and his fingers came away slicked with sweat. Her breathing became more shallow. He leaned over her and breathed in the unique scent of Lili. And he realized he wasn’t quite ready to let her go. Gaap knew he was about to break a major doctrine of the Demon world. Blood continued to ooze from the puncture wound. He examined the innocuous hole and the blood that stiffened the sleeve of her dress. She’d been bleeding the entire time she helped him back to this refuge. He had to stop the flow before she bled to death. Hesitation held him motionless as he weighed the options. And finally, he made the only choice he could. She would die if he didn’t stop the flow of blood. He lifted her wrist to his mouth. Paused one more time. This was forbidden. Gaap curled his tongue around her wrist and pressed lightly against the thready beat of her pulse. He kept his tongue wrapped around her delicate wrist until he was sure the wound had sealed completely. He could be sanctioned for this action. However, who would know? Even if they found out, he could argue she was a valuable source. She’d been in contact with the Fae. With the outright attack on him, their enemy had clearly escalated their attempts to hurt the Demon bastions.
Gaap efficiently tied gauze around her wrist, the off-white cotton barely noticeable on her fragile skin. He pulled the chair from the table over to the bed. He straddled the hard seat and surveyed the woman who had summoned him. Conflicting emotions battered him. He should kill her. But he couldn’t. Instead he’d saved her. He couldn’t bear the thought of her death. This indecision was totally illogical. As he stared at the blood on her clothes, panic spurted through him. What if the small puncture wound wasn’t the only one? He needed to check her for other wounds. Gaap stripped off her cloak and dress and searched for any other signs of injury. He clinically examined every inch of her skin, careful to make sure she wasn’t bleeding elsewhere. Studiously, he ignored the soft, pale perfection of her skin. The sensitive crease of her elbow and the delicate hollow behind her knee. While he searched with an exquisite thoroughness, he gently caressed her body. By the time he finished, his body was sheened with a layer of sweat. His cock was a painful rod, pulsing with a powerful need for release. The temptation of her body lured him like a siren lured the ships to their destruction. A knock at the door startled him out of his voyeuristic caressing of her curves. Gaap drew the patchwork quilt over Lili’s body. “It’s only us.” Zepar walked through the previously locked door. He paused to stare at Lil's prone form. For some odd reason, Gaap felt an inexplicable need to protect her from the Demon’s gaze. He shifted purposefully to draw Zepar’s attention back to him. “Where the hell were you?” Zepar frowned and stepped toward Gaap. “You’re injured.” Gaap brushed aside the concern with a flick of his hand. “We were attacked in the clearing where Lili was attacked.” “Where she was supposedly attacked.” Zepar contradicted. “I don’t trust her.” Until a few moments ago neither had Gaap. But the proof was in the injury she’d sustained while defending him. Perhaps they were both wrong. He kept his face expressionless. But his body instinctively readied for a fight. To defend her as she’d defended him. “Are you well?” Zepar had noted Gaap’s tense muscles. His friend intuited that Gaap was ready to fight. Over this human. “I’ll live,” Gaap responded drily. “Why weren’t you there?” Zepar paced around the small cabin. Where Gaap hadn’t been feeling the small size of the structure before, Zepar’s nervous movements started tension crawling up Gaap’s spine. “We followed you. But all of the sudden, you disappeared.” “Glamour.” Gaap spit out. “We should have been able to find you, even if we couldn’t locate her.” Leraye paced to the sink and then back toward the table again. “But it was as if you both had vanished.” Some magick was afoot here. The big question remained, was Lili a pawn or a player? Gaap sat on the patchwork quilt next to Lili. The compulsion to stroke her arm, to watch her chest rise and fall, was like a spell. Leraye said, “We need to go.” “I am not leaving her.” Gaap cursed his unruly tongue. “Just yet. When she wakes, after I question her, I’ll return to the castle.”
Zepar eased down on the side of the bed and leaned toward Lili. With a gentle brush of his fingers over her lips, he glanced up at Gaap. “Let me seduce the truth from her.” He stroked his hand over the curve of her bare shoulder and Gaap fought the urge to fist his hands. Zepar was merely offering his services. Gods knew that if Zepar wanted to seduce a human, she would melt under his sexual attentions. In a normal situation Gaap would have suggested the idea himself. But he didn’t want Zepar’s cock anywhere near his Lili. He knew if he confessed those feelings to Leraye and Zepar, there would be hell to pay, so he searched for the argument that would make the most sense. “She summoned me.” Leraye said, “Which is why I don’t like it. You were assaulted because of her.” Gaap understood, but he didn’t agree anymore. “She attacked the Fae and defended me.” He stared at her delicate features, almost pixie-like in their fragility. Her body was lithe under thin cotton sheet. “Do not be deceived by her appearance,” Leraye cautioned. Zepar argued, “Could all be to gain your trust.” “She nearly perished.” Gaap gestured to the dried blood that stained her dress. “I will not leave her until she is conscious and able to defend herself. I refuse to leave her defenseless.” “But--” “Non-negotiable.” Gaap’s voice was as hard as his muscles. He would not be swayed. “I must recommend you leave.” Leraye trailed off as if he finally realized Gaap was adamant. “You forget yourself.” Gaap played his ruler card. Most of the time he didn’t pull his rank as a Prince, but technically he was Leraye’s commander. And in this situation he would exert his will. Lili had watched over him, now he would watch over her. And just in case Leraye and Zepar had thought that Gaap had completely lost his mind, he reminded them. “We can’t take her back to the castle. And I don’t want to leave her unprotected while she is unconscious.” “Understood.” Leraye nodded slowly. He pointed to Zepar. “You keep surveillance over the exterior. In case any enemies approach.” “Just keep your distance.” Zepar blurted out as if he couldn’t help himself from warning Gaap away from Lili. “Absolutely.” Not a chance in hell, Gaap thought. “Excellent.” Zepar left. Gaap waited for Leraye to leave. Leraye's regard shifted from Gaap to Lili and he stared hard at the gauze around her wrist. Finally, Leraye lifted his knowing gaze to Gaap and spoke. “If you won’t leave then I am compelled to stay here.” Gods, he wanted to argue. But he knew that Leraye was right. He might want to trust her, but that didn't mean she was trustworthy. “Fine. But cloak yourself with glamour. And do not reveal yourself.” Leraye eased down onto the plank floor near the stove and rested his back against the wall as if he understood that Gaap wanted him as far away from Lili as possible. Suddenly the lethargy that accompanied Gaap’s healing magick stole over him. He wanted to lie with Lili while his body regenerated. “I must rest.” “Restrain her first.”
Chapter TWELVE Warmth surrounded her in a protective cocoon. Fire crackled and popped in the hearth. Lili lay on her side facing the fireplace, her arm tucked under the pillow. An inferno of heat wrapped around her waist and anchored her to a heavily muscled body. Puffs of breath feathered along her exposed neck, scattering goosebumps across her skin. The sense of rightness, of solidness, of perfection stole through her. Lili smiled dreamily, thinking it had been so long since she’d woken to the heat of a male behind her. Oh, how she’d missed this. The steady throb of his erection pulsed into the crease of her butt. The urge to rub against him grew to nearly a compulsion. She smiled again and decided the time was right to take advantage of that lovely morning erection. But first, she had to move. She trailed her fingers up a very muscular, hairy thigh, and traveled toward the source of the pulsing. Suddenly her arm caught and she was unable to move. At that moment, Lili registered the weight of something around her right wrist and another heavier weight around her ankle. Her eyelids popped open. The bronze skin of the forearm around her waist was nothing like Brian’s fairness. Then she registered the broader chest and the thicker, more muscular thigh behind her. Lili whipped to her back and used her left hand to push the hair away from her face. She realized immediately that she was in her bed with Gaap the Demon. And she was tied down. Up. Whatever. Tied. Her gaze shot to Gaap. He had risen up on one elbow. The rich burnished copper of his overly long hair was tousled from his nap. In. Her. Bed. “How are you feeling?” His voice rumbled through his chest and vibrated along her side where their flesh met in a very intimate contact. “Like I’m tied up.” And naked. An idiot wouldn’t mistake the rage in her voice for anything else. Lili clenched her fingers into fists. The urge to hit him was overwhelmingly strong. He grinned, the white of his teeth flashing in the tanned swarthy dark of his face. “True.” She noted the bandage around her left wrist. “What the hell did you do to me?” He ignored her demand and wrapped his fingers around her forearm. He drew her arm toward him and looked intently at her appendage. “How are you feeling?” The question seemed genuine. And while the concern in his gaze could be faked, why bother? Lili blinked. Took stock. Weak. She felt weak. And tied up. “Tired.” “You were injured.” “So you decided to tie me up?” Lili snapped. “‘Cause, yeah, that’s logical.” “Apparently I should have gagged you too.” He grinned again. Gaap threaded his fingers through her hair. His fingertips rested lightly on her scalp and sent electric pulses to every nerve ending in her body. Everything tingled. Places she’d thought long dead, flared to life as he lazily brushed his thumb back and forth across her eyebrow. With each brush, his body seemed closer, but what should have seemed menacing only felt as if he were sheltering her with his body. His very ripped body.
Muscles rippled in his bicep as he moved his thumb over her face. His breath floated across her mouth. He drew so close she could see the striations of gold and hazel in the whiskey brown of his eyes. Lili’s breath shortened. Her brain stuttered and all she could think about was his full sensual lips devouring hers. The rage over the injustice drained out of her in a whoosh, and the indignation that propelled her slipped away. “Just try gagging me, pal.” Even she could hear the surrender in her voice. She could think of a far better way to gag her. As if he’d heard the tease, Gaap closed that last inch between them. Instead of fitting his lips to hers, he gently kissed the corner of her mouth. Confusing her. He continually threw her off balance, and as someone who prided herself on being in control, the sensation was not pleasant. He softly kissed the other side of her mouth. Nuzzled the sensitive skin behind her ear. He slid the wet heat of his tongue down her neck before his lips closed over the juncture of her neck and shoulder and sent shivers along her spine. She wanted his mouth. On hers. Now. “Gimme.” She tried to force his mouth back up to hers. But he would not be persuaded. He licked her body in long lazy laps, as if savoring the essence of her through her skin. He slowly, agonizingly slowly, tasted his way back up to her face. His breath was hot against her mouth as finally the tip of his tongue traced the outline of her lips. Lili wrapped the fingers of her free hand around the thick band of the wrist that held her head still. The scent of aroused male rose between them. And the insistent throb of his erection against her hip told her that he wasn’t feeling as leisurely as his actions transmitted. The depth of his control sent a thrill of heat through her. Gods, to have all that control focused on her was unbelievably sexy. Her eyelids drifted closed as he finally inserted only the tip of his tongue between her lips and lapped the sensitive skin, sparking the contraction of her nipples. The smattering of hair across his chest abraded her already sensitive breasts and shot sparks of arousal over her skin. She touched the tip of her tongue to his, and a bolt of desire zapped her core. Lili fisted her hand in his hair and pulled his mouth closer, needing the pressure he seemed to be adamantly denying her. She arched higher, seeking that delicious contact, seeking him. She nipped at his lips, trying to goad him into harder contract. Trying desperately to find a point of connection with some weight behind it instead of this soft, gentle teasing designed to drive her crazy. Lili moaned. Suddenly she understood that he was used to being in charge. Just as she was. The perverse need to shake him up roared through her. She bucked, trying to get him on top of her. Trying to get the massive weight of him to press into her. To dominate her. He hadn’t even really touched her. Just the slight brush of his body against hers and the points where his mouth met her skin. “Gods,” she breathed. “Touch me.” “With pleasure.” He cupped her breasts with the rough pads of his fingers. With her free hand, she caressed the broad, thick muscles of his shoulders. Strong shoulders. Built to protect her from the storms. She melted into the pleasure of his touch. Her legs twitched
restlessly. Each squeeze and pinch of his fingers plucked more and more sensation from her until she thought she would burst. She wanted to explore every inch of him with her hands, then start all over again with her tongue. Lili nipped at the bunched curve of his bicep as he licked his way down her sternum. He swirled his tongue over each areola with a loving attention to detail then slid down and penetrated her belly button. All the while his clever fingers cupped her hips. With one hand and foot bound, her range of motion was limited. As he pressed his fingers into her hips, Lili could barely move. Everything in her tightened, and froze as he licked his way down to her core. His breath was hot against the tender skin of her belly as he held her down. Every nerve and muscle pulsed with anticipation as she waited eagerly for the carnal attention of his mouth. He blew against her nether lips and she could almost, almost reach his mouth. Yet he held himself apart. "Do you remember when we met?” Lili whimpered. How could she forget? Then, neither one of them had been naked, skin to skin as they were now, her feminine core bared to his gaze and at the mercy of his mouth. The mouth he was withholding from her. Lili sighed. “Do you?” he asked more forcefully, his breath a sensual puff against her clitoris. “Gods,” she panted. “Please. Yes. Whatever.” “I’ve been dreaming of this since then.” He confessed to her pussy. And in one dominating thrust, he forced his tongue inside her. Oh. My. Gods. Her hips rose as he fucked her with his tongue. The tip fluttered against that spot. Lili’s head swam as his tongue seemed to expand inside her. Bigger than any cock she’d ever taken, wider, more talented, more everything. The tips of his fingers pressed into the soft skin of her belly just above her pubis as he flicked his tongue in and out of her faster and faster. The stubble from his beard abraded her pussy and his teeth nipped at her clit as she rode his chin. Her womb clenched, struggling to hold him inside her as her entire body reached for the orgasm that taunted her. He rubbed his thumbs along the swollen petals of her sex. Every bit of him focused on her, focused on the beautiful explosion building with in her. Her body strained even as she began trying to back away from the intensity. Her heels dug into the quilt. She needed relief from the awful, unbearable arousal slamming into her from all sides. She whimpered again. If she could speak, she would have told him to stop, to wait, to give her a moment to catch her breath. But he just kept assaulting her senses as he pressed all of his tongue inside her. She swore he touched the entrance to her womb even as he rubbed along the ridge of her g-spot. She exploded. Stars sparked behind her closed eyelids. Every sensation centered around her womb, the flat thick bulk of his tongue, the agile, tricky tip, the rough caress of his fingers, even the press of his arms holding down her legs. Oh, my Gods. Her body shook and her heart bulleted out of her chest. Lili tried to slow her system down. Tried to summon fear for the fact that she was bound and helpless, but all she could do was feel. She didn’t tremble in fear, but in need and desire. She should be feeling
vulnerable, at a disadvantage, instead she was triumphant. Because while she trembled with spent desire, Gaap’s arms and legs vibrated with need. For her. He needed her.
Chapter THIRTEEN Gaap rested his cheek against the sweet, silky skin of Lili’s belly. Her breath heaved in and out and her whole body shook. He inhaled her unique musk and knew he should be suspicious of her and her motives. But her essence coated his tongue, sunk into his pores, and infiltrated his brain until he could think of nothing else but lust for her. Her unique ability to arouse him even while she exasperated him brought a smile to his face. “What are you smiling about?” She combed her fingers lazily through his hair in a languorous flowing arc, as if the sexual release had scrambled her brain cells and she’d forgotten she was mostly annoyed with him. His cock throbbed, pressed between his belly and the soft, worn patchwork quilt. He’d get to his own release in a moment. For this very second he only wanted to embrace the peace of lying with her. No worries about agenda. No worries about the welfare of the Demons in his castle. No worries about the Fae and their evil intention to use her. Even if he hadn’t been able to figure out how they intended to use her. She tried to shift, but the bindings caught her wrist. “Ow.” “Are the bindings too tight?” Once he was assured of her innocence, perhaps they could indulge in some love play using the same restraints. She stiffened. “Are you going to keep me like this?” Keep her. His brain stalled, struck dumb by the image of him keeping her. That thought brought him an absurd sense of pleasure. “Perhaps I will.” He pressed up on all fours and crawled up her body, making sure to brush against her wet mound with the tip of his erection. The movement backfired as his erection hardened even more. Gods he was stiff as a piece of seasoned driftwood. He wanted to pound into her. Beads of pre-cum coated the head of his cock, tempting him to enter her slick welcoming channel. His tongue had been inside her, and now his cock clamored for a turn. She hooked her untethered leg around his calf. “Perhaps you should let me go.” She arched up into him, to taunt him as the head of his cock slid just a little further inside. “Think of the things I could hold onto with both legs free.” She trailed her toe up the inside his thigh. She was inordinately flexible for being so tall. Gaap panted with the effort to withhold his entrance just a little longer. As hard as he was, he’d go off like a geyser within seconds. And the ego in him wanted to prolong their pleasure a little bit longer. “Hmm.” He pretended to ponder. “Perhaps you should enlighten me with your sensual capabilities.” Then he distracted her and fluttered the tip of his tongue against her distended nipple. Her breath caught. Gaap lifted his body higher above hers, so that every muscle strained. The only two places they touched were the head of his cock inside her and the flat of his tongue curled around her nipple. She panted. “Next time you get to be tied up.” The image caused all the blood in his brain to go south.
Lili reached down with her free hand and wrapped her fingers around his erection. She licked her lips. Gaap thought he just might expire at the look of pure pleasure that wreathed her face. The expression was so different from her first tentative forays on the beach that his control snapped. “Let go,” he growled. Her fingers loosened and he plunged inside her. She suctioned around his cock as if her body had been made to receive his. Lili’s fingers grasped his butt and squeezed, begging him to pound into her. All of his control and finesse evaporated in a puff of lust. Gaap slammed into her body. The bed shook as he powered in and out of her. Her breasts bobbed, jiggling with each heavy thrust. Lili’s eyes glazed with passion, arousal flushed her skin and pinkened her face and breasts. Blue veins in her skin marked her with a fragility that was deceiving as her personality was so bold and big. For a moment, he worried that he was hurting her. And then she whispered, "More," and he became impossibly harder. Sweat gleamed over his skin. Gaap slid both hands underneath her butt and jerked her up as the beast inside took over. Rational thought spun away replaced by the need to make her his. To mark her and claim her until they were one entity, one being wrapped in a cocoon of blood and arousal and lust. His need spiraled out of control until only one word reverberated through his brain as he pounded into her channel. Mine. Mine. Mine. And he had one last thought before his cock burst, semen jetting into her body. Her core milked him dry, sucked the will and the suspicion out of him. He had no intention of letting her go. Not yet. *** Lili woke again to a pitch-black room. The fire had gone to warm ash and still emitted a bit of heat but not a speck of light. The candle on the kitchen table had gutted out sometime earlier. Gaap was curled around her like a lover, his head tucked into the curve of her neck, his arms wrapped around her like seaweed, and his thigh firmly wedged between hers. Her left hand twined with his. Her right hand was still tied to the bedposts. She should be annoyed, but the sense of absolute well-being slithered through her like a snake in the Garden of Eden. He’d pleasured her throughout the night. Lying in the darkness, she smiled at the soreness of her unused muscles. Her well-used body ached decadently. It had been so long. The yearning for more shocked her. She wondered how long she would have to wait before he woke up, ready to use her again in such a delicious manner. A sliver of moonlight filtered through the lace curtains, the sinuous rays sliding through the darkness. Ah, not much longer, she thought with a secret smile as she listened to the change in the tenor of his breath. Lili waited for him to make his move.
She planned to assert her dominance, but for now, the novelty of being submissive appealed to her. She couldn’t wait to surprise him when she was on top. As she waited, awareness eased into her consciousness. Gaap wasn’t making any moves. As a matter of fact, he was preternaturally still. His breathing was shallow and his chest barely moved. Cool sweat slicked his skin and his muscles were rock hard. But she suddenly realized he wasn’t going to roll on top of her and have his Demon way with her. “What’s wrong?” She released his fingers, understanding that some threat hovered. Lili tensed. Where would the attack come from? “Nothing,” he rasped, his voice near wrecked with the tension that gripped him in a stranglehold. “Something is wrong.” “Let me rekindle the fire.” He pushed off the covers and strode to the fireplace. Lili heard the sigh of relief as he placed the logs on the grate and threw in some dry pinecones for tinder. “Matches are on the mantle,” she said softly. Sulfur ignited with a hiss. The flare illuminated his tense face. And Lili knew. With the awareness of an attuned lover, she understood that the only threat in her tiny little cottage was the absolute darkness. Gaap knelt by the fireplace. He coaxed the rippling flames into a fire with his face turned away from her, his body limned by the growing firelight. His body was a work of art. Muscles defined his legs, the ripped curves of his stomach, the pads of his pectorals, huge biceps, and the thick column of his neck. Her mouth began to water. But his body wasn’t the issue right now. She’d never really thought about the length of time the Demons had spent beneath the surface of the Earth’s crust. But she should have realized that the time must have felt like an eternity. “How long were you imprisoned?” He shifted his gaze from his contemplation of the fire. “Years.” “I don’t recall that I knew anything about Demons before you escaped.” They'd been mere fairy tales. Fictional bogeymen to scare children into behaving. "How long?" He shrugged as if to say, fine. “Thousands of years.” His face was set in harsh lines. All carnal thoughts were gone. Disappeared into the cavern of his fear. Lili sat up, letting the quilt fall from her breasts. Gaap’s eyebrow quirked but he didn't move from the light of that fire. “So...dark places aren’t your favorite thing.” He glanced back toward the fire, not answering. But before he’d looked away, she’d seen the shame. Perhaps she could take his mind off the darkness in a time-honored method of distraction. Lili pushed the quilt away from her hips, angling so that her sex directly faced him. She pushed a pillow behind her head so she could look at him, and leaned back. “Gaap.” She placed her fingers against the sticky, wet folds of her pussy. That drew his attention. His gaze warmed at the motion of her fingers as she slid them into her body, angled just so he could see everything she was doing to herself. “What--” He cleared his throat. “What are you doing?” She slid her fingers in and out of her body, but wished he would come over to the bed and fill her instead. The awkward motion of her hand was a poor substitute for his massive cock. She smiled, pouring every bit of sexiness she possessed into the taunting smirk. “Summoning a Demon.”
Chapter FOURTEEN Gaap’s heart lightened at the playful expression on her face. With each slow stroke of her hand, his cock swelled. The urge to slide back into her slick heat was tempting. Leraye, still cloaked in glamour, now lounged on the chair in the corner. He could see exactly what Gaap saw. He would not turn his gaze away. Gaap knew his friend and battle leader well enough to realize that he wouldn’t stay invisible forever. They needed to question her. But for now, the night was pitch-black and he would steal this time. Leraye would just have to wait. And watch. The fire began to light up the room with a comforting glow. Worry flickered through him as he realized he had just given her a powerful weapon against him, if she ever chose to use his hatred of the dark. But as he probed her thoughts, he sensed no betrayal. Everything in her was focused on pleasure. He had kept their intercourse to very traditional positions so not to tax her in her weakened state. But as he watched her pleasure herself, he thought he’d take her the way she’d imagined him taking her on the beach. “How are you feeling?” He stood abruptly. “I could be better.” She shifted again so her pussy was wide open to his gaze. She glistened with the juice of her body, her black curls slicked and the dewy petals of her sex plump and ready. “I’ll bet you could.” He strode over to the bed. His cock bobbed with each determined step until he towered over her. His knees touched the side of the mattress and he fisted his cock. “Untie yourself.” Her gaze shifted to his hand and glazed over as he palmed himself. She licked her lips and inhaled softly. The movement lifted her breasts, which drew his gaze to the taut rose nipples and the puckered areola. Gods, she was so ready for him, he could lean over and thrust and she’d take anything he had to give her. She withdrew her fingers from her body and slowly untied her bonds. Gaap continued to pump his erection. “Let me.” Her breath caught as a bead of cum dripped from the tip of his cock. “Just one little taste.” This hadn’t been what he’d been thinking. “Persuade me.” She licked her lips again. “Come closer.” He leaned that last few inches in. His cock was directly in line with her lips. “Oh,” she sighed. Her eyes drifted closed as she delicately licked the tip. Her mouth made a little moue and she kissed him, sucking lightly over his slit. She slid her mouth further over the head until her lips met his fist and the sensual contact of her mouth tantalized him. She popped her lips off his cock. “Put your hands above your head. And hold onto the canopy.” Gaap gripped the wood rail above his head just as her fingers cupped his balls and her mouth closed over him again. This time she slid his cock all the way into her mouth, until the very head of him touched the back of her throat. When she swallowed, her throat tightened over him. “Gods,” he whispered as she worked her mouth up and down over him. Her tongue flicked and taunted him, as she gripped his cock with one hand and cupped his bollocks with the other. The rhythm gradually picked up pace but he was careful not to overwhelm her. He swelled impossibly harder, larger, and a monster orgasm pulsed at the base of his spine.
He was about to explode, Lili squeezed his buttocks and sucked his cock deep into her throat. Her teeth scraped over the circumference of his erection, her lips spread wide as she silently begged him to fuck her mouth harder. Her breasts bounced with each push of his hips. She sucked everything in, hollowing out her cheeks and flattening her tongue against his cock, and clenched her throat. Semen gushed out of him in hot intense bursts as stars exploded behind his eyelids. And Lili sucked and sucked and sucked until Gaap thought he would pass out from the pleasure. She moaned softly. The hum was a sensual delight on his softening cock. He popped the head from her mouth. The salty aroma of his cum scented the air. Lili smiled widely, her mouth slick and her lips lovereddened. “Mmm.” She rubbed her cheek against the rough curly hair of his belly. He dropped his hands to cup her head and the silk of her hair slid through his fingers. “On your stomach. Now,” he commanded. Her time to play was over. She rolled over, her hair draped provocatively across her shoulders. Without his direction, she pushed up onto her hands and knees. “Very good,” he purred and dropped to the mattress to kneel behind her. The round, pale globes of her ass beckoned. With his fingers he spread her wide and stared into the glistening pink lips surrounded by her midnight curls. Her sex was wet and wanting. His blowjob had clearly aroused her. The deep mystery of a woman’s body had been denied to him for thousands of years. He never got tired of exploring their sweet aroma, exploring their curves with little touches and hot licks that drove them wild. He extended his tongue, ever thankful for the mutation that allowed him to elongate and curl the muscle, and flicked her clitoris with little fluttering touches. Her toes curled against the rumpled sheets of the bed. He flattened his tongue and in long rough licks ate her up. Placing his lips over her flushed plumped sex he sucked. Hard. With every slurp, his cock stiffened into iron, ready and able to pound into her. Lili whimpered and pushed back against his mouth, her thrusts becoming more and more urgent. He laughed softly, and let the vibrations linger against her pussy before he pulled away. The sound of her frustration was a welcome ego boost. Gaap surged to his feet and drove into her. The head of his cock was enveloped by her sex, and he pounded against her pussy until his balls slapped hard against her clit. Gaap gripped her hips and then slid one hand around to play between her curls. Sweat trickled down his back, as her body clamped on him, hard. She was close to her completion. All the blood in his body centered in his cock. Gaap pressed lightly on her clit and she screamed, her muscles bearing down on him so hard he saw stars. The orgasm started in his toes, tingled through his legs and poured out the base of his spine. Cum jetted into her body with hard spurts as he continued to ram into her, wringing every drop of pleasure out of them both. Until they were both limp and panting.
He stood in the flickering light, his body sated but his mind working. The soft skin of her thighs brushed against his, her ass snug against him, his balls tight against her clit. The sense of well being and peace settled over him at her contented sigh. He’d like to keep her. The wish made him light-headed. He wanted to keep her. They collapsed onto the bed. Gaap rolled to the side and pulled her with him. He cupped her breast in his hand and pretended he wasn’t trying to hold onto perfection. “See.” The rasp of her voice skittered over his nerve endings as his cock stuttered to life once more. "See what?" He hummed low in his throat as she shot him a lazy satisfied gaze. Lustful. “Summon a Demon...and he will come.”
Chapter FIFTEEN Lili stretched out beside him, her purpose lost in a sexual haze. “Gods, I haven’t.” In years. Since Brian. Sadness fogged her brain for a moment. How could she have forgotten Brian? She’d been so sad and angry since he’d been gone. But in the last few days she’d been cavorting with a Demon, and he had reawakened the sensual nature that she’d suppressed. Early dawn sunlight bled into the room from the semi-sheer curtains and filled her cottage with soft illumination. Their time together would soon be at an end. He’d tensed in the last few moments as her sad memories flooded back in. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “It’s been a long time since I was intimate.” “Why?” he asked bluntly. “You are clearly a sexual being.” Gods, she was sexual. And she’d denied that part of herself for far too long. “After the Earthquake and the collapse of everything I’d known.” She thought of her mother, father and younger sister, all dead in an instant. Brian had died later. “After my family perished, I was just trying to survive.” “How did you?” “I was lucky,” she said softly. “I had learned to sew when I was a kid. And I’d kept up the practice, so that when everything imploded, I had a skill.” Her gaze meandered to the foot-pedal-controlled sewing machine in the corner, and she thanked the Gods that her mother had been sentimental about her grandmother’s old manual machine. What would Lili have done otherwise? Survived. That was what she did. Lili was oddly content to lie in the Demon’s arms. She trailed her fingers over the dusting of hair on his chest, traced the strong lines of his collarbone, and brushed over the sleek muscles of his shoulders. She had forgotten how lovely it was just to be with a man. To curl into the warmth of his body and the shelter of his embrace, and just be. “And you lost a love,” he said shrewdly. “Yes.” She sighed softly thinking of Brian and how much she’d loved him. How much she missed him still. “I did. Which is why I want revenge on the Fae.” Gaap frowned. “Wait. That’s not right.” Confusion scrambled in her brain, as she tried to re-order the last few days. “No. I want revenge on the Fae because of the attack.” The attack that was difficult for her to remember. As she tried to recall the attack by the Fae, a sharp and insistent pain stabbed through her left eye. “What’s wrong?” He placed a hand over her forehead. “Headache.” The same headache she had every time she tried to remember more about the attack. “You lost a great deal of blood.” Gaap studied the pain in her gaze. “Perhaps this has addled your mind.” But he’d eased away from her. And suddenly the nakedness that moments ago had been sweet and sensual seemed more like dangerous exposure.
“Me?” She blinked. “No. I wasn’t injured.” All she could remember was sewing up his gash. “Yes. You were." He flicked a finger over the gauze around her wrist. She stared at the wrapping and flexed her wrist to test for any kind of damage but it seemed fine. “What happened?” “I believe we need to find out.” Gaap rose from the bed and drew on his breeches. There was a certain distance in his eyes, the gold and hazel taking on a suspicious glint. Looking around the tiny cabin, she knew a moment’s embarrassment. Her humble cabin was not the type of surroundings he was accustomed to. “Get dressed.” His voice was clipped. No longer the gentle, sensual lover of a few moments ago, but the ruthless Prince he was purported to be. He stared hard into the shadowed corner near the old stove. “We’re going to have company soon.” Lili swallowed, pushing down her sudden uneasiness. She didn’t have anything to hide. She’d been completely honest with him. She hastily pulled a dress over her head and wished she could rewind her clock just a few minutes and savor the intimacy between the two of them. Her body was sticky with the combination of his seed and her juices. The musky scent of the two of them intertwined and permeated her senses. A soft smile spread through her. Whatever happened she would have this past night of ecstasy to keep her warm and happy for the next few years. A knock sounded at the door and before Lili could answer, the heavy, locked door swung open. Locked door. Two very large Demons entered her cottage. A blond Demon moved with a lazy sensuality. His hips canted forward, the bulge in his breeches discreet as he sauntered toward them. The Demon exuded sexuality. As he paused at the foot of the bed, his frank and knowing gaze took in the tangled strands of her hair, the loose wrap of her dress and Gaap's bare chest. The rumpled covers and the scent of sex made it obvious what they had been doing. The other one was equally large. His skin was swarthy, his head shaved bald, but a shadow of a beard dusted a strong jaw and cruel mouth. “I take it you’re recovered.” He assessed her, then Gaap, then for some odd reason, he stared at the chair over by the stove, before he sat down at her table and frowned at them both. Lili sensed his disapproval. And that pissed her off. What did it matter if Gaap had sex with her? Demons had sex. All the time, supposedly. About to give him a piece of her mind, she cocked her hands on her hips, when Gaap interrupted to introduce them. “Leraye, my security officer,” he nodded toward the dark Demon. “And Zepar.” Gaap jerked his chin toward the blonde. Lili wondered what Zepar’s role might be. Before she could ask, Gaap spoke again. “She has the mark of the sun on her wrist.” Zepar, the blonde, raised an eyebrow. The dark one held preternaturally still. The mark of what? “Excuse me?” “You didn’t think to mention this last night?” Leraye’s pose was deceptively lazy as he plucked an apple from the wood bowl on her tiny kitchen table and pulled out a small but deadly knife. “I didn’t put it together until just a minute ago.” “What the hell is the mark of the sun?” she asked. “Fae mark.” “Well that would make sense, since they attacked me,” she snarled.
“We should just kill her.” Leraye peeled the apple skin into one long curl. “There is no downside to her death. And if she is a trap, the Fae will be in the dark.” His handsome face was set in hard lines and his eyes glittered with menace. “I concur.” The sexual being who’d sauntered in had been replaced by a deadly Demon. Kill her? They’d said it so casually. Lili gulped as his words to sunk in. A few days ago she would have accepted death, but after the last night, she no longer wished to die. “I veto that option.” She backed up slowly until she hit the edge of the nightstand next to her bed. She had another dagger next to the candle she used to read by on her long lonely evenings. The hilt was familiar and comforting in her hand. No fucking way was she going down without a fight. Gaap moved quickly and disarmed her. “Everyone take a moment.” His grip was gentle and yet, absolute. She wouldn’t be able to break free. Lili resisted the urge to melt into the hard safety of his embrace. “Fine,” she snapped. “We should go back to the clearing,” Gaap said calmly. “What?!” Lili's heart thudded painfully. “Not a chance.” Leraye, the voice of reason, shoved the chair back from the table and jerked to his feet. Zepar took a step toward Gaap and Lili. “The only way to find out what is really going on is to attempt contact again.” “Attempt death? No.” Lili’s mouth went dry at the fear coating her tongue. Suddenly she thought perhaps her need for revenge on the Fae wasn’t what she wanted. “Never mind. I don’t need revenge,” she babbled. Fear caromed through her at the thought of Gaap facing the Fir Bolg assassins again. The memory of his flesh split and bleeding, the acrid scent of burnt skin from the zap of electricity, tormented her. “I am advising against it,” Leraye said flatly. “I hear your advice.” Gaap pulled his shirt over his head, the muscles in his abdomen rippling. Lili relaxed. Thank Gods one of them had sense. Maybe she could talk Gaap back into bed. Who needed revenge when she could have love, sex, again? “And I disagree.” Gaap drew his leather armor on over the fine cotton shirt. The thick leather broadened his chest but all she noticed was the dark stain at the edge of his waist. A leftover remnant of his injury. As much as Lili wanted revenge, she didn’t want him hurt on her account. But before she could protest, Gaap held up his palm. “Non-negotiable.” “You seem to be saying that a lot lately.” Zepar tilted his head, so that his gaze skimmed thoughtfully back and forth between them. Lili had no idea what he was thinking. “I should spend some time alone with the lovely Lili.” Lili stiffened at the sensual intent in his words. She didn’t want to spend time with him. “Zepar,” Gaap said patiently, but with an edge of steel. “Now is not the time.” But Zepar ignored Gaap and sauntered up to her. Lili kept her attention on him, not forgetting for a moment that he thought killing her was a good idea. She wished Gaap hadn’t disarmed her. “Ah, lovely Lili.” Zepar's smile was wicked, lustful. If she hadn’t just met Gaap and spent the most amazing night of her life with him, she might have been tempted. He leaned closer until the tips of her breasts touched his chest. And his breath was hot on her mouth. Lili tilted her chin up and refused to be intimidated. “You don’t frighten me.”
Zepar laughed low in his throat. “You aren’t supposed to be frightened, sweet.” She desperately wanted to take a step back, away, but she had no intention of showing him weakness. He left her stone cold and she wanted that clear. "No, thank you." “It appears, my friend,” Zepar turned his head to goad Gaap. “That you’ve ruined her.” Gods, the blonde Demon was right. She had no interest in him. He exuded sex and his hot look told her that he could make her very happy in bed. And she couldn't care less. Lili’s lashes fluttered down so that she could hide that frightening truth. Gaap’s bark of laughter was loud and hearty. “You just turned down the Demon of Seduction.” The joy that lit up his face was like sunshine coming out after a bitter rain." “Sweet Lili, like the flower?” Zepar asked casually. “Lilith. Short for Lilith.” All the Demons stiffened. “What?” “Lilith, consort of the devil.” Leraye tightened his fist around the hilt of the paring knife. She rolled her eyes. “My mother liked the way it sounded.” “Names have power.” Seduction guy growled, his sensual side buried by menace. “Names are just names.” Power was in magick. And she was not a consort of the devil. Even so. “But that would make sense since I’m consorting with you three.” Gaap’s demeanor changed, his easy amusement of a moment ago replaced with solemnity. “Demons are not devils.” “I know that.” Lili wrapped her dress more tightly around her middle. Their response to her name was an unwelcome surprise. Leraye looked ready to pounce on her. “What else do you know?” “The Fae are the devils,” Gaap said calmly. “They want something. We need to deny them.” Exactly what she wanted. To deny the Fae. Lili’s heart clenched and fear fluttered in her breast. Because, good Gods, taunting the Fae was a bad idea. “Don’t let him go into the clearing,” Lili begged Leraye, understanding that this Demon had some sway with Gaap. More than she did. Leraye lowered his dark brows over his startlingly pale blue eyes. Gaap sneered. “You’re all pansies.” She glanced at the scar from yesterday’s injury but the red, angry slash had faded to a pink puckered seam on his hips. “I heal fast,” Gaap said softly. Her response was equally soft. “I still don’t want you to go.” But then Leraye curled his cold fingers around her bicep and crowded her between the bed and the nightstand. “He won’t be going alone.”
Chapter SIXTEEN The Demons loaded up on weapons before leaving Lili's home. When they strode toward the clearing where the Fae had attacked, Gaap was surprised the clanging from the weapons strapped to his body hadn’t already brought the Fae out to play. “We should have left her behind.” He could almost hear Lili grinding her teeth. She’d refused to stay at her cottage. As he’d wished. He admired her tenacity but he hated that she was in danger. “They attacked because she was with you.” Leraye lengthened his stride. “She is the catalyst.” Last time, I saved you. Gaap could hear her thoughts loud and clear. The mulish look on her face conveyed the stubborn thought as well. Their connection had strengthened after yesterday’s attack. He knew her thoughts and her worries. But his need to protect the Demons, to protect her, overrode any worries she might have. They needed to find out what the Fae had planned. “I don’t like it.” Gaap would have preferred to find out without her present. She was a distraction he could well do without. “Join the club.” Leraye’s gaze moved constantly looking for any threat. While Gaap gave Leraye a rundown of the attack from the previous day, he fingered the iron throwing stars dangling from his belt. “I have a bad feeling about this,” Gaap glanced around the shadows for any followers or anything out of place. He wanted to get this over with and go back to Lili’s cottage and lose himself in her body. In no time, they reached the tiny glade. Gaap and Leraye had worked out a plan on the trek to the Faery mound. They stood underneath the massive oak tree and Gaap assessed the clearing again. The brook running through the little glade trickled joyously and the rush of water in his ears soothed him. Water was his to command and proximity to any body of water always calmed him. One of the worst tortures of being underground had been the lack of water. Their sustenance had been mere trickles down the black cavernous walls. The only color in their prison had been the sparkle of amethyst crystals embedded in the rocks. “You see anything?” Lili whispered. She stood straight, tense, the lines of her body indicated her readiness to fight. Leraye held a finger to his lips, then gestured to the giant oak tree that Gaap had used defensively before. While Gaap and Lili used the tree as shelter and protection, Leraye climbed up into the shadowed branches and found an advantageous surveillance point. A single Fae appeared in the clearing. Everything about him shimmered, a trait Gaap had always found interesting. Demons tended toward dark. The Fae were glimmering creatures of gold and sunlight and yet their hearts were blacker than the darkest Demon. Lili stepped forward as if ready to take on the Fae all on her own. Gaap curled his fingers around her bicep and tugged her back. “You are done here.” The Fae spoke in his seductive voice, directing all of his power of suggestion at Lili. She blinked. “Are you talking to me?” “Your wish will be granted, since you have brought them to us.” What the hell was he talking about? Gaap frowned.
Lili’s fists clenched. Gaap could feel her confusion and her anger toward the Fae. Caution. He attempted to send the word to her. She quivered. Ah, so it appeared that he could communicate with her now. “What do you want?” Gaap wondered if the Fae would answer. “The same thing she does.” The Fae smirked as if he had a delicious secret. “So you did use her to get to me?” Gaap wanted to be very clear. This was why he’d been able to sense the Fae on her skin and see the sun mark on her body. The Fae’s laugh was harsh with glee. “Hardly.” With a languid gesture, he waved his hand as if clearing a mirror of steam. And suddenly Gaap could see in her mind. Images played through her brain and transmitted to him. Lili on her knees in this very clearing, begging for revenge. Lili with fury on her face. Lili with triumph in her eyes as her memories were shielded by glamour and slowly replaced with faint memories of being attacked. Lili, the betrayer. Her hatred for Demons was recorded in her memories and slammed into him with sickening force. Her hatred had bubbled in a cauldron of rage until she broke and begged the Fae to use her. “She has served her purpose,” the Fae taunted with an evil grin. “You may do with her what you will.” With one last swipe of his hand, he removed the rest of the concealing glamour. No, no, no, no. Gaap heard her words in his head as she backed away from him, tears in her eyes, her face a rictus of shame and horror. Rage filled him, rising from a hot ball in his stomach and radiating out until the force of the anger consumed him. He should have ignored his feelings and used his head. He’d known that she had the scent of the Fae on her. Instead, he’d shoved aside the anomalies and concentrated on how she made him feel. Gaap laughed, the sound harsh and grating in the still expectant air. It turned out the Fae weren’t using her, she had been using them. “No,” she whispered. He would kill her soon, but first, the Fae was the bigger threat.
Chapter SEVENTEEN A gust of wind rustled through the leaves and blew the scent of heather into her face. Her stomach roiled and pitched. Gods, she wanted to throw up. Cry. Scream. She’d betrayed him. Lili’s heart pounded in her chest. Her mouth dry with terror and shame, she waited for the deathblow. Noise rang in her ears and her vision danced with white stars, as her chest got tighter and tighter. She kept her eyes open, wanting to see death as Gaap visited his wrath upon her. Breathe. Gaap’s voice snarled in her mind, his touch harsh and angry. Gaap turned his attention to the smug Fae. “You’re mine.” His face was a mask of determined power as he twirled an iron throwing star at the triumphant enemy. Lili understood then that Gaap would take his revenge on her later. Bloodlust welled up in her as she watched the arc of his ornate killing weapon. Images powered through her mind and tumbled over the blocks that had existed when she’d met him. When she’d blamed all her ills on the Demons. In her quest to exact revenge, she’d found the Demon's true worth. And she’d found the love that had been denied to her for the past ten years. She’d found her haven with Gaap. How ironic that the act meant to bring a measure of peace actually brought her total anguish. The iron star dropped harmlessly to the ground, merely splattering the grass with sparks as the deadly metal bounced off the Fae’s shield of glimmering light. Gaap shrugged. “There is only one of you.” The Fae threw an electric shock pulse at Gaap, aiming perfectly to nail him in the thigh. Gaap hissed in pain and threw another iron star. “You cannot touch me,” the Fae taunted as Gaap’s weapon fell to the earth. “Your weapons are useless against my shields.” The Fae threw another electric shock pulse, accurately hitting Gaap in the exact spot of his injury from yesterday. The exact spot that Lili had sewn with such care last night. “You have been defeated by a human.” And that was when she realized that yesterday's battle had been a test. A way to measure the weapons of the Demons and then counteract them for maximum injury to the Demons and minimum to the Fae. Gaap had been played on so many levels. And she had been there at every turn, betraying him. Helping the Fae, hurting the Demons. She remembered her anger when she’d gone to the Fae, but she was a different person now. Changed by the truth, the fundamental good of Demons. They had not been the real reason for her desperation, but she learned too late that the Fae were the true evil. Lili stood mutely, hands hanging at her sides as the Fae advanced toward Gaap. “I will admit that I didn’t think she had a prayer of enticing you.” With every word he uttered the Fae sealed her fate. She was doomed. Deserved to be doomed. With each bolt of energy the Fae tossed at Gaap, her heart rate increased. As the Fae advanced, Lili became more frantic, searching for a way, any way that she could help Gaap. Lili refused to be the downfall of Gaap who had shown her nothing but kindness and love. Who had reawakened her to the pleasures of life. Gaap bled from half a dozen wounds. Both thighs and one bicep seeped, and one particularly strong zap had pierced his neck. Yet he stood strong and ready to attack.
Why wasn’t Leraye helping Gaap out? Lili glanced surreptitiously up into the oak’s canopy. Leraye seemed frozen. Nothing moved. She watched him from the corner of her eye, unwilling to give away his presence to the Fae but needing to understand. She counted twenty blinks of her own eyes before realizing that he was truly frozen. Some force compelled him to an absolutely solid form. Nothing twitched or moved at all. It was up to her. Her fingers curled under her sleeve around the iron dagger that she’d stolen from the Demons as they had loaded up on weapons before coming to the clearing. “Why me?” Gaap asked conversationally. “Take out the leader and the entire regiment will fall,” the Fae mocked. “You know this.” “Fight like a warrior,” Gaap taunted. “Instead of hiding behind a pretty, shimmery shield.” “You think I'm that stupid?” The Fae hissed and threw another bolt of electricity at Gaap which pierced the leather on his chest with a vicious slice. Her Demon didn’t even flinch. “We want you gone,” the Fir Bolg assassin snarled. “I’m thrilled to realize I’m that much of a pain in the ass.” “Back to the depths of Hell from whence you were banished before. The world is in complete disarray. We're practically back to the stone age.” With every step the Fae took, Lili’s resolve strengthened. She would not let the Fae win. “What will it take for you to surrender to your fate?” the Fae said. Lili bristled. Gaap threw another iron star. The sparks as the iron hit the shield lit the darkened clearing like fireworks in the sky. The darkened clearing. She had to gamble, had to hope this would work. Hope that she could save Gaap. She refused to be his destroyer. Lili studied the shimmering shield that protected the Fae and lit the clearing. And knew what she had to do. I love you, she sent to Gaap. And then she said, “He fears the dark.”
Chapter EIGHTEEN The crushing sense of betrayal squeezed his chest. She had taken his darkest secret and revealed it to the Fae. You bitch. Love? That was not love. Rage roared through his brain cutting off all other thought. “Ah, and here I was beginning to think you’d had a change of heart.” The evil laugh that came out of the Fae curled through Gaap’s bones. “Not a chance.” Her amethyst eyes were fierce, as sharp and lethal as the geodes beneath the Earth’s surface. “I want revenge.” So did he. This final treachery broke him. As if he could literally hear the crack, his heart rent in two. He had waited for Leraye to strike, taking the small hits, trying to lure the Fae into complacency. But the time to act was now. What the hell was Leraye doing? Gaap shifted his attention from the Fae to Lili. Her face was white, miserable. Sorrow haloed her body like a shield. A shield. The anticipation on the Fae's face was priceless. The clearing went stone cold dark. The Fae had dropped his glimmering light shield. For an instant Gaap was plunged into that deep well of fear before instinct kicked in. As he threw himself to the ground in a barrel roll, he reached unerringly for the throwing stars. Gaap heard the whisper in his mind. Trust me. Her blade whooshed through the air. The iron knife embedded in the Fae’s black heart and light poured from the mortal wound to illuminate the clearing once again. A new unit of Fir Bolg assassins swarmed over the Faery mound. As one, they converged on Lili. She dropped to the ground, covered her head, and tried to protect her body from the physical blows they rained down upon her. Thank Gods, they must not have the electric pulse weapon capabilities like their leader. It took a very strong magick talent to focus the pulse. Even so, Lili and Gaap were still outnumbered. Gaap began to throw the iron stars left and right and he felled several Fae as he ran toward her. But Gaap didn’t have enough weapons to slay them all. Things slowed preternaturally, the sound of the crickets in the early evening air, the happy babble of the stream tripping over the rocks, the thuds and grunts as the assassins beat up his defenseless Lili. She had given up her purloined weapon to save him. She did love him. And Gaap knew what to do. Hold your breath when I tell you. He pushed the words toward her, calling on his power even as he struggled against his weakened system. Blood trickled from multiple wounds. He’d forgotten that in this clearing his body’s ability to heal was stunted. The rush of the water grew louder. The glorious sensation of power welled up within him. Magick from the rising moon gave him strength, and Gaap concentrated on the burgeoning water. His power swelled as he commanded the water to come to him. Gathering force, the small stream from the brook transformed into a giant tidal wave. The roar of the water began to distract the assassins as the wave built and built and built until it crested at over a hundred feet.
If there was one thing the Fae feared more than iron, it was water. “Now,” Gaap roared as the wave broke and rushed toward the Fae assassins. The thunderous crash shook the clearing. The Fae assassins screamed and ran out of the enchanted glade. If the mighty swath of water touched them, they would be dead. Gaap grinned ferociously, as they scattered like terrified mice. The slower ones drowned in the fury of his wrath. As the wave ebbed back toward the creek, Lili’s limp body bobbed on the surface of the water along with the slain Fae. Struggling through the pain from the multitude of wounds, Gaap ran toward her. Her black hair floated in an obscene halo around her head. She lay unmoving in the swirling death wave, the utter stillness of her body a warning that she hadn’t escaped the water's fury. Fear trapped in his throat. He scanned the area, his gaze constantly moved, searching for any assassins foolish enough to stay. “Gods, Lili.” She floated on top of the Faery mound, where she lay silent and still as death. Gaap finally reached her and ran his hands over her as he silently begged the Gods for her life. There were no Gods in the clearing to hear him. Gaap rolled Lili onto her side and pounded her back until she began to cough in harsh, wracking sobs. Her dress was plastered to her body, ripped where the Fae had scored her skin. Her beautiful face was already beginning to turn black and blue. Huge bruises marred the proud tilt of her cheekbones, and her soft, beautiful mouth was swollen and misshapen. Gaap lifted her into his arms. He was amazed at how slight her body felt in unconsciousness. Her breath rattled in her throat as he raced to the oak tree. Her lashes were dark against the fragile skin of her cheeks. Looking up into the leafy canopy of the oak tree, he could see Leraye frozen solid. “Faery spell.” Her voice croaked out of her throat. He needed to get Leraye down from the tree. “Leave me,” Lili said. The massive roots of the oak tree split the ground like veins popping from skin. He lay Lili down and nestled her between the rifts. His heart filled with love. “Thank you for saving me.” Gaap brushed a tender kiss over her battered mouth. A flash of power sparked through him. Gaap climbed toward his frozen friend. He kept the water swirling in a gentle whirlpool on the ground, to keep away the Fae while he rescued his friend. When he reached Leraye, he pressed a hand to his skin. Warm to the touch. Gaap placed his hand over his friend’s chest and felt his heart beating in a slow, somnolent rhythm. But no breath passed through his nose and his eyes were static and vacant as if his spirit were gone. Gaap pushed his shoulder into the hard, rigid muscles of Leraye’s stomach and heaved him onto his shoulder. Since Leraye had been frozen in a crouch, the maneuver wasn’t as difficult as it could have been. He vaulted carefully to the ground, grunting under his friend's dead weight. Gaap placed him carefully on the ground and wondered what sort of magic could keep Leraye frozen in stasis. He had to get them all out of the clearing. No way in hell would he leave Lili. He couldn’t leave her. She was more than just a means to an end. With her courage and fierce will to survive, she’d filled a place in his heart he hadn’t even realized was empty. But he couldn’t leave Leraye here either. The Fae were going to be angry at the loss of their head commander and the Fir Bolg assassins. The Demons must be more on guard than ever.
His wounds continued to bleed, like tiny rivers through the leather and cotton of his clothing. His head swirled and stars danced in his vision. He didn’t have much time left. Gaap placed Lili on top of his friend. She had passed out again. He wiped the sweat from his eyes, surprised when his fingers came away coated with blood. Gaap blinked. He wasn’t healing. Gaap drew on his magick power and with a super effort, he lifted the Leraye and Lili into his arms and trudged toward the edge of the clearing. With every step the strain on his muscles increased. Fatigue ripped at his legs. His wounds oozed warm trails of blood over his skin. A Demon battalion lay just beyond the magickal barrier of the clearing. The plan had been for Leraye, secreted in the oak, to contact the army when the time was right. Clearly the plan had failed. All he needed was to bring one soldier into the Faery enclave and he’d be able to take his friend and his lover home. As he stumbled nearer to the barrier of the clearing, the sky brightened. Light from the full moon illuminated the forest. Gaap trudged forward. He only needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other. His lungs burned. His muscles had passed the point of fatigue and become like bricks. His fingers cramped at holding onto their weight but he knew if he let go he wouldn’t be able to pick them up again. Gaap stumbled over a tree root. His knees hit the ground with a thud. The impact sang up his body and brought a new level of pain to his deadened limbs. Blood ran into his left eye and obscured his vision. He sent messages to his limbs to get up. But his legs refused to obey. A strong gust of wind swirled through trees and the force pushed him over. His body hit the ground in a jarring thump. Gaap groaned. He had to get up. His vision hazed. But, he refused to fail. Until he got them out of this clearing, they were all in danger. Lili moaned. He thought about that surge of power a few moments ago and the boost in energy he’d experienced. Could it be? Vetis, the Demon of Corruption, had insisted that love was enhancing his energy but Gaap hadn’t really believed him. Gaap leaned over Lili. Her eyelids lifted and she stared at him blearily, her amethyst gaze filled with pain. “Kill me with a kiss,” she demanded. He had to try. His strength was nearly gone. Gaap pressed his lips to hers. He poured his love into the gentle kiss, but he didn't want to hurt her. Her lips clung to his as a tear tracked down her sweet, battered face. A surge of power nearly knocked him down. The energy was so great his body buzzed with a surfeit until Lili lost consciousness again.
Chapter NINETEEN Lili lay on a bed of soft goosedown feathers, the satin slippery against her battered body. Gods, she ached. Everywhere. The region around her heart was the worst. Emptiness surrounded her like a cloak. Sorrow sucked at her heart. Warm tears trailed down her cheeks. The emotions she’d thought dead and buried with Brian wrapped around her heart and squeezed her so tightly that her breath barely passed her lips. Her last memory was of waiting for Gaap to strike her down. The salt from her tears stung the cuts and bruises on her face. The physical pain brought her an emotional comfort she needed. She deserved pain, deserved abandonment for her betrayal. He’d spared her life, an unnecessary kindness. But after her betrayal, how would she ever live with herself? She curled into her body and absorbed the scents and sounds around her. The covers were soft beneath her. The ocean waves shush-shushed as they lapped at the sand, and the briny scent of the sea lingered in the air. Seagulls squawked as they swooped over the crashing waves. The ocean. Her salvation. Surcease from her sorrow. As the softness finally registered, she realized that was wrong. There was no grainy, cool wet sand. No rough wool blanket beneath her, only a soft susurrus of breath in her ear. Her heart thudded in her chest as rough fingers brushed at her tears. “Don’t weep,” Gaap whispered, his breath warm against the throbbing bruises on her face. He hadn’t sounded angry. If anything, she heard a hint of sadness in his voice. She held her breath and slowly raised her eyelids. Her heart thundered in her ears and she waited for his wrath. And yet she hoped for something else entirely. She stared into the intense brown and gold of his eyes, so close that she could see the light sparkling as he gazed at her. The bright blue of the daytime sky blazed above their heads. She lay on her back on the beach, in the protected cove where she first summoned him. “How--” Why? Was what she really wanted to know but she couldn’t voice anything more as her throat closed and emotion swamped her. “You had a knife.” She remembered him leaning over her. “You didn’t kill me.” “I kissed you.” He grinned broadly. “And then you....” “Carried you both out of there.” He carried them both? “Is Leraye recovered then?” “No.” Gaap’s gaze shifted to the open sea. “He is still in a state of stasis.” “But he’s not dead?” “He appears to be alive, just...not aware.” He frowned. “And you’ve never seen this Fae weapon before?” “No.” Gaap stroked a rough finger over the arch of her brow. “We’re working on trying to unlock him from the prison.” The Demons had already been imprisoned for thousands of years. The unnatural restraint must be a horrible kind of torture. And she had brought this down upon Gaap’s friend. Upon Gaap. A wicked bruise, the size of a cantaloupe, marred his neck. Her gaze tracked over his body and took in the brutal results of the Fae’s attack. Large blue and purple marks splattered over his skin like an obscene modern painting.
With a trembling hand, she traced light circles around the wounds and bore witness to the evidence of her betrayal. “I’m sorry.” He brushed his lips over the curve of her cheek. “I know.” She lay not quite in the circle of his arms, savoring the soft linens and his subtle touches as he kissed the other cheek so very gently. “Are you going to kill me now?” She had to know. Had to know what would happen next. He chuckled and the sound rumbled through his entire body and transmitted to hers. “I’m sure there will be days when I am ready to strangle you.” Anticipation thudded in her heart. She peered through her lashes at him, wondered exactly what he meant, and stopped cold at the lust in his gaze. But he didn’t make a move. To hell with waiting. “What exactly are you saying?” “You cannot live in your cottage anymore,” he proclaimed. Right. Like he would decide that for her. “The Fae know where you live. They will come after you.” That was what he meant. Screw that. “I’ve taken care of myself for ten long years. I’ll be fine.” Lili pushed the soft satin sheets from her naked body. Naked? Her breasts swung in the cool sea air, her nipples tightened painfully. Gaap’s gaze was glued to her body. “You’ll be fine right here.” He ordered, his expression fierce. “Why?” She leaned closer until her face was right in his. His breathing heightened. A flush spread across his cheekbones as her breast swung against his rock-hard pectorals. He groaned heartily and curled his fingers around her breast. The heat of his hand against her chilled flesh was like a brand searing into her skin, claiming her. As she wanted to be claimed. Not protected. “I think I should leave.” She wanted to moan as his fingers played with her nipple and a rush of desire flooded her sex. “You’re staying.” He dipped his head to close his lips around her nipple. The heat from his mouth was even more shocking than his hand. He sucked her nipple, flattened that agile tongue of his and pressed hard against the roof of his mouth. Arousal heated her core. Lili fisted her fingers in his hair. “This won’t solve anything,” she panted. Her nipple escaped from his lips with a pop. “It’ll solve this.” He nudged his thick rod of an erection against her bare wet curls. The thick knob of his head rubbed her clitoris until she almost came from that slight contact. But he was holding back, treating her differently. “Ah,” she sighed. “But you don’t really want me.” Even as her body wept for his cock and her nerves tingled at every point they touched. “Wrong.” He growled. “I need you.” "It's the summoning." Her hopes were deflated. The book had warned of this. His feelings weren't real. Her feelings weren't real. "Excuse me?" Gaap lifted off her body and stood. His cock was proudly erect in the sea breeze. "You think your magick spell did this?"
"Yes." She lay sprawled on the blanket, her body open to the sun and the sea. The breeze swirled, licked at her legs, and curled around her stomach Gaap threw back his head and laughed. "Zepar, show yourself." The Demon of Seduction appeared between the mounded rocks. His broad form and golden hair gleaming from the valley of the stone breasts. She should cover herself. Zepar approached slowly. His gaze firmly fixed on Lili's exposed body and the wetness between her legs. "She thinks the Demon Summoning has caused this." Gaap fisted his cock and pumped. Zepar shifted his attention to Gaap's fingers. A smile played around his mouth even as shadowed darkened his eyes. He knelt down on the blanket, seduction in every line of his body. His movements languid and sensual. "You are the cause, sweet." Lili wanted to scoot away from the Demon but there was nowhere to go. "But the summoning--" "You're too close, old friend," Gaap warned. Zepar ignored Gaap. "The summoning merely brings the summoner to the Demon's attention. There is no compulsion." "The book said--" Zepar's finger against her mouth stopped her. "You believe everything you read?" He traced the outline of her lips with his finger, then bent to feather the lightest of kisses against her mouth. "Do not hurt him," he murmured against her mouth. "Never again." She promised. "Away from my consort," Gaap commanded. Zepar smiled grimly and rose to his feet. "The guard keeps watch. You might consider a frolick in the sea to heal your wounds. Gaap extended his hand toward Lili. "Shall we?" As he pulled her to her feet, she asked, "Are you going to give me what I want?” “Gods, woman, you are stubborn.” He rested his forehead on hers. “Are you going to give me what I want?” She wanted to be done with all this talking. “What do you want?” “Stay.” He nuzzled the soft skin behind her ear, and then pushed away to stare directly into her eyes. She saw a vulnerability that surprised her. “Please.” Lili didn't hesitate. "Yes." "Then let's take Zepar's suggestion and frolick. They ran toward the surf. A large wave crashed onto the shifting sand and the cool salt water lapped at their toes. Gaap dropped to his knees. "Push your breasts together," he demanded. His mouth sought the swollen peaks of her nipples and tugged them into his mouth. The hot contact and the cool breeze were contrasts in sensation. Lili's head fell back. The hot sun bathed her battered face. Gaap's tongue curled around both nipples and squeezed while his questing fingers stroked the cleft in her ass and headed for her sex. Lili felt the gazes of the soldiers guarding them. "They are watching?" she said breathlessly. "The Fae have grown bolder. I will not put you in jeopardy." The thought of Demons watching didn't repel her. She arched her back, cupped her breasts, and lifted her wet nipples to the sky. She whimpered as his knowing fingers stroked the lips of her pussy and spread her wide. He slid his tongue down her stomach and trilled the tip along her clit. Lili's hips jerked toward him.
"Gods, you're as wet as the ocean," Gaap said triumphantly. She wanted him inside her. Now. "Not yet."He nipped at her clitoris. In one lithe move, he stood and lifted her against his chest. Reflexively her legs straddled his hips and her arms circled his shoulders. Gaap rubbed his erection along the outside of her womb, hitting the soft spot between her hipbones. He strode boldly into the waves, going deep into the surf. The cool water hit her pussy and she squealed. Then Gaap shifted angles and slid his cock along her nether lips and teased her with the head. Blood rushed to her sex. She throbbed with every gentle contact, desperate for more. Desperate for the plunge of his cock into her body. The thick hot length of him to stroke her inside. “Please,” she finally begged. The water twirled around them and caressed her breasts like a lover's touch. “Shhh.” He rubbed his erection against her swollen sex until the head of his cock barely breached her entrance. Each swell of the water pushed him just a little further inside. She dug her heels into his buttocks and strained toward him. But Gaap would not be rushed. "Lie back." He slid the heel of his hand from her belly button along the center of her slick wet body and eased her back until she floated on top of the water. They were connected only at the entrance of her sex and the head of his erection. Her hair drifted around her head and her breasts bobbed, exposed to the noon day sun and the watchful eyes of the Demon guard. The cold salt water lapped at her body. "Do you feel my touch?" he whispered silkily. Like a greedy mouth, the water nipped and sucked at the aroused peaks of her nipples, the swollen bud of her clitoris, the hollow of her belly button, the rosette of her ass. Even the engorged slit of her sex felt his subtle bite. Each caress created an answering pull deep within her body. Every nerve ending tingled. "Not. Enough." She reached down between their bodies and grasped the stalk of his cock. The heat and the hardness of him seared her hand. “I can’t wait.” He groaned. “Let go.” Lili released his cock. In one strong and magnificent thrust, he impaled her, marking her inside, making her his. And she knew she’d never be the same. The walls of her vagina pulsed around his impossibly large cock. She was faint from the friction as he glided in and out of her body. Her pussy clenched around him and tried to suck him in and keep him there. The erotic ebb and flow of the ocean enhanced the rhythm of their loving. He slipped in and out of her body, with a reverence that took her breath. And somehow he understood that this was more precious than the fucking that she’d thought she’d wanted. Lili stared into his eyes, lost in wonder as he loved her tenderly. Her orgasm built in slow waves. Each slick glide aroused her further. He stroked over her g-spot, the head of his cock massaging that ridge of pleasure. Sensation layered over sensation as her body and mind, swirled with pleasure. Gaap’s cock swelled even harder. The pressure and the pleasure built until in a tidal swell of lust they fell over the precipice together. Her body drowned in a pleasure so intense her heart nearly stopped. Power sparkled, blindingly bright, as it glittered on the ocean's waves. A surge of energy surrounded her and his face glowed with love.
When she’d begged the Fae for the opportunity to summon a Demon, she’d never even imagined that this was where she’d end up. From the ashes of the revenge she’d sought, came the peace she’d really wanted.
EPILOGUE Zepar lounged near the fire, staring contemplatively into the flames. Demons had a new and powerful weapon against the Fae. The Fae might believe they were winning, but now the Demons had a new secret defense. Love. Love transformed their energy and made them stronger. Every Demon was tasked with winning the love of a human. Even he, the Demon of Seduction, must find a mate. Zepar smiled. He was the Demon of Seduction. How hard could it be to make a human fall in love with him?
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!
Chapter Excerpt from The Demon's Bargain: On Sale Now! http://www.authorlisaalder.blogspot.com 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.
![Demon [ A Memoir]](https://epdf.pub/img/300x300/demon-a-memoir_5b9b95b3b7d7bc0013c1ffec.jpg)
![Demon [ A Memoir]](https://epdf.pub/img/300x300/demon-a-memoir_5b9b95b4b7d7bcfe125aaec9.jpg)
