A Dangerous Demon King (The Sentinel Demons Book 4) (11 page)

“I don’t want to escape,” she protested.

He held up his hand. “Go!”

Sophie’s head started to spin, and then, as she gave Kristoff a pleading look, everything faded to darkness for a moment before she landed in the bedroom Kristoff had given her to use.

As irritated as he had been, he’d dropped her softly on the bed, as far away from him as she could get without leaving the house.

Heart, body and soul, she hurt from the abrupt separation. She panted, her heart racing as she took a few minutes to catch her breath.

Kristoff had sent her away.

Did he finally realize that I’m scarred and hideous?

Maybe he wanted her because the
radiant
bond was there. Maybe he was being forced into wanting her, but personally found her undesirable. Maybe just giving each other pleasure wasn’t possible.

Her confusion bombarding her, Sophie couldn’t figure out why Kristoff had sent her away. She’d offered herself up to him on a silver platter without any strings attached.

And he’d rejected her, sent her away from him.

A tear trickled down her cheek, meandering its way to her chin.

She swiped it away, realizing although her body cried out for Kristoff, right now the thing that ached the most was her heart.

Kristoff had whisked himself from the library to the shower, a task he never needed to perform. But it was the best way to get himself off, or try to anyway.

He leaned his forehead against the ceramic tile and pumped on his steely cock so forcefully that it was becoming raw and painful.

Warm water pounded against his back, but he didn’t notice it.

He was too desperate, too raw, too fucking crazed to care.

He’d been trying to jack off since the day he met his
radiant
, and it very seldom worked. Nothing could replace the mating heat coursing through his body and his soul.

Can’t you just fuck me. I want to experience pleasure.

Her words echoed through his mind until he was pounding his cock, allowing himself to think about what it would be like to pin his mate against a wall and bury himself inside her.

The heat.

The wetness.

The fucking incredible feel of her tight pussy clamping around him, claiming him just as surely as he’d claim her.

“I need her,” he rasped, letting his imagination run wild with visions of providing her the pleasure she so desired.

I’d satisfy her until she was so sated she couldn’t move.

Visions of burying his head between her thighs and swirling his tongue along her slick, pink flesh while she screamed his name in a powerful climax made him stroke harder, faster.

Imagining her taking his cock between her lush, sexy lips sent him over the edge, and he finally released himself against the tile of the shower with an agonized groan.

Dropping to his knees, he shuddered, his release giving him very little relief from the fantasies that he wanted to be reality.

Mine. She’s fucking mine and I can’t claim her.

He wasn’t sure how long he knelt in the shower, his fists clenched, his body consumed by fire, his will near the breaking point.

As the water turned cold, he dried himself with his magic and turned off the water. Tired of being engaged in the most difficult battle he’d ever fought, he settled himself in his bed, still fighting the desire to connect with Sophie.

S
ophie walked carefully through the fog, not quite sure where she was or what she was doing trying to fight her way through a fluffy, white substance that was barely permeable. Her hands in front of her, she struggled to break free of the blinding, heavy vapor that was obscuring her vision.

Finally, she stepped into the light, leaving the darkness behind her, and it took her a minute to focus. When she did, she let out a startled scream as she saw what looked like an animal cage, a space so small that the large body inside it was rolled into a ball to fit inside the prison.

Still, she recognized Kristoff. Rushing forward, she could only get within a few feet of his prison before her feet stopped and stuck to the ground, her body paralyzed in place.

“Kristoff,” she panted urgently.

He was alive, his animalistic, blue-eyed stare as cold as the Arctic in the winter. It was obvious that he didn’t recognize her. Sophie didn’t think he even knew she was there.

“Please,” she begged aloud to nobody in particular, needing to get to him.

Although he was recognizable to her, his golden hair was shaven, and his naked, trembling body was covered in blood and scars. The heavy breaths leaving his body were audible, his pain apparent.

How long had he been crammed into his tiny prison? It had to hurt to be unable to move, his body twisted like a pretzel.

“Kristoff? Answer me, please!” Sophie begged, her heart aching as she saw how ravaged he was.

“Assassin!” A loud, booming male voice came out of the fog, and Kristoff’s body shuddered as a bearded god, surrounded by an unearthly aura stepped into the light. “Wake up and do my bidding.”

Sophie suddenly realized that she was an unseen observer, the god-like creature paying her no attention, and obviously not realizing she was even present.

That probably meant Kristoff couldn’t recognize her presence either.

She watched, unable to do anything to help Kristoff, as the god kicked his cage, causing Kristoff to flinch. Opening the small prison with a golden key in his hand, the god yanked his captive free. “Time to earn your keep. You have your mission?”

Sophie watched as Kristoff untangled his body painfully. For the first time, she noticed the golden collar around his neck, and the chain hanging from the shackle that appeared to be abrading his skin. Fresh blood flowed as the god yanked on the dangling metal, causing Kristoff’s neck wounds to bleed even harder, causing specks of red to land on the god’s robe.

“I said…do you have your mission?” the god bellowed.

“Yes, my king. I live only to please you, Zeus.”

Kristoff’s voice was monotone and completely devoid of emotion, much like a robot.

“Then go. And do not return without his head,” the god insisted angrily, looking down at the droplets of blood on his pristine, white robe. “See what you did? You’ll pay for that when you return.”

He waved his hand, and Kristoff disappeared.

Strangely, Sophie followed him, flying through space until she landed beside him as he wielded a large machete, sneaking up behind a man in the woods who appeared to be trying to seduce a woman in a rich, blue gown. She couldn’t make out the mystery woman’s features because the man blocked her view. Just as before, Sophie was unable to move from her observation area.

Glancing from Kristoff’s bleeding form to the large knife he was carrying, Sophie suddenly remembered what the god had called him.

Assassin?

What did it mean?

Why was Kristoff even here?

“You’ve angered the gods. For this reason, you will die,” Kristoff snarled as he moved behind the male figure.

The unknown man barely had time to turn before Kristoff lifted his blade and divested him of his head.

“Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” Sophie’s stomach rolled as blood splattered everywhere.

The horrified screams of the female echoed in Sophie’s ears, and she began screaming herself as Kristoff grabbed the rolling head from the ground by the hair, leaving the hysterical female behind, covered in her would-be lover’s blood.

With a cold, lifeless expression, Kristoff disappeared, and once again, Sophie followed behind.

She stopped screaming as she arrived in the same place she’d started, the god— who was apparently Zeus—still present in the small clearing.

Kristoff dropped the head of the man at the god’s feet.

Zeus had changed his blood-spotted gown, because it was startling white once again.

The god nodded and instantly returned Kristoff back to his cage, locking the door with his golden key after he kicked the lifeless head Kristoff had brought him into the fog. “Tell me. Was he with Olivia?”

“Yes, my king,” Kristoff answered, his voice totally devoid of emotion.

Sophie was still trembling with shock, but seeing Kristoff treated worse than a domestic pet was even worse than her fear.

Why? Why was he here? What had he done to deserve this kind of imprisonment?

“You’re lucky I found a purpose for you,” the god grumbled. “This is how I feel about being bled upon.”

Zeus raised his hand and shot out a bolt of lightning that connected directly with Kristoff’s body, making the cage rattle as his imprisoned body seized, smoke rising from the new wounds the jolt had created as his expression contorted with agony.

He didn’t scream, but Sophie did it for him, shrieking loudly as she watched Kristoff being tortured, being burned alive.

“Stop! Leave him alone! Please.” She struggled to move, but her body stayed put as she watched Zeus’s torment continue.

He hit Kristoff again and again with bolts so powerful that his entire body was almost devoid of skin.

“Stop. Stop. Stop.” Sophie couldn’t cease her horrified screams as she watched a cruelty like she’d never known rain down on Kristoff, her feeling of helplessness to stop Kristoff’s torture and pain bringing tears to her eyes.

The god seemed to be amusing himself, and Sophie knew if she could move and get a blade into her hand, she’d lop off the god’s head without one bit of remorse.

Zeus. Leader of the gods?

He was an animal, more dark and cruel than the Evils.

“Kristoff!!” Her scream echoed in the small clearing, but nobody could hear her, and her head started to spin as she continued to scream with anger, mortification and frustrated fury.

“Kristoff!”

Her cry was still ringing in the air as Sophie bolted upright in bed, still shrieking from her nightmare, tears of sorrow flowing down her face.

Putting a shaky hand over her mouth, she quieted, but shuddered in the darkness.

“It was just a dream,” she whispered to herself, still trembling, unable to wipe away the images of Kristoff’s suffering.

Sophie scrambled out of bed, her heart still racing, somehow knowing the images she’d seen weren’t just a dream. They were somehow real, and she had to see Kristoff, assure herself that he was okay.

Crossing the room, using the moonlight from the window to guide her, she stepped into the lit hallway and ran to Kristoff’s sleeping chambers.

Although he didn’t need much sleep, her instincts told her that he was there right now.

She pushed his door open, and let the light into the room.

There, on the bed, was her golden demigod, his muscular body sprawled on the enormous bed.

“He’s okay. He’s okay. He’s okay,” Sophie was chanting aloud with relief. Seeing Kristoff in one piece was the only thing that was going to take away her fear.

Knowing she was invading his privacy and he’d sent her away, she started to leave. She’d seen him. He looked as gloriously beautiful as he ever had. He
wasn’t
in a cage, he wasn’t devoid of his golden hair, and his body was muscular and perfect.

His restlessness caused Sophie to hesitate. When he groaned as though he was in pain, and then started mumbling in a low, incoherent voice, she turned and approached the bed.

Completely on instinct, she reached out and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. The minute their bodies connected, his thoughts shot through her brain like a rocket, and she let them. What she saw was a continuation of her own nightmare.

More punishment.

More torture.

Zeus spitting on Kristoff as he disappeared from sight.

“Bastard!” Sophie rasped, angry as she realized that she had invaded Kristoff’s nightmares.

Those were no unique dreams she’d experienced. They were awful images of exactly what Kristoff was experiencing right now in his nightmares.

“Kristoff,” she said urgently as she shook his shoulder and climbed into his bed. “Wake up. You’re having a bad dream.”

How did one wake a Sentinel demon king who was also a demigod?

She didn’t get much time to ponder that question.

Wham!

Sophie found herself flat on her back before she realized they obviously awoke the same way a human did. Kristoff had come awake abruptly, flipping her over defensively to defend himself.

“Sophie?” he said in a dangerously displeased voice.

Looking up at him in the dim light, she babbled, “I’m sorry. You were having a nightmare, and I had it, too. I had to make sure you were okay, and I wanted you to wake up so you didn’t see those things anymore.”

“I saw them for thousands of years,” Kristoff replied as he lifted himself off her body. “I knew you were there in the shadows. I sensed it. But I couldn’t stop the dream. Now you know who and what I am,” he snarled angrily. “I was an assassin for the gods, their pet killer dog for the times they didn’t want to take the blame for murdering someone. Or when they just didn’t want to be bothered to do the deed themselves.”

“Oh, God.” Sophie felt the bile rise up in her throat. “That really happened? How?”

Kristoff ran an impatient hand through his hair. “It doesn’t matter. Now you understand why I don’t want you to be bonded to a Sentinel like me. I’ve murdered thousands without remorse, a killer for anyone who displeased the gods.”

Sophie knew there was more to his story, but her heart ached for what he’d been through. “You were forced.”

“I agreed to do it,” he answered flatly.

She stopped to consider his statement before venturing, “They tricked you.”

The bedroom was silent for a moment before he answered. “I agreed,” he repeated through his clenched jaw, his voice desolate. “Leave me, Sophie. Thank you for waking me, but as you can see, I’m fine.”

He wasn’t fine, and if he sent her away again…

Thump!

She landed on her bed once more, courtesy of Kristoff’s demigod transport service.

“Damn him!” Sophie cursed and slammed her fist on the bed.

Flopping back onto the pillows, frustration permeating her every thought, she didn’t know what to do anymore.

He wouldn’t talk to her.

He wouldn’t touch her.

He wouldn’t let her help him.

Her body ached with need, the desire to be closer to him stronger than it ever had been. Knowing he was okay was a relief, but Sophie knew the images of Kristoff’s torment would be branded forever on her brain.

Tears flowed from her eyes as her aching heart and body warred for which one was hurting the worst.

“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered aloud, feeling horribly alone, and more than a little confused.

The flesh between her thighs was throbbing and needy. Her nipples as hard as diamonds.

“I need him,” she admitted aloud, kicking the covers off the bed as her body started to throw off so much heat it felt like she was burning alive.

In desperation, she let her hand slide down her abdomen and into her delicate panties, lifting her nightgown high as she touched herself. Her head moved from side to side as she fumbled, stroking the wet warmth that pulsated for…something more.