Beauty and the Beast (Demon Tales 1) (6 page)

Brigg walked through the long dark tunnel,
feeling like a prize prick for the way that he had spoken to Cally.
Her pretty blue eyes had dimmed under his attack, and that only
made him feel worse. Her sweet and clean scent kept wafting over
him every few seconds, reminding him and his treacherous body that
there was more to this than just chivalry. He had saved her, not
just because she was a woman who had been in the care of a nasty
bastard such as Helki. But something had triggered within his mind,
body and soul. His life was fucked up enough, he didn’t need the
added complication a woman—a
human
woman for god’s sake.

Steeling himself against the uncontrollable
reaction to her, he turned and waited for her to catch up. Her
small, almost dainty strides made it a struggle for her to wind her
way through the shallow but craggy-floored tunnel. It had taken him
and his brother five years to burrow under the black woods.
Building their escape hatch had been something that had gotten him
and his brother through the worst of their depression. Five years
of planning, digging and bleeding, completely wasted. The tunnel
would be found, no doubt about it. If the Demon searching for him
and Cally burned his cabin down, they would see it. Frustration
over the lost work and hard labour crawled onto his back and
weighed him down. Brigg twisted his head and grunted with
annoyance.

“Can you walk faster?”

Cally jumped a little at his caustic tone.
She frowned but picked up her pace. She tripped on a loose boulder
and dropped to her knees in a guilt-wrenching proof of fatigue.
Brigg lurched forward to help her back to her feet, only to be
swatted away by her flapping hand.

“Leave me alone. I’m very capable,” she
grumbled as she used another loose boulder to lever herself up. As
expected the boulder gave way, sending her backwards and onto her
bum. This time Brigg ignored the swatting hand as he reached down
and hauled her to her feet. Taking her by her upper arms, he lifted
her with little effort. Her light weight and petite frame were no
problem for his superior build. It gave him a confusing rush of
pride and pleasure to feel so manly and strong, especially when she
lifted her startled gaze and pinned him with those sea blue
eyes.

He set her straight and waited for her to
get her footing before he took a step back. His mind roared at him
to stay close, his body heated at the small and very brief touch of
her soft skin. His eyes fell on her bare arms and it was all he
could do not to snatch her back, rip off her clothes so that he
could see, and touch, more of her creamy flesh. He was sure that
Cally—princess Calindra—Had the softest skin he would ever see.

She swept the dust off her clothes and
patted down her top, mumbled brief thanks as she scooped up the
dropped torch and continued past him. Brigg watched her walk ahead,
his eyes instantly drawn to her backside, especially the taunting
way her hips swayed as she made her progress through the winding
cave. Even though she was wearing a baggy pair of his old sweat
trousers, he could readily imagine the curves that formed her body.
Brigg found himself thinking just how wondereful those legs would
feel wrapped around his waist—or his head. His mind played images
of Cally naked and pliant , scratching at his back as…

“Where does this lead?”

Brigg yanked his stare upwards as Cally
turned her head and waited for his reply. His cheeks heated at the
thought of her knowing where his mind had been, and he thanked god
for his fur currently hiding the telltale blush. He cleared his
throat and tried to blank his mind against the most erotic thoughts
he had had in some time. But—Christ!—he wouldn’t forget that image
in a rush.

“Into the Black Woods.”

Cally rounded on him, her pretty face
contorted with worry and her eyes wide with shock.

“What?”

Brigg bit back the grin and shrugged. He
pushed gently past her and continued up the long and winding
passageway. The darkness now deeper since Cally was behind him
holding the light.

“Hang on a minute, Brigg.”

Continuing along, he heard her scraped
footsteps hurriedly trotting as she tried to keep up. The woman was
a firecracker, and Brigg was torn between finding her really
annoying and really attractive. It was a confusing thought process,
especially for one as usually grounded and black and white as Brigg
normally was.

“Black Woods?” Cally wailed from behind, “As
in,
the
Black Woods?”

“Yep.”

A scuff of stones and then silence told
Brigg that Cally had stopped following. Brigg turned and smiled at
Cally as she stood with crossed arms and an expression that said
‘No way’.

“What are you doing?” Brigg asked as he
pulled out his small blade from his belt and began to sharpen it on
the boulder to his right. Cally watched the blade for a moment
before she answered his question.

“I am not going into Black Woods.”

Brigg shrugged and swiped his blade a few
more times, the sound shrill in the small space. “Suit yourself.”
He turned and headed back down the tunnel from where they had
come.

“What are you doing?” Cally asked, her voice
getting more and more snipped and snooty the longer he played her
game.

“You don’t want to go in the woods. The only
other option I see is back to the cabin,” He turned and opened his
arms, “Unless you brought enough food and water to keep us for a
year. I don’t see any other options, princess.”

After a long moment Cally shook her head.
Brigg nodded in patronizing approval before he continued towards
the wood. Silence beat heavy in the damp and musty air, punctuated
only occasionally by Cally’s squeaks of outrage and pain when the
tunnel was hard to manoeuvre through. For some reason, her cross
little mews didn’t annoy Brigg as much as they should. In fact,
every time she growled or huffed he wanted to smile.

Ignoring that utterly weak thought, Brigg
pushed on at a brutal pace for the human until the end of the cave
was near. His nostrils prickled at the tease of fresh air, but his
fur bristled at the probable trouble that was to be found in the
Black Woods. Cally hadn’t been unreasonably worried about the
prospect of venturing into the woods at what was probably going to
be nightfall now, considering how long they’d been in the tunnel.
Brigg stopped and held up his hand, warning her to be quiet. The
woods were notorious for the wrong sort of demons, the perfect
place to hide, the perfect place to live off the grid—and while
Brigg was fairly sure that he alone he would be fine, trafficking a
princess through the dark interior was a whole other story.

“What are you listening for?” Cally
whispered, far too loudly for his liking.

He frowned and shushed her as he tried to
listen some more. A sharp tusking sound came from the Princess and
Brigg turned his head to see her with crossed arms and an even
crosser expression.

“Don’t shush me!” she said indignantly.

Brigg felt his temper spark again, the damn
woman was going to be the death of him. But just as he was about to
tell her to shut up again, a sound above ground stole his
attention. Whipping his head round Brigg focused all of his
awareness on that one faint sound. Cally must have heard it too,
because she stiffened at his side and sucked in a breath.

Brigg took slow, silent steps towards the
hidden opening and motioned for Cally to stay still. She did.

The closer he got to the door, the clearer
the sounds were. There was someone pacing on the other side of the
door. Heavy, booted feet, padded a rhythmic sound and Brigg knew
with certainty that the being on the other side was waiting.

He turned and faced Cally, who was pale and
wide-eyed. She nodded shakily when he held his finger to his mouth,
signaling for quiet. Then he turned his full attention back to the
threat on the other side.

Slowly, Brigg moved forward. He tucked his
fingers into a tiny gap in the rock and pulled the door open barely
a crack. Standing on the other side was a tall Demon with horns
that wrapped around the back of its skull. It held a bowed sword
snugly in its hand, swinging it through the air as if
practising.

Brigg sank back, and eyed the princes. She
stood silently watching him. The need to take her from this place
made him fidgety. The idea that he was going to have to fight his
way out, and she would witness it, was difficult for him to bear.
She bit her bottom lip and looked at him as if she expected him to
know what to do.

Brigg moved over to her on silent feet and
bent so that his mouth was close to her ear.

“I am going to have to go out there and make
our way clear.” Her hair tickled at his nose, and her scent hit his
senses. He pulled back and watched her. She nodded, even though she
was clearly petrified. She reached up and Brigg lowered so that he
could hear what she had to say. Her small hand curled over his
shoulder and Brigg gritted his teeth against the heat that
blistered his skin.

“What is out there?” Her breath fanned over
his hair leaving goose bumps under his skin. Her plump mouth was so
close. The temptation to turn his head and taste her lips was
strong, so strong he pulled back for fear of not being able to stop
himself. Her hand slipped from his shoulder when he created space
and a deep frown crinkled her brow.

He shook his head and took a moment. Then he
leaned in and whispered.

“A Ram Demon.”

She gasped right near his ear, the sound
sparking an image of her under him. naked..He was sure she would
gasp like that when being pleasured. His cock pulsed and his chest
tightened. When she lifted her hands and did a motion that meant
‘horns’, Brigg nodded. So, she knew what a Ram Demon was.

“Stay there,” he mouthed. She nodded and
Brigg turned to the door once again. He pulled out his short
hunting blade from his belt and ignored the slight intake of breath
the princess made. He flattened himself against wall, and peeked
out and waited for the Demon to walk in the opposite direction. The
demon lifted his blade and swung it through the air with a movement
that spoke of boredom. When the Demon had his back to him, Brigg
shoved the door open and launched himself at the Ram.

The Ram spun around and swung the sword
right at Brigg’s chest. Brigg sucked in a breath and staggered
back. As the blade swung by, Brigg leapt forward and slashed his
small blade up the larger Demon’s arm. The Ram bellowed and fell
back against the craggy rock wall that surrounded the hidden
tunnel, and stared at Brigg wide-eyed.

“You bastard! What the fuck did you do that
for?”

Brigg stood up and heaved in a tight breath.
The demon didn’t try to fight back, he just gripped his bleeding
arm and glared at him. Brigg turned his head and scanned the
surrounding trees before he looked back at the clearly pissed-off
Ram.

“Who are you?”

The Ram Demon stared up at Brigg and snorted
his irritation. He pulled a white cloth from his pocket and tried
to wrap it around his bleeding arm, shaking his head. “Fucking Torc
owes me big,” he grumbled as he stood up and looked down at Brigg.
“Your brother, the fuck-wit, asked me to guard this place for
him.”

Brigg watched the Demon and frowned. “Torc
sent you?” he asked. The gash that he had ripped into the demon’s
flesh was deep, and it would bloody hurt. But Brigg didn’t know
what to do with the emotion of guilt, so he just snorted. “How was
I supposed to fucking know?” he snapped. “You rounded on me with
that fucking sword—and what am I supposed to do?” Brigg tucked his
blade in his belt clip and crossed his arms. Stupid bloody ram.

“You bloody jumped me!” The demon stood up
and huffed a breath through his nostrils. Irritation bled from his
nasty stare. But Brigg felt nothing but anger.

“What kind of warrior are you anyway? Who
are you?” For all he knew, this could be a trap.

The Ram looked up from trying to tie the
bandage tighter and flashed another glare at Brigg. “I am not a
warrior—I’m a prince. And I was just doing Torc a favour. I owed
him one.” The Ram Demon stood tall, and Brigg did notice the
dignity in the Demon’s stance. “I am Prince Sam of Tassin.”

Brigg stared back. “Am I supposed to be
impressed?” The Ram bristled a little and Brigg almost smiled. God,
he hated Royalty—even the ones he was related to. Not one of them
owned a back bone, and this Ram and his lack of fighting skills
proved that point nicely.

“I don’t suppose you would. Not since you
abandoned your responsibilities.” the Ram looked Brigg up and down,
clearly goading a response.

Brigg took a threatening step closer to the
Demon. Those words cut, and red fog filled his vision. Prince or
not, Brigg wanted to break his nose.

“Would you like me to tie that tighter?” The
soft sound of Cally’s voice flowed from behind, and Brigg jerked
his head around to see her climbing out of the tunnel. A cold surge
of fear trickled into his bloodstream, and before Cally could get
any closer to the Ram Demon, Brigg blocked her path.

“He doesn’t need help.” Brigg glared at the
Demon who raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anymore.

“Brigg, don’t be so rude. He came here as a
favour for your brother, the least you can do is help him tie up
the wound
you
caused.” She ducked under his arm and strode
over to the Ram—who was now smiling.

“Want me to break that smile, Ram?” Brigg
moved closer to Cally and glared over her head at the Ram. Jealousy
shoved its forceful weight into Briggs chest when she gently
removed the poorly tied bandage from Sam’s arm. She let out a hiss
of sympathy and dug into the bag for a bottle of water.

“So, you must be Princess Calindra?” Sam
asked while watching her every move. Brigg saw the Demon pass an
approving eye over Cally, and he took a step closer. Sam noticed
the clearly possessive move and grinned up at Brigg. “So Brigg’s
taking you home, then?” Sam asked. Cally’s shoulders stiffened and
she gave a weak nod. She kept her head low, and Brigg found himself
wondering what expression was on her face. Earlier, she had said
that she didn’t want to go back, and right now Brigg wondered
why.