Beauty and the Beast (Demon Tales 1) (7 page)

“So how’d you end up out here?” Sam asked
Cally, while she busily cleaned the blood from the Demon’s arm and
tied a fresh piece of cotton around the clean cut.

She didn’t answer right away, so Brigg felt
the impulse to fill the silence.

“He ready to go yet?” He asked the question
to Cally, but glared at the demon. After a second more, Cally stood
up and dusted off her trousers.

“That better?” she asked Sam as she scooped
up their bag.

Sam looked down at his arm and nodded.
“Thank you, Princess.” Sam stood up. His superior height obviously
intimidated Cally, because she took a step back—closer to Brigg.
Triumph burst inside Brigg’s chest and he placed a hand on her back
to walk her around the watchful Demon.

“You know, Princess, my castle isn’t far
from here. If you like, I could take you there—get you washed and
cleaned, and then have one of my drivers deliver you back to you
castle?” The Ram Demon stood in the gap in the rock where the
tunnel door was hidden, and flicked his eyes from her face to where
Brigg had his hand on her back.

He felt her tense under his grip. She turned
and looked up. “Um?” She searched his face with her bright blue
eyes. Worry bled into her features and Brigg wondered what she was
thinking. “What do you think, Brigg?” she asked.

Brigg fought to hold back the growl.
Let
her out of my sight? No way!
But then, wasn’t that what he
wanted? For her to be delivered back to her castle—to her family?
Yes, but he wanted to be the one to take her. It had crossed his
mind that this princess might actually be the way to get his curse
lifted. Deliver the princess back to the queen, and in a fit of
gratitude she would lift his curse. That, and the fact that he
wasn’t quite ready to part with her yet, there was still the little
issue of her potentially being his mate.

“You stay with me, Cally.” Her eyes went
wide, but he didn’t see any of the denial he expected. She just
watched him and gave a small nod.

“You don’t have to do that, Brigg, I can
take her from here.” Sam sputtered, and Brigg turned to see the
demon shaking his head.

“I finish what I started,” Brigg replied,
hoping that he didn’t sound too possessive. He still had his palm
on her back, and for some reason he didn’t want to move it—not when
there was another male nearby. Sam watched him carefully, confusion
carving a deep furrow in his brow.

“Okay. Why don’t you both come back to my
castle, and then we can decide from there. Besides, your brother’s
visiting me tomorrow.” She looked tired. The bruises on her neck
had gone dark and she had dark patches under her eyes. It wasn’t
often that Brigg felt sympathy, but as he stared down at Cally he
felt the uncomfortable emotion tug at his heart.

“Okay, Sam. Where is your castle?”

“Just the other side of the trees.” Sam
pointed westward and Brigg nodded. He gave Cally a little push in
that direction and they began to follow the Ram. Cally looked over
her shoulder at him, and Brigg saw a strangely unsettling
expression in her eyes.

“What are you thinking, Princess?”

“Why would you not hand me over?” A frown
folded her face and Brigg saw confusion fill up her eyes. He ground
his teeth against the bullet-to-the-brain bolt of pain her words
caused. God, she didn’t want to be with him. Would she rather he
send her along with the Ram Demon—a stranger—than stay with him?
The idea of her walking away with Sam stung like a snake bite. He
didn’t want her going off with another male, especially a male with
eyes that wandered over Cally hungrily—as Sam’s had.

“Because I finish what I start, just like I
said,” he replied, wincing at how pathetic a reply it was. She
frowned and then he felt the need to say more. “Because I don’t
know this Demon. Nor what his motives are.” There. That sounded
much more reasonable.

“Oh. So you wanted to protect me?” She
asked. Brigg scowled.

“I finish what I start.”
And yes, I want
to protect you
… Cally watched him for a moment, and he could
tell that what he said was not what she had wanted to hear, but
there was no way he would admit his weakness to her. No way.

She was a means to get his curse lifted,
nothing more.

Yeah, right. You are fucked, Brigg.

* * * *

Cally stumbled over the many broken branches
that littered the forest floor. The wood was eerily silent and she
wondered if it wasn’t because of the two massive demons walking
with her. The pair had begun chatting about an hour ago and had hit
it off, swapping stories of war and talking of demons they both
knew.

The first time she had heard Brigg laugh was
when Sam had talked of his brother Torc. She couldn’t imagine that
dark savage-looking demon doing anything funny, but, apparently, he
had—a few times. The sound of his laugh was a sexy rumble of sound.
He didn’t bark an obnoxious listen-to-me laugh, like her father,
nor did he hold back. Brigg laughed with the same cool control as
he did everything else.

Cally bristled at the thought that he wasn’t
that relaxed with her. He was cold and bossy with her. Well, why
should she care?

She looked up as they came to a clearing.
The pair had walked on ahead, but Brigg had kept an eye on her,
occasionally turning to check where she was. She hated that she
lagged, but they had such long leg that, she just couldn’t keep up.
Brigg was not as tall as the Ram Demon, but his back was wider. The
Ram was tall and thin, but no less lethal looking. The pair of them
oozed power. Their every sure stride spoke of confidence and utter
acceptance of their bodies. They were intimidating demons—or
protectors. Her eyes passed over Brigg again. From behind she
couldn’t see any of his fur, just what was on his head, and he
looked like a human—a massive human, granted, but still human.

Cally felt her heart pulse.
Imagine if he
were human…
She had no doubt that he would be handsome, she
already thought him to be. He was chivalrous and caring. He thought
he was a beast without a heart, but Cally was beginning to see that
there was a lot more to Brigg. He was helping her, when he didn’t
need to. He had lost his house because of her. He was ready to
fight a bigger Demon with a sword—for her. Yes, Cally liked the
demon—maybe a little more than she should, considering the way her
body heated at his every touch.

Trying to dislodge those wayward thoughts,
Cally looked at Sam’s arm and saw the bandage. The cotton was
mostly red, the blood had obviously soaked through.

“Oh my!” She gasped.

Both Demons stopped and turned. Brigg
frowned and his worried gaze flowed over her whole body in seconds,
leaving a strange heat in its wake.

“What is it, Cally?” Brigg asked, his big
strides quickly eating up the distance between them. He sounded
angry, but was that concern in his eyes? When he was in front of
her, Cally looked up and wanted to smile. He was concerned—and why
that made her feel all fuzzy inside she didn’t know, but with him
stand so close she was suddenly aware of her heart as it throbbed
wildly in her chest. He had such emotion-filled eyes. She wondered
again what he looked like under all that fur. She was sure he was
very handsome.

“It’s just I noticed Sam’s arm, and the
blood. I was worried.” Brigg scowled and flicked a look over his
shoulder to where Sam stood watching. He stepped back, and Cally
saw his hands as they curled into tight fists. Something dark and
angry flicked over his face . “You are not a nurse, Cally.”

“Yes, but…”

“No buts. He’ll get that fixed at his
castle. It’s not your job.” And then he turned away, leaving Cally
standing alone and confused. Sam watched Cally, holding an
expression that looked like sympathy before he turned and walked
with Brigg again, leaving her alone and stumbling to keep up.

“Cally could probably use a bath,” Sam
commented as they entered the large diningroom of the Ram demon’s
castle. Brigg felt a jolt of adrenaline. He realized that he was
jealous when it came to Cally, especially when she paid another
male attention. When she had helped to clean up his wound, he
literally had to hold himself back from snatching her up and
running away. When she’d noticed that Sam’s cut had bled while they
were walking, he had almost allowed his temper to flare. He didn’t
like the idea that she had looked at Sam enough to notice his
bloody arm. He wanted her attention solely for him.

And wasn’t that screwed up?

But now that Sam also seemed to be
considering Cally and her needs, he was fighting a losing battle
with his control. He didn’t want Sam, with his big castle and even
bigger pot of gold, even thinking about Cally—let alone considering
if she would like a bath.

“Probably,” Brigg grunted as he made his way
to the table at the end of the room. It was filled with many
different dishes of food, and Brigg was bloody starving. “But she
seemed to be more interested in that library of yours.” She had
literally run into the large book-filled space. Her eyes had flown
wide as she scanned the room. Brigg ground his teeth. He didn’t
like her caring for anything another male had to offer, but it
wasn’t as if he could provide it for her—not anymore.

Sam chuckled as if totally unaware of Brigg
and his glowers. “She doesn’t behave like a princess,” he noted,
and then picked up a glass of wine.

Brigg took a deep breath. “What should a
princess act like?” He asked, irritated. As far as he was
concerned, Cally was more a princess than any he had ever met.

Sam seemed to consider Briggs words as he
settled on a high-backed chair and swigged his wine. “I don’t know.
Most princesses are spoiled, nasty.” He shrugged. “She isn’t.”

Brigg agreed with a faint nod. She wasn’t
like any other Princess he had known, she seemed so…normal, not
what he expected a daughter of the Queen Tempath, certainly. That
human was evil to the core, Brigg suspected that Cally didn’t have
a mean bone in her body. Oh, she could be haughty and a little
snooty, but those characteristics just made him smile. But truly
evil or cruel? No, not Cally. He wondered idly if that was why she
was far from the castle—to escape her nasty mother. He picked up a
glass of red wine and sat opposite Sam. His thoughts rolled over
Cally and why she ended up as Helki’s prisoner. He hadn’t even
asked her. Brigg hadn’t wanted to know anything about her, she was
his fast ticket to freedom from the curse, and nothing else. But
the more time he spent with her, he realized that he wanted to know
more—needed to know more.

“
I don’t want to go home…”
The words
she had whispered back in his cabin flowed through his mind, and he
felt a cooling sensation run through his blood. What had she run
from? As he sipped his wine his gaze fell upon his hairy hand, and
his mind closed down those soft thoughts of Cally. He would take
her home, have the curse removed, and find himself a willing
woman—many willing women—to help him forget about the princess.

Cally walked into the dining room. She was
holding a book open, and her nose was almost pressed to the page.
She was engrossed, and only looked up to pile some bread and
chicken onto a plate. Brigg watched her every move, entranced by
her. She was still dressed like a little street urchin, but he was
sure he had never seen a prettier woman.

“Cally?” The sound of Sam’s deep, but well
spoken voice snapped Brigg from his musings. Cally lifted her head
and smiled at the demon. Brigg closed his fists, tight.

“Yes, Sam?”

Brigg took a deep breath and concentrated on
calming down. He had to stop his temper from firing up every time
she spoke to Sam. She wasn’t his—couldn’t be his—so this had to
stop. He had no business allowing his emotions to get entangled
with a girl he was only using.

“Maybe you would like a bath, shower?”

Brigg picked up his glass and took a deep
pull. Images of Cally, soaped up and naked in a shower filled his
brain and he was defenseless against the erotic thoughts that
filled his mind and heated his blood. His heart beat a fast attack
in his chest, and Brigg fought the urge to stand up and carry her
to the damn shower himself. But he knew she would be disgusted, or
terrified, to know he thought of her that way. He was a beast,
after all. And she was Beauty, personified. So he just gritted his
teeth and closed his fists tightly, and hoped to hell he could
leash his wayward desires.

“That would be nice.,” she said. “Thank
you.”

“Anita, show Princess Calindra to her room.”
Sam spoke to the woman placing more food on the table. The pretty
Ram deomness looked up from her task and nodded to Sam before she
smiled at Cally and showed her out of the diningroom with a brief
“Follow me, Madam.”

Cally smiled at Sam, and then flicked her
gaze to Brigg. Her smile dropped away before she turned and
followed Anita.

Sam ran his hand over the new bandage that
had been applied to his arm. “Bastard. Got me good.”

Brigg laughed and nodded. “You need to be
faster, Ram-boy.” Brigg had decided on their walk that he liked
Sam. He was a good bloke. No wonder he and Torc were friends. Torc
loved to have fun and was still relatively light-hearted—compared
to Brigg—which meant that Torc still had friends. Brigg found a
certain amount of comfort in the fact that his brother still had a
life.

But liking Sam didn’t help the whole
jealous-about-Cally thing. In fact it made it worse. It would be no
wonder if Cally decided she liked the suave, sophisticated
demon-prince. It would not even shock him if she found him
attractive. Sam looked mostly human, except for the horns that
wrapped around his head almost like a crown. Brigg hated his fur.
Without it, he would look almost human, with only two black horns
atop his head. The Ram Demons could even move about in human
society without being noticed, if they covered their heads. Maybe,
without his fur, Cally would be attracted to him…