Demon Slave (10 page)

He retrieved a carefully wrapped package.
Her stomach grumbled when she caught the sweet scent of roasted
meat. The demon took on a mischievous grin.

“
Acta
,” she grumbled. If he really did understand the Cyrellian
language, then he should know she’d just called him an
asshole.

By the disapproving look he gave her, he
did, but his only response was to tear off a piece of meat and pop
it into his mouth, making a show of enjoying himself.

“
Your men have stopped
looking for you.” He took another bite.

Nadua rolled her eyes. “You expect me to
believe that? They wouldn’t stop searching after so short a
time.”

“
They would if they’ve been
told you’re dead.”

“
And who would tell them
that? I suppose they let you stroll into camp to give them the
news.”

“
I overheard your friend
Tamir claim to have seen me kill you with his own eyes.”

“
Whatever you say, demon.”
Tamir wouldn’t betray her like that.

They sat in silence for a long while. The
demon enjoyed his meal as the fire grew dimmer and dimmer. She
assumed he wasn’t going to give her any food until she called him
by name.

Ha!

There was no way she was going to give him
the satisfaction. She wasn’t that hungry, anyway. Her stomach made
a sound in disagreement.

“
Hungry?” He
smirked.

“
Not at all.”

When the fire grew dangerously low, a chill
ran through her. He didn’t look as though he had any intention of
adding logs to the flame and she wondered if he was about to demand
she call him by name or freeze to death.

Pulling herself off the ground, she reached
for a log, but he stopped her. “Come on, demon, are you really
going to let me freeze?”

Eyes sparkling with amusement, he teetered
the meat between two fingers. The smell made her stomach grumble.
“Are you sure you don’t want something to eat before bed?”

“
So you’re going to make me
starve, as well as freeze?”

“
Food is here for the
taking, if you really wanted it. I’d willingly give it to
you—”

She reached for it, knowing he would just
snatch it away. She was right.

“
Do you have something
you’d like to say?”

“
No.”

“
Ah, well.” He took another
bite and added, while chewing, “I promise you won’t freeze, but
there will be no fire tonight.”

“
If there’s no fire then
how...oh, no. There’s no need for that. We have plenty of wood for
a fire to last all night. I...I only allowed that last night out of
necessity. You can’t expect me to cuddle up to you for warmth
again!”

“
You brought this on
yourself, luv. Fire is just another weapon for your scheming mind
to use against me. And I plan on getting a good night’s sleep.” He
held up the meat in one last attempt, but all he received was an
indignant glare. With a shrug, he wrapped the meat and placed it
with her furs on the high ledge.

Her stomach rebelled, as if angered by her
refusal to submit. She knew the demon could hear every ireful
grumble. When he turned back to her there was something new in his
grip, but it wasn’t an offering of food.

Nadua backed away from him. “What do you
think you’re doing?”

“
I told you.” He caught one
of her wrists and snugly wrapped the rope around it. “I plan on
getting a good night’s sleep tonight.” As he reached for her other
wrist, she jerked it away, along with the rest of her body. He
easily used her captured arm to pull her back and subdue her,
wrapping both wrists tightly together.

“
You son of a bitch!
Release me!”

“
I won’t have you slipping
away in the night and bashing me with more rocks.”

Nadua thrashed her body, trying to land a
kick; she was usually skillful at kicking. In an embarrassingly
easy maneuver, he lifted her entire body off the ground and
deposited it on the pallet. Her back met the soft fur of the
blanket and heavy muscles came on top of her, holding her in
place.

His body, as usual, was warm, and something
inside her eased against her will. Then she felt something she
hadn’t felt in a long time. The demon was...turned on!

“
Hold still and just let me
finish.”

Heart slamming against her chest, she
squeaked. “Finish what?”

His smile was wicked in the dim light, and
he began moving down her body. The ability to breath suddenly
became difficult. Her whole body seemed to blush as his hands
trailed down her sides, over her hips, leaving a line of fire in
their wake. She should be fighting but she couldn’t seem to make
her body respond properly.

Wide eyed, she watched him, trapped in his
gaze. He continued his course, his hands stopping briefly at her
upper thighs. As if he couldn’t help it, a soft masculine groan
escaped him, making her body clench in places she’d long forgotten
about.

When he made it to her calves, he revealed
more rope from seemingly out of nowhere and began binding her legs.
Head dropping back, Nadua let out a harsh sigh that she was sure
sounded like relief rather than disappointment, but after the
demon’s soft chuckle, she wasn’t so sure.

Then reality slammed back into her and she
realized what he was doing.

“
Stop this! I won’t run
away, I promise.” Unless she could get to her skins. “This is not
necessary.”

“
Sure it is. This is the
only way to make sure you stay put.” He sat back to examine his
work. “Look, I don’t like having to tie you up.” At her raised
eyebrow, he teased, “Well, I do a little. But I know what it’s like
to be helpless and at the whim of someone you don’t trust. Believe
me when I say I don’t want to hurt you. I promise to do everything
in my power not to, but if you don’t stop making me have to be so
close to you...when you smell as you do...”

Nadua tilted her head in confusion.

“
Your scent, it calls to
me...to my most primal need.”

“
Yeah, I felt your primal
need, and don’t you dare. I would never permit that.”

His grin grew teasing again. “Then why did
your luscious scent grow stronger a moment ago?”

Nadua’s jaw dropped. “It...no, it
didn’t!”

“
I think maybe your primal
instincts are reacting to me too.”

The demon crawled up beside her, wrapping
one thick arm around her waist, and pulling her against his body so
that she was practically in his lap, primal instincts and all.

His warmth engulfed her, though his next
words made her shiver as he spoke next to her ear. “I can only hope
that one day you will perform your leggy seduction act for me
again, because I can’t get it out of my head.”

Despite the lumpy pallet, her hands and legs
being tied, and the constantly aroused demon at her back, Nadua had
slept better than should be expected.

The demon was up and about, and had already
lit a fire, though he hadn’t bothered to untie her yet. She had the
feeling he was leaving her bound for his own sick pleasure, evident
by the vexing smirk on his lips. When she’d asked him to loosen the
rope, she’d called him demon again, and his eyes flashed with
annoyance.

“
You can’t keep me tied up
the whole time. What are you going to do? Cart me over your
shoulder like some barbarian?” When he evenly met her gaze, she
cringed. “You can’t be serious!”

“
You just need to say one
little word.” He produced the leftover meat from last night and
began warming it over the fire. “Then I’ll untie you and let you
eat.”

Nadua caught a whiff of the
roasted meat and her stomach twisted. Damn it, she
was
hungry. And there
would be no escaping him if he continued to keep her restrained
like this. She would have to ignore her pride on this
one.

“
Fine.” She clenched her
teeth and pushed the words out. “Please untie me...Mar-im...” She
trailed off.

“
Wow! That was almost
close.”

Nadua grumbled under her breath. It was
nearly inaudible to her own ears. “Marik.”

“
What?”

“
Marik! Marik! Marik! Damn
it, untie me!”

“
As you wish,
Princess.”

“
Queen,” she
corrected.

“
Not anymore.”

Nadua shoved her arms out at him as the
demon moved to undo the bindings.

“
Tamir was talking about
looking to the new queen for leadership, so they already have a
replacement lined up.”

Once the ropes were lose, she hurried to
untie her legs, pushing away the demons helping hands. Then she
practically ripped the meat from his grip. It was half eaten in
seconds. Through her angry chewing, she had hardly tasted it.

“
Ava is not yet old enough
to take over,” Nadua blurted, and then regretted the
statement.

“
Who’s Ava?”

The person you’ve confused
with my sister
.

“
She’s the real
queen.”

“
Ah, so you two are in
battle over the crown? She wants you out of the way?”

“
Of course not! She’ll be
crowned in a few years and I’ll gladly step down.”

“
You don’t covet the
title?”

“
Gods, no! I don’t enjoy
ruling at all. I wish she could take over now.”

The demon looked considerate for a moment.
“It doesn’t make sense. If the true queen is going to take over in
a few years anyway, then why bother trying to kill you?”

Nadua rolled her eyes.

He’s really sticking with
that story
.

“
Do you mind if we get out
of this cave already? You may be right at home in these dingy
surroundings, but I need sun. Or at least what little sun I can
get.”

“
Oh, aye,” he said
bitingly. “Give me dark and drafty and I’m content. Obviously we
demons are too dimwitted to understand the concept of comfortable
living.” He snatched her furs from the ledge and tossed them at
her.

Nadua began slipping them
on at once. “I’m sorry,
demon
. Did I hurt your
feelings?”

Without warning, his hand was wrapped around
the back of her neck and the hard muscles of his body pressed
against hers.

She gasped in surprise.

“
That’s the last time you
use that word like a curse.” Glowing red horns emphasized his
sudden and dangerous anger.

Nadua hardened her features in defiance. In
a dark part of her mind, she realized she should be frightened, but
for some reason she wasn’t. She couldn’t say why. She also couldn’t
say why she had to struggle so hard not to focus on his lips, which
were much closer to hers than they ought to be.

Unfortunately, by trying not to notice them,
her mind began to take in other aspects of the demon, all of which
were the last things she should be concentrating on at the
moment.

With his warm hand against her nape, his
thumb ever-so-slightly caressed below her ear. She didn’t think he
realized he was doing it. His deep green eyes, though trained on
her in anger, were warm and green, like an Evlon summer. She hated
him for that. His other arm had slipped around the small of her
back. Unintentionally, she inhaled his masculine scent and
shuddered, embarrassed to admit to herself why.

Just as she was trying to hide her reactions
to him, his gaze turned hungry. “Your eyes,” he murmured, almost in
a daze.

Nadua swallowed hard, afraid her eyes had
betrayed her and turned violet with desire. That often happened
with her kind; eye colors, shifting. It was difficult to hide at
times. “Let me go.”

He looked as confused as she felt, but he
released her and turned away. No one on this planet knew what the
shifting of her eyes meant. Not even Cyrus had guessed. She hoped
this demon didn’t know either, because in that brief moment...she
wanted him.

Keep your
senses
.

After a short silence, Nadua remembered she
had been in the middle of donning her warm skins and finished the
process. Finally, she was ready for the rough conditions of
Undewla.

They didn’t say a word to each other as they
traveled through the passageways, a torch lighting the way. Nadua
mused at the difference between the way she’d entered the cave and
how she was now leaving it. The demon was almost gentlemanly,
offering her his hand over rocky terrain. And, though she refused
his help each time, he didn’t stop offering it.