Good Intentions (The Road to Hell Series, Book 1) (12 page)

She snorted. “There’s not much to make of me, Kobal.”

Hearing my name on her lips made more blood pulse into my throbbing cock. What would it be like to hear her scream my name as she moved beneath me, I wondered.

“I think there’s more to you than you give yourself credit for.”

Her head tilted, and I noticed a slight hitch in her breath as her gaze fell briefly to my lips before darting away again. “You’re going to be disappointed.”

“Not so far.”

Her eyes came back to me, and her fingers fiddled with her necklace again. Her heartbeat increased, but more than that, so did her enticing scent. I wasn’t the only one becoming aroused, I realized. If I pulled her into my arms, she wouldn’t resist me.

It would be so easy to draw her close—

She’s a possibility
, I reminded myself sternly.
She could be the key to everything, and you could ruin it because she’s the first human you’ve ever desired to bed
.

To be honest, she was the first woman who had ever wound me up this much and had me walking the fine line between everything I had always sought to be, and something I
craved
. It would be best for me to put some distance between us, to turn her over to Bale and Corson, and let them figure out if she was the progeny, but I knew I wouldn’t.

Raising her hand to her mouth, she stifled a yawn. “If you don’t mind, I didn’t get any sleep last night.”

I subtly shifted my erection to keep it hidden from her as I rose to my feet and extended my hand to her. She studied my hand for a minute before taking hold of it. An electric jolt slid through my body when her flesh touched mine. For the briefest of seconds, I thought I’d seen a spark flare to life between us, but it was gone too fast to have been real.

I followed her graceful movements as she rose to her feet before me. If I stepped closer, I could feel her body flush against mine. I could have those breasts pressed to my chest, my hand in her hair, and my mouth on hers in mere seconds. I’d never wanted to kiss a woman as badly as I did her.

Kissing was not something I partook in often. Demons rarely kissed, unless they were each other’s Chosen. For the rest of us, there was no need when we were simply coming together to ease a need. Humans tended to want to kiss more, and a few of the human women I’d been with had insisted on kissing, but it was not something I thought about. Now, all I could think about was running my tongue over her lips, feeling her breath mingling with mine as I tasted her in long, slow thrusts of my tongue. Thrusts that would mirror what I wanted to do to her body.

I could possibly be throwing away everything I’d worked for by doing so. If we ever found the progeny, I would drag them kicking and screaming into what needed to be done. However, I knew some humans equated sex with emotions, and if she turned out to be the progeny, I could not take the chance that an entanglement with her would lead her to believe there could be more. A scorned woman was not one I wanted to deal with.

I released her hand and stepped away from her. She watched me as I took hold of her elbow and led her toward the flap. I lifted it for her and followed her into the night descending over the camp. I didn’t look back at Corson and Bale, but I sensed them hovering in the shadows, watching us as we walked down the hill.

Keeping her close to my side, I steered her through the patrols on the streets until we arrived at the main house. Mac answered the door after my firm knock. His eyes widened on the two of us, but he hastily stepped aside when I released her arm.

“Good night, River,” I said when she stepped into the candlelit interior of the house.

She smiled at me over her shoulder before vanishing into the shadows.

“You think it’s her,” Mac said the second she was out of earshot.

“I don’t know if it is or not. She’s definitely different than any other human I’ve encountered. I’m going to work with her during training.”

Behind his glasses, his eyes sharpened. “If you’re not sure it’s her, then why would you do that?”

Very good question. “I might be able to find out faster if I do.”

I said the words, turned on my heel, and walked away, but as I was making my way up the hill toward my tent, I knew there was more to it than that. River Dawson affected me in a way no other had, and I wasn’t going to let anyone else get close enough to touch her.

River

By the end of two weeks, the only thing I hated more than being here was Kobal. I’d never had my ass so thoroughly kicked before in my life. The fact he had a good foot or so on me and probably about a hundred and fifty pounds didn’t deter him in the least. It was because he was a demon; I was certain of it. He took amusement in continuously knocking me on my butt. My bruises had bruises and sitting had become an uncomfortable ordeal I went out of my way to avoid.

When I’d arrived, I’d sworn I wouldn’t fall into line with the others, but as much as I resented it, I’d rather go along with the training then become some demon’s meal because I’d refused to learn how to defend myself against them. I was also determined to learn how to take Kobal down, just
once
. It would make my entire freaking year if I did.

Now, trudging my way through the line of young volunteers in the high school cafeteria to get my food, I was so focused on my own unhappiness that I didn’t notice those around me had stopped speaking and were exchanging looks. I lifted my head and glanced around tiredly, but I didn’t see anything that would cause such a reaction. Then, I noticed that most of their curious stares were directed at me as they whispered behind their hands.

I removed an apple from a basket at the end of the line and placed it on my tray next to my chicken. I walked over to the table I normally shared with a group of teens. They stopped speaking when I neared. I placed my tray on the table, grabbed a chicken wing, and leaned against the wall to eat it. There was no way my tailbone could handle sitting on the wooden bench today.

I studied the crowd of hundreds of volunteers gathered within the cafeteria. I’d been relegated to staying with the new volunteers I’d arrived with and designated official ass-kicking plaything of a demon.

New volunteers arrived each day, sometimes we worked together, but they were on different levels of training than my group was. It wasn’t until we were done being divided, whipped into shape, and beaten and battered for the morning or afternoon that we were allowed to mingle together at all with the others. However, there were groups of volunteers still out patrolling and drilling now. I didn’t think I’d ever get a chance to see everyone here.

The cramps growing in my calves and thighs had me eyeing the bench with longing, but thinking about sitting on my bruised butt made me want to cry. One of the girls stood up and came back a minute later with a rubber ring. She placed it at on the empty seat before my tray.

“It will help,” she said when she turned toward me.

I blinked at her; it took me a minute to finally recognize her as Carrie, the girl from my town who I’d seen volunteer in a vision. She’d cut her hair into a bob below her chin. Her brown clothes hung off her slender frame, a frame made thinner by the endless miles we’d run, walls we’d had to climb, and hand-to-hand combat we’d been going through daily. Most of them had been battling against other humans during these drills, whereas I’d been taking on a mountain who went by the name of Kobal.

“Thank you,” I murmured as I fought against the tears of gratitude burning my eyes. I hadn’t encountered much kindness since arriving here.

Her cat-green colored eyes twinkled when she stepped aside. “No problem.”

As I settled carefully onto the soft rubber cushion, my shoulders sagged and my eyes closed. My feet and legs screamed their thanks as my bruised ass finally found some comfort.

“Better?” Carrie asked when she settled in across from me.

“So much,” I said eagerly.

I’d never noticed her at the table before, but I’d been so exhausted every day, I probably wouldn’t have noticed an angel floating before me and knocking me on the head. I lifted another chicken wing and was about to bite into it when I noticed everyone staring at me. Sitting on a rubber ring probably wasn’t the most normal thing, but it didn’t warrant all the strange looks. Even if it did, I was contemplating strapping the thing to my ass from now on; I didn’t care if they all stared at me and my new padding.

I turned away from them to find Carrie focused on me too. “What is it?” I inquired.

Carrie glanced down the table as their attention shifted to her. I could feel their minds urging her to go on, but I didn’t need any extra abilities for that; it showed on their faces. The one good thing about being so exhausted was I’d had absolutely no visions, or knowledge of
anything
, since arriving here.

Carrie glanced around before leaning forward on the table. “We’re all curious as to why they brought you here? You’re older than us and it was obvious they made you come.”

I shrugged and pulled up the sleeve of my shirt when the motion caused it to slip off my shoulder. Carrie wasn’t the only one who had lost weight since coming here. We had more food available to us here than any of us had at home, but it still wasn’t enough to keep weight on. Given our training regimen, we were burning calories faster than we could put them back in.

“I am older and they did.”

They all exchanged a look before focusing on me again. “So why did they take you? Did it have something to do with the fliers?” Carrie pressed.

I sighed and placed the chicken wing on my plate. “Yes, my mother believed I could be one of the people they were looking for.” I saw no reason to deny it; some of them had been there when I’d been escorted from my house.

“Wow,” the girl next to me breathed.

I didn’t know how to respond, so I returned to eating my chicken.

“Are you able to do anything special?” Carrie asked.

The half-chewed chicken wing dangled from my fingertips as I stared at her. “I’m just me.”

More volunteers from other groups edged closer to us. “Then why has Kobal spent so much time with you during training?” a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes demanded of me.

Judging by the forest green uniform she wore, she had completed volunteer training to become a soldier. She looked older than me but not by much. Though the room was filled with volunteers mostly, there were some soldiers mingling throughout the crowd, grabbing their lunch before heading back to whatever job they had or the training fields.

The volunteers saluted the soldiers moving through the room but no one saluted the woman; they were all too focused on me right now, and I refused to salute anyone here. Even if I managed to complete training, I would never be the soldier they were trying to turn me into.

“All of the demons train with us,” I said to the blonde woman.

“But he pays far more attention to
you.
He’s never done that when he’s been in this encampment before; he usually ignores the recruits still in the training stage. So why you?”

“I don’t know,” I lied.

She scoffed before tossing her shining hair over her shoulder. A hostile gleam radiated in her eyes when they raked me from head to toe. I had no idea why, but dislike was the biggest understatement for what this woman felt for me. More than loathing radiated from her but also some jealousy. How well did she know Kobal?

I hated the guy, he’d made me far more familiar with dirt than I’d ever wanted to be in my life, but my stomach threatened to heave its contents up at the idea of him with another woman. I watched her as she turned and walked over to sit at a table with some other soldiers.

“I’m glad you came with us,” Carrie said, drawing my attention back to her.

“Why?” I asked.

Carrie bit into her chicken before answering. “You’re another familiar face in a crowd of so many unfamiliar ones. We may not be friends, but it’s nice to know I can talk about home with someone and have them understand.”

“Me too,” I said before finishing off my lunch. “It is good to know someone else who can recall the scent of the ocean.”

“It was amazing.” A nostalgic smile played at the corners of her mouth.

“It was,” I agreed. “I saw you volunteer. Your mother didn’t know you were going to do it.”

“She would have tried to stop me if she had, but we were sinking and she needed more help than I could give her with my brothers.”

“Brave of you, considering you didn’t know what you were signing up for.”

“I would have been signing up to watch them go hungry more often than not if I’d stayed. Maybe cowardice made me run away from that.”

I decided I liked this girl, and without thinking, I reached over and rested my hand on hers. “I have two brothers I took care of before coming here. What you did was brave.”

A dull blush slid across her cheeks, but she was saved from having to respond when Mac stepped in the cafeteria and barked, “Yellow Team, fall out!”

Yellow had become my least favorite color since arriving here. As far as I could tell, there were fifteen different groups of colors at the moment, with a new one cropping up every day. Reluctantly, I pulled my butt away from the rubber cushion.

Better than a cloud
, I decided as I lifted my tray and stepped away from the bench. Balancing the tray in one hand, I bent and retrieved the cushion.

“Thank you,” I said and held the cushion out to Carrie.

She gestured toward a side room. “They’re stashed in there.”

“That would have been good to know on day two,” I muttered.

She giggled. “I discovered it yesterday. I think they purposely kept it hidden from the newcomers.”

“Probably,” I agreed.

The blonde-headed soldier who had been questioning me moments ago gave me a scathing look when I passed by her. I smiled in return. Carrie followed me to the tray return area and then the storage room on the side before heading for the door. For the first time, I noticed people stopped talking when we walked by. I tried not to pay them any attention as we stepped back into the warmth of the midday sun, but I didn’t like being the main topic of their conversation.

My gaze went to the field in the distance and the line of demons standing there, waiting to teach us some more fighting moves. My shoulders sagged in resignation, but I couldn’t deny the little flutter in my heart when my eyes fell on Kobal in the center. It was impossible to miss him as he towered over the others surrounding him. I found my body didn’t ache quite so much, and my heartbeat quickened as we strode across the field toward them.

I stood in the center of the group of eighty-three volunteers who had arrived with me on the first night. Across from us stood Kobal and five other demons who resided within the tents on the hill. Over the past two weeks, I’d learned who each of them were and that these five were closer to Kobal than any of the other demons in the camp. I’d come to learn they’d all arrived in camp again only a couple of weeks before I had.

Bale was the beautiful red-haired demon. Corson stood at about six-four and was the friendliest of the demons. He had pointed, almost elf-like ears. He usually had sparkly earrings hanging from the tips, but right now, they were free of any jewelry. He had a lean, whipcord build that flowed with easy grace when he moved.

Corson stood next to Shax, the most human looking of them all. The most demon-like part of him was his sunflower-colored eyes and they were beautiful. His blond hair fell around his ears and he flashed a grin that caused some of the girls in the front to smile and wave their hands at their faces. At six-one, he was the shortest of the male demons but looked like he could lift a house and flip it over with one hand tied behind his back.

Morax stood beside Shax and was an inch taller than him. The sun glinted off his leaf-green, lizard-like skin. Pine shades of green color were etched throughout his flesh, giving it the appearance of scales. It looked as if his skin would be rigid to the touch, but I’d brushed up against him before and knew it was actually silken. His tail, resting on the ground behind him, was a good foot in diameter and as long as he was tall. He had orange, snake-like eyes with two sets of eyelids that blinked at the same time. From the top of his bald head, two black horns, at least six inches in length, curved toward each other and nearly touched in the center of his head.

Verin stood beside him, her rounded hip stuck out to the side with one of her hands resting on it. Hair the color of the sun tumbled to her waist; her eyes were the same color as her hair. Sexuality oozed from her pores, and every time I saw her, all I could think of were the sirens who lured sailors to their deaths, or maybe a succubus. I imagined humans who could see between the dimensions had gotten a glimpse of this woman and spun her tale quite successfully.

No matter how beautiful she was, and how all the men tripped over themselves when she walked by, I’d come to realize she and Morax were together. I didn’t know exactly how it worked with demons, but they were rarely apart from each other and both of them had bite marks on their necks.

Somehow, I instinctively knew the bites were their way of marking their relationship with each other. Those bites caused something to stir in me, something I didn’t understand but craved. I glanced at Kobal before hastily looking away and focusing on all of the demons before us once more.

They all wore loose-fitting linen pants in a variety of earth colors. A hole had been cut into the back of Morax’s pants to let his tail through. Their shirts were also made of linen and matched the colors of their pants. They looked perfectly natural in the clothes, but I had a feeling this wasn’t their normal attire. They’d simply donned the outfits in order to fit into our world better. I still wasn’t sure who made Kobal’s clothes, but I didn’t envy them the task.