Table

of Contents

Title Page
Copyright
Praise for the Demons Unleashed series
Demons Unleashed Volumes 1 - 3
The Demon's Bargain
PROLOGUE
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
To Summon A Demon
PROLOGUE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
The Demon's Seduction
PROLOGUE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
Coming Soon: The Demon's Deception
Excerpt of Warrior Queen
ABOUT THE AUTHOR




DEMONS UNLEASHED

Erotic Romance Novellas
by
Lisa Alder
 Copyright
February 2013
Lisa Alder
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under
International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized
reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage
and retrieval system without express written consent from the author/publisher.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead, or
places, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of
the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

 Praise for the Demons Unleashed series

The Demon's Bargain Reviews:
4 Flames = Smokin' Hot from Demon Lovers Books and More Demon
Lovers Books and More

Dark, haunting and sexy, THE DEMON'S BARGAIN is one treat of a

tale....
4 out of 5 stars from The Romance Reviews! The Romance Reviews

The Demon's Bargain is a very hot torrid read....

4 - a pack howl and 4 Alarm Fire from Bitten By Paranormal Romance
Bitten By Paranormal Romancel

3.5 stars from Romance Novel Junkies!
Romance Novel Junkies

The Demon's Bargain: Nominee of Best Erotic Paranormal Romance-
Angel and Demon of 2011 at The Romance Reviews The Romance Reviews

TO SUMMON A DEMON REVIEWS:

4 Stars from Romance Novel Junkies!
http://www.romancenoveljunkies.com/Book__REVIEWS.html
Video review from Romance Novel Junkies!
http://youtu.be/JUxbRXM-mLM

 Demons Unleashed Volumes 1 - 3

The Demon's Bargain, Demons Unleashed Vol. 1
When the Demon bargains for one night of her pleasure...no one loses.
Vetis, the Demon of Corruption, is bored. It=s too easy to tempt humans
into committing horrible acts and the appeal has worn thin. He=s restless and
seeking distraction...until a gambler offers to settle a debt by submitting his wife
for Vetis=s use.
One tiny glimpse of the rage in Amara and the absolutely sexless way she
endures his sensual touch, and Vetis has his challenge. He=ll make this woman
enjoy the carnal pleasures of sex.
The bargain is struck. One night. Of HER pleasure. And the debt will be
paid.
Ill-used by her husband, Amara believes she is doomed, for she has no
pleasure within her, her innocence forfeit long ago. But as Amara=s body
awakens with sinful desires and carnal longings, hope begins to blossom that
pleasure is within her reach.
Demons never fail and the challenge is on. Vetis knows with the right
sensual persuasion the debt will be paid in pleasure, however he doesn=t bargain
on falling in love.
Warning: this erotic romance novella contains m/f/m sex, light bondage,
and smokin' hot demon sex
This is a 25,000 word erotic paranormal romance novella featuring
Demons, Fae and Humans in a post-apocalyptic world.

To Summon A Demon, Demons Unleashed Vol. 2
To gain revenge, she summons a Demon...and loses her heart.
After Lili is viciously attacked by the Fae, she wants revenge. Who better
to help her than the sworn enemies of the Fae, Demons. So she uses an ancient
sex ritual to summon a Demon lover and offers her body in exchange for his aid.
Prince Gaap, commander of the Water Elemental Demons, is curiously
drawn to the mysterious Lili. Though her summons is clearly a trap, an attempt
by the Fae to infiltrate and harm the Demons, he cannot resist the seductive lure
of her battered soul.
Even forewarned, Lili is helpless against Gaap's sensual attraction and
loses her heart to her Demon lover.
 Warning: This novella contains explicit sex, voyeurism, light bondage,
self-pleasuring, sex on a beach, and smokin= hot Demon sex
This is an erotic paranormal romance novella of 25,000 words featuring
Demons, Fae and Humans in a post-apocalyptic world.

The Demon's Seduction, Demons Unleashed Vol. 3

One of the three Graces, Thalia's purpose is to serve the Lesser Demons,
but she's in love with her boss Zepar, The Demon of Seduction. Zepar has
unresolved feelings for his friend and former lover, Leraye, the Demon of Battle.
When Zepar rejects both Leraye and the forbidden human woman, Thalia,
they turn to each other, bound by their love of Zepar. But of course, he is eaten
up with jealousy when they find love without him, until a tragic attack forces
Zepar to confront his feelings for both Leraye and Thalia or lose them forever.
Warning: This erotic romance novella contains sex with a statue, sex with
the Demon of Seduction and the Demon of Battle, a Demon menage (both m/m/f
and m/f/m) and lots of smokin' hot Demon sex!
The Demon's Bargain
 PROLOGUE
1In the dawn of time the Demons were the chosen of the Moon and the
Fae were the chosen of the Sun. Two parts of the whole, one dark, one light, they
were much alike and shared common powers. But the magick of Demon and Fae
is also fueled by Human emotions
Both need human souls in order to exist. Not content to share with the
Demons, through trickery the Fae conquered the Demons so they could hoard all
Human emotion for themselves. They trapped the Demons far below the surface
of the Earth, hemmed in by mineral and rock and bound by magick.
The Fae did not grasp that in so vanquishing the Demons they sundered
their own power. Neither is whole without the other. While the Demons festered
inside the Earth, cut off from their beloved Moon, the Fae faded in the light of
the Sun until they were little more than shadows.
Until the year 2015, after five years of floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and
tsunamis had plagued the Earth, when a huge earthquake ripped through the
Earth’s fault lines like a giant wave and ravaged the planet. The tectonic plates
shifted and cracked open the dark, torturous prison which held the Demons
captive for thousands of years.
They roared to the surface, overjoyed to be free of their banishment. Their
first impulse was to partake in the pleasures they’d been denied for century upon
century. And although they initially had no quarrel with Humans, they were
stronger, smarter, and more devious. So when the Humans attacked, the Demons
defended.
But the Humans were no match for the magick of the Demons. The energy
from the Demons disrupted all electrical systems functioning on Earth. The
electronic age exploded. Microchips and nanotechnology fried and died in an
instant. Banking systems, maintained and funded with electronic chits, crashed.
Cell phones and the Internet no longer worked. Electric appliances and cars
became inert plastic and metal shells. The world plunged back into pre-
electronic times with Humans scrabbling for existence.
Humans had believed all the natural disasters plaguing the Earth had been
bad, but Demons were worse. For the past ten years, the battle for supremacy
between Demons and Fae continued to rage on...and Humans were caught in the
middle.
 One
Earth 2025
Subtle light flickered against the black walls. Blood red velvet drapes
hung at the windows and let in the fading rays of the sun. While flames licked at
the soot-stained stone, Vetis, Demon of Corruption, lounged in the velvet
upholstered chair, one leg flung over the ornately carved wooden arm, and stared
disinterestedly at the destructive, seductive beauty of the flames.
Gods, he needed a distraction. A challenge.
Prince Gaap had ordered them all to gather as much human energy as
possible to prepare for an imminent attack by the Fae. Intelligence suggested the
Fae would advance soon. The Demons had to be ready. A battle was coming. He
understood. And he would fight to the death before he spent another moment
trapped beneath the Earth again. But Vetis was deadly bored with siphoning the
energy from dissolute humans bent on destroying their lives with greed.
“A visitor, my Lord.” His current butler, Figgins, bowed.
“Who is it?” Did he even want to know? He swallowed the compulsion to
send away without an audience whoever chose to disturb him.
“Edward, the gambler, sir.”
Vetis sighed.
The sod was trying his patience. The man owed Vetis. That was what
happened when you bargained with a Demon...and lost.
“Get a cell ready.” He would draw the energy generated by the man’s fear
and be done with him.
“Yes, my Lord.” Figgins clicked his heels together. “Shall I show them
in?”
“Them?”
“Ah, yes. He has...a lady with him.”
Stupid sod. He thought to trade another for his debt. How many freaking
times had these ignorant humans thought they could get away with cheating a
demon? Would they never learn?
“Show them in.”
“Very good sir.”
Figgins opened the grand doors to his chamber with a flourish. A sudden
rush of cool air swept through the room and the velvet curtains swayed as if
heralding a sea change.
Towing a reluctant woman along in his wake, the fool gambler strode in as
if he owned the castle. His hard-soled shoes clicked along the stone floor, the
if he owned the castle. His hard-soled shoes clicked along the stone floor, the
harder tap of her stilettos a counter beat to the gambler’s stride.
Still slouched on his throne chair, Vetis observed them.
Edward the gambler fairly vibrated with energy, radiating an excitement
strangely at odds with his predicament. He saw no fear in the man. His thoughts
were full of only anticipation.
Yawn.
So Vetis turned his gaze to the woman. She’d been dressed up like a
hooker on the walk. Black stiletto heels, a black micro-mini so short he was sure
if she turned around, he’d be able to see the globes of her ass peeking out the
bottom, her wares on display. The black halter top was cut down to her belly
button, in a wide V, displaying a decent set of breasts. Large, round, real, her
nipples poked the black material but there was no doubt it was not from arousal.
Her face was like stone. Sharp caramel eyebrows over a long blade of a
nose and a cupid’s bow mouth the angels would have wept for, except for the
fact that she was not smiling. Her angelic blond hair tumbled down her back.
But what drew him was her eyes.
Not one single emotion betrayed her. Her gaze was flat, blue, empty.
When he probed her mind, he saw...nothing.
How curious. As the Demon of Corruption, his goal in life was to make
people do things against their nature. But first he needed to know their nature.
Her mind was blank. Too blank.
“You think to bring me a prostitute to pay off your debt?”
By only a flicker of her eyelid did she reveal her distress. Not a prostitute
then.
“No, no.” The gambler laughed and a hint of nervousness finally edged
into his mind. He pinched the woman, hard, on her arm. “This is my wife. Smile,
dear.”
The woman’s x-rated mouth remained still.
“Your wife?” Vetis said flatly. He pressed his mouth into a straight line. It
was nearly impossible to corrupt one already so depraved as to offer his wife to a
Demon. Now if the gambler had protested, it would have been fun to demand her
as payment. But this, this was annoying.
This...insect dared to try to dupe him?
“And why did you bring her with you?” Vetis slumped even further in the
chair, shifting his weight to put his chin on his fist. Come, you ass. Show me
your true colors so I can decide what your punishment shall be. And how I can
reap the energy from your psyche.
“I would offer her to you.”
“I see.” Vetis blinked slowly. The woman hadn’t made any movement.
 “I see.” Vetis blinked slowly. The woman hadn’t made any movement.
None. She was preternaturally still. And her mind continued to stay amazingly
blank. He had no idea if the man’s offer repulsed her or aroused her. Absolutely
none.
What an interesting turn of events.
“Come closer, sweet.” He crooked a single finger at her, watching her
dead eyes. The burning wood crackled, sparks flaring in the still silent cavern of
a room as the earthy aroma of peat wafted lazily through the air.
The woman didn’t move.
“Is she drugged?” Vetis asked with pretended idleness. He couldn’t say
why the thought enraged him, but Vetis suddenly wished the man would answer
yes, just so he could hurt him.
Edward shifted, his body turned toward the fire as if mesmerized. “No, my
Lord.” He pushed his bride toward Vetis without so much as a flinch. “Go to
him.”
She shuffled toward him in the stilettos, her gait uneven, as if she were
unaccustomed to walking in the sharp heels. The sacrificial woman hesitated at
the two-tiered dais that held his chair.
“Come, come, up the steps.”
She lifted her gaze to his. Still no emotion. Still no feeling. And
apparently she was mute. After another moment of hesitation she placed one foot
daintily in front of the other until she stood directly in front of him.
Up close he could see the makeup slathered over her face. Rouge painted
her cheeks, deathly pale beneath the false front. Her mouth, the pouty, puffy lips
glossed shiny and slick, trembled.
Finally emotion. Energy he could feed off of. Fear? Desire?
Vetis tested the air, sniffing delicately to sense her mood. Besides an
overabundance of some blowsy floral perfume, nothing else scented the air.
“Of course, I can’t make a decision until I sample the merchandise.” He
rubbed his fingers against his thumb, then wiggled his digits, like a safecracker
getting ready to breach a vault. Vetis slid his palm inside the slinky halter top
and brushed a thumb against her nipple.
The woman’s skin was frigid.
As cold as her ice blue eyes.
Even in the heat of his room, she was nearly frozen. She didn’t react. Not
one flicker of emotion crossed her face. With the exception of that slight tremble
in her lips and the barest flinch of an eyelid earlier, she showed no reaction. She
remained perfectly still while he brushed his thumb against the hard point.
He slid his other hand between her knees and with a gentle press,
indicated she spread her legs. The skin of her inner thigh was soft as the down
indicated she spread her legs. The skin of her inner thigh was soft as the down
feathers that stuffed the comforter on his bed. Slowly, he slid his fingers toward
her mound.
No underwear blocked his path. Wiry curls protected her feminine slit. He
rubbed his fingers over her. Nothing. No juice wet his hand. The little nub of her
clitoris was cold and dry against his fingertips.
He couldn’t take his gaze away from hers.
She was like a giant void. He had to wonder, as she stood without protest
against his intimate invasion. What would it take to corrupt her?
Tucked into leather breeches, his cock lay flaccid against his stomach. He
waited for some sort of response. If nothing else she’d be good for a few blow
jobs. He imagined his cock ramming in and out of her mouth, fucking her throat,
until he came jetting down into her body.
And still his body remained limp, uninterested.
Gods, this boredom was killing him.
The sensible, the logical move would be to send the woman home and
feed off the sick energy pouring from the gambler. But, her absolute lack of
emotion was like a siren, tempting him toward an uncertain path and payout. He
wanted to corrupt her, wanted to harness her energy.
Prince Gaap would clearly advocate for the former.
But Vetis needed something. Needed a challenge.
The woman stood straight and still while he tested her indifference. With
one hand he cupped her breast while he trailed the other back down her thigh.
He probed her mind again. And finally, he saw.
 Two
Amara held herself immobile.
The wicked heat of the room threatened to shatter the cold box where she
hid and suppressed her emotions. She couldn’t afford to let her rage show.
But deep inside her head, where no sane woman would venture, she let out
her fantasy.
She was going to kill her husband.
She shut off the sensation of the Demon’s fingers brushing against her
female place. Ignored the flick of his thumb against her breast. Retreated down
into herself, into a place where no one could ever reach her. His touch was a
violation she would bear but never surrender to. It didn’t matter. He didn’t
matter.
All that mattered was surviving this humiliation. And then she was going
to kill her husband.
She imagined the knife, the handle cool and solid in the clasp of her
fingers. The sharp serrated edge of the blade as first she sliced off his hands.
Blood, metallic and dark red, spurted from his stumps. The spray, wet and warm
against her skin, coated the shiny cold steel. Edward’s life stolen as he had
surely taken away hers.
She would clench her muscles as she raised the blade high over her head.
When the tip hit his breastbone, she’d ram the knife through his ribs and deliver
a deathblow to his heart, all the while reveling in his suffering.
She imagined him lying in a pool of his own blood. Just as she had lain in
hers on her wedding night, after he had sold her virginity for a spot at the tables.
The Demon held her gaze, but she refused to let her repulsion show. Her
reaction didn’t matter anyway. He was a Demon. He would do what he wanted
regardless of her wishes. She ground her teeth as the Demon removed his hands.
Something dark and predatory flared in the black depths of his gaze. “And
what would I do with her?”
The sibilant hiss edged along her nerve endings like little lightning bolts.
His words struck fear into her heart, but she stood strong.
Her lying, cheating worm of a husband simpered. “Anything you desire,
my Lord.”
“Really?” He brought the hand he’d touched her clitoris with to his nose,
inhaled. “Anything?”
Amara thought of the degradation she had endured since her marriage. Her
papa would have killed her himself if he’d known what the “protection” of her
papa would have killed her himself if he’d known what the “protection” of her
husband had done for her.
Never trust a man who trades a woman for a gambling payoff.
Amara choked down a bitter laugh. Since she’d come under the protection
of Edward’s clan, she’d been nothing but payment for his debts.
Damn him to hell.
“Why have you not spoken up for yourself?” the Demon wondered aloud.
“Perhaps I misunderstood your lack of passion before. Maybe you are merely a
shell.”
“Everyone knows you don’t engage with a Demon.” She shot her husband
a scornful glare.
Stupid Edward didn’t even have the sense to flush.
“Ah, a most intelligent response.” The Demon smiled lazily at her, his
teeth white and gleaming in the dark beauty of his face. He recognized her
intelligence when her husband had not. The bleak thought simmered even as she
kept her face impassive. Edward was a an even bigger fool than she’d realized if
he thought to cheat this Demon.
“So you agree?” Her traitorous husband practically cackled, his body
vibrating with his delight.
“We must come to terms.” The Demon held out his hand to her, palm up
as if in supplication. For a moment, she stared at his long, lean fingers, then
shifted her gaze to his soulless eyes. The devil lurked beneath that sinful gaze.
She didn’t want to touch him. And he knew it.
Why would the Demon agree to this farce?
“I accept.” Edward, the fool, didn’t even wait to hear the terms.
What in the hell did the Demon have planned for her? It didn’t matter. She
wouldn’t let it matter. She’d get through this. But she needed to know.
“What are the terms?” Her voice cracked, as if she’d been too long
without water.
He beckoned with his fingers, and she reluctantly placed her hand in his
rough palm. His skin scorched hers, sizzling when he twined their fingers
together.
The Demon tugged her closer and twisted until she fell into his lap. He
wrapped his arm around her stomach, trapping her. One thigh came between hers
to spread her legs and force her butt against the semi-hard length of his cock.
Revulsion spread through her like the wildfires that had destroyed cities
after the giant quake. For a single moment, she allowed her shame to bubble and
fester, then she shoved it back down where no one could see and she wouldn’t
feel anything.
“One night.” His teeth bit the curve where her neck met her shoulder.
 “One night.” His teeth bit the curve where her neck met her shoulder.
She held still enduring the sharp pain. One night. She could endure one
night of anything. Amara relaxed slightly as the terms of her sentence became
clear. She was instantly aware of the hard contours of his body, thighs as big as
tree trunks under her buttocks and his chest a granite slab at her back.
Then his tongue came out in one long lazy lick up the side of her neck,
rough and hot against her frozen flesh, and curled around her earlobe. She
wanted to hunch in loathing but she remained still, determined not to show her
shame. “Of pleasure.”
Never her pleasure. But she could endure one night of anything.
Edward rubbed his palms together. “Done.”
“Ah, but I’m not finished.”
Gods, she should have known there would be more to it than that.
“Yes. Yes.” Edward bounced on his toes, his impatience to be gone a
physical presence.
The Demon slid his hand back into the slutty top her husband insisted she
wear. He wrapped his hand around her breast and squeezed her nipple, hard.
“Her pleasure.”
Edward snorted.
Amara couldn’t stay still any longer. She squirmed against the pressure of
his fingers, only wanting to get away. The Demon held on tighter. His grip was
not painful, but she knew herself, and his touch would never be a pleasure. At
the very last, she understood. She was doomed. Because she had no pleasure in
her.
“However, until she is pleased--”
The grand door opened slowly. The old man who had shown them in
approached her husband. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw the handcuffs.
Her stomach spun, acid churned, and a slick sweat broke on her forehead.
Were the cuffs for her?
With quick efficiency, the butler snapped her husband’s hands behind his
back. “Hey!”
“You will be my...guest.”
Amara couldn’t prevent the fierce stab of satisfaction at the Demon’s
words. She was not the only one to be imprisoned.
“But you took her.”
“Actually, I believe you offered her.” The Demon shifted subtly, the hard
throb of his erection pulsed against the seam of her ass. She would have to
pretend to enjoy her sexual torture. As she softened her body against the Demon,
she wasn’t sure what disgusted her more, his obviously erect penis or her stupid
soon-to-be-dead husband.
soon-to-be-dead husband.
Shock flashed over Edward’s features as her husband finally understood
what the Demon had arranged.
“Now she is mine.”
“Who are you?” she blurted.
“He didn’t explain?”
Slowly Amara shook her head.
“I am Vetis, Demon of Corruption.”
 Three
The challenge was on.
Vetis loved the bargain he’d made. It was so very perfect.
Prince Gaap wouldn’t be happy but by the Gods, Vetis needed some
satisfaction. Some challenge. He’d been doing his part dutifully. The Demons
had plenty of energy stored for the imminent Fae attack. There was plenty
available for wielding magick.
The gambler sputtered all the way out the door. Figgins was obediently
mute while he ushered the man toward the dungeon. Vetis smirked as he saw
what Edward had visualized. The dungeon would be a far sight nastier than the
threesome with two blondes Edward had anticipated after he’d agreed to the
deal.
Vetis laughed. The sound a rough bark in the now silent chamber.
The woman on his lap stiffened. And Gods, the move pushed her ass
against his suddenly, finally interested member.
“Why in the Gods name did you ever marry him?”
She didn’t say a word. Just held still, perched over one of his thighs, legs
spread while her thighs gripped him with surprising strength. Likely so they
wouldn’t have to touch anywhere else.
“You have to answer me.” Honesty wasn’t part of the terms of their
bargain. The Fae had cornered the market on compelling Humans to tell the
truth. But as she turned to glare at him, her ice blue eyes shooting heat, he
gleefully understood she didn’t realize that.
The movement caused her top to gape. The halter strap sagged, exposing
one beautifully pert, pale pink nipple. His cock surged, straining his breeches,
arousing him as nothing had in a good long time.
In a lazy movement, he swooped his hand up the naked skin of her back,
and gently pulled the strap from its bow. The fabric stripped away, like the peel
of a banana and bared her beautiful breasts to his avid gaze.
He captured the frigid nipple in his hot mouth and suckled.
She was stone cold. Not aroused at all. With her lack of emotion, he
withered. Which did not make him happy.
She was the perfect challenge. A woman without pleasure. And his job
was to make her writhe with it for an entire night. He must be up for the task.
But before he could turn her into a pleasure slave he needed to know why
she was not aroused.
Enough of this indulgence. “Answer me.” He demanded in a hard voice.
 Enough of this indulgence. “Answer me.” He demanded in a hard voice.
“My father sought Edward’s clan to protect me.” She swallowed back a
sob. In her mind, he saw an ailing old man as he begged the stupid gambler to
marry his daughter. And Vetis understood.
Her true emotions blazed through his body like a wildfire. Love. Grief.
Both sizzled through him and energized his body even as he witnessed the
horrible destruction the apocalypse had wrought on her village.
Since then her world had regressed to a simpler time. Humans now
understood they inhabited the Earth with all manner of creatures stronger than
them, fiercer than them. And yet the Demons and Fae still had need of the
energy from Human emotions.
Vetis popped the nipple out of his mouth. He nuzzled the pale valley
between her breasts and inhaled the warm clean scent of her. He licked the
underside of her left breast marbled with blue veins. There he discovered the
small round scar seemingly at odds with the rest of her fine soft skin.
She flinched.
Where she had not shown any reaction to his sexual overtures, the
attention of his tongue to this scar caused her distress?
He leaned back and cupped the large globe with both hands, inhaling her
scent, thumbing her nipple once more, until she calmed.
Then he deliberately fingered the round uneven scar, a travesty against her
beauty. “Cigarette?” he inquired softly.
Her heart beat violently, thumping so hard against her breastbone, her
breasts shook.
“How?”
She remained silent, but the scene in her mind gave her away. Sandwiched
between two men, one mounting her from behind, the other holding a faggot,
glowing like a brand against her breast. Her back arched in agony against the
double assault. Their laughter echoed in his mind.
He cursed the impulse to disclose his secret, even as the words escaped his
mouth. “Did you know I can read minds?” He revealed to her knowledge that
few possessed.
She blanched, then met his gaze in a mixture of defiance and misery.
“The shame is not yours.” He was compelled to comfort her.
“You are doomed to be stuck with me forever.”
“You have such little faith in my carnal abilities,” he mocked.
“Wrong. I have no faith.”
“It looks as if we have a long way to go in your seduction,” he drawled.
Anger, and some other emotion seethed below the surface. No wonder she
believed herself incapable. Had anyone ever given her pleasure?
believed herself incapable. Had anyone ever given her pleasure?
Even worse. How would he corrupt someone without avarice?
The door to his chamber slammed open. “So did you siphon energy off the
dolt?” Zepar, his friend and sometimes partner in more erotic endeavors strode
into the room.
“Not yet.”
“Gaap is going to be pissed. His mandate requires us to wring every drop
of energy from--” Zepar halted, suddenly noticing Amara on his lap. She
hunched her shoulders and turned away from the doorway, trying to hide her
body, arms crossed over her breasts defensively.
“Well,” Zepar said softly. “What have we here?”
His smile was sharp, wicked as he arched a brow at Vetis.
The answer came to him in a flash of brilliance. “Zepar, you are just the
Demon I am in need of.”
 Four
Amara stiffened. She wanted to tilt her head forward. If she moved just so,
the tendrils of her hair would hide her breasts from the Demon who had just
entered. She refused to show fear. Even as her heart quaked in her chest. She
vowed to accept whatever punishment they meted out, not cower in fear.
Vetis tensed and his muscles hardened. The cords in his thighs shifted
against her female mound, and for a moment the movement did not feel all bad.
Amara would service these Demons, settle the debt her husband incurred,
and steal back her dignity once and for all.
She pushed her chin up and narrowed her gaze, ready for them. Vetis ran
his fingers along the back of her neck, the rough pads abrading her skin, yet not
in an unpleasant way.
“What did you have in mind?” The new Demon’s voice rumbled in the
room. The hint of wood smoke and a musky underlay of male semen wafted
from him. A wicked smile graced his face as he crossed his arms over his
heavily muscled chest. His biceps bunched and flexed. And she knew he could
subdue her with little effort.
She was strong but these were Demons.
Devils. Sure to damage her.
Earlier Vetis had seemed almost fierce on her behalf, but she couldn’t let
that moment lull her into a false sense of security. These beasts would use her
for their own amusement with no thought to her or how they hurt her.
She would not tremble in their presence.
The big Demon, Zepar, strode to the dais and leapt up the steps in one
giant bound. Instinctively she wanted to recoil but held her ground.
The pads of his fingers were gentle on her chin as he lifted her face.
He stared at her as if trying to see into her soul.
“This is not your usual sport.” The big Demon frowned. His forest green
gaze shot to Vetis, with a clear question in his eyes.
“Your place is not to question me,” Vetis replied arrogantly.
Gods the man, Demon, had an ego.
Zepar trailed his fingers over the bare skin of her shoulder, his touch
almost delicate. “Then what are you about?”
“Pleasure,” Vetis hummed.
“I am always on board with that goal.” Zepar, the big one grinned, his
teeth snapped together with glee.
“I knew you would be.” Vetis tugged her halter top up. For a second she
 “I knew you would be.” Vetis tugged her halter top up. For a second she
thought he was covering her up. Instead he tugged the offensive black top over
her head to bare her breasts to both men.
“What about the mandate?”
“I have trolled the gaming tables for the past month, absorbing and storing
Human energy.” Vetis flexed his fingers against her breast. “I am ready for some
fun.”
“I’ll bet we can have an inordinate amount with this beauty.” The big
blond Demon knelt and tapped his finger on her mouth. Fear held her immobile.
He was huge. “What’s your name sweetheart?”
Amara hesitated. Everyone knew to engage a Demon was considered the
height of folly. Their trickery was legend, second only to that of the Fae.
Vetis wrapped his hand in her hair and twisted her head back at an
awkward angle. She arched her back to relieve the pressure, determined not to
wince. “You will answer.”
The move thrust her breasts forward.
“Gods, they are gorgeous.” The big blond Demon leaned in to nuzzle her
flesh. With his tongue, he licked the valley between her pendulous breasts. Then
he closed his eyes and inhaled slowly.
The big one hadn’t hurt her. He hadn’t pulled on her nipples or squeezed
her too hard. The sensation was unique. Wet, soft. Weird. But she knew pain
awaited.
He frowned. “She has the scent of fear on her.”
“We will have to remedy that,” Vetis said calmly. “But first she will tell
us her name.”
By waiting she had unintentionally drawn his ire.
“Amara.” With her arms, she covered her breasts.
“Come Amara,” Vetis purred. “We must prepare you.”
She tensed and anticipated the grip of their hands on her clothes. For the
rending of her dignity.
Vetis’s cock throbbed against her hip. He was mightily aroused. A shiver
of apprehension skittered over her flesh. With a man behind her and another in
front of her, horrible memories of her wedding night invaded her thoughts.
After he accepted her dowry to pay off his gambling debts, her groom had
sold her virginity to the highest bidder. Or in her case, bidders.
Her knowledge of what happened between a man and a woman had been
learned through very sweet books that were clearly lies.
Her sexual initiation had been pain-filled. Pinching hands, rough thrusting,
ripping, as the men tore into her flesh, without care for her barrier or
inexperience.
inexperience.
She’d been a blushing bride for all of an hour before she’d been reduced
to her husband’s whore.
Vetis yanked her head around. Sharp pain pierced her scalp. The abuse
was coming. “Don’t ever compare me, us, to them.”
He was angry with her? That was rich. As rage threatened to burst from
her, she shoved the emotion back inside. When the coldness had returned, she
finally nodded.
With a gentleness at odds with his fierce words, Vetis let go of her hair.
She eased back until her spine curved more naturally.
From the table next to him, Vetis lifted a deep purple glass bottle in the
shape of a woman. His fingers caressed the rounded globes of her glass breasts
before he pulled the stopper from the bottle with a pop.
“Perfect.” Zepar purred and held out his hand. The tip of his thumb
brushed her breast as if by accident then casually then moved away. Vetis
poured a small bit of oil in the man’s very large palm.
Real almond oil. The rare scent wrapped around her senses. After the
Demons unleashed their destructive wrath and ravaged the Earth’s natural
resources, such extravagance was almost eradicated.
Vetis poured a small amount of the scented oil into his own palm then
placed the bottle carefully back on the little stand. He rubbed his palms together
and the friction perfumed the air around them.
Vetis shifted Amara until her bottom sat on his thighs. Zepar inserted his
legs between Vetis’s to build a table for her body to rest on. They gently pressed
her down until her back lay along their thighs, her head hung down one side and
her stilettos were planted firmly on the floor, and her breasts thrust skyward like
an offering to the Gods. The position was uncomfortable but at least it didn’t
hurt.
Rubbing the oil into her skin, their warmed palms caressed her collarbone,
then flowed down the length of her arms. Their movements in perfect synch as if
they’d practiced. Her rib cage, her stomach, the dip in her belly, no secret place
was left untouched from their smooth, sensual strokes, nearing but not ever
touching her breasts.
She was surprised they hadn’t hurt her yet. Perhaps the pain would come
later.
Like a butterfly on the wind, the thought flitted away when they leaned
over her body to cup her ankles in their palms. The flat broad muscles of the
chests--whenever had they removed their shirts?–rubbed against her ribcage,
flirting with the buds of her nipples but never quite touching. Which was fine
with her. It only hurt.
with her. It only hurt.
They kneaded the skin of her calves and thighs with long sure strokes,
until they came to the hem of her very short skirt.
Their hands traced sensual circles along the sensitive inner skin of her
thighs. Each stroke pushed the skirt higher and higher until her pubis was
exposed. But they never once touched her female slit.
Vetis leaned down and put his nose in the curls of her mound. She froze
and waited for the bite, the flash of pain. Instead, he inhaled long and deep as if
he could suck the essence from her body. But he never touched her.
That made her happy. Or it should have, but a subtle sense of
disappointment kept her on edge.
In unison, they slicked their fingers along her flesh, until each held a
breast in their hand. As if choreographed, each bent their head, one dark, one
light, at the altar of her breasts. Their hot mouths opened over the entire areola
and sucked in rhythm to the throb of their erections pulsing against her hips.
Oddly the sensation was not unpleasant.
Gods, wouldn’t it be amazing if she could fulfill the bargain and be done
with this torture? If for one night, she could experience, if not pleasure, then an
absence of pain during the sex act.
Hope, like a poison, spread through her.
Vetis groaned low in his throat, the sound vibrating through her breasts
and spreading down to her womb. “Gods do you smell that beautiful scent?”
Zepar rubbed his head against the concave hollow between her hipbones.
His hands caressed her body with a reverence that was impossible to turn away
from. And yet, she stiffened anyway, readied for the pain.
This was where they violated her.
Amara’s gaze was drawn to Vetis, as if, like the Fae he compelled her to
focus only on him. Again and again, her attention strayed to the size of his cock,
poking out of his breeches and seeking a female to conquer. Cum pearled on the
knob of his erection. The salty scent of his arousal sickened her and curdled any
softening in her nether regions.
“Patience.”
“Are you talking to me or to her?” Zepar growled. The beast was near.
Harsh lines of arousal cut into Vetis’s face. Leashed power prowled
through his muscles like a panther and dread snapped like tiny lightning bolts
along her nerve endings. Amara trembled.
In one smooth action, Vetis stood and pulled Amara with him. Her leather
skirt wrapped only around her waist and bared her womanly curls and ass to
their lust.
“Push down my breeches.” Vetis commanded.
 “Push down my breeches.” Vetis commanded.
She dared not disobey.
Behind her, fabric rustled as the other Demon took off his clothes swiftly.
In a tentative move, she pushed ineffectually at the tight leather breeches.
“You are too big,” she murmured, a flush spreading throughout her body.
With a bark of laughter he helped her get the material off the head of his
enormous erection. Dear Gods how would she ever take him into her body?
From behind, Zepar pushed her skirt down her thighs to pool at her feet.
Now. This was where the pain would begin.
She tilted her chin up defiantly. As one they stepped toward her, Vetis’s
chest brushed the points of her breasts even as his erection teased her curls. The
blond Demon fitted his chest to her back, his huge erection nestled in the crease
of her ass. One head tilted to the right and one to the left, they licked their
tongues along her neck.
No pain. No fear.
Sandwiched between the two men, with her spike heels on, their erections
hit her body at just the right point for penetration. She stood perfectly still, arms
at her sides as they wrapped her in an intimate embrace.
The cream from Vetis’s cock was hot against her stomach, and the
pearling drops from Zepar’s erection seared her ass. The air was thick with the
sweet scent of almond oil. As they rubbed against her, the oil from her body slid
along their skin, and a curious softening occurred. She felt...cherished. How very
odd.
If she could just stay here in their embrace, her life might be bearable.
Vetis growled low in his throat. He inserted his hand between their bodies
and glided his cock to the valley of her curls. Instinctively she tensed to protect
against a sexual invasion.
But he did not penetrate her, only rubbed her slit with his juice.
Zepar crowded her from behind. She tensed again and waited for the
intrusion. Instead he slid his cock along her feminine lips. Her womb clenched.
Liquid trickled from her sex. And gratitude rolled through her in a wave.
As if they took predetermined sides, they thrust together slowly, rocking
along her nether lips with heat and oil and friction. The sensation was
pleasurable, perhaps more than pleasurable.
The cage around her hardened as their thrusts became more urgent.
Then they came in unison, their cum squirting between her legs. Trapped
between the two large males, the scent brought back the horror of her wedding
night.
She wanted to weep all over again for the loss of her innocence.
She nearly ached with the wave of pain rolling through her. For a moment,
 She nearly ached with the wave of pain rolling through her. For a moment,
Amara had thought perhaps she would feel pleasure. Perhaps she was not broken
on the inside.
Instead she looked up into Vetis’s cool dark face. A knowing smile
quirked his mouth, as if he knew what she was going to ask. Hope blossomed in
her stomach and spread out to warm her body as their sexing hadn’t been able to.
Could her night be over so easily? “I’ve had my night of pleasure.”
“Not even close.”
As their hot wet seed ran down the inside of her thighs in a slow insistent
trickle, hope bled out of her heart.
 Five
Vetis invaded her mind, needing to know what caused the slump in her
shoulders, and he found defeat had shrouded her thoughts.
Their sexual encounter left him surprisingly unfulfilled.
Misery stiffened her muscles and he knew what he must do. He loosened
his grip on Zepar’s ass and pressed his chest against her torso. He planted the
suggestion of a deep healing sleep in her mind.
With a graceful swoon, she fell into his body.
“What’s this all about?” Zepar asked as they carried her over to the giant
four poster bed.
From a warming bucket by the bed, he extracted two steaming cleanse
cloths. He tossed one to Zepar and with the other rubbed the damp fabric over
his naked still semi-erect form.
Vetis watched the sweet Amara sleep. If only the interlude had been more
pleasurable for all involved.
Zepar continued, “Not that I’m unhappy or unwilling to have a little fun
now and again. But that was not our usual sport.”
True. Their usual was varied and prolonged with willing partners who
would accommodate their baser natures.
“This kind of seduction isn’t a slam bam event.” Vetis studied her with
contemplation, watching the rise of her chest with each deep inhale. Even in
sleep her breasts were full and tempting. The cloth a pleasant friction against his
still sensitive member, he squeezed just a little harder. “This kind of corruption
will take finesse, planning, and...knowledge.”
And he knew just where to get his knowledge. Vetis pumped his cock a
little harder. “After all, she is an innocent.”
Zepar cleaned his own body while he studied Vetis. “That was not the
image I pulled from your mind.”
“She was forced.” He shot the cloth into the laundry bin with vehemence.
“What a waste.” Zepar wiped the cleansing cloth over the dried semen on
her thighs, cleaning her gently. “This body is a gift to be treasured and
worshiped, not abused.”
Vetis nodded his absolute agreement.
Gods, when she had begun to flush, just the hint of arousal sweeping over
her fair skin, Vetis had nearly crowed with triumph. His cock hardened at the
memory. He gripped his growing erection and began to pump in earnest.
She was turning out to be far more fun than he’d imagined.
 She was turning out to be far more fun than he’d imagined.
He wanted her mouth on his cock with her cheeks smiling. He wanted to
take her from behind and pound into her perfect ass. He let the images of the
things he would do to her play through his mind. The liberties he would take
when she was willing.
“What are you thinking about?” Zepar lounged on the chair near the bed.
His cock lay flaccid against his stomach. Abuse always wilted him.
They’d been imprisoned for thousands of years with no privacy. Zepar
knew exactly how close he was to finishing. They knew each other’s habits and
secrets.
“How hard I’m going to fuck her.” Vetis leaned against the column
adorning the fireplace. Firelight played across her curves. He cupped his balls in
one hand and imagined fucking her glorious breasts. He pictured her on her
hands and knees while he rammed into her rounded ass and she screamed in
pleasure. Vetis increased the pace as his cum began to rise.
“When she is ready,” Zepar said fiercely.
Gods, he wanted her to be ready now. Ready for the slick heat of her cunt
to welcome his cock and drench him with liquid desire. Ready for his balls to
slap against her perfect pussy.
The vision was too much for him. He came with a muffled shout. Semen
spurted from his cock, leaving him senseless as his cum sprayed out over the
firewood. With a hiss, the flames released the scent of his semen into the air.
“When she’s ready.” Vetis used another warm cloth to clean off his fading
erection and glanced back at his friend.
Zepar hovered over Amara and silently offered his protection while she
slept. “She really is truly delectable,” he murmured.
“Her husband thought to trade her for his debt.” Vetis snorted. “Idiot.”
“And where is the husband now?” Zepar’s muscles rippled as he stood,
ready to do battle for her honor, to deliver retribution, despite his lack of
clothing.
“In the dungeon.” Vetis replied. “I’m about to pay the man a visit. Would
you care to join me?”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”

***

Vetis mentally cringed as they tread down the stairs to the dungeon.
After being imprisoned for centuries below the earth, trapped between
tectonic plates, closed in and dark places were his least favorite places to be.
Ten years of freedom could not erase thousands of incarceration.
 Ten years of freedom could not erase thousands of incarceration.
“It is...not a pleasant place.” Zepar commented about the narrow steps that
lead down below the Earth.
Vetis’s footsteps slowed. “Bearable.” The peat torches flickered casting
shadows over the weathered and ancient stone. Fire slithered up the limestone
blocks and then extinguished in a puff.
“At least there is hope of leaving, which we did not have.” His friend
paused, and flattened his palm against the old stone as if the walls could speak.
The Demons had rebuilt the former ruins into a living, working fortress then
covered the abbey in a decrepit glamour. From outside the circle of their magick,
the castle still looked like a ruin.
“True.”
“So what is the plan?”
Vetis tread slowly, deliberately clicking his boots on the stone, as if the
noise would ward off their enemies. “Information.”
“What kind?”
“I need to know what has been done to her.” Vetis said, “The challenge is
to get her to have one night of pleasure.”
Zepar stopped dead. “How is that corruption? It sounds more like my job.”
“Corruption is defined as getting someone to do something they believe
they never would.”
With each step, they descended further beneath the earth, replacing fresh
air with the scent of stale urine and defecation. Gods but he hated this place.
“Okay.” Zepar responded. “But still. What about Gaap’s directive?”
He was sick of Gaap’s directive. He’d been mucking around the Humans,
stealing their energy to use against the Fae. With the Earth and Humans in
complete disarray, corrupting most people was ridiculously easy. “I’ve been
doing more than my fair share. Besides, I’m bored with easy corruption.”
“You didn’t look bored a few minutes ago.”
“She is,” Vetis spread his lips in parody of a smile, “inspiring me.”
“So, good Demon, bad Demon?” Zepar asked.
“I get to be bad.”
“How come I never get to be the bad Demon?”
“Because I’m so good at being bad.”
 Six
When they reached the appropriate cell, Vetis nodded to the guard and
waved him away.
Vetis and Zepar flanked the cell doorway, leaning in a casual pose against
the stone walls that separated this cell from the others.
The husband had not improved upon his detainment. He jumped up from
the metal cot in the corner and ran over to the bars. His white fingers gripped the
iron. “Is it done?”
“You gift me with powers beyond my mien.” Idiot.
“Should have known.” He whispered under his breath, “Stupid cunt.”
From deep in his gut, rage began to rise and burn through Vetis’s ribs,
lungs and heart.
“Silence!” The word exploded from him.
Vetis’ sound waves shook the bed in the corner of the cell and Amara’s
husband stumbled back.
“Come Vetis.” Zepar kept his tone friendly, mild as if he sensed just how
close Vetis was to the edge of blood lust.
The temptation to reach through the bars and gut the prisoner roared
through Vetis.
With an edge of contempt, Zepar played the good Demon. “Cut the fellow
a break.”
He forced his mind to calm, picturing Amara with the flush of arousal on
her breasts. “I want information.” He made his voice cold, menacing.
Edward edged back against the bed. For a moment his mind had been
wide open. And surprise, there was more to this fool than Vetis had originally
believed. A furtive deal in a shadowy backroom. The instigator cloaked in
darkness as he handed Edward a picture of Vetis.
Fae? Possibly.
“I’m sure he won’t mind accommodating you,” Zepar said pleasantly.
Only Vetis heard the bite. Apparently his friend had seen the same thing. “Isn’t
that right?”
“Wha-what kind of information?”
“If I am to pleasure your wife, I need to know what was done to her.”
The coward subtly relaxed. “How about a little side bet?” He gave a sly
smile.
“Still gambling, I see.” Vetis uncrossed his arms from his chest and
straightened away from the cool stone.
straightened away from the cool stone.
“Sadly my debts have been many.” His face brightened and his chubby
cheeks lifted. “But I always pay them off. Or I should say my wife does.”
The asshole laughed at his joke.
If there had been any affection in his voice, Vetis might have cut him
some slack, but Edward’s casual response to selling his wife pissed Vetis off. “I
am not in the mood to bargain. Are we clear?”
“I’m already stuck here because of her.” He kicked at a small pebble on
the barren floor. “Why should I make it easier for her?”
Vetis had hoped that the man would just tell him what he wanted to know
but it seemed that had been too optimistic of him. What Vetis needed now was to
discover who gave the man a picture of him.
“How much do you know of Demons?” Vetis asked softly.
The man wasn’t a complete idiot. He blanched. “Ah, you can compel
people to do things.”
That wasn’t quite accurate, but he’d take it. “Yes, we can.”
Vetis saw what Edward desired. A picture of the man reclining on a bed of
silks surrounded by riches flashed through the gambler’s mind and he steadied.
He was stalling on purpose. But why?
“I’m sorry. I’ve been remiss. I forgot to introduce you to my friend,
Zepar.” Vetis said, his voice even softer. “Do you know what kind of Demon he
is?”
“N-no.” The man’s teeth began to chatter. The clickety-clack grated on
Vetis.
“Demon of Seduction.” He drew out the word seduction.
The man fell away from Zepar, his face a rictus of horror.
Zepar’s smile was all teeth. Vetis knew Zepar also caught the images the
man feared. Apparently, he was terrified of sodomy.
After thousands of years imprisoned with only men, Zepar would never
fuck another man unless he didn’t have a choice. But this stupid sod didn’t need
to know that.
“What do you,” he gulped. “Want?” Edward edged back and cowered on
the ragged cot.
“Tell me what else you know of Demons.”
“You’re dangerous.”
“True.” Vetis clapped enthusiastically. “Anything else?”
“You are the sworn enemies of the Fae.” And there, the same picture Vetis
had seen before. This man was conspiring with the Fae. The Fae had
maneuvered the gambler into incurring the debt with Vetis. How very
interesting. Why?
interesting. Why?
“Do you know any?” Zepar curled his fingers around the iron bars, tension
in his hands.
They waited for him to lie.
But oddly enough, he didn’t. “I have met some. They are frequent visitors
to our tavern.”
“I see.” Vetis glanced at Zepar. They needed more information before they
could attempt to use this idiot. “Perhaps you can be of some use to me.”
The gambler jumped up eagerly, leaning toward the bars with an avid grin
on his face.
“But first--” Vetis stopped and the man’s grin fell. “Tell me about your
wife’s adventures.”
“But haven’t I given you enough information?” He hid his petulance
beneath a submissive smile, keeping the image of the riches present in his mind.
Vetis jerked his chin at Zepar.
“Fine. Fine.” The man shrank further away from Zepar. But his mind
betrayed a gleeful maliciousness as he pictured his wife’s abuse. “Vegetables.”
 Seven
Amara awoke from the longest, most restful slumber. Gods, she didn’t
want to regain consciousness. She stretched her arms above her head and arched
her back. Slinky satin slid against her naked skin, caressing her breasts and
slipping between her legs.
Satin? They couldn’t afford satin.
Her eyes popped open. And it all came rushing back.
She sank into a cushion of down. The ornately carved posts of a black
walnut bed rose into the air. Sheer shimmery fabric draped the canopy and silk
bindings hung from all four posters. She didn’t remember getting into this bed.
Her last memory was of utter hopelessness and then her mind was blank.
Her heart fluttered, the tempo picking up as she lay perfectly still and took
inventory, testing her body for any aches that shouldn’t be there. Acid gurgled in
her stomach and threatened to burn a path back up her throat.
“Good. You’re awake.” Vetis’s voice rumbled and slid inside her, winding
through her body as surely as the sheets caressed her inner thighs.
Amara pressed her eyelids closed and wished she could just pretend
yesterday had never happened. Actually while she was at it, perhaps she could
pretend the last two years hadn’t happened.
“I thought you might be hungry.” His minty breath was warm in her ear,
the little puff tickling her eardrum. Amara braced and turned her head toward his
voice.
“A little,” she lied. But then her stomach grumbled.
Vetis was so close she could see that his irises were not the black she’d
thought last night. They were a deep midnight blue. He blinked, the thick black
lashes fanned against his tanned skin. A dusting of beard shadowed his jaw.
Clad in a black silk robe loosely tied at the waist, he leaned back into the
velvet chair next to the bed. The lapels gaped open to reveal his smooth tanned
chest and dark nipples. His legs were spread wide and his cock was erect. A
thick vein pulsed with his blood. Gods, he was big.
A smile played over his sensuous lips.
Had he just been sitting there watching her sleep?
“Demons have...strong appetites,” he said wryly.
Amara cleared her throat, unsure if he meant for food or something more
carnal.
“Both.” His mouth curved into a wicked smile as he answered the question
in her mind. “Do you trust me?”
in her mind. “Do you trust me?”
“Do I have a choice?” Bitterness welled at her impotence.
“Free will is a wondrous thing. I would never presume to take it away,”
Vetis commented mildly.
“And yet I am trapped here.”
His face hardened into harsh lines, his mouth an uncompromising slash.
“The debt must be paid.”
“Can’t you just...let me go?” She had to ask. Last night there were
moments when he had seemed almost kind.
Okay she had officially lost it. Demons were not kind.
“The sooner you fulfill the terms of the bargain, the sooner you can
leave,” Vetis said. “I am trying to aid you.”
Pleasure. Right. Perhaps she could fake it and get this over with. Last
night she must have been under some sort of compulsion for, toward the end, the
contact had been almost pleasant. “Fine.”
“Why don’t you sit back against the pillows?”
As Amara pushed up into a seated position, she white-knuckled the satin
against her breasts. Vetis leaned lazily toward the post closest to him and
captured the silk scarf. In a sensuous move, he ran the silk through his hand as if
he were caressing a lover. Then he reached for her wrist.
“You mean to tie me to the bed.” She cursed the waver in her voice.
“I won’t hurt you.” Vetis trailed the rough pads of his fingers along her
arm as if trying to soothe a wild animal and then he slipped her hand through the
silken tie. With a flick of his wrist, the material restricted her arm. Not too
tightly. But then he tugged on the other end and the restraint raised her arm
slightly from the bed.
The satin sheet slipped down the right side of her body and exposed her
breast.
Amara tensed in sick anticipation of his touch. But he had already headed
around to the other side of the bed. With brisk efficiency, he looped the silk and
bound her left wrist to the opposite post. Now both her breasts were bared to the
chill morning air. Her nipples puckered.
Fierce sunlight streamed in through the open window. On a gust of wind, a
hint of cut grass and the tang of lemons scented the room.
Vetis carried a heavy silver tray toward the bed. “Spread your legs.” He
climbed up on the bed. His robe fell completely open. His erection pulsed as if
commanding her to notice.
“I don’t want--” The items on the tray registered. Front and center was a
giant carrot.
She scrabbled back toward the headboard, kicking out toward the tray.
 She scrabbled back toward the headboard, kicking out toward the tray.
The move flung the satin sheet away from her lower body. Exactly what she
wanted to avoid. Amara whimpered as memories scrolled through her mind like
an old horror film.
“Stop.” Vetis grabbed her ankles and forced her feet down to the bed,
pushing until her knees pointed toward the ceiling.
Amara yanked at the bindings, wrenched her wrists as she tried to cover
her sex. She slammed her knees together and pulled her elbows into her waist.
With each panicked tug against her restraints, she sought to protect her body.
Protect her sex. But nothing would be able to protect her mind.
She sobbed. Gods, not again. Please not again.
She didn’t even realize she had spoken aloud until he murmured gently,
“No. We must face down these bad memories and make new ones. You
understand.”
Vetis whispered to her and repeated his commands over and over slowly
until she finally realized he was trying to calm her down. “Can I let go of your
feet?”
She nodded. Prayed he wouldn’t hurt her.
“Let your legs fall open.” He repeated the command. His midnight blue
gaze held hers imploring her to trust in him.
She did as he instructed, her mound spread wide and exposed to the air.
And to him.
Vetis curled his fingers around the carrot. The instrument of her torture.
“Let’s banish this memory.” He held the carrot near the leafy greens and
extended it toward her.
“Bite it.” He traced her mouth with the smooth peeled tip, the odor sickly
sweet in her nose.
She hated carrots. Ever since. Hated them. She opened her mouth and
chomped. Hard.
The tip broke off in her mouth with a crisp snap. The sharp sound pleased
her and she imagined destroying her abuser’s penis instead of the carrot. She
chewed savagely and with each crunch tried desperately to eradicate her
memories.
Vetis winced.
Amara spat the masticated carrot onto the tray. “More,” she said fiercely.
He obliged by holding the offensive vegetable out to her. Crack. She
broke off another piece as her anger bubbled.
“Better?”
She did feel better. “Yes.”
He turned the carrot around in his hand so that the greens dangled from his
 He turned the carrot around in his hand so that the greens dangled from his
fist. “Still not quite right. But I have an idea.” His smile was full of sin. “Lean
back against the pillows.”
Amara started to object then shrugged.
He began with the arm he’d bound first. The slightly rough edges of the
greens teased the delicate skin on the inside of her right wrist, and then he gently
swept the leafy tips along the sensitive veins of her inner arm. Not quite a tickle.
Then across her collarbone and along her throat, he brushed against her rapid
pulse. Her blood beat so hard she thought it might just burst right out of her.
With a flourish, he twirled the greens over the hardening tip of her breast,
the contact feather light against her nipple. “And how does that feel, hmm?”
Her heart’s frantic beat was a dual assault of lingering terror and new
burgeoning sensations. The newer odd reaction of her body overpowered the
terror in her mind and caused the fear to fade.
She swallowed. “F-fine.”
He tsked. “Only fine? Mustn’t neglect the other beauty.” He shifted the
greens to her other breast and twirled just a little bit harder.
Her thighs quivered at the strange tingle in her feminine parts.
“So that’s the way of it.” Vetis painted a path down her stomach, her belly
button caving involuntarily. He brushed the greens down toward her mound and
she was unable to take her gaze away as he teased her little bud. Then he traced a
path from her belly button to the crease in her ass. The greens prickled, yet
didn’t hurt.
He wasn’t hurting her. The miracle grew as she realized she felt something
other than pain when he touched her sex.
Could this be desire?
The tingling increased and a buzz throbbed low in her belly.
In long, slow sure strokes, he swept back and forth, each stroke just a little
shorter, until he teased only her clitoris. With one last twist, he whirled the
greens away. A whimper escaped her.
“Now that’s much better.” Vetis’s rapt focus was on her exposed slit as he
bent down so close his nose almost touched her nether lips. He breathed in her
scent. “Ahh.” His exhale blew gently across her clitoris. “The delectable scent of
aroused woman.”
Gods, she wanted...she didn’t know what. Something.
“You are quite exquisite, my peach.”
She couldn’t wait to see what he would do next.
 Eight
Vetis surveyed his handiwork.
When he’d concocted this bargain, his main goal had been relief from
boredom. But her husband’s disregard and Amara’s total lack of feeling stirred
dangerous emotions in him. He had been denied sensual pleasures because of his
physical imprisonment. But Amara was imprisoned only by her own horrible
experiences. Because her husband had used her. And that enraged him.
Vetis shoved back the trickle of guilt--for wasn’t he going to use her in a
similar way? She just didn’t know it.
Gaap had insisted that Vetis spy on her thoughts. They needed to make
sure that she wasn’t involved in the Fae’s plot. Vetis thought not. But he must
verify his beliefs with confirmation.
Amara leaned back against the pile of silk pillows, her arms still
restrained. Her legs sprawled open to reveal her completely to him. For now, she
was his to look and touch and play with as he saw fit. Her nether lips had
swollen and plumped with each brush stroke of the carrot’s greens.
Her mound was flushed a most delicious shade of pink. The beautiful
flower of her womanhood pulsed among her nest of sunlight curls.
As he blew on her clit, the musk of her arousal perfumed the air. The rush
of energy from her unexpected creaming gave him a buzz. Gods the temptation
to lick into her until she orgasmed was strong. But that wouldn’t get rid of her
bad memories.
His goal was still one night of her pleasure but now he craved more. He
wanted to release her from the mental cage that imprisoned her body. He
justified his actions. His intent was to eradicate her dark memories. And discover
anything he could about her husband’s interaction with the Fae.
“I would love to fuck you with my tongue.” He blew on her once more
and then glanced up to her face, her eyes rounded with some emotion he
couldn’t identify. “But alas that will have to wait until later.”
She hadn’t said a word but he noted with satisfaction that she was
breathing in shallow pants. Her breasts rose and fell. Flushed a pretty pink, her
nipples pouted for a tonguing.
The first step was completed. But Vetis didn’t just want submission, he
wanted her total surrender which would take time and finesse.
He removed the evidence of her destruction of the carrot from the tray and
tossed the remains into the trash. Then he carefully selected a succulent, ripe
peach. With a sharp knife, he very precisely cut the plump fruit in half. Sweet
peach. With a sharp knife, he very precisely cut the plump fruit in half. Sweet
juice ran down his arm as he began her lesson.
“You are aware of the history of Demons.”
She nodded, but her attention remained glued to the knife. He hesitated,
wanting to reassure her even if she wouldn’t believe him. “Know this. I will
never harm you. Are we clear?”
She bobbed her head tentatively.
“I believe I need oral verification.”
“Yes.” The husky answer rasped along his nerve endings.
“Excellent.” Vetis praised her and ignored the twisting in his stomach. He
would never harm her physically but how would she feel if she ever learned that
he was using her memories to protect the Demons?
Vetis ignored the twinge of conscience and focused on teaching her about
pleasure. “We existed for thousands of years without...pleasures.”
Her gaze drifted back to the knife and he knew he was losing her.
“Eating real food is a banquet of sensual delight.” He inhaled the aroma of
the peach with as much gusto as he’d inhaled the bouquet of her musk. After
being denied food for centuries, he reveled in the sensual tastes and textures of
real food. The bright colors pleased him after years of darkness. He shoved away
the memory of that grim prison. He would not go back there. But this was about
her, not him.
Vetis held one of the halves to her perfect lips. “Eat,” he whispered, “and
imagine that I am nibbling on your own delectable peach.”
“What?”
“I am particularly fond of peaches.”
Her tongue ventured out to twirl around the sweet center of the fruit
tentatively. And Gods, he could imagine that tongue curled around his balls just
as sweetly.
“I am going to eat you up like this peach,” he growled. “Eat.”
As she took a small bite, he squeezed the fruit just slightly. Nectar ran
down her chin and traced a path down her naked body.
The juice trickled along the valley between her breasts, a small pool
gathered in her belly button, stalling there.
She hummed low in her throat and took another bite.
Vetis squeezed the peach again. The liquid trailed inexorably toward her
clitoris. His mouth dried as the sweet juice dribbled toward his prize and he
knew exact moment the juice found its pearl.
“Oh.”
Gods, he was harder than the tectonic plates that had disintegrated with the
final catastrophic earthquake.
final catastrophic earthquake.
Patience.
“More?” he smiled wickedly.
“Please.”
“I’d like a taste of peach,” Vetis slyly pressed his case. He wanted her to
share her body with him willingly. “Will you share with me?”
She flushed and nodded her assent.
Her capitulation triggered a rush of satisfaction. Power surged through
him as her emotions awakened slowly before him like a tender shoot unfurling
toward the sunlight.
Vetis carefully twirled the fuzzy skin of the peach along her body,
painting her with lush strokes of the furry fruit. Then he squeezed the other half
of the peach over one nipple. The nub puckered, gloriously aroused by the cool
sticky juice. “Your body is deliciously responsive.”
He fed her a bite, pleased with the way she savored and licked the peach
before she opened her mouth over it. Her actions were unknowingly seductive.
He drizzled more juice over the other nipple, thrilled with her body’s
response to the stimulation. Then he lifted the fruit to her mouth for her to finish.
When she was all done, she licked her lips.
“Hmm,” he said. “We’re all...sticky.” He lifted a warm wash cloth from
the tray and fastidiously cleaned his hands. The second phase of his seduction
was complete.
Amara waited patiently in front of him. Nectar from the peach slicked a
path from her chin to her clitoris, the sweet liquid tempted him to lap her up.
“Don’t worry. You’re next.”

***

Amara’s senses were heightened, every detail seemingly charged with

eroticism.
The soft cushion of the down pillows at her back, the slippery silk beneath
her butt, the sensitized nerve endings from Vetis’s sensual touch.
The room felt much warmer than when she’d awakened. Her skin had
heated everywhere, except for the cool peach nectar that coated her slit and curls
and the twin assaults of sticky juice. The cool breeze hardened her nipples until
they were so tight they almost hurt.
Her legs were spread wide, open for him to do what he wished with her.
And her female parts ached, empty and barren. As if her body waited for
something indefinable that she couldn’t quite grasp.
Her womb clenched. But not in fear. Anticipation.
 Her womb clenched. But not in fear. Anticipation.
And she wondered. Was this pleasure?
“Where to start.” Vetis knelt in front of her on the decadent bed and
crowded her back against the pillows. The hairy roughness of his legs pressed
her thighs open even wider. His attention was riveted on her sex.
“We’ll save the best for last.”
He leaned over her, the silk robe cocooning them in decadence. His pink
tongue came out of his mouth and her eyes widened to see it was so very long.
With the soft tip, he traced the contour of her lips, the touch lighter than a
butterfly. The juice from the shared peach sweetened the tender kiss, totally at
odds with the stamp of lust on his hard face.
Then with the gentlest foray, he eased his tongue just between the bow of
her lips and curled it around the inside of her mouth.
He groaned softly. “Open for me.”
Amara parted her lips, unwilling to disobey him. She had never been
kissed like this. Soft and testing as if he needed her mouth more than he needed
to breathe.
Tentatively she touched her tongue to his.
The experience was definitely pleasurable. His tongue ventured further
into her mouth, as if breaching her defenses slowly, then he opened his lips fully
over hers.
He devoured her.
His hands held her head still. Vetis swirled his tongue into and out of her
mouth, each time he ventured a little further until his tongue penetrated her
throat.
His knees pushed her legs up, until her knees were almost even with her
hands. She could do no more than grip the satin bindings in her fists and thrust
back with her own tongue.
A hot drop of his seed sizzled against her stomach. She could smell the
scent of his cum, but it was intermingled with the sweet peach and her own
feminine scent.
“Gods I can’t wait for this.”
His cock pushed insistently against her belly. He ripped his hands from
her throat and gripped the wooden headboard behind her. A purple vein ran
down the widening rod and disappeared into his black curls. The bulbous head
was red and hot and monstrously aroused. She would never be able to take him
into her body.
Her stomach clenched. The beginnings of arousal dried up in a flash of
fear. Amara wondered if this was it. Her muscles tensed as she waited for pain
and prayed it wouldn’t hurt too badly this time.
and prayed it wouldn’t hurt too badly this time.
As if he knew her doubts, Vetis opened his mouth and scraped his tongue
down the bowed curve of her neck. Sliding his extra-long tongue over her breast,
he then curled the talented muscle around her nipple and tweaked it.
He loved her breasts with his mouth, licking up the peach juice from her
body, then more. Nipping, then suckling, then pinching. With each caress her
body responded with a wash of sensation. Vetis kissed his way down her body
leaving her breasts. Except they didn’t look like her breasts. They were flushed
and swollen and wet from the attention of his mouth.
“Please,” she whimpered.
Her womb clenched. The muscles bunched as if wanting to hold onto
something.
Was this pleasure? This unbearable wish for him to never stop. This
unshakeable need for more.
“Please what?” he growled against her stomach.
“I don’t know.” The need to writhe against him, to find friction for her
over-sensitized body burned. But with her hands restrained and her legs trapped
against his, she couldn’t move.
Vetis dragged his hands from the headboard and down the length of her
body. He stopped to cup the globes of her breasts, then pressed the heels of his
palms against her lower abdomen and pushed on her womb. The rough pads of
his fingers burned a trail of sizzled nerves in his wake. Then he slid his hands to
the top of her thighs and held them wide.
“Gods look at you, just weeping for my cock.” His gaze was nearly crazed
as he drew her into the dark pool of his desire. His erection rose proudly from
the cradle of his curls, his balls seemed swollen larger than before and his
bulbous tip glistened with desire.
“Not yet,” he chanted over and over again.
Amara listened to him, confused by her feelings as two separate emotions
vied for dominance. Disappointment. The things he was doing to her body felt so
good. But relief too. For soon the pain would come. She knew this to be true
because pain was all she’d ever known.
 Nine
Vetis leaned back on his knees, kneeling in front of her with his hands on
her soft inner thighs. The temptation to slam into her waiting heat nearly
overwhelmed him but fear lingered in the subtle tension of her limbs and the
shadowed corners of her mind. Bright flashes of pain and images of violation
strobed in her thoughts as she anticipated his invasion.
Patience was a virtue, he repeated silently. Gods, he hated virtue.
“Another little known fact about our imprisonment.” He slithered toward
her mound until his nose nestled in her curls. “They separated the males and the
females, so I was without this particular feast for thousands of years.”
He extended his tongue slowly and let the muscle come out further than
before. He hadn’t wanted to scare her with its unusual length.
Vetis started at the bottom of her slit and pressed his hot tongue against
her swollen flesh. Slowly, deliberately, he laved his tongue against her sex and
teased without entering her. Licking up her cream, he flattened his tongue
against her clitoris and pressed rhythmically against the aroused bundle.
And Gods, yes, her hips began to rock on their own.
Fluttering the tip of his tongue, he flirted with her sex and outlined her
nether lips with the same care and attention he’d shown to her mouth earlier. The
temptation to just plunge into her hot channel was potent.
Instead he slipped inside gently, using the tip of his tongue to arouse her,
just barely penetrating her silken sheath.
When she moaned low in her throat, he slid in just a little further. But he
didn’t expand his tongue as he’d like to. He kept the muscle long and lean
instead. Desire swelled and plumped her walls as he tasted her womanly musk.
Gods he was so thankful to have this pleasure again.
He slid his tongue further inside of her, touched the entrance to her womb
and closed his mouth over her entire mound. Her clitoris throbbed against his
upper lip and her buttocks thrust against his chin, her hips urgent now.
He curled his tongue inside of her vagina, searching for that perfect
button. Ah, there. When he found it, he pressed hard against the spot and reveled
in the tightening of her slick channel. He fluttered the tip inside her and listened
for the catch in her gasps.
With a long lusty moan she orgasmed around his tongue, sucking him
further into her body and squeezing every throb of pleasure for herself.
Amara collapsed against the pillows, her body flush with the satiation of
completion.
completion.
Triumph roared through him. With reluctance, Vetis withdrew his tongue
from her body and sat up. He rubbed her cum from his face, licked his fingers to
taste her essence, and then gripped his painful erection in his palm.
“My turn.”

***

Amara flopped on the bed like a rag doll with no control over her limbs.
Her brain still fizzed with the electric sensations he had evoked.
She couldn’t move.
His large palm held his erection as he’d held onto the carrot earlier. He
was huge. The rush of fluid between her legs shocked her.
She blinked and stretched languorously, marveling at the incredible
looseness of her limbs and the euphoria of her first orgasm. At least that was
what she thought it was.
“Did I just have an orgasm?”
“It was your first?” He stroked his palm up and over the head of his cock.
“Yes,” she purred. It had been...wonderful.
“I am in need of one as well.”
“Am I supposed to watch?” She eyed his hand as he gave his staff another
slow pump.
“Absolutely not. This is a participation sport.”
Suddenly she knew what he wanted.
The lethargic feeling of well-being evaporated. She’d been forced to do
such things before and they were not pleasant. She tried hold onto the looseness,
but not tensing proved impossible.
Vetis held his palm out to her nose. “Another memory to replace.” His
warm masculine scent was impossible to avoid.
“Lick my palm,” he commanded.
Gods, she didn’t want to taste him. Didn’t want what would come after his
palm. Didn’t want to take that giant cock into her mouth and have him use her
like a common whore. He continued to wait. Finally she tentatively licked his
palm. “That is the smell of you and me. Together.” He murmured, “Soon you
will know it well.”
She shuddered at the salty taste in her mouth, torn between revulsion and a
growing curiosity. He had already proven that sex held some pleasantness. What
he wanted couldn’t possibly bring her more. Could it?
“Have you no faith in me?” he tsked. “What is your favorite candy?”
“I cannot afford candy.”
 “I cannot afford candy.”
He waved away the comment. “Pretend you can afford anything you
would like.”
“Fine.” She thought she might have an inkling of what he was about. If so,
it would make the next few minutes bearable.
“Minutes?” He gave a shout of laughter. “You do me an injustice.”
“But...you’re ready.”
“Prolonging the release will make for greater pleasure for everyone
involved.”
Not for her. But whatever. “Chocolate,” she replied softly.
“Excellent. Mine too. Let me untie you.” With a flick of his fingers, he
freed her from one binding and then the other.
Vetis tugged the tapestry bell pull hanging by the bed then gave the soft
material a tiny caress. He turned to Amara and laced his fingers with hers.
His erection still big and strong, he walked naked with her over to the dais
where he’d touched her with such impersonal hands last night. Amara shivered
at the memory. He hadn’t hurt her yet. For that she was grateful.
Vetis dragged a footrest over to set in front of the chair. He eased into the
large throne chair where he’d lain her over his knees like a banquet last night.
“Straddle the footrest, knees on the floor, facing me.”
The soft silk of the rug underneath the chair tickled her knees and calves,
and the rough hide covering the footrest abraded her overly sensitive mound.
He slouched back with his buttocks on the edge, so that somehow the stool
was just the correct height. His erection bobbed in her face. She was so close she
could count the beats of his pulse through the thickened veins. His rod grew
stiffer and stiffer with her perusal.
The door behind them opened.
“Ah, thank you, Figgins.” He gestured lazily to the small table next to his
chair. “You can put the tray here.”
“Very good, my Lord.”
Amara wanted to slither to the floor and hide underneath the chair so that
the butler wouldn’t see her.
But Vetis lifted her chin up gently. “There is no shame in mutual love
play.”
“Quite right, sir.” The butler never even looked at Amara. Not even a
peek. He quietly exited the room.
“Have you no sense of propriety?” she asked him curious enough to risk
his displeasure.
“I spent thousands of years trapped with only male Demons for company,
chained to unforgiving rock by a sorcerer’s spell, and without a single stitch of
chained to unforgiving rock by a sorcerer’s spell, and without a single stitch of
clothing.”
She shuddered at the picture of isolation and degradation.
He continued. “I wear clothing simply because the feel of the sensuous
fabric against my skin pleases me. But being naked holds no shame. It is but a
state.”
He reached over to the tray and lifted an ornate silver dish into his palm.
The rich dark aroma of chocolate wafted to her senses. Gods, she hadn’t had
chocolate in years. Since her sixteenth birthday. Long before her marriage.
Before her life changed.
Her mouth watered. Involuntarily, she leaned toward the seductive treat.
Her heart thudded in her chest slowly as he dipped one long finger into the bowl
of warm chocolate. She followed the path of his finger as he sloppily traced her
mouth. Her lips parted. The sweet flavor burst on her tongue as he pressed his
finger into her mouth.
Gods, it was so good.
She licked the chocolate from her lips, nearly moaning from the taste.
He smiled lazily. “More?”
“Yes, please.”
“How can I deny such a sweet request?” With his finger, he scooped out a
little more.
She tracked his hand as he moved inexorably toward his cock. Then he
lovingly painted the tip with the decadent chocolate.
He relaxed against the back of the chair and sucked his finger into his own
mouth. “Partake.”
She knew what he wanted. And Gods help her, she was going to give it to
him. Perhaps this bargain was not impossible.
Perhaps she could have a night of pleasure.
Amara placed her palms on the rough hairiness of his thighs, the bristly
hairs teasing the softer more sensitive skin of her arms. She eyed the tip of his
cock. This wouldn’t be so bad.
She tried to convince herself.
Tentatively, softly she licked the chocolate. It coated her tongue and
teased her senses. She tried to ignore his erection and focus solely on the
chocolate but the scent of aroused male made her attempts impossible.
“Best way to get all the chocolate is to put your entire mouth over the
head.” His voice guttural, she glanced up at him. She found his gaze rapt on her
mouth and she realized hat she held some power here.
Amara sucked the head of his cock into her mouth. Only the head. Her lips
formed a moue over the tip. Each gentle pull delivered chocolate to her taste
formed a moue over the tip. Each gentle pull delivered chocolate to her taste
buds, the sweet flavor delicious.
“Time for more.” Vetis popped his cock from her mouth. While she had
been sucking, he had scooped chocolate onto two of his fingers. Now, he
globbed the chocolate on the tip of his penis.
She licked her lips and readied to take him into her mouth again.
“Not yet.” Vetis made her wait as the chocolate oozed down the sides of
his rod.
The sweet aroma of the chocolate mingled with the darker scent of his
cum as he finally nodded his approval. He tipped his hips downward to give her
better access to his cock. She opened her mouth obediently. This time he did
nothing but wait.
“Put my cock inside your mouth.”
He gave her the control. Amara curled her fingers around the massive base
of his penis and guided the member into the recesses of her mouth. When the tip
hit the back of her throat she closed her lips around him and pressed her tongue
up against his cock, sucking the chocolate off of him.
Her position created friction in unexpected places. The soft velvet of the
seat cushion rubbed against her nipples, the sensation pleasant. She straddled the
footrest and when she pressed forward, the bristled hide chafed with an unusual,
erotic pressure.
The urge to increase that pressure surprised her.
“I believe it’s all gone.” Vetis rasped.
Amara let go of his cock reluctantly. He plunged four fingers into the
bowl. Amara licked her lips in anticipation of the taste and feel of his hot flesh in
her mouth. This time, he painted his entire cock with chocolate and liquid rushed
to her nether regions. Amara squirmed.
His raging hard cock was drenched in chocolate and the treat was all hers.
Without waiting for approval, she sucked his cock into her mouth, suctioning off
the chocolate and savoring the slide of sweetness down her throat. She pulled
more of him inside until the head of his cock hit the back of her throat.
Instinctively she swallowed and the contraction of her muscles drew a harsh
groan from him.
She did it again.
His hips pushed against her face. And she knew what to do. Previously,
she had been the unwilling recipient but now she became the giver. Amara
controlled their pleasure. She rose to her knees and with long sure strokes, she
worked his cock in and out of her mouth. The salty drops of his cum and
chocolate taunted her aroused senses.
Each time he hit the back of her throat she swallowed, squeezing his rod.
 Each time he hit the back of her throat she swallowed, squeezing his rod.
Her lips pressed against the base, and when she reached under him and gripped
his balls, he came with a great shout.
His hot seed spurted into the back of her throat, overpowering the taste of
chocolate, burning a path into her body.
Warming her from the inside out.
So this was what pleasure was all about.
A rush of gratitude for a Demon giving her this gift spread through her.
“Thank you.” Amara licked her lips.
Above her Vetis’s breathe sawed in and out. The carpet-covered stone
floor burned her knees, the hard buds of her nipples pressed into the rough hair
on his thighs, and her lower body ached for more. For as much as this sexual
encounter was pleasurable, she was unexpectedly unfulfilled.
Vetis responded to her thanks. “You’re welcome.”
“So we are done?” Amara could finally be free of the bargain. She could
go home with the knowledge that sex didn’t always hurt.
“Look around you.”
“My Lord?”
“The stipulation was for one night of pleasure.”
“True.” She didn’t like the feelings that coursed through her. The bite of
disappointment and the snap of irritation flooded her mind as she waited
impatiently for his answer.
“It is daytime.”
So the bargain was not met yet. That was what she got for trusting a
Demon.
 Ten
Vetis lounged on his side, surrounded by silk bed pillows, head propped
on his hand, and surveyed his latest project.
Amara, covered in a shimmering sheath of the palest pink, lay wraith-like
against the ruby red sheets. The nearly sheer cloth of the gown revealed more
than it hid. The backside of the cloth caused a subtle friction whenever she
moved. As she shifted underneath his scrutiny, her nipples beaded. It was a
delightful form of foreplay.
He had worked on one of his goals-tutoring her in love arts. Now it was
time for a more serious endeavor.
Flames from the torches on either side of the bed cast a warm glow over
the dark sheets as the sun descended into the horizon. The sky was a wash of
vibrant colors, purples, blues, and deep blood red. Ten years after the great
Earthquake, the sky still bloomed with the volcanic dust.
“You enjoyed our feast?”
He had plied her with all manner of delights. Succulent roast pig, delicate
cheese, sweet strawberries straight from his hand, all disappeared into the
talented cavern of her mouth. Truly he hadn’t expected much from the chocolate
experiment.
She had far exceeded his meager expectations.
“It was wonderful.” Her lips quirked in the most amazing little smile.
It was the first sign of happiness he’d provoked since she’d come into his
chamber and the expression seemed to set rather uneasily on her face.
He had an ulterior motive this time. He’d purposely seduced her with
delicacies, so that he could plumb her mind for information about her husband’s
treachery. In truth, he believed only Edward had an alliance with the Fae. But he
must be sure. To satisfy Gaap, to protect the whole Demon race from their
mortal enemies, the question of her innocence must be resolved.
So first he sated her with sex then food. As if plying her with food and
carnal pleasure would somehow absolve his unexpected guilt over invading her
mind.
Zepar lingered in the shadows as his backup. Between the two they should
be able to discern her true purpose. Vetis would be particularly harsh with her if
she turned out to be involved with the Fae.
The rest of the room settled into darkness as the sun hid for the night and
the moon had yet to rise. Peat torches flanked the bed and cast an intimate glow
down upon their little haven. She would not be able to see Zepar.
down upon their little haven. She would not be able to see Zepar.
“So how did you come to be here?” He trailed his finger over the delicate
arch of her eyebrow.
“I believe you know, my Lord.”
“You and your husband run a tavern?”
She snorted. “I do the work.”
In his mind, he saw as she scrubbed the floor on her knees, tended to the
stew in the kitchen and poured the drafts while her husband entertained in a dark
corner.
“He reaps the money.”
Vetis leisurely twisted a blonde curl of her hair around his finger,
marveling at its fine silk before dropping the lock over one breast. “But he does
not always reap money or you would not find yourself here.”
She blinked, as if she’d forgotten why she lay in his bed, wore his gown
and sucked his cock. Dammit. She was worth more than one hundred of her
gambling husband. Did she not see that?
“Quite true.” Her smile had disappeared.
“My apologies. His cavalier treatment of you...grates.” Vetis ran his palm
over her breast. Her nipple stabbed into his hand, as if in supplication and her
back arched.
He petted her breast in an attempt to soothe her.
Zepar shifted in the shadows. Right. Back to business.
“And has he offered you as payment before?”
Pictures flashed through her brain at such speed Vetis was nearly dizzy.
Most similar to what he’d already seen. The sheen of terror that coated the
memories was not faked.
“Yes, my Lord.” Amara hunched her shoulders, curving away from his
touch.
Vetis thought back to his trip to the dungeon. Of the gambler’s fear of
sodomy, his fear of Zepar.
“What of him?”
“What of him?” The venom in her voice was easy to intuit. She would
betray the husband without a backward glance.
“How does your husband treat you?”
“He doesn’t,” she said flatly. But the emotion in her mind wasn’t dismay it
was gratitude. “He claims he doesn’t want to catch anything.”
Vetis leaned over to lick the tender skin behind her ear. Her breath caught.
“Have you ever been taken with care and gentleness?” He couldn’t help the
question. It had no place in this subtle interrogation but only he and Zepar would
know.
know.
“No, my Lord.”
“We shall have to remedy that,” he declared. It would be so.
She relaxed back down into the satin sheets. “I...would like that my Lord.”
Vetis parted the slit in the gown that allowed for easy access to the
erogenous zones. Cupping her full globe, he pressed small sipping kisses against
her flushed skin. In the cool night air, her skin grew chilled. Her nipple was like
ice in his hot, hot mouth.
Vetis taunted his old friend by exposing her other breast to the cool air.
While Zepar watched, he plucked the nipple until the bud rose in salute. Zepar
had a particular fondness for breasts. They both did after being denied the glory
of females for thousands of years.
Vetis turned his head to rub the stubble from his chin along her aroused
nipples.
“Oh.” She sighed.
Zepar’s breeches rustled.
With his Demon senses, Vetis searched the shadows. His friend’s cock
rose proud and erect from a nest of blond curls, the large erection tight in
Zepar’s fist.
Vetis eased the material of the short gown up just slightly to reveal her sex
to Zepar’s regard. Aroused woman, ripe fruit, and smoke from the torches
scented the air around their illicit threesome.
Gods, yes, she had started to respond without fear, eyes closed and
features flushed as she lost herself in his sensual caress. His chest swelled.
Triumph and desire surged through him. He would succeed in his goal and usher
her into a world of sensual delight.
When he was sure that Zepar would be able to see her glistening curls,
Vetis taunted him by fondling her.
“My Lord?”
“Just working on your full night of pleasure.”
“Is this to be it then?”
The disappointment in her voice was too much for him.
“I don’t believe so.” Her night was going to be superb. Not just some rush
job while Zepar looked on.
“Good.” She sighed again and shifted her legs restlessly. Her hip bumped
against the burning heat of his erection. But tonight was not for him. He didn’t
just intend for her to be satisfied. He wanted her to beg. To be mindless with
lust. To long for his thick hard cock inside of her velvet sheath.
Tonight he desired to leave her sated but empty.
His mouth savored her breast as he supped on her flesh. He trilled his
 His mouth savored her breast as he supped on her flesh. He trilled his
fingers against her sex. With each little press, more juice from her body coated
his hand. Gods, how could anyone have ruined such a responsive pussy.
He nipped at the bud of her nipple and she arched, entreating him to take
more. Vetis obliged her and sucked her areola into his mouth, hard. He curled
the tip of his tongue around the nipple and feasted on her. His palm massaged
the soft skin between belly button and mound before sliding down to cup her
curls.
She moaned. The soft sound echoed in the darkened room and covered
Zepar’s heightened breathing. Her legs bucked to increase the rocking of her
hips. Vetis shoved the heel of his hand against her clitoris as she spread her legs
without being asked.
“One last question, peach,” he murmured against her nipple, teasing the
bud with the brush of air.
“What’s. That?” Her hips rose in time with his strokes. Vetis chanced a
look at Zepar whose hand kept time with the stroke of Vetis’s fingers along
Amara’s slit. “My Lord.”
He slipped her clitoris between his fingers and rubbed in sync with Zepar
in an intimate rhythm. His own cock full to bursting, cum leaked out the tip and
dropped to the sheets unnoticed.
“Why do you suppose your husband chose to gamble with me?”
A glaze of passion fuzzed her mind. It took a moment for the right image
to focus. She pictured the Fae that her husband had his assignation with but that
was it. He couldn’t see if she had been aware that the Fae wanted the gambler to
lose to Vetis.
Her eyebrows scrunched in thought. “I don’t know.”
But Vetis had no desire for her to think any longer upon his questions.
He distracted her with his hand. Her body rocked to the rhythm he set. She
thrust her hips upward as her channel begged to be fucked. Only his poor
innocent had no idea what she longed for. Her yearning encouraged him. She
would have her night of pleasure. He would demand it of her.
“Very good.” Vetis praised her and clamped her clitoris. Amara threw her
head back as she orgasmed around his hand and her body wept for want of a
cock to invade her. Conquer her.
Vetis glanced to the end of the bed as the jet of Zepar’s sperm shot into a
bucket. Zepar’s gaze burned and his hand still pumped while the force of his
silenced orgasm strained the muscles of his throat.
Vetis gave one last glance to the slackening cock of his friend while his
own trembled with unspent seed. Zepar was better served than Vetis at this
point.
point.
His friend slipped from the room as silently as he had come. Presumably
to share their new knowledge with Prince Gaap.
Amara was safe with him. For now.
With that thought, he rolled Amara onto her side, pulling her into a
protective embrace. Her heartbeat thudded against her breastbone and vibrated
along his arms. As she descended from the sexual high, her breath shuddered.
The cleft of her ass cradled his pulsing erection.
“What about you?” she responded drowsily.
“Sleep, peach.”
She was exhausted. If he were a forgiving sort, he’d agree that the bargain
was fulfilled. But he would demand her complete surrender. Tomorrow. They
would satisfy the terms of the bargain tomorrow.
 Eleven
“You need to let her go,” Zepar said calmly. “And the husband with her.”
“Not until the bargain is fulfilled.” Vetis popped a grape into his mouth
and chewed enjoying the burst of flavor on his tongue.
“The bargain is a trap. That makes the deal null and void.”
“I will not cheat her.” Vetis tamped down on his fury. “The bargain will
be fulfilled tonight.”
Zepar lounged in a chair in front of the fireplace in his chamber. The crack
of a log splitting echoed the tension in the massive room. “The longer he lingers
in the dungeon, the more danger he puts us all in.”
“But the Fae have no idea that we know about their bargain with him,”
Vetis said.
“And we have no idea why they sent him here.”
“We will follow Amara and Edward when they leave,” Vetis replied
softly. Gods, he hated letting her leave with her husband. But the Demons
needed to find out what the Fae had intended by sending Edward to the Demon
castle.
He hated allowing the worm to go free. Bile soured the grapes in his
stomach.
Evisceration would be kind. Vetis craved the violence of carving the
gambler into pieces. Even better, he wanted Amara to have the option of killing
the sod. He may yet let it happen.
“What do you suppose The Fae are up to?”
“They struck a deal with the gambler to lose to me specifically,” Vetis
said shortly. “You saw what I saw.”
“I saw more than that.” Zepar grinned, his face creased with amusement.
“Maybe we should change our names. For it seems as if our very natures have
switched.”
Vetis gave a shout of laughter. “I am no match for your seductive
powers.”
“You did a fine job without my help.”
“My student is most willing.” Vetis frowned. What would happen to her
when she left the protection of the Demon castle? When she left his protection?
And what if the Fae enacted revenge on her for her husband’s failure?
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like the idea of her out there.” He waved casually toward the
window. “Without some sort of protection.”
window. “Without some sort of protection.”
Or at the depraved mercy of her ever-losing husband.
“We’ll protect her until we find out why the Fae used the gambler to target
you.” Zepar planted his booted feet on the stone floor. “Then it will be over.”
Vetis understood Zepar’s admonishment. He didn’t have the time to worry
about one innocent waif when their bargain was finished. He needed to focus on
the coming battle with the Fae. He needed to spend his time gathering energy to
wield Demon magick, not mooning after some barmaid.
But as if he sensed Vetis’s conflict, Zepar turned toward him. “However,
if she turns out to be involved, we will kill her.”
Denial was immediate and visceral. A flash of pure rage rippled through
his muscles. No one would touch her. But wisely, Vetis muted his reaction,
unwilling to let Zepar know how strongly he felt about Amara.
As casually as he could manage, Vetis said, “Perhaps we should pay
another visit to the groom and warn him of the danger of harming Amara.” The
potential for violence, an outlet for the mass of emotion that swirled through
him, perked him up.
“You have feelings for her.” Zepar stated as he propped his elbows on his
knees and stared into the flickering fire.
“I will admit that this corruption started as a lark,” Vetis cautiously
replied. He crunched a bite of carrot in his mouth. With a wince, her
remembered the relish she had taken in biting the tip off. “Getting a human to do
something good against their nature should be the purest form of corruption.”
But now that he knew Amara, he knew she deserved more. And he was
determined to be the one to give it to her. He knew the reward would be much
sweeter when she was finally ready for their loveplay. But the constant arousal
was killing him.
“You can’t let her distract you from our larger problems.”
“Do you think that’s why they sent her here? As a distraction?”
“There’s no way anyone who has heard of you would believe that you
would chose such a challenge over one more prone to violence.” Vetis had
garnered a reputation among the Humans. Purely from their own damn faults.
A truly corrupt soul cannot hold out long against the temptation to reveal
its blackened core.
In the battle against the Fae, the Demons needed all the energy they could
trap. Rage, fear, and greed engendered far more energy than sex. It would be a
waste of his time.
The Fae would know that. So what had they wanted?
“Maybe they thought I would have him...what? Kill her? And that would
clear his debt. But what purpose does that accomplish?” Murder also breeds an
clear his debt. But what purpose does that accomplish?” Murder also breeds an
energy but the act uses energy as well.
“Perhaps it is time to pay the man a visit.” Zepar’s arms rippled as he
pushed to his feet. He frowned. “And what is the sweet Amara doing?”
“I asked the Graces pay her a visit.”
“Instruction?”
“Of a sort,” Vetis said thoughtfully. “I vowed to give her the gift of sexual
satisfaction. She should be able to find pleasure.”
“An excellent solution.”
Vetis grimaced. His gut churned as he thought of her with the three
women. He’d sent them to her, but he had to resist the urge to storm into his
chamber and wrench her away from their tutelage.

***

Amara paced around the Demon’s chamber. She was unused to inactivity.
With the exception of her bed play with the Demon, she had done nothing for
two days.
A small flush spread through her as she remembered last night.
Zepar, the big Demon from the first night, had spied on them acting the
voyeur. She had known he was there. Had known he watched and still she’d
bubbled into a rich sexual puddle when Vetis had stroked her womanhood to
orgasm.
A flush of arousal swept through her and flooded her feminine parts.
Making her wonder...Last night had been quite enjoyable. But apparently Vetis
had not deemed it pleasurable enough. How could there be more?
Yet, her womb ached, seemingly unfulfilled.
She longed for something, but she had no idea what else there could be.
The sex act itself was a painful, rough invasion. It would hurt when he
tried to enter her with his cock. Vetis was huge.
And still her lower body throbbed as she pictured his thick erect cock,
purple veins, and luminescent cum beaded on the bulbous head. And there it was
again, that mystifying gush of liquid from her pussy.
Three soft knocks on the massive door interrupted her thoughts.
“Ah...Come in?”
The door swung open to reveal three beautiful young women, one blond,
one dark, the other red-haired. Ivy and periwinkle twined like crowns through
their long hair. They wore white panels of fine fabric that covered their breasts
and flowed down to mid-thigh, gathered at the waist with a belt fashioned from
rope. Each carried a large pot of steaming water.
rope. Each carried a large pot of steaming water.
“Hello,” they said in unison.
Lavender and rose scent wafted from the pitchers as they fluttered to a
bathtub concealed behind a sheer curtain.
“Hello,” she replied tentatively. Amara had been sequestered in this room
with no contact with anyone except Vetis, Zepar, and the butler. She had little
knowledge of what existed outside of his large stone chamber. So she fell back
on her regular service role. “Can I help you?”
They tittered as they poured the scented water into the bath. As they
leaned over the tub, Amara couldn’t help but notice that they wore no
undergarments.
“Who are you?”
“We are the Graces,” the blonde one replied softly.
“Like the ancient Greek goddesses?” Amara frowned.
They laughed together, the musical notes like a waterfall of sound. “No
silly. That is just the title the Demons gifted us with.” The brunette smiled easily
at Amara.
The blonde spoke again. “Vetis sent us to you.”
“Oh, Vetis,” the red-haired one sighed. “Is he truly as large as he looks?”
“Hush, Laia,” the brunette admonished.
“Um, have you never seen him?” Amara frowned. If he sent them, surely
they must know him.
“His cock,” Laia trailed her fingers along her collarbone, her expression
dreamy. “Is his cock as large as the rest of him?”
Amara swallowed thickly, remembering Vetis’s large erection as the
chocolate ran down the sides of his rod. She licked her lips.
“Oh my.” The blonde one’s eyelids drooped as a huff of breath escaped.
“Truly?”
“Forget it,” the brunette said grouchily. “It’s not like we’ll ever get to see
the thing. My name is Thalia.”
“How do you do?” Amara responded formally, even though the situation
was quite bizarre. What could they want with her?
“I’m Cleta,” the blond one smiled shyly, “and that’s Laia.”
Both Cleta and Laia appeared loose and flushed from the steaming water.
But next to the tub, Thalia stood stiffly, her face set in a frown.
“If we could just touch him.” Cleta cupped her own breast and rubbed her
thumb over her protruding nipple. Her ardent gaze focused on Amara.
The thought of Cleta touching her Vetis sent a shiver of annoyance down
Amara’s spine and her fingernails bit into her work-roughened palms.
That was silly. He wasn’t hers. He was a Demon. Bound to no one. But
 That was silly. He wasn’t hers. He was a Demon. Bound to no one. But
then curiosity got the better of Amara. “Why will you never see him?”
For as much as her time here was enjoyable, she knew soon it would come
to an end and Vetis would be entertaining someone else in his bed. Her mouth
pulled down and she refused to acknowledge the weight that constricted her
chest.
“Oh, we are not allowed congress with the Demon nobility.” Laia twirled
her finger around the ivy twined in her red hair. “It’s against the rules.”
“Stupid rules.” Cleta pinched her own nipple.
Amara couldn’t look away from Cleta’s hands as she aroused herself.
Amara’s pulse spiked as Cleta’s face tautened and her breathing increased.
“Cleta, we haven’t started yet,” Thalia reprimanded.
Started what? “Why are you here then?”
“Settle into the bath and we’ll begin your lesson.” Laia laced her fingers
with Amara’s and tugged her toward the steaming water.
“What lesson?”
Thalia and Cleta unhooked the ties at Amara’s shoulder. “Vetis requests
you to learn to pleasure yourself.”

***

Vetis and Zepar took up the same positions outside the gambler’s cell.
Except this time the man lay on the simple cot, his body sprawled in slumber,
while his cock tented his drawstring pants.
He dreamed of men abusing his wife while he looked on, cock in hand.
But the gambler’s dream revealed what his conscious mind had not. He
hungered for male flesh and his arousal stemmed from watching the other men’s
aroused penises.
Vetis growled low in his throat. “He has no remorse for the way he treated
her.”
Rage thundered through his body, blood pumped through him, the vein at
his temple threatened to pop. Each heartbeat delivered a violent need to kill this
miserable excuse for a Human.
“How are we the Demons?”
Zepar stepped closer to Vetis, lay his hand heavily upon his shoulder, and
offered his sympathy. “We are not.”
“We must prod him to dream of what we need to see, not
this...abomination.” He swallowed deep in his throat at the fury of watching
sweet Amara be abused.
They had both seen worse. He’d corrupted people over less. And Zepar’s
seductions were not always of the wholesome sort. But this was Amara.
seductions were not always of the wholesome sort. But this was Amara.
Zepar said, “We will have our revenge.”
They nudged the gambler’s dream, pushing him toward another type of
satisfaction. The dream shifted to the man standing in a pile of gold coins,
laughing while the Fae probed his mind. Unfortunately, the dream solidified
nothing except that the gambler truly did conspire with the Fae.
“You know what must be done,” Zepar said softly.
Vetis had to let her go. They needed them out of the castle.
“In the morning.” He would have tonight. She would have tonight.
“Now would be better.”
“The bargain must be met. If we deviate from the terms, Edward and the
Fae could become suspicious,” Vetis gritted out. Silently he promised. She will
have her pleasure.
Although right now he wasn’t sure who needed the pleasure more.
And he couldn’t fathom why he was so insistent on fulfilling her. But the
more time he spent with Amara the more he understood she had no joy in her
life.
He refused to think about how his bargain had turned into more. For him,
for her, tonight was about ultimate pleasure.
“You’re right. We must fulfill the terms of the bargain.” Zepar shifted his
cock in his breeches and leered at Vetis. “Do you want my assistance?”
No! The thought roared through Vetis but he forced himself to smile
easily. “No. The moon will be full tonight. You must gather as much energy for
whatever attack the Fae have planned.”
 Twelve
Amara reclined on the chaise in Vetis’s chamber, the room illuminated
only by the bright light of a full moon. The velvet curtains were tied back to let
in the silvery light. Amara savored the cool, silent midnight.
The room was redolent with the scents of lavender, rose, and feminine
arousal.
The Graces had been most helpful as they explained ways to self-pleasure
and demonstrated on themselves, instructing her to follow their motions. She had
dutifully learned their techniques, except she had imagined Vetis administering
the languid caresses, until she brought herself to climax.
The experience had been...fine. Lovely.
But she longed for him. Not for her own administered affection. She ached
for his hands to stroke and plunder and sate her desires. To fill that hollow place
that resided within her. All these years she’d been unaware of how empty she
truly was until Vetis had shown her.
And Gods, how wonderful. She had desires!
She had never believed she could be normal. She had considered herself
doomed. Who would have ever thought that a Demon could awaken her body?
And now that she was ready for him, ready to complete the bargain....
He was nowhere to be found.
The door blew open with a gust of wind.
The slow thud of her heartbeat reverberated through her body. Her nipples
pebbled, her womb clenched, everything within her tightened as she waited to
discover if Vetis had come to attend her.
He stood in the doorway, a dark silhouette in the flickering lights from the
shadowed hallway. Clad in leather Engineer boots, snug leather breeches, and a
fine silk shirt, he lounged with lazy grace against the doorframe.
“My Lord.” The title rasped over vocal chords gone suddenly dry. Was
tonight the night? She was ready for him. Ready to submit.
He strode into the room like a dark warrior intent on conquest. The silvery
moonlight shadowed his face in lines of menace and his hooded eyes burned
with intensity.
She lay against the stiff back of the chaise, unsure what to do next. “Are
you...unwell?”
The Graces had given her a gown of pale pink, similar to their own, but
with panels so fine it was painfully obvious when her nipples tightened beneath
the filmy sheer fabric. He stopped as if drunk on the sight of her, bathed and
the filmy sheer fabric. He stopped as if drunk on the sight of her, bathed and
pampered and lotioned, ready for his pleasure. The bulge in his breeches belied
the shadows she thought she’d seen.
“We will both be very well. Quite soon, I might add.”
Her heart triple-timed at the promise inherent in his words. “I am...very
glad to hear so, my Lord.”
He eased down next to her and caged her between his muscled arms. The
heat from his body crowded her, pulsating like a living breathing entity, as he
traced one finger slowly across the sensitive skin of her collarbone.
Goosebumps shimmied along her skin. Her nipples tightened in response
to the simple caress. He nuzzled her with his jaw before licking up the side of
her neck with his hot, agile tongue. Then Vetis traced the shape of her ear with
his nose and inhaled slowly. “Mmm, there is nothing sweeter than the scent of a
well-pleasured woman.”
His tongue curled around the edge of her jaw as he traced his hand from
the curve of her shoulder down to her fingers. Like a proper English gentleman,
he lifted her hand to his mouth in a courtly gesture. But then he dragged her
fingers along his nose and drew them into his mouth.
The rasp of his tongue against her flesh sent a spear of electricity
thrumming through her. Arousal arrowed through her body and straight to her
womb.
She gasped, dizzy from the heat and the power. “Except perhaps the scent
of man and woman well-pleasured together.”
A wicked smile tilted his lips as he surveyed her body and then narrowed
in on her nipples. Puckered and waiting for his kiss, the pert tips strained against
the sheer material.
But he ignored her breasts and trailed his hand leisurely down her stomach
to her female core. The panels had been draped modestly over her, but somehow
they must have fallen open, for her curls were exposed to his heavy-lidded
perusal.
“You’ve learned well, my sweet.” Exploring the same path his gaze had
taken, he feathered his fingers along her bare skin then gently flicked one nipple.
Her body jerked at the unexpected contact.
He cupped her breast, rubbing the aroused nub with his knowing fingers.
As if the secrets of carnal knowledge lay waiting in the depths of his midnight
blue gaze, she couldn’t look away.
To unlock those secrets, she would do anything he asked of her this night.
Because in the depths of his Demon soul she had found her own rebirth. As if
he’d read her thoughts, Vetis cupped her head to urge her mouth toward his.
When they were but a hair’s breadth apart, Vetis stopped. Still compelling
 When they were but a hair’s breadth apart, Vetis stopped. Still compelling
her with his gaze, he slid his hand, firm and sure, between the filmy material.
The hot brand of his fingers seared her breast as he caressed the bud with the
utmost care.
Amara shivered. Excitement simmered in the beat of her heart and the
clench of her womb. So different from the first time he had touched her thus.
He murmured against her lips, the contact light, gentle and oh-so erotic,
“We will both be well-sated this night.” Then he sealed his mouth over hers, his
tongue demanding entry into the cavern of her mouth.
When his long tongue probed, she didn’t hesitate. Forming a moue, she
sucked on the tip, telling him with her mouth what she wanted to do to him.
The action seemed to inflame him. Vetis pressed her into the curve of the
velvet chaise. The hard, hot planes of his muscled chest rubbed against the
aching tips of her breasts.
The contact was too light. Too light. Amara moaned and hungered for
more.
And then he took over and invaded her mouth with long slow thrusts. As
she imagined his cock inside of her, she hollowed her cheeks and sucked harder.
With every draw of her throat, an answering pull shuddered deep in her womb.
Her body quivered for his touch. Only his.
Amara pulled away from the wet heat of his mouth. “Please.” She begged.
She wanted sex. She wanted to be taken, used, fucked. She wanted whatever he
would give her.

***

Vetis heard the absolute submission in her words.

Gone was the woman of no feeling. Of no emotions. Fire flared in her cool
blue eyes. Fire for him. As he probed her thoughts, no fear hovered. Just the
pure, beautiful glow of desire.
He glanced at the chaise. Suitable for their second or third or fourth sex
act of the night. But not this first one.
Gods, he would finally penetrate her.
He thought of all the wicked ways he could take her, but finally settled on
the perfect start.
“Come.” He eased his breeches open to relieve the pressure from his stiff
cock.
“I certainly hope so, my Lord.”
He barked a laugh and easily lifted her into his arms. He carried her to the
bed, noting the sensual way the sheer panels rubbed against her body and
bed, noting the sensual way the sheer panels rubbed against her body and
became trapped within the wet folds of her sex.
Vetis gently laid her down on the silk sheets and stood for a moment to
admire her voluptuous curves. Flush with desire, panels askew, breasts round,
nipples exposed. Her curls glistened, begging for his mouth. Her lips were red
and swollen from his kiss. And he saw absolute acceptance in her gaze as she
beckoned him to join her.
Gods, she was beautiful.
Vetis divested himself of his boots. He stood at the edge of the bed and he
reached for the bottom of his shirt to peel over his head. Amara rolled onto her
side and delicately licked the vein in his engorged rod. Blood zinged to his
already rock hard erection, bulleting through his bloodstream. His head grew
light with the rush of sex.
“Thank you, sweet.” He popped the head of his cock from her mouth and
stifled a moan of disappointment. Her pleasure was more important right now.
“Perhaps later we can have a go at that.”
Vetis rolled her onto her back and proceeded to lave every inch of her
body with his tongue, tasting her flavors. The hint of lavender along the valley of
her breasts, the sweet salty of the underside of her breast, and the heated
moisture from her sex.
Her hands gripped his head with urgency, her hips rolled into the carnal
attentions of his mouth as he kissed and nipped and played with her clitoris.
“Please.”
The urge to penetrate her with his tongue was strong. To find that button
and give her some relief but greater rewards awaited them both.
Vetis rose over her, her body a temple he’d worshiped. But now, it was
time to plunder.
The head of his cock teased her folds. Amara grabbed his hips and tried to
urge him into her.
“Please what?” he ground out, his control nearly gone.
“Please.” Amara twisted beneath him. The movement coated his cock with
her feminine essence. Her pussy was drenched with want, with need.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
She looked up at him and he probed her mind. Complete trust melded with
raging desire.
Gods, she was more than ready.
“Tell me what you want.”
“Please,” she pleaded. He wanted her total surrender. She pushed her torso
off the bed and wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his waist,
clinging tenaciously. She murmured against his mouth. “Fuck me.”
clinging tenaciously. She murmured against his mouth. “Fuck me.”
The sensation was heady. He’d taken an abused, frozen woman and turned
her into a wanton sex goddess.
He slid into her slick, welcoming channel in one smooth thrust. “Now the
night of your bargain begins.”
 Thirteen
Amara nearly wept with relief as the thick hard staff of his erection slid
into her.
Gods, he was big.
His cock spread her wide. Her body fisted around his thick member, the
walls of her core suckling his cock just as surely as her mouth had. Every pulse
urged him further inward.
Before, the invasion had been awkward and hurtful. Now Vetis invaded
her channel as if he’d been made only for her. He pushed in to the hilt, his pubic
bone pressing against her clitoris, and the heavy weight of his balls cuddled
against her engorged sex.
That terrible pressure, the ache that hollowed out her womb and left her
wanting was suddenly gone. Replaced by the fullness of Vetis. His cock
throbbed within her.
He held there, propped on his elbows, with his arms cording. The wiry
hairs of his legs were a welcome abrasion against the softer skin of her inner
thighs. Her heart thundered in her chest, banging against her ribcage. Each pump
of blood, winging through her body, pulsed through the folds of her sex.
“Vetis?”
“A moment,” he grated out.
She nudged her hips up, needing relief, needing something. The tilt of her
hips pushed her clitoris harder into his pubis, and the head of his cock rubbed
against a secret place inside. “Oh.”
Vetis began to pull out of her.
Amara whimpered, hooked her legs tighter around his waist, and dug her
heels into his buttocks.
The engorged head massaged that secret spot as he rocked in and out of
her wet, creaming pussy. Her head went light as all of her blood rushed to her
core. Her body strained, trembling with need.
“Help me,” she panted.
Vetis began to thrust just a little harder. The head of his cock hit her
womb and his balls slapped against her mound. He nuzzled her breasts, lapping
at her nipples with long sure strokes.
Everything faded until she was surrounded by Vetis, surrounded by the
details of this moment. The slippery satin beneath her buttocks. The hard silken
cage of his arms. The smooth planes of his back under her palms.
The musk of mightily aroused male as he slammed in and out of her body.
 The musk of mightily aroused male as he slammed in and out of her body.
The gush of liquid from her pussy, no longer empty, as he filled her to the hilt.
His cock became impossibly harder, swelling so big, he satisfied her body
completely. The thick rod caressed every nerve in her channel and stoked her
arousal, until the sensations building within her burst. The explosion whitened
her vision and stopped her heart as wave after wave of sensation rolled over her.
Colors kaleidescoped in her mind. Euphoria fizzed through her body and
spread out like a nova, pulsing through her nerve endings and sensitizing her
from her toes to the skin on her scalp. Every pore of her body was overwhelmed
by his sensual assault.
Vetis pumped in and out of her, until he stiffened, pushing up, neck
straining as he jetted his seed into her in hard bursts, the dark beauty of his face
ravaged by passion.
Her hearted thumped and sweat slicked her skin. Gratitude, wonder, and
relief, tumbled through her and bounced off the walls of her mind like a pebble
in a fast-moving creek.
As their blood slowed and their bodies cooled, Vetis leaned down to rest
his forehead against hers.
“That is an example of proper sex,” he said softly.
There had been nothing violent or invasive about his touch. It was
everything concourse between a man and woman should be, erotic, beautiful,
decadent.
Right.
The beauty of their joining was like coming home, like discovering where
she truly belonged. She couldn’t contain all the emotions flowing through her,
tears leaked from her eyes.
Carefully, Vetis rolled to the side, staying locked with her, pulling her
tightly against the hard muscles of his chest. He ran his palm over her back, and
down to the curve of her hip.
“Don’t cry sweet Amara.” He soothed her with a light touch. “Come, tell
me more about your life.”
And so she shared with him, her duties, her daily life at Edward’s family
pub, and the dark miasma that coated most human existence. For thousands of
years, humans had ruled the Earth, their only true enemies and predators, each
other.
But once the Demons had been unleashed, the Humans had battled the
Demons believing they were the enemy. Of course, Humans, no match for the
fearsome power and thousands of years of rage of the Demons, were easily
defeated without their electronic weapons and reliance on technology. But
neither Demons nor Fae could survive without drawing energy from Human
neither Demons nor Fae could survive without drawing energy from Human
emotions so for awhile there had been an uneasy truce.
Until the Fae had actively attempted to re-imprison the Demons again.
Now Humans were caught between the two races.
And, they were third on the food chain. The infighting and corruption that
filled everyday life caused much strain. Most of which she bore with resigned
acceptance.
“What was it like?” she asked. Her fingers feathered along the corded skin
of his neck and distracted him.
“Hmm?” His cock began to harden again as her light touch stoked to life
the sexual energy never far from the surface around her. “What?”
“Your imprisonment.”
“Let’s not speak of such things.”
Amara cupped his shadowed jaw in her fingers and held his face still until
he drowned in her acceptance. “Let us speak of it.”
And so he told her of the cold, and the damp, and the dark, one arm
chained by Fae magick, the other hand and tongue free to find the insects that
lived in the earth for his only sustenance. The lack of privacy and the lack of
women. The deep abiding loneliness, even in a space filled with other Demons.
“Thank you,” she murmured, then swallowed as if unable to say more.
He began to lure her into round two, astonished anew at the softness of her
skin and the languid arch of her back as she preened like a cat in the sun. He
rejoiced at her easy acceptance of him and his touch, her enjoyment in the
simple caress a far cry from when she first entered his chamber. The payment
may have begun, but the debt was barely paid.
“You can thank me later,” he said arrogantly as his cock hardened to steel.
He rolled onto his back, bringing her with him, her knees beside his ribcage so
she squatted over him, her pussy hot against his erection. The bounty of her
breasts swung in his face as he reached up to tweak her beautiful rosy nipples.
“We’re not done yet.”
 Fourteen
Amara stretched languidly, her body deliciously sore from last night.
Sunlight streamed through the windows and reminded her of their third
time together, when Vetis banged into her from behind, her breasts smashed
against the cold stone window ledge. The contrast of frigid cold against her front
and the inferno of his body from behind had been unbelievably erotic. He
pounded into her sex while the moonlight rippled over the waves of the sea and
seemed to encircle them in a halo of sizzling energy.
This morning the satin slipped over her abraded nipples and slithered
between her legs like a silent lover as she shifted back against his hard warm
body. He nuzzled the sensitive skin between the crook in her neck and the back
of her ear. Arousal shimmered through her and her feminine petals dewed.
“Gods, again?” He slid his clever fingers through her curls to swirl around
the plumping bud of her clitoris and then inserted two fingers into her weeping
channel.
Amara moaned low in her throat.
“You’re insatiable,” he teased.
Her hips pumped. His breath came faster against the side of her neck, and
his erection rubbed along the crease of her buttocks.
“Shall we retire to the chaise?” he murmured. The fourth time they’d
pleasured each other with their mouths at the same time.
Just thinking about his thick hard cock fucking her mouth and her throat
caused Amara to whimper.
She wanted to grab hold of this pleasure while she could because she
knew deep down, her time here was almost at an end. She didn’t want to leave.
She wanted to live secluded in this opulent chamber and indulge in sex and heat
forever. But as if he read her mind, he whispered with true regret in his voice.
“You cannot.”
“Then no chaise. Here and now.” She took control, rolled onto her back,
then yanked him on top of her with an urgency that bordered on frantic.
Amara wrapped her legs around his waist, like the first time he had shown
her what love should truly be like between a man and a woman. She guided his
already rigid erection into her body.
“You know there are plenty of more interesting positions....” he tapered
off, noting her intensity.
The giant door was shoved open with a bang. “It’s time,” Zepar said
gruffly.
gruffly.
Pain stabbed her heart, visceral and immediate as her hope for more bled
out onto the sex-infused sheets. “Please,” she whispered.
She knew Zepar could see everything. See her open slit, flushed and wet
with arousal and Vetis’s cock penetrating her to the hilt, and she didn’t care. She
would wrest this last time from Vetis even if they had an audience.
Amara didn’t even look over. “Send him away.”
As they hovered on a precipice, the room was eerily quiet. Vetis threaded
his fingers through her hair and pressed his forehead against hers,
acknowledging silently, this would be their last time.
“Give us a few minutes,” he commanded.
“We can only spare a few,” Zepar replied softly.
Vetis pulled out in a long slow stroke and left Amara quivering with need.
Her body bowed with lust. “Leave us ‘til then.”
“As you wish.” Zepar closed the door softly.
They held there, suspended. She memorized his features, holding this
moment in her heart, so she could take out it out later like a treasure from her
memory chest.
“Make love to me.” She knew she was asking for too much. He’d given
her so much already. Her dignity, her resolve, her sexuality. But she was greedy
and just this once she wanted more.
“Yes,” he replied and slid back into her body with reverence.
Even though she couldn’t express all the feelings in her heart, she poured
all the love she had into this last time with her Demon lover.

***

Vetis was still buzzing from the energy generated in his last bout of sex
with Amara.
Of course intercourse always gave off a joint electrical pulse but it had
never been enough to generate magickal energy. Yet here he stood, while his
body sizzled with a surfeit of energy. He needed to store the energy away but it
was imperative the Demons understand how this energy had manifested. The jolt
of power had been ten times what he would normally gather from Human fear or
greed.
The phenomena needed to be catalogued and studied. And re-created.
Was it only Amara? Did she have some special power he had not intuited?
He didn’t know. There would be time later to discover the secrets of what
had happened but now they must try to trap the Fae who was working with the
husband.
husband.
So Vetis had to let her go.
“Bring him in,” Vetis commanded Figgins.
Zepar and Figgins escorted Edward into his chamber. The husband looked
much the worse for wear, his clothes smudged with dirt and his hair hung in
unkempt hanks around his deceitful face.
“The cunt actually did it?” His brows rose in disbelief at the rumpled
sheets of a bed wrecked with passion.
Amara came from the behind the screen dressed in the clothes Vetis had
given her, a soft skirt of the finest cotton and a warm and comforting
fisherman’s wool sweater. Her hair streamed like a glossy waterfall of gold and
her skin shone with the glow of one well-loved. But what stopped him cold was
her pale blue eyes. No longer were they blank. They radiated with spirit and
animation.
He swore her aura illuminated the room.
“Maybe I just need the right persuasion,” she bit out.
“Slut.” Edward’s arms strained at Zepar and Figgins’ hold.
She laughed. “That’s rich. Coming from you. You...jerk.”
“Do you really want them to let you loose?” Vetis said coldly. He hoped
the fool would attack Amara. He would love the chance to inflict harm against
him.
As if he realized how tenuous his position truly was, the gambler slumped.
“Sorry, my Lord,” he said grudgingly.
“Your debt is forgiven.” Vetis forced the words out through clenched
teeth. He really wanted to wrap his hands around the man’s throat and choke the
life from him.
Vetis tried to see into his mind. Desperate to glean more details as to why
the Fae had sent him to the Demon of Corruption. If he could find the
information, he wouldn’t have to let Amara go. But the man’s only thought was
of escape.
Which meant Vetis had to let Amara leave with her husband. They could
not alert the Fae by changing any of the parameters of the bargain.
Edward bounced on the balls of his feet. “So I am free to go?”
“Not just yet.” Vetis set his face in hard lines. “Do not approach me
again.”
Amara jerked. She had misunderstood but he could not explain to her here
and now. “And never cower behind the skirts of your wife again. From now on
you will settle your own debts.”
“But,” the gambler sputtered, “you can’t--”
“Silence,” Vetis roared. The stupid fool finally understood, recoiling at the
 “Silence,” Vetis roared. The stupid fool finally understood, recoiling at the
way Vetis towered over him. “I have deemed it so.”
The man nodded nervously and scuttled toward the door.
“Haven’t you forgotten something?” Zepar drawled in a deceptively lazy
voice.
“What?” Edward stopped, jumped away from Zepar. Fear made his eyes
wild.
“Your wife,” Vetis snapped.
She looked at the lout as if she could skewer him. Then she paused and
turned to Vetis, her shoulders softened and a tremulous smile graced her lips.
“A moment, my Lord.” The melodic tones of her voice, heavy with
sadness, washed over him.
He inclined his head. Air stuttered in his chest. The difficulty in breathing
reminded him of the soul crushing moment long ago when the Demons realized
they were trapped underground.
Amara glided to him and smoothed her fingers over his cheeks and lips, as
if she would memorize his features. He drank his fill of her while he waited for
her words.
She cupped his jaw with a gentle caress. Rising up on her tip-toes, she
brushed her warm, full lips against his mouth. “Thank you,” she whispered so
softly only he would hear her.
Vetis swallowed, his throat constricted unexpectedly. He read her
thoughts, searching for darkness but she was full of light.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.” The husband was suddenly impatient, tapping his
foot by the doorway.
Her anger at his impatience swept over her features, so blissfully full of
life, unlike the first time Vetis had met her.
Vetis recalled when he’d seen into her soul for the very first time. Her
vision, filled with icy rage, as she imagined killing her husband. Instead of
enhancing and corrupting that rage, he’d turned the tables and gotten her to feel
pleasure.
His final gift to Amara would be the tools to rid herself of her husband
once and for all. But first he had to let her go.

***

It was done.
Vetis had let her go. For a weak moment, she’d wanted to beg to stay with
him. But deep down she knew it wasn’t possible. Demons used Humans. They
didn’t live with them. They didn’t love them.
She sealed off the pain and planned her next move. She had been secreting
 She sealed off the pain and planned her next move. She had been secreting
away money for awhile. She only needed to save a little more. As soon as she
had enough, she was gone. She had the skills to work and she could support
herself. Having no clan was better than the “protection” she’d been forced to
submit to under her husband’s clan.
Vetis had threatened Edward. If he ever tried to sell Amara again, he
would answer to Vetis. The gesture was sweet. But truly how would Vetis
know? Amara had to defend herself now. She would never let herself be used or
degraded in such a manner again.
And if her heart ached because she would never see Vetis again, she kept
that to herself, like a closely guarded secret. Because if no one knew, then no
one could mock her for falling in love with a Demon.
Amara walked away from the castle, turning for one last look at the
window of the room where she’d been held captive and had finally found her
freedom.
But the Demon castle was once again cloaked in a glamour spell that hid it
from Human eyes. All that filled her vision was the ruins of a long forgotten
abbey.
She sighed and braced for the long walk home. The energy that filled her
earlier was gone, swept away on a tide of profound sorrow. But she was stronger
than that. She would survive.
 Fifteen
Vetis and Zepar followed Amara and Edward at a safe distance, keeping to
the shadows as they ventured further and further into the run down part of the
village. The Demons cloaked themselves in glamour when people passed them
by.
“She is in love with you,” Zepar said softly as they approached the tavern.
Vetis recalled the surge of power that accompanied their union. The
crackle and sizzle of magick that thundered through him at the moment of
completion. Could love have been the difference? His heart rate accelerated at
the thought. “Perhaps.”
“Do you forget my title? Seduction is my strength.” Zepar’s boots clicked
on the ancient cobblestones.
“One doesn’t need love for seduction.” Vetis flicked his hand and
searched for an alternative to the hope snarling in his chest. “You of all people
know this.”
“Love is a gift. Would you throw that away?” Zepar continued to nag at
him.
“What are you, my priest?”
“Ah, trying to anger me will not work.” Zepar hated the church with a
passion. For how could seduction be wrong? The beauty of giving in to your
senses, to indulging your carnal appetites was natural.
“Fine.” Vetis thought about that surge of energy again. It must have been
an anomaly. They would have to try to create the energy again with another
Human. But for some reason, he couldn’t picture being with another woman.
“Get your head in our mission,” Zepar snapped.
Vetis shoved thoughts of Amara and sex from his mind. They lingered
across the street as Amara and her husband entered the pub.
“We need to wait outside until the Fae approaches.” Otherwise, their
enemy might sense them inside and not make contact with the gambler.
“Are you sure he will come?”
“It is the most logical.” He hoped they could have the confrontation with
the Fae outside, leaving Amara safe in the tavern.
Truly, he didn’t want to go into that tavern, didn’t want to be confronted
with the desolation of her existence. He had given her tools to survive on her
own, to find pleasure. Once they discovered the Fae’s purpose, he would give
her the knife to enact her revenge on her husband.
Gods, he hoped that would make her happy.
 Gods, he hoped that would make her happy.
He was the Demon of Corruption, feared by most, hated by many. He
would not condemn her to a life with him. His experiment, born of boredom, had
opened a hole in his heart. He would give her a new life.
To know she was happy would have to be enough.

***

Amara stepped back into the warmth of the pub she’d called home for the
past two years. She’d never felt at ease here and she couldn’t wait to finally
leave. She refused to let the dark wood paneling, floors sticky from spilt ale, and
the smoky scent of curing pork from the hut behind the main room bring down
her spirits. She was free in a way she’d never been free before.
“‘Bout time you got back,” Edward’s brother said from behind the bar. He
poured himself a pint and disappeared into the back room.
“Get to work,” her husband ordered, slinging himself into a stool at the
bar. “And bring me a pint.”
“Get your own pint,” she said pleasantly as she tied an apron behind her
back.
Her gaze skittered around the nearly empty pub. A group of regulars
gathered by the fire and a solo man, barely visible in the shadowed recesses of
the corner, were their only customers. The tables were cluttered with dirty mugs
and crumbs littered the floor.
The fact that she’d be leaving soon, loosened her tongue. “Looks like your
lazy brothers have done nothing since I’ve been gone.” She ran hot water over a
freshly laundered cloth from the pile underneath the bar. The pile was stacked to
the same height as when he’d dragged her out of here two days ago.
“Shut your whoring mouth,” he snarled as he built as own his pint behind
the bar.
“Don’t speak of me like that again or you’ll regret it.” Amara rubbed the
cloth in ever widening circles over the sticky copper bar.
“You have no say in how I speak of you,” he said belligerently. “I’ve been
imprisoned because of you.”
“You’ve been imprisoned because you attempted to bargain with a
Demon.” She continued to wipe the bar down in long languorous strokes,
remembering the feel of Vetis sliding in and out of her. Perhaps if she
daydreamed of his sensual attentions, the time until she had to leave would be
bearable. “Fool.”
And thank the Gods for it. Amara would still be stuck in this hell with no
hope if her husband wasn’t a total idiot.
hope if her husband wasn’t a total idiot.
“I had no intention of bargaining with him.” He gloated. “It was all part of
a bigger plan.”
And Gods hadn’t she heard those words before? They usually preceded
some situation where he used her to pay off the debt from some wager that never
panned out.
“The why did you take me to the castle with you?”
He crowded her against the bar, his breath hot and fetid against her neck.
“I was hoping he’d ask me to kill you.”
A shiver raced down her spine even though she stood preternaturally still.
He wasn’t kidding.
For a moment, black despair slithered around her heart. But she refused to
let him win. Straightening her back, pushing against the wall of his chest, she
broke away from him. “My luck he had something different in mind.” She
smiled, letting every luscious memory of her time with Vetis play over her
features.
“Bitch.” Her husband stalked away from the bar and headed toward the
solo man in the shadows. The smirk on Edward’s face worried her as he
straddled a chair at the man’s table as if he’d been invited.
Amara snatched up the broom from the kitchen and began to sweep,
edging closer to the warmth of the fire and the furtive conversation. Try as hard
as she could, Amara only caught some of their words. Her husband was
describing everything about the castle, and Vetis and Zepar and their dungeon.
“Why don’t you invite your charming wife to join us?” The voice that
came from the form huddled in the corner was magnetic, compelling, and Amara
found herself obeying without conscious thought.
“What?”
She sank down into the hard seat of the oak chair as if magickal bonds
held her there. She knew not to make eye contact, even though his form
appeared to be mere shadows with no clearly delineated features. Power,
immense and overwhelming, radiated from him.
“So you traded her for your debt?” the silky voice purred. The underlying
menace in the dulcet tones shivered across her shoulder blades.
“That was what he wanted.”
“And while you were locked away in the dungeon, where did your
delectable wife reside?”
Her husband pffted. “With him.”
“So she spent three full nights with a Demon?” The being cocked his
head, as if analyzing her, trying to see deep into her soul.
A sick feeling gurgled in her stomach as she finally put the pieces
 A sick feeling gurgled in her stomach as she finally put the pieces
together. This creature was Fae. Her husband had made a deal with the Fae.
When the Fae turned his attention to her, instinctively Amara blocked her
thoughts. He wanted information about Vetis. She would go to her grave before
she would betray the Demon who had returned her soul.
The shadow laughed softly. The sound grated over her nerves like the
screech of ill-oiled machinery.
“Ah, how amusing, she thinks to protect him.”
“Do I get my reward now?” Edward was still trying to make bad bargains
as he rubbed his hands together gleefully.
“I don’t believe you did what we discussed.”
“I thought--”
“I didn’t ask you to think, now did I?”
Her husband blinked.
“I need information about their lair, their living arrangements, where they
store their magick energy. We must prepare for war. I need her.”
In a slow hypnotic move, the Fae reached across the scarred table with an
abnormally white, pampered hand.

***

“Amara is in trouble.” Vetis sprinted toward the pub.

“How do you know?”
He ran with purpose to the tavern door that seemed further and further
away the faster he ran. “I can sense it.”
Zepar kept pace beside him. “We should assess the situation before going
inside.”
“Screw that.” He shoved through the suddenly crowded streets, launching
mortals out of his way to get to her. Vetis banged open the pub door, dismissed
the group of old men by the fire and focused on the trio in the shadows.
The Fae was here. With Amara. With her husband.
“What if she’s involved?” Zepar curled his fingers around Vetis’s bicep.
“Not a chance.” Vetis didn’t even hesitate as he shook off Zepar’s hold.
No way was Amara consorting with the Fae.
Tendrils of magick sparkled in a visible line from the Fae’s fingertips to
Amara’s head.
With a battle cry, he unsheathed his sword and roared to Amara’s rescue.
He charged toward his sworn enemy ready to defend her to the death.
But before he reached the table, the shadow disappeared. All that
remained was a pile of clothing draped haphazardly over the chair.
“No.” The husband cried and grabbed for the specter of the Fae. “What
 “No.” The husband cried and grabbed for the specter of the Fae. “What
about my money?”
On the off chance the Fae still lingered, Vetis knew Zepar had his back,
but he could sense no glimmer left. He held his sword at the ready, searching for
any sign of the Fae’s presence, ready to defend her. Not like that worthless
husband of hers.
“Are you okay?” He rasped and chanced a look at Amara.
She had shoved the chair back, stood proud and true even as she trembled.
“What-what are you doing here?” He’d take that as a yes.
A stunned shock blanketed her face. Even her thoughts were fuzzy as if
she’d been blocking them from the Fae. He grinned. Good girl.
Zepar came up beside him with stealth. “Gone.”
Gods damn it.
A commotion arose from the other occupied table, and one of the old men,
with a silver dagger gripped in his fist, charged the husband. “No one tells.”
He lifted the dagger above his head, then stabbed the knife down toward
the husband’s chest.
Zepar casually knocked the old man over.
“My thanks,” Edward, the stupid fool grinned, wiping the sweat from his
grimy face.
“We need you alive to answer our questions.” Vetis snarled at the idiot. To
Amara he said, “we must question him.”
From a sheath at his waist, Vetis removed a knife with a serrated blade,
exactly like the one Amara had pictured in her rage the evening they met. He
turned the knife around and closed her fingers carefully around the burnished
wood hilt. “But once we’re done, the honor is yours.”

***

Amara couldn’t process the events of the last minute. Vetis was here!
But, as she replayed his words, she realized he was here because of the
Fae, not her. The momentary elation fizzled like an ale gone flat. Why would he
give her a knife?
The weight of the weapon was heavy in her hand. The blade looked
strangely familiar.
Vetis was so near, the comforting warmth of his body heat seeped into her.
His closeness distracted her so she was only half paying attention when he
whispered in her ear. “For your freedom, you can deliver your vengeance.”
She looked down at the wicked blade in her hand, remembered his
confession that he could read minds. Remembered how much she’d wanted to
confession that he could read minds. Remembered how much she’d wanted to
kill her husband the moment he’d given her to Vetis. But something had changed
within her and she no longer wanted the same things.
“I do not need this.” She had her freedom. And she would not kill her
pathetic excuse for a husband.
“I am trying to give you a gift.”
She tossed the knife onto the table and reached up to cup his jaw reveling
at the sensual rasp of his beard against her softer skin. “You already gave me a
gift.”
“You do not wish to carry out your fantasy?”
“How could I when he brought me to you?” She laid her heart bare with
that statement.
Zepar crowded them closer to the stone wall of the pub. “We need to get
this over with.” He glanced around the pub. “I have a feeling I cannot shake.”
Her husband snatched up the knife and backed away from them. “No one
is killing me.”
With an unnatural groan, the old man rose from the floor. In one fluid
movement, he plunged the dagger into her husband’s throat. Blood gushed from
the wound in a great red river.
Amara gagged and turned away from the geyser.
“Gods damn it,” Vetis swore.
The old man collapsed again.
Zepar knelt over the attacker. “Compelled by the Fae. I knew I felt him
still,” he said with disgust.
Vetis hovered over Edward, shook his shoulders and barked out questions,
that even if he’d wanted to, he couldn’t answer. He was in his death throes, his
vocal chords severed.
Vetis dropped Edward’s body to the floor with a thump.
Amara stood in the corner, frozen by the violence of her husband’s death.
“What did the Fae want?” Zepar stood in front of her and obstructed the
view of her husband’s dead body.
“The Fae?”
Zepar nodded impatiently, but Amara couldn’t focus. She shuddered.
“Leave her.” Vetis curled his arm around her shoulder and for a moment
she allowed herself to be weak, to tremble in the hard embrace of his arms and
breathe in the scent of him. She’d missed him so much. It had only been mere
hours yet it felt like an eternity.
“We need to know how much our enemy discovered of us.” Zepar pulled a
glamour shield over the three of them and blocked anyone from listening to their
conversation.
conversation.
Vetis commanded. “Show us.”
Amara visualized the scene when she sat down at the table, trying to
remember every detail to give them as much information as she could. She
played the conversation through her mind and shivered at the Fae’s words. We
must prepare for war.
“What about the Fae?” Amara peered through the crook of Vetis’s arm to
stare at the body of her husband. She couldn’t bear it if the same fate befell
Vetis.
“We know they’ve changed their tactics and are trying to use Humans to
infiltrate our fortresses. We will be on our guard.”
The confidence in his voice comforted her.
“We have another problem.” Zepar continued to hold the glamour.
“He knows you spent three nights with me?” Vetis said tensely.
Amara nodded.
In unison, Vetis and Zepar circled around her, then locked her between
their arms as they searched the shadows of the pub with suspicious expressions.
Amara placed her fingers gently over Vetis’s forearm. “What is it?”
“You have to come back with me,” Vetis said in measured tones.
For a moment, her heart leapt. Back with Vetis. The staccato beat of joy
almost drowned out the voice of reason in her head. She said slowly, making her
words a question, wanting the answer to be no. “Because of the Fae?”
“Yes.”
And her heart dropped. She couldn’t go with him. If he wanted her, if he
wanted to be with her that would be different. While it was lovely that he wanted
to keep her safe.... “I would be no better off than before, same reason of
protection, different prison.”
Amara broke free of the circle of his arms, already bereft.
His brows arced down, his face drawn. “You would compare me to him?”
“You are nothing like him.” Her fists were clenched, her words fierce.
“Then why do you protest?”
Zepar took two steps back. “I’ll leave you alone now. Perhaps you should
discuss what we talked of earlier.” Zepar pivoted around to face the empty
tavern.
Vetis yanked Amara close to him. His erection prodded her belly. “You do
not wish to have more pleasure?”
“Sex is not enough,” she said desperately, even as moisture pooled in her
lower body.
“Who said anything about just sex?” He growled and he nuzzled the side
of her neck, nipping at her tender flesh.
of her neck, nipping at her tender flesh.
“Who said anything else?”
Vetis pulled back to gaze into her eyes. “You are my heart.”
With those words, she melted. Amara threw her arms around his neck,
rubbing her body against his and kissing his mouth hungrily. A subtle light
surrounded them in a pure white glow.
“What is that light?” Amara had noticed it this morning.
“Ahh, I believe the energy,” he cleared his throat. “is love.”
“I did that?” she flushed, knowing that her emotions had given her away.
Vetis pressed his forehead to hers. “We did that.”
Truly? “I love you, Vetis, Demon of Corruption,” she confessed, holding
his gaze with hers.
“I love you too.” He skimmed a hand up underneath her sweater to cup her
naked breast. The nipple beaded in his palm.
Amara squirmed against the pressure of his fingers only wanting to get
closer to his heat. But first, there were things to be discussed. She curled her
fingers around his wrist to stop his wandering hand. “What are the terms?”
“Pleasure.” Vetis stroked his tongue up the side of her neck.
“Our pleasure,” she said breathlessly. Then Amara let go of his wrist and
gave herself up to his carnal attention.
“It’s a bargain.”
THE END
To Summon A Demon
 PROLOGUE

In the great Earthquake of 2015, the earth broke apart and unleashed the
Demons who had been trapped below the surface for centuries by the magick of
the Fae and the sheer density of the tectonic plates.
During the fateful earthquake, the core shifted and the Demons escaped
from their prison. They burst back to the surface and the singular power of the
moon that sustained them.
The Demons had two main goals, to experience the pleasures denied to
them for thousands of years--and to wreak vengeance against the Fae.
While the Fae had but one goal: Return the Demons to their prison.
 ONE

The moon hung low in the sky. Pale blue light rippled over the lapping
waves. The soft shush-shush of the ocean licked at the shimmering white sand
like a lover.
Lili spread her blanket in the secret little cove, hidden by a pair of
boulders rising out of the sand like breasts laid out as an offering.
“Apt,” she murmured. With a gust of warm wind, the ties on her shift
loosened and the rough material swished against her naked skin, as if the
weather was in collusion with her intent to offer herself to the Prince of Demons.
Lili constructed a small ring of stones near the edge of the water with
careful precision, close enough that if the fire tried to spread the seawater would
put it out and yet far enough inland to burn. She arranged the dry tinder in the
circle, making a little teepee, then threw in the shredded pieces of clothing she’d
worn yesterday.
She would have never done something like this before.
Before Brian had died.
Before her life had been reduced to scrabbling for existence.
She remembered the world before the Demons had been freed.
She’d been in computer sales. She’d had a good life in the city. A condo in
a high rise and her fiancé in her bed. Sewing, hand stitching, had been a hobby.
An activity that linked her to her roots and helped her stay connected to her
grandmother who lived in a quaint cottage in Ireland.
But once the Demons emerged, the energy in their bodies disrupted the
electricity grids. Soon after they ascended from the depths of their Hell, systems
started going haywire. Within a month, the entire world’s electronic
infrastructure had crumbled. The information highway was a rutted, unused back
road. Banks, stock markets, and the tech industry collapsed without the proper
conduits in place.
The entire world regressed to a pre-electronic age.
And without the electronics to power systems, other industries soon fell
into chaos. Ten years later the entire world had gone back to an age she had
barely even read about. She’d had to relearn how to do everything without the
aid of electricity.
The reality of her daily life still had the power to throw her.
But she’d dealt with everything until yesterday.
Yesterday. Before she’d delivered the bookseller’s wedding dress. Before
 Yesterday. Before she’d delivered the bookseller’s wedding dress. Before
the Fae had attacked her.
Yesterday had been the final straw. They’d attacked her.
The memory of their hands groping, hurting played in her mind like an
old-fashioned movie strip. Each roll of the film sickened her more and more,
until she wanted to scream and explode with her rage and her fear.
Every single miserable moment in her life could be attributed to the Fae.
And she wanted them to pay.
She would get her revenge.
And who better to use than the mortal enemy of the Fae? The Demons.
Specifically, Prince Gaap. He commanded all of the Water Elemental
Demons.
The urge to hum a protective chant was strong but she knew she needed to
wait. The instructions she’d found on how to summon a Demon were very
specific. When the fire was lit and the flames fanned into a crackling offering,
she lay down on the blanket, feeling a bit silly, even though her purpose was
deadly serious.
She remembered life before the Demons had come.
Her life had been good. Solid. Happy.
Now? Not so much.
The Fae had attacked her. Stolen the one thing she had left. Her dignity.
She’d made her own way in the world, without a man to protect her,
without a family behind her. She stayed out of the way and concentrated on
survival. All the while mourning her fiancé, Brian, and the rest of her family.
But the Fae had changed all that when they’d attacked her. They had
violated her body and suddenly the injustices of the last ten years rose up like a
tidal wave inside her and threatened to pull her under. She refused to let them
destroy her.
Only the Demons could aid her revenge against the Fae.
The sand chilled her through the wool weave of the old blanket.
Goosebumps shivered across her skin and pebbled her nipples.
Lili closed her eyes and called a Demon.
“Gaap,” she whispered as she slid her hands up her body to cup her
breasts. “I offer myself to you in exchange for your help.”
She waited, breath held, breasts pushed up toward the moon like the rocks
behind her. Nothing happened.
The manual had been extremely specific about the magick required to
summon the Demon. She needed to touch herself. In places that had been
untouched by love for a very long time. She’d been hoping that if she sort of
phoned it in, that would be good.
phoned it in, that would be good.
No doing.
Lili sighed and rubbed her palms over her puckered nipples, not aroused at
all. The heat from her palms warmed her skin but her body was as unresponsive
as a stick broom. Rage at the injustice perpetrated by the Fae edged out any
feeling of arousal.
They hadn’t raped her. But they had touched and grabbed and poked and
jabbed at her body, at her sex, violating her in a most personal manner.
Anger bubbled up inside her. She would take revenge on the Fae. She
would avenge her honor. But she couldn’t do it alone. The strength of humans
was no match for the power and magick of the Fae. She needed an ally.
She needed a Demon.
Lili forced herself to calm. She had to be aroused to call the Demon. She
had to find a place within herself where she could allow the emotion she’d
sublimated since Brian had perished, and the feelings she’d suppressed after the
Fae attacked, to be called forth.
As she lay there, she remembered the hands of her lover.
In a lazy move, she traced patterns across her flesh, a slight tingling
started in her belly and snaked downward as she plucked at the nub. She
imagined his hands, slightly rough, as she slid one hand down her stomach.
When Lili reached her pubic bone, she hovered on the brink of a decision.
Did she proceed with her summoning or did she pack up and go home to
her miserable existence?
She pinched her nipple and her insides jumped at the sensual contact. Her
nether lips began to throb slightly, as if awakening from a long slumber. Lili
inhaled slowly, and with the exhale slid her fingers into her curls.
In the whisper of wind, she imagined her lover telling her to ease open her
legs and she complied. The move pushed her shift onto her hips and exposed her
lower body to the moon.
As she separated her fingers to rub against her feminine lips, slowly, not
touching her clitoris, the wind whispered again. Lili sighed as the wind flattened
the material of her shift against her breasts.
“Gaap,” she called softly as she rubbed slowly along her increasingly slick
channel. It had been so long since she’d welcomed a lover into her body. Her
middle finger slid inside her at the urging of the wind. And she gasped. But the
invasion wasn’t enough, not nearly.
In her mind, she pictured a huge, hot cock. She pictured the slide of the
thick rod into her filling her, as it split her channel and banished her memories.
Of their own volition, her hips rose and begged for that phantom cock to
invade her.
invade her.
She squeezed and plucked at her nipples, knowing she wasn’t supposed to
come. The whole point of the summoning was to bring the Demon to fuck her.
And in agreement for the fucking, she would get the help she sought.
The wind licked at her legs and curled around her stomach. The warm air
slid beneath the shift and blew against her breasts. Her body burned hotter than
the little sacrificial fire she’d built.
With one hand on her breasts and the other buried deep inside her body,
she found herself on the edge of orgasm. As arousal washed over her in a wave,
she remembered forgotten sensations. Lili dug her heels into the cold sand and
continued to work her body, uncaring now that the ceremony would be null. She
imagined a thick, throbbing cock inside her, dominating her and then exploding
jets of seed within her.
Her eyes opened wide as she stared at the moon. Her body imploded and
her vision grayed. She thought for just a moment, she saw the face of her Demon
in the shimmering night sky.
 TWO

The incredible force of the moon bled down over the tableau, and his body
drew in the power like a treasured aphrodisiac. He crackled and sparked with
magick. Standing on the rocks above the protective cove, Prince Gaap, Demon
of the Southern Hemisphere and Guide of the four Demon Princes, palmed his
cock and stared at the human woman offering on the beach.
“Well this is interesting.”
The sex was decidedly one-sided and now he was aroused and frustrated.
She lay on the blanket, with her eyes closed and her black hair a halo
around the strong features of her face. Her generous breasts rose and fell. Her
body was flushed with the desire visibly thrumming through her flesh. Her
mouth lightly parted as she drew breath.
Her capable hands brought her to completion but he could see in her
hardened nipples and smell in the faint scent of arousal that so much more could
be achieved with his willing and talented tongue. The thought of pressing inside
her, of expanding his adaptable member to curl around that special spot and lick
her throbbing clitoris, sent blood zinging through him. He yearned to feel the
tight squeeze of contractions as her channel sucked his tongue further inside, and
to absorb her essence into his mouth as surely as she would welcome his seed
inside her body.
His skin warmed from the images that played through his brain.
While his cock hardened and ached for sexual release, deep suspicion
warred with his hungry arousal.
“Likely a trap,” Leraye, Demon of Battle, and Gaap’s head of security,
said softly from his left. Gaap continued to stare down at the woman who’d tried
to summon him.
“Definitely a trap,” Zepar, Demon of Seduction, snarled from his right.
“I am aware.” Somehow, his cock didn’t give a damn. The temptation to
swoop down onto the sand and plunge into her was like fire in his blood. But
caution prevailed.
He squeezed the head of his erection to coax out a drop of pre-cum, and
lubricated his pulsing cock. The abrasion of his rough fingertips was a coarse
and unpleasant reminder that he wasn’t fucking her raw. Instead, his own hand
would bring him from the point of erection to sexual completion.
“However, her actions were clumsy with a singular innocence,” Zepar
commented. His own cock stood at attention and strained against the tight
commented. His own cock stood at attention and strained against the tight
leather breeches, raring to go.
She had been clumsy, at first. But as she aroused herself, her body had
responded with a sensual ferocity that belied her awkward fumbling. He hated to
waste an erect cock on his own ministrations. After thousands of years under the
Earth’s crust, he preferred a woman’s channel to his own fist. But even as he
pictured her actions, Gaap’s brain instructed his cock to let go.
“She is no innocent.” The muscles in Gaap’s neck strained as he spurted
his cum onto the rocks above her. Anyone who attempted to conjure a sex
Demon for their own use was definitely experienced. After the Demons had
erupted from their prison and unleashed their wrath, most humans were now
afraid of their beastly natures.
Yes, the stupid humans thought they were beasts.
Yet, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her if he thought she was there to harm his
subjects.
Only the very ignorant, the very fearless, or the very wily attempted the
ancient summoning ritual. However, she was clearly not ignorant. The woman
had moved her hands over her body with a surety that even now heated his blood
and enlarged his cock once more.
“So what do you suppose she really wants?” Leraye crossed his arms over
his massive chest, and Gaap followed his second in command’s gaze to the
woman lying wantonly on the sand. Tears leaked from her closed eyes.
Tears? A curious anomaly.
“I believe it might be time to discover the woman’s true purpose.” Gaap
thought about covering up his erection and then decided against it. She wanted a
sex Demon? She was about to get one. An aroused one, he thought, as he
contemplated the thatch of curls that surrounded her glistening slit. His cock
hardened again.
Leraye said softly, “I’d advise against it.”
Gaap wasn’t about to put his Demons in danger.
“Noted and ignored. Watch the beach for any approaching enemies.” Gaap
frowned down at the woman who had now curled into a ball, huddled against the
chill midnight air. The contradiction intrigued him. Her sorrow drew him toward
her far more effectively than her sexual temptation of a few moments ago. For as
much as he loved sex and reveled in the release, he understood sorrow more
completely.
He’d had to eradicate the emotion. As a ruler, he could have no use for
softer feelings. He must be ruthless to protect his kindred from the enemies who
would banish the Demons back to their prison.
Gaap eased down onto the sand, then strode toward the woman without
 Gaap eased down onto the sand, then strode toward the woman without
artifice or stealth, his shirt billowing as he approached her.
Finally he stood beside her. His cock bobbed in the increasing wind as she
continued to huddle seemingly unaware of his presence. After several minutes of
watching the delicate bumps of her spine shiver and shake from her muffled
cries, he finally decided to address her.
“You summoned?”
With near frantic speed, she whipped around and scuttled up against the
side of the jagged rocks. Her muffled shriek was the only sound she made before
she grabbed handfuls of sand and clutched the silica in her tight fists.
Her eyes, a stunning amethyst color, were wild. The rough cotton of her
shift gaped open to reveal the sweet perfection of her nipples. “Who are you?”
Her voice was a sexy rasp and scraped over his senses like their chains over the
basalt core.
She’d conjured him. He just might have to taste those hard sweet berries.
To sample the goods she offered before he pretended to make a decision about
whether or not to help her.
Because the manual about conjuring a sex Demon was, in fact, false.
Not that a human couldn’t get a Demon’s aid for a price. But the idea that
they could be controlled by sex was laughable.
Gaap curled his arms over his waist and bowed low. His gaze never left
the wary regard in her deep amethyst eyes. The unusual color startled him for
her eyes were the exact shade of the crystals embedded in their volcanic rock
prison. “You chose to take your pleasure, instead of waiting for me,” he mocked.
“And now you don’t know who I am?”
The sand trickled through her fingertips as her mouth fell open. “Gaap?”
“At your service.” He gestured to her body and let his attention linger on
her nipples. “Though it would seem you no longer require it.”
He moved his hungry gaze to the juncture of her thighs. Her pink nether
lips peeked through glistening black curls and taunted him. The sexual bounty
enticed his mouth and his cock.
Gods, he loved sex.
Loved everything about the act. After being denied for centuries, now he
reveled in the pleasure and the secrets of a woman’s body.
For thousands of years the only sex he’d had was...unsatisfactory.
Now here was a banquet laid out for his feasting. A banquet who had
summoned him. A banquet which might also be a trap.
 THREE

“What are you doing here?” Lili blinked several times as if unable to trust
her eyes, and stared up at Gaap. His breeches were undone and a thick, erect
cock sprang from a bed of burnished copper curls. His shirt blew in the brisk
midnight breeze, unbuttoned to reveal a massive chest, muscle upon muscle,
ripped and contoured, roped over an impressive bone structure.
She should be afraid.
He exuded menace overlaid with sensuality. Sexual attraction oozed from
every muscle, sinew, and bone. As he stared down at her, she could see the
predatory heat in his gaze.
Gaap knelt down beside her. His earthy aroma mixed with the salty ocean
air.
“There is something about the scent of aroused woman.” As if trying to
draw the smell deep into his lungs, he inhaled heartily.
His knees sunk into the sand as he ran his palm over the smooth satin skin
of her thigh. The rough callus of his fingertips sent a shiver along her spine. The
touch was erotic, not invasive. “The musk of your womb is a most powerful
stimulant.”
He leaned down and his head dipped as if he would press his nose right
against her sex. Lili held still, her body tight. But as her mound throbbed, she
realized fear was not the emotion uppermost in her mind.
“Your body is begging for the thick broad length of my cock.”
She licked her lips as her gaze was drawn to his straining erection. Her
mouth watered as liquid seeped from the tiny slit in the bulbous head. He was
huge. Gods, to have him inside her, would be amazing. Her eyelids drooped. She
imagined watching the long, hard, thick steel of his cock slide in and out of her
body, touching her secret place inside, drawing her tight like a bowstring and
playing her until she burst into a thousand points of bright incandescent light.
Lili realized she was panting as she sank into the hypnotic depths of his
whiskey-colored gaze.
Had he come closer? Did she care?
“Your nipples are begging for my attention.”
Lili’s breasts were overly large and her nipples were ultra-sensitive. She’d
forgotten. Too long without sexual attention and she’d forgotten how much she
loved to have her lover suck on the breasts until her body clenched in response.
His gaze narrowed in on the hard points, clearly visible through the sheer
 His gaze narrowed in on the hard points, clearly visible through the sheer
cotton shift she wore.
And Gods, as her core softened, her breasts flushed and hardened.
Her blood thumped in the button of her clitoris and liquid arousal
drenched her body. Lili’s breath caught in her throat as she looked at his huge
erection. A deep blue vein pulsed as he grew larger.
His voice grew softer. “Let me fuck your mouth. I want the head buried
deep as your lips squeeze the base.”
With his words and the obvious arousal stamped on his face, her own
blood rose, unbelievably turned on by the images he painted. Almost as if she
could see what he wanted to do to her in his mind.
She swallowed. The muscles in her dry throat clenched as she imagined
blowing him while the flames flickered and the fire died.
If he asked her right now, she would lie down on the rough blanket and let
him do whatever he wanted. Just for the chance to have that gorgeous cock
sheathed inside her.
She'd come here seeking to barter sex for a favor. But she'd disobeyed the
rules of the summoning. Right now, she didn't care. She just wanted sex.
Her knees fell open. His gaze trailed down her aroused body, lingering in
all the places she wanted him to seek out and explore. Her body practically
begged him to enter her.
He leaned back on his heels, away from her, even as his cock strained
toward her. “To answer your original question.”
Question?
“You called me.”
Gods, he’d seduced her with words, never even touching her. She would
welcome him, a Demon, into her body right now if he reached out those clever
fingers and touched her.
Lili licked her lips and forced her gaze away from his erection.
Right. She had called him.
And she realized that while he was aroused, he was definitely not
distracted. He focused on her with laser intensity. The muscles in his body were
ready for any attack. He was on guard.
Because of her?
“I mean you no harm,” she said softly. What threat could she, a mere
human, possibly pose to this hard, fierce Demon?
“You still haven’t told me what it is that you...desire.” He hesitated over
the word desire.
And with abrupt shock, his words prodded her memory and reinstated her
true purpose for attempting to entice a Demon. “Revenge.”
true purpose for attempting to entice a Demon. “Revenge.”
 FOUR

“Really?” Gaap searched the shadows of the empty beach for an enemy.
She had summoned him for vengeance.
Demons thrived and gained magick from human emotions. He would
welcome the rage needed for vengeance and feed off the emotion. But he could
not sense the necessary fury within her.
As her lust cleared, he found himself disappointed. Lust was a lot more
fun than vengeance. But she just continued to stare blankly at him.
“What are you staring at?”
She mutely sat there, her body exposed, almost as if she’d forgotten she
was half-naked and bare to his gaze. “I didn’t think it would work.”
Clearly, the summoning was successful since he was here. She didn’t
seem afraid of him, which was not ideal. But curiosity won out over the
temptation to scare her. “Why on the beach?”
“You are the Demon of the Water Elementals.”
He was Demon of a lot of things.
Interesting. He had definitely felt the tug of her presence even before he
became aware that someone tried to call him. They needed to find out where
she’d gotten her information.
She wrapped her arms around her torso and covered her breasts. As if the
cold night air just registered, she shivered.
“And how can a Demon of the Water Elementals help with vengeance?”
“I want my revenge on the Fae,” she said fiercely.
Here was more passion. But still her emotions were subdued. Gaap
wondered if Zepar and Leraye, hidden next to the large breast-shaped rocks,
could feel more of her emotions.
“Why the Fae?” Gaap inhaled discreetly. And just there he could sense the
underlying scent of the Fae. The only reason he hadn’t picked up on it before
was the cover of the wood smoke and the cleansing air of the sea.
His body stiffened and he regretted that he’d left his breeches undone. His
intent had been to intimidate her. But if the Fae were lurking nearby, he’d left a
very precious part of his anatomy open to attack.
He lifted his chin and hoped Zepar caught the signal. Leraye would
already be canvassing the area beyond the beach, using his ultra-developed
senses to search for any enemies.
She swallowed and looked away. But not because she was lying. Because
 She swallowed and looked away. But not because she was lying. Because
she was ashamed. The truth was in the hunch of her shoulders and the downturn
of her mouth.
“They attacked me.” The brisk breeze off the ocean carried her words
away on the wind.
The Fae were tricky bastards. They tended to seduce humans out of their
clothes and enslave them with lust but they rarely just attacked.
“Did they rape you?”
She frowned. “No, they just groped. Or maybe,” she looked out to sea. “I
don’t know exactly. It’s a little fuzzy.”
Gaap sifted through her memories but couldn’t get a clear picture. Hands
pinched, fumbled, and violated her, but no faces were clear. A vague impression
of disgust and discomfort, and yet, no fear. Convenient for her.
Trap.
“And you expect me to believe this is how you exact revenge?” What
would her argument be?
A woman attacked would not use sex to summon a Demon. As much he
liked the look of her splayed across the sand, it seemed unlikely that she would
expose herself like this.
She snatched up the blanket to cover herself and pressed back against the
rocks. “This was a mistake.” But she was not subdued or submissive. She
sparked with anger.
“You are angry?” He thought he had the right to be angry. She’d fucked
herself drawing his carnal attention without delivering on any kind of payment.
She yanked on her clothing.
“Yeah. I’m angry. I thought that a Demon might help me.” She sneered at
him. “Clearly I was wrong.”
He couldn’t believe her audacity. His cock had gone soft at the thought of
the Fae lurking around. But as she raked him up and down with her gaze, the
damn thing started getting hard again.
His cock grew in length at her attitude. How could her contrariness turn
him on?
The blanket fell to her waist as she tugged on her skirt. Her breasts
bounced underneath the light cotton. Her irritated movements compelled him to
provoke her further. And yet, he had to proceed with caution.
Her attempt to summon him deserved consideration. The Fae had recently
tried to infiltrate the Demon castle by sending a spy into their midst. Fortunately,
Zepar and Vetis, the Demon of Corruption, had seen through the ruse and
eliminated the threat. The Fae had used a woman then too.
Amara was now a permanent inhabitant of the castle and consort to Vetis.
 Amara was now a permanent inhabitant of the castle and consort to Vetis.
The Fae’s first plan had failed.
Gaap had to wonder if this woman was their next foray.
It would make sense. The Fae knew that Demons had insatiable appetites
for sex and the logical way to exploit that predilection was to tempt them with
women.
However if she was supposed to be temptation, they had picked the wrong
woman.
No one wanted a shrew.
Except, apparently, him.
“Maybe I just summoned the wrong Demon.”
The thought of her summoning another triggered a violent fury. He would
protect his Demons with his last breath. “Don’t even think about it.”
“What’s it to you?”
She had tugged a tunic over her cotton undergarment but the rougher wool
still gaped to show the feminine swell of her breast.
The time had come to make his point. He withdrew his hunting knife and
pressed the tip close to her soft flesh. The thick blade with its serrated edge was
obscene against her fragile curves. “You presume to call a Demon and then piss
me off. You will pay the consequences.”
The razor sharp metal shone in the fading light of her campfire. She stared
at the wicked blade, seemingly mesmerized by the deadly iron and the thick
solid shaft in his hand.
“So this is to be my destiny?” She confounded him by leaning into the
blade until the point pierced her fair skin.
The red blood beading on the tip was offensive.
Gaap pulled the knife away from her breast abruptly. “Don’t tempt me.”
However, those words were a lie.
He definitely didn’t want to kill her.
Far from it.
 FIVE

She was going to die.
Lili stared down at the blood trickling over her breast. She tracked the
path of the red liquid and wondered if the end would be slow or quick.
Had the last ten years been leading to this one moment? The moment
when she finally truly relinquished control, and she embraced peace. After years
of anger and sorrow, all of her choices had lead her to this final moment. If the
Demon killed her, the torment would be over. The guilt over having lived when
Brian had died would be gone.
“Do it.” She flattened her mouth into a tight, uncompromising line and
stared into his eyes. His hardness struck her once again. His face was sculpted in
harsh lines as he gripped the knife. His long elegant fingers wrapped around the
hilt with a deadly purpose.
She tried to push her chest into the tip, but he retracted the blade with a
quickness that took her by surprise. She didn’t even seen him move.
The momentum brought her to within a hair's breadth of his muscled hard
chest. Heat radiated off him, his muscles tensed and ready for battle as he
watched her like the prey she was.
His shoulders could bear her burden for a moment. His chest could cradle
her body. He could have taken her with little effort to restrain her and there
wouldn’t be much she could do. She had come without weapons.
The only weapon she’d needed was her body. At least that was what she
thought.
He studied her with hard intent. “What are you about?”
Death. Peace. Revenge. All her goals and desires jumbled around in her
brain as she stood so closely she could see the thickness of his eyelashes and the
muscle in his clenched jaw. As the strength of his presence surrounded her, she
realized there was only one logical answer.
“Sex.” Wasn’t that why she’d conjured him? To be used.
So if she wasn’t going to get her revenge and she was going to die, she
pretty much had only one request.
She didn’t want to die without having sex one last time.
He had wanted her. At least briefly. She remembered his gaze when he
first appeared in front of her. Maybe she could make him want her again.
Lili lifted up her hands as if in surrender. Which was what she was doing
in effect.
in effect.
She thought about his massive erection and everything within her
softened, preparing for the invasion. She leaned back against the stone
outcropping, her hands held above her head. The position caused her back to
arch and her breasts to strain against her cotton undergarments.
“Fuck me.” And then kill me. Did anything really matter?
As if answering her call, the wind whipped through the tiny cove, the cool
breeze blew up her skirt and swirled between her legs.
He continued to assess her without moving, without breathing it seemed.
So she took matters into her own hands. She cupped her breasts and offered
them to his mouth.
His pupils dilated, and she knew he was thinking about it. Thinking about
sucking her nipples until she begged him to sink that cock into her. She pictured
him just like she’d imagined when she’d been pleasuring herself.
Her lips parted. She wet them with her tongue as she waited.
Demons loved sex. That was well known.
“Slide that thick steel cock into me. Let my body welcome yours, let me
take you inside me, let me pleasure you.” Her womb clenched.
But he said nothing.
“I used to enjoy sex,” she lamented. Revenge, her dead lover, everything,
forsaken as she stared at the growing bulge of his erection.
He loosened his breeches all the way. She lounged against the rock, afraid
if she made any aggressive moves, he’d kill her before he fucked her.
“It’s been forever.” Lili tilted her hips toward his erection as her fingers
plucked her nipples.
She moaned softly as his cock sprang free. “Gods, you’re huge.”
“Watch my back,” he said softly, his gaze lifted upward.
Lili tilted her head back to see the shadow of another man above them. “Is
he going to participate?” She didn’t necessarily care.
If she were going to die, what did it really matter?
“Perhaps.” He very carefully lay the knife down on a rock, far enough
away from her that she couldn’t reach it.
He didn’t get it. She wasn’t going to attack him.
“Just don’t...hurt me.” She needed to erase the memory of the Fae with
their hands and their violation.
“Not right now.”
Perhaps he would hurt her later. She understood the threat.
But then all thoughts went out of her head as he pressed his chest
aggressively against the aching points of her nipples. He rubbed hard enough to
bring the abraded flesh more sensitivity. He slid his hands down her back and
bring the abraded flesh more sensitivity. He slid his hands down her back and
over her buttocks, the contact hard, confident, and filled with intent.
He drew his tongue up the side of her neck, the contact a soft erotic
counterpoint to the commanding strength of his fingers. Her breath quickened as
he tasted her skin with a singular intensity.
He spread her legs further apart, pressed his palms into the cleft of her
buttocks, and lifted her with the strength of his muscular arms.
He supported her body, which was not insubstantial, with only his arms
and the help of the rocks behind her. Then he slid his hands further along her
buttocks until his fingers were poised to enter her. He teased her nether lips,
swirling around her opening, then making a foray inside before pulling back out
again.
The scent of his skin filled her nostrils. Heat poured off his body, as his
hot hands teased and taunted and took possession of her sex. As he played her
body, Lili closed her eyes and focused on the sensations, and not the fact that
any number of Demons watched them. He slid one thick long finger inside her,
and her vagina clenched, wanting to hold onto that rough contact.
“More,” she begged.
He slid two fingers inside her and rubbed her clitoris with an unsurpassed
skill.
“I used to dream about this.” He nipped at her neck. The love bite sent
shivers down her spine.
Lili clutched at his shoulders, as arousal pooled low in her abdomen.
“About how succulent and sweet pussy would feel against my fingers,
how the taste of aroused woman would coat my tongue, how a woman’s channel
would suck me dry.” He dragged his tongue over the skin of her collarbone, and
down across her nipple.
Had his tongue grown longer?
He tickled her nipple with a flutter of the tip of his tongue against her
softer skin. The rasp was a sensual abrasion. Every touch sent another blaze of
sensation through her body. Her sex pulsed.
“Please,” she whimpered. “It’s not enough.”
“What’s not enough?” he demanded.
And she knew he was going to make her say it aloud.
“I need you inside me.”
“Who?”
“Please, Gaap.” She frantically slid her hands down to his buttocks and
tried to ram him against her throbbing mound. She needed friction, she needed
contact, and she needed his cock inside her. “Now.”
His knuckles brushed against her ultra-sensitive clitoris.
 His knuckles brushed against her ultra-sensitive clitoris.
“Oh God,” Her womb clenched. “Now.”
The head of his cock brushed her wet curls. Her sex dripped, waiting for
his invasion. At long last, she would have that connection again.
He stroked her. It wasn’t a tease. He tested her readiness. The Demon took
his time and worked on the pleasure of his partner. The action went against
everything she thought she knew about Demons.
But then he slid home and her thoughts scattered like seedpods on the
wind.
Lili wanted to cry at the rightness of his cock buried deep inside her. It
had been so long. He filled her, invaded her with the exquisite girth of his sex.
Sensation bombarded her as emotion overwhelmed her.
She hadn’t done this in ten long years. Brian. Brian. Her heart cried out,
her brain grasping at Brian’s memory, trying to recall his face.
Gaap paused, as if he could sense her anguish.
Then he pulled back out. “Who am I?” he demanded.
She moaned when he gripped her chin in his hand and forced her eyes
open. Lust exploded in her at his fierce expression.
Her heart was empty and her soul barren, but her body was on fire. For a
Demon. The ultimate betrayal and yet she couldn’t stop craving, needing the
erotic sensations of his body joining hers. Sexual stimulation rolled over her like
waves on the sand. “Gaap,” she whimpered.
“Excellent,” he growled and plunged back in. In and out.
Her whole body tingled, layer upon layer of arousal swelled through her.
The rough hairiness of his chest abraded her nipples. The flex of his thighs
parted hers, forcing her legs further apart, even as her hips rose to meet his
urgent thrusts. With each meet, they slammed together, her body hungry for
release. Hungry for the euphoria that lay just beyond her reach.
Gaap gripped her buttocks in his large palms and lifted her higher. The
new position caused his cock to rake along her clit with every thrust. And the
head of his erection rubbed that secret spot inside with each frantic meeting until
her body exploded. Lili came so hard, light fractured and splintered, and she was
unable to distinguish the stars in her eyes from the stars in the sky.
Gaap continued to pump in and out of her. He invaded her body, her mind,
until she could see nothing, was nothing, and then she thought of nothing but
Gaap.
 SIX

Gaap paused, buried to the hilt, as her body milked his cock. The feel of
her sex was even more spectacular than he’d anticipated. His entire body
throbbed with the need to move but he held still, waiting, waiting.
As her muscles began to soften and her eyes began to drift closed, he
moved again. Each plunge into her body was like the blade of his sword as he
joined them together with carnal intent. His balls slammed against the swollen
lips of her mound. She raked his shoulders with her nails as her desire rose
again.
Gaap's blood sizzled. The power of the moon shone down upon his back
and the force of his desire burst through him. His vision grayed and the world
seemed to tremble. Until finally, he shook like the earth's core as it broke open
and sent the Demons back to the surface. His orgasm roared through him and
blasted all thought from his mind.
Lost to sensation, Gaap continued to ram in and out of Lili's body. Her
arms, her legs, her cunt clutched at him with desperation.
Gaap's attention snapped back to Lili and he demanded she climax again.
She held his gaze with uncompromising fierceness. The pain in her eyes
wrapped around the rusty organ of his heart as surely as her legs gripped his
waist. The ferocious swell of sorrow swamped him. Power flooded into his
body, overwhelming him. He concentrated on the swell of magick. Instead his
brain, his thoughts traveled another direction.
Had he ever felt as she obviously felt?
As they descended from the sexual high, Gaap kept one ear attuned for
enemies and wondered at her willingness to die. He could sense a deep and
abiding unhappiness in her even when she reached her peak.
She wasn’t faking. She didn’t care if he killed her.
The notion bothered him more than he’d care to admit.
Perhaps she’d been coerced. Or perhaps the Fae had offered her oblivion
by becoming bait. But why would they hand him the gift of her strong emotions?
“It’s best if we go.” Leraye spoke from behind him. “Finish it.”
He was right. They had lingered far too long in this little cove. But Gaap
was reluctant to leave her. “In a moment.”
He pulled his quickly fading erection from her and righted his clothing.
While the woman lay limply back against the rock.
“Get dressed.”
 “Get dressed.”
“Aren’t you going to do it?” She gestured half-heartedly to the knife he’d
set on the rock out of her reach.
“Perhaps later,” Gaap said lazily. He still needed to discover how the Fae
were planning to use her to get to him. And they must have wanted him
specifically because she named him during the summons.
“Maybe I want you to.” She held her arms out defiantly as if waiting for
the plunge of his blade.
Instead, Gaap pulled her to her feet. He yanked the laces together on her
wool tunic overlay. Her skirt was still bunched around her waist. Gaap tugged
the skirt down.
“Let’s go.” He bit out the command. Gaap looked at her lush body, barely
hidden by the common, rough cotton. He would return her to her home and then
he needed to discuss this development with his trusted advisors.
Gaap kicked sand over the remnants of the fire and the charred clothing.
“What did you use for kindling?”
“Driftwood and scraps from the dress I was wearing when I was attacked.”
She stood lethargically in front of him, not moving, just docile.
Which he was pretty sure wasn’t in her nature.
“Maybe you asked for it.”
She snorted. “Right.”
When she didn’t move, he prodded. “Why did you ask me?”
“If I’m going to die, I wanted to have sex just one more time.” She
shrugged. “It had been a long time.”
“How long?”
“Are you going to throw me into the ocean?” she asked idly, as if the
answer were unimportant.
“What for?”
“Like a sacrifice.”
Demon sacrifice? It might be amusing to scare her but right now the spot
between his shoulder blades was itching and her easy acceptance of her death
was seriously beginning to piss him off.
“Let’s go.”
And that right there jostled her into defiance. “I’m not going anywhere
with you.”
“You’re right.” He was going to escort her home and then leave her there.
No way was he bringing her anywhere near the castle. He curled his fingers
around upper arm and tugged her away from their little sex spot.
“You aren’t going to kill me?” She seemed completely shocked by this
turn of events.
turn of events.
“Not today.”
“Then...are you going to help me?”
“Help you.”
“If I’m going to live, I want my vengeance.”
He’d think about it. What were the Fae trying to accomplish?
“Not today.” He repeated the words again.
“I guess I’ll just have to summon another Demon tomorrow,” she taunted.
“What was the voyeur’s name?”
Gaap felt a surprising and unwelcome rage rise up within him. He’d be
damned if she summoned Leraye...or any other Demon. She was his.
He tightened his grip on her arm painfully but she didn’t cry out. “You
don’t need another Demon.”
“That remains to be seen. I will have my vengeance.”
“For someone who was willing to die a few moments ago you certainly
have changed your tune.”
“The sex seems to have given me a second wind,” she shot back. “Where
are you taking me?”
Gaap tugged her toward the road. Zepar and Leraye trailed behind them
and watched his back. He should let his security chief take her home but he was
strangely reluctant to let her go. Against all common sense. Every step took
them further away from their beach tryst and closer to reality.
He needed more information. “What is your name?”
“Lili.”
“I’m taking you home.” A pang of regret rippled through him. “Lili.” He
let her name roll off his tongue. The name sweet and completely unlike her
slightly acerbic personality.
“No thanks.” She tugged her arm from his grip and ran.
Gaap let her go, resisting the urge to go after her. It would be complete
folly.
“Follow her.” He commanded Leraye. “See if she has any contact with the
Fae. We need to discover what they are planning.”
 SEVEN

Three nights later, Gaap hovered in the bushes, like a peeping Thom and
waited for a show of the beautiful Lili.
She wanted vengeance.
Her situation couldn’t be nearly that simple. But at the same time, if he
didn’t interact with her they would never find out what the Fae intended. And
though he hadn’t admitted such to his friends, he didn’t want her using any other
Demon the way she’d used him.
Her home was...minuscule. A living area, cooking area, and separate bath.
That was it. He still had some discomfort when in small confined spaces. A
decade of freedom could not eradicate the memory of millions of tons of rock
hanging over your head.
Gaap spent as much time out of doors as possible.
Even better, he spent time in any body of water. He’d been denied access
to the sea for the thousands of years of incarceration. The deprivation had been
like a small death in its own way. So he now submerged whenever he could.
He watched her through the open curtains. The flickering glow from her
fireplace bathed her features in a soft, entrancing light.
A false light.
Her movements were efficient, controlled, and subdued, unlike when
she’d been pounding against him as she rode his cock with a sensual abandon.
Gaap grew hard at the memory.
A frequent occurrence in the last three days. He’d resorted to cold showers
and relieving himself several times a day. But then all he had to do was think
about her purple eyes flashing annoyance at him and he’d grow hard again.
She leaned over the stove and lifted a wooden spoon to her mouth. Steam
rose from the pot wreathing her face. Even from this distance, he could see her
pink tongue venture out to lick the spoon.
An image of her, licking his cock with that succulent pink tongue,
thickened him even further.
Gods, he needed to fuck her again.
And yet he couldn’t take the chance.
Could this be a compulsion planted by the Fae?
But how? And why? The logical solution was to kill her. Eliminate the
threat.
He might yet decide her death was the only possible outcome. Right at this
 He might yet decide her death was the only possible outcome. Right at this
moment, all he knew was he had to see her, touch her, taste her once again.
He’d come here against the counsel of Leraye and the rest of the Demon
Princes. They thought Gaap should wait for her to make the next move.
He, however, wanted to keep her off balance.
And what better way to do that than to show up at her home. Frighten her.
Shock a confession out of her.
The final agreement had been reached just an hour ago. Leraye would
keep watch over Gaap while he was with Lili.
After thirty minutes in which little happened, he wondered if the Fae
would somehow show themselves. However, he knew that was a futile wish.
The Fae were too clever. A small part of him wished that she were
innocent. Wished that the stink of the Fae on her was merely an aberration. As if
they’d brushed up against her in the marketplace, rather than the unmistakable
odor of a setup and betrayal. But that wish was foolish, designed for a younger
more gullible Demon than he.
He had no illusions left.
Gaap knocked on the front door of the tiny cabin and waited.
Nothing moved.
The very air seemed stifled as stillness radiated around him. He knocked
again. Did she not have visitors?
Gaap pounded his fist against the sturdy door, noting the ward, a subtle
protection against both Fae and Demon, carved into the wooden lintel.
“Coming,” she finally called. The sultry rasp of her voice vibrated against
his nerve endings. She had the sexiest voice he’d ever heard.
The door swung open.
Lili’s eyes widened. For a moment, her gaze darted behind him as if she
looked for an unseen enemy. “What are you doing here?”
“You summoned me.” He leered. “Quite effectively I might add.”
A deep flush spread over her pale cheeks, but then she shot back with a
scathing retort. “A gentleman wouldn’t bring that up.”
“Whoever said that Demons were gentlemen?”
Pink bloomed over the cleavage of her large breasts. “You are absolutely
right.”
Just so they were absolutely clear. “No gentleman can defeat the Fae.”
Her gaze darted to the open doorway, as if she expected to see the wily
fuckers lurking behind him.
No one was there. He’d checked, double-checked, and triple-checked for
glamour before he approached her cottage.
She nodded. “You’re right.”
 She nodded. “You’re right.”
The time to find out what was really going on had arrived. Unfortunately,
all he could think of was getting back into the lush curves of her body.
“So you will help me?” The hope in her gaze caused a sensation he was
unfamiliar with to curl in his stomach. His only intention was to help himself. To
her body.
He’d forgotten how incredibly sexy she was. How her purple gaze seemed
to be a conduit to the secrets of the Universe. But a legion of Demons hid around
the perimeter of her house and his mission was about information, not sex.
Unfortunately.
Off balance.
That’s what he needed her to be. And if he came inside her again, he
would be the one off balance. This meant, as much as it pained him, she was off
limits.
For now.
 EIGHT

A wicked thrill of anticipation went through Lili.
She’d barely been able to think about anything but her encounter with the
Demon three nights ago. She’d tried to keep her mind on how he could help her.
On what to do the next time they met.
She had known that they would meet again.
Lili knew she should focus on her revenge. But Gaap, with his hard body
and even harder gaze, captivated her. He would be her tool.
And she would be his, until her revenge was complete.
That was how using a Demon worked. The information in the ancient
book she’d found was very specific. In exchange for fucking her, he would help
her.
But Gods, her thoughts had continually gone to how good the fucking had
been and not about how she would enact revenge against the Fae.
“What do you want from me?” The smoky sultry note in her voice
surprised even her.
He pushed into her tiny cottage and shoved the door closed.
Another thrill twirled through her body and flickered into her core as she
anticipated what he would want from her.
Gaap dominated the small space of her single room cottage, filling up all
the lonely spaces that had been empty for ten long years.
She let all of what she was feeling pour into her gaze as she traced the
lines of his body.
She’d had no idea that Demons were so...large. He was big everywhere.
His feet were encased in expensive leather boots. Tight breeches clung to
his massive calves and thighs which rivaled the trunk of the rowan tree in her
tiny front yard.
The ripples of his stomach muscles were visible through the cotton tunic
molded to his torso. His shoulders could put Atlas to shame. He would have no
problem fighting off the sorrows that haunted her since she had lived and her
Brian had died.
With the thought of all that strength concentrated on her, Lili's body
prepared for his.
Lili looked up, but not very far. Though the difference was slight, he was
still taller, and another tiny thrill coursed through her. Few people were taller
than she. That detail had tormented her for her entire life. She’d stopped
than she. That detail had tormented her for her entire life. She’d stopped
hunching her shoulders years ago, but inside she was still that gawky, awkward
teenager who would always be a bit of a freak.
The heat in his gaze liquefied her until she was all but melting into him.
“Let’s go,” he said harshly. His words banished her desire.
Palpable disappointment streamed through her. She had the random
thought that if she ever crossed him, very bad things would happen. Lili licked
her lips when the thought didn’t send her running out the back door.
The planes of his face were tight, hard, unforgiving. The warm tan of his
skin offset his whiskey eyes and strong blade of a nose. His burnished copper
hair flowed away from his cheekbones as if to show them off.
“Where?” she said breathlessly. She had to find her balance, find her
anger, those emotions had kept her sane for the last ten years.
“You’re going to show me where you were attacked.”
A sick dread settled in the pit of her stomach. Her arousal turned toxic and
chased away the feeling that she'd morphed into a giddy teenager.
“Let me get my cloak.”
Surreptitiously she tucked her knife into the sheath wrapped around her
thigh. And she added another smaller blade to the holder strapped to her wrist.
She’d become lax about carrying weapons. Because no one had bothered her.
Even the Fae who liked their women comely and docile had left her alone
until last week.
Lili led the way to the clearing where the Fae had attacked. The pit of her
stomach twisted. This used to be a pretty place. Sweat broke on her forehead and
pain speared her left eye socket as they approached.
Unable to focus clearly, hazy images of the attack flitted through her
mind. Her heart thudded. She couldn’t quite remember. She could only relive the
fear, and the nebulous anxiety that trembled through her limbs. She didn’t want
to go in there.
Didn’t want to recall those awful moments again.
Since the attack, she’d gone out of her way to avoid the clearing. The lush
glade wasn’t that far from her little cottage, just past the edge of the nearest
village.
When the world infrastructure had collapsed, shipping goods and food had
become so expensive that the economy had folded back into small villages
where the small economies could sustain the population of the village. Barter
economies. Skills that had been near extinct in the age of machines were
suddenly necessary to the survival of the remaining population.
The quiet of the forest was broken only by their heavy footfalls and the
scuttle of woodland animals in the underbrush.
scuttle of woodland animals in the underbrush.
“What made you come this way?”
“I had delivered a new suit to the bookseller in the next village.” Her
fingers were still cramped and twisted from the amount of stitching in his formal
suit. Lili had been working day and night on the suit to finish in time for the
bookseller’s wedding. Every stitch reminded her of the love she had lost and the
life forfeited because of the return of the Demons to the Earth’s surface. The
bitterness had been overwhelming.
But the credit she’d amassed for the rush job had been thrilling.
Books were her passion. Her secret pleasure.
And her only companions.
She stood in the clearing and looked at the Faery mound blankly.
“Do you usually come this way?”
Lili frowned, thinking back to the day she was attacked and wondering
why she’d taken this short cut through the woods. “I...don’t remember.”
Usually she stayed away from anything that had to do with the Fae, not
wanting to draw their attention, not wanting to engage them.
Gaap leaned against the twisted, gnarled trunk of a particularly enormous
tree, arms crossed over his chest. But something in his casual stance warned Lili.
She started to ask what was wrong.
The tingle at the back of her neck warned her. She decided that getting her
knife was a higher priority than talking.
The Fir Bolg, Fae assassins, swarmed the clearing.
Oh hell no. Lili’s heart thudded in her chest. She refused to be a victim
again. She refused to be afraid. The handle of the knife was cold and resolute in
her hand. She brandished the blade with intent, more than ready to defend
herself.
But they paid her no mind. The ten assassins converged on Gaap.
 NINE

Gaap had hoped he was wrong about Lili and the trap.
But as the mob of Fir Bolg poured into the clearing and headed straight for
him, he knew he’d been right. She’d been the bait.
Dammit.
The intensity of his disappointment felt out of proportion to the length of
their interaction. He really should have fucked her one more time before coming
out here. But he’d wanted to take his time. Rather than a quick screw against a
rock wall, he’d wanted to spend hours exploring her body and making her
explode with passion.
Oh well.
He gripped his blade sure and steady in his right hand as he anticipated the
imminent attack.
The Fir Bolg tended to be deceptively short. Their muscular, wiry bodies
had a lower center of gravity than the larger Demons. Although they lacked the
body mass of Demons, they were designed for easy evasion and quick reaction.
The trunk of the tree he’d chosen for his defensive position was thick
enough that no one could reach him from behind it. The position limited the
points of access from his enemy.
Gaap counted nine.
Plus Lili.
It was really going to piss him off when he had to kill her.
The Fae broke into groups, like a well-trained regiment. The first wave of
three came at him in a rush. No one spoke. The silence in the clearing was
broken only by the rush of wind through the canopy of leaves and the babble of
the creek on the other side. It was as if all the other forest creatures realized
violence was afoot and crawled into their lairs to wait out the battle.
Gaap swung his right arm in an arc. Their gazes were so intent on the
sweep of his knife hand, they ignored his left.
In quick succession with small jerks of his wrist, he launched the iron
throwing stars into their guts. Although iron could be deadly to the Fae, a very
precise hit was needed in order to stop them permanently. Blood from their
wounds spurted onto the ground and into the air. The red life-force flowed
around the bodies and slicked the ground.
The first wave fell.
The second group paused their attack.
 The second group paused their attack.
In the instant they checked on their comrades, Gaap removed five
poisoned darts from the pocket of his clock. He cursed the fact that he’d only
had the few iron stars. The Fae would tread more carefully now that the first
wave was down, and their wariness would make them harder to kill.
An unearthly yell distracted him as Lili charged the third line of defense.
With her arm raised above her head, she raced toward the third wave with a
wicked look of hatred etched on her face.
Surprise made him hesitate, which cost him.
The bulky leader of the second wave had a trick of his own. He used an
electric shock pulse to pierce the spot where Gaap’s tunic met his breeches.
Extremely difficult area to target and hit accurately.
The jolt of electricity momentarily fried his entire magickal system,
rendering him null for precious seconds and cutting down his time to
counterattack effectively.
If he didn’t dispose of these Fae assholes quickly, he was going to be
unconscious while his body repaired. He threw the first dart.
And hit the intended target, the leader of wave two.
His preternatural ability to sense danger kicked in and instinctively he
tossed the next dart up.
The Fae hanging from the branch above him fell on top of the pile of his
first attackers.
In a glance, he assessed their situation. From behind, Lili had stabbed one
of wave three through the heart. Her blade was stuck in the Fae’s back and as
she tugged ineffectively at its handle, another Fae crept up behind her with
another electrical pulse weapon. While the electrical pulse would only
incapacitate Gaap, it would kill Lili.
Gaap threw the remaining three darts in quick succession, nailing the final
two of the second wave and one of the third.
“Lili,” he shouted. She looked up frantically, her booted foot was planted
on the Fae’s shoulder and her hands tugged on the hilt of her knife. “Duck.”
She obeyed and dropped to the ground as Gaap launched himself toward
the remaining assassin. The Fae tried to adjust his trajectory but he’d been
aiming for Lili and couldn’t correct fast enough. Gaap’s booted feet struck the
male in the chest and rammed him to the ground. Gaap barrel-rolled over his
shoulder and came up facing the final assassin.
Blood ran down his breeches from the nicks of their weapons. He could
only hope the damn Fae hadn’t struck anything vital. He reached into the pocket
of his cloak and realized that the remainder of his weapons had fallen out when
he’d launched himself to save Lili.
he’d launched himself to save Lili.
Pretty damn stupid to be defeated this way.
“Who sent you?”
The Fae sneered, taking his time as he stalked toward Gaap with a look of
total disgust on his face. Gaap saw Lili rise from behind the Fae and push the
hair from her face.
“We will return you to the depths of Hell where you belong.” The
remaining Fir Bolg raised his arm to deliver the death strike.
And Gaap subtly shifted so he could leap out of the way.
But before Gaap could move, a look of complete surprise replaced the
sneer. Eyebrows raised, mouth rounded in an O, the Fae assassin fell forward
and landed on the soft dewy grass of the clearing with a thud.
A jeweled dagger, precisely thrown to maximize damage, protruded from
the Fae’s back.
Lili swayed. Her hair was a tangle of curls and a smear of blood
desecrated one pale cheek. Her gaze was glassy as she stared at the jeweled hilt
of her knife sticking out of the Fae’s back.
Gaap stared down at the dead assassin. “Not today.”
 TEN

Blood stained the ground and ran in rivulets through the once serene
clearing.
Lili’s brain refused to process what had just happened. Gods, she wanted
to fall to the ground and throw up. The coppery scent of blood and rolling waves
of violence still lingered. Even the forest animals continued to stay quiet.
“Oh my Gods, you’re bleeding.” Lili glanced around frantically. They
really needed to get out of here before someone else attacked.
The thick metallic scent filled her nostrils and made breathing difficult.
She ripped a strip of cloth from the hem of her cloak. Her favorite cloak. But she
realized after the first group attacked that the assault had not been random.
Those Fae had come here for Gaap. And she had lead him right into the clearing.
A question nagged at her.
How had they known? Or were they just waiting for someone to appear?
The way the final one had spoken. The one she’d--
“We need to get out of here before they awake.”
“Awake?”
“They aren’t dead.” He glanced at a couple of their attackers. “Not all of
them anyway.”
They weren’t dead?
He leaned down and grasped the hilt of the jeweled dagger that had been a
present from Brian right before he’d died. Back when her obsession with
weapons had been merely an idiosyncrasy rather than a necessary tool for
survival.
Gaap wiped the bloody blade on the grass and then tucked the dagger into
a belt loop. He scooped up the throwing stars and secreted them away in another
concealed pocket.
Lili ran up to Gaap. He tensed in a way that told her he was bracing for
attack. From her. “You don’t--I wouldn’t--”
She was at a loss as to what to say. But she knew better than to get too
close to him. She’d watched him destroy his attackers and he’d barely moved.
She handed him the wadded strip of cloth. “Press it against the wound until I can
get you stitched up.”
Gaap looked around as if expecting someone to come out of the woods.
But nothing happened. Finally, he closed his fingers around the smooth cloth and
tucked the pad between the waistband of his breeches and his skin.
tucked the pad between the waistband of his breeches and his skin.
“Let’s go.” He limped back toward her cottage.
Lili followed, hyper-aware that she’d led him straight into this attack. And
she understood that he believed she’d known the Fae would be there.
Adrenaline propelled her legs to move. Even with his injury, Gaap
outpaced Lili, keeping to her side so that she remained in his field of vision.
“In front of me,” he growled.
As she moved in front of him, he glanced around as if searching for
something or someone.
“Do you think there are more coming?” she asked hesitantly. The
adrenaline that helped her keep her head when they were first attacked suddenly
overwhelmed her system.
Her arms, legs, and hands began to shake.
Lili fisted her hands, ready to defend them. This time, she would be
prepared.
She swung her head from side to side, searching for a threat. With each
step, the blade strapped to her thigh called for her to wield it.
Gaap didn’t answer, just made haste back to her cottage. When they
reached the gate to her tiny yard, he paused and executed a hard, assessing
sweep of her yard. All she wanted was to get inside the safe haven of her home.
Lili reached for the latch on the gate, but his hand stopped her. Blood coated his
skin and his fingers, clenched around two separate knives, were white beneath
the red.
Everything looked fine to her. The curtain over the sink was still spread
wide and the glow from her fireplace cast shadows and light over her meager
existence.
But Lili knew he was looking for threats.
“You first,” he commanded.
“You think there’s someone inside?” She couldn’t keep the tremble out of
her voice. Shit. So much for the tough girl who’d taken out a Fae.
“Only one way to find out.” Gaap jerked his chin toward the front door.
Lili unlocked the door quickly and pushed the heavy oak door open. The
homey surroundings of her cottage wrapped around her like a blanket of comfort
and warmth. “It’s clear.”
Gaap staggered into her home.
Lili glanced at his makeshift compress. His blood had soaked through the
thick padding. He was hurt worse than she’d realized. “Oh my Gods.”
Gaap collapsed into the single chair at the table. A fine sheen of sweat
coated his face. “Got any thread?”
Of course she did, just not the kind that was usually used to stitch up
 Of course she did, just not the kind that was usually used to stitch up
wounds.
Lili bustled around heating water to disinfect her needles and pulling out
the thickest thread she had. She set a glass of water in front of him. With the
blood he lost, he needed to replace fluids.
“Drink.”
He stared suspiciously at the glass. “You first.”
“You really think I’m trying to poison you?” She propped her fists on her
hips, her earlier feelings of worry were lost in a haze of disbelief.
His face was a hard mask.
“For the Gods sake.” She gulped down the glass of water. The liquid hit
her parched throat and made her realize how absolutely dehydrated she was as
well. She poured another glass and swallowed the contents before re-filling the
glass and slamming it down on the table in front of him. “Satisfied?”
“For now.” He gave her a strange, intense look and drank. The muscles in
his throat contracted as he swallowed. He set the glass down on the table and
picked up the knife he’d pressed against her just the other evening. “Sew me
up.”
Lili gulped. She’d never sewn flesh before.
She loosened the laces on his breeches, trying to ignore the impressive
bulge of his cock. She’d read that adrenaline could cause this kind of reaction
but she’d never seen it herself.
Gaap peeled off the bloodied tunic.
Suddenly all of the fear she had suppressed while fighting dumped into
her system and shocked her hormones awake. He was so big. The muscles of his
biceps flexed as he kept a wary eye on her.
The hollow in the pit of her stomach expanded as her mouth dried and her
heartbeat increased. Suddenly images from the other night flashed through her
mind. The strength in his arms as he’d held her up, pressed her against that rock,
and pounded into her.
She stroked the rippled muscles of Gaap’s stomach. The power there
entranced her and she marveled at the slickness of his skin. The gash along his
stomach dispelled any carnal thoughts as he hissed in pain. “Are you okay?”
“Just sew.”
“Spread your legs.” Lili gulped. She knelt down between his legs, using
his thighs to brace herself. With difficulty she focused on his wound and set
about sewing up his skin and ignored the reality that she was pressing the tip of
her needle in and out of flesh.
As Lili looked up from the gruesome task, Gaap was flipping through the
ancient book she’d discovered right after her assault by the Fae.
ancient book she’d discovered right after her assault by the Fae.
“So this is how you found me.” Gaap’s voice was deceptively low and his
concentration remained on the illuminated pages.
“Yes.” Lili swallowed convulsively. The book had been quite educational.
Although he had definitely not behaved according to the tenets the author had
written. “You certainly aren’t acting the way the book said you would.”
A smile quirked his mouth. “So tell me, how should I behave?”
“You’re supposed to want sex with me,” she said grumpily. Instead she
was using his skin for quilt work and he was reading a book. One taste and she’d
been hooked.
The author even cautioned against becoming obsessed with a sex Demon.
Ridiculous. Lili would never become obsessed. Hadn’t she lived without
sex for ten long years?
“Who said I won’t demand sex with you?” he replied silkily.
Her insides thrummed at the velvet-coated threat in his words. Beneath the
heavy folds of her cloak, her nipples tightened and her core softened at the
overwhelming sensuality he exuded.
He growled.
Growled! The primitive primal sound rumbled through her body, and she
was more turned on than ever. Her breath caught and her attention snagged on
the growing bulge against the placket of his breeches.
As Lili tied off the thread, her mind drifted to their sexual encounter.
“You should, ah....” She’d forgotten what she was about to say. Gods, that
bulge was huge. Her channel wept for the opportunity to welcome him back into
her body. He should lay with her. “Lie down.”
He stared at her steadily, intently.
What should he do? Right. The bed. Blood loss. “On the bed. You
lost...blood.”
Her throat convulsed as she thought of him in her bed. The longing that
accompanied that thought made her yearn for the pleasure of his touch. Yearn
for the completion of sex.
He stared at her. Finally he stood. He towered over her, his lithe and
muscular body dwarfing hers, even though she stood taller than most men.
The unfamiliar sensation made her weak in the knees.
He kept the knives in his hands as he shuffled to the bed and sat down
heavily. “Where did you get the book?”
“Ah, found it at a bookstore.” Her gaze was trapped by the thickening
length of his cock.
“Seems rather convenient.”
Lili brought her attention back to his face. She’d thought the same. But for
 Lili brought her attention back to his face. She’d thought the same. But for
once, something was finally going her way. She’d been amazed that she’d found
a book on how to summon a Demon so easily.
She wasn’t sure of his meaning was except that she was sure it wasn’t
good. "Are you accusing me of something?”
The more she thought about it, the madder she got. “Because if you are,
just come out and say it.”
Anger bubbled up inside her as the results of the events of the last few
days built into a crescendo. The tension in the room rocketed to new heights. But
she refused to back down. The temper she’d lost when she’d been scared out of
her mind came roaring back. Especially when she saw the blood, his blood,
leaking into the nooks and crannies of her skin as easily as the fear for him had
leaked into her heart.
And she finally demanded, “What the hell do you want from me?”
 ELEVEN

Gaap observed dispassionately as Lili put on a show of wrath. She
swayed, her hands clenched in front of her as if she was going to punch him in
the jaw. Her face was white with anger and he wondered if she had access to her
dagger.
The soft contrasting scent of lavender drifted through his senses but
underneath lay the metallic odor of his blood.
He frowned.
An inordinate amount of blood coated her hands.
Gaap glanced down at his abdomen, then back up at Lili just as her eyes
rolled back in her head.
He leapt from the soft worn quilt and caught her before she hit the uneven
plank floor. For as tall as she was, her body was surprisingly slight.
Face pale, lips bloodless, she lay quiet in his arms. He gently set her down
on the bed.
He ran his hands over her sleek biceps and strong forearms before
searching the concentration of blood at her wrist for a wound.
Gaap rolled up the soft cotton of her sleeve and found the source of blood.
The small puncture would have been barely noticeable in the heat of the battle
but untended, the consequences could have been dire.
Could still be. Gaap noted with a growing consternation the amount of
blood that had soaked into her dress and cloak.
His body's natural ability to heal had already activated. He could feel his
own blood increasing, pumping through him and restoring the balance in his
system. The electrical pulses that had disrupted his body were already
normalizing. He’d be as good as new in another few hours.
He cleaned the blood off her limp arm, marveling at the fragile bones of
her wrist.
“Is this a trick?” he murmured to the unconscious woman, though it made
him feel very foolish.
“Awaken.” He shook her arm, all the while noting her lips were still
bloodless, her face unnaturally pale in the flickering firelight.
He placed a hand over her forehead. Her skin was clammy and his fingers
came away slicked with sweat.
Her breathing became more shallow. He leaned over her and breathed in
the unique scent of Lili. And he realized he wasn’t quite ready to let her go.
the unique scent of Lili. And he realized he wasn’t quite ready to let her go.
Gaap knew he was about to break a major doctrine of the Demon world.
Blood continued to ooze from the puncture wound. He examined the
innocuous hole and the blood that stiffened the sleeve of her dress. She’d been
bleeding the entire time she helped him back to this refuge.
He had to stop the flow before she bled to death.
Hesitation held him motionless as he weighed the options. And finally, he
made the only choice he could. She would die if he didn’t stop the flow of blood.
He lifted her wrist to his mouth. Paused one more time. This was
forbidden.
Gaap curled his tongue around her wrist and pressed lightly against the
thready beat of her pulse. He kept his tongue wrapped around her delicate wrist
until he was sure the wound had sealed completely.
He could be sanctioned for this action. However, who would know? Even
if they found out, he could argue she was a valuable source. She’d been in
contact with the Fae. With the outright attack on him, their enemy had clearly
escalated their attempts to hurt the Demon bastions.
Gaap efficiently tied gauze around her wrist, the off-white cotton barely
noticeable on her fragile skin. He pulled the chair from the table over to the bed.
He straddled the hard seat and surveyed the woman who had summoned him.
Conflicting emotions battered him. He should kill her. But he couldn’t.
Instead he’d saved her. He couldn’t bear the thought of her death. This
indecision was totally illogical.
As he stared at the blood on her clothes, panic spurted through him. What
if the small puncture wound wasn’t the only one? He needed to check her for
other wounds.
Gaap stripped off her cloak and dress and searched for any other signs of
injury. He clinically examined every inch of her skin, careful to make sure she
wasn’t bleeding elsewhere.
Studiously, he ignored the soft, pale perfection of her skin. The sensitive
crease of her elbow and the delicate hollow behind her knee. While he searched
with an exquisite thoroughness, he gently caressed her body.
By the time he finished, his body was sheened with a layer of sweat. His
cock was a painful rod, pulsing with a powerful need for release. The temptation
of her body lured him like a siren lured the ships to their destruction.
A knock at the door startled him out of his voyeuristic caressing of her
curves. Gaap drew the patchwork quilt over Lili’s body.
“It’s only us.” Zepar walked through the previously locked door. He
paused to stare at Lil's prone form. For some odd reason, Gaap felt an
inexplicable need to protect her from the Demon’s gaze.
inexplicable need to protect her from the Demon’s gaze.
He shifted purposefully to draw Zepar’s attention back to him. “Where the
hell were you?”
Zepar frowned and stepped toward Gaap. “You’re injured.”
Gaap brushed aside the concern with a flick of his hand. “We were
attacked in the clearing where Lili was attacked.”
“Where she was supposedly attacked.” Zepar contradicted. “I don’t trust
her.”
Until a few moments ago neither had Gaap. But the proof was in the injury
she’d sustained while defending him.
Perhaps they were both wrong.
He kept his face expressionless. But his body instinctively readied for a
fight. To defend her as she’d defended him.
“Are you well?” Zepar had noted Gaap’s tense muscles. His friend
intuited that Gaap was ready to fight. Over this human.
“I’ll live,” Gaap responded drily. “Why weren’t you there?”
Zepar paced around the small cabin. Where Gaap hadn’t been feeling the
small size of the structure before, Zepar’s nervous movements started tension
crawling up Gaap’s spine.
“We followed you. But all of the sudden, you disappeared.”
“Glamour.” Gaap spit out.
“We should have been able to find you, even if we couldn’t locate her.”
Leraye paced to the sink and then back toward the table again. “But it was as if
you both had vanished.”
Some magick was afoot here. The big question remained, was Lili a pawn
or a player? Gaap sat on the patchwork quilt next to Lili. The compulsion to
stroke her arm, to watch her chest rise and fall, was like a spell.
Leraye said, “We need to go.”
“I am not leaving her.” Gaap cursed his unruly tongue. “Just yet. When
she wakes, after I question her, I’ll return to the castle.”
Zepar eased down on the side of the bed and leaned toward Lili. With a
gentle brush of his fingers over her lips, he glanced up at Gaap. “Let me seduce
the truth from her.” He stroked his hand over the curve of her bare shoulder and
Gaap fought the urge to fist his hands.
Zepar was merely offering his services. Gods knew that if Zepar wanted to
seduce a human, she would melt under his sexual attentions.
In a normal situation Gaap would have suggested the idea himself.
But he didn’t want Zepar’s cock anywhere near his Lili. He knew if he
confessed those feelings to Leraye and Zepar, there would be hell to pay, so he
searched for the argument that would make the most sense. “She summoned
me.”
Leraye said, “Which is why I don’t like it. You were assaulted because of
her.”
Gaap understood, but he didn’t agree anymore. “She attacked the Fae and
defended me.”
He stared at her delicate features, almost pixie-like in their fragility. Her
body was lithe under thin cotton sheet.
“Do not be deceived by her appearance,” Leraye cautioned.
Zepar argued, “Could all be to gain your trust.”
“She nearly perished.” Gaap gestured to the dried blood that stained her
dress. “I will not leave her until she is conscious and able to defend herself. I
refuse to leave her defenseless.”
“But--”
“Non-negotiable.” Gaap’s voice was as hard as his muscles. He would not
be swayed.
“I must recommend you leave.” Leraye trailed off as if he finally realized
Gaap was adamant.
“You forget yourself.” Gaap played his ruler card. Most of the time he
didn’t pull his rank as a Prince, but technically he was Leraye’s commander.
And in this situation he would exert his will.
Lili had watched over him, now he would watch over her.
And just in case Leraye and Zepar had thought that Gaap had completely
lost his mind, he reminded them. “We can’t take her back to the castle. And I
don’t want to leave her unprotected while she is unconscious.”
“Understood.” Leraye nodded slowly. He pointed to Zepar. “You keep
surveillance over the exterior. In case any enemies approach.”
“Just keep your distance.” Zepar blurted out as if he couldn’t help himself
from warning Gaap away from Lili.
“Absolutely.” Not a chance in hell, Gaap thought.
“Excellent.” Zepar left.
Gaap waited for Leraye to leave. Leraye's regard shifted from Gaap to Lili
and he stared hard at the gauze around her wrist. Finally, Leraye lifted his
knowing gaze to Gaap and spoke. “If you won’t leave then I am compelled to
stay here.”
Gods, he wanted to argue. But he knew that Leraye was right. He might
want to trust her, but that didn't mean she was trustworthy.
“Fine. But cloak yourself with glamour. And do not reveal yourself.”
Leraye eased down onto the plank floor near the stove and rested his back
against the wall as if he understood that Gaap wanted him as far away from Lili
against the wall as if he understood that Gaap wanted him as far away from Lili
as possible.
Suddenly the lethargy that accompanied Gaap’s healing magick stole over
him. He wanted to lie with Lili while his body regenerated. “I must rest.”
“Restrain her first.”
 TWELVE

Warmth surrounded her in a protective cocoon.
Fire crackled and popped in the hearth. Lili lay on her side facing the
fireplace, her arm tucked under the pillow. An inferno of heat wrapped around
her waist and anchored her to a heavily muscled body.
Puffs of breath feathered along her exposed neck, scattering goosebumps
across her skin. The sense of rightness, of solidness, of perfection stole through
her.
Lili smiled dreamily, thinking it had been so long since she’d woken to the
heat of a male behind her. Oh, how she’d missed this. The steady throb of his
erection pulsed into the crease of her butt. The urge to rub against him grew to
nearly a compulsion.
She smiled again and decided the time was right to take advantage of that
lovely morning erection. But first, she had to move. She trailed her fingers up a
very muscular, hairy thigh, and traveled toward the source of the pulsing.
Suddenly her arm caught and she was unable to move.
At that moment, Lili registered the weight of something around her right
wrist and another heavier weight around her ankle.
Her eyelids popped open.
The bronze skin of the forearm around her waist was nothing like Brian’s
fairness. Then she registered the broader chest and the thicker, more muscular
thigh behind her.
Lili whipped to her back and used her left hand to push the hair away from
her face. She realized immediately that she was in her bed with Gaap the
Demon.
And she was tied down. Up. Whatever.
Tied.
Her gaze shot to Gaap. He had risen up on one elbow. The rich burnished
copper of his overly long hair was tousled from his nap. In. Her. Bed.
“How are you feeling?” His voice rumbled through his chest and vibrated
along her side where their flesh met in a very intimate contact.
“Like I’m tied up.” And naked. An idiot wouldn’t mistake the rage in her
voice for anything else. Lili clenched her fingers into fists. The urge to hit him
was overwhelmingly strong.
He grinned, the white of his teeth flashing in the tanned swarthy dark of
his face. “True.”
his face. “True.”
She noted the bandage around her left wrist. “What the hell did you do to
me?”
He ignored her demand and wrapped his fingers around her forearm. He
drew her arm toward him and looked intently at her appendage. “How are you
feeling?”
The question seemed genuine. And while the concern in his gaze could be
faked, why bother?
Lili blinked. Took stock. Weak. She felt weak. And tied up. “Tired.”
“You were injured.”
“So you decided to tie me up?” Lili snapped. “‘Cause, yeah, that’s
logical.”
“Apparently I should have gagged you too.” He grinned again.
Gaap threaded his fingers through her hair. His fingertips rested lightly on
her scalp and sent electric pulses to every nerve ending in her body. Everything
tingled.
Places she’d thought long dead, flared to life as he lazily brushed his
thumb back and forth across her eyebrow. With each brush, his body seemed
closer, but what should have seemed menacing only felt as if he were sheltering
her with his body.
His very ripped body.
Muscles rippled in his bicep as he moved his thumb over her face. His
breath floated across her mouth. He drew so close she could see the striations of
gold and hazel in the whiskey brown of his eyes.
Lili’s breath shortened. Her brain stuttered and all she could think about
was his full sensual lips devouring hers.
The rage over the injustice drained out of her in a whoosh, and the
indignation that propelled her slipped away. “Just try gagging me, pal.” Even she
could hear the surrender in her voice.
She could think of a far better way to gag her. As if he’d heard the tease,
Gaap closed that last inch between them.
Instead of fitting his lips to hers, he gently kissed the corner of her mouth.
Confusing her. He continually threw her off balance, and as someone who prided
herself on being in control, the sensation was not pleasant.
He softly kissed the other side of her mouth. Nuzzled the sensitive skin
behind her ear. He slid the wet heat of his tongue down her neck before his lips
closed over the juncture of her neck and shoulder and sent shivers along her
spine.
She wanted his mouth. On hers. Now.
“Gimme.” She tried to force his mouth back up to hers.
 “Gimme.” She tried to force his mouth back up to hers.
But he would not be persuaded. He licked her body in long lazy laps, as if
savoring the essence of her through her skin. He slowly, agonizingly slowly,
tasted his way back up to her face.
His breath was hot against her mouth as finally the tip of his tongue traced
the outline of her lips.
Lili wrapped the fingers of her free hand around the thick band of the
wrist that held her head still. The scent of aroused male rose between them. And
the insistent throb of his erection against her hip told her that he wasn’t feeling
as leisurely as his actions transmitted.
The depth of his control sent a thrill of heat through her.
Gods, to have all that control focused on her was unbelievably sexy.
Her eyelids drifted closed as he finally inserted only the tip of his tongue
between her lips and lapped the sensitive skin, sparking the contraction of her
nipples. The smattering of hair across his chest abraded her already sensitive
breasts and shot sparks of arousal over her skin.
She touched the tip of her tongue to his, and a bolt of desire zapped her
core.
Lili fisted her hand in his hair and pulled his mouth closer, needing the
pressure he seemed to be adamantly denying her. She arched higher, seeking that
delicious contact, seeking him.
She nipped at his lips, trying to goad him into harder contact. Trying
desperately to find a point of connection with some weight behind it instead of
this soft, gentle teasing designed to drive her crazy.
Lili moaned.
Suddenly she understood that he was used to being in charge. Just as she
was.
The perverse need to shake him up roared through her.
She bucked, trying to get him on top of her. Trying to get the massive
weight of him to press into her. To dominate her.
He hadn’t even really touched her. Just the slight brush of his body against
hers and the points where his mouth met her skin.
“Gods,” she breathed. “Touch me.”
“With pleasure.”
He cupped her breasts with the rough pads of his fingers.
With her free hand, she caressed the broad, thick muscles of his shoulders.
Strong shoulders. Built to protect her from the storms. She melted into the
pleasure of his touch. Her legs twitched restlessly. Each squeeze and pinch of his
fingers plucked more and more sensation from her until she thought she would
burst.
burst.
She wanted to explore every inch of him with her hands, then start all over
again with her tongue.
Lili nipped at the bunched curve of his bicep as he licked his way down
her sternum.
He swirled his tongue over each areola with a loving attention to detail
then slid down and penetrated her belly button. All the while his clever fingers
cupped her hips.
With one hand and foot bound, her range of motion was limited. As he
pressed his fingers into her hips, Lili could barely move.
Everything in her tightened, and froze as he licked his way down to her
core. His breath was hot against the tender skin of her belly as he held her down.
Every nerve and muscle pulsed with anticipation as she waited eagerly for the
carnal attention of his mouth.
He blew against her nether lips and she could almost, almost reach his
mouth. Yet he held himself apart. "Do you remember when we met?”
Lili whimpered. How could she forget?
Then, neither one of them had been naked, skin to skin as they were now,
her feminine core bared to his gaze and at the mercy of his mouth. The mouth he
was withholding from her. Lili sighed.
“Do you?” he asked more forcefully, his breath a sensual puff against her
clitoris.
“Gods,” she panted. “Please. Yes. Whatever.”
“I’ve been dreaming of this since then.” He confessed to her pussy. And in
one dominating thrust, he forced his tongue inside her.
Oh. My. Gods.
Her hips rose as he fucked her with his tongue. The tip fluttered against
that spot. Lili’s head swam as his tongue seemed to expand inside her. Bigger
than any cock she’d ever taken, wider, more talented, more everything.
The tips of his fingers pressed into the soft skin of her belly just above her
pubis as he flicked his tongue in and out of her faster and faster.
The stubble from his beard abraded her pussy and his teeth nipped at her
clit as she rode his chin. Her womb clenched, struggling to hold him inside her
as her entire body reached for the orgasm that taunted her.
He rubbed his thumbs along the swollen petals of her sex. Every bit of him
focused on her, focused on the beautiful explosion building with in her. Her
body strained even as she began trying to back away from the intensity.
Her heels dug into the quilt. She needed relief from the awful, unbearable
arousal slamming into her from all sides.
She whimpered again. If she could speak, she would have told him to stop,
 She whimpered again. If she could speak, she would have told him to stop,
to wait, to give her a moment to catch her breath.
But he just kept assaulting her senses as he pressed all of his tongue inside
her. She swore he touched the entrance to her womb even as he rubbed along the
ridge of her g-spot. She exploded.
Stars sparked behind her closed eyelids. Every sensation centered around
her womb, the flat thick bulk of his tongue, the agile, tricky tip, the rough caress
of his fingers, even the press of his arms holding down her legs.
Oh, my Gods. Her body shook and her heart bulleted out of her chest. Lili
tried to slow her system down. Tried to summon fear for the fact that she was
bound and helpless, but all she could do was feel. She didn’t tremble in fear, but
in need and desire. She should be feeling vulnerable, at a disadvantage, instead
she was triumphant. Because while she trembled with spent desire, Gaap’s arms
and legs vibrated with need. For her.
He needed her.
 THIRTEEN

Gaap rested his cheek against the sweet, silky skin of Lili’s belly. Her
breath heaved in and out and her whole body shook. He inhaled her unique musk
and knew he should be suspicious of her and her motives.
But her essence coated his tongue, sunk into his pores, and infiltrated his
brain until he could think of nothing else but lust for her. Her unique ability to
arouse him even while she exasperated him brought a smile to his face.
“What are you smiling about?” She combed her fingers lazily through his
hair in a languorous flowing arc, as if the sexual release had scrambled her brain
cells and she’d forgotten she was mostly annoyed with him.
His cock throbbed, pressed between his belly and the soft, worn
patchwork quilt. He’d get to his own release in a moment. For this very second
he only wanted to embrace the peace of lying with her. No worries about agenda.
No worries about the welfare of the Demons in his castle. No worries about the
Fae and their evil intention to use her.
Even if he hadn’t been able to figure out how they intended to use her.
She tried to shift, but the bindings caught her wrist. “Ow.”
“Are the bindings too tight?” Once he was assured of her innocence,
perhaps they could indulge in some love play using the same restraints.
She stiffened. “Are you going to keep me like this?”
Keep her. His brain stalled, struck dumb by the image of him keeping her.
That thought brought him an absurd sense of pleasure.
“Perhaps I will.” He pressed up on all fours and crawled up her body,
making sure to brush against her wet mound with the tip of his erection.
The movement backfired as his erection hardened even more. Gods he
was stiff as a piece of seasoned driftwood.
He wanted to pound into her.
Beads of pre-cum coated the head of his cock, tempting him to enter her
slick welcoming channel. His tongue had been inside her, and now his cock
clamored for a turn.
She hooked her untethered leg around his calf.
“Perhaps you should let me go.” She arched up into him, to taunt him as
the head of his cock slid just a little further inside.
“Think of the things I could hold onto with both legs free.” She trailed her
toe up the inside his thigh. She was inordinately flexible for being so tall.
Gaap panted with the effort to withhold his entrance just a little longer. As
 Gaap panted with the effort to withhold his entrance just a little longer. As
hard as he was, he’d go off like a geyser within seconds.
And the ego in him wanted to prolong their pleasure a little bit longer.
“Hmm.” He pretended to ponder. “Perhaps you should enlighten me with
your sensual capabilities.”
Then he distracted her and fluttered the tip of his tongue against her
distended nipple. Her breath caught.
Gaap lifted his body higher above hers, so that every muscle strained. The
only two places they touched were the head of his cock inside her and the flat of
his tongue curled around her nipple.
She panted. “Next time you get to be tied up.”
The image caused all the blood in his brain to go south.
Lili reached down with her free hand and wrapped her fingers around his
erection. She licked her lips.
Gaap thought he just might expire at the look of pure pleasure that
wreathed her face. The expression was so different from her first tentative forays
on the beach that his control snapped. “Let go,” he growled.
Her fingers loosened and he plunged inside her. She suctioned around his
cock as if her body had been made to receive his. Lili’s fingers grasped his butt
and squeezed, begging him to pound into her.
All of his control and finesse evaporated in a puff of lust.
Gaap slammed into her body. The bed shook as he powered in and out of
her. Her breasts bobbed, jiggling with each heavy thrust. Lili’s eyes glazed with
passion, arousal flushed her skin and pinkened her face and breasts. Blue veins
in her skin marked her with a fragility that was deceiving as her personality was
so bold and big.
For a moment, he worried that he was hurting her.
And then she whispered, "More," and he became impossibly harder.
Sweat gleamed over his skin. Gaap slid both hands underneath her butt
and jerked her up as the beast inside took over.
Rational thought spun away replaced by the need to make her his. To
mark her and claim her until they were one entity, one being wrapped in a
cocoon of blood and arousal and lust. His need spiraled out of control until only
one word reverberated through his brain as he pounded into her channel.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
And he had one last thought before his cock burst, semen jetting into her
body. Her core milked him dry, sucked the will and the suspicion out of him. He
had no intention of letting her go.
Not yet.
 ***

Lili woke again to a pitch-black room.
The fire had gone to warm ash and still emitted a bit of heat but not a
speck of light. The candle on the kitchen table had gutted out sometime earlier.
Gaap was curled around her like a lover, his head tucked into the curve of
her neck, his arms wrapped around her like seaweed, and his thigh firmly
wedged between hers.
Her left hand twined with his. Her right hand was still tied to the bedposts.
She should be annoyed, but the sense of absolute well-being slithered through
her like a snake in the Garden of Eden.
He’d pleasured her throughout the night.
Lying in the darkness, she smiled at the soreness of her unused muscles.
Her well-used body ached decadently. It had been so long. The yearning for
more shocked her. She wondered how long she would have to wait before he
woke up, ready to use her again in such a delicious manner.
A sliver of moonlight filtered through the lace curtains, the sinuous rays
sliding through the darkness.
Ah, not much longer, she thought with a secret smile as she listened to the
change in the tenor of his breath.
Lili waited for him to make his move.
She planned to assert her dominance, but for now, the novelty of being
submissive appealed to her. She couldn’t wait to surprise him when she was on
top.
As she waited, awareness eased into her consciousness. Gaap wasn’t
making any moves. As a matter of fact, he was preternaturally still. His
breathing was shallow and his chest barely moved. Cool sweat slicked his skin
and his muscles were rock hard. But she suddenly realized he wasn’t going to
roll on top of her and have his Demon way with her.
“What’s wrong?” She released his fingers, understanding that some threat
hovered. Lili tensed. Where would the attack come from?
“Nothing,” he rasped, his voice near wrecked with the tension that gripped
him in a stranglehold.
“Something is wrong.”
“Let me rekindle the fire.” He pushed off the covers and strode to the
fireplace.
Lili heard the sigh of relief as he placed the logs on the grate and threw in
some dry pinecones for tinder.
“Matches are on the mantle,” she said softly.
 “Matches are on the mantle,” she said softly.
Sulfur ignited with a hiss. The flare illuminated his tense face. And Lili
knew. With the awareness of an attuned lover, she understood that the only
threat in her tiny little cottage was the absolute darkness.
Gaap knelt by the fireplace. He coaxed the rippling flames into a fire with
his face turned away from her, his body limned by the growing firelight.
His body was a work of art. Muscles defined his legs, the ripped curves of
his stomach, the pads of his pectorals, huge biceps, and the thick column of his
neck. Her mouth began to water.
But his body wasn’t the issue right now.
She’d never really thought about the length of time the Demons had spent
beneath the surface of the Earth’s crust. But she should have realized that the
time must have felt like an eternity. “How long were you imprisoned?”
He shifted his gaze from his contemplation of the fire. “Years.”
“I don’t recall that I knew anything about Demons before you escaped.”
They'd been mere fairy tales. Fictional bogeymen to scare children into
behaving. "How long?"
He shrugged as if to say, fine. “Thousands of years.” His face was set in
harsh lines. All carnal thoughts were gone. Disappeared into the cavern of his
fear.
Lili sat up, letting the quilt fall from her breasts.
Gaap’s eyebrow quirked but he didn't move from the light of that fire.
“So...dark places aren’t your favorite thing.”
He glanced back toward the fire, not answering. But before he’d looked
away, she’d seen the shame.
Perhaps she could take his mind off the darkness in a time-honored
method of distraction. Lili pushed the quilt away from her hips, angling so that
her sex directly faced him. She pushed a pillow behind her head so she could
look at him, and leaned back.
“Gaap.” She placed her fingers against the sticky, wet folds of her pussy.
That drew his attention. His gaze warmed at the motion of her fingers as
she slid them into her body, angled just so he could see everything she was doing
to herself.
“What--” He cleared his throat. “What are you doing?”
She slid her fingers in and out of her body, but wished he would come
over to the bed and fill her instead. The awkward motion of her hand was a poor
substitute for his massive cock.
She smiled, pouring every bit of sexiness she possessed into the taunting
smirk. “Summoning a Demon.”
 FOURTEEN

Gaap’s heart lightened at the playful expression on her face.
With each slow stroke of her hand, his cock swelled. The urge to slide
back into her slick heat was tempting. Leraye, still cloaked in glamour, now
lounged on the chair in the corner. He could see exactly what Gaap saw. He
would not turn his gaze away.
Gaap knew his friend and battle leader well enough to realize that he
wouldn’t stay invisible forever. They needed to question her. But for now, the
night was pitch-black and he would steal this time. Leraye would just have to
wait. And watch.
The fire began to light up the room with a comforting glow. Worry
flickered through him as he realized he had just given her a powerful weapon
against him, if she ever chose to use his hatred of the dark.
But as he probed her thoughts, he sensed no betrayal. Everything in her
was focused on pleasure.
He had kept their intercourse to very traditional positions so not to tax her
in her weakened state. But as he watched her pleasure herself, he thought he’d
take her the way she’d imagined him taking her on the beach.
“How are you feeling?” He stood abruptly.
“I could be better.” She shifted again so her pussy was wide open to his
gaze. She glistened with the juice of her body, her black curls slicked and the
dewy petals of her sex plump and ready.
“I’ll bet you could.” He strode over to the bed. His cock bobbed with each
determined step until he towered over her. His knees touched the side of the
mattress and he fisted his cock. “Untie yourself.”
Her gaze shifted to his hand and glazed over as he palmed himself. She
licked her lips and inhaled softly. The movement lifted her breasts, which drew
his gaze to the taut rose nipples and the puckered areola.
Gods, she was so ready for him, he could lean over and thrust and she’d
take anything he had to give her.
She withdrew her fingers from her body and slowly untied her bonds.
Gaap continued to pump his erection.
“Let me.” Her breath caught as a bead of cum dripped from the tip of his
cock. “Just one little taste.”
This hadn’t been what he’d been thinking. “Persuade me.”
She licked her lips again. “Come closer.”
 She licked her lips again. “Come closer.”
He leaned that last few inches in. His cock was directly in line with her
lips.
“Oh,” she sighed. Her eyes drifted closed as she delicately licked the tip.
Her mouth made a little moue and she kissed him, sucking lightly over his slit.
She slid her mouth further over the head until her lips met his fist and the
sensual contact of her mouth tantalized him.
She popped her lips off his cock. “Put your hands above your head. And
hold onto the canopy.”
Gaap gripped the wood rail above his head just as her fingers cupped his
balls and her mouth closed over him again. This time she slid his cock all the
way into her mouth, until the very head of him touched the back of her throat.
When she swallowed, her throat tightened over him.
“Gods,” he whispered as she worked her mouth up and down over him.
Her tongue flicked and taunted him, as she gripped his cock with one hand and
cupped his bollocks with the other. The rhythm gradually picked up pace but he
was careful not to overwhelm her.
He swelled impossibly harder, larger, and a monster orgasm pulsed at the
base of his spine.
He was about to explode,
Lili squeezed his buttocks and sucked his cock deep into her throat. Her
teeth scraped over the circumference of his erection, her lips spread wide as she
silently begged him to fuck her mouth harder.
Her breasts bounced with each push of his hips. She sucked everything in,
hollowing out her cheeks and flattening her tongue against his cock, and
clenched her throat.
Semen gushed out of him in hot intense bursts as stars exploded behind his
eyelids. And Lili sucked and sucked and sucked until Gaap thought he would
pass out from the pleasure.
She moaned softly.
The hum was a sensual delight on his softening cock. He popped the head
from her mouth. The salty aroma of his cum scented the air. Lili smiled widely,
her mouth slick and her lips love-reddened.
“Mmm.” She rubbed her cheek against the rough curly hair of his belly.
He dropped his hands to cup her head and the silk of her hair slid through his
fingers.
“On your stomach. Now,” he commanded. Her time to play was over.
She rolled over, her hair draped provocatively across her shoulders.
Without his direction, she pushed up onto her hands and knees. “Very good,” he
purred and dropped to the mattress to kneel behind her.
purred and dropped to the mattress to kneel behind her.
The round, pale globes of her ass beckoned. With his fingers he spread her
wide and stared into the glistening pink lips surrounded by her midnight curls.
Her sex was wet and wanting. His blowjob had clearly aroused her.
The deep mystery of a woman’s body had been denied to him for
thousands of years. He never got tired of exploring their sweet aroma, exploring
their curves with little touches and hot licks that drove them wild.
He extended his tongue, ever thankful for the mutation that allowed him to
elongate and curl the muscle, and flicked her clitoris with little fluttering
touches.
Her toes curled against the rumpled sheets of the bed. He flattened his
tongue and in long rough licks ate her up.
Placing his lips over her flushed plumped sex he sucked. Hard.
With every slurp, his cock stiffened into iron, ready and able to pound into
her. Lili whimpered and pushed back against his mouth, her thrusts becoming
more and more urgent.
He laughed softly, and let the vibrations linger against her pussy before he
pulled away. The sound of her frustration was a welcome ego boost.
Gaap surged to his feet and drove into her. The head of his cock was
enveloped by her sex, and he pounded against her pussy until his balls slapped
hard against her clit.
Gaap gripped her hips and then slid one hand around to play between her
curls. Sweat trickled down his back, as her body clamped on him, hard.
She was close to her completion.
All the blood in his body centered in his cock. Gaap pressed lightly on her
clit and she screamed, her muscles bearing down on him so hard he saw stars.
The orgasm started in his toes, tingled through his legs and poured out the
base of his spine. Cum jetted into her body with hard spurts as he continued to
ram into her, wringing every drop of pleasure out of them both.
Until they were both limp and panting.
He stood in the flickering light, his body sated but his mind working. The
soft skin of her thighs brushed against his, her ass snug against him, his balls
tight against her clit. The sense of well being and peace settled over him at her
contented sigh.
He’d like to keep her. The wish made him light-headed. He wanted to
keep her.
They collapsed onto the bed. Gaap rolled to the side and pulled her with
him. He cupped her breast in his hand and pretended he wasn’t trying to hold
onto perfection.
“See.” The rasp of her voice skittered over his nerve endings as his cock
 “See.” The rasp of her voice skittered over his nerve endings as his cock
stuttered to life once more.
"See what?" He hummed low in his throat as she shot him a lazy satisfied
gaze. Lustful.
“Summon a Demon...and he will come.”
 FIFTEEN

Lili stretched out beside him, her purpose lost in a sexual haze.
“Gods, I haven’t.” In years. Since Brian. Sadness fogged her brain for a
moment. How could she have forgotten Brian? She’d been so sad and angry
since he’d been gone. But in the last few days she’d been cavorting with a
Demon, and he had reawakened the sensual nature that she’d suppressed.
Early dawn sunlight bled into the room from the semi-sheer curtains and
filled her cottage with soft illumination. Their time together would soon be at an
end.
He’d tensed in the last few moments as her sad memories flooded back in.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s been a long time since I was intimate.”
“Why?” he asked bluntly. “You are clearly a sexual being.”
Gods, she was sexual. And she’d denied that part of herself for far too
long. “After the Earthquake and the collapse of everything I’d known.” She
thought of her mother, father and younger sister, all dead in an instant. Brian had
died later. “After my family perished, I was just trying to survive.”
“How did you?”
“I was lucky,” she said softly. “I had learned to sew when I was a kid. And
I’d kept up the practice, so that when everything imploded, I had a skill.”
Her gaze meandered to the foot-pedal-controlled sewing machine in the
corner, and she thanked the Gods that her mother had been sentimental about her
grandmother’s old manual machine. What would Lili have done otherwise?
Survived.
That was what she did.
Lili was oddly content to lie in the Demon’s arms. She trailed her fingers
over the dusting of hair on his chest, traced the strong lines of his collarbone,
and brushed over the sleek muscles of his shoulders. She had forgotten how
lovely it was just to be with a man. To curl into the warmth of his body and the
shelter of his embrace, and just be.
“And you lost a love,” he said shrewdly.
“Yes.” She sighed softly thinking of Brian and how much she’d loved
him. How much she missed him still. “I did. Which is why I want revenge on the
Fae.”
Gaap frowned.
“Wait. That’s not right.” Confusion scrambled in her brain, as she tried to
 “Wait. That’s not right.” Confusion scrambled in her brain, as she tried to
re-order the last few days. “No. I want revenge on the Fae because of the attack.”
The attack that was difficult for her to remember.
As she tried to recall the attack by the Fae, a sharp and insistent pain
stabbed through her left eye.
“What’s wrong?” He placed a hand over her forehead.
“Headache.” The same headache she had every time she tried to remember
more about the attack.
“You lost a great deal of blood.” Gaap studied the pain in her gaze.
“Perhaps this has addled your mind.”
But he’d eased away from her.
And suddenly the nakedness that moments ago had been sweet and
sensual seemed more like dangerous exposure.
“Me?” She blinked. “No. I wasn’t injured.” All she could remember was
sewing up his gash.
“Yes. You were." He flicked a finger over the gauze around her wrist.
She stared at the wrapping and flexed her wrist to test for any kind of
damage but it seemed fine. “What happened?”
“I believe we need to find out.” Gaap rose from the bed and drew on his
breeches. There was a certain distance in his eyes, the gold and hazel taking on a
suspicious glint. Looking around the tiny cabin, she knew a moment’s
embarrassment. Her humble cabin was not the type of surroundings he was
accustomed to.
“Get dressed.” His voice was clipped. No longer the gentle, sensual lover
of a few moments ago, but the ruthless Prince he was purported to be. He stared
hard into the shadowed corner near the old stove. “We’re going to have company
soon.”
Lili swallowed, pushing down her sudden uneasiness. She didn’t have
anything to hide. She’d been completely honest with him. She hastily pulled a
dress over her head and wished she could rewind her clock just a few minutes
and savor the intimacy between the two of them.
Her body was sticky with the combination of his seed and her juices. The
musky scent of the two of them intertwined and permeated her senses.
A soft smile spread through her.
Whatever happened she would have this past night of ecstasy to keep her
warm and happy for the next few years.
A knock sounded at the door and before Lili could answer, the heavy,
locked door swung open. Locked door.
Two very large Demons entered her cottage.
A blond Demon moved with a lazy sensuality. His hips canted forward,
 A blond Demon moved with a lazy sensuality. His hips canted forward,
the bulge in his breeches discreet as he sauntered toward them. The Demon
exuded sexuality. As he paused at the foot of the bed, his frank and knowing
gaze took in the tangled strands of her hair, the loose wrap of her dress and
Gaap's bare chest. The rumpled covers and the scent of sex made it obvious what
they had been doing.
The other one was equally large. His skin was swarthy, his head shaved
bald, but a shadow of a beard dusted a strong jaw and cruel mouth. “I take it
you’re recovered.” He assessed her, then Gaap, then for some odd reason, he
stared at the chair over by the stove, before he sat down at her table and frowned
at them both.
Lili sensed his disapproval. And that pissed her off.
What did it matter if Gaap had sex with her? Demons had sex. All the
time, supposedly.
About to give him a piece of her mind, she cocked her hands on her hips,
when Gaap interrupted to introduce them. “Leraye, my security officer,” he
nodded toward the dark Demon. “And Zepar.” Gaap jerked his chin toward the
blonde.
Lili wondered what Zepar’s role might be. Before she could ask, Gaap
spoke again.
“She has the mark of the sun on her wrist.”
Zepar, the blonde, raised an eyebrow. The dark one held preternaturally
still.
The mark of what? “Excuse me?”
“You didn’t think to mention this last night?” Leraye’s pose was
deceptively lazy as he plucked an apple from the wood bowl on her tiny kitchen
table and pulled out a small but deadly knife.
“I didn’t put it together until just a minute ago.”
“What the hell is the mark of the sun?” she asked.
“Fae mark.”
“Well that would make sense, since they attacked me,” she snarled.
“We should just kill her.” Leraye peeled the apple skin into one long curl.
“There is no downside to her death. And if she is a trap, the Fae will be in the
dark.”
His handsome face was set in hard lines and his eyes glittered with
menace.
“I concur.” The sexual being who’d sauntered in had been replaced by a
deadly Demon.
Kill her? They’d said it so casually. Lili gulped as his words to sunk in. A
few days ago she would have accepted death, but after the last night, she no
few days ago she would have accepted death, but after the last night, she no
longer wished to die.
“I veto that option.” She backed up slowly until she hit the edge of the
nightstand next to her bed. She had another dagger next to the candle she used to
read by on her long lonely evenings. The hilt was familiar and comforting in her
hand.
No fucking way was she going down without a fight.
Gaap moved quickly and disarmed her. “Everyone take a moment.” His
grip was gentle and yet, absolute. She wouldn’t be able to break free. Lili
resisted the urge to melt into the hard safety of his embrace.
“Fine,” she snapped.
“We should go back to the clearing,” Gaap said calmly.
“What?!” Lili's heart thudded painfully.
“Not a chance.” Leraye, the voice of reason, shoved the chair back from
the table and jerked to his feet.
Zepar took a step toward Gaap and Lili.
“The only way to find out what is really going on is to attempt contact
again.”
“Attempt death? No.” Lili’s mouth went dry at the fear coating her
tongue. Suddenly she thought perhaps her need for revenge on the Fae wasn’t
what she wanted. “Never mind. I don’t need revenge,” she babbled.
Fear caromed through her at the thought of Gaap facing the Fir Bolg
assassins again. The memory of his flesh split and bleeding, the acrid scent of
burnt skin from the zap of electricity, tormented her.
“I am advising against it,” Leraye said flatly.
“I hear your advice.” Gaap pulled his shirt over his head, the muscles in
his abdomen rippling.
Lili relaxed. Thank Gods one of them had sense. Maybe she could talk
Gaap back into bed. Who needed revenge when she could have love, sex, again?
“And I disagree.” Gaap drew his leather armor on over the fine cotton
shirt. The thick leather broadened his chest but all she noticed was the dark stain
at the edge of his waist. A leftover remnant of his injury. As much as Lili wanted
revenge, she didn’t want him hurt on her account. But before she could protest,
Gaap held up his palm. “Non-negotiable.”
“You seem to be saying that a lot lately.” Zepar tilted his head, so that his
gaze skimmed thoughtfully back and forth between them. Lili had no idea what
he was thinking. “I should spend some time alone with the lovely Lili.”
Lili stiffened at the sensual intent in his words. She didn’t want to spend
time with him.
“Zepar,” Gaap said patiently, but with an edge of steel. “Now is not the
 “Zepar,” Gaap said patiently, but with an edge of steel. “Now is not the
time.”
But Zepar ignored Gaap and sauntered up to her. Lili kept her attention on
him, not forgetting for a moment that he thought killing her was a good idea. She
wished Gaap hadn’t disarmed her.
“Ah, lovely Lili.” Zepar's smile was wicked, lustful. If she hadn’t just met
Gaap and spent the most amazing night of her life with him, she might have been
tempted. He leaned closer until the tips of her breasts touched his chest. And his
breath was hot on her mouth. Lili tilted her chin up and refused to be
intimidated.
“You don’t frighten me.”
Zepar laughed low in his throat. “You aren’t supposed to be frightened,
sweet.”
She desperately wanted to take a step back, away, but she had no intention
of showing him weakness. He left her stone cold and she wanted that clear. "No,
thank you."
“It appears, my friend,” Zepar turned his head to goad Gaap. “That you’ve
ruined her.”
Gods, the blonde Demon was right. She had no interest in him. He exuded
sex and his hot look told her that he could make her very happy in bed. And she
couldn't care less. Lili’s lashes fluttered down so that she could hide that
frightening truth.
Gaap’s bark of laughter was loud and hearty. “You just turned down the
Demon of Seduction.”
The joy that lit up his face was like sunshine coming out after a bitter
rain."
“Sweet Lili, like the flower?” Zepar asked casually.
“Lilith. Short for Lilith.”
All the Demons stiffened.
“What?”
“Lilith, consort of the devil.” Leraye tightened his fist around the hilt of
the paring knife.
She rolled her eyes. “My mother liked the way it sounded.”
“Names have power.” Seduction guy growled, his sensual side buried by
menace.
“Names are just names.” Power was in magick. And she was not a consort
of the devil. Even so. “But that would make sense since I’m consorting with you
three.”
Gaap’s demeanor changed, his easy amusement of a moment ago replaced
with solemnity. “Demons are not devils.”
with solemnity. “Demons are not devils.”
“I know that.” Lili wrapped her dress more tightly around her middle.
Their response to her name was an unwelcome surprise.
Leraye looked ready to pounce on her. “What else do you know?”
“The Fae are the devils,” Gaap said calmly. “They want something. We
need to deny them.”
Exactly what she wanted. To deny the Fae. Lili’s heart clenched and fear
fluttered in her breast. Because, good Gods, taunting the Fae was a bad idea.
“Don’t let him go into the clearing,” Lili begged Leraye, understanding
that this Demon had some sway with Gaap. More than she did.
Leraye lowered his dark brows over his startlingly pale blue eyes.
Gaap sneered. “You’re all pansies.”
She glanced at the scar from yesterday’s injury but the red, angry slash
had faded to a pink puckered seam on his hips.
“I heal fast,” Gaap said softly.
Her response was equally soft. “I still don’t want you to go.”
But then Leraye curled his cold fingers around her bicep and crowded her
between the bed and the nightstand. “He won’t be going alone.”
 SIXTEEN

The Demons loaded up on weapons before leaving Lili's home.
When they strode toward the clearing where the Fae had attacked, Gaap
was surprised the clanging from the weapons strapped to his body hadn’t already
brought the Fae out to play.
“We should have left her behind.”
He could almost hear Lili grinding her teeth. She’d refused to stay at her
cottage. As he’d wished. He admired her tenacity but he hated that she was in
danger.
“They attacked because she was with you.” Leraye lengthened his stride.
“She is the catalyst.”
Last time, I saved you. Gaap could hear her thoughts loud and clear. The
mulish look on her face conveyed the stubborn thought as well. Their connection
had strengthened after yesterday’s attack. He knew her thoughts and her worries.
But his need to protect the Demons, to protect her, overrode any worries she
might have.
They needed to find out what the Fae had planned.
“I don’t like it.” Gaap would have preferred to find out without her
present. She was a distraction he could well do without.
“Join the club.” Leraye’s gaze moved constantly looking for any threat.
While Gaap gave Leraye a rundown of the attack from the previous day,
he fingered the iron throwing stars dangling from his belt.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Gaap glanced around the shadows for
any followers or anything out of place. He wanted to get this over with and go
back to Lili’s cottage and lose himself in her body.
In no time, they reached the tiny glade. Gaap and Leraye had worked out a
plan on the trek to the Faery mound.
They stood underneath the massive oak tree and Gaap assessed the
clearing again.
The brook running through the little glade trickled joyously and the rush
of water in his ears soothed him. Water was his to command and proximity to
any body of water always calmed him. One of the worst tortures of being
underground had been the lack of water. Their sustenance had been mere trickles
down the black cavernous walls. The only color in their prison had been the
sparkle of amethyst crystals embedded in the rocks.
“You see anything?” Lili whispered. She stood straight, tense, the lines of
 “You see anything?” Lili whispered. She stood straight, tense, the lines of
her body indicated her readiness to fight.
Leraye held a finger to his lips, then gestured to the giant oak tree that
Gaap had used defensively before.
While Gaap and Lili used the tree as shelter and protection, Leraye
climbed up into the shadowed branches and found an advantageous surveillance
point.
A single Fae appeared in the clearing. Everything about him shimmered, a
trait Gaap had always found interesting. Demons tended toward dark. The Fae
were glimmering creatures of gold and sunlight and yet their hearts were blacker
than the darkest Demon.
Lili stepped forward as if ready to take on the Fae all on her own. Gaap
curled his fingers around her bicep and tugged her back.
“You are done here.” The Fae spoke in his seductive voice, directing all of
his power of suggestion at Lili.
She blinked. “Are you talking to me?”
“Your wish will be granted, since you have brought them to us.”
What the hell was he talking about? Gaap frowned.
Lili’s fists clenched. Gaap could feel her confusion and her anger toward
the Fae.
Caution. He attempted to send the word to her. She quivered. Ah, so it
appeared that he could communicate with her now.
“What do you want?” Gaap wondered if the Fae would answer.
“The same thing she does.” The Fae smirked as if he had a delicious
secret.
“So you did use her to get to me?” Gaap wanted to be very clear. This was
why he’d been able to sense the Fae on her skin and see the sun mark on her
body.
The Fae’s laugh was harsh with glee. “Hardly.” With a languid gesture, he
waved his hand as if clearing a mirror of steam.
And suddenly Gaap could see in her mind. Images played through her
brain and transmitted to him.
Lili on her knees in this very clearing, begging for revenge. Lili with fury
on her face. Lili with triumph in her eyes as her memories were shielded by
glamour and slowly replaced with faint memories of being attacked.
Lili, the betrayer.
Her hatred for Demons was recorded in her memories and slammed into
him with sickening force. Her hatred had bubbled in a cauldron of rage until she
broke and begged the Fae to use her.
“She has served her purpose,” the Fae taunted with an evil grin. “You may
 “She has served her purpose,” the Fae taunted with an evil grin. “You may
do with her what you will.”
With one last swipe of his hand, he removed the rest of the concealing
glamour.
No, no, no, no. Gaap heard her words in his head as she backed away from
him, tears in her eyes, her face a rictus of shame and horror.
Rage filled him, rising from a hot ball in his stomach and radiating out
until the force of the anger consumed him. He should have ignored his feelings
and used his head. He’d known that she had the scent of the Fae on her. Instead,
he’d shoved aside the anomalies and concentrated on how she made him feel.
Gaap laughed, the sound harsh and grating in the still expectant air. It
turned out the Fae weren’t using her, she had been using them.
“No,” she whispered.
He would kill her soon, but first, the Fae was the bigger threat.
 SEVENTEEN

A gust of wind rustled through the leaves and blew the scent of heather
into her face. Her stomach roiled and pitched.
Gods, she wanted to throw up. Cry. Scream.
She’d betrayed him.
Lili’s heart pounded in her chest. Her mouth dry with terror and shame,
she waited for the deathblow. Noise rang in her ears and her vision danced with
white stars, as her chest got tighter and tighter. She kept her eyes open, wanting
to see death as Gaap visited his wrath upon her.
Breathe. Gaap’s voice snarled in her mind, his touch harsh and angry.
Gaap turned his attention to the smug Fae. “You’re mine.” His face was a
mask of determined power as he twirled an iron throwing star at the triumphant
enemy.
Lili understood then that Gaap would take his revenge on her later.
Bloodlust welled up in her as she watched the arc of his ornate killing weapon.
Images powered through her mind and tumbled over the blocks that had existed
when she’d met him. When she’d blamed all her ills on the Demons.
In her quest to exact revenge, she’d found the Demon's true worth. And
she’d found the love that had been denied to her for the past ten years. She’d
found her haven with Gaap. How ironic that the act meant to bring a measure of
peace actually brought her total anguish.
The iron star dropped harmlessly to the ground, merely splattering the
grass with sparks as the deadly metal bounced off the Fae’s shield of glimmering
light.
Gaap shrugged. “There is only one of you.”
The Fae threw an electric shock pulse at Gaap, aiming perfectly to nail
him in the thigh.
Gaap hissed in pain and threw another iron star.
“You cannot touch me,” the Fae taunted as Gaap’s weapon fell to the
earth. “Your weapons are useless against my shields.”
The Fae threw another electric shock pulse, accurately hitting Gaap in the
exact spot of his injury from yesterday. The exact spot that Lili had sewn with
such care last night. “You have been defeated by a human.”
And that was when she realized that yesterday's battle had been a test. A
way to measure the weapons of the Demons and then counteract them for
maximum injury to the Demons and minimum to the Fae.
maximum injury to the Demons and minimum to the Fae.
Gaap had been played on so many levels. And she had been there at every
turn, betraying him. Helping the Fae, hurting the Demons.
She remembered her anger when she’d gone to the Fae, but she was a
different person now. Changed by the truth, the fundamental good of Demons.
They had not been the real reason for her desperation, but she learned too late
that the Fae were the true evil.
Lili stood mutely, hands hanging at her sides as the Fae advanced toward
Gaap.
“I will admit that I didn’t think she had a prayer of enticing you.”
With every word he uttered the Fae sealed her fate. She was doomed.
Deserved to be doomed.
With each bolt of energy the Fae tossed at Gaap, her heart rate increased.
As the Fae advanced, Lili became more frantic, searching for a way, any way
that she could help Gaap. Lili refused to be the downfall of Gaap who had shown
her nothing but kindness and love. Who had reawakened her to the pleasures of
life.
Gaap bled from half a dozen wounds. Both thighs and one bicep seeped,
and one particularly strong zap had pierced his neck. Yet he stood strong and
ready to attack.
Why wasn’t Leraye helping Gaap out?
Lili glanced surreptitiously up into the oak’s canopy. Leraye seemed
frozen. Nothing moved. She watched him from the corner of her eye, unwilling
to give away his presence to the Fae but needing to understand.
She counted twenty blinks of her own eyes before realizing that he was
truly frozen. Some force compelled him to an absolutely solid form. Nothing
twitched or moved at all.
It was up to her.
Her fingers curled under her sleeve around the iron dagger that she’d
stolen from the Demons as they had loaded up on weapons before coming to the
clearing.
“Why me?” Gaap asked conversationally.
“Take out the leader and the entire regiment will fall,” the Fae mocked.
“You know this.”
“Fight like a warrior,” Gaap taunted. “Instead of hiding behind a pretty,
shimmery shield.”
“You think I'm that stupid?” The Fae hissed and threw another bolt of
electricity at Gaap which pierced the leather on his chest with a vicious slice.
Her Demon didn’t even flinch.
“We want you gone,” the Fir Bolg assassin snarled.
 “We want you gone,” the Fir Bolg assassin snarled.
“I’m thrilled to realize I’m that much of a pain in the ass.”
“Back to the depths of Hell from whence you were banished before. The
world is in complete disarray. We're practically back to the stone age.”
With every step the Fae took, Lili’s resolve strengthened. She would not
let the Fae win.
“What will it take for you to surrender to your fate?” the Fae said.
Lili bristled.
Gaap threw another iron star. The sparks as the iron hit the shield lit the
darkened clearing like fireworks in the sky.
The darkened clearing.
She had to gamble, had to hope this would work. Hope that she could save
Gaap. She refused to be his destroyer. Lili studied the shimmering shield that
protected the Fae and lit the clearing. And knew what she had to do. I love you,
she sent to Gaap.
And then she said, “He fears the dark.”
 EIGHTEEN

The crushing sense of betrayal squeezed his chest. She had taken his
darkest secret and revealed it to the Fae.
You bitch. Love? That was not love. Rage roared through his brain cutting
off all other thought.
“Ah, and here I was beginning to think you’d had a change of heart.” The
evil laugh that came out of the Fae curled through Gaap’s bones.
“Not a chance.” Her amethyst eyes were fierce, as sharp and lethal as the
geodes beneath the Earth’s surface. “I want revenge.”
So did he. This final treachery broke him. As if he could literally hear the
crack, his heart rent in two. He had waited for Leraye to strike, taking the small
hits, trying to lure the Fae into complacency. But the time to act was now. What
the hell was Leraye doing?
Gaap shifted his attention from the Fae to Lili. Her face was white,
miserable. Sorrow haloed her body like a shield.
A shield.
The anticipation on the Fae's face was priceless.
The clearing went stone cold dark. The Fae had dropped his glimmering
light shield.
For an instant Gaap was plunged into that deep well of fear before instinct
kicked in.
As he threw himself to the ground in a barrel roll, he reached unerringly
for the throwing stars. Gaap heard the whisper in his mind. Trust me.
Her blade whooshed through the air.
The iron knife embedded in the Fae’s black heart and light poured from
the mortal wound to illuminate the clearing once again.
A new unit of Fir Bolg assassins swarmed over the Faery mound.
As one, they converged on Lili.
She dropped to the ground, covered her head, and tried to protect her body
from the physical blows they rained down upon her.
Thank Gods, they must not have the electric pulse weapon capabilities like
their leader. It took a very strong magick talent to focus the pulse. Even so, Lili
and Gaap were still outnumbered.
Gaap began to throw the iron stars left and right and he felled several Fae
as he ran toward her. But Gaap didn’t have enough weapons to slay them all.
Things slowed preternaturally, the sound of the crickets in the early
 Things slowed preternaturally, the sound of the crickets in the early
evening air, the happy babble of the stream tripping over the rocks, the thuds and
grunts as the assassins beat up his defenseless Lili. She had given up her
purloined weapon to save him.
She did love him.
And Gaap knew what to do.
Hold your breath when I tell you. He pushed the words toward her, calling
on his power even as he struggled against his weakened system. Blood trickled
from multiple wounds. He’d forgotten that in this clearing his body’s ability to
heal was stunted.
The rush of the water grew louder.
The glorious sensation of power welled up within him. Magick from the
rising moon gave him strength, and Gaap concentrated on the burgeoning water.
His power swelled as he commanded the water to come to him.
Gathering force, the small stream from the brook transformed into a giant
tidal wave.
The roar of the water began to distract the assassins as the wave built and
built and built until it crested at over a hundred feet.
If there was one thing the Fae feared more than iron, it was water.
“Now,” Gaap roared as the wave broke and rushed toward the Fae
assassins. The thunderous crash shook the clearing.
The Fae assassins screamed and ran out of the enchanted glade. If the
mighty swath of water touched them, they would be dead. Gaap grinned
ferociously, as they scattered like terrified mice. The slower ones drowned in the
fury of his wrath.
As the wave ebbed back toward the creek, Lili’s limp body bobbed on the
surface of the water along with the slain Fae. Struggling through the pain from
the multitude of wounds, Gaap ran toward her. Her black hair floated in an
obscene halo around her head. She lay unmoving in the swirling death wave, the
utter stillness of her body a warning that she hadn’t escaped the water's fury.
Fear trapped in his throat. He scanned the area, his gaze constantly moved,
searching for any assassins foolish enough to stay.
“Gods, Lili.” She floated on top of the Faery mound, where she lay silent
and still as death. Gaap finally reached her and ran his hands over her as he
silently begged the Gods for her life.
There were no Gods in the clearing to hear him.
Gaap rolled Lili onto her side and pounded her back until she began to
cough in harsh, wracking sobs. Her dress was plastered to her body, ripped
where the Fae had scored her skin. Her beautiful face was already beginning to
turn black and blue. Huge bruises marred the proud tilt of her cheekbones, and
turn black and blue. Huge bruises marred the proud tilt of her cheekbones, and
her soft, beautiful mouth was swollen and misshapen.
Gaap lifted her into his arms. He was amazed at how slight her body felt
in unconsciousness.
Her breath rattled in her throat as he raced to the oak tree. Her lashes were
dark against the fragile skin of her cheeks. Looking up into the leafy canopy of
the oak tree, he could see Leraye frozen solid.
“Faery spell.” Her voice croaked out of her throat.
He needed to get Leraye down from the tree. “Leave me,” Lili said.
The massive roots of the oak tree split the ground like veins popping from
skin. He lay Lili down and nestled her between the rifts. His heart filled with
love. “Thank you for saving me.” Gaap brushed a tender kiss over her battered
mouth.
A flash of power sparked through him.
Gaap climbed toward his frozen friend. He kept the water swirling in a
gentle whirlpool on the ground, to keep away the Fae while he rescued his
friend. When he reached Leraye, he pressed a hand to his skin. Warm to the
touch. Gaap placed his hand over his friend’s chest and felt his heart beating in a
slow, somnolent rhythm. But no breath passed through his nose and his eyes
were static and vacant as if his spirit were gone.
Gaap pushed his shoulder into the hard, rigid muscles of Leraye’s stomach
and heaved him onto his shoulder. Since Leraye had been frozen in a crouch, the
maneuver wasn’t as difficult as it could have been.
He vaulted carefully to the ground, grunting under his friend's dead
weight. Gaap placed him carefully on the ground and wondered what sort of
magic could keep Leraye frozen in stasis.
He had to get them all out of the clearing.
No way in hell would he leave Lili. He couldn’t leave her. She was more
than just a means to an end. With her courage and fierce will to survive, she’d
filled a place in his heart he hadn’t even realized was empty. But he couldn’t
leave Leraye here either.
The Fae were going to be angry at the loss of their head commander and
the Fir Bolg assassins.
The Demons must be more on guard than ever.
His wounds continued to bleed, like tiny rivers through the leather and
cotton of his clothing. His head swirled and stars danced in his vision.
He didn’t have much time left.
Gaap placed Lili on top of his friend. She had passed out again. He wiped
the sweat from his eyes, surprised when his fingers came away coated with
blood.
blood.
Gaap blinked.
He wasn’t healing.
Gaap drew on his magick power and with a super effort, he lifted Leraye
and Lili into his arms and trudged toward the edge of the clearing. With every
step the strain on his muscles increased. Fatigue ripped at his legs. His wounds
oozed warm trails of blood over his skin.
A Demon battalion lay just beyond the magickal barrier of the clearing.
The plan had been for Leraye, secreted in the oak, to contact the army when the
time was right. Clearly the plan had failed.
All he needed was to bring one soldier into the Faery enclave and he’d be
able to take his friend and his lover home. As he stumbled nearer to the barrier
of the clearing, the sky brightened. Light from the full moon illuminated the
forest.
Gaap trudged forward. He only needed to keep putting one foot in front of
the other.
His lungs burned. His muscles had passed the point of fatigue and become
like bricks. His fingers cramped at holding onto their weight but he knew if he
let go he wouldn’t be able to pick them up again.
Gaap stumbled over a tree root. His knees hit the ground with a thud. The
impact sang up his body and brought a new level of pain to his deadened limbs.
Blood ran into his left eye and obscured his vision.
He sent messages to his limbs to get up. But his legs refused to obey. A
strong gust of wind swirled through trees and the force pushed him over. His
body hit the ground in a jarring thump.
Gaap groaned.
He had to get up. His vision hazed. But, he refused to fail.
Until he got them out of this clearing, they were all in danger.
Lili moaned. He thought about that surge of power a few moments ago
and the boost in energy he’d experienced.
Could it be?
Vetis, the Demon of Corruption, had insisted that love was enhancing his
energy but Gaap hadn’t really believed him.
Gaap leaned over Lili. Her eyelids lifted and she stared at him blearily, her
amethyst gaze filled with pain. “Kill me with a kiss,” she demanded.
He had to try. His strength was nearly gone.
Gaap pressed his lips to hers. He poured his love into the gentle kiss, but
he didn't want to hurt her. Her lips clung to his as a tear tracked down her sweet,
battered face.
A surge of power nearly knocked him down. The energy was so great his
 A surge of power nearly knocked him down. The energy was so great his
body buzzed with a surfeit until Lili lost consciousness again.
 NINETEEN
Lili lay on a bed of soft goosedown feathers, the satin slippery against her
battered body. Gods, she ached. Everywhere. The region around her heart was
the worst.
Emptiness surrounded her like a cloak.
Sorrow sucked at her heart. Warm tears trailed down her cheeks. The
emotions she’d thought dead and buried with Brian wrapped around her heart
and squeezed her so tightly that her breath barely passed her lips. Her last
memory was of waiting for Gaap to strike her down.
The salt from her tears stung the cuts and bruises on her face.
The physical pain brought her an emotional comfort she needed. She
deserved pain, deserved abandonment for her betrayal. He’d spared her life, an
unnecessary kindness. But after her betrayal, how would she ever live with
herself?
She curled into her body and absorbed the scents and sounds around her.
The covers were soft beneath her. The ocean waves shush-shushed as they
lapped at the sand, and the briny scent of the sea lingered in the air. Seagulls
squawked as they swooped over the crashing waves.
The ocean. Her salvation. Surcease from her sorrow.
As the softness finally registered, she realized that was wrong. There was
no grainy, cool wet sand. No rough wool blanket beneath her, only a soft
susurrus of breath in her ear.
Her heart thudded in her chest as rough fingers brushed at her tears.
“Don’t weep,” Gaap whispered, his breath warm against the throbbing bruises
on her face.
He hadn’t sounded angry. If anything, she heard a hint of sadness in his
voice. She held her breath and slowly raised her eyelids. Her heart thundered in
her ears and she waited for his wrath.
And yet she hoped for something else entirely.
She stared into the intense brown and gold of his eyes, so close that she
could see the light sparkling as he gazed at her. The bright blue of the daytime
sky blazed above their heads.
She lay on her back on the beach, in the protected cove where she first
summoned him.
“How--” Why? Was what she really wanted to know but she couldn’t
voice anything more as her throat closed and emotion swamped her. “You had a
knife.” She remembered him leaning over her. “You didn’t kill me.”
“I kissed you.” He grinned broadly.
“And then you....”
“Carried you both out of there.”
He carried them both? “Is Leraye recovered then?”
“No.” Gaap’s gaze shifted to the open sea. “He is still in a state of stasis.”
“But he’s not dead?”
“He appears to be alive, just...not aware.” He frowned.
“And you’ve never seen this Fae weapon before?”
“No.” Gaap stroked a rough finger over the arch of her brow. “We’re
working on trying to unlock him from the prison.”
The Demons had already been imprisoned for thousands of years. The
unnatural restraint must be a horrible kind of torture. And she had brought this
down upon Gaap’s friend.
Upon Gaap.
A wicked bruise, the size of a cantaloupe, marred his neck. Her gaze
tracked over his body and took in the brutal results of the Fae’s attack. Large
blue and purple marks splattered over his skin like an obscene modern painting.
With a trembling hand, she traced light circles around the wounds and
bore witness to the evidence of her betrayal. “I’m sorry.”
He brushed his lips over the curve of her cheek. “I know.”
She lay not quite in the circle of his arms, savoring the soft linens and his
subtle touches as he kissed the other cheek so very gently.
“Are you going to kill me now?” She had to know. Had to know what
would happen next.
He chuckled and the sound rumbled through his entire body and
transmitted to hers. “I’m sure there will be days when I am ready to strangle
you.”
Anticipation thudded in her heart. She peered through her lashes at him,
wondered exactly what he meant, and stopped cold at the lust in his gaze.
But he didn’t make a move.
To hell with waiting.
“What exactly are you saying?”
“You cannot live in your cottage anymore,” he proclaimed.
Right. Like he would decide that for her.
“The Fae know where you live. They will come after you.”
That was what he meant. Screw that. “I’ve taken care of myself for ten
long years. I’ll be fine.” Lili pushed the soft satin sheets from her naked body.
Naked?
Her breasts swung in the cool sea air, her nipples tightened painfully.
 Her breasts swung in the cool sea air, her nipples tightened painfully.
Gaap’s gaze was glued to her body.
“You’ll be fine right here.” He ordered, his expression fierce.
“Why?” She leaned closer until her face was right in his.
His breathing heightened. A flush spread across his cheekbones as her
breast swung against his rock-hard pectorals. He groaned heartily and curled his
fingers around her breast.
The heat of his hand against her chilled flesh was like a brand searing into
her skin, claiming her. As she wanted to be claimed.
Not protected.
“I think I should leave.” She wanted to moan as his fingers played with
her nipple and a rush of desire flooded her sex.
“You’re staying.” He dipped his head to close his lips around her nipple.
The heat from his mouth was even more shocking than his hand. He sucked her
nipple, flattened that agile tongue of his and pressed hard against the roof of his
mouth.
Arousal heated her core.
Lili fisted her fingers in his hair. “This won’t solve anything,” she panted.
Her nipple escaped from his lips with a pop. “It’ll solve this.” He nudged
his thick rod of an erection against her bare wet curls. The thick knob of his head
rubbed her clitoris until she almost came from that slight contact.
But he was holding back, treating her differently.
“Ah,” she sighed. “But you don’t really want me.”
Even as her body wept for his cock and her nerves tingled at every point
they touched.
“Wrong.” He growled. “I need you.”
"It's the summoning." Her hopes were deflated. The book had warned of
this. His feelings weren't real. Her feelings weren't real.
"Excuse me?" Gaap lifted off her body and stood. His cock was proudly
erect in the sea breeze. "You think your magick spell did this?"
"Yes." She lay sprawled on the blanket, her body open to the sun and the
sea. The breeze swirled, licked at her legs, and curled around her stomach
Gaap threw back his head and laughed. "Zepar, show yourself."
The Demon of Seduction appeared between the mounded rocks. His broad
form and golden hair gleaming from the valley of the stone breasts.
She should cover herself.
Zepar approached slowly. His gaze firmly fixed on Lili's exposed body
and the wetness between her legs.
"She thinks the Demon Summoning has caused this." Gaap fisted his cock
and pumped.
and pumped.
Zepar shifted his attention to Gaap's fingers. A smile played around his
mouth even as shadows darkened his eyes. He knelt down on the blanket,
seduction in every line of his body. His movements languid and sensual. "You
are the cause, sweet."
Lili wanted to scoot away from the Demon but there was nowhere to go.
"But the summoning--"
"You're too close, old friend," Gaap warned.
Zepar ignored Gaap. "The summoning merely brings the summoner to the
Demon's attention. There is no compulsion."
"The book said--" Zepar's finger against her mouth stopped her.
"You believe everything you read?" He traced the outline of her lips with
his finger, then bent to feather the lightest of kisses against her mouth. "Do not
hurt him," he murmured against her mouth.
"Never again." She promised.
"Away from my consort," Gaap commanded.
Zepar smiled grimly and rose to his feet. "The guard keeps watch. You
might consider a frolic in the sea to heal your wounds.
Gaap extended his hand toward Lili. "Shall we?"
As he pulled her to her feet, she asked, "Are you going to give me what I
want?”
“Gods, woman, you are stubborn.” He rested his forehead on hers. “Are
you going to give me what I want?”
She wanted to be done with all this talking. “What do you want?”
“Stay.” He nuzzled the soft skin behind her ear, and then pushed away to
stare directly into her eyes. She saw a vulnerability that surprised her. “Please.”
Lili didn't hesitate. "Yes."
"Then let's take Zepar's suggestion and frolic. They ran toward the surf. A
large wave crashed onto the shifting sand and the cool salt water lapped at their
toes. Gaap dropped to his knees. "Push your breasts together," he demanded. His
mouth sought the swollen peaks of her nipples and tugged them into his mouth.
The hot contact and the cool breeze were contrasts in sensation.
Lili's head fell back. The hot sun bathed her battered face. Gaap's tongue
curled around both nipples and squeezed while his questing fingers stroked the
cleft in her ass and headed for her sex.
Lili felt the gazes of the soldiers guarding them. "They are watching?" she
said breathlessly.
"The Fae have grown bolder. I will not put you in jeopardy."
The thought of Demons watching didn't repel her. She arched her back,
cupped her breasts, and lifted her wet nipples to the sky.
cupped her breasts, and lifted her wet nipples to the sky.
She whimpered as his knowing fingers stroked the lips of her pussy and
spread her wide. He slid his tongue down her stomach and trilled the tip along
her clit.
Lili's hips jerked toward him.
"Gods, you're as wet as the ocean," Gaap said triumphantly.
She wanted him inside her. Now.
"Not yet." He nipped at her clitoris. In one lithe move, he stood and lifted
her against his chest. Reflexively her legs straddled his hips and her arms circled
his shoulders.
Gaap rubbed his erection along the outside of her womb, hitting the soft
spot between her hipbones. He strode boldly into the waves, going deep into the
surf. The cool water hit her pussy and she squealed.
Then Gaap shifted angles and slid his cock along her nether lips and
teased her with the head. Blood rushed to her sex. She throbbed with every
gentle contact, desperate for more. Desperate for the plunge of his cock into her
body. The thick hot length of him to stroke her inside.
“Please,” she finally begged.
The water twirled around them and caressed her breasts like a lover's
touch.
“Shhh.” He rubbed his erection against her swollen sex until the head of
his cock barely breached her entrance. Each swell of the water pushed him just a
little further inside.
She dug her heels into his buttocks and strained toward him.
But Gaap would not be rushed. "Lie back." He slid the heel of his hand
from her belly button along the center of her slick wet body and eased her back
until she floated on top of the water. They were connected only at the entrance of
her sex and the head of his erection.
Her hair drifted around her head and her breasts bobbed, exposed to the
noon day sun and the watchful eyes of the Demon guard. The cold salt water
lapped at her body.
"Do you feel my touch?" he whispered silkily. Like a greedy mouth, the
water nipped and sucked at the aroused peaks of her nipples, the swollen bud of
her clitoris, the hollow of her belly button, the rosette of her ass. Even the
engorged slit of her sex felt his subtle bite. Each caress created an answering pull
deep within her body.
Every nerve ending tingled.
"Not. Enough." She reached down between their bodies and grasped the
stalk of his cock. The heat and the hardness of him seared her hand. “I can’t
wait.”
wait.”
He groaned. “Let go.”
Lili released his cock. In one strong and magnificent thrust, he impaled
her, marking her inside, making her his. And she knew she’d never be the same.
The walls of her vagina pulsed around his impossibly large cock.
She was faint from the friction as he glided in and out of her body. Her
pussy clenched around him and tried to suck him in and keep him there. The
erotic ebb and flow of the ocean enhanced the rhythm of their loving. He slipped
in and out of her body, with a reverence that took her breath.
And somehow he understood that this was more precious than the fucking
that she’d thought she’d wanted.
Lili stared into his eyes, lost in wonder as he loved her tenderly.
Her orgasm built in slow waves. Each slick glide aroused her further. He
stroked over her g-spot, the head of his cock massaging that ridge of pleasure.
Sensation layered over sensation as her body and mind, swirled with pleasure.
Gaap’s cock swelled even harder. The pressure and the pleasure built until in a
tidal swell of lust they fell over the precipice together. Her body drowned in a
pleasure so intense her heart nearly stopped.
Power sparkled, blindingly bright, as it glittered on the ocean's waves.
A surge of energy surrounded her and his face glowed with love.
When she’d begged the Fae for the opportunity to summon a Demon,
she’d never even imagined that this was where she’d end up.
From the ashes of the revenge she’d sought, came the peace she’d really
wanted.

THE END
The Demon's Seduction
 PROLOGUE
The Demon of Seduction lounged in the cushioned chair near the fire and
swirled a glass of aged scotch. He stared contemplatively into the flames as the
first sip burned a fiery path down his throat.
His world was changing, yet again.
Both Demon and Fae drew power from human emotion. But Demons had
discovered a mighty weapon against the Fae. The Fae might believe they were
winning, but they were wrong. The Demons had a new secret defense.
Love. The emotion of love transformed their energy and made them
stronger.
So now, every Demon was tasked with finding the love of a human. Even
he, the Demon of Seduction, must find a mate.
Zepar smiled. He was the Demon of Seduction. How hard could it be to
make a human fall in love with him?
 ONE
One month later
“I need a woman.” Zepar, the Demon of Seduction, lounged in the large
wing chair, one leg thrown over the arm of the chair, legs splayed wide, his well-
endowed cock cupped lovingly by fine leather breeches.
Thalia perched in the other large chair across from him and stared.
She was one of the Graces, his personal pet name for the three human
women who were available for the lesser Demons. Normally he considered her a
seductive, sexual being.
The sheer panels draped over her lithe body left little to the imagination.
The dusky peach of her areola was clearly visible through the fine fabric. Her
erect nipples pebbled against the gathered fabric like a beacon, flashing touch
me, touch me.
The perfect bow of her peach lips usually curved into a subtle smile as if
she had a secret she wouldn’t share. The thick fringe of her lashes framed smoky
eyes the color of granite. Her features were serene, mysterious, and seductive.
It was why he’d chosen her for the Graces.
She exuded sexuality and well, grace.
But right now, her lush body screamed annoyance, not sex.
“Let me make sure I understand you correctly.” Her voice was soft but he
heard the recrimination. “You want me to be your pimp?”
“Pimp is such an ugly word,” he purred, flooding his voice with sexual
heat.
“Don’t use that voice on me.” Her spine got even stiffer. The move
unexpectedly jutted her breasts forward. The tease.
“I’d prefer the word procure.” Zepar’s gaze had snagged on her cleavage.
Thalia snapped her fingers at him. “Hello. Don’t talk to my breasts. I’m up
here.”
Zepar lazily returned his gaze to her face. “But they are such lovely
breasts.” He swirled the scotch in the snifter and turned on all of his charm.
“Why do you want me to find you women?”
Zepar frowned and tried to keep his posture nonchalant, but he was
actually very uptight. “I don’t seem to be doing a very good job of it.”
Only the top echelon of Demon leaders knew about their newfound power
source, love. The Demons were closely guarding the secret. The Fae had
recently attempted to infiltrate the Demon stronghold through human women,
recently attempted to infiltrate the Demon stronghold through human women,
and Thalia was human. As much as Zepar would like to, he couldn't trust Thalia
with that information.
The elegant curve of her neck was marred by the straight set of her head as
she stared at him, her eyes narrowed and mouth pursed tightly. Oddly, he
couldn’t ever see her thoughts. She had the unusual ability to lock her mind up
tighter than a virgin’s ass.
Zepar swallowed the temptation to confide in Thalia.
She was his favorite.
This past month, Zepar had screwed as many humans as possible and then
retreated to Thalia's company. When he was with her, he was immersed in a well
of peace. Somehow she managed to soothe and arouse him all at the same time.
“You have a gift for finding the right woman.” Which was true. She’d
been very adept at finding women that would appeal to the Demons of the castle.
“So you’re ordering me?” She stood abruptly. The panels of her short
dress swirled around her ass, the sheer fabric playing peek-a-boo with the curls
that protected her sex.
“If you want to put it that way-yes.” His cock lay flaccid in his breeches as
he contemplated going to look for another woman.
“Fine.” Thalia strode towards the doorway, the swish and glide of her legs
drawing his attention. “I have an appointment and then I’ll start looking."
A sudden spear of jealousy stabbed through him. “With who?”
Her features settled into a porcelain mask. “Why do you want to know?”
Zepar paused, the snifter halfway to his lips as he noted the small quaver
in her voice. She'd sounded hurt, and he couldn't help but wonder, Why?
Anything to distract him from the real problem at hand.
Humans were not falling in love with him.
The fight against the Fae was escalating. The entire Demon castle was on
edge, as if waiting for the Fae’s next volley in their ongoing struggle. He had
been trolling the local village for the last few weeks. His cock was literally sore
from all of the sex he’d engaged in and still not one woman had fallen in love
with him.
The Demons needed all the power they could get. And as they’d recently
discovered, love generated more power than the full moon.
“I would know that the Demons are treating you well.”
“Rest assured, I am fucked well.” The harsh tone of her voice was at odds
with the absolutely still mask of her face.
Then she let him into her thoughts. A sudden vision of another Demon
fucking her, those killer legs wrapped around a Demon’s waist, as the male
pounded in and out of her body, flashed through his mind. His cock stirred, but
pounded in and out of her body, flashed through his mind. His cock stirred, but
he suddenly wanted that Demon to be him. Even though Thalia was reserved for
the Lesser Demons. And therefore, off limits.
“Who?” he demanded.
“If you must know, Prince Gaap and Barbas asked me to spend time with
Leraye.”
Hope zipped through him. “Has his condition changed?”
“No.”
Leraye, the Demon of Battle, had been frozen in some sort of stasis since
Prince Gaap’s battle with the Fae. So far they had been unable to break the spell
that had rendered him a statue. Barbas, the Demon of Healing, had tried to no
avail to break the curse.
Every day his friend remained frozen, Zepar's hope that Leraye would
reanimate dwindled.
“So what do you do?”
Images from her mind assaulted him. Thalia caressing the statue. Thalia
licking the solidified form of Leraye. Thalia curling around Leraye’s frozen
body.
His cock strained against the placket of his breeches as the images
suddenly shut off.
“Would you care to watch as well?” she taunted.
Zepar frowned, unsure where this sudden animosity from Thalia came
from. She had always been more biddable.
Thalia whirled around, her back stiff as she hurried toward the exit. “I’ll
be back with a woman for you later.”
Zepar thought of the increasingly aggressive attacks from the Fae. He
didn’t want anything to happen to Thalia. “Let me know when you are ready to
go into the village. I’ll come with you.”
She paused at the doorway, her body wooden. “Is that necessary?”
“I do believe it is.”
“As you wish.”
 TWO
Thalia marched toward the Demon of Battle Leraye’s room. The urge to
kick something burned strong.
She was an idiot. Lusting after Zepar, the Demon of Seduction, was a bad
idea. On a badness scale from one to ten, it measured a billion and one.
For starters, he was off limits. The Graces were only to serve the Lesser
Demons. Lords, Dukes and Princes were reserved for the aristocracy of Female
Demons.
When she’d signed on to be a Grace, she hadn’t thought beyond the fact
that she’d have a roof over her head and food in her stomach. She’d always liked
sex. Loved sex. And she had no other skills. She didn’t want to work on farms or
in the village for a pittance.
Her family was dead. All gone. Here, she was pampered and taken care of.
So the trade-off of sex for shelter had seemed like a bargain. She couldn’t even
complain, because Demons after being imprisoned for thousands of years
beneath the Earth’s crust, seemed to have a far greater appreciation for the
female form than the average human male.
They often took hours pleasuring her, and tended to be very tactile in their
pursuit of the physical feast of the flesh.
They straight-up loved sex. And they loved women.
Most of the time, she considered it a win-win.
But lately, she wanted more.
And the only one she seemed to want more with was Zepar.
He, however, was clueless. He also seemed to be on a quest to fuck as
many women as he possibly could. Ever since his two friends, Vetis and Gaap,
had hooked up with human mates, Zepar had been insatiable.
But as she’d sat across from him, she couldn’t help but notice that he
looked tired. And not all that satisfied.
The anger that had carried her through her meeting with him came back.
She’d sat there, fighting the urge to lick his bicep every time he’d raised that
glass to his lips. And then lick the scotch from his sensuous mouth.
She’d been so distracted by his physical presence that she’d barely heard
his request. Her body literally melted every time she saw him lately. Her core
softened, her nipples stood at attention as if he were their commander, and her
mouth watered with the possibility of getting her lips on his body and on the
massive cock cupped by his breeches.
It was crazy.
 It was crazy.
She was crazy.
Besides the fact that technically he was off limits, he didn’t want her.
She knew that, and even so, lately it had been hard to hold back from him
the images of what she wanted.
Thalia pushed open the door to Leraye’s chamber. He sat in his throne
chair in the corner near the window, facing the sea. When he’d been frozen, he’d
been sitting in a tree. They had cut off his clothing and armor to search for any
wound or place on his body where the spell had touched his body. But there
were no unusual marks.
His naked body was beautiful and scarred from years of battle. Ridges of
muscle lined his stomach and his arms and legs were corded with strength, every
muscle tensed as if he’d been about to attack. The bold slash of his nose, the
strong line of his jaw, and the curve of his brow were locked in harsh,
unforgiving concentration. His shaved head and fierce, shockingly light blue
eyes hadn’t changed since they’d brought him home.
“Hello, Leraye.” Thalia had no idea if he could hear her. But it had been a
month since Prince Gaap had returned with the statue, and she thought their hope
of him actually re-animating was slim.
In an odd way, he’d become her confidant.
Thalia put her arm around the cool, marble-like shoulders of Leraye and
slid onto the statue’s lap.
"He asked me to find him a woman." She nuzzled the cool flesh behind his
solid ear and wished for the warm and comforting embrace from a real Demon.
Flesh and blood. Real. Not just one who came to her in her dreams or fueled her
imagination.
But the simple affectionate caress did nothing for her. With every nuzzle,
every swish of her hair against the inanimate form of Leraye, her anger at Zepar
grew. Damn him.
Damn him for asking her to find him women. And damn him for not
realizing there was a woman right in front of him who wanted him.
Thalia slipped the shoulder straps free and let her gown fall to her waist.
Shifting so that she straddled the cold lap statue of Leraye, she pressed her
mound up against his frozen crotch. The feel of him, cool and impersonal against
her most sensitive skin was less of a turn-on and more of annoyance.
"I wish that you would come back to life and spear me with your cock."
For she knew a secret that the rest of the castle seemed oblivious to. Leraye had
wanted Zepar just as much as she had. They were oddly united in their
unrequited love of the same Demon.
As if she could force Leraye to respond, Thalia rubbed her erect nipples
 As if she could force Leraye to respond, Thalia rubbed her erect nipples
over the shockingly cold planes of his chest and tried to stimulate some sort of
pleasure. It was crazy. She had another appointment later in the day. She would
feel the hard, bold thrust of a Demon cock inside her within hours.
But lately those encounters left her feeling emptier than ever.
Even more frustrating, the sexual liaisons had been rare, with many of the
Demons leaving the castle to find female flesh in the outside world. And she had
no idea why. She feared they were growing tired of her. Where would she go if
the Demons cast her out?
A sudden breeze of cool air blew through the room. Thalia shivered as she
felt the presence of another. She should be embarrassed, half-naked and pressed
up against an inanimate object. Instead, her sex creamed as the distinctive scent
of Zepar flowed through the silent chamber.
He must have cloaked himself in glamour because she couldn't see him,
only feel his presence. She sensed Zepar as he lingered near the window. So he
wanted to watch, did he?
Well then, she would put on a show.
Thalia leaned back along Leraye’s thighs until her breasts thrust up into
the chilly air. Her nipples rose like mountain peaks and begged for a mouth upon
them. The position lay her out like a visual feast and gave Zepar full view of
what she was doing with Leraye's statue.
Thalia lifted her legs and wrapped her calves around Leraye’s neck. Her
ass was snug against his marble stomach, her pussy wide open, and his frozen
semi-erect rod nestled between her butt cheeks.
The panels of her tunic draped around her waist, so that her nether lips and
her breasts were bared to the air. Thalia cupped her breasts and imagined Zepar’s
rough, callused fingers against her skin. She squeezed but the gesture gave no
pleasure. She wanted Zepar’s hands on her flesh.
With an almost vicious gesture, she plucked at her nipples feeling the
answering twang deep in her womanhood. She made sure Zepar could see
everything as she worked her body. She willed him to reveal himself. But he
stayed hidden.
Instead he watched like a voyeur.
With one hand she continued to play lazily with her nipples and the other
slid into the nest of her curls. Stroking the lips of her nether region, she imagined
Zepar’s hand there instead of her own and finally her body began to respond.
Slick arousal coated her fingers as her sex awakened and began to roil.
She shifted to grip Leraye’s marble wrists and twisted her cunt against the
statue. Each rub brought a measure of relief but the it was short-lived. She
needed more.
needed more.
Thalia moaned, never pulling her gaze from the spot where Zepar watched
as she slammed her body up against Leraye’s frozen form. With each thrust, her
breasts bounced and her swollen mound and pubis hit the statue in succession,
stimulating her. She ached for the thick staff of Zepar’s cock as she rubbed
against Leraye.
It wasn’t Zepar’s body, but this moment was likely as close as she would
ever get to him.
Thalia hooked her ankles around Leraye’s neck and thrust against him
repeatedly, reaching, grasping for satisfaction. Finally her orgasm boiled over
and she tumbled into a haze of sexual relief.
She shifted her attention to Leraye, and dismissed Zepar from her mind. “I
hope this gave you some pleasure, my Lord.” She wondered if anything she did
ever penetrated Leraye’s consciousness. Hopefully not.
Thalia sat up and re-fastened the panels at her shoulders. She placed a
gentle kiss against Leraye’s cool, pale lips. Then she whispered against Leraye's
mouth, her voice full of regret, “We are both left wanting what we cannot have.”
They both wanted Zepar. And they were both being denied.
 THREE
Zepar stood, cloaked in glamour, still as the statue of Leraye, and watched
Thalia get herself off against the frozen figure of his friend.
She knew he was there. How was that possible? And yet Zepar knew it to
be true. Her gaze had skewered him as she'd caressed her own body. His cock
rose to attention at her breathy moans and the erotic bounce of her generous
breasts. He fisted his cock and pumped. Her actions aroused him far more than
any of the human women he'd had lately.
A rosy flush covered her body and sweat sheened her features. Her lips
were plump and reddened where she’d bitten them. Then she shifted so that she
sat up and straddled Leraye’s body. Gods, Zepar wanted those legs wrapped
around him.
With a soft, gentle caress, she kissed the statue’s lips.
Zepar blinked.
Had the pallor of Leraye’s marble countenance lessened?
Could it have been from her sexual attention? It seemed improbable.
However, Gods knew, Demons were a sexual lot. After being denied for
thousands of years, most Demons lusted after women.
Most, but not all.
Zepar knew his old friend better than Leraye thought. Zepar knew that a
woman’s flesh was merely sport to Leraye.
Thalia stood abruptly. Her breasts swayed, the erect nipples and peach
areola puckered tight and his mouth watered at the sight.
She faced the window where Zepar stood and paused as if waiting for him.
Thalia bowed, revealing the shadowed valley between her generous breasts and
tempting his mouth. “I will go find your next lamb now, Demon.”
“Wait.” Zepar uncloaked, his gaze momentarily distracted by her breasts
and the odd urge to bury his face between them. Her thighs glistened with the
juice from her sex and Zepar’s gaze was drawn inexorably to the damp spot on
the statue of his friend.
He strode over to them.
“I think he changed color when you kissed him.” But when Zepar looked
at Leraye again, the statue once more appeared cool and inanimate.
"That would be wonderful." Thalia rested a hand on Leraye’s shoulder as
if protecting him. "But he feels and looks the same as before."
“From your pleasuring.” Zepar insisted, but his insistence waned as he
looked at Leraye again. Frigid and insensate.
looked at Leraye again. Frigid and insensate.
Her stance was as rigid as the form of his friend. “I sincerely doubt that
my actions would have that effect on him.” Whether he was statue or not, was
implied.
Zepar assessed her critically. Leraye’s sexual preferences were none of her
business. “You do not give yourself enough credit, Grace.” He used the generic
term to put distance between them and to distract her from Leraye's secret.
And it worked. “My thanks, my Lord.” She flushed and then she was
gone.
Zepar was left alone with his old friend and his churning thoughts.
Zepar knelt in front of Leraye. His gaze was glued to that damp spot as the
erotic image of Thalia pleasuring herself against his friend played over and over
in his mind. He’d watched and wanted to lap up every bit of her juice so that it
didn’t go to waste.
Zepar didn't want to leave his friend just yet. So he pulled over a chair
from beside the bed and propped his feet up on Leraye’s knees.
"I'm in a quandry." Zepar slumped in the chair. His gaze darted around the
room, anywhere but on that wet spot, and he poured out his troubles. He needed
a human woman to fall in love with him and no one was taking him up on it. He
couldn't understand it.
Leraye listened. Just like old times.
Leraye was an exceptionally good listener. Always had been an
exceptionally good friend. They had been chained and trapped next to each other
for a thousand years. Zepar knew Leraye almost as well as he knew himself. He
had tutored the young Leraye in the art of sex and given him his first sexual
experience. Their bond of friendship had stayed strong even after they ascended
back to the surface and were no longer intimate.
Zepar finally let his gaze stray back to the that spot. "Thank you for the
chat, old friend." The urge to taste her and to feel Leraye welled up within in
Zepar.
Finally, he gave in and licked her essence from the statue’s stone cock.

***

An hour later, Thalia approached Zepar.

“I am ready to go to the village, my Lord.” She was dressed in a demure
cotton gown and a fine velvet cloak. Her hair, a burnished ebony, shone in the
flickering light from the fire Zepar had lit.
The musky flavor of her pussy still lingered on his tongue.
And he thought, not for the first time, he’d much rather stay here and
 And he thought, not for the first time, he’d much rather stay here and
enjoy the lush pleasure of Thalia’s body.
But unfortunately, duty called.
“Fine.” He lumbered to his feet with a heavy heart. He had to find a
human mate. They needed all the power they could amass to continue to fight
the Fae. “Let’s go.”
Two hours later, they sat in the former tavern of Vetis’ mate, Amara. This
was the third establishment they’d checked out.
A trio of musicians played half-heartedly in the corner while the patrons
ignored their music. Cigar smoke hung in the heavy air. What should have been
soothing aromas, the earthy peat from the fire and the hops from home brewed
beer, settled heavily in his head and made him grumpy.
“You should cloak yourself,” Thalia said crossly. Apparently the
grumpiness was catching.
“Why?”
“You’re scaring away all the women that I’ve found for you.”
At the first two taverns, women who were clearly in league with the Fae
had approached them. The stink of Fae on their bodies had overwhelmed him.
Or they were too eager. Or unwilling.
With every prospect she’d selected, he’d fallen further into the doldrums.
He just wasn’t interested. Zepar stared moodily at his feet. Gods, he was sick of
having sex with strange women. Wait. What the hell was wrong with him? He
lived for sex with strange women. He was the Demon of Seduction, for the Gods'
sake.
The door blew open and the breeze carried the scent of Thalia to his nose.
The subtly earthiness of her perfume stirred his cock. “I’ll wait outside.”
Within two minutes, she joined him. “We’re ready.”
Zepar didn’t even look at the women. He only sniffed the air for any scent
of Fae upon their person. Thank Gods, they were clean. He wanted to get this
over with. “Blindfold them and let’s go.”
Thalia quickly complied and their group was on its way.
Zepar searched the shadowed doorways on guard for any sort of attack.
Almost hoped for some action. The atmosphere was heavy with anticipation.
Something evil lingered in the air. Zepar pulled both iron knives from their
sheaths, his grip tight.
As they approached the woods between the village and the Demon's
castle, the Fae attacked. From the cover of the trees, a group of six Fir Bolg
assassins swarmed their small party.
The two women screeched and cowered together. Thalia smoothly slid a
knife from a sheath at her ankle and crouched low, prepared to fight.
knife from a sheath at her ankle and crouched low, prepared to fight.
Zepar grinned at Thalia and fell into a similar stance. But the Fae didn’t
come after Zepar. They went straight for the women. In the shifting moonlight,
one of the women’s hair seemed to shimmer gold. All of the Fae, except one,
circled the women. Thalia swung her knife in an arc keeping the Fae away from
the village women.
Zepar slashed his knives at the Fae defender and ignored the women’s
whimpers. The Fir Bolg surrounded the three women and reached for them, but
Thalia's defensive moves kept them from doing any real harm.
Zepar's blade clashed and rang against the Fir Bolg defender's in the silent
midnight air.
Zepar drew power from the full moon and lunged toward the assassin. But
the wily Fae twisted out of Zepar’s reach. They parried and blocked in a fierce,
deadly dance.
The impact of the Fir Bolg's blade against his sang up Zepar's arm as their
blades met again.
"You will not defeat me," Thalia hissed.
The sound of her voice distracted Zepar and alarm zinged through him. In
that moment of inattention, the Fae assassin swiped his blade across Zepar’s
arm. The slash burned and numbness spread. The blade must have been tipped
with some poison.
Thalia thrust her iron knife upward and into the chest of one of their
attackers. With a muffled cry, he slumped.
Zepar roared and lunged again.
But, as if responding to a signal, the Fae fell back and dragged their fallen
comrade away.
The two women still cowered on the ground. Thalia stood alone, her chest
heaving and her gaze glassy. Her fist clenched around the iron hilt while the Fae
blood dripped to the earth.
Each drop sizzled against the trampled grass.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins like a deep spring pulsing water to
the surface as a sense of possession startled him with its fierceness. He wanted to
roar but, unsure of her state, he kept his voice soft and non-threatening.
“Are you well?” Zepar suppressed his rage. She didn’t need more violence
right now. She didn’t answer, but continued to stand there as if lost.
Thalia blinked. "I'm fine."
“Let’s get the women to the castle and make sure they are unharmed.”
Her stone eyes were blank, empty. But as if the need to care for someone
else shocked her out of her trance, her gaze finally cleared. She stared in horror
at the blood flowing from his bicep. “You’re injured.”
at the blood flowing from his bicep. “You’re injured.”
“It’s a scratch.” A big scratch but he’d live.
 FOUR
Thalia was still shaking.
She had stabbed someone. A Fae.
As soon as they’d returned to the castle, Thalia had dumped the two
women on the other Graces, Cleta and Laia. The stink of Fae had coated them
both and they needed to be cleansed before Zepar could have sex with them.
Thalia couldn't seem to focus.
She couldn't go to her chamber since the women were there being
prepared for Zepar. Thalia found herself back in Leraye's chamber, wandering
aimlessly through the still room.
Her teeth chattered, clicking and clacking so hard her jaw ached from
trying to keep them quiet. Thalia pulled the velvet duvet from the bed and
wrapped the luxurious material around her shoulders.
"What the hell am I doing here?" she muttered.
But truly, she knew. Sadly, Leraye's cold embrace was the most comfort
she had experienced in a long time. So Thalia limped to Leraye and settled
herself in his lap. With the warm, sensual material enveloping her, she curled
into his frozen arms.
"I killed someone," she said baldly. "It's probably no big deal to you,
being the Demon of Battle but...." She couldn't even finish. Death was so final.
Thalia's shaking got worse as she kept seeing the scene over and over
again in her head. The Fae's surprised face as her blade connected. The
adrenaline had pumped through her and gave her the strength to push her iron,
deadly to the Fae, into her attacker's flesh.
Horrifying and exhilarating. She had saved the women. And herself.
And then she'd seen Zepar's cut. Remembered the fear that gripped her
until he'd dismissed the wound and hustled them all to the castle.
"And now, he's with them." Zepar couldn't even be bothered to see if she
was okay. He was off having sex with a woman she procured for him. Probably
amazing sex. "I've heard blood rage from adrenaline works like a heady
aphrodisiac. You would know, I imagine."
Images of Zepar, muscled and sweaty, as he engaged in sex filled her
mind.
And suddenly, her chill burned away.
Desire simmered, a pulse low in her core. Her breasts ached and her
nipples puckered. All that adrenaline shot to her womanly regions zapping her
nerve endings and heightening her senses. "Leraye, I'm horny as hell." She
nerve endings and heightening her senses. "Leraye, I'm horny as hell." She
wiggled against his stone erection. "I want sex in the worst way."
But not with an inanimate object. Not like earlier. She wanted a lover.
She wanted Zepar.
But thanks to stupid, Gods' damned rules, he was forbidden. And he
seemed determined to fuck every human woman in sight.
Despair blanketed her. Instead, she would have to find solace with her
silent, stone statue.
Zepar barged into Leraye’s chamber. “There you are." He said baldly, "I
need the other one.”
“What?” She glanced at the old-fashioned clock that hung on the wall, its
ticking overly loud in the silent living tomb.
“The first one didn’t work out,” he grumped. “She was far too timid. She
squeaked.”
“I beg your pardon.” Gods dammit, why couldn’t he take me instead?
“She squeaked every time I came near her. And then when I disrobed, she
outright screamed in fright.”
Thalia's gaze roamed his body hungrily. She wanted him. Badly. “You can
be quite intimidating.”
Zepar growled.
The rumble started a delicious tremor in her feminine core. The Demon
practically oozed sex. Thalia squeezed her thighs together and hoped that Zepar
hadn’t noticed. But of course he had.
Gods, she had to distract him before he commented on her forbidden
attraction.Thalia sprang to her feet and flung the velvet comforter on the floor.
“Good thing I anticipated something like this and got two.”
He stopped dead.
“You’ve been going through women like wine lately.” He was sure to
notice the snipe in her voice. “I’ll go get her.”
Before she left, she brushed a tender kiss over Leraye’s lips.
“No.” Zepar placed his hand upon her forearm. The contact zinged all the
way up her body, zapping her breasts with a jolt of energy but he hadn’t noticed.
He was staring at the statue his friend. “I’ll have Figgins bring her here.”
Here? "I'll take my leave."
"No." But Zepar stopped her again. "Wait with me."
Thalia waited in uneasy silence as Zepar stared intently at Leraye's statue.
Thalia wanted to ask why Zepar wanted to have sex in Leraye's chamber, but she
wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.
“Let’s turn him around.”
“Excuse me?” Surely she couldn't have heard correctly.
 “Excuse me?” Surely she couldn't have heard correctly.
“Leraye.” Zepar clutched the statue’s shoulders in his large palms and
shoved the throne chair around to face the bed. “I want him to watch.”
Thalia's heart beat in triple time. Zepar's actions had grown increasingly
erratic over the past month. But before she could question him, Figgins arrived.
“Your friend, my Lord,” Figgins the castle butler, lead the new human into
the room and then quickly left.
“Is it my turn?” The blowsy blond smiled at Thalia. Her puffy lips and
easy sexuality were completely different from the human that Zepar had just
rejected.
“If you would like.” Thalia refused to make a woman submit to Zepar
unless she was willing. However, Zepar could always turn them into willing bed
partners.
The blonde shifted her attention to Zepar, eyeing his broad shoulders and
tapered waist. “I’d like,” she purred like a kitten and untied the wrap dress,
letting the silky fabric fall to her feet. The move exposed small high breasts, a
tiny waist and a completely bare pussy.
And that was Thalia’s cue to leave.
“You’re leaving?” The woman pouted, her lips pouffed into a moue of
distress as she glanced between Thalia and Zepar.
Thalia blinked. Oops, she hadn’t seen that one coming. “Yes,” she said at
the same time Zepar said, “No.”

***

Zepar stared at the exquisite specimen in front of him. She was the exact
opposite of the lamb he’d just sent home. This woman would be a tiger in bed.
She stood completely nude. His cock should be standing at attention and pulsing
with need. Instead he remained softer than boiled pudding.
Thalia sputtered beside him. “My Lord?”
He was the Demon of Seduction, dammit. “I want you to stay and watch,”
he said calmly as he removed his clothing. “With Leraye.”
He swore that his friend had gained some color earlier when Thalia kissed
him. Zepar needed to see if sex somehow stimulated Leraye. Zepar didn't know
if it was from Thalia's kiss or her carnal attention.
But the way Thalia had slammed against Leraye's stone stomach would
make any Demon cock surge to life. Just as his did now. Zepar shifted his hips to
give his bulging erection a little more room and fixed his gaze on the blonde. But
he only saw images of Thalia. Thalia's graceful arms wrapped around Demon
flesh. Thalia's legs splayed wide for Demon cock. Thalia's breasts. Thalia's
flesh. Thalia's legs splayed wide for Demon cock. Thalia's breasts. Thalia's
mouth. Thalia's sweet, slick pussy.
He was harder than ever. This was the real reason she needed to stay.
“Who is Leraye?” The woman ran her long blood red nail down the length
of Zepar's bare forearm, studying his physique with a practiced eye.
“The statue.”
She shrugged, her nipples hardened in the night air, as she glanced
between Zepar and Thalia.
“I can deal with kinky.” She licked her lips and her shadowed eyelids
drooped as she stared at Thalia’s breasts. “Are you sure you don’t want to play?”
“I determine who plays,” Zepar said imperiously. The thought of this
floozy touching Thalia caused something dangerous to rise within him. “And I
want her to watch.”
Technically, Zepar was Thalia’s superior. He could command her to do
anything he wished. He had the utmost respect for the Graces and he hated to
force her to do something against her will. But his determinaton to attempt to
reanimate Leraye took precendence over her reluctance.
“My Lord.” Thalia’s gaze implored him but he couldn't relent.
“I want you to monitor Leraye for any signs of life.”
She bowed deeply, her face an unhappy mask. “As you wish, my Lord.”
“Get on the bed,” he commanded the human woman.
“Whatever you say, sugar.” She sashayed toward the massive wrought
iron bed and hopped up on the lush silk sheets. She leaned against the pile of
pillows and cupped her breasts. Her blood red fingernails flicked the pert tips of
her nipples as she waited.
Zepar felt his cock wilt.
He remembered Thalia banging the statue and his cock sprang back to
attention. He shifted his focus to where Thalia stood preternaturally still. “Sit in
Leraye’s lap. Face us.”
Thalia raised the graceful arch of one eyebrow.
"Do it." He fisted his cock and looked her in the eye. “And strip.”
 FIVE
Fabulous.
She was going to be forced to watch the Demon she wanted for herself
engage in sex play with another woman. And she’d thought her evening couldn’t
get any worse.
Thalia carefully removed her tunic, draped the sheer fabric over the chair
Zepar had occupied earlier, and then climbed into Leraye’s lap. The stone was
cold beneath her bare bottom. She shivered in the chilly air, and her nipples
hardened into twin points. What the hell had Zepar planned?
The human woman smiled at Thalia and slid her fingers along her bare
slit. “I like this,” she said breathlessly.
Zepar employed none of his famous seductive charm. “Thalia, drape your
legs over his arms,” he said in a voice guttural with need.
Thalia hesitated, unsure about what was going on.
“Do it.”
Slowly, carefully, Thalia lifted her right leg and draped it over Leraye's
stone arm. Then she did the same with her left. The move left her pussy wide
open and the lips of her sex parted and exposed to both of their gazes.
“Only I get to look at her,” Zepar said gruffly. “You, on your back. Head
at the foot of the bed.”
The woman pouted and gave herself one more leisurely stroke before
obeying Zepar's command.
Zepar still stood by the foot of the bed. His cock jutted proudly from the
blonde curls surrounding his sex. Thalia couldn’t take her eyes off his fierce
erection. Her body burned and the juice of her arousal trickled from her body.
Zepar’s gaze flicked to Leraye and then back to Thalia. He climbed on the
bed. She could see everything through the twisted iron bars of the footboard.
Zepar’s massive shoulders tapered to his waist and flowed over his buttocks.
Very fine buttocks they were. Even the muscled hardness of his thighs was a
turn-on. The fierce jut of his cock caused her to weaken and melt into Leraye's
cold embrace.
Zepar’s intense gaze never left Thalia’s face as he bent down to lick at the
woman’s cunt. He flicked his tongue against her clit and Thalia’s quivered in
response.
He extended his long Demon tongue. He buried his nose in the bare folds
of the blonde's sex and she knew exactly when he slid the expanded member into
the blonde’s body.
the blonde’s body.
Thalia’s womb clenched, begging for a phantom tongue. She wanted him
to fuck her so badly her heart banged against her ribcage and her breasts shook.
She could see the drop of pre-cum glisten on the tip of his sex.
Involuntarily she licked her lips. She wanted her mouth on his erection so badly
it was almost a fever. In a desperate move, she spread her nether lips and speared
her fingers into her body.
As Zepar increased the rhythm of his thrusting tongue, Thalia kept time
with him. Her gaze was locked with his. Then he abruptly withdrew his tongue
from the woman‘s body.
The blonde whimpered and her hips rose.
Thalia’s hips jerked too.
“Stop.” He commanded. “Take them out. Now.”
She was too far gone to do anything but obey. His gaze bored into hers as
he moved up the woman’s body until his mouth hovered over her breasts.
“Touch yourself as I touch her.”
Thalia waited for his next move. Her entire body quivered, hovering on
the edge of release. Sharp details aroused her. The cold column of Leraye’s
marble thighs beneath her bare bottom and exposed sex. The sight of Zepar
much as she'd imagined him earlier, muscled and sweaty, poised above the other
woman.
Zepar curled his tongue around the woman’s nipple and tugged.
Thalia cupped her own breast and squeezed the nipple to the point of pain.
Her womb clenched.
“Not yet.” He gritted out. “Use your other hand on your sex.”
Thalia watched as he slid the thick hard length of his cock into the woman.
Thalia mimicked his motion and slid three fingers into her weeping channel. But
her fingers were a sad replacement for the solid bulk of Demon cock.
Zepar began to thrust. His tongue curled around the woman’s breast and
squeezed. The veins stood out on his forearms as he held himself apart from the
woman, only his tongue and his cock touched her. Just as only Thalia’s fingers
touched herself.
“Faster.” His whole body strained toward orgasm while Thalia fucked
herself.
Their tandem actions kept time to the pumping of her heart as she finally
realized he was fucking her without touching her. The sex act a poor simulation
of what she really wanted from him.
The lines on his face drew into a grimace as he roared with his
completion.
Her body bowed as the tidal wave of orgasm took her over the edge into
 Her body bowed as the tidal wave of orgasm took her over the edge into
oblivion. And she closed her eyes and broke contact with her phantom lover. She
turned her face toward Leraye, unwilling to let Zepar see how he had hurt her.
With her face tucked against Leraye's, she blew out a tortured breath and
whispered, “Damn him.”
 SIX
Zepar's attention was riveted on Thalia. One hand lay against her breast,
the other nestled in the curls of her sex, slick with cream from her body. Her
pose was one of repletion, but her face was turned away from him.
The blonde scraped her nails down Zepar’s chest.
The blonde. He’d forgotten that she was there.
She stretched beneath Zepar. His cock wilted faster than an ice cream cone
in hell. “What’s next?” Her avid grin and raised eyebrows told him she’d be up
for anything he suggested.
She didn’t seem at all disturbed after the attack by the Fae. Their stink still
lingered over her body, even though the other Graces had bathed her before she
attended him.
Thalia's expression was hidden by the fall of her shiny midnight hair as
she sighed against Leraye’s frozen lips. And this time he saw it. The statue had
actually changed color.
Leraye had changed color. Thalia needed to kiss Leraye again.
Zepar pulled out of the blonde's body, feeling tainted and rose abruptly.
His fingers circled her wrist as he pulled her off the bed. “Time for you to go.”
“Go?”
He practically threw her dress at her.
She tried to get him to let her stay. She twined her arms and legs around
his unmoving body and rubbed against him. “Please let me stay,” she begged.
Shit. The first human who seemed to have some interest in him and he
needed her gone right now. Leraye had changed color. That was far more
important. If this human loved him, it wouldn't disappear right away. The fact
that Zepar could care less if he never saw the human again would have to be
addressed. Later.
He summoned Figgins. "Make her comfortable." Figgins hustled the
woman out without any further conversation.
“What was wrong with her?” Thalia sniped.
“Too adventurous.” Zepar lied. If she was in love with him he would have
to submit for the power she could give the Demons.
“What the hell are you looking for?”
“I’ll know when it’s just right.”
Thalia lifted her legs from the restraint of the statue’s arms and curled
against Leraye.
Zepar couldn’t believe he’d let Thalia distract him. They had bigger
 Zepar couldn’t believe he’d let Thalia distract him. They had bigger
matters to attend to right now.
“He changed color.”
“Who?” Thalia yawned, her eyelids drooping.
“Leraye.”
Her eyelids popped open. "You really believe he changed color?"
“Kiss him.”
“Excuse me?”
Zepar placed his hand on Thalia's shoulder and pushed her face toward
Leraye. “Kiss him.”
“It’s not enough that you fucked her with me in the room. Now you want
to watch me with him again?” Her voice quavered. She sounded hurt. Zepar
paused, stunned by his thoughts. He hadn't been fucking the human, he'd been
fucking Thalia.
“Please.” Zepar stroked a finger down her cheek. “He gained color when
your breath blew across his lips. I’m wondering what would happen if you kiss
him.”
Thalia stared at him for another moment. “As you command.”
She placed her lips against the stone and kissed him. The sight of her lush
mouth on his friend's pale lips twisted something inside his stomach.
More color flooded through the stone body, the grayish white warming,
and Zepar could feel a change in the temperature of Leraye’s shoulder. “He’s
getting warmer,” Zepar said excitedly.
Zepar straddled Leraye’s bent knees. He surrounded her body with his
embrace and clasped them both closer to Leraye. “Blow into his mouth.”
As if from a distance, Zepar noted the silky softness of her back against
the hard planes of his chest. Her hip was solid against his sex and balls, which
hung between Leraye’s legs. Zepar kept his hands curled around Leraye’s
shoulders so he could monitor the change in the stone’s temperature.
Perhaps Leraye could be saved. Hope began to blossom in Zepar’s chest.
Thalia blew into Leraye’s mouth and more color flooded his friend’s
cheeks. The skin beneath Zepar’s palms began to warm.
“More.”
With every kiss she bestowed upon the statue, Leraye’s skin thawed and
the tone began to change from the white of stasis into a more natural skin tone.
Thalia paused.
“Why are you stopping?”
“Because I need to catch my breath. And this position hurts my neck.”
“Straddle him.”
Thalia turned to face Leraye and straddled him like she’d done earlier. Her
 Thalia turned to face Leraye and straddled him like she’d done earlier. Her
chest still heaved.
“Help me,” she said crossly.
“What?”
“We can take turns.”
While they argued, Leraye’s skin began to cool.
“You’re right. We’ll take turns.” Zepar pressed his lips to the hard stone
mouth. With a strange sensation swirling in the pit of his stomach, he blew. He
wanted to keep his eyes open but they slowly drifted shut.
Disorienting contradictions bombarded his senses. Leraye’s frozen, rigid
thighs beneath his own, Thalia's warm silk back against his chest, the solid curve
of Leraye’s shoulders beneath his hot palms, and the cold sensual shape of
Leraye’s stone lips against his.
Zepar inhaled and kissed the statue again and again, each time forcing
more air into his friend’s mouth.
He wasn’t sure but he thought Leraye’s lips might have softened.
Zepar broke away, his chest heaving. “Your turn.”
“He’s getting more color!” Thalia’s granite eyes sparkled. “I think it’s
working.”
Leraye did have more color, his skin was a pinkish yellow.
Zepar curled around Thalia and Leraye and stared intently at his friend’s
face, waiting for a true sign of animation. Thalia continued to kiss and blow air
into Leraye’s mouth.
After a few more minutes, she paused. “Your turn.”
Zepar thought he saw a flash of awareness in Leraye’s electric blue eyes
when he tilted his head and pressed his lips against the statue. His mouth was
definitely warmer.
Zepar pressed his mouth harder against the stone, and hoped for some
sign, some movement. He blew more breath into the slowly awakening Leraye.
After several more minutes, Zepar took another break.
Thalia pressed her lips to Leraye’s and Zepar searched the statue looking
for more signs of life. But by taking turns, he and Thalia couldn't pump enough
continuous air into Leraye to thaw him.
“Let’s try this.” Zepar pressed his cheek to Thalia’s. “If we blow together,
perhaps it will be enough.”
Thalia nodded, her gaze soft upon Leraye’s face.
Zepar’s lips touched both Thalia and Leraye’s mouths as they blew
together.
“Harder.” They inhaled long and deep together. The tips of Thalia’s
nipples brushed against Leraye’s chest, which was almost skin tone and warm to
nipples brushed against Leraye’s chest, which was almost skin tone and warm to
the touch. His eyes were a bright pale blue.
Together Zepar and Thalia leaned in and blew repeatedly.
Thalia’s chest heaved. “I’ve got to stop for a second.” She rested her
forehead in the crook of Leraye’s neck.
But Zepar couldn’t wait. They were so close. He could feel it. Zepar
pressed his lips to his friend’s once again.
He inhaled and blew as hard as he could.
Stars danced behind his eyelids, and the mouth beneath his moved.
Zepar’s eyes popped open.
Joy flooded Zepar. They had done it. They had brought Leraye back from
stasis.
Then suddenly Leraye’s mouth wasn’t just moving. He was kissing Zepar,
his lips warm and firm against Zepar’s mouth. So thrilled, Zepar grasped
Leraye’s head and kissed him back. Leraye’s tongue, warm, wet, alive pressed
against Zepar’s lips and desire flooded him.
In that prison, their sexual interaction had been born of necessity. Their
intercourse only a way to relieve the sexual cravings, not a life choice. Lovers
determined by proximity. While Zepar had no problem with Demons who
preferred their own sex, he was not one of them.
But Leraye's kiss made a mockery of that belief.
Horror replaced joy as he realized his cock was erect.
Because he’d been kissing his friend.
 SEVEN
Thalia realized three things at once.
Leraye was breathing on his own. His bright blue gaze sentient and aware.
Zepar’s cock was poking into her back and she was pretty sure it wasn't
because of her.
And she was naked, her pussy pressed against Leraye’s also very erect,
hot, pulsing cock.
“You’re awake. I’ve got to tell Gaap.” Zepar jumped up and away from
them so quickly that he shoved Thalia closer against Leraye’s very happy
erection.
But Zepar didn’t leave.
Leraye tilted his chin down, but she caught the flash of hurt quickly
masked by a wicked smile. His mouth was red, his lips swollen. “Hello, angel.”
Leraye had been kissing Zepar. Really kissing him.
Based on the Demon cock that had poked her in the back, Zepar had liked
it and that was totally freaking him out. Because everyone knew that Zepar
didn’t do males not since they’d escaped their prison.
As Thalia processed all of that, she had to wonder why. Zepar had been
aroused by kissing Leraye. There should be no shame in that.
Zepar still hovered by the doorway as if unable to leave. "You are revived.
Truly?"
"Yes." Leraye's deep voice was rusty with disuse. His arms circled Thalia,
trembling and still a little weak, even as he leveled a knowing look at her. "And
a special thanks to you for keeping me company whilst I was incapacitated."
Thalia flushed remembering the things she’d confided in Leraye while he
was a statue that she thought was going to be a statue forever. Did he know?
“Don’t,” he whispered and brushed his lips against hers. His mouth was
warm and accepting and more tender than she would have expected for such a
fierce warrior.
“What’s a little air between friends?” His gaze was steady on Zepar.
She assumed he was trying to reassure Zepar that the kiss hadn't meant
anything. Trying to settle them back into a friendship. And it worked.
The relief on Zepar's face was impossible to miss. "Exactly." Zepar's
shoulders relaxed. "What a miracle that our breath could resuscitate you. I only
wish we'd known sooner."
"Thank the Gods you are recovered." Thalia brushed a comforting palm
over Leraye's bald head.
over Leraye's bald head.
“You know I might need a little more resuscitation,” he murmured against
her lips.
“You want me to...?” she breathed into his mouth.
He slid his tongue inside her mouth and ran the tip around the inside of her
lips. A buzz sizzled through her.
His arms curled around her back and underneath her buttocks. His kiss
turned feral and her insides melted. There was heat and want in his actions.
Leraye slanted his head and attended to her mouth in earnest.
Desire slammed into her as his fingers slid along the seam of her buttocks
and he pressed her damp sex into his growing erection. He brought one hand up
to cup her breast, the calluses of his fingertips a sensual play against her chilled
flesh. He slithered his tongue further into her mouth and she opened all the way
for him.
“I’ll just...go.” Zepar’s dazed voice broke into Thalia consciousness.
She’d been lost in a haze of arousal.
Thalia listened until his footsteps stopped echoing on the stone floor and
then gently pulled her mouth from Leraye’s. The move left her bereft. “He’s
gone.”
The chill of the air turned their heated embrace cold.
Leraye’s fingers tightened their hold on her body as she attempted to rise.
“Where are you going?”
“Wasn’t that just to prove a point?”
“Does this feel like I’m trying to prove a point?” He prodded the head of
his erection against her clitoris then slid the hard member along her slick nether
lips. “I thought you might like a little reciprocation for all the hours of pleasure
you’ve given me.”
Thalia flushed bright red as she remembered all the things she'd said and
done to his statue.
“Let me just say that I love how flexible you are.”
“Oh my Gods.”
“And frankly since I just had to sit through you grinding your sweet ass
into me while we watched him fuck her, I deserve a fuck of my own.” He slid
the head of his cock just inside her wet channel.
“You could see that too?”
“I could see and hear everything. I just couldn’t respond.”
Conflicting emotions careened through her. She was oddly attracted to
Leraye. Perhaps because he knew her secrets. “But you are a Lord. It is against
the rules.”
The door to his chamber banged open like a sentry warning her of
 The door to his chamber banged open like a sentry warning her of
forbidden territory.
“I’ve been frozen in stasis for the past month. I can pretty much guarantee
that if I want carnal attention from you that no one is going to deny me.”
Thalia hid her face in the curve of Leraye's neck, hyper-aware of her
nudity and the fact that his cock was nestled just inside of her pussy. Her womb
clenched as if trying to draw him further inside but he would not be swayed.
“Isn’t that right Prince?”
Lovely. The Prince was here.
“Absolutely.” Prince Gaap spoke with joy in his voice. "You are
recovered then?"
"I am regaining my strength with every kiss." Leraye spoke in a deep
rumble.
Zepar grunted as if someone punched him. Wonderful. Zepar was here as
well.
"I would have Barbas examine you." The Prince's words were laced with
steel.
Thalia wanted to burrow into the shelter of Leraye's arms and avoid the
intruders.
"Later," Leraye growled as if he sensed her discomfort with their
audience.
Silence accompanied his demand.
Finally, Barbas said with a hint of laughter, "He appears healthy enough."
Leraye held her tightly. "If you please, Prince Gaap." Leraye spoke over
the curve of Thalia's shoulder. "Leave us until morning."
"As long as Thalia is willing, I'll allow this reprieve," the Prince said.
"Yes." Her voice was muffled as she spoke against Leraye's neck.
The door banged shut. And Leraye seated his cock fully into her.
She was already swollen and needy from the earlier session with Zepar,
and her channel, slick with cum, accommodated his invasion with ease.
“Let us retire to the bed, my angel.” Leraye stood in one swift movement,
the muscles in his abdomen rippling against her pubis. Thalia whimpered as the
hard rod of his erection and the weight of gravity pushed her clitoris down upon
his cock.
His legs trembled.
"Let me walk," she protested and tried to care for him.
“Wrap your legs around me,” he demanded. In the month of her one-sided
congress with Leraye, she had forgotten he was a warrior and Demon of Battle.
He lifted her buttocks and strode toward the bed. With each stride, she
bounced. She curled her hands around the curve of his shoulder and feathered
bounced. She curled her hands around the curve of his shoulder and feathered
her fingers over the scars on his back. The uneven surface was a tactile testament
to his battle prowess.
Leraye lay her down on the lush silk sheets, right over the spot where
Zepar had just taken the blonde.
She didn't think it was an error.
"You really want to do this?" Thalia stared into Leraye's eyes seeking
answers to the mystery of the universe in his gaze.
He looked at her, no humor in his face, his light blue eyes somber. "Yes."
"With me." She pressed, suddenly unsure. The past few minutes had felt
real and true, but perhaps she was only feeling what she wanted to feel.
"You know my secrets and I know yours," he said lightly, his tone at odds
with the very serious look in his pale Demon gaze. "What better basis for a
partnership."
He was still seated within her. His cock pulsed against her inner walls
with an insistent beat. He was leaving the choice up to her. Could she? Should
she?
Lately her appointments had left her wanting. The impersonal attentions of
the Lesser Demons were pleasurable and yet she was more and more frequently
left with a feeling of emptiness. A feeling of sorrow.
The times she'd sat alone with Leraye were the most satisfying she’d had
in a long time. "Yes."
His muscles had tautened, and his body rippled with tension. "Excellent.
Now, what position should we try first?"
Thalia blushed, remembering the things she had done to his statue while
he was inside watching.
Leraye laughed with delight. His blue eyes sparkled like moonlight upon
the ocean. "A Grace that is embarrassed."
"I would that you call me by my name," she said sharply.
"Of course, Thalia," he replied gently and brushed a lock of hair from her
face. "Did you think I didn't know your name?"
"I...." The temptation to cower from him was strong but she refused to. "I
wasn't sure."
"It always pays to know one's enemy." Leraye's face hardened into a
mask, not unlike the expression he'd worn for the past month.
"Am I your enemy, my Lord?"
"Now who is being evasive? Call me by my name."
"Leraye," she said softly. "No longer enemies."
"Not anymore." He slid his cock out of her body and then back inside
again. "I believe we are allies now."
again. "I believe we are allies now."
Allies? She wasn't sure how they were allies, but as the thick staff of his
erection slid in and out of her body, she realized that right now she didn’t care.
Thalia felt connected to Leraye in a way she'd never felt before.
"Do you like that, angel?" The glide of his cock rubbed against her G-spot
and arousal flowed from her pussy. "Gods, I believe I am harder than when I was
a stone."
Thalia giggled. The sound surprised her. It had been too long since she'd
felt this kind of joy.
Leraye nuzzled her neck with his chin and then curled his tongue around
her ear. The sweet sough of his breath against her skin was a balm to her
overworked and overstimulated body. The events of the past hour were a blur of
arousal and hope and shame. But now she found a joy and satisfaction in his
attention.
The hard planes of his chest brushed lightly against her nipples as he slid
in and out of her.
"You prefer a harder contact, do you not?" he murmured slyly. Leraye
extended his tongue and trailed the member down the center of her neck. He
twirled the tip in the deep hollow of her throat as her pulse thudded against her
skin.
He was right. He knew her. A thrill of anticipation rippled through her. He
knew her.
With a delicate lick, he fluttered the tip against her breastbone and traced
lightly around the globes of her breasts. "These really are magnificent, angel."
"Thank you my Lord." She gasped as he curled his tongue around her
nipple and clamped down. Hard.
He did it again and then set up a rhythm that kept time with the pulse in
her throat. Thalia fell into a bottomless well of sensation as he worked her body
with a depth of knowledge that sent a thrill through her. He assaulted her senses
with the hard muscled cage of his body, the thick slide of his cock, and the sharp
almost pain of his tongue's attention.
"I will not hold out much longer." He apologized.
"It will be my pleasure." Thalia groaned as he squeezed even harder, and
then slid his palms underneath her buttocks and lifted her into his hard thrusts.
The assaults on her body, the rough glide of his curls against her clit, his thick
heavy balls banging against her swollen lips and ass, the sensual rasp of his
tongue.
With a hoarse shout, Leraye tumbled over the edge. The iris of his eyes
disappeared as his pupils expanded, and the black encompassed the pale blue.
Thalia fell into the abyss with him.
Thalia fell into the abyss with him.
She gasped for breath and her mind spun as pleasure spiraled through her.
He shifted to the side and lay replete along the naked curve of her body.
Waves of pleasure still lapped at her sensitive zones.
He smiled down at her with warmth and a bit of affection. "I would show
you all of the things you showed me while I was trapped."
She thought of how she was trapped here. A Grace to give pleasure to the
Lesser Demons who seemed not to want her anymore. Trapped by her love for
Zepar, a Demon who was forbidden to her and didn't want her anyway. That
hollow, empty place expanded in her chest as she imagined his frustration and
pain. "Was it terrible?"
“Honestly, you made it bearable.”
She had eased his imprisonment. A sense of happiness bubbled through
her.
Leraye's face settled into amusement and something else. Some other
emotion she couldn’t identify. “How about you show me how flexible you are
when I can enjoy it?”
 EIGHT
Once again cloaked in glamour so he was invisible, Zepar snuck into
Leraye’s chamber. He was oddly unable to resist watching Thalia and Leraye.
Compelled to try to understand what had happened between him and Thalia and
then between he and Leraye.
Immediately his mind shied away from that earlier kiss.
He quietly sat in the chair that had held Leraye's frozen form. The same
seat where Thalia had connected with Zepar in a most primal manner and
satisfaction from their mutual pleasure had roared through him.
Now he used the chair for a more clandestine purpose. To observe Thalia
and Leraye together. As he watched them, Zepar couldn’t help the curl of
jealousy. Why would she engage in bed play with Leraye? They had just shared
possibly the most explosive sexual encounter of his life. And as the Demon of
Seduction that was saying a lot.
Zepar's gaze was glued to the new lovers.
Leraye shifted so that he sat on the edge of the bed. His erection rode high
and thick as he lifted Thalia up and turned her so that she straddled his hips.
Then he pressed her back against his thighs. With one large hand, he cupped the
globes of her breasts and squeezed them together until her nipples touched.
“Like succulent berries,” he said against the peach tips and then sucked
them both into his mouth. While he feasted upon her breasts, he ran his other
palm along the back of her thighs and lifted her legs to curl around his neck. Just
as Thalia had done to Leraye earlier this day. The white milk of her thighs was a
stark contrast to the swarthy skin of Leraye’s thick muscled chest.
Zepar’s breeches tightened. He knew what was coming next.
Leraye spread her pussy wide with his rough fingers. “Such a lovely pretty
pussy all wet and shiny, just for me.”
He rubbed at her flushed nether lips, coating his fingers with her pussy
juice.
Zepar's fingers twitched with anticipation as he watched jealously.
Then Leraye speared Thalia with the blunt head of his engorged cock. The
salty musk of sex hung in the air. “Do you know what it felt like to be able to see
you do this to me? To hear your moans, and see the evidence of your desire, and
yet not feel a thing?”
Thalia’s throaty moan filled the chamber.
Unable to look away from their erotic dance, Zepar's cock swelled harder.
Thalia clung to Leraye’s arms. He clasped her hips and jerked her into
 Thalia clung to Leraye’s arms. He clasped her hips and jerked her into
him. His forearms strained, his biceps were slick with sweat. Every muscle
hardened and sharpened as his body bowed with lust.
Thalia’s breasts bounced and shook with each fierce thrust.
Her lips parted as she gasped for breath. Her legs clamped around
Leraye’s torso and hooked behind his neck as she strained into the sex play.
Zepar ached with a jealous lust. His heart wrenched as he watched. With
each thrust Leraye pulled his magnificent cock from her body until the purple
head touched her clit and then slammed back in. The beauty of their sleek
bodies, flushed and hardened with lust, struck at him.
Watching them, their intensity as they lost themselves in the pleasure of
sensual touch set off an answering firestorm of desire within his blood. His cock
throbbed against the placket of his breeches and he pressed the bulge.
“Touch yourself,” Leraye commanded brusquely.
Zepar shot a startled glance at Leraye. His words an echo from their long
ago interactions. Leraye couldn't be talking to him. But Zepar obeyed the
command willingly and loosened his breeches to fist his cock. Thalia obeyed as
well and flicked her fingers against her clit.
And then Leraye began a series of short, sharp thrusts.
Zepar's arousal was fueled by the view of Leraye's muscular cock gliding
in and out of Thalia plump cunt. His attention was split between both sexes and
the inadequacy of watching rather than participating. His heart constricted as he
realized this was how Thalia must have felt earlier.
Zepar’s gaze was glued to where the two of them joined. Their hips
pumped as he jerked on his cock and wished desperately he were part of the
action.
Leraye and Thalia stared into each other’s eyes lost to passion but
connected to each other. And Gods, he wanted that connection as well.
With a mingled shout, they flew off the cliff into a swirling tempest.
Leraye threw back his head and his muscles strained. Thalia’s pelvis thrust up as
she clenched against an erotic bow of lust.
Zepar wanted to finish. Instead he released his throbbing erection and
studied his friends as envy clutched his heart in a jealous clasp.
And then Leraye turned his head and looked straight at the chair. “You
didn’t finish.”
Thalia lifted her head and scowled at the chair. “You are watching me--us-
-again?” In a most graceful manner, she unhooked her ankles, sat up, and
covered her breasts with her hands.
Zepar hated that she was hiding her body from him. And yet he was hiding
from them both. With reluctance, he discarded the glamour.
from them both. With reluctance, he discarded the glamour.
“So you knew he watched before?” Leraye’s eyebrows lifted.
“Yes.”
“You hussy,” he teased.
Zepar envied their ease with each other. An ease he'd had with Thalia that
he wasn't sure he would ever get back.
“What you didn’t know, angel,” Leraye removed his slowly shrinking
cock from the channel of her sex never taking his gaze from Zepar’s. “Is that
after you left, he licked your cream from my cock. Not that I could feel
anything.”
Her eyes had widened.
“It looks as if the ever gallant Demon of Seduction is hurting.” Leraye
taunted and gestured to Zepar’s fully erect cock. His gaze was like a physical
touch.
“Perhaps the sweet Grace would be willing to take care of that rather large
problem you have.”
"Graces are not allowed to have congress with Demon Lords," Zepar
responded quickly. But the damage had been done as he imagined Thalia on her
knees with his cock in her mouth. He swelled even harder.
"Ah, but Prince Gaap has given me leave to do as I wish for the evening,"
Leraye said softly.
Zepar was through with his games. He wasn’t sure where Leraye was
headed. “Enough. Do not torment her so. Thalia does not engage in sex play
with more than one partner,” Zepar said harshly. Each Grace was allowed to
choose what she would and wouldn’t participate in. Thalia preferred one partner
at a time. Which he would honor.
“So now you are giving her a choice?” Leraye said. “I don’t seem to recall
that you gave her that option earlier.”
Thalia laid her fingers across Leraye’s mouth. “Hush.”
“Just speaking the truth, angel.” He curled his tongue around one of her
fingers and sucked the digit into his mouth. But his gaze stayed firmly on Zepar.
A strange ball of shame settled in Zepar’s gut.
“I will go,” Zepar said.
At the same time, Thalia said breathlessly, “I’ll do it.”
 NINE
What had she just done?
Zepar froze in the chair, almost as still as Leraye had been as a statue.
Only the rapid rise and fall of his chest betrayed his agitation.
Leraye's fingers curled around her hand and squeezeed. Thalia and Leraye
shared a moment of complete understanding.
She might only get one chance to have Zepar as a lover and tonight was
the night. “Come up onto the bed,” she ordered huskily.
“You do not have to do this.” Zepar countered.
“I know.”
He held still for another moment as if silently arguing with himself and
then he pushed slowly to his feet.
“Come. Sit against the headboard.”
Zepar hesitantly stumbled toward the bed, all trace of the Demon of
Seduction gone from his posture. Only pure aroused male remained.
Thalia liked being in control. “Lose your pants.”
Zepar dropped his breeches to the floor. His erection bobbed as he
climbed onto the bed and settled against the mound of pillows.
Thalia tossed a pillow at Leraye. “Sit against the footboard.”
“I want you to show me your cunt while you suck him off.” Leraye’s
voice brooked no argument. And the rush of heat from her sex surprised her.
She turned her back to Leraye and sat on her heels. She smiled slowly at
Zepar. Anticipation rippled through her. The tingling began in her toes and
spread through her body as she realized she was going to get to touch him, put
her mouth on him, kiss him.
He rested against the headboard but his posture screamed hesitation.
With a sweet caress, she scraped her fingers up his muscled legs, until she
reached the juncture of his thighs. His cock twitched. A small drop of cum
glittered on the tip of his erection.
“Cup his balls and play with them.” Leraye’s voice was gravelly with
want. She understood then that she was Leraye’s emissary, and he would have
her do everything to Zepar that he wanted to. It remained to be determined if
Zepar would allow any sexual contact between himself and Leraye.
Thalia trilled her fingers over the twin sacs and learned their shapes,
marveling as they hardened and grew.
“Suck them into your mouth, just like I sucked your nipples. Together.”
Leraye’s breath grew harsher. She could feel his gaze upon her as she bent
Leraye’s breath grew harsher. She could feel his gaze upon her as she bent
forward on her knees.
“Ass in the air.” Leraye commanded. “I want to see your pussy dripping
with cream.”
Thalia spread her legs wider and bent so she was exposed to Leraye’s avid
gaze. With delicate licks, she tasted and loved Zepar’s balls. Her nipples brushed
against his hairy muscled thighs.
“Pinch her nipples.” Leraye commanded Zepar. “Hard.”
Zepar quirked his eyebrow at her, telling her silently, the choice was hers.
She nodded and sucked his balls into her mouth just as Zepar squeezed.
And suddenly the cool, wet glide of Leraye’s tongue trailed along her calf to
linger in the crease behind her knee. Her moan took them all by surprise.
“Take me in your mouth.” Zepar ordered roughly. And Thalia realized he
was the only one whose mouth wasn’t occupied.
She licked delicately along the dark purple vein of his cock and swirled
her tongue around the bulbous head. She’d imagined this cock in her body
earlier.
A thrill of anticipation sizzled through her. She was going to suck that
gorgeous Demon cock into her mouth and make love to his manhood. Her pussy
clenched in response.
She curled her fingers around the base of his hot erection and pursed her
lips. Zepar’s clever fingers alternately pinched and flicked at her nipples.
Then suddenly she felt the lightest touch of wet tongue fluttering against
her clitoris.
“Gods, I missed the taste of a woman.” Leraye’s lips moved against her
sex and then he speared her with his tongue.
Leraye’s hot breath blew against her pussy as she sucked Zepar’s cock
further into her mouth. His girth spread her lips wide and crowded the back of
her throat.
Thalia moaned again. The vibration hummed along Zepar’s cock.
She swallowed hard, the constriction of her throat a heavy pressure on
Zepar’s cock as Demon filled her from both ends. Zepar’s cock in her throat and
Leraye’s tongue in her cunt.
The rough pads of Zepar’s fingers against her nipples and the hot press of
Leraye’s fingers holding her open for his mouth twin assaults on her body.
She rocked forward to suck on Zepar and Leraye pulled his tongue from
her body. Then he rocked her back and speared her, impaled her with his tongue.
Until Zepar pulled her forward again, the pressure on her breasts a pleasure pain.
She reveled in the back and forth rhythm of being pulled between two large
Demons. Her head swirled with disbelief even as her body was bombarded by
Demons. Her head swirled with disbelief even as her body was bombarded by
the sensual assault.
Leraye’s rough tongue widened and expanded until he was larger than any
cock she'd ever taken. He touched her womb and pressed against her g-spot, the
rough pad teased her clitoris. As Zepar’s fingers played with her breasts and
nipples, his cock filled her mouth.
Desire, lust, longing for this moment to last forever battered her. But she
could hold out no longer and she flew into the ether, her body and mind breaking
apart into a thousand little pieces.
 TEN
Gods, he was going to come.
Zepar's cock hardened as Thalia sucked him with unrestrained enthusiasm.
But Zepar couldn’t take his gaze from the rounded curve of her ass as Leraye’s
tongue slid in and out of her slick heat. In the close cocoon of the bed, the three
of them seemed enveloped in a cloud of lust.
His gaze flicked to Leraye’s face, stamped with desire. But Leraye was
watching Zepar’s cock slide in and out of Thalia’s mouth. And Zepar realized
that Leraye had fisted his own cock. While Leraye fucked Thalia with his
tongue, he was working his own cock and watching Zepar fuck her mouth.
Suddenly, Leraye met Zepar’s gaze over the curve of Thalia’s back.
Leraye was thinking about Zepar. The knowledge was in the depths of his
shadowed blue gaze. Zepar’s heart contracted.
And then Leraye jerked harder on his cock. Zepar couldn’t take his gaze
away from Leraye’s expanding penis as Leraye brought himself to orgasm.
Leraye’s seed sprayed between Zepar’s legs and across Thalia’s breasts,
smearing them both with his passion.
Leraye's hot cum on his thighs trigged Zepar’s release. His entire body
imploded as his orgasm blasted through him. Thalia swallowed and swallowed
as Zepar’s wad filled her mouth and she sucked until he was dry.
Yet Zepar couldn’t take his gaze away from Leraye as he milked his cock.
A flash of something powerful skittered over Leraye’s face.
And then Thalia was coming again. Leraye pumped his tongue in and out
of her body slowly. Zepar’s cock came free from her mouth as she closed her
eyes and arched her back in pleasure. Her lips were red and cum slicked her
mouth, open on a hard exhale.
Then Leraye leaned in and tongue-fucked her in earnest. Unwilling to
leave them alone, Zepar cupped her breasts and pinched hard. Thalia stiffened
and arched again. She groaned in pleasure.
Zepar stared hard at Leraye then slammed his mouth against Thalia’s soft
lips and sucked his own cum from her mouth. But Zepar never took his gaze
from Leraye as she orgasmed around Learye's tongue. Her face cloaked in erotic
pleasure as they kept up a relentless rhythm.
Finally, as if the intimacy was too much, Leraye slithered his tongue from
her channel, closed his eyes, and rested his head against the globe of her ass.
When the connection was broken, Zepar disconnected from Thalia’s
mouth and tilted his head back against the headboard. His legs were spread wide.
mouth and tilted his head back against the headboard. His legs were spread wide.
The sleek satin beneath his ass, Thalia’s lips brushed his softening cock in a
sweet caress as the hard points of her nipples stabbed his thighs.
She collapsed into the V of his legs. Then other sensations registered, the
hot muscles of Leraye’s chest along the outside of his left thigh, Leraye’s
forearm heavy across Zepar’s leg as Leraye twined his fingers with Thalia’s.
Leraye shifted to one side and cradled Thalia, his head resting on the curve of
her back and his torso curled around as if protecting her.
Thalia lay in the curve of Zepar’s thighs, her softer skin silky against the
rough hair of his thighs.
Leraye lifted their entwined hands to his mouth and bussed her knuckles
in a simple caress. Tears leaked from her eyes and trickled over Zepar's legs.
“It’s been an eventful day, hmm, angel?”
“One might say that.” Her voice trembled.
“I’ll take care of you,” Leraye whispered. “Sleep.”
Something had happened here. But Zepar was too tired, too overwhelmed
to put it together. And as if denying where his brain wanted to go, his body shut
down.
And they drifted into slumber.

***

Thalia awoke to male voices.

Two of them. She’d fallen asleep against her better judgement. Graces as a
rule did not sleep with the Demons they serviced. They had their own private
chambers. But she’d wanted to hold on to every last moment of her time with
Zepar. And oddly, she had even wanted to linger in the comfort of Leraye’s
embrace.
Instead she had succumbed to slumber almost immediately.
She was surrounded by male Demon flesh. Her head was pillowed on
Zepar’s chest and behind her the heat of Leraye’s body warmed her from knee to
buttocks. Leraye’s morning erection prodded the crease of her ass. She was sure
that if she opened her eyes, Zepar’s cock would be at attention as well. They
were both insatiable warriors.
And once she opened her eyes, this early morning cuddling would be over.
So she was going to to lie here and pretend to be asleep for as long as she could
pull it off.
“Do you not see what is right in front of you?” Leraye’s words held a
strong note of reproach.
“I see plenty.” Zepar’s voice rumbled in her ear.
 “I see plenty.” Zepar’s voice rumbled in her ear.
Leraye’s hiss penetrated the last remnants of her sleep. “How could you
ask her to find you women?”
She held her breath, waiting to see what Zepar said. If he even understood
how he’d hurt her.
“A lot has happened since you were frozen.” Zepar ignored the question.
“We’ve discovered a secret weapon in the battle against the Fae.”
“And it has to do with humans?” Leraye asked for clarification.
“Yes. Love gives Demons a power far greater than the energy of the
moon. I’ve been searching for a human woman to fall in love with me.”
Leraye laughed. “Power. Like a surge of energy?”
“Yes. So I need to find a human woman.”
What about me? She was a woman and a human and she already loved
him. The pain was so great, she swore her heart cracked and broke.
“So, the Demon of Seduction is failing miserably at love.” Leraye mocked
with venom.
“I’ll make it happen.” Zepar’s body had tensed under cheek.
“You will pay Thalia back for the way you used her.”
She held still at the amount of animosity in Leraye’s words.
“I used her?” Zepar laughed softly without amusement. “You don’t think-
-”
Thalia could take no more. She didn’t want to hear what Zepar might say
next. Her heart was already broken in pieces, but she couldn't let on. She yawned
loudly and stretched, pushing her ass into Leraye’s hard-on and 'accidentally'
bumping Zepar’s with her hand.
“Oops.” She rolled onto her back so she was sandwiched between their
chests. Thalia smiled seductively, determined that neither Demon would see how
much she hurt right now. “Good morning boys.”
“Good morning, angel.” Leraye curled his fingers around her chin. “We
have a surprise for you.”
“Oh, I don’t need a surprise.”
“Yes, you do.” Leraye rolled off the bed and stalked toward the door, his
movements almost angry. He lifted a tray of food that had been left outside the
door. “You need some pampering. I’ll bet you're sore from yesterday’s
activities.”
She stretched again, her body deliciously well used. She watched the play
of muscles in his body as he strode back to the bed. With a flourish, he placed a
tray heavily laden with fruit and sundries at the foot of the bed. He began to
bathe her with a heated cloth from the tray, paying particular attention to the
dried cum on her breasts. His attention was not sexual, but sweet.
dried cum on her breasts. His attention was not sexual, but sweet.
He dropped the cloth on the tray and picked up a bottle of scented oil.
With a pop, he unstopped the bottle and the heavy, aphrodisiac scent of
spearmint wafted in the air.
“Hold out your hands.” Leraye commanded Zepar. The Demon of
Seduction stared at him. “Come, you’re the Demon of Seduction. You surely
have used oil before.”
“Often,” Zepar gritted out.
“Then get to it.” Leraye poured the oil into Zepar’s hand and with a
swishing motion indicated he should start.
Zepar rubbed his hands together. The friction warmed the oil and the scent
rolled over her.
“And what are you going to be doing?” Zepar asked.
“Working from the other end.” Leraye pulled Thalia into the V between
his legs, her back lounging against his chest. With strong fingers slick with oil,
he massaged the tension-filled muscles of her neck and shoulders.
The soothing motion began to work its magic and the mint tingled along
her skin. “You are very good at that, my Lord.”
“Have to be. Between battles we must ease the tenstion in our bodies.” He
dug into a particularly hard knot.
Thalia sighed. The massage soothed her weary heart.
Zepar lifted her foot up to his chest and began with her toes. He rubbed
the oil, digging his thumbs into the arch of her foot with sure even strokes. The
strong touch of his hands sparked an answering tug in her womb. And her sex
began to tingle.
Her breath caught. This was not about sex.
She shifted her buttocks and closed her eyes again, determined to relax.
Zepar rested her foot on his thigh and then shifted his attention to her
other foot.
Leraye continued to massage her shoulders, and then spread her arms wide
and smoothed his hard hands down the length of her biceps. He leaned over her
shoulder, his thumbs pressed along her wrists and fingers.
“What do you dream of, angel?”
A home, a lover, safety. Simple things. But he didn’t really want to know
her dreams. And she was determined that if she had one more chance with Zepar
in her bed she was going to take advantage of the opportunity. He might not
want her for the long term but she knew things about him, about his sexuality,
and she wasn’t above using them to get what she wanted.
“Naughty things.” She let her eyelids drift up and lasered in on Zepar’s
erection. With a small smirk, she loosened the muscles of her thighs and let her
erection. With a small smirk, she loosened the muscles of her thighs and let her
legs fall open.
“You little hussy.” She could hear the smile in Leraye’s voice. He slid his
oiled hands down her chest and covered her breasts with his large palms just as
Zepar slid the heels of his hands up her thighs until his thumbs nearly touched
her clitoris.
Thalia looked down at her body, the two pairs of very masculine hands
caressed her flesh, and her sex sizzled. When they were massaging her, their
touch had been impersonal, almost asexual.
But neither Demon was unaffected. Leraye’s erection poked her back
every time he leaned forward to run his palms further down her body and Zepar
had moved closer to her, his member bobbed with every beat of his heart.
Leraye slid his palms all the way down and covered Zepar’s hands with
his, just for a moment.
She loved the sight of two pairs of male hands. Their heavier touch
warmed her sex and an electric silence hung in the air.
Leraye swirled his hands away from Zepar’s. The disappointment was so
acute, she nearly missed his next statement. “Time for your pleasure.”
 ELEVEN
Zepar fidgeted as Leraye strategically placed peach halves over each of
Thalia’s bare breasts. The concave pit cradled her nipples, and the air was
perfumed with the sweet scent of the fruit.
“Are you finished?” Zepar’s voice was deep with memory.
“We used to fantasize about this,” Leraye said.
“My Lord?” Thalia lifted an eyebrow.
“I was a virgin when we were cursed.” Leraye’s battle-roughened fingers
smoothed over the soft skin of Thalia’s belly. “But I was fortunate enough to be
chained next to the Demon of Seduction.”
Zepar listened to Learye's recollection of their years of imprisonment and
remembered. Remembered the young Leraye. So eager, so responsive.
Thalia blinked, and her gaze slid between the two of them.
“He tutored me quite effectively in the art of seduction.” Leraye sprinkled
pomegranate seeds over her collarbone and down the center of her body. “We
spent hours discussing our appetites and what we would do when we rose to the
surface again. Isn’t that right?”
“True,” Zepar replied slowly. His heart constricted as he remembered
thousands of years together. Until they’d broken free of their prison and then
Zepar had never touched Leraye again. He had denied his longing for his former
lover, focusing only on the pleasure of female flesh.
“He gave me my first sexual experience.” Leraye’s glittering blue gaze
pierced Zepar.
The air was heavy with memory as Zepar held Leraye's gaze.
“Well aren’t you lucky? I’m still waiting for my turn with the Demon of
Seduction,” Thalia said.
The intense moment was broken by her teasing words.
Leraye snorted. “Yes, you are.”
And Zepar understood, he was to give her this. In payment for her service
to Leraye. In payment for the way he'd used her last night. Once they left this
chamber the bond would be broken forever and she would go back to being
forbidden. And Zepar would go back to denying his attraction for Leraye. So he
had to make this count.
“It's a feast fit for Demons.” Leraye’e eyes danced with mischief.
Camaraderie and friendship rolled over him. He would make this about
Thalia and sex. Nothing more. “And feast we shall.”
Succulent fruit food adorned her body, slices of apple ringed her belly
 Succulent fruit food adorned her body, slices of apple ringed her belly
button, strawberries rested in the valley between her breasts. “We just need the
final ingredient.”
Leraye nestled a bunch of grapes in the V of her thighs.
They had spoken of this. In the long years of imprisonment, Zepar had
combined the banquet of sex and food and lust for a woman into an elaborate
scenario where he could slake all of his hungers at once. He realized now that in
all of those scenarios, Leraye had been present.
Clearly Leraye had never forgotten.
“Where to start, where to start.” Leraye rubbed his hands together like a
general anticipating battle. Then he gestured to Zepar. “Why don’t you do the
honors.”
Breasts. Zepar loved a female’s breasts. The most feminine of attributes.
“I’ve a yen for her breasts.”
“Most excellent.”
By silent agreement, Zepar and Leraye lay on either side of Thalia. As
one, they extended their tongues, with a delicate lick, Zepar caressed the side of
Thalia’s rounded globe. “You have the most exquisite tits,” Zepar murmured.
Zepar curled his tongue all the way around her breast and squeezed.
Leraye did the same, as they created twin peaks and crushed the peaches over
her nipples. Juice from the ripe fruit leaked down and exploded on Zepar's
tongue with sweetness.
Zepar lost himself in the glory of Thalia's breasts, nuzzling the underside
and curling the tip of his tongue around one generous globe as Leraye mimicked
his action with her other breast. She arched, her breath a soft sigh. But that was
not what he wanted to hear. He wanted her writhing in ecstasy. He slid the palm
of his hand over her hip avoiding the fruit that blocked his path, tracing his
finger over her soft skin. She arched up to press her breast into his face. Zepar
glanced at Leraye but he was lost in the glory of Thalia's breasts as well.
As Zepar edged his hand toward her slit, his fingers collided with
Leraye's. For a moment, the simple contact gave him pause, the callused pads of
Leraye's fingers skimmed over the back of his hand and stunned him with a
sensual shiver. Leraye twined his fingers with Zepar's and lead them to the
promise of Thalia's wet sex. They avoided the grapes, and rubbed their joined
fingers along her cleft. The scent of her musk was heavy in the morning air
along with the sweet juice of the peaches. His pulse thudded in his cock as his
body responded with an unusual urgency to the sensual play between the three of
them.
Thalia's softer, smoother fingers curled around his cock and her thumb
swiped over the head. Leraye's cock was receiving the same attentions. For some
swiped over the head. Leraye's cock was receiving the same attentions. For some
reason the sight of the three of them intimately entwined struck a chord within
his chest. They were his best friends these two. A swell of emotion thundered in
his heart.
Zepar speared their middle fingers into her feminine channel. Their
thumbs trilled against the swollen bud of her clitoris and the press of their joined
hands smashed the grapes against her hot sex. Cool grape juice coated their
fingers and her cleft.
Thalia arched and moaned.
“You like that, angel?” Leraye growled. The sound arrowed through Zepar
like a lightening bolt.
Zepar devoured the peach over her nipple then caught the hard bud in his
lips. The steady pressure of her fingers around his cock was a seductive pleasure.
And the erotic slide of his fingers with Leraye's into her sex set up a sensual
rhythm against her clit. The sounds of sex and moans filled the air. It felt as if
they were connected on some other surreal plane, intertwined so that it was
difficult to tell where one started and the others left off.
The surge of Thalia's hips became more frantic. Her fist tightened on his
cock and everything in Zepar readied. He could feel the clench of her walls
around their fingers.
His arousal built and built as his cock grew harder. Sweat slicked her skin,
and the scent of their three bodies filled the air.
She was near her climax. His own cock had swelled, the orgasm about to
crescendo through him.
As one he and Leraye leaned into Thalia and swept down to give her a
kiss.
Their three mouths met in a zap of pleasure. For a shocked moment. Zepar
froze and stared into the depths of Leraye’s pale gaze.
Their fingers were still joined and pumping in and out of Thalia. Her
fingers curled around their cocks.
Pleasure threatened to overwhelm him. But he wanted inside her body.
Wanted to give her everything she'd asked for earlier.
Zepar broke away and disengaged their fingers. His actions were clumsy
as he unwrapped her fingers from his erection. A bewildered frown marred her
face.
“Feed your cock to her. In her mouth,” he commanded Leraye, his voice
guttural.
Leraye shifted so that he straddled Thalia’s face and leaned forward to
nibble at the pomegranate seeds. She tilted her head back to take all of him in
her throat and exposed the long white column of her neck.
her throat and exposed the long white column of her neck.
Zepar watched Leraye’s thick, hard cock slid between her reddened lips.
The same mouth had worked him last night. An intense desire to be inside her
blinded him. His own cock swelled even harder and he could wait no longer.
Zepar plunged into Thalia’s slick channel. Zepar set a slow pace and
Leraye matched his rhythm as they pumped in and out of her body.
The air was heavy with the scent of crushed fruit and sex. Zepar couldn’t
take his gaze from the way Leraye fucked her mouth. Thalia wrapped her hands
around Leraye’s buttocks as if urging him to go faster.
Gods, the sight caused his own climax to bubble out of control.
Zepar worried that they were hurting her but then she lifted her legs and
curled them around his buttocks. The move pulled his chest closer to her body.
The bed squeaked as they rocked back and forth. Each thrust brought them
nearer to their completion.
Thalia bowed, back arched, as she moaned long and hard. As Thalia
climaxed, her feminine fist milked Zepar’s cock and he let the sensations burst.
He and Leraye shouted together.
Triumph roared through him as his cum jetted from his cock into her
womb and Leraye’s semen pumped down her throat. His gaze caught Leraye’s
and he thought to see the same triumph there. They had fulfilled their fantasy.
Instead, Leraye's gaze was filled with a fierce possession. Leraye curled
his fingers around Zepar’s skull and pulled him closer. Leraye slanted his head
and kissed Zepar. The hard thrust of Leraye’s lips against his mouth shocked
him. The uncontrollable urge to kiss Leraye back thundered in Zepar’s pulse,
equal parts arousal and fear.
His cock still pulsed within Thalia. The contrast of her soft body and
Leraye’s hard fingers and mouth were too much. Zepar pulled away.
This wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to be about sex with Leraye. It was
supposed to be about Thalia.
Zepar yanked his cock from her sex and jumped off the bed. His chest
heaved as he stared at them. Leraye had eased his cock from Thalia’s mouth and
sat back on his heels. Thalia had rolled to lay with her head resting on the hard,
thick muscles of Leraye’s thighs.
Leraye looked at him with pity. Zepar couldn't understand why Leraye
seemed without mercy.
Zepar shifted to Thalia. Recrimination and regret shimmered in her
slumberous gaze.
He hadn't done anything wrong.
But as he submitted to their scrutiny, he understood, he hadn't done
anything right either.
anything right either.
He turned on his heel and left as if a hundred Fir Bolg assassins were after
him.
 TWELVE
“That went well.” Thalia turned away from Leraye and curled into a ball
on her side.
Leraye eased down behind her and wrapped a hard arm around her waist.
“You had to know the night was doomed to end poorly.”
She might have yelled at him if she hadn't heard the sorrow in his voice.
Thalia trailed her fingertips over the deep scars on his arms, testament to his
fierceness in battle. She wanted desperately to soothe him. For if she was
disappointed, how must Leraye feel? He’d been in love with Zepar for years.
“True.”
She lay on crushed grapes. His body cocooned hers from shoulder to
ankle. The heavy weight of his arm anchored her in place. Leraye placed a gentle
kiss on the sensitive skin behind her ear. Her heart trembled at his attempt to
soothe her.
“What do you really dream of?” he asked quietly.
She tensed. “What do you mean?”
“You lied.” He ran his nose along the shell of her ear. His soft breath
tickled the sensitive skin.
“No one wants to know what I really want.” She shrugged off her dreams
as if they were of no consequence. A heavy despair settled over her. She had
made her choices years ago and she had to live with them.
“I want to know.” Leraye rolled her over to face him. His jaw was dusted
with the shadow of a beard but his eyes were clear and intent. “You matter.”
Thalia rubbed her thumb over his lips and marveled at how a hard Demon
could have such a soft mouth. “It hurts too much.”
“Tell me,” he demanded.
He was a study in contradictions. Hard, muscled warrior. His features
were almost harsh in their spareness. Battled-hardened and tough to the core.
Except his touch was gentle, feather light as if she were a precious, delicate
flower and he worried of crushing her with his brute strength.
Fine. Thalia replied defiantly, as if daring him to mock her simple desires,
“Love. A home.”
“Is this castle not your home?”
“It’s a shelter,” she corrected. “A very nice shelter.”
He seemed to be thinking, his gaze narrowed as he stared at her.
“Anything else?”
“A lover.” Her gaze automatically shifted to the heavy arched doors that
 “A lover.” Her gaze automatically shifted to the heavy arched doors that
Zepar had recently stormed through.
Leraye’s callused fingers cupped her cheek and brought her attention back
to him. “What if I offered to give you those things?”
He kissed a trail down her neck, and nuzzled the sensitive spot where her
shoulder connected with her neck before licking his way to her breasts.
Her heart bump-bumped with a frantic beat. “You are in love with
another.” She swallowed away the lump in her throat. She couldn’t speak
Zepar’s name.
“Who is to say I couldn’t be in love with you too?” He twirled his tongue
around her hardening bud as if trying to coax her body into agreement.
Even as her heart petrified, her body melted. His sensual attention was like
a balm to her battered soul. Affection and arousal eddied through her. They
would be a good match. And they had at least one thing in common. They both
loved Zepar.
And Zepar wouldn't allow himself to love Leraye or Thalia. If wasn’t
quite what she had dreamed of...well, that would have to be okay.

***

Zepar paced the Prince’s war room. Where the hell was Leraye? And what
the hell had happened in that chamber?
“Sit down.” Gaap commanded him. “You’re driving me crazy.”
Zepar dropped into one of the chairs that surrounded the massive round
table and promptly began tapping one finger on the rowan slab.
The ornate door swung open and Leraye strode in with a jaunty swagger.
For some reason, Leraye’s cocky grin grated on Zepar’s nerves. He
glowered at his old friend.
Old friend. Somehow that label didn’t fit right anymore. Something had
changed in that room. And Zepar didn’t know how to change it back. “Why are
you so happy?”
How could Leraye be so happy when Zepar was still so confused?
One of Leraye’s dark eyebrows rose. He stared hard at Zepar hard then
shifted to Gaap. He bowed low. “Prince.”
You are recovered, then?” Prince Gaap studied Leraye, searching for signs
of ill effects from the Fae spell.
“I am very well.” Leraye stood in front of the Prince.
“You seem to be fully recovered. More than recovered, you appear to be
thriving." Prince Gaap motioned for Leraye to sit. "So let's discuss what has
happened since you were frozen.”
happened since you were frozen.”
“I could hear your words even though I was not responsive.” Leraye
leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his massive chest. His
muscles bunched and he was very carefully not looking at Zepar.
Why wouldn't Leraye look at him?
‘We need to figure out what the Fae did to you.” Zepar didn’t want the
same to happen to Leraye again.
Leraye nodded. “Agreed.”
“Any ideas? We looked for a dart, any wound on your body, but could
find none.” A fine sheen of sweat covered Zepar’s face as he remembered the
frantic search for a wound, then the raging disappointment when they found
nothing.
“I believe it was some sort of massive electrical overload that rendered me
basically null. Unable to move, unable to do anything.”
Gaap studied him. “But you were aware?”
“I could hear you and see you but I couldn’t make my body obey any
commands.”
"How could such a strong pulse be delivered?" Gaap asked. "Smaller
pulses injured me in the last battle against the Fae and rendered my magick
useless for a bit."
“Maybe that’s why they didn’t hit you again,” Leraye said to Gaap. “They
used all of their energy to freeze me.”
“Perhaps.”
“I wonder why they did not employ the same tool against me in the woods
last night,” Zepar mused.
“Last night.” Leraye seemed to grow larger, his body hardened, readied
for battle. “You put Thalia in danger when you went to find women.”
Gaap raised a brow at him.
“The Fae attacked and then ran away.” Zepar’s chest puffed with pride.
“But not before Thalia managed to stab one with her iron knife.”
“She was traumatized.” Leraye growled.
“She told me she was fine." Zepar dismissed his comment, surprised at the
rage he saw reflected in the depths of Leraye's pale blue gaze.
"She wasn't fine." Leraye gritted.
"Let's focus on the Fae." Gaap brought the conversation back to their
enemy.
“Why would they run?” Leraye asked.
“It does bear some reflection,” Gaap said pensively. “They certainly did
not resist on the same scale as during my battle with them.”
“Maybe they thought they had the upper hand with you but not with Zepar
 “Maybe they thought they had the upper hand with you but not with Zepar
and Thalia,” Leraye said.
“Against one human woman and one Demon?” Gaap shook his head.
Zepar saw the knowledge in Leraye’s gaze. Knew that Leraye understood
what had happened in that wooded glade. How Gaap had carried both Leraye
and his mate, Lili from the enchanted forest.
Leraye bowed low. “I have yet to give you my thanks.”
Gaap waved away Leraye’s gratitude. “You would have done the same for
me.”
It was true.
“At least now we know how to break the spell.” Zepar shifted as he
recalled how he and Thalia had broken the spell.
“Thank the Gods that you recovered.” Gaap took a long draw of red wine.
“You seem changed.”
Leraye nodded solemnly. “Being imprisoned, again, made me realize that
I don't want to live half a life anymore.”
Gaap frowned. “Half a life?”
Leraye went over and knelt in front of the Prince. “I’d like to petition for a
boon.”
Zepar’s heart thudded in his chest. Leraye hadn’t looked at him but
somehow he knew that whatever the Demon had to say would not please him.
“Speak.”
“The Grace, Thalia,” Leraye said softly. “I wish to have her as my
consort.”
Zepar leapt to his feet. “Impossible.”
Both Leraye and Gaap turned to look at him. Their sudden frowns
triggered a wave of doubt but he didn't back down.
“What?” Leraye’s countenance stiffened into a harsh mask.
“She’s here to serve the Lesser Demons,” Zepar said desperately.
“Who are all out looking for human mates.” Leraye responded. “She told
me herself that she is rarely called upon anymore.”
“Exactly,” Zepar crowed triumphantly. “We must all find human mates.
We need the power of their love.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, Thalia is human.” Leraye’s voice dropped,
laden with menace.
Zepar flushed, a blast of heat colored his face. “But did you gain power
from her kisses?”
"Her kiss revived me. Is that not power enough?" Leraye paused, fists
clenched, his body tensed as if for battle. Each muscle and sinew stood in stark
relief as he stalked over to confront Zepar.
relief as he stalked over to confront Zepar.
Zepar countered. “There is a noticeable surge of power. And I don't
believe she gives you that." But the callous dismissal twisted his stomach into
knots. She had been his anchor this past month. He’d found peace in her
company. He had nothing but the greatest respect for Thalia.
However the thought of Thalia and Leraye together caused his thoughts to
spiral into panic. He didn’t want it. Didn’t want them together.
“This battle is for the very survival of Demons.” Zepar ran agitated fingers
through his mane of blonde hair. “We cannot allow softer emotions to rule our
heads.”
Disappointment flooded Leraye’s face. He shook his head, his mouth
turned down. “It’s a good thing you are not in charge.”
A sick pit grew in his chest, hollowed out and aching. He had lost the
regard of his friend.
Leraye turned to address the Prince. “What is your answer?”
“Zepar makes a valid point.We need to gather as much magick as possible
to fight the Fae,” Gaap said softly. "Did you feel a pulse of power when you
mated?"
“She has given us ten years of service.” Leraye rebutted without
answering. “We are no better than the Fae if all we do is try to harvest human
emotion for our own gain.”
Zepar’s throat tightened. He didn’t want her to feel used. Of course he
didn’t. But what if she were using Leraye? Zepar had taught her all of the tricks
of seduction.
Prince Gaap said, “You are correct. But--”
“But we need the love of humans.” Zepar ground out.
“Yes, but we cannot force them to fall in love,” Prince Gaap said
patiently.
Zepar knew that first hand. Out of sheer frustration, he burst out. “I don’t
understand why I can’t get one single human to fall in love with me.”
Pity and some other deep emotion darkened Leraye's eyes. “You have
missed the point completely. It’s about being in love with each other.” Leraye’s
mouth softened into a smile that Zepar had never seen before.
“And that’s what you think you have with Thalia?” Zepar waited
expectantly. Waited for the denial. Waited for the laughter where Leraye
confessed that no, that wasn’t what he and Thalia shared. They shared sex.
Very hot sex.
Pictures of Leraye and Thalia slithered through his mind. Thalia with her
head thrown back in ecstasy, her body flushed with desire. Thalia with the look
of a woman sated. Leraye, his muscles hard, brutal, clenched while an orgasm
of a woman sated. Leraye, his muscles hard, brutal, clenched while an orgasm
ripped through his body.
“Yes.” Leraye looked almost as surprised as Zepar felt. “I am in love with
her.”
The unexpected twist of jealousy struck him. He didn’t want them
together. “And she feels the same?”
Leraye hesitated.
Triumph roared through him. “Hah. She does not.”
“Not yet. But I hope she will grow to love me.”
“Look at you.” Zepar snarled. “Simpering about love. Where is the
warrior?”
Leraye said, “Are you that miserable that you will not allow us some
measure of happiness?”
“You realize what she is doing?”
Leraye raised his brows, a look of cynical disregard on his hewn features.
“She is seducing you for her own gain.” The words spewed out of his
mouth, an almost desperate attempt to turn Leraye and Thalia against each other.
“I have taught her well.”
“Enough,” Leraye roared. Every muscle in his body tensed and Zepar
realized he had pushed his friend too far. He also noted the lines of tension
around Leraye’s eyes. His friend was thinking, assessing strategy as he did when
he prepared for battle.
“I want her,” Leraye said calmly, softly.
“I’ll allow it.” The Prince, who both had forgotten was even in the room,
acquiesced. “For now.”
 THIRTEEN
Thalia tugged playfully at Leraye’s hand. “Come with me.”
“I thought I already did that.”
She giggled. Actually giggled.
The last few days had been amazing. Since she had agreed, and the Prince
allowed she and Leraye to be consorts, her days had been filled with training her
replacement, Judy, the blonde from the awful night with Zepar, and her nights
had been filled with Leraye and love.
A sense of contentment settled over her.
He was an adventurous lover. They’d engaged in sex play all over the
castle grounds, some places more fun than others. But she knew not all was well.
They both had emotional demons to exorcize and she planned to help Leraye
over the one place that she knew haunted him.
She headed toward the dungeon steps.
His fingers tightened on hers. “What are you doing?”
“We’re going to engage in a little bondage.” She tugged him toward the
cells where the Demons kept their enemies.
“You’re going to let me tie you up?” Leraye grinned, his teeth flashed
white in his ferocious face as he leered at her.
Oops. Perhaps she'd been too playful. She didn't want to flat out lie to him
but she feared if she explained he would balk, so she avoided answering. She
knew he needed this to move forward.
Thalia paused on the winding steps, her back against the cool stone wall,
and pulled him into her embrace. The hard planes of his chest flattened her
breasts and his engorged cock rubbed against her stomach in a slow, seductive
caress. But as he tilted his head and moved in for the kiss, he had a serious look
in his eyes. His fingers were hard in hers, and the tight grip belied the relaxed
mood.
With one more squeeze of his fingers, he fitted his mouth to hers.
Thalia curled her arms around his shoulders and savored his solid bulk.
His mouth devoured hers, his tongue probing and teasing before invading her
mouth. He slid his rough callused palm up the fine cotton of her dress, cupped
her breast, shaped her flesh and plucked at the budding nipple.
A gentle glow seemed to surround her, a warm buzz that filled her heart
with joy and hope. Hope that everything would be okay.
Thalia broke away from the kiss. “Let’s go.”
“I know what you’re doing.” Leraye held her in place.
 “I know what you’re doing.” Leraye held her in place.
“And are you agreeable?” A sudden uncertainty attacked her. Would he be
mad? She only wanted to erase the old memories, make new ones that spoke of
happiness rather than reminding him of what he couldn’t have.
“I’m open to the idea, but only if you let me tie you up afterwards.” He
nipped at her reddened lips and caressed her jaw gently.
Thalia smiled wickedly. She didn't want to make it too easy for him and if
he were thinking about later he wouldn't worry about what was going to happen
next. “If you can catch me first.”
“Vixen.” He laughed.
They raced down the steps. Thalia purposely chose a cell that had a
window but little light from the moon. The idea was to come as close to re-
creating his prison as possible.
She led him into the darkened room. Cuffs to restrain him were bolted into
the walls. The metal clanked against the stone, and a shiver of apprehension
skittered down her back.
“What’s wrong?” He circled her waist from behind her, arms hard against
her stomach, palms pressed flat to her waist. His erection prodded her in the
buttocks, insistent, aroused. And still she couldn’t shake the sudden feeling that
everything would change if they did this.
“Maybe we shouldn’t.” Goosebumps radiated down her neck and over her
spine.
“It will be fine.” Leraye snapped his left wrist in a cuff himself. “Although
it would be far more pleasurable if you’d restrain me.”
This was silly. She was trying to make this fun. Leraye didn't seem
worried. Why should she? Thalia pressed him back against the wall, mimicking
their pose on the steps. With quick efficient movements, Thalia stripped Leraye
of his clothing.
She dragged his breeches over his straining erection and down thick
muscled thighs, taking the time to caress his cock with light touches and score
her fingernails over the hairy column of his legs. His nearly hairless chest
gleamed in the dim light, like a Greek statue and her knees went weak at all of
that strength and power at her mercy.
But Thalia couldn’t shake the feeling that the shadows had eyes.
Zepar had been shadowing them this past week, but she didn't sense his
presence right now. It was likely nothing.
With a quick look around, she lifted his right arm to the cuffs, set at waist
height, and snapped his wrist in the heavy restraint. He still had a quite a range
of motion which is what they needed for this experiment.
She leaned close, the tips of her breasts brushed his naked chest, and
 She leaned close, the tips of her breasts brushed his naked chest, and
whispered in his ear. “Now I'm in control.”
"Yes," he said submissively.
Another shiver trilled through her at the capitulation in his words. She
stood in the barely there light and shimmied out of her cotton dress. Her nipples
were already hard and her sex had begun to cream at his harsh, shadowed
features and the sword of his erection.
"Face the wall."
Leraye turned and presented her with the hard, sculpted curve of his ass.
He was gorgeous.
“I'm going behind you.” She was in control but it didn't mean she couldn't
tell him what she was doing.
Thalia stepped closer. The heat from his body radiated off of him and
warmed her. If she hadn’t been this close she wouldn’t have seen the slight
sheen of sweat or the increased pace of his breath. She wrapped her arms around
his waist.
“Grab my cock,” he begged hoarsely.
And this time, Thalia submitted.

***

Zepar watched from the shadows, a voyeur with a sick compulsion. He

had watched them this past week. Watched Leraye bend Thalia over a saddle in
the stables and fuck her like a stallion. Watched them roll in the loamy earth of
the herb garden, releasing the scent of crushed basil and mint as they laughed
like loons. Watched them on the dining table as Thalia decorated Leraye's cock
with chocolate sauce and licked him clean. Watched them as they fornicated
their way around the castle.
He hadn’t been able to stop.
Each time he saw them together his heart gave a little jolt. He wasn’t
jealous. He was almost positive he felt disgust. Yes, disgust for their insatiable
lust.
Just because he hadn’t felt that kind of lust except for when he’d watched
Thalia fuck herself, or when he’d kissed--
So what if he'd been unable to maintain an erection. So what if he'd been
unable to fuck anyone else.
He was under a lot of pressure. The castle needed as many human/Demon
mating pairs as possible. That was it.
Thalia pressed a kiss to Leraye’s heavily muscled back. Leraye flexed his
deltoids as he fisted his hands against the rough stone walls. Zepar couldn’t see
deltoids as he fisted his hands against the rough stone walls. Zepar couldn’t see
her hands from here, but he knew she pumped Leraye’s cock slowly from the
way her arms moved.
The sheer beauty of Leraye’s body took away Zepar’s breath.
Broad shoulders, thick muscled neck, even the curve of his head held
power and beauty. His body possessed the ability to bestow pleasure or pain. Or
both.
With each movement of her hands, Leraye’s hips shifted toward the wall.
Thalia had spread her legs further apart and pressed her pelvis against
Leraye’s ass. Her buttocks moved with Leraye’s.
The contrast of Leraye’s darker, battle hardened body and Thalia's softer
more feminine curves caused attraction swell within Zepar. Their sensual dance
was a visual, erotic feast for his weary soul. And miraculously his cock surged to
life. Zepar found himself echoing their erotic rhythm as he rubbed his own cock
in time to their thrusts.
Zepar could see her whisper in Leraye’s ear but he couldn’t hear her
words. The heavy sound of their breathing in the near silent dungeon chamber
drowned out whatever she said to him.
“Do it.” Leraye ground out.
Zepar was mesmerized by the flex and play of Leraye’s muscles and the
sight of her long slender finger. She’d lubricated the digit and now ringed the
rosette in Leraye’s ass with her right hand even as she continued to work his
cock with her left.
Tentatively, Thalia pushed her finger part way into Leraye’s ass. Zepar
wanted to stop her, take over from her awkward moves and show her the proper
way to breach that place of pleasure.
“Harder.” Leraye grunted.
Thalia shoved her finger in all the way.
Leraye groaned. “More.”
Without hesitation, she plundered his ass, working three fingers into him.
The sleek lines of her arms were highlighted by the sliver of moonlight.
Thalia’s breath heaved in and out of her lungs, as she rocked her body in
time to the dual assaults on Leraye.
Zepar loosened his breeches and he worked his erection while Thalia
worked Leraye’s. He clenched his own ass with each purposeful invasion of her
fingers. Each time he thrust his hips a powerful shame rose within Zepar.
And yet, he couldn’t look away.
The power in the interaction was immense.
The mingled scent of Leraye and Thalia perfumed the air and the
temptation to join them nearly brought him to his knees. The phantom lover
temptation to join them nearly brought him to his knees. The phantom lover
caught in the shadows. Unable to admit that he wanted to engage with them, yet
equally unable to stop watching.
As Thalia worked Leraye’s body, Zepar saw the love between them. The
gentle kisses she placed along the curve of Leraye’s spine. The way Leraye
turned his head to gaze into Thalia’s eyes. Their connection was almost palpable
in the steamy, confined air.
How could he have doubted them? And why was he so jealous?
With a muffled shout, Leraye erupted and spewed cum over the prison cell
walls.
He watched the two kiss, as their lips met in a gentle, affectionate caress.
A lover’s act. No, not just a lover’s act but the act of two people in love. Zepar’s
heart pounded against his ribcage as he finally accepted their love.
His heart was empty, hollow. He was going to creep away, still cloaked in
glamour, and hope they hadn’t noticed him lurking in the corner. But not yet.
 FOURTEEN
Thalia leaned her forehead on the hard bulge of Leraye’s shoulder. His
heart boomed against the sculpted planes of his pectorals. His scarred body filled
her with an abundance of love. His muscles bunched more than normal as he
strained to release his hands from the cuffs.
She hoped desperately that this interlude had helped him with his lingering
lust for Zepar. Gods knew she understood.
“You going to let me go?” His voice rumbled pleasantly through her
insides and she smiled at the contentment she heard there. He tugged again, but
she’d used special cuffs that would withstand a Demon’s strength.
“Not just yet.”
She lovingly cleaned Leraye’s body and her own.
“How did you manage to acquire these?” The metal rattled in the
somnolent air as he shook his wrists.
Thalia smiled secretively. “Never you mind.”
Zepar lingered in the corner. She must have sensed him earlier and just not
realized it was him. Again. He’d been present at most of their more public
exploits but she still had no idea why. The ache in her heart intensified and she
wished, again, he would either join them or leave them alone.
“He’s here again?” he murmured.
She nodded. Her forehead rubbed against his sweat-slicked skin and she
savored the scent of his essence. All male and all Demon.
“Let me go,” he said in a louder voice.
But before Thalia could retrieve the keys, another voice interrupted. A
woman. “No, you don’t.”
Thalia turned around, her body in front of Leraye’s.
It was Judy, the woman who Thalia had been training to take over her
place as a Grace. “What?”
“Shut up, Thalia.” The woman pointed some sort of weapon at Leraye.
“You’ve served your purpose. Now move away from the Demon.”
Thalia frowned. “What?” She couldn’t seem to process what was
happening.
“You think I didn’t know you were my contact?” Judy sniped. “I’m not
dumb. The Fae told me not to speak of it. But I knew it was you. You’ve been
helping me since you brought me here.”
“You traitor.” Leraye snarled from behind her.
Thalia whirled to face him. “You think I betrayed you?”
 Thalia whirled to face him. “You think I betrayed you?”
“Get away from me.” Leraye’s face had hardened into contempt and hate.
His words came from a far off place as if the wind blew around her in a tempest.
He was listening to Judy. He thought Thalia was a traitor.
Thalia blinked, unable to snap out of her shock. Her head roared. A gaping
hole hollowed out her chest and froze her feelings into ice.
Leraye believed Judy.
Not Thalia.
Thalia had given him everything. Everything she had to give. And he
believed that she would betray the Demons. How could Leraye believe Thalia
would harm him, harm any Demon? She loved him.
Oh, Gods. She loved him.
Leraye tugged on the handcuffs. Thalia moved away from Leraye, who
believed Judy, and closer to the keys on the bed.
Thalia saw Zepar materialize behind Judy but he couldn’t reach her in
time to disarm her.
“We will destroy the Demon of Battle and cripple Prince Gaap and his
minions.” Judy raised her weapon and pressed the trigger.
"No!" With a hoarse cry, Thalia launched herself between Leraye and the
deadly stream of electricity.
A blast glanced off Thalia’s shoulder, but the bulk of the shot streamed
past her and into Leraye. The pain, a searing white hot burn, felt as if her body
was rent in half and she fell into the darkness.

***

Zepar lunged for Judy, but he was too late.

The first blast struck Thalia and she went down hard.
Leraye was frozen.
With an inhuman roar, Zepar tackled Judy. His blade sliced across her
jugular so deeply that he severed her head from her body.
In a flash, Zepar knelt to Thalia’s inert body. She lay so still. Her chest
barely moved.
Leraye’s body began to twitch. Whatever the blast had been if it had hit
Leraye full on, it would have frozen him again or killed him. Instead Thalia had
borne the brunt of the wicked zapper.
Leraye towered over them. The cuffs dangled from each bloody wrist, his
hands clenched into fists of rage.
“Leave her,” Leraye said harshly.
“You idiot.” Zepar lifted Thalia gently into his arms and started for the
 “You idiot.” Zepar lifted Thalia gently into his arms and started for the
dungeon steps. “She did not betray you.”
There was no blood. Which was almost worse. Nothing to staunch. And
yet a vicious burn slashed her right side.
Leraye thudded behind him. “You're so sure.”
“She just threw herself into certain death to save you.” Zepar tried to be as
gentle as possible as he raced for his chambers.
She lay limp in his arms.
“Get Barbas,” Zepar spat. “We must see if he can save her.”
 FIFTEEN
Zepar hovered over Thalia as she lay on the chaise in his chamber. His
chest was heavy as he fought alongside Thalia for each breath. Leraye knelt
beside her, keeping vigil.
Barbas, the Demon of Healing, lounged wearily in the ornate chair next to
the fireplace. His dark skin, dark hair and dark eyes rendered him more like a
Demon of Doom than one who had taken an oath to heal. He had tried
everything to heal Thalia’s wounds. “I can do nothing further.”
Zepar was desperate. There had to be something else. "Nothing?"
Zepar could barely hear over the sound of his own labored breathing.
Leraye's chest rose and fell harshly. And he knew Leraye was caught in the same
anguish. It had been over twenty-four hours since Thalia made her sacrifice and
nothing had revived her.
"We could try a transfusion."
"Take my blood," Leraye blurted.
Zepar would gladly offer his own blood too but he knew that Leraye
needed to atone for his moment of doubt.
"We will have to use the blood most compatible to her type," Barbas said
patiently.
But after a small test, Barbas determined that neither his blood nor
Leraye's was suitable.
At that moment, Prince Gaap entered Zepar's chamber. "How is she?"
They explained the dire situation to the Prince. Zepar ended with, "We
need compatible blood."
"Try mine." The Prince held out his arm.
In that moment, Zepar knew he would lay down his life for Gaap.
As Barbas tested Gaap's blood, the Prince revealed his true reason for the
visit to Zepar's chamber. “The human, Judy, is dead.” It was a statement.
“Yes, my Lord.” Barbas replied. "I verified her death myself."
Gaap said, "It would seem now we know why the Fae did not attempt to
kill you on the way home from the village."
"A ruse to conceal any stink of Fae we might have uncovered." Leraye
hypothesized.
It made sense. Dammit. They had thought nothing of it when they brought
the women to the castle and bathed the Fae's touch from them.
“She spoke of a contact in the castle when she attempted to kill Leraye.”
Gaap frowned, his face dark and worried.
Gaap frowned, his face dark and worried.
Zepar nodded, a solid lump in his throat as he remembered how close
Leraye had come to death. And how close Thalia lay to death now.
"The Prince is a match." A smile burst on Barbas's face. "This is good.
"Do it," the Prince said imperiously.
Within minutes Barbas had set up a transfer of Prince Gaap's blood to
Thalia.
Zepar was too overcome to speak. Leraye knelt before the Prince, his head
bowed low. "Thank you."
Once the transfusion was complete, Zepar went to Thalia's left side and
Leraye to her right.
"You are certain that Thalia was not the traitor?" The Prince asked.
Leraye jumped to his feet, fists clenched, face fierce. "She is not."
Zepar got ready to restrain Learye in case he was foolish enough to attack.
"I could see her face when Judy attacked. Thalia did not betray us." His
conviction rang through the tense chamber.
"I had to ask," the Prince said mildly.
Zepar relaxed slightly.
“If Thalia was not Judy’s contact, then we have another traitor in this
castle,” Gaap said ominously as he rolled down his sleeve.
“That was also my assessment.” Barbas concurred.
"I need you to find that traitor.” Gaap directed the command at Barbas.
Zepar knew that Barbas sometimes acted in other capacities for the Prince.
"As you wish," Barbas replied.
Gaap spoke to Zepar and Leraye. "You will speak of this to no one."
Zepar nodded.
"I will be happy to give my assistance," Leraye said fiercely.
Zepar also pledged his aid.
Gaap looked at them both, a serious weight in his face. "Concentrate on
your consort's recovery," Gaap said. "And then we will see."
Prince Gaap had just given his permission for them to claim Thalia as their
own. A particular joy filled Zepar. But the blessing would not matter if she didn't
recover.
Gaap said, "I will pray for her." And then he left.
And once again Zepar was left in his chamber with the still, silent Thalia
and Leraye and Barbas. Thalia's chest had sunken in and her lips were pale,
nearly blue with lack of oxygen. She was fading before their very eyes.
"Why won't she get better?" Zepar lamented.
"Her body is capable of regeneration.” Barbas rubbed his thick-fingered
hands over a tired face. “But it’s as if her mind is not willing. She has given up.”
hands over a tired face. “But it’s as if her mind is not willing. She has given up.”
Leraye dropped his head to the chaise. “Gods, what have I done?” The
mighty Demon of Battle had been destroyed by the probable demise of one
slight woman.
Zepar stroked his palm over the smooth curve of Leraye’s head. With his
other hand, he clasped Thalia’s fingers tightly and willed her to live. “Fight,
damn it.”
Barbas lifted his dark gaze to the hand Zepar had rested upon Leraye’s
head.
Their vigil reminded Zepar far too much of the way they kept watch over
Leraye when they’d first brought him home. Zepar’s chest hollowed at the
desolate look in his old friend’s eyes. How could he ever have thought that
Leraye and Thalia didn’t love each other?
“I saw the glimmer of power when you kissed in the dungeon,” Zepar
spoke. “Before Judy blasted her. Should we try it?”
Leraye didn’t even answer. He just jammed his mouth to hers desperately
but nothing happened. No spark.
Nothing.
Leraye backed away slowly. The fire crackled merrily in the fireplace. The
snap and hiss, normally a pleasant sound, at was at odds with the somber
expectation that hung in the air.
As Zepar stared into Thalia’s slack face, a desperate idea floated in his
mind.
Zepar curled his fingers into a fist. "What if we try to revive her, the way
we revived Leraye.”
Barbas shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”
Leraye stared into Zepar’s eyes, his pale blue tormented gaze lit with
emotion. “You were able to bring me back.”
A frisson of concern skittered up Zepar’s spine at the hope in Leraye’s
gaze. What if they couldn’t do it? What if it didn’t work?
“We have to try,” Leraye said fiercely. “We have to.”
“By kissing Learye. Breathing air into his lungs together. We literally
breathed life back into him.” Zepar continued to clutch Thalia’s hand in his own,
fearing that if he let go she would slip away as the sun slipped beneath the
horizon.
Barbas stared steadily at the two of them. “Try it. And call me if there is
any change.”
“You’re leaving?” Zepar said desperately.
“There’s nothing more I can do for her,” he replied solemnly. "And I have
a traitor to find."
a traitor to find."
With that Barbas left.
Zepar perched on Thalia’s right side near her rib cage, while Leraye took
the left side. With his free hand, Zepar grabbed Leraye’s and twined their fingers
together, Leraye’s hard palm tense. As one they leaned over Thalia’s prone
form.
“What worked the best was to press our lips to yours together.” Zepar
steeled himself for disappointment, afraid to let hope take root.
Leraye nodded stiffly and pressed his cheek to Zepar’s. The sensation
brought back forgotten memories. The brush of Leraye’s hair along his jaw line,
the rougher skin of Leraye's beard against his face. the battle-hardened muscles
of Leraye's chest against his.
Zepar inhaled and gently, tenderly placed his mouth at the corner of
Thalia’s lips. Leraye did the same to the other side of her mouth. The three
formed a triangle of lips that felt right and true.
“Please,” Zepar whispered, “come back to us.”
Zepar and Leraye breathed in and out of her mouth.
Zepar held Thalia’s hand next to his own heart. He clasped Leraye’s hand
over her heart and felt the thready bump-da-bump as it beat erratically.
Leraye cupped Thalia’s jaw and blew harder into her mouth. “I’m sorry,”
he murmured between breaths.
In and out they breathed as one.
But nothing happened. Zepar and Leraye refused to give up. They
continued to breathe in and out. But her heart slowed, and its rhythm steadily
declined.
“No,” Zepar said fiercely. “Kiss her. Show her.”
Zepar and Leraye descended upon her mouth. Zepar pressed his tongue
inside her mouth at the same time as Leraye. Their tongues twined together as
they blew with all their might and tried desperately to give her life. Zepar poured
every ounce of love into the kiss as he willed Thalia to live. Her hand was
clutched to his heart and Leraye’s against her breastbone.
His tongue dueled with Leraye’s as they stroked hers. Unable to hold back
emotion he hadn't let himself feel for a long time, Zepar unleashed his love for
Leraye.
And suddenly Zepar wasn’t just kissing Thalia but Leraye as well.
As if he had willed it to be so, it seemed as if Thalia was moving her
tongue against theirs.
Had he imagined the tentative touch?
No! Thalia had responded. Her heart thud harder against their twined
fingers.
fingers.
They continued to kiss her, their tongues stroking hers and suddenly
power, pure and radiant, shimmered between the three of them.
Zepar broke away from the intertwined kiss, his chest heaving. The power
shocked him out of his joy.
Gods, he wanted to be a part of their love. Yet, he didn't know how. He
had only aided in bringing her back to consciousness. But he knew from
watching Leraye and Thalia earlier that their love ran true and deep without him.
 SIXTEEN
Thalia regained consciousness slowly.
Sensations filtered through her muddled brain. The hard press of Leraye’s
chest against her shoulder and the callused roughness of his fingers along her
jaw. Zepar's palm and fingers entwined against her breastbone. Zepar's taste in
her mouth. Her lips were wet and swollen from the attentions of her Demons.
A thin sheet covered her naked body as she reclined on a chaise of the
finest velvet. She recognized the chair from her many intimate conversations
with Zepar.
“Hey,” she said sleepily as a smile flitted across her lips. She was
surrounded by the two Demons she loved most. Their hands hooked together
with hers. However, she didn’t usually fall asleep in Zepar’s room. “What am I
doing here?”
Her body was floaty, ephemeral, as if the lightest of winds would blow her
away.
She absorbed their silence. And in a memory recall, the shocking events
whirred through her mind. The erotic encounter in the dungeon with Leraye,
Judy and her accusations, the blast of something from a weapon as her heart
shattered into a million pieces.
Her frantic gaze went to Leraye but no condemnation lurked in his gaze.
“I’m sorry.” His voice was deep with regret.
“How could you believe that?” Her heart was breaking all over again.
“I don’t. I only doubted for a minute, but I was wrong.” Leraye looked
miserable. “But Zepar never did.”
“I’ll just go.” Zepar tried to extricate his fingers from theirs but Thalia
hung on tightly.
“It’s your room,” Leraye said
Then Thalia said, “Don’t go.”
Zepar paused as if torn. “Don't you two want to be left alone?"
“What I want is for you to stay here,” she said in a steel-coated voice.
Thalia prayed that Zepar would listen to her. She’d never tried to
command him. But she felt things slipping through her fingers and couldn’t bear
to part this way.
Her heart thudded in her chest until he stopped trying to withdraw his
fingers. “What happened?”
“Judy almost killed you.” Zepar’s voice broke.
Thalia’s gaze focused on her first love. The Demon, Zepar. His fingers
 Thalia’s gaze focused on her first love. The Demon, Zepar. His fingers
brushed gently over the curve of her eyebrow. The heat from his body was like
an inferno against her right side, warming her insides.
“You saved me.” Leraye growled. “Why would you do that?”
And then she turned to her other love, a surprising love, one she never
anticipated.
“You haven’t figured it out yet?” With a shaking hand, she lifted their
twined fingers to her lips and nuzzled his knuckles.
“She loves you,” Zepar said. You idiot was implied.
“Ah, but she also loves you.” Thalia lifted their twined hands to her lips
and nuzzled Zepar’s knuckles.
The tension in the room rose to a new level. But she refused to back down,
because Thalia realized that she’d almost died. She couldn’t waste this chance to
show both Demons she loved them.
“What do you want?” Zepar asked softly. His gaze luminous with hope.
And Thalia knew that he had finally opened his heart.
“The three of us. Together.” She pulled both of their heads down to meet
her mouth. At the touch of both of their lips, she moaned. Each had their own
unique touch. Leraye harder, more dominant, and Zepar, softer, yet no less
insistent.
A strange sort of energy hummed through her.
Thalia looked deeply into Leraye’s shadowed gaze and purposefully
licked up the side of his neck, a particularly erogenous spot which she’d found
during the last week of love play.
The huff of his breath feathered along the tops of her breasts. Her nipples
peaked at the light caress of air.
“She liked that,” Zepar murmured against her beaded nipple. “Do it
again.”
Zepar sucked the tip into his mouth. His tongue curled around the
sensitive bud and tugged. Leraye eased the sheet down her nude body and bent
his head to her other breast. Thalia looked down to see one mane of blonde hair
and the other dark and bald head against her body and something deep inside of
her broke loose. She loved them both.
The tug of their tongues on her nipples caused an answering clench deep
with in her belly. But Thalia knew it wasn’t enough.
She didn’t just want their attention on her. She wanted their sexual focus
on each other as well. “Hold.”
And wonder of all wonders, they listened.
“Turn me around. So that my head is at the foot of the chaise.”
Zepar carefully lifted her and lay her back down until her head was near
 Zepar carefully lifted her and lay her back down until her head was near
the foot and her thighs straddled the other end, open wide and already drenched
with arousal.
Leraye’s gaze was ensnared by her glistening sex. Zepar’s cock strained
against his breeches, thick and ready.
“You want to lap that right up, don’t you?” She smiled at Leraye, just a
little bit wicked, and waited for understanding to dawn in his gaze.
“Anything for you, angel.” Leraye’s tongue swiped over his lips and as if
unable to resist he bent over and gave her one long, leisurely lick.
Thalia purred. “On your hands and knees, mouth at my pussy. Your cock
aligned with my lips. Now.”
Leraye complied quickly.
The musky scent of his pre-cum filled her senses. And then the head of his
penis bumped against her lips. With a slow swipe, she licked the salty liquid into
her mouth and moaned at the erotic dark taste of him. Leraye trilled the bud of
her clitoris with his clever tongue, the little motion setting off tremors through
her body.
Zepar cleared his throat. “Where do you want me?”
“Do you have any lubrication?” She gasped as Leraye continued to love
her with just the tip of his tongue. He traced her nether lips, and circled her slit,
but never once entered her.
Zepar understood immediately what she wanted.
“Suck him into your mouth.” Zepar demanded.
And Thalia was helpless to resist. Slowly, slowly, she sucked the whole of
Leraye’s wide, broad cock into her mouth. She tongued the bulbous head and
sucked harder until he was seated all the way inside her mouth and the head
touched the back of her throat. She swallowed. The motion squeezed him tight
and he groaned.
Slowly he began to move. In and out of her mouth, he fed his cock to her.
“Spread your legs wider.” Thalia spread her pussy open even as she
realized that Zepar had been talking to Leraye.
Leraye shifted and Thalia could see through the opening of Leraye’s legs
as Zepar pumped his own cock and covered himself with lubrication.
He rubbed his cock against Leraye’s hole and it was the most erotic thing
she’d ever seen. Leraye shuddered. And finally, finally he stopped teasing her
with his tongue. He slid the agile member into her pussy on a short, rough thrust.
He’d curled the tip so he hit her g-spot even as his flat Demon tongue pressed
hard against her clitoris.
Then he went so deep he touched her womb. And if her mouth hadn’t been
full of Demon cock, she would have screamed.
full of Demon cock, she would have screamed.

***

Zepar hesitated. He was erotically charged by the sight of Leraye’s tongue

as it disappeared into Thalia’s feminine sex. The sight of her reddened lips as
she sucked Leraye’s cock into her mouth had left him harder than the stone
pillars supporting the castle’s arches.
And then Zepar traced his gaze over the familiar muscled curve of
Leraye’s spine.
Zepar rubbed the head of his cock over Leraye’s rosette. With each pass,
Leraye puckered then relaxed. Zepar could wait no more.
Zepar eased his cock into Leraye. The tight clasp of Leraye's muscles
squeezed his cock near to the point of pain. But it was a pleasure and a pain
well-remembered. With every inch of his cock that disappeared into Leraye,
Zepar felt as if he were coming home.
Zepar spread his legs further, gripped Leraye’s hips and held on for a wild
ride. He began to slowly pump in and out of Leraye, wanting to savor each
moment of friction. But as he watched them, he felt disconnected from Leraye
and Thalia. They faced each other and he could watch them but didn’t feel like
he was participating.
As if Thalia read his mind, she reached up and cupped his balls with her
hands. Zepar slid his hands down the front of Leraye’s thighs and plucked at her
nipples. The new position pushed Zepar’s cock into Leraye, then pushed
Leraye’s cock into Thalia’s mouth and Leraye’s tongue further into Thalia’s
cunt.
As one, the three set up a rhythm and sawed in and out. Mouths, tongues,
hands, cocks, pussy a jumble as they connected in so many places that it became
hard to remember where one started and the others stopped.
Love thundered in his heart. This moment was more than reunion. It was a
beginning. For all three of them. If Zepar was willing to let go of the reasons
he'd held back from Leraye for the past ten years and embrace his love for his
friend and the woman who had sacrificed everything for them both, his world
would be thrilling beyond imagination.
The pressure began to build at the base of Zepar’s spine and signaled he
was close to orgasm. “I’m going to--"
He would hold on to both Learye and Thalia. With that resolution, the cum
bubbled up like a geyser and shot out of his cock into Leraye’s ass. His vision
blurred as the world went white and he came and came and came as if he hadn’t
come for a thousand years.
come for a thousand years.
Thalia hollowed her cheeks and sucked ever harder. Leraye’s buttocks
tightened as he unloaded his wad into Thalia’s mouth and the reaction tugged
even harder on Zepar’s cock. Leraye buried his face in her pussy and fucked
Thalia even harder with his tongue.
And Thalia lifted her thighs and clamped them around Leraye’s face as
her body bowed.
Zepar was buried balls deep in Leraye, his pubis snugged up against
Leraye’s balls, which were close to Thalia’s lips. Her muffled moan vibrated
through Leraye and into Zepar, setting off another round of tremors.
For a moment, no one in the room moved. The only sounds were their
heated breathing.
Leraye eased his tongue from Thalia’s body. She whimpered and lifted her
hips as if begging for more. He tilted his head and pressed a gentle kiss on the
inside of her thigh. “Patience, angel,” Leraye murmured against her soft white
skin.
Zepar took that as his cue to slowly withdraw from Leraye. And then
Zepar stood behind him. Still separate. Still alone.
Zepar watched as Leraye pulled his softening cock from Thalia’s lips and
then stood. Still and strong and broad.
Leraye held out his hand to Thalia. Without hesitation, she let him pull her
to her feet.
Thalia swayed in front of them. Her lips reddened and plumped and her
mouth slick with Leraye’s cum.
Leraye grinned at her and licked his lips. The shadow of his beard was
shiny with Thalia’s juices. Leraye curled one arm around Thalia’s shoulder and
tugged her to his side. He kissed her with a fervor Zepar had rarely seen.
And for a moment, he felt left out.
Zepar took a step back.
Leraye’s hard palm grabbed his neck and jerked him into the circle of their
embrace. Thalia and Leraye turned to Zepar and together they kissed him. Joy
burst within him.
Their lips, one pair soft, one pair hard, assaulted his mouth. Zepar was
embraced on both sides, Leraye’s thick muscular arm around his back and
Thalia’s softer palm on his buttocks.
Their essences mingled in his mouth, an exquisite blend of male and
female. The taste was highly erotic. Zepar closed his eyes and savored.
As if unable to help himself, Zepar pulled Thalia closer to him and
slithered his tongue down her throat, and traced the same path that Leraye’s cock
had taken, then pulled out of her mouth.
had taken, then pulled out of her mouth.
“Zepar,” Thalia gasped as she rubbed her breasts against his chest.
“Yes, love,” he answered.
"What would you do to make things right?" He had thought things were
right. But now he knew he would do anything.
It was Leraye who questioned. “Thalia?”
“Anything.” Responded Zepar.
All of her attention was on Zepar.
“You watched us.” Thalia’s tongue played with Zepar’s nipples even as he
slid his fingers to her sex and toyed with her clitoris.
“Yes,” Zepar answered.
“In the dungeon?” she probed.
“Yes.” He held his gaze steady on Thalia.
“Are you willing to give Leraye what he really wants?” She asked softly,
her attention still on Zepar, but she’d managed to pull Leraye in to her snare as
well.
“What do you think that is?” Zepar asked. He'd stopped breathing in
anticipation, as if he couldn’t wait for her next words.
“He wants to put his cock in your ass,” she said baldly.
 SEVENTEEN
Everyone stilled.
It was as if Thalia had unleashed an elephant in the giant chamber and
everyone feared that if they moved, the elephant would crush them.
“It’s not necessary.” Leraye denied and pushed away from Thalia, away
from Zepar.
The words, his actions, cut Zepar in the heart.
“I think it is.” Thalia countered. “Do you love me?”
“Yes.” They answered in tandem.
“Yes," Zepar said again. The word was more emphatic and more sure the
second time around.
They both loved her.
“I love you, too.” She smiled, a serene, elegant yet somehow wicked
smile. “And I want you to fuck each other.”
Zepar’s cock jerked at the coarse words. Of course he’d trained her in
what to say to Demons to get them to respond but her words evoked images that
he’d banished years ago.
He’d never been breached. That act was the last stronghold to deny what
lay in his heart. He would only fuck Leraye. Zepar had never allowed the
reverse. He’d let the Demon suck him off while chained and trapped but his ass
remained inviolate.
“Do you agree?” Thalia’s harsh words broke into Zepar’s memories.
“Yes,” he said hoarsely. Because in his heart, he wanted exactly what
Leraye and Thalia wanted.
"Not without you, Thalia,” Leraye said. Zepar knew in that moment that
Leraye would protect Thalia at all costs.
Thalia agreed breathlessly.
Leraye took charge. “Bed. Now.” A shiver of arousal skimmed over
Zepar.
“Thalia, lie down. Spread your legs,” Leraye said.
She lay on the velvet duvet and spread her legs wide. The glistening folds
of her sex beckoned. “You haven’t had your cock for the day, have you?” Zepar
said.
She twitched as if trying to suck in a cock that wasn’t there. Her fingers
moved toward her pussy.
“Don’t touch yourself.” Leraye ordered her. “Watch us first.”
Zepar’s cock was already hard again as he stood by the side of the bed.
 Zepar’s cock was already hard again as he stood by the side of the bed.
Leraye came up behind him and pressed his hard muscled chest against the tense
planes of Zepar’s back. The sensation was unfamiliar and yet he relaxed into the
embrace. Leraye’s chest hair crinkled against his back and the hard rod of
Leraye’s erection rubbed in the cleft of his buttocks.
And then Leraye reached around his waist and gripped Zepar’s cock in his
masculine hand. The rougher, bigger palm should have been more like his own
and yet, Leraye was shaped differently, so he felt the change from the tip of his
cock down to his toes.
Leraye circled Zepar’s throbbing, aching cock and squeezed.
Zepar stiffened.
And Leraye swiped the ball of his thumb over his weeping head
repeatedly. Until Zepar’s hips involuntarily began to move, trying to initiate
harder contact.
Thalia whimpered.
“Don’t worry, angel. I’m just getting him ready for you.” With one final
swipe, Leraye released Zepar's cock. Leraye’s stubbled jaw brushed his shoulder
and Zepar felt the lightest of kisses on his neck. Leraye’s voice rumbled in his
ear. “Turn around.”
Zepar turned slowly to face Leraye. Despite his harsh commands, a certain
vulnerability hovered in Leraye’s pale blue gaze. And Zepar sought to reassure
him the only way he could.
Zepar cupped Leraye’s jaw in his hand and slowly brought his mouth to
his friend’s. The first touch of their lips was tentative. A mere brush of their
mouths. But then as if a torrent of sensation released within him, Zepar grabbed
Leraye’s hips and jerked their bodies together.
Everything about kissing Leraye was harder. Thicker jaw, harder lips, and
even harder pressure against his mouth. The thick broad planes of Leraye's chest
against Zepar’s and the hard rod of his erection as they rubbed their cocks
together. And Zepar loved it.
Leraye’s arms curled tight around Zepar’s ribs and he thrust his tongue
inside of Zepar’s mouth. Suddenly the contact was rough, intense as their
tongues dueled for supremacy and they rubbed their cocks against the softer skin
of their bellies. Pre-cum leaked from Zepar’s slit and coated Leraye’s belly and
Zepar wanted to claim this warrior.
Zepar groaned and Leraye broke out of the embrace.
“Fuck her, gently,” Leraye said.
Zepar climbed on the bed and hovered over Thalia. Heat rose from her
aroused body. Her nipples were reddened and puckered and begged for his
mouth. Zepar bent down and sucked one hardened tip into his mouth. She tasted
mouth. Zepar bent down and sucked one hardened tip into his mouth. She tasted
of sex and love. Her regal body flushed. Red love bites marred the insides of her
thighs, the marks from Leraye’s mouth.
Thalia’s gaze was glued to Zepar’s cock. He’d never been so hard in his
life. “Please.”
Slowly, Zepar eased his cock into her wet folds. Her sex suctioned him in
as if she had been long without a cock and was starving for one. The contact was
feminine and sweet and erotic as she softly, gently kissed him.
Her kiss was nothing like the invasion from Leraye yet touched a tender
place inside of Zepar. A sense of completing their circle swept through him.
Zepar pulled back out, and teased her clitoris with the head of his cock,
rubbing back and forth with just enough pressure to have her squirming. The
sensual arousal fizzed through him like fine champagne and he began a slow
glide into her sex. Zepar lost himself in sensation.
The cool touch of Leraye’s hand on his buttocks sharpened his awareness.
The squirt of lubricant onto his hole caused his body to clench at the untried
contact.
But Leraye, as if understanding that this first time was important, soothed
him with strong sure strokes. Leraye’s palm slid from the back of Zepar’s neck,
down his spine, to cup his balls. But then with his other hand, Leraye eased his
finger into Zepar, then out, keeping the same slow rhythm that Zepar had going
with Thalia. Easy, sweet, seductive.
“I have wanted to fuck you for over a thousand years,” Leraye said
hoarsely.
Zepar's heart contracted. Passion for his old lover overwhelmed any regret
at how long this moment had taken.
Leraye positioned his cock at Zepar’s hole. Each time Zepar flowed in and
out of Thalia’s pussy, the head of Leraye’s cock rubbed over Zepar’s rosette.
Tingles began in the tips of his toes and traveled up his body until he felt as if he
were buzzing.
On the next glide into Thalia’s body, Leraye slid his cock inside of Zepar.
The sensation of being filled to bursting threatened to swallow Zepar
whole. He felt split in two and yet complete for the first time in his life.
Thalia’s entire body throbbed. The slow rhythm Zepar had started only
prolonged her arousal. He’d refused to take the sex to the next level and it was
driving her crazy.
Suddenly there was a change in their contact.
He was keeping the same slow pace but his body was heavier on top of
hers. Thalia opened her eyes and stared over Zepar’s shoulder into Leraye’s
joyous gaze. His arms strained as he held himself above Zepar and above Thalia,
joyous gaze. His arms strained as he held himself above Zepar and above Thalia,
his entire body clenched in desire.
She had two gorgeous Demons on top of her.
“Harder,” she and Zepar said at the same time.
And they began to fuck in earnest.
Thalia kept her eyes open and watched Leraye fulfill his dream. He
slammed in and out of Zepar’s body, the hard contact shimmied and shook her
as well. Zepar’s cock filled her, so hard and so thick she could barely breathe.
Leraye arched back, his mouth opened in a groan as he came inside of
Zepar. With a shout, Zepar emptied his cock into her body, and the throb of their
release triggered Thalia’s.
Power burst from their joined bodies, almost a physical force. Light and
energy shimmered in the air around them. Zepar and Leraye's bodies hummed
and sizzled, transferring some power to Thalia.
Her sex pulsed and clenched around Zepar’s cock, the contractions of her
womb so hard she lost her sight for a moment.
And then she opened her eyes to see two Demons smiling. Sweat coated
their muscles but something softer and yet still tense hovered in the air.
Leraye turned Zepar’s chin and kissed him full on the mouth. Their
mouths met intimately. Their kiss turned feral and triggered another orgasm in
Thalia.
Watching them while Zepar’s cock still pulsed inside her was incredibly
erotic. She sighed.
Then they broke the kiss and both Demons turned their attention to Thalia.
“What?” They asked in unison.
“It’s so beautiful,” she replied.
Her breath stuttered. But it wasn’t because their combined weight pressed
her further into the mattress. It was the look in both of their eyes. One light, one
dark, both filled with love for her. Thalia reached up to cup their heads in her
palms. As one they leaned down and kissed her. Their mouths joined in a
triangle of lust and love.
Another burst of power shot through her.
Zepar and Leraye’s ended the kiss. Their faces filled with wonder.
“Magick,” Leraye whispered.
“Love,” Zepar contradicted.
They took turns licking the salty skin of her neck.
“We all found what we were hungry for,” Thalia said happily. “Which
reminds me....”
“Anything,” Zepar replied.
“Everything,” Leraye responded.
 “Everything,” Leraye responded.
She smiled sultrily. “Next time I get to be the middle of the sandwich.”
THE END

***

Thank you for reading the Demons Unleashed Volume series!!

If you enjoyed these Demon stories, I would appreciate it if you would
help others enjoy them too.

Lend it.
This ebook is lending-enabled, so please share with your friends!
Recommend it.
Please help other readers find this book by recommending it to other
readers!
Review it.
Please tell other readers why you liked (or didn't like) this book by
reviewing it at one tof the following websites: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or
Goodreads. If you do write a review, please send me an email (with a link to
your review) at lisaalder@pacbell.net. I'd like to give you a copy of the newest
Demons Unleashed novella or my sexy contemporary Jake's Wild Bride (your
choice) as a way of thanking you.

 Coming Soon: The Demon's Deception
The next installment in the Demons Unleashed Paranormal Erotic Novella
series: The Demon's Deception follows the story of Barbas, the Demon of
Healing, and a very unlikely heroine....
 Excerpt of Warrior Queen
Also coming soon...an erotic novella.

Daniel Begay trudged through the Antarctic snowstorm with his brothers
by his side.
Snow blew sideways obscuring his vision. He couldn’t see his brother but
he knew Joshua trudged alongside of him. Together they pulled the hastily
constructed travois with their brother Matthew strapped and cocooned beneath
the pile of bear furs. The harnesses hung over Daniel’s right shoulder and
Joshua’s left.
The cold burrowed down into the very marrow of his bones.
“Jesus, I thought Alaska was cold,” Joshua shouted beside him.
Daniel wondered objectively if he would ever be warm again. According
to the coordinates on the old map, they were almost on top of the supposed
settlement. If he didn’t find it soon, they would be dead from hypothermia in a
matter of hours. He stumbled to a stop. Despair sank in his chest. Did it really
matter?
Seventy-five percent of the world’s population had already succumbed to
the deadly disease.
Unrelenting white blinded him as he searched for the opening to the cave
that according to his father would transport him to a Shangri-La of beautiful
women intent on only one thing. Using men as sex tools to get pregnant.
Daniel raised the Carson Caribou binoculars to his eyes and scanned the
landscape for anything out of the ordinary. Anything that would convince him he
was actually in the right place. The howl of the wind quieted, for a moment
silence suspended in the sub-freezing air, and then suddenly as if blinders had
been lifted from his eyes, he saw the cave.
“There’s a cave!” Matthew’s weak words blew away in the whistling
wind.
As one, they staggered toward the small opening. Daniel hoped, prayed he
was in the right spot. His energy was nearly depleted and his soul merely a husk,
dried and crumbling beneath the crushing weight of sorrow. Snow crunched
under the press of their boots, caution forgotten as his heart picked up speed in
anticipation of finding his mother. Of finding a cure to the dreaded disease
destroying the inhabitants of Earth. The plague slowly killing his half-brother
Matthew.
Daniel and Joshua barged into the cave, only to be greeted by a dark,
 Daniel and Joshua barged into the cave, only to be greeted by a dark,
deserted cavern.
Noooo.
“Stay here,” he commanded. Always the oldest, always in charge. “I’ll be
back.”
“Hell with that,” Joshua muttered from behind him. But Daniel didn’t
stop.
Daniel ran deeper into the cave, refusing to give up, refusing to believe
they had come all this way only to be wrong.
Picking up momentum, Daniel ran, his heart thundered in his chest, frozen
air heaved through him. So cold, he felt as if his breath would shatter his throat.
He ran, bouncing off the walls, deeper and deeper into the darkness he plunged.
His brain conjured images of his body, bare skeleton encased only in his Vaetrex
Arctic parka, found thousands of years later, assuming that people actually
survived the current epidemic. Until up ahead, the darkness seemed to lift. The
faint glow expanded as he ran, and so he ran faster. Until he came upon the
entrance, the answer to his prayers.
Daniel stuttered to a halt at the vision before him.
Lush green vines, laden with blatantly sexual tropical flowers, their dewed
petals twirled around posts holding up the ceiling of the cave. But then the
citizens penetrated his frozen brain. Tall voluptuous women, clothed in sheer
wraps that barely covered their ass, sleekly defined muscles, long flowing hair
dipped down over the sculpted curve of their backs. They moved with efficiency
around the subterranean, unexpectedly tropical, paradise.
A clothing rack, along the wall to the right, was filled with rows of fur-
lined jackets.
Something sharp and mostly likely deadly touched the base of his neck,
angled so precisely that with one strong thrust, a blade would sever his brain
stem in a classic Wingate maneuver.
“Don’t move,” a woman whispered menacingly in his ear. Impressive as
he was over six-five. “Or you’re dead.”
The labored shush of the travois against the icy ground followed closely
behind him. The sudden halt of Joshua and Matthew was not a surprise.
“You surrounded?” he asked his brothers calmly.
“Yep.” They answered in unison, equally softly.
“Holy shit,” Joshua muttered.
Daniel's heart pounded in his throat, anticipation, disbelief shuddered
through his bones. “We found it.”
Zonia. The lost city of the Amazons.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Alder has a split personality. Naughty Lisa writes HOT Demons, Fae
and Humans in a post-apocalyptic world. Nice Lisa writes sexy, contemporary
romantic romps.
She 1has been writing romance for years. All manner of stories lurk in her
mind, with all manner of fictional creatures vying for her time and attention.
Right now she’s consorting with Demons and Fae (Demons Unleashed Erotic
Novellas) or innocent small town girls (One Wild Night). But she’s been known
to play with Angels, hot CIA dudes, and kick-ass heroines as well.
You can find her on the web at www.authorlisaalder.blogspot.com , on
Twitter @LisaAlderBooks , on Goodreads www.goodreads.com/lisaalder and on
email: lisaalder@pacbell.net She loves to hear from readers!
Happy reading!