Demon Slave (Shadow Quest Book 2) (10 page)

“
I’ll call you whatever I want.
Demon
.”

He let out a frustrated sigh. “Stubborn wench.” Releasing her, he went to the scattered pile. He’d gathered more twigs and sticks to replenish the makeshift pallet, and more logs for the fire. On top of the pallet, he spread out her blanket.

Nadua eyed her fur clothing, buried in the mess. When the demon noticed her line of sight, he grabbed them and placed them high on a ledge where she could not reach. Then he turned his attention back to the jumble of items, ignoring her nasty glare.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ha!

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

“
Hungry?” He smirked.

“
Not at all.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“
No.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“
You son of a bitch! Release me!”

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

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

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

“
Hold still and just let me finish.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nadua tilted her head in confusion.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“
Wow! That was almost close.”

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

“
What?”

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

“
As you wish, Princess.”

“
Queen,” she corrected.

“
Not anymore.”

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

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

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

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

“
Who’s Ava?”

The person you’ve confused with my sister
.

“
She’s the real queen.”

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

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

“
You don’t covet the title?”

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

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

Nadua rolled her eyes.

He’s really sticking with that story
.

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

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

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

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

She gasped in surprise.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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