Awakening the Demon's Queen (3 page)

She didn’t dream of it, she’d had it before.
Had it and lost it and as the demon pressed his lips to hers, that
thought was foremost in her mind. This was not Iavius. He never
would be.

But if she was to do this, couldn’t she
pretend it was? Would it really matter to this Incubus, as long as
he got what he wanted?

Her Rajni’s face appeared in her mind—warm
citrine eyes that always laughed, a mouth that quirked with the
slightest hint of humor. Dimples that always made her smile in
response. Gods, she missed him, missed his touch, his laugh. Missed
this. They’d had two hundred years together to touch and taste and
enjoy each other. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the
physical aspect of their union. Until now.

Her mouth softened beneath the demon’s, her
arms relaxed their tension and she brought him closer. Her lips
opened and he slipped in. He tasted of spice and male and Kindara
sighed.

“
Good girl,” he said after
pulling back for air. Kindara kept her eyes closed, not wanting to
see the demon’s face instead of her mate’s. He tugged at the waist
of her pants. “Let’s take these off, shall we?”

She opened her eyes and saw the heat in his.
The base hunger. If she was going to do this, decision time was
now. She nodded and arched her hips, letting him slide the material
down. He slipped the pants off her feet and tossed them in the same
direction as his shirt. She trembled before him, clad only in the
white bra and panties that hid so little.

His hands dropped to the waistband of his
trousers. Kindara held up one hand. “Wait!”

“
Hmm?” His pants and shorts
were then gone, and he knelt beside her
unselfconsciously.

“
I need your word. An
oath.”

“
Now?”

“
Yes, now. Before we finish
this.”

“
What?”

“
You take me to my daughter
and guarantee we are safe and going home as soon as possible.” She
blocked the insistent hands reaching for her. “Swear
it.”

“
I swear it.”

“
Say it all.” Kindara knew
that once a demon uttered an oath, they had no choice but to keep
it.

“
You have my oath that I
will take you to your daughter and ensure both of you are safe,
always. I swear you will be home as soon as it is possible, as
deemed by me, Rathan.” He wrapped long fingers around her wrists
and pulled her arms over her head. “Leave your arms there. I want
easy access to all of you, understand?”

She nodded, then tucked her hands beneath her
head. For Jierra, she reminded herself as he pulled the bra free
then yanked it over her wrists. This was strictly to get to her
daughter.

She replaced her hands, closing her eyes as
his rose to cup her breasts. Demonic fingers teased her nipples,
causing a warmth to flood her body. A mouth replaced one hand, then
his teeth nipped her flesh and had her gasping. His tongue, with
its peculiar demonic fork in the center, circled her nipple as if
it was the finest of Dardaptoan candies. He suckled hungrily. She
arched closer, seeking more.

His knee slipped between hers, then pressed
against the warmth she was ashamed she’d exuded.

Damn him, for making her feel this way.

Once she had her daughter back, she’d see to
it that this demon paid the price for what he’d done to her.

****

By all Lilith’s children, he was starved. He
hadn’t realized how much until he’d had the angel naked beneath
him, cooperating as he fed from her.

Her body was perfection in itself, though at
first he’d thought her too slim, too delicate, to withstand the
rigors of his type of feeding. But they were just getting
started.

Her eyes were twin fires, glowing from the
lust he’d induced within her. It had been so long for him, he
actually thought he would lose control of himself. Finish before
her. For an Incubus, especially the king, to leave a partner
unsatisfied was an abomination. Rathan would not fail her.

His knee was wet where it pressed against
her, telling him he was at least successful in rising a hunger
within her. His angel wanted him, though her mind was resistant to
the idea. He lowered his hand from one of the most perfect breasts
he’d seen in hundreds of years to test the source of that
wetness.

She was ready for him, but he wanted to be
doubly sure. He slid a finger inside to test.

For a woman who’d had a child, her body was
tight. Tighter than he expected. He eased a second finger in,
thrusting both fingers rhythmically, listening to the breath
catching in her throat. She arched against him.

Yes, though she fought her body’s natural
inclination, she wanted him.

The time had come to give her what she
wanted. He pulled her legs further apart. His fingers clenched on
the muscles of her hips, pulling her up and toward him. Her heat
teased his skin.

He pulled back, looked at her face. “Look at
me, pet. I want your eyes on mine the entire time. Understand?”

She looked up at him, a strange vulnerability
on her face. She nodded. “I understand.”

Her heat began to be too much temptation for
him and he eased into her, mindful of the unexpected tightness of
her body. They both froze once he was seated deep within.

Rathan had forgotten what a woman felt like
on the physical plane. Had they always felt like this? This hot?
This good?

He couldn’t remember. He pulled back,
experimented by thrusting back in. Her eyes remained trained on his
face and she arched up to meet him. He moved faster, deeper until
her eyes began to cloud and the trembling of her body grew ever so
much stronger. She was close.

He couldn’t finish feeding from her lust
until she reached the end of her own journey. He wouldn’t. “That’s
it, pet. Come with me, come for me. You want to, and you know it
will be good.”

He dropped his mouth to hers, kissing her in
a heated mimic of their more elemental dance. Feminine fingers
tangled in his hair, something he’d never permitted from a woman
before. A fingertip brushed against the base of his left horn as he
felt her break apart beneath him. The brush against one of the most
erogenous places on his body had him following quickly after
her.

Rathan had never enjoyed a feeding more.

****

Kindara kept her eyes closed as her heart
rate stilled and the tremors shaking her body relented. The demon
lay beside her, his breath equally as ragged as hers. He’d been
right, she had enjoyed what they’d done. And that filled her with a
sense of shame unlike any other she’d ever felt.

He kissed her forehead. “Thank you.”

She said nothing. What could she say? Kindara
curled on her side, facing away from him. He nestled into her back,
one hand stroking her side. He was warm and large and she felt
dwarfed by his body. His arm slipped around her waist and he pulled
her close against his chest. His lips nuzzled her hair.

She could almost pretend the affection he
exhibited was real, but wasn’t an Incubus incapable of such
emotion? Weren’t they consumed with only the thought of feeding?
Kindara didn’t know much about his species, her brother only
mentioned the demons he’d killed, not the type of demons they were.
What she knew of his kind had come from novels and rumors.

“
Why did you and that wolf
stop our car?”

Chapter Four

Her voice was low, flat, and Rathan pulled
her closer, though she kept her back to him. He arranged the grass
blanket over the both of them, not wanting her to get chilled. He
breathed the scent of warm woman and sex in again, feeling his body
tighten in response. “I told you, vengeance.”

“
For what? What did
Dhar
Rydere and the others
do?”

“
Murder.” The four women’s
images flashed into his mind. Shy Mickey, fiery Mallory, quiet
Josey, and determined Emily-four women who were wonderful and who
had welcomed him from the moment he’d met them in a way that had
nothing to do with him being a demon, merely a friend of Rand’s.
They’d become part of his family.

“
No. They wouldn’t.” She
shook her head, sending blonde strands into his eyes. He pushed
them away, then let his hand linger. Women were so soft, she was so
soft. “Who?”

“
Rand’s sisters and cousins.
Human women taken from their homes and killed.”

“
They don’t kill humans,
especially women.” He heard the puzzlement in her words, but he
understood it. Why would her men folk let her know of their evil
deeds? Women were to be protected.

“
Then where is Rand’s sister
Mickey, or his twin—”

“
Mal? Oh gods, the wolf is
a
Taniss
? A Taniss
has my baby?” She fought against his hands, then jumped to her
feet. “Oh Gods, no. No. Not Jierra, not her, too.”

She snatched her clothes and pulled them on,
all the while sobbing. Rathan just watched her, puzzled by the
panic, by the terror. What did this little creature know of the
Taniss family? When she rushed to the tunnel that led out of the
cave, he flashed himself into her path. “Stop.”

“
No. Get out of my way. I
have to get to her!” She hissed at him, revealing Dardaptoan fangs.
Her eyes burned the orange characteristic of an angry member of her
race. This was when the Dardaptoans were the most
dangerous.

“
We had a bargain,
remember.” She feinted around him, and he extended his arm,
stopping her again. “And you must live by it.”

“
Not when my daughter is at
stake!” She lunged at him, taking him by surprise. Teeth sank into
the naked flesh of his shoulder, ripped his skin before she pulled
away. “Get the hell out of my way!”

“
Stop! Now!” He infused his
voice with all the command he could muster.

It had no effect. He had no other choice, she
must be calmed down before she hurt herself. He touched one horn
then flashed himself behind her.

Before she could react he had his arms around
hers, pinning them to her sides. She fought like her life depended
upon escaping him. Finally, when he sensed she was calming from
exhaustion, he slipped the hand still coated with Mesmus over her
lips, then whispered the command to send her to sleep once
again.

****

He removed her clothing and placed it high
upon a rock he knew she’d not be able to reach easily. He wanted no
more attempts to escape him. What had triggered such panic? He
sensed she wasn’t one to normally engage in such hysterics-hadn’t
she kept her head when he’d taken her from the highway? When she’d
made her bargain? So why now? She’d known a Lupoiux wolf had had
her daughter, so why did it matter that that wolf was also a
Taniss?

He lit two more hell-lights and set the orbs
to join the first. The three balls bobbed over her head,
illuminating her. Rathan, still naked, sank to his knees beside
her.

Her hair was tangled, from their fighting and
his feeding. He pushed it out of her eyes, tucked a strand behind
her ear. She lay on her side, and he rolled her onto her back to
study her. She was slim and delicate; she needed some extra flesh,
especially around the ribs. One of her hands was clenched in a fist
and he took her wrist gently. He uncurled her fingers, feeling the
sharp contrast between her hand and his. He trailed a finger over
her palm then up and down each of her fingers, surprised at the
calluses he found. What was it she had done in order to form
them?

He looked closer. It was then he found the
first scar. A faint line about the width of his thumbnail encircled
her entire wrist. He studied it for a moment, then grabbed her
other hand. An identical mark was just visible. He knew what it
was; she’d been tied and suspended from something. Tied tightly
enough to scar the skin of a Dardaptoan. Dardaptoans rarely
scarred, only the most extreme injuries left a mark.

Who or why would someone do that to her? He
lit another hell-light, then instructed it to hover a foot above
his head. He studied every inch of her front closely, but found no
more marks.

He rolled her on her back.

He hissed at what he found. Her lower back
was a mess of scars, white lines that he readily identified.
Someone had sliced her delicate skin in more than two dozen places.
Most of the lines were a minimum of three inches in length. The
worst started just below her shoulders and ran down her spine,
ending above her tailbone.

Why?

This was systematic torture. That was the
only explanation for how the wounds had scarred. He traced each
line slowly, wanting to sooth the long ago hurts. If he found the
monsters responsible for such abuse he’d rip them into a thousand
pieces without breaking a sweat. Even a demon knew women were to be
protected, cherished. Where were her men folk when this was
happening?

He touched one globe of the most feminine
backside he’d ever seen, smoothing his fingers over the flesh. A
blemish caught his eye, located on the bottom of her cheek. He
leaned closer, then recoiled in horror.

Tattooed across her skin, more on the top of
her leg than her backside, was ‘T.I. Specimen Number 211.’.

****

Kindara woke, disoriented and naked. Her eyes
popped open and immediately caught on the demon sitting three feet
away from her, stirring a small pot over some sort of
battery-operated burner. At the smell coming from the pot, her
stomach rumbled. Though she needed blood to survive, she only
needed it once or twice a month. The rest of the time, Dardaptoans
ate meals similar to humans.