Authors: Nina Croft
“You have to,” she whispered. “He’s almost here. You must do it now.”
“Relax,” Kael murmured.
His expression was impassive, calm, and Raven had to bite back the scream that threatened to erupt. He was moving around the cell, kicking the knife under the small cot then shoving his T-shirt and gun after it. He looked around and, obviously satisfied there was nothing else to give him away, he vanished.
Raven blinked. She stared at where he had stood and saw a flicker of movement. A small jeweled gecko darted across the floor. It clawed up the wall beside the cell door and went still, blending into the rough stone. The light went out and Raven sank to her knees.
She heard the key in the lock and a moment later the door was flung open. She took a deep, calming breath and allowed her body to sag against her restraints. She shook her head, spilling her hair forward to curtain her face.
The cell was filled with light and Raven closed her eyes. She remained motionless as the heavy footsteps crossed the short space. She could smell the sulphur and smoke that always accompanied the fire-demons and fear blossomed inside her—a nest of cockroaches writhing in her belly. She swallowed the nausea of hatred that rose in her throat as the fire-demon came to a halt in front of her. He leaned down and grasped her hair in a claw-like hand. Her head was jerked upright and she opened her eyes and stared into his face. His breath was hot against her skin and she tried to hold her own breath against the stench.
It was Grieffen, Sorien’s second-in-command. “Sorien wanted to make sure you were comfortable, he…”
He paused, and Raven saw a look of confusion come over his brutish features. His eyes searched her face then down over her body.
She suddenly realised what he was seeing. When she had been dragged in here unconscious she had been battered, blood-soaked. Now she was healed and the blood was cleaned from her body.
“What the hell?”
He straightened and took a step back. Raven watched him warily then couldn’t resist a quick glance at the wall where the lizard had been. It was gone. She looked back at the fire-demon. He appeared unsure; he was searching the room, looking for an explanation.
A soft, sibilant hiss came from beneath the cot. Grieffen turned to stare.
The serpent emerged gradually from the shadows, its coffin-shaped head mere inches from the ground as it glided slowly across the floor of the cell. Raven found she couldn’t look away, her gaze was riveted to the sinuous, gray-brown body. It was thicker than a man’s arm and over ten feet in length. The demon was petrified, staring in horror as the snake slithered to a halt a yard away from him. It slowly raised its head, flat hood spreading. Its jaws opened revealing the inky blackness of its mouth and flashing, razor-sharp fangs. Raven watched transfixed as its head slowly undulated from side to side.
Then it struck. She hardly caught the movement, it was so fast. Once, twice, then again it sank its fangs deep into the face and throat of the fire-demon. He moved then, his hands rising to try to ward off the attack. He had no chance, falling to his knees under the force of the blows. Raven felt a fierce wave of exultation as a whimper trickled from his swelling lips.
She turned from him to stare at the serpent. It was watching her, yellow eyes unblinking. Then Kael was back. He stood before her, his expression blank as he stared at the demon. Grieffen was still on his knees and Kael kicked out, hitting him in the chest and the demon fell backwards to the floor.
He smiled then. “Isn’t it good to know you’re not the only thing with fangs?”
“What was that?” Raven asked.
“Black mamba,” he replied. He nudged the writhing fire-demon with his toe. “Deadliest snake on the planet. It normally takes around twenty minutes for the poison to kill. Fortunately fire-demons run a bit hotter than your average human—he’ll be dead in five.”
“Pity.”
Kael turned to her and smiled. “You don’t think we should put him out of his misery then?”
“No.”
Grieffen was convulsing now, his back arching from the floor; white foam frothed at his mouth, his nostrils. Raven watched curiously. She felt no compassion, only regret that he would not suffer longer. Within a few minutes he was still, his face a mask of agony as the life faded from his staring eyes. Kael reached beneath the cot and reclaimed his knife. He knelt beside the body, grabbed the head by the hair and severed the neck. The body collapsed in upon itself, a pall of ochre smoke rose and in a few moments nothing remained but a pile of ashes.
Raven glanced up at Kael. He appeared lost in thought. Was he considering his options? Deciding whether it was safer to kill her after all? He had said he wanted her and she believed him, but was that enough to risk their capture?
Kael rose to his feet and kicked at the ash with the toe of his boot.
“They’ll come looking for him,” Raven said.
He shrugged. “Maybe. Who was he? Do you know?”
Raven nodded. “It’s Grieffen, Sorien’s second-in-command and he’ll be missed.”
He thought about it. “You’re right, we need to get out of here.”
He considered making love to her quickly, now, ensuring once and for all that the prophecy could not come to pass. But his whole being rebelled against taking her here with the stench of dead fire-demon in their nostrils.
The problem was where to take Raven to keep her safe until the attack.
“Stay here,” he said.
Raven rattled her chains. “Like I’ve got an option,” she muttered.
Kael grinned, his grin widening as she scowled in return.
Raven watched as he left the cell then closed her eyes and waited. She had to force herself to relax, impatient to get away.
She was trying to keep down the feelings of hope that had been growing since Kael had appeared. But it was almost impossible. The news that her father was alive and had been looking for her lightened her spirit. Whatever happened here today, she would always have that. She had felt so forsaken, as though she were unloved in the world, a mere pawn in a war that had gone on for so long no-one remembered the beginning. Now the knowledge that someone had been searching for her through all the long years was like a thrill in her blood.
She also realised how weak she had felt. The blood she had taken in the past had never been enough, it had merely reduced the craving, but hunger had been a constant companion. Feeding up until then had always been accompanied by guilt, but now she relived the moment when she had sunk her fangs into Kael’s arm. Felt again the resilience of his firm flesh beneath her teeth, licked her lips as she remembered the rich taste of his blood. She could feel her body responding to the memory, heat coiling in her belly, her breasts swelling. That brought back other feelings, the feel of his huge hand cupping her breast, the taste of his tongue as he kissed her. And she realised that she no longer feared his taking of her body. Rather she feared that somehow it would not happen, and that Kael would be forced to kill her so as not to let her fall innocent into the hands of their enemies.
Where was he? She shifted restlessly, then got to her feet. She tugged at the chains. Pointlessly, because she knew there was no escaping. She had tried often enough. Finally, when she thought she would explode from impatience, he reappeared, framed in the doorway.
“Where the hell have you been?”
He looked faintly startled at her vehemence. Then he smiled.
“Missed me?”
She stared at him through narrowed eyes. He shrugged. He was carrying a bundle that he threw onto the cot bed. He leant down and reached underneath, drew out his gun and the damp T-shirt. He pushed the latter into the waistband of his jeans, shrugged the shoulder holster over his naked chest and then walked towards her, the knife clasped in his hand. She held out her wrists with their shackles. He put the knife point to the lock of the first, twisted and the shackle fell open. He did the same to the second, and Raven finally stood free.
A wave of euphoria almost engulfed her. She swayed slightly and he reached out a hand to steady her. She stared into the blueness of his eyes and reached out her own hand, running trembling fingers through the silky sunlight strands of his hair.
For the first time in years she stood free. Was it possible? Could this man save her after all? Raven didn’t know, but what she was certain of was that he would try.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
She made to step back, but his grip tightened on her shoulders and he dragged her against the hard length of his body. He slanted his mouth over hers. His tongue thrust into her mouth, she tasted him, could almost feel the desperation in his touch. Then he put her firmly from him.
“My pleasure,” he murmured. “Now let’s get out of here.”
He picked up the bundle he had thrown on the cot and handed it to her. “Wrap yourself in this,” he said.
“You’ll be fine as long as the sunlight doesn’t touch you. I’ll keep you safe,” he promised.
She believed him. He would keep her safe as long as it was within his capabilities. But Raven could remember her father promising the same thing. She had known that he would give up his very life to protect her, but in the end it hadn’t been enough. However, what choice did she have? She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. It was large, big enough to wrap around her body and cover her head.
“So what’s the plan?” she asked.
“We’re going to walk right through the castle.”
“What?”
He smiled. Then, as she stared at him in disbelief, he disappeared and before her stood Grieffen, the fire-demon. He was huge, his skin dark red, like burnt hide, his eyes cruel slits, even his scent changed, and Raven shuddered at the dark, smoky smell. He reached for her and she had to force herself not to step back from his touch as those vicious claws gently drew the blanket up over her head, plunging her into darkness.
The journey seemed to go on forever. Even under the blanket she kept her eyes tight shut. She felt that at any moment they would be stopped, questioned, she could imagine the blanket being ripped from her, exposing her to the deadly light of the sun. Sorien had told her that this was how he planned she would die when the time of the sacrifice arrived. Staked out on the altar in the great hall as the sun rose. Burnt from the outside in, until no more than a pile of cinders remained.
She forced herself to think of other things; her dreams and visions of Kael…
She had wanted him in those visions, now she finally admitted she wanted him still. She wasn’t ready to believe in that happy ending, but at least she would have the chance to experience something good before she died. And, once the deed was done, the prophecy could no longer come to pass and her worst fear could be laid to rest. She would make it happen. Her body tightened at the thought. She felt hot, tried to tell herself that anyone would be hot draped across the shoulder of a fire-demon. But it didn’t help, she was burning from the inside, turning molten, melting.
Finally she heard a door slam shut behind them, a bolt being slid across and she was lowered onto what felt like a huge chair.
“Stay covered for a moment,” he said.
She sat very still, listening as he moved about the room. After a few minutes he came back to her and tugged the blanket from her head. She blinked in the dim light then glanced up at him. He had changed back; it was once more Kael who stood before her, the loathed fire-demon banished. She sighed in relief.
He had drawn the blinds down over the open windows, now he leaned across and switched on a lamp. She was seated in a leather chair in front of a large wooden desk.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“At the top of the east tower, some sort of office, but it looks as though it hasn’t been used in a while,” Kael said. “We should be safe in here.”
She turned back to him, this time allowed herself to truly study him. Her eyes lingered on the broad shoulders, the tanned chest and the swell of muscle. As she watched, he slowly unbuckled the shoulder holster and shrugged out of it, dropping it carelessly on the desk. His eyes never left her as his hands moved to his waist, unbuckled the black leather belt that held the knife sheath and pulled it free, dropping it beside the gun. The faded jeans hung low on his hipbones; his belly was hard and flat, ridged with muscle and lightly furred. She had to hold herself still, stop herself from reaching out and running her fingers through that fur. She could see the bulge of his manhood, swollen, pressing against the soft material of his jeans. He really did want her. She slowly licked her lips.
All the way up here, Kael had been mentally lecturing himself. Telling himself that this was just part of the job, trying to convince himself that sex with Raven was just something that had to be done, not something he was starting to crave with all of his being. But the feel of her lying against him, the swell of her bottom beneath his hand, the way she occasionally wriggled her body against him, the press of her soft breasts against his back, made that an impossibility. He wanted her with a desperation he hadn’t thought himself capable of. But he needed to stay in control. He couldn’t let her see the extent of his desire. He knew she was frightened, and who could blame her? After all, all she knew of sex was what she had seen in the great hall and that was no doubt enough to put anyone off.
But she wasn’t making it easy. Her eyes were fixed on his groin in what appeared to be fascination. He tried to tell himself it was only wishful thinking on his part, but his cock refused to listen. It twitched and pulsed inside his jeans. Then she licked her lower lip, and he almost groaned. He remembered the feel of her feeding from him, the sensual tug as she sucked his blood, and his cock pulsed again. What would it feel like if she fed while he was buried deep inside her? She caught her lower lip with sharp-pointed teeth. A small bead of blood oozed crimson and she licked it away. This time he couldn’t restrain the groan. He saw her eyes dart to his face and her eyes seemed to stare straight through him, into his very soul. She was frowning.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he muttered. Then he shook his head. “Hell, Raven. I’m trying to do the right thing here. I have to do this. But I don’t want to frighten you any more than I have to. Jesus.” He ran an unsteady hand through his hair.
She stared at him. “I’m not frightened.”
He looked at her closely. No, she didn’t appear frightened. As he watched she shrugged out of the blanket, letting it pool around her waist. She was perfection, luminous skin, long slender limbs, breasts full and pouting. He felt the ragged grasp he had on his control slipping.
He took a step closer. “Perhaps you should be.”
Raven could see his fierce control in the way his fists clenched at his sides. His whole body was pulsating with tension.
And she realised something. She didn’t want him in control. She wanted him wild. She wanted to release all the ferocious savagery she sensed lurking beneath the surface. She just didn’t know how. She knew he wanted her. The evidence was there right in front of her eyes, huge and swollen.
His eyes were locked onto her, hooded, half-closed, a glittering intense electric blue, but still he didn’t move and the frustration clawed at her insides. Her own eyes narrowed and, holding his gaze, she reached out and trailed trembling fingertips down over the bulge in his jeans.
“What the hell…?” He growled the words.
He moved suddenly, his hand coming down on hers, covering it, pressing it hard against him. Beneath his hand, her fingers molded to his length and she felt a tremor run through his body. She squeezed and his head fell back. His eyes closed. Then his hand tightened on hers and he dragged it away.
She stared at him. “Why?” she asked.
He ran a hand through his hair. “I promised I wouldn’t hurt you and you’re not making this easy.” Raven frowned, and he continued, “It’s been a long time for me. I want to make it good for you, but I’m afraid of losing control.”
A wild thrill ran through her at his words. “I want you to lose control.”
“What?”
But instead of answering she reached for him again, trailing a finger down the fur of his belly, hooking it into the waistband of his jeans and pulling him towards her. For a moment he resisted. Then with a groan of defeat he reached for her.