Kiss of a Demon King

together, the woman who'd set his blood on lire.

She's mine. For better or worse, she's my woman.

Don't die . . . don't. . .

When he caught her scent, his eyes briefly closed. Shortly after, she entered the cell, standing before him. She was out of breath, her breastplate rising and fall­ing. She wore a spiked headdress connected to a col­lar, metal hose, and full-length gloves with razor-sharp claws.

Her eyes were dilated and blue, and she bled from the corner of her lips. She'd come to him straight from the fray? He narrowed his eyes. She's shaken. Rydstrom knew what a soldier who'd had a near miss looked like. And she's come to me.

When blood trickled to her chin, she swiped her forearm over it.

So beautiful. So deadly. Mine. In an instant, he grew hard for her. No! How can I want her when she's fresh from a battle-with my own people?

Yet when she ran for him, nothing could have stopped him from lunging forward for her. Her hands shot up to cup his face as she stood on her toes to kiss him. Her lips were so soft, trembling beneath his.

He'd been out of his mind with needing to see her safe again, and showed her how much with his kiss. Relief. He took her with his tongue, savagely slanting his lips over hers, until she was clutching his shoulders. With a groan, he finally broke away. 'What happened tonight?'

Panting, she said, 'Close call.' She drew one glove down her arm, then the next, tossing them away.

'I feared you were going to die.'

She unlaced her breastplate at the sides. 'At one point, I was sure of it,' she said, dropping the piece to

the ground.

Just when he felt her hard nipples brush against him, her hand began traveling down his body.

'Unchain me, Sabine.' His cock was straining for

her touch.

'I can't.'

'Let me protect you.'

'Kiss first; talk later . ..'

He shuddered when she dipped into his pants and brushed her fingers over the slick head. She took him in hand, rubbing the pad of her thumb over the crown in mind-numbing circles.

Over. He inhaled sharply, groaning against her lips as he set back into their kiss. He was going to have her one way or another.

Their breaths grew ragged, frenzied. He was dimly aware of the illusions of fire spreading around the cell.

With her free hand, she unzipped his pants, giving them a shove so they fell to his ankles.

Then she tugged on his cock, leading him to the

bed.

Still kissing as if their lives depended on it, both of them went tripping toward the mattress. With his wrists bound, he couldn't catch himself. At the last minute, he twisted so that he didn't crash on top of her.

Between kisses, they maneuvered until she was on her

back beneath him. Ignoring the pain, he levered himself up onto his knees. Yet then frustration rose in him. He couldn't shove her skirt up, couldn't rip off her panties, couldn't pet her ... 'Take off your skirt for me.'

Seeming dazed, she loosened the knotted ties on the side of her skirt, and it fell away.

'Now those.' He gave a nod at her black thong.

She worked it down to an ankle, then kicked it away, leaving her clad only in her hose and headdress. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, glowing metallic blue amid the kohl.

'Between your thighs,' he rasped. 'Show me.'

As she eased her legs open for him, he thought she whimpered. A rough sound erupted from him as he gazed at her copper curls and glistening flesh. 'Touch yourself there. Let me see you....'

Her hand eagerly obeyed, and her delicate fingers began gliding over her sex. He hissed in a breath. No awkwardness. No hesitation. For the first time in his long life, he would have the type of woman he secretly desired.

She was glorious beneath him with her braids spread out over the bed, her flames reflecting in her eyes, her body quivering as she masturbated.

'Give me your vow, demon. Make me your queen.'

Queen of the very people she killed? But then he frowned at two lines of blood running parallel down her neck to her chest. 'What is that mark?'

 She waved it away-literally, disguising it with her illusions. 'A vampire tried to sink his teeth into me. But my armor stopped him short.'

'Why a vampire?'

With a huff of irritation, she removed her hand and leaned up on her elbows, blowing a plait out of her eyes. 'We're at war-he's not going to crayon me to death.'

Not killing my kind? 'You're at war with the vampires?'

'With some of them. What had you thought?'

'I. . . not rage demons?' She'd risked her life against a mutual enemy.

'What? You thought-'

'Sabine, just give me a minute.' Just let me mink. . .. 'You can't fight against them anymore.'

'You can't stop me. I love slaying leeches.'

'We have that in common. But they are deadly foes. Just remain within the castle walls.'

'There's only one way I would stop engaging them- the possibility of conception.'

Vampires had taken the lives of his father and brother. Rydstrom would be damned if they took his queen's. The only way to keep her safe is to impregnate her. Which meant he'd have to wed her, unless he could win this battle of wills between them. He would make her lose herself, so she'd receive him-without the vow.

'And why would I go after rage demons anyway?' she asked in a scornful tone. 'That's like hunting sheep-'

'Will you shut up?' he snapped. 'I'm considering giv-ing you my vow.'

She blinked up at him. 'Oh.' As she gave him a slow grin, she transformed the spikes jutting from her head­ dress into delicate golden leaves, with streaming vines twining in her hair.

'I'll do it-as soon as you release me from the chains.'

'I'll release you once you've done it.'

He lowered himself until his cock rested directly on her, flesh to flesh. Hers was hot and ready for him. His throbbed so hard, he would be surprised if she couldn't feel it. But when he tried to enter her, his shaft slipped along her slick folds.

She cried out, 'Rydstrom!'

He tried once more, and again he thrust over her. 'Ahhh.' Sweat covered his forehead from the desperate need to plunge into her core. 'Need my hands, love.'

'Give me your vow.'

'Feed me inside you.' With his jaw clenching, he grated, 'And I will.'

With her other hand, she grasped his length, but instead of placing him at her entrance, she ran the crown along her wet sex. He shuddered when she circled the swollen head against her clitoris. 'Marry me, Rydstrom.' And all the while her heavy-lidded eyes held his. He felt as if he were losing himself in them. 'I need you, demon. All of you. Can't you feel how much so?'

'Inside you, tassia. Need inside . . .' He yelled out when the crown briefly breached her tightness. Desper­ate to sink into that heat, he shoved his hips forward, but she still held him firmly, aiming his shaft up. He hissed in pain from the movement. Give anything to pin her hips down. 'Damn you, sorceress. You're mine-I want what's mine.'

'Then take me. And feel me come for you. Say the words.'