Kiss of a Demon King

sound....

With a furious scream, Sabine head-butted the Tee-gloth. He slapped her, leaving her gasping on her side, her eyes watering.

And that was when she caught a glimpse of Rydstrom stealing out from the shadows. He'd lived!

As he stalked closer, his horns flared with aggres­sion, his muscles seeming to grow before her very eyes. At the edge of the firelight, he silently collected his sword.

When the leader pawed her, rolling her over once more, she hissed, 'Teegloth, you're going to pose a ques­ tion, and get beheaded before it's answered.'

He roared, 'What you talk of?'

She only smiled as Rydstrom swung his sword.

'You took the wrong demon's wife,' she told the sev­ered head as she clambered away from its corpse.

With the death of their leader, the others howled with a furor. Rydstrom put himself between her and the pack. 'Stay back!'

When they attacked, sweeping those hammers at him, he used his sword and claws against them. One tried to take him from behind, but he threw his head back, poisoning it with his horns.

He took hits that would have felled trees, but still he remained standing. Even injured, he was too strong for them to defeat. She watched in awe as the ruthless demon fought, lit by fire and cloaked in shadows from the mine.

Husband. Gods, he was amazing. He's fighting for me. No one but Lanthe had ever fought for Sabine, never, no matter how much she'd needed them to-

One slammed Rydstrom's massive body into a roof support. The shaft seemed to quake all around them. She couldn't scramble up swiftly enough with her hands behind her back.

When the immense beam began to splinter, she screamed Rydstrom's name.

With a roar, he took her by the waist and tossed her out of the way-just as the ceiling of the mine collapsed, boulders plummeting around him and the remaining Teegloths.

Nothing but dust. Again she was helpless, coughing, only able to wait. Would he make it out?

Waiting . . . Heartbeat, heartbeat. Damn it, stupid demon, don't die! Don't-

Rydstrom lurched out of the haze. He was bleeding freely from dozens of injuries, his breaths ragged. Brows

drawn with feeling, he dropped to his knees before her, still demonic, staring into her eyes.

She was overcome with relief that he'd lived and with gratitude that he'd saved her.

Then she remembered that she was one of the most powerful Sorceri ever born.

This damsel in distress could have defeated this entire pack in moments. Except her husband had bound and tied her and made her vulnerable.

He clasped her in his arms so tightly, she almost cried out. She felt when a sound was wrenched from his chest-part growl, part groan.

Warm . . . safe . . . furious? She futilely resisted him, cursing him. He said nothing, just clutched her, cupping her head to his chest, keeping her there with his big palm.

She was infuriated that any of this had happened at all when it could have been avoided. By keeping her tied, he'd risked her life.

But was she more angry that she'd been jeopardized- or because he'd been?

He finally drew back, his gaze flickering over her, assessing her injuries. His eyes darkened at every bruise. When he eased her skirt up, his Adam's apple worked in his throat as if he dreaded what he might find.

'They didn't rape me. No thanks to you.'

He took deep breaths, wrestling for control, and his demonic visage receded.

When he smoothed blood from her lips, she flinched from his hand.

'Sabine, I'm here-'

'And I'm beaten. Trussed up like a present for their convenience.'

He took a swath from the ripped tunic and tied it over her breasts, then he scanned the camp for their belongings. He left her side only to retrieve her boots. 'If they intended to sell you as a slave, they wouldn't have struck your face, unless moved by anger.'

'Yes, I taunted them. Therefore, they had every right to hit me! Right?'

He returned with her boots, then pulled them on her. 'Why did you taunt them?'

Without looking at him, she muttered, 'Because it felt good,' repeating his own answer when asked why he'd goaded Omort.

'More might come.' Rydstrom helped her to her feet. 'We have to leave this place.'

'You're not going to free me?' There was a hysterical note to her voice.

'You are angry that you were vulnerable. I should have been more vigilant.'

'Damn you, Rydstrom, you won't release me even after this? I was defenseless! You saved me, yes, but you put me in this situation in the first place. Just like when I saved you from Omort, after bringing you into Tornin. Are you happy, demon? To get your parity once more?'

'Happy?' he snapped. 'If anything had happened to you. . . . Damn it, I will be more watchful. I won't sleep.'

'The Teegloths aren't the only threats out here,' she said. 'There are beasts from legend. As you know, I could drown.'

'I also know that you'll run away from me at the ear­liest opportunity.' When she shook her head to deny it, he said, 'There's not a doubt in my mind! Every word you've said about wanting to stay with me was a lie. Now we don't have time for this. I won't be moved from my decision-and we need to get out of these mines before more come.'

His tone brooked no argument, and when he grabbed her arm to hasten her from this place, she let him lead her.

They continued on, limping through the murky tun-nel for what seemed like miles, until they reached the surface at last.

A new landscape greeted them. High bluffs over­looked green hills that were dotted with trees. The late afternoon sun blazed above them, and the wind gusted. More terrain, more stumbling, more misery.

Enough. She yanked her arm from his grasp. Sabine- never a patient person in the best of circumstances- had hit her limit. She simply .. . stopped.

'Come on, keep up. We're near them. I can sense it.'

'Enough, demon.'

'What?'

She sat, then drew her knees to her chest. 'I'm sun­burned, bruised, hungry. I've been sexually tormented for two days. No metal guarded my hair, neck, or chest during a mine collapse. You took down my braids so my dusty hair continually blows into my eyes. And I can't move it! On top of all this-I was kidnapped by mon­sters to be sold into slavery!'

And I'd feared for the demon's life, at times more than my own. What was happening to her?

'I'm not going any farther, not until you free me.'

'Sabine, get this through your head. There's no way I'm letting you go. If for no other reason, you could be carrying my babe!' Had his shoulders straightened? Proudly?

'That's impossible.'

'Yes, we were together only once, but it could

happen.'

'There is no babe-I'm not pregnant!'

'How can you know?'

'I knew days after,' she said. 'The Hag can tell that