THIRTEEN
Against all reason, the fey’s attack had only fueled Sian’s arousal.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this alive. His heart pumped; his breaths heaved. Her scent and taste put him into a lather. When he’d first cradled her taut ass in his palms, he’d feared he would spontaneously come.
In this state, drawing down her panties and licking between her silken thighs seemed the perfect idea. Licking his mate till she came upon his pointed tongue—
“Stop this, demon!”
He nuzzled below her navel. Stop?
She’d begun squirming again. “You said you weren’t a villain.”
Comprehension hit him. With a will he’d never known he possessed, he somehow relinquished his prize, lowering her down his body. Her skin rubbed his pierced nipples, her mons sliding past his swollen cock.
He shuddered when he set her on her feet.
As she backed away, she stared at his groin. His shaft strained against his leather pants, his balls aching like they’d been struck with a forge hammer.
She looked spooked—but her own nipples were hard.
Gods almighty. When he pictured her haughty, insolent, sexy smile just before she’d sent him flying, he almost grabbed her again.
To cool his need, he recalled his last fateful meeting with her in her previous life—the day of her wedding. Her words echoed in his mind: I could never love you. . . .
He had clutched his head in anguish, unable to do anything as she’d set off to marry another male.
One she’d loved all along.
Wrath renewed, Sian began to circle her. She pivoted to face him.
“How old are you?” She looked to be in her early twenties. She must soon be turning immortal, which meant she would be suffering from overstimulation. At the possibility, his pulse quickened even more.
“Twenty-four.” Her answer had a knife’s edge to it, as did her question: “When did you first realize you were a sadist?”
“When I ran afoul of you in the past.” Still he circled her. “Were you trying to kill me with that poison?” And why does picturing your haughty smile make my cock harder?
“Ideally.” Each brusque query and reply was like a blow between sparring partners. “How old are you?”
“Ten thousand. How did you learn to build traps?”
“Reading—you should try it sometime. Did you like my use of stone dicks?”
“If you wanted rock-hard, you needn’t have looked farther than me,” he said with a smirk. “Where is the Magic Kingdom?”
“Right between Rivendell and Narnia, asshole. Shouldn’t an ancient relic like you have more control over yourself?”
Relic? “You bring out the very worst in me. How did you overcome your fear of spiders?”
“I reminded myself that they’re less repulsive than you are.”
Little bitch! Fists clenched, he rammed his horns against the nearest wall, and the tower rocked.
She swallowed, but she didn’t flinch. “You have no right to keep me here, demon! No right to make me your plaything! What do you imagine I’ve done to you?”
“In this life, you were sent here by Nix as a spy. If you want to know your past crimes, then remember.”
“I’m no spy. And this Nïx person can go fuck herself.” She crossed her arms over her chest. When he failed to keep his gaze from dropping, she made a sound of frustration. “Are you ever going to give me clothes?”
He told her breasts: “I find myself particularly incentivized not to do so.”
She bristled.
Leave her, Sian. Nothing good could come from this interaction.
He almost wished he hadn’t cowed his demon warriors so easily. After calling off the battle against the Vrekeners, he’d ordered those legions back to their interminable punishments—with only a vague promise of a future war against the fey. He’d hoped for a mutiny.
But when Sian, now the primordial of their species, had stretched his wings and bared his fangs, even the bravest of those hell demons had fallen quiet and retreated.
Not so this female.
He recalled his threat to throw her to the legions. After this attack, he thought it more appropriate to threaten the legions with her.
Find something else to occupy you. He could go pay the Vrekener queen her land bounty, but he was in no hurry. The process of building land, hell manipulation, was grueling.
He could go on another doomed search for the fabled hellfire. That way lies madness. . . .
Wind gusted into the tower, and airborne sparks fluttered around them like snowflakes of ember. When his prisoner had finished coughing, her eyes watered. “You belong here. I—do—not. Release me now!”
This creature seemed to have a demonic temper when provoked enough. So unlike his mate in the past. For all that he’d once adored her, Princess Karinna had been the mistress of sneering indifference.
His gaze lit upon the untouched food tray in the courtyard. “Why should I provide you food if you’re not going to eat it?”
“I can’t stomach things that are still moving.”
“You will learn to.” Those dishes were delicacies from the Stygian Marsh, enjoyed by only the wealthiest demons of Pandemonia. “Or should my servants change their menus to tempt a fey prisoner?” The idea was ludicrous. “Once you get hungry enough, you’ll eat. If you enter into a battle of wills with me, you will lose.”
“If you have a grove or an orchard, I could pick my own food.”
“There are no groves or orchards! Have you forgotten the location of your new home? This isn’t some sort of fairy woodland. This is hell.”
“Then let me work in the kitchen. I could find something to eat there.”
Angling to get out of the tower? “You actually think to escape me. You were sly with your trap, but I’m far too strong for you to defeat.” Damn it, he should be furious at her insolence and gall! Not secretly hoping she will strike again.
“Demon, there is one thing I can absolutely guarantee: I will escape you. Save yourself the embarrassment and free me.”
Considering her outrage and her desire to get away from him, she might not be Nïx’s pawn. If this fey was complicit, shouldn’t she be seducing him to win his good favor—instead of stabbing him with a poisoned spindle?
Unless Nïx had sent her here to kill him.
Sian was struck by how little he knew about his mate’s current existence. He hadn’t cared who her family was or where she’d been born, because she was still Kari and his history with her was all that mattered.
But this new version was throwing him. He decided to send spies, his three best generals, to the Magic Kingdom to find out more about her.
She pinched her temples, swaying on her feet. She’d neither slept nor eaten since she’d gotten here. She was sick from the fire vines and injured.
Gods, what would this little firebrand be like at full strength?
He could enchant her with a healing spell, using some of his life force to improve hers, but she didn’t deserve that consideration after attacking him. Instead, he grew vine all over the castle’s roof—which she definitely deserved.
He refused to allow pity—or his instincts—to curtail his vengeance. Her pain wasn’t a fraction of the misery she’d brought down upon him. Upon all of the demons in hell. Her labors weren’t enough punishment. She’d had no pity for me.
He bared his fangs at her. “I look forward to our next meeting, female.”
“Whatever, demon.” She rubbed her eyes, plucking something from one.
She’d been wearing a colored contact lens. Her eyes were mismatched again.