THIRTY-FIVE
Heart racing, Lila tore off across the beach, sending up jade in her wake. Over her shoulder, she called, “Don’t pull something, relic.” Laughing, she faced forward.
He appeared in front of her!
She skidded to a stop, then sprinted in the opposite direction. Heading for the more compacted jade-sand, she ran through the waves, elation thrumming inside her. Her senses were on fire; everything felt magnified.
Lots of firsts today. Her first time to pet a sea creature. Her first day as an immortal. Her first relationship/husband.
He called, “You can run, little fey, but you can’t trace.” If those hints of vulnerability had called to her, this teasing from him was like a drug.
Just last night, he’d chased her. Last night, Sylvan had been in jeopardy—until she’d sacrificed all of her dreams for the good of her kingdom.
Now her realm was safe, and being married to the hell king wasn’t as awful as she’d feared. She would learn how to manage him. It seemed fucking with him was the best way to tweak his mood. I can totally do that—
His arms wrapped around her waist. He tackled her into the waves, taking the impact.
She sputtered as he righted her. “Lucky catch!” They faced each other in the waist-deep water.
His lips were curling. “The luckiest.”
Smoothing her hair off her face, she said, “Tracing isn’t fair.”
“You never said there’d be no tracing.” The sun struck his green eyes, sending them aglow, the color as vivid as this beach.
She stared up at his gaze, briefly losing the thread of their conversation. What had they been talking about? Oh, yeah. “I would pound on your chest from the injustice of our race, but after seeing you repel that serpent, I don’t have a shot of hurting you, do I?”
Voice growing husky, he said, “You make me ache in parts of my anatomy farther south. Just as you did all morning.”
He’d been teased and denied for hours, which would help explain his irritability. When he’d done the same to her in the bathtub—for mere minutes—she’d been about to strangle him.
He nodded to indicate her clinging blouse. “You can’t swim in that.”
“Something tells me if I remove my clothes, I won’t get much swimming done.”
“Then you and I will promise to race to that cove”—he pointed in the distance—“and back before I get to pleasure you.”
Pleasure me? Her lips parted. So that was a given on today’s agenda?
She didn’t stop him when he pulled her shirt off. She didn’t resist when he used a claw to slice her skirt away. In fact, she was getting more turned on by the second.
He wadded up the remains of her clothes and tossed them to the shore, his torso muscles contracting. He ran his knuckle along her bra strap. “This should go as well.”
“I thought I got to keep my underwear on.”
“By royal decree, all beaches in hell are topless. As of today.”
Dare she? Again she was reminded of the pomegranate lesson. “Topless, huh?” She reached back to unstrap her bra. “The king here must be brilliant.”
“Equaled only by his clever queen.”
“What’s she like?”
“A lusty temptress. Subjects can hear her screams of pleasure coming from the castle.”
Had they? Her face heated. “Can they hear the king’s roars?”
He nodded. “And they envy him every one.”
She removed her bra.
He rubbed his claw-tipped hand over his mouth. “If you knew what the sight of those does to me . . .”
Her nipples stiffened even more. She could feel the sun’s heat on them.
“Also by royal decree, the beaches are bottomless.”
Skinny-dipping with a demon in hell. What could possibly go wrong?
But she was starting to trust him more. Still high from all these new changes and sensations, she said, “I don’t want to break the king’s laws.” She reached down to pull off her panties.
His eyes widened with surprise. “My laws are important.”
As she threw her underwear toward the shore, his eyes locked on the movements of her breasts.
With a growl, he tore his own pants off.
Catching a vague glimpse of his dick through the waves, she dragged her gaze up. “When we race, will your wings slow you down?” She sized him up. “They aren’t very hydrodynamic.”
“I’ll hold my own.” He turned to toss his pants away.
“Oh? Then you better—” She dove, swimming for a head start.
Calliope looked like a sleek torpedo in the water. As Sian watched her, his mind was as blown as hers had been over the beach and serpents.
Then he remembered their race. Tracing to her side, he swam full speed to the cove, keeping pace with her. On the way back, he beat her.
She surfaced with a sputter. “You cheated!” Smoothing her wet hair back, she stood in water up to her chest.
“You still haven’t said no tracing.”
“Tricksy demon.” She shielded her eyes from the sun. “How big is this sea? I came across different accounts in my reading.”
“It would take weeks to sail across.”
She blinked up at him. “And the dimension?”
“You are queen of a gigantic realm. There are many regions. The Badlands, the Highlands, the Stygian Marsh, Slaughter Gorge.”
“Where you sent those legions of demon warriors for more punishment.”
“Just so,” he said, picking up on her undertone of censure. But he didn’t acknowledge it. “Last week I ran for four days and covered only a fraction of the lands here.”
“The days you didn’t come to the tower?”
In a wry tone, he said, “I intended to be gone for months. I remained away from you for ninety-six whole hours. Even then . . .”
“Even then?”
“A demon doesn’t like to be separated from his mate.”
“Ah.” Calliope waded, seeming to enjoy just floating in the gentle swells.
“To what did you attribute your interest in this realm?”
“I didn’t know. My parents found my fascination disturbing, but nothing could stop it.”
Disturbing. They sounded similar to her parents in her past. “Do you still disbelieve you’re reincarnated?”
She shrugged. “I’m different. You’re different. I care more about the future than the past.”
Yet his future outlook was limited. Enjoy this while you can, Sian.
Her expression was relaxed, her eyes bright. In the sun, one was gold, the other amethyst. “I was deeply disappointed when I thought that your eyes matched.”
“Why?”
“How many males have a female so unique?”
“I didn’t even know you had green eyes until yesterday.” His rage and lust must have kept his irises black for days. “What made you calmer?”
“A demon’s mate is thought to center him.” After the claiming, at least. Until then, Sian would be at the mercy of his mating instincts, battling them at every turn.
Calliope’s cheeks, already pinkened in the sun, warmed even more as she asked, “Could people really hear my screams all over?”
“If you listen closely, you can still hear echoes.” He would need an eternity just to steal blushes from her. How easily tricking had turned to teasing.
“Ha. At least I don’t trigger earthquakes when I come. Or slice bathtubs open. What did that poor tub do to piss you off?”
His lips twitched. “That was my first time to pleasure my mate, and the experience affected my release intensely.”
She tapped her chin. “Did it? I wasn’t sure until the tub murder. Have you always reacted that way with females?”
“Never. I’ve maintained strict control.”
“How?”
“With ridiculous ease. Then you come along. . . .”
The seabed began vibrating beneath their feet. The waves rolling toward shore quavered and sloshed erratically.
“What’s going on?” She sidled closer to him.
He faced the beach. “Hellhounds approach.”