by Kimber Lee
I sure as hell wasn’t ready to be a mother, and definitely not to a demon king’s child. I couldn’t bring a baby into a fucked-up world like the one I found myself in at the moment.
But then I started wondering if Andrei would want a baby, if he ever even had one. There was a strong possibility that someone as old as he was could’ve fathered millions of hybrid spawn across the world. That thought further dampened my mood.
After checking my cheeks for more moisture, I was just about ready to call it a night—maybe after a glass or two of well-deserved Zinfandel—when a group of demons materialized in the living room like it was the most normal thing in the world, which I supposed in this case it was. Demons came in and out of here like flies, which prompted me to reflect that asking Daniel to demon-proof this house was long overdue.
I curiously stared at all four men, wondering if this could possibly be a hallucination brought on by brain freeze and my pathetic misery. But the wave of awareness that washed over me told me that no, this was as real as Sofia Vergara’s accent.
“Don’t be afraid, mea domina,” the biggest one, a fiery-haired meathead, said in what he probably thought was a soothing voice, but in reality sounded like how a psycho would most likely talk to his victim.
However, I couldn’t even get up—that was how worn out I was from being useless. “Get the hell out,” I muttered warily, and they all blinked at each other, stifling their laughter.
“Our king sent us.” This came from a demon that looked like he’d just left high school. He even had a baby face and a black, grungy Ke$ha T-shirt on. “All you have to do is come quietly.”
“And where, pray tell, am I supposed to come quietly to?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
“You’ll find out when you get there,” another one declared, which was pretty much the response I expected.
“Okay,” I said, slowly getting to my feet. “Let me just change.”
They glanced at each other before the meathead said incredulously, “Really? He said you’d be difficult.”
So he sent four demons to get me? I was flattered he thought I was Xena, the Warrior Princess.
“It’s not my time of the month,” I said with a shrug, when really, I wanted to say that the thought of going to him filled me with unbelievable joy. It was too humiliating to admit it to myself though, let alone say it aloud to a bunch of strangers.
I strode past the small group of demons and headed to my room, kicking the door closed and locking it behind me. Shedding my filthy clothes, I decided to wear a dress Andrei had casually admired on me a while back. Black and clingy, it fell just a little above my knees and it was during my make-up that I came to the dismal conclusion that I, Rae Erickson, was absolutely dick-whipped to the nth degree.
“Mea domina?” someone said politely while rapping loudly on my closed bedroom door.
I had to have a talk with them about calling me their queen, in Latin or otherwise. I certainly wasn’t married, or bonded, to Andrei.
“Almost done,” I assured the disembodied voice as I set my mascara down on the sink.
I admired the finished product in the mirror, satisfied that I didn’t look like I’d been wallowing in my penthouse for close to a week because I was missing Andrei. I looked like a fully functional adult that just happened to look great in a black Versace.
When I finally unlocked my bedroom door—after slipping into my favorite pair of Louboutin pumps, of course—I was met with the stare of the kid demon. I totally recognized that hungry look and it pissed me the hell off.
“You want me to tell Andrei you looked at me like that?” I snarled, the ferocity in my voice visibly startling the demon.
“Um, no,” he said quickly, schooling his face into nonchalance. “I’m very, very sorry.”
I nodded, mentally high-fiving myself for being unaffected by a demon that obviously wanted to jump my bones. “So… where are we going? Which restaurant is he meeting…?”
“Restaurant?” Meathead queried as he approached us. He gave me a strange look. “No, mea domina. Tonight, we go to the king’s castle. You’ll teleport with me.”
Andrei’s castle was located in a dense forest on the Romanian part of the Carpathian Mountains. However, I wasn’t able to admire the scenery because Meathead, who’d cordially identified himself as Trick, teleported us right into the castle, which, by the way, was an oven.
Trick wordlessly left me alone in the chambers, gently closing the large, creaking oak door behind him. It felt like I’d been transported back in time and goosebumps prickled my skin. There wasn’t even any electricity, if the oil lamps flickering on the marble pedestals were anything to go by.
Something wasn’t right.
Andrei had never even mentioned a castle and if he had, I certainly wouldn’t have thought it would be in this realm. God, I was such an ignorant idiot. I knew nothing about anything.
I sat on the edge of the old-fashioned queen-sized bed in the center of the room, feeling stupid. What a waste of a perfectly good outfit. And for what? To be summoned to the king’s castle like a subservient little…
“You’re a little overdressed, chérie,” a voice said from the shadows.
I leaped off the bed, nearly twisting my ankle in the process. Stupid, overpriced shoes.
I glared at the corner, my brow furrowing in recognition of the blonde-haired woman—I meant succubus—stalking out of the shadows. Dressed in a practically nonexistent red satin dress that just about covered her crotch, she definitely had every right to call me overdressed.
“Selene,” she said by way of introduction. “We met at Nicolette, remember?”
I racked my brain trying to remember her. When I finally did, I folded my arms across my chest. “Oh, right. You wanted to know why Andrei was sleeping with me. Did he answer your question himself?”
Her blood-red lips quirked into a smile as she approached me. “Not sleeping with. Fucking. Call it what it is.”
“What the hell do you want?” I snarled, standing my ground.
She held her hands up in surrender. “Relax. I’m just here to make sure that you are dressed appropriately.”
“Appropriately?” I screeched in disbelief. “What the hell’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
She tilted her head, licking her lips lasciviously as she undressed me with her eyes. “Nothing,” she said huskily. “In fact, if you didn’t already belong to someone, I would have you for myself. Such is your appeal, ma petite.”
I felt heat creep up my neck. “You’re definitely not my type.” Fucking whore.
“You’ve never thought about trying a woman? Ever?” She let out a laugh at my horrified expression. “You know, I could make myself a man… just for you.”
I tasted bile in my mouth. “Why am I here?”
“Here you go. You must wear this.”
Of course, it was only then that I noticed the collar in her hand. It was black leather, probably smooth to the touch, and had a silver clasp on one part. Little diamond studs running around it glittered in the dim light. I instinctively recoiled.
“You want me to wear that?”
“No. My lord wants you to wear it. Take it, chérie.”
“He wouldn’t do that to me,” I said unconvincingly. “Collar me like a dog?” I shook my head. “Andrei would never…”
“You are mistaken. Being collared is not demeaning. It’s an achievement.”
“Oh, really?” Sarcasm crept into my voice. “Where the hell is Andrei? If this is some kinky experience he wants to share with me, he can count me out. I’m requesting someone to take me home.”
“Remove your clothes and put the collar on,” Selene snapped. She gestured at a mirror in one corner. “You can use that to help you snap the clasp. I’ll be back in five minutes and so help me, you had better be ready.”
“You won’t tell me what’s going on and now you want me to undress and degrade myself? Are you out of your mind?”
&nbs
p; Her icy blue eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you know about my kind but there are certain rules about respect, especially when it comes to lowly humans,” she said in a low voice. “You have obviously insulted my lord in some way. And now, as a result, you have to suffer the consequences. I don’t care what you said or did, but my instructions were to get you ready to see him. Do we understand each other so far?”
I bit my lower lip, fear inching up my spine. “He’s seriously going to… to punish me for kicking him out of my bedroom.”
Selene shrugged. “Just do as I say and you’ll be fine.” With that, she flounced out the room, leaving the ostentatious collar on the bed.
In a flash, I was at the door but—as I knew it would be—it was locked.
“Fuck me sideways,” I muttered, leaning against the wood. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Rae?”
This just didn’t make sense. When I thought back to the last time I’d seen Andrei, I didn’t really say anything that warranted this, whatever this was. Seriously, this man was going to get it when I eventually saw him.
It was this thought that propelled me to the bed to snatch the collar up for a closer inspection. They were definitely real diamonds. The Tiffany’s girl inside me squealed and dropped the whole thing.
“You want this?” I said aloud, violently tugging at the straps of my dress and all but ripping it off. The material pooled at my feet and I stepped out of it, placing one hand on the foot of the bed for balance and removing my pumps.
I kept my underwear on for self-preservation. Then, with shaking hands, I grabbed the collar and stood in front of the mirror. It was relatively easy to put on. And the fact that I’d tamed my difficult hair into a chignon helped.
“No underwear.”
Selene’s voice came from right behind me and her reflection appeared immediately after. I spun around.
“You really are crazy,” I informed her on the off-chance that she didn’t know.
She rolled her eyes. “This is the way it has to be. Is that Agent Provocateur, by any chance?”
I glanced down at my black lace strapless bra and matching panties before looking at her. “Yeah.”
“Nice. But they have to go.”
“Is he going to kill me?” I asked as nonchalantly as I possibly could, slowly unclasping the front of my bra. I could’ve thrown up when Selene’s eyes followed the spill of my breasts.
“Hmm? Kill you? Why would he do that?”
I shrugged, tugging my panties down. “I just think this whole abduction thing is a little extreme. Honestly, Andrei could’ve come to me anytime.”
Selene’s eyes thoroughly swept over my body as if she were committing the image to memory. Snapping out of her brazen eyeballing, she extended a hand to me. “Come. He’s waiting.”
Despite my complete hatred of this woman, I took her hand and was surprised to find it cool to the touch. On the other hand, I was close to sweating buckets that could probably fill a lagoon. They had to have some kind of mega-furnace in the dungeons or something.
Selene was silent as we navigated the passageways. Lit torches were suspended on the walls on either side of the passages. Meanwhile, I just focused on my shadow dancing on the stone, blocking out the fact that I was walking butt-naked in a castle, which was probably overrun with all kinds of demons.
Shit! Shit! Shit! I thought in a panic when I heard voices getting louder as we approached a marble archway down one passage.
They were, no doubt, the voices of demons. What the hell was I doing walking into this situation? Naked, no less! And what was I doing holding hands with a succubus?
As if she were following my train of thought, Selene released me as soon as we entered the large room. The entire room fell silent and I got the vibe that told me I was literally surrounded by demons. But the only thing I really registered was the man sitting on a large iron throne on a raised platform. He was on the throne with a little naked redhead sitting on his lap.
My eyes narrowed at Andrei, and suddenly, my nudity didn’t matter. No, what mattered was clawing that skeletal bitch’s eyeballs out and shoving them down her throat. I didn’t have my knife so my French tips would just have to do. I just prayed they wouldn’t break.
“Stop growling,” Selene said serenely. “Jealousy is not a good look on you.”
“Go to hell,” I hissed, meeting Andrei’s cold cerulean stare.
I broke the gaze, giving the entire room a sweep. The ceiling was incredibly high, propped up by chalk white marble pillars that ran along the entire room. There was no décor, no niceties, just stone and marble. But there were thirty or so sex demons sitting by the long wooden table that spanned the length of the room, which stopped a long way away from the throne, giving Andrei the proverbial bird’s eye view of everything.
I stifled a gasp when I noticed that the people with the glazed expressions on their faces were humans. They either straddled the demons in different positions or knelt before them like trained pets. The whole sight was sickening.
Seconds later, their dead eyes became curious stares directed at me, and I paused for a second, staring right back at them… until Selene prodded me in the back.
“Go and kneel before him,” she instructed, and right then, I wanted to slap her.
“He’s not my king.”
Several ears perked up at that and I was quickly reminded of their extra sensitive hearing. Flushing, I slowly made my way past the table and paused before the throne. Now that I was closer, I was able to see that Andrei was shirtless and in black leather pants—leather freaking pants that, on any other day, would’ve made me cream my panties. However, being in the current confusing-as-fuck situation—on top of that, my lack of clothing and the fact that he had a bony skank on his lap—sort of made that impossible.
And then, there was the downright rude glare he was giving me.
It sort of took me back to the day after we’d first slept together. My uneasiness increased tenfold when he gestured for me to kneel. No words, just the casual twirl of his fingers. If I wasn’t in a den full of his cronies, I probably would’ve told him to go fuck himself. Monogamous? What a fool I was.
Giving Andrei my most mutinous look, I sank to my knees at his feet. I’d expected my knees to be burned by the scorching, hard floor but I found that the heat, though uncomfortable, wasn’t unbearable. It wasn’t just the air that was hot, so it was a miracle that my bare feet hadn’t burned during my long walk to what I assumed was the throne room.
Andrei jiggled his knee, wordlessly telling the girl to get off him. I resisted the urge to pounce on her as she sashayed down the set of steps that led up to the throne and strode past me.
Stop being so petty, Rae. You and Andrei are not an exclusive couple. You’re not Jay and Bee, or Brangelina, or even O and freaking Stedman.
I sucked in a deep breath, my scowl vanishing as I calmed myself down and focused on the stone floor. However, my composure was immediately ruffled when a menacing shadow fell over me.
No, it’s too soon, I thought in a flash of dread.
Andrei came down the stairs in two effortless steps, stopping before me. Compelled by his sheer magnetism, I looked up at him. Crouching at his feet, he seemed bigger than a giant that I couldn’t help but look away.
Then he reached down and grabbed my hair, unraveling all my hard work. Then, tugging a handful of it, he forced me to look him in the eye. An intense pain burned through my scalp and heated my neck. I stifled the yelp that was threatening to escape my lips. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing my pain.
“Get up.” His voice was harsh, so harsh that it would’ve been foolish of me not to obey him.
His hand remained in my hair as I awkwardly got to my feet. As soon as I did, he jerked me to him and twisted me around, until my back was flush against his chest and I was staring back at the demons and their mortals.
“Do you see them?” Andrei growled in my ear, shaking me with one han
d.
See them? What else was I supposed to look at? Two human girls were on their knees before demons, feverishly sucking them off. A man kneeling between an incubus’ legs was doing the same. The rest were staring at me with hunger in their eyes. The redolent smell of sex and desire hung in the air like a heavy blanket.
“Answer me,” Andrei demanded, shaking me again.
“Yeah. I mean, yes. I see them,” I sputtered, knowing that there was going to be a nasty bruise on my upper arm tomorrow.
“These are my people. This is what I am,” he snarled, his hot breath tickling my ear. Then he pinched my nipple and I jumped. “I fuck, I kill, I dominate. You don’t mind the fucking part, do you?”
I kept my mouth shut.
“Answer my damn questions.”
“No,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut, “I don’t mind the fucking part. As long as you’re only fucking me.” I honestly hadn’t meant to say the last part aloud but my mouth was on autopilot.
Judging from the tension I felt behind me, I could tell that Andrei hadn’t expected that either.
He quickly collected himself. “Do you love being dominated? Controlled? At my mercy?”
I thought about this. Did I? I was pretty independent. I didn’t bow to any man, never had. I never just lay there during sex. I usually took control, or put myself on equal footing with my partner, and gave as good as I got. That was the way it had always been.
But with Andrei?
“Yes,” I replied candidly. “I love it when you dominate me.”
His hand wrapped around my throat, around the collar. His fingers fanned the narrow column and I knew that with one squeeze, he could choke the life right out of me. Instead of freaking me out, that thought sent an arrow of heat down to my groin. I was so twisted.
“Good,” he rasped, rolling his hips, pressing himself to my back. “Good.”
I held my breath, awareness racing through my entire body at the familiar feel of his erection. His skin was hot and damp against mine, but I didn’t want to imagine why he was sweaty. The room was oven temperature, after all. That was probably why, I kept telling myself.