The yāoguài yanked Daji to the pillar and wound a rope around her and the column, tying her back to it.
Blood dripped down her arms from nasty gashes. His hands fisted; those sonovabitches would pay for hurting her.
But not yet.
He had to wait for the perfect moment, or everything would be lost.
Daji sagged forward, her head bowed, blood pooling at her feet. If they’d snagged an artery, she’d bleed out before she ever burned to death.
He remained limp, peering through hooded eyes, as several demons skittered toward him. They seized his ankles and hauled him to the pillar. Daji cast defeated eyes to him and sobbed.
She probably thinks I’m already dead.
Good, so then would Dì Xīn.
They shifted him to his feet, and he staggered, leaning toward Daji.
“Price?” Hope pinged in her voice.
“Shh.” He caught her attention for a brief second and winked, slipping his hand behind her back while the minions trussed him.
Got it. His fingers closed around the hilt of the blade.
This knife had better work or he was going to demand a refund from Ling.
“I can’t…” Her words drifted off as she slumped toward him, blood trickling along her arms and splattering at her feet.
Better hurry. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ve got this,” Price murmured to her, sawing the blade through the rope to free his arm.
The demons piled sticks and logs around the base of the pillar, and lit those suckers on fire.
Heat fanned his back. Shit.
“Hey, asshole.” Price jerked his chin at Dì Xīn.
“Still alive? Oh good.” Dì Xīn prowled toward him. Yeah, the sadist couldn’t resist getting a close view of his handiwork.
“Yep, and Daji has something she’d like to say to you.”
She moaned, fluttering her lashes.
He squirmed; the pillar was growing uncomfortably hot.
“Huh? What’s that, my lovely?” Dì Xīn bent above the small flames, tugging Daji’s chin into his grasp.
“Work your magic, baby.”
She dragged her eyes open, fierceness flashing in them. The Demon King groaned, his body tensing while Daji flexed her powers, holding him captive to a rush of erotic bliss. She claimed every muscle in his body, freezing him in place. Death by sex might be a fantastic way to die, but so long as he ended up dead, Price didn’t care.
Hissing, she bared her fangs. “Stay in Hell.”
Price jabbed the knife into Dì Xīn’s side, gutting him like a fish. The sharp blade sliced straight through flesh and bone, ripping through his heart. Price planted his foot on the Demon King’s leg and yanked out the blade, kicking the prick to the ground.
Dì Xīn grinned at his wound, blood dribbling from his mouth. “You assume I haven’t been dismembered before? You can’t kill me.”
“The fuck we can’t.” In one slice, Price slashed through the ropes binding him and Daji. He propped an arm under her for support and swung her away from the burning pillar, then pressed the dagger into her hand.
This was hers to finish.
He ripped off a strip from the hem of his shirt and wrapped it around the gash on her right arm, then did the same with her left. The tourniquets halted the bleeding.
While the Demon King flopped around on the ground like a fish thrown out of water, the yāoguài around them screeched and hollered, but without orders from their master, they were useless.
Daji stole a few deeps breaths, and once she steadied on her own, she peered at him. Her eyes sparkled with what he hoped was love.
Dammit, he wanted it to be love.
He brushed a tear off her cheek with his thumb and jerked his chin toward her ex-husband. They had a monster to finish off.
Her hand trembled as she stepped from him, the blade hanging long at her side.
With every step she captured toward him, Daji straightened, freezing into the beautiful, invincible Queen who’d brought him to his knees.
In more ways than one.
She glared down at the bastard, bracing the dagger.
Blood sputtered from his mouth while he chuckled at her. “If you slice me apart, I’ll mend myself together. You cannot defeat me, Daji. Not in this realm, not with a mere knife.”
“Oh, but I can.” She crouched beside him, flashing the blade across his face. “Do you recognize this? I do. Recall that night? It is seared into my memory.” She angled her face toward him, smirking. “A young girl, forced to participate in your atrocities.”
“No. It cannot be. That blade is gone.” Dì Xīn’s eyes widened, bulging in horror.
“Oh, but it wishes to say hello.” She trailed the tip to the base of his throat. “You should have hidden this better. Now, your victims will have their vengeance.”
“You think you’ve won, Daji? You’ll never be rid of me.” His sneer cast toward Price.
Before he could utter another curse, she raised the dagger again and slashed it across his neck, straight through flesh and bone, beheading him.
The black ooze of his blood sprayed across her face and she hissed in victory.
Damn, that’s my woman.
***
Daji smoothed the tremors from her hands as she crouched above her enemy. Her tormenter.
Her prey. Dead. He truly was gone this time.
What a lovely loophole. A Demon King could only be vanquished by a blade he’d wielded against his victims. She closed her eyes and the image of a young, pregnant woman flashed across her mind. Dì Xīn hadn’t hesitated to slice open her stomach, declaring Daji wished to view the inner workings of pregnancy.
She’d never forget the blue gems encased in the hilt of this blade as they’d been smeared with innocent blood.
The woman and her babe were avenged. Dì Xīn would never harm another soul.
Except mine.
She wiped the blade along his clothes, slicking the black pitch of his blood across them.
“Here.” Price handed her another strip of his shirt. His exquisitely carved abdomen clenched in and out with his tense breaths.
She scrubbed the cloth across her face, wiping the ooze.
Price stuck his hand out, and she grasped it, rising as he tugged her to her feet.
The yāoguài around them scattered. Their master dead, they were no more dangerous than an army of ants.
Easily squashed.
He cloaked Horse and stampeded across them, trampling their lifeless bodies into the ground.
“Daji.” Price clasped her face in his hands. His throat bobbed, the muscles in his jaw clenching.
What words were there for this moment? None.
Daji rose onto her tiptoes and claimed his mouth, kissing him with the tension and fear that washed away beneath his embrace.
He was alive. He’d come for her, and despite his assertions of not being a White Knight, had indeed performed the role well.
His tongue thrust deep in her mouth, seeking, demanding.
She moaned and sank into his kiss for one blissful moment before ending it, stepping aside to collect the slender silver canister containing fox spirits. “We should leave this place.”
“Yeah, before the yāoguài grow some balls.” He clutched her hand, weaving them through the corpses. “Are we sure he’s dead this time?”
“Yes, thank the gods.” Daji blew a puff of air from her lips.
“Okay, but wait here.” He released her hand, nudged her to sit, and strode to Dì Xīn’s body, hefting him across his shoulders and plucking his dismembered head by the hair.
“Where are you going?”
“Making damn sure he never breathes again.” He cloaked Horse and galloped away.
After several minutes passed, she shifted in her seat, growing anxious, but Price sauntered into the chamber.
“We have to stop meeting like this.” He sent her a mischievous wink.
“What, in dark, smelly holes in the earth.”
&nb
sp; “Exactly.”
She laughed at the quirk in his lips, but sobered. “What did you do with his body?”
“Flung it into the burning volcano in Level Sixteen.” Price shoved a hand through his hair. “Might have hacked him to pieces first with this knife.” He handed her the blade, cleaned of any trace of violence. “Though I was tempted to drag his body to Level Nine, the Cauldron of Boiling Oil. Deep fry the motherfucker.”
Level Nine was where rapists were boiled in hot oil. She smiled at the protectiveness beneath his casual shrug and accepted the dagger, tucking it along with the canister into her jacket pocket. “Good.”
“Daji.” He dropped to his knees in front of her, placing his hands on her thighs. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”
She stilled, body straining forward to listen to more of this delightful confession. “Or I you.” His hand closed around hers, and she extended her other to smooth aside the locks falling across his eyes.
“You may not believe me, hell, this sounds pretty insane, but…” His other hand enclosed hers in his warmth. “I love you, Daji.”
Her heart beats ticked, one by one, while she gazed into those remarkable blue depths.
A man torn apart by fear. Hurt and angered about a past that weighed him with guilt. Who had never trusted anyone enough to utter those words.
He spoke them to me.
Not because they’d battled a Demon King and survived, victorious.
Because unlike anyone else in his past, she’d earned the one thing he’d never gifted any of them.
His trust.
In turn, his heart.
The enormity of his declaration settled over her. Without a doubt in her soul, she reciprocated his love, but…
“Have to think about it that long, huh.” Grimacing, he wrenched from her grasp and leapt to his feet, shaking his head. “Forget I said anything.”
What was the right course? Her silence had hurt him, but her reciprocation just might kill him.
Daji wrapped a hand across her belly. She didn’t suffer pain as though she’d been poisoned. Most venom worked quickly. Dare she make this one leap of faith?
“Price, wait.” Daji hopped to her feet and caught up with him, gripping his arm. He spun, distrust clouding his stare.
“I couldn’t bear hurting you, and being responsible for your heart terrifies me.” She blinked back tears. “Because I love you too.”
Biting the inside of her cheek, she dared a glimpse at his face. Would he trust her? It was better if he didn’t.
He snared her neck, his lips hot on hers as he dragged their bodies together. She moaned into his mouth, melting into not Daji and Price, but one being.
One heart beating.
One life.
One.
She eased back. “You believe me? Trust me?”
“Hell yeah.” He grinned. “No one can resist my sexy ass.”
She punched his arm and claimed his mouth again.
He might be a cocksure scoundrel, but he was hers.
***
Price nipped at Daji’s plump lips, a buzz singing through his veins. His body was a tightly wound spring, as though he’d sprinted across five marathons—adrenaline pounding through his system—and he could run five more.
But he’d rather make love to Daji.
Judging by her low, sultry moans, she was game.
And hungry.
His cock hardened, aching to slide between her sweet thighs. This place was a hellhole—and stank like one—but he’d never been more alive.
I love her.
Words he’d never dreamed he’d speak had spewed from his mouth like a fire hydrant gushing water.
He couldn’t have stopped them, and he’d never take them back.
Even if she hadn’t reciprocated.
Damn, he was glad she had.
It wasn’t any woman he’d walk through Hell to be with. Daji had been worth it, though. Every single awful moment.
He tore his lips off hers and nuzzled her neck. “I spotted a decent enough place on Level Eleven. Less wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
“Indeed?” Daji smiled at him, so beautiful. “You really know how to treat a lady.”
“Well,” he shrugged, “I am a romantic.”
“Lucky me.” She giggled as he tugged her through the pitch blackness of mutilated demon bodies and through the sleek corridor of Dì Xīn’s palace.
“Well, if you like it, we can book this place for our honeymoon.”
“Honeymoon?” Daji’s lips quirked.
“Never got to take my wife on one.” He winked at her.
“We’re mated, not married.”
“Sure thing, wife.”
Price laughed while she huffed. He looked forward to having that argument, every single day for the rest of their very long existences. Maybe one of these days she’d agree to marry him.
Married. Who would have dreamed marriage would be something he’d ever want?
No, crave.
With Daji, it damn sure was.
She teetered on her feet, and he caught her, steadying her in his arms. “Swooning already, darling?”
She scrunched her cute little nose. “No, but I am somewhat dizzy.”
The blood loss. He peeked at her arms. The bandages had stopped the bleeding, but she was weak.
Thankfully, he knew of the perfect way to strengthen her.
His lips tugged into a grin. “Why don’t we make a stop and have lunch?”
“Lunch?”
“Yeah, there’s this great place ahead.” He jerked his chin toward an empty chamber. “Great food, fantastic service. All-you-can-eat smorgasbord.”
Her lashes shuttered as she attempted to roll her eyes at him. Definitely lacking fuel.
Shifting her into his arms, he carried her inside and locked the door. The room was devoid of everything except two ornate carved armchairs and a glass coffee table. They didn’t have time to search for a bedroom, and he’d rather not picture who else had done the nasty in those beds. Did yāoguài even have sex? Ugh. He squashed a shudder.
Wasn’t the five-star hotel he’d pictured, but he could be hard for Daji anytime, anywhere.
She moaned in the back of her throat, draping her arms around his neck and nuzzling her face against his chest. Her velvety tongue flicked across his throat and he groaned, sprinting toward the corner.
He set her on her feet, supporting her weight against the onyx wall behind her. “What’ll you have?”
Not romantic, but sex was food to fox spirits, and his woman was hungry.
He unbuckled his belt and glided down his zipper.
Daji whimpered, shrugging out of his grasp to sink to her knees. Okay, then. Self-serve.
Eagerly, she shoved aside his hands, tugging his pants around his knees, and gripped his cock, stuffing it into her mouth.
Damn.
Grunting, he braced both hands on the stones behind her, stepping out of his pants to widen his stance.
She went at him, sucking, nipping, making him hard as fuck.
Didn’t even use her powers to do that.
This was round one, and only for sustenance, so he didn’t hold out. Couldn’t have if he’d tried to. His cum shot straight, thick and hot.
Daji converted his jīng into energy, lapping at him until there wasn’t a drop remaining. Licking her wet lips, she lifted her lashes to him. “Thank you.”
“Anytime, baby.” He plucked her from the ground and unwound the bandages from her arms, tossing aside the soiled cloths. The slashes had closed, pink flesh puckering. “Better?”
She nodded and released a long, slow exhalation.
This wasn’t the same process as a Chosen healing, but he sure liked it a lot more. Getting intimate with the other spirit animals grossed him out.
Yeah, he’d keep things how they were. He’d be Delun’s little bitch, running whenever the Dragon beckoned, but nothing would tear him from Daji, from their people.
They’d better not expect him to bunk at Kek Lok Si.
He shoved away those unwelcome thoughts and rubbed his thumb across Daji’s plump lips. “Want more?”
Pointless to even ask, because she wrapped her hands around his neck, yanking his mouth onto hers.
He should wait until they departed Dìyù, until they’d found a decent bedroom and locked themselves inside.
Restlessness tugged at him. Not Horse trying to bolt. Something else. Like he yearned to be inside her, right now. To never let her out of his sight.
Guess almost dying did that.
Daji fervently pressed her lips to Price’s, drinking him in and struggling to meld into him. The pang of her hunger diminished, but the weakness didn’t.
Was that the poison? It didn’t feel like poison. Just desperation.
She refused to lose Price. Not now that they’d won each other’s hearts. Having him inside her would be the assurance she craved. Daji towed down her leather pants, yanking them off. Trapping her hips, he swung her onto his waist, his heavy width slamming into her core.
They both moaned—his a deep throaty rumble and hers an airy cry.
She shoved her hands through his locks while he pressed heated kisses across every inch of her bared skin, pounding into her.
The raw strength and sensuality flowing from Price was what a Queen required.
Although, she’d renounced her throne when she’d signed Zhao’s contract. Naya would be crowned Queen. It was as it should be. Daji had served for many centuries—too many. Time for someone else to bear the burden.
“When we get home, I’m locking us inside your chamber and we’re not leaving for a fucking week,” he rasped, nibbling her ear.
“Sounds perfect.” She bit down on a yelp while he pumped harder, driving into her, his hands cushioning her from the abrasive stones.
“Promise me.” He slowed his relentless rhythm, shifting those bluest eyes to her face. “Promise me it will always be like this. Us together.” Desperation cracked through his low murmur.
She linked her fingers across the back of his head and smiled. “My heart will forever belong to you, Price.”
The mistrust and pain from his past flickering in those depths diminished as he blinked. Too many times had he been hurt. Misused and abused. Just as she had.
No more.
Reining Him In (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 5) Page 24