Even with the distance between them, those impossibly green eyes blazed a trail across her skin. His hooded stare took her back to the time in their room with her on her knees, and with his mouth alone, he’d taken her to the height of indescribable pleasure.
Heat rushed to her face and her panic faded.
What now? Did she walk over to him?
He shook his head, stopping her. Rising to his feet, he sauntered over through the sea of ebony tables. Dressed in black leather-like pants tucked into knee-high boots with a thin, linen shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, he was breathtakingly gorgeous.
A hush fell over the room. The denizens of Stygia followed her every move. They would have heard about the woman who’d tried to get rid of her. And now, they waited as Wrath’s heir staked his claim. Eager, watchful, their curious gazes swept over her, no doubt judging whether she was a suitable mate for Réomer.
Riley stopped in front of her, picked up both of her hands, and kissed the backs of her fingers. His gaze flickered to the circlet he’d given her.
“Thank you.” She pointed to her head. “It’s beautiful. But I don’t have anything for you.”
“I don’t need anything, I have the best thing ever. You,” he said quietly. “Saia, I didn’t come back for you because this has to be done this way. You came out here alone, showed them your strength, despite what you went through yesterday. They know mortals fear demon-kind. They see it as a weakness and would use it. You are strong. I’m incredibly proud of you.”
Her heart lightening, a smile lifted her mouth. She’d unknowingly passed all these demons’ test?
“Yay, for the mortal.”
He huffed a laugh. “Allow me, mate of mine.”
Riley tucked her hand under his arm and led her across the dining hall. Demons occupied every seat at the mile-long dining table, save three at the end where Riley had been. His hand lowered to her hip as he pulled out the chair adjacent to his.
She didn’t sit, but scowled at him, recalling what he’d done.
His eyebrows quirked. “Something wrong?”
“A pitchfork?” she hissed.
He dropped to his seat and grabbed her, yanking her onto his lap.
“Let me go, you fiend. What am I supposed to tell my brothers—my mother—when they see this?”
“Anything you like.”
“You think this is funny?”
“Not at all.” He leaned close, murmured against her ear, “Why would it be any different from those humans who want tatts of pitchforks and demons on their bodies?”
“I didn’t.” She pulled back.
“No, you got the real thing.”
“You—” She hit his chest. “Oww!”
He grabbed her hands. Although his expression remained even, Saia had the distinct feeling he was thoroughly amused. Unable to free her hands, she glowered.
His lips kicked up into a smile, the one that always made her melt. “Before you do any more damage to your beautiful self, my little tormentor, let’s eat.”
“I’m not hungry.” She pouted, because hitting him was like thumping a brick wall.
“Very well, we could go back to our room. I’m sure we could expend enough energy to make you hungry.” He lowered his head and trailed his lips along her jaw. “This time,”—his wicked mouth murmured as he nibbled her earlobe—“it won’t be just my tongue buried deep inside you...”
At the softly uttered promise, she became damp. Beneath her backside, a tempting bulge pushed into her. So simple. She could just swing her leg over his lap, and she’d be straddling him. Her lack of underwear would make it easier. She bit her lip, glanced at him.
A low growl rolled out of his throat. Eyes burning with unbridled heat, he held her still on his lap. Desire lent his voice a gravelly tone. “Move that delectable ass against me one more time, mate, and I will find the nearest available spot and have you, with my mouth, my cock, I don’t care which—”
She clapped her hand over his lips. Everyone had probably heard what he’d just said. Damn heightened demon hearing. Heat flooded her face. “I think I’m hungry, after all.”
“Good.” He dumped her on the chair next to him, and that alone told her he’d been a minute from dragging her out of there.
Struggling to calm down, she studied the platters of food in front of her. One held a huge chicken…or turkey?
“What is this,” she asked, flicking back a rope of hair.
Finally, he shifted his molten gaze to the food. “It’s a lot like chicken.” He carved a few slices of white meat, set it on a plate, and pushed it toward her. “Try it.”
Oh, sure, like she was going to eat some demonic fowl. The thing probably had ten heads.
“Nuh-uh...I think I’ll stick with vegetables.” Can’t go wrong there. She helped herself to the more familiar looking vegetable broth. At a cautious mouthful, the familiar taste of herbs and root vegetables, she swallowed in relief. The fresh rolls she had no problems with, she took one and bit into the delicious nutty flavor.
Smiling, Riley shook his head and sliced more meat off the huge bird for himself.
As she chewed, Saia glanced around. Several females were at the other tables in the hall, but she was the only one at the main table. Her gaze darted back to the massive sea of diners. Her attention caught by the scowling redhead seated at the table opposite theirs.
Saia narrowed her eyes at the demoness who thought to challenge her for Riley. No one was touching her man, ever.
Denali glowered a second longer before she dropped her gaze.
“What was that all about?” Riley asked in amusement. “A look alone and you made her cower.”
“I don’t care for the way she glares at me or thinks she can waltz over and threaten me.”
Riley stilled. Eyes became slits of green ice. “What?”
Saia brushed it off with a wave of her hand. “Oh, I took care of it. She knows I will stab her through her black heart if she tries that crap again.” She took another mouthful of the soup. “Tell me, when you walked her to dinner, did it mean you were interested in her?”
Riley nodded and leaned back in his seat, apparently no longer interested in eating his humongous fowl. “I’d forgotten about that. In my realm, we do all the stuff one does in the human world, dating, etcetera. But here, to walk into the dining hall at last meal with the opposite sex means you’re committed to that person, and want all to know so no one trespasses—mostly because demons are a violent lot and very possessive.”
A slight incline of his head and a guard strode up to him seconds later. Riley said something in lowered tones. The guard left. The next minute, he escorted a chastened Denali from the hall. A hush descended.
Faced with the absolute coldness in Riley’s demeanor, her belly heaved. She knew better than to ask why. In that moment, he did remind her of Wrath. She didn’t like him so removed from her. She dug around in her mind for something to say.
“So…” She ate another piece of bread. Teased, “I guess I must have promised many demon-guys my interest in them when they asked to accompany me to dinner these past few days—”
The cold dissipated and his eyes narrowed.
Great going, Saia, out of the fire and into Riley’s line of retribution. Too late to back down now. “How was I to know? In my world, we ask first before making a commitment—”
In a flash, he moved, wound a rope of her hair around his finger, and tugged her close. “I asked you.”
And so he had. She tried in vain not to blush, recalling how persuasive he’d been to get her answer. Far safer if she changed the subject. “How long have you lived on Earth?”
A long pause fell before he let her go. But those eyes promised payback, the kind that would make her beg by the time he was done with her.
She wrinkled her nose, knowing how well he could do that. The sadist.
He answered. “A thousand years.”
Her mouth dropped open. Then snapped shut in s
hock. A thousand—he looked to be around Noah’s age. “Just how old are you?”
“Approaching my two-thousandth year.”
“Holy cow! I must be like a baby to you.”
“Oh, sweet Saia,” he drawled, his heated gaze skimming over her face, down her chest to linger on her suddenly tight nipples. “You are no infant, I can attest to that fact.”
Her cheeks flamed, and she ducked her head. Any exchange with him always came back to make her blush like a teenager. She concentrated on the conversation at the table among the dark lords. She didn’t understand most of what was said, but she did recognize the man with the white ropes of hair sitting at Wrath’s right side on the far end. The rest she didn’t know.
Glancing away, she met the twinkling hazel eyes of the demon sliding into the empty seat opposite her. He had the same brutally cut hair as Riley. But she had the strangest feeling she knew him.
“So we meet again.”
At his contagious grin, she smiled. “I feel like I’ve seen you before.”
“That you did. You are, if I may say so, even more dazzling down here.”
She snorted.
A rough, calloused finger stroked her arm. She turned to find Riley’s stony gaze on the demon intent on flirting with her.
“Shut it, Gaelin, or we can take this to the encampment.”
Saia cut Riley a quick look at his irritation and wracked her brains as to where she’d seen Gaelin. The connection clicked. He’d shorn off his hair, that’s why she didn’t recognize him straight off. “You were at Liz’s shop. Does she know what you are?”
“What the hell were you doing at Liz’s?” Riley snapped. “Do you want to die?”
“In her arms? Absolutely,” Gaelin replied, his grin unrepentant. “I like her. It’s time she knows it, too.”
“What exactly did you ask her for at the shop?” Saia asked him, curious now.
“Her heart. I was sure she had one.”
She sputtered in laughter. “You’re so corny. Bet she wasn’t pleased?”
“No.” His smile turned into a grimace. “She cannot stand me.”
“I’m not surprised,” Riley retorted. “You have females scattered all over—in both worlds—” He broke off and glanced at the end of the massively long table.
Saia followed his gaze to find Wrath rising to his feet. He looked at them and nodded.
“It’s time,” Riley told her.
The presentation.
Apprehension knotting her insides, she let Riley pull her up. He led her to the front of the dais.
The place hummed like a hive. In front of them, with no table as a barrier, so many with red eyes stared at her. Saia inched closer to Riley. His expression remained relaxed, as was his clasp on her hand. Okay, so nothing too scary was happening. The men seated at their table all stepped down, joined the myriad of demons in the hall and faced them.
Amongst the soldiers were the pleasure demons, and scaly bronze ones with ridged brows and eerie yellow eyes. The ebony-skinned ones with leathery wings, pointy ears, and pale eyes, stayed at the back of the hall. But their long stares unnerved her.
Hurriedly, she turned to Riley. “What’s happening?”
“You are my mate, and they’re paying their respect. These are all high-ranking demons—infernal lords, earls, counts, whatever from Wrath’s army and alliances from elsewhere.”
Her brows furrowed. If they were earls and counts… “What does that make you?” she asked him.
His attention remained on the crowds. “You know what I am.”
“That’s not what I mean—”
Gaelin scoffed as he leaped off the dais. Then he gave her a low, sweeping bow. “My lady, meet His Highness, Réomer, Prince of Wra.”
Then he too joined the others.
Her gaze snapped to him. Riley was a prince? A prince!
He glanced at her. “What? A bartender can’t be royalty?”
She ignored his droll comment, hissed, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Saia, up there in your world, it’s not important. What’s happening right now is.”
The complete silence brought her attention back to the vast hall where the legions gathered.
Wrath started speaking in that strange language she’d heard before. She sighed and let it go for now.
Her mother would probably bring out the fanfare if she knew Riley was no ordinary demon—no, on second thought, she’d be more likely to call Father James for a ritual cleansing.
The moment Wrath stopped speaking, Riley held up a hand, his father nodded.
He said something in their language to the vast hall, his expression hard.
Then boots stamped hard on the floor. A shout and they all raised their weapons. Saia jumped back, her heart thudding against her ribs. The air thickened, power surged to tingle across her skin.
Riley’s grip tightened on her hand. “Don’t show them fear,” he murmured. “We demons thrive on that.”
“They took me by surprise, is all. I’m not scared.”
She rubbed her arm at the prickly sensation darting over her, like an outpouring of energy. “What is that?”
“It’s the power of their fealty, which settles in you now. They will sense you and know who you are.”
The warriors bowed and chorused something. The demonesses curtsied, and they too said the same strange words.
His hand left hers and settled on her lower back, drawing her closer. The stream of energy vibrating through her left her with a humming arousal. Flush against his hard body, desire zipped through her veins like liquid lava.
She forced down a moan as his thumb absently drew little circles over the bare skin of her hips. She asked, “What did they say now?”
“They swore their allegiance to my consort. It means if anything like what happened last evening occurs, or someone even thinks it, it would be punishable by death never-ending. I merely reiterated it.”
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Yeah. They will experience the same demise every day for eternity.” He glanced at her then shook his head. His expression amused, tender, and something more, one that made hope spring.
“What?” she asked him.
“I just told you about one of the most horrific punishments in this place, and you didn’t even blink an eye. And that, my mate, is what scares me.”
Saia scrunched her face and thought about what he’d said.
Heck, she was afraid. Terrified at times since she’s been here, but she had damn good practice at hiding her fear, and perfecting that stiff-upper-lip demeanor.
Chapter Seventeen
Riley watched Saia. He could literally see her mental shrug as she accepted the ways of his world. Then she whispered in that voice like miles of gravel, stroking his already primed senses.
“If I didn’t have a family who dwelled in the supernatural, I’d be screaming my way into a straightjacket. But I do. And after a few days here, I may not always accept or understand, but it is your way of life.” She shrugged. An innocent smile. “Besides, I like dangerous men.”
He bit back a grin. By the nine circles, he had to have her.
The soft, tempting curves of her body pressed against his, and he went rock-hard. He was a male in desperate need of his mate. To re-affirm that she was safe. The fear that had taken hold of him at her disappearance had yet to leave. She’d been so close to being turned into a specter and lost forever to him.
Chairs scraped on the floor as everyone resumed their seats again. He grasped her hand and tugged her with him, away from the dinner table and down the too-damn-long aisle.
“Can we just leave like this?” she asked, aware of several demons watching them go.
“For what I have in mind, definitely.” And it was expected. But he didn’t say so, didn’t want her to freak out.
He found the nearest, darkened alcove away from the noisy hall that some of the couples used for tête-à-têtes and hauled her inside. A little large
r than a closet, it had a granite ledge and padded seats. Riley didn’t bother with them. He spun Saia and pushed her up against the nearest wall.
“Dangerous men?” he bit out.
“Just one.” She fisted his shirt and yanked him down. Groaning, he captured her lips in a hungry kiss. His hands cruised over her exposed stomach to slip beneath the top, and he palmed her breasts. Her nipples hardened into tempting little buds. He rolled them between his fingers, and she moaned into his mouth, rubbing her hips against his erection.
Panting, she broke their kiss and pressed her lips to his jaw. Then she trailed her tongue down his chin. “Wanted to do that from the moment I met you.” She laughed, thumbing the shallow dimple he sported there.
Coherent thoughts flashed out of his head like it had sprung a leak. He wanted her—needed to be inside her. He rucked up her long skirts and felt bare hips. “Fuck. You’re not wearing underwear?”
“Well, I didn’t get any—” She gasped as he ran a finger down her moist center, her nails biting into his biceps. The musky scent of her arousal clouded his mind.
“You are so fucking wet—so godsdamn sexy!”
His burning gaze holding hers, he popped his pant’s button. She brushed his hand away and unzipped him. Her fingers encircled his rigid sex, and as she stroked his rigid length, the blood drained from his head and went straight to his cock.
Growling, he lifted her up against the wall and shoved her skirt aside. “I need you so damn bad!”
Her legs anchored around his hips. His erection slid against her moist heat. Borne of need and desperation, grateful she was already aroused, he thrust into her.
A soft pant escaped her at his invasion. Her silky sheath fisted him like a too-tight glove. He clamped down hard on his teeth to stop from coming. Angling his hips, he used his cock to stimulate her clit.
He sucked on her lower lip as he pulled out and thrust back into her.
She moaned in his mouth, her nails digging into his biceps once more. His hands squeezed her backside as he pounded into her. Harder. Faster. Deeper. Her inner muscles spasmed around him, and she screamed. His mouth covered hers, swallowing her cries of passion as her orgasm pulled her under. A few more unrestrained thrusts and his own release barreled down his spine as he followed her, spilling himself into her…
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