by Calista Fox
“I know, it’s just…” His voice trailed off and he swallowed down what seemed to be a hard lump of emotion. “Don’t you get lonely sometimes?”
She stared up at him, emotion swelling in her own throat. She opened her mouth to speak but didn’t know the appropriate words to say. The attraction between them still existed to a degree. But circumstances beyond their control had torn them apart once and Jade had not been inclined to have her heart broken again. Nor had Michael, it seemed.
But perhaps he’d changed his mind about them.
Finally, she said, “Of course I do. Especially this time of year, when the snow’s falling and all I can think of is snuggling in front of a cozy fire with someone.”
He leaned toward her and his head dipped. “Maybe we should try again.”
His lips were just about to touch hers when a sharp snort cut the quiet air and Michael’s head snapped up.
Jade jumped back, startled. She whirled around, having heard the noise behind her. “A horse?”
The smack of a hand against a flank and the pounding of hoofs echoed ominously. The night was too dark, the trees and buildings in the heart of the village too dense and the demon and his steed too black for Jade to have seen anything. But she knew her stalker had come back for her, on horseback. To take her away with him?
A chilling sensation slithered down her spine.
Turning back to Michael, she said, “You go home and secure your door.”
He glared at her, incredulous. “Me? What about you? You think I’m just going to let you wander the woods alone at night when there was clearly someone watching us?”
“Not us. Me. He’s been following me for a while.”
Michael gripped her shoulders. “Who?” he demanded.
“I don’t know, exactly. But I intend to find out.” Her heart pounded erratically, yet she managed to speak calmly, for Michael’s benefit. “It’d be a whole lot easier if I didn’t have to worry about him coming after you too.” She could not fathom how devastating it would be if she inadvertently put him danger.
He appeared stumped by what course of action he should take.
She implored, “Do this for me, Michael. Trust me.”
Regardless of his obvious reluctance, he released her. “Be careful, Jade.”
“I will. Now go. I can handle this.”
She’d been fighting demons her entire life, after all. In more ways than one.
Chapter Two
Darien stormed into the castle, having left his Arabian with stable attendants. He took the steps of the sweeping staircase two at a time and strode agitatedly into his study as he stripped off his riding gloves and then tossed them on his desk.
“My Lord, is there a problem?” Sheena asked as she joined him.
He suspected she’d been curled up in her chair in front of the fire in the adjacent sitting room, awaiting his return, as she was prone to do. She moved gracefully toward him, a stealthy vampire with flowing auburn hair and penetrating green eyes. A striking woman, yes, yet she held no allure for him. The object of his never-ending obsession had grabbed his attention eight years ago and had not let go of it since.
“May I pour you a drink?” Sheena offered.
“A large one,” he said, his voice as tight as his bunched muscles and his coiled gut.
His very competent and sometimes overly astute assistant handed him a snifter of brandy after he’d shed his black, full-length leather coat. He took several big gulps and she waited patiently for his next command.
When it was not forthcoming, she surmised, “Something went wrong with the human?”
At that very moment, the general of his army sauntered in, shaking his head. “Well, she’s certainly onto us now!”
Darien glowered at the head of his militia—and his longtime friend. “I don’t need commentary from you, Morgan. I’m perfectly aware I fucked the whole thing up.”
Instantly backtracking, the general said in a placating tone, “It was merely a reconnaissance mission, your Highness. No harm, no foul.”
“Wrong,” Darien insisted before he drained his glass. With a slight wince from the burning sensation in his throat, he added, “At this point, Jade knows we’re watching her and that violates the law I laid down.”
“I suspect she knew that before this evening, when I was the only one following her,” he admitted. “She’s always looking over her shoulder, stopping from time to time to listen for footsteps.”
“She wouldn’t hear any, nor would she see you. You’re a wraith. You can take male form,” as he did now, “or you can simply disappear. Become an apparition that blends into thin air.”
“I still could have been the one to tip her off,” Morgan further contended.
Darien shook his head. Fury tore through him that he’d been the one to bungle such an easy quest.
Then again, no. It hadn’t been easy at all.
Darien had come across a heart-stricken and tearful Jade years ago, and he’d been so entranced by her, he’d studied up on the people she was close to and had learned as much as he could about her.
He knew she’d once had a relationship with Michael Hadley that had gone sour. So tonight, when he’d moved in for a kiss… Darien had flinched and his horse, Thunder, had been inclined to let him know he was making an ass of himself by reacting to another man kissing a woman Darien had no business lusting after in the first place.
One, she was mortal. That alone erected a steel cage around him that was not to be breached no matter how arousing the raven-haired beauty was.
Two, he had no idea what sort of power she possessed or how she’d obtained it, but something mystical built within her. He had the keen ability to sense it, though he had no idea what the budding strength was or from where it stemmed. She didn’t practice Wicca, Morgan had already confirmed that.
Granted, Darien had discovered that Jade did have a close friend who worshiped ancient pagan gods and their rituals. Yet Lisette Bordeaux had been bound by law not to practice any sort of witchcraft. This had been Darien’s ruling, when he’d instituted the regulation no demon could harm a human.
In his mind, if he kept to the law of averages, making it illegal for demons to cause further trouble for the humans and making it impossible for Wiccans such as Lisette to use her vanquishing spells against the immortals, peace might prevail.
Admittedly, the wars had caused too much destruction and had altered not only the face of the planet, but civilization as everyone—human and demon alike—had known it in the first decade of the 2000s.
In many ways, time had stood still following the last sweep of near-human annihilation. The intent of the wars had been to reduce the numbers significantly, not completely wipe out the mortal population. The humans still had their uses. But modern advancement in the post-apocalyptic world was not something Darien supported, leaving this new society with baser provisions that were essentially throwbacks to the 1800s, a simpler time he preferred.
Darien, who’d turned two hundred years old back in 2016 when the first war broke out, didn’t miss the spoils of a high-tech world. He was old-fashioned that way.
“Something—or someone—threatens my reign,” he said to Morgan, elevating his need to determine what was transpiring with Jade Deville. It was too damn bad his libido kept getting in the way. If he didn’t stop thinking so territorially toward the human, he might end up losing his kingdom.
After taking another sip of the drink Sheena had efficiently refreshed, Darien said to Morgan, “I’m immortal by lineage, but I don’t possess the ability to vaporize. You’re going to have to continue your watch on her.” It was more than that. He simply couldn’t be objective when it came to Jade.
Morgan said, “Of course, I’ll do whatever necessary. And I will be much more careful in the future, your Majesty.”
It was not necessary for Darien’s best friend to address him so formally in private, but he always did when it came to military matters.
Cl
asping Morgan’s shoulder with his free hand, Darien said, “I made the mistake this evening, not you.”
He gave further thought to the situation and added, “It’s been several days since Jade has visited Lisette and I suspect she’ll be dropping by soon. I need to know what they discuss. If it’s magic I’m sensing, than we have to stop the power from burgeoning. One witch in the village is risk enough. Two, who might be able to combine their forces into a single significant strength, could prove detrimental when it comes to keeping the peace. They harm even one demon and there will be hell to pay.”
With a sharp nod, the general said, “I understand.”
“There will never be harmony between us and them, but we don’t need another massacre. We did more damage than we’d intended with the wars and I am adamant about never again unleashing the demon population on mortals. But my hand might be forced if Lisette—or Jade—breaks my law and those in my alliance demand retribution—or seek it on their own.”
“Of course. I assure you, whatever they’re up to, I’ll find out about it and report immediately to you.”
Darien continued to grip Morgan’s shoulder. A shift in the tense atmosphere caused Sheena to bustle about, feigning indifference over the new subject matter as it came up.
“Is there something more, Darien?”
This from his friend, not the general of his vast army.
Myriad emotions warred within Darien. He was the Demon King. Powerful and revered. Never challenged and never doubted.
Yet he doubted himself these days and that threatened to undermine his authority. Actually, he’d felt the push and pull within him for several years now. Since that night he’d come across Jade and had gazed at her over the river separating them. He had not breached Ryleigh’s border, though he had every right to do so, given he ruled the entire continent. But he respected the human-demon boundaries, particularly on that evening, when he’d gone unnoticed by her.
She’d sat at the river’s edge, tears streaming down her cheeks. The moonlight had cast a shimmery glow around her and she’d taken on a very angelic appearance. Not at all the way she seemed in reality. No, he’d witnessed from afar the raven-haired, blue-eyed spitfire in action when she was riled and he’d been as captivated with her fiery spirit as her emotionally damaged one.
He couldn’t explain why. It was more than just the fact she was striking, with high cheekbones and full, luscious red lips. She was also tall and curvy, enticing in a way that made his cock twitch at the mere thought of her. But Jade Deville was a peril best avoided because she not only stirred his senses, she brought out a protective side of him that contradicted his entire existence.
She was human and a commoner living outside his walls. He was immortal and king of the land he’d conquered.
And yet there was something about that very sentiment that held him captive. He’d never wanted to be king. He’d never wanted the almost impossible to stop annihilation of humans. He’d been a puppet. A very effective one, because he clearly had the ability to command an innumerable force. But his hands had been tied. He’d done as was expected of him by his family.
And perhaps therein lay the crux of his problem. Maybe his punishment for being cajoled into taking on a task he’d not agreed with from an ethical or a political standpoint, but which had been thrust upon him, was to suffer through an unrequited infatuation that could not possibly, in any capacity, be fulfilled.
Or…maybe being locked in a hopeless situation was the key to his redemption. For Darien’s military undertaking had gotten completely out of hand because he’d made too good a ruler in the demonic world. And he’d suffered the moral consequences.
Was his torment meant to be the catalyst for some sort of restitution and restoration that went far beyond simply keeping the peace?
His hand dropped from Morgan’s shoulder. He moved away, turning his back on his friend. Perhaps what had been set into motion had a specific purpose in this new world.
He said, “It’s possible the die has already been cast. Leave her be for now.”
* * * * *
Jade was not followed home that night. And while it came as a relief, it also struck her as odd. She’d grown used to the shadow. It had never been a comforting one, but somehow, there’d been something alluring about not being all alone in the woods of Ryleigh, given she’d felt alone the majority of her life. A point Michael had easily made this evening.
As she entered the cottage and slid the wide metal latch into place on the door, she wondered who’d been outside the tavern, watching her. And why. While she fanned the flames of the low-burning fire in her living room, she considered the possibilities. Was she being stalked, as she’d suspected, for the inevitable purpose of being preyed upon? Or had the Demon King sent one of his wraiths to spy on her?
She would concede she had abilities that might draw speculation and concern from the king. But Jade had never used any of her natural powers in front of another and had told no one of what she was capable. Not even Lisette.
From the time Jade was a little girl, she could skillfully move objects with her mind. Her psychokinesis had alarmed her at first—what normal person could do such a thing?
But then she’d witnessed her father, Liam, moving his pipe from the mantle to his hand without ever getting out of his chair. The “gift” they both possessed had been their shared secret. Never to be revealed to anyone else. Never to be used in front of another, including Jade’s mother.
There was a second gift Jade had discovered when she’d fallen from a horse and had broken several bones. Those bones had healed at such a rapid rate, her father had insisted he be the only one to tend to her. With instruction from the local physician to straighten her limbs so they set correctly, he stayed by her side while her body repaired itself.
He’d had to backtrack and announce he’d been overdramatic in his assessment of her injuries—so overcome with fear and grief, he’d assumed the worst—when, instead, she’d merely had the wind knocked out of her and that had made it impossible for her to move, causing Michael, who’d been riding with her, to seek help from Liam. Given her father’s authority within the village, and Jade’s expeditious recovery, the lie had not been questioned.
Recently, Jade had added a third specialty to her obscure talents. The ability to sense an evil entity when it lingered in the shadows.
Convinced she still wasn’t under close observation at the moment, she ducked into her bathroom, the plumbing being akin to that in a rural cabin with a septic tank buried in the side yard. She splashed water on her face from the glass basin sitting on the vanity and then dabbed at her wet skin with a towel.
After changing into a long, pewter-colored, flannel nightgown, she built a small fire in the hearth in her bedroom and climbed under the covers. It had been a busy night at the tavern. That, combined with the emotional tolls created by her mysterious stalker, left her exhausted. She was asleep within minutes.
But her overactive mind did not rest. Jade dreamed of Michael. A mental vision she hadn’t had in a year or two. Her subconscious homed in on his earlier lean-in and what mighthave happened had the demon on the horse not interrupted them.
In Jade’s reverie, Michael’s soft lips brushed hers, a tentative kiss full of uncertainty, yet laced with desire. His hands clasped her hips and he pulled her to him as his mouth sealed with hers in a kiss that was still experimental, but which slowly grew more confident.
The street corner melted away and the images playing in Jade’s head were of her and Michael lying naked in her bed, his large, muscular body covering hers. He kissed her deeply as her hands roamed his back and her body writhed beneath his.
It had been eight long years since Jade had been with this man—with any man—and her physical cravings were as overwhelming as her emotional yearnings. And her need for intimacy.
Her body responded to Michael’s kisses and the way he caressed her bare breasts, kneading them gently before sweeping the pads of his
thumbs over her puckered nipples.
She desperately wanted to feel him inside her and when he broke their kiss, she whispered, “Make love to me.”
“Yes,” he murmured back. Though it wasn’t Michael’s voice she heard.
The dream took a wayward turn as a thick shaft filled her aching pussy. Jade’s body moved with the stranger’s as he filled and stretched her. His features changed, from Michael’s athletic physique to an even more muscular one. Wider shoulders, larger biceps, stronger back.
He was a mammoth of a man, in every way. Jade’s cunt clenched his hard cock as their hips undulated in a slow, sexy rhythm. Her palms moved over his sinewy backside and cupped his ass cheeks, as much as her hands could manage, because he was huge from head to toe.
She couldn’t see his face, given that it was buried in the crook of her neck. His mouth was on her throat and he nipped softly at her sensitive flesh, then soothed the love bites with his teasing tongue and warm lips. Jade moaned and it seemed to encourage him. He thrust into her, driving deep, hitting all the right spots along the way.
Her body bowed off the bed in her need to get closer to him. She shifted one hand from his backside and wove her fingers through his thick, obsidian-colored hair. The tension mounted within her and mixed with the desire flooding her veins.
“You feel so good,” she told him.
His low groan resonated in the quiet room and within her. “I’ve wanted you for so long.”
“I’ve needed you for so long,” she admitted.
Though she had no idea who he was. In her dream, it didn’t matter. He was strapping and powerful and that turned her on. He was also a skilled lover, with confidence and an uncanny familiarity of what she craved. Her clit tingled and her heart hungered for a kiss she knew would be passionate and all-consuming.
As his full, deep thrusts pushed her closer to the edge, she begged, “Kiss me.”
His mouth crashed over hers. There was nothing tentative about his searing liplock. No uncertainty. No holding back. As his tongue delved into her mouth while his cock continued to stroke her inner walls, Jade felt the erotic sensations inside her soar to all-new heights.