Awakening the Demon's Queen

by Calle J. Brookes

  “Why?” Rathan dipped a finger in her navel before trailing over her now exposed ribs. “Do you stop when your human prey begs it of you?”

  “I don’t feed from humans! I haven’t in thirty years!” Chills had risen over her flesh and he smiled.

  “Then what do you eat, my pet?” Rathan didn’t believe her; Dardaptoans needed human blood and the women even more so. They were so weak otherwise. What male would let one not feed properly?

  “Bagged blood. My daughter does the same.”

  She wore a bra, a plain cotton bit of nothingness that covered her breasts--for the moment. Rathan knew it wouldn’t for much longer.

  “Still. It is human, is it not?”

  “Yes. But freely given, donated to those who need it.”

  “Under false pretenses.” Rathan truly didn’t care what she ate or didn’t. He’d feed from her the entirety of the time he possessed her, as was fitting for his species. Could he blame her for doing the same when she needed? “I’m hungry, little one. You will feed me now.”

  ****

  Kindara shivered under his hands as they ran around the elastic of her bra. Feed him? Demons didn’t take blood; Cormac had told her that. “What type of demon are you?”

  “You haven’t figured it out yet?” He had a wicked grin and he flashed it at her, causing his black eyes to glow red. “I am of the family of Lothan and Lilith.”

  She knew the legends of the first demon and his third wife, knew of the hundreds of thousands of creatures they’d spawned who needed to feed sexually from the humanesque. And Lilith had become the mother of all Succubae, which made this creature...Oh three hells! “Incubus.”

  “Exactly. And I’ve not fed fully in nearly a decade. Do you know what that means?” He put his face against her stomach, breathed deeply of her skin. His forked tongue flicked against her navel and she gasped from the sensation.

  She shook her head even though she knew the answer. “No...you can’t.”

  “Of course I can.” He looked at her with an affronted expression. “Your people feed from humans, why can’t I feed from you?”

  “Because I don’t want...” To have sex with him. She never wanted to have sex again, not with anyone other than Iavius. He had been her mate, no other creature could compare to what they’d shared. “Let me go.”

  “No.”

  The finality of his answer scared her. “I need to find my daughter. You don’t understand how terrified she’ll be. A friend of hers was nearly ripped apart by Lupoiux wolves just last week. And she’s never been away from home, from me. I need to get to her.”

  She heard the almost begging in her words but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but getting to Jierra.

  “Enough. Your daughter will be fine with this Lupoiux.” He nipped her neck and Kindara bit back a moan. The neck of a Dardaptoan was ten times more sensitive than that of any other being--especially for a female, who was often fed from during sex with her Rajni. He knew that, he had to. “We have matters to tend to. I am too hungry to wait.”

  She brought her knees up, putting them between them as a barrier. He shot her an irritated look before pushing them down again.

  “You have two choices, pet.” He stretched out over her, his leg draping her thighs to hold her in place. One hand cupped her breast, massaged. “Either you feed me with this delectable body, or I put you to sleep and feast on your fantasies. Either way, I will get what I want.”

  ****

  His face was mere inches from her own, his eyes bright and hot. He wanted her, he was going to have her. Whether she consented or not. To him it wouldn’t be rape, to him it was as natural as blood-drinking was for her people, a way of survival. Never before had she felt what the humans she used to feed on felt.

  “And if I choose neither?” She needed to stall him, give herself time to think.

  “Do you really have to ask?” He waved a hand to the horns half hidden by the long black hair that waved around his head. The horns were small and silver and proclaimed him for exactly what he was. “With one touch of these I can have you doing my bidding for hours. And it would be so pleasurable.”

  Horror filled her. If she became a mindless slave, how was she to find Jierra? “I don’t want you in my head.”

  “At all? So it is to be physical dining this morning?” He grinned again, eyes filled with boyish anticipation and lust. “Excellent.”

  His mouth dropped dangerously close to a nipple still hidden beneath her bra. She tried to pull away. “Wait!”

  “What now?”

  “What will I get out of this?”

  “Besides pleasure?”

  Arrogant asshole. Still, he was a damned Incubus, she probably would enjoy being with him. “Besides that.”

  “What do you want out of it?” His tongue slipped beneath the top of her bra, bathing her flesh and making her shiver yet again.

  “If I give you what you want, you take me to my daughter.” Kindara drew in a shaky breath, wishing her hands were free so she could fight him. Somehow. Remembered sensations skirted over her body, reminding her of the times with her Rajni. But these hands and lips weren’t those of Iavius and never would be.

  “It’s a three day hike to where he’s taking her.”

  “So I’ll...feed...you for those three days, until I have my daughter back.” She’d sleep with the devil himself to get her child back safely. This creature wasn’t the devil, but close enough. And Cormac had told many stories of how demons loved to bargain.

  ****

  Rathan wanted to laugh at how easy she was. “Three days, you give me exactly what I want, and I take you to your daughter?”

  “Yes.” Determination had her little chin firmed, and her body taut against his. “Anything.”

  “Deal.” He’d have her cooperation, at a price he’d already planned to pay.

  “But you need to untie me.”

  Was she planning something? It would surprise him if she wasn’t. Still, he could so easily overpower her, and she had to be uncomfortable. He wanted her very, very comfortable for what he planned to do to her. His hands slipped to hers, and a small spell had the bindings dissolving. She lowered her arms to her sides, her face tightening at the movement.

  He wrapped his hands around her shoulders and massaged, feeling the delicacy of her. Once again, he reminded himself of the care that must be taken with her. He slid fingers beneath the unhooked tunic and pushed it aside. The white bra and linen pants glowed in the low light, a sharp contrast to the black clothing covering him. Clothing he was aching to remove. He pulled his shirt over his head and flung it across the small cave.

  He returned to her. He pressed her back into the pine needles with his weight, his chest to hers. “Wrap your arms around me, pet.”

  His lips covered hers and he began to feed.

  ****

  Kindara did as he bid, wrapping her arms around the demon’s shoulders. They were broad, and the feel of him dwarfing her made her feel smaller, even more vulnerable beneath him. His chest was completely hairless and without fat. Not surprising, Incubi were legendary in their physical perfection. They were supposed to be every woman’s fantasy personified. What woman of any species wouldn’t dream of a strong male with a perfect body doing the things she feared this demon was about to do to her?

  She didn’t dream of it, she’d had it before. Had it and lost it and as the demon pressed his lips to hers, that thought was foremost in her mind. This was not Iavius. He never would be.

  But if she was to do this, couldn’t she pretend it was? Would it really matter to this Incubus, as long as he got what he wanted?

  Her Rajni’s face appeared in her mind—warm citrine eyes that always laughed, a mouth that quirked with the slightest hint of humor. Dimples that always made her smile in response. Gods, she missed him, missed his touch, his laugh. Missed this. They’d had two hundred years together to touch and taste and enjoy each other. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the ph
ysical aspect of their union. Until now.

  Her mouth softened beneath the demon’s, her arms relaxed their tension and she brought him closer. Her lips opened and he slipped in. He tasted of spice and male and Kindara sighed.

  “Good girl,” he said after pulling back for air. Kindara kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see the demon’s face instead of her mate’s. He tugged at the waist of her pants. “Let’s take these off, shall we?”

  She opened her eyes and saw the heat in his. The base hunger. If she was going to do this, decision time was now. She nodded and arched her hips, letting him slide the material down. He slipped the pants off her feet and tossed them in the same direction as his shirt. She trembled before him, clad only in the white bra and panties that hid so little.

  His hands dropped to the waistband of his trousers. Kindara held up one hand. “Wait!”

  “Hmm?” His pants and shorts were then gone, and he knelt beside her unselfconsciously.

  “I need your word. An oath.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes, now. Before we finish this.”

  “What?”

  “You take me to my daughter and guarantee we are safe and going home as soon as possible.” She blocked the insistent hands reaching for her. “Swear it.”

  “I swear it.”

  “Say it all.” Kindara knew that once a demon uttered an oath, they had no choice but to keep it.

  “You have my oath that I will take you to your daughter and ensure both of you are safe, always. I swear you will be home as soon as it is possible, as deemed by me, Rathan.” He wrapped long fingers around her wrists and pulled her arms over her head. “Leave your arms there. I want easy access to all of you, understand?”

  She nodded, then tucked her hands beneath her head. For Jierra, she reminded herself as he pulled the bra free then yanked it over her wrists. This was strictly to get to her daughter.

  She replaced her hands, closing her eyes as his rose to cup her breasts. Demonic fingers teased her nipples, causing a warmth to flood her body. A mouth replaced one hand, then his teeth nipped her flesh and had her gasping. His tongue, with its peculiar demonic fork in the center, circled her nipple as if it was the finest of Dardaptoan candies. He suckled hungrily. She arched closer, seeking more.

  His knee slipped between hers, then pressed against the warmth she was ashamed she’d exuded.

  Damn him, for making her feel this way.

  Once she had her daughter back, she’d see to it that this demon paid the price for what he’d done to her.

  ****

  By all Lilith’s children, he was starved. He hadn’t realized how much until he’d had the angel naked beneath him, cooperating as he fed from her.

  Her body was perfection in itself, though at first he’d thought her too slim, too delicate, to withstand the rigors of his type of feeding. But they were just getting started.

  Her eyes were twin fires, glowing from the lust he’d induced within her. It had been so long for him, he actually thought he would lose control of himself. Finish before her. For an Incubus, especially the king, to leave a partner unsatisfied was an abomination. Rathan would not fail her.

  His knee was wet where it pressed against her, telling him he was at least successful in rising a hunger within her. His angel wanted him, though her mind was resistant to the idea. He lowered his hand from one of the most perfect breasts he’d seen in hundreds of years to test the source of that wetness.

  She was ready for him, but he wanted to be doubly sure. He slid a finger inside to test.

  For a woman who’d had a child, her body was tight. Tighter than he expected. He eased a second finger in, thrusting both fingers rhythmically, listening to the breath catching in her throat. She arched against him.

  Yes, though she fought her body’s natural inclination, she wanted him.

  The time had come to give her what she wanted. He pulled her legs further apart. His fingers clenched on the muscles of her hips, pulling her up and toward him. Her heat teased his skin.

  He pulled back, looked at her face. “Look at me, pet. I want your eyes on mine the entire time. Understand?”

  She looked up at him, a strange vulnerability on her face. She nodded. “I understand.”

  Her heat began to be too much temptation for him and he eased into her, mindful of the unexpected tightness of her body. They both froze once he was seated deep within.

  Rathan had forgotten what a woman felt like on the physical plane. Had they always felt like this? This hot? This good?

  He couldn’t remember. He pulled back, experimented by thrusting back in. Her eyes remained trained on his face and she arched up to meet him. He moved faster, deeper until her eyes began to cloud and the trembling of her body grew ever so much stronger. She was close.

  He couldn’t finish feeding from her lust until she reached the end of her own journey. He wouldn’t. “That’s it, pet. Come with me, come for me. You want to, and you know it will be good.”

  He dropped his mouth to hers, kissing her in a heated mimic of their more elemental dance. Feminine fingers tangled in his hair, something he’d never permitted from a woman before. A fingertip brushed against the base of his left horn as he felt her break apart beneath him. The brush against one of the most erogenous places on his body had him following quickly after her.

  Rathan had never enjoyed a feeding more.

  ****

  Kindara kept her eyes closed as her heart rate stilled and the tremors shaking her body relented. The demon lay beside her, his breath equally as ragged as hers. He’d been right, she had enjoyed what they’d done. And that filled her with a sense of shame unlike any other she’d ever felt.

  He kissed her forehead. “Thank you.”

  She said nothing. What could she say? Kindara curled on her side, facing away from him. He nestled into her back, one hand stroking her side. He was warm and large and she felt dwarfed by his body. His arm slipped around her waist and he pulled her close against his chest. His lips nuzzled her hair.

  She could almost pretend the affection he exhibited was real, but wasn’t an Incubus incapable of such emotion? Weren’t they consumed with only the thought of feeding? Kindara didn’t know much about his species, her brother only mentioned the demons he’d killed, not the type of demons they were. What she knew of his kind had come from novels and rumors.

  “Why did you and that wolf stop our car?”

  Chapter Four

  Her voice was low, flat, and Rathan pulled her closer, though she kept her back to him. He arranged the grass blanket over the both of them, not wanting her to get chilled. He breathed the scent of warm woman and sex in again, feeling his body tighten in response. “I told you, vengeance.”

  “For what? What did Dhar Rydere and the others do?”

  “Murder.” The four women’s images flashed into his mind. Shy Mickey, fiery Mallory, quiet Josey, and determined Emily-four women who were wonderful and who had welcomed him from the moment he’d met them in a way that had nothing to do with him being a demon, merely a friend of Rand’s. They’d become part of his family.

  “No. They wouldn’t.” She shook her head, sending blonde strands into his eyes. He pushed them away, then let his hand linger. Women were so soft, she was so soft. “Who?”

  “Rand’s sisters and cousins. Human women taken from their homes and killed.”

  “They don’t kill humans, especially women.” He heard the puzzlement in her words, but he understood it. Why would her men folk let her know of their evil deeds? Women were to be protected.

  “Then where is Rand’s sister Mickey, or his twin—”

  “Mal? Oh gods, the wolf is a Taniss? A Taniss has my baby?” She fought against his hands, then jumped to her feet. “Oh Gods, no. No. Not Jierra, not her, too.”

  She snatched her clothes and pulled them on, all the while sobbing. Rathan just watched her, puzzled by the panic, by the terror. What did this little creature know of the Taniss family? When she ru
shed to the tunnel that led out of the cave, he flashed himself into her path. “Stop.”

  “No. Get out of my way. I have to get to her!” She hissed at him, revealing Dardaptoan fangs. Her eyes burned the orange characteristic of an angry member of her race. This was when the Dardaptoans were the most dangerous.

  “We had a bargain, remember.” She feinted around him, and he extended his arm, stopping her again. “And you must live by it.”

  “Not when my daughter is at stake!” She lunged at him, taking him by surprise. Teeth sank into the naked flesh of his shoulder, ripped his skin before she pulled away. “Get the hell out of my way!”

  “Stop! Now!” He infused his voice with all the command he could muster.

  It had no effect. He had no other choice, she must be calmed down before she hurt herself. He touched one horn then flashed himself behind her.

  Before she could react he had his arms around hers, pinning them to her sides. She fought like her life depended upon escaping him. Finally, when he sensed she was calming from exhaustion, he slipped the hand still coated with Mesmus over her lips, then whispered the command to send her to sleep once again.

  ****

  He removed her clothing and placed it high upon a rock he knew she’d not be able to reach easily. He wanted no more attempts to escape him. What had triggered such panic? He sensed she wasn’t one to normally engage in such hysterics-hadn’t she kept her head when he’d taken her from the highway? When she’d made her bargain? So why now? She’d known a Lupoiux wolf had had her daughter, so why did it matter that that wolf was also a Taniss?

  He lit two more hell-lights and set the orbs to join the first. The three balls bobbed over her head, illuminating her. Rathan, still naked, sank to his knees beside her.

  Her hair was tangled, from their fighting and his feeding. He pushed it out of her eyes, tucked a strand behind her ear. She lay on her side, and he rolled her onto her back to study her. She was slim and delicate; she needed some extra flesh, especially around the ribs. One of her hands was clenched in a fist and he took her wrist gently. He uncurled her fingers, feeling the sharp contrast between her hand and his. He trailed a finger over her palm then up and down each of her fingers, surprised at the calluses he found. What was it she had done in order to form them?