Immortals After Dark 07 - Kiss of a Demon King

vigilant."
    "Damn you, Rydstrom, you won't release me even after this? I was defenseless! You saved me, yes, but you put me in this situation in the first place. Just like when I saved you from Omort, after bringing you into Tornin. Are you happy, demon? To get your parity once more?"
    "Happy?" he snapped. "If anything had happened to you. . . . Damn it, I will be more watchful.
    I won't sleep."
    "The Teegloths aren't the only threats out here," she said. "There are beasts from legend. As you know, I could drown."
    "I also know that you'll run away from me at the earliest opportunity." When she shook her head to deny it, he said, "There's not a doubt in my mind! Every word you've said about wanting to stay with me was a lie. Now we don't have time for this. 1 won't be moved from my decision-and we need to get out of these mines before more come."
    His tone brooked no argument, and when he grabbed her arm to hasten her from this place, she let him lead her.
    They continued on, limping through the murky tun-nel for what seemed like miles, until they reached the surface at last.

    A new landscape greeted them. High bluffs overlooked green hills that were dotted with trees.
    The late afternoon sun blazed above them, and the wind gusted. More terrain, more stumbling, more misery.
    Enough. She yanked her arm from his grasp. Sabine- never a patient person in the best of circumstances- had hit her limit. She simply .. . stopped.
    "Come on, keep up. We're near them. I can sense it."
    "Enough, demon."
    "What?"
    She sat, then drew her knees to her chest. "I'm sunburned, bruised, hungry. I've been sexually tormented for two days. No metal guarded my hair, neck, or chest during a mine collapse. You took down my braids so my dusty hair continually blows into my eyes. And I can't move it! On top of all this-I was kidnapped by monsters to be sold into slavery!"
    And I'd feared for the demon's life, at times more than my own. What was happening to her?
    "I'm not going any farther, not until you free me."
    "Sabine, get this through your head. There's no way I'm letting you go. If for no other reason, you could be carrying my babe!" Had his shoulders straightened? Proudly?
    "That's impossible."
    "Yes, we were together only once, but it could
    happen."
    "There is no babe-I'm not pregnant!"
    "How can you know?"
    "I knew days after," she said. "The Hag can tell that quickly."
    "And you let me think you might be carrying?
    Another lie!"
    "Why wouldn't I let you think that? I had no idea what your plans for me entailed!"
    "Every day you teach me not to trust you."
    "You know what? You had better keep me bound, because if I get free I-will-take-you-out! I am done. You're going to have to carry me because I'm not moving."
    "You think I won't?" He yanked her up.
    "I'm sick of you!" she yelled in his face. "Sick of being treated like this! And to think I'd worried-" She bit her tongue.
    "To think you'd done what? Ah, sorceress, were you worried about me?" he asked in a scoffing tone. Then his eyes narrowed as he studied her face. "You were."
    "Ha! I was only worried about my own skin," she said, but she'd darted her gaze. Damn him, he knows I'm lying. So she kicked him. "Now let me go!"
    He tangled his hands in her hair, grasping the back of her head. They were both still out of breath. She was staring at his lips, licking her own. When she took her gaze off his mouth, she found his eyes were focused on her own lips.
    They were about to do that frantic kissing thing again, and she didn't know if she was strong enough to fight it-
    "Hello!" a voice called from a distance. "Is someone out there?"
    The refugees had found them.
    30
    Rage demons were everywhere. By sunset, she and Rydstrom had followed a pair of demons-camp guards-until they'd reached a bluff overlooking a sea of tents spread out below.
    When the guards had come upon them earlier, the two had wanted to know what they were doing outside the boundaries "when there are beasties about."
    Rydstrom had merely demanded to be taken to whoever was in charge. He'd been shirtless and still had blood on him, but he was outwardly-if not calm- then at least stable.
    Now, as she and Rydstrom trailed the guards down into the camp, through a crowd of what must be hundreds, Sabine stared around her.
    The demons stared back. Whispers sounded, females glaring at her lack of clothing. The women here appar-ently favored excessive clothing-unnecessarily long sleeves and skirts.
    A lesser sorceress would