Immortals After Dark 07 - Kiss of a Demon King

ago, Rydstrom wouldn't have given a damn how. But now he feared Cadeon had turned over his own woman for it.
    Rydstrom had expected his brother not only to betray his female, but to hand her over to a madman bent on breeding with her-and Cadeon might actually have done it for the sake of the kingdom.
    Rydstrom's gaze was transfixed on Sabine. If so, he's a stronger man than I am.
    Sabine had an urgent decision to make.
    For the past two nights, she'd adored sitting up on the bluff, keeping time with the dragon, gazing out at her sleeping subjects, and watching the silhouette of Rydstrom as he paced in his tent for her to return.
    But the portals were opening at noon, mere hours away, and she still hadn't decided if she was going with
    him.
    As she gazed down at him readying his people, with his shoulders back and looking so kingly, Sabine debated her course of action. She was free and could easily escape. But those same worries about traversing Grave Realm and what she could expect from Omort plagued her.
    And more, she was only a day away from getting into Rhydstrom's house, into his life. By all accounts, Cadeon was ever closer to the sword. Maybe Sabine should jour' ney with Rydstrom just in time to collect that sword for herself? Lanthe would get her message and come for her in Louisiana, providing her escape well before the mor-sus was supposed to hit in twelve days. And ultimately, the sisters might have their queendom . ..
    Or maybe she and Lanthe should ally with Rydstrom? Sabine had told him she'd always be on the winning side, and now the tides were turning. Rydstrom looked like a warrior king who could defeat Omort. If the rage demons could get the sword, the balance could swing decidedly in their favor.
    But if Sabine allied with Rydstrom, there would be more to deal with than mere war and destruction. The demon wanted her . . . affection.
    He wanted a future with her-her entire future. This eternity idea had her spooked. She hadn't even been out on a real date, had never seen the same male twice, and now she was supposed to promise her eternity to a demon she'd known for only weeks?
    There were actually times that she'd been tempted to. When she recalled those interludes in the wild when he'd caressed and licked her body, teasing her to a fever pitch again and again, she no longer grew outraged- she grew aroused. She longed for him to touch her, even to bed her again.
    And then, over the last two nights when she'd woken alone, sleepily hunting for his big warm chest, she'd thought, Why not try whatever he was offering? So what to do? What to plot!
    Just then, Sabine realized that Rydstrom caught sight of her. As if he sensed she was considering running, he'd had his gaze on her all morning. His brows were drawn, a question in his eyes.
    In answer, she gave him a lewd hand gesture. He grinned.
    Oh, my. Sabine had never seen him smile. And it was divine. She frowned down at her chest.
    What was that? Why, that might have been a tender feeling.
    He started toward her, and she couldn't say she was broken up about that. When he reached her on the bluff, he sat beside her. "It will soon be time to leave, Sabine," he said. "I never formally asked you before, but will you come with me to my home-our home-in Louisiana?"
    "Do you have gold there?" she asked. "No, but I could get some." "Are you rich?"
    "In that realm, if you're an immortal, you'd have to be an idiot not to be."
    "Is your house nice and big?"
    "Our house is a showplace, a mansion built centuries ago in a district known for its gardens.
    I've always taken pride in it-it's one of the most expensive and coveted in the city." He seemed eager for her to see it.
    "You're not used to having to ask for things," she observed. "Is it difficult to ask me to come with you?"
    He shook his head. "It might have been. If I didn't want you to so damned badly."
    Sabine had once heard that Cadeon was the smooth talking brother of the two, but she thought Rydstrom's gruff admissions were much more intense and meaningful than any smooth talking could be.
    "Why do you want this so badly? Because I'm fated to be yours?"
    "No, because I know we can have something more
    between us."
    She gazed into his green eyes and saw honesty-and desire. He wanted her, and he wanted her to see how much. She couldn't seem to look away.
    "If you come with me, you won't regret it."
    And if she didnt see where this could lead with Ryd-strom, she might wind up regretting it for the eternity