Immortals After Dark 10 - Demon From the Dark

it--either would result in her parents having to acknowledge her existence. Desperate, shaking, please look at me.
    She'd fallen from the saddle, breaking her arm and cracking her skull for her troubles. Once she'd awakened, her parents had already departed for the summer--abandoning her into the care of new, sterner nannies.
    When Carrow thought back on her youth, she remembered most that clinging neediness. Sometimes, she still woke with a yawning lack aching in her chest.
    And amazingly, anticipating a future with Ruby was the first thing that had ever made that yearning ebb.
    "Ara?" he rasped.
    "What?" He was studying her again. "I'm fine." Even though they didn't speak the same language, when he watched her for every tiny response, she felt like he was "listening" to her better than any man before.
    He held up a finger again, then shot to his feet and away from the fire. When he returned, he had her backpack. He must have collected her things last night.
    He presented it to her as if he'd known she was sad and wanted to cheer her.
    "That was really nice, demon. Thank you." He truly wanted to please her. Which meant he was manageable.
    I'm going to get him to that portal, and now I know how.

Chapter 14

    Give and take.
    Malkom had given her shelter and a present she'd appreciated, and they'd just finished a bountiful meal he'd provided.
    Normally he would've taken the burning spit in his roughened hands and devoured the meat. But for her, he'd cut away a portion, offering it to her on his blade. In time, he'd coaxed her to bite the meat off his knife with her white little teeth. Which had made him stiffen with a swift heat...
    Give and take. Now Malkom wanted to take something in return.
    He was so used to denial, had known a lifetime of it, but no longer could he deny the need to touch her body.
    I want to feel a female's breasts for the first time and hear her cries in my ear.
    The only time Malkom had ever been in sexual situations, he'd been forced by either hunger, pain, or the threat of both. Never had he voluntarily been with another. Now he wanted to know what it would be like to desire--and then to possess.
    Yet earlier, she'd mimed that while he'd known pleasure the night before, she'd received only pain. Twice he'd found release and given her none. He felt his neck heating.
    Why would she want to receive him?
    She yawned, stretching her slender arms over her head, her breasts pressing against her top. Gods, he'd never wanted to see a woman's body so badly. But his curiosity was understandable. He'd never encountered a female like her.
    And I will be enjoying her body solely for the rest of my life.
    His gaze dipped to the edge of her short skirt, to the shadow beneath it. What would she feel like down there? When he'd been a lad, the idea of rutting atop a female and spending betwixt her legs had aroused him unbearably. He knew females could grow wet inside, but would she be hot? Soft?
    He remembered years ago a demon warrior saying, "The only difference between coupling with your fist and coupling with a female is that the fist doesn't follow you around afterward."
    Malkom gazed down at his fist, recalling when he'd last brought himself release. Surely she'd be softer than that?
    Curiosity. Possibilities. Questions about females he'd forced himself never to consider. If he could convince her that he wouldn't hurt her again, he might at last get the answers.
    "Car-row."
    "Yep?" She lazily gazed over at the demon, feeling more sated than she had in days. She'd had her fill of fresh water and succulent chickants. Earlier, when he'd handed her meat on a knife, she'd realized he had a thing about hand-feeding her, as if she were a prized pet or something. She'd said, "No plates? No fuss, no muss, huh?" thinking he was kidding.
    But eventually she'd eaten every bite he'd offered.
    She would be sleepy if it wasn't for the nearly seven-foot-tall demon getting hard right before her eyes.
    "Sex," he said. In English.
    "Whoa, what ?" She nearly fell over. She'd thought they'd gone over this. But then, he hadn't promised anything on this score.
    "Sex," he repeated. Thumping his chest, he said, "Nolo fortis."
    She remembered the word nolo from all the times she'd pled nolo contendere --no wish to contest legal charges. He was trying to tell her that he didn't want to hurt her.
    First of all: Yeah, right, she was going to hop back on the trust train with him. And second, even if she believed he wouldn't hurt her,