Demon Slave (Shadow Quest Book 2) (21 page)

Lightly touching, he kissed his way up the skin of her inner thigh. Nadua’s breath caught. The sweet scent of her desire claimed his mind, demanding he continue.

Pushing the cloth aside, he swiped out with his tongue and was instantly addicted. Nadua softly gasped as her head lolled at that simple caress. Needing more, Marik pulled her closer to the edge of the pool and took her with his mouth, delving through her soft folds.

Leaning back on her elbow, Nadua ran her fingers through his hair and boldly lifted one leg over his shoulder as if to keep him in place.

As if he would go anywhere.

Marik gripped the thigh resting on his shoulder, keeping
her
in place.

Her moans echoed off the walls, encouraging him as well as tormenting him. He needed to be inside her. But when he met the spot that made her cover a scream of pleasure, he did not relent. Unable to hold herself up, Nadua’s back found the stony ground. Her hands lay at her sides, digging into the soil.

When she came, her back bowed and she sucked in one long hard breath, obviously trying to temper her passion. Marik didn’t like that. He wanted her to scream until all of Undewla could hear how he pleasured her.

“
Of all the things I’ve missed, that would be the greatest,” she breathed, sitting up.

“
I’m not done with you yet.” Marik’s voice sounded far too husky to be his.

She didn’t argue when he found her waist and lifted her, cloth and all, back into the pool. Her intense gaze held him captive as his body came in contact with hers. Hesitantly, her slender hands came to his chest, and she rested them there for a moment before allowing them to roam his skin with palpable curiosity. In the water, the tan cloth danced free of her body, leaving her open to him. It was driving him wild.

The top was still tightly wound around her chest—a problem soon remedied.

* * *

“
You make me crazed,” he whispered as he pressed his hard erection against her.

Nadua must be a little mad herself, because she couldn’t bring herself to stop this. Her body ached for him.

Watching him while she bathed had been a bad idea. She wasn’t sure if he knew it, but his muscles would flex every-so-often and the movement had fascinated her. The combination of being naked while he stood sentinel, and her hands roaming her body with the sweet smelling soap, had aroused her beyond comprehension.

She’d just been about to release the tension when he’d broken his promise and turned on her. Embarrassment at what he’d almost caught her doing stamped out any anger she should have felt.

Getting out of the water was supposed to break the spell, but his eyes grew dark, filled with such promises of pleasure. She knew he could deliver, and her need had turned urgent.

Nadua couldn’t explain it, but the moment her desire hit, he’d changed. He became a predator. And now he had her in his grips. One arm held her around the waist, caged against his body. The other was caressing the soft flesh of her thigh that he had pinned high against his hip. His skin was both hard and soft at the same time. The masculine scent that was distinctly his filled her head.

As if testing, his hand came up to grip the edge of the cloth wrapped around her upper body. Her breath was coming hard, her heart blasting within her. But she didn’t protest when he gave a tug and the material came loose. His eyes dipped to her breasts, half buried under the water. She shuddered under his riveted scrutiny.

Her head lolled as he tenderly cupped her. She fit perfectly in his palm. And still, he held her tight. As if she would try to get away.

Never
.

Just when she was ready to let out a moan, he swallowed it with a kiss. So warm and soft, his lips were gentle, yet powerful.

She remembered there was nothing between them now. Nothing to stop him from taking her at any moment. But he hesitated, continuing to kiss and pet her with such light touches.

She traced her fingers down his thick arms and back, trying to keep steady, while memorizing the feel of his warm flesh. The smell of a man’s desire.

Intoxicating.

Why was he not inside her already?

She began undulating her hips, briefly wondering if tempting a demon like this was wise. After all the stories of their terrible brutality, she shouldn’t be practically begging him to take her. But Marik wasn’t like that. She was sure of it.

Mostly.

In any case, she was about to find out. Lust was rolling of him in waves, and her own desire was like a drug causing her brain to focus only on one thing.

Satisfaction.

As she moved her hips again, a deep rumbling emerged from within him. But instead of going wild like she expected, he stopped, and pushed her away. Nadua’s back met the warm ledge of the pool. For a moment, he held her in place as he gathered his breath with his eyes closed.

“
What are you doing?” She was still panting from his attention. The pleasure had been a shock to her body, bringing it back to life.

At first, he said nothing. She waited, feeling he needed a moment. The stark look he gave her made her heart lurch.

“
I don’t want to hurt you.” His grating voice told her he was on the verge of losing control.

“
You won’t hurt me, Marik.” She reached for him, but he put more distance between them.

“
I could. I have before.” He seemed to shake a memory away.

Have what? Hurt her? Hurt another? But if he were anything like the demons in the stories, wouldn’t he have hurt her from day one? And he wouldn’t stop himself now, when he so obviously wanted to keep going.

“
I don’t believe that.” The vision of him maddened and bloodthirsty circled her mind, but she pushed it away. She didn’t believe he would ever harm her. There had to be something more that the vision wasn’t showing her.

To Nadua’s relief, he stayed where he was as she slowly moved toward him, though he was flexing those magnificent muscles again. As if she might scare him away, she lightly brushed her lips against his. To her delight, his softened and molded to hers.

She whispered, “Marik, I need you.”

With a groan, he was on her, kissing her with renewed fervor. She found herself once again backed up to the edge of the pool. Her legs wrapped around his waist so tightly that he would have to peel her off him to get away. His strong hand gripped her backside, kneading the soft flesh.

She could feel the tip of him near her entrance and pulled him closer with her legs. A noise that sounded partly defeated and partly triumphant reverberated through him.

He slipped into her.

Gasping, Nadua gripped his shoulders, nails digging in hard. She wasn’t used to being filled so thoroughly and he didn’t give her a chance to grow accustom to his size before he started thrusting his hips.

Through gritted teeth, she said, “Marik, wait. Give me a second. It’s been...a while.”

He stilled, growing rigid. His head shook as if clearing it and he squeezed her ass hard, but she found she liked it. After a moment longer, she rolled her hips, and he began moving again.

Blissful fire crashed through her core, up through her spine, materializing as a deep moan. Arching her back, she rocked her hips again, straining to take more of him. Sensing what she wanted, he gave one hard thrust and she cried out from the pleasure.

The water around them broke into tiny waves that licked at her breasts and arms, as Marik continued to move in and out of her. It was surprisingly erotic.

He buried his head in the crook of her neck and teased the sensitive flesh there with his tongue and teeth. She shuddered. Then she felt the tiniest of bites, and an orgasm the size of Undewla itself exploded through her every cell. Her head fell back while the waves repeatedly assaulted her. All she could do was cling to Marik to keep from slipping under the water from the power of it.

Both his hands were gripping her hips, holding her in place as his body pounded furiously. His head flew back with a roar as his seed began to spill. The sound of their heavy breaths bounced off the cavern walls. When he eased up, his eyes were dazed.

They slowly cleared.

She felt something was wrong even before his expression grew confused.

He seemed to note her nudity with surprise, as well as their closeness. “Did we just...Shit. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“
What?”

Dread blanketed his features the moment he fixated on her neck. He lifted a hand to move her chin and hissed in a breath. Then he let go of her and backed away so swiftly that she dipped under the water before she was able to right herself.

She spat out a mouthful of water and muttered, “Well, that was romantic.”

He was already out of the pool and, for some reason, thumping his head against the hard wall.

She watched for a moment, confused. “What is the matter with you?”

“
I blacked out. I don’t remember doing it. I’m...so sorry, Nadua.”

His cryptic words spiked fear in her. What was he sorry for? It was only sex. Mind-bending sex that shattered every erotic dream she’d ever dared to have.

“
You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He just gave her a pitying glance. “Get out of the water. Get dressed.”

The clipped order and the abrupt way he’d left her—as if she’d suddenly become diseased—transformed her chagrin into something more like fury. “What do you mean you blacked out?”

“
I mean I don’t remember most of what we just did. I don’t remember...biting you.”

“
You don’t remember?” she said in a flat tone. “It happened two seconds ago.”

It was the most amazing, overwhelming...And his bite? My gods, he could come back and bite her again right now, even with how pissed she was becoming.

She touched the mark on her neck and figured it should at least feel tender, but it didn’t. Was that what this was about?

“
It didn’t hurt, Marik. I actually kind of liked it.”

What an understatement.

“
You shouldn’t. I didn’t give you a choice.”

“
A choice for what? Sex? If anything I pushed you—”

“
No!” The word echoed loudly, causing her to jump. “I just claimed you as my mate!”

Nadua wasn’t sure what all this mate gibberish was about, but Marik seemed pretty broken up about it. He’d refused to say anything more on the subject, and it was hard not to feel hurt, or like she’d done something wrong. Initially, she hadn’t intended for things to go that far. And obviously Marik was unhappy that they did.

Then why didn’t you stop, acta
.

She realized then that he had tried to stop but she hadn’t let him.

After she had dried and dressed, she’d made her way back to the chamber where Rex waited with a welcoming fire and a nearly cooked carcass. When she approached, Rex regarded her neck briefly and shot her a surprised look before masking his features.

Marik had stayed behind, joining them later with a neatly shaved jaw. Nadua refused to notice how handsome he looked.

Beside the fire lay three thick and exquisite looking blankets.

Nadua raised her brows at Rex. “Stolen?”

He winked. “Do I look like I sew?”

She should have been more curious as to whom he was stealing from out here, but Nadua was too tired to care. She was just grateful that there were three, and not two. Snuggling up to Marik after what just happened didn’t sound like something she could handle at the moment.

Maybe if he hadn’t looked thoroughly disgusted with what they’d done.

A strange silence fell between them during their meal, which was a little tough and overcooked. She thanked Rex for catching it, and noticed that he kept sneaking glances at the both of them, somewhat confused.

Join the party
.

Fighting a bout of melancholy, and a poking need to study the disquiet demon to her right, Nadua settled in to her blanket. She let the flames hypnotize her, and her mind began drift.