outer demon wars 01 - comic book demon (3 page)

“Okay, that’s not going to happen, I’m twenty-one. I only have a job because it’s my cousin’s shop and his parents made him. I don’t even have a place to live! I had to get rid of my cat!” I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I turned my head and wiped the wet streak with the back of my hand. I was a mess. Ever since Mom had died, I’d been so lost. 

“Dara, hush. I know this is a lot to take in, but our people need you.” He walked around the large boulder I was perched on. Our faces were level despite our height difference. 

“What could I possibly offer them?”
It’s not like I can offer anyone here anything. I can barely feed myself, much less a whole race of people.
 

“I will help train you. It will take us about a week to get to the demon portal. It is a fickle gate and never stays in one place long. So, there is some time.” 

“How will we find it if it moves?” 

“I can sense its general direction. But, we need to get going. There are rival factions who are after you.”

“Wait. Will I live as long as you? I mean, I don’t know what I am. Not really.” 

“Yes. You have only months left as a human. You will come into your immortality soon. I was sent here for you. Your father did love you. He wanted you to know that. He was never far, even if you didn’t know it.” 

I got up and jumped off the rock. I dusted the fine layer of soot and dirt from my  khaki shorts and simple black spaghetti-strap shirt and made for the entrance of the cave. Before I stepped out into the sparkling sunshine, I turned to ask him the last two questions on my mind.

“No isn’t an option is it?” 

“No,
dara
. It isn’t.” 

I nodded, expecting as much.

“Why did you kiss me?” Okay, I still had forty thousand questions, but that was the one I needed answered above the rest. Though, what I really wanted to know was why he’d stopped kissing me. 

He froze, and in an even tone, replied, “It’s forbidden. It won’t happen again.” He walked through the cave, past me, and out into the day. 

I followed close behind hoping he was wrong. I wanted it to happen again. 

Chapter Four

“MAC, WE HAVE BEEN WALKING for three hours. I’m hungry and tired. Please, let’s stop,” I begged. Thank god, he’d packed water and food, but it would not last us a whole week. 

He growled at me. Ever since I’d asked him why he’d kissed me, he had been in a wretched mood and distant. I asked why it was forbidden, but he wouldn’t go into detail about it. The past three hours had been full of information though. 

The demon realm had been in some sort of war for hundreds of years. The different races were always at each other’s throats. Honestly, I couldn’t blame them. Their whole world was set up like a cast system. If you were born a lower demon, you stayed there. Despite how hard you worked, you could never advance. If one were born an elite demon, like Mac and I, then they could abuse those in a lower cast with no repercussions. I think that was why Mac kissing me was forbidden. I thought, from what Mac had told me, I could only be with a demon from my own kind, the time stoppers. When I asked him if I had any family, his expression went grave. I didn’t need his answer. It was written over his face. No, I was so very much alone.

 Finally, after much grumbling we stopped. 

“Why don’t we just fly? I mean, I saw your wings.” The memory of seeing someone with wings made a large lump form in my throat. 

“Two reasons. Flying will bring unwanted attention, and that ember demon back there burned a hole in my wing that will take some time to heal.” 

According to Mac, the only way to kill a demon was beheading. So I shouldn’t worry, his wing would heal. Yet, the thought of him hurt seemed to bruise my heart. 

Mac still did not have a shirt on, and with every step and twist of his body, his muscles rippled. I had a hard time keeping my eyes off him. Vader help me, but he was one of those men who should never be nude for fear of causing slack jaws everywhere he went. I was attracted to him. Okay, attracted may be a tame word for the amount of lust I couldn’t seem to hide. It was as if he had a direct line to my libido. 

“Where are your wings?” I asked, trying to grasp on to a life raft in the sea of hormones. 

He turned, and the tattoos along his back coalesced and realigned, then they pulled away from his body, shimmering and reforming into large black wings. I was in awe. 

“Can I touch them?” 

He turned to face me. His gaze was cautious, but he stepped closer and nodded.

I reached out with a shaky hand and ran my fingers along one wing. It was silky, even though it looked like leather. It was the softest thing I think I had ever felt. I didn’t want to stop touching him. The closest thing I could equate them to was bat wings, except they shimmered. I closed my eyes and pictured him flying against a night sky. He would blend in so beautifully. 

He groaned, and my eyes flew open as I yanked my hand back. “I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” 

“Oh no. It felt really good.” His voice was husky and his eyes were heavy lidded. 

I reached back to trace my fingers along his wing again. The feel of him was addicting. Just the contact was electric. He groaned again, but I continued my exploration. I had not realized that I wasn’t breathing until his hand snaked around my waist. He pulled me close to him. My heart was beating so hard, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it leaped right out of my chest. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and inhaled a deep breath. 

Did he just smell me?
I was about to ask him what gave when I felt his heated tongue run along my throat. My knees nearly gave way, and I became wet in a liquid rush as his teeth grazed my skin. 

“I can smell how much you want me. I am having a hard time resisting.” His voice was like liquid silk, stoking a fire inside me. 

“I . . . I thought . . . oh God.”

 He pulled me snug against him, and I felt his firm erection press against my belly. I sucked in a breath as he hissed something that sounded like a curse. And, even from that position, I could tell he was not a small man, not at all.

“You weren’t supposed to be like this.” Mac sighed.

I didn’t have long to contemplate his words because his mouth covered mine. The kiss was not just full of lust and need, but possession. He angled my head back and claimed my lips with his. His tongue plunged in and out of my mouth in a way that mimicked sex. I was a huge ball of need in his hands. I had never lusted like that.

 Arching my hips up to his, he ground his erection against me, hissing. My nipples ached so badly for his touch that I nearly grabbed his hand and placed it on my breast. Pressing my aching nipples against his hard chest, I moaned into his mouth. Understanding my need, he moved his hand from my hip to my heavy breast. He rubbed and kneaded the flesh in his hand. He then moved his attention to my throbbing nipple. He pinched the pebbled flash and rolled it between his thumb and forefinger. I tried to shout out in pleasure, but he swallowed my moans, only to create more of them. Moving my hand along his chiseled chest and down his taught abdomen, I reached down for the hem of his jeans and felt the head of his erection. I rubbed my thumb across the damp head. 

Just what am I doing?
I had never been with a man, not like this. I was not wanton. Well, not normally. I couldn’t help but be attracted to him. 

He broke the kiss, eyes glowing red, and grabbed my wrist. We were both breathing heavy. He had a question in his eyes, I just didn’t understand what it was.

“Annabelle, I don’t have the strength to deny you.” 

“I don’t want to deny you.” My voice was laced with desire. 

He pulled me closer for another soul-blistering kiss. However, he paused and quirked his head to the side. In a flash, he threw me to the ground and covered my body with his. I was so confused. 

“What?” 

“Shhhh,
dara
. Star-fire demons.” 

Then, we were completely enclosed with in his wings. One of his arms cradled my head, and the other rested on my belly. Even in that position, I was still turned on. His red gaze flicked to mine. He dipped his head to give me a chaste kiss on the lips. 

He leaned to my ear and whispered, “Dara, we shouldn’t be together. But, I can’t seem to help myself.” 

I opened my mouth to speak, but he shook his head, his face going from calm to alarm in a flash. I couldn’t hear anything, but he clearly could. I had no idea how much time had passed, but it was at least twenty minutes. He finally got up and offered me a hand. I took it and got to my feet. I grabbed the large water bottle and drank deeply before turning my attention to a granola bar that was in the small back pack. I made short order of it. Mac looked as though he was more than ready to leave, but I needed a few answers. 

“Mac, why is being with me wrong? I mean, this is all so new to me. Is it the age, or the fact that I’m in a different cast?” I mean the age thing was a little weird, but I could move past it. In twenty-four hours, I had learned so much that my paradigm had shifted a fucking mountain, but I kept trucking. 

“Dara . . . .” 

“What does that mean?” I hadn’t meant to cut him off, but I had to know.

He froze and hung his head. He turned to face me and knelt down, bringing our gazes level. 

He put a hand on my cheek when he said, “I have known you since you were a child. When you became a woman, I watched over you. Three years ago, when I saw you again, I knew. Dara means beloved of mine.” 

I didn’t understand. 

“I don’t get it. If you, um, I mean, if I’m yours then . . . .” 

He held up a hand and explained, “It’s not the age, and we are in the same cast. It is because the last thing your father did was sign a decree that you would marry my younger brother.” 

“I’m sorry, say what? My estranged father, who left me as a child is making decisions for me? And about who I am to be with? What is this, the fifth century?” I was incredulous. I mean really, this was so not happening. 

“Annabelle, in many ways it is the fifth century.” 

“What if I don’t love him? I mean, I’m queen, right? Can’t I just change the law? And didn’t my father leave because he didn’t want a life there?” I was nearly hyperventilating. 

Mac cradled my face between his big hands and answered each question in turn. “Your father left, yes. But, he came back when we needed him. I gave up my right to my house when I began serving yours. And to avoid war with my house, your father promised you to my brother. Yes, Dara, you can change that law, but your father was loved, and our people expect you to follow his decree.” He ran a thumb over my lips. “I knew when I saw you three years ago, you were meant to be mine. Dara, I don’t know what the future holds for us. I won’t lie to you. It won’t be easy. Let’s take this one day at a time.”

I had only known him for hours and he was telling me I was his. I should be running for the hills but damn it I wanted to run headlong to him. His eyes were searching mine. 

“I don’t know how I feel about any of this. But, I do know you make me feel. I haven’t felt much of anything since my mom died. I don’t know what that means, but Mac, I want to find out.” I leaned forward and brushed my lips against his. 

There it was—that spark of feeling. It would soon cause an ignition neither of us could stop. All too quickly he pulled away. 

“Dara, we need to leave. We must find the gate. The sooner the better.” His tone was resigned, as if that was the last thing he wanted to be doing.

I nodded and picked up our things. I guess we were off to see the wizard. 

Chapter Five

MAC WAS A FREAKING MACHINE. He was the Terminator. That was the only damn explanation for how much he walked and made me walk. 

“Mac, please. It’s getting dark. Can we please find a hotel? It may be the fifth century where you’re from, but it’s 2015 here.” I was breathless from pushing myself for hours. I enjoyed things like central heating and air, indoor plumbing, and food that didn’t come in individually wrapped form. 

“Annabelle, I know this isn’t your ideal situation . . .” 

“Ideal situation? Are you kidding me? Nothing about this is ideal. You took me from my home, shitty though it may have been, told me I am part demon and will have to marry someone I don’t know, and I have had nothing to eat other than granola bars. Please enlightenment me, what could be even less than ideal compared to this situation?” 

I was not an outdoors kind of girl on the best of days. Today was not one of those days. I was a WoW playing, Si-Fi watching, comic book reading artist, not a peeing in the woods kind of girl. He let out a long breath of exasperation. Now, that I was looking at him, he looked tired and a little disappointed.
In me? Damn it, I don’t care. Do I? 

“You don’t think I’m sorry? You don’t think it kills me to know that you’re unhappy? You have no idea,” his tone was snippety, as if he was speaking to a petulant child.

 I opened my mouth to reply with some statement that would have been both profound and moving, but he held up one of his large hands in a stopping gesture. That must have been the first time I’d taken the time to look at his palm. 

He had a symbol branded in thick scar tissue spanning across his whole hand. It looked to be a lower case, cursive ‘z’, but on the part where the tail swooped down, there were three horizontal lines through it. I stared at it, utterly captivated. What did it mean? I glanced up to see him studying me. I looked away sharply, but not before he dropped his hand and a look of pain flashed across his face.

“Anabelle,” he cooed in a low, even tone. He put a finger under my chin and pulled my face until I saw his glittering green gaze. “Dara, I know this whole thing is a shock. I know I am asking a lot of you. But please, trust that my whole reason for living is keeping you safe.”