Kiss of a Demon King

40

What have I done? Rydstrom cursed himself bitterly.

I actually let her go.

At the time, he hadn't felt like he'd had a choice He'd been appalled by his behavior. In that park in the storm, he'd come close to shoving himself inside her, and then again later in the bed.

Yet now that he'd calmed enough to think, he believed he might have detected some truth to her words when she'd told him she would return in days. She might in fact want more with him.

If she brought out the worst in him, then he would just have to work harder to become a better man for them. No male would work harder. And more, he was going to ask her what she thought he should do, putting everything out there for her: I'm not interested in a life that doesn't have you in it. You make me crazed. I would give anything for you to grow to care for me.

But he would demand that she meet him halfway.

And he would have to find her.

With that thought, he ran for her again. She might have crossed that portal. Yet he sensed she hadn't, still perceived her nearness....

He found her not even a block away from the house, sitting on a curb.

As he approached, he saw her wiping her face with her forearm.

Sabine was ... crying! "What are you doing out here, cwena?" Over the last week, Rydstrom had been pleased when she'd worried about him and gratified when she'd felt the sting of jealousy. Was he a terrible man to hope she was crying about him?

She glared at him with her bottom lip quivering, allowing him to see her like this instead of using a mask. "I d-don't have anywhere else to g-go." Another swipe of her forearm over her eyes. "Lanthe's gone, and I c-can't get to her for six days. And I'm in a strange t-town and land, and Vrekeners are everywhere."

Sabine hadn't even mentioned what they'd just gone through-

"And you br-broke up with me!" she said, her tears falling faster. "Is that supposed to make me happy?"

"Come inside, Sabine."

"No! You t-told me not to." She sniffled. "You don't want me at your house."

He swooped her up in his arms. "Will you shut up?" With his free hand, he brushed her tears. "I made it ten minutes before I came after you."

She buried her face against his shoulder. "I'm glad you did."

He swallowed, never imagining this night would turn around like this. "We have a lot of things we have to get sorted out. I'll put you in the shower, and then we'll talk about what we're going to do."

"Talk o-over wine?"

"The sweetest I can find."

"You still w-want me?"

He rested his forehead against hers. "I always will."

"Demon, I understand why you would think the worst about me tonight. I've given you no reason to grant me the benefit of the doubt. But I know now that you have to be able to trust me."

"Sabine, that's not reasonable-"

"Wait. J-just hear me out. There's something I can do that will let you know when I'm being untruthful to you. Something the bad guys use to keep each other honest. I want to do this for you, demon."

He had no idea what she was talking about, but he savored even the idea that she wanted to take a step for him-

"All I need is clay, picture hangers, an oven, and your blood."

"How can I be sure these covenants are going to work?" Rydstrom asked over his shoulder as he nailed three pic-ture hangers to the wall.

"I made extras so we can test them," she said absently, gazing at his uncovered back as she tied twine through the hole of the third covenant.

The muscles, the tattoo, his smooth skin . . . Gods, this male is too fine-

He abruptly turned, catching her ogling him. She shrugged as if she was helpless not to ogle. Because she was.

"Are you ready with those?" he asked, his voice a touch rough.

"Oh. Yes." She had three covenants baked and ready to be hung. She carefully handed them to him.

He was clearly still dubious about this whole process, but he was going along with it as if hoping it would work.

When they'd returned to the house earlier, he'd trusted her to stay and shower while he located clay somewhere on the grounds. They'd met back in the kitchen, with Sabine dressed in another one of his undershirts. He'd showered downstairs and wore a clean pair of jeans-with no shirt.

His kitchen was ultra-modern, and she didn't exactly know her way around even a medieval one, but she'd managed to find a bowl to mix a small sampling of their blood with the clay. "Your blood will bind you to the spell," she'd explained as she made a small cut in his arm. "My Sorceri blood acts as the catalyst, the battery that gives this power."

Once she'd rolled the clay out flat in three baking dishes, Sabine had used an ice pick for a stylus. In the first tablet, she'd carefully inscribed, "I will never lust after Rydstrom." In the second, she'd written, "I will never kiss Rydstrom." The third read, "I will never lie to Rydstrom."

As he hung the tablets, she hopped up to sit on the granite counter top. "Covenant time! Sacred even among the bad guys."

While Sabine had worked, she'd been drinking a nice dessert wine from his collection. He'd been lean­ing against the counter with his arms crossed over that broad chest of his, watching her every move.

The sexual tension had been palpable.

When they'd had to wait for the tablets to harden, she'd reasonably suggested that they occupy themselves, but he wouldn't, instead keeping this all business, seem­ing very serious about getting things "sorted out."

Now he approached her spot on the counter. "What do we do?"

"Ready to test? Then, be so kind as to undo your pants and give me a peek."

"Sabine? Very well." He unbuttoned his jeans, pull­ing the fly open wide.

As soon as she laid her gaze on his shaft, she bit her bottom lip, wanting to touch him there, to run her lips over that flesh-

The first tablet shattered into pieces, plunging to the ground.

His eyes widened briefly as he refastened his jeans. "Kiss me," he told her, leaning in closer to her.

She pressed her lips to his firm, delicious ones, and her eyes slid shut. But when the second tablet splintered and dropped, he broke away. "It's bloody working."

"You married a sorceress, demon. I know what I'm about."

He abruptly turned, inspecting the tablets.

"You can ask me anything, and I'll have to answer honestly. But before you get to your questions, I have one for you." He waved her on in that kingly way. "If I had told you I had to get back to Tornin because of a life-or-death situation but I would return to you, would you have let me go there without you?"

"No. We do not separate, Sabine." As if to illustrate this, he returned to the counter, standing before her, wedging his hips between her legs. "I've found you after fifteen hundred years, and I'm not keen to part from you for any reason."

"I see." She hadn't expected him to answer differ­ently, but his vehemence reminded her that she would have to tread carefully with him.

No matter how badly she wanted to trust him com­pletely, she couldn't. Like Lanthe had predicted, the demon wouldn't be apt to let her go poison herself. In six days, she would have to. "Ask your questions."

"Where were you going tonight? And why did you run from me?"

Tread carefully. "My sister opened a portal to come get me. She and I can speak telepathically when we're close enough to each other, and she woke me up. I explained to her that it didn't feel right not to tell you that I was leaving, even if only for a few days. I told her we had an understanding. That we were together."

At that, he gazed over at the last covenant, likely expecting it to fall, even as he so obviously wanted it to stand.

Some unfamiliar feeling bloomed in her chest. Lonely demon. Yearning so much for his loneliness to end. . . .

When the tablet didn't break, he said, "Go on." His tone held a note of excitement.

"Lanthe's portals require a lot of power, and soon it attracted the Vrekeners. She was telling me that she was running for her life. Rydstrom, she doesn't have any defensive sorcery. She can't fight them. I raced from your house to help her."

"Were you planning to return to me?"

"Yes."

He laid his hands on the countertop on each side of her thighs, seeming stunned by these revelations. Then his eyes narrowed. "Are you working with Omort on some plot now? Working against me?"

"No."

"Are you not on his side?"

"No. I'm on my side and my sister's side."

He took that in. "Could you want a future with me?"

She hesitated. Do I for certain?

"Yes?" she finally answered, peeking over at the covenant. When it remained in tact, she gave him a well-what-do-you-know expression. "Rydstrom, if I were going to want anyone, it would be you. I just don't know if I'm what you need. I'm not.. .like you"

"You know what, Sabine? You were right when you said I've lived an ordered life. Before you, I kept everything around me rational and reasonable. And yet everything about you defies reason. I like your devi' ous mind and your inappropriate humor. I like that it doesn't make sense for me to feel this strongly about you-but I still do."

In response to that heartfelt declaration, she met his gaze. "Rydstrom . .. you look really sexy in jeans."

He collected himself after a moment of obvious bafflement. "I know" he finally said, appearing to be stifling a grin. "Can I get a little more than that?"

She grew serious once more. "I like that people respect you. I like that your chest is warm and that you make it available to me. And I love that you came after me tonight."

"Then you will stay with me?"

"For now, I can only promise you six days."

"Six days again?"

"Lanthe can only create a portal every six days."

"Ah. Now I see. Are you planning on leaving me when she returns?"

"I'm trying to make you a promise I know I can keep. I have six days I can give you. After that, the future might not be my own. We could reconvene on the last day."

He looked like he would question her more about this, but then he let it drop. "Why didn't you tell me you'd begun to feel something for me? I've been flying fairly blind here."

"I wasn't certain about it. And how would I know that I should? I've never been in a relationship, and it's not as if I see declarations of feeling everyday in Tornin." Her arms twined around his head. "I've been flying fairly blind here."

"There's still much you aren't telling me."

"Yes. But I'm trusting you more than I have anyone except for Lanthe. Can't we take this in steps?" His

scent was making her melt, and she felt herself eas­ing closer to him. "Maybe it could be enough for you to know that I didn't want to leave before, and that I won't want to in the future?" she asked, their lips now inches apart.

He rasped, "Do you want me to make love to you?" "Right now, I want that more than anything." The last covenant remained.