Page 25 of Once Upon a Demon's Heart
The sweater makes a wet, plopping sound as it hits the tarp floor cover. My bare breasts are exposed, the assault of air making my nipples harden. I try not to look at Kalel, but his gaze burns into my skin. My eyes flick nervously to his and I find a softened expression as he looks over my chest.
Heat spreads through my core at the tenderness in his gaze and the flex in his jaw.Traitorous body.I grit my teeth as I let my pants fall to the ground. I’m about to crawl into my nest of blankets when Kalel breaks the silence.
“Where did you get that?”
I know exactly what he’s talking about. The long scar down my left side, just over my ribs. My hand unconsciously lifts to the spot, fingertips brushing gently over the old wound. The first injury I received after becoming a knight. I’d grown careless out on the battlefield. Korin had my flank, but I was aloof to the viciousness of the demons. Some can indeed still swing a sword even with their heads lopped off.
Kalel doesn’t get to have that part of me, though. There are some things that should stay locked away. We aren’t necessarily close by any means.
When I don’t respond and another cold shiver runs through me, he relents with a deep breath and sighs. Kalel rummages through a crate near his bedside. “Come here, little godling.”
I wrap my arms around my body and fight the bone deep trembling. I take him in, sitting leisurely with his legs spread wide and slacked. My feet stop once I’m a foot away from him. The coldness has returned to his eyes.
“Turn around.” He sounds as tired as I feel. I do as he says, and he pops the lid to something and smears some ointment over the cut on my back. I cringe at the sharp pain, but it quickly fades. A relieved breath escapes my lips. “There. This will seal your wound until Mav or his apprentice can see you.”
Mav is their main healer and I’ve seen him around camp. The apprentice must be the attractive one with fawn hair and brown eyes that healed me in passing this morning.
I turn and face Kalel. “Thanks,” I say wearily, ready to just go to bed but I know that’s not how this night will go.
Kalel frowns before offering me his hand. Every time he holds me, he gets this pained expression, like he’s forcing himself to touch me. “I hate you.” His words echo in my head like a dull blade. He made that clear while he was tearing up my insides.
Am I that appalling to him? I shouldn’t care how he feels about it, but it still makes me self-conscious.
I set my hand in his. He turns me so my back is facing him, pulling me against his chest. It’s cold, just like it always is, yet a fire ignites in my lower abdomen. Are all demons empty of warmth like this or is it only the devourers?
I clench my jaw and worry my lower lip.
He starts purring, that deep rumbling against my spine is pure bliss. It sends a shiver down every vertebra in my body, and with it comes a pulse of warmth from his skin everywhere he touches me.
A soft, relieved breath escapes my lips, giving him a moment of pause before he tugs the covers off his bed and lies me down on it. The brief moment that we’re parted brings all the cold crashing back into me and the trembling returns.
“Bear with me,” he says tightly. Avoiding eye contact as he pulls his long sleeve shirt off and tosses it to the floor. His broad chest is on display, revealing all his scars, sacred oath mark, muscles and veins. I lick my lips and suppress another cold wave that makes my teeth chatter. My eyes linger on the scar over his chest that matches the one on his cheek.It must be from the same fight.
Kalel lies behind me, covering us with a blanket that carries his alder wood scent. His arms wrap back around me, and he pulls our bodies flush together again. His comforting purr resumes and once more, I’m consumed by the heat that pours from him. He must be using his essence to do it. It’s a typeof transferal to easily share heat that we learned in chivalry training.
It’s much warmer now. I refuse to admit how much I’m enjoying it. How his deep comfort call makes my core ache and twist to be filled. Is he experiencing it too? My legs fidget, accidentally tangling with his.
“Stop moving so much,” he growls, his hot breath coasting over the back of my neck. He hooks his legs around mine to keep them still, but it only angles my body, jutting my ass against his crotch.
I go deathly still. His cock is stiff and pressed against my backside. I think of last night and how rough he was with me. How upset he was about all of it happening.
Our breaths are the only sound that permeate the tent besides the soft sound of snowflakestickingagainst the tent.
This wouldn’t be so uncomfortable if our circumstances were different.
I shut my eyes and try to focus on the warmth he’s offering me. His hands are fisted, and the only place his arm touches me is around my ribcage, keeping me tucked close. Perhaps in a different life we would be two lovely mortals, not damaged and covered in the blood of our enemies. Not beastly and corrupt.
“You didn’t have to warm me up.” I sound ungrateful, but really I’m soaking in every ounce of it. The only discomfort are the cramps that are beginning to flare up in my abdomen.
I do my best to ignore it.Will the charm he gave me be enough to keep my scent from reaching him? I hope so. I swallow the dread.
“I’m not doing it out of the goodness of my heart. The king would have my head if you were found to have fallen ill from being poorly looked after,” he says coldly.
“You should let him cut off your head.”
He chuckles at my side remark, the sound of his amusement draws a smile to my lips. “I would if I didn’t have a kingdom depending on me. I’d choose death over being stuck with you any day.”
“Ouch,”I murmur sarcastically.
