Page 110 of The Demon's Fire
“You would do that?”
“Of course I would. It’s what a lover does, is it not?”
He shoved another spoonful of meat into her mouth. When juices spilled onto her chin, running down her neck, he leaned in to lick her clean. He peered into her eyes. Lizette knew he was gauging her reaction. Instead of cringing, she smiled. A cringe would earn her a slap across the face.
“Get a chicken tomorrow. I make great chicken and dumplings. Have you ever had that?”
Spear shook his head. When the bowl was empty, he pushed off the ground, served himself, and ate, his wild eyes fixed on her. Then he cleaned up the kitchen with water he pumped into the house.
“You’ll love my recipe. I could bake an apple pie to go with it. I look forward to cooking for you.” Lizette hated cooking, but Spear didn’t need to know. At least she knew how to make a few things. Make him want tomorrow with her. That was her plan. Day-by-day survival.
Looking outside at the darkening sky, he smiled. “It is bath time,kjaer.”
Lizette fought back tears. Bath time came each night before bedtime. The berserker unchained her from the post, attaching the leash to her collar. After stopping to gather a basin filled with supplies, he walked her outside for their nightly ritual.
Near the house was a river. He led her to a spot which was damned to form a pool.
The berserker removed the lead, grasped the hem of her dress, snapped it over her head, and reattached the restraint. Early on, Lizette tried to fight him off, but the blows to her body hurt and her resistance never stopped him. It was easier to let him strip her. Since he did not allow her to wear underclothes, only a thin cotton dress, she stood naked in front of him.
He slipped off his pants and shirt, pulling her into the pooled water with him. Lathering soap onto his hand, he washed her. Every intimate part. He rubbed his soaped palm across her breasts, closing his eyes. Then, spreading her legs apart, his fingers explored and cleaned her sex while he moaned in pleasure.
In the beginning, she gripped her legs tight together, but he drew back his fist, connecting with her jaw. Or he forced her to submit some other way. Eventually, it was easier to let him bathe her. She just had to keep from throwing up. When she had done that, he had knocked her out cold.
Finally, Spear walked her out of the river to dry her off.
“I will bring home a chicken tomorrow. You’ll tell me what you need for a pie.” He dressed Lizette, returning them to the hut. He took her to his bed, where the real horror began each night.
Survive.
****
Kolescrubbed a fist across his buzz cut. “You dreamed about Dermott’s camp at the base of the mountain. Are you sure you don’t have a mage ancestor?”
An exhausted Skyler sat on the couch in Kole’s office. “Positive. Family journals, histories, and my father’s demented but proud stories are only of the demon Abrahm. I can’t explain my dream. Or my increased stamina. But the bigger question is, who wants me or Alliance employees dead?”
“You think Dermott targeted you rather than Kole?” asked Rein.
“It’s likely. A few days before I came to Scath, I was pushed from the L platform on my way to work. Afterward, my office received threats from some blogger group who took responsibility. Then Aeternals attacked the Alliance. While I was on the tour, Sarah Jenkins, our head of Information Services, was murdered. I didn’t realize getting trapped on Darque had anything to do with these events, but now I think they might have.”
Kole unleashed a stream of fire into the far wall as Rein ducked. Rising, he checked his clothes for burns. “Hey! That could have been my head. I’ve no yen to be toast.”
Kole’s sneer fixed on the vamp mix but moved to Skyler. “Don’t you think the full story might have been important enough to share earlier?”
“No. Obviously I didn’t since I didn’t realize the incidents were related.”
She kept talking despite his fiery gaze, the one which took warriors to their knees. It had no effect on this icy female whose lips had been wrapped around his cock. Of course, there was no frost in her veins then. Only fire.
Skyler crossed one shapely leg over the other while Kole shook off an image of both wrapped around him as he pounded into her. “You had a front-row seat to the attack on my office. I told you about Sarah’s murder, but even you didn’t connect the dots. I thought we couldn’t use the portals because our equipment malfunctioned. You didn’t indicate anything else. Hindsight is brilliant. Yes, in hindsight, I should have said something about the other incidents.”
Rein played peacemaker. “I know you’re ass-pained by all this, Kole, but the past is past. And how it all relates to Chief Maxwell is puzzling. What’s the gain? Uwrich blocks communication signals so you can’t leave Darque. Dermott and his band of renegades arrive to finish you off. The gagans had to be a happy coincidence. They don’t hire out to anybody.”
Kole tented his fingers. What was the gain in killing Skyler or the Alliance techie? The million-dollar bribe from the bloggers to keep zipped made sense, but nothing else added up. “Who wants you dead, Frisca? This blogger group? Why? Bragging rights? My dick’s bigger than your dick? Or vagina, in this case?”
Skyler shrugged. “I may not have friends, but I don’t have enemies either.”
Kole tapped his fingers. He rolled his thick shoulders, relaxing stiff muscles, and flexed his head from side to side. Now that they were back on Scath and not dodging threats on Darque, he’d put his mind on the problem. “If the bloggers arranged for the office invasion and the trap on Darque, they’re Aeternals. Dermott would not hire out to humans.”
“Regardless of who is responsible, the attempts to kill me make no sense. Sarah’s death makes no sense.” Skyler paused, a finger running a lazy path along her full, luscious lower lip. “Unless she found out the identity of TheBigReveal. She was tracking them.” Skyler drew her mouth into a tight line, her expression business-like, calculating, sexy.
