Demon Kissed
Page 5
Bree shrugged. “He gave me permission to work with you and slay the outlaws sentenced to death. My only restriction is not to kill any demon who isn’t condemned. I can live with that.”
“Good.”
Before he could say more, Bree hurried to ask, “Why didn’t you kill Raum? We had to wait hours for confirmation that he’d heard my sentence was overturned.”
Hours when she’d been surrounded by demons. Hours when she’d not only met Andras’s family, but also people who claimed to be related to her. She’d heard stories of her parents from Andras’s father and it made them seem more…well, human, for lack of a better term. For years, her only perspective on her mother had come from her mentor, and what she’d heard today had been different. It was part of what made it seem as if her skin didn’t fit her any longer.
“I didn’t kill Raum because he was doing his job, nothing more. With your execution rescinded, he won’t be any threat to you.” Andras paused until her gaze met his. “If the situation had been reversed, I’d have done many of the same things he did. Would you have liked him to kill me?”
“Of course not.” And this unnerved her further. She didn’t want to see Raum as a soldier fulfilling his duty, she wanted him to be evil. Demons had always been the enemy, only now they weren’t. They couldn’t be because that would mean hating Andras. It meant hating herself.
The dissonance and the emotions tied to it were crashing down on her, drowning her. How did she get her feet back under her when the earth wouldn’t stop moving?
Andras reached out, took her hand, and her turmoil eased. She wasn’t dealing with this on her own, Bree realized. She had her mate at her side and he’d anchor her until the storm passed. His eyes held love as well as concern and she managed a small smile for him. “It’s been a hell of a night.”
“That it has been.” He inclined his head toward the street and they walked away from the lot. “Give it time. With all the bombs lobbed your way, it’s no wonder you’re shell-shocked, but you’ve accepted a lot already and the rest will fall into place.”
“Eventually.” And they would because she wouldn’t allow anything to hurt what she had with Andras. Bree laced her fingers with his. “You know what I want to do when we get home?”
“What’s that, love?”
“Take a long bubble bath—with you.”
One side of his mouth quirked up. “You’re not going to put in some girlie-smelling stuff, are you?”
They reached his motorcycle. Not only was it where they left it, it was intact and the helmets were there, too. She took the one he handed her before she said, “Yeah, I probably will. Got a problem with that?”
Andras leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers. “For you, I’ll deal.”
They donned their helmets and Bree climbed behind him on the bike, winding her arms around his waist as he pulled away from the curb. For you, I’ll deal weren’t exactly the most romantic words ever, but they left Bree choked up. Maybe it was because she could sense how deeply his commitment to her ran, but she knew he was promising her more than his willingness to smell like jasmine. Andras was telling her that he’d love her forever, no matter what.
Bree grinned and hugged him a little tighter as calm filled her. Yeah, her life had changed dramatically, but she’d control the fear because she wasn’t alone and she’d never be alone again. With her mate at her side, she could conquer anything.
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ISBN: 978-1-4268-5593-1
Demon Kissed
Copyright © 2010 by Patti J. Olszowka
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