Bound To The Demon

by C. J. Brookes

  He directed the female to a fallen log, not missing the thankful expression in her eyes as she dropped to lean against it.

  He settled Kindara beside her, then commanded her to wake. Her eyes flickered open, and a small fist lashed out, connecting with his chin.

  Once again, she’d attacked him directly. She had to stop doing that. No one attacked him.

  It was against demon law.

  “Oh!”

  “I told you I don’t like you doing that.”

  “But you were hurting.” And knowing his female hurt superseded everything, including her wishes. She had best grow accustomed to that. When it came to her well-being, he would retain the ultimate authority.

  As it should be.

  “So? It was my choice to stay awake.”

  “Are you hurting now?” Wasn’t that what mattered? He’d done what he needed to do for her. Soon, she’d learn that was behind all his actions—concern for her. His mind ran through a dozen ways to foster trust between them quickly.

  She hesitated, eyes going puzzled. “No. The pain is gone. And it shouldn’t be. Not for at least a few more days.”

  “Because I can secrete a pain-killing agent as well as a sleep aid. No species is immune to it.” Many of his Kind could do such things. The sleep aid helped them induce their food sources to sleep so they could feed on their fantasies.

  He wouldn’t tell her that he could release four kinds of aphrodisiacs yet, though.

  He doubted she’d find that fact helpful.

  Maybe later, when she was safe and trusted him more, he would demonstrate just how entertaining that could be for the both of them.

  “Gods and goddesses, if I could bottle that, it would solve my problems.”

  He struggled to catch her mumbled words; when he did it puzzled him even more. “What problems?”

  “Mother has been searching for medicines to help our people. We have no antibiotics, no pain relievers, none of that like other Kinds.” Her daughter was shoulder to shoulder with Kindara and clutched her mother’s hand. She spoke of her mother with great pride, pride that had him smiling. “She’s been searching for years.”

  “Too many of our people die from things we should be able to cure.” Kindara’s eyes went bleak, and Rathan brushed a kiss over her brow.

  He knew why her people were so cursed. They were the weakest of the Kind. All Dardaptoan females were cursed by the god who’d created the Lupoiux to always be weaker than the other Kind.

  That was the reason their male counterparts were so fiercely protective.

  Female Dardaptoans were barely stronger than female humans. That kind of weakness in their worlds could get them killed. And it had. Far too easily. Letting a weak Dardaptoan loose in his world could mean extreme amounts of trouble.

  Perhaps it was a good thing the two Kinds had never interacted on a frequent basis. But that was going to change now.

  “I will help you, pet. You can bottle as much of me as you’d like.” He pulled the small knitted blanket he’d shrank from his pack and resized it to cover both Dardaptoans. He settled it over them, tucking the edges around Kindara’s left shoulder and her daughter’s right. His to protect now. They both were. “You two stay here and rest. I’ll return with some food and water for you. Rand will stand guard.”

  “Guarding against what? My brother?” Kindara eyed them both with suspicion. He would have to get her past that.

  “No. We don’t expect your people for a few days, but while you were sleeping, Rand did some scouting.”

  “And?”

  “There’s a rogue pack of Lupoiux in these woods. The Redd Gothan. Rand has had trouble with them before. We don’t want them catching your scent, or your daughter’s. Especially hers.” As a newly bred female, every unmated male Lupoiux would be seeking ways to steal her from Rand. And there were enough of the rogues to prove a problem.

  Kindara nodded her understanding. “Be careful.”

  Her concern for him had him kissing her lightly. “I will, pet. I will always return to you.”

  24

  Kindara watched him, trying to figure him out. Somehow.

  He…was irritating. Fascinating, but irritating.

  “Mother?” Jierra’s whisper had Kindara’s attention shifting from the demon as he left to her daughter. “What Kind exactly is he?”

  “Demon.” Kindara sighed. “Incubus. Apparently, the High King. I really stumbled into it this time, kiddo.”

  “Oh...” Jierra’s eyes widened.

  Her daughter had a fascination with romance novels featuring Dardaptoans and demons—that was probably all the information Jierra had about demons, what came from those books. There was a romance novelist who wrote demon/Dardaptoan romance novels that Jierra and her friends practically obsessed about. “So did he...feed from you?”

  “Ji! That’s not really something you should ask.”

  “So he did. I have questions.” Jierra scooted closer and rested her head on Kindara’s shoulder. “Was it terribly awful? Him not being your Rajni? I mean, it’s not even that great when it is your Rajni. I thought it would be a lot better.”

  That told Kindara so much about what happened between her daughter and the wolf. “Oh, honey. It should be great with your Rajni. It starts off great, and just gets better over the decades. The connection just grows.”

  “Oh. Maybe the wolf just isn’t very good at it. Or it’s different with Lupoiux. Who knows? It’s not something I’m eager to do again anytime soon. It was awkward and sweaty and kind of rushed. I’m glad it’s over, though. Now, he’ll leave me alone, I think. I won’t have to worry or wonder about my male any longer. I can get on with my life and focus on my future without having to worry about some mythical mate out there and finding him, or anything. I know where he’s at, and he can go right back to his kennel.” Jierra was silent for a moment. “So was it good with the demon, then? Is he as good a kisser as the demons in Alaun Woald’s novels? He’s super hot.”

  Kindara felt heat hit her cheeks. Yes, it had been good.

  But there was no way she was sharing that with her daughter. Definitely not before she took the time to probe her own feelings where the demon was concerned.

  There were somethings a mother did not share with her daughter. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Killjoy.” Jierra yawned. Kindara wrapped her arm around her daughter and snuggled her close.

  Her baby was going to have two babies soon.

  Kindara was going to be a grandmother. She’d have to get things ready. She was going to be the best grandmother of all time.

  Her grandbabies would be spoiled rotten. She was going to make certain of it.

  “Take a nap; I’ll wake you when it’s time to move again.”

  “What are they planning to do with us?” Fear was clear in Jierra’s voice. “He hasn’t exactly been forthcoming.”

  “I don’t know. The demon said we’ll get home as soon as possible. Swore an oath.”

  “So it’s true then? That if a demon swears an oath, they have to honor it?”

  “Yes.”

  “So we’re going home soon then.”

  “I think so, yes.” Kindara smoothed the strawberry-blond curls off her daughter’s cheek. “Rest, sweetheart. For you and the babes. We’ll figure out what to do when you wake.”

  25

  Her brother had just spent an hour interrogating her. An hour when Aodhan could have had his butt out there in the Colorado woods actually searching. Aureliana paced the Hall of the Equa—the section of the hotel where most of the heads of families spent their free time—and wondered just what Kindara had been thinking to go off on her own like that.

  Aureliana would have gone with her. In a heartbeat. It would have delayed Kindara by an hour or so, but then Kindara would have been safe. There were only two attackers, after all. Kindara should have waited. That she hadn’t concerned Aureliana almost as much as the abduction itself.

  Kindara was ge
tting in too deep on this quest of hers. That was going to be mean real trouble.

  If Kindara survived this abduction, that was.

  Fear for the two females that mattered the most to her had her shaking. She’d had a hand in raising Jierra, and she and Kindara had been friends since Aureliana’s parents had abandoned her in the Colorado wilderness to her brother’s care. Aureliana had been sixteen. Kindara had been one of the few females near her age back then, in the city anywhere.

  They had grown up together. Loved and lost together. So many of their friends had been lost through the years.

  She had almost lost Kindara, too. That day would forever be etched into her memory.

  Kindara was out there somewhere. And she was in trouble.

  Aureliana dressed quickly and slipped her sword that she had only worn ceremonially in the last one hundred years, into the band of her turquois hasha.

  She was ready now.

  For whatever the future and the Fates were about to bring.

  26

  Rathan flashed back to the Taniss vacation estate, making sure to arrive in his rooms. Just in case there were humans around. He hurried to the massive kitchen, not surprised to find it empty. Rand had sent most of the compound’s occupants elsewhere for the week. Only a select few security personnel remained—Lupoiux, numbering about a dozen.

  Still, Rathan didn’t want to have to explain how he’d arrived so quickly, when it was common knowledge he and Rand were working on a project elsewhere.

  Before they brought the females to the estate, they had to ensure it was safe—and unoccupied. He would take the opportunity to find some supplies for the rest of their hike while he was there.

  Flashing had its uses, though it was much more difficult in a world other than one of the six demon worlds. He had always been thankful he was one of the rare demons who had that skill, inherited from his father.

  Rathan grabbed a bag and began filling it with food for his female and her daughter. He and Rand would have been quite fine roughing it, but two females carrying spawn would need more than fish and water. Even for just one day.

  Dardaptoans existed mostly on fruits, vegetables, and grains when not needing blood. She would need to drink from him again soon, he suspected. First, because she had been starving for so long and, second, because of his growing spawn. No doubt, she had not taken the greatest care of herself since the murder of her mate.

  He made a silent oath to that lost soul now.

  Rathan would see that male’s mate was cared for the remainder of her days.

  That meant she would need his blood regularly. He was prepared to meet that need.

  Demons didn’t possess red oxygenated blood in the manner that other beings of any origin did, but what he did possess in his veins would provide powerful strength and abilities to his spawn—and, hopefully, healing agents to his child’s mother.

  Blood meant life to the bloodsucking demon Kinds of his world. He suspected it was no different for her Kind.

  Yes, even if she balked, he would insist on feeding her. He was addictive, after all.

  Then she’d never want to go back to her people. He would keep her forever, then. In the world of his Kind.

  When he flashed back to where they waited, he found Rand sitting a few yards away from the females, watching them as they slept. The wolf had a contemplative look on his face.

  Rathan sighed, setting the bag of fruits and rolls aside. Neither female stirred. “We’ve exhausted them too easily.”

  “Yes. I didn’t realize they’d be so...”

  “Weak? Delicate? Frail?” Rathan settled beside his female, pulling her to lean against him. She snuggled her face into his neck, and he shivered. He had plans for this female. “They are Dardaptoan, after all. A female Dardaptoan is not even a tenth as strong as a Lupoiux male—or even a tenth as strong as the weakest demon male. And add in the pups and spawn—”

  “Spawn? Her mother is pregnant?”

  “Yes. There is a spawn growing.” Rathan was torn between embarrassment and pride. She carried his spawn. The future king of all Demon Kind.

  Through his carelessness.

  “Purposefully? Doesn’t she have a mate out there?”

  “No, her male…was killed. By your grandfather.” The wolf flinched at that. “Our spawn will eventually be the next King of Relaklonos. I have yet to tell her of either the spawn growing—or what it means for her future.” He had had many hours to think of what a spawn would mean for him—them—and to come to a resolution with the changes it would bring. To plan, to figure out possibilities where the spawn’s mother was concerned.

  Rathan knew what he wanted. And that was what he would have.

  “She will be angry when she learns.”

  “Yes. But that matters little. She’ll adjust in time. She is a good mother, a very loving one. That is evident.” And maybe a forgiving female. If he was lucky. Still, he was the demon king—seducing a female into forgiving him shouldn’t be too difficult of a task.

  He was a king, after all. He could give her an entire world to make up for this transgression.

  “So you don’t intend to let her go.”

  “No. I intend to convince her that staying with me is what she wants to do.” He placed a tiny kiss on her forehead before shaking her awake. He kept his touch as gentle as possible while whispering her name.

  Her eyes slid open, momentarily clouded with confusion. Then they cleared. Narrowed. “Demon. You’re back already.”

  “It didn’t take me long to flash where I needed to go, pet. I’ve brought you something.” He pulled an orange from the bag and handed it to her, followed by a small loaf of bread. “I want you to eat it all while Rand catches us a fish to go with it. I’ve brought some for your daughter as well.”

  She took the offering, muttering about solicitous kidnappers and the irony involved. Then she thanked him before taking her daughter’s share and shaking the girl awake.

  It was much harder to wake the younger female than Rathan would have expected. He didn’t miss the concern on Kindara’s face as she let the girl sleep a little longer. Her daughter could eat as they walked, but the rest seemed more necessary. The cold was proving too much for the younger female.

  He feared what that meant.

  “Is she well?” Rand stiffened at Rathan’s question, though he didn’t turn around from where he stood by the small creek. Rathan knew the wolf listened closely. “Kindara?”

  “She’s freezing, exhausted, frightened, and newly pregnant. And she’ll need blood soon. At least twice as often as she did before. I cannot supply her fully. I am too…I just can’t. Pregnancy is hard on Dardaptoan females—one reason why our birthrates are so low. Especially in the first few weeks after conception. It’s one reason she’s so exhausted now. Tramping through the woods in this cold is not doing her any good.”

  Rathan’s eyes narrowed. Kindara was concerned for her daughter, yet she was just as vulnerable. His spawn would be growing rapidly now. He was of demon king seed—he would be strong and hardy. But the spawn’s mother…she was a fragile example of her Kind. “The wolf can carry her, then. We need to reach a safe place soon. There are too many of the wolves out there for us to fight off with a guarantee of success. And they will scent her very soon. Be wanting to steal her from Rand for their own.”

  Rand growled softly nearby. Rathan knew the wolf would slaughter any who looked at the young female sideways now. He was a very formidable wolf, despite his young age. Worthy of protecting a royal female, of any Kind.

  Kindara started to protest, then looked at her sleeping daughter. The girl had curled up against the log and looked so pale in the afternoon sun. “That would be best.”

  Rathan pulled Kindara to her feet shortly after she finished eating. Rand lifted his own female up into his arms. “Let’s move.”

  Rathan kept Kindara at his side and kept his attention on their surroundings. While the Lupoiux pack would be after her daughter for
the pups, Kindara was just as great a prize as a healer. Not to mention as the mother of the next high demon king. He would not lose her to a pack of dogs.

  His hand tightened on hers. He wasn’t about to let her go.

  “How much farther?” Kindara stumbled several hours later and he caught her. His arms went around her waist. Her daughter had wakened an hour earlier and walked on Kindara’s other side. No one had spoken much. The females were still exhausted and probably overwhelmed.

  He stopped walking and studied them both for a long moment. No. Enough was enough.

  “We’ll be there shortly before sunset.” Rathan didn’t give her a choice before swinging her up into his arms. She shot him a pointed look and gave a small hiss. He stared at her, not moving, until her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs twisted around his waist. Every step he took over the rough terrain sent her bouncing against his groin. He tightened his arms as hunger filled him. A few more hours and he’d have her in his bed, where she belonged. And he would enjoy her. Thoroughly. “You will sleep in a real bed tonight, pet.”

  “And then you will keep your end of the deal? You’ll take us home? We’ll never have to see you again?” She didn’t bother moderating her volume. He suspected she did it deliberately. To needle her new son-in-law.

  The wolf growled low behind them.

  It was not finished between the wolf and the girl. It was only a matter of time before that volcano erupted.

  27

  Kindara tightened her arms around the demon’s neck when he stepped over a large log. His body was warm, and she was chilled. October in Colorado was not the warmest of times.

  “I’m not helpless, you know.” She could barely remember the last time she had been in a male’s arms like this. Not since she’d been carrying Iavius’s babe thirty years ago. He’d gotten such a kick out of hauling his family around that she’d let him. A wave of grief hit her, and she dropped her head to the demon’s shoulder.