"They stay."
"What? They itch like crazy!"
"They-stay."
She seemed to bite her tongue against a sharp reply, instead saying, "As you wish."
To reward her cooperation, he began massaging her shoulders. She moaned, and her head dropped forward, her long hair parting over her neck. When her pale nape was left uncovered, he was helpless not to kiss it.
Her breath hitched in, and she shivered.
He kneaded her upper arms all the way down to her fingertips, then continuing back up. "Better?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes, better."
"Then it's time for questions."
"Ask me, then."
"How many times have you died?"
She tensed beneath his palms, but answered, "Over a dozen."
"What's it. .. like?"
"The most terrifying, wretched feeling you can imagine."
"Tell me about one time."
"A Vrekener had flown me high above a village, then dropped me. I was lying on a cobblestone street with my skull cracked open." Her tone grew distant. "You can feel your blood seeping out. Without the blood, the body gets so cold, but then, if it pools around you, it's like a warm blanket, for a few moments at least."
He couldn't be hearing this ... that she'd been thank­ful for a pool of blood.
"Rydstrom," she murmured. His hands were squeez­ing her too hard.
He let up the pressure. "Why would they hurt you like that?"
"Because I killed their leader. The Vrekeners were responsible for many of my deaths. Including one of the drownings."
"One of the . . . ?" He shook himself. "When we get off-plane I will seek them out and inform them that you and your sister are under my protection. Any move against either of you will be considered an act of war against my kind."
She turned to kneel before him, laying her delicate hands on his knees. "You'd do rhat?"
"You're my female-I will never let anyone hurt you." He brushed her face, and she scarcely flinched. "Since your sister helped keep you alive, I'm indebted to her as well. Is she the black haired female who was in the cell after my injury?"
"Yes, her name's Melanthe. She's got to be so worried about me."
"If there's an avian messenger among the refugees, we'll send word to her that you are unharmed."
Sabine looked confused by him, then she smiled-a genuine, heart-wrenching smile.
It made his chest tight with feeling. "You couldn't be more beautiful."
She sighed, "I know," making his lips quirk. Then she added, "You're not too shabby yourself. In fact, I think you're the most handsome male I've ever seen."
He exhaled. "Why do you always have to lie?"
"All right, you're not the most handsome. But you're in the top ten. Mayhe even in the top three."
"As long as I made the podium."
"I do love your body. You're an exceedingly well-made male." She began touching him as if she was see-ing him for the first time, sweeping her soft palms over his chest, shoulders, and neck.
When she brushed kisses along the scar on his face, she said, "How did you get this?"
"From a sword fight. When I was young, I was a brawler. That's how I broke my horn, too."
"You weren't always so calm and steady?" When he shook his head, she asked, "And the tattoo?"
"It was part of my rite of passage, to be marked with the image of a beast."
"And the scars down . . . here?" She grazed the backs of her fingers along his shaft.
Her touches were setting his blood on fire, but he strove to keep control. He had an agenda, and he was playing to win everything from this woman.
His voice was hoarse when he said, "Another part of the ritual. All demon males who reached a certain age had to complete it. Until I denounced it."
"Why did you?"
"Because it hurt like hell."
"I could have kissed it better." She grinned. The wine was definitely hitting her.
"I think I like my sorceresses drunken." It made it easier to get the puzzle pieces he needed most, for example, "How is it that you were a virgin?"
"I was saving myself for you," she said easily, but he was beginning to better detect her lies.
"No, you weren't."
She shrugged. "I claimed sanctuary on my body. It's a Sorceri covenant that holds that if I remained virginal, then no man could force me into having sex with him."
"Like Omort?" he bit out, his horns beginning to straighten with rage.
"I don't want to speak of him tonight. And my rea­sons are my own." She gazed at his horns, then glanced her fingers along one. "What it's like when you start to go demonic?"
He let the subject of her virginity drop. "I don't like it."
"Why? Your body has so much more strength-"
"And it's diverted away from my brain. It's as if I'm burning on pure instinct, like a rabid animal. I can't think. I can't reason. Thoughts come more randomly." He ran his hand over his jaw. "I hear my heartbeat drumming so loudly that I can't hear a conversation nearby. And yet I can detect a leaf crackling a half a mile away. Nothing makes sense. Which is really dif­ficult for me."
"Because you're such a slave to reason?"
"Exactly. You could be telling me something perfectly logical, but if it went counter to my instinct, my brain would discard it." He tapped his temple to emphasize his point. "And, Sabine, you seem to keep me on the edge of it. That's a very uneasy place to be."
"Why do I?"
"I took you, but I didn't mark you. Which means I haven't truly claimed you. The demon in me is not
satisfied.''
"What would it be like if you marked me?"
"If I got to that state, I would be completely turned, which is rare for our kind. Once I was inside you, I'd sink my fangs into your neck, and it would stun you."
"Stun me?"
"Some say it's to keep the female steady while the male comes in her."
"Oh," she said, her voice breathy. "And if you did that to me, you would be less likely to get unreasonable?"
"It would help. But still, I feel no bond coming from you. As much as I would like you to feel more for me, I know that you don't."
"What if I told you that I've decided to stay with your She gave him one of those tender, coaxing kisses that made him wild for her, but he forced himself to pull away.
Chapter 13