Sabine sensed quiet and felt her sister's absence, which meant she'd gone from this plane. Through the portal. She was likely safe.

But now I'm screwed. She had six days till her rescue would come. Could she last that long? Damn Omort for

his lies!

She had no idea where to go to hire a vampire to trace her back. She had no clue where to stay. She could weave illusions of money to get a hotel room, but the Vrekeners would just home in on her sorcery.

Why am I so despondent? I've been in much more dicey

situations.

Maybe because she might be dying soon.

No! She refused to believe that. She'd heard the morsus attacked in waves. She could withstand the first

episodes of pain. Hell, she might wean herself and tell Omort to go bugger himself.

Her eyes went wide. Yes, I'll beat this thing! The accounts of people dying from pain were about victims who'd never known agony like Sabine had. I've died dozens of times. This will be old hat.

She felt better about the morsus, almost looking for­ward to the challenge.

So why am I still despondent?

I miss the demon. She'd had a good thing and hadn't realized it soon enough. The odds were slim that she would find another male like him: a gorgeous king who would press her head down to kiss her nape, who was usually considerate and fair-except when he went demonic because she ran from him-and who was also her husband.

She wanted the demon. But he no longer wants me. And it's all my fault.

This hurts. Sabine felt her bottom lip trembling once more. Not again! Crying was something for weak women-the hand-wringers and the hopeless.

And still the tears came streaming down, the unfa­miliar feel of them shocking her.

40

What have I done? Rydstrom cursed himself bitterly.

I actually let her go.

At the time, he hadn't felt like he'd had a choice He'd been appalled by his behavior. In that park in the storm, he'd come close to shoving himself inside her, and then again later in the bed.

Yet now that he'd calmed enough to think, he believed he might have detected some truth to her words when she'd told him she would return in days. She might in fact want more with him.

If she brought out the worst in him, then he would just have to work harder to become a better man for them. No male would work harder. And more, he was going to ask her what she thought he should do, putting everything out there for her: I'm not interested in a life that doesn't have you in it. You make me crazed. I would give anything for you to grow to care for me.

But he would demand that she meet him halfway.

And he would have to find her.

With that thought, he ran for her again. She might have crossed that portal. Yet he sensed she hadn't, still perceived her nearness....

He found her not even a block away from the house, sitting on a curb.

As he approached, he saw her wiping her face with her forearm.

Sabine was ... crying! "What are you doing out here, cwena?" Over the last week, Rydstrom had been pleased when she'd worried about him and gratified when she'd felt the sting of jealousy. Was he a terrible man to hope she was crying about him?

She glared at him with her bottom lip quivering, allowing him to see her like this instead of using a mask. "I d-don't have anywhere else to g-go." Another swipe of her forearm over her eyes. "Lanthe's gone, and I c-can't get to her for six days. And I'm in a strange t-town and land, and Vrekeners are everywhere."

Sabine hadn't even mentioned what they'd just gone through-

"And you br-broke up with me!" she said, her tears falling faster. "Is that supposed to make me happy?"

"Come inside, Sabine."

"No! You t-told me not to." She sniffled. "You don't want me at your house."

He swooped her up in his arms. "Will you shut up?" With his free hand, he brushed her tears. "I made it ten minutes before I came after you."

She buried her face against his shoulder. "I'm glad you did."

He swallowed, never imagining this night would turn around like this. "We have a lot of things we have to get sorted out. I'll put you in the shower, and then we'll talk about what we're going to do."

"Talk o-over wine?"

"The sweetest I can find."

"You still w-want me?"

He rested his forehead against hers. "I always will."

"Demon, I understand why you would think the worst about me tonight. I've given you no reason to grant me the benefit of the doubt. But I know now that you have to be able to trust me."

"Sabine, that's not reasonable-"

"Wait. J-just hear me out. There's something I can do that will let you know when I'm being untruthful to you. Something the bad guys use to keep each other honest. I want to do this for you, demon."

He had no idea what she was talking about, but he savored even the idea that she wanted to take a step for him-

"All I need is clay, picture hangers, an oven, and your blood."

"How can I be sure these covenants are going to work?" Rydstrom asked over his shoulder as he nailed three pic-ture hangers to the wall.

"I made extras so we can test them," she said absently, gazing at his uncovered back as she tied twine through the hole of the third covenant.

The muscles, the tattoo, his smooth skin . . . Gods, this male is too fine-

He abruptly turned, catching her ogling him. She shrugged as if she was helpless not to ogle. Because she was.

"Are you ready with those?" he asked, his voice a touch rough.

"Oh. Yes." She had three covenants baked and ready to be hung. She carefully handed them to him.

He was clearly still dubious about this whole process, but he was going along with it as if hoping it would work.

When they'd returned to the house earlier, he'd trusted her to stay and shower while he located clay somewhere on the grounds. They'd met back in the kitchen, with Sabine dressed in another one of his undershirts. He'd showered downstairs and wore a clean pair of jeans-with no shirt.

His kitchen was ultra-modern, and she didn't exactly know her way around even a medieval one, but she'd managed to find a bowl to mix a small sampling of their blood with the clay. "Your blood will bind you to the spell," she'd explained as she made a small cut in his arm. "My Sorceri blood acts as the catalyst, the battery that gives this power."

Once she'd rolled the clay out flat in three baking dishes, Sabine had used an ice pick for a stylus. In the first tablet, she'd carefully inscribed, "I will never lust after Rydstrom." In the second, she'd written, "I will never kiss Rydstrom." The third read, "I will never lie to Rydstrom."

As he hung the tablets, she hopped up to sit on the granite counter top. "Covenant time! Sacred even among the bad guys."

While Sabine had worked, she'd been drinking a nice dessert wine from his collection. He'd been lean­ing against the counter with his arms crossed over that broad chest of his, watching her every move.

The sexual tension had been palpable.

When they'd had to wait for the tablets to harden, she'd reasonably suggested that they occupy themselves, but he wouldn't, instead keeping this all business, seem­ing very serious about getting things "sorted out."

Now he approached her spot on the counter. "What do we do?"

"Ready to test? Then, be so kind as to undo your pants and give me a peek."

"Sabine? Very well." He unbuttoned his jeans, pull­ing the fly open wide.

As soon as she laid her gaze on his shaft, she bit her bottom lip, wanting to touch him there, to run her lips over that flesh-

The first tablet shattered into pieces, plunging to the ground.

His eyes widened briefly as he refastened his jeans. "Kiss me," he told her, leaning in closer to her.

She pressed her lips to his firm, delicious ones, and her eyes slid shut. But when the second tablet splintered and dropped, he broke away. "It's bloody working."

"You married a sorceress, demon. I know what I'm about."

He abruptly turned, inspecting the tablets.

"You can ask me anything, and I'll have to answer honestly. But before you get to your questions, I have one for you." He waved her on in that kingly way. "If I had told you I had to get back to Tornin because of a life-or-death situation but I would return to you, would you have let me go there without you?"

"No. We do not separate, Sabine." As if to illustrate this, he returned to the counter, standing before her, wedging his hips between her legs. "I've found you after fifteen hundred years, and I'm not keen to part from you for any reason."

"I see." She hadn't expected him to answer differ­ently, but his vehemence reminded her that she would have to tread carefully with him.

No matter how badly she wanted to trust him com­pletely, she couldn't. Like Lanthe had predicted, the demon wouldn't be apt to let her go poison herself. In six days, she would have to. "Ask your questions."

"Where were you going tonight? And why did you run from me?"

Tread carefully. "My sister opened a portal to come get me. She and I can speak telepathically when we're close enough to each other, and she woke me up. I explained to her that it didn't feel right not to tell you that I was leaving, even if only for a few days. I told her we had an understanding. That we were together."

At that, he gazed over at the last covenant, likely expecting it to fall, even as he so obviously wanted it to stand.

Some unfamiliar feeling bloomed in her chest. Lonely demon. Yearning so much for his loneliness to end. . . .

When the tablet didn't break, he said, "Go on." His tone held a note of excitement.

"Lanthe's portals require a lot of power, and soon it attracted the Vrekeners. She was telling me that she was running for her life. Rydstrom, she doesn't have any defensive sorcery. She can't fight them. I raced from your house to help her."

"Were you planning to return to me?"

"Yes."

He laid his hands on the countertop on each side of her thighs, seeming stunned by these revelations. Then his eyes narrowed. "Are you working with Omort on some plot now? Working against me?"

"No."

"Are you not on his side?"

"No. I'm on my side and my sister's side."

He took that in. "Could you want a future with me?"

She hesitated. Do I for certain?

"Yes?" she finally answered, peeking over at the covenant. When it remained in tact, she gave him a well-what-do-you-know expression. "Rydstrom, if I were going to want anyone, it would be you. I just don't know if I'm what you need. I'm not.. .like you"

"You know what, Sabine? You were right when you said I've lived an ordered life. Before you, I kept everything around me rational and reasonable. And yet everything about you defies reason. I like your devi' ous mind and your inappropriate humor. I like that it doesn't make sense for me to feel this strongly about you-but I still do."

In response to that heartfelt declaration, she met his gaze. "Rydstrom . .. you look really sexy in jeans."

He collected himself after a moment of obvious bafflement. "I know" he finally said, appearing to be stifling a grin. "Can I get a little more than that?"

She grew serious once more. "I like that people respect you. I like that your chest is warm and that you make it available to me. And I love that you came after me tonight."

"Then you will stay with me?"

"For now, I can only promise you six days."

"Six days again?"

"Lanthe can only create a portal every six days."

"Ah. Now I see. Are you planning on leaving me when she returns?"

"I'm trying to make you a promise I know I can keep. I have six days I can give you. After that, the future might not be my own. We could reconvene on the last day."

He looked like he would question her more about this, but then he let it drop. "Why didn't you tell me you'd begun to feel something for me? I've been flying fairly blind here."

"I wasn't certain about it. And how would I know that I should? I've never been in a relationship, and it's not as if I see declarations of feeling everyday in Tornin." Her arms twined around his head. "I've been flying fairly blind here."

"There's still much you aren't telling me."

"Yes. But I'm trusting you more than I have anyone except for Lanthe. Can't we take this in steps?" His

scent was making her melt, and she felt herself eas­ing closer to him. "Maybe it could be enough for you to know that I didn't want to leave before, and that I won't want to in the future?" she asked, their lips now inches apart.

He rasped, "Do you want me to make love to you?" "Right now, I want that more than anything." The last covenant remained.

41

The demon clutched her in his arms, hastening toward their room. He bounded up the stairs two at a time, breathing hard against her neck.

Inside, he dropped her on the bed, stripping the shirt from her. She'd thought this would be a frantic joining, but again, he eased the pace.

"Need to slow down." He leaned down to kiss her, grasping her nape in that possessive way. "I want to savor this."

His lips slanted over hers, and he slipped his tongue in her mouth, but not to flick it against her own. He thrust it wickedly, deepening the kiss into a thorough taking.

He means to claim me, all of me.

Once he broke the kiss, she found herself lying back on the bed under the firm press of his hands. Those obsidian eyes roamed over every curve as if he was mak­ing love to her for the first time.

Already, she was trembling, needing her demon's touch.

He finally reached down to graze his callused palms over her hips, her belly, her breasts. He unhurriedly explored every nuance of her flesh, rasping to her, "So

fair."

When he rolled her nipples between his fingers, pinch­ing, then soothing them, illusions of flames smoldered all around them. "Rydstrom," she breathed. "I need you."

With a nod, he stripped off his jeans, then lay beside her. "Have to make you ready for me." His muscles were tense, his eyes black, but his appearance was somehow different than before. Not as mindless. His eyes were burning with intent.

Her demon looked very focused on what he was

after.

Once he guided her legs apart, she let them fall wide in blatant invitation. He teased her flesh with seeking fingers, caressing her so sensuously. Then he worked one inside her. She moaned as he withdrew his finger and returned with two.

Bliss welling up, strengthening.

He cupped her sex, pressing the heel of his palm against her clitoris, stirring those fingers so deep within her. "Demon, please!"

"Come for your male." He gave a thrust of his fingers to punctuate his words.

Need mounted, building . . . building . . . until it peaked and finally shattered.

Her fires soared as she came, her blue eyes reflecting the light. Her flesh was hot and wet in his hold, her sheath

gripping his fingers hungrily, making his cock ache to replace them.

But he had to take this slow. He had to make this into something she couldn't live without. The look he'd just seen in her eyes said he could.

Once he'd wrung every last shudder from her, he knelt between her thighs, then fisted his cock to run the crown up and down her plump folds. He placed the swollen head against her entrance, but stopped there. "Relax, cwena. I will go slow."

She nodded up at him.

Leaning over her, he rested his elbows beside her head. With every ounce of will he possessed he made himself inch into her tightness, holding her gaze as he entered her. Her breath hitched in, but she never looked away.

He went awash in feeling as he seated himself deep inside his woman. "Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head. "No, Rydstrom, no."

He let her get used to him, holding himself still, sweating from the effort it took not to thrust into her lush little body. He had to make this last, but already his seed was climbing for her.

"It's different this time, so perfect...."

Once she began to rock her hips, he rasped, "Give you more?"

"I'm ready ... I need more."

He rose up on straightened arms. Sweat dripped from his forehead, splatting hard onto her breasts. She arched her back in delight.

He couldn't help stirring himself in her, savoring all her wetness around him. She moaned when he withdrew, then cried out as he drove inside for the first time.

The pressure . . . her tight heat.

"Deep inside you." He tilted his hips up, plunging home. "So hot!"

"Rydstrom ... yes!" She was already close again. He could feel her body quivering beneath him, her thighs tightening and relaxing around his hips.

Another exquisite thrust made him shudder violently over her. When he withdrew, her flesh squeezed his cock like it'd never let him go.

Once more, he drove inside, needing to bury himself to the hilt. He ground against her, wanting in deeper, needing to possess her completely... .

When Rydstrom had first entered her, she'd tensed. So big, the fit too tight. Yet there was no pain this time- only pleasure.

Now he laid his body over hers, pressing every inch of his skin that he could against hers. He guided her arms over her head, covering them with his own as he threaded his fingers through hers.

His chest was slick and rubbed over her aching nipples. When he slowly rocked into her like this, she was bombarded with sensation, shivering with wonder at what he was doing to her.

Another rapturous thrust, more of his rumbling words in her ear, "Couldn't please me more. ..."

Like this, the friction against her sex was delicious,

every movement of his hips intensifying it. She arched beneath him, gasping, "I need you, Rydstrom."

His fingers tightened around hers. "Say it again."

"I need you."

He lifted his head, his dark gaze rapt on her neck. "Then take my claim."

Ah, gods, he was going to mark her. She knew it was coming, and still her body strained toward the orgasm he was building with each measured thrust.

With his arms capturing hers over her head, he kissed her neck, his tongue flicking over her skin, lulling her. "Waited so long . . ." In a flash, he bit her, his upper and lower fangs piercing her flesh.

Her body fell limp beneath his, powerless to do more than come for him and accept his hot seed as he marked her.

When her climax hit her in blinding waves, she screamed from the strength of it. Over and over, her sex clutched the girth of his thick shaft, demanding what it had to give her.

He snarled against her, driving harder, deeper. Finally he released her neck, licking her there before he drew his head up. With his voice ragged, he said, "Mine now." He pressed their entwined hands down, pinning her to the mattress as he bucked between her thighs, sending her spiraling toward another orgasm.

"Rydstrom, don't stop!" Her head thrashed with every surge of his hips. Closer . . . closer . . . need. And then it crashed over her, so fiery and wet that she screamed, her back bowing, grinding the front of her body against his.

"Sabine! I'm going to come in you, come so hard."

His muscles tensed, rippling with strain, then he suddenly froze above her, his cock throbbing inside her. His eyes met hers, glowing black with anguish, his body wracked with pressure, not yet released. "My Sabine-"

He threw his head back to roar to the ceiling. With his neck and chest flexed with corded muscle, he pumped his hot semen into her with such force, she could feel it... again and again, searing and palpable as he emptied himself. ...

Once he was spent, he collapsed over her, still softly thrusting as his heart thundered against hers.

Between hoarse exhalations of breath against her damp neck, he kissed her marked skin, and it was soothing. "Cwena, you were worth every minute of my wait. ..."

42

I would say something nice," Sabine began when she first spied the rickety shack, "something like 'I'm sure it's a really nice place inside.' But my covenant would just break."

"You wanted me to take you out on a date to a Lore bar," he said, sliding her a grin. His smiles were coming more frequently, but they still made her go soft each time. "We're on a date, and here it is."

She had wanted him to take her out on what would essentially be her first date. After all, they'd spent the last four days in and around the house, mainly in bed. But she also had ulterior motives. . ..

"It's packed tonight," he said as his new sports car prowled the shell parking lot for a space. They were out in the middle of a swamp-how could this place be so crowded?

When he finally parked, she said, "I still think you should have let me drive."

"Not a chance," he said, as he exited the car.

Once she'd woken the morning after their first night of lovemaking, he'd had a surprise for her. He'd hought a new vehicle for himself and had one delivered for her as well. But she'd just blinked at the shiny red convert­ible in confusion. "I can't drive."

"I'm going to teach you," he'd said confidently.

At the end of the lesson, he'd declared her the most aggressive and dangerous driver he'd ever encountered. Which meant.. . number one!

And after that, Rydstrom had arranged for Lore ven­dors of the finest clothing and jewelry to come to the house and supply her with everything she could need. She'd asked him, "Are you trying to buy my affection?"

"Is it working?" he'd answered.

Now as he opened her door, she was assailed by damp air and the sound of music and raucous laughter.

Gods, he looked good. He wore dark jeans, and a black button-down shirt, with an expensive leather belt and boots. His overall air said, "Money, power, and I know it."

When he helped her out, he bent down and briefly kissed her lips. "Are you sure you don't want to go back to bed?" Her lusty demon seemed insatiable. In fact, they both were.

He was so fascinating, loving it when she brushed kisses over his face to show affection-and shuddering in bliss when her nails raked down his back. This morn­ing, she'd caught him twisting in front of a mirror to inspect the scratches. "Sign of a job well done, then?" he'd said proudly, flashing her a sexy grin that made her toes curl with delight.

She would have been more than happy to go back to their bed. But this evening she'd experienced a twinge of discomfort-not pain, just a feeling that seemed out of place in an immortal. The old Sabine had roused, the one who held survival paramount. Though she'd grown confident about defeating the morsus, she always had a plan B.

Tonight she was scouting for a vampire who could trace her back to Rothkalina just in case things got bad....

"You look stunning tonight," he said. "I'd have told you earlier, but you robbed me of speech." Earlier, when he'd spotted her coming down the stairs, he'd done a stutter step.

"I thought you'd be more resistant about my attire." Though she'd worn her hair as wild as ever, she'd donned a simple headdress, and her navy blue kohl was drawn more conservatively for him, only streaking back to her temples. But her skirt was short, her boots were high, and her top was a metal mesh bandeau held in place by chains connected to her choker, two in the front and four climbing up her back.

"I refuse to have you deem me old and stodgy again." As he ran his eyes over her, he took her hands and spread her arms out at the sides. "Will I be jealous that other males see you like this? Without doubt. My horns will go ramrod straight from the first double take. But it also makes me proud."

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him, his warmth and scent making her lids grow heavy as she gazed up at him. "People have pitied me

for going so long without finding my female. Now I want to show you off, and I want to be so bloody smug because it was always going to be you for me-I just had to do my time."

Over the last four days, when he'd said things like this with his tone gruff and his eyes so piercing she almost feared he was too wonderful-too handsome and good and considerate to possibly be hers.

This time with Rydstrom had been blissful. But in all fairness, it hadn't always been perfect. For one thing, he'd insisted she learn how to swim, teaching her in his luxurious pool. Though she was already getting better, she spent more time attached to him, arms wrapped around his head.

And he still drank demon brew, ate steaks, and sucked on little buglike creatures called crayfish. But he did make sure she had vegetables to eat and sweet wine to drink. He'd even brought a bottle in the car for her tonight, in case she couldn't find a drink she liked inside.

With that thought in mind, she turned her attention to the ramshackle tavern. A battered neon sign glowed, but the lettering was illegible. "So what's this place called anyway?" It was situated over the water, nestled among cypress trees and looked like it would blow apart with a strong wind. A precarious-looking pier led out to it. "The Thirsty Thistle or something like that?"

"It's just called Erol's. Now if anything goes south inside, just stay behind me. Promise me."

He was overprotective to a fault. "I can't promise you that, or there's going to be clay all over your kitchen floor."

"Our kitchen floor."

"Demon, if anything goes south in there, I won't need you to take care of me. I'll need you to help me take care of us."

That seemed to throw him. She turned and sauntered onto the pier, leaving him with a bemused expression on his face. The big demon male was having to learn some new tricks with her.

When she began tip-toeing so her stiletto boot heels wouldn't get stuck between the planks, he asked, "Why don't you wear flats and just make them look like boots?"

"Because wearing these makes me feel sexy."

"Would being carried by your man make you feel sexy now?"

"I can manage, King Charming," she said. "So, if it's really packed inside, will you see anyone you know? Perhaps one of the thousands of demonesses you've bed­ded, like Durinda," she said, teasing him.

When he fell silent, she faced him. "I was just joking- I know you weren't with her. Wait, why do you look so guilty?" Why would Rydstrom appear guilty at the mention of the female- Suddenly she felt like she couldn't get enough air. "You didn't... in the camp ... you weren't with her ..."

"Gods, no! But I told you I hadn't slept with her. And, apparently, a millennium ago or so, I did."

Relief sailed through her, but then she said, "You told me you hadn't."