The Demon King and I (27 page)

“You are mine.” Arath’s voice beckoned me and I struggled to open my eyes. I couldn’t. It was like one of the blood dreams where I wanted to wake up but my brain would not cooperate.

“You are mine,” he repeated. This time a hand pressed against my chest and my eyes behaved. It was difficult to focus at first, and I finally managed to stare into those burning yellow eyes. He was angry.

“What did I do now?” My voice came out in a hoarse whisper and it felt like glass was sliding up and down my throat.

“You almost died.” He was gruff but squeezed me tight to his chest.

“Sorry.” I smiled against his chest. He cared about me.

His hands pulled my hair back away from my face. “Don’t do it again.” He kissed me hard and it was as if he breathed new life into me. My skin tingled and warmed.

“Mmmm. Okay,” I said against his lips. He pulled back and I saw that we were in his bedroom. The heavy curtains were drawn on his bed and Arath’s incredible power swirled in silver and gold streaks around us.

“So why didn’t you tell me you were, like, this powerfully cool mage?”

He laughed. “Cool?” His eyebrow went up. “I didn’t want to frighten you.”

“You can’t scare me.” At this he gave me one of his rare smiles. A new warmth, one that had nothing to do with his power, spread through me.

He hugged me again and then opened the curtain with a wave of his hand. My sisters stood around the bed chanting in a deep trance.

“I had some help,” he admitted. “She is alive,” his voice boomed again.

They opened their eyes. Tears streamed down their faces. Claire was dressed in her pajamas, Alex in a short, sequined minidress, and Mira in jeans and T-shirt that said “Mean for Green.”

“Thanks for inviting me to the party.” I grinned. My sisters piled on the bed and wrapped their arms around me, though Arath never let go.

“You scared the crap out of us, Gilly,” Claire complained.

Alex nodded. “Almost dying is a really stupid thing to do.”

I looked up at Arath. “So I’ve been told. How did I end up here?”

“Alex contacted me, and I brought them through the portal,” Arath explained.

“I knew the minute the demon’s poison grabbed your heart,” said Mira.

I looked up at the king. “It was Clede, Arath. He betrayed you. And Emilio. What was he?”

“Darkness,” Arath said.

“You killed him, just before you—” Mira stopped on a sob. She shook it off. “I’m with the rest of them. Don’t do that again.” She shook her finger at me. “I brought you back to the house and Arath opened the portal. He’s kind of amazing.” She stared up at the demon king.

“Yes, he is.” He’d pulled me back from the brink of death, and I now understood how my mother felt.

“I brought you back where you belong. That is all that matters.” He shifted and pulled me tighter to him.

The possessive nature of the move would have bothered me where most men were concerned, but not with Arath. I liked that he wanted me close. I smiled, and he returned the gesture with a slight grin.

“Is Bailey okay?” I turned to face my sisters.

“He’s fine. Mom and Aunt Juliet are fussing over him. Mom’s threatened to have him injected with a GPS chip so no matter where he is in the universe we can find him,” Alex quipped.

I tried to laugh but it hurt, and I ended up coughing. “She shouldn’t waste the time or the technology. He’d just find some way to disarm it.”

“True that,” Alex agreed.

Claire sighed. She was pale.

I looked at the other two. I frowned. “You guys need to go back and reenergize. This world is sucking away at your powers.”

“We aren’t leaving without you.” Alex crossed her arms. Even though he’d saved my life, and our mother’s, she still wasn’t Arath’s biggest fan.

“I’ll be home soon, but I need to speak with Arath. I’m also not quite ready to hop back through the portal. I was just sucked back from God knows where through a vacuum-cleaner hose. At least that’s what it felt like. Unlike you, I can draw power from here.”
And Arath obviously has plenty to share.

Mira leaned across and kissed my cheek. “Take your time.” She pushed Claire off the enormous bed and grabbed Alex’s hand. “Come on, twerps. We have some cleaning up to do.” She meant that they had to purify their bodies.

“I promise, I’ll be back soon.” I waved at them.

My sisters walked to the door and touched their watches.

I was alone with Arath.

 
 
He still held me in his arms. I tried to shift up,
but he wouldn’t let me.

“So are you finished being angry with me?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “I saved your life. I should think that would answer your question.”

That made me laugh. “Why did you save me?”

He looked up at the ceiling as if asking for heavenly help.

“Please, tell me why you went to the trouble of saving me.”

“You were betrayed by one of my people, and it was the least I could do.” He frowned.

Please, let there be more.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it to myself I needed this man to want me as much as I did him. “Want” was too easy of a word. I loved him. As impossible as it might be, I wanted him to love me back. “Is that the only reason?”

“No.” His face was clear of all emotion and I couldn’t read him.

“Care to elaborate?”

“No.”

I sighed. It was too much to hope for, and it was silly of me to ask. Expecting him to feel the same way as me was beyond ridiculous. The man ruled an entire world, and I had a feeling he could take over the universe if he wanted.

Enjoy it while you can.
I remembered Claire’s words. No one knew if we would win the fight against the darkness. It was time to make every moment count. Whatever Arath could give me I would take. I loved him enough for the both of us.

“I’m not sure how to say thank you. For saving me, and my mother, but I’ll say it again any—” Before I could continue he kissed me. Not a gentle kiss, but an “I’m searching for your soul” kind of lip-lock. His arms squeezed me tight to his chest, so much so that I could barely breathe.

Then he let me go and I almost fell out of his lap. His arm kept me from tumbling off the bed, my body feeling like I’d been warmed from the inside out. “I am fond of you, Guardian.”

Fond was good. It wasn’t love, but it was good. At least he wasn’t mad at me anymore, and that was a start.

“I am fond of you, too. Very fond,” I added.

He smiled and leaned back on the bed, stretching out. I felt brave and sexy. I moved so that I sat on his pelvis, and I could feel just how fond of me he was. That I had an effect on him gave me a sense of womanly power, the kind that had nothing to do with being a Guardian.

He reached up and brushed the hair from my face. “I knew the moment poison entered your body,” he whispered. “My heart ached with your pain. If your sisters hadn’t brought you to me, I would have gone after you myself.”

Tears welled in my eyes and trickled onto my cheeks from the power of his words. He used his thumbs to wipe them away.

“Guardians don’t cry.” He smiled.

I shifted my weight to lean forward and I felt the length of him thicken. I kissed his lips. “I would have missed this,” I whispered against his lips. I ran my hands across his chest and down his tight abs. “And this.” I sighed.

He grabbed my hands and held them behind my back. “You are weak. I will not take advantage.”

I leaned forward again, this time kissing his neck. “Funny, but I feel very much alive, and I don’t see it as taking advantage. I see it as quenching a thirst.” I used my teeth to tease his nipple.

He growled and rolled me over. “You must stop. I only have so much control where you are concerned.” He was so serious it made me smile.

“Good,” I whispered against his lips. “I want this. If you don’t want me, tell me now, and I’ll go home.”

His hands moved to the sides of my face and his lips captured mine. “You are a frustrating woman, and I cannot tell you no.”

In a matter of seconds we were both naked and his hands were doing delicious things to my body.

Sliding his hands from my breasts to my hips and lower, he drove me to the brink. When he touched my heat, I went over on a delicious ride.

He pulled me on top of him again and I guided him inside of me, well, as much of him as I could take. There was nothing small about the man.

There was something about the way he filled me so completely that once again sent me over the top. Then he began rocking his hips back and forth and I thought I might die from pleasure.

My hands leaned back on his thighs and I met him thrust for thrust, head thrown back, enjoying every sensation. His hands fondled my breasts, teasing my nipples to tight peaks. When it seemed as though I couldn’t take one more second he exploded inside of me and we both cried out.

I fell against his chest almost weeping with release. I’d done a lot in my life, but I’d never experienced anything like this. I’d heard about people having a deeper connection, and I always thought it was a bunch of garbage. I was wrong.

It’s because you love him.

I smiled against his chest.

“Now I’m really glad I didn’t die, because I really would have missed that.”

He chuckled. “You are a tease, Guardian, but you are my tease.” Tugging at my hair, he kissed my neck and jaw, sending shivers of pleasure down my body. Then I felt him growing inside me again.

“You can’t be serious!” I rose up to look into his eyes.

“My clan is known for stamina in all things. I’m a warrior.”

“Oh my.” I laughed as his hips began a slow rock against mine. “This is going to be interesting.”

 
 
After the second time, I had no energy left.

“I could sleep for days,” I said as I moved to his side. “I can’t remember the last time I closed my eyes and didn’t have some horrid dream.” I still hadn’t come to terms with the idea that it had been Emilio invading my dreams. Or at least the evil using him.

Arath waved a hand over my forehead and I instantly relaxed. “You’re using magic on me again without my permission.” I tried to be stern, but it didn’t work. Whatever he did gave me a feeling of peace.

“Yes,” he sighed. “It’s time for you to rest. You need never fear to dream again, my Gillian. I will always protect my love,” Arath whispered as I snuggled into his body.

CHAPTER 34

“Will my mother be there?” Arath zipped up the
back of my dress. We were in my room at the house. The demon king was about to experience his first Thanksgiving with my family. I couldn’t wait.

“Yes, she’s back from her vacation. I think she finally put that Signor Batolli mess behind her. I hope so; I hate seeing her so sad.” Turned out Batolli was the one who had killed Markie and the others. The big shocker was when we discovered he was Emilio’s father, and also a Mantero. They both belonged to the secret society, which meant the evil hadn’t chosen them at random. They’d both given themselves over to it.

It was Batolli who had been at the office when Markie and Reuben had met. He was the one who had pulled the computer expert over to the dark side. Unlike Batolli and Emilio, Reuben hadn’t been willing. He was a pawn they controlled, and Markie and Jona had been caught in the crossfire.

The only thing we still hadn’t figured out was what had happened to Emilio’s paintings. We assumed Batolli took them to make it look like a robbery, but all of his homes had been searched and nothing turned up.

The murder in Paris made Aunt Juliet suspicious. She and Mom began researching and discovered the connection between the Batollis. The senior member had called Juliet from Paris the night of the murder, and that’s how she figured it out. She and Mom tracked down the Italian investment banker and, well, he no longer exists. Juliet’s Guardian skills came out of retirement.

Arath twisted one of my curls around his finger. “We were all betrayed in some way.” Staring down at my feet, he smiled. “I like the sparkling shoes.”

My choices in men hadn’t become any less complicated, but I was definitely improving. Arath was a wonderful man, and I’d learned to enjoy every moment I had with him. Now that he’d been named head of the council, it was even easier to sneak in visits. Especially once he’d named me his personal bodyguard. I wasn’t sure who was protecting whom, though. Sometimes I believed he wanted me around more so he could keep an eye on me, which was sweet in a way.

I laughed. “Me, too.” I kissed him.

Here, in my room, it didn’t feel like I was in love with a powerful mage. He seemed very much like a handsome, caring man who smelled of cloves. It was even easy to forget he was a demon king. I had the feeling my dating days were over.
Thank God.
I didn’t know if marriage was in our future, but there was already some kind of commitment.

I discovered, accidentally of course, that the demon king was supposed to have a harem of sorts to produce heirs. The subject had been brought up by Arath’s new second in command, Bolenid, during a roundtable meeting I just happened to be attending on Maunra. The poor creature had nearly been beheaded for bringing it up in front of me.

It was only after I told Arath to spare the poor guy that he let him live. I will say, it made me feel good that the demon king didn’t desire other women. After that meeting, he said I was worth thirty harems, and just as much trouble. He didn’t have time for anyone else but me.

I took that as a compliment.

I slipped diamond studs into my ears, jewels he’d given me the previous week from his personal treasure.

He’d also helped me find and return as much of the stolen artifacts and jewels as we could find. We still hadn’t found the link between the Amols and Arath’s people, but we were working on it.

“Now, I know you’re, like, Mr. Superdude and can handle anything, but I feel I have to warn you.”

“Family dinners are a war zone.” Arath repeated the words I’d said to him many times over the last few days since he’d received the invitation from my mother. “Expect the third degree, and don’t get all red and flamey if someone picks on me. It only means they love me.”