6. Livy

CHAPTER SIX

LIVY

W hen Malek invited me to have a picnic with him in the forest, I expected a red and white checkered blanket on the grass, some soggy sandwiches in a basket and a few thousand mosquitoes eating us alive as we ate.

What I didn't expect was a spread big enough to feed an army, laid out beautifully on an extra-large checkered blanket. There were Indian curries in silver bowls, perfectly cut cucumber sandwiches on a silver platter, roasted pig, complete with an apple in the mouth, and an array of sides, drinks and sweets.

There was even a fluorescent bug zapper perched a few feet away from the food. It fried a new bug every ten seconds.

Everything was absolutely perfect, and if Malek's proud grin was anything to go by, he thought so too.

"My servants really outdid themselves with the spread. I just know you're going to love this." Malek rested himself in a free spot on the blanket, sprawling his long legs wide. I sat on his left, near the curries. Malek poured us both a glass of strawberry brandy. He handed me one of the glasses and began sipping his .

"What would you like to try first?" A seductive flame twinkled in his eyes as he leaned in closer to me.

"Hmm, how about the sandwiches." I picked up a cucumber sandwich, put it on a plate and took a bite, washing it down with the brandy. His spiced cologne caressed my nose, and when I glanced his way again, he was mere inches from me.

He had the pearliest, whitest smile I'd ever seen. His soulful, dark eyes a hypnotic contrast that drew me in so deeply I lost myself in them.

"Now, onto my questions." I rested the brandy down and wiped my lips.

His face straightened, his wide shoulders falling. "So soon? We've only just started eating. And I'm still so hungry, very hungry." Seduction seasoned his words as his eyes sauntered along my neck.

Downing the remainder of his drink, Malek left the glass beside him and tilted his enormous body my way.

Hanging over me like an umbrella, his hungry eyes prowled along my neckline. His scent invaded my nose, electrifying my sensitive flesh. Pricks of warm sensation shot down my back curling my spine into a ‘C'.

Just getting so close to this man roused something inside me. A dark longing I was afraid to admit was even there. He was so large, I felt like a rabbit thrown into a cage with a ravenous lion. So why did the danger that diffused from him like smoke, turn me on so much?

"More gravy?" he breathed, reaching for the gravy ladle and drizzling the roasted pork on my plate. But by the way his eyes lingered on mine, that wasn't the only thing he wanted wet.

"So, what was life like before you came to Earth? You know, aside from the seas of lava, pitch forks, and the like."

"You want to know about the underworld?" His arm lurched closer as he rested one of his palms on the blanket by my left hip .

I put my plate down and he drew his impossibly handsome face right up to mine. I thought he meant to kiss me, but he stopped just short. Every move he made was perfectly calculated to do one thing. Draw my attention to his unearthly good looks, one seductive move at a time.

"There are many more pleasurable things we could talk about first. I wouldn't want to bore you with stories of lava rocks and tales of the sulfurous mundane." His voice, as lyrical as a harp, contained the promise of incredible sex floated on his sweet words.

Everything about him, from the way his dark eyes now pierced mine to the mesmerizing tone of his voice made me want more of him. Want to see more, hear more and feel more. Every new interaction with Malek fanned the flame of desire for… more.

Gently, he took the plate from me and rested it on the blanket. Dipping his head, he planted his nose and lips into the curve of my neck. Hot desire pooled between my legs, supercharging my nerve endings with his dark power of persuasion.

My breath caught as he sucked my neck. My pussy spasmed with need, as though she were caught off guard by his sudden touch and the resulting stimulation.

"Delicious, your scent is so delicious, Sunny. I can't believe my mark still remains after all these years." Malek murmured, breaking my lusty daze.

"What mark?" I took a fist-ful of his long black hair and pulled his head back, careful not to yank too hard.

One of his eyes fell shut as he eyed me with amusement.

"I imprinted you with my scent years ago." He gently shook his head from side to side, loosening my grip on his long hair. "I did it so predators would be too scared to go near you."

"Based on the fact that I was kidnapped by demi-gods a few weeks ago, and by demons yesterday, it's safe to say it didn't work. But…" I released his hair and pressed the tips of my fingers to my lower lip. "This would explain why my scent isn't like other wolves. This might be why the Prometheus pack thought I was high born. It was your scent. "

"You're welcome?" He said as if unsure about whether he had helped me or not.

"No, not you're welcome. Being high born was more of a curse than a blessing. I was nearly married off to a murderous lughead of an alpha because of this scent." I clapped an open palm to the center of my chest and Malek shimmied back an inch, dragging his knuckles across his forehead.

"Sunny," he exhaled a chest full. "I know you have suffered terribly while you've been away. Though I wasn't there, I saw your nightmares and wished I could have reached you sooner. Night after night I only dreamed of finding you and ending your suffering." His eyes reflected a mix of emotion, pity, remorse and some I didn't recognize.

He palmed my left cheek, smoothing his face over my right cheek in a show of affection. My nipples hardened, a wild throbbing laying siege between my legs.

I pulled away, knowing I needed to slow things down before I lost myself to the moment and undid his zipper. "Okay, fine. I forgive you." I fanned my hand up and down, widening the tiny space between us. "Now cool down, Casanova." I pointed to the heart shaped tattoo on my shoulder. "Don't think you can just seduce your way to filling this thing. I'm a tougher cookie than I look."

"Oh, I don't need to touch you to steal your heart, but I will if necessary." He said in a breathy, amused tone. Something dark flickered in his eyes, something that stoked my hunger like nothing ever had.

Malek was too tempting, with a touch too sweet to easily resist. My body begged me not to push him away, and it took all my will power to quell my pussy's ache. But that was all the more reason for me to resist him. I didn't want to give him any more control than he already had.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything." A womanly voice bubbled as the sound of thighs rubbing together made my ears perk up.

Malek gave my lips one last seductive glance before tilting away from me, spreading his legs and grabbing his cup .

"You know you're interrupting. That's why you're here." Malek sounded mildly annoyed as he poured more brandy into his glass.

With a mouthful of brandy, he pointed the glass in the woman's direction, then swallowed. "Sunny, this is my little sister, Ferina."

A goddess of a demoness rimmed the edge of the picnic blanket, taking a good long, scrutinizing look at me.

"Well, forgive me for wanting to get to know my ‘soon to be sister-in-law'." Her lips pursed, as she tossed her flowing, golden hair behind her shoulder. She seemed to take offense at Malek's jab.

At just under six feet tall, her gray skin was a shade or two lighter than Malek's. Her tiny button nose contrasted her large, crystal blue eyes, making them appear even bigger than they were. Her cheeks were sharp as diamonds. Though her build was muscular, she had a tiny waist, broad shoulders and legs long enough to scale a fence. Her makeup was immaculate with jewelry decorating every inch of her.

She looked as though she were popping in before gracing a runway with her regal and confident presence.

The real showstopper though was her insanely wide hips. I couldn't stop staring at them. Her baby blue sundress hugged her perfect hourglass figure, its hem flittering like butterfly wings as she stepped onto the blanket.

"Are those black forest ham and goat cheese sandwiches?" She squealed in delight before falling to her knees and tearing into the sandwiches.

"Ferina. We're in the middle of a date," Malek snarled, his eyes squinted to slits.

"Then you shouldn't have ordered my favorite food. I could smell the goat cheese from the palace." She downed six sandwiches in a single bite. Then, she turned her eyes to the red wine bottle on her right. Sticking her claw into the cap she popped it open and downed the bottle.

"Ferina, slow down. You'll make Sunny think I've been starving you." Malek said .

"Me? As if you could starve me." Ferina giggled, wiping a drip of wine from her lip without smudging her red lipstick. "But I wouldn't want to intrude on your date. Not if it will offend your lady."

Her head slowly turned as she gave me the puppy dog pout, fluttering lashes and all.

"No, no! Help yourself. You should see what I do to BBQ bacon cheeseburgers that get too close to my mouth." I showed her my palms. "Also, you didn't ask, but I absolutely love your outfit."

"Really?" She gripped her dress's hem, perusing the silky fabric. "Consider it yours. And if you're into burgers, have you ever had the burger bomb at T.M.I. Spunkies? The ones with the fried onion bits on top."

"I'd love the dress, but I don't have the figure for it. And I've seen their commercials and always wanted to try it, but my pack was never allowed in human owned franchises."

She stared at me in stunned silence, wine glass in hand. Malek joined his sister's with a look of absolute awe on his face.

"Clearly your pack didn't allow mirrors either." Malek palmed his forehead dramatically. "My bride is unaware of her own beauty. By the gods! Those foolish he-wolves must be blind to have allowed a woman of your caliber to remain unaware of her own mouth watering physique."

"Wow, Mally. I didn't know you were such a sweet talker." She said.

"You've never seen me around my bride." He replied.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand." Ferina daintily set herself on the blanket, delicately folding her legs gracefully to the left.

"I don't know what hell you were living through before…" She wiped a fake tear from her eye and gave a dramatic shrug, "but now that we're friends, you won't have to suffer through another night without a TMI burger. That's a promise."

Ferina crossed a hand over her heart like she was making a pledge.

"We're friends? Just like that?" I asked .

"Darling, of course, we are!" She exclaimed as if the answer were obvious. "Plus, you're about to be queen. I don't want you kicking me out of your palace." She giggled while pouring herself a glass of wine.

Honest and kind, I liked Ferina. She was funny, loved to eat and had a good soul. She was exactly the kind of woman I wanted to be friends with. But being her queen wasn't in the cards for me. My one and only goal had to be to stop Malek's war plans, but that didn't mean I couldn't have a little fun and make a few friends along the way.

The three of us chatted for a while with Ferina dominating the conversation. It was fun getting to know Malek and his sister at the same time. Malek really dropped his guard and showed more vulnerability with his sister here.

At a certain point, Malek and I simply allowed her to speak uninterrupted. Ferina had so many fascinating stories to tell and Malek and I laughed our way through all of them.

However, the only stories she shared so far were centered on just about every demon in the kingdom except the one I was interested in most, Malek.

Ferina elaborated about a demon named Greenwich and how he got drunk and leveled the Demon City's largest movie theater last week.

She told the story as theatrically as she could, simulating the sounds of crackling concrete with her mouth. My eyes diverted to Malek.

His gaze caressed the skin along my midsection and thighs. He'd long stopped paying attention to Ferina's story. He was so captivated by my thighs you'd think there was a tv screen there.

Suddenly his head jerked to face Ferina and he scowled at her, with one brow arched high. "Of course you'd tell her that. Anything to bring your brother down a peg."

"Well, isn't that a little sister's job? It's my prerogative to make my big brother uncomfortable sometimes," she shrugged innocently.

"Wait, what did you say about him?" I asked .

"Father of all Demons," she boasted, puffing out her chest and pointing at Malek. "That's what they call Mally from the Pacific to the Atlantic. But that's just flattery." She waved a dismissive hand. "Yes, he did create most of the demon horde in the underworld and almost all of the demons in Demon City. But he didn't create all demons. Our parents are the ones who created many of the most powerful demons, and that was thousands of years ago."

"Are you satisfied now?" Malek shook his head. "Now that you've made me sound less impressive to my bride?"

"That makes sense though, someone had to create both of you." I surmised, turning my head from one sibling to the other. "Were your parents also Demon Gods? Are they still around? And exactly how old are the both of you anyway?"

Malek gave his sister a warning look and she seemed to consider just how far she was willing to push her brother's buttons today. A bead of sweat rushed down her face as Malek's expression grew more rigid.

There was a silent agreement between them, things they agreed not to discuss, at least not in front of me.

"Well, is it five already?" Ferina took a quick look at her watch. Pouring herself a final glass of wine down her throat with one large swallow, she said, "I promised Pauletta I would help her move her new couch onto her upstairs veranda before sundown."

Ferina started to leave but after glancing at some nearby trees, she changed her mind, sat back down and returned her legs to where they were folded a second ago.

"Paulette can wait a few more minutes." Ferina rubbed her hands together as a male butler wearing a black and white suit, popped out from behind the trees. He dutifully walked toward the blanket, carrying a covered silver tray in front of him.

"That's strange, I thought we'd already gotten everything I ordered." Malek perused the blanket. "That's right, we didn't get the teaberry ice cream yet. That must be it now. "

"Is that the ice cream?" Malek asked the butler, but he didn't answer.

"Did Sam send you?" Malek asked, and once again, his question fell on deaf ears. But this time, the butler speeds up his pace.

Malek sniffed the air and angry ridges formed on his nose as fury blazed in his eyes. He grabbed my arm, gripping it tight and drawing me closer to him.

"Ferina, do you smell that?" Malek's sharp fangs now peeked out from between his lips as he stared down the approaching servant.

"What's going on?" I didn't smell anything strange, but I wasn't exposed to as wide a range of scents as Malek or Ferina given our age differences and my isolated upbringings.

Ferina's eyes went wide as realization seemed to set it.

In an instant, the strange scent hit my nose with full force and Mellow went on high alert. It smelled like a mixture of magical hyssop, valerian and comfrey. Plants used by mages.

"I'm guessing that's not the ice cream," I said.

Malek's answer was to pull me into the protection of his chest and bark at the stranger, "What's your business here? Put the tray down and don't come a single step closer or it'll be your last."

The stranger removed the silver cover from the tray, tossing it aside. A small, purple, sparkling rock sat on the plate. He halted six feet from the blanket's edge and I thought he meant to throw the stone at us, but instead, he tossed it into his mouth and swallowed it. "I have a message from the Grand High Mage. Go back to the underworld, Demon!"

Hearing more than enough, Malek shot to his feet, sweeping me up into his arms. Ferina moved so quickly her feet made a blur as the three of us scrambled away from the stranger.

Stretching out his open palms in front of himself, the stranger rendered a radiant blast of purple energy. The beam spewed from his palm like water from a hose, and it was headed for Malek and I .

"Malek, look out!" Ferina screamed.

Everything happened so quickly, I didn't have the time to shift. Even if I did, I couldn't outrun a blast with that kind of force behind it.

Knowing he, too, couldn't outrun it, Malek did the best he could. He squeezed me tight, shielding my body with his larger, sturdier one, holding me so tight there was no room to breathe, let alone move. In the split second I had until impact, I did the only thing I could, prepare for pain.