Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

" B egone! "

Malissa shouted the word with all her might, not in her own native language, but in the elder tongue in which her mother's spellbook was written. She'd long been proficient in reading and writing the ancient runes. Over the past few weeks she had spent a great deal of time perfecting her pronunciation of the arcane language too.

Now, those many hours of practice paid off.

The demon's grip on her body loosened, his fingers slipped away from her skin, and his glowing orange eyes—the only part of him Malissa could actually see—dimmed and went out. There was a faint sucking sound, like a sudden inhalation of air drawn between clenched teeth, and then, just like that, the demon was gone.

Of course, Malissa couldn't actually see that he was gone—she hadn't been able to see that he was there in the first place, aside from those terrifying eyes—but she could sense it. The dark entity had been banished, of that she was certain.

That didn't stop her from leaving the circle as quickly as possible.

With a startled gasp, she stumbled backward in fear. Her bare feet slipped on the soggy grass, her balance faltered, and before she knew what was happening, she was tumbling backward onto the ground. Above her, the stars in the night sky seemed to whirl dizzily, and then…

All was still and quiet.

Malissa was lying naked on her back in the moist grass, heart racing, breasts heaving with each labored breath.

She was safe.

She had escaped the demon's grasp.

Yet as Malissa's fear gradually receded, a feeling of uncertainty swept over her. Had she done the right thing? The demon had grabbed her, and his grabbing had not been gentle… but neither had it been excessively rough. He had not harmed her, though he undoubtedly could have. Her arms bore no bruises from where his fingers had squeezed her, no cuts from his sharp claws.

And she was right back in the same position she'd been in before. She still needed the demon's help. She still needed his seed. Her very survival depended on it.

Only now she had angered the one individual who could help her.

Heavenly Creator, what had she done?

Malissa sat up. Her heart was pounding again. Her mind was churning as she tried to think of what to do next.

She could return tomorrow night, as she had originally planned to do. Perhaps the demon's anger would have cooled by then. Surely he would not turn down the opportunity to breed her. And he definitely wouldn't turn down the freedom which that breeding would buy for him.

Would he?

He was a demon. He had rebelled against the Creator himself, knowing full well it was a battle he could never win. Perhaps he would be willing to accept another thousand years of imprisonment simply to spite a little human queen who had spurned him.

Damn.

Damn, damn, damn…

Malissa shoved herself to her feet and quickly raced around the darkstone ring to the place where the grimoire lay. With trembling hands, she picked it up and flipped through the yellowed pages until she found the start of the summoning spell. She looked up briefly to make sure all five of the candles were still lit. Then she started to read. She was so nervous, it took her three tries before she finally managed to get all the way through the incantation without an error.

When it was over, she called out weakly to the empty space within the ring.

"Beliath?"

There was no answer, but she knew the demon was there. She could sense his invisible presence glowering at her from the center of the circle of containment.

"I'm sorry," she stammered. "I—I shouldn't have banished you like that. It was very… very rude of me. It's just that I got startled, that's all."

Still nothing.

Malissa knew from experience that the demon enjoyed making her wait. She had already summoned him twice before, and both times he had toyed with her in a similar fashion. Only this time, Malissa sensed he was not playing around.

He was angry with her. Very angry.

"If you give me a second chance," Malissa said, "I won't do it again. I… I promise ."

Silence.

"Please," she said, her voice cracking with desperation. "Please don't be angry with me, Beliath. I—"

She almost said, I'll do anything, but she caught herself at the last moment.

At last, the demon spoke.

"I'm not angry with you, my little queen. I am merely enjoying the view ."

Malissa immediately realized what he was referring to. She was using her hands to hold the grimoire, which meant that her naked breasts and loins were fully exposed to the demon's watching eyes. She experienced a surge of embarrassment, and nearly dropped the book in her rush to cover herself, but she forced herself to set it down carefully, atop her spread out gown, before standing up again with her arms and hands covering the parts of her body she didn't want the demon to see.

Beliath clucked his tongue.

"So modest," he said mockingly. "But to what end? I've already seen all your body has to offer, and I'll see it all again very soon. I'll feel it too. Tomorrow night, those bountiful breasts will be in my hands, and that pretty little cunt will be stuffed full of my hard cock. What's the point in hiding those things from me now?"

Malissa ignored the demon's foul language. She was more interested in the implication of his words.

"So you will still… breed me?" she asked.

"Of course," Beliath answered, and even though she could not see him, Malissa could hear the smirk in his voice. "But there's still the matter of the payment which you owe me tonight."

"A kiss," Malissa said.

"Ah, but the price has gone up."

"It has?"

"It has. To be precise, it has tripled. You now owe me three kisses."

"But that's not fair!" Malissa half shouted. "You said—"

"I know what I said, woman, but you betrayed our agreement by banishing me before I could get what I wanted. You do not wish to anger me further, do you?"

"You just said you weren't angry," Malissa countered.

The demon chuckled again, but this time there was no mirth in the sound, only menace.

"I may be the one trapped inside the circle, woman, but you're the one whose life is at stake. Tomorrow night, we will mate. There are many ways that can transpire. Some of them are pleasurable, some are not. If you wish to get on my good side again, you can start by paying what you owe me—three kisses."

This time, Malissa didn't hesitate. She knew if she did, even for a moment, she might never set foot inside the circle again. And Beliath was right, her life was at stake here. She needed him to mate with her, and she wanted it to go well.

But that wasn't the only reason.

The truth was, deep down in a part of herself she didn't want to admit existed, Malissa wanted to be inside the circle with Beliath. She wanted to feel his powerful hands holding her again, wanted to feel his hard muscles pressing against her bare skin, wanted to feel the rigid length of his arousal—an arousal which she herself had conjured.

But more than anything, she wanted once more to feel that fiery thrill of excitement that came with ceding all control, that terrifying jolt of knowing her very life was in the demon's hands.

She got all those things and much, much more.

This time, when she stepped inside the circle, Beliath didn't just seize her with his hands. He held her with his wings as well. Malissa couldn't see them, but she could feel their leathery webs encircling her body like a warm cocoon, drawing her tightly against the demon's hard muscles and even harder erection. Above her, his eyes blazed twice as brightly as before. Her breath caught. Her heart skipped. Fear and excitement writhed through her like a pair of tangled serpents mating. She could feel the word of banishment welling up inside her throat, but she managed to choke it back long enough for Beliath's mouth to come crashing down against hers.

After that, the matter was settled.

Malissa had thought she'd been kissed twice before in her life. Now she realized she was wrong. What she'd experienced on those previous occasions had been nothing but a touching of lips. What the demon was doing to her was so much more than that. The effects of it could be felt all through her entire body, not just at her mouth, where the demon was claiming her, but all the way down to the tips of her toes, which were curling and scrunching against the soft grass beneath her feet.

Beliath's hands released her arms and slid around behind her to squeeze her backside while he kissed her. Malissa's hands went to his broad chest, her nails digging at the hard, thick slabs of muscle there. Her lips parted for him, and his tongue—his forked tongue—slipped inside her mouth.

When Beliath finally pulled back, Malissa was left flushed and gasping for air.

"One," the demon purred.

Before Malissa had a chance to catch her breath, she felt her entire body rising off the ground. Beliath's hands were still clamped firmly on her rump, and he was picking her up, lifting her until her eyes were level with his own, then lifting her even higher than that.

Instinctively, Malissa braced her hands against where she thought his shoulders must be, and she opened her legs, hooking her knees around his hips. The tip of his engorged penis grazed against her throbbing clitoris, causing her to gasp in shock and pleasure.

"Beliath, what are you—"

Before she could get the question out, Beliath wrapped his lips around her left nipple and sucked it deep inside his mouth, along with an ample portion of her breast. When Malissa looked down, she could see her areola glistening with saliva, and she could see her erect nipple twitching up and down as the demon laved it with his invisible tongue.

"Oh heavenly Creator," she murmured.

She could make this all stop in an instant if she wanted. She could utter the word of banishment, just as she had done earlier, the first time she'd stepped into the ring with Beliath.

But Malissa wasn't about to do that again. She told herself she didn't want to anger the demon a second time. She reminded herself she needed his help if she wanted to survive til year's end. She was grateful for those excuses. They allowed her to feel a little less sinful.

At last, Beliath pulled his lips away from her with a loud pop, leaving her nipple swollen, throbbing, and wet.

"Two," he said.

The hands on her rump lifted her higher. The sensation was disconcerting, like hovering in mid air. Malissa felt as though she was going to topple backward at any moment, and she let out a startled squeal that echoed off the pillars of the darkstone ring and the dark forest beyond.

Her hands flailed, grasping for something, anything to hold on to. Her fingers closed around two invisible handles, hard, curving, and ribbed.

Heavenly Creator… she was clutching the demon's horns!

Beliath worked his broad shoulders beneath her thighs and dragged her hips forward until she could feel his hot breath stirring her pubic hair. Then, with a snarl, he pressed his face into her and planted his third and final kiss upon the lips between her legs.

"Beliath!" she squealed.

The kiss deepened. The demon's lips suckled her aching clitoris. His teeth nibbled. His flexible tongue danced and undulated, sending waves of raw heat and pleasure emanating all through her core.

And Malissa, heaven forgive her, she kissed him back as best she could.

She pressed herself into him, rolling her hips, grinding her wet need against the demon's hungry mouth, begging him with her body, begging him for the release which she could feel mounting within her.

When it finally came, it was like a bolt from the heavens, searing her from head to toe with pure, devastating pleasure. She whipped her head back and circled her lips in a silent scream as the climax shuddered through her. Even after the orgasm had subsided, the demon didn't stop kissing her. He kept his lips pressed firmly to hers as he slowly lowered her down. Only when she was resting on the altar did Beliath finally lift his face from between her shuddering legs.

Malissa still couldn't see him, but she could see the shape of his mouth coated in the glistening wetness that had leaked out of her. She watched as those spectral lips slowly spread into a wicked, wicked grin.

"Three."

"More," Malissa gasped.

Beliath laughed and licked his lips clean. To Malissa, it appeared as if the floating, liquid mouth simply disappeared in one circular swipe of a long but invisible tongue. The eyes were still there, though—the glowing orange cat's eyes hovering in mid air.

"If you want more," Beliath said. "You'll have to come back tomorrow night."

"No!" Malissa snarled, half mad with desire. "I want it now! "

Her muscles were weak from her climax, but she managed to clumsily push herself into a kneeling position. The demon must have been kneeling as well, because his eyes were not too much higher than the level of Malissa's own, and when she flung herself toward him, her hands came down upon the huge, powerful muscles of his thighs.

That meant his cock was right there between them. Malissa couldn't see it, but she knew it was there, and she knew it was hard.

She shivered with lust.

She wanted to pleasure the demon the way he had just pleasured her. She wanted to make him come with her lips and her tongue, the same way he had just made her come. She wanted him to do it inside her mouth, wanted to taste it, wanted to swallow it.

With a hungry moan, she parted her lips and bowed her face toward Beliath's lap. Her tongue extended from her open mouth, seeking the demon's hard arousal.

Before she could find it, a hand seized her hair and tugged her head back, making her gasp with surprise and a bit of pain.

"Tomorrow," the demon purred.

"Beliath, please," Malissa whined. "Please, I want to taste y—"

" Begone! "

The hand holding her hair went away. So did the hard thighs supporting her hands. She fell forward, and her palms hit the ground.

The demon had banished himself.

Malissa was alone.