Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

M alissa did as the demon said, and rolled over onto her front. Her belly was still small enough for her to do so comfortably. The stone altar felt smooth beneath her, and its surface was warm from the sunlight and her own intense body heat.

She sensed that the crisis was over. The pain was gone now, and the baby seemed to have settled down inside her. Beliath had told her everything was going to be alright. A few minutes ago she would not have believed him, but now she did.

It was his voice that had changed her mind.

During her ride through the forest, Malissa had somehow convinced herself that Beliath was responsible for whatever was happening to her baby. But when he had yelled at her, she had heard the very real desperation in his voice. Even the most skillful of liars could not fake that kind of emotion. She had known then that Beliath was telling the truth, and that he was genuinely concerned about their child.

Their child.

Heavenly Creator, that phrase made her feel good. The child was not simply hers alone. It was hers and his—the demon's child—and he was going to do everything in his power to protect it. He had used his magic to remove the poison from her body, and now he was going to use his power to heal the damage that had been done.

But first, he needed to feed upon her pleasure.

Malissa wasn't sure exactly what the demon had in mind, but she was willing to do whatever was required to save their baby. She was not in the mood for sex, but she would gladly let the demon have sex with her if it would help. She was willing to get down on her knees and service him for hours if necessary. She was willing to let him defile her in the most unholy ways imaginable.

She was willing to do anything, anything at all.

"Are you comfortable, little one?" Beliath's voice was surprisingly soft and gentle. Malissa had never heard him speak to her like that before. She couldn't deny, she liked the way it sounded, the way it felt —like a warm, soft breeze caressing her bare skin. "Perhaps you would like to fetch your gown to lie upon?"

"No, thank you," she answered.

The truth was, she liked how solid the stone altar felt beneath her. After everything she'd just been through, she needed that solidity.

"Very well," the demon said. "Let us begin."

He swept Malissa's hair away from her back. Then he placed his huge hands atop her shoulders and started to knead her muscles the way a baker might knead a piece of dough.

His claws, Malissa realized, were like the claws of a cat; he could extend them or retract them at will. Currently, they were retracted, to keep from cutting her while he rubbed her shoulders. There was a part of her—a dark, twisted part—that wished he would extend those claws a little, just so she could feel how sharp they were.

But the rubbing felt good. Really good. No one had ever massaged her like that before, and she hadn't realized until this moment how much she truly needed it. She was tense, not just from today's barely-averted disaster, but also from the past several months she had spent living in constant fear of what her husband would do to her if she didn't give him an heir. She had more knots than the rigging of a ship, but the demon's skillful fingers undid all of them, leaving her muscles feeling loose and relaxed in their wake.

"Does that feel good, angel?" the demon asked.

"It feels incredible."

Beliath purred softly as he worked his way down her body, massaging muscles Malissa didn't even know she had. He found all of her pressure points, and he dug into them, gently at first, then firmly. Malissa moaned softly in response.

This pleasure was different from the hard, deep rutting the demon usually subjected her to. The release didn't come all at once like an explosion. Instead, it swept through her by slow degrees, a tide of relaxation gradually washing over her body. By the time his hands reached her lower back, she was drifting on the edge of sleep.

Then his hands moved to her rump, and she woke up.

He gave that part of her extra attention, and Malissa was grateful for it. Her buttocks were perhaps the largest muscles in her whole body, and there was a lot of tension stored there, but Beliath got rid of all of it.

Several times, his fingertips found their way into her cleft, grazing softly across the sensitive rim of her anus. Each time that happened, Malissa gasped lightly. She almost wished one of those fingers would enter her forbidden hole. Almost.

But that didn't happen. The hands moved on, massaging the backs of her thighs, then her calves, and finally her feet.

When he was finished, the demon came around to the front of the altar and stroked her head.

"How do you feel, Malissa?"

"I feel good," she said sleepily, "but will it be enough?"

"It will. Roll over again."

It was a command, but it was issued gently. Malissa obeyed and rolled onto her back. Above her the sky was clear and blue, and she had to lift one arm to shade her eyes from the sun.

Beliath closed his own eyes and laid his hands across her belly. He held them there for several minutes, occasionally grunting softly to himself, as if he were listening to a voice only he could hear. At last he opened his eyes again.

"Did it work?" Malissa asked.

"It did. Our child is healed. He is well, and there will be no lasting damage."

Malissa felt fresh tears filling her eyes, but this time they were tears of joy. She was glad she had come to the darkstone ring rather than going to Dr. Jaeger. If she had done that, her baby would not have survived.

She sat up on the stone altar and looked up at the great, horned monster towering above her. His obsidian skin and batlike wings looked out of place in broad daylight.

Out of place, but incredibly handsome.

"Kiss me," Malissa said.

This time, it was the demon's turn to obey. He bent his face to hers, and their lips met in a slow, soft kiss that seemed to reach all the way to the deepest parts of Malissa's femininity. She felt something long and hard pressing against her thigh. She could also feel wetness leaking between her legs. A lot of wetness. It had started at some point during the massage.

At first, she was ashamed. This hardly seemed like an appropriate time for arousal. Then again, in some ways, it was the perfect time. Beliath had saved their child—the child which he himself had put inside her. He was a mate who could care for both her and her baby in a way no mortal man ever could. It was only natural that her body would wish to make more babies with such a protective and capable male, even though it would be several more months before that was actually possible.

"I wish I could do something to thank you," Malissa said, curling her fingers around his hard shaft.

"You do not need to thank me, angel. The child is mine too."

"I know," Malissa said, stroking him "Still…"

Beliath smiled wickedly.

"Believe me, angel, there is nothing that would please me more than to hear the sweet sound of your throat gagging on my hard prick. However, now is not the time. You will surely be missed at the castle."

During their previous encounters, when they weren't busy rutting like two animals in heat, Malissa had told the demon a little about her life at Drachenval. He was right, of course. She needed to get back to the castle. Sneaking out at night was one thing. Leaving during the daylight hours was sure to attract attention. Especially considering Dr. Jaeger had forbidden her from riding while she was pregnant. She might have been the queen, but that didn't mean she could do as she pleased.

"I'll return," she said. "As soon as I can."

She dropped her eyes.

"Beliath, I… I'm sorry that I accused you before. I shouldn't have said those things. It's just that I was so frightened. I didn't know what was happening to the baby, and—"

Beliath lifted her chin with his finger.

"You do not need to apologize to me," he said. "But you must be careful, Malissa. Someone at Drachenval wants our baby dead. They tried once. They may try again."

"I won't let them. From now on, I'll only eat food that I've seen prepared with my own eyes."

She suddenly thought of Dr. Jaeger, and the nostrums he had been giving her.

"That's a good idea," Beliath said. "In addition to healing our baby, I have also placed a little spell of protection, to keep him safe from poison. However, I want you to return soon, sometime in the next few nights, so I can check and make sure everything is alright."

"I will," Malissa said. "I promise. But I need you to promise me something too."

"Anything, my angel."

"I want you to promise me that once you are free from this darkstone ring, you will help me find whoever tried to kill our baby, and you will make them suffer."

The demon smiled darkly.

"You have my word."