Chapter 14

ChapterFourteen

It shouldn’t be so thrilling to run from him. Varya shouldn’t feel a little zing of excitement as she raced down the alleyway and into the next. He was a demon hunting her. She’d heard the words he’d told his guards.

He would not let her go this time. She was certain of it. The desire to control her had been right there in his eyes the moment he’d realized who was standing in the crowd.

He was dangerous. A beast wearing the clothes of a man and she knew just how little equipped she was to handle him. He’d let her go the last time he’d seen her, but he wasn’t likely to make that mistake a second time.

Feet slamming on the ground, she forced her thighs to work through the burn of running in sand. She had to get away from him, or maybe she just wanted to see how long he’d chase her.

Mere heartbeats later, she could hear him. His booted feet made quick work of the distance between them, as though he was made to run through sand like this. She’d thought he would be a lazy king, one who stayed in his castle and never once came out to see all those he ruled. She’d thought that she had gotten the better of him, shouting that he was a terrible ruler who had left his people to thirst and hunger.

But he’d... surprised her. Just as he surprised her now with his speed and agility as he raced through the buildings after her.

A low growl struck her spine, and she felt him reaching for her. Clawed hands already outstretched. But she was faster than this. She could prove herself a little more before he ever laid a hand on her.

She spun down the next alleyway, but she didn’t really know where she was going. Varya wasn’t even supposed to be here in this tiny town without a name. She’d been coming back from watching the Horde’s movements, as the group had apparently gotten wind that she’d stolen the Goblet of Eternity.

Then she’d seen him. Greed and his two guards. Not nearly enough protection for a man who had already fallen once to the Horde. And something in her gut said to follow him. To make sure that his guards did their job this time, just in case. What if she had to help him again, because no one else would risk their neck for such a fool?

And now, here she was. Running away from him down alleyways that were growing tighter and tighter the more she ran.

Until she found herself staring at a dead end.

Breathing hard, she looked around, searching for whatever details she might use to her advantage. But there were no laundry lines, nothing other than three tall stone walls on either side of her. No crates. No windows. Nowhere for her to go.

He seemed to know that.

Another growl echoed from behind her as the predator stalked his prey. She stood still, her back to him. Varya flexed her hands at her sides, promising herself that she would not, under any circumstances, show fear. He didn’t deserve to win her fear after chasing her through the streets like that.

It wasn’t fear that made her chest feel hot and her cheeks burn. It was a flash of memory that nearly brought her to her knees.

A warm tongue between her thighs, strong hands holding her down as she wriggled against him, the sound of his groans as he’d tasted her for the first time. And then it was like she was right there again. His warm breath fanning down her neck, a heated palm touching her belly and pulling her against a muscular chest that was as still as the sand on a windless day.

He lowered his lips to her ear, and a shiver traveled down her spine. Gooseflesh rose all over her body, and she wanted to beg him to touch her again. Just as he had before.

This was all so stupid. He was a demon king and she shouldn’t want him in the slightest, but she had been so lonely for such a long time. Would it be all that bad to let him touch her? She didn’t have to go on all these adventures and dangerous supply runs and seek all the magical artifacts she could find when he was right here. Wanting to give.

And she wanted to take.

She leaned her head back until she could feel his chest against the back of her head. He inhaled, and she knew he was dragging her scent into his nose. Delicately, slowly, she turned her head to the side until the long length of her bare neck was available for his lips.

He did not disappoint. Greed trailed kisses up her throat until he growled in her ear, “So, treasure? How much do I need to punish you?”

Of course he would bring that up. Her cheeks flamed even darker red, and she didn’t want to tell him anything, but found herself saying, “No need for punishment.”

He froze, every muscle in his body seeming to seize against hers. Stiff and voice deeper than she’d ever heard it, he said, “Two whole weeks since I’ve seen you, and you tell me not at all?”

“You told me not to,” Varya replied. And because she wanted to see how much power she had in this situation, she added, “I listened to my king’s demands.”

And oh, his entire body shuddered behind her. She felt it travel through him, how he shook beneath her with barely contained need.

She had more power here than she expected. If she was right, then she could put this demon king on his knees at any point, and he would do exactly what she said. Greed wanted to pretend like he was in control. He wanted to order her around and whisper filthy things in her ears, but that was because he wanted her to have all the power in this. He wanted her to command his attention so that when he desired to feast, he could.

Why did that tempt her so?

She wanted to turn around in his arms and wrap herself around him. She wanted to push his shoulders down and force him to finish what he’d started because he had left her in a state of near constant arousal since that damned tomb they’d raided. He had consumed her mind and body and all sense of reason because she wanted him.

Blowing out a breath, she tried to calm her mind and all the desire. Think, Varya, she thought to herself. Why was she even here in the first place?

“Were you looking for me?” he muttered against her neck.

She opened her mouth to answer, but all that came out was a groan as he dragged his tongue up her neck. His lips closed on her earlobe, gently biting and distracting her from whatever she might have said.

“I…”

His hands clenched around her waist, and she thought for a moment he might spin her around. Instead, he growled, “You what, treasure?”

Varya swallowed hard. What had she been thinking? Saying? She couldn’t quite remember, but all she knew was that he was sliding his hands up her sides and it felt so wonderful.

His hands cupped her breasts, and even through her leather armor, she could feel the heat of his palms. He squeezed gently, and then growled again, “Varya, you’re supposed to answer me when I ask you a question. Yes?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I was following the Horde when I saw you and your riders. I followed you because I wasn’t sure why you were here when the Horde was here as well.”

“Were you going to protect me again?” He walked her forward toward the wall. “What a feral woman you are.”

“Well, no one else was going to do it,” she snapped. Varya slammed her hands to the stone before he planted her face first into it. And though she had thought he was being careless, she realized with his groan of pleasure that he’d put her right where he wanted her.

Hands against the rock, slightly bent forward. Her breath skipped as he kicked her legs into a wider stance. Was that the sound of his belt? Surely not. He wouldn’t take her right here where anyone could find them?

Or maybe he would. Maybe he would press himself inside her, plundering every part of her body and soul before the entire township that he had just saved. Because she asked him to. Because she had said they needed water.

Greed ground against her, but he’d kept his pants on. His stiff cock pressed between her thighs with all the impossible weight and bulk of a demon.

“I told you what I wanted,” he said, leaning over her to nip again at her ear. “But, my treasure, you have to want it just as bad. I want to hear you say it. I want to hear you beg for me.”

Biting her lip, she rocked back against him. The friction was incredible against the leather of her armor and whatever he was wearing. She didn’t care. Right now she just needed him to move, to do something other than press himself against her and not move.

“You seem frustrated, treasure.” He rocked again, his hips pressed flush against hers. Almost too hard. “You have to ask me for what you want, remember? Ask and I will give you the world at your feet.”

She wanted that. Yes. She wanted the world at her feet.

Spinning around, she turned in his arms to face him. To force him to look into her eyes as he said these wonderful things because she didn’t quite believe him. How could she?

Greed was a demon king. He had left this kingdom to rot on its own while he lived in the only oasis in the entire kingdom that still survived. He couldn’t want her, a wandering adventurer who had never settled down with anyone. And he certainly didn’t want a woman who could only give him a small amount of who she was.

He was Greed. If she gave him an inch, he would take a mile, because he would want everything she had to give him.

Varya slid her hand up between them, gently touching all those hard planes of muscle that were so tempting. He was a man made for sex. A sledgehammer of pleasure that took out any woman he wanted in front of him. All she had to do was let go.

Still, she touched his close cropped red beard, tangling her fingers in the surprisingly soft hair. Tugging hard, she pulled him closer to her.

Her lips ghosting over his, she whispered the words against his skin. “I will ask you for nothing, Greed. You are going to give it all to me of your own free will. I will take from you all that I desire, and you will not complain.”

“I do not give anyone anything,” he snarled against her lips. “I am Greed. I will have you as I wish, when I wish, and how I wish.”

“Yes, you can have all that.” Varya pressed her lips to his, hard enough to bruise, and then wrenched back. “But I will take as well, demon king. I will take from you just as much as you take from me.”

He almost looked frightened at her words, but then something in him snapped.

His hands scooped down to her ass, lifting her up into the palms of his hands as he thrust her back against the wall. This high, he pressed against her core perfectly. Her face reached his where her legs had once been too short. Tunneling her hands into his fiery hair, she kissed him. Fierce and proud and giving no quarter when he tried to take from her.

All that passion, pain, and need coursed between them. Arcing back and forth like they’d both been struck by lightning.

He ground himself into her core until she felt herself slipping against the leather, soaking wet and needing him inside her.

“Aye, then,” he growled into her lungs. “Take from me, treasure.”

Hooking her ankles behind his back, she threw all her worries to the wind. It didn’t matter who he was or who she was. All she wanted was to lick and bite and fuck him until neither of them remembered words.

Trapping his lower lip between her teeth, she bit at him while he reached between them. His big hand worked between her legs before he let out a hiss. “Why are these still on?”

“Are you really going to fuck me in an alley for the first time?”

He bit her neck, his teeth grazing hard against her skin. “I’ll fuck you wherever I want, treasure. Against a stone wall and between cool silk sheets.”

She melted at the words. Her head fell back as he laved at her neck, his fingers making quick work of the ties between her legs. He was almost frantic in his movements as she rolled her hips against his to urge him on.

She wanted this. Gods, she wanted to feel like someone other than who she really was for a few moments.

Neither of them heard the faint sound of smoke hissing from a magical canister. But she felt him sag against her, then stagger a bit. And even though he was weakened by whatever spell had been thrown at him, Greed never once released his grip on her. He let her legs go gently, easing her down until she could stand on her own.

“What trap did you lay for me?” he asked, his words slurred.

She hoped he was looking at her face when she looked up and saw shadows moving toward him. She hoped he realized that terror ran through her veins as she recognized the faces that grinned at her.

“Greed,” she whispered. “Where are your guards?”

He shook his head like a massive lion, his hair a mane around his head as he struggled to stay upright. “Close.”

“Good. That’s good.”

Because she’d come here knowing that the Horde would try to attack him again. She’d felt it deep in her bones that they were going to do something that would make her need to protect this man. Greed had done what she’d asked, even though she hadn’t really asked for anything.

This was just one town. But now they had water, and that was because of him.

Tilting her head back, she let out a scream that they must have heard all the way at the other end of the town. Lunging around Greed, she ran right for the members of the Horde who had come here.

Perhaps they had already intended to steal from this town. Maybe they wanted to pick on people who couldn’t defend themselves. Or maybe they’d been hunting her. She didn’t care. Whatever it was they wanted, she would divert them from the demon king, who already fell onto his knees in the mist.

Whatever spell this was, she would destroy it soon enough. No one should have the ability to knock a man like him out.

Dodging underneath the arm of the first, she whirled around the second. Varya cast a single glance back toward Greed who had struggled to turn around and watch her go. And when one of the Horde members approached him, she let a knife fly. Embedded in the man’s back, it did its job.

The Horde was distracted just enough for Greed’s guards to meet her at the end of the alleyway. They didn’t look at her at all. They raced toward their master and then stood over him, teeth bared and knives gleaming in the sunlight.

He looked up at her, his eyes unfocused and his face pale. But he still snarled and his voice rumbled as he said, “Touch her and die.”

She sprinted toward another alley, but there were more Horde members there as well. The sands were up to her knees now. She must be close to the edge of the city that was soon to be swallowed up by the desert.

Nowhere to run.

Turning, she palmed her remaining knife and crouched low. Counting under her breath, she estimated there were at least six of them. Then more came out of another alley.

A smaller figure approached her and tugged its hood down. The woman was terrifying. Broad features covered in scarification patterns, some circles, some lines, all making her sand blasted skin look horribly wounded. Her vibrant blue eyes met Varya’s and she spat on the ground.

“You ruined our hunt,” the woman snarled. “Now you will pay for that.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Varya snarled.

She didn’t hear the man approaching from behind her. And she only barely felt the pound of pain against the back of her skull before the world went dark.