Claiming of a Sex Demon (7 page)

She took his hand and led him to the bedroom. He gently laid
her in bed and tucked the covers around her. “I’ll go get wood for the
fireplace.”

“I don’t need a fire. Just lay with me.”

He smiled for the first time since her brother had appeared.
Just the sight of his lips curving brought warmth to her heart. As he lay next
to her and tugged her close against him, she realized she just might survive
this after all. Maybe all the heartbreak would be worth it.

* * * *

The next morning, Emmerie woke up to an empty bed.
Out
getting wood.
The note from Reza made her smile. The man was determined to
do some manual labor. Truthfully, she hadn’t wanted Reza to cut wood, afraid Lennox
would realize Reza had been there all along.

Emmerie put her worries aside by getting into the shower.
The water poured down on her and the beads of liquid reminded her of being in
the lake with Reza. His hands had found the curves of her butt instantly, and
she’d never felt so wonton. He’d used her curves to pull her hard against his
thick manhood.

She shivered under the warm water. The erotic memories
caused her hand to find the space between her legs. She touched herself, examining
the folds of her womanhood as water cascaded down. As she navigated her core,
running her hand over her sensitive bud, she recalled the way Reza had tasted
her there. Emmerie’s core throbbed with need and she stopped touching herself. The
craving to have him in her arms was unbearable.

Through the soft hum of her shower, Emmerie heard the front
door shut. Reza was back. Turning off the water, Emmerie grabbed a towel and
wrapped it around her. She dashed through the house toward Reza. He saw her and
his face lit up. Emmerie melted at the white smile directed at her. As she
leapt into his arms, her towel fell to the ground.

Reza moaned as she attacked his lips with intense need.
“Good morning.” He returned her kiss and grasped her by the bottom, hoisting
her into his arms. His tongue explored her mouth, and she relished the way his
soft lips fit against her own. His teeth took her bottom lip captive. The sharp
incisors nibbled playfully, but then released her. “You’re the hottest woman
I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

The kiss intensified and Reza squeezed her cheeks, pushing
her back against a wall. Her breasts heaved against his chest. He had way too
many clothes on.

A familiar, tormented cry echoed through the house, the
figure unseen. “Emmerie? Are you home? I came as fast as I could. I found your
dagger.” The thunder of his approach came to a sudden halt. A blood-curdling
roar tore through the room.

With her back to the wall, Emmerie trembled as she took in
the sight of her husband. Lennox was over six-feet of well-muscled man. His
eyes were usually a bright aqua, but now she barely recognized them. His glare
was twisted with gray and resembled the steel he pounded into swords.

“Did that bastard do that to you?” Lennox’s voice had never
sounded so lethal, and Emmerie realized he’d noticed the bruise from days
before.

Emmerie was still in shock, but managed to shake her head.
She thought she heard herself whisper, “No.”

Reza set Emmerie down gently. He immediately placed himself
in front of Emmerie and turned toward Lennox. She held her breath, waiting for
the explosion of violence. Her husband glared at Reza for a moment before
disappearing out the front door.

“Wow.” Reza released a breath and turned toward her once
more. “I thought I was going to have to fight him off. You’re right. He is
quite gentle. I would have beaten me to a bloody pulp.” He tried to lighten her
mood, but it didn’t work. His thumb brought her chin up and his amber gaze
glowed with happiness. “Now I can have you all to myself.”

Emmerie opened her mouth to reply, but thunder shook the
room once more. Reza threw Emmerie to the ground and she watched in horror as
Lennox drove a sword through her lover’s gut.

“Reza!” Her world shattered.

Lennox’s eyes became pained daggers thrown at her with
lethal force. Emmerie watched his heart break. Then Lennox pulled the sword out
in a rough arc and Reza slumped to the floor, blood seeping from his wound. Emmerie
crawled toward Reza and pulled him into her arms. Her husband turned toward the
door once more. This time he was nothing more than a zombie with a bloodied
sword. Shifting her gaze back toward her love, unconscious in her arms, Emmerie
realized she’d not just destroyed one man, but two.

* * * *

Blood dripped to the ground from Lennox’s sword as he
charged into town. The raucous of the inn at morning time reached his ears. The
scent of roasting sausage and phoenix eggs wafted toward him, but he wasn’t
hungry. The metal door handle nearly crushed under his grip as the door swung
open. His sudden arrival had several patrons turning toward him. The small
children having breakfast at the inn looked upon him with wide eyes. But he was
numb to their reactions. Lennox strode toward Zamuel who was nursing whisky
mead at the bar.

“Serpent venom.” Lennox sat next to Zamuel at the bar and
growled at the bar.

“Serpent venom?” Zamuel groaned at the morbid request.
Everyone knew only someone having the day from hell ordered the thick green
liquid. “There’s blood dripping from your sword.”

“Tell me everything you know about sex demons.”

“Why is there blood dripping from your sword?”

“Tell me about the sex demon.”

“I don’t know much, just that they belong in hell. Lennox,
I’m sorry.”

The bartender returned with a shot of steamy green liquid.
Lennox grabbed hold and poured it down his throat. The serpent venom burned on
its way down, but didn’t compare to the heat of his rage boiling beneath his
skin.

“Where is he from?” His voice carried an ominous tone that
he’d never had to use before. He’d just stabbed someone. That was a recent
development too. But it didn’t satisfy the need within Lennox. The need for
revenge.

“I don’t know, brother.”

“Tell me!”

Kat slithered up behind them and laid a hand on both of
their shoulders. “I know where he’s from. His family lives in a town called
Sprecia. He’s been traveling for a month’s time.”

“Fucking every woman along the way.” Zamuel sneered,
slamming his mead down so that the mahogany foam splashed over the rim.

“Not every woman,” Megara grumbled nearby.

Lennox ignored the female to his left and focused on Kat,
who’d slept with the sex demon that night at the inn. “Tell me more. Are they
like us?”

“They need climax to survive. That’s why they’re so good in
bed.”

Before he knew it, his hand flew to Kat’s neck and squeezed
hard.

Zamuel leapt out of his chair. “Lennox, are you mad? Take
your hands off her.”

Reality sank in, and Lennox released Kat. He needed to get
out of town. Madness washed over his vision in a violent haze. He’d done
nothing to deserve this. The sex demon stole his happiness. The wound Lennox
inflicted was bad, but the vile creature would survive. Lennox would find a
much better way to exact revenge on the demon.

“Please tell me you didn’t use that on my sister.” Zamuel’s
voice quivered on the edge of rage. Lennox was too far gone to be offended. He
turned and exited in a calm rage. Lennox left for Sprecia.

Emmerie cradled Reza’s unconscious form in her arms and
wept. Her fingers were covered in hot, slippery blood as they moved to his neck
to check for a pulse. He was alive. She had to do something. Tears came harder
as she moved from under him and left him lying on the floor. He needed
bandages. She made her way to the closet and grabbed the dressings they kept
for wounds Lennox often accrued in the process of making his fine swords.

Emmerie rushed back to Reza, but slipped on the blood-soaked
floor. Her head slammed against the ground and her vision wobbled. Fuzzy white
stars hovered across her gaze, but she batted them away and challenged her
consciousness to remain intact.

Crawling back toward Reza, she tore his blood-soaked shirt
off of him. As she did so, more daunting crimson painted her hands. The damp
shirt fell to the ground like a mop. Emmerie struggled to pick Reza up enough
to begin wrapping the bandages around his torso. But her hands shook like those
of a coward, and he was too heavy for her to lift.

“Emmerie.” The worried voice of her brother came from the
front door, still open from Lennox’s rushed departure.

Shock and relief made her heart pound with hope. Realizing
she was still naked, Emmerie tried to shield her body from Zamuel’s eyes, but
knew how she looked. Her brother’s gaze widened at the blood-soaked mess in the
front room, but he rushed past her before saying anything more. Fresh tears
cascaded down her cheek. Her life was crumbling slowly before her eyes.

“Here, put this on.” Her brother wrapped a cloak around her
body. His hand tugged her away from a still bloody Reza. He grabbed hold of her
trembling chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “Are you okay?”

“No!” She screamed, and the bloodcurdling sound stilled the
blood in her veins and caused the tears to freeze in place.

“Where are you hurt?” Zamuel’s voice turned frantic and his
hand immediately searched the fabric for bloodstains. “Is that a bruise? God
damn it, who put this bruise on you?”

“Zamuel, I love him. Please, help me fix him.”

“Who hit you, Emmerie?”

“No one you know, Zamuel.” She sobbed. She wasn’t the one
who needed help. “Neither of them did this.”

Shadows passed through her brother’s gaze, and Emmerie knew
she’d be alone, and perhaps unable to save Reza.

“Get more bandages. Do you have any quetzalem blood?”

She shook her head. They didn’t have anything in the house
that would help cleanse the wound. They didn’t even keep whisky. All she had
was the mulled wine.

Her brother lifted the bandages to check the wound before
applying pressure to the area once more. “The bleeding has slowed. He’ll be
fine. I have the feeling Lennox knew as much, which is why he’s still alive.
Lennox may be furious, but he’s no murderer.” Zamuel looked around the home.
“Is there a fire going?”

Emmerie burst into a fresh round of tears since Reza had
been intent on building a fire for her. “I think he was building one in the
bedroom fireplace while I was in the shower. It’s probably gone out by now, he
was still feeding it with timber.”

“We’ll need to cauterize the wound, Em.”

She nodded and took Reza into her arms. Zamuel disappeared,
and she knew he was going to retrieve one of the swords from Lennox’s workshop
outside the home. He returned a moment later with a sword before heading into
her bedroom.

“Lennox has been to the shop. He’s taken every sword, but
left you one.” The tip of the blade glowed red from being stuck in the fire
Reza had started making. “You’re going to have to hold him tight in case he
wakes up.”

Emmerie pulled him into her arms where she sat on the floor
and held on for dear life. The smoldering blade penetrated the wound, the scent
of burning flesh billowing into the air. Her nose wrinkled against the foul smell.
The scent nearly made her vomit, but Reza stirred against the fresh round of
pain. Not realizing the blade was meant to heal him, Reza stretched his arms
out protectively over Emmerie.

She smiled, but tears leaked down her cheeks. “It’s okay,
Reza. He’s here to help.”

A pained grunt was the only response before he passed into
unconsciousness once more.

Zamuel finally removed the blade, satisfied that the wound
had been fully cauterized. “It will be a long recovery, but he’ll survive. The
wound missed the major arteries. Lennox would have known where they were, so
you can be grateful he chose to leave Reza alive.”

She cradled Reza’s chin in her hands, gazing down at his sleeping
lids. She tore her eyes away long enough only to question her brother. “You saw
Lennox?”

“Yes. He was not well. I rushed here to make sure you were
okay, and I saw him stopping by the Mage’s to repeal your bond with each
other.”

The thought pained her, but at the same time, Emmerie
couldn’t help but feel released. Reza would survive, and she’d be free to
commit to him. Only him. He’d said he wanted her.

“Thank you, brother. I know helping Reza was not your
intention when you came here.”

“I love you, Em. I’ve never known you to be selfish. But if
this sex demon wakes only to break your heart…” Zamuel’s eyes flashed a
dangerous shade of gray. “I’ll finish what Lennox started.” With that, her
brother lifted Reza into his arms and carried him into the bedroom.

“Thank you.” Emmerie reached out and pulled Zamuel into a
hug. The last of her tears dried on his shirt and Emmerie’s heart clenched at
the unconditional love her brother possessed for her. This was the way she
loved Reza. Now she just had to wait for him to wake.

* * * *

Two days later, Reza stirred as sunlight reached his skin.
Strands of silk caressed his flesh and a crisp, warm scent made him desire
consciousness all the more. His eyes opened and his head turned just enough to
see Emmerie’s head lying on his shoulder. Her blonde hair was splayed across
his torso, a blanket covering them both from the waist down. Bandages covered
his stomach where his wound still burned with a subtle, lingering pain.

But the real agony withered through his whole body, the
withdrawal from ecstasy taking its toll. He wasn’t even sure how long it had
been, but his body spoke to him, and for the first time in his life, he
experienced what happened to a sex demon after going without climax for so
long.

“Reza!” Emmerie’s voice was an angel’s song, but the magical
sonnet became tragic when she clung to him and sobbed.

“No tears. I’m alive, darling. Reward me with a smile.”