Demon Spelled (19 page)

“By our law, yes.”

“Fuck your law. It’s biased. I got news for you, Troz. Rape is the same regardless of race, gender, or demon-slash-human. I never consented to be your sex-puppet.”

He stepped forward and got in her personal space. Gooseflesh sizzled along her exposed skin in pinpricks. “You. Gave. Your. Consent.”

“Coerced consent doesn’t count.” He yanked the shirt out of her hands and she flinched. Her voice shook and had dropped when she spoke next. “Because I’m human you expect me not to feel the same as you. It’s like I’m supposed to be happy that you give me pleasure when you take me without my permission.”

He had to give her credit. She had guts continuing to argue with him. “Most demons wouldn’t concern themselves with your comfort.” He pulled the shirt over her head, and she complied by thrusting her arms into the sleeveless holes. “You should be thankful we enjoy your climaxes.”

Her head jerked back, and tight lines expanded from the corners of her eyes. Her nostrils flared, and he knew whatever she said next would seriously infuriate him.

“Oh…pardon me.”

He elevated his eyebrows at her sarcasm.

“That makes you a
nice
rapist. That makes your crimes against me all better.”

Stunned by her sass, Troz smacked her cheek hard enough to sting. She gasped, and her hand flew to her face. Eyes wide, Sanja gawked at him.

Being a demon, his first show of violence shouldn’t have surprised her.

“How soon you forget your place. The pleasure we give is a privilege, a luxury we provide because it pleases
us.
That can alter at any given moment.”

Placing real estate between them, he gave her space, holding her gaze as he paced a small path in front of her. Long moments lapsed between them with her breathing erratic and her gawk flabbergasted…
how naïve she was. He’d been easy with her, showed her reverence. She had no idea what he was capable of, how easily he could sever a life, or enjoy destroying a fellow demon’s status for sport.

She finally lowered her gaze, exhibiting the respect she should’ve demonstrated before.

His gaze slithered over her. The bright-aqua, peasant-styled skirt flowed around her ankles, but the material’s transparency hinted at the curves beneath. Only her pussy was hidden from his view. The top was sleeveless and possessed a neckline that dipped low, with mounds of fabric to hide her breasts. The turgid peaks of her nipples were visible only because of their rigidness.

“Come meet our parents.” This would most likely turn into an unpleasant experience for them all. Their parents wanted him and Lyx to take a wife, not a slave, so their offspring would inherit their legacy. Troz didn’t understand what difference a legacy mattered when all were immortal. But, if he appeared united with her when they arrived, that might convince their family to suppress their abusive tongues.
Might
. He wasn’t holding his breath.

He offered her his hand and waited to see if she’d accept his show of support. When he thought she’d decline, she stepped forward and slid her palm into his. He drew her closer, palmed the underside of her jaw, and tilted her head back to peer at her. Her green gaze met his warily. One small demonstration of violence had her cautious, and he regretted the return of her fear. He turned her face to the side to inspect her cheek. No redness. At least his family wouldn’t know of their recent argument.

“A united front would be best. Understand?”

She nodded.

“Don’t appear too meek, angel, or they’ll consume you.”

Sanja nodded again. Troz sighed and led her to meet their family.

ERICA’S HEAD REELED
. Her captors were demons so she knew they both could be vicious, but she’d pushed them more than once and hadn’t seen brutality from them. Aside from their first meeting, neither demon had revealed violent tendencies. They hadn’t even taken her virginity cruelly. Aggressive with their wants, yes, but never unkind.

She hadn’t thought either man tame by any means, but Troz’s behavior left her head spinning with its unexpectedness. Left her uncertain of her position in their lives.

Inside she wept for the teenagers who’d placed bets on her innocence. They’d just been boys and didn’t deserve vengeance, especially not demonic style. It wasn’t like any of them had succeeded. Instead the demons that raped her planned to mete out justice for wanting her virginity. The irony didn’t go unnoticed.

Troz led her through the house to a large room with a bunch of sofas and chairs. Nothing inviting about the area, but rather the entire space possessed an unwelcoming feel with its stuffy, uncomfortable-looking furniture. The hard, icy flooring against her feet had her hitting as many of the rugs as possible. The room was spacious. Her entire house could’ve fit inside this room alone with extra square footage remaining.

When she spied the group sequestered together, she squared her shoulders. Lyx stood in the center of them with his arms crossed over his massive chest and his eyes glued on Erica. Zero amusement touched his features, but instead his tight expression gave him a harsher appearance and made him seem less approachable.

No idea what to expect from their family, she felt like she would soon face a firing squad. The red-haired she-demon she recognized. She was the woman Troz had halted from striking her the day he brought her home.

They stopped a few feet away from the gathering. The icy burn of the floor scorched her feet.
This is worse than the burn of hot pavement during the dog days of summer
.

“Why….” Troz’s dispassionate features had her question drying up. Until he arched an eyebrow, that’s when she found the courage to submit her question. “Why is the floor so icy?” Erica quickly shifted from foot to foot, hoping the movement would stave off frostbite.

He glanced at her feet. A moment later crinkles expanded from the corners of his eyes, and the tightness from his lips evaporated. “It’s gaminel marble.”

She squealed in surprise when he swept her into his arms.

The chatter of his guests silenced.

“Fairy!”

The creature buzzed out of a portal.

Troz didn’t wait for her to speak, just barked his orders. “Sanja requires shoes.”

Pinkie departed in a blur of wings.

“Gaminel is mined from the center of Baal, where it’s the iciest. My apologies, I forgot your humanity.”

His compassion confused her when he’d made it plain her comfort mattered little to him unless it pleased him. “You can stand barefoot on this surface?”

A slight tug to the right corner of his mouth. “Yes, angel.”

The uneasy quiet unnerved her. She wanted to send a quick peek in the direction of their family, but her courage fled. A moment later Pinkie returned with aqua slippers and slid them on her feet.

“Take a deep breath.” Troz lowered her to her soles and whispered against her ear. “You’ll survive their inspection. And neither Lyx nor I care if they approve.” Her focus slammed on him, but he already faced his family. His arm circled her shoulders. “Meet our concubine. Her name is Sanja. She’ll bear our children.”

That last revelation was unexpected. No one said anything. An eyelash could’ve landed on glass flooring and caused fissures from the force of the noise the lash would generate, that’s how silent the room became. Erica took that breath he’d suggested and lifted her gaze to their family. Lyx’s family was easy to discern, as they were all tinted in some shade of purple. The woman from the day they brought her home smirked at her like she knew a secret Erica didn’t.

“Mother…father….” When Troz spoke, a woman with black hair stepped forward, along with a dark-blue haired male demon. “Sanja, my mother Fali and my father Rahem.”

Erica had no idea what she should do. Bow? Curtsey? She glanced at Lyx, but his expression remained closed off. She settled on, “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Neither parent acknowledged her. Fali had to be at least six-five, as were all the women in the room. Troz’s mother looked directly at him. “She’s human.”

“They’re diseased,” one of the others said, but she didn’t catch which guest spoke.

“She’s part witch and angel, too.” Lyx moved out of the semi-circle of family that enclosed him. Sharp gasps to her genetic makeup ricocheted about the room…mostly coming from Lyx’s family. Her purple demon moved to her other side and curled his arm around her waist.

Solidarity. She figured that was the picture they displayed. But surely his family knew she was here against her will.

“You couldn’t find a respectable demonette to breed with?” The purple female Erica assumed was Lyx’s mother moved forward. Shorter than Troz’s mother, but she moved with a fluid grace that reminded Erica of flowing water.

“Sanja, my mother Hedonya and my father”—he motioned to the dark-purple male—“Sidon. You remember my sister, Bryx.”

“You disgrace your family with her.” Lyx’s father glared at Erica as if she was to blame for being kidnapped and removed from her world.

“We have Jakira’s blessing.” Troz’s fingertips made circling motions on her shoulder. He sounded bored, but his tense frame spoke volumes to his inner agitation.

Lyx provided his opinion next. “Even if we didn’t, your opinions amount to zilch. Sanja is mine and Troz’s decision, our future, and she has nothing to do with any of you.”

“You will pass her offspring off as yours. You would expect us to welcome a half-breed into our homes as one of ours.” Troz’s mother sniffed. “Blasphemy, Troz!”

Beside her Troz stiffened. “Mother,
your mother
is half-witch.”

“The angel is the problem,” Troz’s father muttered with a stiff upper lip. “I recommend punishing the angel in her and stringing her up until she bleeds the foulness out.”

Fear slithered down her spine. She hadn’t expected much, but she hadn’t anticipated their hatred of her alleged genetics. Their animoisty was so tangible, so real, and worse than anything she’d endured because of Sybil that she wanted to curl into a fetal position and pray for invisibility.

“I’d help you, Rahem,” Lyx’s father said to Troz’s dad as if threatening to torture a person for their DNA was no biggie.

In Baal it probably isn’t
.

Their obvious hatred of her had bile hitting the back of her throat.

“How dare any of you threaten her?” Lyx released her and approached his family.

All of them took a hesitant step backward.

“Father,
my
heritage is what gives you distinction among the classes. That goes for you too, mother and Bryx. Push me, and I’ll disown you all.”

Bryx slumped into a sofa, the cushions so hard they didn’t even sink with her weight, but her purple skin paled to a lilac shade.

“I outrank you all.” Troz sounded so nonchalant she would’ve thought he hadn’t a care in the world. “And we really have no need to explain ourselves to any of you anyway. End of discussion. Welcome Sanja into our family or get the fuck out of our house. Those are your only options.”

Weighty silence descended, as Lyx whipped around and strolled back to them. He winked at her. “Sexy when he’s a hard-ass, eh, my sex-pet?”

Erica said nothing, just stared at him. How could he make a joke at a time like this? When the tension in the room could only be carved out with a chain saw?

And sexy as a hard-ass? Nah. He’d just shown her the same trait, and she wasn’t turned on by the demonstration.

What followed next wasn’t just awkward, but the most bizarre evidence of falsity she’d ever been subjected to. Each parent welcomed her with a smile, kissing her cheeks, as if they truly ‘welcomed’ her into the family. But the coldness in each of their gazes could’ve given penguins frostbite.

Erica longed for home worse now than she had before.

Lyx cupped her face and kissed her forehead. “None of that.”

It seemed like hours lapsed before their family finally departed. Her nerves were strung so tight the littlest noise or movement left her jittery. Not one of them spoke until they reached the safe haven of Lyx and Troz’s bedroom.

“We wouldn’t have allowed them to harm you, Sanja.” Troz’s belt hit the floor before the door was shut behind them.

“Give them time, they’ll soften. You’re a new thought.” Lyx braided his hair for no clear reason she could discern. She’d have felt safer in a room full of lions than with their family. They’d soften to her only when she took her last breath. “Trust us.”

“I have no reason to.” Sanja hadn’t meant to utter the thought, but despite their sudden tension, she brazened it out with a mental shrug.

“Undress.” Troz chucked his pants on the sofa. His erection was long and hard.

“You require use of my body again tonight?” They’d fucked her every night since her purchase.

Her almost-human looking demon arched an eyebrow as if he waited for her to comply.

She missed having the freedom of choice, but the danger of noncompliance nipped at her heels. Obeying them would be easier than receiving their punishment.

Her purple slaver’s pants hit the floor, and he kicked them away. His member was just as hard as Troz’s. “Why are you still wearing clothes?”

Erica inhaled and slowly removed her outfit. She toed her slippers off and forced her arms to remain at her sides, staring at Troz while Lyx prowled around her stroking himself. After the third rotation, her purple demon came to a halt at her back. His breath made her hair flutter, but she held Troz’s gaze.

“Go to bed. Rest.”

“Pardon?” She frowned at Troz’s bizarre invitation. They’d fucked her every night since they’d bought her. Did he truly expect her to just sleep tonight?

“You heard me.” His all-business attitude freaked her out. She’d irritated him enough earlier to force violence, and then his family had overstepped their boundaries. That he didn’t want her now confused and alarmed her.

“Confused, my sex-pet?” Lyx’s breath stirred her hair and warmed her scalp.

“You know I am.”

“You’re being given a choice.” He trailed his nose down the side of her throat and inhaled. “Climb into bed and sleep or choose to ride us all night.”

Startled by that, she peeked at him over her shoulder. His orange eyes were right there at her shoulders, watching her like the predator she knew him to be.

“It’s your decision.” Lyx ran his mouth across her shoulder. “Pleasure or sleep. Doesn’t get any simpler than that.”

There had to be a hidden agenda. The choice hadn’t been hers since day one. His gaze darkened.
Damn!
She hated that he could read her thoughts. Erica wasted no time, scrambling across the room and delving beneath the covers. As she pulled the covers beneath her chin, she pondered if she made the right decision.

“Not the choice I preferred,” Lyx said as the lights were extinguished.

Waiting for them to join her, Erica held her breath. They’d climb in beside her and then make demands of her body. It was the only logical conclusion because she just wasn’t buying the ‘her choice’ bullshit.

The bed never dipped, but the soft almost indiscernible sounds of what she suspected might be kisses wafted to her ears.
They’re getting started without me, but in a moment, they’ll want something from me.
She tensed…and waited.

Waited some more until she heard one of them moan…the deep rumble sounded like Troz, but in the dark, she couldn’t be certain.
What does Lyx do to him
? She wanted to see, but wouldn’t dare show her curiosity.

Whispered words and more kissing sounds. Erica sat up in the bed, the satiny sheet slipped below her breasts to puddle in a cool heap around her waist. “Are y’all having sex without me?”