Page 29 of Twisted Sins

He didn’t try to duck or move away, and the things hit him on the chest. Dropping his arms, he began to come towards her.

There weren’t more things to throw. So, she picked up the low table and threw it towards him. It bounced off the muscled body.

“Tham,” he growled.

She didn’t understand what it meant, but the warning tone was clear.

Not heeding it, she went after him with clawed hands, intending to rip out his grey eyes from the ash-covered face.

He caught her hand.

“Tam hums manlam mam ornayi thikri dhani…gvanni,” he commanded.

In response, she swung her other hand and slapped him hard.

The sound of the slap was loud, and it shocked her out of her rage. Her heart thudded as she watched the demon’s face.

She waited for him to retaliate with a blow that would kill her or injure her gravely. But there was no movement or expression in his face or eyes.

His stillness was scarier than anything she had seen.

“Let me go!” she sobbed, trying to yank her hand out of his grip and get away.

His grip loosed. She tried to run, only for him to grip the back of her hair and drag her closer.

She screamed. But the sound was cut off when his mouth covered hers.

It wasn’t a kiss. It was a brutal punishment that shocked and terrified her. The heat of his tongue invaded her mouth and choked back her angry, terrified screams.

She tried to bite his tongue, but the grip on her hair tightened, making her gasp. The force of his lips and mouth turned rougher, infusing the heat and taste of him into her senses.

Just when she thought she would faint with the heat and trembling that shook her from inside, his mouth left hers. She met his grey eyes as he watched her darkly.

Her heart raced, expecting him to rip her clothes and throw her on the bedding. She jumped when he barked out an order.

“Venam.”

She thought he was talking to her, but Uma and Rumi entered the tent.

He told them something curtly to which they nodded. And then, throwing another dark look towards her, he walked out of the tent.

She heard him barking out more orders to someone outside.

What is going to happen to me now?

***

Barely a few hours later, Nandini looked at the setting sun and wiped the sweat from the side of her face.

She looked around in a daze as dozens of horses loaded with goods and people were moving across the desert. After her failed escape attempt, she was sure the demon had ordered some terrible punishment so she would not try to escape again. But the order had been something entirely shocking.

The entire Kabali clan encampment was dismantled and packed up, leaving no traces behind. And soon, while the sun was beginning to set, the demon led the group through the desert.

It was a group of around forty men and women. There were no children or old people to be found, which led her to believe that the rest of the Kabali clan must be somewhere else.

Are we joining the bigger Kabali settlement?

She didn’t know where they were going. But she knew she couldn’t escape right then.

---