Page 18 of Stolen By the Demon

When she got cold, I pulled her into my arms—because it had never crossed my mind to bring a blanket—to warm her. She stiffened for a moment but allowed it to happen, and after a while, she leaned into me, igniting deep-buried emotions I hadn't known I possessed. I didn't think she had any idea what her trust meant to me. To seek my warmth after I had abducted her. With sudden clarity, I realized I would never be able to give her up.

I had never asked anybody for forgiveness, but unexperienced guilt was eating me from the inside out. I would have gladly groveled, for her, but even that she didn’t ask of me. Her absolution for my sins was so sweet, so guileless, it freed me from weights I hadn't realized I carried.

We made love for the first time that day. It was both our first time. Of course, before her, I had fucked anybody who offered and had taken my fill whenever the opportunity arose, but I had never made love before. Her pleasure was all that mattered to me then and now. My own release was a mere afterthought, more of a reward than a guaranteed outcome.

Afterward, I asked her to marry me, knowing there would never be another woman for me but her. I promised to protect and take her away from here. I had enough wealth to offer her more than she was already accustomed to. I told her I could use my powers to make her an immortal, but she was too devout to consider being turned into a demon, or creature of the night, as she called it, and there wasn’t any urgency to press for it. We had many good years ahead of us before her body would begin to wilt.

She wasn’t ready to leave the cave, and I admit, I liked having her all to myself. Fate only allowed us these precious few weeks together before it drove us apart. Weeks of bliss and happiness and whose memories I thought would have to sustain me for eternity.

One day, I returned to the cave after I went into town to purchase things we needed and found the cave empty. It wasn't the first time, but for some reason, my stomach turned, and a foreboding sensation spread through me. I checked every place she liked to go when she left the cave: the little creek where she liked to wash, a cluster of berry bushes where she harvested the sweetest blackberries, and a clearing where she had discovered tasty mushrooms, but she wasn’t at any of these places.

I did, however, find her scent, hers and that of other humans. I howled in dismay when I realized that her father's men must have captured her. I raced to Sir Jonathan's castle, straight into the trap he had laid for me, sealing Blanche's and my fate.

I shook my head to break away from the memories. “All this is my fault. I should have taken you away sooner. I should have known Sir Jonathan would have laid a trap. I'm sorry, Blanche, so sorry.”

“You did nothing wrong, Devon. You risked everything to to save me.” Her features turned angry, “The only one at fault is my father. If he weren’t so greedy, this wouldn’t have happened.”

I squeezed her tightly, held her cold body, and marveled at her strength and grace.

“I don’t know how I survived these past four hundred and thirty years without you.”

She froze. “Four hundred years?”

I could have kicked myself for my blunder, but now that the cat was out of the bag, I nodded. “Yes, more than four hundred years have passed since… since we got separated.”

She visibly swallowed but took the information in stride. “I’ve noticed the… changes. Are we still in England?”

I shook my head, “No, we are in a country called the United States of America. The continent was just discovered a hundred years before…”

“I remember.” She said with a wane smile. “I remember hearing about it. I also remember,” now her smile deepened, “how we made plans to go there.”

I hadn’t forgotten. I had never forgotten a single word we had ever said to one another, not a single minute of the few we had been allowed to spent together.

“We are here now, Blanche.” I kissed her hand. “And nothing will ever separate us. Nobody!”

She closed her eyes and sighed wistfully. “Nobody!”

“Nobody,” I affirmed.

A moment of silence passed, before she asked, “What did they do to you?”

“Nothing worse than they did to you,” I said, pushing her hair back and kissing her forehead, reveling in the knowledge that I would now always be able to do this.

“I need to know, Devon,” she insisted.

I sighed. My Blanche was nothing if not stubborn.

“My father’s punishments are inventive and cruel. He carved my heart out and saw fit to allow his demons to torture me for a few hundred years until he deemed my punishment sufficient and released me back to Earth.” I confided. “The greatest punishment was to be returned to Earth because everything there reminded me of you.”

It was getting dark outside, but I didn’t feel the least bit tired. Devon proposed I take a shower and get dressed, while he went to talk to his men. The shower had been calling to me ever since he had showed me how it worked and I was all to happy to follow his suggestion.

Standing under the spray of water was even more amazing than I had envisioned. I decided that I liked this new time with all its amenities. And I liked being with Devon. The love I felt for him was the only real thing in my life right now. I wished I could remember more of our time together, but as long as we were together now, I would be happy even without them.

When I stepped out of the shower, I luxuriated by wrapping myself into one of the warm, fuzzy, oversized towels and used another for my hair. Clad like this I walked back into my bedroom, feeling a pang of disappointment for Devon not being there, but distracted myself with the large closet he had pointed out.

The female in me came to life. Even though my father had been well off, he hadn’t liked spending much of his gold on me. Now, the sight of this large closet filled my dead heart with joy. I was sure it would have beaten faster than a horse could gallop but pushed the momentary melancholy back that tried to wiggle its way into my mind.

Determined to enjoy this moment, I browsed through the many clothes hung from many racks or were folded up neatly on shelves.

---