Page 20 of Prince of Demons
I should make her think twice about throwing herself in harm's way for whatever pitiful human she comes across.
But as much as the thought of punishing her for her ridiculous inclination toward martyrdom appealed to him, realism shuddered through his lungs for every breath he took that tasted like the bitter notes of her fear.
The scent of her terror had been pulling at his instincts to soothe and protect since the abandoned building—especially frustrating since he was well aware her horror was about him, and any attempt at soothing it would only be met with more fear. He wouldn’t be able to feed from her terror if every cell in his body was aching to calm her.
When he pulled up in front of his high-rise, he was still no closer to deciding how he would replenish his strength, but his circling thoughts changed course at the sight of the two guards stationed outside the entrance.
Shit.
“Don’t so much as breathe until we’re inside,” he growled quietly over his shoulder before he switched off the ignition and got off the bike, pulling the girl in close against his body in the process. The smell of her fear intensified, but hopefully his own scent would drown out hers. If she’d been awakened, he would have no hope of his men being oblivious to the lush aroma of a Breeder, but until he got her ringed and marked, she would be much more difficult to clock.
Fortunate, since he wasn’t ready to deal with the distraction her presence in his domain would cause, once his underlings knew a mate was in the process of being prepared.
“All is quiet, Your Highness,” one of the guards—Greyer—greeted him. “No callers through the night.”
Kesh nodded. “Good. Make sure no one disturbs me today. I don’t care how big of a contract dispute they have. I don’t even care if the Europeans are on my doorstep knocking, you got it? No disturbances.”
The other guard slanted a look at Georgia, half-hidden in Kesh’s armpit, and gave him a smirk. “Of course. I take it she is why Sefron came by with food a few hours ago? It’s been a while—think feeding her will get her through alive?”
“Don’t worry about her, Leopold,” Kesh growled, the warning in his voice clear enough for his guard’s smirk to whither. “You will tell no one of her presence here.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Greyer said, his voice infinitely more formal than his partner’s. Kesh had a vague thought that he really should make sure Leopold learned better manners too, but Georgia’s increased trembling against him had his focus returning to her before he could make good on the notion.
Probably the word ‘alive’ had been too much for the Breeder’s already frayed nerves.
With a final glare at his underlings, Kesh strode to the door, pulling Georgia with him. Her body was stiff against his, the scent of her fear burning the back of his throat, but he kept her secure in his grip until they were inside the empty, marble-clad lobby and the door closed shut behind them. Only then did he release her shoulders.
Georgia immediately stumbled several steps away from him. “Alive?” she hissed, confirming his assumptions.
“Our deal is that I don’t harm you,” he sighed, flicking two fingers at her in the direction of the elevator.
Despite the disgust on her face, she obeyed his unspoken command. “But the other women you drag home? You kill them when you’re done raping them?”
Kesh arched his eye-ridges at her as he followed her in the elevator and hit the button for the top floor. “I rape them, do I?”
Red splotches appeared on her too-pale cheeks. “I assume the Prince of Demons doesn’t haul girls into his lair to play chess.”
Annoyance burned through his already paper-thin patience, and he leaned in over her, bracing an arm above her head to glare down at her. “The females I bring home see my human disguise, Breeder. They are more than willing.”
His looming nearness did nothing to still her quivering, but she jutted out her chin in defiance. “You are a demon. I know what your kind does to women.”
He wasn’t sure why he bothered arguing. He really shouldn’t give a shit that she thought him a rapist. With a dark glare at her, he pushed off the wall and shifted his focus to the display showing the incline in floors. She could believe what she wanted—he didn’t need her to trust him. Not with the deal they’d made. All he needed was for her to obey his command to pick a mate, once he had prepared her with a blinding mark and selected a list of appropriate males she could choose from.
But first, he needed to fucking eat. Somehow. Why had he caved when she’d begged for him to take her energy instead? He needed more than he could take without harming whatever human he got his fix from, and the Breeder already looked like she was about to keel over.
Oh, right, yes. She’d cried.
When the elevator doors dinged open, Kesh grabbed her by the arm and pulled her through to his front door. She didn’t object, but her tremor at his touch transferred up through his arm and into his chest. He stopped short on the threshold.
Sefron had been busy.
Kesh grimaced as the stench of the multiple bouquets of red roses littering every surface within view of the front door hit his nostrils. Growling a low curse, he ignored the floral assault on his otherwise sparse interior and continued through to the open-plan living space where the rarely used kitchen island was laden with trays upon trays of food. There were platters of fruit—three different kinds of melon, berries in all shades of red and purple, and bananas arranged upright in between them in obvious phallic reference. Oysters dripped with lemon and decorated with caviar, smoked salmon and pots of clotted cheese next to rolls of bread and seeded bagels, slices of beef, dripping butter and arranged on top of green leaves. And, at the end of the display, a three-layer chocolate cake decorated with dark frosting and glossy cherries. Kesh wasn’t all that familiar with how much a human woman needed to sustain herself, but as far as he could tell, it looked… acceptable.
By his side, Georgia’s eyes widened as she took in the offerings. “Are you… Are you going to share me?”
“Share you?” he growled, irritation still fizzing in his veins. “If I can get enough energy from you to make it through the day, it’ll be a fucking miracle. If I shared you, you’d die. Now eat.”
Her mouth opened and closed once, something like relief flickering over her strained features before she looked back at the food, eyebrows rising. “So… no one else is coming? All this food… You had this prepared just for us?”
